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2 0 0 5 Credit goes to Commander Destrik for this idea. He first suggested the prospect of Beast Wars International visitors meeting up and I'm very pleased to say that this idea carried very well and produced a successful gathering of friends and fans. Below are the accounts of myself and Miss Special of this special event, which took place between 19th - 21st August. Sapphire's Account || Miss Special's Account
Day 1: For many years I've wanted to meet the cool friends I've made through a mutual love of Beast Wars. Being all the way in South Africa, it was a want that was difficult to fulfil. When BWInt was formed, I made even more friends and through the site brought them together. We all seemed to get along so well, that I imagined that if we were all together we'd make a great team (hence the inspiration for "A Special Touch") Then one day Commander Destrik had the idea of of Beast Wars International Gathering. It was an idea that grew and blossomed and actually came to pass, even though sadly Commander D couldn't make it himself. If I were still in South Africa it is likely I wouldn't have been able to make it, but since we moved to the UK at the end of last year, getting to the States seemed a far more real possibility. Several months later I'm here in America with my best friend Miss Spesh, and today was the first of three of the first (hopefully) annual BWInt Gathering! We drove to Sacramento and arrived at the Gathering venue (Flyby and Niteflite's hotel room) at about noon. Fly and Nite greeted us and hugs were shared. ^_^ We then waited for Nurann and Zucca to arrive. Zucca was still on the road travelling all the way from Santa Barbara. Grimloq had called earlier and had only left mid-morning from Oregon, so we wouldn't be seeing him that day, but on Saturday. An hour or so later, Nurann arrived wearing her BWInt shirt, which I, of course, applauded. :D Not long after, Zucca arrived. We greeted him and pretty much launched into the BW marathon afterwards. There was candy and Miss Spesh and I brought cookies, so we nourished ourselves on that while we watched, joked and commented. We enjoyed teasing BW in general, especially the pilot episodes which, let's face it, had a lot of corny moments! Zucca made some good jokes and puns, some of which had me near in tears of laughter. We didn't really pause at all and we watched until 5:50pm, all the way up to the start of the episode "Victory". Much fun was had by all as we got to share our opinions and thoughts on the characters and their actions in the various episodes. We pointed out quirks we loved, plot holes and Easter eggs, snickered at our favourite lines and "awwed" at the cute scenes (well, at least the girls did. :P) At the end of the day we all grouped together and had photographs taken by Miss Spesh's mom, using several cameras! I got to see Zucca's art, too, as he hasn't got a scanner and so hasn't been able to upload it. It's good(!) and I'm going to try take some photos of it tomorrow so we can add it to BWInt. All in all, it was a good day and we all got along really well. Some might think it awkward to meet with people you have only ever talked to online, but there was no ice to break. We enjoyed each other's company and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, especially since we should reach Season 2 (my favourite!) and I can coo over Rattrap in his TM form and cheer on Rampage! Tomorrow we'll also reach the episode in which Inferno makes his appearance (which makes Miss Special happy) and Zucca will get to see the introduction of his favourite character, too (Silverbolt). Also, tomorrow Grim will be joining us, so that will officially complete the people attending the gathering.
Sapphire's Account: Day 2: Day 2 started earlier, as the agreed meeting time was 9am. We were all together at about 9:30am. This time, Grimloq and his younger brother, Beagleboy, joined us, and we also got to meet Grim's mom (Queen E) who sat in for the viewing of "The Trigger". She too is a Beast Wars fan (I think it's great to have a parent who likes Beast Wars!) Things kicked off with the episode "Victory". We had great fun laughing at the corny moments in this episode, particularly at the end when Optimus does is Superman thing. Miss Special and Grimloq both got to see the entries of their favourite characters in the first half of the day's viewing. There were lots of great moments in the 2nd half of season 1, including an entire audience applause when Airazor punched Blackarachnia in "Other Voices: Part 2", and guffaws when Waspinator did his crazy Decepticon thing in "Dark Designs". We kept count of the number of times the Axalon table was smashed, when bots said "Shut up, Rattrap", when Inferno said "My Queen" and when Cheetor had precognitive dreams. When there were inconsistencies or when there were typical "it doesn't make sense/add up!" Beast Wars moments, we came to the conclusion that the answer to all the questions and quirks was subspace. Subspace makes everything possible. :D (There's a Gathering inside joke that's probably going to carry!) We paused for pizza and cake at midday, but the break was only brief and soon we were continued with our crazy marathon. We finished with season 1 and started season 2. Many were happy to see the beginning of this season. Zucca cheered when Silverbolt made his entry in "Coming of the Fuzors" and I myself squealed with delight in seeing Rattrap in his TM body (and Fly and Nite complimented Cheetor with a "squee!" as well.) Nurann was pleased to see Optimus's re-entry. There are a lot of cool fight sequences in the second season and we all enjoyed cheering (or jeering) the characters as they duked it out in "Aftermath", and big scale in "Coming of the Fuzors", right up to Dinobot's duel with Quickstrike in "Maximal No More". We all cringed (save maybe Zucca) in "Tangled Web" at Silverbolt's possibly corniest lines ever. The day ended with the two-parter "Other Visits". We all had a great time feasting on candy, pizza, cool drinks and cake and watching our favourite show and we all agreed we were excited at the prospect of kicking off Sunday with everyone's favourite crab. "Bad Spark" will be the first episode of tomorrow and hopefully we will manage to finish the entire marathon.
Sapphire's Account: Day 3: Everyone was at the venue at 9am today except Zucca. We waited for him for a while, but when he didn't show Nurann and Grim took turns at knocking on his hotel room door. They got no response and Nurann was leaving early and wanted to take a group photo by the pool, so we all went down a level and pounded on poor Zucca's door. It turned out that his alarm clock had failed him. Anyway, when he was awake we all assembled by the pool while Nurann's brother took many photographs of us. We posed as a group and then as individuals for special shots to be altered on Photoshop. You'll see what we had planned later. ;) After the photo session, we went back to Fly and Nite's hotel room and got right into "Bad Spark". This seemed to be a favourite episode for all for various reasons. Flyby liked the Silverbolt and Blackarachnia interaction, while Zucca was just happy to see the chivalrous fuzor at his best. Grim, Miss Spesh and I delighted in seeing the introduction of Rampage. We all agreed how scary he was in that episode and if it hadn't been a kids show, things could've been a lot scarier! After that we watched one of Beast Wars' most famous episodes. "Code of Hero" earned an impressive silence from an otherwise noisy and chatty (if a little smart-alecky) audience during the intense scenes. Even though Dinobot was no one's favourite character in the group, his final episode certainly held everyone's attention. At 11am Outtsyder called on Miss Spesh's phone, as was pre-arranged. He engaged in a chat with everyone in the group as the cell phone was passed around. It was his way of saying hi to his friends and telling us all how he wished he could be there. "Transmutate" got a squeal from the gathering's Rampage fangirl (*cough*) and then we launched into the season's favourite few episodes: 'The Agenda' Trilogy! Everyone was excited to see these three, especially Grim. We all rejoiced in Ravage's Russian accent, cloaking abilities and absolutely kick-@$$ ship! "The Agenda" has some of Beast Wars' finest moments and it was thoroughly enjoyed. Sadly, Nurann had to leave early, and not too long after her Zucca had to depart. He was able to stay until the end of "Optimal Situation". It was the first time I had ever seen the beginning of that episode. I'd only ever seen it on a tape Blaze Raptor recorded for me, but she had missed taping the beginning and so I was treated to seeing a snippet of Beast Wars I'd not previously experienced. (It was awesome!) "Deep Metal" earned many cheers as no one dislikes Depth Charge and we all thought of him as one of the highlights of season 3. We all enjoyed Season 3's good episodes, and some of us cringed at its "lesser" episodes. The over-done BA/SB interaction (imo) had at least one fan in Flyby, who seemed to know (as she recited!) every one of Blackarachnia's lines! Although I can safely say we ALL cringed at Cheetor's crush, and sappy lines, lol! Finally we got to "Nemesis". Nobody was happy to see these episodes for several reasons (the main of which was that it wasn't the best ending BW could have had) but we all took it like good soldiers. (I mean come one, it's not a marathon if we don't make it to the end!) Besides, it was worth watching for Waspy's final line, which got claps and cheers all round. After that we exchanged hugs and farewells. It was fantastic meeting friends who I've chatted to online for so long, particularly Nurann who I've known for years. Everyone got along extremely well and it was more than wonderful to share comments, thoughts, observations, laughter and cool moments with a group of people who were fellow BW fanatics. It was so successful that the general consensus was that there will be another one next year and we're all going to try out best to be there. Here's hoping that the BWInt Gathering becomes an annual thing! :D Rocklin, California Day 1 Sapph and I were the first to arrive at Flyby and Niteflite's room. Zucca and Nurann were still a ways off, and Grim wouldn't be coming until the next day, so we chatted a while about stuff. Beast Wars stuff, of course. And we ate cookies. Snickerdoodles are good. I attempted to plug the DVD player in, only to find that the outlets were... big? The plug was very loose in the socket, which was really weird. That was the biggest hangup. The electrical things still operated even in the weird sockets, so I got the DVD player plugged in, hooked up, and ready to play Beast Wars until the cows come home. Nurann came after about an hour, and we bided our time until Zucca arrived. We flipped through channels on the TV and grumbled about there not being any Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network. What kind of freak cable doesn't have those? I mean, really! *cough* Anyways, right after Zucca got there, Niteflite hit the "play" button and Beast Wars started. Watching my favorite show in a room full of fans gave me warm fuzzies inside. It doesn't get better than that, especially when you start from the beginning. I couldn't help but smile to myself. Of course, when one is a Beast Wars fan in a room full of Beast Wars fans, it's hard not to make a joke. Transforming oranges! There was a lot of laughing going on. Go figure. After a few hours of Beast Wars and a brief intermission when the DVD player went all funky, we made it to "Victory." Sapph and I, since we're staying at my house instead of the hotel, left for home at six. Another really neat thing was how nice everyone is. I'm generally a very shy person and don't talk a whole lot around people I'm not familiar with, but I warmed up to everyone pretty quickly. My articulation, which isn't particularly good at any given time, dropped to about nil, but I talked and joked and said things I wouldn't around complete strangers. In all, the first day was a huge success. Being around so many fellow fans, especially ones I know, is indescribably cool. Miss Special's Account: Day 2 Grim and his had family arrived, so everyone was able to make it to the second day. Since everyone was at the venue already, we were able to get to watching at around 9 am. There was the same issue with the oversized outlets. After much fiddling, and a chair to hold the plugs in place, we started off with "Victory." We made our way through more of season one, and QueenE, Grim's mom, came to the rescue with some duct tape to hold in plugs. It took some creativity, but the plugs stayed in place and the DVD player stayed on. It wasn't too long before everyone's favorite characters had made their appearance, so everyone had someone to cheer for (even if the person one person was cheering for was fighting someone another person was cheering for). There was also a lot of quoting going on, with people reciting lines as they were being said. Lots of in-jokes came up, the most notable one being our attempt at rationalizing every odd thing that didn't make sense. Subspace. It's all subspace. Y'know how Waspinator and Tarantulas get to the battlefield at the end of "Coming of the Fuzors" part 1, only to show up again after the opening shots are fired in part 2? Subspace. Pizza was ordered, and a lot of people brought snacks, so food was plentiful. By 6 pm, we'd gotten to the end of "Other Visits" part 2, which means we're starting tomorrow out with "Bad Spark." A lovely way to start out the day. :D Miss Special's Account: Day 3 Day three kicked off with lots of photo-taking. Once the pictures were taken, we picked up from where we left off yesterday, happily watching Rampage's entrance in "Bad Spark." Nurann had to leave right after "Code of Hero," so we paused to say goodbye to her. Ravage was a popular person to watch during "The Agenda," and then came season three. Zucca left as "Deep Metal" was starting, and after saying farewell, we cheered on Depth Charge. Once Cheetor's crush on Blackarachnia arose, everyone groaned every time Cheetor made a lame pass at her. It wasn't long before all the TMII's had shown up and the series was winding down to its fairly abrupt end. The majority of everyone's hearts went out to poor Waspinator. Poor Waspy never got a break, but when he was given his just desserts (in a good way!), everyone applauded. Another crowd favorite was the table from the Axalon control room. That thing gets walked on, thrown, messed up, and dumped into a lake. We thought it rested at the bottom of the lake with the Axalon, but we happily noted its presence at the fortifications outside the Ark. Once the applause ended and the final credits rolled, we watched a little bit of G1, which Flyby and Niteflite had brought along. I'd never seen the series that started it all, so it was neat to see Optimus Prime and the original Megatron in action. I can't say I followed the entire episode (it had the Insecticons in it, I can tell you that much), but I enjoyed it. When it was our time to leave, Sapph and I were glomped and hugged, and then we said our final goodbyes. The first of hopefully many Bwint Gatherings was extremely successful, and I hope to attend the next one, wherever it may be. Photos will be added as members who attended submit them, but you can see a few here.
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