Otakon report

[ladyofthethread]

Back from Otakon. There were snags but I had some fun and it was a welcome break from the real life problems of late. Hi to those I saw in Baltimore. *waves to animeangel, animeangelblue, blackjackie999, djranmas, hikaruchan, leisemelody, lionboogy, luv_blindly, natalie526, neoangelwink, ngmaster, ryoko, stillvisions, the_masayume, tristencitrine, umister, vikki, yeu* And sorry to those of you I missed at the con. I was hoping to run into everyone at some point but it just didn’t work out.

Highlights:
-finally got to wear my Kaleido Star costume with neoangelwink! :-D
-photoshoots with stillvisions of our Kaleido Star costumes and my 19th Century Count D (Thanks for taking pictures, Kevin!)
-ran into a fair number of friends, including some I hadn’t seen for over a year, and met some new people

The not-so-great:
-waited in the registration line for 2 hours Friday morning since I decided to go to the con so last minute that pre-registration was already closed. ._.;
-still don’t like the BCC as a location
-the weather wasn’t as bad as ’06 but I was still pretty hot in all the layers for 19th Century D and Sarah; eventually left Sarah’s fur underskirt in my room so I could be more comfortable while watching the masquerade.
-painful shoes; the soles of my feet still feel weird a couple of days later!

What the hell?!:
-My right shoulder got sunburned from the 2 hours outside in the registration line in D’s peacock dress. o_o; I don’t think I’ve ever gotten sunburn before; I usually just tan.
-My father and I got caught in a hailstormaround the Delaware/NJ border on our way home! o_O; Pouring rain with hail the size of large pebbles and almost no visibility.

I kind of wish I’d just gone to the con again on Sunday morning. My father wanted to leave early to beat traffic on the way home (he said it gets very heavy in NJ around 4) but we left at 11 and it still took us 5 hours because of the hail and rain. (The trip to Baltimore only took 3 ½ hours.) I already had a headache that morning and it just got worse with the noise from the storm plus I got carsick from being cooped up so long. x_x; Was fine after getting home and catching up on sleep.


No pics to post yet. I’ve found some on ACP but no Kaleido Star pair shots and I look tired in a bunch of those. ^_^;;

Checked Flickr and didn’t find anything obvious although I was surprised to find a pic of a 19th Century D from a foreign con with the same colors as my costume. The only references for that outfit were black and white so I basically made up my color scheme up as I went along. My version got showcased on cosplay.com several months back so I guess they might have seen it there and liked it. I’m not mad… but it was pretty weird to be looking for Otakon pics and suddenly see my color scheme for the 19th Century outfit on someone else. o_o

EDIT: Ooh, found a pic of my 19th Century D. There are random people in the background but the colors came out nicely and I'm actually smiling! http://www.flickr.com/photos/10302049@N05/2746606532/in/set-72157606628590513/

Comments

[neoangelwink.livejournal.com]

i had a really great time with you. ^_^ so happy final go to do Kaleido Star with you. i just wish remember to have some one use my camera to take at less one pic of use. my freind judy pretty good getting stuff up quick and lionly other took few pic of use. i can't wait to see stillvisions pic.

hug ^_^

[ladyofthethread.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was great to finally cosplay Kaleido Star together! That was the best part of the con for me! ^_^ Thanks to your friend Judy for taking pics. I'll let you know when stillvisions posts his, too.

[nerdraeg.livejournal.com]

I saw you, but I wasn't able to catch up with you in time. D:

[ladyofthethread.livejournal.com]

Darn. ;_; You should have yelled at me or something. I don't think I've actually seen you since AnimeNext last year.

Are you going to Cosplay Day at Kinokuniya on Sunday? I'm trying to make it.

I'm not sure if I'll still make it to the picnic for the Dances of Vice festival. So distracted by real life issues lately that I haven't thought much about it or made anything to wear for it. ^_^;; Plus, after heavy costumes at AnimeNext and Otakon, I'm not that excited about the thought of cosplaying outside for a few hours in August. x_x;

[novaraven.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you had fun at the con. After all the trouble you went through you deserve it. ^^ The hail is weird, it's good your car wasn't damaged!

It is strange seeing other people in the same costumes sometimes. I've seen other people do the 19th C outfit in black and red like my version, but I think I'm still the only one who goes around with the cloak for Sofu. I honestly would have made it gold and white and a very pale blue/green if I were going to be young D.

My next con, it's the end of the month, I'll be too hot for a cloak so I may have to throw in the purple contact and be D again. I haven't worn that robe since Boston.

Do you think it's ok for D to wear such dark gothic colors? I personally don't like it when people cosplay D so gothic since in the art book he usually wears greens and whites and so many bright colors. But I feel I need more pictures of Sofus robe before I retire it. I just can't decide...

[ladyofthethread.livejournal.com]

Yes, the hail was pretty weird. o_o; I'd never seen hail before but this must have gone on for 20-30 minutes and it was coming down so hard at points that my father was wondering if the windshield would crack!

Yeah, I've seen another red and black version of the 19th Century outfit but that's probably a more common color combination in general. What struck me about finding that other version was that it matched my colors in the smaller details, too, like the purple sash with green stone brooch and gold beads. As if they'd seen my version and assumed my colors were supposed to be an official color scheme. o_o

It's true that D has a lot of lighter, more colorful outfits but I suppose more gothic would be okay. He does have some dark robes like from the cover of volume 1 and there are moments when he seems more sinister.

You should definitely get more pictures of Sofu's robe. I'm a little surprised you're thinking of retiring it already. I tend to hate saying that a costume is retired if I put a lot of work into it. Even after all these years cosplaying I've only officially retired a few of my simpler costumes. ^_^;

[novaraven.livejournal.com]

Well it's just that I have so many D robes now, and if I want to make one or two more I have to put a few of my least favorite ones aside/away for good.

I totally gave up on Daddy D's first robe, that black velvet was just too hot to wear over pants and I never did get shots of it with his labcoat the way I hoped. Plus the white and gold embroidered pattern on the under sleeves never showed up through the sheer over sleeves the way I'd hoped either, it was sort of a failure.

And the christmas robe for D, I'm so not going there again. I feel it clashed too much even though I used teal instead of true green it just looked weird to me, especially in too shiny satin. I never bothered to line it either.

And the dragon robe is never to be worn again. Every time I wear it I end up having to repair something so I've just given up. It's not hallcosplay worthy and I never enter masquerades so it has to live in my closet.

I find very few uses for his gray velvet duster as well. That was also left unlined simply because velvet is so hot to begin with. There aren't enough winter cons here for that sort of thing.

I think the only D robe I really want to wear right now is the white and green sakura one from the art book, and it's not even finished!

... could you help me decide on a new less bulky robe for Sofu to wear? I'd like to have one hall cosplay robe for each of them. Daddy D's blue and purple satin one isen't too bad. And the sakura one for D will be really nice to walk around in. It's only Sofu who can't fit through doors right now. ^^

[skdarkdragon.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you had fun...except the sunburn and the hail! O_O The weather sounds like it was a mess.

^^ I love your 19th Century D outfit! And the fan is so pretty. :)

[ladyofthethread.livejournal.com]

Thank you! ^_^

Yeah, the weather was pretty crazy during the drive home. The hail was coming down so hard at some points, my father was wondering if the windshield would crack. o_o;

The sunburn was a bit strange since I don't usually burn but it faded pretty quickly without any pain or peeling.

[neoangelwink.livejournal.com]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/judithstephens/sets/72157606718519223/?page=2

^_^ judy pic are up

[ladyofthethread.livejournal.com]

Yay, some pair shots! ^_^ I looked around a bit but haven't really come across any others online.

[stillvisions.livejournal.com]

Quick photo note - splash to come, but here's some pics:

http://www.stillvisions.com/events/ota08/ksa1.jpg
http://www.stillvisions.com/events/ota08/ksb1.jpg
http://www.stillvisions.com/events/ota08/psh1.jpg

[ladyofthethread.livejournal.com]

Okay. Thanks for the preview! :-)

[itsmisstea.livejournal.com]

Hello! My name is Misty and I'm also a cosplayer. :D

I saw your post in Wanye's journal and recognized your costume. At Otakon, I saw you walking around in your really pretty costumes and recognized you, but I'm much too shy to approach cosplayers I admire in person. Really wish I had because your costumes are just stunning and the detail is just fantastic.

That being said, I was hoping for an add?

[ladyofthethread.livejournal.com]

Oh, hi and thank you for the compliment! :-) I tend to be kind of shy myself in person so I can understand.

Sure, I'm pretty open to adding people as long as they comment and introduce themselves. :-) I'm not around cosplay.com as much these days but I think I remember seeing you on the forums there in the past.

[itsmisstea.livejournal.com]

No problem at all! I try to open up more in cosplay settings, but it just never seems to work! Your D costumes are really nice - I love your fabric choices. I'm adding you right back.

Same here - but I totally remember seeing you around the forums as well! :)