#Blessed

Team No Group, simply classified as fans who didn't join any Fan Clubs but still supported Alden and Maine with the same intensity as those in FCs. I'm part of that. The OrgComm is part of that. Most of my twitter friends are all Team No Group. So thinking of an event that would bring together the people you've never seen before but constantly interact with online together was absolutely an awesome idea. Only problem was, how?

When we first started thinking of ADN Fest, it was just a simple get together. More like a giant eyeball of sorts. It's just so each individual who haven't been to any events could meet up and be with their fellow fans. We had no connections. We had no resources. More or less we dived in with just an idea, but not a concrete plan. It wasn't a big deal when we released the survey. It became one when we got the responses.

With the responses, we saw everyone was excited. They were ecstatic. They kept talking about it. But of course, when something gets talked about, some would say nice things and some would say the opposite. I expected negative responses but not to the extent of people doubting our characters. Oh the hanash against ADN Fest and the OrgComm. It would make me remember that sometimes people think negatively of you even if what you're doing is for a good cause. I mean, we're doing this for Alden and Maine and moreso for our fellow fans... so why talk shit about it? Anyway, moving on. With every hanash we received, we received equal #blessings.

One of the biggest blessings we ever got was given to us on one Saturday when I drove to Lucena with Candy, Gab and Elaine. To make it easier for me to explain what happened, let me give you a schedule:

- 7 am leave Manila

- 11 am arrive in Lucena

- 2 pm leave Lucena

- 6 pm eat at Concha's

What happened was:

- 9am we left Manila

- 2 pm we arrived in Lucena

- 430 pm we left Lucena

- 8:30 we arrived at Concha's

Here's the story.

We were having a bad day. We just read a couple of negative tweets and messages about ADN Fest and about us too. We kept wondering what in the hell were we doing wrong about planning such an event pordalab - as they say it. It was discouraging, to be honest. We just decided to go on with the day, even with the hanash and being late. When we were about to go to Tagaytay for Concha's, it was late afternoon already. It was raining too. We got a message at the ADN Fest twitter account from a lovely couple who told us they were at Eat Bulaga and that they were able to tell Alden about the event. They asked if we could talk over the phone so they could tell us more. Remember, WE DO NOT HAVE CONNECTIONS AT ALL, so this was HUGEEEE for us. I had to stop the car on the curb in the middle of nowhere so we could call them. They told us the story. We screamed... and screamed... and screamed in the car. Of course, nothing was final, but Alden saying that he would go was freaking gold. With that, we knew he would tell Maine about it and then they could all be lovedovey and go to the event together. Of course, this was still more than a month away, anything could happen. But at least, he knew about the event.

So up to Tagaytay we went, and omygod Waze made me scared of driving. It was nighttime already, and the directions from Waze made me go up to Tagaytay on a road I've never been before that doesn't have lights at all. The only light on the road was from my car and there were no railings on the roadsides too! I was scared af and I kept joking "Sana may liwanag after this dilim" and by liwanag I meant Alden at Concha's.

We arrived at Concha's around 8:30 pm. We already started eating when OMG THE BLACK STAREX. THEN MAMA TEN. THEN ASKJAHDGHSJAKJS ALDEN. We stopped eating and we held hands trying to calm each other down. Actually, we became really calm you'd think we were boring people. Alden passed by us and said "hello po, madami po pokemon dito." ASDHJKAHSJKFLAJ HE TALKED TO US. Okay, calma self. He went inside and we were all in a frenzy. We were thinking if we could talk to him about ADN Fest and invite him, but we were really shy to approach him. Hello, dilemma.

So while we were discussing and cursing everyone in the OrgComm GC out of excitement, the lovely couple who we talked to earlier called us again. AND THEN BAM. They said they'll call Mama Ten. AN ABSOLUTE WTF MOMENT, RIGHT? So after a few minutes, we were told to go inside and we were able to introduce ourselves to Alden. To cut the story short, he said "yes! I'll go." and that my friends, was the best thing that happened on that day.

That day proved that God wanted us to pursue ADN Fest. In the midst of all the hanash from other people in the fandom *ahem ahem* (sorry OrgComm, I couldn't help myself), he introduced us to a wonderful couple who are true fans of Alden and Maine and he also intervened with our plans so we can meet Alden personally. Also, this was the day where we posted the clip from the song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us" because true enough, with God by our side, nothing would stop us from organizing such an event for everyone. :)

And to add to this story, he also #blessed us with wonderful people in the fandom who supported, volunteered and provided help with decor, printing and photography. Special shoutout to the lovely couple we met and to the crazy Logistics girls who volunteered to be part of the committee. Also, thank you for all the kind words from amazing people who messaged us to show support. All we wanted was for the event to be a reminder why we're all here: for the friends we've all met because of our support and love for Alden and Maine. We asked nothing more but to have everyone have fun and enjoy.

In conyospeak...

Omygod lang talaga, we really felt the pressure kasi may people hating on the event pero wala naman kami ginagawa against them, you know. But God is good, love nya us and love niya ang ALDUB Nation. He helped us in like everything to make it successful. Grabe lang talaga sa #blessings. Char.

- Tere (@terespeaks)