This was the best con in a very long while. I think it deserves a full-on, old school review . . .
Thursday morning, April 21st. Kiddo is still sleeping on the couch surrounded by the squalor that is workshop-mode. I had to get a hair cut. I packed a couple reference pictures of Flynn Rider and off I went to the same people who have been cutting my hair for near twenty-odd years. They didn't even skip a beat when I showed them the picture; they just analyzed it quickly, asked me about the back, and then within the hour I was done.
Came back home, rinsed my head off, started making runs down to the car while kiddo got herself respectable for going outdoors. It was quite a few trips: toy swords and guns, bags, a sewing machine, a box of free swag for the meet-up . . . a giant freakin' foam scythe . . . anyway, it was about 11am and we had a mission to get to the convention before 4:30pm - we had an appointment to make . . .
About 11:30, we grabbed our other con buddy Jedrick. He too had quite a few toys to load in - however, his actually luggage was super light. So good on ya, Jed'! And then off to the border we went . . .
. . . and saw a sign that said the border wait would be 70 minutes. Crap . . .
On the plus side, it meant we got to check out the Peace Arch duty-free shop. And that place is freakin' gorgeous! I grabbed some maple syrup cookies for the meet-up, and kiddo bought some shot glasses (also for the meet-up). Anyway, we were killing too much time. We had to get back on the road!
Anyway, it turned out that the border wait time sign thingy was full of crap, and the border wait was all of ten minutes. We also had a super classy border guard . . .
"Where you all headed?"
"Seattle."
"How long will you be gone?"
"Coming back on Sunday."
"Purpose of the trip?"
"Anime convention."
"And why are you bringing so much junk with you?"
"They're props for costumes."
*Passports get handed over*
"How do you know her? (*motioning to Alexa*)"
"We were roommates."
"Hm... you two dating?"
"No."
"Okay... had to ask... can you please look angry for a second (*comparing us to our passport photos*)... thanks! What are you bringing?"
"Sorry?"
"Bringing anything illegal? Meth? Heroin?"
"No... just maple syrup cookies."
*He gives us a double take before laughing a little*
"I don't like those. It's too much sugar, it'll kill ya..."
"Yeah, probably."
*He hands our passports back*
"I like the black hair."
"Sorry?"
"Your hair (*talking to Alexa*). It looks good dark."
"Ah... (*Realizing he was talking about her passport photo*)"
"Have a good trip!"
"Thank you! Have a nice day!"
Laughter.
Once we were back on the road, we made it a mission to find some glorious cheap American gasoline with which to fill the car. We also started playing the Tangled soundtrack on my iPod. Kiddo and I sing along profusely while Jed' whistles. We find gas during "Mother Knows Best". I'm also pretty sure I start drinking my first Red Bull around then as well.
We see a "Death Race" modelled car driving on the interstate with us, fake machine-guns and all. Jed' gets some video on his iPhone. Just one of those things, y'know?
Further down the road we decide it's time to get lunch. We hit up Taco Bell and gorge ourselves on delicious food for under five dollars US (meaning it was even less in Canadian). My mouth kills, however, because I got to start nursing a canker sore or something on the lower-right inside of my mouth. It's a delicious hurt, though.
Back on the road, kiddo and I once again prove that we can rock the harmonies to "I See The Light". I'm pretty sure we high-fived or fist-bumped afterward.
Made another stop at a gigantic Wal-Mart in the middle of nowhere; kiddo needs black tights and I wanna find a new potential belt for my Flynn cosplay. We find both and again marvel at the glory that is Wal-Mart in America. And then kiddo forgets the tights she bought at the check-out and we have to go back in to get them. Whatever, back to the road!
We actually make pretty good time, and just a bit after 3pm or so we reach that one glorious point of the trip where you just come into the city limits of Seattle, Washington. I swear, it blows my mind every time - it's like that part in the new Star Trek where they get around the space station and you see the Enterprise for the first time (with the epic music and stuff). You're just driving on interstate, interstate, surrounded by trees and interstate . . . and suddenly you clear the trees and BAM!!! Ocean, harbour, downtown Seattle skyline, giant container cranes . . . it's awesome.
Feeling exhausted and such, we get to the Sheraton Hotel at about 4pm, unload (almost) all our stuff and check into our room. Then we hit a snag because they gave us a one-bed room for three people. The guy helping us with our luggage fixes that quickly, and we thank him with tips.
Anyway, we're all pretty much set! Now we have places to be!
A few days earlier in the week, the Fantasy Fight Tournament organizer posted on the forums saying they wanted to videotape some promo/trash-talk vignettes with the teams that they could play before the event. Though most people said they wouldn't be able to due to time constraints, we quickly put on a little bit of cosplay to get into the spirit of it all. Kiddo puts on her wig and puts in her eyes; I put on my Flynn shirt and sachel over my jeans (as well as my "Gallian Squad Seven: Lionheart" dog tag I won after the last fight tournament); Jed', well . . . he puts on ALL his Ezio cosplay - that's how Jed' rolls.
We figure we're gonna be late since the plan was for teams to meet at 4:30pm and it was already 20 minutes after that. Evidently, we were the first to arrive. We laugh and chill with two of the most badass Vancouver-based photogs while they hold their little "Fantasy Fight Tournament" sign at the top of the escalator. Eventually another team arrives and as time goes on I realize it's the girl on the forum that made the hilarious EpicMealTime reference that we all eventually ran with - I think it's a Canadian thing.
Anyway, we record our trash talk, mostly of kiddo being really nice while I look really put off and bored and Jed' looks menacing. It works.
As we do that, we finally meet up with our friend Bijua/Zack/Pyro who has finally arrived with his team. It's always a blast to see him since he's just so gosh-darn enthusiastic about life, and it's actually pretty infectious. We talk a bit, learn about this and that, find out there's no line for pre-reg at all . . .
. . . well, five minutes later, we had all our convention badges. Much better deal than the 6 hours we spent in line Friday last year. So yes, we're set!
Quick stop back to the hotel to gear down to our civvies again; all we need now is snacks and booze for the weekend! Time for a trip to Uwajimawa!!!
B. graciously acts as our guide to Uwajimawa. He's a good sport, and plays host so well to us. He tells his other friends he'll meet them for dinner after, and the four of us head off to the bus. Literally every five minutes he runs into someone he knows. We call him a slut. He corrects us saying he's a "man whore" because that sounds classier. We assure him it really doesn't.
Laughter.
Anyway, we load up on super cheap beer, sake, and assorted wines as well as sweet buns and Filipino taro-filled buns. We're in a good way.
Back to downtown Seattle, we head over to the Red Lion Hotel where B. is staying. He has our chameleon.
We retrieve our chameleon. And our chameleon is glorious.
It's pushing 8pm now and we're hungry. We leave B. to his own devices and hit up a Subway around the corner. Mm, delicious Subway . . . we bring it back to the hotel and nonch while getting our gear and people in order.
The sore in my mouth continues to piss me off.
Soon enough our hotel room becomes a convention of its own: our other 5 friends from Vancouver are there, as are all of Laura's roommates. You see, Laura has been dying to do sake bombs with us for years . . .
. . . and then Laura found out that sake bombs involve beer, which Laura does not like.
Oh Laura . . .
Also, Jed' finds out that he really, really, really likes lychee wine. Jed' and I deplete our stores of sake, Sapporo, and lychee wine. I witness the beginning of a curious, somewhat out-of-character trend for Jed' who simply states, "I'm on vacation."
After everyone clears out for the most part, we just prep ourselves for convention time, laying out cosplays and finishing off the last bits of detail for this and that - kiddo is still rushing to finish off her Black Rock Shooter cosplay, especially on account that she flubbed up an entire panel that had to be redone. I'm also sorting out all the free stuff for the theO meet-up. It was all a rush job, and I was definitely worried it all wouldn't be as awesome as they usually are.
Myself, I take an atypical evening shower so we can save time in the morning. Felt good.
Anyway, we all conk out soon enough, ready for a long-assed Friday. Well, I toss quite a bit, and Jed' has his legs over on my side of the bed more than he should . . . such is the fun of hotel sharing, y'know?
Kiddo seemed to have a relaxing night, though . . .
. . . anyway, that was Thursday.