MechaCon 2017
I had fun at MechaCon again this year. I headed out on Thursday afternoon and parked at Kat’s again. Her ex-husband? took us to the Hyatt which is where the con was being held this year. It’s a nicer hotel or maybe just newer and there aren’t many places to eat around there which is too bad but I actually didn’t ever go out to eat. I brought stuff with me though I didn’t eat it too much because we ate stuff in the clubhouse after we stopped selling stuff. The food was so good. The macarons were the best I’d ever had and the sandwiches were really good too. Not all hard with weird condiments like at the Hilton. The eclairs were delicious too. After we got to the hotel we were trying to figure out where to go and Margaret was in the process of checking in so that was good timing. We got to our room and we had this huge suite. The bedroom had two beds and there was an attached living room that was huge. It had another closet, bathroom, two sectional couches, coffee tables, another tv, a counter/bar with a Keurig on it. The only thing that would’ve made it better was a microwave and more plugs. We did have a fridge so at least we had that. I kept my stuff in the living room area and used that bathroom and so did Kat so it made it less crowded. We got settled in then joined everyone in the maid room. It was bigger than what we had last year and the stage was bigger too though it wasn’t very deep which was an issue for dances with more people. I hugged everyone and later we had went to the staff meeting. It didn’t seem to be as long this year and Callina got promoted. They are committed to their military ship theme cuz she was promoted a rank which I have no idea what that meant exactly. They even had uniforms which confused me at first because at a glance I thought they were real military uniforms. The stage wasn’t set up so we couldn’t practice opening ceremonies. We went back to the maid room to talk about maid stuff and practice host with the most dance medley and it was pretty late when we were able to go back to our rooms.
Friday
Those of us in opening ceremonies had to be up early so we could practice our dance on the stage which they set up overnight. We got up about 7:15. Well Margaret and I set our alarms for that time even though we didn’t agree to, and we got dressed and went to breakfast before heading to main events to practice. After that we went to the maid room to practice the HwtM dance medley again. I went back to my room to change into a maid outfit for the first show. We didn’t have too many people for it but I performed Ai no Melody. It went well and I didn’t forget my lyrics which was the important thing. After I wandered the dealers room quickly. I found some Yuri on Ice stuff pretty quick but what I wanted to get were blind boxes so I looked around fully really quick before I bought anything. I went back to that booth and had a couple girls pick one of two different blind boxes for me. They got me exactly what I wanted so I found them again and hugged and thanked them. After that I had to go get ready for opening ceremonies. I changed into Altair and headed to main events. It went pretty well except I totally missed my cue for a certain step but it was a slow part so it wasn’t too bad a miss. I then went straight to change into Yuuri for the cosplay show. I hadn’t had a chance to practice the makeup so the eyebrows ended up being really thick. They were okay but I wondered if they weren’t too thick. I’ll try to practice them a bit later. I tried to help Aminah with her eyebrows to make them white but all she had was powder. She ended up just making them more masculine and not worrying about making them white. Everyone loved my costume and I’m so happy with how it turned out even if it was too tight in the shoulders. I’m gonna need to get some armpit pads or panty liners to put in the armpits. That’s not a costume I can wash. Originally I wasn’t worried about it because the undershirt was supposed to be long sleeved or at least quarter lengthed but since the shoulders were so tight I cut off the sleeves. I didn’t even hem it or anything either. I’ll see what it looks like after it comes out of the wash but I might add some bias tape. That costume sheds glitter everywhere though. I bedazzled everything and everyone that came close to me. We had a little costume contest and Kat’s little girl Audrey won with her adorable Sailor Jupiter. Kayla won as Moana and she picked me as like a judge’s pick. The prizes had some stuff from Kawaii Korner like one of the charms Star had made. I chose the dango Yuri on Ice one. After that I didn’t have any more shows so I wandered around in Yuuri for a bit, checking out the artists alley with Star and then going to the ball. I didn’t think I could go since I didn’t bring any formal wear but I realized that Yuuri was good enough. I didn’t want to hang out there since I didn’t have anyone to go with but I did run into Megan there. She was dressed in her Daenerys dress and looked lovely. She was volunteering and working the ball. We chatted for a bit and she kept telling me how much she loved me. After a while I went and changed and went to a Voltron panel. It ended up being one of those ones where they answer questions as the characters but at least it was 18+ so I thought it would be funny. It was mildly amusing. After that I joined Megan and her friend for the burlesque show. They had gotten put in VIP and I ran into John who told me to go in there. The performances were better than last year. They had a space theme and the only guy was the one collecting tips. He was beautiful. I just wish they’d had more male performers (and not ones in drag). Pretty sure I went to bed after that.
Saturday
I had the first show at 11 so I got up at nine so I’d have time to get ready and eat breakfast without rushing. The hotel buffet was seriously good. I got a couple things then decided to get an omelet which was huge. I had too much to eat so I asked to perform last in the show. I did Cruel Angel’s Thesis. Aside from being a little slow at the beginning because it doesn’t give you any warning, I did well. No one joined in though. After that I went to the dealers room and artists alley again before trying to find the Starish panel. I hadn’t found the panel rooms before now and the escalator went straight from the third to first floor. First I had to find the stairs to the second floor then where the right panel room was. I was about to find it when the panelists came out trying to get people to come. They had a cute panel. They did a dating game and then another game where you couldn’t move when the music wasn’t playing and they were trying to scare people into moving. They ended with a Maji Love 1000% performance. They did a good job. I went to maid room so we could practice the song medley before changing into Altair for the Host with the Most. We met an hour before so we could practice the dances. We had quite a few people and first we served everyone their food, then we played bingo and then a dating game. Stefon picked two hosts and then several of the others jumped behind me so I would be picked. I won the dating game, probably because the guy was from my table. I’m sure he realized who I was. We took a picture together and while we were doing that they were voting for host with the most but I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t hear everyone cheering for me. So I won the dating game and the host with the most. I danced with the winner’s wife and small child before going back to the table. It was a fun time. We did both a k-pop dance medley and a song medley with Steven Universe songs. I pushed Stephanie to go out at one point during the dance medley only to realize it was for the wrong song but I think she was thinking the same thing cuz she went out there and immediately realized her mistake. After that was the J-Fashion and Lolita show. When I got there I was trying to find a seat when I saw Selina, Star, and David motioning at me. I joined them at the VIP section. It was good because we were right in front of the stage, but bad because we were to the side and the photographer/videographer kept stepping in front of us. Everyone was cute and adorable, especially Ariyana. She had made a big pink ‘fro wig and put fiber optics in it and had light up bubble guns. She was lit. Margaret’s dress was really pretty too. The show had a theme of space/stars/galaxy and her dress was black with gold constellations on it. After that I went to the concert. It opened with Suzaku 7 which was pretty good. They needed to turn up the mics though because I couldn’t hear the singers hardly at all. I was happy though because they came out wearing the uniforms from the second season of Gundam 00 and opened up with Ash Like Snow. They did an original song or two then did covers of White Reflection from Gundam Wing, Again from FMA Brotherhood, and ended with Wana from Gundam 00. They had gotten some inflatable balls and drawn Haro on them and threw them into the crowd for people to throw around. When the show ended and they didn’t ask for them back I yoinked one to take home. I listened to the Slants for a while and they weren’t bad but weren’t really my genre and they were original songs, I think so I didn’t recognize any of them. There was a girl standing behind me that had rainbow dyed hair that glowed in the dark. It was so cool! I’ve seen it online but never seen it in person before. After that I changed for the pajama jam. They said I didn’t have to wear a wig so I didn’t and just put on a t-shirt under my kigu and was ready go. Maru was like, do we play games? And I’m like, I don’t know, I’ve never done the pajama show before. Whoops. We didn’t though. It was mostly performances. After that several of us went to the game room and played Just Dance and some other dancing games. I played Jubeats at one point. I wanted to play the taiko game but didn’t get a chance. I ended up taking Callina by the rave before dropping her at her room because she got kind of drunk. Whatever drink she had was strong. I found out some hotel staff had sexually harassed her so she’d had to deal with that during a good part of the day. I hope they get fired! That kind of behavior is unacceptable.
Sunday
The Christmas Show was the first show. I woke up a little late and was rushing. I went downstairs to get breakfast and found out it ended at 10:30. We were told it went til at least 11. They extended it though since there were so many people waiting. I ate quickly and by the time the server came back around I had eaten half of what I got. She thought I had barely gotten anything and I was like, a) I don’t have too much time, and b) I’ve already eaten half of what I got. I didn’t want to eat too heavily since I was singing but it didn’t matter. My throat was not cooperating and I sounded terrible plus I forgot the second verse partway through so I just sang the first verse again. At least I remembered something but I just hate that I couldn’t do it. I want another shot at it! I had a break so I changed into Starlite then joined Reba and Jennifer in the dealers room and bought the last prints I wanted. I was sad she was out of the No. 6 ones so I got the Yuuri on Ice hot springs one along with the two Sheith ones. They’re not my pairing but her art was pretty and the poses so sweet and tender. I had to leave them though to get ready for the last show. I saw an Iroh cosplayer in the dealers room and when I went to the maid room he was coming in and he served us tea. I’m not sure how that came about but the tea was really good. He did a good job measuring out how much to give each of us so we all got some. We took a picture with him while deciding what performances we were going to go. We did opening ceremonies, HwtM dance and song medleys, and Gokuraku Jodo. Jennifer and Reba came and we played Taboo with everyone. We did pretty good playing the game and had a good time. When everyone had left I went out and met with them before going back. I was glad I did because we had a meeting and it was a while before I could leave. I didn’t get to give Reba the Gundam Wing DVD but I’ll see her again eventually. I was awarded maid of the year which I still don’t feel I deserve but I got an unlimited drink wrist band. I wandered around with different people before settling in my room and catching up on Facebook. I almost fell asleep but I didn’t. Kat and I headed down to the dead dog party and met up with some of the others before heading in. The room was so big and there was plenty of food. Before it would run out quite fast. It was delicious too. I had about five drinks over the course of the night before getting a water. We played Uno and it was lit. They had special rules which made it really fun. I cuddled up to Trey during the game and was loving on him. He’s so cute I can’t help it. I was all over everyone though. I love hugging and cuddling and I used being drunk as an excuse so do it. You know, we had plenty of room we could’ve danced but we didn’t. I think we weren’t allowed to be as rowdy and dance like we did before. Luke and I did awkward high school-style pictures in front of the bill cypher thing. I also got to meet Richard Epcar. He was chatting with someone Kat knew so we went up to talk to them and I asked him for a selfie which he obliged. I was also taking selfies with everyone. I meant to do it during the weekend but at the end is better than nothing. It was about four before Stefon walked me to my room. Most of everyone else had already left. As soon as I got back to the room, though I saw Cody had posted about him and Devin being in the lobby about ready to leave if anyone was still up and wanted to say goodbye. So I left even though I’d just been dropped off and went downstairs and hugged them bye. They’re so cute and I wish I had someone like they have each other. Then I took a shower and checked Facebook and went to sleep at about 5:30a. I woke up when everyone started getting up and we went downstairs to eat breakfast. We were given another breakfast ticket so we could eat. I felt a little nauseated so I didn’t eat too much. I had some fruit and a pastry and some water and that was about it. I went up with Stefon and Star so say goodbye to Trey and Luke before going to my room to get dressed and finish packing. Kat called an Uber for us and she paid for it. He was a nice older man and had a big Equinox so her Sailor Pluto staff fit easily. She gave me some snacks at her place (she’s such a mom J) and I got on my way back home. I was so tired that I was afraid I was going to fall asleep so I stopped at the Alabama welcome center since I needed to pee anyway and I wanted to see it since it’d been renovated. It was closed for a really long time before that. When I got home I found my kitties and grabbed Krys to take a nap, which he was happy to oblige. Mama woke me up for dinner. I didn’t want to get up but I needed to unpack my suitcase. I got most of everything put up but I was just too tired to do every little thing. Overall I had a wonderful time and I miss them all already.