Enchanting!

[kukla_tko]

I am back from NASFiC!

Sometimes I return to my LJ and breathlessly rush to read what everyone else has posted in my absence. Other times I'm mildly selfish and I rush to post something first.

This time it is the latter.

Rather than give a blow-by-blow account of my experience, I think you guys are going to have to live with bullet points and highlights:

First of all, it felt like an Archon rather than something bigger. Oh, it was big. There were PLENTY of people there, but rather than the rampaging crowds, noise, and confusion... it was more like an intimate gathering of a couple-thousand of my favorite people. What's more, I say it felt like an Archon because I remember when I walked through an Archon feeling warm and happy... and seeing most of the faces around me reflecting that same warm happiness!

I've been to media cons. I heard about what happened at ComicCon this year. (Speaking of the rampaging crowds...) I live in St. Louis. If I wanted to stand around in a noisy, boisterous crowd of drunken assholes, I can go to the VP Fair/Fair St. Louis, or Six Flags on a busy weekend. This was as unlike that as I can imagine.

With only one TRULY SPECTACULAR exception, the guests were charming, pleasant, and got along with each other and the fans very well.

I met the Artist GOH in the hallway and we immediately discussed whether he should keep his pants on.

I had the MST3K table shouting stuff at us in character when the Curious Catwalk paraded by.

I made a shirt in Kid's Programming, but I left it behind. While I was making it, I was the only person in the room other than the "adult supervision" for the project, as the kids had all finished making their shirts and gone on to ride bikes or some such. An author showed up to do his storytelling and was startled by the fact that there weren't any kids. The "adult supervision" piped up with "The kids all grew up, sorry." Snicker. Silly girl... No we hadn't...

I wore nearly all the costumes I brought. The only two things I didn't actually wear at the con were the purple Emergency Reserve dress and the Saucy Pirate Wench.

I got the lady at the kimono table in the dealer's room to tie my obi for the first time. She told me it was too small. Dammit. I miscalculated, of course, because my research was based on measurements of a japanese woman rather than an... um... american physique...

"Well, at least it's your real hair..."

"I didn't like what you did with your hair and your makeup." "Um, I'm not wearing make-up..."

Watermelon flavored rum. Dear. Sweet. Baby. Jesus.

OMG OMG OMG OMG I got to meet Peter Beagle. I got to go and pester him all weekend, because he had his own table off in a corner and no one knew he was there. Even more exciting, I sort of got to introduce alienne to him. No sorrow could ever live in me as long as that joy does.

Old Friends back from the wilds of the unknown. I hadn't seen Bear in a long, long, time. Psst! minidoc! He lives in Virginia, too!

Steampunk Tea! (Attention, arkhamrefugee: This is all your fault.) We are SO doing this every year. We attracted a nice party of people, some of whom were mad scientists, sky pirates, and other steamy characters, some of whom were actually looking in Hospitality for clean hot water for their own tea, and one of whom arrived in a TARDIS, drank tea, and exuberantly remarked on the Victorian Era while fussing with his tea in that very sort of English way... harmfulguy! You wound up with the only pictures of this. My photographic apparatus was ill-prepared and failed to produce any images at all. Also, we must make with the gaming with your new game. Perhaps this week in Fenton some evening?

I had something in the art show for the first time... like... ever at an Archon. (Hey, they had space for one thing. It was nice of them to share!)

Masquerade entry (Emergency reserve costume idea) went off without a hitch and was exactly what I wanted it to be. A departure for me: A completely faithful re-creation from a somewhat obscure TV show, in particular from an episode which hasn't been officially shown here in the USA yet. Mwa ha ha. Don't blink. There; I've shown my Geek Cred. I'm not all fairies and silliness, you know. Every few years I have to pull something out to remind the audience that I'm a monster, too.

Meeting Mr. Beagle was like meeting Santa Claus. It can be hugz tiem now plz? (And it was!) He also signed my copy of The Last Unicorn, my Animated LOTR poster (for which he wrote the screenplay), my copy of the Unicorn Sonata, and... my Unicorn. I have a Last Unicorn plush from when the movie came out. It now has his signature on the tag. No, none of you can have it. I want to be buried with it.

I got to meet a real live hero. I mean it. I don't think I ever met a hero before. I don't mean my personal hero (although he wins that automatically) but someone who simply IS a HERO. He has a hero's smile. He has a hero's heart. He does a hero's deeds. Go, thou, and discover Connor Freff Cochran.

I got to talk to the guy who did the voice of the Gremlins! What a fun guy! I'd love to bring him in for parties. I love fondling the guests, but then again I like fondling other fans, too...

Pimping my S.O. to go play in the hot tub. (This was funny, but you had to be there.)

Getting to shake my groove thang and shake my coin-scarf for the first time in my belly-dance gear. Looking bootilicious and jinglin'.

Erupting into spontaneous conversation with like-minded fans, friends and gonzos alike, all the time.

Adorable, amiable, amazing anime grrls (who also did Mirror-Mirror Trek uniforms and were Teh Hawtness!)

And the other anime group which consisted of a sweet, incredibly beautiful meat-puppet and an excellent costumer who was a complete bitch. Uh, lady? You MIGHT want to turn that bitchiness down from eleven, or you're not going to get to play with the cool kids for long, M'kay? Your friend can come play with us, she knows how to have fun. And take this old-timer seriously when I say, "AT ARCHON, DON'T WEAR YOUR STAGE COSTUME FOR HALLWAY COSPLAY UNTIL AFTER YOU'VE SHOWN IT ON STAGE." Srsly. ya rly. Also, you MIGHT want to find out who it is that you're talking to before you get all snarly about the way a recent con was run. You might discover that you're talking to the Master of Masquerade for that con. Oh, wait. You already did.

I make beautiful costumes. I then put them on other people. God DAMN that steampunk vest looked HAWT! Not to mention Lucius Malfoy's ensemble. Of course, his most glittering, gorgeous, glamorous accessory was the lovely Narcissa Malfoy on his arm. You guys are so freaking cool.

I had to play along and be Bellatrix LeStrange, of course.

Yes, Virginia. There really is a hall costume contest. This year it noticed that I exist!

Did I mention that I got to talk to Peter Beagle? Did I mention that I got a very special and exciting present? They've unearthed the character design art from the original animated film. Apparently they hired american designers to design all of the characters and then sent the lot to Topcraft to make the film. Topcraft (a japanese company) rejected the designs and sent their own designs back to the states. Those designs were recently FOUND and Peter (and Connor) have a limited print run available. I have them all. They're each signed by Beagle. Let the SQEEEEEING BEGIN!!!

Are you sick of hearing about my Beagle fetish? Good! So I got to swan past him dressed as Molly Grue and also as Mommy Fortuna. For that one I approached slowly and waited for the young lady to finish speaking with him. (We all had that same look on our faces. The "I just met Santa and I totally KNEW he was REAL" look.) He started to go back to his book, and I did my best version of the Honey and gunpowder voice and said, "Beagle! You old fraud!! That harpy didn't KILL me." He rose to it and soothed the old witch with explanations of how he had to do something to make her sympathetic. Besides, he gave her the best line...

Ok. I'm sure I'll mention more later. It was a splendid con. Those of you who couldn't make it due to distance or financial constraints: I am so sorry. If I had the money you'd have been there.
Those of you who simply decided to give it a miss? Shame on you. You missed some real fun.

Comments

[axejudge.livejournal.com]

I'll be doing my own posts (yes, more than one) about my impressions of the con.

I'm sorry I had to miss the tea; it started the same time I had to do a panel (jeez, I'm only on ONE panel, and it has to be at the same time as something I actually WANTED to attend - grrr!).

Noticed harmfulguy's name on his badge - now I can say I've met him IRL.

[harmfulguy.livejournal.com]

High Tea was probably the highlight of the con for me. Be sure to press-gang me when you start preparations (earlier) next year.

All for playing Infernal Contraption soon, even if my copy is incomplete! A placeholder part will do well enough, though.

[kukla-tko42.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad that you enjoyed the Tea.

I absolutely adore tea parties and now I've gotten to do two of them this summer, plus I have two different people hiring the Troupe to do two this fall!

Mmm. Tea. Cucumber Sandwiches...

Next year I'll advertise in advance so we can encourage pot luck (bring a tea to share, a snack to share) and possibly some kind of apparatus or contraption to provide us with the hot water instead of a single electric hot-pot...

[http://users.livejournal.com/spooksquad_/]

:D I just got home a little while ago! We drove back this morning.

I was just about to send out a 'i'm home' email to a bunch of folks, too, since who knows when I will get around to posting any huge amount of detail on my lj. I've been away for two weeks, so there's a lot of stuff I saw.

Send me your email address, I can't find it. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/spooksquad_/]

Wait, I think I just found it! :D

[jeff-morris.livejournal.com]

I wanted to tell you--having seen the episode in question, I immediately got your presentation (even if I was in line for the next one to go onstage!) and you did a perfect job with it.

[kukla-tko42.livejournal.com]

gosh, thanks!