While Animalia's Comic Convention wasn't as big as similar ones like in San Diego or similar places, it was still much bigger than anyone anticipated, even Clara. While this was partly because of Animalia's Popularity, it was even more so due to the inspiration of 2019 Spring Carnival Theme.
While getting the comics found in Lily's parent's storage unit appraised, the one that generated the most attention was the one from the 1930's that features Superman. According to the appraiser, it was actually a mint copy of Action Comics #1, which is often considered the "Holy Grail" to comic book collectors, thereby making it worth millions. What made some of the other comics even more valuable was that there were mail-order coupons to now defunct companies for things that boys would like at the time like bottle rockets, x-ray glasses, or similar things.
While the original plan was to have spring-themed carnival games (like ring toss, test-your-strength, dunk tank, etc.), the discovery of extremely rare comic books in a collection inspired the "addition" of a comic book convention to the Spring Carnival. While originally unwilling/confused about it, Clara eventually decided to allow it because it would help Animalia understand why certain people looked at Animalians a certain way, as well as help them understand certain aspects of popular culture.
Fortunately, both Animalia Ambassadoria, as well as Iphis, Ianthe, Ty, and Lily were able to make it back to Lyre/Animalia without missing too much.
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Maybe it was because of this reason that Animalia was soon "flooded" with "nerds, dorks, geeks", as they were most often known. Fortunately, Norrie was able to explain that a similar thing had happened at Woodstock, according to her parents, though that had mainly happened in America, while the comic convention was drawing in people from all over the world. While most of the attention (regulated by the PR-MD offices as usual) was on the comic convention, there was still plenty of other attention focused on the carnival games.
"So the objective of this game is to get the coin onto the plate and have it stay there in order to count?" asked Mara, as Jerry began his three coin tosses at the Collection Plate game.
"It is," said Peter, "and Jerry just happens to be really good at it."
"What I want to know is what exactly is Rule 63?" said Reva, a little annoyed at the photoshoot that she and her sisters had been roped into. They didn't even use the same weapons, for crying out loud.
"It's just a fancy, R-rated, term that mean that 'the guys are girls and vice versa'." said Tom, also a little annoyed at it.
"I'm just glad that it's not going to be any farther than that." said Alan, also annoyed.
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Another thing that was done, while less solemn than originally intended, was the "graduation ceremony" for the first members of Project White Lily. While all of the first class had technically completed the program, Anton had waited until spring to hold the graduation ceremony, mainly because spring was associated with new beginnings. While most of the ceremony was formal enough, Anton couldn't keep the reception afterward from getting a little rowdy, especially since it was at the Meat Market. But fortunately the Rhino Guard was there to keep it from getting out of hand.
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The one that was learning the most, so to speak, was Ling. She had progressed enough in her language lessons to be understood and to understand English, while retaining enough of her accent to sound "exotic". With her help, Animalia was able to negotiate a temporary solution with North Korea.
The plan was to turn the farm where Ling had been raised into a kind of Animalia Embassy village. While it wasn't enough to be a long term solution, it was enough to enable debate over a long term plan without too much conflict.
Ling was also able to learn why a lot of Animalians tended to be nervous around her. While the conflict between North Korea and the rest of the world went right over her head, it was easier to understand that it was her tusks that was making a lot of people nervous. To most people, her tusks were normally seen on predators as canine teeth, with Diego and Patty's signature sabre teeth being the most "unnerving". After that, it was easier for her to socialize with Animalia.
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While the Spring Carnival started on St. Patrick's Day, the fact that it was also the start of Spring Break, and there was also a comic book convention as part of it, there was plenty to learn about.