I attended SacAnime Summer with my boyfriend on Sunday, September 2nd 2012. I cosplayed as maid Chii from Chobits. My cosplay was super last minute, I began working on it around 11pm the night before and finished at 1:30am. So it's not super accurate, but it looks really good regardless, so I'm pleased with it. I wasn't going to go to SacAnime this year, since it's not really worth the two-hour drive, but a friend of mine wanted to buy my old Fullmetal Alchemist books and DVDs from me, and I decided that that was worth the trip. Since we were only going to be there for a few hours on Sunday though, we decided against buying badges.
We left for the convention around 12pm and were making excellent time getting there until, oh yes, you guessed it, we got lost. Getting lost on the way to cons is like a tradition, I factor the time into my plans. We drove for several minutes in the complete opposite direction without realizing it. While we were driving, we passed by a group of cosplayers and a guy with a Tepig backpack, so we knew we were in the right area, we just had no idea which was to go.
We arrived at the convention, and I sent a text to my friend to let her know we were there. She was busy at the time, so my boyfriend and I decided to wander around. The weather was really nice, so we stayed outside in the shade for a while to partake in one of our favorite past-times, people-watching. There was a line for special guest autographs, so there were plenty of people around. A young girl wanted to a take a photo with me and was very sweet. She was also hanging out near us, but I'm too socially awkward for my own good and couldn't figure out how to strike up a conversation with her.
After more wandering, we ended up near the memorial service that was happening. I know that this is a very sensitive and personal topic for a lot of people, and I would like to properly show my respect, but for now, I'll keep it short. There was a memorial service held for Harison Randall, a regular SacAnime attendee who passed away earlier this year. He was in a hit and run accident and saved his girlfriend's life. Many attendees spoke during the memorial, and it was apparent that this man had touched so many people's lives. I only overheard some, but I was very touched by everything I heard and got very choked up myself, even though I didn't know the man. I can be extremely emotional at times, and I couldn't listen to much before I had to leave the area.
After we got bored of sitting inside, we walked around more and ended up sitting outside in front of the hotel at the fountain. There was music playing courtesy of Team LoveHate, and they were also having a raffle. $5 got you one raffle ticket and a chance to win a pair of Nekomimi, and the money went to the Harison Randall foundation to help people who have been injured in hit and run car accidents. When Nekomimi first emerged on the convention scene, I didn't understand them, they sounded silly and pointless, but eventually I saw so many people with them, I wanted a pair of my own. Nekomimi are costume cat ears that are controlled by the wearer's brainwaves. Unfortunately, they run about $100 per pair. $5 for a chance to win them was excellent, and the money was going to a good cause. I bought two tickets and entered the raffle.
About five minutes later, the raffle began, and I ended up not winning anything. I'm sure pretty much everyone feels like it was rigged though. The same guy won three prizes in a row, and he was friends with the organizers. Just before the raffle started, I saw someone (either one of the organizers or another friend of theirs) give the eventual winner a bunch of tickets. I heard him say, "Here, whatever you win, you can keep, I bought a ton of tickets since no one was buying any." The guy won three prizes, one person won another prize, and it looked like there was supposed to be a fifth prize, but there was no number called for it. Someone walked up to the booth and was handed the fifth prize without a number being called. I'm not sure what happened there at all.
I was really upset that I lost, but the money still went to a good cause, so I shook it off as best as I could. My boyfriend and I found a new place to sit in the shade until my friend called and told me that we could put the manga and DVDs she bought from me into her car since she was leaving. We took them there and said our goodbyes. On our way back to my boyfriend's car to put the container we kept the books in away, we walked through the hotel area we had walked through earlier. We walked past a couple with their kid in a stroller, and I heard the man saying, "I just want to go somewhere we can just relax." I figured that he wasn't affiliated with the convention and the family was just staying at the hotel on vacation, so I thought nothing of it.
A few steps later, my boyfriend gets really serious and says, "That was Johnny Young Bosch." I had already forgotten about the couple from earlier and was really confused. My boyfriend said, "The guy with his wife and the kid in the stroller. That was Johnny Young Bosh." What. We geeked out for a few minutes, even though we actually had no interaction with the man (and most of the geeking out was done by my boyfriend). We put the container back in the car, took one more walk around the convention, and then left. We stopped by Starbucks before getting on the freeway and heading for home.
Somehow, I actually had a really nice time at SacAnime. I might return again and still not buy a badge. Maybe go on a different day and actually plan to hang out with more people instead of playing it by ear.
*Special road trip bonus story!*
On the way home from every convention and gathering, I end up half disrobing in the car. I took off my wig, petticoat, apron, and stockings in the car. After a while on the freeway, we were hungry enough to stop for food. We passed by several McDonald's, I finally convinced my boyfriend to get off at the next exit and promised him that there would be a McDonald's there. He didn't believe me at first, but sure enough, a block away from the freeway exit, there was McDonald's.
We drove around but for some reason couldn't find a drive-through. As I mentioned, I had taken off a lot of my costume, so I was just down to a shirt and my skirt (which was way too short, but usually fine with a petticoat). I begrudgingly got out of the car to go inside McDonald's figure that food was more important than my embarrassment over my half-dressed self. The world had a different plan for me however, as soon as I stepped out of the car, a pickup truck pulled up nearby, and a huge gust of wind picked up my skirt.
I thought I had caught it in time and adequately held my skirt down, but I guess I was wrong, the pickup truck didn't leave. I thought I was imagining things and maybe the guys in the pickup truck were looking at something else other than me. My boyfriend and I walked toward the McDonald's and then spotted where the drive-through was. We hopped back in the car, but not before I noticed the two people in the pickup truck intently staring at something. I still thought it was in my head until the second I got in the car and the pickup truck drove away.
Dear Pickup Truck Guys,
You are nasty creeps, and every fiber of my being wishes to punch you where it hurts.
Sincerely, Me
Omg, there are always so many difficulties you never thought about before you're in costume XD Seemed like you managed fine though ~
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a good time with your friends though, - I love to read about conventions across the world!! *I wanna go!* Haha. <3
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