Hickory-Con: Spring 2016
What exactly is a Hickory-con?
A Hickory-Con is a comic-con held in Hickory, North Carolina.
Some of you might remember that my first blog post ever was about a previous Hickory-con so I am pretty thrilled to write this post. Let's begin!
My day started after basically, a 3 hour nap. I had been up for 28 hours straight the previous day/night preparing my key prop for Hickory-Con. Can you tell I was a bit enthusiastic?
The blogging team received bad news though. Our dearest Heiwa had to go into work until 1 P.M. Yep... That was terrible news...
I went back to sleep until about noon. Don't judge me, it was an accident.
After Heiwa got home and we got our cosplays in order we left for the con. That put us there around 2:45 PM. It takes us about an hour to get to Hickory but it is totally worth it.
The parking garage and outdoor area was very promising seeing how cars and people were everywhere. Alright enough of that, lets get to what you guys care about. THE CON!
Our first stop as always was the wonderful Mrs. Zexania Sutcliff!
Today she debuted her Papyrus cosplay.
I have mad respect for her because I know that she had to be hot in that.
It got even better though, she had a group of UnderTale cosplayers! I can't even get 1 cosplay friend let alone 3!
They gave us this amazing group shot :)
There was a ton of cosplayers there but unfortunately this is my last picture of a cosplay. I do regret that but today was Heiwa's turn to take pictures and I didn't realize she was slacking off...... My fault. I should have paid attention.
Anyways, this lovely cosplayer and artist to the left is Blue Jay Cosplay and I just now realized that she is also one of my favorite FairyTail cosplayers. Excuse me while I fangirl.She was there as an artist and dressed as the blind Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender. A blind artist. I must be a terrible person because I was thoroughly pleased with this situation.
We walked around a few times and ultimately had to come back to this vendor for some.. unexplainable reasons.
This is, and I quote, "Pretty Weird Art."
They are accurately named because they had some weird stuff but it was all pleasing to the eyes and fairly humorous which I thought was fantastic. Art these days (especially at cons) tends to focus more on... physical attraction(?) so I was very happy to see some genuinely funny and possibly creepypasta-esque comics. ^_^
More vendors! Just no more pictures...
Authors Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes were at the con today and we stopped and chatted with them for a bit. They wrote The Keys of Candor Series. After talking to them I made my first ever con purchase and bought the first book in the series, The Red Deaths, and I don't want to reveal anything about the plot but it looks reaaaallllllyyyyyy good. I actually think that I will do a book review once I have finished it. I will quote the blurb to you though.
(If either author finds this unsatisfying or untrue, even though its word for word, please email or message me and I will take this out)
"King Camden
Is Dead.
After forty years of peace, war rages through Candor.
The rulers of the Realms are dying.
Their precious secret of the Keys has been revealed.
Enemies unforeseen move in the shadows and the Nightmares behind the glass will be soon be unleashed.
The DOMINION has awakened.
Three Red Deaths. Three Linked Lives.
One Keeper of The Keys. "End quote. This is the blurb on the back of the book and it instantly had me hooked. If it hooked you in the same way feel free to check out the book on Amazon. Check out the books official website at http://www.keysofcandor.com/ (I love the choice of font on the website. Editors should definitely go look at it <3 )
Altered Vision Contacts
This guys are pretty rad. They had a wide variety of everything nerdy/geeky (which, if you are in the fandom then that isn't an insult but a pet name) You know those really cute resin buttons? They had some with Slenderman and Jeff on them which was really tempting for me but I had a hard time parting with my money.
They had everything from Pokémon to Five Nights At Freddy's so that is definitely a booth that I am going back to! (With more money.) Oirnari* and Kotari* bought stuff from them.
Artful Sunshine by Donna & Will Petrey
These artists and crafters had everything from earrings and necklaces to flat out exquisite sketches. I walked over to look at their FairyTail earrings but I don't have pierced ears so I was pretty bummed but the lady running the booth (My guess is that she was Donna, so Ms. Donna.) told me they had necklaces and other non-piercing goodies on the inside of the display. Well I got to looking and it turns out that they had Howl's Moving Castle merchandise.
Howl's Moving Castle. If you have been following me for any period of time then you should know that I am in love with that movie and it is possibly what started my Otaku tendancies. If I had pierce ears I would have a pair of Calcifer earrings right now. I almost got them anyways. Definitely go check them out!
Alright, last thing to mention in the way of "vendors".
I got DeadPool's number.
No, just kidding (though that would have been great.) I only got his business card. The design on the card looks kinda like the Splatter Grunge Art from Marion-Con.... Collaboration maybe?! Anyways I really need to stop stalking all the really cool cosplayers in my area.
CARS!
They had two new members in the car club this time around and I freaked out when I saw them. Jeeps are my spirit animal.
This beautiful beast to the left belongs to Don Teems who is a regular on AMC's The Walking Dead. This is his zombie response jeep.
I had to take a traditional grill shot.
Glamour shot!
It so pretty.......
That is just about it for my post. Below I have my proof(s) of purchases, A summary and a special surprise. ;)
Heiwa made me. She said,
"Look at me in your Bassy voice."
Yeah..
Anyways, This is the most alluring book ever.
And this is my precious littler Harbinger of Nightmares, Darkrai!
He is a Pokémon.
He is my fictional soulmate, or lack-of-soulmate.
Keep scrolling.
Overall Hickory-Con: Spring 2016 was a mega success and somehow waaay better than its previous version. They are properly continuing to expand their horizons and I look forward to what they accomplish in the future. They are definitely on par with Marion-Con, slightly better mostly because of size, so I am excited to see which one of them takes first place in my heart for best 1-day con.
Something that I think would be cool in the future for Hickory-Con would be a "Mall Crawl" after the cosplay contest. Nothing is more fun then seeing normal peoples faces when they see a bunch of people walking around in costume. That happened to me at lunch.
I accidentally scared some seniors...
I will post some "glamour shots" in a separate post but I have to warn you that they weren't very good. It poured rain today so my hair got really frizzy and I called the photo-shoot quits.
Now look below for one of the most amazing things ever!!
I am very excited to announce that we have added not one but two new members to the Ani-Maze-Me team! They will be called Oinari and Kotori! I look forward to working with them in the future and possibly cosplaying with them! (Unlike the other members that I mention, I don't live with these guys so they are possibly my favorites!)
~Aki Ame Okami
Cosplay In 20 Days Or Less: Day 18
THE LAST DAY!!!!!
We survived!!!!!!!
Barely. I have been up since 6 AM and have only eaten one meal and its safe to say I am already dehydrated.
Today was a day... I ended up not doing the tie (that was the one thing I was forgetting) but guess what! I finished the sword.
That's right, I finished the flipping sword ^_^
Anyways, my day started with layers and layers of gesso.
While waiting for the gesso to dry I decided to go ahead and pin the sword bag.
It took me forever to find my nylon cord/rope thingy...
Once the bag was pinned it made me feel productive which helped my headache ease off.
After I sanded the sword (And my leg accidentally) I decided it was time to take the leap and plastidip it.
I held my breath and pretty much freaked out internally.
Once it was done all I could think was,
"Hot... darn... (O.o) That looks epic!!!@#!#@%$"
I mean I seriously love that.
I have decided to make another sword in the future and make it black with red veins.
It will look super cool and I cannot wait to try it...
Well actually I can.
This one almost killed me.
One more glory shot...
Kurkara actually has a very slight wave like imprint along the blunt edge so the plan was to tape that off and spray the first metallic layer then remove the tape and keep spraying.
I didn't do that.
I left the tape on for the entire metallic coating process.
Just wait and see why ;)
Mikata had an awesome idea about how I could set the sword to dry.
It became a kitchen ornament XD
LOOK AT THAT BLACK EDGE!
Its so beautiful I could die.
This is just glorious.
Anyways, I weathered all the metal pieces.
I glued on the eel skin wrapping for the handle and then I wrapped the handle.
It isn't official wrapping and it wasn't done with any technique so I will redo it in the future, just
not tonight.
A bad pic of the final thing.
A closer picture of the tip of the blade.
You can actually see the weathered bits from this close.
Tomorrow is the con and it has been a wonderful adventure.
I am glad that I got to share this experience with you all. I hope we get to do it again in the future because you are great company ;)
I will post a convention review sometime in the coming week, I also have a few other articles written up that I will post next month so be sure to come back and see! :D
Wish me luck that I am not dead tired tomorrow!
See ya!
~Aki Ame Okami
Cosplay In 20 Days Or Less: Day 17
Friday is the last day... Something tells me my sword wont be ready in time. As it is right now (covered in Gesso and drying) I will have to stay up through the night applying Gesso then Plasti-Dipping it.
Today has been a day...
I got a TON done. So lets go!
I cut this shape out in craft foam and it is ready for heat shaping.... I am terrified because I have never done this before so wish me luck!
This is the fabric that I got for the sword bag.
It is seriously just soooo perfect and that thrills me because I don't think I can take too many more problems...
It is going to be almost the perfect length.
The folds wont be entirely proportionate to the show but I am not concerned about it.
The folds are still 2 inches at least so that is good enough for me.
I still have to make/add the straps on tomorrow and I don't know how I am going to do that but I do know that means I have to fix the sewing machine. -_-
I started doing the Gesso coats. I think I am dying inside slowly because this is taking forever and I don't have that kind of time!
I have about 2-3 coats on each side and I need 7-8. Good thing I have all day off tomorrow
because I am gonna need it. After the gesso comes primer (plasti-dip) then paint, then details (pommel, tsuba, etc) and finally weathering and sealing.
Something tells me that I am screwed.
Mikata loves me and bought me 300 safety pins because I was down to about 20.
I am a convention angel, someones costume breaks? I gotcha. I am prepared for anything and I don't charge! I give supplies away all
the time.
The blazer received its final liquid stitching.
Something about the perfect distances between the bobby pins made my soul feel a little bit better.
I weathered the pendant.
By that I mean, I practiced on the Pendant so that I don't majorly screw up the sword, which I will manage anyways. ;)
This is the tail with the LED's turned on.
I am not gonna bother with the LED's at this con because it will be too light for them to be visible. I still wanted you guys to see how awesome they look :)
Practicing cutting out the Tsuba and I realize that I need to practice my drawing skills.....
It looks a lot like the bat signal..
I am going to keep trying.
The jacket dried so I took a few quick pictures for you guys.
Forgive my casual shorts, I enjoy being comfortable sometimes.
A better picture of the jacket.
It looks better because it isn't on me XD
I know it isn't identical to the one from the show but... Creative liberties?
Stitch Witchery.
I think this stuff is just tiny strings of hot glue that you re-melt in between layers of fabric.
Wait, maybe its magic!
Witchery implies magic... Guys, I AM MAGIC! If only I
could find some Ab Witchery
Mikata being her awesome self and helping me iron the sword bag.
The iron scares me.
It puffed out some steam and I jumped and whispered "You made it mad..."
She laughed at me.
My attempt to cut the Tsuba out of poster board didn't go so well but I think that's because I was tired and cut corners. Literally.
Tomorrow I have to finish the sword, attach straps to the sword bag and concoct a tsuba and pommel! Someone save me?
I am gonna go get a few hours of sleep, hopefully.
See ya tomorrow!
~Aki Ame Okami
Cosplay In 20 Days Or Less: Day 16
First, I would just like to apologize about not posting this sooner. My crappy internet was down when I got home last night so I couldn't post. I harassed Mikata until 1AM trying to get her to go in town with me to sit at a McDonalds so I could write the post but she wouldn't go...
However, because of the lack of internet I got a lot done!
I sealed the pendant, then it occurred to me that I never showed you the clip that I put on the back of the pendant.
So ta-da!
This is just a sacrificial safety pin.
Then I beveled the handle, or I guess I just trimmed it..
Either way I made a huge mess and smoothed out the handle so that it not only looks like a handle but also fits comfortably.
Mikata is a miracle working and hooked me up with some liquid stitch since the sewing machine is not cooperating atm.
Don't you love my unique way of keeping the trim down?
Heiwa flipped when she saw I stole all of her bobby pins.
I just don't own those kinds of things xd
This glue didn't seem any different than the white glue they give you in kindergarten but whatever. If it works then I wont complain about a thing.
I sketched out some things on paper and played around with different ideas. I think I am going to make the Kashire (look below) out of craft foam and paint it once its heat sealed. This was the concept that I had tested
on the paper.
The things I plan on making out of foam are,
The Kashira and Tsuba.
I will actually make the Tsuba out of poster board then do the top coat of foam because I really like the smooth look of it.
Shhhh. I am not picky!
wait, yeah I am.
The first rough draft of the Tsuba pattern.
This is just to give you an idea of what I am going for.
This is the second rough draft and that was as far as I got with that.
I need to lengthen the wing things and sharpen the peaks.(?)
This is the fabric that I got for the sword bag but it is folded in half. It is perfect! I wish I had known how perfect it would be because I wouldn't have put it off for so long.
I also used E6000 glue to glue down the Habaki but I didn't take any pictures because that was the first time I used E6000 and I was slightly terrified I would glue myself to it because we all know I have a hard time with that....
I will be posting TWICE today because I today is technically Day 17 but the internet hates me soo yeah. I am sorry about that :/
See ya later!!!
~Aki Ame Okami
Cosplay In 20 Days Or Less: Day 15
This is the 145h day but the con is on the 30th. That means my cosplay must be completed in 3 more days making the total days 18. Ahh I am INSANE! Who let me do this?!
Psshtt. I got this.
Before we get started I want to apologize for exposing you guys to my sadness/ borderline depression these past few days. I usually wouldn't do that but this specific project is documenting the cosplay process and that includes my mental state while I am doing this. A persons mental state can severely alter progress. If you are happy then you might get a lot done, if you are depressed you are likely to get very little done. That is what happened to me and boy am I feeling the deadline today xd
Onwards to the progress!!!
This is my solution for the joint that accidently got broke during the weekend cleaning spree...
Those are crafting popsicle sticks. They wont be taped on for the final result, I just haven't decided how to
attach them yet.
This is a picture of the break. If you look just below my pointer you see a tiny tear in the tan color? That goes almost all the way through the board. -_-
Time to start the party!
I was/am still terrified of this part :P
Beveling!
Most swords (if not all) have that sharp edge and then the rest of it is thick. This is beveling.
Three layers of poster board can get pretty thick. I have very little room to bevel but I am gonna do my best....
Excuse the fan in the background. We are too cheap for AC :P Oh, and the WII too. I like playing COD till 2 A.M.
After beveling it looks like this. This wasn't the final photo. I made the bevel a lot deeper and smoothed out my lines and edges.
See how long that is?!!
After this I am sort of proud that I have come this far. I mean that thing actually, almost, looks like a sword!
Loooonnggggg Katana.
I think in total it is 40 inches, maybe only 38.
I came up with that measurement based on how that length would look against my back, in my hand, strung from my waist, etc.
Well that and the fact that the sword bag measurements are 48 inches, but they have the fold over parts soo...
Anyways, it actually went pretty decent today!
Thank you for putting up with my petty life problems. I have enjoyed the comfort and release that you guys have offered. With only three days left I am a little sad a relieved. This isn't the time for good byes though, I still have stuff to make!!!
A sword bag, I have to arrange the belts for Yukio and do a dry run for his cosplay. I still have to get more sewing needles so I can finish the trim on my coat, I have to do a clear coat on all of the things! and there is something else that I have to do that I know I am forgetting....
Oh well, it will come to me!
Thanks for the read!
~Aki Ame Okami
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