FaerieCon and the Bad Faeries Masquerade Ball!

Guess who I met? Brian Froud.
Brian mothereffin' Froud.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I found it amusing how many people asked to take my picture during the day.
Aside from the ears, I dressed... pretty much how I always dress.
Hee.



Cute faerie dude. I didn't bring my camera, or there'd be a whole lot more random faerie pics.
These are all from Ariel's camera, but I'm sure Bart & Brandie will fill in lots and lots more.
Also, Ariel got no face pics of Bart, and that must be rectified.
(ETA: Ask and it shall be done!)



Cute fae family!



Ariel + face and body paint.



I got my face painted towards the end of the evening for the ball. Here's the close-up.



Brandie eating the dim sum of amazing awesomeness.



Mmmmmmm.

Highlights: The awesome lady at the face-painting booth. Meeting Holly Black and getting Tithe signed! Hearing Charles Vess talk about illustrating Stardust. Jamming to the Gypsy Nomads. The Parrish Relics booth, where I met the fabulous parrish_relics and medievalmuse. Also meeting sidhe_etain. Lots and lots of shinyshiny things, omg. Wendy Froud. Hearing about the awesome Charles Vess project coming out that will feature stories from, among others, Holly Black, Neil Gaiman, and Elizabeth Hand. Hearing Charles wax rhapsodic about Liz's Mortal Love on a panel. Awesome dim sum at a newly-opened Chinese place where the waitress excitedly told us that their food was so good, even real Chinese people come there! Our group being asked for a picture by a fellow diner who said he needed to prove to his friends he met a bunch of faeries at dinner. Getting accidentally (and later, purposefully) flashed by Brandie. Getting tons of stares from Philly locals.


The Bad Faeries Masquerade Ball!



Ariel's ensemble.



My full ensemble. reedrover, recognize anything?



Chris Murdoch... I'll get to this later.



It was seriously awesome.



The opening act, Scott Huckabay.



Some of the pretty, pretty costumes!



Cat does the faerie dance.












I love Brandie's costume so, so much. She's too cute to live.



Bart and Brandie being so cute that we all gagged on the overwhelming cuteness.



Our wings kept getting tangled. We tried to look annoyed with one another for the photo.
It took two seconds for us to burst into laughter. Such is my relationship with Ariel.



Mmmm, M&Ms!



...and the next morning. EeeK!
So much fun! Really, there's nothing like dancing to cure the heart. Dancing under twinkling stars while confetti showers down. Qntal played, and I'd never heard them before. They were pretty good-- I liked the uptempo numbers. I saw a lot, a lot of gorgeous costumes. I got smiles from lots of gorgeous people. Jen and Lisa-- I need a good pic of the three of us, so if one of you ladies would please send me any of the pics you got, I'd be super appreciative.

And allow me to gush for a moment about Chris Murdoch, contact juggler extraordinaire. I'm sure Pixie Vision Productions will come out with stunning pics of the event, as usual, but the pics we got absolutely positively do not do him any justice. By far, his performances were my favorite part of the con, hands-down. You can see a tiny sample of his work here, here, and here. His fluidity was absolutely amazing-- he manipulated up to nine balls at a time with the most mischievous grin and otherworldly energy. And it was more than just the juggling itself. One of the songs he performed to was Ghasi Ram Blues by the Kaya Project-- his musicality and the way he was able to tune into subtle beats and pulses in the music was truly extraordinary. I cheered like a nut. Also? He drums and twirls fire. Of course. When he walked through the crowd to the exit, he paused for a minute to say hi to me, and I think I managed to say hi back, but I'm not completely sure any sound actually left my mouth. That boy is gorgeous.

We left shortly after Brian Froud introduced Labyrinth, starting with a story about how his son, Toby, peed on David Bowie during filming. Imagine sitting in a ballroom with 300 screaming Labyrinth fans. It was freakin' awesome, and a perfect way to end the evening.