Today went great!!!! I got to bring my sewing machine and materials for my Sunday cosplay with me. Again I helped man the Help Desk. It was fun, even more so because I got to sew when people weren’t asking questions. On top of that I got to have more free time today because I was at the Help Desk with one, maybe two other people, nearly the entire day Friday. It wasn’t as hectic as yesterday but, nonetheless, problems did arise, not any major ones though, though my responsibilities did increase a bit. Yesterday a police officer nearly arrested one of the con goers for having a airsoft rifle. The con goer wasn't doing anything wrong, he/she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time to coin a phrase. So we ahd to make sure that the con goers checked in their realistic looking props before going outside to ensure that mishap didn’t happen again. Other than that the day was pretty uneventful.
Since I had more free time, I was able to go to more events and do some more fun things like photo shoots. My events started off with Cosplay Creation Beyond the Sewing Machine. Wig styling, makeup, prop making, and crossplay were discussed. I was, and still am, amazed at how much I knew about makeup and wig styling. Even though I’m new to cosplay, I’ve researched enough about it to know as much or more about makeup and wig styling then the hosts. I was really pleased with myself. I didn’t learn much from this panel that I didn’t already know, with the exception of crosslay which I’m not interested in. I did learn how to proportionalize props and what materials to use, and not use, when prop making. That was really interesting. I left that panel happy to learn about props and realizing that I know quite a bit about cosplaying.
Next I went back to the booth for a bit then headed off to the costume contest rehearsal. I know it’s my first con. I’m wearing my first cosplay. What was I thinking. It’s a costume contest so naturally I’m thinking, “Ooooo! Fun! There shouldn’t be many entering in my division.” I was wrong not on the first or second thoughts just on the third. There were 30 contestants in my division alone!!!!! I was so nervous! I couldn’t keep still while standing in line for preliminary judging.
As we lined up for the second time the judges went up and down the line choosing the top ten cosplayers for further judging. A couple of the judges were eyeing my cosplay as well as many others. I could not believe my ears when one of the judges told me to go to the back room for further evaluation. It was like a dream come true. I was one of the chosen few! Once I got to the back room along with the other top ten contenders, we were asked about our cosplays, the characters we were portraying, and how we made our costumes. I was so nervous that by the time it was my turn I totally spaced describing how I made my cosplay. I felt like such a dunce. How could I forget to tell how much hard work I put into my cosplay. I didn’t even mention that I did an Amano version of my cosplay. Hence why I changed some of the details. Nevertheless, I did my best for what I remembered to say.
After the secondary judging, we went back to our places in line. There we waited till it was our turn to walk across the stage, present our character to the judges and audience, and pose for a picture. I was calm by the time it was my turn. I walked to the center stage, bowed to everyone, and told them it was a pleasure to meet them.
Once everyone went across the stage, the judges the ten top contenders to the stage. There each judge commended as well as described the efforts the honorable mention of their choice. Then the judges called out the third, second, and first winners individually and described why each deserved their place. The first place winners were amazing!!!!! I almost fell over when I heard what all the work that went in to those cosplays. The cosplays were Sailor Uranus and Neptune from Sailor Moon. Every piece of the cosplay was hand made, even down to the crowns, jewels, and shoes. I was so amazed, as was everyone else! They so deserved first place. Second place was a perfectly replicated Master Chief from Halo (I forget which number). He even had working LED lights in the helmet. As for third place, it was a female steampunk airship captain. Her entire cosplay was scrounged, a.k.a. made out of altered premade objects. Every winner totally earned their placing and more.
Once that was over, I found my good friend and wandered around the convention some. We went outside and got some pictures of my cosplay as well as talked to other cosplayers. Before going back to the Help Desk, We stopped in at the con photographer to get some pictures of my cosplay. I love photo shoots.
After that we stayed at the Help Desk until it was time for my final Workshop. I went to a Pepakura Armor Workshop. It was lead by the second place costume contest winner who told the attendees how to make armor out of cardstock and sealant. It was a really cool workshop though I kept falling asleep out of sheer exhaustion.
The rest of the con was spent either at the Help Desk or at Con Ops where I refilled my coffee cup many times. Both my friend and I were utterly exhausted so we tried to keep each other awake by talking. That was fun and rather comical at times.
Since I’ve been hinting at it the whole time I’ll say who I cosplayed. -_^ I was an Amano version of Yuna from FFX. I chose to do an Amano version because 1) it was my first cosplay, 2) I could choose how I wanted the cosplay better, and 3) because I wanted to create a cosplay based on how I thought a concept artist pictured Yuna’s outfit. It was altogether fun. I got a number of photograph requests, around 8-10 total. I had a great time cosplaying Yuna and pretending to send Aeons. I received a number of complements as well.
Day three is rapidly approaching and I still don’t have my last cosplay done. After the convention, I stayed up till three AM working on my cosplay. Now it is time for sleep. My eyes are crossing of their own accord and I can’t think of anything else to say.
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