| AX Report, Part 1 |
[Jul. 15th, 2009|01:55 am] |
This is long overdue.  Hopefully, I haven't forgotten too many of the details! I had a great time in LA this year, even though it went by super fast. I can't believe it's already been more than a week. I prepared for it for so long, and now it's over. T_T Ah, well, there's always next year? 
The last two weeks before AX were pretty much all dedicated to my new cosplay. This year, I chose to do Pit from Super Smash Bros. Brawl!!!  See my gallery for some pics. I cosplayed the green alternate version for a couple of reasons. Everyone always seems to do either the regular white one or the dark "fallen angel" version, so I wanted to stand out a little and try something different. Green Pit is also my favorite version and the one I use all time when I play Brawl. Some people like to call him "Christmas Pit" because of the green toga and red scarf. He was a pain in the butt to make! I started gathering materials very early on, so I had everything assembled by the time I actually started putting it together. The shoes took me the longest because I had to hand sew EVERYTHING. The sewing machine was no help at all for those because the material was so thick and the angles were hard to work with. I think they came out pretty good, though, even though they weren't perfect. One of them is too easy to get on, the other too difficult. I had to turn them over to my mom at one point because I just had too many other things to work on. The swords were very interesting to make because I had to work with a lot of model magic, but I made the mistake of not having a lot of support along the sides so the swords were constantly breaking in the middle throughout the con. I was smart enough to bring an emergency repair kit that included a hot glue gun, so I was able to fix anything that gave me trouble. My favorite part of the swords were the magnets that held them together for when I wanted to use it as a bow. The reactions I got from people when they found out I could take them apart and put them together again were priceless. I also had a little too much fun finding out what metallic things I could stick them to, like the tables at Johnny Rocket's. 
I arrived in LA on Day 0, the day before the con officially started. I flew in from San Francisco and got roped into taking a shuttle from the ground transportation area. It was probably the cheapest way anyhow, but it's kinda scary the way the people there make you feel committed to taking their shuttles. I was just walking by, and the guy is like "Where are you going?" and after I tell him, he writes it down gets a shuttle for me. Better than what happened to my poor friend, Stacy, who got tricked into taking a private car that ended up costing $70.  Hugs for Stacy~  It was an interesting ride because over half the people who got in with me were con-goers. Most of them were anti-social though expect maybe the ones in the way back, so I didn't get to talk with anyone.
I got to the hotel before the rest of my group. I had been talking to someone online who found my post in the forums and invited me to join her room. She ended up being a very kind and friendly person. She even paid for my con registration! Her group was nice too. None of us became very close, but at least they were fun to be around. I was going between different groups of people for the whole con, so I didn't hang out with them the whole time. Before they got there, I was hanging out in the lobby until Stacy invited me to meet up with her. I left my luggage in her room, and we all walked to the con center to register. It was a long line! I was not expecting that at all because last year, we were barely there 10 min because it was Day 0. This year, everyone had the same idea to register early, so we were there for what felt like almost two hours. The staff was super considerate though; they even had a bottle of sunscreen that they shared with everyone in line and there with people with misters too to help us cool down. After registering, we went to California Pizza kitchen where I gorged on an entire mushroom pizza. I was starving, so it really hit the spot.  Special thanks to Stacy's fiancee, Steve for feeding me!  It was soooo good.
I met up with my hotel roommates later that night, and we got acquainted and wandered around the hotel and across the way to Johnny Rocket's, even though I think it ended up being full or about to close. One of the most convenient food sources during the whole con was the Subway located right in our hotel. I must have had at least three meals from there. It was just so cheap and delicious! @w@ Just one more thing about the Westin that's awesome. I really do love that hotel. The atmosphere and rooms are perfect. Well, the size of the rooms are a bit on the small side, but they're plenty big enough for four people that don't do much except sleep there and change in and out of costumes. My junk took up a good chunk of the floor by the bathroom and some closet space, but overall, it wasn't too bad.
Thursday was the first official day of the con. I went to the opening ceremony with my hotel roomies. Ever since last year, it seems like a requirement for any AX. It really helps kick it off. You get to see all the guests of honor! I didn't know most of them, but it was still cool. All the events seemed to run behind schedule, so we were waiting a long time for it to start, but it really wasn't so bad. Con excitement and new friends make it a whole lot easier. XD
I was cosplaying Edgeworth for most of the day cuz I didn't want to whip Pit out right away. I met up with Stacy's group for a bit and then headed back to the room to change out for some of the panels that I wanted to go to that would be hard to participate in while in cosplay. It felt so wrong being at a con out of costume though, so I grabbed a few pieces of Pit like the arm band and glove to make me feel better. I even tried out the blue eye contacts. Coolest thing ever! Though they kept sliding around...It still looked awesome. The first panel I went to was a Ballroom Instruction Panel. I figured it was something I never get to do (mostly because no one else wants to do it with me  ) and I had time, so why not? I was actually planning on going to the Cosplay Masquerade Ball, but it didn't end up happening. The class was interesting though! XD We learned how to waltz and jive.
FUNNIEST THING EVER: They hired this random dance instructor to run to panel. They told him what he'd be teaching but failed to mention exactly who he would be teaching it TO. So this guy comes in and is like...O_o He was totally cool about it though, and even got a lot of amusement out of it. He was using people as examples and being all like "Okay, you ninja guy come hold onto bikini girl..." There was also this toy gun he kept stealing out of the back of this one girl's pants where it was sticking out and he would fire it to get our attention. The panel itself was a lot of fun. It made me realize how much I fail at dance classes in general. I really just need to be able to follow someone as they do the steps the same time as me; if I try to watch someone do it before trying myself, I usually just mess it up. I learned a few moves though and avoided stepping on too many toes. I had to dance with a lot of random guys (some better-smelling than others), but it was an interesting experience to say the least. This one guy was confused about which of my hands he was supposed grab when he finished his solo jive turn, and I was just like "Just grab the GLOVED one."
After the dance panel/class, I took a one hour break and wondered around the con, mostly checking out the dealer's hall and artist alley, which they put in the same giant room this year. I went for this one T-shirt booth right away because there was this brown shirt with a kitty in a big cup of boba that I wanted to get at Fanime, but couldn't because they ran out of my size. I love that shirt! It's my tradition to get one at every con, so I was glad I was able to accomplish that right away. I also found some really cool pins from the game The World Ends With You (a must-play if you own a DS). There was a pack of six with all the pins that I wanted for $5. I was so happy! XD I put them on my messenger bag's strap.
The next panel I went to was called Art of the Glowstick. I didn't realize there was a whole subculture dedicated to twirling these things around, but apparently there is! Seems like a cool community too. They told us a bit about what they were about, and after, they showed us some moves. I was too cheap to buy any glowsticks though, so I didn't actually get to try them out. They are stored in the memory though. XD
I went back to the con and had dinner with the roomies. First though, I couldn't resist giving Pit a test run. I wore him to Johnny Rocket's and then to the con afterwards, even though it was already late and there wasn't much going on. I loved being in the costume! It gave me a chance to figure out what was going to give me trouble later. The scarf kept shifting around, so I used safety pins on it later to keep it in place. I had to learn the hard way to watch out for the thigh band though; the model magic kept breaking there too as well as the swords. At least I had the hot glue gun ready. I went to the karaoke room with the hotel roomies later that night, but it was still a while before open mic, so I didn't get to sing anything. My contacts also gave me trouble, and I had to go back to the room for a bit because one fell out. It was funny because I still got stopped for photos as Pit even though I had one blue eye in and the other floating in a cup of water. I changed out of Pit and went to the dance for a while with Stacy's group, but I couldn't stay long because it was already almost 2am, and I had an early start the next day.
Friday was a hectic day. We went to a secret event that I'm not really supposed to talk about, but let's just say it was a lot of fun and I got a free breakfast out of it.  The rest of the morning was a bit hectic because I had two different groups of friends to coordinate, so I was playing some phone tag/hide and seek. I picked up Paul and his friend from the gaming room and headed toward the dealer's hall to meet up with Chan and Suupi. Everyone was kinda running around in different directions, but we had a good time. I went to the Phoenix Wright gathering as Edgeworth and had a very fun photo shoot. The Mike Meekins cosplayer was the best part. He was very in-character and even had a megaphone (which thankfully stayed off). There was a lot of Gumshoe and Phoenix abuse when it came to the photos, but there were also some funny ones like Oldbag and Red White's romantic scene and Apollo using his Chords of Steel on Mike Meekin's megaphone. There was also a Joker cosplayer from Batman that got pulled in to a scene with him holding dynamite and the police force freaking out. It was great.
After the Phoenix Wright gathering, I went back to the hotel to change into Pit. I was so excited to get to wear him "officially." He was very well received right off the bat. The first time I wore him, I had barely taken 5 steps off the hotel shuttle bus before someone asked for a photo. This time, I got caught at the top of the escalators near the entrance because I started posing for people and more and more cameras came. When I tried to pick my stuff up to go, I had to set it down again and pose again. It was a fun ride.
I eventually met up with everyone again and trekked around the dealer's hall for a bit. Then, Chan, Suupi, and I went to the VIZ panel to see what was coming out. It's been a while since I've seriously collected any manga (too broke T.T ), but it was still interesting. They talked about Kakashi Gaiden!!! I already knew the animation was on its way, but I didn't realize it was already coming in August!  I can't wait! I'm so excited to hear everyone's voices and see how they adapt the manga to anime. 
I had to change out of Pit before the AMV Contest, so I went back to the hotel again. I asked Chan and Suupi to save me a seat because they were already in line and I still needed to eat dinner. I grabbed a burger to go and found Stacy's group, so I didn't have to wait in line by myself. I met up with the others when I was inside and we sat through the whole contest and voted at the end. The entries were really great! It was long though, because there were 7 entries for each category: romance, drama, comedy, and pro. We were there until way late, and I was nodding off by the last vid because I had woken up so early and kept going to bed late. It was still very cool to get to sit through it all though. I usually don't get to attend full events at other cons.
My hands hurt now, and soon this entry is going to get too long for you to bother to finish reading, so I'll save the second half of this report for later. There's still Sat and Sun to talk about! I can't believe how much of this con I remember even though it's been more than a week! XD I guess it's hard to forget this much fun. Anyways, till next time! |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
karuka_ikashi's journal
happy
worried
silly
hungry
hatehatehate Not only am I too stressed to think, but I must rack my brain for an experience I'm not even sure is still recorded in my History of Life, if I ever had an experience that fits the prompt at all. X_x They're usually work-related, and the only jobs I've had were more or less conflict-free, thank goodness. I don't have a lot of experiences where I've argued with a co-worker, etc, etc, mostly due to the fact that at the media library, I worked ALOOOONE. 
). I'll let you know how it goes.
I also saw a KAKASHI GAIDEN shirt at Kinokuniya, but alas, they didn't have my size. Maybe I'll look for it elsewhere or go back and buy one as a pajama. 
I was SO happy; you have no idea. For some reason, I wasn't that disappointed when I didn't get a JET interview earlier this year, but now I've realized that Japan is really where I want to be, so I want to succeed really bad. I know the seminar's going to be tough on me, but at least I have time to prepare. I'll have to have a more in-depth interview and give a short lesson, from what I know so far. They'll be sending me more info on that later. 
cold
I actually found a picture of it on DA from her account 
Well, I've got the same basic plan that a lot of people do- hunt around for work, find something that fits and I love, and maybe then even go back to school for a little bit. I really would like to get my Masters in Creative Writing eventually, but I also want some time on my own to actually work on stuff since school makes it so hard to find time. D: I also have more solid post-graduation plans than most people. I'm about halfway through applying to teach English in Korea for a year, and it's not looking bad at all. The recruiter said once the school reviews my application, they'll schedule a second interview which is really more like a chance to get to know me, find out my preferences, and answer my questions. The idea of teaching there is starting to sound REALLY EXCITING. Even if I don't speak a word of Korean...hmm :\Time to study some Hangul. Oh, does that count as a word? XDDD Then how about kimchi?
My family's here already. They drove down from North Cal this morning and got here later in the afternoon while I was running around trying to get the last things off my to-do list done. I still have bloody scratches on my arm from carrying my Link bust all the way from the sculpture lab to my apartment (an ordeal in which my arms were sacrificed). I returned the red baskets from the cafeteria that I've been keeping hostage for pretty much the whole year. My room is still a total wreck (probably scared the family), but I really don't have a lot to pack, so I'm working on that tonight. After I get off work though, I'm trudging my way to Tokyo Cafe in these heels. Today was the baccalaureate service in the Interfaith center so I had to dress all nice and wear my grad gear (most of which I forgot anyway). 
Tomorrow I'll be all decked out though in my Japan study abroad sash, so I'm excited.
I really hope we all keep in touch, even though our lives may go in very different directions. There will also be my own personal guests of honor attending. My bff, the SWIRLINATOR, is coming plus one, shall we say, significant other. 
I'm psyched to be the center of attention. Part of me's like, "But what did I do to deserve this festivity?" O_O I think it just hasn't sunk in yet that I've actually completed college and am done with most if not all of my formal education for pretty much life. 
Ok, you have no idea what I'm taking about. I've been pretty freaked out/depressed about what's been happening with my laptop lately. First the trojans kick me out, then I overdraw on my bank account trying to buy the external enclosure that will help me get my files off my hard drive and onto another computer, then when the thing actually comes and I hook it up to another computer, the folder that has all my files in it says ACCESS DENIED, but it's okay now, because the help desk fixed it so I can get my files out! *happy dance* 
Wish me luck~ 