Anime USA

Late AUSA post is super, super late. But it hit right around the time where I was doing a lot of traveling and then I needed to catch up with work. But here is my late AUSA con report.

The con center itself is a fairly decent looking hotel. Though its really too bad that the hotel is getting too small for the con. I went last year and I thought it was a bit crowded, this year was pretty bad. It's been a while since I've been in a con this crowded and this was probably one of the worse. Though I heard a rumor that the con moved to a new location for next year. The hotel itself was really rather nice. And the rooms were really massive, which I guess doesn't matter any more.

They were far more up on badge checks, near the escalator points, but I didn't notice any by the elevators. Maybe they weren't allowed to. But they had the typical ones right by the dealers and artist alley. Speaking of artist alley, I really rarely ever buy stuff from there but there was someone selling these adorable Tiger & Bunny plushies so I had to snag one up.

I got the small one in the front. But look how cute they are! Whoever the artist is, someone link me, I want to credit you.

The dealers room was alright, again, the layout was rather odd. It's almost sectioned off into two areas, and you have to weave your way around. I tend to like getting figures more then anything, so there was maybe a few booths (Anime Sekai being my favorite), but otherwise I didn't end up seeing a lot that I liked. Also on Friday they didn't open until 2pm, which made no sense to me. Most dealers rooms won't open up until around noon, but I don't understand at all why they waited until 2pm.

Unlike most cons I actually spent time going to a few of the panels. One of them was a beginners cosplay's panel, just to see what it was like. I felt rather bad for the people running it, because they had the poor luck of being next to the game room and they didn't have a mic. But otherwise it was a well run and presented panel.

Speaking of the game room...it was probably one of the worst game rooms I've seen. And it wasn't because of the content. The location was small, the room was near impossible to navigate through, and it had tons of people crammed in it. They needed a bigger room, hopefully next year they'll do that.

When it comes to cons, this con is more of "hangout with friends and take photos" con. In the area there isn't a lot (there is a CVS that sells booze) but other then that, once you walk around the hotel there isn't much. I wouldn't recommend coming from far away for this con, but if you live within the east coast I think this con is worth checking out. It's slowly growing into something bigger, so I'll be excited to see where they go next year.

And of course some photo highlights from the con.








And of course the rest can be found here. Enjoy!

Kamila [Finished]

I finished up Kamila from Ghost Trick! Probably one of my easier ones to finish up. Just the dress, bow, jacket and brooch she wears.


The wig I got on ebay from comic-wig and just trimmed up a bit. The bow was from some leftover yellow fabric I had sitting around. The bow part itself has interfacing in it to make it stiff and its just pinned into the wig.



Don't mind Maya's wig in the back haha.

There's a few extra accessories I have for her. Headphones and of course a Missile plushie.



The rest was pretty easy. The jacket part was part of a bolero pattern that I got from a wedding dress pattern. And the dress part was the same pattern from my Red Hood Miku outfit, just without the sleeves. The fabric itself is just a comfortable poplin, both of them really perfect for summer weather. The brooch is just filmo clay and pinned on. And of course the finished costume!





Alright! Almost ready for Otakon. Just need to get the rest of my accessories for Claudia. then of course decide if I feel like making anything else. It might just bring my other stuff to re-wear for Otakon, make it easy.

Almost time for Katsu!

So Katsucon is almost here, which means I have about everything done. I'm still waiting on a few little things I need to finish up my costumes. But for the most part I'm about ready.

A friend of mine wanted us to cosplay together and we decided to do Godchild, I chose Merryweather. There was a ton of outfits I could have chosen from, but a lot of them had the same sort of big ruffled look. I needed something a bit easier to make and wear, because of the time factor. So after hunting through I ended up picking an outfit from the Cain Saga.


I got to play around and be a bit more interpretive with some of the details, since with each frame the outfit looked slightly different. This was probably the cheapest of all the costumes thus far. I really only needed to get a wig, lining an a few small details. I had the majority of everything else.



The shoes were something I already owned, which was incredible luck. It in the end came down to wig hunting...which was an adventure. The one in the photo up there is my second and successful wig. I still need to trim the bangs a bit. Also since that photo I've completed a few more details that I've been too lazy to put the thing on and take a photo of.

This is where being careful on the internet comes into play. IT can be something a lot of cosplayers can suffer from, people trying to look for a deal on their limited budgets only to get ripped off or find their item isn't exactly as pictured. And it can really happen to ANYONE who buys something online. I've had a lot of luck with finding deals on the internet and my biggest source is ebay. If you pay attention and really read the reviews it makes it easier. I did what I normally did and found a wig I really liked. The price was amazing. Probably too amazing. Because this is what I got.



As you can see I'm rather displeased. It's crazy thin. I've never seen a wig this thin before. I'm sadly stuck with this wig. But at least I was able to get my replacement. But it's a lesson well learned.

Also! I made a Bearbee for a friend for her birthday. It's sort of fun to make plushes again. I still have two more I need to make.



AND LASTLY. I got my watch for 999. Probably...the best thing I've ever received. Thank you Aksys!

Cosplay Meme for 2011

Another meme this time a bit more recent. Enjoy!

Clover: 999

So for Katsucon we have a big 999 (9 hours 9 persons 9 doors) group, with almost everyone (minus Lotus and the 9th man, any takers?) and I've slowly been working through Clover. I haven't finished but I can post some of my progress what I have so far, just to show whatever I'm working on.

So I'm working on the wig. My base was a curly wig that I started to pin up and tease. At the moment it's not quiet the right poofiness that I need for Clover, but I'm still slowly working it up. Also the bangs still need to be trimmed.

Also the lighting in my room looks so terrible in my room. It really doesn't show the color all that well. This probably shows it the closest, but its a wonderful pink/redish color.

Enjoy the no makeup and camera posed at the mirror.
Now for the costume itself, most of the sewing is done, there's a few small details that need to be done.


So you can see the wig is made to be a bit longer and teased up a bit more. It still needs work if I want to get it really big. Also the bang still have yet to be cut from the last photo. Whenever I finish teasing out the wig I'll probably get to the bangs. It's a pretty easy cut made much easier with the thinning sheers I got. Seriously, if you ever need to cut a wig, get yourself a pair.

The blouse was bought and taken in a bit to fit better. You wouldn't believe how tough it was to find a plain white blouse. About everything else I found beforehand was all decked out in something fancy, or had some kind of design on it. I ended up just lucking out on something I found on ebay.

The skirt and bow were fabric left over from my Red Hood Miku costume, and I just happened to have the green paint sitting around. The painting was...terribly tedious, easy but tedious. It involved masking off the areas and then painted where I needed to. For anyone wondering I used Tulip Fabric Paint. Pretty awesome stuff, I've used it for any kind of fabric painting I've needed.

The sweatshirt was handmade...and a mini trial in itself. See the pattern I bought was a few sizes too big so I had to size about everything down. The hood is a little too big, but it really isn't that terribly noticeable, I was fine with letting it go. But it worked well enough because the hoodie needed to be a bit over sized. I really lucked into finding the right colors and with it lined its really super warm.

The fur parts were interesting. I've never worked with fur before, my machine was able to handle it for the most part. There was a few rough patches that I needed to work by hand. But I think the worst part was how the fur got EVERYWHERE. All over my desk and clothing. I'll be alright to never have to work with fur again. The bottom parts have elastic in it. The one side is sort of drooping and I need to fix that.

The last things I need are...
- The boots
- Leather paint (for the boots)
- Poof balls
...and the watch.


Slowly making out it out sculpey. There's a tubing that I need to get to make it. The watches on ebay are...ridiculous, I really can't afford that.

But that's all my progress for Clover as of now. I should really keep from saying that I'm doing this and that, because I keep changing my cosplay plans. Katsucon will be the con of cosplays. Lets see if I can get it all done.


ALSO. I'm trying to sell my Trucy Costume. If you're interested message me on coscom or here.

Magfest 9

Hilton Alexandria Mark Center; Alexandria, Virginia.
Jan 13 - 16, 2011 (Thu - Sun)

When I initially agreed to come to this con I really didn't know much about it. A friend invited me and I invited someone else, so I was a bit surprised it was a 4 day con (my thought being only the biggest cons would have the extra day, like Otakon this year). For anyone that doesn't really know what Magfest is, it's basically a video game/music con. It's devoted to anything video game and music to video games. So there was a ton of bands there that played video game related music.

We arrived a bit late on Thursday so we missed almost all the panels. But we took care of getting our badges, which brings me to my first issue.

Registration
What surprised me was that the con sold out of badges in the pre-reg phase. Of all the cons I've been to I've never really seen that happen before. A lot of times cons have a pre-reg cap at a certain date and allow walk-ins to pick up their tickets at the door (which usually tend to cost a bit extra since you didn't pre-reg). But this is the first time I've had a con sell all of their tickets in pre-reg and I'm not entirely sure what to say about it. I guess on one hand you don't have to deal with the two lines, so maybe it would be easier to deal with? That and you guarantee that you sell out all your tickets. But with a con like Magfest I doubt there would have been any issue with selling their tickets without a pre-reg.

But other then that oddity, what I can really compliment is the price. For a 4 day con it was $40. Last year Otakon was a 3 day con and cost about $60. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Magfest raised their price next year, but I was extremely happy to pay so little for a 4 day con.

Now I must go back to complaining. Actually being in line for picking up the badge was bad. I've been in much worse lines (AX 09) but this was kind of ridiculous how unorganized it was. I waited for about 2 and half hours, but I heard people waiting much longer. And the process itself was fairly simple, you show your ID and they look you up and give you a badge. So I'm sort of wondering what the holdup really was. It could have been a mix between the staffers and the people in line themselves (I'm certainly not one to immediately blame the staffers). Either way I think what might have helped if they had someone standing by the line and directing people where to go. It seems like a bit micromanaging, but with a line as big as it was, its easier and more efficient.

NOW getting past registration. This con was a bit different then most cons I go to. I tend to go to mostly Anime Conventions. So there's a far bigger focus on cosplay, at least more people cospay at an anime convention. Here it was pretty low key, there was a few cosplayers that wandered around and I tried to get photos of whoever I saw.

This was the first time I ever really took the time to go to panels. My big focus on cons normally is to; see friends, do cosplay stuff (gatherings and what not) and spend time in the dealers room. But since I really wasn't doing a lot of cosplay stuff I spent time trying to get to panels.

Panels
There was a lot I had a lot of fun with, but I think one of the biggest issues with the panels was the rooms themselves. The con was held mostly within a hotel and it wasn't really big. So the panel rooms were smaller and made it harder to get into. For some of the more popular panels you had to go and wait at least an hour ahead of time to make sure you'd get in, otherwise you'd get left in the dust. Someone pointed out that it would have been nice if they put a line cap so that people wouldn't waist their time in line, not able to get in. But I doubt the con really would have the man power to really deal with that. I think by this point, what with how big the con is getting I heard rumors they were going to move to a new location.

I think all the panels that I attended I had a great time during, even the ones I sort of wandered into unintentionally. One of the best panels was the art fight. Where two artist are given a new topic to draw every five minuets and they have to draw it. So eventually it started to devolve into something utterly insane. But watching it evolve slowly was a fun process.

The other fun panel was getting to see Spoony's. It was mostly him showing some of his videos (including a short new one) but he did take the time to answer some questions and talk to the audience. It was the last panel we went to and I had a really good time. But this sort of leads me into my next part.

There was a big, big focus on the people from thatguywiththeglasses.com, all of which are internet reviewers in some fashion. Some review games, other review nostalgic tvshows, movies, music and comics. The people who do review games do relate to the con, I guess even the music people might (they don't make music, they just review general pop songs, so maybe even that's a bit of a stretch). But people like the Nostalgia Critic or Linkara don't really relate so much and Linkara had a panel. This isn't trying to bash either of those people, I actually love their reviews. I was mad disappointed I couldn't make it to Linkara's panel, but it does make me question a bit. Maybe this just goes to show how the con is evolving. Much like Anime cons really aren't just about Anime, but delve into Japanese culture. Maybe this shows the nature progression of this con. What was sort of mind blowing was to see the sheer amount of fans for a lot of internet guests. It's not too surprising I guess, but you don't tend to think of people on the internet as celebrities. It's the same sort of odd feeling when you see a celebrity. You know them, you've seen their work and you know who they are, but they don't know you, so when you go up and speak to someone all you can do is compliment their work, which isn't a terrible thing, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

All of the people I managed to snag photos with or just spoke to were all wonderfully nice and it was awesome getting the chance to see the people whos videos I enjoy watching.

The Con Itself
Pretty much anything I couldn't think to add in the previous parts. The people at the con, the guests and con goers were all really nice. I think the best part was the game room. There was a TON of games, unlike an Anime Con where there are little to no options of what to play (granted this con is dedicated to video-games, it better have a good game room). But the people were pretty polite, if people were waiting for a game, then they'd finish up their game and let the next person on, so I got the chance to try the different games there (and now starting to become a fan of King of Fighters). I think the only thing I wish I could have tried is the Dance Central game they had set up, but there was generally a lot of people around it and I really didn't feel like waiting in line for it.

Overall it was a really good con. I had a great time, I would probably go again. In the second post I'll post more photos, mostly of cosplayers.

New Outfit.

So...AC Brotherhood has made me completely change my mind. I need to cosplay Claudia now. Playing through the game, she's become completely amazing, I just adore her. And then she got a brand new outfit, the Assassin's Garb.

This will probably be the most challenging outfit I'll make up till this point. But I always get really excited for big projects like this. I think what makes it look more difficult then it probably is, is the how detailed the material of the fabric looks. But actually breaking it down isn't as bad. Its just about breaking it down into pieces and working a bit at a time. Though I am the most concerned with the design on the back of the cloak, I really need to find something bigger and more highres of it. But for Katsucon it'll be nice for our group.

So it looks like for Katsucon I should have Kay Faraday, Claudia Auditore, Miku (Red Hood) and Flora (from Professor Layton). Flora should be rather easy to whip up so I'm not concerned about that. From here on its get through classes and get this done.

Projects 2010-2011

It's been super busy getting back from Otakon and then starting school. So I'll try and keep up as much as I can. I never really took the time to write up what I thought about Otakon, maybe I'll get to that eventually, but it feels a little too late now. I might try and keep up with that more with upcoming cons, but for now I can at least sort of showcase my costumes.

Part of this counts still in 2010, so I'll keep using the 2010 tag until 2011 hits. I still have a con in 2010 anyway. So far this year (and next) I plan on going to AUSA, Katsucon and Zenkaikon. I'd like to make it to Tekkoshocon but we'll see about that. And I have no definite plans for a summer con yet.

As for what I plan on wearing. At the moment I'm still working out what I want to wear where. But so far this is what I plan on making.


From left to right: Miku (Vocaloid: Project Diva 2, Amanda: MGS Peacewalker & Sister Teodora: Assassins Creed 2)

Teodora will be the most challenging, so we'll see how this goes!