At Last! The MiniMerlin Con Report! \0/

[solarcat]

Yes, I know, I am lame. I totally promised this ages ago, and it's not even going to be complete! Argh! Since I'm doing this at work, I can't add the bit about how to get those nifty little crown and shield icons for people (solar_cat) and communities (minimerlin). But I will post again and edit this with a link, or something, once I'm back on my beloved laptop. <3


So! MiniMerlin 2009! \0/


Thursday night was a bit insane, with all the last-minute prep that needed to be done before the con. Luckily, the fantastic and wonderful ocelotspots was coming over anyway for our weekly double-date with Sam and Dean Winchester, and was so incredibly helpful that I don't even have words. Guys, she spent like, hours gluesticking name badges together for us. <3333333 *glomps ocelotspots* So a massive and huge shout-out for keeping me from going absolutely frigging NUTS on Thursday!!

So then it was like, 4AM and since we were all going to pick up the car together in the morning anyway, ocelotspots sacked out in the guest room and we somehow managed to get a few hours of sleep before it was time to get up and get on the road!



Friday morning dawned, and ocelotspots and I picked up our awesome mishaland-inspired *Clasp Clasp* t-shirts (which had been shipped to us) from my landlord so that we could wear them and be matchy and ridiculous. [Pics to come!] Then bewarethesmirk had arrived, so we all set off for the fabulous Logan International Airport, where we went not to catch a plane, but to catch a bus to Hertz so we could get our car. (Hertz, btw, sucks ass when it comes to transport. But the guy from Dollar car rental gave us a ride over to Hertz. How nice is that???)

GUYS. OUR CAR. I CAN'T EVEN.

Okay, here's the story with the car. Mostly, we were going to be a car full of Supernatural fans (except poor bewarethesmirk, who is probably now considered a fan after having to put up with us babbling about it for so long). And we needed a good amount of space for luggage and such. So, being me and going for the lulz, I reserved us a "Chevy Impala or similar" from Hertz. We proceeded to geek out over this, and hoped that we would get our Impala. We also planned to name it Dean. =3

So then we got to Hertz, and I asked the woman at the counter whether they had a black Impala (because you never know unless you ask), and she said no. ...but that they DID have a white Impala. After a quick exchange of geeky expressions, we wholeheartedly agreed to this. See, on the way in, we had passed a white Impala, and it had been pronounced "Cas-ified", because clearly, it had been purified through angel-gropage.

We got our Impala. We named it Dean. We pronounced him to have been Cas-ified. And thus began the greatest road trip ever taken.

I cannot even count the number of fannish references we spotted on this trip. I don't know if it's even possible. But the kicker? Just as we were getting over to mirimeneume's house to pick her up, what do we find as we're flipping through radio stations, trying to find something that Dean would approve of? Carry On, Wayward Son. NOT. JOKING.

Best. Trip. Ever.

Our Deany-baby treated us real nice-like and we got into Philly right on schedule, even after stopping to have dinner at an Applebees where the waitress was sort of rude and the manager came over to card us (which we realized belatedly was probably because we were four young women with out-of-state IDs, all buying alcohol and before you ask, yes, I was driving, and as such, I had one beer with dinner. and yes, I was jealous of the fancy drinks. ;_;).

As we got into Philly (passing a building that said "DEAN" on the side in giant letters. still not kidding. I told you it was EPIC) on time, we managed to get the con started on time as well! Right around 7pm we checked in to the Con Suite and opened for business... and business boomed.

OH HAI ILU GUYS! <333

So Friday was pretty much a get-to-know-you time with everyone piling into the con suite and making WAY too much noise *cough* moonythestrals *cough* and drinking too much alcohol *cough* almost everyone *cough* XDDD and generally having a good time. It really was very loud, which was a definite issue, and something to be worked on for next time (though I think having a con suite in actual convention-type space separate from the hotel rooms will be very helpful). But it seemed like everyone was having a great time (I definitely was!), so I have to say I'm pleased with that.

We eventually retired to our rooms at dark o'clock sometime. I was rooming with ocelotspots, gblvr and shinetheway. Note to anyone who rooms with shinetheway in the future: threatening to smother her with a pillow is probably the only way to make her shut up and go to sleep. XDDDDD (ILU, Shine~! *blows kisses*) We all chatted for a while before nodding off, though, so it's all good. Unfortunately, that put us again at like, 4AM before we were asleep, so on Saturday there was much sleep deprivation for poor little Solarcats. ;_;



Saturday! Saturday was great. We hauled our butts out of bed at various times. gblvr left us early to go have breakfast with treewishes, who was joining us that day. I slept in a bit, since we'd said we were starting at around 10AM, and was thusly rudely awakened at 10AM by archaeologist_d, who needed me to let her into the con suite. Seriously, what is with your people and your punctuality, jeez... XDDDD

Anyway, I let her into the suite and then some other people started showing up, so I went back to my room to get properly showered and dressed and make myself generally presentable. We all sort of gathered over the next hour and a half or so, and then we made a big con field trip out into the wilds of Philly, led by the intrepid kerryblaze, who actually knew where she was going, to seek out the elusive "real" Philly cheesesteak. Despite the really freaking long walk, the cheesesteaks were fantastic. We stood in line for them for kinda ages (worth it!) and then colonized a playground picnic table area in order to eat them. My table got extremely distracted by discussions of Due South and how everyone in the universe should watch it because it is fun and also gaaaaaaaaay! Hopefully we convinced a few people to join our Mountie-love. =3

Eventually some of us returned to the hotel while others did the Philly tourist thing. I was one of the ones who went back to the hotel, where we spent a rather relaxing afternoon chatting and watching Merlin episodes (amazing! we actually watched Merlin during MiniMerlin! Look at our on-topic-ness! \0/ ). Of course, there was the little corner of us who were swapping Supernatural fic recs and trying to catch up on the goings-on of the LA convention that was being held that weekend... XD

I was sort of over there, working out the kinks in the Vid Show, since the DVD decided to be hateful. =_=;; Of course. But, technical difficulties are to be expected. And we had our share. The plan was to play the Vid Show on the TV that gblvr was totally awesome about bringing with her (♥!!!), but it was discovered that it didn't have an HDMI port after all, so we ended up propping my laptop up and just playing the Vid Show out of iTunes. XD

The plan had also been for the Con Suite to be the "quiet room" during the Vid Show, and for people who wanted to talk to go next door. That... got reversed. Mostly because we all started drinking around... 5pm? Maybe? Anyway, the whole room was three sheets to the wind by the time the pizza showed up, so the quiet-types moved next door and took a copy of the Vid Show with them, which I hope they enjoyed (did you guys like it? *was nervous about this*). The Con Suite... Um. Well. Others have spoken on this topic. I will simply say that having one's ear nibbled on while lying basically beneath three girls who are all making out with each other? Fun experience. =3 But yes. It was apparently Fangirls Gone Wild night in the Con Suite. I had a good time, though yes, this is another one of those things we want to avoid next time. Darn. XD

Surprisingly, we all quieted down by the time we started showing vids, and the making out was pretty much reserved for between-vids times. Personally, I enjoy cuddling, so watching Merlin/Arthur vids in a pile of cuddly, still-kinda-drunken fangirls? Yeah, pretty much how I'd like to spend every Saturday night, plzkthx. *G*

Eventually, though, we all sort of drifted away, since we were all falling asleep all over the Con Suite and thought it best to go back to our own rooms. This was lucky, since we were all leaving just as the fuzz showed up. ...Yeah, I mean hotel security. Actually, it wasn't us they were busting, it was this even louder than us party (were they there for a wedding or something?) who were screaming in the halls and stuff. Crazy. Anyway, we got a small warning that we weren't supposed to have more than five people in a room at a time (lulz), so we all just nodded and agreed and were grateful he hadn't shown up an hour before. Or worse, the night before, when we had the entire con stuffed in there. XDDD



Sunday morning brought a pleasant surprise in the form of the goddess libitina, who cleaned the Con Suite. <33333333 We had just left it a mess the night before and asked anyone who was going to be around to come to the Suite around 11AM-ish to help us clean it up before we had to check out. Then we arrived and... voila! Clean-ness! \0/ It was AMAZING and WONDERFUL and seriously, libitina, soul of my firstborn. All yours.

So those of us who gathered did a bit more tidying, packed up the TV and suchlike things, attempted to hide the vodka-soaked telephone (it's probably best not to ask), and generally geared up to head out. We lost a lot of people at that point, but ocelotspots, bewarethesmirk, mirimeneume, ras_elased, gblvr, libitina and alixtii and I decided to go to the Chili's behind the hotel for lunch before we went our separate ways.

Oh my god you guys. Chili's. I can't even.

So everyone there was on uppers. Not even joking. It had to be something in the water. The hostess was perky, our waiter, Mike, was perky. In fact, Mike the perky waiter... well, we'll get there. Anyway, this inspired much silliness in us, and we started discussing Sam & Dean going to Chili's and how Dean would hatehatehate the soundtrack (all 90s pop. the popslashers among us were amused), and then somehow it evolved into Merlin/SPN/Merlin RPS/CW RPS/Chili's RPS insanity. Ye Olde Chili's, you guys. Because okay, we decided that Mike the Perky Waiter desperately needed to be slashed with our boys. All of them. Merlin, Arthur, Sam, Dean, Colin, Bradley, Jared, and Jensen. Possibly at different times. >.>;; But this WILL HAPPEN. We are working on it. Be prepared for some of the most epic crack!fic that ever did smoke crack. <3333

And then this random woman molested me in the bathroom. Of the Chili's.

(Seriously, she walked up behind me and adjusted the strap on my messenger bag and said something like "Just making you more comfortable". At this point, the four of us in the bathroom hightailed it before we totally lost it, scaring pretty much everyone in the Chili's with our completely scandalized giggling, because who does that??? And then she followed us back to our table. No lie. It was so fucked up. XDDDD )

At this point (after another waiter had commented on ocelotspots's Joss Whedon t-shirt, but in a non-creepy way, we left the Chili's and hit the road for home.

Once again, Deany-baby loved us and treated us real nice, and in return we slapped him on the ass a few times.

Oh, right.



So then we wound up in Manhattan. Because ocelotspots, who was my navigator, was not paying attention (♥ it's not like any of the rest of us were, either) so we missed the Tappan Zee and ended up on the GW headed into New York City. We got stuck in traffic for ages and everyone needed to pee and so it was kinda fail. Also, we couldn't see anything through the fog. But we DID have a moment of squee for "Arthur Avenue", so. Not a total loss. XD

solar_cat has now been to New York City! Sort of! \0/ (Yup, I've never been. I know, I'm lame.)

I kinda crashed about 3/4ths of the way home, so mirimeneume got us to her house and ocelotspots got us back to the Hertz at the airport. ON SCHEDULE. Clearly, Castiel loves Dean us and wanted Dean us to be happy. <3

And then somehow we stumbled onto the T and all got home, and all was well! \0/


All in all? There were certainly some kinks that will need to be worked out for the next MMC, but we had a lot of fun! I'm really proud of how well it went, all things considered, particularly considering we had nearly 40 attendees (which is double what I originally thought the maximum would be!).



Special thanks go out to the following amazing people:

ocelotspots, for keeping me sane and for getting your fingers all glue-y so we could have awesome badges

incapricious, for making our fabulous posters

libitina, for printing said fabulous posters, cleaning the Con Suite, and generally being the most amazingly helpful person ever

gblvr, for bringing the TV and for all her awesome suggestions for MMCs improvement

cherrybina, for providing a ridiculous amount of alcohol to the con suite <3

kerryblaze, for being our tour guide to cheesesteak-topia

ras_elased, for making those adorable MiniMerlin activity books with Merlin and Arthur paper dolls

thisissirius, for sending us awesome stuff even though she couldn't come <333

emptybackpack, erjika, and ...everybody else who I can't remember off-hand, but all of the people in the Western US meetup group, for sending us an amazing care package full of goodies! <333333


...I'm sure I'm forgetting someone who did something awesome. But really, a big thanks to everyone for being so great and so understanding and amazing to one another and to me--I really could not have pulled this off without everyone coming together and really wanting this to work. I honestly don't have words, so have a big *HUG* from me, and know that I appreciate every tiny little thing you guys did to help MMC '09 run smoothly.

I promise, MMC '10 will be even better! =D


Oh my god I just spent TWO HOURS writing this. 0_0

Comments

[pez-gurl.livejournal.com]

Uh, I so mad I didn't go. But I got to live vicariously through bekkis and sent her lots of drunken texts. :D

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

Hopefully we'll snag you for the next one! ^^

Oooh, are you going to winchestercon, by any chance???? *looks hopeful*

[pez-gurl.livejournal.com]

I really, really want to. I'm going to try my hardest to go. I wanna soooooo bad. :D

[bekkis.livejournal.com]

I WILL PACK YOU IN MY LUGGAGE IF I MUST TO GET YOU TO WINCON<3

[pez-gurl.livejournal.com]

I WOULDN'T MIND IT.

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

Wait, to MMC version 2.0, or to WinCon? Because if you're trying to go to WinCon, it should be noted that we're looking for a fourth roommate... *pokes you*

[pez-gurl.livejournal.com]

To BOTH. :D I've gotta talk to my mother about it and get a job. And find a way to get there that isn't riding a plan all by myself.

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

Well, if you could get up to Boston to take the same flight as us, you wouldn't be on a plane by yourself. =D?

Anyway, it'd be awesome to have you!! We're still working this out, obviously, but we'll have to keep you in the loop if you're thinking about joining us. <3

[pez-gurl.livejournal.com]

I just have to figure out how to get to Boston cheaply, then. :D :D

I'd really, really love to come. I'm definitely going to try my hardest. And if I can't make it to wincon, then the money will go to the next minimerlin. :D

[thisissirius.livejournal.com]

OMG BB THANK YOU <3<3<3 IM GLAD YOU ENJOYED THE PARCEL <3

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

IT WAS AMAZING AND EVERYONE LOVED IT!! <3333 YOU ARE WIN, BB!

[bekkis.livejournal.com]

I love you for putting together such a fun con! Weee! You are made of win!!!

(I uh. Started the Chilli's porn. I'M SO ASHAMED.)

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

It's okay, ocelotspots started one, too. (And is going to send it to me to help with, so we're all guilty, here. XDDD )

Also, YOU CHANGED YOUR NAME AND THAT REALLY CONFUSED ME FOR LIKE, A WHOLE MINUTE. But now I can pronounce it. ...WIN! \0/

[bekkis.livejournal.com]

*g* Although mine has like. Jealous!Jensen. IDEK. WTF Brain.

Heeee! I wanted to change it for awhile! But yay! People can spell and pronounce it now! Wee!

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

Oh, excellent!! Hers is Merlin and Arthur, so we're off to a good start on the pan-fandom crackfest of Chili's RPS. XDDD

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the on-timeness on Sat. I was good, though. I wanted to show up at 9 AM. :P

Next time I'm coming Friday night!

You should go to NYC more often. There's tons of cool stuff there. Sorry about the GW, though. That's not a good thing, especially Sunday evening.

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, not at all! We had said we were starting at 10, I'm just a lazy-ass when I don't HAVE to be up in the morning. XD

But yes, Friday night is good times at con!! \0/


I should probably go to NYC... at all. I mean, all we did was drive, like, underneath Manhattan, or something. I didn't even really notice it, and then we were in the Bronx or something? I don't know. I was driving and trying to avoid being killed while switching lanes like a true Masshole, because that's how I roll. XD

[ocelotspots.livejournal.com]

I win the prize of most mentions in your post \0/ and I'm jealous of your awesome write-up because I have been way to lazy and busy to do mine yet. Crap.

Also I hope you're excited for tonight. I'm sitting in class wondering why I still have two hours before I can leave and freaking be there to watch SPN. <3 <3 <3

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

You totally win! \0/ (Probably by virtue of being with me, like, ALL WEEKEND. XDDD )

OMG I LOVE YOUR ICON IT IS WIN!!! =D


God I KNOOWWWW!! *wants out of here now plzkthx* >.

[ocelotspots.livejournal.com]

Yeah. All of my awesome is clearly just the awesome that rubbed off you onto me. Osmosis awesome or something. This all sounds vaguely dirtier than it probably should. Meh.

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THAT ICON I JUST WANT TO EAT EVERY SINGLE 4x17 FIC WITH A SPOON BECAUSE THEY ARE YUMMY LIKE ICE CREAM JUST LIKE MY ICON.

*stares at the clock*

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

Eh, whatever. As long as rubbing is involved somewhere. ;)

XDDD

YES. EXACTLY THAT. <3


I'm going out to get alcohol, so yeah. Should be home by the time you get here, but if I'm not, just hang around and I'll be back. ^^

[ocelotspots.livejournal.com]

Okay. I should be there shortly after 8, but if you don't answer the door I'll just lurk creepily and wait for you. And/or try your cell phone. As long as I don't witness any more drug deals I should be good, lol.

[gblvr.livejournal.com]

You are most welcome -- next time we'll get the TV (or the DVD) right!

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

We will! It is my goal! \0/ Or, well, the goal is to do the vid show somewhat sooner than "a day before the con". XDDD

[callmetothejedi.livejournal.com]

Wow. It sounds like you had an awesome time! I am kind of jealous. :D

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

There was much to be jealous of, it is true. =D I did have a good time, so I'm pleased with that. ^^

[treewishes.livejournal.com]

SO much fun!! Great report, too! :DDDDD

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you had a good time. =)

[puckling.livejournal.com]

ah! libitina. *makes another face + name connection*

Anyway, we got a small warning that we weren't supposed to have more than five people in a room at a time (lulz), so we all just nodded and agreed and were grateful he hadn't shown up an hour before. Or worse, the night before, when we had the entire con stuffed in there. XDDD

SNERK.

Also our mini Due South pimpage was awesome.

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

YES IT WAS. We shall have to do more to promote the love of our Mountie and his Rays in the future. <333

[puckling.livejournal.com]

TRUE FACT. They are so awesome, the whole world should know about them, if they don't already.

Also, do you want me to send out an email to our RoundMerlin writers asking for second drafts so you can do edits? You'll probably be out of if from MJ for a while yet, but I figured that it's best to start asking now and then have them trickle in than to have to bug people some more.

[unavee.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much again for organizing this; I had so much fun! I can't even imagine how great MMC '10 will be!

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

\0/ Hopefully, it will at least be better organized! XD But I'm glad you had a good time!!

[cherrybina.livejournal.com]

this is another one of those things we want to avoid next time.

WAIT. WHAT.

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

IN THE CON SUITE. Such behavior will be completely and totally encouraged acceptable in hotel rooms and suchlike. <333

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

dood, you were in my neck of the woods!?? (nyc, that is)

i'm so there for the next con, scheduling conflicts, notwithstanding. I WISH I COULD'VE MADE IT! Plan another one soon, y/y? maybe even make it in new york :O:O:O

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

Only briefly. And we spent all of it stuck in traffic, so it's not like you really missed anything. XD

Hopefully next time you will have more lead-time so you will be able to plan FOR the con rather than trying to smush the con in amongst other plans. ^^