Do the Anime Evolution
WOO HOO, what a weekend! That was so, SO awesome. Anime Evolution was better than I ever could have dreamed, and I had a blast from beginning to end.
I'd be hard pressed to cover the entire thing, so here in no particular order is a big list of all the best bits:
- Sooooo I had my panel. I IS NOW AN INDUSTRY BIGWIG, LAWLZ. To be honest, there wasn't a very big turnout for my panel at all; it's not a particularly well known series and hasn't been promoted a great deal yet. In contrast, the two other panels were for series with BIG and EXCITABLE fanbases, and listening to them scream in adulation made me all jealous. XD Having said that, my panel was still a success. I wasn't asked many questions, but I got a few and handled them well... and one of the voice actors said a very sweet thing. He was talking about how sometimes a script has to be rewritten on the fly due to problems with fit, then added, "but Usagi's script is so well written that we barely have to do that at all." D'AWWWWWWW. Excuse me while I giggle and squee. Some of the voice actors are SUCH sweeties...
- HOLY CRAP, I WAS A VIP. O_O And not only that, the con staff treated me as such. I got special access to the green room, free food, free swag, someone to escort me around to wherever I wanted to go if I needed directions... it was SO surreal. And what made it so surreal was that, to me, I was no different than any other con goer. I may be working in the industry, but I'm still a fan first and foremost, and so I was doing the same sorts of things everyone else was doing (fangirling the art and cosplay, running around and squeeing, etc)... unlike most VIPs and guests who aren't usually fans of anime or video games so much, so tend to just relax in the green room only to venture out on occasion. It was also weird talking with the staff at times... they were so helpful and deferential, and yet I was talking to them just as a normal, regular fan. It should be even weirder next year, where I'm hoping to not only do more Ocean related panels but also fan related panels (e.g. fanfiction panels, panels about life in Japan, etc). Plus I'm thinking of joining staff next year... what will that make me? An Ocean representative, a staff member, or just a regular girl indulging in her hobby? o_O Deep thoughts for next year.
- Best "money" related moment in the con: I noticed that Scott Ramoosair, the artist for VG Cats, was signing prints at one of the booths. The prints were being sold for ten bucks, but I didn't have any ready cash, so I was about to steal away when...
SCOTT: Oh, hey, it's you! From Thursday night!
ME: *smile* Why yes! How's it going?
SCOTT: Good, good. You want an autograph?
ME: Heh, maybe later, I gotta go get money first.
SCOTT: *points to the prints* Pick whichever one you want. Go right ahead, it's on me.
So now I have a signed FF7 VG Cats print! SQUEEEEEEE!
I also got to play Pictochat with him during the closing ceremonies; he sketched stuff while some other guests and I played around with his artwork
- I got to meet so many people this year. First was galaxychild, who I haven't seen since VCon... yaaaaaay *glomp* If it wasn't for her and Ed, I wouldn't have the brilliant job I have now. I also got a chance to meet my LJ friend anarchicq. She drew me an absolutely GORGEOUS Sephiroth/Sailor Saturn picture, which is all the more treasured because I know she doesn't like Sephiroth. ^_^ *hugs* I also bumped into an old friend of mine from university, Kristina, who's now working with VCon. It was so awesome catching up with her; we actually went out to dinner together later and just chatted for hours. Totally awesome.
But the winner for "best random meeting EVER" had to be in the fanfiction room:
ME: *talking to the panel head* When is the panel on non-canon pairings?
PANEL HEAD: At 11 at night.
ME: Damn, that's too late for me because of transit... but I SO want to attend. My OTP is so totally not canon it's ridiculous.
PANEL HEAD: Oh, what's your OTP?
ME: *grin* Sephiroth/Sailor Saturn.
*suddenly another girl jumps up in her seat and points at me*
GIRL: YOU! I know you!
ME: ?_?
GIRL: You're the girl who always posts in pornandkittens! I mod that community!
ME: O_O
So yeah, I met ketsuban, the mod of pornandkittens. Small world! Of course, the fact she could recognize me based on pairing alone means that either Seph/Sailor Saturn is very distinctive and memorable, or I talk about it WAAAAY too much. Probably all of the above.
I didn't end up staying for the non canon pairing panel, sadly. I think next year I'll actually get accomodation on site so I can attend some of the late night stuff.
- I mentioned that I met ketsuban in the fanfiction room. When Kristina and I got there, they were having a little "Scenes from a hat" fanfiction and art contest, where we all got a prompt and had to whip something up. I got there incredibly late and got the prompt, "Any characters in an AU Little Mermaid verse." Oh boy... but then Kristina snickered and offered to trade with me. Her prompt? "How Cloud lost his sword."
So... somehow in the space of about ten minutes, I came up with a parody fic. The basic plot was that Sephiroth and Cloud couldn't have their final battle because Cloud had misplaced his sword. Sephiroth figured out where it was and went over to Tifa's bedroom, where it turned out she'd been having some... recreational time with the sword. >.> Needless to say, it earned a lot of shocked gasps and snickers. I thought it was crap, but I did it in about ten minutes, so whatever.
Imagine my shock when, the next morning, I wander randomly into the fanfiction room again only to find I got the prize for best comedy fic! O_O Go me?
- I was shocked and impressed by the level of skill displayed by the fanartists in the Artists Alley. So impressed that I decided to treat myself to a little OTP artwork and commission some artwork. Easier said than done, it seemed, as I then spent all my free time running back and forth in the Artists' Alley, trying to decide who was the best artist for the job and who would take commissions etc. I finally commissioned about three pieces, but it was just as everyone was shutting up for the last day, just to give you an idea of how difficult it was to choose the best commissionable and affordable artists.
- I entered a Super Smash Brothers tournament. I placed second in my first round. The second and third round... let us not speak of it. >.>
So overall, FANTASTIC time, can't wait to go again. Even though I didn't go to all the panels I wanted (they all seemed to be at the EXACT same times, conflicts everywhere), just walking around with all those cosplayers and happy anime fans was enough to make me smile all day. I think next year I'm going to try my hand at cosplaying too... probably something very simple like AC!Tifa. Also, next year I'm going to actually get ORGANIZED ahead of time and plan out my panels... not to mention see if I can get the Browncoats there too (hey guys, they apparently had a few Whedonverse panels!)
I'm looking forward to VCon now... less anime, sadly, but quite a lot of other fandoms to keep me happy. ^_^ Hopefully my wallet will have recovered by then.
I'd be hard pressed to cover the entire thing, so here in no particular order is a big list of all the best bits:
- Sooooo I had my panel. I IS NOW AN INDUSTRY BIGWIG, LAWLZ. To be honest, there wasn't a very big turnout for my panel at all; it's not a particularly well known series and hasn't been promoted a great deal yet. In contrast, the two other panels were for series with BIG and EXCITABLE fanbases, and listening to them scream in adulation made me all jealous. XD Having said that, my panel was still a success. I wasn't asked many questions, but I got a few and handled them well... and one of the voice actors said a very sweet thing. He was talking about how sometimes a script has to be rewritten on the fly due to problems with fit, then added, "but Usagi's script is so well written that we barely have to do that at all." D'AWWWWWWW. Excuse me while I giggle and squee. Some of the voice actors are SUCH sweeties...
- HOLY CRAP, I WAS A VIP. O_O And not only that, the con staff treated me as such. I got special access to the green room, free food, free swag, someone to escort me around to wherever I wanted to go if I needed directions... it was SO surreal. And what made it so surreal was that, to me, I was no different than any other con goer. I may be working in the industry, but I'm still a fan first and foremost, and so I was doing the same sorts of things everyone else was doing (fangirling the art and cosplay, running around and squeeing, etc)... unlike most VIPs and guests who aren't usually fans of anime or video games so much, so tend to just relax in the green room only to venture out on occasion. It was also weird talking with the staff at times... they were so helpful and deferential, and yet I was talking to them just as a normal, regular fan. It should be even weirder next year, where I'm hoping to not only do more Ocean related panels but also fan related panels (e.g. fanfiction panels, panels about life in Japan, etc). Plus I'm thinking of joining staff next year... what will that make me? An Ocean representative, a staff member, or just a regular girl indulging in her hobby? o_O Deep thoughts for next year.
- Best "money" related moment in the con: I noticed that Scott Ramoosair, the artist for VG Cats, was signing prints at one of the booths. The prints were being sold for ten bucks, but I didn't have any ready cash, so I was about to steal away when...
SCOTT: Oh, hey, it's you! From Thursday night!
ME: *smile* Why yes! How's it going?
SCOTT: Good, good. You want an autograph?
ME: Heh, maybe later, I gotta go get money first.
SCOTT: *points to the prints* Pick whichever one you want. Go right ahead, it's on me.
So now I have a signed FF7 VG Cats print! SQUEEEEEEE!
I also got to play Pictochat with him during the closing ceremonies; he sketched stuff while some other guests and I played around with his artwork
- I got to meet so many people this year. First was galaxychild, who I haven't seen since VCon... yaaaaaay *glomp* If it wasn't for her and Ed, I wouldn't have the brilliant job I have now. I also got a chance to meet my LJ friend anarchicq. She drew me an absolutely GORGEOUS Sephiroth/Sailor Saturn picture, which is all the more treasured because I know she doesn't like Sephiroth. ^_^ *hugs* I also bumped into an old friend of mine from university, Kristina, who's now working with VCon. It was so awesome catching up with her; we actually went out to dinner together later and just chatted for hours. Totally awesome.
But the winner for "best random meeting EVER" had to be in the fanfiction room:
ME: *talking to the panel head* When is the panel on non-canon pairings?
PANEL HEAD: At 11 at night.
ME: Damn, that's too late for me because of transit... but I SO want to attend. My OTP is so totally not canon it's ridiculous.
PANEL HEAD: Oh, what's your OTP?
ME: *grin* Sephiroth/Sailor Saturn.
*suddenly another girl jumps up in her seat and points at me*
GIRL: YOU! I know you!
ME: ?_?
GIRL: You're the girl who always posts in pornandkittens! I mod that community!
ME: O_O
So yeah, I met ketsuban, the mod of pornandkittens. Small world! Of course, the fact she could recognize me based on pairing alone means that either Seph/Sailor Saturn is very distinctive and memorable, or I talk about it WAAAAY too much. Probably all of the above.
I didn't end up staying for the non canon pairing panel, sadly. I think next year I'll actually get accomodation on site so I can attend some of the late night stuff.
- I mentioned that I met ketsuban in the fanfiction room. When Kristina and I got there, they were having a little "Scenes from a hat" fanfiction and art contest, where we all got a prompt and had to whip something up. I got there incredibly late and got the prompt, "Any characters in an AU Little Mermaid verse." Oh boy... but then Kristina snickered and offered to trade with me. Her prompt? "How Cloud lost his sword."
So... somehow in the space of about ten minutes, I came up with a parody fic. The basic plot was that Sephiroth and Cloud couldn't have their final battle because Cloud had misplaced his sword. Sephiroth figured out where it was and went over to Tifa's bedroom, where it turned out she'd been having some... recreational time with the sword. >.> Needless to say, it earned a lot of shocked gasps and snickers. I thought it was crap, but I did it in about ten minutes, so whatever.
Imagine my shock when, the next morning, I wander randomly into the fanfiction room again only to find I got the prize for best comedy fic! O_O Go me?
- I was shocked and impressed by the level of skill displayed by the fanartists in the Artists Alley. So impressed that I decided to treat myself to a little OTP artwork and commission some artwork. Easier said than done, it seemed, as I then spent all my free time running back and forth in the Artists' Alley, trying to decide who was the best artist for the job and who would take commissions etc. I finally commissioned about three pieces, but it was just as everyone was shutting up for the last day, just to give you an idea of how difficult it was to choose the best commissionable and affordable artists.
- I entered a Super Smash Brothers tournament. I placed second in my first round. The second and third round... let us not speak of it. >.>
So overall, FANTASTIC time, can't wait to go again. Even though I didn't go to all the panels I wanted (they all seemed to be at the EXACT same times, conflicts everywhere), just walking around with all those cosplayers and happy anime fans was enough to make me smile all day. I think next year I'm going to try my hand at cosplaying too... probably something very simple like AC!Tifa. Also, next year I'm going to actually get ORGANIZED ahead of time and plan out my panels... not to mention see if I can get the Browncoats there too (hey guys, they apparently had a few Whedonverse panels!)
I'm looking forward to VCon now... less anime, sadly, but quite a lot of other fandoms to keep me happy. ^_^ Hopefully my wallet will have recovered by then.