In preparation, with Kaya no less, I got together a somewhat decent James Sunderland from SH2R, Kaya went with Mary and we looked pretty good. We mostly went because I wanted to give my WIP book to the cosplay competition organizers, who were very nice and accommodating (more on that later), plus we wanted to spend some time with our 22 month old daughter somewhere else other than home. She is a lover of crowds and people, so we figured why not take her with us. I was never a fan of the premises that con takes place at, so whenever we are there, I am trying to focus on the costumes, the attendees and the schedule of the con. Friday was alright, we did not stay overly long, said hi to those friends we met.
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| IG @MartyMasar |
I also walked up to one of the cosplay guests Sky Re (IG: Skyrenori), admired their Cloud Strife, took a pic, talked a bit and went my way.
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| IG: Skyrenori |
After getting home, I triple checked my costume and got ready for Saturday. I had pre-judging at 12.00. I got halfway into my Cloud Strife costume, got makeup on and drove from our home there. My mom was kind enough to take our daughter to her place for the night. The weather was not great however and just as much as the premises are absolutely terrible, the parking is the same. We could not find an available spot next to it. We drove for a while, rounding the ruined building of AnimeShow until we finally found somewhere to park. It was raining heavily and just above 10 degrees Celsius. The Cloud I was cosplaying from FFVII Remake does not have any sleeves and overall the costume is not very cold ready. What bothered me the most however was that the wig would dissolve in the rain by the time we got inside. Thankfully, we had an umbrella with us and the wind was not too bad. By the time we finally got inside out of the wet and cold, I figured some of the humidity might have helped my wig to better sit naturally on my head (if such a thing is even possible, haha).
Pre-judging came and went lightning fast and I of course understand that to present a costume you yourself made from scratch is an art form on its own and yet I wish I had more time. For the costume itself, I am forever grateful to my great friend Trolo (IG: trollometer) who taught me how to work the belt sander and other tools too. I would also be pretty hard pressed for every tiny detail that Cloud's costume has without consulting the ever helpful Halcy (IG: halcynda) who really did help me figure things out and I really enjoyed our back and forths.
Back to the convention. After the pre-judging, we met some more friends, some old, some new. I finally met Lena (IG: Lena_Cosplayer) who is very nice and goofy as hell, which I love, of course. I also sincerely apologized for stepping on a cape during Cosples earlier this year.
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| IG: Lena_Cosplayer |
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| IG: Lena_Cosplayer |
While we had Silent Hill 2 cosplays the previous day, our friend had an amazing Maria costume, and even though we mismatched on Saturday, it was great to see each other.
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| IG: kasame_katiak |
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| IG: kasame_katiak |
We also managed to get into two lectures: one aimed at cosplay photo events (like Pixelmania in Poland) and the other where our friend was giving out tips and tricks for sewing (which is honestly something I am in dire need of, always). Anyway, later that day it was time for the cosplay performance. I said at the beginning how I need to comment more on the new cosplay competition organization team. I could not be happier. Obviously, issues and problems happen, but it is how we deal with them when they occur that is important, not how we plan for them. No plan survives contact with the enemy. Event organization is the same. When I had a question or needed something, the team responded asap and we were able to figure it out, and that is fine by me. As far as my performance goes, I sort of just dumbassed it. So, my skit was basically the scene from the original Final Fantasy VII, when Aerith dies (oh no, spoiler) and Cloud slowly carries her into the lake at the Forgotten Capital with somber and sad music. Of course, me being me, I figured the best way to corrupt this beautiful scene is to put my own sadistic twist on it. However, I had no shame, since Square Enix ruined it even more in Rebirth, so whatever. During my skit, it turns out that even though Masamune left buried in Aerith pretty deep, she might just walk this off. However, my Cloud is so startled that he drops her and then instead administering a Phoenix Down, he (accidentally) finished her off by drawing the Masamune out of her.
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| IRL, just leave the stabbers in! |
So, yeah that happened and I just sort of left the stage while Scissor Sisters played me off. I am cringe, but I am free is what I keep repeating in my head during any stage performance. What I feel I ruined then and there was that I did not have the Buster sword with me, on my back. Even though it was perfectly capable of staying on the magnet throughout the whole performance. Another thing I should have done differently was to bring the Masamune with me to pre-judging. I did not and that is my bad. Oh well, live and learn. I am still extremely proud of the harness I made from foam, as well as the magnetic Buster sword. It is my favorite prop.
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| IG: susybutterfly_ |
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| IG: susybutterfly_ |
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| IG: petr_jedi |
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| IG: petr_jedi |
So, that was that. One more thing I have to mention and that is that our dear friend Julli from WonderlandStudio.sk had two amazing photo booths present during the con and I loved it so much. I hope that these will be a standard from now on, at every AnimeShow/ComicSalon.
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| IG: wonderlandstudio_cosplay.sk |
On Sunday we did not have the energy to go in costumes again, so just went as is. I attended a super fun lecture regarding a very offensive (but fun!) Polish cartoon called Kapitan Bomba which I have been binging for the past 15+ years and I won the quiz for it, which only proves that I am a master for dick jokes trivia. I feel like I peaked!
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| Please, more of these, ku*wa! |
What else needs to be said? Oh yeah, the premises where this convention has been taking place for the past decade are an absolute ruin and the con needs to move places ASAP. Throughout the whole Saturday it was raining so much that everyone was inside and there was literally no airflow. We all shuffled like sweaty, stinking zombies around an old decrepit building that has lived through more than it should.
Despite that and having survived the masses inside, I enjoyed myself. I am really looking forward to wearing more Cloud soon :) It is my comfort cosplay, because I feel my best in it. Also, once again I have to worship and thank Kaya for being so patient and helpful. She literally helped me carry all my stuff from the car, then back to the car and then unload it in our apartment. I love you beyond reason <3
Time to get back to my big project, I need to make sure I have all the proper equipment to make some real calibrations during Animefest25 in Brno.
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