EFNW 2019: Day 4 - Monday: Painters, Packing, Piers & Planes · 4:22pm Jun 19th, 2019
Cover Art by Dawnfire!
A SciSet Breakfast
This time, Tsitra and I’s alarms went off practically in tandem as we dragged ourselves out of bed before seven so we could meet the Adge Group and Lyft/Uber our way to IHOP (it would have taken at least 20 minutes to walk). We managed to make it down just in time to say goodbye to Vee, who wouldn’t be joining us since her flight was leaving soon! Warm hugs may have been exchanged!
We had a nice surprise when we came outside! It was sprinkling! It rained on the day we arrived and the day we were to leave! I love you too, Seattle!
No, seriously. I love the rain.
Breakfast was fantastic, though it was a little ironic that on the way there, Adge and I ended up the two smallest people as we crammed into the very back seat of two large SUV things (Suburbans? I don’t know).
Our crew for this morning was, Adge, Sam Rose (of Motherly Scootaloo), Tsitra, myself and none other than Princess Deadpool.
Okay, quick aside about Princess Deadpool. I’ve seen him at like every pony convention I’ve ever been to. However, I confess I’m not a Deadpool fan (I know it’s the more mature, violent and abrasive side of Marvel and that’s not my cup of tea), so I always just thought it was the strangest thing to see a guy walking around with a horn, wings, a red gown with Deadpool’s mask.
Shockingly, he’s actually totally personable and fun to be around. Nah, I’m kidding. Of course they’re fun to be around. We were all tired from the con, but we talked about normal stuff like general cartoons (in which I was reminded I’m an entire generation removed from Adge and the others). We chatted about story ideas, about how I should never, ever, ever, ever read Silent Ponyville by Sam Rose. Ever. Adge and I talked a little bit about the cover for Teahouses.
All in all, it was the best kind of thing: just a really good time relaxing, chatting and enjoying ourselves in a low-key way as we all prepped to say goodbye.
I’ll Be Seeing You...
We took another Uber (or Lyft) back and had to say our farewells. Hugs and handshakes were given all around, with me giving Adge an extra one. We’d talked a little about her career over the weekend and I have to say, I’m crazy proud of what she’s doing and where she’s going. One day, Adge is going to be running an animation studio, or more likely, be Lead Art Director on some immensely famous project. And I’ll get to grin and pull the “I knew her when” card.
And now, next time I see Princess Deadpool, I’ll actually say hi instead of just staring at him like he’s crazy. I’m not saying he’s not crazy, but I’m crazy, too, so who am I to judge?
Now, before we continue, I’d like to say goodbye properly to two people I consider to be my close friends, even though one’s on the East Coast and one’s halfway around the world.
Adge - Adge has been a beacon of light in not only this fandom, but my own beloved ship: SunLight. Though her true love is SciSet, never once have the two of us ever argued or fought over that distinction and I think that’s really cool. It’s not in her to go after the small things like that. From that first day I awkwardly asked her to join SunLight Sliders as a surprise to all the contributors, to seeing SciSetDaily grow and eventually become SciSetDiaries, she has done incredible things out of kindness and out of just being who she is. Words fail to express how much I care for Adge, but I hope the hug I gave her as a goodbye helped things along.
Cal - Yeah, yeah, I know, you left the previous day. I don’t care, you’re still getting one of these. You, sir, are the best kind of brat. The type of person who encourages and supports others no matter what crazy scheme they got going on. From seeing your work on The Ponies (Ponfied Sims) to just hearing your stories about what you do, it’s all amazing. You’re always cheerful, always supportive, always amazing. Thank you just for being you.
While it was great getting to know everyone else, Adge and Cal are the ones I’m closest to, so I wanted to recognize that.
Packing Time!
But anyway, we needed to pack! So let’s get to packing!
Yeah, a lot to pack. Including my new darlings.
Marina for Sunny, Mocha Sunrise for me, Marnia for Primary, Front Page for me, Bee always for me, Twi, Sunny and Moonie! (All three for me)
Confession: These were not packed in my luggage, but my carry-on. In fact, Moonie stayed in my right jacket pocket for the rest of the day, while Sunny and Twi were in my inner left and right breast pockets of my N7 Jacket. (Shut up, I don’t have a problem. You do!)
And, guess what? I actually overdid it this year. I got to the point where I couldn’t fit all my stuff into my luggage! Gah! Panic! Thankfully, Tsitra had just enough room to store my BlizzCon backpack in his luggage, thereby giving me just enough room to actually zip my bag. Even if I literally had to fall on it to get it to zip right!
Oh, Tsitra also may have passed out. Yes, I have a photo of it. No, I’m not going to post it because he’d kill me.
I lied.
That is America’s ass. Or at least Seattle’s?
After Tsitra woke up, we had a discussion about where to go and what to do. He wanted to hit Pike’s Place in Seattle and the original Starbucks. What I thought he meant was part of the area we’d gone through in Hap’s Forced March last year (Thankfully, I was wrong).
That’s when I suddenly remembered that Albi had invited me (and by extension us) to come and meet him in Seattle on Monday! I scrambled for my phone, contacted him by Discord and confirmed a few things, making sure we’d get certain light rails (AKA small trains) and that we would have enough time to get back before our flight left. Thankfully, it was still early enough that we definitely had enough time!
A Few Final Goodbyes
Somehow, Violet got looped into all of this. We tried to include Arcshod, but trying to coordinate between the light rail, Albi, Violet’s bike and us was damn near impossible and parking in downtown Seattle is doubly impossible. So he decided to head up to Bellevue to investigate the new home of EFNW.
Before that though, I got a chance to say goodbye to some new friends and some old friends. Hugs were given and warm words were exchanged. Promises of contact. And now, it’s time for a bit more of that, just as I did with Cal and Adge a short time ago.
Cursori - Cursori was a lifesaver this weekend. He helped me through some massive anxiety issues just by being there (as he has before). He helped me when I needed to vent about stuff. And the best part was that when we first met, it was like talking to him on Discord. There was no disconnect. It was exactly the same, because truth be told, Cursori knows me better than most do. He’s seen me at my worst and at my best, been with me in triumph and in failure, all while dealing with his own struggles. Honestly, the guy needs to learn to put himself first a little more often, I think. Because he deserves it.
He’s also gotten to see parts of my personality I don’t casually reveal. We all have our facets, pieces of ourselves we reassemble in what we hope will get others around us to like us. With Cursori, I didn’t have to hide the facets. He accepted me fully, as I was. And that is a gift that I cherish above all others.
Also, even though he’s Danish, he still speaks better English than I do. FAR BETTER. Why he puts up with my mangled use of English, I’ll never know.
Carabas - with his freaking amazing accent. Sometimes I couldn’t understand him, but I didn’t care. He just sounds so… cough. Anyway… as I was saying! It was great to meet Carabas in person, though we’d only loosely spoken on the EL Server. Little did I know that a few weeks after EFNW, I would realize that he is the author of one of my favorite stories on all of FimFiction. This story is actually one of the very few stories in my Legends bookshelf, which is currently only 34 stories (as opposed to 178 on The Top Shelf [Favorites] and 436 on Completed Narrative Experiences [Everything I’ve Read]).
That story is none other than The End of the Day. A story of a pre-Ascension Luna and Celestia finding their way to an inn at the end of a long day as Equestria is under the chaotic thumb of Discord. Some elements of this story fascinated me so much that they became somewhere between real canon and headcanon for me. In fact, you’ll see some of those elements in a future Wavelengths story! Seriously. Go read this. Now.
Then read all of his other stuff and imagine everyone speaking in a sexy delightful Scottish brogue. Do it!
Hap - Did you know that Hap’s actually a freaking Doctor? He’s not a medical doctor (overrated, really… right?), but he has a Ph.D. in “mechanical engineering with an emphasis on electrochemistry and materials science.” The guy’s got the freaking “Schrodinger waveform equation” equation tattooed on his arm. (No, I have no idea what that is). He’s brilliant and at such a higher level nerd than me that I know I will never reach those peaks of intellect. But that’s okay, I’m happy playing down here with my shipping plushies and making “mwa” noises. Again.
Seriously, Hap’s a delight. You should read his stuff, especially Ship of Fools, which features Rarity as an air pirate and a ship I really want to see more of!
Loofa - Loofy rounds out the European Accent contingent after Cara and Cursori, with his fantastic British accent (okay, look, I have a massive weakness for accents, sue me!). The guy’s warm, caring and supportive. He’s always there to give a kind word, a fantastic quip or a few very, very, very bad Red Flags when looking for the perfect date. My only regret is that I didn’t get to spend enough time with him!
Seriously, if you don’t love Loofy, there’s something wrong with you.
Bookish Delight- Bookish, as always, was a complete delight to hang out with. And I’m also very happy to see back at EFNW 2019. He had taken a hiatus from FimFiction and the fandom in general last year and only started to come back in small ways at the beginning of this year. He’s been here forever and has had a totally different experience with the MLP fandom than I did.
For a while, I was afraid he was done writing fiction on FimFic, but after some time thinking, he decided to step back in (with some new rules for himself in place, as is right and proper). I am thrilled to have him back with us. Because the guy’s a great writer, a wonderful person and an amazing friend.
RoMS - This was the first time I really got to know RoMS, so he was the only one of this group who I didn’t really meet before. RoMS had a great time playing TSSSF with us, in addition to chatting about story theory on Saturday. And then, of course, listening to me ramble about Raven and My Kind of Crazy.
I look forward to seeing where he goes with ideas and am totally delighted that he actually took the effort to go through the singular trial to get access to Novel’s Nook! (Seriously, so few people take the time…)
Swan - This is gonna sound silly, but at previous cons, I made a huge effort to hang out with Swan, in addition to Jyki and Mono. However, at EFNW 2019, I didn’t push that hard. Instead, I let the folks that Swan rarely sees get to monopolize his time, as he so richly deserved. While we still bantered and had fun, but I was actually more happy seeing him with Autumn and everyone else in the EL Server. After all, I have the wonderful gift of actually being able to hang out with him, Jyki and Mono on a regular basis!
And for the record, I am intensely grateful for that. BABS 2017, when I found out that I had local MLP fans, I couldn’t believe it. And now, I can’t imagine life without them.
Dave - Dave turned out to be a massive surprise for me. I’d hardly interacted with him in the EL Server, yet he still got me three plushies for no reason other than giving them to me. In addition, he pulled me aside at one point because he had been concerned something had been said might impact me in the wrong way (I actually don’t remember the specifics). He took the time to make sure things were right, even though there never was an issue to begin with!
In the past, I’ve been blessed by the Generosity (with a capital G) of people like Ebon Quill and Heartshine, not to mention the gifts of all of you for replacing our car in 2018 and helping us with our house this year.
Dave is another wonderful reminder of the giving nature of this freaking community. He’s funny, giving and an awesome guy. Having Moonie, Sunny and Twi as gifts made Everfree all the more special for me. And since he was the one who gave them, that means he made Everfree all the more special.
Arcshod - I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with Arc as I would have liked. He always seemed to be on the far end of the table or in the group across the way! But Arc had been a mainstay of my con experiences since 2017. He has a way of seeing things that I almost never would have considered, everything from real life to pop culture and everything in between. It was wonderful to have him there. Even if I had to content myself with just knowing he was there, that was enough.
And More! - I’m sure there are more people I said goodbye to at this point, roughly around noon on Monday. I did my best with the notes I had. If somehow I missed you, I ask for your forgiveness. I can only remember so much!
Autumn - I wanted to save someone special for last. I’ve known Autumn since BABSCon of 2017 and while I usually see her at cons, I’ve got to spend some time with her during her visits to see Swan, Jyki and Mono.
Autumn’s gone through some difficult times and I know I’ve only seen an inkling of them. Only the most superficial of glimpses. But even then, I know they’ve been hard. I’ve also seen that hit her in different ways during other conventions.
In previous years, Autumn hasn’t always been there fully, in mind, body and spirit. She’s usually trying to balance her current troubles with being in the moment. And as someone who’s gone through DBT therapy and learned about mindfulness (essentially really being in the moment), I know how hard it is.
For the first time, she came across as being, for lack of a better word, solid at EFNW 2019. As if she were a wonderful and substantial ghost in the past, but now has been fully returned to life. I can’t point to a single thing or a single moment. Maybe it was her mannerisms. Maybe it was the look in her eye or her bearing. But she was there.
And as Autumn is one of my favorite people, I am very happy she was there.
By the way, did you know she’s a flipping fantastic artist?
Into Seattle We Go
After checking our luggage in with the hotel’s security room (since we’d checked out and didn’t want to haul our luggage all around downtown Seattle). So with a few final waves, Tsitra and I said our farewells and we headed down the street toward the Light Rail Station.
I wish SoCal had something like this. Seriously. Light Rails are awesome. That being said, it was a 40 minute trip into Seattle. Tsitra and I chatted about stories. And when I mean we chatted, I think I mostly rambled about one particular plotline or story concept of mine until the poor guy’s eyes glazed over.
I can’t imagine why. (I can totally imagine why).
After some brief coordination, we finally arrived at our stop at Westlake Station.
Pike’s Market with Albi, Tsitra and Violet
Now, both Tsitra and I were totally clueless where to go, but thankfully we had a guide by the name of The Albinocorn. He met up with us at the station and guided our way out after a good hug.
As someone who lives in Orange County, I always find actual cities to be strange. Orange County is one massive suburban sprawl. While there are “downtowns” in a few of the cities in the area, none of them actually stand out as the true downtown of the OC. Most of you probably find that strange, but that’s just how it is here.
So Seattle’s downtown is freaking awesome (I’ve thought the same for every city I’ve been at for a Pony Convention). Walking past giant skyscrapers, just having a good time chatting and playing tourist. Though apparently, this tourist didn’t take a ton of pictures of the area. Oh well, I know I took a ton last year.
But today was somewhere new. A relatively short walk away was the famous “Pike’s Place” AKA “Pike’s Public Market.”
It honestly was a wild and crazy place to me, as there wasn’t anything I could think of I’d ever been to (at least that I can recall). You could tell instantly that the place was never designed for the amount of traffic (both foot and vehicle) it now has.
And by the way? The road leading down is crazy steep. Like, I would be terrified driving up and down it crazy steep. Jeez.
Now, as some of you know, I’m not a coffee fan. I legitimately wish I was because it would be easy to come by (usually) and work well in social situations. I love my tea, but steeping tea can be a little more complicated than coffee in some situations.
Still, Painted is a massive Starbucks fan (well, coffee fan), so I got her this picture. Not really to show off, because there was no way in hell we were waiting in that massive line outside, but just to say, “Hey, I’ve been there!”
Violet joined us around here, all decked out in black leather. Actually, I don’t think I ever saw her when she wasn’t in black leather. Seriously, I’m sure she would have made me jump five feet in the air if she had a mind to sneak up on me and LOOM.
She didn’t though, so it’s okay.
Then, Albi decided it would be a good idea to wander down tight alleyways!
Okay, while they were tight, they weren’t exactly dangerous, though alley quips were thrown around our little four-person group, of course.
Bookstores, Taprooms & Avengers
I was more than happy to let Albi lead the way with Violet as the copilot. I didn’t have a clue where we were or how to get anywhere, so it seemed like a good idea to let them lead.
Albi, being true to his form, took us to a bookstore first.
This tiny, hole-in-the-wall bookstore didn’t exactly have my normal fare (needed way more science fiction and fantasy), but it was fun to wander through the bookstore. Walking through a bookstore is always good.
...though considering what happens in Teahouses you’ll think me crazy for doing this. Don’t worry, I don’t go down any dark corridors in any bookstores. That I’m willing to admit to.
That being said, we all agreed we needed something to nibble on. While I wasn’t super hungry (country fried steak at IHOP keeps you going!), I knew I needed food or else I’d regret it later.
So after a brief discussion, we ended up just wandering from place to place, eventually ending up at a place called “Taproom at Pike Place.”
It was good timing because right around then, anxiety started pummeling me hard. I hadn’t taken a single break to myself all day and I wasn’t going to get a chance until I got on the plane. So I took the time to just sit there as the others talked and I tried to get my center back. It wasn’t easy, but it was enough to enjoy. Thankfully, there weren’t massive crowds in Pike’s Place on that Monday (though there were a few and those probably didn’t help).
Still, the biggest thing I remember (aside from me having huge glasses of water over and over again, plus a pretzel because I couldn’t decide on anything else), was our conversation!
And that was when we spent a good hour or so geeking out about Avengers: Endgame. Don’t worry, no spoilers, but we did talk a lot about the events, about how Albi was going to do something when he graduated from school that aligned with it. We talked about character arcs, narrative decisions and more. That’s the great thing about talking this stuff with writers and artists… we get to dig deeper into the material! And we can get a lot more out of it!
My apologies for cutting off heads in this, blame my exhaustion and my inexcusable single shot of this place.
Being Nerds at Pike’s Place Market
After we left “Taproom at Pike Place,” we headed into the Public Market proper. I didn’t have a clue where Albi was taking us now, and I didn’t care. I was just happy to be with friends.
There’s a bunch of tiny stores set into the Public Market (some tinier than others), but the first one we got to (all the way at the end, of course), was Golden Age Collectables. (Also their website looks like it was done in the early 2000s. Snrk).
Note: Taken from Yelp because I didn’t take pictures of this place! WHY?!
Here, we found all sorts of bizarre things, including a massive wall of those Funko bobbleheads that everyone has (I’m sorta meh on them?), lightsabers and… wait, most of you have been in a comic shop before, right? It was like that.
Only two things caught my eye. A fascinating looking card game named “The Fox in the Forest” (and also super pretty art) and I got a lovely revelation that Kingdom Hearts actually had a manga. Seriously, I didn’t know that!
After we did a few circuits around there (and I didn’t buy anything because I knew I had already spent WAYYYYYY too much money at the con), we headed back up wandering into the weirdest little bookstore.
The guy there was keeping himself entertained by talking loudly to every single person who walked in and remained within line of sight. He was a character… but he was fun.
And I got a blast from the past finding one of my favorite old TNG books. I didn’t buy it (I had it at home), but I just smiled as I remembered, feeling like a kid all over again. Bookstores are another home of mine.
And yes, I own almost every other Star Trek book in this picture. TNG was my first fandom love.
Finally, we began to work our way out. I was starting to fade a little, stumbling as I had in the past, so we had to take breaks every so often. But that wasn’t a problem for anyone.
The rest of Pike’s Place Market are little stalls where people can sell anything you can imagine. Well, most anything. Needs more pony stuff, really.
Also might need a bit more sanity, at least for the two of us...
That being said, walking through that definitely was too much for me. I all but ran out of there when I had the chance, especially after getting caught in a knot of people. This new anxiety around large groups of people annoys the hell out of me. I didn’t used to have it!
After escaping the chaos, we headed up that crazy steep hill as it started to rain and finally put some effort into it!
And sadly, it was time to say goodbye to one of our numbers. Since Violet had parked her bike in the area, she was going to head out here while Albi took Tsitra and me back to the train station.
But first, we needed a selfie.
The fact who’s giving who bunny ears is very, very telling for all of our personalities. For example, Albi and I, well, we just don’t care and we’re going to roll with it!
All Good Things...
And so, it was time for the walk back to the train station. I don’t even remember what we chatted about. I think for me, I focused on staying upright and both Albi and Tsitra had to help me a couple times. Stupid dizzy spells. ANNOYING.
Here are some photos of the trip back!
This thing outside a toyshop would actually move the little ring in an animatronic hand before it blew bubbles. It was totally adorable.
But after a short walk, it was time to part ways. Albi was heading north, while we headed south. It was especially wonderful when he got us both mixed up and yelled at us to run back up the stairs and cross to the other side because we’d both picked the wrong train!
However, one last picture needed to be taken.
Oh wait. We need a pic of Tsitra being a deadpan smartass first.
There we go. Two of Sunset’s most devoted priests.
A Quick Turnaround
Despite the title, that 40-minute ride back took forever. It was so long that I’m fairly sure both Tsitra and I fell asleep at different points. So, it sorta went faster? I dunno.
We got off the train and I glanced at a sign for legal marijuana, something I’d seen in LA and frankly, all over for years now. I told Tsitra that I would never get used to that, as I was raised with the idea that it’s this evil gateway drug. Tsitra, having lived in the same part of Orange County as I for all his life, knew what I was talking about. It had a lot to do with our upbringing and certain programs put on by the school. We had an interesting conversation about that on the way back.
Once we arrived, we got our luggage from the security room and stood outside waiting for the airport shuttle as this massive new group came in. I’m sorry, but they really felt like a huge Mafia family wedding! I’m at least sure it was a wedding because I caught a peek of the redone Mane Hall and it was definitely set up for a massive wedding reception. (They were wilder than anyone I saw during EFNW, just saying).
That being said, we did eventually get on the shuttle and head to the airport!
Into the Belly of the Beast
We ended up coming in at the Alaska Terminal. However, we were literally sent to the opposite side of the Terminal Complex to check in for TSA. That being said, the line for TSA wasn’t actually bad. Last year it took nearly two hours. SeaTac also has a great little app that monitors TSA lines. How cool is that?
That being said, what was NOT cool was how both Tsitra and I had our bags given a full inspection. And I got the vibe from the person I had checking mine that he had actually seen the wrong thing in the bag (eventually someone came over to help him). Even weirder, for the first time ever, no one actually checked by box of X-Ray Proof TSSSF cards! I mean… you need to open the luggage I had to drape myself over to close but not the stuff that gets checked every time?
At least it was only one bag for me, Tsitra had BOTH get the extra inspection treatment. Ouch.
Still, we eventually made it through, thank goodness. After our bags were repacked and our shoes were on, we headed off for food. I led us totally in the wrong direction (past a “Teach Yourself CPR” machine, WTF) and eventually figured that out so we went in the right direction.
Now, during all of this time, the Nook was up to some CRAZY shenanigans. I have no idea what was really going on, but I turn it on and suddenly start blushing furiously. The only reason I remember this is because I screenshotted it, but it seems like Krickis was causing trouble for me…
Maybe this is ego posting this? I was… well, after the entire con, I was super touched by this. I remember almost crying. Like I’m almost crying now as I write this little note.
ANYWAY!
A bit of comfort food, McDonald's for me, some Sbarro for Tsitra and a chance to sit down for a bit, which is something my anxiety sorely needed. Going through TSA always stresses me out. I’m always on edge until I’m past that gate.
Also, SeaTac is freaking huge. You need to train underground subways to get to your actual gate!
However, we did make it with plenty of time to spare.
Bee is so very ready to get on her plane. She’s even willing to take me. She’s got a good heart.
For all you Mass Effect fans, apparently, I’m even better than Shepard. Gate N8.
Both Tsitra and I had opted for slightly better seats (not First Class, of course, but just a bit more legroom). After we finally sat down in the plane… we both practically collapsed, him in front of me as we both had window seats.
The girls are ready to go!
Why I Like Pegasi OCs
I still think planes are awesome, exhausted as I was, though I felt super OCD and fairly anxious as I got my stuff all arranged, powered and the like. Eventually, though, I managed to finally settle down. Moonie helped.
The plane left fairly close to on time and I enjoyed the sensation of taking off into the air. Seriously. PLANES ARE COOL.
I asked and Moonie completely approved my choice of in-flight entertainment.
They also had this cool flight tracker in the back of the headrests, telling you where the plane was, along with various information from the cockpit like altitude, speed, etc.
The city of Fresno by air at night!
The city of Bakersfield by air at night!
However, even with all the pretty pictures, something important happened that flight. You know the whole thing that a picture is worth a thousand words?
I think these words don’t need pictures.
The Truth of Everfree Northwest to Novel & Amber
About halfway through the flight, I decided I wanted to take care of my journal for the day early (it’s one of the reasons Monday’s post is more complete, because I wasn’t seconds away from falling asleep when I wrote the memories). I do it through bullet points, but about halfway through, I completely broke away from that.
And there, 40,000 feet in the air, doing something like 350 mph in an Alaska Airlines jet, I reflected on all of Everfree Northwest with a sudden stream-of-consciousness, purely emotional outpouring of everything I’d experienced in the last few days.
This is what I wrote.
I have never felt more truly loved in my life than I did at this con. The warm hugs, the genuine smiles, seeing friends everywhere, meeting new friends, truthful conversations with good people about hard-hitting issues, the fact that after a bad panel, I was surrounded by my friends within a minute, literally surrounded, that Mono was annoyed on my behalf and was my rock to get me through it, that I made sure Heart and I were okay, that I met Cynewulf and Scarlet. That I played so many games of TSSSF, never won, but still had a great time.
I explored parts of Seattle I had never seen. The hugs were real. Everything was real. The spirit was so perfect, so wonderful. Jurists, Nook, EL, Adge, all combined into one massive circle of love and friendship. People being transparent. People checking on me. Watching my anxiety as I watched theirs. The care and tenderness. All of it.
THIS. IS. HOME. This is where I belong. And I will live here forever, with my family, with the ones who love me and the ones I love as fiercely as I can.
This. Is. Home.
Some of you know that there are some areas of my life that leave a lot to be desired. There are parts of me that aren’t accepted by those closest to me. There are parts of me I’m too afraid to speak of because I can see the consequences. I simply don’t know if the benefits outweigh the costs.
All of that leaves a massive hole within me. I’ve always struggled with a desperate hunger for validation, acceptance, love, and friendship. At EFNW, for the first time years—maybe longer—I felt that hunger satisfied. My Everfree Family are the ones who satisfied it.
And for that, I thank you from the very bottom of my soul.
Orange County by Luna’s Light
We started to near home and I could recognize things, even in the darkness. There’s nothing quite like LA and OC from the air at night, at least to me.
Once again, home in Orange County. I have a lot of homes. How cool is that?
My expression responding to SOMETHING in the Nook after landing. Nope. No idea what it was. But it’s a funny picture, so that’s why it’s here!
The last selfie of Tsitra and I as we wait for our Lyft/Uber/whatever
We had no trouble getting off the plane or anything else. We even got a Lyft/Uber fairly quickly (though I felt the guy was a bit crazy in his driving). The driver was a chatty sort (and neither of us felt chatty because we were dead tired), but thankfully Tsitra tanked that for me as I caught up and made sure everyone in the EL Server and the Nook had made it home safely. Some folks would still be traveling a day or two because of layovers, ouch.
The driver dropped us off at Tsitra’s house and then we paused for a bit so we could extract my backpack from his luggage (and offer Tsitra’s wife some of the stuff he got her). Ironically, Painted had actually spent part of the day with her doing puzzles while each pair of kids entertained the others.
Then, at long last, Tsitra drove me home. I thanked him profusely, then stumbled my way upstairs.
Home Again and Home Away
I know I said that EFNW is my Home. That’s true. But, I still do have a home I live in. And that home was set up pretty nicely for my return. Painted remained awake for my return to make sure to show me all the stuff she and the fillies had done.
If memory serves, this masterpiece is by my 5-year-old filly, Sunny Stage.
Therefore, this one is by the artistic hand of Primary Colour, my 8-year-old filly.
And finally, the banner done by the entire family, Painted Heart, Sunny Stage and Primary Colour. I actually had Painted keep it up for a week after I got home.
And with that, I was at long last, back where I started, far richer for the experience. I told Painted some of the stories, but I had the next day off, so I told her I’d give her the rest of the stories tomorrow. She didn’t mind, as it was super late and we were both exhausted (her from fillies, me from everything).
And so ends the final day of my EFNW 2019 Journey.
That being said, there are plenty of last thoughts, including a huge selection of quotes from my various friends and con-goers, plus a massive assortment of random pictures and fun times to remember coming up in the final post. There will also be some final thoughts... and a fair bit of a cute Moonie plushie.
I’ll see you all tomorrow for the finale!
-NI
| Prologue: Welcome Home |
| Thursday: Socialization on an Epic Scale |
| Friday: On Psychopaths |
| Saturday: Perfect Friendships |
| Sunday: A Bright Future |
| Monday: Painters, Packing, Piers & Planes |
| Epilogue: Why It’s Worth It |
A new friend, Marina, is an orca sea pony residing in the waters of the Puget Sound. Marina loves collecting items that have been lost to the ocean by land ponies. She can often be seen breaching the waters near the ferries that travel around the Sound. Lots of ponies think they’re watching her, but she’s really trying to get a closer look at the passengers. Marina is very curious about the world outside the ocean. [Note: Also cutest con mascot]
Burr, as you noted in the previous Everfree journal.
We (Hap, myself, Albi, and Bookish) actually discussed that at dinner on the Thursday hefore the con. See, all particles also exhibit the properties of waves. (Look up the double-slit experiment for a great, low-tech demonstration of this quantum weirdness on a scale we can easily fathom.) The Schrödinger equation describes that waveform, though in the case of physical particles, it's not an actual vibrational frequency, but a map of probability distributions of where the particle actually is, where the definite "is" is limited by Heisenberg and...
Basically? It's modern-day magic runes. And not easy to summarize in a single paragraph.
Agreed on Bookish's return being a very, very good thing.
That last picture of you and Tsitra seems like the last thing someone sees before they wake up in a bathtub full of ice water and missing a kidney. Shadows do a lot for unintentional menace.
Wonderful to see how much love and support you got over the course of Everfree. It's moments like this that make me legitimately proud of this community. Looking forward to the wrap-up.
Dat's a lotta pones. I only got Marina and Mocha this year. Wanted to get a Derpy, but didn't see one I liked.
A lot of Seattle is like that, it's very similar to San Francisco in that way. Most people new to the city notice/complain about how steep a lot of our roads are.
I like coffee, but can't really drink it (except on rare occasions in very small amounts), especially like I used to when I was younger. I don't mind that so much, though, because I am a HUGE tea snob. I'm the sort of person who has collections of exotic teas and teaware.
If you have enough time next time you're here, I'd be happy to drive you to parts of the city and environs that most visitors don't get to/bother to see (at least, if the developers haven't torn them down by then). There're lots of cool places that not many people who do not live here know about. I don't live in the city proper anymore (too expensive), but I still spend a good amount of time there.
Woo!
Darnit, I was playing tourist on Monday too, and I should have tagged along. I took the light rain... um rail, to the monorail, to the Space Needle, to back down the monorail to.... Ok, I was totally lost at that point, and wet, and couldn't figure out which direction to go so I just light railed back to the hotel and used the hot tub. At least there I could be wet and comfortable :)
Can't wait to welcome you home next year.
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Meh. I'll retroactively edit my stories. I already spent too much time working on this to edit my Retros.
My brain skipped over pretty much everything before this to save itself.
YAY BOOK!
That's actually how I normally look in pictures. EFNW was just too well-lit for my proper ambiance to shine (shadow?) through.
Me too. Me too.
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My hometown (homearea?) has a fair number of hills, but nothing like that. It's weird.
And I only recently became picky about teas, so... I might take you up on that offer!
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Well, we had the benefit of local guides. And it was really only a couple hours! So you probably got to see a little more than us! Or maybe we broke even! Either way, next year, let's try! I'm going to be trying to come into Seattle (or Bellevue) earlier!
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Hell, I'm more than tempted to come up and visit some time just because, Albi. But either way, I can't wait either.
Compliments towards both my voice and writing'll get you absolutely everywhere.
One thing I do regret a little is not giving myself enough days on either side of the con to give Seattle itself the attention it deserves. Even more incentive to come back next year and do it properly then.