Oh, Mercy. I came home, fended off questions about the con from a blessedly understanding friend, was called down to fetch a robin which had fallen into the fireplace, showered, then fell asleep for a hair over 10 hours. I started writing this at 3:30 in the morning. Anyway, ACen.
Thank goodness we had all 11 of us for the trip over there. I would've been bored to death if the cramped spaces didn't make me lose it first. 2000 miles of traveling and I'm finally done with all of it. It's more than twice as long as any road trip I've ever been on. The company was wonderful and the tunes filled the times when we were either asleep or too exhausted to carry any conversation. Can't find that remix of Memory of Forgathering Dream for the life of me though.
Okay, so the road trip back was amazingly exhausting. I drove for about 13 hours, through driving rain in the mountains in PA, huge hail leaving Illinois, and grazed the hell out of a deer on I-76. I'm thinking the deer got huge grazing points too.
Yanked me out of sleep, but I was so glad neither of us got hurt. I was shocked that you lasted that long at the wheel until just before the crack of dawn on nothing more than energy drinks and two handfuls of Teddy Grahams.
Hey thair Nobu and Railgun! Good ta meecha! I always enjoy meeting you guys. I do have a distinct appreciation for simply meeting and knowing how people are doing more than some may realize. I apologize if I wasn't too social. I'm typically not one to jump right into other people's established conversations and was often wrapped up in my own conversations when not in the photoshoots directly. Still, good to know people are out and about having a good time.
Red, I just realized the only pictures I have of you are group photos =(
Actually, ACP has a handful of pics of us
here and a little earlier on.
As stupid and as much of a waste as it was, I loved the arcade they had there. Metal Slug and Time Crisisa totally awesome game for totally awesome gentlemen such as ourselves. I put nearly as much money into the arcade as I did the dealers room. Best part? Mefidex, Zakenna, K and myself all playing TMNT Turtles in Time all at once from start to finish. Extremely awesome game for extremely awesome gentlemen such as ourselves. My only regret is that they didn't have the game that first gave me any bit of interest in shmups in the first place but what were the odds of that anyway?
To be brief about the midwest Touhou fandom as a whole: Not a single bit of ill intent in the bunch, but I do have a strong appreciation for the subtlety and mannerisms of the east coast's fandom as a whole. That being said, I'm just not the type of person to be at all boisterous, obtrusive, or call for much attention, and I have at best a limited appreciation for memes of any variety. It's socially exhausting for me to be around these types of people for very long, too. Toohoo cosplay was great fun, even if we got stopped every ten seconds for pics when we were trying to be busy. But no okamisty! I was going to adopt her! Felt real sorry for the Rumia who wound up with food poisoning though. :C
Even if you're the type of person who doesn't get much out of socializing, the trip was worth it for its comedic value. Lots of funny moments in general. We had enough ridiculous happenings, cracks about balls and things that were deliberately misconstrued as racial slurs to last the trip. We watched Airplane. Momi in cosplay at 3 rest stops, dopey stuff happened that I wasn't even aware of. The panels that I visited were exclusively for comedic value. Metal Wolf Chaos is a phenomenon that has to be experienced. When the president of the US rides a giant mech into battle against the vice president's coup d'?tat forces on Alcatraz island, claiming he's going to "crush them faster than a Florida recount," you know it's going to be hysterical. The guy didn't even have to talk. The game told the story itself.
I think Mima-sama and I are going to have to get hitched out of principle, much to the chagrin of a friend of ours who has been a bit sweet on me recently. A piggyback ride, holding the back of his Mima outfit like you would a very formal dress (amongst OTHER things), sentai posing, reenacting scenes from the movie Titanic, and him asleep and drooling on my shoulder at 4 in the morning. What the hell. I didn't want it to come to this.
NOBU YOU MUST COME TO OTAKON!!!!! =|
Yesyesyes! Just be mindful that I cannot recommend a 14 hour road trip. Take the damn train. Unless you have an affinity for leg cramps and being in environments that can cause embolisms. Still, not only will you have the chance to meet pretty much the entire east coast Touhou fandom, but you'll get to 'experience' Baltimore as well! And might I also suggest the superior Touhou panel and the sagacious gentlemen who run it?
