rose_of_pain (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rose_of_pain) wrote2011-11-24 12:38 am
rose_of_pain) wrote2011-11-24 12:38 am
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Anime USA 2011 Report
Anime USA has become one of my favorite cons but sadly this year was a pretty big disappointment. I had a great time but it was because I was hanging out with my friends and having fun taking photos. But the con itself was incredibly dull and attendance was really low and it was just a very odd con this year in general. Supposedly they are moving to DC near the Omni next year so maybe that will improve things some and the dates are going to be earlier in Nov so that might make it easier for a lot of us to attend who work retail and such (though it might overlap with Neko). But yeah the con was unusually empty this year. The areas that are normally crowded with people...weren't. As a result this con report isn't as long as my usual reports and I didn't really take many photos because there was barely anything of interest to take photos of and the hotel always sucks for photos anyways.
Friday:
Got to the con pretty early though Dad and I both got up later than planned. But it worked out ok 'cause as a result, everyone in both rooms was up by then. Stayed in the Marriot this year which is the hotel next door and I think more people were staying in that hotel than the main hotel this year. I roomed with Dar's group this year and we had two rooms though they sadly weren't connected so we there was a lot of going back and forth across the hall going on, mainly from me. XD 'Cause I ended up leaving my stuff in one room but actually sleeping in the other due to the way the space worked out. lol So after I got there, hung out and chatted a bit while everyone gradually got up and ready. This seems to be the average events of Friday for cons for me unless its Otakon (or Dragon). Oh I remember the days when I used to be up and in costume by 9am in the morning...willingly. Pffft. Not anymore! XD But eventually I decided to get into costume and go get my badge. So I got into my "secret" costume...
Tenjou Utena from Revolutionary Girl Utena
Yup, I'm a girl. First time ever cosplaying a girl in fact. I was super nervous about it and almost didn't go through with it to be honest. Especially 'cause only a few days before the con and I discovered that I kinda forgot to leave extra room in the chest area 'cause I'm so used to making things fitted to my binding that I didn't think about that and I thought it looked like enough room when I first draped the pieces over me. So I had this little gap between two of the buttons and it was really making me reconsider things. I ended up putting a snap there and it kept it closed but I'm still nervous about the whole thing 'cause I feel like I'm too busty. *le sigh* But yeah don't expect many more females from me. I'm only willing to do boyish girls and even this was way out of my comfort zone. Though was pretty amusing all the reactions I got from friends. "OMG You're a girl?!" XD I also barely got out of pre-reg before I was bombarded by friends and people wanting photos. So I guess I did a decent job? This one girl was super shy and asking to take some photos of me with her nice camera but I didn't manage to get her contact info and it was a bit odd as she seemed a bit awkward about it. I'm guessing she just recently decided to start doing shoots of people and hasn't quite figured out how to go about asking people if they want photos. XD But hopefully she'll post it on cos.com or something.
This D'Eon cosplayer came over to me at one point and asked "Can I be your RoseBride?" and I was like "Hell yeah!" especially after I realized who she was cosplaying. XD I also let her use my sword to pose in this photos since she didn't have a sword for D'Eon and I think my sword still worked ok for it. lol
And said rosebride photo...
I was really nervous about dropping the girl so I told her not to lean back all the way so its only semi-correct pose. XD
There was this GORGEOUS black and white Ciel dress cosplayer (the Sleepy Hollow one) that I ran into on my way to the con and his craftmanship was absolutely stunning and I rode the elevator with him and felt so small next to such a gorgeous costume. Definitely my favorite costume of the whole con and he pulled it off so well. Sadly I accidentally deleted my photo of him when I was clearing space off my camera. x_x But I've seen a lot of photos of him around. I was also told that he won Best in Show for the hall contest which makes me very happy as he totally deserves it.
Ran into![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sunnyrea and animelore and two of their friends that I totally forgot the names of and ended up hanging with them for a while. We decided it might be a good idea to get some food so they lead the way to this little deli I didn't even know about that was around the back of the con. It had a sorta salad bar thing so I got a meal for $2 that was just the perfect size for me as I always have a problem finding small things to eat at con 'cause I can't eat very much at cons and often end up throwing away a lot of whatever I get. We spent quite a while in there and it was kinda interesting how there weren't many con folk on this section so we got quite a number of strange stares from folks on their lunch breaks. XD But anyways it was nice getting to spend some time with them even if it wasn't for very long. Headed back to the con and I tried to find out info on the hall contest, planning to cancel my entry 'cause I didn't really think I had the time to do it but couldn't find anyone that knew anything about it. Eventually caught sight of AnimeBlueAngel who was running it and asked her and she said I didn't have to enter the fashion show on sat if i didn't want to and talked me into still entering on Sat. That taken care of, went back to wandering. Saw cluequeen who I was very happy to see since he wasn't originally going to attend the con.
Joined up with Emily and Mike and we decided to chill for a bit before the Dealer's Room opened and then went in once it did finally open. Reunited with Becca and Ben in there and kept running into pretty much everyone I knew in there. XD I think its 'cause there was nothing else to do so we all went to the dealers at the same time. lol I made a B-Line straight to the nearest Play Arts booth and was like "*point* Mine!"
Dissidia Play Arts Kai Cloud XD Who is now hanging out here on my shelf. He was expensive (though I don't even remember how much 'cause I was pretty much like "grab and throw money at dealer" XD) but he's so super poseable and he's got a really nice face, more detailed than my other Play Arts Clouds. So def worth it though I was annoyed to discover the new spiffy stands don't come with the Kai figures and I can't seem to figure out where the hell you can get them from. x_x Luckily he stands pretty well on his own but I want to do some of the fun poses they advertise for these guys like the jumping one. XD
Also went to my favorite booth, Anime Sekai and bought the chibi Togainu no Chi military Akira to go along with my Shiki. Wasn't planning on buying him but I haven't seen him in over a year and I thought I missed my chance so figured I should grab him while I saw him. And also got the P4 Yosuke phone strap. He's hanging out with my Akihiko on my bag. XD He was the last one left too. I was going to get the 2nd Utena boxset but I wanted to make sure I had enough money to pay Dar first so I decided to come back later for it. Sadly during all of this, the strap of my bag had been smushing the model magic on one of my pauldrons without me realizing it until Mike pointed out that part of one was coming off 'cause of this. So yeah I need to either come up with something stronger to remake that bit around the the pauldrons out of or find a different way to carry my stuff. I know I probably should just make a cute little matching bag with a rose on it or something that wont' be as heavy but that's too much like a purse and too girly for me. Xd It would hurt my pride to do it. lol But I'm not sure what else would work since i can't really put pockets on this thing without haivng awkward bulks. And I also managed to squish my ghetto ring, also made of model magic. But that I wasn't surprised by as it was just a temporary ghetto thing I made 'cause the ring I wanted, the guy wouldn't have in my size before the con but he has them now and I alraedy sent my money so hopefully I'll have a shiny resin ring soon~! Even ran into another Utena that had one of his so that was pretty cool.
Went back to the room to drop off my swag and to repair myself with a little bit of krazy glue here and there. XD Ran into Dar and everyone and chilled for a bit in AA and then went outside to get some photos of me since I wanted at least some before I got out of costume. Laura was all "hey there are roses over there, you should pose with them cause aren't there like roses in the show?" and I'm all "Yeeaaaah...except those are carnations, not roses" XD But hey at least it was flowers to work with.
I was trying to figure out how to pose and was all "I suck at posing like a girl! XD" And Dan took my sword to help teach me how to pose more girl like and somehow this happened...
My sword feels so violated XDXD
And despite all his coaching, I still sucked at it and he was much better at it than I. XD Says something, don't it?
This pose is so girly for me. XD But its Very Utena ish I think and it was the best way to get me in with the flowers and not have the street in the background. Though I think it does make the jacket look a little odd at that angle.
God those shorts were the shortest thing I've ever worn. XD Even shorter than my Kirill shorts. Friends of mine that didn't know the series were like "omg you're wearing a skirt?!" 'cause they couldn't see the shorts at first,they're so short. >> But no its not a skirt dammit! Its two pieces of frill and that's it. XD
"Whateeeeeveeer" XD Dar accidentally clicked when I got distracted by something off camera and looked over. XD But I thought it was too funny not to keep.
Ran into Adam and went back to the room so I could give him his Squall pieces which I had fixed up for him 'cause he lost quite a bit of weight since he first gave me his measurements. And pffft he didn't even wear Squall at all this con in the end. >>;; Him and his friend that came with him were both Squall fans and so I was outnumbered in my debate of Squall vs Cloud. I swear its funny how like everyone only ever likes one or the other and us fans of one always end up arguing with the other. XD Told them about my earlier conversation with Chris in the room 'cause he's actually cosplayed both of them and likes both of them and I do agree with him that original FFVII Cloud is a lot cooler than over-angsty AC Cloud and how I think a lot of these younger fans only really know Cloud from AC and base their opinions on that. 'Cause I mean Cloud and Squall have a lot of similarities when you look at it. Just Squall got on my nerves mostly 'cause of his relationship with Rinoa and 'cause of his attitude and hsi Gackt-wannabe-ness. But anywho! They didn't belive me that anyone could possbily like and cosplay both of them. XD Chris is kinda of an oddity in that sense.
Kicked them out and changed out of Utena just in time for Ben to text me saying he could do my make-up for Luci. Had to get it on early due to them needing to leave the con for a bit for Becca's choir concert which was a bit away from the con area. Luckily they were in the same hotel as us which made things so much easier 'cause I really didn't want to have to walk outside with just the make-up on with my casual clothes on. XD And I wasn't ready to get into full costume that early. And its a good thing we planned to start the make-up pretty early as it took quite a bit 'cause Ben is a perfectionist and kept redoing parts on the shoulder tattoo even when I was like "that part looks fine, I'm sure no one wll notice its not lined up" but he was all "no, it'll keep bugging me!" XD But yay soooo glad he was willing to help or else I wouldn't have been able to wear that costume this con and I won't be wearing Lucifer again for quite some time 'cause I can't wear him in the summer nor to any cons with long distances 'cause the wings take up too much space and I have too many costumes at Katsu. But I wanted to wear him at least once with the now-bigger wings. After my make-up was finished, just hung around the rooms for a bit and had some sandwich stuffage for "dinner". Thengirl_dissolving messaged me to let me know she was on her way so I gradually started getting Luci together. She came up to the room once she got in and we both got into costume. I had a little bit of a derp moment 'cause I couldn't quite remember how the costume went on. XD And had issues with one of the wires refusing to stay glued down but finally got it with a lot of hot glue. Just hope it stayed down in photos as I forgot to check later on if it was still down. At first I thought we had plenty of time before our shoot but somehow that time quickly disappeared and it was like "oh sit, we probably should get moving" lol.
Headed to the con and we figured we'd have enough time for Tans to get her badge first but we ran into Lionel like as soon as we got into the lobby. XD And he decided to just start the shoot early. Hey at least we didn't have to look for him. At first he took us to this hotel behind the Marriot but I guess they were a bit too classy 'cause they told us we couldn't take photos there and we got kicked out and we were like "oh god its the Weiss shoot all over again" in which we got like kicked out of 3 different locations. XD So we moved to the Marriot lobby which was pretty much where I figured we'd end up as its like the one good photo location at this con, lol. They changed some of the interior though so at least that gave some variation and Lionel took us all over that area, doing some pretty cool and artsy stuff. It was one of the longest shoots I've ever done with him and I'm really excited for the photos! It was nice too 'cause even though I have a lot of good group shots of AS, I don't have much with just Tans and I and while the characters never actually interact with each other, or at least not in those outfits, the outfits really compliment each other. And I mean Kurai is meant to be Lucifer's bride at that point. He just doesn't awaken until a lot later. XD But it still works!
After that Tans got her badge and I...stood in a corner so I'd be out of people's way. lol Luna found me during this time period and she was already in her Friederike costume and omg she was so freaking cute! Made me so excited for Ludwig times for Sat. Once tans got her badge, we wandered around the con and got stopped...A LOT. XD Definitely got the most attention out of everything I brought to the con. And actually was really easy to get around the con due to the fact it really wasn't crowded at all this year. So no one ever really ran into my wings or anything. I just had issues getting through the hotel doors. XD Had to have Tans hold them open for me while I side walked through. lol This guy dressed up like Edward from Twilight (lmao it was kinda freaky he looked a lot like him) asked if he could interview us for his youtube channel as he was selecting what he thought were the best costumes for it. So we agreed and went to an area tha was less full of people 'cause we kept getting stopped for photos after he first asked us. XD; I don't know why I agreed though 'cause I suck at interviews. lol And he kept giving me the mic first after each question and I kept being like "uhhh ask her first" pffft. He asked us like what things are worth checking out at AUSA after finding out we both have attended it for quite some years (and dear god I realized I've been going to it for around 8 years O_o) and this was his first time attending it and lol I totally blanked out. XD 'Cause I mean I couldn't just say "well there isn't really anything to do, its just more of a hang out con" as I wanted to be at least somewhat nice to the con. lol Tans was all "well there are good bands, like BLOOD is playing tonight" and I'm all like "Yeah, good bands!" which is semi true at least. lol Even though I've never been very intersted in BLOOD despite how long I've known about them. Their music just never interested me and I totally forgot they were even at the con. XD
And then after that interview, we got stopped by two Japanese people, a short girl with lots of make-up on and a very stereotypical J-Rock looking guy and I'm like "ok, they're probably from that other band they got that I've never heard of..." and the girl was all "oooh waaaaaiii" over our costumes but she was like speaking engrish so it was a little confusing and the guy I don't think knew any english But I noticed she was speficially spazzing over Tans' outfit and she was all "see you at the concert!" at the end before walking off. And then Tans turns to me and is all "I think he was from BLOOD and that was one of their staff and I think they thought I was cosplaying from the band..." and I'm all "Ehhh? But its not...oh. OH! One of the members did have an outift kinda similar to this way back in the day didn't they? Oh snap!" And just kinda died laughing. We both felt a little bad because we didn't really plan to go to the concert or anything (both thought of it but like I said, I dont' really know their music and both of us were tired, Tans went home before it anywho). But still really amusing. XDXDXD
But here we are...
And so you can see the wings better...
Probably the best reaction we got from someone was when we were going up the one escalator and this guy was going down the other one, sees us, goes "Oh shit!" and literally runs up the down escalator to get to us so he can get our photos. XD Except he kept asking for us to give our "best bloodlust expressions" and we were like "...what?" XD But it was amusing and the girl he was with got my e-mail for the photos so I guess eventually I'll be getting those. Then spotted Eric outside in his Peach costume so went out there and talked with him for a bit and then got close to my limit with the wings as they were starting to hurt. Its kinda funny though. My limit for this costume seems to keep getting less and less. First time I wore it was almost 12 hours x_x (though that wasn't planned) and then 2nd time was only like 4 and then this was like...2? XD I think my body is just like "no more!" every time I put it on now. So we both changed out of costume and I may have gone back to the con to hang but I'm not sure. But I know I spent some time in the hotel room and we all kinda passed out early (or at least those in Dar's room, not sure when everyone in my actual room went to bed since they were all still gone when I headed over to Dar's so I could share the air mattress with Laura).
Saturday:
Had a delicious crossant for breakfast and then got into Ludwig. I had to do my own make-up for this one which was a bit...daunting. But I think I managed ok. Or at least it didn't look godawful. I didn't put much on as I was too scared to fuck it all up if I tried for more. But man it took me forever to get just that tiny bit of eyeliner on. XD And then sadly by the time I was ready, everyone else was pretty much gone so I didn't really have anyone to help with the wig...which I learned really needs at least a 2nd person to help me get on as its such a long wig and impossible to clip up on my own. But Emily and I sorta managed it. But by the time I got over to hall and got my time...it was kinda a mess. I tried to fix it myself in the bathroom but I think I just ended up making it worse. ^^;;; Eventually Eric came over and helped fix it up for me some. But yeah, I hate long wigs. T_T Did the judging thing though I pretty much knew I wasn't going to get anything even before I went in after seeing some of the other entries and I mean I knew this wasn't anything special. I mostly entered just 'cause of the necklace but then didn't even say much about it 'cause I couldn't think of what to say. That and I was annoyed that it wasn't laying the way I wanted due to the way the neckline of the outfit worked (this is what I get for not trying it on with the costume before con). And well the costume itself wasn't that interesting to talk about so that might have been my shortest judge time ever. XD But eh, I like the experience.
While heading out after that, I briefly ran into Gabi who was getting on the elevator so I couldn't talk sadly but she told me to come by the tech room at some point to hang and that she should at least have time on Sunday to talk since we haven't seen each other in a pretty long time and I've missed her. Then wondered if I'd manage to see Andrew who I knew also was working in tech and who I also haven't seen in ages. Passed by the card table and wondered if by chance I'd find him at the Yu-Gi-Oh table...and sure enough there he was. XDXDXD Even after all these years, good to see he hasn't lost his love for it. Showed him the photo of me as Utena on my camera and it was really funny seeing his expression of total shock. XD Would have loved to talk to him more but I could tell he wanted to get back to his game so I let him be.
Met up with Luna after that. Originally we were supposed to have this rather large Ludwig group but only the two of us got our costumes done for AUSA. But there's plans to try again at Katsu at least. And we still had fun with just the two of us anyways. Her bf was really amusing with how clingy and easily jealous he got. XD But hey, I must admit the desire to steal her away was tempting 'cause she's just that cute. While hanging in the lobby, ran into Lionel who dubbed me "pvc-chans" due to both this costume and Lucifer the night before. XDXD And also saw the mini P4 gathering that was going on and saw my friend Manuela there as Naoto and when I went over to talk to her...realized they had pretty much a full cast of P4...everyone...except Yosuke! The ONE time I don't bring him. Especially sad considering I was talking about it with her the night before and said how I almost did bring him but didn't think I'd have the time to wear him and figured there will probably be other Yosukes 'cause there always are. ...goddammit. XD Oh well.
Souji pimping XD (My inner Yosuke was quite jealous lol) They had a Kanji and Teddie too who were just chilling out in the chairs.
Went down to artist alley and Luna bought...this...thing...
And named it Ludwig 'cause of the red, must to my great dismay. I kept glaring at it. XD We meant to get a photo of me vs it but somehow we forgot in the end.
Went into the Dealer's room and was on a semi mission. 'Cause Emily had told me the previous night that she saw the bigger Star Driver figure at Anime Sekai's booth and I must have just totally not noticed it and was like "ahhh! must go back and get it!" but alas, they had already sold it. T____T And I then went to get the 2nd Utena boxset since I knew I could afford it now...and it too had been sold. Curse my luck! But he said he'd go back to the store that night and bring me another one for Sunday at least. After a while, I told Luna I really needed to do photos soon 'cause I wanted to eat and rest out of costume for a bit before she got into Lisette for us to do Ludwig part 2. 'Cause I can only wear the "corset" (its not really since it has no boning in it) for so long. So we ventured over to the Marriot lobby for photos 'cause that really is the only nice indoors area at that place.
Hell yeah, I'm hot shit. XD ...god its hard for me to actually act like a narcissist when in reality I'm the total opposite but I tried to keep in character. I need to practice my expressions for him more though. I didn't think it'd be very hard considering I've already cosplayed Lucille and they're rather similar characters but for some reason I just didn't have it as down as well with this one.
I'm also sad that the up-do wasn't even really visible at this point. The clip wasn't high up enough so will have to take more time to get that right next time I wear it.
Luna as Friederike, aka Sleeping Beauty
When we were doing this, at first Tyler was just taking photos of Luna with the mirror and then I was like "oooh idea!" and purposely stood so I'd be visible in the mirror 'cause I thought it could give a nice dream-like effect to represent how the characters meet in the manga. 'Cause they never actually meet face-to-face. He meets Friederike in his dreams and its actually a really sad story but I won't spoil it for anyone who still wants to read it.
Aren't we cute? XD I was so excited over the fact of how much shorter than me she was. lol
Then she went to change and instead of being smart and taking some of the costume off and eating, I decided to keep it all on 'cause I realized it'd be a pain to have to put it back on and the wig would get messed up. And so I just snacked on some stuff people gave me and hung with Dar and the gang for a little bit til Luna called me. Then I got a text saying "I'm at the convention. Come if you dare, Prince. - Little Red Riding Hood". XD So headed back over and we went outside for Ludwig shoot #2.
Luna as Lisette aka Red Riding Hood
Ludwig is too busy being prissy to notice the impending danger...
"Bitch, please." XD
Ren showed up about half way through this shoot as she decided last minute to stop by the con. Made her play photographer for a little bit and then her and Luna headed back to the con while I went to change out of Ludwig. Was in that pvc for longer than I wanted to be but it was worth it as I had fun doing all those photos. Was going to get into Takuto right away but then decided to kinda chill a little and then decided maybe I should get food first since I hadn't had any real food yet that day and Sarah was thinking of getting food. So instead I decided to join her. And somehow our group ended up growing...a lot. Ended up with me, Sarah, Steve, Carlo, some other friends of Sarah and Steve, Carrie, Ren, Becca, Ben, and their friend Tekla, who was pretty f'ing amazing. Chili's was way too full so we decided to go to the Chinese place. Food was good but I ate way too much. Didn't help that people kept giving me some of their food to try too. XD; But twas a good time. I just had to let my stomach relax for a while after and then slowly got into Takuto. And then realized I forgot the sash piece. Called Sarah up to see if she by chance had a random piece of red fabric. She didn't but I heard her ask Becca and Ben 'cause she was in their room and lo and behold I hear "Actually we do!" Pffft. So they totally saved my ass there. XD It was a few shades brighter than what I normally use but it was dark enough outside that it didn't matter too much. Though I'm sad I didn't get into Takuto earlier 'cause at this point the con was eerily dead. And so Ren and I got bored wandering pretty fast as there was like no one around and nothing to do. And nobody was really taking photos so blah. There went my plan to show it off at this con 'cause I figured the star swords would actually do well at it since its a darkly lit con so for once that would be in my favor. Oh well. I did get a few shout-outs at least and a lot of compliments on the swords.
My stomach was still bothering me though so I didn't really feel that dazzling this time around. XD So we mostly just sat in the lobby. Called Adam over since Ren hadn't seen him yet and then these guys outside kept snipping photos at us while we sat and it was kinda...weird. Like I couldn't tell if they wanted me to pose or not. And then when Ren and Adam were having their little mock cat fight, they started taking photos of that. ...wtf. Adam ran off and we wandered a little more but got bored fast and decided to just give up on the con and go back to the hotel in hopes that people were around there at least. Outside I decided that I wanted at least some photos and try to get some night shot ones just to show off the swords but like nobody can seem to use my camera right but me 'cause Ren kept blurring it and I know very well that my camera can actually do at least what I wanted (I didn't care if I was dark, I just wanted at least an outline of me and the swords glowing). Then decided to head over to the hotel as I figured it'd be a little darker there and maybe work better as I tried to coax Ren how to do it. But then I walked over the air vent. I forgot that was there. XD And thus started some really epic wind action with my coat so I got a bit giddy over this and was like "dude, I have to get this on camera, if possible."
Luckily at that point Dar and everyone walked by so I asked them for help with this. Was a bit difficult both 'cause of lack of light and the motion going on. And also 'cause I totally blanked on pose ideas (yet Dan thought of some brilliant poses AFTER we got inside pffft).
Not too much wind going on in this one but I just like this photo XD
You can sorta see it here. Curious to see if any of Dar's on her camera managed to capture it. If not, no biggie. It was worth a try at least. XD
But I do have some video to actually show what it was like...
Dan also enjoyed having a chance of the epic-ness. XD
It was fun. XD After that Ren headed off and the rest of us all went inside. I got out of Takuto and then we decided to chill out at the con. Once again, not much going on but at least we ran into other people we know and eventually ended up in the lobby to chill. It was just weird though as usually that area is crowded and full of people at this point and like hard to find places to sit. Usually the bar people are kicking out those who aren't ordering anything but none of that this year. 'Cause it was like...everyone was missing. It was so...eerie. Hopefully the new location and earlier time next year will revive the con some. 'Cause I can't express enough how weird it was. It was like how the con used to be YEARS ago. But yeah I started getting really tired and started dazing out so Dar, Laura, and I went back to the room to call it a night. I took a shower and got ready in my room and then headed back to theirs. Intended to go right to bed since it was pretty late but then Dan and I ended up having a semi in depth conversation about life and jobs and such for quite a bit. Until I literally was passing out on him. XD
Sunday:
Got up, finished packing, put my stuff in holding and the wings and swords in Dar's car. Dar and Laura had gone over to the Hyatt briefly and said the elevators over there actually weren't packed at all...which is so odd for Sunday in a con hotel since I mean one of the points of staying at this hotel instead was to avoid that. But I think we had more of it at ours than that hotel did 'cause I really do think more people were staying at it this time around. Managed to get my luggage down without much hassle but the wings were a bit more difficult. Did get an empty elevator at the start but of course people got on. I refused to move much further in though and at least no one tried to force themselves on. Only issue I had was getting off 'cause I thought some of the people who got on with us would wait for me to angle myself so I could get out and instead decided to walk right out and into my wings. -_- Thanks. lol But otherwise it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be.
We went over to the sandwich place and I got another $2 crossant for breakfast/lunch. XD; This kinda creepy kid who had a Guy Fawkes mask on got up and spazzed and kept pointing at me and I was like "...wtf?" 'cause wasn't like I was in costume or anything and i was pretty sure I didn't know the guy. then remembered I had my X-Japan shirt on and realized that's why he was spazzing. ^^;; Yes I do understand the need to express one's love of X but still was a bit creepy. lol Went to the con, back into the Dealer's and to my dismay the guy at the DVD stand told me he didn't have anymore of the 2nd Utena boxset. Super sadface as I was really looking forward to getting that. lol So will just have to get it online soon as I really really want to watch that one since I found out there's actual extra stuff they added in to some of the scenes. *_* Its even more disturbing than it was before! lol But after my disappointment, separated from the group in order to try to find Gabi and Andrew in hopes of getting at least some time with them before the con ended. Sadly Andrew was nowhere to be found but I did manage to catch Gabi right before she went off to move some equipment. So sat down in the tech room with her and her bf Adam and had free pizza (yay lunch! lol) and got caught up on each other's lives. They also offered to let me come up and visit and stay at their place sometime so I probably should actually make an attempt to do that and have time outside of a con to talk to them. Eventually they did have actual work to do and I didn't want to stay there too much longer anyways 'cause there was no cell phone reception at all there.
Ended up spending the rest of the con just chilling at Sarah's AA table with everyone until people started packing up and Dar and them decided they should probably go. So called the parents, got my stuff out of holding and Dar's car, and timed it pretty well 'cause they showed up pretty much right as I was about to sit down to wait for them. XD
Rest of my con photos are here: http://lyn.houjun.com/ausa11.html though I really didn't take many this con.
~Lyn
Friday:
Got to the con pretty early though Dad and I both got up later than planned. But it worked out ok 'cause as a result, everyone in both rooms was up by then. Stayed in the Marriot this year which is the hotel next door and I think more people were staying in that hotel than the main hotel this year. I roomed with Dar's group this year and we had two rooms though they sadly weren't connected so we there was a lot of going back and forth across the hall going on, mainly from me. XD 'Cause I ended up leaving my stuff in one room but actually sleeping in the other due to the way the space worked out. lol So after I got there, hung out and chatted a bit while everyone gradually got up and ready. This seems to be the average events of Friday for cons for me unless its Otakon (or Dragon). Oh I remember the days when I used to be up and in costume by 9am in the morning...willingly. Pffft. Not anymore! XD But eventually I decided to get into costume and go get my badge. So I got into my "secret" costume...
Tenjou Utena from Revolutionary Girl Utena
Yup, I'm a girl. First time ever cosplaying a girl in fact. I was super nervous about it and almost didn't go through with it to be honest. Especially 'cause only a few days before the con and I discovered that I kinda forgot to leave extra room in the chest area 'cause I'm so used to making things fitted to my binding that I didn't think about that and I thought it looked like enough room when I first draped the pieces over me. So I had this little gap between two of the buttons and it was really making me reconsider things. I ended up putting a snap there and it kept it closed but I'm still nervous about the whole thing 'cause I feel like I'm too busty. *le sigh* But yeah don't expect many more females from me. I'm only willing to do boyish girls and even this was way out of my comfort zone. Though was pretty amusing all the reactions I got from friends. "OMG You're a girl?!" XD I also barely got out of pre-reg before I was bombarded by friends and people wanting photos. So I guess I did a decent job? This one girl was super shy and asking to take some photos of me with her nice camera but I didn't manage to get her contact info and it was a bit odd as she seemed a bit awkward about it. I'm guessing she just recently decided to start doing shoots of people and hasn't quite figured out how to go about asking people if they want photos. XD But hopefully she'll post it on cos.com or something.
This D'Eon cosplayer came over to me at one point and asked "Can I be your RoseBride?" and I was like "Hell yeah!" especially after I realized who she was cosplaying. XD I also let her use my sword to pose in this photos since she didn't have a sword for D'Eon and I think my sword still worked ok for it. lol
And said rosebride photo...
I was really nervous about dropping the girl so I told her not to lean back all the way so its only semi-correct pose. XD
There was this GORGEOUS black and white Ciel dress cosplayer (the Sleepy Hollow one) that I ran into on my way to the con and his craftmanship was absolutely stunning and I rode the elevator with him and felt so small next to such a gorgeous costume. Definitely my favorite costume of the whole con and he pulled it off so well. Sadly I accidentally deleted my photo of him when I was clearing space off my camera. x_x But I've seen a lot of photos of him around. I was also told that he won Best in Show for the hall contest which makes me very happy as he totally deserves it.
Ran into
sunnyrea and animelore and two of their friends that I totally forgot the names of and ended up hanging with them for a while. We decided it might be a good idea to get some food so they lead the way to this little deli I didn't even know about that was around the back of the con. It had a sorta salad bar thing so I got a meal for $2 that was just the perfect size for me as I always have a problem finding small things to eat at con 'cause I can't eat very much at cons and often end up throwing away a lot of whatever I get. We spent quite a while in there and it was kinda interesting how there weren't many con folk on this section so we got quite a number of strange stares from folks on their lunch breaks. XD But anyways it was nice getting to spend some time with them even if it wasn't for very long. Headed back to the con and I tried to find out info on the hall contest, planning to cancel my entry 'cause I didn't really think I had the time to do it but couldn't find anyone that knew anything about it. Eventually caught sight of AnimeBlueAngel who was running it and asked her and she said I didn't have to enter the fashion show on sat if i didn't want to and talked me into still entering on Sat. That taken care of, went back to wandering. Saw cluequeen who I was very happy to see since he wasn't originally going to attend the con. Joined up with Emily and Mike and we decided to chill for a bit before the Dealer's Room opened and then went in once it did finally open. Reunited with Becca and Ben in there and kept running into pretty much everyone I knew in there. XD I think its 'cause there was nothing else to do so we all went to the dealers at the same time. lol I made a B-Line straight to the nearest Play Arts booth and was like "*point* Mine!"
Dissidia Play Arts Kai Cloud XD Who is now hanging out here on my shelf. He was expensive (though I don't even remember how much 'cause I was pretty much like "grab and throw money at dealer" XD) but he's so super poseable and he's got a really nice face, more detailed than my other Play Arts Clouds. So def worth it though I was annoyed to discover the new spiffy stands don't come with the Kai figures and I can't seem to figure out where the hell you can get them from. x_x Luckily he stands pretty well on his own but I want to do some of the fun poses they advertise for these guys like the jumping one. XD
Also went to my favorite booth, Anime Sekai and bought the chibi Togainu no Chi military Akira to go along with my Shiki. Wasn't planning on buying him but I haven't seen him in over a year and I thought I missed my chance so figured I should grab him while I saw him. And also got the P4 Yosuke phone strap. He's hanging out with my Akihiko on my bag. XD He was the last one left too. I was going to get the 2nd Utena boxset but I wanted to make sure I had enough money to pay Dar first so I decided to come back later for it. Sadly during all of this, the strap of my bag had been smushing the model magic on one of my pauldrons without me realizing it until Mike pointed out that part of one was coming off 'cause of this. So yeah I need to either come up with something stronger to remake that bit around the the pauldrons out of or find a different way to carry my stuff. I know I probably should just make a cute little matching bag with a rose on it or something that wont' be as heavy but that's too much like a purse and too girly for me. Xd It would hurt my pride to do it. lol But I'm not sure what else would work since i can't really put pockets on this thing without haivng awkward bulks. And I also managed to squish my ghetto ring, also made of model magic. But that I wasn't surprised by as it was just a temporary ghetto thing I made 'cause the ring I wanted, the guy wouldn't have in my size before the con but he has them now and I alraedy sent my money so hopefully I'll have a shiny resin ring soon~! Even ran into another Utena that had one of his so that was pretty cool.
Went back to the room to drop off my swag and to repair myself with a little bit of krazy glue here and there. XD Ran into Dar and everyone and chilled for a bit in AA and then went outside to get some photos of me since I wanted at least some before I got out of costume. Laura was all "hey there are roses over there, you should pose with them cause aren't there like roses in the show?" and I'm all "Yeeaaaah...except those are carnations, not roses" XD But hey at least it was flowers to work with.
I was trying to figure out how to pose and was all "I suck at posing like a girl! XD" And Dan took my sword to help teach me how to pose more girl like and somehow this happened...
My sword feels so violated XDXD
And despite all his coaching, I still sucked at it and he was much better at it than I. XD Says something, don't it?
This pose is so girly for me. XD But its Very Utena ish I think and it was the best way to get me in with the flowers and not have the street in the background. Though I think it does make the jacket look a little odd at that angle.
God those shorts were the shortest thing I've ever worn. XD Even shorter than my Kirill shorts. Friends of mine that didn't know the series were like "omg you're wearing a skirt?!" 'cause they couldn't see the shorts at first,they're so short. >> But no its not a skirt dammit! Its two pieces of frill and that's it. XD
"Whateeeeeveeer" XD Dar accidentally clicked when I got distracted by something off camera and looked over. XD But I thought it was too funny not to keep.
Ran into Adam and went back to the room so I could give him his Squall pieces which I had fixed up for him 'cause he lost quite a bit of weight since he first gave me his measurements. And pffft he didn't even wear Squall at all this con in the end. >>;; Him and his friend that came with him were both Squall fans and so I was outnumbered in my debate of Squall vs Cloud. I swear its funny how like everyone only ever likes one or the other and us fans of one always end up arguing with the other. XD Told them about my earlier conversation with Chris in the room 'cause he's actually cosplayed both of them and likes both of them and I do agree with him that original FFVII Cloud is a lot cooler than over-angsty AC Cloud and how I think a lot of these younger fans only really know Cloud from AC and base their opinions on that. 'Cause I mean Cloud and Squall have a lot of similarities when you look at it. Just Squall got on my nerves mostly 'cause of his relationship with Rinoa and 'cause of his attitude and hsi Gackt-wannabe-ness. But anywho! They didn't belive me that anyone could possbily like and cosplay both of them. XD Chris is kinda of an oddity in that sense.
Kicked them out and changed out of Utena just in time for Ben to text me saying he could do my make-up for Luci. Had to get it on early due to them needing to leave the con for a bit for Becca's choir concert which was a bit away from the con area. Luckily they were in the same hotel as us which made things so much easier 'cause I really didn't want to have to walk outside with just the make-up on with my casual clothes on. XD And I wasn't ready to get into full costume that early. And its a good thing we planned to start the make-up pretty early as it took quite a bit 'cause Ben is a perfectionist and kept redoing parts on the shoulder tattoo even when I was like "that part looks fine, I'm sure no one wll notice its not lined up" but he was all "no, it'll keep bugging me!" XD But yay soooo glad he was willing to help or else I wouldn't have been able to wear that costume this con and I won't be wearing Lucifer again for quite some time 'cause I can't wear him in the summer nor to any cons with long distances 'cause the wings take up too much space and I have too many costumes at Katsu. But I wanted to wear him at least once with the now-bigger wings. After my make-up was finished, just hung around the rooms for a bit and had some sandwich stuffage for "dinner". Then
girl_dissolving messaged me to let me know she was on her way so I gradually started getting Luci together. She came up to the room once she got in and we both got into costume. I had a little bit of a derp moment 'cause I couldn't quite remember how the costume went on. XD And had issues with one of the wires refusing to stay glued down but finally got it with a lot of hot glue. Just hope it stayed down in photos as I forgot to check later on if it was still down. At first I thought we had plenty of time before our shoot but somehow that time quickly disappeared and it was like "oh sit, we probably should get moving" lol. Headed to the con and we figured we'd have enough time for Tans to get her badge first but we ran into Lionel like as soon as we got into the lobby. XD And he decided to just start the shoot early. Hey at least we didn't have to look for him. At first he took us to this hotel behind the Marriot but I guess they were a bit too classy 'cause they told us we couldn't take photos there and we got kicked out and we were like "oh god its the Weiss shoot all over again" in which we got like kicked out of 3 different locations. XD So we moved to the Marriot lobby which was pretty much where I figured we'd end up as its like the one good photo location at this con, lol. They changed some of the interior though so at least that gave some variation and Lionel took us all over that area, doing some pretty cool and artsy stuff. It was one of the longest shoots I've ever done with him and I'm really excited for the photos! It was nice too 'cause even though I have a lot of good group shots of AS, I don't have much with just Tans and I and while the characters never actually interact with each other, or at least not in those outfits, the outfits really compliment each other. And I mean Kurai is meant to be Lucifer's bride at that point. He just doesn't awaken until a lot later. XD But it still works!
After that Tans got her badge and I...stood in a corner so I'd be out of people's way. lol Luna found me during this time period and she was already in her Friederike costume and omg she was so freaking cute! Made me so excited for Ludwig times for Sat. Once tans got her badge, we wandered around the con and got stopped...A LOT. XD Definitely got the most attention out of everything I brought to the con. And actually was really easy to get around the con due to the fact it really wasn't crowded at all this year. So no one ever really ran into my wings or anything. I just had issues getting through the hotel doors. XD Had to have Tans hold them open for me while I side walked through. lol This guy dressed up like Edward from Twilight (lmao it was kinda freaky he looked a lot like him) asked if he could interview us for his youtube channel as he was selecting what he thought were the best costumes for it. So we agreed and went to an area tha was less full of people 'cause we kept getting stopped for photos after he first asked us. XD; I don't know why I agreed though 'cause I suck at interviews. lol And he kept giving me the mic first after each question and I kept being like "uhhh ask her first" pffft. He asked us like what things are worth checking out at AUSA after finding out we both have attended it for quite some years (and dear god I realized I've been going to it for around 8 years O_o) and this was his first time attending it and lol I totally blanked out. XD 'Cause I mean I couldn't just say "well there isn't really anything to do, its just more of a hang out con" as I wanted to be at least somewhat nice to the con. lol Tans was all "well there are good bands, like BLOOD is playing tonight" and I'm all like "Yeah, good bands!" which is semi true at least. lol Even though I've never been very intersted in BLOOD despite how long I've known about them. Their music just never interested me and I totally forgot they were even at the con. XD
And then after that interview, we got stopped by two Japanese people, a short girl with lots of make-up on and a very stereotypical J-Rock looking guy and I'm like "ok, they're probably from that other band they got that I've never heard of..." and the girl was all "oooh waaaaaiii" over our costumes but she was like speaking engrish so it was a little confusing and the guy I don't think knew any english But I noticed she was speficially spazzing over Tans' outfit and she was all "see you at the concert!" at the end before walking off. And then Tans turns to me and is all "I think he was from BLOOD and that was one of their staff and I think they thought I was cosplaying from the band..." and I'm all "Ehhh? But its not...oh. OH! One of the members did have an outift kinda similar to this way back in the day didn't they? Oh snap!" And just kinda died laughing. We both felt a little bad because we didn't really plan to go to the concert or anything (both thought of it but like I said, I dont' really know their music and both of us were tired, Tans went home before it anywho). But still really amusing. XDXDXD
But here we are...
And so you can see the wings better...
Probably the best reaction we got from someone was when we were going up the one escalator and this guy was going down the other one, sees us, goes "Oh shit!" and literally runs up the down escalator to get to us so he can get our photos. XD Except he kept asking for us to give our "best bloodlust expressions" and we were like "...what?" XD But it was amusing and the girl he was with got my e-mail for the photos so I guess eventually I'll be getting those. Then spotted Eric outside in his Peach costume so went out there and talked with him for a bit and then got close to my limit with the wings as they were starting to hurt. Its kinda funny though. My limit for this costume seems to keep getting less and less. First time I wore it was almost 12 hours x_x (though that wasn't planned) and then 2nd time was only like 4 and then this was like...2? XD I think my body is just like "no more!" every time I put it on now. So we both changed out of costume and I may have gone back to the con to hang but I'm not sure. But I know I spent some time in the hotel room and we all kinda passed out early (or at least those in Dar's room, not sure when everyone in my actual room went to bed since they were all still gone when I headed over to Dar's so I could share the air mattress with Laura).
Saturday:
Had a delicious crossant for breakfast and then got into Ludwig. I had to do my own make-up for this one which was a bit...daunting. But I think I managed ok. Or at least it didn't look godawful. I didn't put much on as I was too scared to fuck it all up if I tried for more. But man it took me forever to get just that tiny bit of eyeliner on. XD And then sadly by the time I was ready, everyone else was pretty much gone so I didn't really have anyone to help with the wig...which I learned really needs at least a 2nd person to help me get on as its such a long wig and impossible to clip up on my own. But Emily and I sorta managed it. But by the time I got over to hall and got my time...it was kinda a mess. I tried to fix it myself in the bathroom but I think I just ended up making it worse. ^^;;; Eventually Eric came over and helped fix it up for me some. But yeah, I hate long wigs. T_T Did the judging thing though I pretty much knew I wasn't going to get anything even before I went in after seeing some of the other entries and I mean I knew this wasn't anything special. I mostly entered just 'cause of the necklace but then didn't even say much about it 'cause I couldn't think of what to say. That and I was annoyed that it wasn't laying the way I wanted due to the way the neckline of the outfit worked (this is what I get for not trying it on with the costume before con). And well the costume itself wasn't that interesting to talk about so that might have been my shortest judge time ever. XD But eh, I like the experience.
While heading out after that, I briefly ran into Gabi who was getting on the elevator so I couldn't talk sadly but she told me to come by the tech room at some point to hang and that she should at least have time on Sunday to talk since we haven't seen each other in a pretty long time and I've missed her. Then wondered if I'd manage to see Andrew who I knew also was working in tech and who I also haven't seen in ages. Passed by the card table and wondered if by chance I'd find him at the Yu-Gi-Oh table...and sure enough there he was. XDXDXD Even after all these years, good to see he hasn't lost his love for it. Showed him the photo of me as Utena on my camera and it was really funny seeing his expression of total shock. XD Would have loved to talk to him more but I could tell he wanted to get back to his game so I let him be.
Met up with Luna after that. Originally we were supposed to have this rather large Ludwig group but only the two of us got our costumes done for AUSA. But there's plans to try again at Katsu at least. And we still had fun with just the two of us anyways. Her bf was really amusing with how clingy and easily jealous he got. XD But hey, I must admit the desire to steal her away was tempting 'cause she's just that cute. While hanging in the lobby, ran into Lionel who dubbed me "pvc-chans" due to both this costume and Lucifer the night before. XDXD And also saw the mini P4 gathering that was going on and saw my friend Manuela there as Naoto and when I went over to talk to her...realized they had pretty much a full cast of P4...everyone...except Yosuke! The ONE time I don't bring him. Especially sad considering I was talking about it with her the night before and said how I almost did bring him but didn't think I'd have the time to wear him and figured there will probably be other Yosukes 'cause there always are. ...goddammit. XD Oh well.
Souji pimping XD (My inner Yosuke was quite jealous lol) They had a Kanji and Teddie too who were just chilling out in the chairs.
Went down to artist alley and Luna bought...this...thing...
And named it Ludwig 'cause of the red, must to my great dismay. I kept glaring at it. XD We meant to get a photo of me vs it but somehow we forgot in the end.
Went into the Dealer's room and was on a semi mission. 'Cause Emily had told me the previous night that she saw the bigger Star Driver figure at Anime Sekai's booth and I must have just totally not noticed it and was like "ahhh! must go back and get it!" but alas, they had already sold it. T____T And I then went to get the 2nd Utena boxset since I knew I could afford it now...and it too had been sold. Curse my luck! But he said he'd go back to the store that night and bring me another one for Sunday at least. After a while, I told Luna I really needed to do photos soon 'cause I wanted to eat and rest out of costume for a bit before she got into Lisette for us to do Ludwig part 2. 'Cause I can only wear the "corset" (its not really since it has no boning in it) for so long. So we ventured over to the Marriot lobby for photos 'cause that really is the only nice indoors area at that place.
Hell yeah, I'm hot shit. XD ...god its hard for me to actually act like a narcissist when in reality I'm the total opposite but I tried to keep in character. I need to practice my expressions for him more though. I didn't think it'd be very hard considering I've already cosplayed Lucille and they're rather similar characters but for some reason I just didn't have it as down as well with this one.
I'm also sad that the up-do wasn't even really visible at this point. The clip wasn't high up enough so will have to take more time to get that right next time I wear it.
Luna as Friederike, aka Sleeping Beauty
When we were doing this, at first Tyler was just taking photos of Luna with the mirror and then I was like "oooh idea!" and purposely stood so I'd be visible in the mirror 'cause I thought it could give a nice dream-like effect to represent how the characters meet in the manga. 'Cause they never actually meet face-to-face. He meets Friederike in his dreams and its actually a really sad story but I won't spoil it for anyone who still wants to read it.
Aren't we cute? XD I was so excited over the fact of how much shorter than me she was. lol
Then she went to change and instead of being smart and taking some of the costume off and eating, I decided to keep it all on 'cause I realized it'd be a pain to have to put it back on and the wig would get messed up. And so I just snacked on some stuff people gave me and hung with Dar and the gang for a little bit til Luna called me. Then I got a text saying "I'm at the convention. Come if you dare, Prince. - Little Red Riding Hood". XD So headed back over and we went outside for Ludwig shoot #2.
Luna as Lisette aka Red Riding Hood
Ludwig is too busy being prissy to notice the impending danger...
"Bitch, please." XD
Ren showed up about half way through this shoot as she decided last minute to stop by the con. Made her play photographer for a little bit and then her and Luna headed back to the con while I went to change out of Ludwig. Was in that pvc for longer than I wanted to be but it was worth it as I had fun doing all those photos. Was going to get into Takuto right away but then decided to kinda chill a little and then decided maybe I should get food first since I hadn't had any real food yet that day and Sarah was thinking of getting food. So instead I decided to join her. And somehow our group ended up growing...a lot. Ended up with me, Sarah, Steve, Carlo, some other friends of Sarah and Steve, Carrie, Ren, Becca, Ben, and their friend Tekla, who was pretty f'ing amazing. Chili's was way too full so we decided to go to the Chinese place. Food was good but I ate way too much. Didn't help that people kept giving me some of their food to try too. XD; But twas a good time. I just had to let my stomach relax for a while after and then slowly got into Takuto. And then realized I forgot the sash piece. Called Sarah up to see if she by chance had a random piece of red fabric. She didn't but I heard her ask Becca and Ben 'cause she was in their room and lo and behold I hear "Actually we do!" Pffft. So they totally saved my ass there. XD It was a few shades brighter than what I normally use but it was dark enough outside that it didn't matter too much. Though I'm sad I didn't get into Takuto earlier 'cause at this point the con was eerily dead. And so Ren and I got bored wandering pretty fast as there was like no one around and nothing to do. And nobody was really taking photos so blah. There went my plan to show it off at this con 'cause I figured the star swords would actually do well at it since its a darkly lit con so for once that would be in my favor. Oh well. I did get a few shout-outs at least and a lot of compliments on the swords.
My stomach was still bothering me though so I didn't really feel that dazzling this time around. XD So we mostly just sat in the lobby. Called Adam over since Ren hadn't seen him yet and then these guys outside kept snipping photos at us while we sat and it was kinda...weird. Like I couldn't tell if they wanted me to pose or not. And then when Ren and Adam were having their little mock cat fight, they started taking photos of that. ...wtf. Adam ran off and we wandered a little more but got bored fast and decided to just give up on the con and go back to the hotel in hopes that people were around there at least. Outside I decided that I wanted at least some photos and try to get some night shot ones just to show off the swords but like nobody can seem to use my camera right but me 'cause Ren kept blurring it and I know very well that my camera can actually do at least what I wanted (I didn't care if I was dark, I just wanted at least an outline of me and the swords glowing). Then decided to head over to the hotel as I figured it'd be a little darker there and maybe work better as I tried to coax Ren how to do it. But then I walked over the air vent. I forgot that was there. XD And thus started some really epic wind action with my coat so I got a bit giddy over this and was like "dude, I have to get this on camera, if possible."
Luckily at that point Dar and everyone walked by so I asked them for help with this. Was a bit difficult both 'cause of lack of light and the motion going on. And also 'cause I totally blanked on pose ideas (yet Dan thought of some brilliant poses AFTER we got inside pffft).
Not too much wind going on in this one but I just like this photo XD
You can sorta see it here. Curious to see if any of Dar's on her camera managed to capture it. If not, no biggie. It was worth a try at least. XD
But I do have some video to actually show what it was like...
Dan also enjoyed having a chance of the epic-ness. XD
It was fun. XD After that Ren headed off and the rest of us all went inside. I got out of Takuto and then we decided to chill out at the con. Once again, not much going on but at least we ran into other people we know and eventually ended up in the lobby to chill. It was just weird though as usually that area is crowded and full of people at this point and like hard to find places to sit. Usually the bar people are kicking out those who aren't ordering anything but none of that this year. 'Cause it was like...everyone was missing. It was so...eerie. Hopefully the new location and earlier time next year will revive the con some. 'Cause I can't express enough how weird it was. It was like how the con used to be YEARS ago. But yeah I started getting really tired and started dazing out so Dar, Laura, and I went back to the room to call it a night. I took a shower and got ready in my room and then headed back to theirs. Intended to go right to bed since it was pretty late but then Dan and I ended up having a semi in depth conversation about life and jobs and such for quite a bit. Until I literally was passing out on him. XD
Sunday:
Got up, finished packing, put my stuff in holding and the wings and swords in Dar's car. Dar and Laura had gone over to the Hyatt briefly and said the elevators over there actually weren't packed at all...which is so odd for Sunday in a con hotel since I mean one of the points of staying at this hotel instead was to avoid that. But I think we had more of it at ours than that hotel did 'cause I really do think more people were staying at it this time around. Managed to get my luggage down without much hassle but the wings were a bit more difficult. Did get an empty elevator at the start but of course people got on. I refused to move much further in though and at least no one tried to force themselves on. Only issue I had was getting off 'cause I thought some of the people who got on with us would wait for me to angle myself so I could get out and instead decided to walk right out and into my wings. -_- Thanks. lol But otherwise it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be.
We went over to the sandwich place and I got another $2 crossant for breakfast/lunch. XD; This kinda creepy kid who had a Guy Fawkes mask on got up and spazzed and kept pointing at me and I was like "...wtf?" 'cause wasn't like I was in costume or anything and i was pretty sure I didn't know the guy. then remembered I had my X-Japan shirt on and realized that's why he was spazzing. ^^;; Yes I do understand the need to express one's love of X but still was a bit creepy. lol Went to the con, back into the Dealer's and to my dismay the guy at the DVD stand told me he didn't have anymore of the 2nd Utena boxset. Super sadface as I was really looking forward to getting that. lol So will just have to get it online soon as I really really want to watch that one since I found out there's actual extra stuff they added in to some of the scenes. *_* Its even more disturbing than it was before! lol But after my disappointment, separated from the group in order to try to find Gabi and Andrew in hopes of getting at least some time with them before the con ended. Sadly Andrew was nowhere to be found but I did manage to catch Gabi right before she went off to move some equipment. So sat down in the tech room with her and her bf Adam and had free pizza (yay lunch! lol) and got caught up on each other's lives. They also offered to let me come up and visit and stay at their place sometime so I probably should actually make an attempt to do that and have time outside of a con to talk to them. Eventually they did have actual work to do and I didn't want to stay there too much longer anyways 'cause there was no cell phone reception at all there.
Ended up spending the rest of the con just chilling at Sarah's AA table with everyone until people started packing up and Dar and them decided they should probably go. So called the parents, got my stuff out of holding and Dar's car, and timed it pretty well 'cause they showed up pretty much right as I was about to sit down to wait for them. XD
Rest of my con photos are here: http://lyn.houjun.com/ausa11.html though I really didn't take many this con.
~Lyn
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That sure was unexpected! But I'm glad you cosplayed her, she doesn't receive enough love anymore...!
For some reason, I love the pic of Ludwig distracted and Lisette aiming at him, even with the blurring (and my utter ignorance about the fandom).
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I love that photo too. XD Sadly my friend isn't very good with my camera and didn't have a very steady hand so most of our photos turned out blurry but I tried to edit them as best I could. But its a great manga and I highly recommend it especially if you like dark humor and twists on fairytales.
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PS <3 you!! I really was the most excited to see you since it's been a few years. sometime you've gotta come up to Anime Boston. you could drive up w/ me and liz and our convoy lol