Its finally over, and well, as the Con Host I guess I have a lot to say?
Note I'm going to be rather specific cause well, as the Con Co-ordinator, I had a lot of stress and figured you should all know what I was going through or something! That, and I'm meeple; wordiness is what I do!
First off, I did want to meet up with Soppy/Grefter on Monday...til I realized Grefter was getting in late, so realized that wasn't realistically happening, oh well. THAT SAID...
Tuesday
Futzed around until about 2 PM doing some last minute shenanigans, then picked up Tonfa at JFK! Its really quite amazing, cause you see, La Guardia is about 80% of the way to JFK in terms of distance...but barely 50% of the way in terms of time! The traffic difference between the two is astounding.
Anyway, Tonfa initially told me the wrong Terminal to go to...this...caused some confusion! Luckily, we stumbled into one another, and I was wearing my DLC2 Nametag, so we found each other through that. Way back was a lot less painful than the way there; JFK is EVIL in the afternoon. EVIL I SAY!
Now this was probably the hardest part of the con, oddly. Having to be a good host to ONE person is somewhat harder than several, cause you have to keep them entertained, where as when there are 3, they can usually keep themselves company so you just need to be available to help. This goes double for someone whose coming across seas and its their first time in a foreign country so...yeah. My parents were trying to give me a crash course in hosting, even though I was doing a lot of what they said, and was also trying to explain "He explicitly said he didn't want this! Bringing it out isn't going to change his opinion!"
Yeah, at this point, I'm a little worried. It didn't help that my parents are all like "Take him to New York!" cause I had no clue when i could do that, given OK/Djinn were arriving mid day in Wensday...
Fun fact: Tonfa and I entered the house JUST as my sister was using Ancient Catastrophe for the first time. She was excited since she's only pulled off Yuri and Judith's MA's beforehand, and Rita is her favorite character by far, so it was nice to see that.
Wensday
I decided that it might not be a bad idea to pay Soppy a visit for the following reasons:
-Grefter's there, and he's fun to talk with
-Lets Tonfa familiarize himself with two other people besides myself, when things aren't quite so hectic, so at least he gets a chance to meet some people without feeling too intimidated
-Makes my life easier since being there is a good way to kill time and I don't have to try and keep things together until OK/Djinn arrive (see comments about how much easier it is to deal with 3 people than 1, despite how odd this sounds.)
-Soppy has commuted to New York plenty, so he knows the Bus Schedules and how to read them and such, so he could help out with that. PLus he knows of places to see.
Tonfa was thankfully content with just having cereal for breakfast, so yeah, after that, we headed out! Had fun talking to the Soppy/Grefter about arbitrary shit, had Pizza at a local pizza place, etc. I can't help but agree with Soppy that if there's one thing Jersey gets right, its Pizza.
We left about 1 PM, cause we were expecting OK to come in, and I kind of wanted to be home when he was. Brawl ensued to kill time! Then I was needed to pick up sister from camp...my fear was this would be exactly when OK arrived ensuing in awkward scenario...thankfully, this was not the case!
OK told me he was near Webster, so I decided to try and flag him down...wasn't needed, since he found my street easy enough, but led to some amusement. I found it equally amusing that my sister was playing Brawl with Tonfa by the time I got OK and Djinn into my house! At this point, we just talked for about 40 minutes, then I whipped OK and Djinn into bussing down to New York.
So we took the bus in! First thing in New York? Grab Dinner in Port Authority! Apparently we were all hungry so yeah. After that, off to Time Square! Thankfully my parents had the decency to tell me Time Square was on 42nd and right near Port Authority, so finding it was easy. ("How do we know if we're going the right way?" *We all look at a giant Wii Resort Sign on a building that's elaborate and video'd and such* "...I'm pretty sure its this way...")
Not much happened in Time Square, but...well, just SEEING it is big deal, since its Time. Fucking. Square. It also relieves some potential regret of not having brought someone who flew overseas SO CLOSE TO NEW YORK not into New York. Anyway, it WAS raining most of the time we were there...so it wasn't the most pleasant of experiences...but made for great conversations as we whined! Also gave us an incentive to enter the most random of shops (MTV shop was completely useless!), and OK forced us to look for a Costume Shop somewhat outside of Time Square...which was already closed...and apparently into more Bondage Witch type stuff than Kaiba.
We did go to the Toys R Us at least, where OK got disappointed he couldn't ride the Barbie Dream Car, cause there was a line for the Ferris Wheel. Also we couldn't find a Piplup to surprise Ciato with, though we did take a picture of one! (its seen above.)
Then we got Ice Cream cause they were handing out "Buy one, get one free" coupons. OK apparently read it wrong and uh...this led to confusion for him paying...things worked out though <_<;
When we go back, not much to say. They all just got themselves ready. The light we gave Tonfa to use for convenience for finding the bathroom in the dark did die, so I ran and grabbed a flashlight. OK got the luxury of using a Roger Rabbit Sleeping Bag that all 3 of my sisters used at one point; he found this a great...honor...
Thursday
Alright, first off, OK agreed to drive the first group of people...whom ended up being delayed in a number of ways, and yeah, I think others who were in that group can explain the shenanigans better than I can! But anyway, I made pancakes for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE here, and the 3 of them found it hard to believe cause they were actually good. Apparently I have a natural talent in making Pancakes...
Before OK left, we went to Gamestop, and Djinn bought CV:J...which he later said we could keep cause he has no use for it in Japan. This is either a blessing cause "yay, free game!" or a curse cause "HA HA YOU OWN CV:J!" At least I can safely say I didn't spend money on it <_<;
Getting the game was a smart thing though, cause it had a lot of amusement value (for all the wrong reasons) at the Con, especially when people left, and Tonfa, Nitori, Djinn and Myself all tried to play the game to unlock characters, and learning of the deep plot and such! Also Tonfa gained a new catchphrase <.<
Throughout Thursday, I'm dealing with random textings from Ciato, Xer whining about DC, and other such fun stuff. Just when I'm about to leave to pick up Ciato...
"Yo, Meeple, we're lost on Route 23, care to tell us how to get to your house from there?"
...ok, so now Xer and Sage are close enough to my house that I feel I should wait til they get thre cause it'd be awkward if it wasn't. Damn it, now Ciato's gonna have to wait for me which means she'll eat my soul!
About 10 minutes later...
"Meeple, your directions didn't help! We're stuck at Pacanack Lane Road!"
Ok, first off, the "Lane" thing kind of through me for a loop...cause I never heard of that...I just hoped they meant "Lake"...then Xer mentioned a Rite Aid, so I knew exactly where they were! I said "Fuck it" cause I was so close and just drove there, and had them follow me back. It turns out its exactly as I predicted; they merely DIDN'T GO FAR ENOUGH on Route 23; I even said "You will pass a Gamestop, just stay to your right at the Light after that!" DAMN YOU GUYS!!!!
*ahem*
Anyway, after Xer and Sage settled in...kind of...I left to get Ciato.
THANKFULLY, Soppy was already at my house by this point (with Grefter), so there was at least one person who I could trust and knows Jersey, and thankfully my Brother was home so there was one person who knew my house...even if it was Jeff. I actually managed to get his attention and tell him to HELP OUT when I'm not there. This apparently translated to "play Brawl with the others." ...well, whatever, at least it got him to acknowledge there were people in the house...which may have been a bad thing. BUT anyway, with Soppy being there, I felt more comfortable leaving, as he's someone my parents at least know a little bit, so yeah, he was in charge of the Con while I was gone!
Getting to La Guardia was painless as expected. Finding Ciato wasn't too hard either; she was eagerly standing in the front of the crowd checking every single black car, so when I saw her, I just waved, she jumped in, and first thing she said after initial greetings? "Meeple, shut up! I need to make a call!" It was 5 seconds after she called that OK decided to call me, so I promptly picked up the phone and just said "OK, shut up, I'll call you back." Is this rude? Of course! But I'm mostly just trying to get home at this point damn it!
The ride back we hit traffic but...Ciato being in the car just made things so much less painful, cause having someone familiar to talk too just helps make the time go by faster. I then decide to whip someone to come with me for when I take Tonfa back to JFK on Sunday! ...but who that is? Find out soon!
When we returned, my first thing was to deal with food, so I just shout "Anybody against getting Pizza?" then proceeded...PIZZA DRAMA!!! as far as what people wanted.
"Ok, so 9 Plain, one Green peppers?" "Get me one with Mushrooms!" and such.
EVENTUALLY we this worked out, and after requesting a few people come with me to help carry the damn pies, 3 people came with me (not gonna single out people here...for reasons you'll find out soon!). I should note that I specifically requested that everyone be wearing shoes (or something similar to shoes like Sandals) upon entering my car; at least one person tried to come without them, I almost face palmed after I said "please put shoes on" and their response was "Do I have to?"
After returning, we started eating and such, but before I could eat, I had to run around getting sodas outside and what not, since we were eating out there! Why? Cause there was actual space and its cooler outside than in my basement when there's 18~ People. It was around this time that Pyro got intrigued by my sister playing ToV, and saw the "ANCIENT CATASTROPHE ^_^" I think Ciato witnessed this too, and also found it adorably cute.
Then OK and I left for the Airport to pick up the last 5 people...super tagged along too for some reason, going with OK...despite OK's constant "DON'T COME WITH ME!" in fear of...well, if you don't know why OK was afraid, I shouldn't have to explain! OK grabbed Dhyer and Tai, while I got Gate and MC, and we waited for Niu...who was on the OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE AIRPORT. Ok, this is actually how it went...
I get Niu on the Cellphone, he tells me he's in Continental, at Baggage Claim #1...well, Continental happens to be in Terminal A! Yet...its a dead zone there...we then call him again...turns out the MAIN part of Continental is in Terminal C...so we have to head down there. Thank god for Airtrains!
As far as finding Niu himself? Well, once we got to the right gate, I saw an Asian playing a DS...needless to say, figuring out this was him wasn't hard <.<
On the way back, I proceeded to make the same futz up I usually do from Newark and get on 3 East instead of 3 West and make the trip a little longer...thankfully, I know exactly where the turn around is...which is after Route 3 ends...but no big! I bring this up mostly for this reason:
Niu: Meeple, are we still lost or have you turned around yet?
Me: Actually, that's the Hotel Right in front of us...
Yeah, kind of forgot to say "Ok, we're now on the right track!" I was never actually lost, perse, just...sort of went East to go West, when I didn't need too! Go figure, next time I make a trip to Newark, I found out what i was doing wrong and will never make that mistake gain!
Not much else happens from here...so onto...
Friday
This time, Nitori was here instead of OK, who moved onto the Hotel now that his reservation is active. Pancakes made again, I get a call from Xer asking if he can enter the house at 8:30...I politely tell him that the 3 staying here have not woken up yet, let alone eaten breakfast *OR* taken showers and such, and that he should wait. Getting a little eager there damn it!
At this point, not much happens throughout out. People arrive, shit happens, music quiz taken! There were a lot of problems just doing the damn thing, including a few songs that I had to fix not playing properly so uh, yeah. Super also claimed to have known all the songs, but he couldn't remember where a few were from, making me run all the way up to my room, check the answer key, then come back; I'm so glad I chose not to participate, instead act as judges. Fuck it, I'm doing all DLC Music Quizes from here on in damn it EVEN IF IT KILLS ME!
After that, I think we headed to the mall...I honestly can't remember what we did for lunch, I think people just sort of skipped that, and had an early dinner at the mall. The Cheesecake Factory was great, for all that I had problems eating my Ice Cream Brownie Sundae for the following reasons:
1. The way it was designed made it hard to actually eat without making a mess of myself
2. I was kind of stuffed from dinner
3. Soppy and Grefter (and eventually OK, who...was more making fun of himself) comments about the sundae and how it looked had me laughing too much to actually stomach the food. The two wouldn't let up either, especially when OK joined in and Grefter had constant "ANd yet, OK still has no problems with putting this in his mouth..." responses everytime OK spoke.
Returning, I started my Yiazmat fight! I ended it roughly halfway for a few reasons, the main one was that Shale was coming and I figured I should be full alert as he got close. Never got a chance to finish the fight, but I think I'm doing well!
Shale got there...rather late, but eh, whatever.
AFter people left, I had to sadly act like a bit of a jerk and tell the 3 people crashing at my house to fend for themselves? Reasons being...
Saturday
I had to wake up DAMN EARLY here. Like, 5 AM. Why? Cause Elfboy was coming into JFK at like 7...which ended up coming in an hour early! I was constantly yelling "DAMN YOU ELFBOY!!!" the previous days cause the combination of Damn Early Flight + JFK = ;_;
LUCKILY, Ciato volunteered to join me in the drive, so I grabbed her along the way. This really did make the drive down there a lot more enjoyable, for reasons I stated earlier. Because its saturday and damn early, drive down there wasn't too painful, but still took about an hour. We found Elfboy easily enough, then way back!
The most amusing thing happened here:
After all those constant "DAMN YOU ELFBOY FOR COMING INTO JFK!" shouts and hate yells...this ended up being a blessing in disguise. La Guardia apparently had a False Bomb Scare that caused the entire airport to evacuate, which caused immense traffic on the way out...which ended at the Parking Lot, so we basically drove right past it without incident, more just going "huh, what happened there?" So yeah, I was forced to take back everything I said <_<;
The Fighting game tourney...well, I got 3rd in Battle Fantasia, putting up what was a good fight with Sage in the semi finals but ultimately losing I felt. Repeated DLC2 by taking the SF4 Tourney, beating Sage first round and sort of crushing everyone with Ryu...its funny cause while SF2 was a game I played a lot, SF4 I have limited experience with, just lucky Ryu's general fighting style plays the same. Won a match in Brawl, this time NOT drawing Elfboy round 1! Tried to be bold with Ike vs. Pikachu round two, this didn't work out so well. Failed it up in SC4 and faced Elfboy round 1 in Blazblue, winning a Snowbait match cause neither of us had any clue what we were doing...then lost to Andrew, aka the only player who had any clue what he was doing besides Niu, the following round.
Prizes were a Burger King Gift Card (I can make limited use of this, yay!), Dissidia Hero's Guide (before someone says "predictable" I should note that everything else there had no appeal value to me whatsoever!), and an FESD Japanese guide (i didn't see this initially when I picked the Dissidia thing, so when I saw there was an FE thing, I said "yeah, obviously more interesting than everything else.) I would have liked the Terra Figurine Tonfa got from the Music Quiz in his collection...but it did mean I didn't get 2 Rinoa FIgurines or a Songstress Yuna, so I can live <.<
Con pic! I am still questioning why I didn't just call my mother to take it; she'd have made the scenario far less Snowbait than letting my brother deal with it. But oh well, at least the pics didn't look too horrible...just took forever.
OK's car then breaks down and...yeah, our perfect "5 cars, 25 people, yay!" thing kind of dies. So now I'm forced to ferry two trips, as is Soppy...well, actually Soppy didn't cause OK had to stay with his car. Though, Soppy did ferry people on the way back as I had to go grab OK.
Gamestop, I grabbed MMSF3...I need to actually test if that works on that note <_<
Then to bowling! ...where I sucked round 1, did alright round 2, Ciato beat me both times *shakes fist* Would have liked to play another game, but I ddin't want to leave OK waiting, so I rushed out of there, with the people in my lane + Niu. To be nice, I dropped them by the place near the Hotel with food, so they could have knife fights over Pizza vs. Chinese Food. Eventually, OK and I joined them since it was on the way, and OK was hungry, so figured he should be allowed to do something like this, and hey, others are there, why not?
Saturday Night was uneventful, outside of the Arkham Game going on a while, and me wanting people out of my house so Nitori could get sleep and prepare to leave cause he had to be out of there by 8:30...and I was waking up early to get Niu anyway! Thankfully Shale volunteered to take the 8:30 trio.
Sunday
First drove Niu back to Newark, with little problems. Niu and I had some fun conversations, such like "FF4TA is the worst idea ever" and what not. Niu can be a fun conversationalist, you just have to provoke it with him, see. Otherwise, he just plays his DS the entire way!
I get back, the trio at my house and myself play SC4, laughing at the character designs from Auto Custom. Then Nitori leaves with Shale. Shale also left to pick up Fnorder later on...which was a bad idea cause he had to leave with other soon too and...yeah, sounds like Zenny ALMOST missed his flight...but he got there, so yeah, no problems, yay!
Anyway, about 11:30, I drove Gate, MC, Pyro and Dhyer back to Newark. Nothing really big here...except there was a huge fucking storm and visibility was awful on the Turnpike. I was genuinely afraid of driving into JFK at this point later for Tonfa...THANK GOD the storm seemed to be moving south or something, as later there was no weather problems.
Then OK learns his car is ready, Tonfa has to get to JFK cause he's the last person I want to to miss a flight hence leaving 5 hours before his flight gets there, and its JFK so we don't know traffic, and I force Djinn to come with me so I have someone to talk to. Oh yeah, seems Sage/Xer had already left!
Go OK to his car, Tonfa to the airport with PLENTY of time to spare, and then drove back wasn't painful cause Djinn was there. Its like I said; having one other person in the car makes rides so much more tolerable. Djinn, I really appreciate it.
Why Djinn? Cause he was staying at my house an extra night *ANYWAY*, so he had the time. Ciato and Elfboy could have come too...but well, I figured Elfboy still wasn't quite settled in from the previous day and he missed most of the con, it wouldn't be right. Djinn was nice enough to leave his PSP at my house, letting my sister play Prinny...of which I hate him for since he's corrupting my sister with such things that early!!!!
When we get home, my sister is watching TV, my brother starts rambling about CV:J...we both just sort of go off to deal with stuff...my mother comes upstairs asking when I got home 20 minutes later, explaining how she made dinner for us and spent the last 2 hours speaking to Elfboy and Ciato. I explain how my sister (whose 8 to be fair), and my brother (whose just flat out oblivious) didn't even so much as HINT this was the case. So uh yeah, Elfboy and Ciato were in my house the entire time when I sort of expected they were at the Hotel or off on a walk or something, embarrassing moment ensues!
Rest of the night was mostly the Mega Man trio talking about random stuff and Djinn corrupting my sister further with Prinny ( ;_; ) Took Ciato/Elfboy back to the Hotel, Djinn and I cleaned up basement a bit, he gave me Dissidia Post Card BOok and a DS Kanji Translator as gifts and thanks for letting him bunk there; appreciate it man!
Anyway, that's it for the con; I'll get post con stuff up...eventually...figure one wall of text at a time though.
