The AX Report 1999

by Xoth, Master of Black Magic

Introduction: Only Four Years Late!

    Yep, that about says it all.  Four years after the inaugural FFML/AX get-together, here I am writing up my half-remembered account of it.  Why, you may ask?  Well, because it happened.  It relates to the FFML/AX experience (it was the first one, fer cryin’ out loud), so obviously an account belongs on this page.  I’m anal and demand completeness, so if I can’t have a report on AX ’02 (which I did not attend, unlike some others who shall remain nameless) I’ll go with this instead.  And of course it makes my reports page look a bit less empty. :D

    Before I go any further, I should note that webmaster/artist Zakky Knoles actually did a report immediately afterwards, which inspired me to do one after the AX ’00 gathering, which ultimately led to this site.  That is perhaps my best reason as to why I never got around to doing this report immediately after the fact; I had to steal the idea from someone else. ^_^  Of course, if you’ve read any of my other reports, you already know about the inspiring example of Zack, his Anime Expo accounts, and his website, The Way In, in general.  So I don’t need to provide you with the links yet again; nope, not at all. ;)

    I should also note that this report is more condensed than previous reports, with good reason.  I was not keeping any sort of written notes or sketches of events of the convention, because I never had any inkling that I would be doing this sort of thing.  At the risk of being redundant, let me remind you that it’s been four years since the AX in question.  Obviously I’ve forgotten a lot of what actually happened (not that my reports are famous for accurate reportage in the first place), so stuff will be glossed over.  I’ll also note that at least some of my facts will be based on secondary sources (i.e., Zack’s account) used to remind me of what happened (no, really, I’m not plagiarizing).  Such are the perils of far-retrospective journalism; not that I’d dare call what I’m doing journalism.

    So anyway, how did this crazy tradition all begin?  One evening in Dalnet’s #ffml, then-list member Jaana was talking about her plans to attend a little function called Anime Expo.  One thing led to another, people started coming aboard, and before you knew it a whole group of FFMLers was planning to room together and crash this unsuspecting otaku party.  And I was one of them, despite the fact that (a) I knew little about anime outside of Cartoon Network and the Sci-Fi Channel (which did actually show anime, once upon a time); and (2) I had only joined the list the previous fall.  Still, I was well on my way towards becoming an #ffml regular and a respected list member (now there’s an oxymoron), and more importantly I was willing to pay a share of the room bill, so Jaana and the others welcomed me aboard.

   And who were these others?  Already familiar to those of you who have read my previous...err, previously-written reports are Sky, Golbez, Daran, Mabis, Johnmog, and, to some extent, Arty.  Less familiar will be Faris, a talented FFV fan artist and a former list member of some renown.  There were also several people not from the list or Dalnet channel.  Jaana’s friend Kat was one; I believe she shared Jaana’s interest in yaoi, which is how they became friends. (Ahh, the power of smut. :D)  Also joining us were quite obviously Zakky and less obviously fan artist Amber Michelle, neither of whom were list members or channel regulars prior to (or even after) AX ’99.  I have yet to solve the mystery of how they became acquainted with Jaana, but it’s not all that important to know, so I’ll just chalk it up to all online personalities knowing one another and move on.

Note: Possibly interesting sidebar—I actually knew of Zakky, because he had done some FF1 fan art, and I had made a terrible, now defunct and utterly unlamented FF1 fan page, which displayed what little fan art I could find on the net.  I’m not sure whether or not I was aware at that time that it was him, or whether he was aware of whom I was (since I’d been a conscientious webpage author and had emailed him for permission to display his work); just wanted to point that out.

So onward to:

[ Part 1 ]        [ Part 2 ]        [ Part 3 ]

Disclaimer: This account contains a lot that could offend people.  Sexual content.  Drug use.  Profanity.  Violence.  Celebrations of Japanese culture.  Non-white people.  Crudely drawn pictures.  Sentence fragments.  If anything in this account offends you, find another web page. If your kid reads something that offends you, tell them to find another web page.  If you’re really ticked off by it, then e-mail “cosmic_chicken” at “excite” dot “com” so I can ignore you.  Certain characters, events, etc. referred to and depicted in this account come from Japanese animated films and television series and are copyrighted by their respective companies.

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