NDK 09 Report
Beware for the first couple days of my report are not that spectacular. If anything, stressfilled.
Thursday: I packed up everything, spending two hours going over checklists and everything, spreading everything out on my bed and the kitchen counter to make sure I had everything I needed for the convention. That is the longest it has ever taken me to pack for anything ever. I brought six costumes this year, four of which were actually anime related, one I didn't even wear at all. Of the other two left over was just a dress for a skit, and then something to wear to the rave later on Saturday. After packing, it was still so early, and I felt entirely bored just waiting around the house, so I went over to a buddy's house. Ended up being the worst decision of the weekend.
They were packing for the con, them and their three roommates. At point point, one of them had to go to work, and the other had to get something at a parent's house, and since they have only one vehicle, one person had to go drive them. Jordan was left behind with me so that he could start organizing all the things they were bringing to pack it into the car. While everyone was gone, he stupidly brought up the topic about my now-ex-boyfriend, calling him the biggest loser and douchebag ever, which ultimately caused me to just curl up into a tight little ball on the couch. He kept trying to 'apologize' for what he said, but just kept on calling him a fool anyway, and then didn't understand why I wasn't answering him and only curling up tighter. After about a half hour, he finally asked "Do you just want me to leave?" so after I nodded my head, he went to his bedroom, and I quietly left, got in my car, and started driving. It made for a very awkward weekend with him since I had to spend time with him again at the skit on Friday night.
I finally make it to the hotel and get to the room, and am surprised by what I find. One bed, reservation made for three people. Mind you, yes it is a very large bed, but I was still expecting two beds. So after bringing all my bags and everything upstairs, I had to go to the front desk and ask about another bed. So I got a twin bed rolled up to my room. Fun part after that was trying to figure out everyones sleeping arrangements since the beds weren't what I expected.
After Danee showed up, I was able to determine that her, Jason, and Allison were going to be taking the larger bed, I'd take the roll-away. I was fine with that since I squirm a lot in my sleep and I didn't really want to kick anyone. Wes volunteered to sleep outside, and Bunny was on a mat on the floor. That left Zee just a blank spot somewhere on the floor.
She was planning on coming that night, or so she had said. But after spending a couple hours down in the lobby hanging out with some friends and then getting ready to head up to the room and get into bed, I send her a text at about 12 midnight, asking if she was going to be coming tonight. It wasn't until after 1am that I got a reply back [that I didn't even notice until about 3am when I started waking up from deep sleep] saying that she had gotten distracted by cosplayers, she wouldn't be coming that night. How can you get distracted by cosplayers Thursday night, before con even starts, and not make it to the room, when it's the same hotel that the con is at? So at that point, I replaced her in my room with Josh, one of Jordan's roommates who I don't have a problem with. Or at least didn't.
Friday: Our other roommates finally made it to the room, so we finally were able to actually start setting up the room and all the stuff that people were bringing. Before no time, the place was more of a mess than I had wanted it to be. But at least it was managable.
I changed into Melfina, I thought for the whole day, or at least until the evening. After a while of walking around, I kept tripping in the shoes on the uneven "stone" floor, my shoes kept slipping off for some odd reason on just that section of the floor. So I went up and changed into Rin for a bit. After a while of walking around in that, someone mentioned that I had forgotten the makeup, so I ran up to the room again to put the makeup on, though I was really reluctant about doing so, since I had to take it off later anyway.
Most of the day, I just wandered. I didn't see any panels that I really was interested in going to. When I started wandering again, I started to run into some Gene Starwinds. So I ran up to get changed into Mel again.
I found out they were accepting very limited number of entries on-sight for the cosplay contest, so I rushed over to get signed up for it, hoping I would get one of the five remaining slots, and get on the waiting list for if anyone dropped out that had signed up online. They took forever for people to sign up on spot to the point that some people almost missed the Naruto PJ photoshoot, and I was almost about to miss getting ready for the skit that night. I saw in line in front of me a Gene Starwind signing up. After signing up, he stopped me to get a picture with the two of us, and before we knew it, we were surrounded by a bunch of people getting our picture. He made his own caster, which looked awesome. He had taken a 4x4 post and just carved it down. Only complaint I had was that he had painted it yellow as well.
After that I had to rush to get ready for our skit at about 8:30. We had the skit over by the main events hall just off to the side so that we weren't blocking any traffic. Jordan was the "director" and he was doing a horrible job of trying to find a place to put the skit. He was going to put it right in the middle of a main walkway, where if we had done it there, we would have gotten in trouble because no one could get through. The next place he suggested was just as bad because it was right in front of where the main events area was, again, blocking the whole walkway. So he finally listened to me about where to place it and we were fine. The skit went over amazingly.
When it was over, I had to run and pick up a corset that I bought earlier that day, she just had to put in some boning in it and finish some stitching, and I could have it. Then back up to the room to get ready for the Trinity Blood photoshoot, which I heard about from Rachel earlier in the day, not even realizing that there was even going to be a photoshoot until it was almost too late. After the photoshoot, I rushed upstairs for a shower and passed out on the bed after Josh and his girlfriend brought me some food.
Saturday: At 9:30 we were woken up in our room by one of the housekeeping banging on the door. When I realized the time, I jumped out of bed and threw on Melfina as fast as I could and threw on makeup. I had to be down into the sign in for the cosplay contest at 10am to see if I got a place in the contest. They only called three names, and the last person they called was the girl who was in line in front of me at the sign up the previous day.
So I decided I wasn't going to wear any of the costumes I brought this day. The one backup costume that I had, I didn't wear at all. Instead, I put on half of my Melfina costume--her skirt, her white blouse, and her tights. I threw on the pair of flats that I brought for the rave, pulled my hair up into a clip and styled it wickedly with the hairglue and did some extreme eye makeup, and threw on my glasses. I simply wandered the halls and went to a panel or two. I got stopped by one person for a picture, because he thought I looked cute.
I went to a Sailor Moon Fuku panel, which I had to leave early, though she pretty much went over everything already, and was just answering questions at that point. It seems that I had the basic idea for how to make the fuku, I just need better material. Sweet!!!!
I did some more wandering after a while, and went to the dealers room a few times. I was going to go to the AMV & costume contests, but when I realized that it was getting close to the contests, I noticed how long the lines were getting, and I didn't want to waste my time by sitting in line all day, so I skipped both.
Later that evening I ran into Rachel, who told me she got first place for her costume. You guys have no idea how excited it makes me to hear when any of my friends get first places in anything. It really makes me happy to know that they worked hard on something and actually got rewarded for it.
I started to get ready for the Rave that night, just wearing what I was originally wearing for the whole day since I had already seen someone walking around all day in the dress I was planning on wearing to the rave. As soon as I got up to the room, I realized how tired I was and passed out on the bed. I gave Wes and the boys my card so that when they were done with the rave for the night, they could get in without disturbing anyone.
Sunday: After the fiasco earlier this weekend, this pretty much was the day that I was looking forward to the most. Hanging out with Chris and Rane, and doing our Gaiden photoshoot. I changed into Rin and wandered for a bit while I waited for Chris and Tyson, and then ultimately waiting on Rane. A few people actually knew my character by name, but without the team, people mostly thought I was sexy-jutsu Kankuro. x.x' Totally wrong headband people...
When I got up, I got ready and packed up Mika to bring her down to the BJD panel, which was actually run by two of my roommates--Bunny and Allison. I learned that doing faceups for the dolls is a lot easier than I thought it was. It just takes a LONG TIME and that you want to buy a head to practice on first. So until I know how to do it well, I'll just pay Bunny to do my faceup for me, I still need a scar for Mika.
Before Rane got there, the three of us managed to get to the Shonen Jump photoshoot. When we finally had all of the team [minus our Sensei], we had tons of people stopping us for pictures. We finally got to have our photoshoot, just before the con officially ended, out in a patch of grass outside of the hotel and out in a parking structure. After looking through some of the pictures that were taken, this photoshoot is probably one of the most epic I've ever done. I actually liked how they turned out of me even though someone was taking the pictures. Most of the photoshoots I've done lately, I do with self-timer, and I love how the pictures come out. But with actually having others to work with and someone else taking the pictures, I felt a little more into it than I did with others.
When the shoot was over, we headed back in for a little, getting stopped for a few more pictures before I ran up to the room to get changed then go to Kokoro's Japanese fast food with Chris and Tyson. It was great for a little unwinding after the con and relaxing with the two of them and getting to know Tyson a little more. He really seems like a great guy.
Then it was back up to the room to start getting things together and help Allison, Jason, and Bunny pack their cars up, and walk Wilson and the others to their car to go home. That left Wes, Danee, and I in the room for the night.
After I helped Bunny take down her printer to her car [she had a booth in artist alley], I started back up to the room, and got stopped by some random guys in the hallway, who asked for my picture [though the con was long since over, and i was long out of costume], and told me I was hott, and asked if I was single. ... Aaaawkward....
The rest of the night, Danee, Wes, and I just hung out chit chatting until Josh, Jordan, and Beth came back to the room to pick up their box from the skit, and stayed to talk a little bit on the paranormal level with Danee, which ultimately had me shaking under blankets just listening to them talk about it so late at night. Once they left, we all went to bed, the room cleaned up and things packed to leave in the morning.
Thursday: I packed up everything, spending two hours going over checklists and everything, spreading everything out on my bed and the kitchen counter to make sure I had everything I needed for the convention. That is the longest it has ever taken me to pack for anything ever. I brought six costumes this year, four of which were actually anime related, one I didn't even wear at all. Of the other two left over was just a dress for a skit, and then something to wear to the rave later on Saturday. After packing, it was still so early, and I felt entirely bored just waiting around the house, so I went over to a buddy's house. Ended up being the worst decision of the weekend.
They were packing for the con, them and their three roommates. At point point, one of them had to go to work, and the other had to get something at a parent's house, and since they have only one vehicle, one person had to go drive them. Jordan was left behind with me so that he could start organizing all the things they were bringing to pack it into the car. While everyone was gone, he stupidly brought up the topic about my now-ex-boyfriend, calling him the biggest loser and douchebag ever, which ultimately caused me to just curl up into a tight little ball on the couch. He kept trying to 'apologize' for what he said, but just kept on calling him a fool anyway, and then didn't understand why I wasn't answering him and only curling up tighter. After about a half hour, he finally asked "Do you just want me to leave?" so after I nodded my head, he went to his bedroom, and I quietly left, got in my car, and started driving. It made for a very awkward weekend with him since I had to spend time with him again at the skit on Friday night.
I finally make it to the hotel and get to the room, and am surprised by what I find. One bed, reservation made for three people. Mind you, yes it is a very large bed, but I was still expecting two beds. So after bringing all my bags and everything upstairs, I had to go to the front desk and ask about another bed. So I got a twin bed rolled up to my room. Fun part after that was trying to figure out everyones sleeping arrangements since the beds weren't what I expected.
After Danee showed up, I was able to determine that her, Jason, and Allison were going to be taking the larger bed, I'd take the roll-away. I was fine with that since I squirm a lot in my sleep and I didn't really want to kick anyone. Wes volunteered to sleep outside, and Bunny was on a mat on the floor. That left Zee just a blank spot somewhere on the floor.
She was planning on coming that night, or so she had said. But after spending a couple hours down in the lobby hanging out with some friends and then getting ready to head up to the room and get into bed, I send her a text at about 12 midnight, asking if she was going to be coming tonight. It wasn't until after 1am that I got a reply back [that I didn't even notice until about 3am when I started waking up from deep sleep] saying that she had gotten distracted by cosplayers, she wouldn't be coming that night. How can you get distracted by cosplayers Thursday night, before con even starts, and not make it to the room, when it's the same hotel that the con is at? So at that point, I replaced her in my room with Josh, one of Jordan's roommates who I don't have a problem with. Or at least didn't.
Friday: Our other roommates finally made it to the room, so we finally were able to actually start setting up the room and all the stuff that people were bringing. Before no time, the place was more of a mess than I had wanted it to be. But at least it was managable.
I changed into Melfina, I thought for the whole day, or at least until the evening. After a while of walking around, I kept tripping in the shoes on the uneven "stone" floor, my shoes kept slipping off for some odd reason on just that section of the floor. So I went up and changed into Rin for a bit. After a while of walking around in that, someone mentioned that I had forgotten the makeup, so I ran up to the room again to put the makeup on, though I was really reluctant about doing so, since I had to take it off later anyway.
Most of the day, I just wandered. I didn't see any panels that I really was interested in going to. When I started wandering again, I started to run into some Gene Starwinds. So I ran up to get changed into Mel again.
I found out they were accepting very limited number of entries on-sight for the cosplay contest, so I rushed over to get signed up for it, hoping I would get one of the five remaining slots, and get on the waiting list for if anyone dropped out that had signed up online. They took forever for people to sign up on spot to the point that some people almost missed the Naruto PJ photoshoot, and I was almost about to miss getting ready for the skit that night. I saw in line in front of me a Gene Starwind signing up. After signing up, he stopped me to get a picture with the two of us, and before we knew it, we were surrounded by a bunch of people getting our picture. He made his own caster, which looked awesome. He had taken a 4x4 post and just carved it down. Only complaint I had was that he had painted it yellow as well.
After that I had to rush to get ready for our skit at about 8:30. We had the skit over by the main events hall just off to the side so that we weren't blocking any traffic. Jordan was the "director" and he was doing a horrible job of trying to find a place to put the skit. He was going to put it right in the middle of a main walkway, where if we had done it there, we would have gotten in trouble because no one could get through. The next place he suggested was just as bad because it was right in front of where the main events area was, again, blocking the whole walkway. So he finally listened to me about where to place it and we were fine. The skit went over amazingly.
When it was over, I had to run and pick up a corset that I bought earlier that day, she just had to put in some boning in it and finish some stitching, and I could have it. Then back up to the room to get ready for the Trinity Blood photoshoot, which I heard about from Rachel earlier in the day, not even realizing that there was even going to be a photoshoot until it was almost too late. After the photoshoot, I rushed upstairs for a shower and passed out on the bed after Josh and his girlfriend brought me some food.
Saturday: At 9:30 we were woken up in our room by one of the housekeeping banging on the door. When I realized the time, I jumped out of bed and threw on Melfina as fast as I could and threw on makeup. I had to be down into the sign in for the cosplay contest at 10am to see if I got a place in the contest. They only called three names, and the last person they called was the girl who was in line in front of me at the sign up the previous day.
So I decided I wasn't going to wear any of the costumes I brought this day. The one backup costume that I had, I didn't wear at all. Instead, I put on half of my Melfina costume--her skirt, her white blouse, and her tights. I threw on the pair of flats that I brought for the rave, pulled my hair up into a clip and styled it wickedly with the hairglue and did some extreme eye makeup, and threw on my glasses. I simply wandered the halls and went to a panel or two. I got stopped by one person for a picture, because he thought I looked cute.
I went to a Sailor Moon Fuku panel, which I had to leave early, though she pretty much went over everything already, and was just answering questions at that point. It seems that I had the basic idea for how to make the fuku, I just need better material. Sweet!!!!
I did some more wandering after a while, and went to the dealers room a few times. I was going to go to the AMV & costume contests, but when I realized that it was getting close to the contests, I noticed how long the lines were getting, and I didn't want to waste my time by sitting in line all day, so I skipped both.
Later that evening I ran into Rachel, who told me she got first place for her costume. You guys have no idea how excited it makes me to hear when any of my friends get first places in anything. It really makes me happy to know that they worked hard on something and actually got rewarded for it.
I started to get ready for the Rave that night, just wearing what I was originally wearing for the whole day since I had already seen someone walking around all day in the dress I was planning on wearing to the rave. As soon as I got up to the room, I realized how tired I was and passed out on the bed. I gave Wes and the boys my card so that when they were done with the rave for the night, they could get in without disturbing anyone.
Sunday: After the fiasco earlier this weekend, this pretty much was the day that I was looking forward to the most. Hanging out with Chris and Rane, and doing our Gaiden photoshoot. I changed into Rin and wandered for a bit while I waited for Chris and Tyson, and then ultimately waiting on Rane. A few people actually knew my character by name, but without the team, people mostly thought I was sexy-jutsu Kankuro. x.x' Totally wrong headband people...
When I got up, I got ready and packed up Mika to bring her down to the BJD panel, which was actually run by two of my roommates--Bunny and Allison. I learned that doing faceups for the dolls is a lot easier than I thought it was. It just takes a LONG TIME and that you want to buy a head to practice on first. So until I know how to do it well, I'll just pay Bunny to do my faceup for me, I still need a scar for Mika.
Before Rane got there, the three of us managed to get to the Shonen Jump photoshoot. When we finally had all of the team [minus our Sensei], we had tons of people stopping us for pictures. We finally got to have our photoshoot, just before the con officially ended, out in a patch of grass outside of the hotel and out in a parking structure. After looking through some of the pictures that were taken, this photoshoot is probably one of the most epic I've ever done. I actually liked how they turned out of me even though someone was taking the pictures. Most of the photoshoots I've done lately, I do with self-timer, and I love how the pictures come out. But with actually having others to work with and someone else taking the pictures, I felt a little more into it than I did with others.
When the shoot was over, we headed back in for a little, getting stopped for a few more pictures before I ran up to the room to get changed then go to Kokoro's Japanese fast food with Chris and Tyson. It was great for a little unwinding after the con and relaxing with the two of them and getting to know Tyson a little more. He really seems like a great guy.
Then it was back up to the room to start getting things together and help Allison, Jason, and Bunny pack their cars up, and walk Wilson and the others to their car to go home. That left Wes, Danee, and I in the room for the night.
After I helped Bunny take down her printer to her car [she had a booth in artist alley], I started back up to the room, and got stopped by some random guys in the hallway, who asked for my picture [though the con was long since over, and i was long out of costume], and told me I was hott, and asked if I was single. ... Aaaawkward....
The rest of the night, Danee, Wes, and I just hung out chit chatting until Josh, Jordan, and Beth came back to the room to pick up their box from the skit, and stayed to talk a little bit on the paranormal level with Danee, which ultimately had me shaking under blankets just listening to them talk about it so late at night. Once they left, we all went to bed, the room cleaned up and things packed to leave in the morning.