February 2012 Midlands MCM Expo
Ugh, so I just got back from the expo.
I'm all ridden with muscle exhaustion because I didn't eat or drink anything all day: I got up too late to have breakfast and spent all my money before lunchtime. (I guess I could have mooched food off my friends but I'd wandered off and couldn't find them again and my phone died so I couldn't even call them.)
But apart from that, it was really good! Still waiting for photos to come back so in the meantime shall I tell you what I bought?
Okay:
1. Twilight Sparkle pony - £5
This was the only pony out of the mane cast I was missing, and now my collection is complete! I've noticed there were lots of people cosplaying MLP this year - there were at least three different Pinkie Pies (maybe more). That, and Homestuck were really popular cosplay subjects this year for some reason.
2. One each of every mane six cutie mark badges - 50p each, £3 total
I bought these mostly for my little brother, who is a brony. I would never wear them myself because I don't want to outright advertise an association with internet culture which, you know, MLP is basically representative of. I'm not actually that big of a fan of the show. I mean, I love the design as much as anyone, but the very 'children's show'/younger audience aspect of it still grates with me. I just buy the ponies because they're really cute and I had G3 ones in my childhood so nostalgia value... yeah.
3. Soul Eater poster featuring Soul and Maka + one each of Maka and Soul lacquer keyrings - £10
I only started watching Soul Eater recently but I knew I'd like it ever since I first saw pictures of it, because of the art style and Maka's character design. It may sound shallow but the first thing I look for in a cartoon is powerful character design because that is what makes a cartoon last in a child's heart, the sign of a great cartoon. It was the same with twewy - I knew I'd like it the moment I saw the wicked box art. Art just communicates so much in the way of tone and perspective, and what work connects with you upon sight of its art will almost definitely continue to do so in the main bulk of its material. In the case of twewy, I even knew I'd like Joshua's character best just from his appearance: his dress sense and pose just oozed with arrogance and aloofness.
But I digress. What I mean to say is that despite not having gotten very far into the Soul Eater series, I can safely say that I will be shipping Soul and Maka in the near-future. They are such great lead characters, seeming so normal and laidback, which doesn't seem to happen very often in anime (everyone is always either hyperactive or completely deadpan). The concept of a dominant meister and passive weapon is also really interesting (especially as the leading pair features a female meister), definitely strong thematic material to work with.
So yeah, by replacing my L poster with a Soul and Maka one and buying keyrings of them to clip on side-by-side, I'm essentially making preparations in my life for this ship. (Woo, I'm dedicated!)
4. 2 x liquid syringe pens from Tokyo Toys - £4
I dunno, these just looked cool. I bought two so I could hold them crossed over each other in one hand (you know, because crossed syringes are a variation on crossed bones and therefore have the appearance of a sigil, and because holding multiple syringes suggests medical recklessness, excess and malpractice blah blah don't explain >.<). (I guess I should mention that I have a slight medical fetish.)
5. 8 x hair decs/hair pieces - £20
I can't believe I spent £20 on hair decs, srsly. But now I have some fluffy, frilly kinds of hair pieces for lolita as well as the regular plastic kind, which was all I had before. (Did I mention I didn't cosplay this year? I went in my wonder cookie skirt).
6. Commissioned drawing of Joshua from lady who drew ponies - £5
I always get a commissioned drawing at a convention, because it's really flattering to have someone draw an idea from inside your head, and means I have something to be excited about and look forward to at the end of the con. However I probably should have stuck to what I did last time and asked the lady to draw a portrait of me. Maybe in pony form since that looked like her specialty. But since I'm so goddamn obsessed with Joshua atm I asked for him instead. She hadn't played the game before and didn't know his character, but she could draw from a reference I didn't want to just cancel for a picky reason like that, so I went ahead, even though because of that she didn't capture the character of Joshua in the end. Well I appreciated the effort and it inspired me to go to the artist's alley and draw some of my own pictures (I'm not going to win again, lol, there were some depressingly proficient entries). You know, I need to get a boyfriend again so I can get him to dress up as my favourite male characters for conventions.
7. Dessert-glass necklace from Tofu Cute - £6
The person who runs Tofu Cute is always dressed so well! She was wearing a Sugary Carnival skirt in lavender this time. And her stand must be really popular because there was only this necklace left when I went to it. It's adorable - the ice cream has a chocolate bar, two little striped wafer sticks and even little slices of banana in it, eee!
8. Cat's bell necklace w/ pink bell - £5
I made a bell necklace myself when I was younger - I threaded a little gold bell on a black ribbon and wore it around everywhere. I've lost that bell now, so I couldn't pass up a chance to get a new one, with a proper, sturdy clasp.
Total amount spent: £58
So from the fact that I bought so much useless crap, you can probably tell I had a fun time. :) Not so many people stopped me to take pictures this year as last year when I carried a cardboard coffin on my back the whole time, so that was relaxing since I hate having my picture taken. Hm... I'm thinking of following this entry up with one concerning fandoms and the ones I follow and why, since I delved into it a little bit here. Until then! And if you went to the expo too, tell me about it! And maybe we can guess who each other were. :D
I'm all ridden with muscle exhaustion because I didn't eat or drink anything all day: I got up too late to have breakfast and spent all my money before lunchtime. (I guess I could have mooched food off my friends but I'd wandered off and couldn't find them again and my phone died so I couldn't even call them.)
But apart from that, it was really good! Still waiting for photos to come back so in the meantime shall I tell you what I bought?
Okay:
1. Twilight Sparkle pony - £5
This was the only pony out of the mane cast I was missing, and now my collection is complete! I've noticed there were lots of people cosplaying MLP this year - there were at least three different Pinkie Pies (maybe more). That, and Homestuck were really popular cosplay subjects this year for some reason.
2. One each of every mane six cutie mark badges - 50p each, £3 total
I bought these mostly for my little brother, who is a brony. I would never wear them myself because I don't want to outright advertise an association with internet culture which, you know, MLP is basically representative of. I'm not actually that big of a fan of the show. I mean, I love the design as much as anyone, but the very 'children's show'/younger audience aspect of it still grates with me. I just buy the ponies because they're really cute and I had G3 ones in my childhood so nostalgia value... yeah.
3. Soul Eater poster featuring Soul and Maka + one each of Maka and Soul lacquer keyrings - £10
I only started watching Soul Eater recently but I knew I'd like it ever since I first saw pictures of it, because of the art style and Maka's character design. It may sound shallow but the first thing I look for in a cartoon is powerful character design because that is what makes a cartoon last in a child's heart, the sign of a great cartoon. It was the same with twewy - I knew I'd like it the moment I saw the wicked box art. Art just communicates so much in the way of tone and perspective, and what work connects with you upon sight of its art will almost definitely continue to do so in the main bulk of its material. In the case of twewy, I even knew I'd like Joshua's character best just from his appearance: his dress sense and pose just oozed with arrogance and aloofness.
But I digress. What I mean to say is that despite not having gotten very far into the Soul Eater series, I can safely say that I will be shipping Soul and Maka in the near-future. They are such great lead characters, seeming so normal and laidback, which doesn't seem to happen very often in anime (everyone is always either hyperactive or completely deadpan). The concept of a dominant meister and passive weapon is also really interesting (especially as the leading pair features a female meister), definitely strong thematic material to work with.
So yeah, by replacing my L poster with a Soul and Maka one and buying keyrings of them to clip on side-by-side, I'm essentially making preparations in my life for this ship. (Woo, I'm dedicated!)
4. 2 x liquid syringe pens from Tokyo Toys - £4
I dunno, these just looked cool. I bought two so I could hold them crossed over each other in one hand (you know, because crossed syringes are a variation on crossed bones and therefore have the appearance of a sigil, and because holding multiple syringes suggests medical recklessness, excess and malpractice blah blah don't explain >.<). (I guess I should mention that I have a slight medical fetish.)
5. 8 x hair decs/hair pieces - £20
I can't believe I spent £20 on hair decs, srsly. But now I have some fluffy, frilly kinds of hair pieces for lolita as well as the regular plastic kind, which was all I had before. (Did I mention I didn't cosplay this year? I went in my wonder cookie skirt).
6. Commissioned drawing of Joshua from lady who drew ponies - £5
I always get a commissioned drawing at a convention, because it's really flattering to have someone draw an idea from inside your head, and means I have something to be excited about and look forward to at the end of the con. However I probably should have stuck to what I did last time and asked the lady to draw a portrait of me. Maybe in pony form since that looked like her specialty. But since I'm so goddamn obsessed with Joshua atm I asked for him instead. She hadn't played the game before and didn't know his character, but she could draw from a reference I didn't want to just cancel for a picky reason like that, so I went ahead, even though because of that she didn't capture the character of Joshua in the end. Well I appreciated the effort and it inspired me to go to the artist's alley and draw some of my own pictures (I'm not going to win again, lol, there were some depressingly proficient entries). You know, I need to get a boyfriend again so I can get him to dress up as my favourite male characters for conventions.
7. Dessert-glass necklace from Tofu Cute - £6
The person who runs Tofu Cute is always dressed so well! She was wearing a Sugary Carnival skirt in lavender this time. And her stand must be really popular because there was only this necklace left when I went to it. It's adorable - the ice cream has a chocolate bar, two little striped wafer sticks and even little slices of banana in it, eee!
8. Cat's bell necklace w/ pink bell - £5
I made a bell necklace myself when I was younger - I threaded a little gold bell on a black ribbon and wore it around everywhere. I've lost that bell now, so I couldn't pass up a chance to get a new one, with a proper, sturdy clasp.
Total amount spent: £58
So from the fact that I bought so much useless crap, you can probably tell I had a fun time. :) Not so many people stopped me to take pictures this year as last year when I carried a cardboard coffin on my back the whole time, so that was relaxing since I hate having my picture taken. Hm... I'm thinking of following this entry up with one concerning fandoms and the ones I follow and why, since I delved into it a little bit here. Until then! And if you went to the expo too, tell me about it! And maybe we can guess who each other were. :D