Thursday, January 30, 2014

Kotoricon 2014!!!

Hey hey hey! New Years resolution: lots of awesome sauce posts and tutorials and con reviews and photos!
What has been going on recently with me.......? In August, I went to Disney World with Nick (my kareshi) and two friends. 
I love Epcot!!!

Then I was in The Scarlet Pimpernel musical with Nick. I was Marguerite St. Just and he was Chauvelin. It was a blast; I love being on the stage! 


 The Scarlet Pimpernel, November 2013! Yes, that is a guillotine behind us...made by my dad. He makes some of my cosplay props...except the swords; that's Nick's job lol

 Christmas and New Years were great this year! I had a wonderful time with my friends and family...!



WELL! Convention has begun! Well, at least for me on the east coast! Immediately after Christmas, it was time to start unpacking my cosplays from their garment bags, opening boxes of props, and re touching wigs. Not to mention ordering any contacts that expired...if you wear colored contacts keep in mind they only last a year...you don't want an eye infection during a con!!!

The first convention of the season was Kotoricon at Gloucester Community College in New Jersey. I went to Kotoricon last year and loved it, so I couldn't wait to return this year. This year was the first year Kotoricon was for two days instead of one...it is amazing to see how this little convention has thrived! Another difference from last year was that no tickets would be available at the door so you had to buy online. Nick and I tried to get tickets a week before and it was closed off....I was beyond devastated. We would've bought the tix earlier but I was having health problems galore. It was one of those deals where you are constantly saying "oh yes, must buy tix for Kotoricon" and then forget about it. Nick emailed the convention staff and told them about the health issues I was having and we were so looking forward to the convention. Basically, I knew (and so did Nick) that cosplaying would raise my spirits from all the medical nonsense I've been dealing with. We were allowed to get the tickets in the end! Susan Glenn (one of the convention organizers) is an amazing person for letting us come. I met her at the charity auction that day and profusely thanked her for doing this great favor for us and making me feel so much happier than I've been lately. 
So....once we got the tickets it was time to decide who shall we cosplay as? We didn't have any new ones for 2014, so we decided to kick off the con season with our always beloved Bleach characters Captain Soi Fon and Urahara.
Saturday morning we rolled up to Kotoricon '14 and dressed in the parking lot/car lol. For the sake of cosplay! 
We entered the convention and picked up our badges. I really like their badges; they are little dog tags! Perfect for when asked to take pics they are easily tucked away. All my other con badges I tie onto my bag. I think its an eyesore in photographs to see a big plastic badge staring ya in the face...it destroys the cosplay vision IMO. Same with bags, etc. I carry a black tote around cons and either lay it at my feet for photos or hand to a friend or I put it against a wall and pose beside it to keep it in my sight. So many options lol.
We went to a Pokeholic panel which was hilarious...the one last year was good and this was even better. Nick plays the new Pokemon x and y on his ds and he really enjoyed it. I am old school Pokemon so I don't know a lot of the new guys. Maybe I'll try the game...maybe lol.
 Pokeholic Panel!

Kotoricon had open mic karaoke, so I jumped on stage and sang my fave "Life is like a Boat". There were some problems with the sound system and Nick did a dramatic reading of "Killing me Softly." >__<  he's cray. Then we did a duet...."Love is an Open Door" from Frozen!!! That was fun....! I was gonna sing Let it Go, but then karaoke time was over because a musical guest came in. Her name was Sneko. She sings popular anime and J POP songs and dressed gyaru lolita. She pranced around on the stage with her back up dancers in cute outfits. I didn't stay for the whole time, because artist's alley and the dealer's room were beckoning me. 
Urahara doing his thing.

Nick got me an awesome wig in the dealer's room for $30! Great price AND great quality. It is brown with pink highlights with little pigtails you can clip on the sides. AND, you can use heat on it! Awww yisss! In the Artist Alley I bought this little ring with a cupcake on it. It was $7 but worth it!
Next up was the LARP room. Ok, I am not a fan of LARP, but at Kotoricon they have a room where you can go in with the "swords" and fight. There is a wheel you spin before you enter...the wheel has all different scenarios for the room. Zombies, dragons, etc. We didn't spin the wheel because the people at the LARP table suggested a scenario that was their personal favorite. It was called Dark something...I forget. But it was a Walking Dead scenario. We were given the rules (how many taps kill, don't hit people in the groin, etc) and entered. Firstly, the room stunk to high heaven. My GOD. Secondly, it was mad dark so I kinda stayed by the door while the "zombies" came out to fight. I stood there watching until one of the zombies was near me and I asked to hit him LOL. He said yes, and I went to town on them after that. I "killed' two. 
 Elphaba! There was a Glinda there too.
 These girls were adorable!

All in all, Kotoricon '14 was a blast just like last year. I give it five outta five! It's not overwhelming with tons of people...I think the attendee count was around 1400! The staff is nice and helpful and the vendors creative. The food there is affordable and plentiful. They had Chinese food, pizza, chicken tenders and fries, etc. Lots to choose from. They also had soft pretzels...my faveeee nommm! Kotoricon has a free photo place too with a pro photographer! You get your pic taken and come back in a few minutes to get your copy which they put on a paper background with "Kotoricon 2014" emblazoned on it.

 Sweet little Yoruichi-sama we ran into! (This is the free photo area; I didn't include the border for the blog pics)
 Urahara, Soi Fon, and Yoruichi

 Looking forward to Kotoricon '15...next year's theme is "Spaaaace"! Next blog entry will be about Setsucon 2014 in State College, PA. Nick and I went as Kristoff and Elsa from Frozen. It was good times!

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