Katsucon 2011
Feb. 24th, 2011 03:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rose_of_painTime for yet another way-too-long con report full of photos and details that nobody really cares about but me. XD; This year there was NO snow so there were no delays in getting to the con and it was really nice being able to actually SEE the area around the Gaylord instead of just mountains of snow everywhere like last year. Sadly I totally failed to really get any photos in any of the nice areas. Oh well. There's always next year.
Thursday:
Ren showed up right on time, about 8:03pm which I was pretty amazed at because she said she'd be there around 8 and well I figured she'd probably be there more like 8:30 so was pretty impressed that she got there RIGHT when she said she would. XD I actually pretty much had everything done by the time she got here, which I was kinda amazed by. Just had a few last things to edit and then spent most of the time packing while Moulin Rouge played on Logo in the background. Ren hasn't had cable in like...forever so it was really funny watching her reactions to all the commercials that I've seen like a billion times over but she'd never seen. XD Since I actually finished early, I was going to make some more stuff for AA but I just...kinda keeled over instead and spent the rest of the night chatting online to save my sanity.
And I went to bed before 2am! Oh my god it was amazing! XD; ...course I couldn't sleep like I usually can't the night before a con but the last few cons I've been up til like 3/4am still working on things the night before. T_T So this was rather nice. Granted it's only because I gave up on a few details. Pffft.
Friday:
We got up a bit later than intended but it didn't really matter much as I didn't really want to leave until I knew the status of who in our room was going. Since Alyce was really sick and I wanted to make sure I had people's phone numbers in case she didn't come to the con as she's usually the one that contacts me about their arrival and such. So we just chilled a bit in my kitchen. Ren had breakfast and I...didn't. lol I can't eat that early. Though I did end up having some Coke. Which oh my gosh I haven't had Coke like that in the morning since I was a teen XD but seeing Ren drink it tempted me too much. (I used to drink Coke as my breakfast a lot when I was younger as a means to wake me up. It was a horrible habit I try not to get back into. lol) Then after hearing that Alyce and crew had left for con, we finally got ready and packed up and left shortly after they did. Wore Magnet Len there as it was a comfortable enough costume to wear to a con and the drive wasn't really long. Hell we didn't hit any traffic at all so probably better we did leave as late as we did else we would have been stuck in it. Though driving through the Tyson's area was as scary as it always is. *shudder* That's one thing I don't like about being at the Gaylord now. Its kinda impossible to avoid that area to get to the con. But we got there in one piece and parked at one of the cheaper parking lots and headed to the con. We just left our stuff in the car since it'd be a while still before the rest of our room would arrive and figured we'd check out the con in the mean time. Went to Corey's room to get my headphones (which wai I love so much~ They freaking sparkle XDXD) she made me for our Magnet cosplay. Then Ren and I went to get our badges.
So pre-reg took like maybe 5 minutes total? I walk in and there is NO line and the pre-reg people were fighting over who would get me as apparently they hadn't had a pre-reg in a while and were getting REALLY bored. lol But Katsu totally failed on organization this year as they didn't have any booklets or schedules printed out yet so all we got were really pathetic little bags of flyers. x_x; I went over to the reg line and pffft that was A LOT longer and pretty disorganized. I was originally waiting with Ren in line and then someone starts talking to me, who I'm like starring at and drawing a complete blank. Girl talking to me obviously knows me as she's talking about stuff on my LJ and I'm just like "...who is she?" but smile and talk back, pretending I remember who they are. At one point I went over to check to make sure I didn't like miss the schedules if maybe they were on the table but realized that no, there really weren't any made yet. And upon trying to go back to Ren, a staffer tells me I have to exit. I'm like "but I'm just keeping my friend company in line." "No. You have to leave." I'm like "wtf O_o that's never been a rule before..." but whatever so I got kicked out of the room which sucked because I had nothing to do and no one to talk to and it took Ren FOREVER to get through registration. Though at least outside I ran into Christa (old co-worker from when I worked at JoAnn's) and her kids. And then the girl I had talked to earlier came out and I had to go over and be all "I am so sorry but I can't remember who you are..." It was Cassi. PFFFFFFT. I can't believe I didn't recognize her and still no idea why 'cause it wasn't like she was dressed oddly or had make-up on at the time. I guess its just been that long since I last saw her. Or something. lol She and her friends left. Then Becca showed up and I talked to her. Then she left. Then Corey showed up, trying to find out where to get a press badge (which no one in the entire con seemed to know). And yet still Ren remained in the registration line. Which was just kinda strange because it wasn't a huge line or anything. Just so disorganized. Finally she came out of the line and just in time too as Alyce texts me to let us know they have arrived. So we go get our stuff and move it to the room.
On the way to the car, we run into Dani, Laura, Dan, and Alex, who had all returned from the Peep store...which I never did get to go to. T_T Sadness. Though my parents are thinking of going to visit the area sometime soon so I might go with and finally go there. XD; Got our stuff into the room. Poor Alyce was pretty much stuck in bed for most of the con and we dubbed her and Tom's bed the plague bed as Tom had been sick too though he was much better by then. Alyce...was not. Luckily none of us got sick so I guess we did a good job at staying plague free at least. Unloaded and ate a much needed sandwich. The Gaylord is super expensive when it comes to food so one always tries to bring food to eat in the room instead and it really makes a big difference in the long run. And I always love my little PA crew as they are smart and bring REAL food. <3 Then helped Ren get into her World of Warcraft Priest costume, which I nicknamed "the WoW Beast" when I was working on it. XD Met up with Corey and Jon again and proceeded to wander.
Ren in the WoW Beast
Back view
WoW vs FF XD; (God Jon why are you so tall?!)
Ventured outside and oh my god the Gaylord area is soooo pretty. I mean it was pretty with the snow last year but it really was so much nicer without it. And we had REALLY nice weather wise that day so we wandered about and sat on the rocks that were over the beach for a bit, just relaxing and taking in the sun. Also took a few photos out there. And were a bit bawfled at the fact when we found the area we had last year's PH snowball fight at. Considering we realized the snow we were standing on was over a rather deep rock hole (which I wonder if its actually supposed to be filled with water as otherwise it did seem a bit random). No wonder we had problems standing on top of it. XD;
Corey and I doing the infamous Magnet pose XD
And I just really like this shot I got of Ren ^^
Wandered back in and asked around to try to still figure out how to get Corey's press badge. lol In the mean time ran into both Lionel and Al and had photos taken.
Last minute cosplay ftw XD
We also saw this AMAZING Astaroshe cosplayer from Trinity Blood. She was soooo nice too. We talked to her for a while and lol Corey and I were totally oogling the costume the whole time but she didn't seem to mind too much as she just laughed at me being all "Squee! Beadwork!" as I was like in full sew-geek mode at the detail work. Like seriously the photo does no justice. There was soooo much detail work on it. And I felt pretty inferior wearing my ghetto Magnet cosplay at the time lol so didn't have anything on to prove I knew what I was talking about. ^^;; But she took a photo of us too which was sweet and said she really liked our costumes anyways (pfft they were so last minute put together though).
After that we decided we had a good amount of time in those costumes and so went back to the rooms to change into 07-Ghost (well at least those of us who were doing it). So I got into Teito and then went to Corey's room while she got into Mikage and Jon into Ayanami. Corey didn't actually finish her Mikage costume in time for the con so she decided to do casual version and stole Jon's Katan wings so she'd be angel Mikage (which I guess made her kinda a walking spoiler but not like many people know or care about 07-Ghost anyways). I'm honestly not sure if I like my Teito costume or not. A lot of it was rushed so I think I may try to fix it up whenever I get the chance. I need to add more cording to the corset thing in the back and probably re-sew all the trim so it lays flat better. Also the neckpiece needs some help too. x_x; But it was at least fun to wear and not as uncomfortable as I had feared it would be (since its rather tight-fitting).
We had some time before the gathering time so we went into the Dealer's Room for a bit. Utai joined us during this, in her Jack costume. We were on the search to get Ren some better elf ears for her costume but alas nobody had any. And meanwhile Corey and I kept getting distracted by figures, or mostly just the Anime Sekiai booth. lol Though I was good and didn't buy anything except for the Dissidia Cloud figure which was the only thing I had intended to buy and I stuck with it. I probably shouldn't even have bought that to be honest as I'm just that poor right now but I didn't want to keep putting it off in fear they might not have them around once the new set comes out. We didn't really get too far in before we realized how close to the time for the gathering was. Though at this point I realized...we had lost Ren and Utai. Pffft. I at least made an attempt to find them as we also tried to find the exit but they were like totally gone. ^^; And granted it took us forever just to FIND the exit. Pfft. The way they had it set up this year was really odd. But we eventually made our escape and went to the fountain area and of course as I expected, no one showed up except for the Frau we had met earlier. Which is sad 'cause originally we had a whole bunch of people reply to the thread but they all vanished once it got closer to the con. T_T
But the Frau was really nice and awesome. She had a HUUUUGE scythe which was pretty damn impressive. So the four of us went up to the gazebo area and had photos taken with Sang and his friend...who's name I always manage to miss. And it was a lot of fun at least. My Mikage/Burupya plushie got a lot of attention too which I'm glad because I really did Teito more as an excuse to make him and carry him around. XD;
Horrible photo from my camera but you can see Burupya at least. Sadly I didn't really get any good shots of the costume so you really can't see why the costume gave me so much heartache ('cause its design makes no flipping sense!)
Our mini group
And sad but cute photo even though my expression is like "derp" lol I so don't look emo enough here XD Though I was just like out of it the whole time sadly. x_x; I'll try to be more in character next time.
Didn't really stay in those costumes for very long though and then I had to give Jason his Archer costume. And back in the room, helping him get it on...realized I had made several parts too tight. T__T Fixed it as best I could in the room but his pants were still rather tight and I know he had a hard time moving in it. But he was very understanding, agreed that its just a costume that's hard to do without the person actually there to size it to and we've already discussed how to fix it later on and he wants to try getting a bit more muscular so he better suits it next time. But at least the shirt and boots worked fine as those were the parts that took the longest and I'd probably shoot myself if I had to remake them.
After that, got out of Teito and just relaxed in the room for a while which was much needed. Tom had gotten Alyce some cheese brocoli soup from the sports bar downstairs and it smelled so good that Brittany, Beth, and I all decided we had to have some too. lol So there went my conviction to not eat any overpriced food this con. As it was like $8 for just a cup but I must admit it was pretty amazing. I was pretty dead though so luckily Brittany and Beth were willing to just bring me back a cup so I wouldn't have to walk down and up with them as I really was exhausted so just talked with poor dying Alyce in the mean time. And seriously that soup was the best thing I had all weekend so I think it was worth the $8. XD Though after I finished that, it was starting to get late so figured I should probably start getting into Lucifer. And well I had figured I probably would take the least amount of time of the whole group so I'd just take my time. And yet somehow I ended up taking the longest. Go figure. As Corey and Jon showed up like in full costume already when I was just starting the make-up. ^^;; Oops. Brittany did a wonderful job on it though. I'm really so grateful she was willing to do it. Hell I'm so grateful I've had as many friends over the years willing to do it for me in general because the make-up really makes that costume and I'm such a failure at make-up. Though I am learning! Just not ready to actually do it for a costume yet. XD; Especially one that hard. But eventually I finished getting into Luci and we made our way downstairs even though the whole time I'm thinking "...am I forgetting something?" and of course when we get down to the gazebo level I realize I forgot my claws. x_x; But Brittany was a saint and got them for me considering I already had my wings on at this point and it would have taken a bit of an effort to get back up to the room. ^^;;
Ran into Courtney pretty easily though she didn't even notice us at first which was kinda funny 'cause how the hell could you not notice all the wings? XD But omg her bride Kurai was really amazing and I'm so glad she was there to join us. Took us a bit longer to find Tohma and Jensen but we did eventually and we took our wing mass to the gazebo for photos. Sadly we never found the Mad Hatter that had been around earlier. Especially considering she was actually taller than Courtney. XD
Whole group
Mandatory pose. (seriously I've lost track of how many times I've done this pose as Lucifer throughout all the times I've done him, with both Alexiels and Rosiels lol) Though I think this is my fav picture of this pose to date.
Sadly I once again forgot that my wings BEND and thus need to be actually pulled outwards and so I once again didn't do that just like how I didn't do that most of Otakon. Pfft. Because you can't see the wings very well from the front and they kinda droop unless you do that. So NEXT TIME I will freaking remember to do that so they don't look so weird and are more visible because seriously believe me they look a lot better when they've been pulled all the way out as I did that for our first rehearsal Thurs night of Ota and at home. I just keep forgetting to do it when I ACTUALLY wear it. -_-; Though I'm thinking I need to schedule a shoot with someone at some con for just photos of Luci 'cause I don't really have many solo shots and none that show any of the details. Just not sure when as I don't want to wear this thing during the summer again. Maybe for AUSA or something.
Wandered back downstairs as a group and kinda chilled for a while even though poor Tohma couldn't really sit down so some of us sat and some of stood until Tohma had to leave for the night. Then the rest of us all kinda plopped down on floor outside of the sports bar. I know that's kinda a random spot but it was like the only good area where we'd be out of the way. lol And gradually we just kinda. Died. XD Like more and more pieces of our costumes were taken off as time progressed. Starting with the wings. And oh boy did we have A LOT of drunks come up to us the entire time we wore these costumes. x_x;; I guess the shininess and feathers attract them. Pfft. Also attracted a lot of the normal people who weren't there for the convention as they kept asking for photos lol though we were like "...is it ok if we just sit here without putting the wings back on? We are soooooo freaking tired." lol But most of them were totally cool with that. I found it really amusing that almost all of the normal folks seemed mostly interested in me. XD Like we had a bunch of guys in the sports bar who were starring at us the entire time they were in there and so eventually they came out to talk to us and they were like "I want photos with the evil looking one!" XD It was amusing. Hell I got that even from the con-goers. As we ran into a bunch of drunks earlier on in the lobby and they were like wanting to pose with me grabbing their faces with my claws. Though they also wanted to go under Courtney's skirt...luckily they didn't actually do that but we were a bit afraid they may try for a second there (afterwards we agreed her skirt needs teeth to eat people like that with).
But during our dead-ness, Corey got some food to eat and I asked if I could have a sip of whatever drink she got 'cause like usual, I was kinda dying from all the pvc and pleather. And she got one of my favorite things in the whole world. Minute Maid Lemonade. OMG. lol Felt bad as I think I drank like over half of the thing as I was like "THIS IS SO WHAT I NEED RIGHT NOW!" if I had money on me I would have bought my own and probably chugged it. But it was pretty sad because every time we passed it back and forth...we were just far away from each other that we couldn't just hand it over but we were so tired and dead we really didn't want to move so each time it was a bit of a struggle and well you kinda had to be there but believe me it was pretty funny with just how pathetic we were.
I also discovered how incredibly useful my claws are. At one point the bottle rolled away from me and I couldn't quite reach it (once again really didn't want to move even an inch) and I was like "waitaminute waitaminute I got this!" and put the claws on and huzzah I got it! XD; They also work really well as a head scratcher I've learned. But eventually we realized we need to go back to our rooms or we'd never get up. Especially me. I was dying right there and I knew if I didn't go then, I'd never be able to get up at all. lol So dragged myself back to the room. And of course everyone else was already passed out (lol this seems to be a theme at cons now. At least at AUSA I did go to bed at the same time one of the nights). Well Beth wasn't passed out quite yet but it took me a while to get out of costume and all. And I had a pretty bad panic moment (kinda surprised I didn't wake anyone up but I guess I kinda managed to not yell out...it was hard not to) because as I was getting out of the coat...the lining got stuck in the zipper. And well that's happened before but this was REALLY REALLY BAD. Like I couldn't even get the zipper to go up or down and I was freaking out because I thought for sure I would have to end up either tearing the fabric or destroying the zipper or both to get it undone. Luckily I had it off far enough at this point that I could still slip out of it and decided to just take a shower first and then fool with it. (And oh my god showers after wearing that costume are seriously the most amazing thing ever. lol I love Lucifer but goddamn is it kinda gross to wear after a while.)
After the shower continued to work very very very carefully with the zipper for like probably a full 20 to 30 minutes. I seriously was almost in tears at this point because I knew I could very easily tear this thing and then have to completely remake it. But somehow I eventually managed to work it out and got it undone without any damage. Though I am really starting to regret lining it as I'm so scared that will happen again. T_T After that I finally passed out though I had an insanely restless night. Couldn't get into a comfortable position no matter what I did and felt bad 'cause I kept worrying that I was waking Beth or Brittany up every time I shifted (and during all this shifting at one point I accidentally pulled the covers pretty far over though I did push them back once I realized this ^^;; Oops) but both seemed to not remember any of this so I guess I didn't wake them up. But no idea how much sleep I actually got but I doubt it was much if any.
Saturday:
...I'll have you know that as I'm writing this I'm going "What the hell?! I'm just NOW getting to Saturday? This is waaaaaay too freaking long." T_T I really get way too detailed with these things. Sorry. This might get a little less detailed now just because I want to finish this and go to bed already! lol
Woke up and found out that Corey was still working on a costume for someone and was unsure if she'd even be able to get into Angela for the Kuro meet. And that meanwhile Natalie was having a hard time getting to the hotel. So I figured there was no need to get into Ciel until I knew for sure that people were actually doing Kuro and what have you. Made my way to Corey's room, still in my pjs, to help her, only to get there and have her say she had decided to just give up so pfft I could have just stayed in bed. XD But I did get to see Vanora as she came passing by the hall (another old co-worker from my JoAnn's days, lol I always seem to see them at cons now. Saw Chrissy too in passing on Friday). She had her evil little child with her. lol No really. Her daughter has this seriously maniacal laugh and we were joking she would take over the world some day. Well most of us were joking. I was actually a bit serious as it really did creep me out a little because we all know children in general scare me, especially little ones. But I mean I'm not about to say that in front of them so I've gotten pretty good at being nice and at least she was a lot bigger than last year (she really scared me at AUSA '09 when her little baby hand reached out and clung to the fabric of my sleeve. I was a bit petrified to say the least. x_x).
Went back to the room once Corey decided to go get ready and halfway dressed, Natalie texted saying she finally got to the hotel. I actually didn't take too long to get ready but Corey and Jon took forever and I felt a bit bad that Natalie was waiting for me and all as I didn't think it'd take that long. Eventually got down there for the end of the Kuro gathering pretty much which was honestly fine with me as I'm not really fond of the Kuro gatherings anymore and the Kuro cosplay fandom in general. I'd rather just chill with my friends considering how many Ciels get convinced they ARE Ciel and let it go to their head. But anyways, gave Natalie the gun I brought for her to borrow and wai she was such a cute Maylene though immediately noticed that I had made the costume a bit too big. T_T At least she still seemed to like the costume a lot so I'm happy. I had to fix the back though as one of the apron straps had gotten twisted when it was put on her so the whole corset piece was all thrown off and looked wonky. lol Though of course as I'm trying to fix this, THEN the Kuro folks decide to do the Phoenix pose together and I was all "aghaidhphgipd WAIT!" 'cause that was like the one thing I wanted to do while in Ciel because that bit just cracked me up too much. So as a result I kinda ended up more towards the back and side and can't really see me in the photo of it. T_T Aw well. At least I did it. Even if it was really hard balancing in that costume. XD Though kinda sad how many of the Kuro people there had no idea what we were trying to do...obviously meaning they only knew the anime. Pfft. Lionel took the opportunity and had us do other silly poses though and I do show up in those photos...
Honestly not sure what pose this was supposed to be. I think its that thing from one of the Gundam shows or something. I've seen people do it before but not sure as I kinda didn't quite catch what it was when Lionel and the others yelled it out. Pfft. I just copied what people were doing around me. But I like the photo. XD
And obligatory Thriller pose XD
And here's me and Natalie. We got more photos with Al later on but he hasn't put those up yet.
We then decided we should desert the gathering and get actual photos at the gazebo (we = me, Natalie and Utai since Corey had disappeared into the mass of Kuro folks). I was also a bit annoyed as I was promised before the con when I reluctantly agreed to bring Ciel that I would not be abandoned this time, that they would make sure to help me with my train ('cause past few times I brought it, they all ran off and I tripped over myself or got stuck on something or nearly lost my top hat etc T_T) and what happens? Same thing. But Natalie was a sweetheart and offered to help instead though I felt bad that she had to do so. But at least we did get some photos together as I really was looking forward mostly to getting some with her and hanging out for a bit. But seriously. I'm done with that costume. No more. Tired of wearing it. So freaking tired of it. I don't even like it that much anymore as its been almost 2 years since I made it and already I wish I had done the whole thing differently as its not as well made as I'd like.
Though as we were about to escape, Bonnie and her bf showed up and considering they were the other reason I brought Ciel, figured I should go wait for them. And eventually we all got back together as one group and headed upstairs though we never did get the gazebo (they really need to set a time limit on that thing) and instead settled for one of the doors.
Group shot. Note the Hannah. That is a dude. XD Bonnie's bf makes an INCREDIBLY good girl. Shocked a hell of a lot of people.
Though I'm sad that we didn't like do any of the poses we had planned to do ahead of time. Like I would have liked to have done more photos with Angela and Ash 'cause despite the fact the anime sucked and I hate that character(s), I really love Bonnie's Ash and I think it would have been cool to do like something with the whole trying to steal Ciel's soul thing. Oh well. I always think of these things like after we've changed out. The other sad thing is to this day I still have yet to have ANY photos with a single Sebastian. Ever. lol I've posed with other characters but I've never actually had a Sebastian and when I do find one willing to do photos with me, something always happens and we get no photos. T_T So I'm just giving up. No more. If I do Ciel again, it'll be at least a different outfit.
I did sit down and chill with Natalie for a little bit but she was starting to shake from lack of food and had homework to do so I agreed she should go to her friend's room and I was thinking of doing the same. So hiked back up to my room by myself with no help lol but at that point I just didn't care anymore as at least I had learned how to carry it somewhat on my own. Got to the room, threw that damn outfit off, and had a much needed sandwich.
Then wandered back down. Out of costume. Gasp! lol Everyone I ran into seemed rather surprised by this. I guess just because it was the middle of the day and I normally am only in regular clothes in the morning or night. Made my way to the AA to visit Sarah at her table for a bit. Saw Corey's Hakuouki group vs Adam's Kenshin group and lamented a little that I was able to join it. As I so would have if I had had the time to mkae a Hakuouki costume but I definitely didn't have the time nor money for a wig so oh well. Considering maybe doing something for the sakura matsuri though if I can afford a wig by then even though I wouldn't have anyone else to do it with then. T_T Eventually made my way back up after dropping stuff off at Sarah's table and decided, screw it, I'll just go ahead and get into Lucille even though my group is too busy with Hakuouki and Ren and Utai were still getting food. I was a little upset 'cause I really wanted daylight photos for Ningyou and Corey wasn't picking up her phone so I had no idea where they were so I figured to hell with it, I'll just get photos from Ren of just me in the mean time. But of course by the time Ren got back and got batteries in her camera, THEN Corey and them finally show up and I had parts of their costumes in my room so figured I might as well go back up, deliver things and maybe if we were fast enough, still get some photos before the sun went down.
Well. That didn't happen. They took quite a while so we lost the sun and I know Ren's camera doesn't do well without it and Corey hadn't learned how to take her date stamp off her camera yet. But I was still determined to at least try considering I had been waiting to do this group for a long time now even though we were still missing an Eles and Gwindel's costume was never actually finished (so we had Jon do Gwindel sans coat and just gave him the doll arms to try to make up for it). I decided it'd be really cool to get photos in the gazebo because the thing kinda looked like a birdcage and there's a whole songbird/birdcage motif going on with Lucille. However, there was a Tsubasa group that just wouldn't leave the gazebo. I mean we're here patiently waiting, obviously wanting to use it and for once there wasn't really a long wait of people like there often was throughout the con and we did even ask if we could use it next and yet they still decided to just keep on using it. And I honestly found it a bit rude and inconsiderate as they had obviously been there a while before us and continued to use it for a pretty long time while we waited and then another group showed up also wanting to use it and asked if they could go ahead of us as they were in a rush and just wanted at most maybe 5 photos so we agreed they could go ahead.
But still the Tsubasa group didn't move. So one of their friends finally went up and asked them if they could please have it. So they moved over. Half of the gazebo. So even while these girls are having photos taken, the Tsubasa group STILL took photos in the gazebo too which I found even more rude as the other group had to limit their space. And even after they left, they still continued to use it. And at first we were like "ok lets just use the half we have" but I was like "No. I want the full gazebo and I know they'll never let us have it if we don't say something." So I walk over to them and say full out "You've been here for a long time already and we really want to use the whole gazebo so can you please leave already." 'cause at that point we already had yet another person queuing up for it (a cute little Ciel who was very pleasant and understanding about letting us use it before her but also a bit annoyed this group wouldn't leave). They sorta kinda left then but still took a while to get them to actually move and I had to be kinda bossy in their face to get them to do so. After that everyone was kinda going "Woah Lucille! You bitched them out." but I honestly didn't think I was even being that bitchy about it. O_o I mean I was just being honest and I was still polite about it but maybe it came off bitchier than I realized due to my patience growing thin. ^^;; But hey at least we finally got it and I made sure we didn't take very long as I felt really bad that the Ciel had to wait that long. And even then we had a Zelda group try to barge in and I was like "hey hey, this girl here has been waiting for it." and they seemed annoyed at me for that but wtf, she was there first, who cares if you have bigger costumes, she has just as much right to take photos there as you do. I really just got so fed up with people's rudeness over fighting with the gazebo this year. Last year really wasn't as bad and I think maybe now Katsu should consider having someone watch it and time limit people because seriously.
But anyways. Sorry about that mini rant. Onto the photos. Sadly not many came out very well due to how dark it was (I edited them as best I could to make them not as grainy) and ugh sadly I didn't realize my buttons had come undone and were like that the entire time. T_T Especially after everything we did to get the gazebo and how good the photos would be if it wasn't for that fact. And of course we didn't get any other photos really. Meeeh.
Group shot. Sadly Ren didn't get any that included my cape in the shot which makes me a little sad as I rather liked how it looked all sprawled out around me. I probably should have requested that.
I love this one but I'd love it more if my buttons were buttoned up. T_____T I mean I don't mind the bottom two open but the top one opened just makes me look sloppy. I don't know how no one noticed that (but then again I didn't either).
Ren also kept forgetting to use Corey's camera, which took far better night shots but also sadly put time stamps on. I had to crop the time stamp out so that's why this came out a little short. I still LOVE this photo though. XD For those that don't know the manga (which is pretty much 90% of you lol) Berhie (Corey) is pretty crazy and obsessed with Lucille. They're actually my favorite pairing of the manga, as demented as they are (but they have a pretty wonderful and twisted history together).
I'm still sad we didn't get to do the other pose I wanted which is of Lucille and Berthie torturing Gwindel since we had him with the doll arms and all. Granted I guess if Corey ever does flashback Berthie that would make more sense but maybe some day we will. As it'd just be fun. XD (Sorry Jon lol)
But after the photos at the gazebo, we went to the hotel bar for drinks. Well I didn't drink of course 'cause you all know me and my low tolerance and my dislike for a large majority of drinks. I actually would have gotten something though if I wasn't so poor and really couldn't afford one. lol So instead just had sips of other people's. Courtney joined us but had left her ID in the room so couldn't drink but still joined in on the lulz (which were many). Had a lot of fun at that table as we were still acting semi in character and making a lot of jokes that no one but us would really get. XD; Utai got pretty drunk which was also very highly entertaining. And we were all amazed that it was like only 8:30pm at this point as it seriously felt much later. But we realized we should get going so Corey could finish her Akira costume and have enough time for us to get into TnC before the final shoot of the night. Utai had to be pretty much dragged back up to the room. XD And by the time I had changed and rejoined them, she was pretty much passing out on the bed.
But before we changed costumes, we agreed we had to do one last photo for Ningyou...being the dorks that we are...
XD Its just 'cause our headphones worked so well with the wigs. Couldn't pass it up. And lol we really do look like some sort of new Vocaloids.
After that went back to my room yet again and changed for real for our Togainu no Chi group. Then spent quite some time in the room with our Shiki and Rin and...girl I didn't catch the name of who wasn't cosplaying TnC so I'm not sure what to call her. ^^;;; In other words, the rest of Corey's room. We were all pretty hungry so decided to order pizza but omg it took forever to show up (I guess that's not that surprising at a con but stiiiiiill when you're REALLY hungry it just sucks so much more).
So who was I cosplaying from Togainu no Chi? Well my favorite character is Shiki and I've always wanted to do him...
But no. I did Keisuke. XD;;; Who is like my least favorite character of the game but they didn't have a Keisuke and Corey talked me into it though I said I'd only do it if I got to do "Kurosuke" instead. XDXD Originally Corey brought me a brown wig of hers to use but it looked...really funny on me and felt too short so I had brought my Yosuke wig as back-up and decided it at least looked better on me, even if it was totally the wrong color and longer than Keisuke's hair. I realize now that I probably could have used my real hair as it sometimes spikes up on its own but it never does that when I actually WANT it to. lol
Utai passed out pretty hard in the room before the pizza ever came and Ren was kinda fading after that so she went back to our room to pass out while we continued to actually get ready for TnC. I got even more bloodied up in the bathroom and omg the blood Corey gave me felt SO WEIRD when I put it on. It was so sticky and for quite a while I really couldn't touch anything as it kept being so sticky. XD I had to be pretty careful though it did eventually fully dry (but not til after we were at the shoot for a bit). So then it gets pretty close to the time for the shoot and we manage to barely make it down in time. We found Ling and her Akira pretty early on and there was a female Gunji who right off the back tackled Corey to the ground and the whole night proceeded to pretty much molest everyone. XD And then we joined up with the rest of the folks. And well Rachel (our Shiki) and girl-who's-name-I-don't-know lol ehh I'll just call her Chizuru as she was cosplaying her from Hakuouki earlier in the day. Anyways. They said they had found a great spot and led us away even though like no one else knew where the hell we were going and they got a bit lost trying to find it and it ended up being this really dark room that was kinda like "ehhh I don't think this will work". And well things in general started to get a bit crazy and strange with this whole shoot. It was a little bit of a disaster just in the fact that we kept moving trying to find a good dark location but where our cameras would still work and it did get rather frustrating for everyone involved as each spot didn't work and eventually I was just like "can we just go back to the original spot?!" as I had originally suggested on the thread we use the fake brick walls in the fountain area for photos. So we did end up there in the end but we had lost like half the gathering by then, all who had walked off from either frustration or being uncomfortable.
'Cause the girl Gunji was pretty much all over everyone and while most of us didn't mind the sexual aspect so much (I honestly just didn't know how to react to it), she kept like slapping and hitting and causing general actual injury. I managed to get off mostly with just light hits but our Rin got slapped in the face pretty hard. And pretty much all of us got kissed by her at one point or another. ^^;; It was a really...strange night. That and added that the male Gunji was also a bit drunk...granted he wasn't that bad. Just really funny in my opinion but him and female Gunji did make out a lot and I think it made some of those who left a little uncomfortable. It really was just a very surreal and kinda strange experience. But we all talked on the thread later on and everyone agreed they'd like to try again at Otakon and this time without the awkwardness. 'Cause sadly we pretty much didn't get much photos in the end.
But here are a few so at least you all get to see how freaking creepy I was. XD Even if my costume is SUPER GHETTO!
...drugs are baaaaaad, kids. XD I creep myself out. And check out my ghetto intestines that look more like bacon than anything else. lol
Trying to recreate the infamous ending. Except Akira doesn't have enough blood to make it work at all but we tried. XD I know Corey has thought of doing a bloodied version of the costume. That and the way she's holding the intestine doesn't really look right lol. I had originally stuck one end in her jacket for some shots but they didn't look as good as this one. I guess you can think of it as Akira trying to pull his intestine back in before he died? I dunno. XD lol
Our group (sadly we didn't even really get a full gathering group shot)
At this point it was beyond late and hell I'm not even sure what time it was. Had to be around 2am I guess. So our group called it quits at least and we went back up to the rooms. Shiki, Rin, and Chizuru helped me to my room though so they could open the door for me as I wasn't sure if my blood was going to come off on it or not. It wasn't sticky anymore but I didn't want to take a chance. And of course everyone in the room was already asleep so I just snuck into the bathroom and took a VERY much needed shower. lol Though when I got out of the costume, I discovered I had somehow managed to get blood on my boobs. No idea how considering I put my binding on BEFORE I got into costume and before the blood but it was there. Pffft. Also realized I must have dropped my ghetto intestines somewhere on the way back to the room. XD Not that it matters too much as they were just a long scrap piece of fabric dyed in the fake blood. I might try to make something better next time.
Sunday:
(Just so you know, its currently 3am as I type this now...I really should not write con reports this late at night. I seem to just write even more details than normal ^^;;)
Got into Magnet Len again since Corey decided to wear Kaito and its comfortable. Packed up Ren's car though omg didn't think about the fact it'd be cold outside and I'm sleeveless. lol I mean it wasn't too bad but definitely didn't want to be out there for very long. Then Ren went to the charity auction while I hung out at Sarah's table for quite a while. And practically everyone we knew decided to show up at her table right then so it was like party at Sarah's table. XD Got to finally see Dar who I hadn't seen like all weekend and talked with her and Mandi about 07-Ghost-ness and about Zenkai and plans and stuff. Corey, Jon, and Utai eventually made their way into the Dealer's so I went to join them. While Corey got distracted by shiny dragons, I noticed some of the con tables and realized that there's not 1 but 2 cons in Rockville now. WTF! Granted one is just an internet social con but it's still like...really?! The other is T-Mode. Yeah, it moved to Rockville now. I just wish it wasn't so early. Its in April so not sure if I'll go or not. I mean its REALLY close to me but I don't know if I'd know anyone going (it seems pretty small too) and if I can afford it. Who knows. I'll think on it at least. After that we also ran into a Magnet Miku and Luka who were very nice and took a quick photo with them (though it was on Corey's phone so no idea if she'll ever upload it).
Eventually finished there and decided to go eat with them. They had planned to leave already by then as they had a long trip back but things didn't go as planned so they figured might as well eat. So I called Ren up to join us and we ate at the Sports Bar 'cause sadly the food concession thingy had closed and we didn't want to walk outside for food so that was really the only choice left. So we all just ordered the cheapest things we could find on the menu. I got that delicious soup again. Tohma's group was also eating there so Corey ran off with my Mikage plushie to talk to them and she said the girl that was Teito in their skit (they did a 07-Ghost skit for the Masq) squealed all over the place when she saw it. XD Kinda wish I had seen that but then again everyone kept running off with him the whole con. x_x; Definitely need to make Corey her own soon so she'll stop stealing mine! But after we ate they left and Ren and I decided we should head out too since pretty much everyone was gone at that point. Though ran into Jackie as we were leaving and lol once again got to only see and talk to her right before we leave. This seems to happen every con.
Then on the way back to the car, there was a Miku and Luka next to the Peep mascot who had been wandering around (lol there's a Peepz store in the area and so this guy had been wandering around all weekend, advertising for the store and of course made us con-goers pretty excited) and Ren and I were distracted by the Peep and like I saw the Miku and Luka looking at me and did hear them say "can I have a photo?" but somehow it didn't quite register with me. Part of me thought they meant someone else, another part thought they meant of my plushie since I was carrying him around, and so like I kinda kept walking and they were like "T_T Ok, nevermind..." and then I was like "Oh! OH! You meant me. lol Sorry." them: "yeah, I'm Miku and she's Luka" as they weren't really in the obvious costumes, they were in one of the hoodie ones. And I'm all "Oh I know I know! I just...forgot I was wearing this. ^^;;; Sorry!" Like seriously. I forgot I still had Len on. Hahaha! Felt pretty stupid.
So then we left the con, got home, Ren rested for a bit at my house, had pizza, and she left and thus ended my Katsucon.
And holy shit that was really long. If you read all of that, you deserve a cookie or something. O_o;
Edit: Oh and the rest of my phtos are here http://lyn.houjun.com/katsu11.html though I didn't get many as I left my camera charger at home and my camera was on low battery from the start of the con. x_x; Go me.
~Lyn
Thursday:
Ren showed up right on time, about 8:03pm which I was pretty amazed at because she said she'd be there around 8 and well I figured she'd probably be there more like 8:30 so was pretty impressed that she got there RIGHT when she said she would. XD I actually pretty much had everything done by the time she got here, which I was kinda amazed by. Just had a few last things to edit and then spent most of the time packing while Moulin Rouge played on Logo in the background. Ren hasn't had cable in like...forever so it was really funny watching her reactions to all the commercials that I've seen like a billion times over but she'd never seen. XD Since I actually finished early, I was going to make some more stuff for AA but I just...kinda keeled over instead and spent the rest of the night chatting online to save my sanity.
And I went to bed before 2am! Oh my god it was amazing! XD; ...course I couldn't sleep like I usually can't the night before a con but the last few cons I've been up til like 3/4am still working on things the night before. T_T So this was rather nice. Granted it's only because I gave up on a few details. Pffft.
Friday:
We got up a bit later than intended but it didn't really matter much as I didn't really want to leave until I knew the status of who in our room was going. Since Alyce was really sick and I wanted to make sure I had people's phone numbers in case she didn't come to the con as she's usually the one that contacts me about their arrival and such. So we just chilled a bit in my kitchen. Ren had breakfast and I...didn't. lol I can't eat that early. Though I did end up having some Coke. Which oh my gosh I haven't had Coke like that in the morning since I was a teen XD but seeing Ren drink it tempted me too much. (I used to drink Coke as my breakfast a lot when I was younger as a means to wake me up. It was a horrible habit I try not to get back into. lol) Then after hearing that Alyce and crew had left for con, we finally got ready and packed up and left shortly after they did. Wore Magnet Len there as it was a comfortable enough costume to wear to a con and the drive wasn't really long. Hell we didn't hit any traffic at all so probably better we did leave as late as we did else we would have been stuck in it. Though driving through the Tyson's area was as scary as it always is. *shudder* That's one thing I don't like about being at the Gaylord now. Its kinda impossible to avoid that area to get to the con. But we got there in one piece and parked at one of the cheaper parking lots and headed to the con. We just left our stuff in the car since it'd be a while still before the rest of our room would arrive and figured we'd check out the con in the mean time. Went to Corey's room to get my headphones (which wai I love so much~ They freaking sparkle XDXD) she made me for our Magnet cosplay. Then Ren and I went to get our badges.
So pre-reg took like maybe 5 minutes total? I walk in and there is NO line and the pre-reg people were fighting over who would get me as apparently they hadn't had a pre-reg in a while and were getting REALLY bored. lol But Katsu totally failed on organization this year as they didn't have any booklets or schedules printed out yet so all we got were really pathetic little bags of flyers. x_x; I went over to the reg line and pffft that was A LOT longer and pretty disorganized. I was originally waiting with Ren in line and then someone starts talking to me, who I'm like starring at and drawing a complete blank. Girl talking to me obviously knows me as she's talking about stuff on my LJ and I'm just like "...who is she?" but smile and talk back, pretending I remember who they are. At one point I went over to check to make sure I didn't like miss the schedules if maybe they were on the table but realized that no, there really weren't any made yet. And upon trying to go back to Ren, a staffer tells me I have to exit. I'm like "but I'm just keeping my friend company in line." "No. You have to leave." I'm like "wtf O_o that's never been a rule before..." but whatever so I got kicked out of the room which sucked because I had nothing to do and no one to talk to and it took Ren FOREVER to get through registration. Though at least outside I ran into Christa (old co-worker from when I worked at JoAnn's) and her kids. And then the girl I had talked to earlier came out and I had to go over and be all "I am so sorry but I can't remember who you are..." It was Cassi. PFFFFFFT. I can't believe I didn't recognize her and still no idea why 'cause it wasn't like she was dressed oddly or had make-up on at the time. I guess its just been that long since I last saw her. Or something. lol She and her friends left. Then Becca showed up and I talked to her. Then she left. Then Corey showed up, trying to find out where to get a press badge (which no one in the entire con seemed to know). And yet still Ren remained in the registration line. Which was just kinda strange because it wasn't a huge line or anything. Just so disorganized. Finally she came out of the line and just in time too as Alyce texts me to let us know they have arrived. So we go get our stuff and move it to the room.
On the way to the car, we run into Dani, Laura, Dan, and Alex, who had all returned from the Peep store...which I never did get to go to. T_T Sadness. Though my parents are thinking of going to visit the area sometime soon so I might go with and finally go there. XD; Got our stuff into the room. Poor Alyce was pretty much stuck in bed for most of the con and we dubbed her and Tom's bed the plague bed as Tom had been sick too though he was much better by then. Alyce...was not. Luckily none of us got sick so I guess we did a good job at staying plague free at least. Unloaded and ate a much needed sandwich. The Gaylord is super expensive when it comes to food so one always tries to bring food to eat in the room instead and it really makes a big difference in the long run. And I always love my little PA crew as they are smart and bring REAL food. <3 Then helped Ren get into her World of Warcraft Priest costume, which I nicknamed "the WoW Beast" when I was working on it. XD Met up with Corey and Jon again and proceeded to wander.
Ren in the WoW Beast
Back view
WoW vs FF XD; (God Jon why are you so tall?!)
Ventured outside and oh my god the Gaylord area is soooo pretty. I mean it was pretty with the snow last year but it really was so much nicer without it. And we had REALLY nice weather wise that day so we wandered about and sat on the rocks that were over the beach for a bit, just relaxing and taking in the sun. Also took a few photos out there. And were a bit bawfled at the fact when we found the area we had last year's PH snowball fight at. Considering we realized the snow we were standing on was over a rather deep rock hole (which I wonder if its actually supposed to be filled with water as otherwise it did seem a bit random). No wonder we had problems standing on top of it. XD;
Corey and I doing the infamous Magnet pose XD
And I just really like this shot I got of Ren ^^
Wandered back in and asked around to try to still figure out how to get Corey's press badge. lol In the mean time ran into both Lionel and Al and had photos taken.
Last minute cosplay ftw XD
We also saw this AMAZING Astaroshe cosplayer from Trinity Blood. She was soooo nice too. We talked to her for a while and lol Corey and I were totally oogling the costume the whole time but she didn't seem to mind too much as she just laughed at me being all "Squee! Beadwork!" as I was like in full sew-geek mode at the detail work. Like seriously the photo does no justice. There was soooo much detail work on it. And I felt pretty inferior wearing my ghetto Magnet cosplay at the time lol so didn't have anything on to prove I knew what I was talking about. ^^;; But she took a photo of us too which was sweet and said she really liked our costumes anyways (pfft they were so last minute put together though).
After that we decided we had a good amount of time in those costumes and so went back to the rooms to change into 07-Ghost (well at least those of us who were doing it). So I got into Teito and then went to Corey's room while she got into Mikage and Jon into Ayanami. Corey didn't actually finish her Mikage costume in time for the con so she decided to do casual version and stole Jon's Katan wings so she'd be angel Mikage (which I guess made her kinda a walking spoiler but not like many people know or care about 07-Ghost anyways). I'm honestly not sure if I like my Teito costume or not. A lot of it was rushed so I think I may try to fix it up whenever I get the chance. I need to add more cording to the corset thing in the back and probably re-sew all the trim so it lays flat better. Also the neckpiece needs some help too. x_x; But it was at least fun to wear and not as uncomfortable as I had feared it would be (since its rather tight-fitting).
We had some time before the gathering time so we went into the Dealer's Room for a bit. Utai joined us during this, in her Jack costume. We were on the search to get Ren some better elf ears for her costume but alas nobody had any. And meanwhile Corey and I kept getting distracted by figures, or mostly just the Anime Sekiai booth. lol Though I was good and didn't buy anything except for the Dissidia Cloud figure which was the only thing I had intended to buy and I stuck with it. I probably shouldn't even have bought that to be honest as I'm just that poor right now but I didn't want to keep putting it off in fear they might not have them around once the new set comes out. We didn't really get too far in before we realized how close to the time for the gathering was. Though at this point I realized...we had lost Ren and Utai. Pffft. I at least made an attempt to find them as we also tried to find the exit but they were like totally gone. ^^; And granted it took us forever just to FIND the exit. Pfft. The way they had it set up this year was really odd. But we eventually made our escape and went to the fountain area and of course as I expected, no one showed up except for the Frau we had met earlier. Which is sad 'cause originally we had a whole bunch of people reply to the thread but they all vanished once it got closer to the con. T_T
But the Frau was really nice and awesome. She had a HUUUUGE scythe which was pretty damn impressive. So the four of us went up to the gazebo area and had photos taken with Sang and his friend...who's name I always manage to miss. And it was a lot of fun at least. My Mikage/Burupya plushie got a lot of attention too which I'm glad because I really did Teito more as an excuse to make him and carry him around. XD;
Horrible photo from my camera but you can see Burupya at least. Sadly I didn't really get any good shots of the costume so you really can't see why the costume gave me so much heartache ('cause its design makes no flipping sense!)
Our mini group
And sad but cute photo even though my expression is like "derp" lol I so don't look emo enough here XD Though I was just like out of it the whole time sadly. x_x; I'll try to be more in character next time.
Didn't really stay in those costumes for very long though and then I had to give Jason his Archer costume. And back in the room, helping him get it on...realized I had made several parts too tight. T__T Fixed it as best I could in the room but his pants were still rather tight and I know he had a hard time moving in it. But he was very understanding, agreed that its just a costume that's hard to do without the person actually there to size it to and we've already discussed how to fix it later on and he wants to try getting a bit more muscular so he better suits it next time. But at least the shirt and boots worked fine as those were the parts that took the longest and I'd probably shoot myself if I had to remake them.
After that, got out of Teito and just relaxed in the room for a while which was much needed. Tom had gotten Alyce some cheese brocoli soup from the sports bar downstairs and it smelled so good that Brittany, Beth, and I all decided we had to have some too. lol So there went my conviction to not eat any overpriced food this con. As it was like $8 for just a cup but I must admit it was pretty amazing. I was pretty dead though so luckily Brittany and Beth were willing to just bring me back a cup so I wouldn't have to walk down and up with them as I really was exhausted so just talked with poor dying Alyce in the mean time. And seriously that soup was the best thing I had all weekend so I think it was worth the $8. XD Though after I finished that, it was starting to get late so figured I should probably start getting into Lucifer. And well I had figured I probably would take the least amount of time of the whole group so I'd just take my time. And yet somehow I ended up taking the longest. Go figure. As Corey and Jon showed up like in full costume already when I was just starting the make-up. ^^;; Oops. Brittany did a wonderful job on it though. I'm really so grateful she was willing to do it. Hell I'm so grateful I've had as many friends over the years willing to do it for me in general because the make-up really makes that costume and I'm such a failure at make-up. Though I am learning! Just not ready to actually do it for a costume yet. XD; Especially one that hard. But eventually I finished getting into Luci and we made our way downstairs even though the whole time I'm thinking "...am I forgetting something?" and of course when we get down to the gazebo level I realize I forgot my claws. x_x; But Brittany was a saint and got them for me considering I already had my wings on at this point and it would have taken a bit of an effort to get back up to the room. ^^;;
Ran into Courtney pretty easily though she didn't even notice us at first which was kinda funny 'cause how the hell could you not notice all the wings? XD But omg her bride Kurai was really amazing and I'm so glad she was there to join us. Took us a bit longer to find Tohma and Jensen but we did eventually and we took our wing mass to the gazebo for photos. Sadly we never found the Mad Hatter that had been around earlier. Especially considering she was actually taller than Courtney. XD
Whole group
Mandatory pose. (seriously I've lost track of how many times I've done this pose as Lucifer throughout all the times I've done him, with both Alexiels and Rosiels lol) Though I think this is my fav picture of this pose to date.
Sadly I once again forgot that my wings BEND and thus need to be actually pulled outwards and so I once again didn't do that just like how I didn't do that most of Otakon. Pfft. Because you can't see the wings very well from the front and they kinda droop unless you do that. So NEXT TIME I will freaking remember to do that so they don't look so weird and are more visible because seriously believe me they look a lot better when they've been pulled all the way out as I did that for our first rehearsal Thurs night of Ota and at home. I just keep forgetting to do it when I ACTUALLY wear it. -_-; Though I'm thinking I need to schedule a shoot with someone at some con for just photos of Luci 'cause I don't really have many solo shots and none that show any of the details. Just not sure when as I don't want to wear this thing during the summer again. Maybe for AUSA or something.
Wandered back downstairs as a group and kinda chilled for a while even though poor Tohma couldn't really sit down so some of us sat and some of stood until Tohma had to leave for the night. Then the rest of us all kinda plopped down on floor outside of the sports bar. I know that's kinda a random spot but it was like the only good area where we'd be out of the way. lol And gradually we just kinda. Died. XD Like more and more pieces of our costumes were taken off as time progressed. Starting with the wings. And oh boy did we have A LOT of drunks come up to us the entire time we wore these costumes. x_x;; I guess the shininess and feathers attract them. Pfft. Also attracted a lot of the normal people who weren't there for the convention as they kept asking for photos lol though we were like "...is it ok if we just sit here without putting the wings back on? We are soooooo freaking tired." lol But most of them were totally cool with that. I found it really amusing that almost all of the normal folks seemed mostly interested in me. XD Like we had a bunch of guys in the sports bar who were starring at us the entire time they were in there and so eventually they came out to talk to us and they were like "I want photos with the evil looking one!" XD It was amusing. Hell I got that even from the con-goers. As we ran into a bunch of drunks earlier on in the lobby and they were like wanting to pose with me grabbing their faces with my claws. Though they also wanted to go under Courtney's skirt...luckily they didn't actually do that but we were a bit afraid they may try for a second there (afterwards we agreed her skirt needs teeth to eat people like that with).
But during our dead-ness, Corey got some food to eat and I asked if I could have a sip of whatever drink she got 'cause like usual, I was kinda dying from all the pvc and pleather. And she got one of my favorite things in the whole world. Minute Maid Lemonade. OMG. lol Felt bad as I think I drank like over half of the thing as I was like "THIS IS SO WHAT I NEED RIGHT NOW!" if I had money on me I would have bought my own and probably chugged it. But it was pretty sad because every time we passed it back and forth...we were just far away from each other that we couldn't just hand it over but we were so tired and dead we really didn't want to move so each time it was a bit of a struggle and well you kinda had to be there but believe me it was pretty funny with just how pathetic we were.
I also discovered how incredibly useful my claws are. At one point the bottle rolled away from me and I couldn't quite reach it (once again really didn't want to move even an inch) and I was like "waitaminute waitaminute I got this!" and put the claws on and huzzah I got it! XD; They also work really well as a head scratcher I've learned. But eventually we realized we need to go back to our rooms or we'd never get up. Especially me. I was dying right there and I knew if I didn't go then, I'd never be able to get up at all. lol So dragged myself back to the room. And of course everyone else was already passed out (lol this seems to be a theme at cons now. At least at AUSA I did go to bed at the same time one of the nights). Well Beth wasn't passed out quite yet but it took me a while to get out of costume and all. And I had a pretty bad panic moment (kinda surprised I didn't wake anyone up but I guess I kinda managed to not yell out...it was hard not to) because as I was getting out of the coat...the lining got stuck in the zipper. And well that's happened before but this was REALLY REALLY BAD. Like I couldn't even get the zipper to go up or down and I was freaking out because I thought for sure I would have to end up either tearing the fabric or destroying the zipper or both to get it undone. Luckily I had it off far enough at this point that I could still slip out of it and decided to just take a shower first and then fool with it. (And oh my god showers after wearing that costume are seriously the most amazing thing ever. lol I love Lucifer but goddamn is it kinda gross to wear after a while.)
After the shower continued to work very very very carefully with the zipper for like probably a full 20 to 30 minutes. I seriously was almost in tears at this point because I knew I could very easily tear this thing and then have to completely remake it. But somehow I eventually managed to work it out and got it undone without any damage. Though I am really starting to regret lining it as I'm so scared that will happen again. T_T After that I finally passed out though I had an insanely restless night. Couldn't get into a comfortable position no matter what I did and felt bad 'cause I kept worrying that I was waking Beth or Brittany up every time I shifted (and during all this shifting at one point I accidentally pulled the covers pretty far over though I did push them back once I realized this ^^;; Oops) but both seemed to not remember any of this so I guess I didn't wake them up. But no idea how much sleep I actually got but I doubt it was much if any.
Saturday:
...I'll have you know that as I'm writing this I'm going "What the hell?! I'm just NOW getting to Saturday? This is waaaaaay too freaking long." T_T I really get way too detailed with these things. Sorry. This might get a little less detailed now just because I want to finish this and go to bed already! lol
Woke up and found out that Corey was still working on a costume for someone and was unsure if she'd even be able to get into Angela for the Kuro meet. And that meanwhile Natalie was having a hard time getting to the hotel. So I figured there was no need to get into Ciel until I knew for sure that people were actually doing Kuro and what have you. Made my way to Corey's room, still in my pjs, to help her, only to get there and have her say she had decided to just give up so pfft I could have just stayed in bed. XD But I did get to see Vanora as she came passing by the hall (another old co-worker from my JoAnn's days, lol I always seem to see them at cons now. Saw Chrissy too in passing on Friday). She had her evil little child with her. lol No really. Her daughter has this seriously maniacal laugh and we were joking she would take over the world some day. Well most of us were joking. I was actually a bit serious as it really did creep me out a little because we all know children in general scare me, especially little ones. But I mean I'm not about to say that in front of them so I've gotten pretty good at being nice and at least she was a lot bigger than last year (she really scared me at AUSA '09 when her little baby hand reached out and clung to the fabric of my sleeve. I was a bit petrified to say the least. x_x).
Went back to the room once Corey decided to go get ready and halfway dressed, Natalie texted saying she finally got to the hotel. I actually didn't take too long to get ready but Corey and Jon took forever and I felt a bit bad that Natalie was waiting for me and all as I didn't think it'd take that long. Eventually got down there for the end of the Kuro gathering pretty much which was honestly fine with me as I'm not really fond of the Kuro gatherings anymore and the Kuro cosplay fandom in general. I'd rather just chill with my friends considering how many Ciels get convinced they ARE Ciel and let it go to their head. But anyways, gave Natalie the gun I brought for her to borrow and wai she was such a cute Maylene though immediately noticed that I had made the costume a bit too big. T_T At least she still seemed to like the costume a lot so I'm happy. I had to fix the back though as one of the apron straps had gotten twisted when it was put on her so the whole corset piece was all thrown off and looked wonky. lol Though of course as I'm trying to fix this, THEN the Kuro folks decide to do the Phoenix pose together and I was all "aghaidhphgipd WAIT!" 'cause that was like the one thing I wanted to do while in Ciel because that bit just cracked me up too much. So as a result I kinda ended up more towards the back and side and can't really see me in the photo of it. T_T Aw well. At least I did it. Even if it was really hard balancing in that costume. XD Though kinda sad how many of the Kuro people there had no idea what we were trying to do...obviously meaning they only knew the anime. Pfft. Lionel took the opportunity and had us do other silly poses though and I do show up in those photos...
Honestly not sure what pose this was supposed to be. I think its that thing from one of the Gundam shows or something. I've seen people do it before but not sure as I kinda didn't quite catch what it was when Lionel and the others yelled it out. Pfft. I just copied what people were doing around me. But I like the photo. XD
And obligatory Thriller pose XD
And here's me and Natalie. We got more photos with Al later on but he hasn't put those up yet.
We then decided we should desert the gathering and get actual photos at the gazebo (we = me, Natalie and Utai since Corey had disappeared into the mass of Kuro folks). I was also a bit annoyed as I was promised before the con when I reluctantly agreed to bring Ciel that I would not be abandoned this time, that they would make sure to help me with my train ('cause past few times I brought it, they all ran off and I tripped over myself or got stuck on something or nearly lost my top hat etc T_T) and what happens? Same thing. But Natalie was a sweetheart and offered to help instead though I felt bad that she had to do so. But at least we did get some photos together as I really was looking forward mostly to getting some with her and hanging out for a bit. But seriously. I'm done with that costume. No more. Tired of wearing it. So freaking tired of it. I don't even like it that much anymore as its been almost 2 years since I made it and already I wish I had done the whole thing differently as its not as well made as I'd like.
Though as we were about to escape, Bonnie and her bf showed up and considering they were the other reason I brought Ciel, figured I should go wait for them. And eventually we all got back together as one group and headed upstairs though we never did get the gazebo (they really need to set a time limit on that thing) and instead settled for one of the doors.
Group shot. Note the Hannah. That is a dude. XD Bonnie's bf makes an INCREDIBLY good girl. Shocked a hell of a lot of people.
Though I'm sad that we didn't like do any of the poses we had planned to do ahead of time. Like I would have liked to have done more photos with Angela and Ash 'cause despite the fact the anime sucked and I hate that character(s), I really love Bonnie's Ash and I think it would have been cool to do like something with the whole trying to steal Ciel's soul thing. Oh well. I always think of these things like after we've changed out. The other sad thing is to this day I still have yet to have ANY photos with a single Sebastian. Ever. lol I've posed with other characters but I've never actually had a Sebastian and when I do find one willing to do photos with me, something always happens and we get no photos. T_T So I'm just giving up. No more. If I do Ciel again, it'll be at least a different outfit.
I did sit down and chill with Natalie for a little bit but she was starting to shake from lack of food and had homework to do so I agreed she should go to her friend's room and I was thinking of doing the same. So hiked back up to my room by myself with no help lol but at that point I just didn't care anymore as at least I had learned how to carry it somewhat on my own. Got to the room, threw that damn outfit off, and had a much needed sandwich.
Then wandered back down. Out of costume. Gasp! lol Everyone I ran into seemed rather surprised by this. I guess just because it was the middle of the day and I normally am only in regular clothes in the morning or night. Made my way to the AA to visit Sarah at her table for a bit. Saw Corey's Hakuouki group vs Adam's Kenshin group and lamented a little that I was able to join it. As I so would have if I had had the time to mkae a Hakuouki costume but I definitely didn't have the time nor money for a wig so oh well. Considering maybe doing something for the sakura matsuri though if I can afford a wig by then even though I wouldn't have anyone else to do it with then. T_T Eventually made my way back up after dropping stuff off at Sarah's table and decided, screw it, I'll just go ahead and get into Lucille even though my group is too busy with Hakuouki and Ren and Utai were still getting food. I was a little upset 'cause I really wanted daylight photos for Ningyou and Corey wasn't picking up her phone so I had no idea where they were so I figured to hell with it, I'll just get photos from Ren of just me in the mean time. But of course by the time Ren got back and got batteries in her camera, THEN Corey and them finally show up and I had parts of their costumes in my room so figured I might as well go back up, deliver things and maybe if we were fast enough, still get some photos before the sun went down.
Well. That didn't happen. They took quite a while so we lost the sun and I know Ren's camera doesn't do well without it and Corey hadn't learned how to take her date stamp off her camera yet. But I was still determined to at least try considering I had been waiting to do this group for a long time now even though we were still missing an Eles and Gwindel's costume was never actually finished (so we had Jon do Gwindel sans coat and just gave him the doll arms to try to make up for it). I decided it'd be really cool to get photos in the gazebo because the thing kinda looked like a birdcage and there's a whole songbird/birdcage motif going on with Lucille. However, there was a Tsubasa group that just wouldn't leave the gazebo. I mean we're here patiently waiting, obviously wanting to use it and for once there wasn't really a long wait of people like there often was throughout the con and we did even ask if we could use it next and yet they still decided to just keep on using it. And I honestly found it a bit rude and inconsiderate as they had obviously been there a while before us and continued to use it for a pretty long time while we waited and then another group showed up also wanting to use it and asked if they could go ahead of us as they were in a rush and just wanted at most maybe 5 photos so we agreed they could go ahead.
But still the Tsubasa group didn't move. So one of their friends finally went up and asked them if they could please have it. So they moved over. Half of the gazebo. So even while these girls are having photos taken, the Tsubasa group STILL took photos in the gazebo too which I found even more rude as the other group had to limit their space. And even after they left, they still continued to use it. And at first we were like "ok lets just use the half we have" but I was like "No. I want the full gazebo and I know they'll never let us have it if we don't say something." So I walk over to them and say full out "You've been here for a long time already and we really want to use the whole gazebo so can you please leave already." 'cause at that point we already had yet another person queuing up for it (a cute little Ciel who was very pleasant and understanding about letting us use it before her but also a bit annoyed this group wouldn't leave). They sorta kinda left then but still took a while to get them to actually move and I had to be kinda bossy in their face to get them to do so. After that everyone was kinda going "Woah Lucille! You bitched them out." but I honestly didn't think I was even being that bitchy about it. O_o I mean I was just being honest and I was still polite about it but maybe it came off bitchier than I realized due to my patience growing thin. ^^;; But hey at least we finally got it and I made sure we didn't take very long as I felt really bad that the Ciel had to wait that long. And even then we had a Zelda group try to barge in and I was like "hey hey, this girl here has been waiting for it." and they seemed annoyed at me for that but wtf, she was there first, who cares if you have bigger costumes, she has just as much right to take photos there as you do. I really just got so fed up with people's rudeness over fighting with the gazebo this year. Last year really wasn't as bad and I think maybe now Katsu should consider having someone watch it and time limit people because seriously.
But anyways. Sorry about that mini rant. Onto the photos. Sadly not many came out very well due to how dark it was (I edited them as best I could to make them not as grainy) and ugh sadly I didn't realize my buttons had come undone and were like that the entire time. T_T Especially after everything we did to get the gazebo and how good the photos would be if it wasn't for that fact. And of course we didn't get any other photos really. Meeeh.
Group shot. Sadly Ren didn't get any that included my cape in the shot which makes me a little sad as I rather liked how it looked all sprawled out around me. I probably should have requested that.
I love this one but I'd love it more if my buttons were buttoned up. T_____T I mean I don't mind the bottom two open but the top one opened just makes me look sloppy. I don't know how no one noticed that (but then again I didn't either).
Ren also kept forgetting to use Corey's camera, which took far better night shots but also sadly put time stamps on. I had to crop the time stamp out so that's why this came out a little short. I still LOVE this photo though. XD For those that don't know the manga (which is pretty much 90% of you lol) Berhie (Corey) is pretty crazy and obsessed with Lucille. They're actually my favorite pairing of the manga, as demented as they are (but they have a pretty wonderful and twisted history together).
I'm still sad we didn't get to do the other pose I wanted which is of Lucille and Berthie torturing Gwindel since we had him with the doll arms and all. Granted I guess if Corey ever does flashback Berthie that would make more sense but maybe some day we will. As it'd just be fun. XD (Sorry Jon lol)
But after the photos at the gazebo, we went to the hotel bar for drinks. Well I didn't drink of course 'cause you all know me and my low tolerance and my dislike for a large majority of drinks. I actually would have gotten something though if I wasn't so poor and really couldn't afford one. lol So instead just had sips of other people's. Courtney joined us but had left her ID in the room so couldn't drink but still joined in on the lulz (which were many). Had a lot of fun at that table as we were still acting semi in character and making a lot of jokes that no one but us would really get. XD; Utai got pretty drunk which was also very highly entertaining. And we were all amazed that it was like only 8:30pm at this point as it seriously felt much later. But we realized we should get going so Corey could finish her Akira costume and have enough time for us to get into TnC before the final shoot of the night. Utai had to be pretty much dragged back up to the room. XD And by the time I had changed and rejoined them, she was pretty much passing out on the bed.
But before we changed costumes, we agreed we had to do one last photo for Ningyou...being the dorks that we are...
XD Its just 'cause our headphones worked so well with the wigs. Couldn't pass it up. And lol we really do look like some sort of new Vocaloids.
After that went back to my room yet again and changed for real for our Togainu no Chi group. Then spent quite some time in the room with our Shiki and Rin and...girl I didn't catch the name of who wasn't cosplaying TnC so I'm not sure what to call her. ^^;;; In other words, the rest of Corey's room. We were all pretty hungry so decided to order pizza but omg it took forever to show up (I guess that's not that surprising at a con but stiiiiiill when you're REALLY hungry it just sucks so much more).
So who was I cosplaying from Togainu no Chi? Well my favorite character is Shiki and I've always wanted to do him...
But no. I did Keisuke. XD;;; Who is like my least favorite character of the game but they didn't have a Keisuke and Corey talked me into it though I said I'd only do it if I got to do "Kurosuke" instead. XDXD Originally Corey brought me a brown wig of hers to use but it looked...really funny on me and felt too short so I had brought my Yosuke wig as back-up and decided it at least looked better on me, even if it was totally the wrong color and longer than Keisuke's hair. I realize now that I probably could have used my real hair as it sometimes spikes up on its own but it never does that when I actually WANT it to. lol
Utai passed out pretty hard in the room before the pizza ever came and Ren was kinda fading after that so she went back to our room to pass out while we continued to actually get ready for TnC. I got even more bloodied up in the bathroom and omg the blood Corey gave me felt SO WEIRD when I put it on. It was so sticky and for quite a while I really couldn't touch anything as it kept being so sticky. XD I had to be pretty careful though it did eventually fully dry (but not til after we were at the shoot for a bit). So then it gets pretty close to the time for the shoot and we manage to barely make it down in time. We found Ling and her Akira pretty early on and there was a female Gunji who right off the back tackled Corey to the ground and the whole night proceeded to pretty much molest everyone. XD And then we joined up with the rest of the folks. And well Rachel (our Shiki) and girl-who's-name-I-don't-know lol ehh I'll just call her Chizuru as she was cosplaying her from Hakuouki earlier in the day. Anyways. They said they had found a great spot and led us away even though like no one else knew where the hell we were going and they got a bit lost trying to find it and it ended up being this really dark room that was kinda like "ehhh I don't think this will work". And well things in general started to get a bit crazy and strange with this whole shoot. It was a little bit of a disaster just in the fact that we kept moving trying to find a good dark location but where our cameras would still work and it did get rather frustrating for everyone involved as each spot didn't work and eventually I was just like "can we just go back to the original spot?!" as I had originally suggested on the thread we use the fake brick walls in the fountain area for photos. So we did end up there in the end but we had lost like half the gathering by then, all who had walked off from either frustration or being uncomfortable.
'Cause the girl Gunji was pretty much all over everyone and while most of us didn't mind the sexual aspect so much (I honestly just didn't know how to react to it), she kept like slapping and hitting and causing general actual injury. I managed to get off mostly with just light hits but our Rin got slapped in the face pretty hard. And pretty much all of us got kissed by her at one point or another. ^^;; It was a really...strange night. That and added that the male Gunji was also a bit drunk...granted he wasn't that bad. Just really funny in my opinion but him and female Gunji did make out a lot and I think it made some of those who left a little uncomfortable. It really was just a very surreal and kinda strange experience. But we all talked on the thread later on and everyone agreed they'd like to try again at Otakon and this time without the awkwardness. 'Cause sadly we pretty much didn't get much photos in the end.
But here are a few so at least you all get to see how freaking creepy I was. XD Even if my costume is SUPER GHETTO!
...drugs are baaaaaad, kids. XD I creep myself out. And check out my ghetto intestines that look more like bacon than anything else. lol
Trying to recreate the infamous ending. Except Akira doesn't have enough blood to make it work at all but we tried. XD I know Corey has thought of doing a bloodied version of the costume. That and the way she's holding the intestine doesn't really look right lol. I had originally stuck one end in her jacket for some shots but they didn't look as good as this one. I guess you can think of it as Akira trying to pull his intestine back in before he died? I dunno. XD lol
Our group (sadly we didn't even really get a full gathering group shot)
At this point it was beyond late and hell I'm not even sure what time it was. Had to be around 2am I guess. So our group called it quits at least and we went back up to the rooms. Shiki, Rin, and Chizuru helped me to my room though so they could open the door for me as I wasn't sure if my blood was going to come off on it or not. It wasn't sticky anymore but I didn't want to take a chance. And of course everyone in the room was already asleep so I just snuck into the bathroom and took a VERY much needed shower. lol Though when I got out of the costume, I discovered I had somehow managed to get blood on my boobs. No idea how considering I put my binding on BEFORE I got into costume and before the blood but it was there. Pffft. Also realized I must have dropped my ghetto intestines somewhere on the way back to the room. XD Not that it matters too much as they were just a long scrap piece of fabric dyed in the fake blood. I might try to make something better next time.
Sunday:
(Just so you know, its currently 3am as I type this now...I really should not write con reports this late at night. I seem to just write even more details than normal ^^;;)
Got into Magnet Len again since Corey decided to wear Kaito and its comfortable. Packed up Ren's car though omg didn't think about the fact it'd be cold outside and I'm sleeveless. lol I mean it wasn't too bad but definitely didn't want to be out there for very long. Then Ren went to the charity auction while I hung out at Sarah's table for quite a while. And practically everyone we knew decided to show up at her table right then so it was like party at Sarah's table. XD Got to finally see Dar who I hadn't seen like all weekend and talked with her and Mandi about 07-Ghost-ness and about Zenkai and plans and stuff. Corey, Jon, and Utai eventually made their way into the Dealer's so I went to join them. While Corey got distracted by shiny dragons, I noticed some of the con tables and realized that there's not 1 but 2 cons in Rockville now. WTF! Granted one is just an internet social con but it's still like...really?! The other is T-Mode. Yeah, it moved to Rockville now. I just wish it wasn't so early. Its in April so not sure if I'll go or not. I mean its REALLY close to me but I don't know if I'd know anyone going (it seems pretty small too) and if I can afford it. Who knows. I'll think on it at least. After that we also ran into a Magnet Miku and Luka who were very nice and took a quick photo with them (though it was on Corey's phone so no idea if she'll ever upload it).
Eventually finished there and decided to go eat with them. They had planned to leave already by then as they had a long trip back but things didn't go as planned so they figured might as well eat. So I called Ren up to join us and we ate at the Sports Bar 'cause sadly the food concession thingy had closed and we didn't want to walk outside for food so that was really the only choice left. So we all just ordered the cheapest things we could find on the menu. I got that delicious soup again. Tohma's group was also eating there so Corey ran off with my Mikage plushie to talk to them and she said the girl that was Teito in their skit (they did a 07-Ghost skit for the Masq) squealed all over the place when she saw it. XD Kinda wish I had seen that but then again everyone kept running off with him the whole con. x_x; Definitely need to make Corey her own soon so she'll stop stealing mine! But after we ate they left and Ren and I decided we should head out too since pretty much everyone was gone at that point. Though ran into Jackie as we were leaving and lol once again got to only see and talk to her right before we leave. This seems to happen every con.
Then on the way back to the car, there was a Miku and Luka next to the Peep mascot who had been wandering around (lol there's a Peepz store in the area and so this guy had been wandering around all weekend, advertising for the store and of course made us con-goers pretty excited) and Ren and I were distracted by the Peep and like I saw the Miku and Luka looking at me and did hear them say "can I have a photo?" but somehow it didn't quite register with me. Part of me thought they meant someone else, another part thought they meant of my plushie since I was carrying him around, and so like I kinda kept walking and they were like "T_T Ok, nevermind..." and then I was like "Oh! OH! You meant me. lol Sorry." them: "yeah, I'm Miku and she's Luka" as they weren't really in the obvious costumes, they were in one of the hoodie ones. And I'm all "Oh I know I know! I just...forgot I was wearing this. ^^;;; Sorry!" Like seriously. I forgot I still had Len on. Hahaha! Felt pretty stupid.
So then we left the con, got home, Ren rested for a bit at my house, had pizza, and she left and thus ended my Katsucon.
And holy shit that was really long. If you read all of that, you deserve a cookie or something. O_o;
Edit: Oh and the rest of my phtos are here http://lyn.houjun.com/katsu11.html though I didn't get many as I left my camera charger at home and my camera was on low battery from the start of the con. x_x; Go me.
~Lyn
