As promised: a report. This year was a little different because I was by myself the entire time. Serenitytsu dropped out at the last second (not surprisingly) and thinkanti had work and class and couldn't come. Also there was the fact that I was cosplaying this year.
I didn't sleep well the night before the con and got there super early so I was just about dead by 3:30 pm. I almost had a heart attack during the opening ceremonies because I thought PikminLink was there. That was scary but it turned out it wasn't her. I was a little disappointed with the technical support of the con because it was really hard to hear people sometimes. Maybe it was the way that the people were holding the mics but whatever.
Saturday I was a little late arriving becuase I was getting into costume and it took longer than I expected. I just missed the bus. Got an autograph for thinkanti and wanted to get an autograph from someone else but when I got around to it, her line was closed. Bummer.
TheO meet up went really well. LOTS of people it seemed this year. Maybe I was just feeling a little crowded. We played this fun little game of naming anime through the alphabet and I was surprised I got through pretty far...I really don't know many anime titles....Then I got stuck with the letter Q. Damn. Still, a good meet up.
So, a few observations: cosplay was great this year. There wasn't anything that I was like, "NO" at. Maybe I've become more accepting of ranges of cosplaying effort or maybe it was just really good this year. The group cosplays were totally amazing too (Special shout out to SomeGuy and the gang! You guys were awesome!). On another note, this con is one of the biggest in the country. But every year I feel the attendance goes up and the number of guests increase and things like panels, retailers, and autograph sessions go down. This was my fourth year going to this con though. You go to enough of these things, you've pretty much seen it all and I guess it can get boring sometimes, if you let it. Still enjoyed myself though.
Now, I feel I should talk a little about my first cosplaying experience. I'd followed cosplay and cosplay technique for a couple years before and when I decided on my character I was going in way over my head. Despite that, I was able to "finish" a month or so before the con. Was I up until past midnight working on it the night before my debut? You bet. In the morning, parts of my costume were falling apart before I even got out the door and I was scrambling to make quick fixes. And I have to say, I don't look too bad as a blonde...or at least I think so.
Anyway, I had worn out my worry about cosplaying the day before but I was feeling really awkward on the bus and on the way to the convention. People who had no idea what was going on gave me nice compliments though. I thought that no one would know who I was, since my costume and character was from a series that was kind of old and from an illustration. To my surprise, within the first minute of walking into the con, a girl recognized me. That made me really happy. So throughout the day, despite my costume continually falling apart, people asked for my picture, asked who I was and where I was from, or pointed me out. In my mind, pictures = validation of a good costume. SUCCESS!
Next year, I hope to be even better but I'll take a few months hiatus from cosplaying and give myself a break.
It was great to see everyone again this year (We missed you, Panda!). Sorry that this report ended up being longer than intended....
