Author: blueZhift

Some people say that you should live every day as if it is your last. I kinda feel that way about the anime cons I go to. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to go, so I’ll keep it up as long as I can!^_^ So after some consideration, I’ve made plans to go to Youmacon again. I had such a great time last year, and this year promises to be even better. And, because I just can’t keep doing the same thing, I’ve decided on a new costume to make for the con. Just like the AMVs I make, I need to feel some passion about my cosplays. All I’ll say for now is that it involves a long red wig!XD

Okay, just a few last thoughts on Otakon 2008. The Saturday masquerade is always a must see event for me and for the most part it was a lot of fun, including the walk to the Mariner Arena and the reactions of the “normal” people on the street to a parade of cosplayers. But one thing I will not forget is the reaction the audience had to one of the youth division cosplayers.

The girl was cosplaying Sakura and was probably about 13 years old. She got on stage to sing and totally froze. She looked really scared. But rather than boo her off the stage, the audience started clapping and cheering her on. So she started to sing and the encouragement continued as people started waving glow sticks and cell phones. From my seat in the upper deck, it looked like a sea of floating embers. For that moment I thought, wow, there really is hope for the human race.

So I think I’ll end on that note. I sang, I danced, and of course I got locked out of my room just like last year and had to deal with the front desk staff…in drag!XD It was fun. I stayed Sunday night so that I could cosplay Sunday and drive home Monday during the daylight hours, and get a speeding ticket in Pennsylvania…T_T Can’t wait to do it again next year, minus the ticket!

It’s been a week since I set out for Otakon 2008 and I’m still riding a post convention high. I had a lot of fun. The road trip out was pretty flawless, only some heavy rain (scary) just outside of Baltimore posed any significant problem. Checked in, picked up my registration badge, and got to the Megatokyo Forums dinner on time for once!

I never did get write down any kind of plan for the con, so it was pretty much adhoc all 3 days. I ended up spending a lot of time doing karaoke broken up by intermittent cosplay photography. I also went to the JAM Project panel and concert. They were awesome! And the Saturday Masquerade is always a must for me.

A few things really stood out for me this year. I got a lot of compliments for my costumes this year which really put me on cloud 9. I put a lot of work into them, and I’m pretty self conscious about them so getting a lot of positive notice was really cool. I like cosplaying female or female dressed characters, so you never know what reactions you’re going to get. Then why do it? Because it’s a ridiculous amount of fun and a cool artistic challenge to present the illusion of a woman cosplaying a character. I’ve always enjoyed a good challenge. Being conventional just isn’t who I am!^^

On Friday I did my Yuujirou cosplay with the goth-loli nurse uniform. I was wearing new sandals with it which would prove to be a great challenge to walk in. They just kept sliding around because I think they were slightly too big for my feet. No sooner than I’d gotten to the convention center, a woman taps me on the back and says I look cute!<33 Later, a woman who told me that she was a real nurse told me that I looked beautiful and took a couple of pictures. I suppose guys aren't supposed to care about this sort of thing, but that really moved me. And it meant that I'd done a good job on the costume. Interestingly enough, one picture of me in this costume was used in an article that lightheartedly mocks cosplayers. While the captions are flippant, the pictures and costumes themselves are actually quite good. Click here to take a look. The comments are interesting too, especially the one comparing me to Seal. LOL!

I spent a little time watching AMVs before going up for karaoke where I was very happy to meet one of my favorite con people of all, Alissa!<333 She's very cute and has a great singing voice. She was cosplaying Mozilla Firefox. Yes, the web browser, Firefox. There are so called OS-tans which are personifications of computer operating systems (OS’s) and now, apparently, browser-tans as well. All I can say (see photo below) is, KAWAII desu!! I’m such a fan boi sometimes, but I behaved myself and enjoyed a brief chat with her. I had the great fortune of bumping into her on several occasions during the con, and she liked my costumes too! On that note, I’ll end this first installment of my con report.

Just a few more days until my 4th annual trip to Otakon!^^ This year I’m feeling a bit more relaxed. Last year was my first year cosplaying at Otakon and I was pretty nervous, not to mention what turned out to be some really serious problems with one of my costumes. This year, I’m not rushing to finish anything. I’ve only made some tweaks to improve fit and finish. Sadly, the AC in my car still doesn’t work well, but I don’t really care any more. Once I hit the road it won’t matter, all that matters then is reaching my destination.

It’s a little early, but I will probably start packing today. I want to make sure that I don’t forget to bring anything which is easier to do if I’m not too rushed. And I still need to buy my “survival rations” in order to survive long periods waiting in line and skipping meals in order to get to various events!XD