Saturday: RECCA Con
Yay for small local cons! That's all I can say. :D
So yah, RECCA Con was great. And I have to say it was weird being a "guest" at the con. 8-/
I had talked to Ai no Hoshi about being a masquerade judge, since she was looking for judges and I thought it would be something fun to try out. I didn't realize she was gonna make me a "guest." 8-/ I guess they were desperate. ;-)
It helps that I was driving in
twjudy and ajmeow who were giving a panel on GL fashion/resin casting. LOL.That's definitely something I've learned from RECCA. If I ever give a panel, I need to bring a back up topic and props just in case. :D
It was great hanging out with everyone and seeing people. Also not having to worry about costume changes and stuff. I only wore my Ohgami costume. One thing I didn't realize was that, since I was judging, I'd be sitting in the front row. Also I have a wig on that's sort of big, I hope I didn't block too many people behind me. O:)
Judging was actually not so bad. :) We mostly agreed about who was going to win what prizes and we were asked to give Judges' awards to our personal favorites. So it was really good. :)
Oh, and where the hell did my modesty go? 8-/ Before and after the con I basically just stripped down in the parking lot and changed. 8-/ Ahh, the strange things that happen to you after taking up this hobby.
Something else that's always good about the after-con stuff. Having a late dinner with everyone at the local Denny's/IHOP/whatever the hell is still open. :D
We basically met everyone at the IHOP, including Ramen & Rice and too many people to name. :) The funny thing was that the masquerade was pretty much over by... 9pm? But it felt like 1am. We actually all got home in a reasonable amount of time! :)
Anyway, as if I didn't say it enough, RECCA was a lot of fun and my first chance to be a guest/judge at a con. :D
Sunday: Prop making for dummies
Because of the Final Fantasy XI Launch Event on Monday, we needed to make a few props. :)
I needed to fix up my gunblade (which has been neglected for the past few months) and
kitkat_nap wanted to make a Summoner Staff for her Yuna costume.So we basically made a day out of it.
positivespace was going to teach me about the wonders of Corning insulation foam, twjudy and ajmeow were going to do some resin casting and vacuum forming table making.Ok, first off...
ajmeow with power tools = scary. 8-| But, thankfully, I don't think anyone shed any blood during the day. :)positivespace was really good about it, she even let me cut up her old Paine sword so I could make the gun chamber of my gunblade. And for the record, I asked her 3-4 times if she was absolutely sure I could cut up the blade. X-|So, I was carving away at the pink foam to make a gun chamber.
twjudy and ajmeow were making a vacuum form table. kitkat_nap and shonen_star were cutting out a Yuna staff, positivespace and tartetatin where mass producing resin bits for armor...Oh! And of course
lionboogy came to hang out, show us his incredible cosplay books from AX and his X-2 Gunmage guns! 8-O What can I say, but wow! As Dez would say, they were awesome!After our mad rush to make props, we went out to dinner. Even convinced
shonen_star to stay an extra night. Muahahah. Well, I think it was more the sushi that did that. ;-)Just FYI, my gunblade still isn't completely done yet. :) I coated the bullet chamber in Mod Podge and painted it silver. I still need to carve that lion symbol on the blade, but after that I'll be completely done! Woot! :D
Monday: Final Fantasy XI Launch Event
So this was the offical launch of Final Fantasy XI for the PS2. Basically you were buying the PS2 40gig HD with FFXI pre-installed on it.
They were having a costume contest, so we all decided, what the hell and went. :)
I went with my Squall Leonhart (FFVIII) costume and
ajmeow went as Terra Branford (FFVI). Also surprisingly, it was a lot of fun. It was actually quite crowded in the Playstation store at the Metreon, but there were quite a few cosplayers there!Actually, there were 4 Squalls. LOL, 2 with gunblades (including me) and two without.
tartetatin was our photographer for the evening, so I'm going to get photos from her and post them soon.We were treated really well, by the staff at the store and by the crowd. Lots of photo requests and actually a few people wanted to interview us. 8-/
IGN interviewed me and it's up right now, Meeting the Cosplayers.
Playstation Underground, which I think is part of Sony, also interviewed me, even had me sign a waiver. Wonder if that will ever see the light of day. :)
One funny about Playstation Underground. When they asked me how long I had waited in line, I told them I didn't and basically just walked in. The interviewer told me to lie, so I BSed something about waiting forever in line to get in. LOL. Gee, I wonder what version they are going to use? :)
I think there was a cosplayer from just about every series from FFVI and on. Actually, the only omission was from FFIX. I was actually talking about that with the other cosplayers and how we really didn't like that game. Go figure.
Oh and of course, congratulations to all of the winners! :D Funny enough, I know the top 3 winners. :D
deathxangel won First Place with her Chocobo costume.positivespace won Second Place for her Warrior Paine costume.kitkat_nap won Third Place with her Summoner Yuna.There were also 3 other runner up prizes, I remember a Zell, Lulu and the Fisherwoman from FFXI winning those. :D
Yah, the Squalls got no love. ;-)
I think the people at the Playstation store was pretty shocked at the turnout of costumers. At the end of the night they were talking about possibly doing a Halloween contest. I think that would be great. Maybe I'll have my FFX-2 Backup Dancer costume done by then! LOL. Of course, I'd need to find a Pop-star Yuna to go with though or no one will get it. :)
Afterwards we went out to dinner at Mel's Diner across the street. Once again Ramen and Rice came with us, as well as one of the other Squalls. It was his first time cosplaying and he did a wonderful job on his costume.
I swear, R&R are our official fangirls. LOL. :)
Anyway, that was my amazingly busy weekend. Amazing, in that it wasn't a full con weekend, but man, it sure felt like it!
