At the start of the month I attended a gaming convention called Gemucon at Nottingham in April. It was... alright to be honest. But I did have lots and lots of fun with the people who I was there with. I pretty much took photos of my own face which is a shame because my friends have lovely photos and I have... my... face... to show you guys. Woopsie daisy!
Thursday
So Thursday was traveling day! I met with my boyfriend in Newcastle (after a nightmare where I realised I had lost my rail pass and had to run around like a mad woman trying to get a new one) and we traveled down to Nottingham together. We were lucky to have our friends Mike and Askew on the train with us too as it really did make the time pass by a lot quicker, and our friend Katie got on at York to add extra fun to the journey. Yeah, we all somehow ended up reserving seats near each other in the same carriage! Even though none of us booked tickets together, so I guess that was super lucky!
Oh look. Cam whoring as usual.
Anyhow, once we got to Nottingham it turned out we were all in different hotels. Most of the guys were based near the Britannia Hotel where the event was being held whereas I was at the Premier Travel Inn. It was a really nice hotel, actually, and the staff were ever so helpful! They helped us get around Nottingham and were easy to laugh and make jokes with when we accidentally locked both room keys in our room so A+ grade for them!
The Britannia on the other hand...
My first impression of it was that it was huge. When we got in I was a little confused but you had to climb up to the third floor to get to the bar. In fact, this was called Floor R, meaning that things that were on the 10th floor were actually on the 13th or something which was really bothersome, but I'll talk about that later!
My second impression of the Britannia was that it was dirty. It looked like something out of the 1960s but with dirt and grot everywhere. The settees were ripped and ugh, everything just seemed dated. The windows had grime actually sticking to them, gross! I didn't eat there but I was assured that the food was nice, but I heard mixed reviews on the hotel room. One of my friends said his room was really nice and clean whilst the other said that they had mould on their bathroom wall.
We actually planned to leave to go to a bar called the Brass Monkey but were advised against doing so, so we ended up doing shots back at the hotel. At least it was cheap!
Friday
First day of the convention, first day of fun... hooray! I cosplayed as Junko Enoshima from Dangan Ronpa (which has been my bias as of late). Junko is a gyaru so I naturally had a lot of fun as her!
I wasn't recognised a lot but a lot of people were all OH DANGAN RONPA so I guess I did good sort of? The costume was fun to wear even though my boyfriend, my lovely, sweet, charming boyfriend, said that I looked like a street walker. Sigh.
We went to registration which was thankfully smooth and we were given a really nasty cupcake (that some attendees thought was acceptable to smear across the walls like children; no, it was a stupid and immature idea). We were also given a free drink voucher which we'd been promised. They'd been talking like it was an alcoholic drink but it was just a soft drink but that was okay. I was thirsty anyway.
I met with my friend Liah who I love dearly and don't get to see much of. We hung out the entire day and she saw my butt by accident.
We;d been waiting all morning for the games room to open because it said we'd be able to play Persona 4 Arena and there was nothing to do at the convention at this point other than sit around. Not to worry; the games room only opened seven hours late. It was an okay games room though. I had lots of fun on Playstation All Stars and Super Mario on the WiiU but some of the consoles we tried didn't have remotes that worked!
Actually, Liah and I spoke to a gopher who said all of the equipment showed up late and he'd been forced to move the TVs in the games room four times a few hours before it opened. They also decided to put the games rooms on the tenth floor. With two lifts (later going down to one working lift) I can only tell you how frustrating it was. In fact, the best part was when the doors opened at a random floor and Slenderman was just standing there and scared us all!
I ended up in a mini photoshoot. ♥
Friday night was a rock party night.
I didn't like it.
So I ended up really drunk.
Don't drink kids, it's very bad for you!
Saturday
Saturday I woke up aching all over with a swollen throat and a headache. Ick. I thought I might've been hungover but I ended up with a fever and being sick; I'd caught what I can only describe as the plague. Nonetheless I applied my make-up and put on my costume and went to the convention. Today I was Sonia Nevermind from Super Dangan Ronpa 2!
It was here that the first problem came to hand. I couldn't walk very far without wheezing and being unable to catch my breath. Nonetheless I soldiered on until I was at the convention, but spent most day sat at a table feeling very unwell and feverish. I took a quick trip to the games room and went back downstairs where I realised I was cold (despite running a fever), so I ended up sitting with a group of people including the ever gorgeous Charlie.
Look at her, isn't she gorgeous? What a perfect lady.
I ended up cancelling my photoshoot and going back to the hotel room as I felt very poorly. I ended up spending the night there trying to break the fever and generally having a miserable time. My boyfriend went to the party and he said it was dire, but that might be because he was trying to make me feel better about missing it.
Sunday
To be honest, I spent most of Sunday watching trash TV in the hotel room! I'd managed to break my fever and felt better so I dolled up and made my way out for the final party, which was cheesy music themed. ♥ It's a guilty pleasure, okay?
Shoes: Garage Shoes
Necklace: Vivienne Westwood
Bracelet: Vivienne Westwood
Bag: Louis Vuitton
I also wanted lady like make-up and to look fresh and not one of the walking dead so here's a preview of it.
Although I wasn't drinking I had lots of fun hanging out with everyone. We had so many inside jokes and we had lots of fun, so thank you to everyone for bearing with me even if walking down three stairs winded me! There were so many glorious things done and said (dolla dolla billz anyone?) I just wish all of my lovely blogders could have been there to hear it all!
The conversation and singing genuinely made up for the fact that I wasn't drinking. I don't think I could've survived without everyone.
There was also a cosplayer giving our real roses to everyone. She was really lovely but later that night she ran into a mirror and bled everywhere, poor thing. I've spoken to her since and I'm glad she's okay!
Anyway. The reason I'm bringing this up is that my rose stalk snapped so it ended up being held in a unconventional location.
Flower. Boobies.
But no, overall Gemucon was fun because of the people who were there. I heard a lot of guests cancelled and dropped out and I do appreciate people trying to make this the best event it could have been, alas, I had more fun getting my eye sliced open. I think a better location, organisation, and perhaps guests who show up would be an improvement. We were promised party bags and glow sticks, but I never received any of them?
Until next time!
