Life Up-''Date'' + Bristol Renaissance Faire

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This journal should have been posted a couple weeks ago already, but things have been very busy and I'm so backed up on dA in general, I'm only now getting this posted.  I hope this might answer some questions some have had, and sort of explains my overall absence from dA the past several weeks, and possibly in the future, but I'm still trying to catch back up here. >,>


Over the past few months things have been quite tough and many struggles, both physical and emotional, have been endured.  In fact, the past year+, things between AmandaMorganAura and I, had really turned into a downward spiral, and no amount of "trying again" was helping.  Much blame was passed back and forth, and overall, it just got really ugly.  I'd rather not say too much though, as that usually only leads to worse problems. -_-

If anyone remembers my first ACen journal, guardianofcliffton.deviantart.… then you will recall that at my first Anime Central convention, I just so happened to meet my very first DMG cosplayer there, in the vendor area.  Well, after thinking I'd never be able to see/talk to her ever again, she found me through dA because of the photo I posted of her!



We talked a little in comments and later took it to notes, of which got quite long and I wasn't always able to get them answered on a day to day basis.  Nevertheless, we got to know each other better, shared some interests and other personal thoughts and feelings, and eventually decided to move conversation to Skype; however, because of being in the process of talking/trying again with AmandaMorganAura, I was hesitant to start Skype-talk with Ciara, and did wait a bit before agreeing to it.  As of Friday, May 31, 2013, we started talking on Skype…although, I was still talking to AmandaMorganAuraat the time, so it was a bit awkward.  While using Skype, the mention of using a webcam came up, but due to "technically" still "talking first" with AmandaMorganAura, Ciara having a bf of 4 years, (even though things had been growing more and more distant some months BEFORE I ever showed up at ACen) and because AmandaMorganAura still hadn't agreed to using a Webcam herself in the past 2+, nearly 3 years of talking, I was not comfortable with using a Webcam with Ciara just yet.  Nevertheless, for the first weeks of talking, due to not wanting to allow myself to get too attached, I did what I could to try and help, if I could, her current situation with her bf.
I waited a bit before actually trying to use the webcam, and when we first tried it, the microphones were off, due to overall nervousness.  Some days later, just the mention of using a webcam again to AmandaMorganAura sadly caused her to get upset again and the dispute over it caused another lack of talking for several days.  Ciara and I still talked during this time, but it was a bit awkward too, due to what happened, luckily not too awkward.  Overall, I noticed how friendly and kind Ciara was, as well as how open about her thoughts and feelings she was, even with being quite shy, so it was nice to actually feel I was part of an effective conversation. ^^
One more "trying again" with AmandaMorganAura occurred, and the gut-wrenching decision of do I even try again, with this person who's "not taken" even though we just don't seem to "click" that well, and things have failed the past 2+ years…or do I just try to let go and risk going with the girl who treats me nice, reciprocates feelings towards me, but is technically "taken" and I am not allowed to even expect more than a "friendship"?  Subsequent to deciding, for the next few days, maybe a week, AmandaMorganAura and I talked again, I thought this might be the final chance that things could work out…but in the process, near the end, I came to realize, my feelings JUST were not for her like they had been.  It was a hard choice to say, fearing she's flip out over it, but I decided to just put it in the terms of, "I think that we can't be more than friends…given our history together the past months/years…"  To my shock, she agreed that.
The next problems ensued when, because of being just "friends," I didn't talk to her everyday, because now, as a "friend," I had to try to give all my "friends," on dA or elsewhere, time, not just her alone.  As the time went on, she got more and more fed up with my not talking to her like I once had, wrote things on my dA profile that were quite nasty, and eventually, removed me officially from her Skype friend's list.
Ciara and I had since started fully talking with webcam each day, sound and cam and all.  I'm sorry if others think I'm a terrible person because of how I can only treat one girl with more attention than the rest. :(  I tried and tried with "her" and for 2+ years, nothing seemed to work.  With Ciara, we just seem to have friendlier talking and things seem less on edge, we can talk in webcam almost every day, and I've even had the chance to meet with her in person, since she only lives a few towns over.  The whole still having a bf thing has basically kept me from getting too attached, but as time has gone on, she's tried to talk to him about things…and, I want to say in the 4 months we've known each other, things feel more positive than they originally were when we first met.  Sadly, her father passed away just before Halloween 2012, so I'll never get to meet him…but at least her mother likes me, and things I'm a "blessing" for all the times I've gone over to help work, move, clean, both inside and out.

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On a brighter note, Ciara and I got the chance to go out to Bristol Renaissance Faire back on the FINAL Saturday it was open, August 31, 2013.  It was her 2nd time getting to go, and my first; we had a great time as the following description will tell. ^^


We arrived at the faire grounds and followed along to the parking area, and parking, to where the person indicated, after slight confusion, at ~10:08 a.m.  We got out after a little bit and after she texted her mother that we had arrived.  We got our outfits on, and once we made sure we had everything, we walked to the front gate, following the other people walking around.  We held hands as we walked, for the first time, as we headed towards the gate. ^///^
Once at the gate, we handed the lady the tickets, and entered the Faire.  We picked up our map and a special advertisement paper, and then began to peruse the park.  Checking times, we figured we had some time before the first joust that was at noon, and so when we got around that area of the park, I saw my first sword seller.  Her wares were wondrous, but sadly, due to how historically accurately balanced and forged they were, the prices FAR exceeded anything I could afford.  At least I got to handle some of them, just to see (and cry inside) how nice they were.
Noon arrived and it was time for the first joust; the "Tournament Joust."  We got our seats and waited.  Subsequent to some hesitation, I held her right hand in my left, as we sat on the wood bleachers, side by side.  Eventually, the opening announcements began and a woman dressed in a dark teal outfit, riding a horse, rode around the field, giving a theatric description of the joust's upcoming events.  Next the 4 knights rode out one by one, from the left (based on our seating position); I forget their names sadly, so I can't write them down here.  First, an older man, balding on top, with longer brownish hair down the sides, and bearing the colors of red and black; he reminded me of Don Quixote in the fact that he had many voices in his head, all arguing with each other. ><  Second, a younger man, guessing in his 20s, with long, blondish brown hair, kind of smug in personality, and bearing the colors of red and yellow.  Third, a tall man, with short black hair and finely groomed beard, I'm guessing between 30 and 40 years of age, with an overly prideful demeanor, strong and knew it too, bearing the colors of yellow and black.  Fourth and finally, the knight representing our corner of the field; based on what Ciara reminded me, Sir Edgeron; (I'm guessing at the spelling) another younger one, looking to be in his 20s, with shaggy light brown hair, still a bit smug, yet said to be loyal and chivalrous, and bearing the colors of blue and silver.
All the knights gathered as were called, and then the tournament began.  I was going to photograph and/or take video of as much as I could, and even had brought along TWO sets of new batteries.  None of this meant a thing however, as I quickly found out in the process of videoing the knights coming out in the beginning, that I ran out of memory on the SD card, due to never getting a chance to remove any of the past weeks of images/videos, and so, was now short out of luck. :/  Thankfully, Ciara had her camera, so I used it to get the rest of any video or images as necessary.  The first challenge was to put a lance through 4 golden rings that were hanging on little hooks.  Next was trying to lance through a little ring tossed in the air by the knight's appropriate squire.  Then I remember a challenge of using a lance to knock into 2 small metal targets, and one shield on a spring mechanism, that would lock in place if knocked down hard enough.  Then I remember a challenge involving four passes of two knights apiece, jousting to dent, break or know the other's shield, or knock the other rider, off their mount.  Finally, I recall a challenge that combined the target knocking followed by the catching a tossed up ring on the lance.  In the end, the knight that earned the most points throughout all the challenges of the tournament won the pennant.  Overall, it was quite new and interesting, and once the "tournament" was over, the knights returned whence they came, the crowd began to filter out, and once clear enough, Ciara and I took our leave; I got down first, then taking her hand, helped her off the bleachers, and we then made our way to exploring the Faire some more, hand in hand.
We walked past an armory for shields and armor, a fencing area for those seeking to learn the craft, as well as and archery area.  We continued to peruse until we came upon another sword seller.  There was a wall of polearms; lances, halberds, as well as javelins.  The back wall had some really nice swords, including a VERY nice Claymore!  There was a box on the table, filled with daggers and knives, and right wall had a panel of axes and maces.  Just like the previous dealer, all these swords were reproduced with historical accuracy in regards to looks and weight…however, the prices were even more out of my league; i.e., the Claymore was $1200…oh, but it was sooo nice. ;w;  We got a bit of a history lesson, getting to hear about how some of the swords were used, how the fuller was not only used for strengthening the blade as well as making it lighter (I did know that); but also how the length of the fuller was used to shift the point of balance on a blade.  Also, we learned how the diamond shape and lack of fuller, was for strengthening the blade in the flat direction, so it would withstand the beating into armor more.  This time as well, Ciara got to hold some swords, and feel how nice they were. ^^
We bid the sword sellers farewell, and continued on our way.  At this point, Ciara was feeling overheated and itchy in her scratchy, Halloween, blue and black, witch-like costume, so sadly, even though she looked so cute, we headed back to somewhere she could change.  Before we got there, we walked past that one really nice smelling area with some candied nuts being made/sold, and we got a VERY awkward encounter with the guy selling them, as he was walking around with samples, and said, "Try my nuts" followed by after taking a couple samples, "Put my nuts in your mouth."  The nuts were good, but dang, that was bad/lewd. >o<  When we got back to where the portable restrooms were, behind the "Military Encampment," she looked for and found one so she could change, and after about 5 minutes, she came out with the clothing she had beneath, washed her hands, and then we continued on our journey.  The next place we stopped at was a place full of feathery accessories; clips for hats, smaller pins, little berets and hair accessories, small hats, larger hats, crowns/tiaras, (some not made with feathers) some really detailed full outfits/dresses; all was really nice, and I almost got Ciara a hair band with what looked like owl or hawk, feathery decorations, but we chose to leave, and maybe come back later if we had time/money.
We looked around for quite a while now, walking up and down, hand in hand, throughout the Medieval style village, until, on one of your return trips through and area, we came upon a Dress/Outfit shop.  Figuring the prices were high and unaffordable, there was some hesitance in regards to entering, but we chose to enter anyway, at least to look.  There were many dresses and corset items, all in rather fancy styles and designs, all with a piece of colored string, that we learned later was a form of color coding for sizes; the prices varied based on sizes as well.  We looked around one of the racks of many corset items, of which in my opinion, based on the shoulder straps, looked kind of like vests, and found one in a light purple with a shiny, same color, flowery embroidery; it truly did look nice.  When searching for someone to ask about assistance and/or prices, an older, shorter, stocky, grey haired man, asked if he could help.  I said we were only "browsing," and he corrected me, "we don't' use that word today; we use the other "b" word, "buy.'"  Also, that the words "try" and "buy" sound similar.  He probably was just giving me a hard time, but me being overly serious, wasn't quite sure how to take it, and tried to remain calm.  Nevertheless, in the attempt of a sale, he picked out a nice corset item, with a yellow string, and covered with a lovely, light purple flower design, with some greenish leaves poking out in the design.  There was a rather interesting and questionable time having Ciara try it on; I was getting rather uneasy as his hands were getting awfully close to Ciara's *cough, cough* bosom.  Thankfully he didn't get too "grabby" when tying her up, but I still had to clear my throat a couple times, feeling very uneasy. >.<  Once that issue was through, he said that that particular one was in the range of $85 to $95 (if I remember correctly, it might have been $105; nevertheless, too mcuh) and that the prices go up based on how intricate the design and fabric is.  The one she tried on was reversible, so that made it good, but a bit higher priced.  Also, he said she technically could fit into the next size smaller, with the black string, and did try it just to make sure.  Flattering as that is, it was still, sadly, out of our price range. -_-  All the same, Ciara did look really pretty wearing the one she tried on. :blushing:
We headed back out to the Faire and continued to pursue the village vendors.  We looked at a few places, almost stopped by, and I think partially entered into a jewelry place somewhere along here, but I can't remember exactly.  Nevertheless, we didn't fully enter any shop until we got to a seller of artificial flower made tiara/crown/garlands.  We entered and looked at some really nice ones, and the ones that caught our eye most, were the $22 ones with, as the sign put it, "silk" flowers; personally though, they didn't feel/look like silk, but meh, they still looked nice. :shrug:  Nonetheless, the one we agreed upon, was one with green leaves, light, lilac purple rose blossoms, and some smaller, pinky/peachy rose buds, and about a half-dozen ½-inch wide, 2ft long, ribbons, hanging down the back.  It's my opinion that the purple roses, representing a magical, love at first sight kind of atmosphere, compliment her lovely smile, really nicely. :heart:  I paid, the shop owner said something that was like how Ciara and her mother mess with me, >.< and then we left.
It was now around this time that we decided to head back out to the car to drop off some of the extra items we didn't need to be toting around, specifically the costume she changed out of.  We headed to the gate, got a stamp on our hand/wrist to make sure we wouldn't have to pay when returning later on, and then headed out to the car.  We found Ciara's car, put in our items as necessary, brushed our hair, got a drink of water, Ciara wanted to try on my DMG pendant necklace, so I let her, we made sure we had everything, I got my necklace back, and then we walked hand in hand, back to the gate.  So far and throughout the rest of time, due to never having done it before, she kept catching my arm being too stiff when walking with her, and she kept having to tell me to relax my arm. >.<  We got back through the gate, then suddenly remembered "I" had forgotten our map/schedule in the car, so I had to get a new one.  Subsequent to that awkwardness, we headed back on our journey of the village.
The "Queen's Joust" was at 3:00 p.m., thus, since we had about and hour and half of time left, and because we hadn't eaten since the McDonald's breakfast back at 8:30 a.m. or so, we decided to look for something to eat,  We walked through the areas that had the food sellers, almost stopped at the first one that looked nice, but decided to continue on to see/inspect all that they had; in the end, we did come back to the first place we almost stopped at in the beginning.  The items they had sounded and looked nice, the price however wasn't nearly as appealing.  Once we got our turn to the wooden counter, we came to decide upon a Rib-eye sandwich; in hindsight, for its size, and how tough it was, the $8.25 I paid for each of them, was a rip off. :/  Oh well; well learn from our mistakes. :shrug:  We then went to find a seat and while she held a spot on a small bench, I went to get something to drink from the Ice Tea and Lemonade vendor.  AGAIN, I head to learn the hard way; I should have just gotten 2 lemonades, for the price of $3.50, as the lemonade tasted so much better than the cold brown water that they called tea. ¬_¬  Anyway, we had our lunch, (Ciara said she was okay with it, even though I felt embarrassed and sad that I couldn't have chosen a better place for food) I finished the rest of Ciara's sandwich, and then we began our journey once more.
I believe it was during this part of our trip, if not later on, when we came across a woman selling flowers from her basket.  I got put on the spot when she said something like, "Good day M'lord and Lady.  I see the Lady does not have a flower; why is that?  The Lady should have a flower."
I was on the edge of speechlessness and could only fumble over my words, saying something about, "Well, I had not found you yet, so I was unable to remedy that."  I looked amongst the flower-seller's items and asked about prices, and I believe the Carnations were $3, the Roses were $5, and the Orchids $6.  I would have liked to get Ciara a lighter pink rose, but they looked kind of wilted and brown around the edges, so I chose the best looking, classic red, long stem de-thorned, Rose, gave the money to the seller, and gave my Lady, the rose to which smelled and looked as lovely as she. :heart:  Overall though, that had to be one of the most candid, embarrassing moments of my life! >o<
3:00 p.m. was drawing near, so we headed to the jousting field.  We got there just about on time; the announcer woman on horseback was in the process of explaining things again and the "Queen" was waiting off to the right of the field, with her guards; reminded me of Runescape attire for the guards; guessing it's and English thing.  Based on where Ciara and I came to stand behind the crowds, we now had the knight of the black and yellow, in our corner.  The time then came for the Queen's party to move, and they headed to the announcer stand.  Then the festivities commenced.  As they proceeded however, they appeared to look just like before; the same kind of challenges with the suspended rings and such, among other similarities, so Ciara and I decided to leave and look for something else.
Back at lunch, we had talked about a root beer float, since we'd seen a vendor for them earlier on, so, since Ciara had never had one before, we headed to get one to share. ^^  I purchased one for a not too bad price of $2.50, and then with two straws and a spoon, we found a patch of rocks surrounding a planting bed of Hastas and other thing, and there in the partial shade, we sat and had our little dessert. ^^  It was quite good, and the two straws, in my opinion, made it a bit more romantic. :blush:
Once finished, we looked over our schedule to see what we could do next, and in what order to do them, and therefore, the next place we agreed to stop by, was "Dirk & Guido: the Swordsman," at 3:30 p.m.  As we traveled around waiting for the time to come, I think it was about this time (I'm pretty sure it was a time after the "Queen's Joust" would have been over) when we came upon a parade like troupe that included the Queen and her guards.  Some of the guards had Matchlock Muskets or something like that, and dang were they loud when they went off, especially when not expecting it.  Thinking back, I recalled hearing that sound from a distance, at multiple times during the day, but was uncertain of neither what it was nor where it came from; now I knew.
We got to the stage where they were supposed to be, and due to them having already started a few minutes before, we had to stand near a tree, since all the seating areas were taken.  No matter, standing wasn't too bad; I tried to take video during this time using Ciara's camera and then went as bold and putting my right arm around Ciara as she stood to my right. >///<  The video lasted for about 15 minutes until now Ciara's camera ran out of memory. :(  Nevertheless, Dirk and Guido were quite a humorous act; they are both VERY talented swordsman as well as actors and comedians; if I could show the videos I would. (Additionally, after the act was over, I think it was around this time that Ciara took some more time to remove unnecessary pictures and things from the camera, to free up space.)
4:00 p.m. was approaching, and so we headed back to the jousting field in order to see the second showing of "The Royal Falconer."  We got our seats after some looking, Ciara sat to my right, and after she took the camera, I hesitated but then put my arm around her. :blushes:  She took some photos and a video, with the little space she managed to clear up back at Dirk & Guido.  Overall, it was a very interesting and educational experience; we got to see and hear about how hawks and falcons hunt, their different styles, how falcons are endurance hunters and used for long distances, as well as heard about the history behind the practice/sport of Falconry.  As the birds flew, they sometimes got really close to the crowd, but no one was hurt; it was exciting and enthralling to see such majestic birds of prey, at their finest.
Once it was over, and the majority of the crowd had filtered out, we too made our exit.  The next stop on our list would be the "Fire Whip Show" at 5:00 p.m., thus, we had about a half hour to kill.  I could be wrong, but I believe it was during our travel this time around, that we found the "Saber Smith" vendor that the second sword seller had mentioned about earlier that morning.  This sword seller's wares were in a smaller place, but they were all sharpened.  Again, they looked so nice, and being sharpened, they were all fully functional for use.  Sadly though, the prices were just as high as other places; even the daggers, of which I MIGHT have been able to afford, were still rather steep. -_-  Nevertheless, once we had finished looking and handling a few, we left, and continued on our way.  Eventually we came back to the stage from the Dirk and Guido performance, and decided to sit in on a 15 minute act, at ~4:45 p.m., called "By the Sword."  (In case we didn't get a chance later, I got a picture of Ciara with her camera, with what little room she had left.)  The short show, like others, was also rather interesting, and involved a classic, Hero versus Villain plot, in regards to getting a special book back.  The Villains also had an old matchlock pistol, and that too was VERY loud, even from the audience area.  
The 15 minute performance finished, and now we hurried on our way to find the spot where the "Fire Whip Show" would be; we looked around for what seemed too long, but eventually found one of the 2 places where it was performed…although we came in a bit late.  Ciara tried to get some video and pictures of the show, when she could.  We learned that the cracking of the whips is supposedly based on the end of the whip breaking the sound barrier.  Something I also noticed, the later the day went on, the darker and more lewd some of the acts got, in regards to things said; don't get me wrong, it wasn't showing anything really disgusting and actually it was quite humorous with some of the things said, it's just, you could tell that the later in the day it got, to more "references" and "innuendos" were made. >.<  Overall, the show was really entertaining, especially when he got to the part of lighting the whips on fire. :D
The whip show ended, and it was now just about 5:30 p.m.  Even though I would have liked to think that the "Joust to the Death" would have involved them actually doing some hand-to-hand combat with swords this time, we ended up agreeing just to omit going all that way back to the jousting field, and to use this time to get the last bit of exploring done that we could.  (Maybe the Saber Smith visit happened around now; I can't remember.)  I think it might have been during this time when we went back to and stopped at that one jewelry place we had briefly visited earlier on, and I purchased for Ciara a little, $5, hummingbird charm necklace from the little outside things they had full of such charm necklaces. ^^
As we were on our last 15-20 minutes of time to kill, we saw another group of people with some ice cream in large waffle cones, and upon asking where they got them from, I felt a bit stupid since it was JUST down the path a couple hundred feet. >.<  Nevertheless, we went to where they were selling them, waited in line a while, and once to the counter, I purchased one Vanilla cone for us both to share; we also got a spoon at Ciara's request, with which to make it a bit easier to eat.  We had fun trying to eat as we walked to our next destination.
The last place on our list of visits was the "Barely Balanced The Fire Finale;" they had had previous performances throughout the day, but being this was their last one, it had the additions of fire acts among it all.  Ciara now used her phone to get any pictures/videos after the camera conked out from no more room again.  This particular performance, when you think about it, was similar to "Cirque du Soleil" in how the three performers combined their self-taught skills into some really amazing feats of danger and balance; it got really intriguing when they added fire to their juggling and balancing acts.  There was even some really dirty parts, including the one where the main middle guy held a bowling bowl, then told "large" to stick his [burning] "thingy" into his hole, referring to the burning rod into the hole of the bowling bowl. >_<  Additionally, the main middle guy also blew fire near the end of it all.  Overall, it was very entertaining and humorous to watch. ^^
Only a 30-45 minutes now remained before they would be closing up the Faire, so we tried to make sure we could get some final photos of the Faire, and her, with her phone, before it was too late.  As she sat on a bench, I got a lovely photo of her with all her items that I had bought for her. :meow:  We then continued on our way out of the Faire, getting photos here and there of the Faire for reference purposes and to give others an idea of how it looked.  We got stopped briefly by a person handing out scrap samples of some soap, and the lady made a comment about how Sailor Moon girls like their soap a lot.  As Ciara and I continued to walk towards the exit, I tried to contemplate what the woman meant, and the only thing I could come up with, was that MAYBE she thought I was dressed like "Tuxedo Mask" from the Sailor Moon series?  Even if that was the case, didn't she see me holding Ciara's hand or see the rose in Ciara's hand?  Unless she thought we were brother and sister or something? :shrug:  Whatever; we continued on our way, stopped briefly at a pottery seller, saw some really nice, but just too expensive, oil lamps, then almost stopped at a candle seller, and then, we eventually got to the Faire's gate, and exited back to the parking lot.
We walked on, still holding hands, until we got back to her car.  We both had had a nice time; for a "first date" it was certainly a memorable time together. ^^  (I just wish it hadn't been so expensive and wish we could have remembered/realized where the ATMs were, so she could have gotten some cash to use herself. :doh:)  I removed my cloak and gloves, I wrote down additional notes in my notebook, we got ourselves situated, decided on what we would do in regards to eating and getting home, made sure we had everything, had Ciara text her mother to let her know we were now leaving and our on our way home, and then finally exited the fairgrounds and returned to the main road, at ~6:58 p.m.  The almost 2 hour car ride home was both interesting and fun in its own right, but for personal reasons, I won't say too much… ^_~

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By the way, if anyone even bothered to read through this whole journal, then they will see this message: (hopefully they didn't skip down to this :() As of today, September 18, 2013, even though Ciara is sadly miles away, at Disney World for vacation…it's our 4 month anniversary since meeting at ACen. :blushes:


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toxsickk's avatar
That ending part makes me curious to know what happened, even though I was there and know what happened.