AUSA 2013 Con Report~

Finally getting around to posting from con report from AUSA last month. Again, I am like a month late. (This is a trend of mine) Also, I wrote more than expected (also a trend of mine). But, here ya go, if you care you read (and/or skim)!

Thursday

Thursday evening I headed down to DC with Gryfeathr and Baronvonblitz! They picked me up, we stopped at Wawa, then made our way to the con. Just kind of bummed around that night.

Friday

Friday morning I woke up and got into Eren, then headed to the Artist Alley and helped Dem-Hips and soltian set up their table. Then a bit of wandering the AA and stuff, and around 3 or so I changed in Levi (and also changed hotel rooms to join Dem-Hips, Jimbly and co). I wanted to split my AoT time pretty evenly between Eren and Levi, and it's super easy to do, hahah. Some more wandering in the tiny Dealer's Room, etc until sorairo-days arrived with her coworker Vinh. Sorairo-days changed in Eren so we could be AoT butts together. She took some pics of me, when eventually Janiekat joined us. Then some hanging around outside in the grass with the four of us plus Fairyring, BlankoCosplay, and Sasha-Dee. In the evening, some of us went and got some noodles (pan-fried, for me) at the Noodle House.


Me, sorairo-days, fairyring, and janiekat hanging out in the lobby (I'm sorry I look angry, just being in character... ilu guys).

Then back at the con, we hang around in the lobby for a good bit -- fun shenanigans. By around 10, the local folk head out. After everyone left, I was headed back to the hotel room, and happened to run into Barnabunbun(Chibi Inu Tsuzuki) and Amaya1301(Bunbunbarnaby). We sort of met earlier, friends of friends kind of thing -- and they very kindly invited me to go with them to the Host Club. I'm really glad I went because I had a lot of fun with them there! It was late and only Friday night, so things were kind of slow (not busy), I guess, because we had a few of the hosts come by at once and hang out with us. They were all super nice, but the wait staff was horrible and we didn't get waited on for like 45 mins. We started playing Uno, which I love, and eventually our desserts came (creme brulee, yum!), but unfortunately everything got cut short because they were closing (it was midnight). We didn't get to finish our game, and had to scarf down our food, which was a bummer. But still, very worth it! After that, back at the hotel room, shower and sleep, the usual.

As a random side story, after the Host Club we stopped at the nearby bathrooms. I was sitting in the powder area of the lady's room, waiting, still in Levi at the time -- the door was propped open and it was a direct line of sight from where I was sitting out to the hallway. Anyway, a guy walked by, and as he did I kind of heard a "wait, is that a guy in there" and he doubled back and poked his head in and left. Internally, I was dying of laughter. What makes the story better is that the next day, Saturday morning, we were outside as the maids and hosts were gathering for a photoshoot, and I passed the guy who apparently was the one who saw me in the bathroom (he was a host). He recognized me because I was wearing the same costume, and we had a good laugh about it, hahah. (A+ me for sort of looking like a dude from a far)


More obligatory selfies with sorairo-days~ My favorite~

Saturday

Saturday morning I got in Levi to have a formal shoot with Sorairo-days. (I saw an Erwin the distance, I really wanted a pic with him, cries) We wandered around taking photos outside. After we were done with my shoot, Sorairo-days let me take some photos of her in her sailor!Nagisa, which I was very thankful for because I need practice. Then some hanging around outside with Sorairo-days, Vinh, Fairyring, Blanko and some others, after which I reverse-changed into Eren this time. Wandered around and ran into Sorairo-days again while she was in between shoots, which was sweeeet because we passed an awesome Titan!Eren that I just had to have a picture with. Soon it was time for my shoot with JanieKat. Again, shooting outside, we wandered all around the con center, and also found a really nice cement wall (which I proceeded to climb) as a backdrop. I was mad/upset because I lost my "basement key" prop I wanted to take photos with right before the shoot. I was inexpensive and not-totally-accurate so ultimately not a big deal, but still I'm sad I didn't get any pics with it. But otherwise, the shoot was great -- and there was some fake blood involved, hahah.


Me and Titan!Eren are gonna go kill all the Titans!!!

After my shoot with JanieKat, I met up with Gryfeathr and the crew. (I know I'm missing "ran into KnightArcana and Vantasticmess a few times" in here some where!) Eventually I tagged along with Gryfeathr and Jimbly on their One Piece shoot with Barnabunbun, again taking pictures for practice. As a side note, during the weekend I discovered the purpose for the AoT stupid butt skirt things.... to protect your white pants from grass stains!! (I'm only half joking here) Later I did some hanging out in the lobby with JanieKat, shinigamiclover, Pezzidge (who I hadn't seen in over a year!), and others as they passed in and out. Then Amaya1301, Barnabunbun and I (as Eren, Mikasa, and Armin) did a quick but nice shoot with Gryfeathr. It was nighttime, so we worked with what we could in the crowded hotel, but I think it worked! We also found the little version of us (and momma too) which was rather fun.


left: We find our younger selves wandering through the hallway. A photo was a must!
right: teenaged Eren and Mikasa happily reunite with their deceased momma *cries*


After the shoot, my friends were super mad at me when I told them I basically didn't eat all day, and they literally picked me full off the ground by my arms and legs in an attempt to force me to eat, so... we went back to the Host Club. This time I got some actual food (gyoza) and we chatted with the one or two hosts that stopped by our table. After the Host Club, I headed back to the hotel room to change into Nezumi to do a short "bedroom shoot" with Dem-Hips as Shion (Gryfeathr as photographer). This was rather embarrassing for me because I don't typically do stuff like this, but No. 6 is just so homo, it can't be helped. (I only watched the series shortly before the con, and screamed "it's so homo!" the whole time). Soo, yeah. Some light shounen-ai pics. *blushes to hell* But there was delicious cherry cake involved, so can't complain. By then, we were all drained, so bedtime it was...!

Sunday

Sunday morning I got into Nezumi again, meanwhile packing all my crap. Met up with Gryfeathr to put my stuff in her car, then met back up with Dem-Hips so we could wander around in No. 6 together! We met some cool people in the lobby! Then it was time for Gryfeathr's "Orientalist to Weeaboo" panel. The panel was rather full, and despite technical difficulties, Gryfeathr presented the subject really well! There were some really great feedback/discussion from the audience, and I was super proud of her! After the panel, Dem-Hips and I helped Soltian pack away her AA table. Dem-Hips, Lauren, Xan and I decide to go to this Vietnamese restaurant that was recommended to us. I love pho like it's nobody's business, but walking all the way up past the zoo in the sunny heat in a leather motorcycle jacket and a big scarf was torture (all in all, it was worth it, haha). After eating, we headed back to the con where we did a quick outdoor No. 6 shoot with Gryfeathr before having to head out. After saying goodbye to everyone who was left, Gryfeathr, Baronvonblitz, Amaya1301 and I headed out on the drive back to PA. Good ole' car chat times -- beats riding a bus alone, any day! I was the first stop along the way, so they dropped me off at my house. It was sad saying bye to everyone! (As usual~)


Con snapshot of me and dem-hips in No. 6!

Some others I was glad to at least run into, but unfortunately didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with!: Mostflogged, shadowhearts(KisaSteph), ButtPilgrim(Kholdshift), and jeanralphio. This was my first time at AUSA, and I had a really really great time! I like how small it was -- not toooo small, but small enough that there's not huge crowds and you can run into people you know like every five minutes. I made a lot of new, wonderful friends that I really enjoy, so I'm super glad!! It's a nice, chill, "friends" con, just as people had described it to me. I am definitely planning to go again next year!

Photos were gently taken from friends and via la interneta. thank you~