Manifest report
Yes, I meant to write this as soon as I got back, now about two weeks ago. Instead, I let velithya rec me a couple of pieces of Inception fic, which is the kind of experience that you wake up from a week later trying to remember where all that missing time went (and the vague idea a spinning top is somehow necessary to help you figure it out) and not regretting a minute of it. But that's a whole other post.
So: Manifest. Quite the wild ride, and a bit of a mixed bag of what did and didn't go well, but skewed comfortably towards the positive. Details under the cut, but if you're skim-reading and not likely to get through all that, then the bit I need to point out first is this awesome-quality video of pinneagig's Azula skit which, despite all kinds of drama in the lead-up, went beautifully on the day.
The Lead-Up
Not one of our more relaxing weeks. pinneagig tore a tendon in her knee practising her skit a few weeks before the con and was still sewing Azula right up until the last minute, and the owner sprang a rent inspection on us on the day we left. Somehow, everything got done in time, and we got to the airport in plenty of time to find out the flight had been delayed by twenty minutes, which wouldn't have bothered us so much if we weren't stuck in the departure lounge where all the seats faced a TV showing Tony Abbot blathering away about how fast Internet connection won't save us from the unspeakable horror of boat people, or however the hell it works in whatever century he's living in. Once finally on the plane the we got to trade this out for seat-back videos showing us Julia Gillard blathering on about... look, I don't even know, I didn't bother hooking up the headphones before changing the channel, which only proved that election propaganda was not to be escaped anywhere when I just stumbled across some nature program telling me all about the time Julia Gillard once wrestled a bear. (A couple of double takes later, a caption helpfully cleared up that it was someone American called Julia Gerich, or something, but guys, she had the red bob haircut and everything. I am just saying, if she'd only based her election campaign around THAT ONE TIME SHE WRESTLED A BEAR, there is no way we would have this hung parliament problem.)
*cough* Anyway.
The hotel we stayed at was pretty nice but odd. Great for cosplay: three large mirrors, one of them full length, and came equipped with its own iron, ironing board and hair-dryer. Not so good for sleeping in: on two of the nights we stayed they inexplicably made up our beds without any sheets, and no matter how much I fiddled with the air-conditioning it stayed too warm as often as not. But let's face, there is no part of any con experience that involves getting a good night's sleep.
Thursday
Thursday night was the Amaranth Ball. I somehow managed to forget my Joshua wig for my ball costume and had to substitute Ky's, which fortunately worked okay. Leaving the hotel right in the middle of rush-hour turned out to be a mistake. Couldn't find a taxi for love or money, and eventually ended up having to catch the tram (thank god the ball wasn't too far away). Miraculously we still arrived early, and had a lovely night. Could've done without the live band, who played perfectly well but sorta killed the dance floor for an hour or so, and could've definitely done without them interrupting everything again for that talent competition or whatever thingit they use to select a bell and beau of the ball, but the food was great and there was still time for plenty of dancing once they were done with everything else.
Up early the next morning for the first day of the con, which, like most cons, was divided between time spent behind a table in the traders' hall and the cosplay competition, with a little leftover to run around and take photos. We shared the table with chisathechi and Sam - both ex-PenCafe members who've moved over east in the last couple of years, and it was great to get to catch up with them both.
Friday
First day of the con, and kinda dead. Business trickled by the table, but there wasn't really a lot happening yet. Did I mention it was cold? It was coooooold. We'd opted to go in cosplay despite there being no real cosplay events on Friday, so pinneagig was there as Azula and chisathechi as Katara, and the most exciting part of the day was probably when yiji_chan and Lex showed up as Toph and Zuku for an Avatar photoshoot we'd organised at pretty close to the last minute. I stayed to mind the table and wished to god I'd worn a costume with warmer pants.
Had dinner at the restaurant next door to the hotel that evening - going any further in that weather did not seem like a good idea to anyone. All was good, they served excellent steak.
Saturday
Technically we weren't even manning the table on Saturday. There was only space for two of the three of us with merchandise to stock their stuff on it at a time and it was Sam and chisathechi's turn to share, but they were happy enough to put a few of pinneagig's more popular posters on display up on the wall behind them and keep a separate shelf in the money box... and the posters rapidly sold out, were replaced with new ones, and sold out again. Saturday was clearly the day when everyone who couldn't make it on Friday due to having an actual paying day job had showed up.
Costumes on Saturday were Overture!Ky for me and Azula for pinneagig, and Katara again chisathechi. In a moment of pure stupid I left my inner collar at home in the hotel room and didn't even notice for half the day, but I don't think anyone else noticed either, so I guess it could've been worse.
(Photos thanks to chisathechi)
The cosplay comp... could have been better run. yiji_chan and Lex did a great job with the presenting, but when everything started so late that they weren't even allowed to do the briefest of interviews with cosplayers on stage, it couldn't help but feel rushed. Cosplayers were seated in the audience which at least meant we got to see the show, but after asking several times whether we should be heading backstage yet and being waved back to my seat, I was finally called up with literally seconds to check everything was straight before being called up on stage. >< Not good - my costume is no made to sit in comfortably for very long and still stay straight. I had barely time to pull my gloves on and went up on stage with my cross crooked and my collar flopped down. (Not sure if anyone noticed that either, though.)
On the other hand, they got the lighting for pinneagig's poi-twirling skit just about perfect, so definite props for that. And the audience reaction was fantastic. Absolutely a highlight of the trip for both of us to see it come together so well up on stage. No surprise at all that she took home the Best Solo Skit award for her efforts. \o/
Some other skits I can highly recommend are the epic FF Agito group/Fellowship of the Vuvuzela skit, Tidus, Wakka and Riku's take on the Yes Dance and the Pokemon skit. If I let myself start fangirling them all in more detail (SO. MUCH. AWESOME.) I will be here all day.
Meanwhile, Ky got me the award for Best Crossplay. Just to restate: Queen Overture Ky won me best crossplay. In my lovely flowing skirt, high heels and tiara. XD This will never stop being hilarious. *g*
Sunday
Sunday is usually the quieter day, by which the point the attendees have spent all their money and the traders have sold out of most of their merch - slower business, but still pretty decent. pinneagig had brought Lina that day but was skipping the cosplay comp so she could mind the table. I was doing Syaoran again, with the sword routine that I have so far done both at Wai-con and Supanova and yet somehow not managed to find a single person who'd gotten a video of my skit. I brought the costume to Manifest partially in hope of finally getting a decent video (though also, it must be said, partially because it was easy to pack when Ky was hogging so much of the rest of my suitcase).
So this is where the real fail of the Manifest organisation showed up when they told me, about five seconds before I was due on stage, that they'd lost my music. Five minutes earlier and I could have given them another copy - I'd brought a spare on a USB stick and everything, but with everything running late again no-one was going to let me do that. Went out and did the skit anyway as best I could without music, but really didn't do a great job of it under the circumstances. They still gave me best solo skit, but goddamn it. WE HAD AN AWESOME VIDEO GUY THERE AND EVERYTHING. Total fsking waste. >_<
*breathes*
Okay. Moving on.
There were still some awesome skits that day - including a Crisis Core skit that summed up the whole game beautifully, and the Hakkouki skit, though they both lose a bit when you can't see the accompanying video that was meant to go with them (or amenokitarou running back on stage yelling "BRUSH YOUR TEETH" afterwards).
I did get to meet a really nice Sakura cosplayer (Elizabeth) at the ball. She'd done a gorgeous job on one of Sakura's outfits from one of the many artbook pics, and luckily enough was doing it again on Sunday, so I got to run off with her and chisathechi and take some photos. Most are still on chisathechi's camera over in Darkest Canberra, but I'm sure I'll get hold of some more to post later.
Sunday night we were supposed to meet up with everyone for dinner, but thanks to a massive mix up about who was going to be where when, we ended up split into two groups in different places. The Peking Duck banquet we wound up eating was all kinds of delicious, but I really wish we'd gotten to catch up with more people.
Monday
All we had on Monday was a few hours before we had to run off and catch our plane, but we got to catch up with some friends for breakfast and the ever-popular game of how-many-people-can-we-cram-in-one-Purikura-booth. Good times. <3
Flight home was distinctly lacking in videos of politicians wrestling wild animals, and very much poorer for it.
chisathechi also has a lot of other photos up on Facebook from photoshoots and around the con, plus a very cute little video of dancing cosplayers (that will actually embed for me!)
So that was our trip. I would list everyone else who helped make the weekend - the sadly increasing list including all our old friends who've moved over east in the last few years, all the other awesome Eastern Stater cosplay people they've introduced us to since, not to mention all the others we met at the con on the day or the terribly nice people on the tables on both sides of us in the traders hall - but I'd still probably wind up forgetting someone, so suffice to say that no matter how questionable the organisation at these cons, the company always makes up for it. <3
So: Manifest. Quite the wild ride, and a bit of a mixed bag of what did and didn't go well, but skewed comfortably towards the positive. Details under the cut, but if you're skim-reading and not likely to get through all that, then the bit I need to point out first is this awesome-quality video of pinneagig's Azula skit which, despite all kinds of drama in the lead-up, went beautifully on the day.
The Lead-Up
Not one of our more relaxing weeks. pinneagig tore a tendon in her knee practising her skit a few weeks before the con and was still sewing Azula right up until the last minute, and the owner sprang a rent inspection on us on the day we left. Somehow, everything got done in time, and we got to the airport in plenty of time to find out the flight had been delayed by twenty minutes, which wouldn't have bothered us so much if we weren't stuck in the departure lounge where all the seats faced a TV showing Tony Abbot blathering away about how fast Internet connection won't save us from the unspeakable horror of boat people, or however the hell it works in whatever century he's living in. Once finally on the plane the we got to trade this out for seat-back videos showing us Julia Gillard blathering on about... look, I don't even know, I didn't bother hooking up the headphones before changing the channel, which only proved that election propaganda was not to be escaped anywhere when I just stumbled across some nature program telling me all about the time Julia Gillard once wrestled a bear. (A couple of double takes later, a caption helpfully cleared up that it was someone American called Julia Gerich, or something, but guys, she had the red bob haircut and everything. I am just saying, if she'd only based her election campaign around THAT ONE TIME SHE WRESTLED A BEAR, there is no way we would have this hung parliament problem.)
*cough* Anyway.
The hotel we stayed at was pretty nice but odd. Great for cosplay: three large mirrors, one of them full length, and came equipped with its own iron, ironing board and hair-dryer. Not so good for sleeping in: on two of the nights we stayed they inexplicably made up our beds without any sheets, and no matter how much I fiddled with the air-conditioning it stayed too warm as often as not. But let's face, there is no part of any con experience that involves getting a good night's sleep.
Thursday
Thursday night was the Amaranth Ball. I somehow managed to forget my Joshua wig for my ball costume and had to substitute Ky's, which fortunately worked okay. Leaving the hotel right in the middle of rush-hour turned out to be a mistake. Couldn't find a taxi for love or money, and eventually ended up having to catch the tram (thank god the ball wasn't too far away). Miraculously we still arrived early, and had a lovely night. Could've done without the live band, who played perfectly well but sorta killed the dance floor for an hour or so, and could've definitely done without them interrupting everything again for that talent competition or whatever thingit they use to select a bell and beau of the ball, but the food was great and there was still time for plenty of dancing once they were done with everything else.
Up early the next morning for the first day of the con, which, like most cons, was divided between time spent behind a table in the traders' hall and the cosplay competition, with a little leftover to run around and take photos. We shared the table with chisathechi and Sam - both ex-PenCafe members who've moved over east in the last couple of years, and it was great to get to catch up with them both.
Friday
First day of the con, and kinda dead. Business trickled by the table, but there wasn't really a lot happening yet. Did I mention it was cold? It was coooooold. We'd opted to go in cosplay despite there being no real cosplay events on Friday, so pinneagig was there as Azula and chisathechi as Katara, and the most exciting part of the day was probably when yiji_chan and Lex showed up as Toph and Zuku for an Avatar photoshoot we'd organised at pretty close to the last minute. I stayed to mind the table and wished to god I'd worn a costume with warmer pants.
Had dinner at the restaurant next door to the hotel that evening - going any further in that weather did not seem like a good idea to anyone. All was good, they served excellent steak.
Saturday
Technically we weren't even manning the table on Saturday. There was only space for two of the three of us with merchandise to stock their stuff on it at a time and it was Sam and chisathechi's turn to share, but they were happy enough to put a few of pinneagig's more popular posters on display up on the wall behind them and keep a separate shelf in the money box... and the posters rapidly sold out, were replaced with new ones, and sold out again. Saturday was clearly the day when everyone who couldn't make it on Friday due to having an actual paying day job had showed up.
Costumes on Saturday were Overture!Ky for me and Azula for pinneagig, and Katara again chisathechi. In a moment of pure stupid I left my inner collar at home in the hotel room and didn't even notice for half the day, but I don't think anyone else noticed either, so I guess it could've been worse.
(Photos thanks to chisathechi)
The cosplay comp... could have been better run. yiji_chan and Lex did a great job with the presenting, but when everything started so late that they weren't even allowed to do the briefest of interviews with cosplayers on stage, it couldn't help but feel rushed. Cosplayers were seated in the audience which at least meant we got to see the show, but after asking several times whether we should be heading backstage yet and being waved back to my seat, I was finally called up with literally seconds to check everything was straight before being called up on stage. >< Not good - my costume is no made to sit in comfortably for very long and still stay straight. I had barely time to pull my gloves on and went up on stage with my cross crooked and my collar flopped down. (Not sure if anyone noticed that either, though.)
On the other hand, they got the lighting for pinneagig's poi-twirling skit just about perfect, so definite props for that. And the audience reaction was fantastic. Absolutely a highlight of the trip for both of us to see it come together so well up on stage. No surprise at all that she took home the Best Solo Skit award for her efforts. \o/
Some other skits I can highly recommend are the epic FF Agito group/Fellowship of the Vuvuzela skit, Tidus, Wakka and Riku's take on the Yes Dance and the Pokemon skit. If I let myself start fangirling them all in more detail (SO. MUCH. AWESOME.) I will be here all day.
Meanwhile, Ky got me the award for Best Crossplay. Just to restate: Queen Overture Ky won me best crossplay. In my lovely flowing skirt, high heels and tiara. XD This will never stop being hilarious. *g*
Sunday
Sunday is usually the quieter day, by which the point the attendees have spent all their money and the traders have sold out of most of their merch - slower business, but still pretty decent. pinneagig had brought Lina that day but was skipping the cosplay comp so she could mind the table. I was doing Syaoran again, with the sword routine that I have so far done both at Wai-con and Supanova and yet somehow not managed to find a single person who'd gotten a video of my skit. I brought the costume to Manifest partially in hope of finally getting a decent video (though also, it must be said, partially because it was easy to pack when Ky was hogging so much of the rest of my suitcase).
So this is where the real fail of the Manifest organisation showed up when they told me, about five seconds before I was due on stage, that they'd lost my music. Five minutes earlier and I could have given them another copy - I'd brought a spare on a USB stick and everything, but with everything running late again no-one was going to let me do that. Went out and did the skit anyway as best I could without music, but really didn't do a great job of it under the circumstances. They still gave me best solo skit, but goddamn it. WE HAD AN AWESOME VIDEO GUY THERE AND EVERYTHING. Total fsking waste. >_<
*breathes*
Okay. Moving on.
There were still some awesome skits that day - including a Crisis Core skit that summed up the whole game beautifully, and the Hakkouki skit, though they both lose a bit when you can't see the accompanying video that was meant to go with them (or amenokitarou running back on stage yelling "BRUSH YOUR TEETH" afterwards).
I did get to meet a really nice Sakura cosplayer (Elizabeth) at the ball. She'd done a gorgeous job on one of Sakura's outfits from one of the many artbook pics, and luckily enough was doing it again on Sunday, so I got to run off with her and chisathechi and take some photos. Most are still on chisathechi's camera over in Darkest Canberra, but I'm sure I'll get hold of some more to post later.
Sunday night we were supposed to meet up with everyone for dinner, but thanks to a massive mix up about who was going to be where when, we ended up split into two groups in different places. The Peking Duck banquet we wound up eating was all kinds of delicious, but I really wish we'd gotten to catch up with more people.
Monday
All we had on Monday was a few hours before we had to run off and catch our plane, but we got to catch up with some friends for breakfast and the ever-popular game of how-many-people-can-we-cram-in-one-Purikura-booth. Good times. <3
Flight home was distinctly lacking in videos of politicians wrestling wild animals, and very much poorer for it.
chisathechi also has a lot of other photos up on Facebook from photoshoots and around the con, plus a very cute little video of dancing cosplayers (that will actually embed for me!)
Click to viewSo that was our trip. I would list everyone else who helped make the weekend - the sadly increasing list including all our old friends who've moved over east in the last few years, all the other awesome Eastern Stater cosplay people they've introduced us to since, not to mention all the others we met at the con on the day or the terribly nice people on the tables on both sides of us in the traders hall - but I'd still probably wind up forgetting someone, so suffice to say that no matter how questionable the organisation at these cons, the company always makes up for it. <3