Does this merit an RL tag?

[cleflink]

Con report! A week late, but still here!

This was my... 7th time going to Anime North and I'm pleased to say it was still a very enjoyable experience. The weather was, thankfully, very nice and I met more nice crazy people than irritating crazy people. This year the collective crew decided to spend an extra day and show up on Thursday - for less hassle checking in and the sake of not being crazy rushed all weekend. Surprisingly, it worked. Hotel check-in, con registration and weapons check were all done with a minimum of fuss, and then Thursday evening was spent watching Star Trek (again) in IMAX. Good times.

Con opened at 5pm on Friday, so we slacked off and finished last minute costume bits for most of the day. I reused an old costume and went as Hakkai from Saiyuki - and for a twist I decided to go for the youkai version. Meant that I got to leave my monocle and ear cuffs (and Hakuryuu) at home, which made the costume a lot easier to wear.



The work on my face is in eyeliner, my hands were done in pen.

Took freaking forever to get dressed on Saturday. I went as Caster from Fate/Stay Night, and the lovely Shadeling was Saber.



Shadeling looking lovely - and tiny, but she kind of is, so I guess that's okay. I made all the armour myself using an online tutorial, craft foam, some creativity and several litres of glue. I am very pleased with how it turned out, though I might try and find a different method in future, as this stuff is very soft.



Without the cloak. This was my first time wearing a full wig for a costume - it was a lot of fun, though the sheer number of hair pins holding me together was a bit ridiculous. People didn't recognize me. It was pretty cool.



Us, looking combatative and etc. And me with the full costume on this time.

My costume was surprisingly comfortable, although next time I intend to avoid anything that requires gloves - made damn hard to pick anything up, or photograph people. Luckily the rest of the people we went with weren't in costume and were kind enough to carry shit/act as picture gophers/pay for my swag (from my wallet, unfortunately). Had a lot of pictures taken, which is really nice after the amount of time put into making the costumes. There were a lot of really good quality costumes this year which is a nice change from previous years. Saw enough P3 and P4 cosplayers to make me a very happy cleflink, as well as a few old-school non-anime folks who were great fun (Barf from Spaceballs! Demona from Gargoyles! Cheetara from Thundercats!...how many of you are even old enough to remember Thundercats? orz)



Speaking of age, the guy behind me (with the popsicle) tried to chat me up not too long before this was taken. If I hadn't been so busy being surprised, I probably would have told him that I'm probably a good 10 years older than he is. ^^;

Watched a couple new things I might look up, laughed at the skit contest and thoroughly enjoyed the AMV contest. Spent a decent amount of money, though not as much as I expected to as several things I was looking for were MIA. I did get the Crisis Core Playarts dolls action figures of Zack and Cloud though, which makes me happy. And some lovely prints from the Artist's Alley which I have absolutely nowhere to put. Orz. So yeah, good all in all, and close enough to my hometown that it doesn't even take a full tank of gas to get there *win*. Now I just have to find some way to convince all you people to come next year lol.

Comments

[ldyavalon.livejournal.com]

You look pretty ^^

Wish I could have gone, but I think I was busy at London's MCM Expo ;)

[strayvalkyrie.livejournal.com]

Wow! What great cosplays! I wish I could've been there to take pictures! */secret wannabe photographer geek* Will you be going to Otakon by any chance?

Glad to hear you picked up the CC Zack and Cloud. :3 I want to get Cloud, but I'm not so sure about Zack. I love him to death, but I really don't know what to make of his CC figure. :p

Sounds like you had a lot of fun! Welcome back!

[cloudy-chan.livejournal.com]

Glad you had a good time! Cloud and Zack CC figures are the next on my list for Otakon and all the art that I can afford. I sweat artist alley is the death of me. <3 your cosplay and you reminded me that I need to get my ass in gear with all my stuff.

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

*grin* Thank you! Usually I dress as boy characters because my hair is so short, so it was an interesting change to be a girl for once! lol

And yeah, I'm not sure I'd fly transcontinental to visit a con, or if I was (because I can be that kind of crazy), it'd be a bigger one than AN. Hope you had a great time!

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

*grin* Thank you! I tend to be something of a picture fiend myself and had a great time this year shoving my camera into the hands of the nearest friend and going 'Ooh! Ooh! That one! Take a picture of them!' whenever I saw a good cosplay. *laughs*

Won't be at Otakon unfortunately as I'm going to be away, but, even though I've never been before, it's one I hope to go to in the future - especially since it's not as far away from my house as most of the other big one.


And yeah, Zack's figure could maybe be a bit less dorky looking face-wise, but his Buster Sword is awesome (and huge!). And this way they can stand on my desk next to each other while Zack makes inappropriate size jokes. ^_^

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

I've been holding off going into my local comic book store recently so my list of 'things to buy' just kept getting longer! But I'm definitely pleased with the figures. And Artist Alley is one of my favourite parts of going to cons in recent years - some of the artwork is just gorgeous.

Good luck with your own cosplay! It's a time consuming hobby, that's for sure! ^__^

[ldyavalon.livejournal.com]

I REALLY want to go to YaoiCon, but can't afford it :(

I had a great time. For two days I was in complete HEAVEN.

[b-borealis.livejournal.com]

:D YOU LOOK AWESOME AND PRETTY AND THE COSTUMES ARE SPOT ON

it is deserving of caps! I'm glad you had fun, and am jealous of the Zack and Cloud dolls Playarts figures XD

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

*big grin* Thank you! Our costumes seem to get progressively more complicated as the years go by, but it's really rewarding to see them come together just right (And the picture taking is fun too!).

And I am very pleased with my action dolls - I'm starting to get quite a collection these days!

This is funny. A good distraction from the days work.|

[(Anonymous)]

п»ї
Thanks
I just use blogpsot..T_T
Can I put this article to my blog?

Re: This is funny. A good distraction from the days work.|

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

Um, I'd rather if you didn't actually. Not only did you not provide a name or the address of your blog, but these are my personal photographs and I would rather have personal control over access to them.

Glad you enjoyed the post though.