Wednesday, February 22, 2012

AOD Day 1: Part I (Basically Lunch)

Hey again! Spark here, and I have official decided as of last night (and to the sighs and eyeroll of Bean x3) that I am THERE WILL BE CAEK's NUMBER ONE FANGIRL!!!! Because seriously, every group needs one, and I think I fit the ticket with my 1) constant squealing when someone dresses up 2) non-stop babbling (that usually is in coherent... probably because I'm like Foaming Mouth Guy from Avatar xD) 3) constant update checking to see the progress of others 4) attempting to appear at all events that Team Caek will be at 5) more squealing and raving and such.

Did I catch your attention? :3

The list continues, but that isn't the point of this post! I wanted to write an AOD post since we never got around to posting about AD either (which was a bucket of fun for Guavi and CersieAngel xD). And I need to get it out of my system so that I can stop fangirl-ing over these amazing people and focus on school work (who knows? Next thing you know it I'll have life sized pictures of them on my walls! whoa that came out weird... x_x)

Dazz worked late into the night on her Asuka cosplay, and everyone left in Awesome House was sick. Chem Boy was hacking up his lungs somewhere while Dazz sniffled more daintily. We left the house around 10:30am and rushed over to the BART, deciding that we wouldn't be able to make the 10:38am BART and shooting for the 10:58am one. Chem Boy went to the bank, and we waited FOREVER for him, so long that Anna and Alec showed up and beat us down to the BART. Finally, Chem Boy arrived as we walked down to a waiting BART that just by chance had been waiting for awhile. Anna then commented, "Why aren't we walking any faster?" which made me realize that we could make it!

AND WE DID! WIN! From then on, Anna continued to sew her Korra tanktop while Dazz and I tried to fix her wig. By putting it on my head, combing it, and tying the high ponytail WHILE ON BART. But I'm sure those conductors have seen crazier things (Like two young girls traveling at around 9pm to SF with bags, swords, etc etc wait what?)  We hopped onto the 38L and made our way to Japantown and Hotel Kabuki.

Firstly, THE LINE TO BUY A PASS WAS CRAZY. It just looped downstairs and kept going and going x_x I kept Dazz and Anna company while Chem Boy dragged our luggage away to get my pre-reg passes. We waited for a good 45+ minutes, but ran into Yvonne and her bf as they lined up for the dealer's hall! There was a lot of great cosplay already at first glance, and lots of artists! The set up was a bit strange and difficult to navigate, but, being a small con, we managed to get the flow of the layout.

While we waited, we ran into Bean and them, and can I say that Bean makes an AWESOME MARI as does Guvi make an AWESOME REI! The three girls together was just... perfect *tears of happiness* After getting our tickets, Anna needed to make a run to the bathroom to make last minute fixes, as did Dazz. So we left the guys outside and tried to fix everything in the bathroom... which was entertaining to say the least.
At least the butt skirt turned out well ^^

Don't mind the awkward toilets and near empty bathroom... crazy at a con right?!
we browsed the dealer's hall and Dazz got stopped for pictures, which caused a ruckus for one of the merchants selling her books xD The dealer's room was so full of many things that I wanted to buy, but knew I shouldn't TAT At around noon, we headed out to get lunch with the rest of the people at a Korean restaurant across the street.

Blurry, but that was because the lady was yelling at the photographers to get out of her booth

Asuka being sassy like she always is xD


I didn't realize how many of us there were, but we were 11 strong! And look, those cosplay? So totally wasn't like all the EVA girls basically finished theirs the night before ^^;; Met a new friend (say hi to Hailen!) and reunited with some old (Karen, Victoria), and we all settled down for a wonderful Korean meal. I'm so tempted to post food pictures, but this is a cosplay blog, not a "Let's make everyone suddenly hungry with all the good food we're eating" blog. Boo. But I deviate, oh look pictures!

THE GROUP RETURNS!

Yay reuniting!

The EVA girls!

Props to the guys for sticking it out... They were talking about going to the Brony mixer... xD
Om nom nom foods
 Along with the chit-chat, laughter, random anecdotes, and more laughter, we prepared for a surprise CAKE PARTY FOR DAZZ! The (early) birthday surprise was a strawberry shortcake from Andersen Bakery (Danish!!) that looked delicious :3 We hope she was surprised and enjoyed it, and (as usual) we planned it so very last minute again ^^;; Actually talking to the lady to bring the cake out was really nice (she agreed to do it, with plates and everything too!)


CAEK! It wasn't a lie! <3

Karen the cake cutting master

Happy Birthday!

So many candles @_@

Awesome House mates! -^^-

 At this point, when we were done eating, it was close to 3pm, when Chem Boy and I could check into the hotel, which was a RELIEF because we could finally throw all our junk into a room and not awkwardly drag it around like tourists. At that time, the three EVA girls were getting stopped for pictures constantly (hee hee so pretty ^^), and I met up with EB, another avid cosplayer who has been a real inspiration for me. She sold us wig heads, and did a beautiful cosplay from Paradise Kiss with her friend. After the mini reunion and her dashing off, we all lugged our stuff upstairs and dropped them in the room. Everyone did some make-up, cosplay checks before heading out to various places (panels, dealer's hall, etc etc).

So in character!

Hotel Room! Kabuki King!
EB and friend :3

Cersie went to get her cosplay judged, and the rest will be in the next post ;] Can't wait? THE ANTICIPATION!

Well, it's past my bedtime so I'm... going to write it tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy some good food pictures (the food is good, not the pictures) and stay tuned!




Au Gratin, with just tofu, spinach, and mushrooms~ On the Bridge is a great place to eat! 

Until next time,
Spark
Team CAEK's # 1 Fangirl

Friday, February 17, 2012

Pre-AOD! (And who knows? Maybe some AD memories?)

So I've had the honor of being part of the whirlwind of last minute painting, sewing, wig cutting, and practicing for a skit *cough* call it tradition *cough* or procrastination *cough*

Currently, Guvai and Bean are hanging out in Awesome House, Bean cutting her wig and Guavi sewing her outfit. Seems befitting that the con is the next day, but a NEW CHALLENGE: getting on BART and to SF sometime before midnight (preferably 8pm?) Caitlin and Karen already loaded the car and drove over the Bay Bridge before it is closed for the weekend. Hope they made it! In other news, Dazz will be doing last minute touches to her cosplay tonight also, so stay tuned!

So what is AOD you might ask? Well, it is Animation on Display, and a rather small convention that is held at the Hotel Kabuki in Japantown, SF. Being a complete new-comer to the scene, I'm rather excited to see what is going down. It seems to be a fairly tame convention, with mostly the My Pretty Pony crowd taking over this year. However, Hideo will also be there as well as Robotech and a gundam building workshop!

So funny story... While browsing the front page of the AOD website, I took a peek over at the cosplay events, and at the Masquerade. And THIS caught my eye:


That's right. Best of Show: $500

So, excited, I ran to Caitlin, posted it on her wall and gently said, "Oh, you should consider joining! With Bean and Guvai and Dazz! Yay for all the fun things!" (Do note, this was Monday. AOD Masquerade is Saturday). Somehow, by some power from all above (or basically Caitlin's awesomeness), she signed up the group for masquerade, created a skit, and had it finalized by today. As for practice... tonight and Saturday will prove to be fairly entertaining. In some ways, I giggle because I'm excited for their skit and how awesomely funny it will be. At the same time, I giggle because I incited them to do so, but... I'll only be a fangirl tomorrow night ^^

So moral of the story? 1) Never let a sick person with crazy ideas near a computer when a con is coming around. They might get ideas. That might involve you. 2) Never let said sick person near any social media sort of thing, or you might get pulled into something. 3) Stay calm despite the thumping upstairs and the constant frustrated sighs. It'll be alright. We promise.

So some pictures pre-AOD! 

Le packing for the weekend! Note the adorable piakchu pillow pet! -^^-

Le sword needed some touch-ups!

Oh hai gaiz, not like I'm just now putting together my cosplay, nope not now

MYSTERY CARDBOARD

*insert caption*
I apologize for the lack on eloquence with my writing, and promise a better written thing when I'm not getting glue all over my fingers and tape. I'm sure everyone will make it on time and do awesome!

GOOD LUCK TEAM CAEK! ^^

- Spark