2020 Geek-A-Long: Bard to the Bone

Kevin and I thought it would be fun to celebrate the D8 by remembering our first date. In the midst of the country being shut down by COVID-19, time doesn’t really feel like it has any meaning anymore, but according to Facebook, I posted the photo below twelve years ago. This is me DMing the first D&D game we played together. I’m pretty sure I was running Living Arcanis. It feels like this was longer than twelve years ago, but in a good way. Just look at that baby face and novelty tee! This photo feels like the absolute epitome of the early 2000s. We’ve never really agreed on when our first date actually was. So, tonight we’re having an old-married-people date by sitting in separate rooms writing up an account of what we each believe our first date entailed. 

As told by Kevin:

We had met at a Halloween Party. She was dressed as Cruella DeVille and I showed up as Dr. Venture, jumpsuit and all. It was a small party, so we spent much of the night talking about webcomics and other hobbies. Her friend, who was dressed as the Paper Bag Princess, practically forced Megan-Anne to give me her number. A few weeks went by and I had called once or twice and hung out with the friend on Warcraft a few times. Then, they asked me if I wanted to come over for a game of Dungeons & Dragons and a Thanksgiving Turducken. I thought that sounded like a great idea so I went dressed merely as me, and Megan ran a really fun game. We created inside jokes that we will never forget:

“Sausssssage Fingerssssss.” 

After that, her friends wanted to go to bed, but we weren’t done hanging out. Being in the magical land of 24hr diners, we went to a diner where we sat and talked for hours over omelettes, pie, and mousse squirrels. I told her stories about characters I had played, terrible roommates I had, and my amazing friends. She told me about characters she had played, games she had accidentally sabotaged by overhearing plot details without realizing that the players weren’t talking in character, and her obsessive love of knitting. It was where we went from thinking each other was great to knowing that there was something real between us. And after that, we just refused to stop talking to each other. 

I guess the point is that DnD gave us something to bond over and talk about in the early awkward stages of the relationship. Playing the game gave us a way to show off how great we both were without feeling too self conscious about it. We still enjoy playing games with each other. Every now and then she’ll organize and run a game for my birthday or New Years. Even though we’ve both had to scale back our gaming, it’s something that we still share with each other. 

As told by Megan-Anne:

We met at a Halloween party I didn’t even want to be at. At the time, I was in the midst of a breakup from a toxic four-year relationship with a guy that had ordered me not to go to that party. So obviously, I had no option but to attend.

Anyhow, I went with my friend Erica, even though I was brand new to Philly and didn’t know anyone else that would be there. Kev and I met at the party, and it was instant chemistry. Like I said, I was still in the middle of a messy break-up, so I wasn’t really open to dating anyone, but there was no denying the electricity, and Erica talked me into giving him my number. He called me, but even though I had told my ex to leave, he hadn’t actually *gone* yet, so I didn’t really see myself as available. I couldn’t get Kevin off my mind though. Erica suggested I invite him to our Thanksgiving D&D&D (Dungeons & Dragons & Dinner). And I suspect that he’s in there writing about how that was our first date. It wasn’t though. Because to have been on a date, he’d have had to ask me out. That night I made a particularly fabulous Turducken and had an amazing time. After that, we started talking every day. A week later, I finally got my ex out of my life and timezone. So that night was great. But it wasn’t a date until he properly asked me out, and that wasn’t until nearly Christmas.

It was worth the wait. We went to Dave & Busters where I gorged myself on chocolate fondue in a very lady-like manner, and then we found out we share a deep love of those games where you shoot a coin into a machine that’s full of other coins and try to knock the coins off the ledge. It’s sort of a hard game to describe, but the two of us could spend all day playing it. Then, we went to the Franklin Institute where they had a special traveling exhibit on the Chronicles of Narnia. I can’t find any pictures from the date, I think that was before cell phone pics were really a thing. And that, my friends, was our fabulous first date.

Flash forward four year and we were celebrated the rehearsal dinner for our wedding at Dave & Busters. Another four years after that we were joined by Mabel the Merciless. As I write this, I realize we do life changing things every four years, so I think we’re due for one in 2020. I’m going to go tell him the universe agrees with me that this is the year we ought to get a dog.

Whether you’re knitting, crocheting, or cross stitching this square, you can download the Steven Universe pattern here. Instructions and charts for both knit and crochet are listed in the pattern. When you’re finished making it, don’t forget to Instagram your squares at us @lattesandllamasyarn with the hashtag #geekalong! Want to hang out with other people making the blanket? You can find moral support in the Geek-A-Long group on Ravelry here.

~ Megan-Anne & Kevin

Stay safe and stay home!

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