A summary for all of you tired of reading reports- it was cool.
(if you don't care to read anything more detailed than that, skip the rest of this)
The Journey
I left Omaha around 6 AM on Sunday. The interstate was terribly icy from the big storm. There was a car or truck in the ditch every couple of miles. It started to snow.
To avoid being part of another wreck I flew off the interstate into the shallow ditch between the two ways. I clipped a sign, but avoided any vehicles, and amazingly ended up back on the shoulder when I stopped. It was nice not getting stuck, and not dying was nice too.
The snow continued through Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. In Ohio it got really bad. Traffic was moving at a crawl. There was no way to tell where lanes were, and cars were beginning to become invisible at distances of greater than 20 feet. I checked the weather and kept going, fearing that if I stopped I would be snowed in and arrive late (or not at all) to Boston Moot.
Pennsylvania- still snowing, and the reports said the same of New York and Connecticut. I decided I would just go all the way to Boston without stopping. I arrived around 9 AM Monday, and thankfully my hotel let me check in before the official 3 PM check-in time. The rest of the day and the following morning was spent recovering.
The People
(if I don't mention you, it's because I ripped this list from the Facebook event page)
Alonariel- She seemed to time her naps for my visits. Purposefully? I can't answer that, but I can say that she taught me a new card game which I rather liked and she proved quite good at games in general. And she certainly made an impression on New Year's with her blue dress.
Boromir88- He was a bit quieter than I expected. It is a grave mistake to judge the amount of noise a person will produce based upon online Werewolf games. Though some of it may have been weariness. When discussing football he was talkative enough, though, and I was pleased to have a football outlet present. He was also a responsible chap, picking up groceries and cooking and worrying about picking up new arrivals. Terrible cook though.
Brinniel- The first couple of days convinced me that Brin was extremely quiet and serious, and her glances seemed to say, "Yeesh, Phantom, you are annoying- go away". Then we went to the museum and I was thrown for a loop by witnessing a picture-snapping, pointing, and yapping Brin. And then my final day in Boston we had a nice little conversation in the afternoon. Turns out she's fun and likable. First impressions aren't always right.
Celuien- Very quiet. If the entire moot would've been one large group I doubt I would've had an opinion of her (other than the fact that she in her black dress was spectacular). Thankfully she was part of the smaller group that stayed at the museum for a long time, which gave me a chance to find out that she is in fact awesome. Any future moot must include her.
Diamond18- Every gathering needs someone who socializes like Di. She didn't talk loads, but could talk about anything, and a couple times I noticed her adding to more than one conversation at once. She hovers, listening, watching, and then pounces, leaping in with an amusing comment. She was consistently funny, and along with Shasta produced the best WW moment of the week.
Encaitare- Unexpectedly tall, and chillingly familiar. She was like an amalgamation of people that I used to know- my orchestra girls from back in the day. When I played in various youth symphonies and university orchestra and such, I knew a small group of girls that played with me in nearly every group. We had a shared taste in music and films, and a similar sense of humor, and I just loved them. From everything I saw Enca was shockingly similar to them, and I am completely convinced that if we knew each other in RL we would be friends.
Feanor of the Peredhil- She was busy with school and quite thrown off by sickness much of the time. Very sad. I'd say the majority of my contact with her was not spent speaking with her, but rather speaking with others as she used me as a pillow in her pitiful state. I think this is a good enough reason to have another moot- we never really got to meet Fea as she usually is.
Formendacil- A master at pretending to be serious when being funny, and obviously more skilled than me at falling asleep. The man actually went off to bed with sixteen of us in the next room shrieking our heads off. He seemed to be pretty responsible in general, and if forced to choose I would say Formy would have to be considered the resident "father" of the moot (an appropriate title for him, I would say).
Glirdan- It took me all of two seconds to assume Glirdy was a theater geek of some kind. He was loud, dramatic, and an enthusiastic YouTube sing-along supporter. To say that he added considerable life to the party would be an understatement of epic proportions. He also had terrible luck at WW, poor lad. Oh- and he also requested that a Downer abduct him, should anyone find himself up that direction.
Kath- She is living proof that truth cannot be based upon pictures alone. From what I had seen here on the Downs in pics from other moots, Kath was supposed to be a short girl who looked like she was in junior high. Instead, in walked a tall and quite lovely young lady that I had a difficult time not hitting on. She was very nice and friendly, and had an adorable voice to boot. I approve.
Lariren Shadow- She was an insufferable know-it-all. But only on the day we went to the Harry Potter exhibit.
She was great company when she was around, but I was often not at the apt at the same time she was, plus the group was so large... You can definitely put Lari high up on the list of reasons I wanted to stay longer or wished to make the group smaller to allow for more chats.
Macalaure and
Rikae- To play any game without Rikae would be a crime. She was as fun and into it as anyone there, and her humor was a great mix of funny and brutal. Mac's evil grins and laughs during WW games were just beyond funny (especially since half the time he was being sinister without even trying), and "Darth Wader" will outlive almost everything from the moot in my mind. They were both very nice and were simply the definition of "awwww" when sitting together holding the little wereduckling.
Mirandir- She was definitely evidence that interacting online does not always give the complete picture. I was expecting bubbly and giggly, but it turns out that loud and violent is a better summary. Thankfully I escaped Boston without suffering injury at her hands (the same cannot be said by Boro, Rune, and others). She ranked up there with Glir and Shasta at injecting things with life.
Nienna- Mom. Big sis. She was more likely than anyone to know what was going on, what the plan was, who was where, what was where, and so on. But don't let that make you think she was an uber serious bore- on the contrary she seemed quite cheerful and pleasant and was one of the most genuinely nice people there. She's another one that belongs high up on the list of people I wanted to talk to more than I did.
Rune- Rune was a laugh, and always good for a story. He's been a lot of places and of course comes from someplace I am unfamiliar with to begin with, and so it was really a pleasure hearing his tales and getting his take on things. In particular I enjoyed hearing about his views on sports and fans in other places. And I hope he's learned his lesson about helping people with bags on buses.
Shastanis Althreduin- I know it isn't probably proper to pick favorites in a review like this, but I just have to say that Shasta was the best. There aren't enough words that mean "amusing" and "entertaining" to give him proper credit. He was just delightful to have around all the time, except of course when he was sleeping, which he was able to do almost anywhere under any circumstance.
Wilwarin538- Very nice, uncommonly sweet, and in other ways that I discovered (certain tastes and opinions) she was as similar to me as anyone there. On the downside she was a stealer of ties and a rubber of heads, but she more than made up for her flaws by extending to me an extremely generous offer that Fea bore witness to. Fea thinks she'll back out, but I have faith in Wilwa's honesty and character.
