With Abunai!con being behind us, the first convention in quite some time for me has passed. I am still recovering (office job vs walking all weekend, ouch!), but I think this is the time to write a blog on the convention. It was a busy weekend, with both the Runway competition and Cosplay Act competition. And ofcourse, I wanted to hang with friends, do some shopping etc. Let’s get to the things I did:
Friday
So I arrived on Friday morning. Which means I had a bit of time to unload my car, get settled in the hotel room, shower and get dressed up for the Runway competition. Getting dressed was quite easy with this outfit, so I could spend more time on the make-up. Before all that, I checked in with my I grabbed my mask and microphone prop and headed to the convention check-in to get my bracelet. Then I met up with my friends to hang out for a bit, before I had to go to the pre-judging for the Runway competition.
The pre-judging was done in no time for me, as I was nr. 2 in the line-up. Meaning I could walk around for a bit more, before the competition started. Time to grab a drink! It was too hot to do a lot, so I just had a drink with friends and went backstage after to cool down. It was a lot of fun backstage, with all the new people. I loved meeting everyone there and I hated that my back hurt so much. (Old injury that sometimes still acts up.) The competition itself went pretty smoothly. Tech was really nice and did an amazing job with the lights, the one thing we had no say over as cosplayers. The entire competition was a nice experience to get warmed up for Animecon.
After the competition, I went to a lecture with Elianzi, who I met at the Runway Competition) to see if we could chill in a room somewhere and listen to some stuff before going back to our rooms. We decided on the Photographer vs Cosplayer lecture and met a few new people. After the lecture I had a small photoshoot with a photographer I met there and went back to my room after that.
Saturday
On Saturday, I had to prepare for the Cosplay Act Competition. I chose K/DA Seraphine for this, but I changed the wigs: a hair down wig instead of the ponytail, because of the heat. I figured I would not be able to wear this outfit for a long time due to the heat, so I also brought some casual clothes.
So at around 6:00 I woke up, got half dressed into my cosplay and went from breakfast with my roommate at around 7:00. After some yoghurt, pancakes and orange juice, I was ready to start the day for real. Time to change into my full cosplay! And then I found out I lost so much weight that it didn’t fit me properly anymore. That gave a blow to my confidence, to be honest. (The weight loss was involuntary.)
Then it was time to move my props to the main stage for the show. With the stage and other props it was a bit of a struggle, but there were some lovely gentlemen, who helped me out. Thank you again! So after that, I sat down with the other participants and we chatted, discussed stuff and goofed around. Tech had some struggles, which caused a delay for the competition to open. When the doors opened, the competition went smoothly. I kinda disliked my own act due to the fact that I normally really try to tell a story. This kind of act would be overly complicated if I did, so I didn’t. That + an ill fitting costume + not the original wig makes that I feel a bit bad about how I presented myself on Saturday. It happens, and it is okay. I didn’t faint, because I made smart choices. And sometimes, that is the win! 🙂
I took a nap after the competition and returned to the convention slightly refreshed. Sadly, I felt really not okay with my cosplay, so I changed out of it as soon as I felt like I was getting cranky. And that lifted my mood a lot! I hung around with friends, discussed what happened that day, ate pizza etc. Just the good life. If only I had brought a simple game to play on the convention grounds… That would have been the one thing to make it better. 🙂
Sunday
Sunday was the “relaxing” day for me. I cleaned my stuff from the hotel room, prepared my car for another drive and walked around the convention for some shopping. I met up with some friends, caught up with them, got boba tea and gyoza and a got a request from Iloon (an old friend of mine) to help her with a quick thing. After that all done, it was time for a final stroll through the Artist Alley, where I bought a print of the Pale Tree from Guild Wars 2. A very unexpected find for me, as Guild Wars 2 is a bit old and not that popular anymore.
And finally, it was time to head home. When I came home, I unpacked and gave Dalischa all the pets for guarding the house all weekend. (Don’t worry, I always arrange someone to visit Dalischa and give her food, water, keep her cool and play with her.) Sadly, it was just as warm at home as it was at the convention, so sleep and relaxing was a bit of a challenge. I tried to tire myself out responsibly, by actually unpacking most stuff immediately. That did not really work, but at least I now have just one bag left to unpack, instead of one car. 🙂
Next event
The next convention is already around the corner: Animecon Classic in Almelo! I will participate in the ECG solo preliminaries on Sunday September 25th. It will be time to wear the Velkhana armor and pray it all works out (not just that, I will of course put in some more work to get it right!). But before that, I will have something else that I will share soon!