Gonna be honest, I'm not very good at this whole "recap" business. I'll do my best to include everything from memory, but I'll probably forget to include a number of people. My bad :)
But first, here's a picture of all the goodies I got at the meetup. A lot more than I can handle tbh, but I'll find a place for them all in do time.
It was also a ton of fun handing out my stickers of Sue. People seemed to really like them.
But anyways, onto the recap.
On my way to Rutherford, I had to pick @lordmagian up from a dingy part of Newark. He had flown out from Canada into an airbnb the night before. While I was worried about getting jumped, Magian was telling me "this place is just like my hometown in Brazil". After the pickup, we headed straight to my hotel room to get unpacked. We then got an Uber and headed to the meetup.
As we approached the main entrance, we got to see @TomFulp before the crowd could mob him. I handed him a Sue sticker, and in return, he handed me a massive NG logo sticker. Magian proceeded to show off some of his sketchbook stuff to Tom before the crowd really started to swarm in. We eventually stumbled onto @Tamag0 wearing her Egg Beret. I swear she was the size of a gremlin (but don't tell her I said that lol). We also found @MayaLaCookie dressed as Tom Fulp. We all exchanged stickers and eventually headed into the event building.
Magian and I got our wrist bands and I almost got carted for not putting my actual name on my ticket (my attempt at not being doxed, stupid I know). First person I end up seeing indoors @EpithetSoup dressed as Darnell. Was great getting to finally see him irl. I of course handed him a Sue sticker.
After that I headed into the main event where I got all my posters and trading cards. I then saw @Anislug along with @Kiyo and @RavioliBox (there were definitely other people there, but my mind is blanking). It was nice getting to catch up with Anislug. I handed my stickers to everyone in that group.
Magian and I eventually ran into @CorTat-G who hosts the TMG meetups. I've known the dude since 2021 so it was nice to catch up with him again. Pretty sure I handed him one of my stickers.
Magian and I eventually made our way to @MindChamber who was hanging by the theater entrance. The three of us had known each other in the NG Discord VC, so it was kinda surreal seeing him irl. I handed him a Sue sticker and he handed me one of his Pico Pins.
Some time had passed and Magian eventually found @devoidgazer along with @novaruah at the main entrance. Pretty surreal seeing them in person for the first time. I signed Devoid's sketchbook and gave the two of them my stickers.
At this point in time my memory starts to blank out a bit. I know I handed my stickers to as many people as I could. I also know that I signed a number of sketchbooks from various people. I also attended the first half of the cartoon showcase and got to rewatch Metal Gear Awesome on repeat with no sound (thanks Brandy).
Oh yeah, I also got to see @SrPelo and @Krinkels in person which was pretty cool. I was kinda awkward about the whole thing tbh. I almost forgot to give Pelo one of my stickers, but he seemed to like it. I also fumbled a bit through my story of how I discovered Madness: Project Nexus (and how it got me through retail), but Krinkels seemed to appreciate it all the same. Magian was actually streaming the event to a number of our friends through Discord. He got Pelo to scream at them while they were in call.
Yeah that's about all I can recall. Overall it was great seeing everybody. Really hoping we do this again next year.
-Eugene
