I'll Laugh My Whole Way Through the Hurricanes and Fire

Wow it's hard going from waking up at around noon to waking up at like 8.

Apparently we get frost in the morning. Who knew?

Finishing packing for PCC - wigs, mostly. And my FMA artbook. Very, very few good pictures of Wrath, I'm afraid. Ah well. I'm really excited about my Lust cosplay. I still need to grab one thing for it, but I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.

No, it's not perfect. I'm not good enough and can't afford 'perfect' yet. But I think it's pretty damn good, and cosplay's all about having fun. I know some people take it insanely seriously, but I'm not one of them.

I need to shower.

ANYWAY! I'm off to PCC for the weekend today, where I shall be updating sporadically as I imagine I will be busy conning and drinking. Heading there with the usual crew (anna_daae, talia_speaks and nijawial) and predicting an awesome time - despite brokeness and sickness and overall craptastic feelings.

I really need to shower.

I'm making a list of all my cosplay sewing projects. There are two that are going to take me a good deal of time to get done - one the sewing, one the making of the accessories. Speaking of accessories, making armor/jewelry type stuff. What's the best material to make it out of? I'm going to be doing Lamika, from Vampire Hunter D, and she has this elaborate collar necklace and headpiece thing. Gold. Any tips?

ALSO! chaneystarr! Tunic! Color? And ranchangrnl, did you want me to do a tunic for you, too? I know the con's not until August, but I like to be organized about this stuff.

After a lot of conversations on cosplay, I've been realizing why I go to cons. There are three major reasons, excluding the obvious of 'hanging out with friends'.

1) Cosplay. It makes me feel good when strangers want to take a picture of me. There is no greater ego-boost than cosplaying, in my experience.

2) Autographs. I love meeting VAs and getting autographs. I have a lovely collection that is ever-growing.

3) Dealer's room. I am a consumer whore. I love paraphernalia and memorabilia. My action figure collection alone is an epic testament to this. I am a collector in the truest sense, and my collections are always expanding.

I'm not really a panel person. I mean, I like going to VA panels, but that's about it. And only if it's a VA I really like. Out of all the dozens of conventions I've been to in my life, I've attended maybe...five panels. Ted Raimi's panel years and years ago, the Farscape panel at that disastrous Comic Con trip, Colleen Clinkenbeard and Sonny Straight's panel at Anizona two years ago, and Laura Bailey's panel at Anime Vegas. Okay, so four panels. Out of more conventions than I can count.

I've been wondering about this, since panels are such huge con things. Maybe it's because I started with Rebelcon, which didn't really have panels. The actors were just there, hanging out with guests. I didn't need to go to panels to hear them, I could just sit down and talk with them and ask them any questions I had like that. In one instance, I sat in their lap. So when I started the con thing, it was very relaxed, and very much just a gathering of like-minded people all hanging out in the dealer's room. There weren't events. Or if there were, it was in the dealer's room in a corner and you could just wander over and watch while you shopped or whatever. That? Was pretty much it.

I've only recently started going to anime cons, which are insanely different than what I'm used to. And when I did Anizona for the first time, I did it how I generally did cons. I hung out in the dealer's room, or on the hotel patio pouring over swag. lennaofmidearth and I didn't really do much, because we just weren't used to it. We hit a panel, and we watched the AMV contest since she's a vidder. And we posed for pictures, which was something extremely new to us - I'd dressed up for cons before, but never had people ask for pictures. Oh, and went to the dance, because we both love dancing. But then Creepy Guys came out, and we went back to the room. And of course, we drank. Hey, there were free drinks! Free strong drinks. That started my tradition of getting drunk in cosplay. :D

AniZona last year was...pretty much the same thing. It was mostly just hanging out. Hell, half the time we weren't even at the con-proper. I probably spent the majority of the con in the hotel room or at the designated smoking area. And there was much Wandering Around Mesa. Anime Vegas? Again, primarily the Dealer's Room and not-the-con. But the thing is... I have fun doing it this way. Like, a lot of fun. Anizona last year? Was some of the most fun I've had at a con.

For me, cons are basically like our Halloween Jerome trip, just with a dealer's room.

I am home.

We got in at like 10 last night, and then just crashed.

I'm really not sure how to even begin to sum up the convention. Or what little of it I was actually able to see. You see, the convention center was full of steep, difficult stairs, and all the elevators were broken. Which meant I couldn't go to any panel that was upstairs, which was... all of them except one. Was not able to meet Jonny Yong Bosch, Aaron Dismuke or Travis Willingham. Did, by pure luck, get to meet Laura Bailey. She's amazing, and an absolute sweetheart. And so damn funny! She signed my artbook, complimented my costume (and told me how sad she was I wasn't wearing the Lust outfit anymore) and I got up the nerve to ask her what she thinks of Scar/Lust. She totally approves/supports/endorses it, and apparently absolutely loved that storyline and being able to play it out.

The Dealer's Room sucked. chocomimi, I'm sorry, I didn't see anything that you'd like. :/ I am a sad panda that your birthday present is not coming from a con. And sorry to everyone else I was trying to get autographs for. :/ The cosplays also kind of sucked, and I think I encountered my first Con Drama with a really bitchy Tamaki cosplayer. We didn't exactly have it out, but... yes. She was quite the bitch and there was Minor Drama.

Being able to see people was great. And completely corrupting my niece - who everyone loved and who we want to take to cons all the time now - was great. She had the time of her life.

BUT! There was one totally bright spot. On Artist's Alley, there were artists doing commissions, and one had beautiful work. I commission a sketch, because damnit, there needs to be art for my OTP! And... wow. Next time, I'm splurging on full ink and color:

( It's Not Only How Happy They Look, It's How He Adores Her... )

Ignore my crappy scanner and the shadows and that bit of plastic that got stuck under the sketch.

Anyway, anna_daae and I are both sick now. And after getting lost, nearly breaking down on the highway, getting lost again and various other Horrible Things.... it's going to take a while to remember the fun things. But there were fun things, I swear!

Just look at my shiny pretty.