AFest Recap
Just got back from AFest so here is the obligatory report.
I will say my throat is still a tad sore today so hopefully I'm not sick.
Anyway on to the report.
Friday
Get up and make the drive down there. It felt like it took forever. And didn't help when I got into Dallas there was a wreck on 75 South that blocked the left two lanes. Took me about an hour once I was in Dallas to get to the hotel.
Once there I was able to meet up with R2 and Dave pretty quickly. Got my badge and stuff up in the room quickly as well. So that made a good next step. By this time it was quarter to 6 so I rushed down to the dealers room to do a quick look around before they closed at 6. Then I'd come back and we'd figure out dinner.
Well, the dealers room didn't close until 7...so I took my time looking around giving a once-over at each booth. I ran into the Dallas crew down there so I brought them along as we all pondered food for the evening. Once again inertia wasn't our friend. heh. We had 12 people and thus that was fun trying to decide where to go and how to get there. We settled on a local taco place called Sabor. Melissa knew of it and said it was very good. So we walked through spooky tunnel to the DART (light rail) and took it two stops to Arkon (sp) and went to the taco place.
I felt sorry for the owner a little bit. As it was just him and one other guy and here walks in a mass of 12 people. We took up most of the little dining room inside. But the owner was very friendly and his bend over backward attitude went a long way as we didn't mind the wait for the food because we were a very understanding group. And the tacos and chips were very good. Well worth the wait and price (it was pretty cheap for that good of food).
Then we headed back and walked around the con for a bit. I liked the complement I got in the John outfit. Someone said to me wow, look at this guy, he just woke up and said I'm going to be John today and he was. I could not believe the amount of Homestuck cosplay we saw. It was by and large the biggest group. You couldn't walk 5 feet without seeing a troll cosplayer. I saw all of the kids and trolls except for Jade and Feferi. There even was a couple of the Midnight Crew and a Felt. Dave and Vriska were the most numerous followed by Nepeta, Kanaya and Gamezee (there were a lot more Gamezees than I was thinking there would be.) John had a good deal and there were a few Rose (about 5 that I saw). There were only 2 Tavros, 1 Equias and 1 Eridan. This fandom is the new Inuyasha or Naruto. So many...
Saturday
Got up and ran around the con for a bit, then went out to lunch with Mark and Jen. Tried a new place and it was okay. With LSU and Oregon football teams in town there were a lot of fans and that made this restaurant full and we waited to be seated and then waited at the table then
waited for food. So my main memory of the place was waiting.
When I got back to the hotel I realized I left my phone in my brother's car. I didn't know what to do to get it back. All of my contact numbers were in there. So pulled out my laptop and checked skype, he was online so I called but didn't get an answer. Assuming that it was the skype on his computer that was on. So then used Google Talk to call my parents to get his number, but they weren't home. So then just shot him an email. Luckily he got the email and through email we worked out a time for him to drop off the phone to me at the hotel. That was a major Thank You to my brother for that.
Then I walked around the con dressed up like Barnaby from Tiger and Bunny. I saw a few other Tiger and Bunny characters and 1 Origami Cyclone. None of us were in power suits though. heh. Bunny (Barnaby) was the costume I got the most complements on. I think it got more than John because there were so many Johns. And there were probably 3 or 4 Barnabys. There was also one Kriem and she looked awesome. So I was pleased with the amount of Tiger and Bunny I saw. (The other complement I got as Bunny was wow, it's a guy dressed as Bunny sweet!)
For dinner that night went to a really good BBQ place on the West End. We walked there and people thought I'd get hot wearing that jacket. But the jacket was fine. Probably because my head was hotter due to the wig. ><
When we got back I got ready for the larp by changing into my Dr. Horrible outfit.
The Larp was a lot of fun. It only ran for 3 hours, but we just took what the players came up with and ran with it. And there was a lot of fun silliness that was had. Props to Leonardo Leonardo, Marvin the Martian, Kato and the Prinny Squad.
Stayed up talking with people after the larp and snacking on Japanese candy.
Sunday
Today I had a plan. I mean my organizing was in full gear. Had people up and out the door by 9:30 to go to Magi Quest. Stopped by a Cafe Brazil on the way for brunch (yes, I do go there every time I stop in Dallas now). Had Mike Morris meet up with us for food since he wasn't at the con and we talked and ate and it was good. I really like the food there.
Then our adventurous five went to Magi Quest. It is similar and different than the KC one. KC one is only on three floors (and the hidden one) but uses both wings of those floors for 7 areas. The Dallas one is on eight floors with just those eight areas. (No hidden areas.) Dallas one also had 'instructions' on how to trigger the dragon fight. KC one you had to decipher that from riddles. (Or kids who'd done it before would tell you.) Dallas had a princess of the forest as the main one you helped. KC has a princess in a castle as the main one you help. Dallas had two more runes than the KC one had.
Dave got tired and we had to carry his wand for him a couple of times so he could use the elevator. We all agreed it was good exercise to go up and down all those stairs though. It was also funny as we'd quick draw each other when we got to an item. R2 beat Dave most of the time on those. (I didn't count me since I was normally up in front and would hit things first.) At one time I thought we were coming up with names for us for this quest as I heard the name Stumbleforth. I think that was going to be R2's but he didn't like it so we ended up naming the quest giver magi in the tree that. He was then Dr. Stumbleforth to us.
I'd say it was a lot of fun and seemed everyone there had fun too. We sang in the stairwell (well, me R2 and Dave did) and just acted goofy.
I had a hard stop that we had to end there at 1:30 so we could be back at the con by 2. And we were able to follow that to the T.
Ran around the con as Izaya on Sunday. And there was not much Durarara!! cosplay all weekend. I only saw Izayas and Shizuos. No Celtys. Not seeing any of the other cast doesn't surprise me that much. But wow, it just feels like this series came and went cosplay wise. Hopefully I'll see some Celtys at AWA.
In the afternoon my throat was starting to feel sore. And I was feeling dehydrated. So I got 1.5L of Pokari Sweat and drank it all. I felt a lot better after that, although there was still a tingling in my throat.
Then at 4:30 we all gathered up and went to this all you can eat sushi place. (well, only certain times were all you can eat, and it was $20 per person.) We had 11 people there and it was a big good time with lots to eat. Had I known even the sake was cheaper I would've got more because I only had one large bottle.
When we got back I watched the latest episode of Tiger and Bunny with some of the people in the room. Then after that talked a bit and then semi crashed out. I was just feeling wiped out and my throat was still bothering me.
I was asked if people could borrow my laptop to watch the last two episodes of Tiger and Bunny so I let them. I was told later that with the way the slow buffering was going on that they got 4 episodes of XMen watched during the buffering times of the one episode of Tiger and Bunny they got watched.
Other Randomness
I got a lot of the Mii stuff done by walking around with my 3DS. Met one person 7 times! Never saw them IRL though.
Picked up presents for people. Is it sad that I do most of my present shopping at cons? I've got a few people done for Friendsmas this year.
In the random thoughts after the game we were talked about zombies and ponies and thus it was said next year's larp at AFest should be Zombies vs Ponies and they said I had to play Pinky Pie. I don't know much about that...so guess I need to wiki or watch some of the new My Little Pony stuff.
I spent a lot of money on costumes this year so next year I wanted to cut down. Told R2 that my goal for next year was to not make a single new costume. Except for maybe Medic from TF2, but only if I figured out how to make a Medigun first. Well, wouldn't you know it...there was someone in artist alley that had a prototype Medigun they made and would take commissions to make them. So I put an order in with them to have a Medigun made. They gave me a Medic Bonesaw prop for the order so next year I will be doing TF2 Medic sometime.
I will say my throat is still a tad sore today so hopefully I'm not sick.
Anyway on to the report.
Friday
Get up and make the drive down there. It felt like it took forever. And didn't help when I got into Dallas there was a wreck on 75 South that blocked the left two lanes. Took me about an hour once I was in Dallas to get to the hotel.
Once there I was able to meet up with R2 and Dave pretty quickly. Got my badge and stuff up in the room quickly as well. So that made a good next step. By this time it was quarter to 6 so I rushed down to the dealers room to do a quick look around before they closed at 6. Then I'd come back and we'd figure out dinner.
Well, the dealers room didn't close until 7...so I took my time looking around giving a once-over at each booth. I ran into the Dallas crew down there so I brought them along as we all pondered food for the evening. Once again inertia wasn't our friend. heh. We had 12 people and thus that was fun trying to decide where to go and how to get there. We settled on a local taco place called Sabor. Melissa knew of it and said it was very good. So we walked through spooky tunnel to the DART (light rail) and took it two stops to Arkon (sp) and went to the taco place.
I felt sorry for the owner a little bit. As it was just him and one other guy and here walks in a mass of 12 people. We took up most of the little dining room inside. But the owner was very friendly and his bend over backward attitude went a long way as we didn't mind the wait for the food because we were a very understanding group. And the tacos and chips were very good. Well worth the wait and price (it was pretty cheap for that good of food).
Then we headed back and walked around the con for a bit. I liked the complement I got in the John outfit. Someone said to me wow, look at this guy, he just woke up and said I'm going to be John today and he was. I could not believe the amount of Homestuck cosplay we saw. It was by and large the biggest group. You couldn't walk 5 feet without seeing a troll cosplayer. I saw all of the kids and trolls except for Jade and Feferi. There even was a couple of the Midnight Crew and a Felt. Dave and Vriska were the most numerous followed by Nepeta, Kanaya and Gamezee (there were a lot more Gamezees than I was thinking there would be.) John had a good deal and there were a few Rose (about 5 that I saw). There were only 2 Tavros, 1 Equias and 1 Eridan. This fandom is the new Inuyasha or Naruto. So many...
Saturday
Got up and ran around the con for a bit, then went out to lunch with Mark and Jen. Tried a new place and it was okay. With LSU and Oregon football teams in town there were a lot of fans and that made this restaurant full and we waited to be seated and then waited at the table then
waited for food. So my main memory of the place was waiting.
When I got back to the hotel I realized I left my phone in my brother's car. I didn't know what to do to get it back. All of my contact numbers were in there. So pulled out my laptop and checked skype, he was online so I called but didn't get an answer. Assuming that it was the skype on his computer that was on. So then used Google Talk to call my parents to get his number, but they weren't home. So then just shot him an email. Luckily he got the email and through email we worked out a time for him to drop off the phone to me at the hotel. That was a major Thank You to my brother for that.
Then I walked around the con dressed up like Barnaby from Tiger and Bunny. I saw a few other Tiger and Bunny characters and 1 Origami Cyclone. None of us were in power suits though. heh. Bunny (Barnaby) was the costume I got the most complements on. I think it got more than John because there were so many Johns. And there were probably 3 or 4 Barnabys. There was also one Kriem and she looked awesome. So I was pleased with the amount of Tiger and Bunny I saw. (The other complement I got as Bunny was wow, it's a guy dressed as Bunny sweet!)
For dinner that night went to a really good BBQ place on the West End. We walked there and people thought I'd get hot wearing that jacket. But the jacket was fine. Probably because my head was hotter due to the wig. ><
When we got back I got ready for the larp by changing into my Dr. Horrible outfit.
The Larp was a lot of fun. It only ran for 3 hours, but we just took what the players came up with and ran with it. And there was a lot of fun silliness that was had. Props to Leonardo Leonardo, Marvin the Martian, Kato and the Prinny Squad.
Stayed up talking with people after the larp and snacking on Japanese candy.
Sunday
Today I had a plan. I mean my organizing was in full gear. Had people up and out the door by 9:30 to go to Magi Quest. Stopped by a Cafe Brazil on the way for brunch (yes, I do go there every time I stop in Dallas now). Had Mike Morris meet up with us for food since he wasn't at the con and we talked and ate and it was good. I really like the food there.
Then our adventurous five went to Magi Quest. It is similar and different than the KC one. KC one is only on three floors (and the hidden one) but uses both wings of those floors for 7 areas. The Dallas one is on eight floors with just those eight areas. (No hidden areas.) Dallas one also had 'instructions' on how to trigger the dragon fight. KC one you had to decipher that from riddles. (Or kids who'd done it before would tell you.) Dallas had a princess of the forest as the main one you helped. KC has a princess in a castle as the main one you help. Dallas had two more runes than the KC one had.
Dave got tired and we had to carry his wand for him a couple of times so he could use the elevator. We all agreed it was good exercise to go up and down all those stairs though. It was also funny as we'd quick draw each other when we got to an item. R2 beat Dave most of the time on those. (I didn't count me since I was normally up in front and would hit things first.) At one time I thought we were coming up with names for us for this quest as I heard the name Stumbleforth. I think that was going to be R2's but he didn't like it so we ended up naming the quest giver magi in the tree that. He was then Dr. Stumbleforth to us.
I'd say it was a lot of fun and seemed everyone there had fun too. We sang in the stairwell (well, me R2 and Dave did) and just acted goofy.
I had a hard stop that we had to end there at 1:30 so we could be back at the con by 2. And we were able to follow that to the T.
Ran around the con as Izaya on Sunday. And there was not much Durarara!! cosplay all weekend. I only saw Izayas and Shizuos. No Celtys. Not seeing any of the other cast doesn't surprise me that much. But wow, it just feels like this series came and went cosplay wise. Hopefully I'll see some Celtys at AWA.
In the afternoon my throat was starting to feel sore. And I was feeling dehydrated. So I got 1.5L of Pokari Sweat and drank it all. I felt a lot better after that, although there was still a tingling in my throat.
Then at 4:30 we all gathered up and went to this all you can eat sushi place. (well, only certain times were all you can eat, and it was $20 per person.) We had 11 people there and it was a big good time with lots to eat. Had I known even the sake was cheaper I would've got more because I only had one large bottle.
When we got back I watched the latest episode of Tiger and Bunny with some of the people in the room. Then after that talked a bit and then semi crashed out. I was just feeling wiped out and my throat was still bothering me.
I was asked if people could borrow my laptop to watch the last two episodes of Tiger and Bunny so I let them. I was told later that with the way the slow buffering was going on that they got 4 episodes of XMen watched during the buffering times of the one episode of Tiger and Bunny they got watched.
Other Randomness
I got a lot of the Mii stuff done by walking around with my 3DS. Met one person 7 times! Never saw them IRL though.
Picked up presents for people. Is it sad that I do most of my present shopping at cons? I've got a few people done for Friendsmas this year.
In the random thoughts after the game we were talked about zombies and ponies and thus it was said next year's larp at AFest should be Zombies vs Ponies and they said I had to play Pinky Pie. I don't know much about that...so guess I need to wiki or watch some of the new My Little Pony stuff.
I spent a lot of money on costumes this year so next year I wanted to cut down. Told R2 that my goal for next year was to not make a single new costume. Except for maybe Medic from TF2, but only if I figured out how to make a Medigun first. Well, wouldn't you know it...there was someone in artist alley that had a prototype Medigun they made and would take commissions to make them. So I put an order in with them to have a Medigun made. They gave me a Medic Bonesaw prop for the order so next year I will be doing TF2 Medic sometime.