Magfest 2: Electric Boogaloo
Okay, so, MAGfest 2012 was a lot of fun. Much better than my experience last year (which you can read about here). Let's begin.
I arrived in Washington on Wednesday and got picked up at the airport by Dodger. We then waited until JewWario arrived because Dodger was going to give him a ride to the hotel as well. I didn't really get a chance to talk to JewWario last year so it was really cool to see him. He was so friendly and nice. He kept offering his coat to me when he saw I wasn't dressed warm enough. xD
We got to the hotel, and I could see right away that this year's hotel was already a million times better than last year's. The National Gaylord Hotel is huge and beautiful, with a polite and courteous staff.
There was an area in the hotel with several shops and restaurants where kid could meet all sorts of characters - like Gingy the Gingerbread Man!!
JewWario makes a new friend.
JewWario ended up in the room right next to us. After getting checked in, we explored the area around the hotel. It was by the water and had all sorts of restaurants - we ended up eating at a really fancy Mandarin place. Afterwards I went back to my room to sleep off the jetlag.
Later, my friends Nochi, Danny, Mala and Weaver finally arrived from Helldrive 2012 - Nochi and Danny basically drove all the way from Georgia, picking up Mala and Weaver along the way. Anyway I proceeded to drunkenly tell them how much I love them, despite the fact that I hadn't drank a single drop. I was drunk on friendship.
The next day more people started arriving, and the hotel lobby was soon swarmed by nerds. You could tell who was at the hotel for MAGfest just by looking for subtle clues.
Mala and I joined Dodger to go pick up Linkara from the airport. He was super friendly. The ride back took a while because of traffic and Linkara spent a good chunk of it rambling on about AT4W and the storyline and his plans for it and how he's so excited and he can't give too much away but he will tell you this.
Also he described someone as having "that 'bishie' quality". Yes, he literally used the word "bishie.".
Me: (laughing) I never thought I'd hear the word "bishie" come out of you.
Linkara: Yes, well, I used to be somewhat well-versed in your anime terms...
Mala: You were a weeaboo!
Linkara: A little.
So we arrived at the hotel and he got checked in. At that point more TGWTG folks had arrived and were apparently meeting at an "Irish Pub" nearby, so Linkara headed over there and we got to tag along, so that was cool. Linkara sat with us for a while because the table with all the TGWTG guys was full. I mentioned that I ran the AT4W Plot Guide and he said he liked it and it helped him keep track of his own storylines.
I got up bright and early the next day - last year I had missed the AT4W Live Show and I was determined not to do that this year.
The line for the AT4W Live Show.
Haha I just like this picture. "Duuuuuhhhh....."
Otacon and Dr. Forrester with Otaku Tom Servo were sitting behind me.
The live show was a lot of fun (and you can watch it here!) and after that we got to watch the Robocop vs. the Terminator review, which hadn't come out yet. Then there was a Q&A, and you can hear the plot guide get awkwardly plugged by me. :P Afterwards Mala and I got a picture with him.
Unfortunately, these are all the photos I took - when I got back to my room I realized my camera was dead and I had forgotten to bring the charger. Which sucks cause I really wanted to get more pictures with everyone. 8(
The next day, just outside the hotel, Marzgurl organized a NERF Gun War. I missed most of it cause I went with Nochi and Danny to get lunch at a nearby restaurant simply called "Ketchup" (which was AWESOME - if you're ever there, try the Threesome!) but I did show up in time to see Linkara dressed as the Seventh Doctor in a NERF sword duel. Crazy.
Surprisingly, the biggest disappointment of the whole trip was the TGWTG panel. It was just kinda dull. Maybe I'm just spoiled because last year's was so much fun, if chaotic, or maybe I was already in a crappy mood because I somehow lost my seat and ended up sitting in poor Danny's lap (sorry Danny!) Or maybe I'm just biased against Q&A's cause it's always "Derp dee doo, what was the worst movie you ever reviewed or some other question I could've easily figured out just by googling??" At least I can say that was the ONLY thing that was disappointing. The signing afterwards was great, I got a bunch of folks to sign my badge. It occurred to me halfway through the line that maybe having 30+ people sign a small card was a bad idea, whoops!
When Rap Critic saw that Todd in the Shadows had signed in the same silver pen, he scribbled "Rap Critic, who is totally not this guy" next to Todd's name. Unfortunately it took up like half the card, prompting Rollo T down the line to yell back, "DAREN DO YOU HAVE TO WRITE A FUCKING NOVEL WHEN YOU SIGN??" xD
Oh and Welshy was in a corset, thanks to losing to a bet with Elisa. A girl next to me was saying to him "You look MUCH better in women's clothes than Spoony!" and I was opening my mouth to defend Spoony when Nochi gave me a Look and I backed down. Yes, I was seriously going to publicly debate this. gurl u just jelly cuz he's a firece bitch!!
Also, Danny stole Linkara's hat.
And I got all tongue-tied around Phelous, that was stupid. Oh well, I did get him and Linkara to sign this beautiful piece of art for Elven.
Which reminds me, when I was vchatting with Elven on Skype, Linkara came by and she was like "IS THAT LINKARA?" so he ended up talking with her. Of course she immediately blurted out that she and I are responsible for obtuselinkara, thanks Elven, thaaaaaaaaanks. He was confused until I was like "macros on your face" and then he got it. xD But he didn't mind, so your attempts to troll him have once again FAILED, Elven! (For those who don't know, Elven was the one who teased Linkara about his old Sailor Moon fanfic at the TGWTG panel at last year's MAGfest. Linkara later said in a podcast it was one of the happiest moments of his career because he was touched someone read his old fanfic. Linkara: The Man Who Could Not be Trolled.)
Anyway, big props to the lovely Freya for opening up her room for drinks and games. Nochi, Danny, Weaver and I played "Cards Against Humanity" with a bunch of other people. It's basically like "apples to apples" but the goal was to be as dark and/or offensive as possible. It was fun! 8D<
The next day I bid farewell to Nochi, Danny, Mala and Weaver as they went on their long trip home. Along the way, Danny died of dysentery. :P
There was also the Channel Awesome Rock Band thing which was a lot of fun. I didn't end up playing, I just watched. Jesuotaku in particular did a great job with Blondie and Queen. Then a bunch of fans played "Break Me" by the Irresponsibles in Spoony's honor while Linkara recorded, which I thought was sweet.
Dodger drove me and Linkara to the airport and by the way, HUGE thanks to Dodger for all the driving she did, she's wonderful. Funny moment: when we got in the car, I put on my sunglasses...
Linkara: Oh Robyn, you look like your avatar right now.
Me: ....Wait which one?
Linkara: On deviantART! The grumpy little face!
Me: ...OH! (Actually it's supposed to be the 'dat ass' face cause I thought that would be funny haaaaa)
Hehe, grumpy little face. xD So that was my MAGfest trip. It was a lot of fun and it was so great to see my online friends, who I don't get to see very often. And thanks to everyone at TGWTG for making it a fun week. Is it MAGfest 2013 yet?
I arrived in Washington on Wednesday and got picked up at the airport by Dodger. We then waited until JewWario arrived because Dodger was going to give him a ride to the hotel as well. I didn't really get a chance to talk to JewWario last year so it was really cool to see him. He was so friendly and nice. He kept offering his coat to me when he saw I wasn't dressed warm enough. xD
We got to the hotel, and I could see right away that this year's hotel was already a million times better than last year's. The National Gaylord Hotel is huge and beautiful, with a polite and courteous staff.
There was an area in the hotel with several shops and restaurants where kid could meet all sorts of characters - like Gingy the Gingerbread Man!!
JewWario makes a new friend.
JewWario ended up in the room right next to us. After getting checked in, we explored the area around the hotel. It was by the water and had all sorts of restaurants - we ended up eating at a really fancy Mandarin place. Afterwards I went back to my room to sleep off the jetlag.
Later, my friends Nochi, Danny, Mala and Weaver finally arrived from Helldrive 2012 - Nochi and Danny basically drove all the way from Georgia, picking up Mala and Weaver along the way. Anyway I proceeded to drunkenly tell them how much I love them, despite the fact that I hadn't drank a single drop. I was drunk on friendship.
The next day more people started arriving, and the hotel lobby was soon swarmed by nerds. You could tell who was at the hotel for MAGfest just by looking for subtle clues.
Mala and I joined Dodger to go pick up Linkara from the airport. He was super friendly. The ride back took a while because of traffic and Linkara spent a good chunk of it rambling on about AT4W and the storyline and his plans for it and how he's so excited and he can't give too much away but he will tell you this.
Also he described someone as having "that 'bishie' quality". Yes, he literally used the word "bishie.".
Me: (laughing) I never thought I'd hear the word "bishie" come out of you.
Linkara: Yes, well, I used to be somewhat well-versed in your anime terms...
Mala: You were a weeaboo!
Linkara: A little.
So we arrived at the hotel and he got checked in. At that point more TGWTG folks had arrived and were apparently meeting at an "Irish Pub" nearby, so Linkara headed over there and we got to tag along, so that was cool. Linkara sat with us for a while because the table with all the TGWTG guys was full. I mentioned that I ran the AT4W Plot Guide and he said he liked it and it helped him keep track of his own storylines.
I got up bright and early the next day - last year I had missed the AT4W Live Show and I was determined not to do that this year.
The line for the AT4W Live Show.
Haha I just like this picture. "Duuuuuhhhh....."
Otacon and Dr. Forrester with Otaku Tom Servo were sitting behind me.
The live show was a lot of fun (and you can watch it here!) and after that we got to watch the Robocop vs. the Terminator review, which hadn't come out yet. Then there was a Q&A, and you can hear the plot guide get awkwardly plugged by me. :P Afterwards Mala and I got a picture with him.
Unfortunately, these are all the photos I took - when I got back to my room I realized my camera was dead and I had forgotten to bring the charger. Which sucks cause I really wanted to get more pictures with everyone. 8(
The next day, just outside the hotel, Marzgurl organized a NERF Gun War. I missed most of it cause I went with Nochi and Danny to get lunch at a nearby restaurant simply called "Ketchup" (which was AWESOME - if you're ever there, try the Threesome!) but I did show up in time to see Linkara dressed as the Seventh Doctor in a NERF sword duel. Crazy.
Surprisingly, the biggest disappointment of the whole trip was the TGWTG panel. It was just kinda dull. Maybe I'm just spoiled because last year's was so much fun, if chaotic, or maybe I was already in a crappy mood because I somehow lost my seat and ended up sitting in poor Danny's lap (sorry Danny!) Or maybe I'm just biased against Q&A's cause it's always "Derp dee doo, what was the worst movie you ever reviewed or some other question I could've easily figured out just by googling??" At least I can say that was the ONLY thing that was disappointing. The signing afterwards was great, I got a bunch of folks to sign my badge. It occurred to me halfway through the line that maybe having 30+ people sign a small card was a bad idea, whoops!
When Rap Critic saw that Todd in the Shadows had signed in the same silver pen, he scribbled "Rap Critic, who is totally not this guy" next to Todd's name. Unfortunately it took up like half the card, prompting Rollo T down the line to yell back, "DAREN DO YOU HAVE TO WRITE A FUCKING NOVEL WHEN YOU SIGN??" xD
Oh and Welshy was in a corset, thanks to losing to a bet with Elisa. A girl next to me was saying to him "You look MUCH better in women's clothes than Spoony!" and I was opening my mouth to defend Spoony when Nochi gave me a Look and I backed down. Yes, I was seriously going to publicly debate this. gurl u just jelly cuz he's a firece bitch!!
Also, Danny stole Linkara's hat.
And I got all tongue-tied around Phelous, that was stupid. Oh well, I did get him and Linkara to sign this beautiful piece of art for Elven.
Which reminds me, when I was vchatting with Elven on Skype, Linkara came by and she was like "IS THAT LINKARA?" so he ended up talking with her. Of course she immediately blurted out that she and I are responsible for obtuselinkara, thanks Elven, thaaaaaaaaanks. He was confused until I was like "macros on your face" and then he got it. xD But he didn't mind, so your attempts to troll him have once again FAILED, Elven! (For those who don't know, Elven was the one who teased Linkara about his old Sailor Moon fanfic at the TGWTG panel at last year's MAGfest. Linkara later said in a podcast it was one of the happiest moments of his career because he was touched someone read his old fanfic. Linkara: The Man Who Could Not be Trolled.)
Anyway, big props to the lovely Freya for opening up her room for drinks and games. Nochi, Danny, Weaver and I played "Cards Against Humanity" with a bunch of other people. It's basically like "apples to apples" but the goal was to be as dark and/or offensive as possible. It was fun! 8D<
The next day I bid farewell to Nochi, Danny, Mala and Weaver as they went on their long trip home. Along the way, Danny died of dysentery. :P
There was also the Channel Awesome Rock Band thing which was a lot of fun. I didn't end up playing, I just watched. Jesuotaku in particular did a great job with Blondie and Queen. Then a bunch of fans played "Break Me" by the Irresponsibles in Spoony's honor while Linkara recorded, which I thought was sweet.
Dodger drove me and Linkara to the airport and by the way, HUGE thanks to Dodger for all the driving she did, she's wonderful. Funny moment: when we got in the car, I put on my sunglasses...
Linkara: Oh Robyn, you look like your avatar right now.
Me: ....Wait which one?
Linkara: On deviantART! The grumpy little face!
Me: ...OH! (Actually it's supposed to be the 'dat ass' face cause I thought that would be funny haaaaa)
Hehe, grumpy little face. xD So that was my MAGfest trip. It was a lot of fun and it was so great to see my online friends, who I don't get to see very often. And thanks to everyone at TGWTG for making it a fun week. Is it MAGfest 2013 yet?