k i m m y ' s c o s p l a y

Ayu came over to my house at around a quarter to eight, and we left right away. My sister was coming along for the day, so we had to go and pick up her boyfriend before heading out to Ottawa. The two hour ride wasn't particularly eventful, nor was it totally boring.

By around 10 o'clock, we made it to the convention. My dad dropped the two of us off, and we were off to find the registration desk. The convention was being held in the other building of the hotel or something like that, so after asking for directions and some confusion, we finally made it to our destination. Ayu needed to put her wig on for her Akito/Agito cosplay from Air Gear, so we made a quick stop to the bathrooms before registering.

There was a small line for registration, but it moved quickly. Apparently, they had run out of convention schedules and booklets, so we were stuck heading back to the information desk every time we wanted to see what was going on. That really pissed me off, because you would think that they would have enough forsight to print out enough convention schedules and booklets. I mean, this is part of what we're paying for, are we not?

The two of us didn't have anything in particular we wanted to do, so we decided to just walk around for a little while to get familiar with the new location. While trying to find our way around the place, we spotted some more Air Gear cosplayers! That made us both happy. =D

I was glad that there was more room to move around now, but I thought there were very few rooms for a significantly bigger space. After walking around for a while, we decided to check out the Dealer's Room. There was a line up to get in. Although I could understand that they probably didn't want it to get overcrowded, it really annoyed me. If they had rearranged their interior design, I think it would have been an unnecessary measure to take. As for the Dealer's Room itself, personally, I wasn't all that impressed with it. I mean, it was relatively big, but there was nothing of interest to me, and I thought a lot of it was terribly over-priced.

After going through the Dealer's Room, we decided to check out Artist's Alley. There was nothing of interest to me, but Ayu got to have a Phoenix Wright fangirl moment. There wasn't anything that interested us on the schedule until later on in the day, so we went to check out the Video Game room. Ayu stayed a little while and played Super Smash, while I went to walk around a little more. Eventually I decided to go to whatever was left of the Opening Ceremonies.

Both of us started getting hungry, so we went to the information desk to ask where the closest food places where. Apparently they had a con-run cafe on the second floor, so we decided to check it out. The food was a total rip-off. They were selling tiny hotdogs for 3$ and drinks for 2$. I probably should have expected that since inside con food always costs an arm and a leg, but it still annoyed me.

The convention staff were trying to hold an information meeting for two different events in the same room as the cafe while we were there. I thought that was really bad idea and an inefficient use of space. After some shouting to tell the cafe people to keep it down, things seemed to run smoothly.

When we were finished with our lunch, we decided to go outside to do a mini photoshoot. The scenery worked perfectly for Ayu's costume. Unfortunately, it didn't work so well with mine. I really miss the beautiful garden last year's hotel had. It would have been perfect for my Shuurei cosplay from Saiunkoku Monogatari. Anyway, we managed to get some nice photos. =)

When we came back inside the building, we spotted a Tales of Symphonia group. That made me really happy considering I'm in the middle of playing the game. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of ToS cosplayers that were at the convention. Anyway, Ayu decided that she wanted to buy something in the Dealer's Room she had been looking at before, so we got back into the line. It appeared to be moving smoothly until the Cosplay Auction started. I don't know what happened, but it was almost like the person moving the line at the front just decided to stop and watch the auction instead. After about twenty minutes of waiting in line, we were finally back in the Dealer's Room. Ayu bought a hat and I bought a Death Note bobblehead.

By the time we got out of there, it was time to go and see the 404s. We missed them at Otakuthon this year, so I was really looking forward to seeing them. The event actually started on time with very few technical difficulties, and my god, they were great. I haven't laughed that hard in ages. Some of my favorite improvs of the show were Press Conference and Lines out of a Hat. I was amused at how they were trying to keep it PG and totally failed. XD

Right after the 404s was Anime Name that Tune. By the time we found where the room was, it was really close to my Masquerade judging time slot, so I decided to skip it. Ayu went back to the Gaming room and I told her I would meet her there when I was done. Of course, cosplay events never run on time, and this was certainly no exception. The judging was an hour behind. I went up to the Gaming room to tell Ayu the news, and that she should go and eat something if she was getting hungry since I probably wasn't going to get a chance. Ayu declined. I told her I was going to wait by the door because I was afraid of leaving for too long, and she decided to join me.

To entertain herself, she started taking free drawing commissions. XD It was very successful, which made her happy. ^^ A little over an hour after my designated time, it was my turn to be judged. I was really nervous since this was my first time competing and I didn't know what to expect. In the end, I think it went over fairly well. They gave me a tip on how to sew invisible zippers (since I totally fail at it), but I can't remember what the piece of the sewing machine is called. >.>

When my judging was over with, I had about half an hour to eat. Neither of us wanted to go back to the cafe, but the convention was in the middle of nowhere, so there was no where to go. Eventually, we decided to get a snack from the vending machine. I tried calling my sister to ask her to pick some food up for us when they came to get us later that night, but I couldn't get a hold of her. I was annoyed, but I figured I would try again after the Masquerade.

I had to go to the masquerade Greenroom, so Ayu decided to go and line up for the Masq. Inside the greenroom, the staff kept us entertained by setting up the Xbox version of DDR (or something like it). For the next half hour, the whole room entertained ourselves by clapping our hands in time with the arrows. XD It was amusing for the first 5 minutes, and then it just got old. I'm not sure how much time went by, but everyone was starting to get impatient. It seemed like ages before the staff briefed us on what was going on and lining us up to go on stage.

The masquerade started, and it went by without any problems. I missed my cue because I couldn't hear what the MC was saying while I was backstage. It all turned out okay though. ^^ After my turn, I watched the rest of the masquerade on a TV outside the room. There was a Fai and Kurogane (from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle) who did a skit using the song "If you Were Gay" from the musical "Avenue Q". It made my day. =D When the masq was done, I waited outside to find Ayu. It turned out she made a bunch of friends through her commissions.

Everything after that went by in a blur. We just kind of hung around in the main area on the first floor. Ayu talked with her friends, and I finally got a hold of my sister on the phone. Ten o'clock came quickly and it was time to go.

Overall, the convention was fun. They had a major lack of things to do which was a dissapointment, and I wish there was more places to get food close by. I also wish that they hadn't run out of program booklets and whatnot because it was a real hassle going back to the information desk every time I wanted to see what was happening and where. The masquerade delay was a bitch too. Despite all my complaints, I'll definitely be going back next year if I can. =D