Steampunk World's Fair
Wow, it's been almost a year since I posted anything on here. Go me.
But anyway, I'm writing because I had one of the best experiences of my life this past weekend. This weekend I got to go with Maddie to the Steampunk World's Fair in New Jersey, and it was perhaps the best con I have ever been to. It was small, but with that smallness came an intimacy I was unfamiliar with from larger cons like Comic Con and Otakon. We met and made friends with complete strangers, and everyone was so kind and wonderful. We watched a facial hair competition, looked through tons of amazing little stores, and I wished as always that my wallet was much bigger than it was. I did end up getting a hat for Rabbit (the perfect shape and size, I was so happy), and some dangly earrings with a gear and a cute little rabbit on them. Unfortunately, no corsets with steel in them that I could find ;-;
But all of that pales in comparison to the experience that was STEAM POWERED GIRAFFE.
So I don't think I've mentioned it on here, since I haven't posted since 2015, but I started dating Maddie in September, and in October she introduced me to SPG. I was slightly skeptical at first, just listening to their song samples on itunes, but then she sent me the Honeybee music video and I fell in love. Their makeup was gorgeous, their singing was phenomenal, and the fact that they had an entire storyline and universe behind their band sealed the deal. Sherlock was out, SPG was in.
That started a several month long growth of obsession for me- I started buying and wearing makeup (both normal and for robot use) and collecting pieces for my costume that I wore yesterday with pride. We bought tickets for SPWF at the end of January, and I had been waiting eagerly for the event ever since.
Saturday night was the concert- despite it being outside in the surprisingly cold weather, and despite the slight rain, I was so happy to finally get to see them live. We were standing five yards from Steve the sound engineer, and weren't terribly far from the stage, either (tho we were in standing room, and I, being a rather small human, had to stand on my toes to see over the people in front of me). They played Honeybee and Brass Goggles, two of my favorite songs, and lots of others that I loved. I recognized quite a few of the between-songs bits from having seen some online (QWERTY singing the Fresh Prince of Bel Air song was great), but I also saw a lot of things that I wasn't expecting, and I loved every minute of it. It honestly didn't feel real at some points, knowing that after all of this time I was finally there, seeing them in person. It was crazy.
Being at the con in general was so overwhelming- I had never been to a steampunk convention before, and I was unprepared for the complexity of all of the costumes- I wanted to look at everyone and take everyone's pictures- I probably drove Maddie crazy with all of the "oh my gods" in the first ten minutes. XD I wasn't in costume for the concert, but I was for the second day, and I was so happy when people complimented me on it and told me they loved my makeup. (I did get confused for a girl, once, though, which was a very strange experience. Although I guess I can't say I'm surprised, I was wearing a skirt, fem blouse and tights for my costume- I'm a genderqueer robot.) Getting up early was painful, tho- we had gotten home at 1:30 from the concert, and then I had to get up at 6 to start getting ready. Putting everything on took about an hour, and it took half an hour to drive ;-; Sunday morning we got there early for the SPG autograph session, and even though we had to reroute a billion times cause Obama was at Rutgers, we still made it in time, and I got to see the band live, in person, and without makeup.
I wanted to cry ;-; I've only been into them for a short time, but I love them so much. They're so creative and talented, and I have a bit of a crush on Bunny :P I was so scared standing in line- I had no idea what to say. I guess all I ended up saying was "hi" when I finally got there, and presented my fanart for them to sign. I think they liked it- it was a pastel drawing of the three of them and I thought it looked fairly nice. Part of me wishes I had been able to talk to them more- it was a little bit anticlimactic afterwards, when they had signed our things and we left the room- I had been building up that moment in my mind for months, and to have it suddenly be done made me sort of sad. But I'm still so happy it happened, and I really hope we get to go again.
It feels so strange being done- all told, it was less than 24 hours of my life that I spent from Maddie picking me up to go to the concert to arriving back at home the next day, but it feels like it changed my life so much. It was a place where I felt like I could explore for days and still have things to see, a place where I felt safe (there was so much queerness going on there it was amazing, and they had an explicit sign at the entrance saying no homophobia/transphobia/racism/etc), a place where I was constantly looking around myself going "wow, oh my god, this is the most amazing place I have ever been in my life!" It honestly felt like a magical experience. I had never thought of steampunk as something besides a passing interesting aesthetic before, but now it really feels like a home to me. I feel as if I went to Hogwarts, and now have to live in the muggle world again for a whole entire year before I get to go back. I'm so thankful that I met Maddie, and that we're still friends, and that she introduced me to this world. I can't wait to go again.
But anyway, I'm writing because I had one of the best experiences of my life this past weekend. This weekend I got to go with Maddie to the Steampunk World's Fair in New Jersey, and it was perhaps the best con I have ever been to. It was small, but with that smallness came an intimacy I was unfamiliar with from larger cons like Comic Con and Otakon. We met and made friends with complete strangers, and everyone was so kind and wonderful. We watched a facial hair competition, looked through tons of amazing little stores, and I wished as always that my wallet was much bigger than it was. I did end up getting a hat for Rabbit (the perfect shape and size, I was so happy), and some dangly earrings with a gear and a cute little rabbit on them. Unfortunately, no corsets with steel in them that I could find ;-;
But all of that pales in comparison to the experience that was STEAM POWERED GIRAFFE.
So I don't think I've mentioned it on here, since I haven't posted since 2015, but I started dating Maddie in September, and in October she introduced me to SPG. I was slightly skeptical at first, just listening to their song samples on itunes, but then she sent me the Honeybee music video and I fell in love. Their makeup was gorgeous, their singing was phenomenal, and the fact that they had an entire storyline and universe behind their band sealed the deal. Sherlock was out, SPG was in.
That started a several month long growth of obsession for me- I started buying and wearing makeup (both normal and for robot use) and collecting pieces for my costume that I wore yesterday with pride. We bought tickets for SPWF at the end of January, and I had been waiting eagerly for the event ever since.
Saturday night was the concert- despite it being outside in the surprisingly cold weather, and despite the slight rain, I was so happy to finally get to see them live. We were standing five yards from Steve the sound engineer, and weren't terribly far from the stage, either (tho we were in standing room, and I, being a rather small human, had to stand on my toes to see over the people in front of me). They played Honeybee and Brass Goggles, two of my favorite songs, and lots of others that I loved. I recognized quite a few of the between-songs bits from having seen some online (QWERTY singing the Fresh Prince of Bel Air song was great), but I also saw a lot of things that I wasn't expecting, and I loved every minute of it. It honestly didn't feel real at some points, knowing that after all of this time I was finally there, seeing them in person. It was crazy.
Being at the con in general was so overwhelming- I had never been to a steampunk convention before, and I was unprepared for the complexity of all of the costumes- I wanted to look at everyone and take everyone's pictures- I probably drove Maddie crazy with all of the "oh my gods" in the first ten minutes. XD I wasn't in costume for the concert, but I was for the second day, and I was so happy when people complimented me on it and told me they loved my makeup. (I did get confused for a girl, once, though, which was a very strange experience. Although I guess I can't say I'm surprised, I was wearing a skirt, fem blouse and tights for my costume- I'm a genderqueer robot.) Getting up early was painful, tho- we had gotten home at 1:30 from the concert, and then I had to get up at 6 to start getting ready. Putting everything on took about an hour, and it took half an hour to drive ;-; Sunday morning we got there early for the SPG autograph session, and even though we had to reroute a billion times cause Obama was at Rutgers, we still made it in time, and I got to see the band live, in person, and without makeup.
I wanted to cry ;-; I've only been into them for a short time, but I love them so much. They're so creative and talented, and I have a bit of a crush on Bunny :P I was so scared standing in line- I had no idea what to say. I guess all I ended up saying was "hi" when I finally got there, and presented my fanart for them to sign. I think they liked it- it was a pastel drawing of the three of them and I thought it looked fairly nice. Part of me wishes I had been able to talk to them more- it was a little bit anticlimactic afterwards, when they had signed our things and we left the room- I had been building up that moment in my mind for months, and to have it suddenly be done made me sort of sad. But I'm still so happy it happened, and I really hope we get to go again.
It feels so strange being done- all told, it was less than 24 hours of my life that I spent from Maddie picking me up to go to the concert to arriving back at home the next day, but it feels like it changed my life so much. It was a place where I felt like I could explore for days and still have things to see, a place where I felt safe (there was so much queerness going on there it was amazing, and they had an explicit sign at the entrance saying no homophobia/transphobia/racism/etc), a place where I was constantly looking around myself going "wow, oh my god, this is the most amazing place I have ever been in my life!" It honestly felt like a magical experience. I had never thought of steampunk as something besides a passing interesting aesthetic before, but now it really feels like a home to me. I feel as if I went to Hogwarts, and now have to live in the muggle world again for a whole entire year before I get to go back. I'm so thankful that I met Maddie, and that we're still friends, and that she introduced me to this world. I can't wait to go again.