For me, LeakyCon started on Friday. I arrived at Logan airport, very exhausted, and met Julia so we could go to the hotel. In the lobby, I met Susie, but got changed in my room before we got me registered. Near the information desk, I ran into Cody and Shoshana. We stood around talking for a while, then I headed off to the vendor room with Susie and Cody, where I asked Frak to draw me and Neville =D Then, Cody and I went to the Darfur and Human Rights HPA simulation, which was incredibly interesting…and I got to meet Andrew Slack, which was great! I also got to talk to Karen, who helped me with some ideas on how to start an HPA chapter at my school. Lunch was provided by Au Bon Pain (woooo…) and eaten in the park with Cody since it was quite nice in the shade.
After lunch, I got my sticker for the Nerdfighter Nosh and then we went to it. There, we met Ellie, who is awesome. Hank and John were hilarious, telling jokes and teasing one another. John ate some toilet paper and Hank sang songs. I got both of them and Maureen (who I snuck up on. Muahahaha) to sign books/CDs for me. We also got to see the trailer for Finding Hogwarts, which looks absolutely phenomenal—Bre is awesome. Once we had our things signed, Cody and I headed over to the Wizard Rock Panel—they announced the winners for the Wizrocklopedia. Congrats to everyone, but especially RiddleTM for getting so many awards and Ariel for being Best New Artist. We then went to listen to Melissa talk about her book. And, that night was Rock Night in the Castle—I was in the 2nd row. All of the sets were absolutely amazing—Gred and Forge was awesome, getting all of the bands on stage! I had a lot of fin dancing and jumping with Dinah and Cody and Shoshana and people. The Harry and the Potters set was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! When we all got in that big circle, and then all went to the middle, jumping and screaming…I just felt so connected to everyone in the room, even the ones I didn’t know. We were together, we were happy, and we were loving being alive. It reminded me so much of why I love the fandom. On our way back to the hotel, we ran into Scott and Kirsten of The Blibbering Humdingers and Ashley and Emma of Bella and LeStrangers, who decided to go into the glass lobby (with no air) and play for us. It started out very mall, but grew to quite the amount of people. They took turns playing until about 3:15, and we went to bed around 4:00
Saturday morning began obnoxiously and loudly with an intercom telling us to “evacuate the building. This is not a test.” We sleepily put on shoes and headed downstairs, where we discovered it was a false alarm, and to go back upstairs. It was annoying, not the best way to start the morning, but hilarious to look back on now. Anyway, after a quick breakfast and shower, I went to Lena’s “Fountain of Fair Fortune” opera, which was…well, it made me quite emotional, and it was interesting to actually see it performed. Then, of course, there was PotterCast, which was mostly John and Sue arguing a lot about house elves (some things never change) and the Ministry of Magic playing—they’re always awesome. Lunch was provided by Shoshana and eaten in the vendor room while we watched a show by The Blibbering Humdingers and Bell and LeStrangers (yes, again). Then, we headed over to the Imperial Ballroom around 1:00 to get in line for the Wrock Afternoon show. It turned out they moved it to the Plaza at 3:00, but we weren’t about to give up our spots in the front of the line, so we waited for over 2 hours. We sang songs, mostly Accio Deathly Hallows, until a hotel employee told us we couldn’t sing in the hallways! =O Towards the end of our waiting time, Hank came up to us and said, “So, I hear you’ve been waiting here a really long time…” Then we started talking to him about random things (cell phones, horses, his song, handcuffing his fingers) for quite a while, and somehow we all managed to not freak out!! It was very exciting, and a lot of fun.
Anyway, it was definitely worth waiting in line for those 2 hours. =) The concert was absolutely amazing. It's kind of hard to put into words...but....it was AWESOME. I'd never seen RiddleTM live, and I love their music. It's beautiful. =) They are incredibly talented, and I was so happy to actually see them play. The Mudbloods were great, as always--I thought it was particularly funny that Adam wasn't wearing shoes, but only green socks. The Moaning Myrtles are awesome. That's all. And, the Remus Lupins!!! Okay, so I'm not quite as obsessed with them as some wrock fans are. Yes, Alex is hot. Yes, their music is awesome. But I'm not obsessed with them. However, ALEX LIT HIS GUITAR ON FIRE AND THEN SMASHED IT ONSTAGE!!!! I'm sure you've seen youtube videos of this, but if not...go look them up! It's fantastic. I also bought a shirt and two Cds. Since the show didn't start until after 3:00, it wasn't over until after 7:00...So I ordered a cheese pizza which Cody, Shoshana, and I ate only 4 slices of while we were getting ready for the ball in Shoshana & Madeleine's room. And we didn't end up getting to the ball until about 8:30, which was actually earlier than a lot of other people. We left the rest of the pizza on a table in the castle...I'm assuming it was eaten by some hungry people happy for free food. =D
The ball was amazing. =) I danced with Olivia, the other Olivia, Cole, Katherine, Anna, and Cody. We taught Melissa our quidditch dances, which she thought were great. I also danced with both Maureen and Hank, which was awesome! Though, we also scared Maureen....Olivia V grabbed her arm to come dance with us and she screamed. But, she still came and danced with us later. Mostly, it was a lot of fun, even though my feet were in pain I danced the whole time....And, it ended once again with "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (epically danced to by Melissa and Alex), an a-capella of "The Weapon" and then "The Leaky Song" We didn't hang around long once it ended at midnight--we ran (okay, not literally) back to our room to change for the 1558 show.
1558 was awesome =) Uh...I don't think I can list all the bands that played....Nope. We did see The Blibbering Humdingers and Bella and LeStrangers again (3 times in about 24 hours!) Umm..."For Jo" by RiddleTM almost made me start crying...because at that moment, in that room, I felt so connected to everyone. And, we were all leaving each other for the most part the next day. =( But with our silent cheers, waving bottles and wands in the air, and just the overall atmosphere, I really felt the love and connection of everyone in that room. By the time the last few bands were playing, I was sort of falling asleep on one of the beds with Madeleine and Kirsten (of the Blibbering Humdingers). It didn't end until about 3:30. On our way back to the room, we ran into Hank (I think he was on our floor. I'm not convinced, but we kept seeing him) and just started talking to him. I think it was something about how late it was that made us totally not fangirly and made us actually able to articulate something. =D
Uh....so I woke up around 7:30 I think on Sunday, but I didn't actually head down to the Departure Breakfast until about 9:00 because I....was too tired at 8:00 (I took a shower and sat around first). I ran into Shoshana first, and got some things to eat. Then we wandered around the ballroom talking to people...At one point I sat down with Olivia and people, and we decided to go thank Melissa/MJ after a while. =) Frak finally gave me my drawing of me and Neville, which is beautiful. Then it started to get to the point where everyone was leaving. =( I sat down with Susie and Michelle, then went to Au Bon Pain to get lunch (again). Basically the entire afternoon, I sat in the lobby talking to people, including Kristina and Alex Day because I couldn't get into Susie's room. I wanted to go to Hank's show, but I wasn't sure how to get there. So...I didn't go. Obviously, I couldn't go to the wrock show that night because you had to be over 21. I'm not really sure what I did that night...I think I sat around hoping someone would talk to me, then went up to the room when no one did and waited for people to come back. We didn't go to bed until about 3:00...
And, I didn't wake up on time on Monday. I woke up at 7:15, but somehow still made it out of the hotel at 7:30 (though I think I woke up Jules, and I'm sorry about that) The subway to the airport took forever to get there, and I thought I was going to be late, but somehow I was still about half an hour early (before the boarding). I fell asleep for about 30 minutes on the plane, but mostly just read and was sad that LeakyCon was over. =(
It's basically been a week now. And I really, really miss it. I miss the community, I miss the love, and I miss the connections. As Cody said, I keep expecting to walk down the hall and give people hugs. There's just so much acceptance and joy and love in the fandom, and I miss not having that around me constantly, especially since I'm so far away from everyone.* I love how sweet everyone is--always happy to meet you, and eager even if you're shy. Hank was pretty right when he said that even JK Rowling didn't deserve the HP fandom. Which is in no way a criticism of Jo. It's a compliment to us--and our awesomeness. I really hope to go to Wrockstock, and Infinitus, and LeakyCon 2011. I just wish there was more in between.
I love you!!!!!!!! I miss you!!!!!!! THIS IS NEVER GONNA END!
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