Otakon 2015 Con Report
Soooo I totally failed to get this up before THIS year's Otakon. lol So this is seriously an entire year late. Oops. XD It was also weird writing the end of this after having just come back from the con this year. Haha!
Thurs:
Arrived at the con early afternoon ish, which was nice as I haven't been to the con that early in a long time. I actually finished everything for the most part so for once was not mad rushing to finish things before I left, which is usually what delays me. lol Well, more like I kinda gave up on trying to complete Jude and decided to just settle with the "Jacketless" version of him so that way I could still wear what I had finished so far and it'd work. Thank god for Tales alt costumes!
This year was also a little bit different because Dar and Ethan had to cancel going to Ota due to buying a house and thus pretty much the whole usual gang I room with, ended up not going or split up so I didn't have that room to rely on. Luckily Rose needed roommates for her room so I joined their group and happy I did. While much further away from the con than I'm used to (been spoiled being at the Days Inn for like 8 years or so straight lol), the hotel ended up being super nice! And I got used to the walk so it wasn't too bad. It was a suite with like 3 rooms and a kitchen so plenty of space for all the folks we had and I haven't been with that many people in a long time so it was fun and everyone in Rose's group was super sweet. The room was similar to the one at Katsu but bigger.
We also ended up with Linwood in the room since he needed a room too. Had seen him briefly at Katsu but this was the first time getting to actually hang with him in many years. He also was excited as this was his first time ever cosplaying and he was going to be in our Saturday Sailor Moon group. So after getting back up to date with him and life, decided to head out with him for a bit as he seemed to be the only one in the room interested in walking around and I wanted to be out since I didn't have to stay up all night sewing for once. XD So I got into Soushi and we first headed over to get Linwood's press badge, then met up with his friend Lauren, who was also part of the big Sailor Moon group, and was currently dressed as Belle. Then went to check out the Matsuri which is also something I hadn't done yet cause I usually miss it. It was kinda boring. lol But I didn't expect too much out of it at least and at least got the chance to show Linwood how the Inner Harbor had changed in recent years. We didn't stay long though and I was kinda glad for it because there were a lot of "norms" out around the event and I got tired of them making crude "I want me some tail" jokes. >_> ...'cause Soushi has nine tails so I guess they thought they were being clever. Har har. Wtf though? I rarely ever get catcalled and I get it when I'm dressed in that of all things? O_o
'Cause I mean...okay then?
We also ran into Ling while in the harbor area so said hi to her real quick. Then we went over to the sports pub cause Lauren wanted the free beer they were offering. Linwood and I weren't super hungry so we just agreed to split some loaded nachos just cause they looked good on the menu. lol Glad we split them cause even between us we couldn't finish them though I think Linwood got something else as well. Had a fun time chatting with them and then afterwards Lauren talked us into going with her to the DC Anime Club's party upstairs. They had games and stuff set up but we ended up just hanging outside on the balcony the whole time. XD It was nice not having to go in line to get my badge this year and we had fun watching the line that we did not have to get into. lol Eventually I started getting a little tired so decided to head back, that and I felt a little awkward since I didn't know much what to say to any of the folks that were hanging out there (most of them just came out for smoke breaks anyways). I noticed on my way out that the party was a lot fuller than it had been when we went out there. It was kinda dead when we had arrived.
Went back to the room and had a hot dog as that was the agreed dinner item they had decided to make as apparently its tradition for them to cook a meal on Thursday in the kitchen. They had made sure to save me one which was nice. ^.^ And meanwhile, one of our rommies, Sarah, who was also a newcomer to the group (Rose had found a few people on forums to fill in space since some of their usual folks dropped out), was still playing phone tag with the train folks. She had accidentally left her bag with all her stuff for the weekend (including most of her clothes and cosplay, etc) on the train and didn't realize it until the train had already taken off again. Which super sucked but luckily some of the girls had extra supplies for her to borrow and they did eventually locate her luggage and it was going to be brought to her by Saturday morning so she just had to improvise until then. But I did find out about the DC photo group from her so glad she was in our room.
I also met Amy, another Tales enthusiast and chatted with her for a bit and then listened to the voice actor D&D thing on her laptop, which I had not known about before and must admit I found quite entertaining. I was blown away when I made the connection that Matt Mercer is Lord Masasume, as in the cosplayer. Like how did I not know that? lol I always wondered where he went and had no idea he just turned into a voice actor. XD That is kinda cool in all honesty and while I'm not a fan of dubs, he is one of the better ones. The thing went on for quite a while but it was fun chatting and listening. Then we eventually went to bed.
Fri:
And just like the suite at Katsu, this hotel also included free breakfast! Yay! So I made sure to be awake each morning to partake. Though apparently Tara was disappointed that I kept waking up before her as she enjoys barrel-rolling over her roommates to wake them up. Ha! You'll ever catch me cause I'm almost always one of the first ones up at cons. Then got into Jude and Amy likewise also decided to wear her Xillia 2 Jude though she did have her jacket and all. We got only a few steps out of the hotel before I realized that despite the fact I tailored the pants and made Jude's belt, his belt didn't work well enough so they kept falling down on me and it was too obnoxious, so Amy was nice enough to lend me a real belt to use, which I slide underneath the costume one. Its probably in part because I had to make his buckle and so it doesn't really function. lol
We went to the Tales shoot (sadly was only one this year), which was, as always, a lot of fun. There was quite a few Judes there and oddly enough only one repeat. We had 2 Xillia Judes, Xillia 2 (Amy), Jacket-less (me), and Butler DLC. So together we made our own little "Jude Army" and tended to stand on the fountain ledge in the back for almost every photo 'cause apparently us Judes like to stick together? XD There was a good mix of series though I somehow failed to get any of the group shots and I'm too lazy to look for them for this.
But I did make sure to get a photo with the only Xillia 2 Milla that was there! :D
Also loved the Xillia butler/maid group! Featuring Stephanie, Niho, Tomoyo, and Celine. Though Jen had disappeared at this point so I didn't get their whole group. She was doing Milla.
Amy had to leave the shoot a little bit before it ended so she could get in line for an autograph session. In the mean time, I ran into Tara and Rose and decided to go wander with them for a while. I got a companion sticker for my badge for being with Rose which had great benefits of being able to skip to front of lines if I was with her. We ended up on the 4th top floor and I'm not sure why we went up there or if we were just wandering but since I like rarely go up there, I feel like there was a reason? lol Maybe it was just to find the benches up there to sit on. Anywho, we parked up there for a bit. Saw a rather amusing group of folks from some club get together and then do a Darkon-type battle with foam weapons. I was feeling a little hungry and Tara surprised me with food from her bag! XD She's smart enough to carry some around all con for times like that so I happily had some string cheese. lol Then once it got close to time for the AA/Dealer's to open, we headed in that direction and got placed at the front and got to go in before anyone else due to our special stickers, huzzah! We did the AA first and I checked every booth and only found one single piece of Owari no Seraph art, boo! But I did very much like the one Tales booth and bought some Richard/Asbel art, some buttons, and a Jude piece from them. One of the girls there had a Teepo hoodie on so when she saw me, she put the hood on and had Teepo eat my head like he does in the game. XD But I stupidly forgot to ask someone to take a photo.
Next we wandered into the Dealer's Room and sadly my blind box luck was not existent this con...yet I kept trying throughout the con and still with no results. lol I completely failed at the FF rubber stamp sets, though really I just wanted Cloud, who I, of course did not get. I don't even really like the stamps much but I might keep Lightning. Also tried a few Tales boxes with not much luck though I did get Flynn from one. I hadn't played Vesperia yet but figured I'd keep him, just in case (and sure enough I did end up getting to play Vesperia soon after the con). There was pretty much no Seraph merch in the Dealer's either, which was even more disappointing since I knew quite a bit was out by now but I guess none of the dealers there had managed to get any. So ended up with not much in tow from the con in the end, other than stuff to sell (most of which I'm STILL trying to sell, blah). I was VERY tempted by all the new fox plushies Anime Palace had come out with. Also kinda angry in a way since I had bought one of their original plushies years ago but now they had ones in different colors and ones with multiple tails. >_>; Annnd bigger sizes! But I said no since I was trying to be good. I did buy some stuff for other folks though and I wasn't sure if one friend had this one item or not so texted them but didn't get a response...until after I had left the Dealer's pffft so just made a note to go back in later.
Went back to the room to drop off the stuff, had some mac and cheese with some hot dog bits in it since hey why not, we had some leftover. XD Then got into Utena and met up with Becca and Susan who were eating at Noodles & Co. though of course it figures they would ask me to join them RIGHT after I ate. lol But I went anyways to chat since I rarely get to see them. On the way over there, I did hear someone in passing compliment my Utena which made me happy, especially since in the end I didn't wear her long. ^^;; Oops. Becca and Susan were going to go get in line for the AMVs and while I did consider joining them, realized I wouldn't have much time before the Tales panel if I did and I also wanted to get back into the Dealer's before it closed, so did so and got that gift for Utai...and I think I tried another blind box on my way. XD Then ended up back to the room to change again, back into Jude, for the Tales panel. Amy went with me and we were both surprised to see how long the line for the panel was when we got there. But we still managed to get in, even if we were pretty far back.
The panel itself was really good and makes me really regret not going to prior Tales panels! It was run by Buns on Buns Cosplay. They did a great outline of all the games with a nice little slideshow and I loved all the alternative names they gave each game. Like Xillia 2 being "River of Tears!" and of course Graces was "Friendship is Magic!" etc. They also had a few games and prizes and such. There were lots of Tales folks that showed up for it and afterwards we all kinda hung around the hallway.
While hanging around, Joshua (a friend of the panelists') took these nice shots of my Jude!
And the one back shot I have of the giant Teepo embroidery XD
Stephanie and Jen as Vera and Nova from Xillia 2
And obligatory "Jude Power" selfie XD
Hung around and chatted for at least an hour before everyone got tired and headed back to their own hotels. Got back to our room and had some ramen since I hadn't really eaten yet and just chilled in the room til it was time to sleep.
Sat:
Had brunch yet again and then took my time getting ready since I had to stay in the room for when Alyce and Brittany arrived since they were going to use our room to change for the Sailor Moon shoot. This shoot was part of the cosplay group they're both part of, "Outer Power, Inner Beauty" and they invited me to join since they decided to do a big Royal Court shoot and wanted all the Generals. Alyce suggested I do Kunzite and I agreed that would be the easiest one for me to pull off, mainly 'cause I could re-use my old Rai wig. lol I made the costume in only 2 days or so, so it wasn't my best but I only intended to use it for this shoot and nothing else really since this was for the manga version and I had no real desire to do manga Kunzite any other time (unless someone ever wants me to bring it out again, I might). But I'm glad I got to be part of such a big awesome group! Linwood was also in the group, doing Zoicite which was kinda ironic since he's so much taller than me. XD We agreed that we probably should have switched but we also didn't know we were both in the group until after he had already paid for his costume. Oh well, it still worked out though.
Once we were all ready, we headed over to the meeting spot and met up with David Ng, the photographer. A lot of the group was doing the Sailor Moon gathering at the con so we were mostly just waiting for them and gradually everyone arrived. It still amazes me that they actually managed to get the full group and everyone showed up! There were two last minute drop outs but it happened before the con and they managed to find fill-ins for both of them, Venus and Nephrite, who they found through cosplay.com. The Nephrite made his costume in the hotel room the night before so then I didn't feel as bad about my last minute-ness anymore. XD Granted he didn't even know he was doing the costume until about the week of the con. And I knew for months. >_>;; But overall the shoot was a lot of fun, even if we were all dying from the heat. But everyone was a trooper with that! Though poor Neo Queen Serenity was feeling ill and so they made sure to do all her shots first so she could leave early.
Solo pic of me as Kunzite, shortest Kunzite ever XD
And you can really tell when you see me with the other Generals. XD Doesn't help that Endymion was really freaking tall!
Photo I took of all the Princesses
This was a recreation of one of the manga illustrations...except as you can see, several folks (including me) aren't very visible in it. lol Its hard with that many people though. We actually had it better at first but poor Venus was having a hard time holding Moon's staff so I helped her hold up but I think that resulted in it being angled at my face. XD
And then we did this epic recreation of the coronation scene.
Joanna came to hang around and take shots too, mostly for her documentation for her article about the con. She made sure to get permission from David too and her shots were more about getting candid bits of behind the scenes. But I love this shot she got of Venus and I. 'Cause at the time, Venus was a little nervous and having a hard time with this shot so I started making silly faces and being like "smile~" and got a legit real smile out of her here which made the photo so much better! :D
After that we decided to go over to one of the Sports Bars to have lunch, still in costume. XD Though I took half of it off once in there cause I was hot from the wig and all. Then Brittany and Forest decided to head home while Alyce borrowed my badge so she could talk to the author of The Dreamer in artist alley for a bit and I took some time to veg in the hotel room. I tried to meet up with Chrissy and Katie to do some PH photos since they had asked me to bring Glen but due to miscommunication issues, I ended up finding them as they were leaving to go change. So we agreed on trying to meet up again after the Masquerade since Chrissy had to go meet with her son and then was going to be in the Masq. So then I just went back to the room, waited for Alyce and then I got back into Jude 'cause Alyce had also made jacket-less Leia. Then managed to get a badge from someone (I forget who) who didn't need it then so we were able to wander together in con and took some more time to go into the AA since Alyce was only able to talk to Laura during that time and not actually look. Went back to the Tales artist table and this time made sure to get a photo of Teepo hoodie eating me. XD
Terrible blurry photo but still glad to have gotten it! lol
I also really wish I had gotten the name or card of the artists at that table cause I lost my Richard pin from them and really want a new one now so hoping they'll be at this year's Otakon. T_T We got distracted wandering and then totally forgot we were supposed to meet up with Joanna in there but luckily turns out she hadn't left yet so we eventually managed to run into her and got some photos from her before she left for the day. We both felt pretty bad for accidentally abandoning her though. XD
But here's a photo of us together! We still need more shots though. Hopefully some day we can get together and actually do a mini shoot somewhere.
Then Alyce and I decided to get dinner and I excitedly took her to Bubba Gump since she hadn't been before and we're both big shrimp lovers. To my total shock and dismay, the service was horrible that night! I felt awful, after telling her how much this place rocked, to end up with a waiter who kept disappearing and like no staff around period. And it took them forever to get our food and even longer to get our check and Alyce really had to leave soon so it was not cool. So dude did not get the greatest tip and I don't feel all that guilty because it was super lousy service. I don't get it. But maybe they're just more active on Thursdays? 'Cause this was my first time eating there that wasn't the Thurs pre-reg night and first time without a big group. But that still doesn't make sense. Hope they're better next time! At least the food was still good.
Spent the rest of the night in the hotel room with the roomies. We played Cards Against Humanity but I was super tired so sucked pretty bad at it this time around. lol I even gave in after a few rounds and voted to just watch instead of play, as I gradually started to drift off. XD But it was fun! Tara, we all learned, is especially fun and extra mean when she's drunk. lol There was some semi awkward-ness and drama concerning a couple who had just arrived who was only staying for the night in the room but we managed to work it out even though we were a bit nervous there and kinda sucked since for the most part, usually have had pretty good luck with new strangers added to a room but this wasn't so much. >_> But Rose had had to go on the forums to find last minute folks due to not having their full usual room gang (thus one of the reasons I was added to their room and why I got Linwood, etc).
Sunday:
Had our last free breakfast and just took our time chatting and hanging around since they had the room through Monday morning so for once I didn't have to worry about packing up and dealing with my stuff, which was nice. Then I headed over to the con for a bit first before getting into costume 'cause I wanted to do the Dealer's one more time and I hadn't worn Cloud yet at all during the con so was determined to wear him. He's just...not the easiest to go into places like that with. With the sword and the gauntlet makes it hard to hold things. lol Tried the FF blind boxes again and got...Bartz. lol At least it was the one Amy really wanted so I figured I'd give it to her but she wasn't in the room when I got back, so I just left it by her stuff in hopes she'd realize it was for her. 'Cause I had a feeling I wouldn't run into her before she left for her flight.
Got into Cloud which I was a bit nervous about at first and so took me a while before I went to the con in it since I kept fidgeting with the wig. But there was only so much I could do with it really since its aged a bit. I had originally wanted to remake this costume before I ever wore it again but every year I put it off, not quite willing to take it on again. 'Cause Cloud's my baby and I want it to be perfect, ya know? But after having conversations earlier in the year where my friends were telling other folks about how much I've cosplayed him and how big a fan I am, it made me sad to realize how long it'd been since I'd last cosplayed him and I really missed it so I decided kind of last minute to bring him to the con. Just wasn't sure if I'd have the courage to actually wear him. But glad I did! It got pretty well received. Though there are a lot of things I want to improve on. Mainly my posing cause I've gotten stuck in the mindset of posing how a few of the photographers back in 2011 told me how to pose and it's not...really HIS pose though. Like they encouraged me to do the sword up over the shoulder bit but that's more the Zack pose from that one Crisis Core image. And even then, he doesn't do it much either. So meh. XD It also makes me look even smaller than I already am?
Kinda my point here. Its a great photo! But I look a little stubby because of the way I'm holding it. lol
Ran into Stephanie and Aysha who just happened to be doing a shoot with their Sailor Moon/FF crossover cosplays so they grabbed me into it. Sadly we haven't found any of these photos and I'm not even sure who took them as I thought it was a photographer they knew but neither of them seem to know her info or remember much about it. x_x;; Which is a shame cause we took some really fun shots and did a bit more posing than just that one pose I kept doing all day. XD Also saw Lionel, who after taking my photo, starting teasing me about "next year~" which had me all boggled cause I had a feeling it meant he was either making the Daytona bike or remaking Fenrir. (Turns out he remade Fenrir but it was only at the CA cons again *le sigh* So once again missed it but not that it mattered since there was no way i could get AC Cloud together in time for any of this year's cons.)
Was pretty much done with the con at that point so just went to join the roomies in the kareoke room. They had one of the big versions of the multi-tailed foxes I saw in the Dealer's with them and I was like "ahhh one of you guys bought one?! Ahh so jealous!" as I smush my face into it. And the group keeps talking about trying to get Lex over to join us and I'm all "aww yeah, I haven't seen Lex yet, I'd like to see her too" etc. Then Lex shows up and her and Rose hand the fox to me and are like "Here~!" XD Turns out they had bought it for me but since it was a joint present Rose wanted to wait til Lex was there to give it to me. So here I was playing with it and had idea lmao! So yeah I might have squeed a bit. XD lol It was so sweet! And I proceeded to carry him around even though I was still in Cloud. lmao Then we went and I, Lex, and a few others waited outside of the closing ceremonies room while some of the folks went in to catch the end of it so they could get the dates for next year. I mostly played with the fox. XD And then an Aerith cosplayer saw me doing that and laughed. lol
After that we headed out since the con was closing and I packed up everything and then got picked up to go home. Though I somehow managed to leave both Cloud's shirt and my new binder in the room. X_X Super fail! But Rose sent them home to me. I also forgot to give Amy her belt back but did manage to give that to Rose to give to her before I left. lol But this was a con of forgetting things.
~Lyn
Thurs:
Arrived at the con early afternoon ish, which was nice as I haven't been to the con that early in a long time. I actually finished everything for the most part so for once was not mad rushing to finish things before I left, which is usually what delays me. lol Well, more like I kinda gave up on trying to complete Jude and decided to just settle with the "Jacketless" version of him so that way I could still wear what I had finished so far and it'd work. Thank god for Tales alt costumes!
This year was also a little bit different because Dar and Ethan had to cancel going to Ota due to buying a house and thus pretty much the whole usual gang I room with, ended up not going or split up so I didn't have that room to rely on. Luckily Rose needed roommates for her room so I joined their group and happy I did. While much further away from the con than I'm used to (been spoiled being at the Days Inn for like 8 years or so straight lol), the hotel ended up being super nice! And I got used to the walk so it wasn't too bad. It was a suite with like 3 rooms and a kitchen so plenty of space for all the folks we had and I haven't been with that many people in a long time so it was fun and everyone in Rose's group was super sweet. The room was similar to the one at Katsu but bigger.
We also ended up with Linwood in the room since he needed a room too. Had seen him briefly at Katsu but this was the first time getting to actually hang with him in many years. He also was excited as this was his first time ever cosplaying and he was going to be in our Saturday Sailor Moon group. So after getting back up to date with him and life, decided to head out with him for a bit as he seemed to be the only one in the room interested in walking around and I wanted to be out since I didn't have to stay up all night sewing for once. XD So I got into Soushi and we first headed over to get Linwood's press badge, then met up with his friend Lauren, who was also part of the big Sailor Moon group, and was currently dressed as Belle. Then went to check out the Matsuri which is also something I hadn't done yet cause I usually miss it. It was kinda boring. lol But I didn't expect too much out of it at least and at least got the chance to show Linwood how the Inner Harbor had changed in recent years. We didn't stay long though and I was kinda glad for it because there were a lot of "norms" out around the event and I got tired of them making crude "I want me some tail" jokes. >_> ...'cause Soushi has nine tails so I guess they thought they were being clever. Har har. Wtf though? I rarely ever get catcalled and I get it when I'm dressed in that of all things? O_o
'Cause I mean...okay then?
We also ran into Ling while in the harbor area so said hi to her real quick. Then we went over to the sports pub cause Lauren wanted the free beer they were offering. Linwood and I weren't super hungry so we just agreed to split some loaded nachos just cause they looked good on the menu. lol Glad we split them cause even between us we couldn't finish them though I think Linwood got something else as well. Had a fun time chatting with them and then afterwards Lauren talked us into going with her to the DC Anime Club's party upstairs. They had games and stuff set up but we ended up just hanging outside on the balcony the whole time. XD It was nice not having to go in line to get my badge this year and we had fun watching the line that we did not have to get into. lol Eventually I started getting a little tired so decided to head back, that and I felt a little awkward since I didn't know much what to say to any of the folks that were hanging out there (most of them just came out for smoke breaks anyways). I noticed on my way out that the party was a lot fuller than it had been when we went out there. It was kinda dead when we had arrived.
Went back to the room and had a hot dog as that was the agreed dinner item they had decided to make as apparently its tradition for them to cook a meal on Thursday in the kitchen. They had made sure to save me one which was nice. ^.^ And meanwhile, one of our rommies, Sarah, who was also a newcomer to the group (Rose had found a few people on forums to fill in space since some of their usual folks dropped out), was still playing phone tag with the train folks. She had accidentally left her bag with all her stuff for the weekend (including most of her clothes and cosplay, etc) on the train and didn't realize it until the train had already taken off again. Which super sucked but luckily some of the girls had extra supplies for her to borrow and they did eventually locate her luggage and it was going to be brought to her by Saturday morning so she just had to improvise until then. But I did find out about the DC photo group from her so glad she was in our room.
I also met Amy, another Tales enthusiast and chatted with her for a bit and then listened to the voice actor D&D thing on her laptop, which I had not known about before and must admit I found quite entertaining. I was blown away when I made the connection that Matt Mercer is Lord Masasume, as in the cosplayer. Like how did I not know that? lol I always wondered where he went and had no idea he just turned into a voice actor. XD That is kinda cool in all honesty and while I'm not a fan of dubs, he is one of the better ones. The thing went on for quite a while but it was fun chatting and listening. Then we eventually went to bed.
Fri:
And just like the suite at Katsu, this hotel also included free breakfast! Yay! So I made sure to be awake each morning to partake. Though apparently Tara was disappointed that I kept waking up before her as she enjoys barrel-rolling over her roommates to wake them up. Ha! You'll ever catch me cause I'm almost always one of the first ones up at cons. Then got into Jude and Amy likewise also decided to wear her Xillia 2 Jude though she did have her jacket and all. We got only a few steps out of the hotel before I realized that despite the fact I tailored the pants and made Jude's belt, his belt didn't work well enough so they kept falling down on me and it was too obnoxious, so Amy was nice enough to lend me a real belt to use, which I slide underneath the costume one. Its probably in part because I had to make his buckle and so it doesn't really function. lol
We went to the Tales shoot (sadly was only one this year), which was, as always, a lot of fun. There was quite a few Judes there and oddly enough only one repeat. We had 2 Xillia Judes, Xillia 2 (Amy), Jacket-less (me), and Butler DLC. So together we made our own little "Jude Army" and tended to stand on the fountain ledge in the back for almost every photo 'cause apparently us Judes like to stick together? XD There was a good mix of series though I somehow failed to get any of the group shots and I'm too lazy to look for them for this.
But I did make sure to get a photo with the only Xillia 2 Milla that was there! :D
Also loved the Xillia butler/maid group! Featuring Stephanie, Niho, Tomoyo, and Celine. Though Jen had disappeared at this point so I didn't get their whole group. She was doing Milla.
Amy had to leave the shoot a little bit before it ended so she could get in line for an autograph session. In the mean time, I ran into Tara and Rose and decided to go wander with them for a while. I got a companion sticker for my badge for being with Rose which had great benefits of being able to skip to front of lines if I was with her. We ended up on the 4th top floor and I'm not sure why we went up there or if we were just wandering but since I like rarely go up there, I feel like there was a reason? lol Maybe it was just to find the benches up there to sit on. Anywho, we parked up there for a bit. Saw a rather amusing group of folks from some club get together and then do a Darkon-type battle with foam weapons. I was feeling a little hungry and Tara surprised me with food from her bag! XD She's smart enough to carry some around all con for times like that so I happily had some string cheese. lol Then once it got close to time for the AA/Dealer's to open, we headed in that direction and got placed at the front and got to go in before anyone else due to our special stickers, huzzah! We did the AA first and I checked every booth and only found one single piece of Owari no Seraph art, boo! But I did very much like the one Tales booth and bought some Richard/Asbel art, some buttons, and a Jude piece from them. One of the girls there had a Teepo hoodie on so when she saw me, she put the hood on and had Teepo eat my head like he does in the game. XD But I stupidly forgot to ask someone to take a photo.
Next we wandered into the Dealer's Room and sadly my blind box luck was not existent this con...yet I kept trying throughout the con and still with no results. lol I completely failed at the FF rubber stamp sets, though really I just wanted Cloud, who I, of course did not get. I don't even really like the stamps much but I might keep Lightning. Also tried a few Tales boxes with not much luck though I did get Flynn from one. I hadn't played Vesperia yet but figured I'd keep him, just in case (and sure enough I did end up getting to play Vesperia soon after the con). There was pretty much no Seraph merch in the Dealer's either, which was even more disappointing since I knew quite a bit was out by now but I guess none of the dealers there had managed to get any. So ended up with not much in tow from the con in the end, other than stuff to sell (most of which I'm STILL trying to sell, blah). I was VERY tempted by all the new fox plushies Anime Palace had come out with. Also kinda angry in a way since I had bought one of their original plushies years ago but now they had ones in different colors and ones with multiple tails. >_>; Annnd bigger sizes! But I said no since I was trying to be good. I did buy some stuff for other folks though and I wasn't sure if one friend had this one item or not so texted them but didn't get a response...until after I had left the Dealer's pffft so just made a note to go back in later.
Went back to the room to drop off the stuff, had some mac and cheese with some hot dog bits in it since hey why not, we had some leftover. XD Then got into Utena and met up with Becca and Susan who were eating at Noodles & Co. though of course it figures they would ask me to join them RIGHT after I ate. lol But I went anyways to chat since I rarely get to see them. On the way over there, I did hear someone in passing compliment my Utena which made me happy, especially since in the end I didn't wear her long. ^^;; Oops. Becca and Susan were going to go get in line for the AMVs and while I did consider joining them, realized I wouldn't have much time before the Tales panel if I did and I also wanted to get back into the Dealer's before it closed, so did so and got that gift for Utai...and I think I tried another blind box on my way. XD Then ended up back to the room to change again, back into Jude, for the Tales panel. Amy went with me and we were both surprised to see how long the line for the panel was when we got there. But we still managed to get in, even if we were pretty far back.
The panel itself was really good and makes me really regret not going to prior Tales panels! It was run by Buns on Buns Cosplay. They did a great outline of all the games with a nice little slideshow and I loved all the alternative names they gave each game. Like Xillia 2 being "River of Tears!" and of course Graces was "Friendship is Magic!" etc. They also had a few games and prizes and such. There were lots of Tales folks that showed up for it and afterwards we all kinda hung around the hallway.
While hanging around, Joshua (a friend of the panelists') took these nice shots of my Jude!
And the one back shot I have of the giant Teepo embroidery XD
Stephanie and Jen as Vera and Nova from Xillia 2
And obligatory "Jude Power" selfie XD
Hung around and chatted for at least an hour before everyone got tired and headed back to their own hotels. Got back to our room and had some ramen since I hadn't really eaten yet and just chilled in the room til it was time to sleep.
Sat:
Had brunch yet again and then took my time getting ready since I had to stay in the room for when Alyce and Brittany arrived since they were going to use our room to change for the Sailor Moon shoot. This shoot was part of the cosplay group they're both part of, "Outer Power, Inner Beauty" and they invited me to join since they decided to do a big Royal Court shoot and wanted all the Generals. Alyce suggested I do Kunzite and I agreed that would be the easiest one for me to pull off, mainly 'cause I could re-use my old Rai wig. lol I made the costume in only 2 days or so, so it wasn't my best but I only intended to use it for this shoot and nothing else really since this was for the manga version and I had no real desire to do manga Kunzite any other time (unless someone ever wants me to bring it out again, I might). But I'm glad I got to be part of such a big awesome group! Linwood was also in the group, doing Zoicite which was kinda ironic since he's so much taller than me. XD We agreed that we probably should have switched but we also didn't know we were both in the group until after he had already paid for his costume. Oh well, it still worked out though.
Once we were all ready, we headed over to the meeting spot and met up with David Ng, the photographer. A lot of the group was doing the Sailor Moon gathering at the con so we were mostly just waiting for them and gradually everyone arrived. It still amazes me that they actually managed to get the full group and everyone showed up! There were two last minute drop outs but it happened before the con and they managed to find fill-ins for both of them, Venus and Nephrite, who they found through cosplay.com. The Nephrite made his costume in the hotel room the night before so then I didn't feel as bad about my last minute-ness anymore. XD Granted he didn't even know he was doing the costume until about the week of the con. And I knew for months. >_>;; But overall the shoot was a lot of fun, even if we were all dying from the heat. But everyone was a trooper with that! Though poor Neo Queen Serenity was feeling ill and so they made sure to do all her shots first so she could leave early.
Solo pic of me as Kunzite, shortest Kunzite ever XD
And you can really tell when you see me with the other Generals. XD Doesn't help that Endymion was really freaking tall!
Photo I took of all the Princesses
This was a recreation of one of the manga illustrations...except as you can see, several folks (including me) aren't very visible in it. lol Its hard with that many people though. We actually had it better at first but poor Venus was having a hard time holding Moon's staff so I helped her hold up but I think that resulted in it being angled at my face. XD
And then we did this epic recreation of the coronation scene.
Joanna came to hang around and take shots too, mostly for her documentation for her article about the con. She made sure to get permission from David too and her shots were more about getting candid bits of behind the scenes. But I love this shot she got of Venus and I. 'Cause at the time, Venus was a little nervous and having a hard time with this shot so I started making silly faces and being like "smile~" and got a legit real smile out of her here which made the photo so much better! :D
After that we decided to go over to one of the Sports Bars to have lunch, still in costume. XD Though I took half of it off once in there cause I was hot from the wig and all. Then Brittany and Forest decided to head home while Alyce borrowed my badge so she could talk to the author of The Dreamer in artist alley for a bit and I took some time to veg in the hotel room. I tried to meet up with Chrissy and Katie to do some PH photos since they had asked me to bring Glen but due to miscommunication issues, I ended up finding them as they were leaving to go change. So we agreed on trying to meet up again after the Masquerade since Chrissy had to go meet with her son and then was going to be in the Masq. So then I just went back to the room, waited for Alyce and then I got back into Jude 'cause Alyce had also made jacket-less Leia. Then managed to get a badge from someone (I forget who) who didn't need it then so we were able to wander together in con and took some more time to go into the AA since Alyce was only able to talk to Laura during that time and not actually look. Went back to the Tales artist table and this time made sure to get a photo of Teepo hoodie eating me. XD
Terrible blurry photo but still glad to have gotten it! lol
I also really wish I had gotten the name or card of the artists at that table cause I lost my Richard pin from them and really want a new one now so hoping they'll be at this year's Otakon. T_T We got distracted wandering and then totally forgot we were supposed to meet up with Joanna in there but luckily turns out she hadn't left yet so we eventually managed to run into her and got some photos from her before she left for the day. We both felt pretty bad for accidentally abandoning her though. XD
But here's a photo of us together! We still need more shots though. Hopefully some day we can get together and actually do a mini shoot somewhere.
Then Alyce and I decided to get dinner and I excitedly took her to Bubba Gump since she hadn't been before and we're both big shrimp lovers. To my total shock and dismay, the service was horrible that night! I felt awful, after telling her how much this place rocked, to end up with a waiter who kept disappearing and like no staff around period. And it took them forever to get our food and even longer to get our check and Alyce really had to leave soon so it was not cool. So dude did not get the greatest tip and I don't feel all that guilty because it was super lousy service. I don't get it. But maybe they're just more active on Thursdays? 'Cause this was my first time eating there that wasn't the Thurs pre-reg night and first time without a big group. But that still doesn't make sense. Hope they're better next time! At least the food was still good.
Spent the rest of the night in the hotel room with the roomies. We played Cards Against Humanity but I was super tired so sucked pretty bad at it this time around. lol I even gave in after a few rounds and voted to just watch instead of play, as I gradually started to drift off. XD But it was fun! Tara, we all learned, is especially fun and extra mean when she's drunk. lol There was some semi awkward-ness and drama concerning a couple who had just arrived who was only staying for the night in the room but we managed to work it out even though we were a bit nervous there and kinda sucked since for the most part, usually have had pretty good luck with new strangers added to a room but this wasn't so much. >_> But Rose had had to go on the forums to find last minute folks due to not having their full usual room gang (thus one of the reasons I was added to their room and why I got Linwood, etc).
Sunday:
Had our last free breakfast and just took our time chatting and hanging around since they had the room through Monday morning so for once I didn't have to worry about packing up and dealing with my stuff, which was nice. Then I headed over to the con for a bit first before getting into costume 'cause I wanted to do the Dealer's one more time and I hadn't worn Cloud yet at all during the con so was determined to wear him. He's just...not the easiest to go into places like that with. With the sword and the gauntlet makes it hard to hold things. lol Tried the FF blind boxes again and got...Bartz. lol At least it was the one Amy really wanted so I figured I'd give it to her but she wasn't in the room when I got back, so I just left it by her stuff in hopes she'd realize it was for her. 'Cause I had a feeling I wouldn't run into her before she left for her flight.
Got into Cloud which I was a bit nervous about at first and so took me a while before I went to the con in it since I kept fidgeting with the wig. But there was only so much I could do with it really since its aged a bit. I had originally wanted to remake this costume before I ever wore it again but every year I put it off, not quite willing to take it on again. 'Cause Cloud's my baby and I want it to be perfect, ya know? But after having conversations earlier in the year where my friends were telling other folks about how much I've cosplayed him and how big a fan I am, it made me sad to realize how long it'd been since I'd last cosplayed him and I really missed it so I decided kind of last minute to bring him to the con. Just wasn't sure if I'd have the courage to actually wear him. But glad I did! It got pretty well received. Though there are a lot of things I want to improve on. Mainly my posing cause I've gotten stuck in the mindset of posing how a few of the photographers back in 2011 told me how to pose and it's not...really HIS pose though. Like they encouraged me to do the sword up over the shoulder bit but that's more the Zack pose from that one Crisis Core image. And even then, he doesn't do it much either. So meh. XD It also makes me look even smaller than I already am?
Kinda my point here. Its a great photo! But I look a little stubby because of the way I'm holding it. lol
Ran into Stephanie and Aysha who just happened to be doing a shoot with their Sailor Moon/FF crossover cosplays so they grabbed me into it. Sadly we haven't found any of these photos and I'm not even sure who took them as I thought it was a photographer they knew but neither of them seem to know her info or remember much about it. x_x;; Which is a shame cause we took some really fun shots and did a bit more posing than just that one pose I kept doing all day. XD Also saw Lionel, who after taking my photo, starting teasing me about "next year~" which had me all boggled cause I had a feeling it meant he was either making the Daytona bike or remaking Fenrir. (Turns out he remade Fenrir but it was only at the CA cons again *le sigh* So once again missed it but not that it mattered since there was no way i could get AC Cloud together in time for any of this year's cons.)
Was pretty much done with the con at that point so just went to join the roomies in the kareoke room. They had one of the big versions of the multi-tailed foxes I saw in the Dealer's with them and I was like "ahhh one of you guys bought one?! Ahh so jealous!" as I smush my face into it. And the group keeps talking about trying to get Lex over to join us and I'm all "aww yeah, I haven't seen Lex yet, I'd like to see her too" etc. Then Lex shows up and her and Rose hand the fox to me and are like "Here~!" XD Turns out they had bought it for me but since it was a joint present Rose wanted to wait til Lex was there to give it to me. So here I was playing with it and had idea lmao! So yeah I might have squeed a bit. XD lol It was so sweet! And I proceeded to carry him around even though I was still in Cloud. lmao Then we went and I, Lex, and a few others waited outside of the closing ceremonies room while some of the folks went in to catch the end of it so they could get the dates for next year. I mostly played with the fox. XD And then an Aerith cosplayer saw me doing that and laughed. lol
After that we headed out since the con was closing and I packed up everything and then got picked up to go home. Though I somehow managed to leave both Cloud's shirt and my new binder in the room. X_X Super fail! But Rose sent them home to me. I also forgot to give Amy her belt back but did manage to give that to Rose to give to her before I left. lol But this was a con of forgetting things.
~Lyn