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bronze_ribbonsSince I can't shower, rehearse, and eat at the same time, and eating is the messiest of the three, here's a report. Photos later.
Played three full games in a row this morning, all as a Beater. It turns out I'm respectable at it, in spite of (1) having never played before and (2) a propensity to trip over the Bludgers. (I'd be even better if I was truly in shape and not operating on con-lack-of-sleep reserves of energy.) The Pixies lost all three games, but apparently scored enough to be seeded Not Dead Last for the quarterfinal, which is nice. My favorite team to play was the Werewolves (their Seeker has "Lupin" on his jersey and is the guy getting married tomorrow at the Leaving Ball (officially and legally - he and his fiancee got engaged during the formal ball at one of the earlier conferences), so now I can claim I've played with Lupin (in something other than my Evil Fic/Comic-Writer incarnation). Anyway, they're competitive but relaxed about it (unlike the Crystal Balls, hp-ohio's team, who brought the "All Stars" from their league), and before our match there was a group "Sexy Dance" in which everyone from both teams got into one big huddle and wriggled our butts while saying "sehhhhhhhhxxxxxyyyyy." (This probably is way more fun than it sounds, but you know, I do want to remember it. *g*) I can also claim to have played with Lucius, since Stephanie (a well-known Lucius cosplayer) was captain. (I'm trying to remember if she, ahem, subbed for me in the afternoon, but it really is already getting pretty blurry.) They also shout "orgy, orgy!" when there's an on-the-ground tussle for a Quaffle. My favorite quote from the morning was one of the Ninjas, who declared, "Our goal is to score -- that's why we came to Terminus for!" *g*
(Brief description of game mechanics: the Chasers are essentially playing basketball with a beanie and without dribblin. The Beaters are playing field hockey with flimsy plastic sticks and kickballs (an interesting combination, let me tell you). The Seekers run around, trying to stay out of the way of the Bludger and waiting for the human Snitch-carriers to run onto the field, at which point it becomes flag football. The Keepers are goalies in front of three hoops in the air. Since all of this is happening at the same time, it gets chaotic.)
Anyhow, I did get to see Marginaliana, Drusilla, and Valis briefly after the morning rounds, and the looks on M and V's face when they saw my face were priceless (it was completely smeared with black paint -- I got it all over myself and a number of other players, who took to calling it pixie dust (one of them even rubbed her jersey against my cheek when we hugged after the game)) -- M and V stared, and then they burst out laughing. I peeled away to grab a mango Jamba smoothie (starting to feel a cold coming on, so I'm upping the fruit I consume) and crash-nap for a bit. At the smoothie place, I ended up striking up a conversation with two other Terminus-goers who I hadn't met before, and it was nice -- they mentioned that, being Snape-fans, they were very interested in my reading, although they weren't sure they could make it to 11 p.m. (I did mention there would be baklava, since one of them is also torn between the other reading at that time), so that was nifty. :-)
(And I just fumble-spilled seaweed-cucumber-salad all over myself. Yep, snacking before showering was definitely the right move.)
After that, I took the train back to Grant Park. It ended up being the Red Line train, which was being rerouted for... well, I don't know why, but it worked. The Werewolves asked if we would be willing to sub, and then one of their Beaters got hit in the eye with a stick, so I ended up playing for them for a while, helping them handily defeat the FictionAlley Cats.
Then when it came time to take the pitch against the Trolls, we were shorthanded (the British contingent of our team was frankly somewhat flaky. I ended up trying to call one of them this morning when they hadn't returned for our second match and the phone connected me with a Luke in Wyoming. They didn't even show up in the afternoon (to be fair, we'd considered forfeiting, what with lack of subs and two of the Brits' asthma problems (and they'd forgotten their inhalers), but it'd been decided in the end that it would be more sporting to show up, since forfeiting does mean another team doesn't actually get to play a game)). However, "Lovegood" from the FictionAlley team agreed to be a Chaser, one of the Ninjas filled in as a Keeper during the second half, and several of the Werewolves repaid our subbing by spelling us as needed. And, we were leading by the halftime! But then the Trolls caught the Golden Snitch. Alas.
But it did mean I got to go back to the hotel sooner. But then my train got stalled at Randolph and Wabash with a minor equipment glitch, so it sat for a while there. *sigh*
But now I have dinner! And coffee! And donuts! And some drabbles to write in my head in the shower (for mad_maudlin, who's not here because she's in the Peace Corp), and then another train to catch. More later, loves, and wish me luck!
Played three full games in a row this morning, all as a Beater. It turns out I'm respectable at it, in spite of (1) having never played before and (2) a propensity to trip over the Bludgers. (I'd be even better if I was truly in shape and not operating on con-lack-of-sleep reserves of energy.) The Pixies lost all three games, but apparently scored enough to be seeded Not Dead Last for the quarterfinal, which is nice. My favorite team to play was the Werewolves (their Seeker has "Lupin" on his jersey and is the guy getting married tomorrow at the Leaving Ball (officially and legally - he and his fiancee got engaged during the formal ball at one of the earlier conferences), so now I can claim I've played with Lupin (in something other than my Evil Fic/Comic-Writer incarnation). Anyway, they're competitive but relaxed about it (unlike the Crystal Balls, hp-ohio's team, who brought the "All Stars" from their league), and before our match there was a group "Sexy Dance" in which everyone from both teams got into one big huddle and wriggled our butts while saying "sehhhhhhhhxxxxxyyyyy." (This probably is way more fun than it sounds, but you know, I do want to remember it. *g*) I can also claim to have played with Lucius, since Stephanie (a well-known Lucius cosplayer) was captain. (I'm trying to remember if she, ahem, subbed for me in the afternoon, but it really is already getting pretty blurry.) They also shout "orgy, orgy!" when there's an on-the-ground tussle for a Quaffle. My favorite quote from the morning was one of the Ninjas, who declared, "Our goal is to score -- that's why we came to Terminus for!" *g*
(Brief description of game mechanics: the Chasers are essentially playing basketball with a beanie and without dribblin. The Beaters are playing field hockey with flimsy plastic sticks and kickballs (an interesting combination, let me tell you). The Seekers run around, trying to stay out of the way of the Bludger and waiting for the human Snitch-carriers to run onto the field, at which point it becomes flag football. The Keepers are goalies in front of three hoops in the air. Since all of this is happening at the same time, it gets chaotic.)
Anyhow, I did get to see Marginaliana, Drusilla, and Valis briefly after the morning rounds, and the looks on M and V's face when they saw my face were priceless (it was completely smeared with black paint -- I got it all over myself and a number of other players, who took to calling it pixie dust (one of them even rubbed her jersey against my cheek when we hugged after the game)) -- M and V stared, and then they burst out laughing. I peeled away to grab a mango Jamba smoothie (starting to feel a cold coming on, so I'm upping the fruit I consume) and crash-nap for a bit. At the smoothie place, I ended up striking up a conversation with two other Terminus-goers who I hadn't met before, and it was nice -- they mentioned that, being Snape-fans, they were very interested in my reading, although they weren't sure they could make it to 11 p.m. (I did mention there would be baklava, since one of them is also torn between the other reading at that time), so that was nifty. :-)
(And I just fumble-spilled seaweed-cucumber-salad all over myself. Yep, snacking before showering was definitely the right move.)
After that, I took the train back to Grant Park. It ended up being the Red Line train, which was being rerouted for... well, I don't know why, but it worked. The Werewolves asked if we would be willing to sub, and then one of their Beaters got hit in the eye with a stick, so I ended up playing for them for a while, helping them handily defeat the FictionAlley Cats.
Then when it came time to take the pitch against the Trolls, we were shorthanded (the British contingent of our team was frankly somewhat flaky. I ended up trying to call one of them this morning when they hadn't returned for our second match and the phone connected me with a Luke in Wyoming. They didn't even show up in the afternoon (to be fair, we'd considered forfeiting, what with lack of subs and two of the Brits' asthma problems (and they'd forgotten their inhalers), but it'd been decided in the end that it would be more sporting to show up, since forfeiting does mean another team doesn't actually get to play a game)). However, "Lovegood" from the FictionAlley team agreed to be a Chaser, one of the Ninjas filled in as a Keeper during the second half, and several of the Werewolves repaid our subbing by spelling us as needed. And, we were leading by the halftime! But then the Trolls caught the Golden Snitch. Alas.
But it did mean I got to go back to the hotel sooner. But then my train got stalled at Randolph and Wabash with a minor equipment glitch, so it sat for a while there. *sigh*
But now I have dinner! And coffee! And donuts! And some drabbles to write in my head in the shower (for mad_maudlin, who's not here because she's in the Peace Corp), and then another train to catch. More later, loves, and wish me luck!
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