AX 07 Report
Well, seeing as how Jae and Shannon have given their reports of the con, I s'pose it's 'bout time I gave mine. Since between the two of them they've given a blow-by-blow of the entire experience, alls I gotta do now is provide the images! So here I present to you...
Poor Shannon was all alone on her 20th birthday. Jae and Dee said they were going to the corner store to pick up some Kool-Aid, but they left and never came back...
Here's that total doozie of a line we were talking about, taken after we'd gotten in and Shannon and I were waiting in line for the bathroom (never made it in, by the way). The first one, I mean. This is the head of the line going into the convention center to get badges. The area shown here took about an hour to an hour and a half to get through.
That white blob there is Ulquiorra... I think.
That is one sexy peti! Shannon and I took pictures of each other's costumes while waiting in line for the concert. This one was taken about half an hour in, if I remember correctly.
After a while I decided to take pictures of the line, seeing as how lines had been pretty much all we'd seen since arriving at the convention. Here you can see one of the roughly 90 million Naruto cosplay groups, plus what I assume is a Shinigami.
More of the line. The little bend here was the end of the line by the time we'd arrived, but you can bet it wasn't the end for long. And just for reference, the entire parking lot portion of the line (not shown in full here, I think this is about half?) was less than a tenth of the total line.
This guy randomly came up and tried to /ja "Steal" from me... luckily I was already engaged so he didn't take me off guard. He stopped by and talked to us about XI randomness for a good long while, which was a nice distraction from the blazing heat. Upon my requesting a picture, he said he was disinclined to acquiesce without his 34-lb steel buster sword with him, but in the end he agreed anyway.
Some cute Lolitas in line, probably melting.
Some J-rock/Viz K cosplayers in line.
More of the previous, plus a GU version Kite.
Jae and one of the countless Ls. Seriously, you couldn't swing a stick without hitting one. Though we did establish it as "The lazy man's cosplay" seeing as alls you need is eyeliner and the most generic clothes ever. And a little bit of hair product, depending.
School-uniform!Hitsugaya in line, behind whom you can see Yumichika's yellow eyebrows peeking out, along with Marluxia in front of us. I'd have said Chick!Marluxia, but that'd just be redundant.
A Vaan I hopped out of line and harrassed for a picture. He was considerably less enthusiastic than most of the other people I requested photos of, but then I think 1: he didn't speak much English seeing as how he didn't respond 'til I held up my camera and 2: he was probably dying of heat stroke, poor thing.
Sheena and a girl in fishing gear, who upon seeing a crazy thief jump out wielding a camera motioned joyfully to a fellow adventurer and requested a photo in return. It was nice seeing another citizen of Vana'diel, seeing that beside her I'd seen a total of two other XI cosplayers that weren't myself or Shannon.
Nabbed a photo of hide #8123908140293 waiting in line for the concert. There were as many hide cosplayers there as there are digits of pi, and you can bet your ass they were all dying in their wigs and vinyl suits.
A very tired-looking Tamaki sitting resignedly in line. I remember the chick in front of us in line calling out to him saying she needed a hug, to which he replied by pointing to himself and mouthing "me?" in an adorably puzzled fashion.
Caught a picture of these guys just after they'd finished what looked like a 90-minute photoshoot with random other fans. Definitely one of the best KH2 groups at the con, and Anti-Sora definitely wins major points for creativity and dedication. I wonder how uncomfortable it must've been to be walking around *all day* with the body paint!
Vaizards! It was really cute (though it kinda weirded us out) when we came across them later and Hirako and Hiyori were makin' out...
KOS-MOS and (spoiler!) dukin' it out.
Wedding!Ashe, though the details are really compromised due to my inability to hold a camera still. There were like 40 other people taking pictures of her, too, so flashes were going off right and left, which I think messed with my shot.
Vaan and Penelo! They were a real couple, too, which we all thought was just adorable. Adorable people cosplaying adorable characters who themselves are an adorable couple makes for a real adorableness overload.
Hitsugaya, Hinamori, and Yumichika seemed to be very popular Bleach costumes there. There were quite a few Hollow-Bankai Ichigo cosplayers, but I never had my camera out whenever they passed.
So we come out of the Pop-Shock masquerade to see Jack hangin' out with a buncha Trons. Yeah, we definitely had to get a picture. And look, I caught a Roxas, too!
And what better way to end this report than with the sexiest Balthier you'll see out of game? Super-sized 'cause, well, frankly he deserves it. Seriously, he got EVERY SINGLE DETAIL of the costume down. We're of the opinion that he's really an escaped Disney-manufactured character clone hiding out at the convention. When we first saw him before the Pop-Shock masquerade I was too shy and timid to go up and ask for a picture, but when we were walking out to the car and saw him I knew this was the last chance to get a shot of the best costume at the con, so I mustered up my courage and chased him down a 20-yard stretch outside the convention center. Totally worth it.
So, yeah, there's my report. It was a ton of fun, and all the fans we met were just about the nicest people you'll ever come across. Aside from the terrible, terrible organization (never going back to AX again because of it...) it was a blast. Though I won't be heading back to So Cal any time soon for a con like that, if there are any in the Bay Area I'd definitely love to go.
In fact, Shannon and I decided that when we go to cons we're gonna go themed. A few of the costumes we wanna make are Millie/Meryl, Mori/Hani, Matsumoto/Hitsugaya, and Sophitia/Seong Mi-Na. I'm totally pumped about the Soul Calibur cosplay, 'cause if there's a competition masquerade where you go and actually perform we wanna put together a fight scene. And since we'll be displaying actual fighting skills, it'll be an incentive for the judges to rate us really highly! I mean, who wants a glaive and a sword to the face 'cause you gave us a low score?
Poor Shannon was all alone on her 20th birthday. Jae and Dee said they were going to the corner store to pick up some Kool-Aid, but they left and never came back...
Here's that total doozie of a line we were talking about, taken after we'd gotten in and Shannon and I were waiting in line for the bathroom (never made it in, by the way). The first one, I mean. This is the head of the line going into the convention center to get badges. The area shown here took about an hour to an hour and a half to get through.
That white blob there is Ulquiorra... I think.
That is one sexy peti! Shannon and I took pictures of each other's costumes while waiting in line for the concert. This one was taken about half an hour in, if I remember correctly.
After a while I decided to take pictures of the line, seeing as how lines had been pretty much all we'd seen since arriving at the convention. Here you can see one of the roughly 90 million Naruto cosplay groups, plus what I assume is a Shinigami.
More of the line. The little bend here was the end of the line by the time we'd arrived, but you can bet it wasn't the end for long. And just for reference, the entire parking lot portion of the line (not shown in full here, I think this is about half?) was less than a tenth of the total line.
This guy randomly came up and tried to /ja "Steal" from me... luckily I was already engaged so he didn't take me off guard. He stopped by and talked to us about XI randomness for a good long while, which was a nice distraction from the blazing heat. Upon my requesting a picture, he said he was disinclined to acquiesce without his 34-lb steel buster sword with him, but in the end he agreed anyway.
Some cute Lolitas in line, probably melting.
Some J-rock/Viz K cosplayers in line.
More of the previous, plus a GU version Kite.
Jae and one of the countless Ls. Seriously, you couldn't swing a stick without hitting one. Though we did establish it as "The lazy man's cosplay" seeing as alls you need is eyeliner and the most generic clothes ever. And a little bit of hair product, depending.
School-uniform!Hitsugaya in line, behind whom you can see Yumichika's yellow eyebrows peeking out, along with Marluxia in front of us. I'd have said Chick!Marluxia, but that'd just be redundant.
A Vaan I hopped out of line and harrassed for a picture. He was considerably less enthusiastic than most of the other people I requested photos of, but then I think 1: he didn't speak much English seeing as how he didn't respond 'til I held up my camera and 2: he was probably dying of heat stroke, poor thing.
Sheena and a girl in fishing gear, who upon seeing a crazy thief jump out wielding a camera motioned joyfully to a fellow adventurer and requested a photo in return. It was nice seeing another citizen of Vana'diel, seeing that beside her I'd seen a total of two other XI cosplayers that weren't myself or Shannon.
Nabbed a photo of hide #8123908140293 waiting in line for the concert. There were as many hide cosplayers there as there are digits of pi, and you can bet your ass they were all dying in their wigs and vinyl suits.
A very tired-looking Tamaki sitting resignedly in line. I remember the chick in front of us in line calling out to him saying she needed a hug, to which he replied by pointing to himself and mouthing "me?" in an adorably puzzled fashion.
Caught a picture of these guys just after they'd finished what looked like a 90-minute photoshoot with random other fans. Definitely one of the best KH2 groups at the con, and Anti-Sora definitely wins major points for creativity and dedication. I wonder how uncomfortable it must've been to be walking around *all day* with the body paint!
Vaizards! It was really cute (though it kinda weirded us out) when we came across them later and Hirako and Hiyori were makin' out...
KOS-MOS and (spoiler!) dukin' it out.
Wedding!Ashe, though the details are really compromised due to my inability to hold a camera still. There were like 40 other people taking pictures of her, too, so flashes were going off right and left, which I think messed with my shot.
Vaan and Penelo! They were a real couple, too, which we all thought was just adorable. Adorable people cosplaying adorable characters who themselves are an adorable couple makes for a real adorableness overload.
Hitsugaya, Hinamori, and Yumichika seemed to be very popular Bleach costumes there. There were quite a few Hollow-Bankai Ichigo cosplayers, but I never had my camera out whenever they passed.
So we come out of the Pop-Shock masquerade to see Jack hangin' out with a buncha Trons. Yeah, we definitely had to get a picture. And look, I caught a Roxas, too!
And what better way to end this report than with the sexiest Balthier you'll see out of game? Super-sized 'cause, well, frankly he deserves it. Seriously, he got EVERY SINGLE DETAIL of the costume down. We're of the opinion that he's really an escaped Disney-manufactured character clone hiding out at the convention. When we first saw him before the Pop-Shock masquerade I was too shy and timid to go up and ask for a picture, but when we were walking out to the car and saw him I knew this was the last chance to get a shot of the best costume at the con, so I mustered up my courage and chased him down a 20-yard stretch outside the convention center. Totally worth it.
So, yeah, there's my report. It was a ton of fun, and all the fans we met were just about the nicest people you'll ever come across. Aside from the terrible, terrible organization (never going back to AX again because of it...) it was a blast. Though I won't be heading back to So Cal any time soon for a con like that, if there are any in the Bay Area I'd definitely love to go.
In fact, Shannon and I decided that when we go to cons we're gonna go themed. A few of the costumes we wanna make are Millie/Meryl, Mori/Hani, Matsumoto/Hitsugaya, and Sophitia/Seong Mi-Na. I'm totally pumped about the Soul Calibur cosplay, 'cause if there's a competition masquerade where you go and actually perform we wanna put together a fight scene. And since we'll be displaying actual fighting skills, it'll be an incentive for the judges to rate us really highly! I mean, who wants a glaive and a sword to the face 'cause you gave us a low score?