Nekocon '08

[rose_of_pain]

So its about a week late but here finally be my con report. Decided to wait until I got my photos up so thus why the long delay. It won't be a very long report as it was a small con but very enjoyable and I would love to go back again. I hadn't been to the con since '04 so it was a nice return.

Thursday:

I tried to get home a little early from work and somehow managed getting home later than normal instead. And while eating dinner I get a call that Dani, Dar, and Dave are only an hour and a half away. So I'm all "Ahhh!" as I wasn't even packed yet and madly pack for the next hour or so. They show up and I'm not quite finished but managed to have a long chat with my parents and play with the dogs while I finished. It was a good thing they kept talking too as I then kept remembering things I forgot to pack. ^^; So then after talking almost an entire hour, we finally headed out on the road. I fail at finding good food places around where I live so they decided to just wait it out for a while which resulted in Dani becoming quite hungry by the time we finally found a 24/7 IHOP which she like ran into as soon as we got there. (It was like almost midnight by the time we found it) I think she scared the waitress a bit with her excitement. XP I wasn't going to order anything since I already ate but was unable to resist so had an omelette which ended up being my lunch for Friday as well.

Dar and Dave switched off as drivers 'cause Dar was getting really tired and starting to swerve on the road. ^^;; Though Dave started off his driving with going off the wrong exit, stopping right there, backing up the exit, and driving through the grass between two poles. XPXP We were all like "...we're going to die." So that was exciting. And the fact that every exit in that part of Virginia had like crossing rails up and we were confused by that, afraid they'd come down or something and we'd be trapped in an exit forever. Other than that it was a pretty quiet drive as we struggled to keep each other awake. There were lots of conversations about poo though. Then we arrived at our hotel at about 3am which was the Ramada Inn..aka Ghetto Motel! Dani and I both felt like we were on vacation with family instead of at a con since that was the atmosphere of the place. There was like barely any toilet paper so we had go get some and we had to use our keycards go to down the elevator for some odd reason. XP It was great and super cheap. Anyways enough about Thursday...onto the actual con!

Friday:

Laid in bed for a while before reluctantly dragging myself to breakfast with everyone since it was free. Had a bagel and went back upstairs to just lay about and talk for a bit. Eventually we headed over to the con about the time we though reg would be open. Dar and Dani went to get their judge stuff and Dave went to pre-reg, abandoning me to the regular reg line. Which...sucked. XP It took forever! They didn't open on time, they had computers for you to enter your own information on, and it moved incredibly slow despite it not being that long of a line. I was there for literally two hours even though the line only went down the hallway. And I was stuck between some obnoxious fanboys that smelled really bad. x_x I also had like no service so couldn't even call or text for help. Eventually Dani, Dar, and Dave found me and kept me company the rest of the way, thank god, or else I may have killed some Narutards by then. We went to visit Sarah in the Artist Alley for a while and took over the area behind her table for a bit before heading back to the room.

Didn't really feel like doing anything quite yet, so just lazed in the room for a bit and ate my omelette while Dave made Onigiri. Yes, Dave is amazing and brought his rice cooker with him! <3! Also made the amazing discovery that Courtney and her crew were only a few rooms down from them so I poked them every now and then throughout the con. XP So we didn't actually get into costume and go the con until like almost 2pm, lol. We were lazy XP I got into Syaoran first because it was comfy. Then on the way to the con, I realized I forgot my eyepatch so went back to get it. And then almost at the con I realized I forgot my camera so once again went back to get it. ^^;; So of course I totally lost Dani and Dar during this. But eventually located them outside taking photos on this really pretty fountain area. Next year if I go again, totally going to take more advantage of it.


Finally got a semi-decent photo of Syaoran though I think I've come to the conclusion I'll always look fugly in it. XP And sadly the parking lot is in the background.

While we were sitting out there talking to the other judges, I totally managed to get the tails of my costume right into the fountain. XP Fail. But it dried pretty quickly. I wandered off to the Dealer's Room while Dar and Dani went elsewhere (I think. I can't remember how we parted ways actually ^^;). The Dealer's Room was a lot bigger than I thought it'd be for this con. I headed over to Sasusaga first as always and lo and behold discovered Trinity Blood manga volume 11 was finally out so yoinked that. Then found the Dealer from AnimeUSA that I totally loved and discovered they did in fact have some of the Lamento figurines so now I have my Firi finally (they couldn't find him at AUSA). ^^ They had lots of other things tempting me but I decided to run away. XP Dropped off my goodies in the room and changed into Cloud. Yup brought good old Advent Children Cloud with me which I hadn't worn since Otakon 2006. In fact I had some trouble remembering how it went on at first. XP And had to have Courtney help pin my backpiece on. I'm glad I brought it though 'cause since it was a small con, there were no other Clouds on Friday night so managed to get quite a bit of attention actually. It made me happy.

I tabled at Sarah's table for a bit so she could do a little bit at the con. Then wandered about aimlessly for a while and just happened to stumble across the FF7 gathering without knowing it was happening then. XP So they pulled me over for some photos and that was a lot of fun as for once the girls were all shorter than me! Usually I'm the shortest one there. And there was a really cute Kadaj who I ended up spending a lot of the con with. She was pretty cool.


Mini group is Mini XP

I got a lot of attention being the only Cloud at the time. Everyone wanted photos with me. XP It actually was a big ego boast as I had previously felt my Cloud costume was shit and all. And the Kadaj girl got a bunch of really nice photos of me, this one being my favorite:



Also ran into Alex while wandering with her and totally managed to get a mini shoot out of him. ^^ His photos are always amazing so can't wait to see those. I had no idea he was even going to be there! Soon after that I dragged her over to Katie's Elitism in Cosplay panel with me. Like always it was good and heard some rather interesting new stories from folks. I'm sorry I didn't stay for the whole thing, Katie, but I was really really tired. lol Kadaj left a little bit before me to head back to her own room so I made my way back to the hotel room and Dave was already there so I had him help me get the backpiece off (stupid thing *grumblegrumble*) and Dar and Dani were back shortly after and we all passed out pretty quickly (and pretty early).

Saturday:

We got up a bit earlier this time in order to get breakfast again and so Dani and Dar could go off to start their busy day of judging events. I remained in the room just laying on the bed for a while. Then meant to get into Akihiko but realized I forgot the dress shirt. Dur. Kinda important. So I just went ahead and put X-Mas Cain on and wore him the whole day. And of course as soon as I open the door to leave...its raining. Just started right then too. x_x; So I went over to Courtney's room while waiting it out as it was soon pouring. Kept her and her crazy crew company while they sewed as they were still working on their costumes at that point. Talked to Courtney about Weiss stuff and we made fun of it and talked about future ideas. And discovered we both like the same fanfics. XP It was pretty amazing. I think I may just have to try to fit some Weiss into Katsu now. Eventually the rain was down to a light drizzle so I took that moment to finally get over to the con center, afraid I'd never get there otherwise.

Headed back to the Dealer's Room in order to pick up a birthday present for someone and while there, I was like "wait...is that a really hot Sailor Star cosplayer?" *wanders over to take a photo*


Me: "Woah, Vicky? Totally didn't recognize you. o_o"
Her: "Yeah I've been getting that a lot XP"

And then she proceeded to talk me into buying one of the new CLAMP 3D boxes since she knew I was into those. XP Curse you Vicky. I probably wouldn't have bought this set otherwise 'cause while I liked most the characters, they weren't ones I had to have. But I got Fuuma so its all good. ^^ Resisted buying more at that one dealer and headed back out, running into Dar and Dani on the way.


And got this shot of Dani in the bathroom because Dar and I were like "Dani, the bathroom matches your costume, lulz!" XP At least it seemed funny at the time. Then they had to go start judging and sadly this would mean I wouldn't see them again until 8pm. So went back to the room to drop off the stuff I got and had more delicious Onigiri via Dave to go along with my Kimchi ramen I had for lunch. (Yes omg I actually ate at this con like a normal person!) On my way back to he con, finally ran into Courtney and her group who had finally managed to get out of their hotel room. ^^;;


I don't know much about this anime but their group amused me anyways. XP And Courtney, I gotta say, your bf rocks (he's the one with the blonde hair and short skirt there.)

I went over to the doll meet-up at that point even though I didn't bring any of mine with me but was curious as to who would be there as there were a few folks saying they'd be there that I wanted to meet. And oh man, was I regretting not bringing anyone as for once there was a really good turnout of good people and beautiful dolls. x_x; Oh well. I know next time I do bring them there will be like nobody there too. Just the way it goes for me. But I got to talk to a lot of people and gaaaah! There was both a Dreaming El and both Lu-Wen heads there. x_x;;; Ohhhh they tempt me so!


Just look at that face. ;_; (Though I don't like the nose ring there personally.)

While there, I ran into Alex again. XP So he got photos of me in Cain. Yay! Though sadly I realized afterwards that my hair is way too long at the time so I hope the cape fur hides a bit of that. I did later bobby pin my hair in the back so it looked a lot better but of course nobody got any photos of me after that point. XP Though there were a few people at the con that actually knew who I was! Sekana (the Kadaj) was one of them and I did get a few "nice Cain! ^^"s that got me pleasantly by surprise. Not many people know the manga so I always get happy when someone knows who I am.

I wandered about for the most part of the afternoon. Ran into Vicky and Anna a few times and other various people I knew throughout the day.


Vicky's little Card Captor Sakura group was perhaps my favorite costumes at the con just because they were so cute. ^_^

Then my camera totally died as soon as I was about to take a really silly photo of Anna and Vicky. XP Fail. So I went back to the room for a bit to charge it and then decided to go check out the Masquerade for a change. I haven't gone to one in years! So this was a change, lol. I was reluctant to go as I was afraid it'd be horrible since most small cons' Masquerades are. But I was surprised how packed it was. There weren't any seats when I walked in but one girl gave up hers. (Thank god, as I could not have stood that whole time.) But the Masquerade...wasn't bad! I mean it wasn't anything spectacular but it was entertaining and I actually liked most of the skits. I especially liked the Sweeney Todd one ("A Little Priest" with referring to anime characters as the various occupations, Duo was the priest XP), the Speed cosplayers, and the Ness skit. I think nekocathy would really appreciate it so I need to send her the youtube link some time. It was also really short, only about an hour long, so didn't take up too much of my night.

Headed back to the Artist Alley to poke Sarah who just happened to be in the need of someone to watch her table again so she could go eat. This time she wanted me to do it for a full hour and I agreed, having nothing better to do. So I tabled for a while and managed to sell quite a few things (I remembered the prices this time XP) and made lots of conversations with people. Had a few of the FF7 folks come by and remember me from Friday and got all sad I wasn't in Cloud anymore. They even told me that I was their favorite Cloud. ;_; And that they wished I was at the Sat gathering and I was all "but what about those 2 really good male Clouds I saw that went? They had better costumes than me ^^;" and they were all "yeah...but...we like you better ;_;" so that really made me happy. ^_^

I also had this one girl who was talking to the people at the next table over just stand and stare at me for a while, which was a bit unnerving as I was like "uh..." as she wasn't even trying to be discreet about it. And eventually she walks over to me and is all "...um...are you by any chance...Count Cain?" Me: "uh why yes, yes I am." And she completely spasgasms on me. Like total fangirlism. I've uh...never gotten that before. ^^; I've gotten some other type of fangirlism before but never the complete freak out spazz squealing I was getting from her. XP Even though it was a bit scary, I can't help but admit it did give me a little ego boast. 'Cause she even knew my Gaia name and spazzed even more after finding out who I was as I guess I've developed a bit of a reputation among the Cain fans. Though about time considering I've been one of the few cosplayers in all these years from it. So despite her being a bit scary, I didn't really mind. She wasn't like the infamous fangirls of Otakon. SHe was at least nice and nowhere as young. And at least she agrees on the old spelling of Jezebel's name.

Sarah took longer than said to come back and I was worried I was going to miss a lot from the panel I wanted to go to. But when she came back and I headed over there, it hadn't even started yet. XP So yeah I went to the Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged panel. *dork* LOL As I love that fan parody like woah and I am in actuality a closet-Yu-Gi-Oh fan. XPXP Sevana/Kadaj was there so I sat with her and man I gotta say the panel was one of my favorite events at the con. The panel was run by the staff of the website and they even called LittleKuriboh all the way in England but he was too tired and out of it to really say much. But they made up for it by giving us Episode 31 early...live. XP They each took a part and acted it out, imitating LK's voices and they were really good at it. And now that I've watched the actual episode...I gotta say I think the Live version was funnier as some of the jokes were changed around for the final cut of the episode. You can watch the video of it here on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qzuUc9pJE0 though the guy that took it can't hold his camera steady at all. So hopefully LK will put up the actual taped version his staff was doing on the website some time.

After that I ended up hanging with Olivia (the other Asch from AUSA) and her friends for a bit. And these two girls that were sitting near us leaned over to me and were like "...are you Cain?" XP lol So once again found fellow fans and talked to them for a while and they were pretty cool and I totally regret not coming back later to talk to them more. Oh well, they're on my LJ now so I'm sure there will be plenty of times to chat. ^^ And then I decided to go check out the GPKism concert for a little bit mostly out of curiosity to see if they were any good and because I wouldn't feel right at least checking them out while I had the chance. So I entered the room and almost walked out, thinking I must've entered the Rave by accident...and then realized they were in fact on the stage. Just that their music was like gothic rave and they had like all the usual rave lights going on so it was mostly the lights that confused me as you don't have that going on for most concerts. lol But I liked them and will probably look into getting some of their music now. GPK has a really nice voice and it reminded me a lot of Schwarz Stein and Velvet Eden.

After the concert ended, decided I should at least get out of cosplay and headed back to the room while Dar, Dani, and Dave were all heading back into the con. XP So I changed and went to go meet up with them and just chilled out for a few hours in the hall. Olivia and her friends joined us for a bit and saw Anna doing her hot Lelouch cosplay. And eventually I started to like pass out right there, not really able to say things that made any sense or understand what was being said to me, so Dar and I headed back to the room (to Dani's dismay as she had taken my leg as a pillow). Back at the room I had a hot pocket and relaxed and Dani came back and we all passed out.

Sunday:

Packed up, put everything in the car, and checked out. And the great thing about being at the ghetto motel is that this meant no crowded elevator or long wait to check out. XP None of us got into cosplay and we headed over to the Dealer's Room so Dani and Dar could use the WizzyWig gift certificates they got for judging. Of course this table also happened to be the one selling the Tales of Symphonia figure boxes so I had temptation stare me down. And I gave in and got one. And got Presea which I was a little disappointed in. I mean at least it wasn't Collette but I had no real desire to keep Presea (thus why she's up for sale). Then we went to the Artist Alley and Dani geeked with the Star Wars table dude. Then I noticed that they were setting up for the autographs for the bands and though I had no money to buy anything to get signed (and they only took cash which I had literally none of at this point) but they did allow photos so I got photos of GPKism.


Kiwamu (who I'm not a big fan of) and GPK (who was cute)


And the cute girl that was helping them out, doing the keyboard part during the concert. I actually at first assumed she was a guy during the concert as ya know, I just kinda assume anyone in J-Rock is but upon seeing her up close, realized she's definitely a girl especially when she talked and when the guy next to me asked the guy with her how "she" was associated with the band and the guy didn't correct him or anything. XP So yeah I had a pretty dumb moment there. She was really cute so despite knowing she's no one in particular, I took her photo anyways. ^^

Then Dani and Dar went to go talk with con staff folks so I wandered off and ran into Olivia and her Reborn group and wandered the Dealer's with them again (argh, people just wouldn't let me leave that horrible area of temptation) and I debated getting another Symphonia box...and gave in. XP And I got Zelos! I actually didn't even know he was in the set until Olivia told me Sat night, lol. He's the secret figure so yay! Saved me a lot of money as I notice he goes up to like $30 online. o_o;; Then I get a call from Courtney and since I didn't get to hang out with her much that con, I went to go meet her...and she comes in the Dealer's Room just as I was about to leave. LOL XP We were standing right in front of each other as we're talking on the phone. So spent some time chatting and wandering the Dealer's with her. Until Dar called saying they were bored and ready to head out and I wanted to leave early anyways so said my goodbyes to folks and headed out with them. On the ride back we totally misssed two IHOPs in a row too, which was very sad as we tried to hit them each time and failed. XP And couldn't find a Starbucks for Dani so my Dad lead all of us to the nearest one and showed them how to get back to the highway. And thus ended Neko.

Ya know...I really intended that to be a lot shorter than it turned out. ^^;; Oops.

And here are the rest of my photos: http://www.rosebride.com/lyn/neko11.html

~Lyn