#cosplacon2017

 Okay, so, I’ve just spent the last few days at Cosplacon.  It’s a fairly small event (compared to the likes of Dragoncon, etc), but it is so much fun.  Maybe because it’s so small, it has a really great atmosphere.  It’s also pretty much the only con in town, as it were, unless you want to make the trip out to either Saint Louis or Kansas City.  (Mind you, there were attendees who came from Topeka, which is realy impressive.)  This is my third year attending this con (any con, in fact), and the first time I’d stayed for the whole thing. 

DAY ONE

Thursday was interesting, because (as some may know) I have been gearing up for a move, and that move took place on Thursday morning.  So, I’d spent the first half of the week frantically packing and boxing and getting things ready, and Thursday morning was spent trying to get stuff loaded into the new place so my parents would have less to do when the time came to unpack.  (Yes, i live with and help take care of my parents, who are both disabled to one degree or another.  They encouraged me to attend the con, because I pretty much spend all my time working either at my job or at home, and need a break to do something for myself.)  So, when the time came to leave, I was sweaty and dirty and desperate for a cold shower.  (June in Missouri is no fun.)  Once I was feeling relatively human again (though still kinda tired) I donned my Rocket grunt costume from last year and joined the festivities. 

The con has a Pokemon League (strictly for fun, not an official Pokemon Company thing), and I registered my team for that.  It’s pretty cool.  The folks running it do it as a labor of love, and it really shows.  Not only do they spend their own money printing trainer cards and making gym badges, they created a region with lore and even a *soundtrack*.  I tried to do the “story mode” challenge, but got flattened by the Flying-Type leader in my second match, so then it just became trying to get as many badges as possible.  I’m not super knowledgable when it comes to competitive play, because I don’t really do much of that sort of thing, but I did put together a pretty solid team.  I might do a separate post about that later.  Maybe.  Meh. 

Every year, the con also does a sort of scavenger hunt, with little stuff scattered throughout the hotel.  Collect all these “achievements” and you win...something.  I think it’s a pass for next year.  I probably could have done it this year, but I chose to spend most of my time between specific events hanging out with the Pokemon League crew.  Some of the achievements included finding the key to the TARDIS, Facehugger eggs, and the stones from the Fifth Element.  (This being the fifth year of the con, there was a Fifth Element theme.)

There weren’t a ton of events that first night, but I did catch the Iron Cosplay competition (teams are given a collection of random pieces out of which to create a costume and character backstory), which was a lot of fun.  I kind of wished I could have attended some of the panels hosted by the Egg Sisters on Prosthetics and Make-up, because I think that kind of thing is really fascinating, and they are amazing at it.  I didn’t rally go much into the game room, where there were Smash Bros tournaments and things like that.  Most of the gaming stuff I did was just playing Pokemon.  After Iron Cosplay was the Welcome Party, which was also a lot of fun.  After that, I hit the sack.  There’s usually some kind of dance party or other kind of late night hootenanny, but I’d been up since 5 am and was exhausted.

Turns out that would be a running theme.  Not only were the people in the next room pretty rowdy (I think they were teenagers out on their own for the first time), but my room was directly adjacent to one of the maintenance/cleaning closets, so I got to hear all the banging and thumping of the door and housekeeping carts. 

As a sidenote: If a hotel room door is locked, STOP TRYING TO GET IN.  Also?  Instructions for the damn shower would be nice. 

DAY TWO

After waking up WAY too early, I finish up my Janky McCree cosplay (which I should have gotten a picture of before it all fell apart) I headed down to the League and did a bit of battling before leaving for the Q&A with Eric Stuart--the voice actor for James and Brock of Pokemon, among others.  It was enjoyable and informational, but I think a lot of us kinda blanked when the opportunity arose to ask questions, and the majority of questions came from the same handful of people.  He struck me as a really cool guy, though. 

I would have liked to go to the Marvel vs DC Round Table or the panel on samurai swords by Samurai Dan, , but I opted to go to the Q&A instead.,  That happened a lot.  Like, a lot of the events that I wanted to attend were scheduled at the same time, while other times, there were stretches where nothing really jumped out and said COME TO ME.  I kinda wanted to go to the Cosplay Runway, which was a non-competitive costume parade of sorts, but I wasn’t too happy with my McCree cosplay and also wanted to keep challenging gym leaders.  I definitely wanted to go to the Harry Potter round table, but things with the Pokemon League took longer than expected, and I missed half of it.  That was okay, though, because I still had fun.  And if you’re enjoying what you’re doing, that’s what’s important, right?  Also, it’s important to schedule time for things like food.  So you don’t, like, die. 

That even was the cosplay skits.  They’re usually good, but this year, they were AWESOME.  I tried recording everything, but I did end up missing a couple because I had to run up to my room and grab my phone charger.  I did miss a dance number I hope someone recorded and will post to youtube or something, but the other skit, I wasn’t too upset about missing, mostly because the guy doing it was a creep who’d caused problems with the League crew, and wouldn’t have been very entertaining anyway.  There were dance numbers, musical performances, short dramatic skits, a HILARIOUS Gothic Lolita presentation (”SQUAT!!! Wigglewigglewigglewiggle!  CRRRRRROOOOUUUCH!!!”) and a couple of girls tossing inventive shade at each other, which I kept expecting to turn into a number from Wicked.  Normally, the winner of the skit competition wins a pass for next year, but there were so many awesome skits, the judges decided to award one to everybody (including that creepy guy, but they couldn’t very well say “Everyone but you). 

Following that was a really fun Avatar: The Last Airbender discussion.  I kiiiinda wanted to go to the Fifth Element Ball afterwards, but I was feeling pretty shy about jumping into a dance party, seeing as I dance like a parody of a white guy, so I hung out with the League and got some food. 

Then, so friends of mine from work showed up and we wondered about a bit, taking in the sights before deciding to go to the drag show, which was a lot of fun.  I did have to explain to my friends what a drag king was.  They had an intermission, and I kinda wanted to stay for the rest, and I kinda wanted to go do karaoke, but it was near midnight already and I was bushed.  So, I said goodnight and tied again to get some sleep, getting only nominal success. 

DAY THREE

I finished up my Guzma costume after getting Not Enough Sleep.  By the way, I nearly blinded myself twice putting on eyeliner.  There wasn’t a whole lot grabbing my attention as far as morning events, but I did have fun battling with other Pokemon trainers and just walking about taking pictures and even getting my picture taken.  I was really bummed, though, that a lot of the attendees who did Team Skull grunt cosplays weren’t doing them that day, because I would have LOVED to get a picture with as many Team Skull peeps as possible.  I did attend a need panel on digital art, hosted by the head of the con, Rodney. 

After that was a Pokemon Speed Training tournament.  basically, each person was traded three random level one pokemon and we were given an hour to train them up as much as possible, before facing each other in 3v3 battles. I ended up with a Klefki, a Corsola and a standard Grimer.  i wasn’t too terribly happy, but I figured I would give it a shot.  (Again, I’m not a super competitive player, but even I knew Corsola wasn’t super viable for competition.)  And I actually managed to get to the final two!  Unfortunately, my opponent had a well trained Golem and one-shotted everyone on my team with Earthquake.  But I had fun! 

Again, not a whole lot scheduled after that which grabbed my attention, so, more hanging out before heading in to the Cosplay Royale.  The Cosplay Royal is the big cosplay competition, with professional judges and everything.  There were some AWESOME cosplays in this one, though not as many entrants as there were last year, if i’m remembering things correctly.  But the quality of the costumes were so good, they added a couple categories. 

After that, Eric Stuart gave an acoustic concert, and I got a signed CD.  I’m always a little leery when someone says they’re Also A Musician, because a LOT of people are Also A Musician, but he was actually really good.  There was one slightly obnoxious guy who tended to talk through the performance, and not super quietly, either.  After that, I wanted to go to the Dance Party or even the Cosplay Burlesque, but I reeeally needed food and sleep.  Which Brings us to...

DAY FOUR.