Anime Festival Orlando 2010
So I'm back from Anime Festival Orlando! In all honesty, it wasn't the best time I've had there, but it certainly wasn't the worst. And I forgot to take pictures so I have only like three of myself and a few of my friends. And none of my police!England cosplay and now my hat is gone. D<
Thursday
Alright, so of course I ask on Wednesday night what time my friend is picking me up. One of them tells me 11:00 AM. The other one tells me (who is the one actually getting me) tells me 10:00 AM. She shows up at 9:00 AM. OTL Well anyway, I scramble to get ready and we're off. Amazingly, it takes less than three hours. In the past it's taken more than four, so it's awesome. We're a bit further away from the convention center this time though and it's unbearably hot so walking to and from the room to the con center is going to be hell. Ah well. Around 4:30 we decided to go sit in line to pick up our badges at pre-registration. Pick-Up starts at 7:00. We were 3rd in line though so that was awesome.
I changed into CD Cover!England then for the rest of the night, and then we walked around the convention center and finally decided to go to the SSBB tournament they were holding that night. I got past the preliminaries and almost made the semi-finals but I was destroyed by a freaking Pikachu. );
Called it a night early and went to bed around midnight. Though so drama and yelling went on until nearly 3:00 AM. Which I ignored to the best of my ability.
Friday
Somehow we wake up with few problems and change in Pokemon cosplay! ltachidobe was Morty and later Whitney while my other friend was Caitlin. I was Candice, which was pretty fun; though I changed back into CD Cover England towards the late afternoon.
By far, the Dealer's Room was the most interesting thing on Friday. Since we pre-registered we got in an hour earlier than everyone else, so we got first dibs on all the good stuff. We walk in and the first thing I see is knock-off Hetalia One-Coin Figures. D: Which sucked because that's not cool. But I pressed onwards. And immediately spent about $70 dollars in under 10 minutes. We were looking at a booth with some figurines and plushies, and at the end of the table the guy had one of each of about 5 different Hetalia plushies. The real ones. And he had an England *_* $45 well spent, I was so happy lmfao. I found another table with a ton of official Hetalia stuff. She had two Gilbird plushies, the passports, the one coins, trading cards, the Gashapon keychains... ;3; I wanted everything lmfao. I ended up buying an England keychain and later an America. And I also bought an amazing USUK doujin from there too. I love hoshitamago....
Other purchases of the weekend included two Kuroshitsuji posters, a UK flag, two wigs, two Hetalia buttons and a clear file with the Bad Friends Trio + US and UK. THE LACK OF FRANCE MERCHANDISE IS APPALLING. There was a knock-off plushie of him I was considering buying but I changed my mind. That was really all though. And like 2 FrUK doujins in the entire dealers' room. D: it was all USUK and UKJapan
Went to the Opening Ceremonies and watched the Talent competition, but both were boring. Like surprisingly boring. Chilled in the room until we decided to try something. something being sneaking me into the Slash panel at 1:00 AM. I used my friend's ID since I'm 2 weeks short of 18. She didn't want to go anyway so it worked out. Somehow. Though the panel was sort of boring. The Powerpoint had tons of typos and they talked about weird pairings. Like not really popular ones. For the Hetalia section they showed USUK, America/China, Russia/Germany, Germany/Italy, and some other weird Russia one that I can't remember. Lol what where is my FrUK.
And some creeper guy was bothering us when we were waiting for the panel. Freaky shit. Anyway we get back to the room around 3:00 AM and fall asleep....
Saturday
Main attraction of the day is the Hetalia panel. Anyway, it ends up that only ltachidobe and I go to the panel since our other friend is in a mood again.... I wore Police!England, but I have no pics and I am pissed for several reasons about it, but we'll touch on that in a moment. A few people hugged me and such while we waited in line to get in, which made me happy. Doors finally open and they start setting up a sort of mock world conference of about 20 nations. They did a fantastic little dance/entrance routine which was really cool, and the America cosplayer was absolutely adorable and dancing like a boss.
Canada then proceeds to freak out about why Canada is fucking awesome yet goes unnoticed, haha. They then opened it up for "Ask the Nations" which was pretty cool, but it was really hard to hear even though we were only two rows back. My favorite parts were that every time someone asked China a question involving relationships with other characters (that weren't Ivan), the Russia cosplayer would call the China on their cell phone and зима would start playing as the ringtone. I was disappointed though because England barely talked at all and even when they did I couldn't hear them. D:
After that, they brought out a dish from each of their nations and we lined up to get food. Which ended up being lulzy. As we're standing in line, I hear a strangled yell to my right, so I turn to look at the aisle between the two sets of chairs. A random France and England cosplayer are having a slap fight and pulling each other's clothing in the middle of the audience that was amazingly in character. And then France decided the games were over and shoved England to the floor and straddled them on the ground. I laughed for like five minutes straight.
And then people were screaming about shipping Spain/Germany. Because then its Spermany. fff ide
They then did a Trivia Game which everyone failed at. I was sad because I wanted to answer the one about why Teddy Roosevelt was the biggest badass ever but didn't raise my hand in time lmfao. They did general history questions and like 3 directly Hetalia related ones. So yeah everyone was failing. They then shout that there's going to be a photoshoot outside right after the panel. Which I wanted to attend. ltachidobe didn't really seem into the idea though and seemed extremely anxious in getting back to the room so I ended up saying fuck it I'll look for them after we get back. A plan that got shot to pieces as we walk halfway down the hallway and I realize, "...wait a minute where the fuck is my hat". Literally like three minutes from when we left the panel. I had it when I left. We looked all over the floor. Everywhere. Nothing. I'm guessing someone stole it which really makes me sad. I checked lost and found like 5 times with no luck. :( And of course by time everything occurs and there's drama, I don't see Hetalia people anywhere and its pouring rain. So there went the photoshoot or a meetup. OTL I originally planned to run a gathering myself after the panel, but heard about the photoshoot just before I left to go to the con Thursday and canceled my thing since it would have conflicted. So much for that. D:
Some more drama occurred but I did my best to just brush it off. Other highlights of the day include getting scared to fucking death by a France cosplayer in the Dealers' Room and buying more cool stuff. I was looking at some Pokemon plushies when all of a sudden I feel someone like right next to my face breathing alkdjasdadl so I turned around and it was the random France would was "fighting" with England during the panel earlier. So of course, I was like "Oh its FRANCE. B|" to which they respond, "Bonjour~ ;3" So I hmph'd and turned away since I was England and was trying to play along. Which I hope they understood and didn't think I was being weird or something. I don't think they did since they sort of laughed and said something along the lines of "Oh, I see how it is" and walked away, but that could have been taken either way OTL. Why am I constantly awkward.
Went to Technically snuck into the Yaoi Panel that night with ltachidobe around midnight. I changed my costume a little bit and tied my tie around my head and went as drunk!England. Which like three people sitting in the hallway actually got. fuck yeah take that ltachidobe they got what I was trying to do so I win. I was mumbling random shit about going to Narnia and talking to Flying Mint Bunny. Good times, good times. And the Yaoi panel/pajama pretty much made my weekend. I had a good time the entire two hours we were there and everyone was generally friendly and into it. I'd probably say this year was lame had it not been for that and the Hetalia panel. I only wish I been more outgoing and been able to talk with some of the Hetalia cosplayers that were around. It was weird/difficult because the friends I was with aren't really into APH and dragging them around to that made me feel like I was being a jerk since they always seemed uncomfortable. D:
Sunday
Now. We were supposed to stay until at LEAST 3:00 PM today. We talked about it the night before. We discussed it with my friend's mother who was driving. It was good.
And then all of a sudden this morning it wasn't. We pack up all our shit and take it to the car around 10:00 AM. We had to take everything all in one trip to the car for some fucking reason and rush. We get to the car and put things in. It suddenly starts to pour. We jump in the car in panic and still have bags in the back seat that need to be in the trunk. So I tell them to pull up to the front where the overhang is and just fix the bags in the trunk. Then I assumed we'd all be going inside and walking to the convention center through the lobby. But no. For some reason half the people in the car now think we are leaving at 10:00 AM. WTF we discussed this yesterday and I'm like uh I thought we were staying. And they're like, "is there something you HAVE to do?" Uh yeah, there was stuff I wanted to do that's why we were staying until like 4:00 PM.
So it ends up that ltachidobe and I are allowed to go to one panel. We have an hour. So all we got to do was go to Sonny Strait's panel and then leave. :| I was kind of pissed. First off, my other friend pretty much was moody and stayed in the room most of the weekend. Then she's bitching to leave early and generally making everyone uncomfortable. And then minor things like all of us being awkward and then I felt like I was getting held back from having a good time, as much as I tried. I also missed meeting up with magicsfiend, but my fail scheduling/planning was like to fault for that OTL (;w; we'll meet up next time)
But whatever. Despite the drama, I still had some fun. It's over and I'll get past it.
But on to happy things. Here's some pictures of what I bought and the pitifully few cosplay pics I have :D
I think this has a few different stories in it; I haven't gotten a chance to really look through it. Though I know it has some very nice scenes in the back. ;)
Official England plushie and keychains. The buttons aren't anything official to my knowledge, but they were adorable. gdi dealers' room I need more France
One of two Kuroshitsuji posters. I knew before I got there that I would not be leaving without one of Alois. And this one was amazing.
And this was the cutest fucking thing ever so it brings my Kuroshitsuji poster count up to two.
One side of the clear file folder thing I found. I was so happy I managed to get this. They were stacked next to all the doujin so I assumed that's what it all was, but I happened to look closely and release they were clear files. There were like two kinds of Hetalia ones of the Axis Powers after going through nearly the whole thing, but I happened to open to a random one and found this amazing one.
Side two! If the first side hadn't sold me on buying this, then this side certainly did. Bad Friends Trio + US, UK, and Tony wins at life.
Blond wig. I looked so stupid in this one so I covered the face lmfao. I ended up using this wig for England instead of the one ltachidobe brought. I like the color better but technically the bangs are wrong. I can put them in from of my face but I need to shorten them if so. ...Dunno if I'm confident enough to do that :P
Brown wig and the flag I bought. I think I'll probably use it for an eventual Spain cosplay. Because according to everyone when my chest is bound and I put it on, I look like a small Spanish boy. ide.
Now, for the cosplay pics.
The only one I have of me. D: My friend has a few more, but she can't upload them until later this week. D:
ltachidobe as Morty and Whitney. She was also Gardenia, but I don't have any of that. D: I wish it hadn't been so hot so we could have taken decent pictures.
And for the hell of it, my CD Cover England shoes
I plan on buying the police hat again for England and taking some pictures. Not sure how soon that will be, but maybe soon. And no pictures of other cosplays this time because I had intended to save all my memory on the camera for the Hetalia shoot I ended up not going to. OTL
Thursday
Alright, so of course I ask on Wednesday night what time my friend is picking me up. One of them tells me 11:00 AM. The other one tells me (who is the one actually getting me) tells me 10:00 AM. She shows up at 9:00 AM. OTL Well anyway, I scramble to get ready and we're off. Amazingly, it takes less than three hours. In the past it's taken more than four, so it's awesome. We're a bit further away from the convention center this time though and it's unbearably hot so walking to and from the room to the con center is going to be hell. Ah well. Around 4:30 we decided to go sit in line to pick up our badges at pre-registration. Pick-Up starts at 7:00. We were 3rd in line though so that was awesome.
I changed into CD Cover!England then for the rest of the night, and then we walked around the convention center and finally decided to go to the SSBB tournament they were holding that night. I got past the preliminaries and almost made the semi-finals but I was destroyed by a freaking Pikachu. );
Called it a night early and went to bed around midnight. Though so drama and yelling went on until nearly 3:00 AM. Which I ignored to the best of my ability.
Friday
Somehow we wake up with few problems and change in Pokemon cosplay! ltachidobe was Morty and later Whitney while my other friend was Caitlin. I was Candice, which was pretty fun; though I changed back into CD Cover England towards the late afternoon.
By far, the Dealer's Room was the most interesting thing on Friday. Since we pre-registered we got in an hour earlier than everyone else, so we got first dibs on all the good stuff. We walk in and the first thing I see is knock-off Hetalia One-Coin Figures. D: Which sucked because that's not cool. But I pressed onwards. And immediately spent about $70 dollars in under 10 minutes. We were looking at a booth with some figurines and plushies, and at the end of the table the guy had one of each of about 5 different Hetalia plushies. The real ones. And he had an England *_* $45 well spent, I was so happy lmfao. I found another table with a ton of official Hetalia stuff. She had two Gilbird plushies, the passports, the one coins, trading cards, the Gashapon keychains... ;3; I wanted everything lmfao. I ended up buying an England keychain and later an America. And I also bought an amazing USUK doujin from there too. I love hoshitamago....
Other purchases of the weekend included two Kuroshitsuji posters, a UK flag, two wigs, two Hetalia buttons and a clear file with the Bad Friends Trio + US and UK. THE LACK OF FRANCE MERCHANDISE IS APPALLING. There was a knock-off plushie of him I was considering buying but I changed my mind. That was really all though. And like 2 FrUK doujins in the entire dealers' room. D: it was all USUK and UKJapan
Went to the Opening Ceremonies and watched the Talent competition, but both were boring. Like surprisingly boring. Chilled in the room until we decided to try something. something being sneaking me into the Slash panel at 1:00 AM. I used my friend's ID since I'm 2 weeks short of 18. She didn't want to go anyway so it worked out. Somehow. Though the panel was sort of boring. The Powerpoint had tons of typos and they talked about weird pairings. Like not really popular ones. For the Hetalia section they showed USUK, America/China, Russia/Germany, Germany/Italy, and some other weird Russia one that I can't remember. Lol what where is my FrUK.
And some creeper guy was bothering us when we were waiting for the panel. Freaky shit. Anyway we get back to the room around 3:00 AM and fall asleep....
Saturday
Main attraction of the day is the Hetalia panel. Anyway, it ends up that only ltachidobe and I go to the panel since our other friend is in a mood again.... I wore Police!England, but I have no pics and I am pissed for several reasons about it, but we'll touch on that in a moment. A few people hugged me and such while we waited in line to get in, which made me happy. Doors finally open and they start setting up a sort of mock world conference of about 20 nations. They did a fantastic little dance/entrance routine which was really cool, and the America cosplayer was absolutely adorable and dancing like a boss.
Canada then proceeds to freak out about why Canada is fucking awesome yet goes unnoticed, haha. They then opened it up for "Ask the Nations" which was pretty cool, but it was really hard to hear even though we were only two rows back. My favorite parts were that every time someone asked China a question involving relationships with other characters (that weren't Ivan), the Russia cosplayer would call the China on their cell phone and зима would start playing as the ringtone. I was disappointed though because England barely talked at all and even when they did I couldn't hear them. D:
After that, they brought out a dish from each of their nations and we lined up to get food. Which ended up being lulzy. As we're standing in line, I hear a strangled yell to my right, so I turn to look at the aisle between the two sets of chairs. A random France and England cosplayer are having a slap fight and pulling each other's clothing in the middle of the audience that was amazingly in character. And then France decided the games were over and shoved England to the floor and straddled them on the ground. I laughed for like five minutes straight.
And then people were screaming about shipping Spain/Germany. Because then its Spermany. fff ide
They then did a Trivia Game which everyone failed at. I was sad because I wanted to answer the one about why Teddy Roosevelt was the biggest badass ever but didn't raise my hand in time lmfao. They did general history questions and like 3 directly Hetalia related ones. So yeah everyone was failing. They then shout that there's going to be a photoshoot outside right after the panel. Which I wanted to attend. ltachidobe didn't really seem into the idea though and seemed extremely anxious in getting back to the room so I ended up saying fuck it I'll look for them after we get back. A plan that got shot to pieces as we walk halfway down the hallway and I realize, "...wait a minute where the fuck is my hat". Literally like three minutes from when we left the panel. I had it when I left. We looked all over the floor. Everywhere. Nothing. I'm guessing someone stole it which really makes me sad. I checked lost and found like 5 times with no luck. :( And of course by time everything occurs and there's drama, I don't see Hetalia people anywhere and its pouring rain. So there went the photoshoot or a meetup. OTL I originally planned to run a gathering myself after the panel, but heard about the photoshoot just before I left to go to the con Thursday and canceled my thing since it would have conflicted. So much for that. D:
Some more drama occurred but I did my best to just brush it off. Other highlights of the day include getting scared to fucking death by a France cosplayer in the Dealers' Room and buying more cool stuff. I was looking at some Pokemon plushies when all of a sudden I feel someone like right next to my face breathing alkdjasdadl so I turned around and it was the random France would was "fighting" with England during the panel earlier. So of course, I was like "Oh its FRANCE. B|" to which they respond, "Bonjour~ ;3" So I hmph'd and turned away since I was England and was trying to play along. Which I hope they understood and didn't think I was being weird or something. I don't think they did since they sort of laughed and said something along the lines of "Oh, I see how it is" and walked away, but that could have been taken either way OTL. Why am I constantly awkward.
Went to Technically snuck into the Yaoi Panel that night with ltachidobe around midnight. I changed my costume a little bit and tied my tie around my head and went as drunk!England. Which like three people sitting in the hallway actually got. fuck yeah take that ltachidobe they got what I was trying to do so I win. I was mumbling random shit about going to Narnia and talking to Flying Mint Bunny. Good times, good times. And the Yaoi panel/pajama pretty much made my weekend. I had a good time the entire two hours we were there and everyone was generally friendly and into it. I'd probably say this year was lame had it not been for that and the Hetalia panel. I only wish I been more outgoing and been able to talk with some of the Hetalia cosplayers that were around. It was weird/difficult because the friends I was with aren't really into APH and dragging them around to that made me feel like I was being a jerk since they always seemed uncomfortable. D:
Sunday
Now. We were supposed to stay until at LEAST 3:00 PM today. We talked about it the night before. We discussed it with my friend's mother who was driving. It was good.
And then all of a sudden this morning it wasn't. We pack up all our shit and take it to the car around 10:00 AM. We had to take everything all in one trip to the car for some fucking reason and rush. We get to the car and put things in. It suddenly starts to pour. We jump in the car in panic and still have bags in the back seat that need to be in the trunk. So I tell them to pull up to the front where the overhang is and just fix the bags in the trunk. Then I assumed we'd all be going inside and walking to the convention center through the lobby. But no. For some reason half the people in the car now think we are leaving at 10:00 AM. WTF we discussed this yesterday and I'm like uh I thought we were staying. And they're like, "is there something you HAVE to do?" Uh yeah, there was stuff I wanted to do that's why we were staying until like 4:00 PM.
So it ends up that ltachidobe and I are allowed to go to one panel. We have an hour. So all we got to do was go to Sonny Strait's panel and then leave. :| I was kind of pissed. First off, my other friend pretty much was moody and stayed in the room most of the weekend. Then she's bitching to leave early and generally making everyone uncomfortable. And then minor things like all of us being awkward and then I felt like I was getting held back from having a good time, as much as I tried. I also missed meeting up with magicsfiend, but my fail scheduling/planning was like to fault for that OTL (;w; we'll meet up next time)
But whatever. Despite the drama, I still had some fun. It's over and I'll get past it.
But on to happy things. Here's some pictures of what I bought and the pitifully few cosplay pics I have :D
I think this has a few different stories in it; I haven't gotten a chance to really look through it. Though I know it has some very nice scenes in the back. ;)
Official England plushie and keychains. The buttons aren't anything official to my knowledge, but they were adorable. gdi dealers' room I need more France
One of two Kuroshitsuji posters. I knew before I got there that I would not be leaving without one of Alois. And this one was amazing.
And this was the cutest fucking thing ever so it brings my Kuroshitsuji poster count up to two.
One side of the clear file folder thing I found. I was so happy I managed to get this. They were stacked next to all the doujin so I assumed that's what it all was, but I happened to look closely and release they were clear files. There were like two kinds of Hetalia ones of the Axis Powers after going through nearly the whole thing, but I happened to open to a random one and found this amazing one.
Side two! If the first side hadn't sold me on buying this, then this side certainly did. Bad Friends Trio + US, UK, and Tony wins at life.
Blond wig. I looked so stupid in this one so I covered the face lmfao. I ended up using this wig for England instead of the one ltachidobe brought. I like the color better but technically the bangs are wrong. I can put them in from of my face but I need to shorten them if so. ...Dunno if I'm confident enough to do that :P
Brown wig and the flag I bought. I think I'll probably use it for an eventual Spain cosplay. Because according to everyone when my chest is bound and I put it on, I look like a small Spanish boy. ide.
Now, for the cosplay pics.
The only one I have of me. D: My friend has a few more, but she can't upload them until later this week. D:
ltachidobe as Morty and Whitney. She was also Gardenia, but I don't have any of that. D: I wish it hadn't been so hot so we could have taken decent pictures.
And for the hell of it, my CD Cover England shoes
I plan on buying the police hat again for England and taking some pictures. Not sure how soon that will be, but maybe soon. And no pictures of other cosplays this time because I had intended to save all my memory on the camera for the Hetalia shoot I ended up not going to. OTL