Con report~
Acen was one, long train wreck.
An enjoyable train wreck in the end, but a train wreck nonetheless.
I've ranted about before-con experiences with the staff enough, so let's get on to the actual con report.
God, I hope I remember everything. I've procrastinated about this thing like crazy.
Thursday
Thursday was trip to Rosemont day. The usual crew of us packed into two cars and we headed out mid morning-ish and stopped at Cuppy's Coffee for a round of drinks before the long trip. I got my usual, an iced Sugar Daddy. ^_~ Then we all packed back into the car and got going. The trip there was uneventful, and I pretty much slept through most of it. We stopped at one rest stop that I was conscious for and I bought overpriced Pepto Bismol and gum. xD;
Once we were checked into the hotel, after having to get our rooms swapped once because the first set they gave us wasn't clean yet, a few of us headed out to pick up my beloved partner-in-crime from the airport.
I was dressed as Tyki the whole trip there because, well. What can I say. I'm sexy in a suit. ^o^ Anyway, the airport took a while of playing phone tag with Loren because the airport was confusing, but I finally met her! And it was amazing. ^o^
After that, we went to Misuwa for the first time. Oh GOD I missed it there. I bought like $50 worth of snacks and had some delicious, delicious katsu-don in the food court. n_n Loren had some sort of curry and Tea had some sort of chicken platter thing. I don't remember what everyone else had, but I wasn't paying a great deal of attention. 8D;
Once we were done in Mitsuwa, we dropped off our groceries and ran off to the con center to pick up our panelist badges! Which was surprisingly quick and painless. But because of parking, we had to leave right after and I didn't get to meet the awesome troupe of DGM cosplayers I saw crossing the area in front of the main doors. D:
We picked up Usagi-chan, though~ She stayed in our room for Thursday night.
We went back to the hotel room, I did some last minute work on costumes, and Loren and I had hot sexy tiems and then we all went to bed.
Friday
Okay, Friday. There was no rest on Friday. In the morning, I got dressed, made some quick rice balls and packed them, and then headed out the door with the rest of the gang. Loren became my magical thing-holding person and she was epic at it. If she hadn't been there, well--
Let's just say this is the first freaking con since Otakon '04 where I haven't forgotten/lost/combination of both my badge.
I cosplayed Hitsugaya from Bleach on Friday, and I'm incredibly proud of the costume because I was terrified the wig wasn't going to turn out well since I've never styled a wig before and.
In my opinion, it turned out well. x3; psychicchaos made my sword for me and it turned out amazing, so thanks for making my weekend that much better, Oniichan! I love you~ :3
Anyway, that morning Usagi-chan saved everyone's life. She helped us iron our hakama with some life-saving on Brittany's part as well. She also got all my hair up into my wig perfectly. She should never have to pay for her room at a con. People should pay her for the honor of having her in their room.
We arrived at the con hotel in time to get our bearings, park, and then loiter around in the lobby for a while. Laci wasn't feeling well, so she sat out for a while and then went to sleep in the car. D: It was very sad. ; ~ ;
Loren and I went to Artist Alley and the dealer's room for a while to kill time, because we were at the con way earlier than our first event, which would be the Bleach photoshoot.
I met up with Tasha, one of my DA friends, then we wandered around and bought some D.Gray swag, and then we headed off to the photoshoot.
The shoot was pretty epic. :3 There were a lot of great cosplayers, and I met a really cute Hinamori who I posed with.
After the shoot was Acen Idol, whiiiich I bombed because A) I can't sing that well and B) I was so nervous that my hands were actually going completely numb. I've never experienced that before. o_o Hopefully I'll be a little more confident next year. I'm definitely going to start practicing my song now.
The judges kind of sucked in my opinion, though. :< They were nice and funny and stuff, they just weren't terribly good judges.
After Idol was Masquerade check-in, which we were not made informed of until, um. Yeah, that very same day. Acen staff has this freaking problem with communicating with attendees. Tea and Lyndsay had to run back to the hotel and pay for freaking parking again because we needed our audio. The guys running check-in were nice enough, though. And Jay was a huge help getting us to the Charity Ball.
As you might have guessed, after check-in we ran straight to the Embassy for the ball and stayed for something like an hour, then had to run off to set up for our two 18+ panels.
We got back to our hotel room pretty late, and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and die, so we did just that.
Saturday
We were all running a little bit late on Saturday due to sleep and barely getting enough of it. The first thing we did was run to the Bleach shoot, which we were a little bit late for. It was at this shoot that I met my favorite Momo of the con, who was sweet and adorable and had the most amazing smile. n_n I asked her if she'd photoshoot with me once the shoot proper was over and she said okay, which made my day.
Tea ran back to the hotel room while that was going on to grab my Tyki costume for me because she's a sweetheart like that, and if I didn't make it to the D.Gray photoshoot at three I would have cried. D:
Anyway, the shoot with Momo was everything I'd hoped it to be and more, and her friends were really awesome too. ^_^ Loren took the pictures, and man she got some good ones.
:3 Good times.
After that, Loren and I sat around waiting for Tea, then I got changed into Tyki and Loren did a phenomenal job on my Holy Mark so I was all. x3 Sexy and stuff. Because. The Holy Mark is fundamentally sexy. *_* I ran into a Deisha in the bathroom and I ran over to her and asked her if I might get to kill her later and she said yes. She was really the cutest thing ever.
That photoshoot was tons of fun. x3 My favorite part was when Komui protected all the Linalis from Bak.
And here's the family:
...god I look two feet tall. n_n; *is a painfully short Tyki. should stick to Hitsugaya*
Anyway, soon as the shoot was over (before it was fully over, actually) we had to run to practice our skit before Masquerade sound check time. The guys doing the documentary were really freaking nice and let us use their green room to run our skit since we couldn't hear our audio in the hallway. We ran it a few times, decided we were as ready as we were going to be, and then off we went to get seated for the Masquerade.
The Masquerade went well, though I don't agree with the awards system or the judges of the Masquerade at all. I really don't mind losing. I'm a good sport. Bekah and I didn't win at all when we did our skit, and I was okay with that because the people who did win were awesome.
We lost to some really awful skits. They weren't funny, barely anyone laughed, and I remembered sitting there watching the skits without having any idea what was going on. And then of the skits I did find entertaining, only one of them one. It was crappy to go through and ridiculous. I wouldn't participate again.
I don't know, is it just me? I think that three judges awards, best in show runners up, and then best in show is a really crappy way to break things up. And 90% of the skits DID contain boy-love references and of those skits, many of them were done poorly and weren't funny at all. However, there were some that definitely entertained me that I really enjoyed and none of them won. None of the skits that won contained any BL-related jokes at all, and I find that strange and I don't like it.
Anyway, it's over and done with. I won't get mad about it again. I'm just sad we probably won't be at Ohayocon next year because of the dates, and with Ohayocon at least their judging sheet made sense and they gave us terrific feedback on our skit. They told us what we did well, what we should work on, and all in all? Ohayocon's Masquerade experience was everything Acen's should have been.
After the Masquerade was over, I dashed off to run the DGM panel with Loren, which was a huge success. I've honestly never had a better crowd. They were fun, energetic, and they were full of so much passion and love for the series that it was a delight to get to run the panel for them. They completely made my weekend, and for that I'm immensely grateful. And of course the panel probably wouldn't have been nearly so good if not for all of Loren's hard work on it. *_* If I could have my way, I'd have Loren be on my arm for every con ever. I don't know what I'm going to do at Youmacon. I can't imagine running the panel without her. x_x
At any rate, I have to give my shoutouts to Bekki and Usagi-chan for being there for me when I really needed them. Thank you guys so, so much for being such good friends. I realized what a lucky person I am Saturday night because you guys were totally there for me. It made me feel really, really good. ^_^ So thanks a ton and then some.
Sunday
Sunday was much quieter than the days past. Loren and I crashed the dealer's room for last-minute swag. I bought a whole bunch of pencil boards and stickers and stuff, and then Loren left me alone for two seconds and when she came back, I'd bought Tea a Zabimaru. xD; I bought Lyndsay a Yachiru pencil board and Laci some baby Sasuke/ANBU Itachi cell phone cleaners too, 'cause they're my homegirls, yo.
And I ran into Friday's Momo again! I didn't recognize her out of costume and that made me feel like such a tard. She took my picture and we had hugs.
Then we met up and Lyndsay did the most TERRIFYING thing to me. o_o OMFG.
We did our own little private photoshoot, and after that we went our separate ways to get dinner and bid the con center farewell.
Dinner for me, Tea, and Loren was Mitsuwa again. *o* I had more katsu-don and some unagi-don and loaded up on like a thousand things of milk tea.
Then we went back to the hotel room and vegetated, which was very muchly needed.
And so our con came to a close. I can actually sum up Sunday in one picture:
.....apparently if you're Hitsugaya and happen to be breast-level, Matsumotos will just come up and shove you in there. She had a very nice rack, admittedly. Now if only I could do that and get air.
I have never been squished against so many random strangers' breasts in my life.
Monday
Monday was the day we went home~ With Loren! *shoves her into a bag and never lets her go* >.>;
We went to Mitsuwa one last time and I had some rice-omelet and delicious ramen finally, we got some last minute snacks, and then it was time to get into the car and go back to boring old MI.
I found the kind of candy I like that they don't sell at Tai Sun anymore so I went a little bit overboard maybe and bought like ten bags of it. >.>;
And yeah. That was the con for us. xD; Have another few pictures of a photoshoot we did in Tea's backyard after the fact.
"You there. Byakuya's pet monkey. Cut this watermelon for me. Hyourinmaru says he's too dignified for this sort of thing."
"Aaa~ Renji, are you going to go Bankai before you can win?"
"Mmm, watermelon."
Hitsugaya does not believe in sharing.
Hitsugaya senses something... (Observe the shadows.)
What could it be...?
Probably nothing...
What the--
OH DEAR GOD--
Mind that hand, Renji...
...before you lose it. >.>;
And that's all! :33333
An enjoyable train wreck in the end, but a train wreck nonetheless.
I've ranted about before-con experiences with the staff enough, so let's get on to the actual con report.
God, I hope I remember everything. I've procrastinated about this thing like crazy.
Thursday
Thursday was trip to Rosemont day. The usual crew of us packed into two cars and we headed out mid morning-ish and stopped at Cuppy's Coffee for a round of drinks before the long trip. I got my usual, an iced Sugar Daddy. ^_~ Then we all packed back into the car and got going. The trip there was uneventful, and I pretty much slept through most of it. We stopped at one rest stop that I was conscious for and I bought overpriced Pepto Bismol and gum. xD;
Once we were checked into the hotel, after having to get our rooms swapped once because the first set they gave us wasn't clean yet, a few of us headed out to pick up my beloved partner-in-crime from the airport.
I was dressed as Tyki the whole trip there because, well. What can I say. I'm sexy in a suit. ^o^ Anyway, the airport took a while of playing phone tag with Loren because the airport was confusing, but I finally met her! And it was amazing. ^o^
After that, we went to Misuwa for the first time. Oh GOD I missed it there. I bought like $50 worth of snacks and had some delicious, delicious katsu-don in the food court. n_n Loren had some sort of curry and Tea had some sort of chicken platter thing. I don't remember what everyone else had, but I wasn't paying a great deal of attention. 8D;
Once we were done in Mitsuwa, we dropped off our groceries and ran off to the con center to pick up our panelist badges! Which was surprisingly quick and painless. But because of parking, we had to leave right after and I didn't get to meet the awesome troupe of DGM cosplayers I saw crossing the area in front of the main doors. D:
We picked up Usagi-chan, though~ She stayed in our room for Thursday night.
We went back to the hotel room, I did some last minute work on costumes, and Loren and I had hot sexy tiems and then we all went to bed.
Friday
Okay, Friday. There was no rest on Friday. In the morning, I got dressed, made some quick rice balls and packed them, and then headed out the door with the rest of the gang. Loren became my magical thing-holding person and she was epic at it. If she hadn't been there, well--
Let's just say this is the first freaking con since Otakon '04 where I haven't forgotten/lost/combination of both my badge.
I cosplayed Hitsugaya from Bleach on Friday, and I'm incredibly proud of the costume because I was terrified the wig wasn't going to turn out well since I've never styled a wig before and.
In my opinion, it turned out well. x3; psychicchaos made my sword for me and it turned out amazing, so thanks for making my weekend that much better, Oniichan! I love you~ :3
Anyway, that morning Usagi-chan saved everyone's life. She helped us iron our hakama with some life-saving on Brittany's part as well. She also got all my hair up into my wig perfectly. She should never have to pay for her room at a con. People should pay her for the honor of having her in their room.
We arrived at the con hotel in time to get our bearings, park, and then loiter around in the lobby for a while. Laci wasn't feeling well, so she sat out for a while and then went to sleep in the car. D: It was very sad. ; ~ ;
Loren and I went to Artist Alley and the dealer's room for a while to kill time, because we were at the con way earlier than our first event, which would be the Bleach photoshoot.
I met up with Tasha, one of my DA friends, then we wandered around and bought some D.Gray swag, and then we headed off to the photoshoot.
The shoot was pretty epic. :3 There were a lot of great cosplayers, and I met a really cute Hinamori who I posed with.
After the shoot was Acen Idol, whiiiich I bombed because A) I can't sing that well and B) I was so nervous that my hands were actually going completely numb. I've never experienced that before. o_o Hopefully I'll be a little more confident next year. I'm definitely going to start practicing my song now.
The judges kind of sucked in my opinion, though. :< They were nice and funny and stuff, they just weren't terribly good judges.
After Idol was Masquerade check-in, which we were not made informed of until, um. Yeah, that very same day. Acen staff has this freaking problem with communicating with attendees. Tea and Lyndsay had to run back to the hotel and pay for freaking parking again because we needed our audio. The guys running check-in were nice enough, though. And Jay was a huge help getting us to the Charity Ball.
As you might have guessed, after check-in we ran straight to the Embassy for the ball and stayed for something like an hour, then had to run off to set up for our two 18+ panels.
We got back to our hotel room pretty late, and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and die, so we did just that.
Saturday
We were all running a little bit late on Saturday due to sleep and barely getting enough of it. The first thing we did was run to the Bleach shoot, which we were a little bit late for. It was at this shoot that I met my favorite Momo of the con, who was sweet and adorable and had the most amazing smile. n_n I asked her if she'd photoshoot with me once the shoot proper was over and she said okay, which made my day.
Tea ran back to the hotel room while that was going on to grab my Tyki costume for me because she's a sweetheart like that, and if I didn't make it to the D.Gray photoshoot at three I would have cried. D:
Anyway, the shoot with Momo was everything I'd hoped it to be and more, and her friends were really awesome too. ^_^ Loren took the pictures, and man she got some good ones.
:3 Good times.
After that, Loren and I sat around waiting for Tea, then I got changed into Tyki and Loren did a phenomenal job on my Holy Mark so I was all. x3 Sexy and stuff. Because. The Holy Mark is fundamentally sexy. *_* I ran into a Deisha in the bathroom and I ran over to her and asked her if I might get to kill her later and she said yes. She was really the cutest thing ever.
That photoshoot was tons of fun. x3 My favorite part was when Komui protected all the Linalis from Bak.
And here's the family:
...god I look two feet tall. n_n; *is a painfully short Tyki. should stick to Hitsugaya*
Anyway, soon as the shoot was over (before it was fully over, actually) we had to run to practice our skit before Masquerade sound check time. The guys doing the documentary were really freaking nice and let us use their green room to run our skit since we couldn't hear our audio in the hallway. We ran it a few times, decided we were as ready as we were going to be, and then off we went to get seated for the Masquerade.
The Masquerade went well, though I don't agree with the awards system or the judges of the Masquerade at all. I really don't mind losing. I'm a good sport. Bekah and I didn't win at all when we did our skit, and I was okay with that because the people who did win were awesome.
We lost to some really awful skits. They weren't funny, barely anyone laughed, and I remembered sitting there watching the skits without having any idea what was going on. And then of the skits I did find entertaining, only one of them one. It was crappy to go through and ridiculous. I wouldn't participate again.
I don't know, is it just me? I think that three judges awards, best in show runners up, and then best in show is a really crappy way to break things up. And 90% of the skits DID contain boy-love references and of those skits, many of them were done poorly and weren't funny at all. However, there were some that definitely entertained me that I really enjoyed and none of them won. None of the skits that won contained any BL-related jokes at all, and I find that strange and I don't like it.
Anyway, it's over and done with. I won't get mad about it again. I'm just sad we probably won't be at Ohayocon next year because of the dates, and with Ohayocon at least their judging sheet made sense and they gave us terrific feedback on our skit. They told us what we did well, what we should work on, and all in all? Ohayocon's Masquerade experience was everything Acen's should have been.
After the Masquerade was over, I dashed off to run the DGM panel with Loren, which was a huge success. I've honestly never had a better crowd. They were fun, energetic, and they were full of so much passion and love for the series that it was a delight to get to run the panel for them. They completely made my weekend, and for that I'm immensely grateful. And of course the panel probably wouldn't have been nearly so good if not for all of Loren's hard work on it. *_* If I could have my way, I'd have Loren be on my arm for every con ever. I don't know what I'm going to do at Youmacon. I can't imagine running the panel without her. x_x
At any rate, I have to give my shoutouts to Bekki and Usagi-chan for being there for me when I really needed them. Thank you guys so, so much for being such good friends. I realized what a lucky person I am Saturday night because you guys were totally there for me. It made me feel really, really good. ^_^ So thanks a ton and then some.
Sunday
Sunday was much quieter than the days past. Loren and I crashed the dealer's room for last-minute swag. I bought a whole bunch of pencil boards and stickers and stuff, and then Loren left me alone for two seconds and when she came back, I'd bought Tea a Zabimaru. xD; I bought Lyndsay a Yachiru pencil board and Laci some baby Sasuke/ANBU Itachi cell phone cleaners too, 'cause they're my homegirls, yo.
And I ran into Friday's Momo again! I didn't recognize her out of costume and that made me feel like such a tard. She took my picture and we had hugs.
Then we met up and Lyndsay did the most TERRIFYING thing to me. o_o OMFG.
We did our own little private photoshoot, and after that we went our separate ways to get dinner and bid the con center farewell.
Dinner for me, Tea, and Loren was Mitsuwa again. *o* I had more katsu-don and some unagi-don and loaded up on like a thousand things of milk tea.
Then we went back to the hotel room and vegetated, which was very muchly needed.
And so our con came to a close. I can actually sum up Sunday in one picture:
.....apparently if you're Hitsugaya and happen to be breast-level, Matsumotos will just come up and shove you in there. She had a very nice rack, admittedly. Now if only I could do that and get air.
I have never been squished against so many random strangers' breasts in my life.
Monday
Monday was the day we went home~ With Loren! *shoves her into a bag and never lets her go* >.>;
We went to Mitsuwa one last time and I had some rice-omelet and delicious ramen finally, we got some last minute snacks, and then it was time to get into the car and go back to boring old MI.
I found the kind of candy I like that they don't sell at Tai Sun anymore so I went a little bit overboard maybe and bought like ten bags of it. >.>;
And yeah. That was the con for us. xD; Have another few pictures of a photoshoot we did in Tea's backyard after the fact.
"You there. Byakuya's pet monkey. Cut this watermelon for me. Hyourinmaru says he's too dignified for this sort of thing."
"Aaa~ Renji, are you going to go Bankai before you can win?"
"Mmm, watermelon."
Hitsugaya does not believe in sharing.
Hitsugaya senses something... (Observe the shadows.)
What could it be...?
Probably nothing...
What the--
OH DEAR GOD--
Mind that hand, Renji...
...before you lose it. >.>;
And that's all! :33333