Botcon 2006: Sinead's Report

Venue: Hyatt Regency convention centre, Lexington, Kentucky

Dates: 28th September - 1st October, 2006

Well, I'd say that this convention was a complete success. It was my first Botcon, and I don't think that I would have replaced it with any other weekend in the world for any amount of money. I'm glad that I was able to go and to talk with people and see the places I saw. It felt like a dream, and yet, I knew that it wasn't a dream.

And I do apologize about the length of the report. There's just so much that I wanted to share. (I hit the end of her report. . . 10 pages later . . . I'm so sorry . . .)

THURSDAY

I boarded the plane with my friend, Ehren, who was coming to chaperone me. Mum's orders, and I'm actually glad of it. He ended up both enjoying himself and the authors enjoyed his company as well. We left Providence, Rhode Island, journeyed to Charlotte, North Carolina, and then got to Lexington, Kentucky by a bit after noon. I was more nervous of meeting everyone than I had been of flying, as it was only my second trip flying anywhere, and I had been worrying about the flying bit a little. Ehren will always argue otherwise, that I worried too much.

The first author I met was Charade. She was nothing like I had imagined. Taller, more down to earth . . . *chuckles* and much more fun than simply talking to on the phone or over AIM. Much more animated and extraordinarily helpful, wanting to carry everything, helping with everything that she possibly could. I loved her from the moment I saw her, knowing that I had found another sister in spirit. She gave Ehren and myself a ride to the hotel where we were staying, then stayed with us while I settled into my room and Ehren settled into his then came into mine. We talked about so much, and I wish that I could remember what we had gone over, but it was just a blur.

I remember getting a call from Hacker, with her letting us know that they would be there around six. So we went out and got McDonald's (eewwwww) for dinner, since it was the closest and we were hungry. After eating while playing a game of Go, we talked a bit more when I got another call from Hacker.

They were in the lobby.

I booked it down the stairs, down a hall, hung a hard left, then another left and a right, burst into the lobby and tackled Hacker and Sapphire, knowing that they'd be comfortable with my hugging them. Miss Special smiled and watched, looking kinda unsure, but I made sure to say hi and a how are you. Then I was introduced to VampyreBlackArachnia. We called her VBA for the weekend, since that's a mouthful.

We helped them in with their bags. I accidentally led them up to the second floor, where Ehren and I were staying, before realizing that their room was 145 and not 245.

They settled themselves, and we soon headed off to get into the lines for registration. That was where I met Outtsyder, Stellartron, Baron, The Crab, and a few other people who I can't remember who they were at the time. It really was all a blur.

But all that I have to say about the registration is GET THE EARLIER REGISTRATION TIME!!! IT'S EVIL WAITING FOR THE STAFF TO GET TO THE SECONDARY REGISTRANTS!!! PLEASE!!! TRUST ME!!!

*ahem*

MSTF

All I have to say about that panel is that Go-bots are EVIL and so is Hasbro for endorsing them; G1 episodes have some ridiculous plot-lines that I don't think I'll ever understand; and that the pilot episodes of Beast Wars are hilariously wonderful if you have quick wit and a quicker mouth. For example, while Dinobot and Optimus were fighting upon the stone bride for the second part of that episode, their faces were reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaally close. So I leaned over to Hacker, whispering, "Kissy, kissy!"

Two seconds later, I kid you not, the three guys up front chorused, "They're gonna ki-iss, they're gonna ki-iss!"

Oh, yeah. That was good.

We went out and had dinner afterwards, getting a nice long walk in before we found the pizza parlor. While sitting in there, I ended up sketching while everyone else ate. I wasn't feeling all that good from both the flight and something else (probably McDonald's), so I didn't get anything to eat. But I did get something to drink, which was all right, and it held me going for a while.

Once done, we walked back to the parking lot for the convention center. And Charade's car wouldn't start. Hacker went ahead to get people to their hotels, then came back in case we needed someone to drive Ehren and myself back to La Quinta as well. Turns out that that had been a good plan, as we had to wait for Charade's step-father to come and help fix the car. Once he was there, we went back to the hotel, and slept.

FRIDAY

Well, I woke up at around 7 am, and got some tea and tried to wake up a little, but as many will attest from the weekend, I don't wake up easily. And that the last thing to wake up is my voice. Especially after laughing for so hard and so long after the MSTF. Sunday morning was worse, but that's something for later.

At 8:30, I had tea, was marginally awake, and we were on the way to pick Zucca up from the airport. His plane was a bit late in the coming, but that was all right. As soon as he came down to the baggage claim, where we were waiting for him, I went over to say hi. He picked me up in this massive hug. As in my feet weren't even on the ground anymore. It was priceless and wonderful.

And then I didn't let go.

Which caused him to say, "Sweetheart, Zucca can't breathe!"

Once his baggage was picked up, we went to the Hyatt and got him registered. Everyone enjoyed seeing him. By the time he was registered and had looked into the dealer room a bit, it was lunch time. While we were at lunch, and when I was shoving a few fries into my mouth, someone pointed out that Scott and someone else were coming down the stairs. It was Pauline Newstone, Airazor's VA. They came over when we waved, and talked for a few moments. I had been showing Zucca and Charade the picture I had sketched while we were at the airport earlier in the day, and so I pulled it out to show to Pauline. It was of Airazor and Tigatron, just their heads. She was totally shocked, and kinda stared for a moment. I don't have a picture of it to show anyone, but I think that the fact that I don't kinda makes it a bit more meaningful.

So I offered it to her, and she refused rather politely, wondering how I could part with something like that sketch. I smiled and told her "easily." I give off drawings and sketches here and there all the time. Because other people will most likely take more care of them than I will, letting my sketches rot in the sketchbook!

After she left with Scott and without the picture (I'd hand it off to her later), we continued eating, then went up to get autographs from the voice actors. I got Blu's first, then went to Paulene, handing her the drawing. I had to get back in line to go to Richard Newman's table, but that was all right. It was a short wait and nothing too horrible. It was so fantastic to be meeting these three. They really hadn't been to any other conventions before, so they didn't quite know what to expect. But they were pleasantly shocked and enjoyed the fandom presented to them. Richard especially was a total sweetheart. And Blu was just giving hugs out all around.

Once that was done, we went back to the hotel again, this time to settle Zucca in and get ready for a BWINT dinner that we were going to go to at the Cracker Barrel, which was literally within sight of my hotel window. While we were just relaxing a bit, Zucca pulled out a candle for Charade. And a smallish grey wolf plushie for me. It was fantastic. Perfect size, the fur was soft as a kitten's, and it was just the right size to hold onto while seated on a bed without looking childish. Because I didn't let go of that stuffie until we had to go to dinner.

Just before we were going to go to the dinner, I got a call from Hacker.

Ben Yee was going to be coming with us. As in the webmaster of Ben's World of Transformers. (AKA: www.bwtf.com )

That wasn't all.

Scott McNeil and Richard Newman were being brought.

I shrieked. Ben later blinked in reference to the phone call, then asked, "That was you?"

Yeah. I never said I was a calm one. After all, I did end up wearing my slippers to the dinner. Totally forgot to put my boots back on, and then felt too lazy to go back across the half-a-parking-lot to go back into my room and get them. It was all right, though. I wasn't too worried.

Totally nervous, though.

At the dinner, I ended up at Richard's table. On our side, it went Hacker, Richard, myself, Zucca, then on the other side, it was Ehren, a free seat, and then two of Charade's friends, then she sat at the head of the table. During that time, we ended up asking him who he enjoyed working with the most, which characters he enjoyed interacting with the most (answer to both those questions were the same: couldn't narrow it down; too many great characters in BW), and the entire conversation, as all good and great conversations should, has melded into a happy lump sitting between my ears. However, there were some great parts that really stood out. Hacker got him to say everyone's favorite line from BW: "I'm in a bad mood, understand?"; Scott (who was sitting directly behind me) managed to cause mayhem behind us and we'd only hear the strangest parts of his conversation at the strangest times; drinks and orders were taken amid much amusement; and so on and so forth.

But one of the best things was when I realized that I couldn't finish off my macaroni. So Zucca offered to help with it. I agreed to letting him have some of it, then continued my conversation with Richard. I heard my plate clonk back down in front of me, and after finishing speaking to Richard, I turned to stare down at the four macaroni elbows sitting on the plate beside the burger steak, then blinked, and said, "I said some."

Richard sounded like he was going to bust a gut, he was laughing so hard. I don't think that anyone at our table was able to keep themselves in their seats because of their laughter. Zucca had looked horrified, and began to give whatever was still left on his plate to me, but I held him off, laughing. That was the basic gist of how the evening was spent. AND I totally beat the pants offa Zucca at checkers while we were waiting for everyone to arrive! And don't argue, sweetie, you know that I won. *grins*

After dinner was over, we went outside and took pictures. But while we were just hanging outside and Scott and Richard got a deathstick smoked, I mingled, snapping as many candid pictures as I could of the authors. Then came the big group shot. There were about seven cameras going off at the same time, then three more and you know the deal. We were blinded and about ready to shoot the next person who took a picture.

After the dinner, Ehren went back to his room to sleep, while Zucca, Hacker and myself went to Sapphire, Miss Special, and VBA's room for a fanfic reading. It was the horror/suspense fic that VBA had written. Everyone else had gone to the advance DVD screening of the remastered version of Transformers: The Movie. By midnight, Hacker was about to pass out, so I offered her the other bed in my room, since she had brought a couple changes in her car as a "just in case" measure. She was out within minutes of her head touching the pillow, no lie.

I said my good-nights, then went up to my room and remained awake for a while, staring into the dark. I never did well with horror/suspense. Just not my thing. But I dropped off somehow.

SATURDAY

I woke up to hear a phone ringing. Literally. And it wasn't mine. Picked it up, croaked a "hello" and found out that Outtsyder, Baron and Stellartron had ended up in the lobby of La Quinta. Somehow. Mysteriously. They had to get into Hacker's car, and she was more dead than asleep. I wasn't going to wake her until after my shower, so I didn't. I took my shower, snitched her keys, let the other authors get their bags from her car, and somehow made it back up into my room before sitting on Hacker to wake her up.

Once ready and in matching "Got Scott?" shirts, we got on our way to the con center with Ehren and Zucca, who I had to wake up. Ehren wasn't afraid of waking him up, but probably thought that it would be better for someone who actually knew Zucca, a familiar face, to wake him up. I ended up being the "alarm clock," but I don't think that he minded much.

Once at the convention center, we met up with a few others, then went up to Dragony's room to get our faces painted. One of Dragony's friends, Heather "Violet," or "V," was done up at her favorite character: Waspinator. She came out so well. There was a tall guy from the Allspark boards who was done up as Silverbolt. I never remembered his name, so I ended up calling him Silverbolt through the entire weekend. I was next, and I ended up looking like Dinobot, and apparently, if I scowled, it looked all the more fierce. Which was SWEET!!! Hacker was done up as Rattrap. It was hilarious, because we were inseparable at this point, when Dinobot and Rattrap weren't supposed to be friends at all. Or so they would always claim.

Silverbolt ran down for a small competition while we were done up, while Ehren, Zucca, and Charade arrived. We all went down to the Hasbro New Product Unveiling panel at eleven. It was absolutely hilarious as people were looking at us while trying not to look at us. At the end of the panel, we were shown a small sneak-peak of the Transformers Movie that's coming out in 2007. We got them to play it a second time.

I don't care who you are. I don't care how long you've been a Transfan. TFTM2007 is going to be a great movie by my records. No excuses.

After the Hasbro panel, there was a panel in the same room for Blu, Pauline, Richard and Scott and voicing the Beast Wars. Richard saw our faces, recognized the characters, and had us stand up to show the room. We sat down. Scott came into the room, didn't see us, and about five minutes after the panel started and he was looking into the crowd, he blinked and stared. And that's a reaction that he doesn't give often. He had us stand up again. Later in the panel, I ended up asking them a question (I can't remember what it was), and Richard's jaw dropped. "It's you!" he said. "Rebecca! I didn't recognize you until you spoke! How are you!"

That was SO cool.

After a little while, I HAD to ask Scott to tell a story that I had heard at Anime Boston 2005. I wrote this in my con report of that year:

"'What was your most embarrassing moment in a recording studio?'

"He didn't want to answer, telling us that he knew he would be regretting it later, but . . . it happens that he told us in the long run. As many people know, he was Wolverine from X-Men Evolution, and this one time he was in this 'clash of the titans' scene. So he was in the complete knock over a building, benchpress a car then throw it a hundred yards mode, and was doing a huge, manly, 'I'm gonna go Canadian on your sorry butt, bub' roar.

"And at the end came the tiniest, most minuscule, puny little 'wheeter,' as a friend of mine said. You know, one of those small, squeaking farts that you can't stop and you know you're gonna get crap about it later from your pals. Yeah. They go wheeeeet. The best part about the whole incident was that the director just kinda stopped, then said, 'Can we play that back? There was something at the end of that.'

"Scott: 'No! No! There was noth-'

"'HYUURRRRAAAAAHHHHRRRR!!! -wheeeeet-''"

He wasn't too happy about my asking that story, I'm sure. But I had to share the wealth.

Now, to spare you, I'm gonna gloss over a lot of the details for the Saturday night dinner and all. Believe me, it was a long and full evening, and there was so much packed into it that it's all a blur anyway!

After the panel, we went and got lunch, then prowled the dealer's room for a short while. We went back to our hotel rooms to get ready for the Awards dinner. Zucca and Charade weren't going, so I let them hang in my room after Hacker and I were ready and done, leaving them a room key in case they locked themselves out for whatever reason. Ehren had to get sleep early, since he had a migraine.

But on the way back to the hotel, when Outtsyder found out that there was nowhere that he could crash and refresh himself, not to mention that there was no room in the car, he not only slammed the door of Hacker's Mom's SUV, but he cussed her out. Totally unacceptable and juvenile. Ehren and Zucca were shocked at his behavior, as was I. Granted, it was a change in plans, but it wasn't something that warranted behavior such as that.

Once we were ready, Hacker and I went down to the car, where we met up with Sapph, VBA and Miss Special. We got to the Convention center within a reasonable time, but the moment we were down at the level where the Awards Dinner was taking place, the doors opened and we, without planning to, chorused, "Wooooaaaaaahhhh."

The line wrapped almost all the way around the perimeter of the food court in the mini-mall that the convention center sports. That was a fair-sized food court, too. Within moments of seeing the mess that was the room we could stay in, we decided to eat and hang out in the food court, since there was no way that we'd be able to survive in the large room. So while eating in the court, we saw that Scott and an entourage were sitting at tables pushed together. We sat a space away to give them room, and were soon joined by Beastbot, the Crab, and quite a few others, including Ben Yee himself. I love that guy. I can't say it enough.

During one point, VBA had to get Scott on her camcorder to show her son, who was 2 and LOVES Beast Wars. I walked over with them, and was snapping pictures away with my Canon AE-1. That camera is a fiend to figure out but once you do, it's the perfect sweetheart, and will do anything you ask it to. Scott noticed it, then laughed, commenting upon how he preferred real cameras over digital ones.

Soon, it was time for the awards to be announced. We went in for that, and ended up watching the art awards being given out. My favorite piece, and I'm not just saying this to sound like I'm kissing up to her or anything, but it was the Tigatron painting by Dragony. Sadly, it didn't place. I was bummed about that, but excited about something else:

Botcon 2007 is in Providence, RI.

I live in Boston, MA.

One. Hour. Drive. Away.

I was on cloud nine for the rest of the evening, but sadly, that energy didn't last. I was nodding off during Zucca's fanfic reading of his first story in his Silverbolt series. (Forgive me, Zucca, but I can't remember the title!) By the time that we got into bed, I was done for. Utterly exhausted by the physical running around and the emotional bolstering-up I had been doing for a few close friends who needed the love and support. I didn't mind it in the least. It lead to a great and deep sleep.

SUNDAY

I dreaded Sunday. Zucca was flying home on Sunday. I didn't want him to leave yet. It felt too short to me.

Miss Special was also flying back on Sunday. I was going miss her horribly. Her sharp wit and quiet way of how to deal with people was nothing if not an inspiration.

We got in to the convention relatively early. When I was able to get a word in with the voice actors, I wished them a safe flight home. It had come to pass that I genuinely loved them as more than simple artists of their trade. Somehow, Richard, Pauline, and Blu had entered into a status that felt akin to "family" to me. And I would (and do) miss them. I was able to talk with Blu and Pauline before we had to get Zucca to the airport. Blu gave me the biggest hug, then commented about how I was giving him such a great hug. All I could do was shrug and reply, "When you go to a church for over ten years, you learn how to hug properly." He appreciated that.
Pauline was kind and smiling as well, imparting a tidbit about little-known information that I am foresworn not to repeat. And nobody could (or will) get me to repeat it. So there. Nyah! *grin, winks*

Then it was time to drive off to the airport. Hacker promised me icecream when we got back, and a nice, long, girl-to-girl chat. I promised to take her up on it.

I felt empty as we drove to the Lexington airport. It was almost too much for me to be standing there watching as Zucca was going to leave. But as I watched his face, as I watched the attendant, something felt strange. I had guessed it before he had made his way back to us, completely flabbergasted.

He was leaving on Monday.

All the way back to the convention center, my head was in a daze. More time had been given to us. By "us," I'm referring to all the authors, thank you. I'm a romantic sap, but seriously!

. . .

Okay, so I was glad that I was able to lean against his shoulder on the way back, all right? Yeesh.

We shocked everyone when we got back. I never was able to pick up that icecream favor from Hacker, but we had our time later on that night.

I wished Richard and Scott safe trips, got two more huge hugs, a promise from Richard that he would come to BWINT and read the stories here. I didn't even solicit that. He had asked what site we were from, and what names we went by on that site, saying that he wanted to read our stories. Zucca was standing beside me, wanting to wish the same thing I had to our "Rhinox," our calm, smiling center in the storm and stress of the convention.

Then came the announcements for who won two free trips to next year's Botcon. Unfortunately, none of our group were winners, but at least we were able to gather everyone for the plans for Movie Night that I had (somehow) managed to keep intact. Sure there was bound to be some problems with the rides, but we were able to work things out relatively safely.

On the way to Hacker's, we made a pit-stop at the hotel so that I could get the movie and change my shirt into something more comfortable. On the hour-and-a-half drive to her house, I was more than glad that I had my iPod. I don't do well on trips over fifteen minutes without music. Just part of who I am. I hate silence on a trip. Ugh. Anywhos. There was one extra person in Hacker's car, and this time, we couldn't pile them into the "cargo hold" in the back like we had to when Charade's car broke down.

Once at her house, we were formally greeted by her parents. Then we were ready for a small bit of rest. Or so we thought. There was food ready, but a bit of entertainment in the way of Hacker's small little pug. I nearly died giggling at the antics of the little pudgy dog. Word of advice: don't try to take her Spongebob blanket from her. She'll kill you by making you laugh until you die from her "growling." (AKA: some strange mix of a yowl and a snarl that changed in pitch constantly.)

Once the food was done being eaten, we gathered for one final fanfic reading. Sapphire read her "Funfair" story. I never really made it all the way through that one, having been interrupted so many times. The night was just lying in wait to get me. If I wasn't going to die of laughter at Hacker's pooch, then it was the Funfair. Sapphire's impersonation of Rattrap was priceless. She sounded like a little female version of him. It was too priceless.

That, and the missing goat. That's all I'm gonna say about the fanfic reading. The missing goat. Now go read her fic.

After that came the movie. I had brought "V for Vendetta," which is a movie that EVERYONE MUST watch. Those at the movie night will vouch with me that it was a fantastic movie that, while rated R for violence (it could have slid by as a PG-13. I'm serious), had a fantastic plot and an even better grasp of the characters. We sat glued to the TV for the movie . . . or glued to the couch. By the end of the movie, Hacker's couch had effectively eaten my butt. I didn't mind. I was still sitting next to Zucca. Radiator.

When the movie was done, we broke up a bit to start saying our good-byes. I had a special goodbye for VBA, which will remain between me and her. One for Sapph as well, and an extraordinarily teary one between myself and Hacker. I'd miss them all.

On the way home, we hit a Wal-Mart that was easily twice the size of my local Wal-Mart in Massachusetts. Zucca and Hacker sang Disney songs, I tried to make my way through a favorite Japanese song of mine, but was too tired to really grasp the words, and we eventually got to the hotel. Hacker stopped into my room to make sure that she wasn't forgetting anything from her stay. Zucca and I walked her out, then said our goodbyes to her again. On our way back in, Zucca rest his hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to him, wondering what he was going to say.

Only, he didn't say a word.

He just picked me up and carried me to the door. We had turned once to look at Hacker, and if she wasn't strapped into her seat, she would have been on the ground laughing. That was the last picture I got of her, and I'm glad. We had such a great time together, filled with laugher and joy.

Somehow, I got to sleep.

MONDAY

I was up at 8:30, having slept about six hours. Got changed, packed a bit, then went to breakfast with Ehren and Zucca at the Waffle House (no lie, that's the restaurant name). Great food, relatively cheap, and I don't know why we hadn't gone there before that. Man. Mmm.

After going back to the hotel, we packed a bit more, and then got a ride with Charade to the airport. She saw us off as far as she could, then it was up to us. We got into the gate, and from there waited for Zucca's plane to arrive. Thankfully, it was a bit late, so I was able to talk with him a bit before he had to head off. I knew that it was going to be hard, but I also knew that I was able to handle it.

Zucca left, and so Ehren and I went to get snacks before having to wait for our own plane. About an hour later, I looked up, and ended up seeing Zucca not twenty feet away. That's when I knew it was going to be harder than I thought. Not ten minutes later, our plane was called. We got in line to board, got the ticket taken, and I went back to give Zucca another hug, repeating the promise that all the authors had been saying during their good-byes:

"Eight months."

I thought that saying goodbye to friends going off to college was hard. Not as hard as walking down that jetwalk, or whatever it's called.

"Fare well, my lady!"

I turned to send Zucca a playful glare. "Oh, you jerk!"

He laughed, and walked off, just like I had to. We got onto the puddle-jumper. The moment that its wheels left the tarmac, I was crying, trying not to make it noticeable. The moment that we were allowed to use electronics, I put my iPod on and tried to drown out the sound of the engines and the passengers around me. We eventually reached Charlotte, North Carolina, our layover. Just before landing, the man next to me asked me, "Was that your husband that you left back at the airport?"

I looked at him in surprise, then smiled a bit, still close to tears. "No. Just a very, very close friend. But that's not for lack of wishing."

He smiled gently, nodded, and we said no more to each other.

After getting onto the 757 that would bring us to Providence, I pulled the stuffed wolf out and sat him between myself and the window. While on the flight, I wrote the notes that had made this report possible, listening to my music. There was nobody else in my row, nor in the two rows behind me, or the row in front of me. Ehren was ten rows in front of me. The isolation was comforting, quiet.

The view was wonderful. I watched the sun set behind the clouds, wishing that I wasn't flying to the east coast.

We made it home.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2006

It's been a week since we came back. I've got a new job, a new start.

I've never missed anyone in my life as much as I do the other authors.

Eight months, ladies and gents.

Eight months.

I can't wait to see you again.