SabotenCon 09 picspam/write-up
Finally got around to uploading + gathering pics, so here's the obligatory post-convention post!
Pretty long. Shorter version to appear on dA. I have a lot to say about this weekend. =D
FRIDAY
Okay. So, the con started noon-ish, but of course I was given a 1-5 class on Fridays. So as soon as my class gets out I zip on over to Mesa and pick up Subway for dinner. Nikelle calls me and tells me that our group, the bunch of friends I was gonna hang with, wasn't cosplaying on Friday. So, I don't don Canada. I leave my house around 6:30, 7 pm. I call up Yagami, who got the same message, and we meet up at the Hilton Phoenix/East Mesa hotel where the con was (her parents had to come find me, I got lost upon entering the hotel. |D And the parking lot alone is GIGANTIC) to find that our friends changed their mind last minute and we're the only two not in cosplay. WHAT. Well, except for Sam, who looked kind of out of it that night and left soon after Yagami and I went to the vendor's hall. He was supposed to be England that weekend (the same guy from PCC, for those of you who remember) but he never showed up Saturday or Sunday so I'm not sure what was wrong. :( I missed his snark.
Nikelle was Taiwan--which I totally called. She wouldn't tell me previously who she was cosplaying but at the time I thought Yagami was being Hungary so I figured Nikelle, being small and rather petite, could pull off Taiwan really well. That or Seychelles, but I don't think she knows who Seychelles is. XD She was the most adorable Taiwan! And Bariah was a stellar Austria, even though we failed at making her haircurl. Taiwan was scared of my Canada and got all buddy-buddy with MY bff Austria. (She stood in for Hungary, who was not there) What is this madness.
-Met up with Yuki and Eshiza, who were America and North Italy respectively. It was nice to see them again, haven't seen them in person since PCC. Was kind of awkward at first though, I don't think we knew what to say to each other.
Anyway, Yagami and I blew what little money we had at the vendor's. I got myself a Demyx plushie, which I do not regret because Demyx = awesome. Also picked up a Sephiroth keychain for roomie Yoli and a Sora keychain for roomie Bree. Aaand got myself this obscure manwha for $4. The Artist Alley wasn't that impressive this year--there were two or three artists whose work I kept drooling over, and the jewelry/clothing tables far outshined the artists. One artist's work looked like a direct tracing of Himaruya's original Hetalia designs, so I refused to go there.
-Looked for Ravyn's table so I could finally meet her but every time I passed it it was someone else! Phooey. :( Yagami and I waited for the longest time just so we could go to the Johnny's Entertainment panel. We were so bored, and the vendors/artist alley was closed around 9:30 so we just wandered around and chatted. Luckily the Johnny's panel was totally worth it. I love finding new groups to listen to. There was this EPIC gem of a music video, Rescue by KAT-TUN.
The dude with the hat and scarf looks like my roommate Yoli, and she's Hispanic. LOLWHUT.
My camera was PMSing so no pictures for that day.
-After the panel I went home to sleep. Cons make me tired so much easier than anything else. XD
SATURDAY
Okay, this day actually has pictures. Just not until afternoon when I acquired batteries from Yagami. |D
I donned Casual!Canada today, which looks about the same as PCC's version but I have a wig (complete with haircurl!) and a Canadian flag patch on the chest. Got to hotel around 9:30 and stood in line for Masquerade + Voice Actor tickets with Bariah, Nikelle, and Yagami for a little bit (then she had to go back to Scottsdale to pick up the rest of her costume).
The moment I entered the hotel I was bombarded with people calling out "CANADA!" from all different directions. And I can't count how many times people asked for hugs (which I couldn't help but oblige). Twas amazing.
The roomies showed up finally around 10:30, by which all Voice Actor tickets had run out. A classmate came with them...long story short she kind of invited herself along once she heard Vic Mignogna was going to be at Sabo. I was anxious because one of the major reasons they came was to see Vic, and they didn't get tickets because Yoli had to drive Jelise (classmate) all the way back to Phoenix and halfway to Surprise to pick up Jelise's wallet that she had forgotten.
-Went to In-n-Out with Nikelle, Bariah, Yoli, Bree, Jelise, Yuki, and Eshiza.
-Attended J-drama panel with Yoli and Bree because we all love watching Asian doramas. :) We were shown some we'd never heard of so now we've got something new to watch. XD
-Went to Vic's panel or so we thought. turned out to be one with David Boum and Jolene Houser of Dusk on "How to do Horror". So the roomies and I sat in on that, which gave us early bird seats for Vic's panel which followed directly after. XD Turns out it was a Q&A so you didn't need tickets for it.
Now, I know Vic's got something of a reputation. But I saw nothing incriminating. He talked about his faith at the beginning and shared a little tidbit about how he was essentially kicked off his church's worship team for being associated with voice-acting anime. He was up-front and honest, and most of all sincere about being a Christian--and as a Christian myself, I thought he was doing it right. I think it's more important to be real than anything else when it comes to sharing faith, and he did a great job of bringing the message home, as well as anyone can at an anime convention. So, I respect him for that.
We all got to watch a movie he made called Fullmetal Fantasy, which there is no link for because he is only allowed to show it at conventions. It was very cool.
Plus...he announced that Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is being dubbed, which is just awesome in itself.
-Found Yagami after the panel while the roomies went back to Chandler to help with Yoli's mom's Halloween party. Yagami was Princess Peach!
She's so pretty.
-Met up with Bariah, Nikelle, Tim (who was Japan) and Nikelle's bro so we all went outside to stand in line for the Masq. Where I saw this awesome Yuri Lowell (Tales of Vesperia) cosplayer running around, but he was on the phone. Luckily one of the Spains took a picture!
Saboten 29 by ~HentaiRiderThePyscho on deviantART
AWW YEEAHHH.
-Bariah and I were bored, and she was woozy and tired of wearing heeled boots all day, so we started taking crack photos with Austria, Canada, and Peach.
Japan guzzles his Ramune, doncha know.
Austria tries to gain comfort from Canada...
...but he finds more in the arms of Princess Peach.
LOL
Canada is not amused.
-Masquerade was awesome. So many Code Geass cosplays...I'm taking that as a sign that I need to actually continue watching that series. D;
-Mutual friend Spence and her group, KuroCENSOREDsuji, won Best in Show for their skit. Hope I'm allowed to share the YT video...
-After Masq I drove home and went to bed, again.
SUNDAY
TODAY WAS THE MOST EPICALLY AWESOME PART OF THE ENTIRE CON.
The Hetalia gathering was at 12:30, but until then I chilled with my roomies. Bree was the child of Naruto and Hinata (we said) and Yoli was "Madara's Wife/Sister/Relative". This little story earned them many photo oppurtunities.
-There was a pre-gathering gathering in the hotel lobby, where I gave my commission to Nikki who was Belarus. And we totally became BFFs right then and there. BROLARUS <3
Tacomerica and Poland (who turned out to be the_laurasaur!)
Now onto the Gathering!
It was ridiculously hot outside. At least, we all thought so. My sweater was made for insulation plus everyone was wearing uniforms so we just about melted. Luckily, Shadowgarnet and Eshiza saved the day with Eegee's Shaved Ice. It was HEAVENLY.
So many APH cosplayers! At PCC there were maybe five, including myself. It was awesome seeing such a large group.
There was another Canada cosplayer but apparently she ran off. However, I was still looking for her while pictures were being taken so I appear sort of confused/out of it. Maybe it worked in my favor...
A WILD YOSHI APPEARS!
Venusgal100 was the most pimpin' France.
I don't have that many photos from the gathering itself, but rest assured there are a LOT. I've pulled some of my favorite from deviantART:
Saboten 2009 - America UK by ~AAhrens on deviantART
Saboten 2009 - France UK by ~AAhrens on deviantART
Saboten 2009 - FFFFFFFFth by ~AAhrens on deviantART
Saboten 2009 - Bad Touch Trio by ~AAhrens on deviantART
Hetalia Gathering 8 by ~HentaiRiderThePyscho on deviantART
YOU GOT A MUSTACHE by ~The-Laurasaur on deviantART
Hetalia Gathering 18 by ~HentaiRiderThePyscho on deviantART
The Axis by ~The-Laurasaur on deviantART
SISTERRRR by ~The-Laurasaur on deviantART
Saboten 2009 - Azns by ~AAhrens on deviantART
One of the Americas and I.
-After the Gathering, Brolarus, Romano, England, Poland, America, Sweden, and I went to In-N-Out. Romano gave me mint chocolate. <3
America was all by herself at the bar stools. ;(
-We drew a lot. Brolarus and I made up all these crack pairings based on who was hanging out with who that day.
This is one of many.
This was probably the most enjoyable con experience I've had thusfar--can't wait until the ComiCon in May! 8D
EDIT: OH OH Spence put up the video of her as Austria singing "The Sound of Music" XD
http://s585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/VanillEdge/Saboten%2009/?action=view¤t=PB010142.flv
Pretty long. Shorter version to appear on dA. I have a lot to say about this weekend. =D
FRIDAY
Okay. So, the con started noon-ish, but of course I was given a 1-5 class on Fridays. So as soon as my class gets out I zip on over to Mesa and pick up Subway for dinner. Nikelle calls me and tells me that our group, the bunch of friends I was gonna hang with, wasn't cosplaying on Friday. So, I don't don Canada. I leave my house around 6:30, 7 pm. I call up Yagami, who got the same message, and we meet up at the Hilton Phoenix/East Mesa hotel where the con was (her parents had to come find me, I got lost upon entering the hotel. |D And the parking lot alone is GIGANTIC) to find that our friends changed their mind last minute and we're the only two not in cosplay. WHAT. Well, except for Sam, who looked kind of out of it that night and left soon after Yagami and I went to the vendor's hall. He was supposed to be England that weekend (the same guy from PCC, for those of you who remember) but he never showed up Saturday or Sunday so I'm not sure what was wrong. :( I missed his snark.
Nikelle was Taiwan--which I totally called. She wouldn't tell me previously who she was cosplaying but at the time I thought Yagami was being Hungary so I figured Nikelle, being small and rather petite, could pull off Taiwan really well. That or Seychelles, but I don't think she knows who Seychelles is. XD She was the most adorable Taiwan! And Bariah was a stellar Austria, even though we failed at making her haircurl. Taiwan was scared of my Canada and got all buddy-buddy with MY bff Austria. (She stood in for Hungary, who was not there) What is this madness.
-Met up with Yuki and Eshiza, who were America and North Italy respectively. It was nice to see them again, haven't seen them in person since PCC. Was kind of awkward at first though, I don't think we knew what to say to each other.
Anyway, Yagami and I blew what little money we had at the vendor's. I got myself a Demyx plushie, which I do not regret because Demyx = awesome. Also picked up a Sephiroth keychain for roomie Yoli and a Sora keychain for roomie Bree. Aaand got myself this obscure manwha for $4. The Artist Alley wasn't that impressive this year--there were two or three artists whose work I kept drooling over, and the jewelry/clothing tables far outshined the artists. One artist's work looked like a direct tracing of Himaruya's original Hetalia designs, so I refused to go there.
-Looked for Ravyn's table so I could finally meet her but every time I passed it it was someone else! Phooey. :( Yagami and I waited for the longest time just so we could go to the Johnny's Entertainment panel. We were so bored, and the vendors/artist alley was closed around 9:30 so we just wandered around and chatted. Luckily the Johnny's panel was totally worth it. I love finding new groups to listen to. There was this EPIC gem of a music video, Rescue by KAT-TUN.
Click to viewThe dude with the hat and scarf looks like my roommate Yoli, and she's Hispanic. LOLWHUT.
My camera was PMSing so no pictures for that day.
-After the panel I went home to sleep. Cons make me tired so much easier than anything else. XD
SATURDAY
Okay, this day actually has pictures. Just not until afternoon when I acquired batteries from Yagami. |D
I donned Casual!Canada today, which looks about the same as PCC's version but I have a wig (complete with haircurl!) and a Canadian flag patch on the chest. Got to hotel around 9:30 and stood in line for Masquerade + Voice Actor tickets with Bariah, Nikelle, and Yagami for a little bit (then she had to go back to Scottsdale to pick up the rest of her costume).
The moment I entered the hotel I was bombarded with people calling out "CANADA!" from all different directions. And I can't count how many times people asked for hugs (which I couldn't help but oblige). Twas amazing.
The roomies showed up finally around 10:30, by which all Voice Actor tickets had run out. A classmate came with them...long story short she kind of invited herself along once she heard Vic Mignogna was going to be at Sabo. I was anxious because one of the major reasons they came was to see Vic, and they didn't get tickets because Yoli had to drive Jelise (classmate) all the way back to Phoenix and halfway to Surprise to pick up Jelise's wallet that she had forgotten.
-Went to In-n-Out with Nikelle, Bariah, Yoli, Bree, Jelise, Yuki, and Eshiza.
-Attended J-drama panel with Yoli and Bree because we all love watching Asian doramas. :) We were shown some we'd never heard of so now we've got something new to watch. XD
-Went to Vic's panel or so we thought. turned out to be one with David Boum and Jolene Houser of Dusk on "How to do Horror". So the roomies and I sat in on that, which gave us early bird seats for Vic's panel which followed directly after. XD Turns out it was a Q&A so you didn't need tickets for it.
Now, I know Vic's got something of a reputation. But I saw nothing incriminating. He talked about his faith at the beginning and shared a little tidbit about how he was essentially kicked off his church's worship team for being associated with voice-acting anime. He was up-front and honest, and most of all sincere about being a Christian--and as a Christian myself, I thought he was doing it right. I think it's more important to be real than anything else when it comes to sharing faith, and he did a great job of bringing the message home, as well as anyone can at an anime convention. So, I respect him for that.
We all got to watch a movie he made called Fullmetal Fantasy, which there is no link for because he is only allowed to show it at conventions. It was very cool.
Plus...he announced that Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is being dubbed, which is just awesome in itself.
-Found Yagami after the panel while the roomies went back to Chandler to help with Yoli's mom's Halloween party. Yagami was Princess Peach!
She's so pretty.
-Met up with Bariah, Nikelle, Tim (who was Japan) and Nikelle's bro so we all went outside to stand in line for the Masq. Where I saw this awesome Yuri Lowell (Tales of Vesperia) cosplayer running around, but he was on the phone. Luckily one of the Spains took a picture!
Saboten 29 by ~HentaiRiderThePyscho on deviantART
AWW YEEAHHH.
-Bariah and I were bored, and she was woozy and tired of wearing heeled boots all day, so we started taking crack photos with Austria, Canada, and Peach.
Japan guzzles his Ramune, doncha know.
Austria tries to gain comfort from Canada...
...but he finds more in the arms of Princess Peach.
LOL
Canada is not amused.
-Masquerade was awesome. So many Code Geass cosplays...I'm taking that as a sign that I need to actually continue watching that series. D;
-Mutual friend Spence and her group, KuroCENSOREDsuji, won Best in Show for their skit. Hope I'm allowed to share the YT video...
-After Masq I drove home and went to bed, again.
SUNDAY
TODAY WAS THE MOST EPICALLY AWESOME PART OF THE ENTIRE CON.
The Hetalia gathering was at 12:30, but until then I chilled with my roomies. Bree was the child of Naruto and Hinata (we said) and Yoli was "Madara's Wife/Sister/Relative". This little story earned them many photo oppurtunities.
-There was a pre-gathering gathering in the hotel lobby, where I gave my commission to Nikki who was Belarus. And we totally became BFFs right then and there. BROLARUS <3
Tacomerica and Poland (who turned out to be the_laurasaur!)
Now onto the Gathering!
It was ridiculously hot outside. At least, we all thought so. My sweater was made for insulation plus everyone was wearing uniforms so we just about melted. Luckily, Shadowgarnet and Eshiza saved the day with Eegee's Shaved Ice. It was HEAVENLY.
So many APH cosplayers! At PCC there were maybe five, including myself. It was awesome seeing such a large group.
There was another Canada cosplayer but apparently she ran off. However, I was still looking for her while pictures were being taken so I appear sort of confused/out of it. Maybe it worked in my favor...
A WILD YOSHI APPEARS!
Venusgal100 was the most pimpin' France.
I don't have that many photos from the gathering itself, but rest assured there are a LOT. I've pulled some of my favorite from deviantART:
Saboten 2009 - America UK by ~AAhrens on deviantART
Saboten 2009 - France UK by ~AAhrens on deviantART
Saboten 2009 - FFFFFFFFth by ~AAhrens on deviantART
Saboten 2009 - Bad Touch Trio by ~AAhrens on deviantART
Hetalia Gathering 8 by ~HentaiRiderThePyscho on deviantART
YOU GOT A MUSTACHE by ~The-Laurasaur on deviantART
Hetalia Gathering 18 by ~HentaiRiderThePyscho on deviantART
The Axis by ~The-Laurasaur on deviantART
SISTERRRR by ~The-Laurasaur on deviantART
Saboten 2009 - Azns by ~AAhrens on deviantART
One of the Americas and I.
-After the Gathering, Brolarus, Romano, England, Poland, America, Sweden, and I went to In-N-Out. Romano gave me mint chocolate. <3
America was all by herself at the bar stools. ;(
-We drew a lot. Brolarus and I made up all these crack pairings based on who was hanging out with who that day.
This is one of many.
This was probably the most enjoyable con experience I've had thusfar--can't wait until the ComiCon in May! 8D
EDIT: OH OH Spence put up the video of her as Austria singing "The Sound of Music" XD
http://s585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/VanillEdge/Saboten%2009/?action=view¤t=PB010142.flv