Katsucon 2012
I know this report is a tad bit later than normal but I wanted to wait to get photos from people first. Though not like many people read these since LJ is dying but I can't break tradition. XD
So Katsucon was my 50th con. A bit crazy and I didn't even realize it until a few days after the con when I decided to count the cons I've gone to, out of curiosity. lol 'Cause I knew I hit 40 at some point so was curious to see if I was at 45 or almost at 50 by now. Didn't think I was AT 50 though. XD And I have a lot of friends who have been to way more than that already but it feels like a huge number to me.
Thursday:
Actually managed to finish everything before I had to leave for the con but had only just started packing when Ren arrived around 9pm-ish. So I gave her the remote to the TV while I rushed to get everything in the suitcase of doom. But then paused when I realized I had totally forgotten about my Utena ring when I made my list. So I go to get it...only to realize it isn't where I thought I left it. And then it occurs to me...I have no idea where it is because I had totally forgotten about its existence the last few weeks during my mad rush to get everything done. So I'm going crazy, trying to find it, completely blanking on where I last put it. And Ren tries to help me find it. She remembers me putting it in a box of some sort when she was last over a few weeks back, when I was showing it off. And I do vaguely remember this. Of deciding to put it in something so I wouldn't lose it. ... Well that obviously didn't work. As I don't remember what it was or where it was. Though I think I may have taken it back out in order to put the foam in it to fill it in 'cause it was a bit loose on me and I wanted to put a little bit of craft foam on the inside so it wouldn't fall off. I remember cutting the foam out. But I know I never actually put it in the ring. And not sure what happened after that. Just that I totally forgot to ever get back to that. So I have this awful feeling I left it on my workspace and it got tossed aside in the mess and it may have been accidentally swept up with the trash. Because 2 weeks after the con and I STILL can't find it and I've done several full cleans of the whole area to find it. *sighs*
Thus to say I was feeling pretty upset. 'Cause I never even got to wear the damn ring with the costume yet. And I was really looking forward to it, excited to finally have an Utena ring as I've wanted one ever since I was 13 years old but couldn't afford one. Granted this was not the official ring because they don't sell those anymore. This was just a resin one I bought off a guy on DA but it was still really nice and I mean it was still like $28 so not a cheap item like my Ciel rings were. I still want to get an actual metal one some day but I figured the resin one was good enough for cosplay. I did feel really bad though that I'm like freaking out over this small thing while poor Ren is waiting so we can leave. And I really did have a hard time not crying about it. Because even though its a small piece and you barely notice it, its still a pretty important aspect of the costume. Eventually though I got myself to give up on the search and leave for the con. But yeah, as a result, we got there a lot later than planned. Though not like I had anything planned to do.
Got to the con and Ren wanted to use the bell hop so we wouldn't have to make multiple trips and all. So gave our stuff over to a guy and well...I was a bit nervous handing over all my expensive costume pieces and fragile stuff to a stranger. Especially since I could only just pile the swords on top. And I couldn't carry more than my Lucifer wings. Ren went to park the car and the bell hop guy...kinda disappeared with it after I told him the room. Went to some secret door or whatever. So I was like...uh...k. Go up to the room and he's not there and I'm wondering how the hell did I beat him considering I totally took the wrong elevators (if you haven't been to this hotel before, basically the hotel floors are REALLY long and there's like 3 different group of elevators that take you to different sections and if you get on the one the opposite side of your room, you have to walk ALL THE WAY around lol Its kinda like a maze and I've gotten lost many times in the past trying to get to my room) and I'm pretty sure he knows the layout well. So I go into the room and say hi to everyone. Ren comes up, also having done the same thing I did with taking the wrong set of elevators and wandering around for a while. Still no bell hop. Everyone else goes down to the con for a bit to take pics while there isn't a mass of people around. Which was an awesome idea and I kinda wish I had done the same but...my stuff still wasn't there. x_x So I start getting super paranoid. Ren calls the bell hop people and they say it is on its way. But beginning to wonder if they didn't actually take it to the room til after we called. 'Cause that wait was way too long. >> But yeah, it gets there finally at least.
I unpack and deliver my commissions and whatnot. Then while unpacking, I go through my one little box of pieces and my Ludwig necklace...completely falls apart. x_x Well, ok, not the entire thing. But 3 full strands of beads just came undone and the beads fell all over the place. Trying not to cry (I did spend 2 full days beading all 7 layers of that bitch after all), I clean the beads up, thinking that at least its not any of the important ones and the 4 left still look ok together. And realizing that I just didn't tie the ends together very well and that's why they came undone. THEN the MAIN layer breaks. Right at the center. From the weight of the center larger piece I assume. ... So obviously I fail at necklace making and need to find out what to actually use for beading 'cause I just used what I had in my stash that was thin enough and obviously it wasn't strong enough. Will have to ask friends who have done more jewelry than me for suggestions on how to have all 7 layers on the same clasp without it coming undone. ...whenever I have the motivation to re-bead them. *sighs* So yeah, it wasn't a very good start to the con but luckily the rest of the con was pretty good so it made up for the bad luck I was having.
Friday:
Started the day out with Utena-ness. Alyce and Brittany made the school uniform versions of Wakaba and Nanami to go along with my Utena, which made me pretty happy. ^^ And luckily no one seemed to notice I was missing the ring. Or at least no one called me out on it (which I was a little afraid of). Ren got into the Ordon Link costume I made her, which she ended up wearing all weekend, lol. She brought the WoW Priest I made last year too but I don't blame her for not putting it on as Link seemed a lot more comfortable and convenient. But I will have to get her to wear Priest again some day 'cause that costume was too much work to only be worn once. XD But really glad I made the pouch for the Link costume as it allowed us to have something to carry things in and once again Ren became my semi pack mule of the con. XD Considering I still hadn't figured out how to carry my stuff in Utena (no place to put pockets on that thing and last time I carried my bag with that costume, I ended up smushing one of the shoulder pieces.) Ren and I went to go get our badges since we missed the end of badge pick-up time the night before. Line went a bit slower than last year's but not too bad. And got to see Jim briefly. Sadly didn't end up in his line but we were in the one next over so got to at least wave and say "hi". Then met up with Alyce, Brittany, and Beth to take Utena photos.
Our mini Utena group
Nanami pissing Utena off
And Utena's had enough. While Wakaba cheers her on.
Run away! XD
Alyce is such a cute Wakaba!
Nanami getting her revenge
Rather like this one 'cause you can't tell that I'm short XD
Brittany was looking out the door while we were calling an Anthy cosplayer over and we stopped and told her to stay there 'cause it looked great for a photo. XD Sorta looks like Nanami is spying and up to no good.
Pretty cool angle Ren got with Tom's camera (she climbed up on the table to get it XD)
Us trying to reenact Wakaba's tendency to jump on Utena when she's leaning over a railing and the whole almost-falling-out-the-window thing. XD
And here's Ren wearing Ordon Link just to show off the commission:
Rather like how this one came out. Though you can't really see all the details in photos. Have to see it up close in person. The shirt has very light embroidery all over it.
After the photo fun we went back to the room to have sandwich-ness as we got hungry and tired of waiting for the Dealer's Room to open. Then made a quick run through the Artist Alley (kinda got side tracked by people I knew at some tables). Man there was A LOT of My Little Pony art going on in there. Like seriously there were very few tables that didn't have anything MLP at them. I mean I expected a lot but not that much. O_o It was kinda ridiculous. Then finally made it to the Dealer's. I didn't really see anything that called to me though. I was really hoping to find the larger Ginga Bishonen figure since I missed it at AUSA by accident but nobody had it. Pondered getting the XIII-2 Lightning figure but decided to wait. I did get a little Ginga Bishonen phone dangle though still no idea what to put it on since its one without an actual strap and most of my things are running out of room. Would love to put it on my phone but I don't have a way without a strap. Also got an Asch from Tales of the Abyss one that's a bit larger. So at least it stands on its own. Kinda annoyed they made it as a phone thingy instead of just a figure as I think its a bit too large to put on a phone and once again no strap so can't really hang it on my bag very well. >>;; But it was Asch and I jump on anything that him on it since there's so little! I really wish they'd make an ACTUAL figure though. >>;; But yeah, those were my only 2 purchases all con. lol
Tried to catch the Teahouse gathering just to take photos but they were moving location and we didn't really feel like following them so instead decided to head up to the room and relax for a little and slowly change costumes as we decided it was nice enough to take outdoor photos (but it would have been way too cold for Utena). Got into Takuto and went outside. This time I think I got the snaps right on the boot covers as they didn't fall down at all! Victory~! But yeah we went down near the water to take photos. Poor Ren was a bit cold in her Link costume though. The rest of us were fine. XD
Alyce in her gorgeous Bea costume from the webcomic, The Dreamer
I was quite excited to get photos outside 'cause I remembered from last year how windy it was and I wanted to take advantage of the wind with this costume. XD It wasn't as windy this year but still had a decent amount to add a little epic-ness.
Takuto on one of the piers. I realized later on how perfect this area really was for Star Driver considering the whole series takes place on an island. Makes me tempted to do Takuto's stupid red shirt just to do some beach scenes. XD But I don't have a Wako or Sugata so that would be kinda pointless, I guess. T_T;
And while we were taking photos out there, this one guy came by and took a little bit of video of me, which I did manage to find later on here...
I'm near the end of the video for only a few seconds but its my first time featured in anyone's con video and its a pretty decent one too so it makes me happy. ^^
Ren got really cold so she headed inside a little earlier than the rest of us. Eventually we went back in and met up with her. Then hung around for a little bit until it was time to meet up with Katsuya for my private shoot with her. She was a bit tired as she had a very large amount of shoots lined up this con so we let her rest and chatted a little first. Then gave my stuff to Ren to hold onto while Katsuya lead me all over the con. XD Like seriously that girl can move and we went to so many different locations during the shoot time. lol But got some pretty awesome shots and a large variation. Only downside is that due to MegaUpload going down, she's not quite sure how to get the full zip files of the shoots to everyone now as that was her way of sending them. Which sucks too as she said she was finally finishing up the sakura matsuri ones which meant I could get the rest of my Okita photos soon. I dunno. Thinking of maybe suggesting to her if she can put her photos on CDs and send them 'cause I certainly don't mind paying for shipping for that. But believe me, her photos are worth the wait. The few shots I did get back from my Okita shoot are some of my favorite photos ever. But anywho, she also took me back outside but down quite a bit further than I had gone before, down to the more beachy area, past the famous "hand" in the sand. lol And we went to the really big long pier. And it was pretty epic 'cause they had music playing in this area. Not sure if it was the pier's speakers or a nearby building but either way we had some loud dramatic classical music going on. And so Katsuya had me do a cat-walk down the pier and back while she followed with her camera, taking action shots. And it was soooo damn epic with the music! XD She was laughing the whole time and I was trying real hard not to burst out as well, not wanting to ruin the shots. Though I did end up breaking out into a little bit of a comedic march at the very end. Just couldn't resist. XDXD But ohhhh maaaan when we were done, I was just like "...I have to walk all that way BACK to the hotel...T_T" I didn't really think about that when we were walking out and she was asking how I was doing (since I did mention that I'm not used to these boots) and I was all "Oh I'm fine! Let's do this!" Pffft. So yeah...by the time I got back up to the room, my feet were pretty mad at me. lol Though still NOWHERE as bad as it was at Otakon at least.
But I did get one preview shot back of the shoot from her already so I'll post that here...
^.^
The funny thing about this costume is even though its been months since I finished it and I've worn it to 3 cons now...I still haven't gotten used to seeing me in it. 'Cause Katsuya was showing me some previews on her camera after the first half of the shoot and I kept being like "omg is that really me?!" XD Its like the first costume that I'm truly 100% happy with (well the swords could be better...but I mean the outfit itself I'm happy with).
After I dragged my poor abused feet back to the room, got changed into regular clothes and we headed to the Sports Bar in the hotel for dinner. Ended up with a really large group by the time we got there so had to be seated in this back little area. It was kinda annoying though because the music was extra loud back there and we really couldn't hear each other talk (but I did notice the music got turned down later on so maybe they finally took pity on us? x_x;). Our waiter also totally spilled Alyce's drink on her lolita brand skirt (I forgot which brand it was) and oh man we all thought she was going to kill him. And of course stupid man had no idea how much that skirt cost. I bet if he did, he'd be doing a lot more to try to make it better. >>; I was also quite dismayed to learn the really good soup I got addicted to last year no longer existed on their menu so had to order another one that just wasn't as good. And I'm not sure if I just ate it too fast (though I remember pacing myself so I doubt it) or just drank too much coke or if something in the soup just didn't agree with me. Or a combination of all of that. Because by the end of the meal, my stomach started acting up and I had to excuse myself early so I could go back to the room in hopes that if I relaxed a little, it would feel better before I needed to get back in costume. It did subside a little so when everyone else came up, I started getting ready for Lucifer. Brittany once again did a great job on the make-up. Granted I still wasn't feeling 100% but just kept figuring it would eventually go away and it wasn't that bad compared to past stomach aches I've had.
Got down to the lobby and met up with girl_dissolving and rei2rei in their Kurai and Mad Hatter costumes. Originally I had no intention of bringing Luci to this con again and 'cause I felt like I could use a break from the costume. But Rei2Rei decided she was coming to the con and we've discussed really wanting to get photos of all 3 of us some day so it was kinda "Have to bring it!" deal. XD So both Tans and I brought our costumes just for her. But sadly...I started really not feeling well. Kept having to sit down. And kept being like "just give me a few, ok I'm good!" only to have the need to sit again only a few minutes later. X_X It sucked. Rei2Rei was extremely nice about it, asking if I should just change out but I was determined to at least get some photos. Decided to wait it out for a while and she even got her mom to bring me medicine and they got me water and such. Felt so bad about it though. We did eventually manage to get some photos but I never did feel any better. So mostly had to do it of me sitting down and we only got a few. So makes me a little sad but at least we did get some. But yeah I eventually just gave up and went back to the room to change out 'cause Luci is kinda tight so that may have just added to the discomfort (well that and having huge wings on and all...lol).
But here is one photo of all 3 of us together:
Though blaaaah I once again keep having posing issues in this. XD I don't get it. I did so well with posing back with the old version 1 of this costume but now I keep looking "blah" instead of intimidating like I used to. Even though I did lose some weight recently, guess I still am not as thin as I was back then or something. 'Cause my face in particular keeps looking fat. Pffft. Granted here I wasn't feeling all that well so that might have affected my expressions too.
Me...sitting down ^^;;
Went back to the room in dismay with my friends helping carry my wings back since I wasn't feeling up to carrying them. Got out of costume and just laid on the bed the rest of the night. Luckily Ren was chilling in the room so we watched TV (Ferngully was on XD). I did eventually start feeling better but not til pretty late. Laaaaame. Attempted to sew my horn and ears to Blueblood's wig but realized model magic isn't strong enough to take thread. The thread sliced right through it. Pffft. Ah well. Guess I'll just have to buy some paper clay if I want to try that again. Shame too as the horn looked pretty good. But yeah, gave up, laid in bed the rest of the night til everyone came back and fell asleep.
Saturday:
Got into Prince Blueblood sans horn and ears. Yup, I gave into the madness and cosplayed My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. And nobody knew who I was. XD Except for like...2 people. And well Ren and Tans knew but they already knew I was doing the costume. Met up with Tans and Fretz who were also doing MLP. Side characters ftw! Everyone knew who Tans was 'cause she was doing Zecora and people kept spazzing out over this. XD Then they would turn to Fretz and I and be like "...and uhh...other ponies!" XD lol At least they knew we were doing ponies so that's what counts I guess.
Me as Prince Blueblood
Tans as Zecora
Fretz as DJ Pon3
Group shot
Being all creative with all the b&w stripes going on to add to Zecora's zebra-ness XD
We made an actual full round of the Artist Alley this time. Almost every artist stopped us to call out "Zecora!" Pffft. XD Don't blame them though, Tans' costume was pretty awesome. Especially the wig. After that we decided to get lunch at the Japanese restaurant across the street from the hotel. Hadn't been there before and even though it was pricey, it was really nice! The decor was really pretty and they even gave you hot towels, which I haven't had happen since I was in Japan. lol Even though I was trying not to be all "owwwww" 'cause it was a bit too hot for me but didn't want to be rude. XD The food was very yummy even though the guy that brought our food was tormenting us or something. He brought the tray with our food over but then left to take other food on the tray to another table. And our food just sat there. Starring at us. From like 2 feet away. And we were like "...T_T" We think maybe he was just waiting for our actual waiter to serve us but ahhhh the torment! Eventually our waiter did come over and serve us. And after we ate, Fretz pointed out that the flower decor on our plates is edible. Soooo...me being me, I totally ate a petal. Which then turned into Tans taking video of me eating the whole flower like the true pony I was. XD ...which turned into everyone else eating theirs as well. Though Fretz was a bit more classy about it and ate his with chopsticks. Pffft. The restaurant people probably thought we were crazy. But hey there is no rule that you can't eat your decor. lol And it probably would have been thrown out anyways.
My feet at this point were pretty much like "...fuck you" 'cause I was wearing my Takuto boots for this cosplay. So I wobbled back to my room. Was sad I couldn't make the MLP meet (just to see if they could figure out who I was and maybe get some shots with the Rarities XD) but I had short time to get into Ludwig as is. And that costume...takes a while to prep. ^^;; Luckily Luna was only just starting to get into costume as well so I didn't feel so bad about taking so long. 'Cause the wig takes a while to deal with and lacing up the corset (which for some reason didn't want to stay down flat...but it did at AUSA! ...wonder if this means I gained weight x_x;; Or if I just did a fail job at binding this time around) and stuff. Beth did an amazing job getting the wig clipped up correctly though! Like seriously, it actually stayed up the whole time and never budged and looked a lot more like what its supposed to. So yay Beth! Was sad that my necklace was missing some of the strands from breaking the night before but most of them disappear into the neckline of the costume anyways. I did totally forget about the necklace that wraps around my wrist though and didn't realize I had forgotten it until about halfway through the shoot. Oh well. x_x;;
Found Luna who was such an amazing Lisette! She did the sexier version of Lisette's outfit this time around. Then we had to find her photographer friend who she had arranged a shoot with just the night before lol. Last minute shoot ftw! But he was really awesome. I've never done a shoot with those reflector "umbrellas" as I like to call them. XD We went back into the little red entrance of the ballroom (which I swear is pretty much where I went for all my shoots this con) but weren't sure if we could use it due to there being some security guards at the one door and what looked like the hotel getting ready for some event in that room. But then noticed other people taking photos in there so we figured it was ok. I made sure to ask the one guard first since the only spot that wasn't being used by other photographers was the one RIGHT next to the door they were guarding but he was totally cool with it! In fact all the hotel staff was really nice. I felt bad that we were in the way but they kept moving around us and being all "oh no! Keep taking photos!" And they even asked us to show off our costumes to them so they could get a better look at one point. XD The guard I talked to did eventually reveal to us that he used to go to Comic Con back when he was younger and that ever since Katsu started coming to the Gaylord, that he's made sure to be working that weekend just so he can watch all the costumes as he works. It made me rather happy to hear that the Gaylord staff actually likes us. Or at least some of them do.
But anywho, here are a few photos from our shoot, which came out amazing!
So much red XDXD
I really like this particular shot
I like how Lisette is blurred here, adds for a nice effect. Also, just by chance most of the angles we did managed to hide the fact that my necklace is broken and that I'm missing the strand on my one arm. XD And that wasn't even planned.
Sadly couldn't really hang around in Ludwig for very long so after the shoot, went back to the room and changed into Souseiseki for our Rozen Maiden group. Though bleh...that costume was so rushed and you can tell (or at least I can). Its definitely not my best work. I may try to fix it up some but not really sure if I can without redoing like...almost all of it. Pfft. Just not happy with the collar mainly. And the vest sits kinda awkwardly on me. Thinking maybe I should bind a little next time I wear it after all. Sucks that I have to consider binding even when I'm doing actual girl characters. ^^;;
But here's a photo of our group
Had our shoot with the ever awesome Lionel. Though I kept getting distracted when we passed by klytaemnestra's amazing Takarazuka group. Seriously, like I saw them, and was all "...is that what I think it is? OMG!" Did not expect to see that cosplay at the con. They were doing Der Tod and Rudolf from the 2005 Elisabeth and I couldn't quite put my finger on the other cosplayer but knew it was Zuka. Learned later its from a show I haven't seen so that makes sense. XD But eeee, it was hard to focus on posing when all I wanted to do was go over there and just stare. Pfffft. Sadly I did not have my camera on me so I can't even share photos of them but believe me, they were awesome!
But anyways, here's a few of my fav shots from the shoot...
Felt a little bad 'cause my friend Jesse showed up around this time, wanting to hang a little and I'm like "sorrygottagophotos!" Pfffft. But he said later on that he didn't mind and he still had a good con. He ended up joining our gigantic amoeba to dinner anyways (after we changed out of costumes). Though the place Dorian and them wanted to go to was really crowded and had a line out the door so half of us voted to find some place less crowded. So ended up at Baja Fresh which actually wasn't as bad in comparison to the other place. And the line went fast. ...even though the room we ate in had crazy strange yellow lighting that made our food look kinda gross. lol Jesse ended up staying with the other group and felt bad about leaving him with people he literally JUST met but he seemed to get along ok with them. See, this is the problem about trying to find time to hang with me at cons. Unless you are staying in the room with me or have a planned cosplay or event or happen to catch me when I'm not doing anything (...doesn't happen often), you probably won't see me for more than a few minutes. Especially if you suddenly show up out of the blue. Something my college friends especially don't seem to understand as I'm always getting texts AT the con of them being like "lets do lunch!" and I'm like "...in the middle of a shoot" and/or "...already ate ^^;;" I feel bad but like its just not the place to try to get actual quality time with me unless you're with me a good chunk of the con.
But anywho! Went back to the room...for yet another costume change! XD This one wasn't originally planned but I was sad that I didn't get to wear Takuto after the sun went down on Friday as the lights in the swords really don't show unless its dark. So I got into Takuto with the plan to just be in it for a little bit and try to get some photos in front of the fountains. Though arrrrrgh, I hate my swords. lol Its really the only thing I dislike about my costume. Er, well, I don't hate the swords themselves. I just hate how the lights really don't work as good as I thought. They barely show up unless you're in a really dark area. *sighs* Just sucks 'cause it took me a long time to figure out even how to get them to light up. But I did get in front of the fountain. I'm kicking myself for not asking Tans to get a few shots without flash as well though. I totally forgot to think about that. I was just so excited to get in front of them. 'Cause I wouldn't mind if I was dark in the photos. I cared more about the lights of the swords and the fountains showing. Oh well. Not her fault. Just mine for not thinking about it. I suppose I could always try again next year (though I think I'll be more occupied with next year's big project then XD).
Only a little bit of fountain going on here but the trees in the background look nifty XD
But hey at least I have proof that I did do this. XD I just am annoyed that I look blah here but that's my own face issues. x_x;
These trees were also pretty cool to pose with
Also made sure to get some actual photos of Ren in Link. Well...Tans did. XD I just made sure she took them for me.
Link chilling
Link fishing...without a pole ^^;;
Then Ren and Tans went to the bar for drinks while I changed out of Takuto and into regular clothing for a change. XD (My feet were like "thank god!") I figured they'd still be drinking by the time I got back down as it didn't take me too long so was pretty surprised that they were...done. lol But anywho, we made our way to the World Cosplay Summit room, figuring we'd just sneak in since it was already a half hour past the starting time. We get to the room...and the lights are on. And there's only like half of the room filled. And I'm like "...is this the right place?" We see Alyce and Beth so work our way over to them and at first I'm thinking maybe this is the Madoka viewing room instead as I remember them saying they were going to that. But no, it was def the WCS room. It just...hadn't started yet. Was a bit surprised by the fact that the room wasn't packed but I wonder if people didn't like it being that late or didn't feel like waiting (perhaps there was more when the doors opened?). Either way, not that many more came in. Shame but I just think it was the late time of the event. And it was yet ANOTHER half hour before the show actually started. So starting a whole hour late didn't help either, I bet.
But anyways. So. The WCS. I will fully admit that I only went because I had friends entering and wanted to support them and 'cause I knew Ren wanted to go. But probably wouldn't have watched it otherwise. 'Cause I'm not a very big fan of the WCS. I've always had some ill feelings towards it for various reasons. So I've also never really followed the skits and such of past years. That being said, I was actually really impressed by the work that the groups did and rather enjoyed the skits. I just think its a shame that they all put so much work into something that isn't as amazing as it makes itself out to be. I dunno. But I won't get into that.
The Princess Tutu skit that won was insanely bone-chilling and really the video of it does it NO justice as I've watched the video and don't quite get the same feel that I did when I saw it live. I think its just the angle and all. But it was brilliantly done and so glad they won! You can watch their video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XWHL7PHQP0&feature=youtube_gdata if you haven't already. Other skits that impressed me were the Oh My Goddess, Utena, and Madoka skits. But my favorite of all the skits was by far Ling and Mimi's skit. And I'm not saying this just because I'm their friend and because I'm a fan of the manga they did. They just really blew me away and I'm so proud of them.
Their skit was from Ludwig II by Yuu Higuri, a rather unknown but beautiful short BL manga. Loved it so much that I'm going to embed it in this entry in hopes you all watch it XD
You can watch all the skits over on ACP's youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/user/acparadise/videos Just click on the ones that say "USA WCS Preliminaries" since they don't seem to have a playlist for it at the moment.
I'm not going to get too much into it here but let's just say, I was pretty shocked and pissed off when I did not hear Ling and Mimi's skit announced in the top 10 at the end. I seriously thought they had an honest shot at winning too. Turns out there was a limit on time you could have to set up and how much room on stage you took up. And sadly they took quite a while to get their elaborate display up so that took a lot of points off. :/ I really think if it wasn't for that, they would have at least gotten in the Top 10. >> *sighs* Regardless though, I think their skit is beautiful and I'm so happy that it went so well as I know they've wanted to do that skit for a long time.
After that, made it back up to the room, packed everything up so it'd be less difficult to do in the morning and pretty much passed out soon after that since it was pretty late at that point.
Sunday:
Did the usual Sun morning routine. Packed up the car. At first the elevators were pretty empty but as we made our trips back and forth, it started getting to the usual long waits. Pffft. Oh well. Almost timed it right. XD If it wasn't for my gigantic suitcase and my Luci wings, we probably could have made more stairs trips. ^^;;; Oh the woes of having large cosplay luggage. During one of our last trips to the car, saw a rather amusing sight in the parking garage. A couple had their car stop right in the middle of the garage. But this one guy was nice enough to come over with his car and jump start them...and he just happened to be dressed as Ash from Pokemon (or well it might have just been a generic Pokemon trainer, I don't remember lol but I'm going to say Ash 'cause that's more amusing!). So yeah, Ash was jump starting their car. XD Only at an anime con.
After that we made the usual Sunday rounds of the Dealer's Room and Artist Alley. I was thinking of getting the XIII-2 Lightning figure after all since I ended up not really spending any money this con. But of course they were all sold out at that point. Oh well. There are other cons. In fact...really didn't find anything I wanted at that point. But did manage to catch Ling at her dealer booth to talk to her for a little bit. And saw Sarah in the artist alley. Then started to say goodbye to people as they started to leave. Hung out in the lobby for a little bit and then went across the street to have our last Katsu lunch. We actually stayed til a decent hour but not much happened in that time other than roaming the dealer's and saying goodbyes to people. XD But I guess that's the typical Sunday unless you're cosplaying and I did consider it originally but all my comfy costumes would have resulted in me freezing my ass off when going to the car...so...yeah. XD; After eating, we made the trip back to my place and then Ren left and that was my Katsucon.
...and you don't want to know how many days it took me to write that. lol XD Granted I only wrote a tiny bit here and there every day.
But anywho, the rest of my photos are up here: http://lyn.houjun.com/katsu12.html
~Lyn
So Katsucon was my 50th con. A bit crazy and I didn't even realize it until a few days after the con when I decided to count the cons I've gone to, out of curiosity. lol 'Cause I knew I hit 40 at some point so was curious to see if I was at 45 or almost at 50 by now. Didn't think I was AT 50 though. XD And I have a lot of friends who have been to way more than that already but it feels like a huge number to me.
Thursday:
Actually managed to finish everything before I had to leave for the con but had only just started packing when Ren arrived around 9pm-ish. So I gave her the remote to the TV while I rushed to get everything in the suitcase of doom. But then paused when I realized I had totally forgotten about my Utena ring when I made my list. So I go to get it...only to realize it isn't where I thought I left it. And then it occurs to me...I have no idea where it is because I had totally forgotten about its existence the last few weeks during my mad rush to get everything done. So I'm going crazy, trying to find it, completely blanking on where I last put it. And Ren tries to help me find it. She remembers me putting it in a box of some sort when she was last over a few weeks back, when I was showing it off. And I do vaguely remember this. Of deciding to put it in something so I wouldn't lose it. ... Well that obviously didn't work. As I don't remember what it was or where it was. Though I think I may have taken it back out in order to put the foam in it to fill it in 'cause it was a bit loose on me and I wanted to put a little bit of craft foam on the inside so it wouldn't fall off. I remember cutting the foam out. But I know I never actually put it in the ring. And not sure what happened after that. Just that I totally forgot to ever get back to that. So I have this awful feeling I left it on my workspace and it got tossed aside in the mess and it may have been accidentally swept up with the trash. Because 2 weeks after the con and I STILL can't find it and I've done several full cleans of the whole area to find it. *sighs*
Thus to say I was feeling pretty upset. 'Cause I never even got to wear the damn ring with the costume yet. And I was really looking forward to it, excited to finally have an Utena ring as I've wanted one ever since I was 13 years old but couldn't afford one. Granted this was not the official ring because they don't sell those anymore. This was just a resin one I bought off a guy on DA but it was still really nice and I mean it was still like $28 so not a cheap item like my Ciel rings were. I still want to get an actual metal one some day but I figured the resin one was good enough for cosplay. I did feel really bad though that I'm like freaking out over this small thing while poor Ren is waiting so we can leave. And I really did have a hard time not crying about it. Because even though its a small piece and you barely notice it, its still a pretty important aspect of the costume. Eventually though I got myself to give up on the search and leave for the con. But yeah, as a result, we got there a lot later than planned. Though not like I had anything planned to do.
Got to the con and Ren wanted to use the bell hop so we wouldn't have to make multiple trips and all. So gave our stuff over to a guy and well...I was a bit nervous handing over all my expensive costume pieces and fragile stuff to a stranger. Especially since I could only just pile the swords on top. And I couldn't carry more than my Lucifer wings. Ren went to park the car and the bell hop guy...kinda disappeared with it after I told him the room. Went to some secret door or whatever. So I was like...uh...k. Go up to the room and he's not there and I'm wondering how the hell did I beat him considering I totally took the wrong elevators (if you haven't been to this hotel before, basically the hotel floors are REALLY long and there's like 3 different group of elevators that take you to different sections and if you get on the one the opposite side of your room, you have to walk ALL THE WAY around lol Its kinda like a maze and I've gotten lost many times in the past trying to get to my room) and I'm pretty sure he knows the layout well. So I go into the room and say hi to everyone. Ren comes up, also having done the same thing I did with taking the wrong set of elevators and wandering around for a while. Still no bell hop. Everyone else goes down to the con for a bit to take pics while there isn't a mass of people around. Which was an awesome idea and I kinda wish I had done the same but...my stuff still wasn't there. x_x So I start getting super paranoid. Ren calls the bell hop people and they say it is on its way. But beginning to wonder if they didn't actually take it to the room til after we called. 'Cause that wait was way too long. >> But yeah, it gets there finally at least.
I unpack and deliver my commissions and whatnot. Then while unpacking, I go through my one little box of pieces and my Ludwig necklace...completely falls apart. x_x Well, ok, not the entire thing. But 3 full strands of beads just came undone and the beads fell all over the place. Trying not to cry (I did spend 2 full days beading all 7 layers of that bitch after all), I clean the beads up, thinking that at least its not any of the important ones and the 4 left still look ok together. And realizing that I just didn't tie the ends together very well and that's why they came undone. THEN the MAIN layer breaks. Right at the center. From the weight of the center larger piece I assume. ... So obviously I fail at necklace making and need to find out what to actually use for beading 'cause I just used what I had in my stash that was thin enough and obviously it wasn't strong enough. Will have to ask friends who have done more jewelry than me for suggestions on how to have all 7 layers on the same clasp without it coming undone. ...whenever I have the motivation to re-bead them. *sighs* So yeah, it wasn't a very good start to the con but luckily the rest of the con was pretty good so it made up for the bad luck I was having.
Friday:
Started the day out with Utena-ness. Alyce and Brittany made the school uniform versions of Wakaba and Nanami to go along with my Utena, which made me pretty happy. ^^ And luckily no one seemed to notice I was missing the ring. Or at least no one called me out on it (which I was a little afraid of). Ren got into the Ordon Link costume I made her, which she ended up wearing all weekend, lol. She brought the WoW Priest I made last year too but I don't blame her for not putting it on as Link seemed a lot more comfortable and convenient. But I will have to get her to wear Priest again some day 'cause that costume was too much work to only be worn once. XD But really glad I made the pouch for the Link costume as it allowed us to have something to carry things in and once again Ren became my semi pack mule of the con. XD Considering I still hadn't figured out how to carry my stuff in Utena (no place to put pockets on that thing and last time I carried my bag with that costume, I ended up smushing one of the shoulder pieces.) Ren and I went to go get our badges since we missed the end of badge pick-up time the night before. Line went a bit slower than last year's but not too bad. And got to see Jim briefly. Sadly didn't end up in his line but we were in the one next over so got to at least wave and say "hi". Then met up with Alyce, Brittany, and Beth to take Utena photos.
Our mini Utena group
Nanami pissing Utena off
And Utena's had enough. While Wakaba cheers her on.
Run away! XD
Alyce is such a cute Wakaba!
Nanami getting her revenge
Rather like this one 'cause you can't tell that I'm short XD
Brittany was looking out the door while we were calling an Anthy cosplayer over and we stopped and told her to stay there 'cause it looked great for a photo. XD Sorta looks like Nanami is spying and up to no good.
Pretty cool angle Ren got with Tom's camera (she climbed up on the table to get it XD)
Us trying to reenact Wakaba's tendency to jump on Utena when she's leaning over a railing and the whole almost-falling-out-the-window thing. XD
And here's Ren wearing Ordon Link just to show off the commission:
Rather like how this one came out. Though you can't really see all the details in photos. Have to see it up close in person. The shirt has very light embroidery all over it.
After the photo fun we went back to the room to have sandwich-ness as we got hungry and tired of waiting for the Dealer's Room to open. Then made a quick run through the Artist Alley (kinda got side tracked by people I knew at some tables). Man there was A LOT of My Little Pony art going on in there. Like seriously there were very few tables that didn't have anything MLP at them. I mean I expected a lot but not that much. O_o It was kinda ridiculous. Then finally made it to the Dealer's. I didn't really see anything that called to me though. I was really hoping to find the larger Ginga Bishonen figure since I missed it at AUSA by accident but nobody had it. Pondered getting the XIII-2 Lightning figure but decided to wait. I did get a little Ginga Bishonen phone dangle though still no idea what to put it on since its one without an actual strap and most of my things are running out of room. Would love to put it on my phone but I don't have a way without a strap. Also got an Asch from Tales of the Abyss one that's a bit larger. So at least it stands on its own. Kinda annoyed they made it as a phone thingy instead of just a figure as I think its a bit too large to put on a phone and once again no strap so can't really hang it on my bag very well. >>;; But it was Asch and I jump on anything that him on it since there's so little! I really wish they'd make an ACTUAL figure though. >>;; But yeah, those were my only 2 purchases all con. lol
Tried to catch the Teahouse gathering just to take photos but they were moving location and we didn't really feel like following them so instead decided to head up to the room and relax for a little and slowly change costumes as we decided it was nice enough to take outdoor photos (but it would have been way too cold for Utena). Got into Takuto and went outside. This time I think I got the snaps right on the boot covers as they didn't fall down at all! Victory~! But yeah we went down near the water to take photos. Poor Ren was a bit cold in her Link costume though. The rest of us were fine. XD
Alyce in her gorgeous Bea costume from the webcomic, The Dreamer
I was quite excited to get photos outside 'cause I remembered from last year how windy it was and I wanted to take advantage of the wind with this costume. XD It wasn't as windy this year but still had a decent amount to add a little epic-ness.
Takuto on one of the piers. I realized later on how perfect this area really was for Star Driver considering the whole series takes place on an island. Makes me tempted to do Takuto's stupid red shirt just to do some beach scenes. XD But I don't have a Wako or Sugata so that would be kinda pointless, I guess. T_T;
And while we were taking photos out there, this one guy came by and took a little bit of video of me, which I did manage to find later on here...
Click to viewI'm near the end of the video for only a few seconds but its my first time featured in anyone's con video and its a pretty decent one too so it makes me happy. ^^
Ren got really cold so she headed inside a little earlier than the rest of us. Eventually we went back in and met up with her. Then hung around for a little bit until it was time to meet up with Katsuya for my private shoot with her. She was a bit tired as she had a very large amount of shoots lined up this con so we let her rest and chatted a little first. Then gave my stuff to Ren to hold onto while Katsuya lead me all over the con. XD Like seriously that girl can move and we went to so many different locations during the shoot time. lol But got some pretty awesome shots and a large variation. Only downside is that due to MegaUpload going down, she's not quite sure how to get the full zip files of the shoots to everyone now as that was her way of sending them. Which sucks too as she said she was finally finishing up the sakura matsuri ones which meant I could get the rest of my Okita photos soon. I dunno. Thinking of maybe suggesting to her if she can put her photos on CDs and send them 'cause I certainly don't mind paying for shipping for that. But believe me, her photos are worth the wait. The few shots I did get back from my Okita shoot are some of my favorite photos ever. But anywho, she also took me back outside but down quite a bit further than I had gone before, down to the more beachy area, past the famous "hand" in the sand. lol And we went to the really big long pier. And it was pretty epic 'cause they had music playing in this area. Not sure if it was the pier's speakers or a nearby building but either way we had some loud dramatic classical music going on. And so Katsuya had me do a cat-walk down the pier and back while she followed with her camera, taking action shots. And it was soooo damn epic with the music! XD She was laughing the whole time and I was trying real hard not to burst out as well, not wanting to ruin the shots. Though I did end up breaking out into a little bit of a comedic march at the very end. Just couldn't resist. XDXD But ohhhh maaaan when we were done, I was just like "...I have to walk all that way BACK to the hotel...T_T" I didn't really think about that when we were walking out and she was asking how I was doing (since I did mention that I'm not used to these boots) and I was all "Oh I'm fine! Let's do this!" Pffft. So yeah...by the time I got back up to the room, my feet were pretty mad at me. lol Though still NOWHERE as bad as it was at Otakon at least.
But I did get one preview shot back of the shoot from her already so I'll post that here...
^.^
The funny thing about this costume is even though its been months since I finished it and I've worn it to 3 cons now...I still haven't gotten used to seeing me in it. 'Cause Katsuya was showing me some previews on her camera after the first half of the shoot and I kept being like "omg is that really me?!" XD Its like the first costume that I'm truly 100% happy with (well the swords could be better...but I mean the outfit itself I'm happy with).
After I dragged my poor abused feet back to the room, got changed into regular clothes and we headed to the Sports Bar in the hotel for dinner. Ended up with a really large group by the time we got there so had to be seated in this back little area. It was kinda annoying though because the music was extra loud back there and we really couldn't hear each other talk (but I did notice the music got turned down later on so maybe they finally took pity on us? x_x;). Our waiter also totally spilled Alyce's drink on her lolita brand skirt (I forgot which brand it was) and oh man we all thought she was going to kill him. And of course stupid man had no idea how much that skirt cost. I bet if he did, he'd be doing a lot more to try to make it better. >>; I was also quite dismayed to learn the really good soup I got addicted to last year no longer existed on their menu so had to order another one that just wasn't as good. And I'm not sure if I just ate it too fast (though I remember pacing myself so I doubt it) or just drank too much coke or if something in the soup just didn't agree with me. Or a combination of all of that. Because by the end of the meal, my stomach started acting up and I had to excuse myself early so I could go back to the room in hopes that if I relaxed a little, it would feel better before I needed to get back in costume. It did subside a little so when everyone else came up, I started getting ready for Lucifer. Brittany once again did a great job on the make-up. Granted I still wasn't feeling 100% but just kept figuring it would eventually go away and it wasn't that bad compared to past stomach aches I've had.
Got down to the lobby and met up with girl_dissolving and rei2rei in their Kurai and Mad Hatter costumes. Originally I had no intention of bringing Luci to this con again and 'cause I felt like I could use a break from the costume. But Rei2Rei decided she was coming to the con and we've discussed really wanting to get photos of all 3 of us some day so it was kinda "Have to bring it!" deal. XD So both Tans and I brought our costumes just for her. But sadly...I started really not feeling well. Kept having to sit down. And kept being like "just give me a few, ok I'm good!" only to have the need to sit again only a few minutes later. X_X It sucked. Rei2Rei was extremely nice about it, asking if I should just change out but I was determined to at least get some photos. Decided to wait it out for a while and she even got her mom to bring me medicine and they got me water and such. Felt so bad about it though. We did eventually manage to get some photos but I never did feel any better. So mostly had to do it of me sitting down and we only got a few. So makes me a little sad but at least we did get some. But yeah I eventually just gave up and went back to the room to change out 'cause Luci is kinda tight so that may have just added to the discomfort (well that and having huge wings on and all...lol).
But here is one photo of all 3 of us together:
Though blaaaah I once again keep having posing issues in this. XD I don't get it. I did so well with posing back with the old version 1 of this costume but now I keep looking "blah" instead of intimidating like I used to. Even though I did lose some weight recently, guess I still am not as thin as I was back then or something. 'Cause my face in particular keeps looking fat. Pffft. Granted here I wasn't feeling all that well so that might have affected my expressions too.
Me...sitting down ^^;;
Went back to the room in dismay with my friends helping carry my wings back since I wasn't feeling up to carrying them. Got out of costume and just laid on the bed the rest of the night. Luckily Ren was chilling in the room so we watched TV (Ferngully was on XD). I did eventually start feeling better but not til pretty late. Laaaaame. Attempted to sew my horn and ears to Blueblood's wig but realized model magic isn't strong enough to take thread. The thread sliced right through it. Pffft. Ah well. Guess I'll just have to buy some paper clay if I want to try that again. Shame too as the horn looked pretty good. But yeah, gave up, laid in bed the rest of the night til everyone came back and fell asleep.
Saturday:
Got into Prince Blueblood sans horn and ears. Yup, I gave into the madness and cosplayed My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. And nobody knew who I was. XD Except for like...2 people. And well Ren and Tans knew but they already knew I was doing the costume. Met up with Tans and Fretz who were also doing MLP. Side characters ftw! Everyone knew who Tans was 'cause she was doing Zecora and people kept spazzing out over this. XD Then they would turn to Fretz and I and be like "...and uhh...other ponies!" XD lol At least they knew we were doing ponies so that's what counts I guess.
Me as Prince Blueblood
Tans as Zecora
Fretz as DJ Pon3
Group shot
Being all creative with all the b&w stripes going on to add to Zecora's zebra-ness XD
We made an actual full round of the Artist Alley this time. Almost every artist stopped us to call out "Zecora!" Pffft. XD Don't blame them though, Tans' costume was pretty awesome. Especially the wig. After that we decided to get lunch at the Japanese restaurant across the street from the hotel. Hadn't been there before and even though it was pricey, it was really nice! The decor was really pretty and they even gave you hot towels, which I haven't had happen since I was in Japan. lol Even though I was trying not to be all "owwwww" 'cause it was a bit too hot for me but didn't want to be rude. XD The food was very yummy even though the guy that brought our food was tormenting us or something. He brought the tray with our food over but then left to take other food on the tray to another table. And our food just sat there. Starring at us. From like 2 feet away. And we were like "...T_T" We think maybe he was just waiting for our actual waiter to serve us but ahhhh the torment! Eventually our waiter did come over and serve us. And after we ate, Fretz pointed out that the flower decor on our plates is edible. Soooo...me being me, I totally ate a petal. Which then turned into Tans taking video of me eating the whole flower like the true pony I was. XD ...which turned into everyone else eating theirs as well. Though Fretz was a bit more classy about it and ate his with chopsticks. Pffft. The restaurant people probably thought we were crazy. But hey there is no rule that you can't eat your decor. lol And it probably would have been thrown out anyways.
My feet at this point were pretty much like "...fuck you" 'cause I was wearing my Takuto boots for this cosplay. So I wobbled back to my room. Was sad I couldn't make the MLP meet (just to see if they could figure out who I was and maybe get some shots with the Rarities XD) but I had short time to get into Ludwig as is. And that costume...takes a while to prep. ^^;; Luckily Luna was only just starting to get into costume as well so I didn't feel so bad about taking so long. 'Cause the wig takes a while to deal with and lacing up the corset (which for some reason didn't want to stay down flat...but it did at AUSA! ...wonder if this means I gained weight x_x;; Or if I just did a fail job at binding this time around) and stuff. Beth did an amazing job getting the wig clipped up correctly though! Like seriously, it actually stayed up the whole time and never budged and looked a lot more like what its supposed to. So yay Beth! Was sad that my necklace was missing some of the strands from breaking the night before but most of them disappear into the neckline of the costume anyways. I did totally forget about the necklace that wraps around my wrist though and didn't realize I had forgotten it until about halfway through the shoot. Oh well. x_x;;
Found Luna who was such an amazing Lisette! She did the sexier version of Lisette's outfit this time around. Then we had to find her photographer friend who she had arranged a shoot with just the night before lol. Last minute shoot ftw! But he was really awesome. I've never done a shoot with those reflector "umbrellas" as I like to call them. XD We went back into the little red entrance of the ballroom (which I swear is pretty much where I went for all my shoots this con) but weren't sure if we could use it due to there being some security guards at the one door and what looked like the hotel getting ready for some event in that room. But then noticed other people taking photos in there so we figured it was ok. I made sure to ask the one guard first since the only spot that wasn't being used by other photographers was the one RIGHT next to the door they were guarding but he was totally cool with it! In fact all the hotel staff was really nice. I felt bad that we were in the way but they kept moving around us and being all "oh no! Keep taking photos!" And they even asked us to show off our costumes to them so they could get a better look at one point. XD The guard I talked to did eventually reveal to us that he used to go to Comic Con back when he was younger and that ever since Katsu started coming to the Gaylord, that he's made sure to be working that weekend just so he can watch all the costumes as he works. It made me rather happy to hear that the Gaylord staff actually likes us. Or at least some of them do.
But anywho, here are a few photos from our shoot, which came out amazing!
So much red XDXD
I really like this particular shot
I like how Lisette is blurred here, adds for a nice effect. Also, just by chance most of the angles we did managed to hide the fact that my necklace is broken and that I'm missing the strand on my one arm. XD And that wasn't even planned.
Sadly couldn't really hang around in Ludwig for very long so after the shoot, went back to the room and changed into Souseiseki for our Rozen Maiden group. Though bleh...that costume was so rushed and you can tell (or at least I can). Its definitely not my best work. I may try to fix it up some but not really sure if I can without redoing like...almost all of it. Pfft. Just not happy with the collar mainly. And the vest sits kinda awkwardly on me. Thinking maybe I should bind a little next time I wear it after all. Sucks that I have to consider binding even when I'm doing actual girl characters. ^^;;
But here's a photo of our group
Had our shoot with the ever awesome Lionel. Though I kept getting distracted when we passed by klytaemnestra's amazing Takarazuka group. Seriously, like I saw them, and was all "...is that what I think it is? OMG!" Did not expect to see that cosplay at the con. They were doing Der Tod and Rudolf from the 2005 Elisabeth and I couldn't quite put my finger on the other cosplayer but knew it was Zuka. Learned later its from a show I haven't seen so that makes sense. XD But eeee, it was hard to focus on posing when all I wanted to do was go over there and just stare. Pfffft. Sadly I did not have my camera on me so I can't even share photos of them but believe me, they were awesome!
But anyways, here's a few of my fav shots from the shoot...
Felt a little bad 'cause my friend Jesse showed up around this time, wanting to hang a little and I'm like "sorrygottagophotos!" Pfffft. But he said later on that he didn't mind and he still had a good con. He ended up joining our gigantic amoeba to dinner anyways (after we changed out of costumes). Though the place Dorian and them wanted to go to was really crowded and had a line out the door so half of us voted to find some place less crowded. So ended up at Baja Fresh which actually wasn't as bad in comparison to the other place. And the line went fast. ...even though the room we ate in had crazy strange yellow lighting that made our food look kinda gross. lol Jesse ended up staying with the other group and felt bad about leaving him with people he literally JUST met but he seemed to get along ok with them. See, this is the problem about trying to find time to hang with me at cons. Unless you are staying in the room with me or have a planned cosplay or event or happen to catch me when I'm not doing anything (...doesn't happen often), you probably won't see me for more than a few minutes. Especially if you suddenly show up out of the blue. Something my college friends especially don't seem to understand as I'm always getting texts AT the con of them being like "lets do lunch!" and I'm like "...in the middle of a shoot" and/or "...already ate ^^;;" I feel bad but like its just not the place to try to get actual quality time with me unless you're with me a good chunk of the con.
But anywho! Went back to the room...for yet another costume change! XD This one wasn't originally planned but I was sad that I didn't get to wear Takuto after the sun went down on Friday as the lights in the swords really don't show unless its dark. So I got into Takuto with the plan to just be in it for a little bit and try to get some photos in front of the fountains. Though arrrrrgh, I hate my swords. lol Its really the only thing I dislike about my costume. Er, well, I don't hate the swords themselves. I just hate how the lights really don't work as good as I thought. They barely show up unless you're in a really dark area. *sighs* Just sucks 'cause it took me a long time to figure out even how to get them to light up. But I did get in front of the fountain. I'm kicking myself for not asking Tans to get a few shots without flash as well though. I totally forgot to think about that. I was just so excited to get in front of them. 'Cause I wouldn't mind if I was dark in the photos. I cared more about the lights of the swords and the fountains showing. Oh well. Not her fault. Just mine for not thinking about it. I suppose I could always try again next year (though I think I'll be more occupied with next year's big project then XD).
Only a little bit of fountain going on here but the trees in the background look nifty XD
But hey at least I have proof that I did do this. XD I just am annoyed that I look blah here but that's my own face issues. x_x;
These trees were also pretty cool to pose with
Also made sure to get some actual photos of Ren in Link. Well...Tans did. XD I just made sure she took them for me.
Link chilling
Link fishing...without a pole ^^;;
Then Ren and Tans went to the bar for drinks while I changed out of Takuto and into regular clothing for a change. XD (My feet were like "thank god!") I figured they'd still be drinking by the time I got back down as it didn't take me too long so was pretty surprised that they were...done. lol But anywho, we made our way to the World Cosplay Summit room, figuring we'd just sneak in since it was already a half hour past the starting time. We get to the room...and the lights are on. And there's only like half of the room filled. And I'm like "...is this the right place?" We see Alyce and Beth so work our way over to them and at first I'm thinking maybe this is the Madoka viewing room instead as I remember them saying they were going to that. But no, it was def the WCS room. It just...hadn't started yet. Was a bit surprised by the fact that the room wasn't packed but I wonder if people didn't like it being that late or didn't feel like waiting (perhaps there was more when the doors opened?). Either way, not that many more came in. Shame but I just think it was the late time of the event. And it was yet ANOTHER half hour before the show actually started. So starting a whole hour late didn't help either, I bet.
But anyways. So. The WCS. I will fully admit that I only went because I had friends entering and wanted to support them and 'cause I knew Ren wanted to go. But probably wouldn't have watched it otherwise. 'Cause I'm not a very big fan of the WCS. I've always had some ill feelings towards it for various reasons. So I've also never really followed the skits and such of past years. That being said, I was actually really impressed by the work that the groups did and rather enjoyed the skits. I just think its a shame that they all put so much work into something that isn't as amazing as it makes itself out to be. I dunno. But I won't get into that.
The Princess Tutu skit that won was insanely bone-chilling and really the video of it does it NO justice as I've watched the video and don't quite get the same feel that I did when I saw it live. I think its just the angle and all. But it was brilliantly done and so glad they won! You can watch their video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XWHL7PHQP0&feature=youtube_gdata if you haven't already. Other skits that impressed me were the Oh My Goddess, Utena, and Madoka skits. But my favorite of all the skits was by far Ling and Mimi's skit. And I'm not saying this just because I'm their friend and because I'm a fan of the manga they did. They just really blew me away and I'm so proud of them.
Their skit was from Ludwig II by Yuu Higuri, a rather unknown but beautiful short BL manga. Loved it so much that I'm going to embed it in this entry in hopes you all watch it XD
You can watch all the skits over on ACP's youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/user/acparadise/videos Just click on the ones that say "USA WCS Preliminaries" since they don't seem to have a playlist for it at the moment.
I'm not going to get too much into it here but let's just say, I was pretty shocked and pissed off when I did not hear Ling and Mimi's skit announced in the top 10 at the end. I seriously thought they had an honest shot at winning too. Turns out there was a limit on time you could have to set up and how much room on stage you took up. And sadly they took quite a while to get their elaborate display up so that took a lot of points off. :/ I really think if it wasn't for that, they would have at least gotten in the Top 10. >> *sighs* Regardless though, I think their skit is beautiful and I'm so happy that it went so well as I know they've wanted to do that skit for a long time.
After that, made it back up to the room, packed everything up so it'd be less difficult to do in the morning and pretty much passed out soon after that since it was pretty late at that point.
Sunday:
Did the usual Sun morning routine. Packed up the car. At first the elevators were pretty empty but as we made our trips back and forth, it started getting to the usual long waits. Pffft. Oh well. Almost timed it right. XD If it wasn't for my gigantic suitcase and my Luci wings, we probably could have made more stairs trips. ^^;;; Oh the woes of having large cosplay luggage. During one of our last trips to the car, saw a rather amusing sight in the parking garage. A couple had their car stop right in the middle of the garage. But this one guy was nice enough to come over with his car and jump start them...and he just happened to be dressed as Ash from Pokemon (or well it might have just been a generic Pokemon trainer, I don't remember lol but I'm going to say Ash 'cause that's more amusing!). So yeah, Ash was jump starting their car. XD Only at an anime con.
After that we made the usual Sunday rounds of the Dealer's Room and Artist Alley. I was thinking of getting the XIII-2 Lightning figure after all since I ended up not really spending any money this con. But of course they were all sold out at that point. Oh well. There are other cons. In fact...really didn't find anything I wanted at that point. But did manage to catch Ling at her dealer booth to talk to her for a little bit. And saw Sarah in the artist alley. Then started to say goodbye to people as they started to leave. Hung out in the lobby for a little bit and then went across the street to have our last Katsu lunch. We actually stayed til a decent hour but not much happened in that time other than roaming the dealer's and saying goodbyes to people. XD But I guess that's the typical Sunday unless you're cosplaying and I did consider it originally but all my comfy costumes would have resulted in me freezing my ass off when going to the car...so...yeah. XD; After eating, we made the trip back to my place and then Ren left and that was my Katsucon.
...and you don't want to know how many days it took me to write that. lol XD Granted I only wrote a tiny bit here and there every day.
But anywho, the rest of my photos are up here: http://lyn.houjun.com/katsu12.html
~Lyn