DRAGON*CON REPORT- Now with shout-outs!
I probably left out a ton of junk due to my bad memory and taking so long to type this up. XD Before I get to that Dragon*con report I promised, is anyone interested in seeing my 25 self portraits? Because I took a picture. o_o
Yeah. I'm waaay out of practice and I suck. The good news is that I spent less than 5 minutes on all of these, so I'd say that's partially the reason they're all lame- I didn't care enough to try. :D The only one that actually looks like me is the second one on the left along the bottom. Plus the weird face is appropriate. I made an A, though, and that's all that counts. :D
In other news, I got a bicycle! It is beautiful! I have aptly nicknamed it "bike-chan." I'm a terrible bike rider, though. Seriously, if I don't master it really soon, I'm so gonna hurt myself. It's scary. ;_; I wish I could wear kneepads, elbow pads, and a helmet like a little kid, but I would look ridiculous. XDDD
On to the main event!
Day One: Fridaaaay!
So I ended up staying up until 5am working on Belldandy (I was DETERMINED to get this costume finished!!) and then only getting 3 1/2 hours of sleep when I got up at 8:30 to leave Auburn at 9 with Mer (aiuchi). After some last minute packing, we were off to Atlanta, jamming to W, Berryz, and Morning Musume. (Did I mention how AWESOME it is having a friend who is into Hello! Project? I still need to get into Rina, though! :D) When we got to Mer's boyfriend's apartment, I met Patrick and his girlfriend, Christina, whom I recognized, as I've seen her before on the INTRANETZ. lol We grabbed some lunch at a sandwich joint and headed (via MARTA) to Dragon*con. I found out that my roommates wouldn't arrive until later in the day, so I changed into Excel in Mer's room. I also met vampirate777, another AU cosplayer FOR TEH WIN, and her boyfriend, John. Her fairy costume was adorable and Mary, I seriously want to one day just show up on your doorstep and be like "HAY CORSET HELP PLZ." XDDD Needless to say, due to Excel's ridiculously large shoulder pads, I felt rather... well... ridiculous. Haha. So to offset how strange I looked, I let Mer borrow Rikku since she didn't have a costume for Friday, and I figured the flashyness of Rikku would level out the weirdness of Excel.
Does she not have the PERFECT body to cosplay Rikku? Does this not make me INFINITELY depressed? ;_; Can I not look decent in ANY of my Excel photos???
When we were leaving the Mariott to head to the Hilton, I saw the first person at the con I recognized- ninja_kitsune. Now, please allow me the PLEASURE of telling the story of the GREATEST CON MEET-UP IN THE HISTORY OF COSPLAYER INTERACTION:
Me: "Cody!"
Cody: "Katie!"
THE. END.
Do our social skillz not BLOW YOU AWAY? I KNOW, ME TOO. So yeah. After that we did some con wandering, I think. I don't really remember. I remember going out to eat at the Peachtree Center foodcourt, though. I ate there everyday but Sunday. That place got a lot of Katie money fo sho. At one point in the food court, we ran into Roy. Our conversation basically went like this (summarized by Mer and Katie. :D)
Roy: HAY GUYS, GREAT COSTUMES.
Mer and Katie: THX I NO
Roy: COME TO METROCON PLZ
Mer/Katie: MAYBE LOL
Roy: AMANO LIKE WOAH
Katie: BOO PLZKTHXDIE
Roy: OH SNAP COME TO METROCON PLZ
Mer/Katie: OK BAI.
Following that, we returned to the room, where Mer and Matt called it a night, and I was left to wander the Mariott aimlessly, wondering to myself "Where's the party??" Luckily for me, the ADORABLE, SPUNKY, FUNFILLED Andrea (ichigokitty) spotted me from her lofty 3rd floor view, and invited me up to her room. Man, was I thankful. I was alone and confused. XD We chilled for a bit and I called Lionel in hopes of grabbing a photo. He then informed me that the D*C party was crazy and hoppin at the Hyatt, which made me feel a lot better as the Mariott was somewhat barren. So Andrea and I headed in that direction. Somewhere along the way, we ran into Wade. Then somewhere along the way, I lost Andrea and Wade and found Al, who snapped a few photos. Again, I'd like to mention the "3 hours of sleep the night before," thus explaining why in most of the photos I look like crap. A few of them turned out amusing, though. :D
EKKSEIIRUU~ KIIKU!
This photo looks so MATRIX-Y. Hahahaha! D00d. This alien cosplayer was flipping AWESOME. The guy came outside for a breather, and he took off his head and the perspiration was just DRIPPING down his face. His friend was dabbing him off. I brilliantly was like "Move 4 ft to your left!" and directed him into the wonderful tunnel of cool air created in the area where the AC escapes the Hyatt onto the walkway. He seemed very grateful. lol
Then his friend handed me a gun with which to deliver HUMAN JUSTICE to the alien creature! "Aww... they're so cute.... BUT I DON'T CARE!!!"
YOUR EYES DO NOT DECEIVE YOU. THIS CHEWBACCA IS ACTUALLY LIKE, 8 FEET TALL. And yay to the random Jedi who handed me his light saber! lol
I then decided to call it a night and head back to the Hilton. Whilst I waited for my roommates to pick me up (I had been warned that the journey from the Hyatt to the Hilton was a DANGEROUS one at night lol Truthfully, I just had noooooooooo idea where ANYTHING was), I had one of those "this will make a good story, I suppose" moments. These dudes were wearing X-men character helmets made out of like, foam board and poster paper, etc. This drunk old guy came up to them and started insulting their masks/helmets ("Those look like the kind of things we'd make in 3rd grade." I wish the dude had responded "Nooo, I got this shit in the 4th graaade"). Then he turned to me and asked "So, do your shoulders REALLY look like that under there?" to which I replied "Yes. Yes, they do." and then he was all "Well, you might want to get that checked." to which I retorted "Naah. I think they make me unique, thanks." I do not know WHY the hell this drunk old guy was trying to pick fights with people at DRAGON*CON. One of the dudes in the mask was actually like (to me) "So, do you like it when old men try to hit on you by insulting your costume?" and I was just like "Ugh. I don't really see it that way." Thankfully, the guy left. I srsly thought there was gonna be a brawl. lol Soon after, Lauren, Clarke, and Matt arrived and I jumped into the car, ready to get away from the DRUNK people and get up to the room to finish Bell. Which I did. Sorta.
Day Two: OMG, AMG Saturday!
To make sure Saturday's recap is not as long as Friday's, I'm going to skip straight to pictures to start.
I finished Belldandy!
The other Belldandy next to me is Patty. She was totally my SAVIOR throughout all of Saturday. You know Belldandy's face markings? Forgot to do em. You know that thing I sometimes remember about at cons called "lunch"? She helped me get a free one (con suite!). You know that little collar/sleeve thing hanging on my shoulders? She helped me put that back on every time I had to take it off to redo my wig. The girl is my COSPLAY HERO. lol
Funny story with this one. While eating in the con suite, a guy who went by the name of "CAPTAIN PORN" started taking pictures of me with his cell phone while I was eating. And like, laughing at them. o_O So I was like "Umm... ew." and smiled, hoping that if I ruined the CANDIDNESS he would stop. After he took it, he was like "hey, that's not bad!" and he showed it to me and I laughed and gave him my email address so he could send it to me. You can sortasee that I'm holding my side pieces out of my face while eating. MAN, did they make it hard. Anyway, weird guy. Funny picture.
Soon after that, I called Lionel in hopes of getting a picture. While we sat off by the elevators, waiting for him to come down from his room, I saw Yaya! She was heading up to her room, but when she came back down we talked a little. That was really great. ^^ Afterwards, a girl approached us to compliment our costumes. She was drawing, and feeling motivated to do the same, I asked for a piece of paper and drew Belldandy. It wasn't very good, because I'm out of practice, but at least her costume was accurate! ;DDD Patty wanted to keep it, so I happily obliged. ^_^
After grabbing a picture with Lionel, we saw Al! More pictures!.
I've yet to figure out why I look so beach bunny.
A close-up of the last picture. Note visible hairline. Boo! The wig was so incredibly heavy. ;_; Ask anyone I forced to pick it up! lol Ironically, I have also never had SO many people mistake a wig for my real hair. o_O It was crazy! I was thinking "dude... you can see my BLACK hairline underneath!" XD But, hey, I will DEFINITELY take that as a compliment!
Yeeeah, my ponytail looked like shit here... I actually had to "brush" it in photoshop, since unfortunately these photos were taken before I brushed it IRL. Haha.
I DEMANDED a picture of me singing to this large potted plant. Hahahaha, oh Belldandy, you retard.
Apparently, I can't go to a con without having SOME aspect of my costume similar to one member or all of WeGo4Kyo! At AWA and Megacon, it was hoop skirt sisters. Now Allison and I are tassle butt sisters! Unfortunately, Al cut off my damn tassels, making this picture look like weird, pointless, random fanservice! I actually had to alter the perspective of this photo due to the angle Al took it at. If you can find the original, you'll see that I look ENORMOUS and Allison looks teeeeeeeeeeny. I mean, Allison IS teeny, and I AM enormous, but we're talking Jack and the Giant here!!
Belldandy joins THE DARK SIDE! ...Obviously, it'll take some work before she can actually LOOK evil.
Did I mention that I saw my cousin at Dragon*con while I was walking to Patty's hotel room? That was CRAZY! Ok, so I knew he was coming (I had helped convince him this summer!), but the odds of running into him unplanned are pretty rare, ya know? It's a shame that's the only time I got to see him. :( I tried to get together with him for dinner later, but since I was STARVING and he and his friends weren't ready to eat, he told us to go on ahead without him. He's my age- one of the "crop of '87" (in which 5 of my mom's 6 siblings [herself included] had a kid in 1987). So another thing that happened on Saturday was I FINALLY managed to meet up with Aimi! Her Skuld was adorable- as was her little sister!! <333 She was such a smart little 9-year-old, too! You've got to bring her to more cons, Aimi. :333 It was so cute how excited she was about her new Naruto headband. Sadly, I was just as excited when I got mine.... when I was 16... XD Man, did it feel good to finally get some food in my belly. I wish I had some pictures of Bell and Skuld. ;_; Oh, well, AWA I will get some FO SHO! :D
To save time, I'm going to fast forward to a few hours later. Aimi and her sister had left to go home (church in the morning the next day). Patty had changed out of Belldandy and was off to go chill with her other friends, and I was... well, pretty much alone. XD I called Mer, and we soon skipped off to hang out together at the Hyatt. I ran into WG4K again, and chatted it up with Allison. Then they all went off to watch a bewb contest or go to a bar or something. lol I also met Limebarb and Julia! Could those girls BE any cuter?? I think not. THE WORLD WOULD EXPLODE. They were ready for a change of scenery, so the 4 of us walked over to the Mariott together. We eventually separated after getting there, but not before I asked them to tell Zach the next time they see him that "Katie says 'hi.'" lol LOLLERSKATES for meeting friends of i-friends before meeting said i-friends. Haha! After that, we ran into Andrea again! She was dressed as a SEKUSHI cat girl. Together, we made the most random group ever! Stereotypical, goddess anime girl! Random, cute school girl! Sexy, corset-wearing cat girl! FANBOYS EVERYWHERE EXPLODE AT THE MERE THOUGHT OF IT!! We wandered around in search of anything to do and many amusing stories were made. To sum it up, the Hyatt bartender is trying to kill congoers. Especially those who dare to order "girly drinks," one drunken fanboy will NEVER try to pick up cosplayers again, and I'm so L33T as Belldandy that I have a KAZE NO CHIKARA/YAWARAKANA KAZE/KAZE NO KAREI that follows me wherever I go and adjusts to my speed at will! :DDD Oh, man, if anyone finds a picture of us taken when I had my "wind" going, for the love of GOD, PLEASE let me know!! XDDD So many good times were had! Until Andrea lost her badge. That was bad. We attempted to reunite after her hunt for it, but that didn't go so well. By 2am or so, Mer and I were kinda on the sleepy side and we wanted to get up bright and early to meet Viktor Krum.
Day Three: Final Fantasy Sunday!
Sooo I was supposed to be up and ready at 10:30AM to head over to the Mariott to meet Viktor at 11... but my room was FREEZING, so when I woke up at 10, I stayed in bed until 10:30... XD Meredith came over and informed me, however, that the actor had cancelled. Boo!! ;_; Damn European actors. So I joined her on the trip back to her hotel room, where Mary was getting into Red XIII and Mer got into White Mage. We scouted out the location of the Final Fantasy gathering that Mary had planned, and by that point, I was staaarved. Funny story! When I went to stand in line to place my order at the Mariott's food area, the dude in front of me turned around, and proceeded to stare at me, with sort of a half grin. ...I tried not to stare back. About 10 seconds of staring made me realize he wasn't going to say anything. "Hello," I said to him. "Hi!" he responded. ....*MORE STARING* At this point, thankfully, something distracted me... probably placing my order. I went back to wait again in line. *MORE STARING!!!* At this point, I sooooo wanted to say "TAKE A PICTURE. IT'LL LAST LONGER," and it would have been highly appropriate since, you know, I was in costume, and the dude probably had a camera on him, but the bitch side of me was supressed by the other voice in my head that said "Um... maybe he has a mental condition." But I'm pretty sure it was merely a COMPLETE lack of social skills. While Mer and I were waiting in line, though, this picture of us was taken by the cosplayer hikaruchan! Yaaay!
I had to blur the background because it was sooooo busy. Lame trick, I know, but it hurt my eyes to look at it the other way. @_@ And I am SO jealous of Mer's perfect legs.
After filling my belly, it was off to the gathering! Mary, you'll probably be happy to know that this is the best gathering I've ever been to. So, ok, I've only been to one (Naruto at AX 2005. Like... 1000 people.), but I HATE gatherings. Don't get me started. It has to do with the whole "gathering attitude" that people have when planning them for AX (in the cosplay.com forums). For real. DO NOT get me started. I WILL NOT STOP. Moving on! Highlights of the gathering include: Meeting the AMAZING Hannah! (What a sweetheart!) Finally getting to talk to Kim AND getting to hear the lyrics to "Crazy Cake," which is pretty much my new favorite song. Standing on top of the plant decor with Hannah, thusforth making X-2 PWN the gathering! ;D And finally, the happy, friendly, relaxed atmosphere that isn't present at AX. Again, I'm going on my one (two if you include the SOUR TASTE from the INTRANETZ) experience as well as the accounts of a few friends. If anyone on my FL LOVES gatherings at AX, more power to ya!
And of course, I have photographs (mostly thanks to Al).
All the X/X-2 cosplayers at the gathering.
Hannah and I- she's so tiny! Hahaha, GODZILLA RIKKU SMAAASH!
Closer version of the last picture. I adjusted the colors and levels so much it looks cheesy and fake! Yaaay! (Hannah, how do you do your make-up so perfectly? o_O You look like a Disney face character!)
A cheesy close-up. I ran the dodge tool over my dark eyes, and the color was like "HAY DERE!" so that made me happy. Everything else about it stinks. I just look sofa king wee todded. lol
Dude, my face was SO much uglier in person, I swear!
This was actually taken before the gathering, when we just happened to run into Al.
I attempted to ESCAP-AY before Al could get a solo shot of me, but he caught me! Thank goodness, though, because I like this picture! XD
Let's see, after the gathering, we went up to Mer and Mary's room, as we had lost Mer at some point during the gathering. She was konked out on the bed. I used the internet. Then I konked out on the bed. Then Mer left while I was napping, and her fiancee came in. He then proceeded to touch my leg, thinking I was Mer wearing Rikku again. Needless to say when I lifted my head from the pillow and said "Wrong person." he probably lost about 10 years off of his life. Hahahaaaaa, so Mer, if your future husband dies a little earlier than planned, you can blame me. XD Hoorah for hysterical Dragon*con story # 93284. Poor Matt.
Like I said, when I got up, Mer was gone, so I went out to grab a bite with Mary, her bf, John, Patrick, and Christina. Then we found Mer and Matt showed up again... and my memory gets fuzzy. So I'll skip ahead to when I found my roommates, Lauren, her husband, Matt, and Clarke, who were popular as FUCK in their Reno get-up. OMG, this is the first time I'm mentioning it! My roommates had dressed up as Clementine, Junior, and Lt. Dangle from Reno 911. They were SO. AWESOME. You know someone didn't take many photos at D*C if they don't have a picture of them in their gallery. Shoot, they're even in the background of some of my Rikku pictures!
Like this picture! I wasn't even facing the camera, and yet I like it. Despite the fact that it shows how sucky my pose really is. I so don't look like I could actually SLICE A BITCH.
Whatever you said, Clarke, apparently it was funny.
WARNING: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE MAY SHOCK AND AMAZE YOU.
DO NOT ADJUST YOUR COMPUTER SCREENS. THIS IS NOT A PHOTOSHOP. That Yuna is 5'11. I REPEAT, 5'11. It's time like this that I'm glad I hired myself a private choir. Hit it, guys.
"HAAAALLELUJAH! HAAAALLELUJAH!"
Haha, I'm such a dork. But seriously, I cannot contain my happiness at NOT having to hunch for Rikku photos. And you know what's even cooler?? I met a Paine cosplayer there who's 6'!! Only she wasn't wearing Paine. ;_; We would have been the perfect MODEL-HEIGHT Yuripa! lol
This picture was taken by Cody. I love a good candid, standing in the background shot. This makes for the second time Cody had a picture of me in his con report with me having NO idea he was anywhere NEAR me at the time. (The first time was when he had a photo of Velv and I performing Harmonia at AX '05.)
So after a looong and eventful day, I headed back to the room with my awesome cop escorts, and whilst in the Hilton, much roomservice yummyness and odd, goofy hilarity ensued. But I never did get to watch the DVD of the 3rd season of Reno 911. Boo. :(
Day Four: Going Home
On Monday, I woke up. Packed. Embarked on a long journey to find an ATM to pay Lauren. Did so. And then we went back home... to Auburn, that is. And that is all that happened Monday.
Overall Impression of my first Dragon*con
I'm embarassed to admit that aside from a few comic book hero movies and some HP, LOTR, and Star Wars love, I'm not really into Sci-fi... at all. So needless to say, at times, I would almost wonder "man, what am I even doing here?" until I remembered "duh, I love conventions." That said, D*C was a very different experience. Sure, it wasn't my first sci-fi convention, as I'd already been to Megacon and Mobicon (why am I still counting this one??), but the atmosphere was unlike any other con I have EVER been to. While at a convention like AX, the mood is best described as "I love to cosplay," at D*C, it was "I love to have fun." I've also never seen so many drunk people at a convention... but of course, I knew that would be the case. XD I'd been warned prior to the con by Andrea that anime costumes weren't really appreciated at D*C, but I never really got that feeling. A lot of people seemed to appreciate my costume just for the costume itself- not being a fan or even having any idea of who I was dressed as. I got a lot of "Can I take a picture?" "Sure!" "Great! Now who are you supposed to be?"s XDDD It was kinda nice, actually. It certainly made people actually recognizing me that much sweeter. I can't wait to rewear all these outfits at AWA (except Rikku) where'll they'll be appreciated for the character, not the costume itself. However, both forms of appreciation make me a very satisfied cosplayer. I think that's also one of the main reasons I've decided I will probably be going back to D*C... I've even already started planning costumes. XDDD Teen Titans, anyone? Take a guess which character I want to do. :D
Shout-outs
So pretty much everyone who was at Dragon*con and is on my FL gets a shoutout! Here we go!
aiuchi - Mer, I am so glad I stalked found you on LJ. It was totally a blast hanging out with you at D*C and then all the hanging out we've done since then. You are an awesome friend that I am SO thankful to have! This is becoming more a shoutout for LIFE than one for D*C. Hahaha! You're free to again borrow whatever costume of mine you want to, no matter how much it might hurt my pride to have to pin it up to make it fit! Thanks for being so wonderful! I'm totally looking forward to our SEWING SLEEPOVER PARTYYYY!!1!one!1 tomorrow tonight. I could go on, but I think I'll stop. XD
animiko - I totally didn't get to talk to you or Amanda enough this weekend! That makes me disappointed and saaad. Seriously, your Rem was so flipping awesome... and creepy. Very very creepy. But that's what made it awesome. :D
athena_chan - I'm disappointed that I never got to see or talk to you at D*C! I really wanted to see your Emily. Katie is a happy girl when she gets to talk to cosplayers on her FL. :D
azu79 - It was SO great seeing you again Aimi! *HUGHUGHUG* Your Skuld turned out GREAT! I sooo cannot wait to wear the costumes again at AWA, so I can hear all the "OMG, what a perfect Skuld!"s because that pretty much describes your costume. :D I wished I'd gotten the chance to room with you again at AWA, but then there's always AX '07 if we both go! :DDD Tell your little sis I said "hi!" and hope to see her again. Maybe with a sound nin costume next time! ^^
c3rbera - It was totally cool to finally get to meet you, Clarke. You're an absolutely awesome guy. Not to mention your resemblance to Lt. Dangle is straight up HORRIFYING. Hahaha! I really hope I get to see you and Lauren at AWA! You guys are going, right? Right? RIGHT? You better! ;D
cobheran - Thanks for the costume compliments at the con, you were pretty much the ONLY person period who got excited over Excel. Not very many people recognized me. XD See you at AWA, man!
daenerys - I'm SO glad I finally got a chance to talk to you! I've always been such a huge fan, and you're just so incredibly sweet. Thanks for sitting down and chatting with me, even though I'm sure you probably had a billion other better things you could have been doing. ^^
faeriedust38 - Again, like with Miko, I didn't get a chance to talk to either her or you at D*C. :( This MUST be rectified at AWA! I'll try to be at you guys' panel, so maybe afterwards I can catch up with y'all.
ichigokitty - Andrea, you have no idea how much I appreciate you hanging out with me Friday and Saturday night. You're just a ball of laughs! <333 Even if we're staying 3 minutes away from AWA's official hotel, I'm REALLY looking forward to rooming with you and the girls. Can't wait to see you again!
keplilly - Thanks for being my LIFESAVER/HERO/TRUE LOVE/TWIN at Dragon*con. Saturday would have been very empty without you! And certainly a lot more complicated, as I probably would have eventually lost ALL my costume. XD You were great! Give me a call at AWA! I THINK I have the right number saved in my phone... I kind of guessed with my call history as to which Georgia area code number was yours and saved it. XD
ladyfairydust - MKaaaaaay! One less-than-5-minute conversation with you at D*C just does not cut it for me. Ok, so sure you were going off to a photoshoot with Lionel and had better things to do than talk to a loser like me, but I swear, I WILL hunt you down at AX and then proceed to... well, I don't know what, really. It doesn't matter. But more MK in my life is a good thing! :D
lionboogy - Thanks for taking a picture of me in every costume, Lionel. You are the man. I doubt you'll read this, so I will now proceed to laugh at your response to my possible, future HARUPOSE "dilemma." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....HAHAHA. Ok, I'm done. Sorry I didn't quite understand how you were trying to get me to pose in Rikku... I think my stupidity frustrated you. lol I promise that if we do a private photoshoot at AWA, I will pay very close attention to all your posing instructions! ;DDDDDDDDD
lolichan - Loli! I only got to see you for a very tiny bit! Boo to that! I read your report, and I'm SO glad you had such a great time! I know you posted in my LJ a while ago that you didn't know very many people going, so I'm glad to know that didn't stop ya from having a blast! :D
ninja_kitsune - Forever our D*C interaction shall be the BEST CON MEET-UP EVER. I still think you're kinda PUSHING it, asking for a whole sentence at AWA (if you go?), but hey, you never know. Miracles do happen. RAAAARELY...
ooolala_lauren - Laureeeeeeeen, I love youuuuuuuu! Thank you so, so much for being an awesome friend and roommate. I had an absolutely AMAZING time hanging out with you guys in your Reno hotness. Speaking of hotness, your Dawn was too sexy for words. I agree with the people after the contest who said you deserved an award, because you definitely did. I can't wait til the day we get to cosplay together!
punmasta - I still can't believe you got me with "Katie! I read your LJ!" I totally was like "WOAH, REALLY? Cool!" and didn't even think to question you. ...Then again, I'm not really used to being lied to. BOO!
pussnchains - It was really cool meeting you! You make an awesome Sephiroth! I love making new cosplay friends and then finding them on LJ. Makes me happy! ^^
railiens - I still can't believe I NEVER managed to run into you! *creates a river of tears* This is why I give you Katie's official award of Most Elusive Cosplayer at Dragon*con! :D
srinoaheartlys - "FINE, Katie! Don't say hi!" lol That still makes me laugh! XD I'm glad I got to talk to you at the FF gathering- your Stephanie gave me a toothache! Thanks for relaying the words of "Crazy Cake" to me. :D You'll probably regret it, as next time you see me, I might just have to serenade you with it. ;DDD
summonerclo - Meeting you was an absolute joy, Hannah! I know you realize that as I've said it to you MULTIPLE times now, but I just can't say it enough! You're SUCH a sweetheart! It was great being able to rock it out with you as the only X-2 girls at the gathering. You also made the gathering WAY more enjoyable for me, as well! As Cody put it, your perkiness level is off the chart. Well, that's not actually how he put it at all, but you get the idea. I cannot wait til the next time we run into each other at a con! I definitely hope it's sooner than later. :D
theaerisness - lol I'm not even sure if you recognized me when we chatted. XD I think I might have weirded you out with the question I asked. Your response still amuses me because I was just like "...Oh... o_O" In case you forgot, I like, came up behind you, resisting the urge to touch your blooooonde hair and was like "So does it weird you out everytime you see it in a mirror? :DDD?" And you were just like "No." Totally not the answer I was expecting. XD You were so calm about it, too. You must have thought I was a whackjob. lol
vampirate777 - It was great getting to meet you, Mary! I still can't believe there's such a talented cosplayer like yourself at Auburn! It blows me away. I really hope that I'll get to see you more often next semester when I switch to theatre, though, I'd love to be able to see you more often period! If you ever get some free time one weekend, you, me, and Mer should hang out! :)
Yeah. I'm waaay out of practice and I suck. The good news is that I spent less than 5 minutes on all of these, so I'd say that's partially the reason they're all lame- I didn't care enough to try. :D The only one that actually looks like me is the second one on the left along the bottom. Plus the weird face is appropriate. I made an A, though, and that's all that counts. :D
In other news, I got a bicycle! It is beautiful! I have aptly nicknamed it "bike-chan." I'm a terrible bike rider, though. Seriously, if I don't master it really soon, I'm so gonna hurt myself. It's scary. ;_; I wish I could wear kneepads, elbow pads, and a helmet like a little kid, but I would look ridiculous. XDDD
On to the main event!
Day One: Fridaaaay!
So I ended up staying up until 5am working on Belldandy (I was DETERMINED to get this costume finished!!) and then only getting 3 1/2 hours of sleep when I got up at 8:30 to leave Auburn at 9 with Mer (aiuchi). After some last minute packing, we were off to Atlanta, jamming to W, Berryz, and Morning Musume. (Did I mention how AWESOME it is having a friend who is into Hello! Project? I still need to get into Rina, though! :D) When we got to Mer's boyfriend's apartment, I met Patrick and his girlfriend, Christina, whom I recognized, as I've seen her before on the INTRANETZ. lol We grabbed some lunch at a sandwich joint and headed (via MARTA) to Dragon*con. I found out that my roommates wouldn't arrive until later in the day, so I changed into Excel in Mer's room. I also met vampirate777, another AU cosplayer FOR TEH WIN, and her boyfriend, John. Her fairy costume was adorable and Mary, I seriously want to one day just show up on your doorstep and be like "HAY CORSET HELP PLZ." XDDD Needless to say, due to Excel's ridiculously large shoulder pads, I felt rather... well... ridiculous. Haha. So to offset how strange I looked, I let Mer borrow Rikku since she didn't have a costume for Friday, and I figured the flashyness of Rikku would level out the weirdness of Excel.
Does she not have the PERFECT body to cosplay Rikku? Does this not make me INFINITELY depressed? ;_; Can I not look decent in ANY of my Excel photos???
When we were leaving the Mariott to head to the Hilton, I saw the first person at the con I recognized- ninja_kitsune. Now, please allow me the PLEASURE of telling the story of the GREATEST CON MEET-UP IN THE HISTORY OF COSPLAYER INTERACTION:
Me: "Cody!"
Cody: "Katie!"
THE. END.
Do our social skillz not BLOW YOU AWAY? I KNOW, ME TOO. So yeah. After that we did some con wandering, I think. I don't really remember. I remember going out to eat at the Peachtree Center foodcourt, though. I ate there everyday but Sunday. That place got a lot of Katie money fo sho. At one point in the food court, we ran into Roy. Our conversation basically went like this (summarized by Mer and Katie. :D)
Roy: HAY GUYS, GREAT COSTUMES.
Mer and Katie: THX I NO
Roy: COME TO METROCON PLZ
Mer/Katie: MAYBE LOL
Roy: AMANO LIKE WOAH
Katie: BOO PLZKTHXDIE
Roy: OH SNAP COME TO METROCON PLZ
Mer/Katie: OK BAI.
Following that, we returned to the room, where Mer and Matt called it a night, and I was left to wander the Mariott aimlessly, wondering to myself "Where's the party??" Luckily for me, the ADORABLE, SPUNKY, FUNFILLED Andrea (ichigokitty) spotted me from her lofty 3rd floor view, and invited me up to her room. Man, was I thankful. I was alone and confused. XD We chilled for a bit and I called Lionel in hopes of grabbing a photo. He then informed me that the D*C party was crazy and hoppin at the Hyatt, which made me feel a lot better as the Mariott was somewhat barren. So Andrea and I headed in that direction. Somewhere along the way, we ran into Wade. Then somewhere along the way, I lost Andrea and Wade and found Al, who snapped a few photos. Again, I'd like to mention the "3 hours of sleep the night before," thus explaining why in most of the photos I look like crap. A few of them turned out amusing, though. :D
EKKSEIIRUU~ KIIKU!
This photo looks so MATRIX-Y. Hahahaha! D00d. This alien cosplayer was flipping AWESOME. The guy came outside for a breather, and he took off his head and the perspiration was just DRIPPING down his face. His friend was dabbing him off. I brilliantly was like "Move 4 ft to your left!" and directed him into the wonderful tunnel of cool air created in the area where the AC escapes the Hyatt onto the walkway. He seemed very grateful. lol
Then his friend handed me a gun with which to deliver HUMAN JUSTICE to the alien creature! "Aww... they're so cute.... BUT I DON'T CARE!!!"
YOUR EYES DO NOT DECEIVE YOU. THIS CHEWBACCA IS ACTUALLY LIKE, 8 FEET TALL. And yay to the random Jedi who handed me his light saber! lol
I then decided to call it a night and head back to the Hilton. Whilst I waited for my roommates to pick me up (I had been warned that the journey from the Hyatt to the Hilton was a DANGEROUS one at night lol Truthfully, I just had noooooooooo idea where ANYTHING was), I had one of those "this will make a good story, I suppose" moments. These dudes were wearing X-men character helmets made out of like, foam board and poster paper, etc. This drunk old guy came up to them and started insulting their masks/helmets ("Those look like the kind of things we'd make in 3rd grade." I wish the dude had responded "Nooo, I got this shit in the 4th graaade"). Then he turned to me and asked "So, do your shoulders REALLY look like that under there?" to which I replied "Yes. Yes, they do." and then he was all "Well, you might want to get that checked." to which I retorted "Naah. I think they make me unique, thanks." I do not know WHY the hell this drunk old guy was trying to pick fights with people at DRAGON*CON. One of the dudes in the mask was actually like (to me) "So, do you like it when old men try to hit on you by insulting your costume?" and I was just like "Ugh. I don't really see it that way." Thankfully, the guy left. I srsly thought there was gonna be a brawl. lol Soon after, Lauren, Clarke, and Matt arrived and I jumped into the car, ready to get away from the DRUNK people and get up to the room to finish Bell. Which I did. Sorta.
Day Two: OMG, AMG Saturday!
To make sure Saturday's recap is not as long as Friday's, I'm going to skip straight to pictures to start.
I finished Belldandy!
The other Belldandy next to me is Patty. She was totally my SAVIOR throughout all of Saturday. You know Belldandy's face markings? Forgot to do em. You know that thing I sometimes remember about at cons called "lunch"? She helped me get a free one (con suite!). You know that little collar/sleeve thing hanging on my shoulders? She helped me put that back on every time I had to take it off to redo my wig. The girl is my COSPLAY HERO. lol
Funny story with this one. While eating in the con suite, a guy who went by the name of "CAPTAIN PORN" started taking pictures of me with his cell phone while I was eating. And like, laughing at them. o_O So I was like "Umm... ew." and smiled, hoping that if I ruined the CANDIDNESS he would stop. After he took it, he was like "hey, that's not bad!" and he showed it to me and I laughed and gave him my email address so he could send it to me. You can sortasee that I'm holding my side pieces out of my face while eating. MAN, did they make it hard. Anyway, weird guy. Funny picture.
Soon after that, I called Lionel in hopes of getting a picture. While we sat off by the elevators, waiting for him to come down from his room, I saw Yaya! She was heading up to her room, but when she came back down we talked a little. That was really great. ^^ Afterwards, a girl approached us to compliment our costumes. She was drawing, and feeling motivated to do the same, I asked for a piece of paper and drew Belldandy. It wasn't very good, because I'm out of practice, but at least her costume was accurate! ;DDD Patty wanted to keep it, so I happily obliged. ^_^
After grabbing a picture with Lionel, we saw Al! More pictures!.
I've yet to figure out why I look so beach bunny.
A close-up of the last picture. Note visible hairline. Boo! The wig was so incredibly heavy. ;_; Ask anyone I forced to pick it up! lol Ironically, I have also never had SO many people mistake a wig for my real hair. o_O It was crazy! I was thinking "dude... you can see my BLACK hairline underneath!" XD But, hey, I will DEFINITELY take that as a compliment!
Yeeeah, my ponytail looked like shit here... I actually had to "brush" it in photoshop, since unfortunately these photos were taken before I brushed it IRL. Haha.
I DEMANDED a picture of me singing to this large potted plant. Hahahaha, oh Belldandy, you retard.
Apparently, I can't go to a con without having SOME aspect of my costume similar to one member or all of WeGo4Kyo! At AWA and Megacon, it was hoop skirt sisters. Now Allison and I are tassle butt sisters! Unfortunately, Al cut off my damn tassels, making this picture look like weird, pointless, random fanservice! I actually had to alter the perspective of this photo due to the angle Al took it at. If you can find the original, you'll see that I look ENORMOUS and Allison looks teeeeeeeeeeny. I mean, Allison IS teeny, and I AM enormous, but we're talking Jack and the Giant here!!
Belldandy joins THE DARK SIDE! ...Obviously, it'll take some work before she can actually LOOK evil.
Did I mention that I saw my cousin at Dragon*con while I was walking to Patty's hotel room? That was CRAZY! Ok, so I knew he was coming (I had helped convince him this summer!), but the odds of running into him unplanned are pretty rare, ya know? It's a shame that's the only time I got to see him. :( I tried to get together with him for dinner later, but since I was STARVING and he and his friends weren't ready to eat, he told us to go on ahead without him. He's my age- one of the "crop of '87" (in which 5 of my mom's 6 siblings [herself included] had a kid in 1987). So another thing that happened on Saturday was I FINALLY managed to meet up with Aimi! Her Skuld was adorable- as was her little sister!! <333 She was such a smart little 9-year-old, too! You've got to bring her to more cons, Aimi. :333 It was so cute how excited she was about her new Naruto headband. Sadly, I was just as excited when I got mine.... when I was 16... XD Man, did it feel good to finally get some food in my belly. I wish I had some pictures of Bell and Skuld. ;_; Oh, well, AWA I will get some FO SHO! :D
To save time, I'm going to fast forward to a few hours later. Aimi and her sister had left to go home (church in the morning the next day). Patty had changed out of Belldandy and was off to go chill with her other friends, and I was... well, pretty much alone. XD I called Mer, and we soon skipped off to hang out together at the Hyatt. I ran into WG4K again, and chatted it up with Allison. Then they all went off to watch a bewb contest or go to a bar or something. lol I also met Limebarb and Julia! Could those girls BE any cuter?? I think not. THE WORLD WOULD EXPLODE. They were ready for a change of scenery, so the 4 of us walked over to the Mariott together. We eventually separated after getting there, but not before I asked them to tell Zach the next time they see him that "Katie says 'hi.'" lol LOLLERSKATES for meeting friends of i-friends before meeting said i-friends. Haha! After that, we ran into Andrea again! She was dressed as a SEKUSHI cat girl. Together, we made the most random group ever! Stereotypical, goddess anime girl! Random, cute school girl! Sexy, corset-wearing cat girl! FANBOYS EVERYWHERE EXPLODE AT THE MERE THOUGHT OF IT!! We wandered around in search of anything to do and many amusing stories were made. To sum it up, the Hyatt bartender is trying to kill congoers. Especially those who dare to order "girly drinks," one drunken fanboy will NEVER try to pick up cosplayers again, and I'm so L33T as Belldandy that I have a KAZE NO CHIKARA/YAWARAKANA KAZE/KAZE NO KAREI that follows me wherever I go and adjusts to my speed at will! :DDD Oh, man, if anyone finds a picture of us taken when I had my "wind" going, for the love of GOD, PLEASE let me know!! XDDD So many good times were had! Until Andrea lost her badge. That was bad. We attempted to reunite after her hunt for it, but that didn't go so well. By 2am or so, Mer and I were kinda on the sleepy side and we wanted to get up bright and early to meet Viktor Krum.
Day Three: Final Fantasy Sunday!
Sooo I was supposed to be up and ready at 10:30AM to head over to the Mariott to meet Viktor at 11... but my room was FREEZING, so when I woke up at 10, I stayed in bed until 10:30... XD Meredith came over and informed me, however, that the actor had cancelled. Boo!! ;_; Damn European actors. So I joined her on the trip back to her hotel room, where Mary was getting into Red XIII and Mer got into White Mage. We scouted out the location of the Final Fantasy gathering that Mary had planned, and by that point, I was staaarved. Funny story! When I went to stand in line to place my order at the Mariott's food area, the dude in front of me turned around, and proceeded to stare at me, with sort of a half grin. ...I tried not to stare back. About 10 seconds of staring made me realize he wasn't going to say anything. "Hello," I said to him. "Hi!" he responded. ....*MORE STARING* At this point, thankfully, something distracted me... probably placing my order. I went back to wait again in line. *MORE STARING!!!* At this point, I sooooo wanted to say "TAKE A PICTURE. IT'LL LAST LONGER," and it would have been highly appropriate since, you know, I was in costume, and the dude probably had a camera on him, but the bitch side of me was supressed by the other voice in my head that said "Um... maybe he has a mental condition." But I'm pretty sure it was merely a COMPLETE lack of social skills. While Mer and I were waiting in line, though, this picture of us was taken by the cosplayer hikaruchan! Yaaay!
I had to blur the background because it was sooooo busy. Lame trick, I know, but it hurt my eyes to look at it the other way. @_@ And I am SO jealous of Mer's perfect legs.
After filling my belly, it was off to the gathering! Mary, you'll probably be happy to know that this is the best gathering I've ever been to. So, ok, I've only been to one (Naruto at AX 2005. Like... 1000 people.), but I HATE gatherings. Don't get me started. It has to do with the whole "gathering attitude" that people have when planning them for AX (in the cosplay.com forums). For real. DO NOT get me started. I WILL NOT STOP. Moving on! Highlights of the gathering include: Meeting the AMAZING Hannah! (What a sweetheart!) Finally getting to talk to Kim AND getting to hear the lyrics to "Crazy Cake," which is pretty much my new favorite song. Standing on top of the plant decor with Hannah, thusforth making X-2 PWN the gathering! ;D And finally, the happy, friendly, relaxed atmosphere that isn't present at AX. Again, I'm going on my one (two if you include the SOUR TASTE from the INTRANETZ) experience as well as the accounts of a few friends. If anyone on my FL LOVES gatherings at AX, more power to ya!
And of course, I have photographs (mostly thanks to Al).
All the X/X-2 cosplayers at the gathering.
Hannah and I- she's so tiny! Hahaha, GODZILLA RIKKU SMAAASH!
Closer version of the last picture. I adjusted the colors and levels so much it looks cheesy and fake! Yaaay! (Hannah, how do you do your make-up so perfectly? o_O You look like a Disney face character!)
A cheesy close-up. I ran the dodge tool over my dark eyes, and the color was like "HAY DERE!" so that made me happy. Everything else about it stinks. I just look sofa king wee todded. lol
Dude, my face was SO much uglier in person, I swear!
This was actually taken before the gathering, when we just happened to run into Al.
I attempted to ESCAP-AY before Al could get a solo shot of me, but he caught me! Thank goodness, though, because I like this picture! XD
Let's see, after the gathering, we went up to Mer and Mary's room, as we had lost Mer at some point during the gathering. She was konked out on the bed. I used the internet. Then I konked out on the bed. Then Mer left while I was napping, and her fiancee came in. He then proceeded to touch my leg, thinking I was Mer wearing Rikku again. Needless to say when I lifted my head from the pillow and said "Wrong person." he probably lost about 10 years off of his life. Hahahaaaaa, so Mer, if your future husband dies a little earlier than planned, you can blame me. XD Hoorah for hysterical Dragon*con story # 93284. Poor Matt.
Like I said, when I got up, Mer was gone, so I went out to grab a bite with Mary, her bf, John, Patrick, and Christina. Then we found Mer and Matt showed up again... and my memory gets fuzzy. So I'll skip ahead to when I found my roommates, Lauren, her husband, Matt, and Clarke, who were popular as FUCK in their Reno get-up. OMG, this is the first time I'm mentioning it! My roommates had dressed up as Clementine, Junior, and Lt. Dangle from Reno 911. They were SO. AWESOME. You know someone didn't take many photos at D*C if they don't have a picture of them in their gallery. Shoot, they're even in the background of some of my Rikku pictures!
Like this picture! I wasn't even facing the camera, and yet I like it. Despite the fact that it shows how sucky my pose really is. I so don't look like I could actually SLICE A BITCH.
Whatever you said, Clarke, apparently it was funny.
WARNING: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE MAY SHOCK AND AMAZE YOU.
DO NOT ADJUST YOUR COMPUTER SCREENS. THIS IS NOT A PHOTOSHOP. That Yuna is 5'11. I REPEAT, 5'11. It's time like this that I'm glad I hired myself a private choir. Hit it, guys.
"HAAAALLELUJAH! HAAAALLELUJAH!"
Haha, I'm such a dork. But seriously, I cannot contain my happiness at NOT having to hunch for Rikku photos. And you know what's even cooler?? I met a Paine cosplayer there who's 6'!! Only she wasn't wearing Paine. ;_; We would have been the perfect MODEL-HEIGHT Yuripa! lol
This picture was taken by Cody. I love a good candid, standing in the background shot. This makes for the second time Cody had a picture of me in his con report with me having NO idea he was anywhere NEAR me at the time. (The first time was when he had a photo of Velv and I performing Harmonia at AX '05.)
So after a looong and eventful day, I headed back to the room with my awesome cop escorts, and whilst in the Hilton, much roomservice yummyness and odd, goofy hilarity ensued. But I never did get to watch the DVD of the 3rd season of Reno 911. Boo. :(
Day Four: Going Home
On Monday, I woke up. Packed. Embarked on a long journey to find an ATM to pay Lauren. Did so. And then we went back home... to Auburn, that is. And that is all that happened Monday.
Overall Impression of my first Dragon*con
I'm embarassed to admit that aside from a few comic book hero movies and some HP, LOTR, and Star Wars love, I'm not really into Sci-fi... at all. So needless to say, at times, I would almost wonder "man, what am I even doing here?" until I remembered "duh, I love conventions." That said, D*C was a very different experience. Sure, it wasn't my first sci-fi convention, as I'd already been to Megacon and Mobicon (why am I still counting this one??), but the atmosphere was unlike any other con I have EVER been to. While at a convention like AX, the mood is best described as "I love to cosplay," at D*C, it was "I love to have fun." I've also never seen so many drunk people at a convention... but of course, I knew that would be the case. XD I'd been warned prior to the con by Andrea that anime costumes weren't really appreciated at D*C, but I never really got that feeling. A lot of people seemed to appreciate my costume just for the costume itself- not being a fan or even having any idea of who I was dressed as. I got a lot of "Can I take a picture?" "Sure!" "Great! Now who are you supposed to be?"s XDDD It was kinda nice, actually. It certainly made people actually recognizing me that much sweeter. I can't wait to rewear all these outfits at AWA (except Rikku) where'll they'll be appreciated for the character, not the costume itself. However, both forms of appreciation make me a very satisfied cosplayer. I think that's also one of the main reasons I've decided I will probably be going back to D*C... I've even already started planning costumes. XDDD Teen Titans, anyone? Take a guess which character I want to do. :D
Shout-outs
So pretty much everyone who was at Dragon*con and is on my FL gets a shoutout! Here we go!
aiuchi - Mer, I am so glad I stalked found you on LJ. It was totally a blast hanging out with you at D*C and then all the hanging out we've done since then. You are an awesome friend that I am SO thankful to have! This is becoming more a shoutout for LIFE than one for D*C. Hahaha! You're free to again borrow whatever costume of mine you want to, no matter how much it might hurt my pride to have to pin it up to make it fit! Thanks for being so wonderful! I'm totally looking forward to our SEWING SLEEPOVER PARTYYYY!!1!one!1 tomorrow tonight. I could go on, but I think I'll stop. XD
animiko - I totally didn't get to talk to you or Amanda enough this weekend! That makes me disappointed and saaad. Seriously, your Rem was so flipping awesome... and creepy. Very very creepy. But that's what made it awesome. :D
athena_chan - I'm disappointed that I never got to see or talk to you at D*C! I really wanted to see your Emily. Katie is a happy girl when she gets to talk to cosplayers on her FL. :D
azu79 - It was SO great seeing you again Aimi! *HUGHUGHUG* Your Skuld turned out GREAT! I sooo cannot wait to wear the costumes again at AWA, so I can hear all the "OMG, what a perfect Skuld!"s because that pretty much describes your costume. :D I wished I'd gotten the chance to room with you again at AWA, but then there's always AX '07 if we both go! :DDD Tell your little sis I said "hi!" and hope to see her again. Maybe with a sound nin costume next time! ^^
c3rbera - It was totally cool to finally get to meet you, Clarke. You're an absolutely awesome guy. Not to mention your resemblance to Lt. Dangle is straight up HORRIFYING. Hahaha! I really hope I get to see you and Lauren at AWA! You guys are going, right? Right? RIGHT? You better! ;D
cobheran - Thanks for the costume compliments at the con, you were pretty much the ONLY person period who got excited over Excel. Not very many people recognized me. XD See you at AWA, man!
daenerys - I'm SO glad I finally got a chance to talk to you! I've always been such a huge fan, and you're just so incredibly sweet. Thanks for sitting down and chatting with me, even though I'm sure you probably had a billion other better things you could have been doing. ^^
faeriedust38 - Again, like with Miko, I didn't get a chance to talk to either her or you at D*C. :( This MUST be rectified at AWA! I'll try to be at you guys' panel, so maybe afterwards I can catch up with y'all.
ichigokitty - Andrea, you have no idea how much I appreciate you hanging out with me Friday and Saturday night. You're just a ball of laughs! <333 Even if we're staying 3 minutes away from AWA's official hotel, I'm REALLY looking forward to rooming with you and the girls. Can't wait to see you again!
keplilly - Thanks for being my LIFESAVER/HERO/TRUE LOVE/TWIN at Dragon*con. Saturday would have been very empty without you! And certainly a lot more complicated, as I probably would have eventually lost ALL my costume. XD You were great! Give me a call at AWA! I THINK I have the right number saved in my phone... I kind of guessed with my call history as to which Georgia area code number was yours and saved it. XD
ladyfairydust - MKaaaaaay! One less-than-5-minute conversation with you at D*C just does not cut it for me. Ok, so sure you were going off to a photoshoot with Lionel and had better things to do than talk to a loser like me, but I swear, I WILL hunt you down at AX and then proceed to... well, I don't know what, really. It doesn't matter. But more MK in my life is a good thing! :D
lionboogy - Thanks for taking a picture of me in every costume, Lionel. You are the man. I doubt you'll read this, so I will now proceed to laugh at your response to my possible, future HARUPOSE "dilemma." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....HAHAHA. Ok, I'm done. Sorry I didn't quite understand how you were trying to get me to pose in Rikku... I think my stupidity frustrated you. lol I promise that if we do a private photoshoot at AWA, I will pay very close attention to all your posing instructions! ;DDDDDDDDD
lolichan - Loli! I only got to see you for a very tiny bit! Boo to that! I read your report, and I'm SO glad you had such a great time! I know you posted in my LJ a while ago that you didn't know very many people going, so I'm glad to know that didn't stop ya from having a blast! :D
ninja_kitsune - Forever our D*C interaction shall be the BEST CON MEET-UP EVER. I still think you're kinda PUSHING it, asking for a whole sentence at AWA (if you go?), but hey, you never know. Miracles do happen. RAAAARELY...
ooolala_lauren - Laureeeeeeeen, I love youuuuuuuu! Thank you so, so much for being an awesome friend and roommate. I had an absolutely AMAZING time hanging out with you guys in your Reno hotness. Speaking of hotness, your Dawn was too sexy for words. I agree with the people after the contest who said you deserved an award, because you definitely did. I can't wait til the day we get to cosplay together!
punmasta - I still can't believe you got me with "Katie! I read your LJ!" I totally was like "WOAH, REALLY? Cool!" and didn't even think to question you. ...Then again, I'm not really used to being lied to. BOO!
pussnchains - It was really cool meeting you! You make an awesome Sephiroth! I love making new cosplay friends and then finding them on LJ. Makes me happy! ^^
railiens - I still can't believe I NEVER managed to run into you! *creates a river of tears* This is why I give you Katie's official award of Most Elusive Cosplayer at Dragon*con! :D
srinoaheartlys - "FINE, Katie! Don't say hi!" lol That still makes me laugh! XD I'm glad I got to talk to you at the FF gathering- your Stephanie gave me a toothache! Thanks for relaying the words of "Crazy Cake" to me. :D You'll probably regret it, as next time you see me, I might just have to serenade you with it. ;DDD
summonerclo - Meeting you was an absolute joy, Hannah! I know you realize that as I've said it to you MULTIPLE times now, but I just can't say it enough! You're SUCH a sweetheart! It was great being able to rock it out with you as the only X-2 girls at the gathering. You also made the gathering WAY more enjoyable for me, as well! As Cody put it, your perkiness level is off the chart. Well, that's not actually how he put it at all, but you get the idea. I cannot wait til the next time we run into each other at a con! I definitely hope it's sooner than later. :D
theaerisness - lol I'm not even sure if you recognized me when we chatted. XD I think I might have weirded you out with the question I asked. Your response still amuses me because I was just like "...Oh... o_O" In case you forgot, I like, came up behind you, resisting the urge to touch your blooooonde hair and was like "So does it weird you out everytime you see it in a mirror? :DDD?" And you were just like "No." Totally not the answer I was expecting. XD You were so calm about it, too. You must have thought I was a whackjob. lol
vampirate777 - It was great getting to meet you, Mary! I still can't believe there's such a talented cosplayer like yourself at Auburn! It blows me away. I really hope that I'll get to see you more often next semester when I switch to theatre, though, I'd love to be able to see you more often period! If you ever get some free time one weekend, you, me, and Mer should hang out! :)