conventions – It's Been Real!

Tekko, 2018

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, and I am dreadfully sorry. At least this time I have a doozy for you. Tekko, 2018 in Pittsburgh! My doctor was on vacation so it was perfectly timed, but the weather could have been nicer. I’m fairly certain I’m not the only one who is sick of the cold.

Anyway, drove to my friend’s house and we carpooled to the convention center. I got checked in (they had already been there the night before) and we went walking. There was actually a signing first thing in the morning from Vic Mignogna (voice of Edward Elric [FMAB], Zero Kiryu [Vampire Knight], and Tamaki Suoh [Ouran High School Host Club]). We sat down at a table to wait and had scintillating conversations about feminism and political correctness in Hollywood (topic for another post), before the signing started.

Now, I’ll set the scene a bit for this one: there’s this girl, whose been going to these conventions for ‘years’ according to her. She dresses as the same character every year and says hi to everyone. Well, she doesn’t say hi to me and if she did, I would tell her as nicely as possible to f*ck off. My reason for disliking her? She’s inconsiderate and uses a ‘brain abnormality’ as an excuse. So, the self-proclaimed ‘brain abnormality’ was near the front of the line when one of the organizers told us the rules had changed. Previously, we could have two items signed and could get one picture; now, they were telling us to get one item signed and hold pictures till the end so he could get through the line faster. Anyway, she broke that rule immediately, and Vic was (probably) too nice to tell her to wait till the end for her picture and to not bring more than one item to get signed. Oh! Me and my girlfriend were fuming!

After that signing, we went down to the exhibition hall and walked around. I saw the sword booth and found myself a fancy rapier sword. Slick silver hilt and I felt like a swashbuckler holding it. Thankfully, they said they could hold it for me at the booth so I didn’t have to either cart it around or immediately take it to my car. I went with my friends after that and we got in line for another signing. My guy friend stepped out of line to go get something and was gone for a couple of minutes. When he came back, he ducked under the bar and straightened up very quickly. I watched as he stripped his jacket off and tied it around his waist. “Don’t look now, but I just split my pants,” he said. Myself and his sister just stared at him for a second before we broke down laughing. “We need to find a onesie when we’re done here,” he said and that only made us laugh harder.

Once the signing was done, we did go looking for his onesie. He got a black cat onesie from ‘Monster Hunter’ (if anybody is familiar with that). Later when we were walking around, we caught sight of Vic Mignogna in the exhibition hall with his handler. My girlfriend told me to go grab him since I wanted a picture. I walked over and greeted his handler first (since we’re friends on Facebook and have hung out before), then I asked Vic how he was doing. At that particular moment, he was ecstatic because he had found chocolate covered bacon. No joke! I politely asked him if I could get a picture. He said, “Of course you can, sweetie!” The handler took the picture, but Vic stayed hugging me for a few seconds afterward. “She gives good hugs.”

“Yes, she does,” the handler said. I thanked him for being so nice and went back in search of my group.

And that was Day One! I’ll post Day Two another time, otherwise you’ll be here a while.

And on that note, it’s been real!

Be Prepared! I Was Prepared!

Whenever I go to a convention, I dress to impress. Quite frequently, I’m already thinking about the following year’s costumes. When you’ve been dressing up as long as I have, you know how to create a system that works and gets me my costumes in a timely manner.

This year, I purchased my ticket for Tekko, 2018 already and I’ve taken a look at the costumes for next year. I already decided to be Holo, the Wise Wolf one day; and Hela, the Goddess of Death another day. I have an envelope on my desk with all I’m going to need written on the front of it, along with where I can get it and how much it costs.

I reached out to the person who makes most of my props (she made my Kid Loki Helmet, Loki’s scepter, and my gun) and she is going to make my Hela headdress and sword. I am saving my money so that I can get my costumes probably starting in the middle of February to make sure that it has arrived and fits me before April. Some people (my brother) say I’ve got all my ducks in a row way too early. I don’t think so. It’s always nice when you get your costume all together, and then you try it one when you think about the convention and get excited. It breaks up the monotony of your day. And that always puts a smile on my face.

And on that note, it’s been real!

Sangawa, 2017

On Friday and Saturday, 12/8 and 12/9, my brother and I had Sangawa, the Japanese Cultural Society, the 18+ convention at the Double Tree Hotel, near our city. The voice actors attending were Colleen Clinkenbeard and Robert McCullom. After a very busy day at my dentist office (where I did not get lunch at all, BTW), my brother and I spruced up and left to go to the hotel. We missed opening ceremonies, but we didn’t care about that. We bumped into a few people we had met at previous conventions and decided to hang with them for a little while.

The staff ‘quietly’ advertised the fact that they had gambling in one of the rooms and we went to go check it out. It was just a few games with prizes like a samurai mask, or a Japanese tea set or a sake set. My younger brother and our acquaintance played a few games and bought tickets to see if they could win any of the raffles. After that, we checked out the ‘dealer’s room’ or the small market place. It was interesting, but not as diverse as the market at Tekko. However, I bought a few Soul Eater plushies to put on the rest between the seats and back windshield of my car. My brother actually cracked and got a Ryuk Funko Pop bobble-head. Then, the Sangawa Social started, and he went off on his own, and I went with my very fancy tumbler into the room and started drinking. I was warned off a witch’s brew of sake and cinnamon fireball, but then (regrettably) I started to get a headache. I cut my alcohol intake and just had water. I was kind of glad, only because I saw several people already going loopy from just a couple of glasses. My brother found me not long after and we left a little before midnight.

The next day, we arrived around 9:30 and immediately got into line to have our stuff autographed by Colleen and Robert. I got my FMAB poster signed by both of them, as well as my Fairy Tale. After the signing, we went through our schedule to see what we wanted to do. There were a couple of panels we went to see, a Q&A for both actors, and then we played a Jackbox game in one of the game rooms. We all became a bunch of liars on Fibbage. Saturday was actually kind of boring after the Fireside Chat with both Colleen and Robert. My brother and I went home after that. However, we have higher hopes for next year and I hope to see them come to fruition.

And on that note, it’s been real!

Welcome! To Tekko, 2016!

Tekko 2016 was an interesting year. Completely Marvel for my costumes that weekend. It started on Friday as it always did, and just kind of went from there. That was obviously a couple of months before Suicide Squad came out, and there were an obnoxious amount of Jokers and Harley Quinn’s there. I actually almost through up at the amount of neon green, sparkling purple, and starch white I saw.

On day one (Friday), I dressed as Black Widow. And I did run into the best looking Deadpool and threatened him with my batons. But then, he did have a gun behind me.

There were quite a few people dressed up as Marvel characters. We had a couple of Iron Man’s, we had a lot of Deadpool’s, a few Hawkeye’s, a Thor running around, Jessica Jones, Spiderman, Spider Gwen, Peter Parker, Dark Phoenix, and even a Captain Marvel. And then on the flip side, Jokers, Harley Quinn’s, Batgirl, Batman, and a couple of others.

On day two (Saturday), I went as Loki in his Stuttgart suit with the disguised version of the Chitauri scepter.

On that day, we were asked to a Marvel vs. DC photo shoot. We got a large area to ourselves, then it was us against them. Somebody on the DC side said they outnumbered us. I countered with, “Only because you’ve got repeats galore!” No comebacks from Camp DC.

No voice actors that year I wanted to meet, but I didn’t let that stop me from having a blast. As I walked through the convention center, I would hear people say, “Look! That’s a Loki!” It’s always so nice when people recognize you. Sometimes people don’t remember that a character looked that way (the staff was probably what did it), so when people do remember, it’s refreshing. Got give them what they want. In true Loki style!

And on that note, it’s been real!

Sangawa 2015

I love these anime conventions! They’re quite a bit of fun! I first heard about Sangawa through Tekko, as it is organized and run by the same people. It is an 18+ event, as there is alcohol involved and more adult themed anime and manga. Fun, right?! However, in 2015, I was still one year shy of being able to drink, so I only really went because Vic Mignogna, a popular anime voice actor, was going to be there. My younger brother and a friend of ours agreed that we should go and meet him and get pictures and autographs.

They hold this particular convention in early December every year at a fancy hotel close to the city. It is a smaller venue than Tekko, which makes it so much more intimate. Especially after you’ve been drinking several different types of sake (Sangawa 2016/story for another day). At this Sangawa, I wore an Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood) T-shirt, and stood at the back of the room with my brother at the opening ‘ceremony’. As we were standing there, a blond man in a black T-shirt walked by us. I did a double take, poked my brother, and whispered, “That was the pipsqueak.” He looked at him closer and grinned. Vic Mignogna welcomed everyone with an unquenchable exuberance. It was infectious and it made me happy to see it. Throughout the night, we would sit on panels, go to the video or gaming room, and we even stuck our heads in the small market space. That room was definitely several sizes smaller than it is at Tekko.

Around 11:00, Vic had a private screening of one of his Star Trek Continued episodes. My brother and I sat in the front, and that was when I saw something on the menu screen that puzzled me. I raised my hand like a kid in class and said, “Excuse me?”

Vic Mignogna came over to me and asked, “What is it, sweetie?” I asked him my question about the menu and he got a slightly shocked look on his face. “Spoilers!” he said, before he covered my eyes and asked somebody to place something in front of the projector. Needless to say, I was surprised to have his hand over my eyes for several seconds. He thanked me for pointing it out when he removed his hand.

“You’re welcome,” was all I could really say. The screening was fun, but by the end, I had to call it a night. My brother, our friend, and myself returned the next day and got pictures and autographs. I got Vic’s autograph on both my FMA Brotherhood DVD’s and a poster. It was a fun time, and I am going again this year. The voice actress for Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye (FMA Brotherhood), and the voice actor for the Armored Titan (Attack On Titan) will be the guests this year. It should be interesting… especially since alcohol will be involved (again).

And on that note, it’s been real!