ConReport: AnimeUSA

The weekend was very good, but somewhat exhausting. Friday night was 'oh my god the world is falling apart and it all sucks!!!' after which it became 'Oh my god I must make buckles' time (I made only three; it was enough). A brief trip to pick up a new red wig became a mad dash to find any wigs when the two others seen at the Party Place were gone when I went back four nights later. *sob* I couldn't even find fake red hair. I ended up buying a brunette hairpiece and trying to dye it, and the final solution was to cut two hunks of my own hair and dye them. Surprisingly, it turned out quite well. I now know what my hair would look like red, and I have two hunks of it superglued to a couple of hairpins. I have Roomie2 to thank for much of my sanity that night; he actually managed to cheer me up despite being in a rather awful funk himself. I guess two bad moods make one good one.

Saturday dawned bright and early (*urg*) and we actually managed to stay vaguely on schedule. My Aya costume came together rather well, I think, though I was a decidedly portly Aya. This triggered a rather funny set of jokes, including Omi saying 'Aya-kun, we're supposed to beat the enemy, not eat them!' and a subsequent cartoon from s1ncer1ty (hopefully soon to come). The costume was actually quite comfortable, especially compared to 'the thing' at Otakon. I ended up using my riding boots (sans buckles - bad Deo!), which was comfortable except for at the front of the ankle, where the skin is now rubbed raw. I definitely appreciated that Aya modded his turtleneck so it didn't have sleeves, though; that kept me much cooler! I don't appreciate the whole being male thing, though; I have a tendency for stacked-ness in the cleavage department, and that makes for painful compression when the ace bandages start to shift. I think I need to rig up something a bit more ...comfortable for future crossdressing endeavors.

The four of us were quite recognizable together (s1ncer1ty was Ken, animeg was Omi, learan was Youji, and I was Aya), and quite popular in terms of photo-ops. We even had a couple of people wait or follow us around so they could get pictures of all four of us together! I spent most of those scowling with my arms crossed - a classic Aya pose. Our picture posing started quite early, actually! A girl dressed as Kurata Sana, from Kodomo no Omocha, approached us in Tyson's mall where we were having our (quite disgusting) breakfasts and asked for a picture. We amused - and somewhat scandalized, I think - the elderly couple nearby. There were quite a few costumes, though none as extensive as seen at Otakon. There were quite a few I didn't recognize, a few I recognized after some thought, and one that I later heard was an original character - so I couldn't have recognized it! Omi and Ken kept the cameras flashing, so I didn't have too; now I just have to pimp myself out for copies of them (pimpin' Aya, yeah...).

We met some very cool people there, most notably several girls at a table in the main area (Mu2). One was dressed as Duo (so we made sure to get pictures for shingan since she's such a huge Duo fan) and the other as Sanzo - a costume I've been contemplating making for a while. They were hysterically funny; we bought a shirt and a number of little worry dolls of characters from the Duo, and played around with them both. Seeing the Sanzo mimic being drunk was absolutely hysterical (complete with red lines across the nose and upper cheeks for both she and Duo), as were the 'battles' between Sanzo, Duo, and Aya (me!), over guns or sutras. We have contact info for Duo, and hopefully can wrangle Sanzo's contact info out of the deal and learn what their names are! Like our bunch - who spent the day referring to each other as 'Ken,' 'Omi,' 'Youji,' and 'Aya,' - they stayed in character as far as names were concerned, which while cool is not conducive to actually keeping in touch with them! Hopefully their memories of us are as fond as ours of them.

One of the cute guys from Pandora's Cube was also there, running front desk registration. I don't think he recognized us as part of the madcap bunch of girls that swarm Pandora's every now and then! I was the only one of the four of us wearing a wig, but we were dressed pretty differently than usual, being male and all.

We also got to meet Omi's American voice actor. Amusingly, we were talking about him at lunch (tuna on bread - courtesy of Omi!) because we had finally found the schedule and discovered that there were whole sections we hadn't gone into. We were standing by the Mu2 table when a gentleman came over and started naming us off, finally asking where Omi was. Our Omi shook hands with him and he said, 'Hi, you're Omi, right? I am too.' We stared for a minute, then the other shoe dropped. We managed to not squeal, but I think we let him know how much we enjoyed the series! It was especially thrilling since we'd missed his panel!

I'm always torn between being an utter fangirl at these things, and trying to comport myself like a dignified human being. I think I end up being rather too stoic, since I don't want to utterly discomfort the people I admire. I get a little frozen sometimes; I need to work on that. Somewhere there has to be an even balance between blitheringly idiotic fangirl and stoic girl. I also never know what to say to the artists! I want to admire, but not buy! I so spent more than I should have; a bunch of ten dollar commissions would have bankrupted me. I do love looking at what people create, though; there was one lovely book of Cthulu in various forms - like Pikathulu, and Pokethulu. *snigger* And one excellent artist who drew flames so incredibly well. I am envious now. There were also a bunch of lovely fairies in the Artist area up for bidding; I thought about picking one up, but I have so much art already that it seemed rather silly to get more. Instead I bought pins, and a Witch Hunter Robin box set. I was tempted by the con-legal katana, but $84 was simply too much to warrant spending on that, though I did get to hit the guy selling it hard - which was fun! They have my contact information, so maybe I'll pick it up for another time.

We're already plotting out Katsucon. Depending on time constraints, learan and I will be making her a Rufus Shinra (Final Fantasy) costume to match my quick-mod Scarlett costume (I will finally not have to wear a wig!! Yes!!!). I'm also plotting out a Vampire Princess Miyu costume (and probably a few extra Kimonos, since I like them). Lulu (FFX), Belldandy (Ah! My Goddess), and Sanzo (Gensomaden Saiyuki) are still in the works but further off, and I'm considering adding Dawn's blue and white costume (Dawn, a Listner comic) to the list even though it isn't anime per say. I'm still hunting for a schoolgirl outfit I like, too, though I'm loosing hope on that front.

Ah! That's it for now, I think.

Matrix Musings

I unleash you upon the icons!

I've been amazed at the fickleness of fans. My best example is the Matrix; people adored the Matrix I and it became a huge, overnight sensation. More people jumped on the bandwagon, until it seemed like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Then the second movie came out and completely decimated the structure set up in the first movie (totally Re-loaded; damn punsters). There was a huge outcry! 'Too much orgy! Not enough depth! Why all the fight scenes?' The third slipped even further down in people's estimations. It was too this, it was too that, etc.. etc... When you look at the three movies as one story arc, however, it's about the rise and fall of a single individual and how that individual can reshape the whole world. ( spoilers )

The entire basis of the movie is choice. All of it. And it's choice in the nastiest way possible, where you can't escape it because even refusing to choose is making a choice.

There were a couple of plotholes; why the machines kept the humans, for example; the Architect wouldn't have known, I don't think, because his function was so limited. The party line is that the humans were kept as 'processing power,' but one could easily argue (and one did to me) that the processing expense of creating the Matrix decries that explanation. It could be similar to Mercedes Lackey's conception of the elves - incapable of true innovation do they depend upon the humans to do that for them. It could end up being simply a plot device, since a movie about just machines wouldn't hold anyone's interest. The Matrix is a myth, though, not truly science fiction, and a certain amount of plot-holiness for the sake of carrying the myth to its final conclusion is excusable in my opinion. What's more important to me is that the Matrix, taken in it's totality, asked more questions than it answered. That is the hallmark of a good myth.