Marion-Con2 Fall 2016

                     Marion-Con Fall 2016

Alright everyone, this isn't going to as happy as the first review.
The reasons for this one being a little sad have very little to do with the actual convention so no worries.
What will make this post sad is.........................

No pictures!

As many of you know if you have been following the blog/FB pages (I am also on Tumblr now) I had some technical difficulties on the day of the con. The camera I was using decided to go and get all gritty and wouldn't zoom.. all kinds of things were messed up. Thankfully I had a few friends at the con with me, that's right you hear me. I have friends.. Okay you caught me, it was Baka and my cousin.
So Baka took pictures and some really cute videos but she hasn't even sent them to me yet and I couldn't postpone the blog post any more. Its already been 2 and 1/2 weeks and those vendors and the hosts deserve better so here we go!

I am going to explain a little more of my reviewing process in this review so my reasoning may be a little more in depth than usual.

                      {Prepare yourself for a wall-o-words}

People attending: 5 (only 3 went in)
Time of attendance: 1 hour after opening so about 11 AM
Costumes featured: Little Red (Baka), (Wolf: Me), Child Naruto( My cousin), Anko from Naruto (Heiwa)

        The first thing I look for in a convention is an excited community. If you find a group on facebook that is buzzing with people discussing costumes, meet up times, vendors, etc. then you just know that this will be a lively event.

Did Marion-Con have that? Yes-ish.

They had a group and it was fairly active. A lot of the activity came from vendors but there is anything particularly wrong with that. This group helped me out, turns out a friend from filming was going to the convention and I had no idea. Thankfully him and I got to meet up. That is exactly the type of thing those groups are good for.
Note to self: Next time take a selfie so I can prove that I have friends.

        Signage! Oh my gosh this is just such a big one for me. Is there clear and direct signage? It's hard to have fun when you don't know where the fun's at. There is also an underlying importance in signage, a lot of conventions are family friendly and in the event that a child get separated from their parent it is nice for them to be able to send a text that says "I am by Panel 1-A" or something of that sort.

Did Marion-Con 2 have Signage? Yeah... not really.

When we first got there we weren't quite sure which parking lot to park in, then we weren't sure which door to go in. Once we were in it was pretty clear where the dealers room was; however, I was never able to find out where the panels were. It didn't matter all that much though because Heiwa had to be at work soon and I was dead tired because of school so we wouldn't have been able to see them anyways.

         Interactive features. I like my conventions to be interactive, be it panels, dancing, game room, DeadPool conga lines (I'm talking about you Yama-Con) or whatever form of fan to host interactions you have.

So did Marion-Con 2 have Interactive Features? Yes-ish again.

They had panels.  I cannot say if they were good or bad or anything like that because I didn't get the chance to attend one, much less find one. I am going to give them full credit for this though because they still had them. Interactive features are the difference between a convention and an oversized dealers room.

       Costumes!! You knew this was coming. Every convention should have costumers galore! Why? Because a convention is the 1 day out of the week that we get to strut our stuff and show off our favorite characters or costumes in a way that has been deemed socially unacceptable.

Did Marion-Con 2 Have Costumes Galore?! There were costumes.

There was definitely costumes there. We wont talk about quality of costumes because as always it ranged  from "Woo!!!" To "Who??" and that's a really touchy subject. I try not to talk about peoples costumes unless they ask me to or give me consent to write about them. Consent matters!

        Vendors: A good vendors room has at least 5 of the top sellers from the last convention and at least 5 new ones. That's my own little criteria. Overall when I judge vendors I judge them on quality, organization, relevant merchandise, people skills and prices.

Did Marion-Con2 have good vendors? Sure.

I picked 3 favorites that I had never met before and saw one of my reoccurring favorites so it was satisfactory.

The quality of merch at the convention was mostly good, I did see some things that I felt a little iffy about but nothing to the point of being a whistle blower.

The organizations of the vendors was good but some of the vendors organizational skills were questionable. I like to look at tables and be able to identify things I want to look at and things I don't. Example: Belt buckles on the left, bracelets on the right. I don't wear belts that often so no point in look to the left where as I am rather fond of character bracelets so I will be all in the right.
Some vendors had belt buckles in their bracelets and T-shirts in the necklaces and it.. was an OCD nightmare. 

Relevant merchandise.. It's no secret that I am there for the anime and SuperNatural stuff. Despite the fact that this is a comic convention it still appealed to my nerdy needs with a few vendors having that type of thing. (I almost came home with a Misha lightswitch cover x3)

People skills- Very few vendors can control a crowd.
There is one guy that is a really good crown controller and artist but I can't remember his official name at the moment.

Prices: I haven't really called people out before but I am not afraid to do that now. Thankfully there isn't anyone to call out from this con. I have seen vendors change prices of hot items as the day goes on or as the stock dwindles. I rarely buy things from people if there isn't a set price listed in ink on the table or display. There were listed prices on almost all the tables except one which I have been watching at a few cons and we will talk about that later.

        Location!! A beautiful location certainly helps any convention. I have seen industrial locations (sort of like Shelby-con) outdoorsy/vacation-y feeling locations (Like Yama-con) that have both provided unique photo-ops, pleasurable sitting room, and some eye fetching scenery. A bonus is when there are friendly eating and shopping establishments in the surrounding areas. As an example, one of the best parts about Hickory-con is the costumed Mall Crawl that almost always happens.

How was Marion-con2's location? ...Not favorable.

I will give them the fact that they had a hard time with locations this time around. They had to keep moving due to unforeseen circumstances and it just wasn't easy to work with. They ended up being in a highschool, which reminds a lot of people of their acne-filled days of homework and flip-phones. So no, it wasn't a heart warming location and it wasn't very pretty. There was plenty of seating though so that was nice.

     Top 3 vendors!
First, "Itty Bitty Beasts" Her "artwork and offbeat toys" were simply adorable and fairly unique. What really sold me on her vending abilities was her willingness to stop and chat with us.

Second, "DeZoo Arts" Now, I would link this but after checking out his websites I noticed that nothing has been updated this year and I didn't feel comfortable using deadlinks. He was very dedicated while working on his art at the show and had some fairly decent pieces on his table. You know it has to be alright when I take time to notice an artist.

Finally, "Max Dowdle; Artagem" He won the "most aesthetically pleasing business card" award. I love the unique design that feels like it crawled out of a story book. After viewing his website I am even more intrigued.

Please check out these vendors!

      Quick overview of my experience at the con:

Overslept due to exhaustion, managed to wake up and get in costume, picked up cousin and got to the con about an hour late. Much to my surprise we still got one of the grab bags which suggests that we were one of the first 100 people through the door.  Walked around the vendors table to get a good look at availability and prices then introduced ourselves to some of the vendors, picked my favorites and went to film some videos. After the con we went to McDonalds where the people were less than pleased to see costumed maniacs enjoying their food. Ah, the smell of judgment in the morning -_-

      Highlight of this convention? It was my little cousins first and he had a blast. He has been asking me ever since about when we can go back. In the end, all that really matters is that people had a good time and he clearly did.

Marion-con 2 was a successful con for the most part. That being said, they have released the fact that they will be sticking to a 1 con a year schedule and I can't blame them. I respect and support their choice and cannot wait for the next Marion-con.

Idea's for improvement: You guys got this, the only thing I could suggest is maybe add some music. It was awfully quiet in the high school.

~Aki Ame Okami

So You Live With A Cosplayer

                           So You Live With A Cosplayer


Living with a cosplayer isn't easy. You see all kinds of crazy things that might disturb you or scar you for life, literally..

 


Credit to Cosplay.com where I found it.

When you want to know what happened to that one really expensive pan you bought when you moved out and your Cosplayer roommate assures you that the pan is in a better place.
The trash can, or secretly in their closet.  


                       I am why we can't have nice things :/

How about when you bring home your date just to find out about your roomies monthly cosplay poker night? She could be into it....

Made this just for this post :P I admit that there is a flaw just to annoy people.

How about when they actually need help with a project? I cannot tell you how many times I have made my roomies pin me, hold something I was gluing/sewing, or wear something so I could make sure it was right. At least I have never needed help with a duct tape body.... yet. I want to make these and put them in trash bags and leave them in random places.

credit to deviantart and its timed out links.








 

Credit to the cosplayer

How about when your roommate wants to know if you are willing to cosplay a human puppet to go with their Sasori?
(Character: Sasori Anime: Naruto Shippuden)

Credit to the Cosplay

Those times when you get in a fight and call your cosplay roomie Satan.
Then they get a great idea and cosplay Satan, or Hades....
Then follow you around walmart saying
"He summoned me and can't put me back!" or "Yeah, the good influence was sick today so we are gonna go scare the children." To a total stranger...  

Credit to the cosplayer

When you have to pick your roomie up from the police station because they got a little carried away while they were in character....
A Slender Man hanging around the park enticing little children is definitely going to attract police officers....








Don't get me started on having to share a bathroom with a cosplayer. In my case I keep all of my personal stuff in my room and use a mirror in there. One of my roomies has the nick-name "The bathroom Nazi" because they are super possessive over the contents of the bathroom and everything has to remain in its designated locations etc... I just withdrew my belongings and retreated to my quarters. Except when I am doing cosplay makeup. Then I want the best lighting while I am applying it, just to be sure I don't screw it up.



I not-so-proudly admit that this has happened to me. They were concerned about the fridge door being left open......
Gotta love them, because murder is illegal.



This is a recreation of that convo. Mine was more recent....




You have to remember that, while you certainly have struggles living with them, the fact that they do this with you or in front of you means that they like and trust you.  Don't make them regret that ;)

Treat your cosplay roomies right and you will get the honor of being friends with some of the most amazing people out there.
Just remember that you will survive the insanity!!!!!
(Probably)

 

 

 

 

I am off to resume my prop making projects. Hope you enjoyed the read!

 

~Aki Ame Okami

 

Glamour Shots From Marion-Con Spring 2016

 

                 Marion-Con Spring 2016!

 

 

I promised to upload the pictures so here you go!

I hope you enjoy them!
Kiba Inuzuka: Aki Ame Okami 

Hinata Hyuuga: Heiwa Kibo Hane

Itachi Uchiha: Mrs. Zexania Sutcliff

(I love Mrs. Zexania's Grell Sutcliff cosplay. I seriously want to do a Black Butler team cosplay with her one day soon! )

Most of the outdoor pictures were taking facing the flipping sun so I admit that I am squinting for most of them. Sowwy :(

 

Stopped to freshen up and Heiwa FOLLOWED ME into the bathroom, She was staying in character and doing the Hinata Stalker thing. It was all fun and games until she started taken stall shots........ She still has them.

Those dreadful nails were glued on during the car ride to Marion-con. I had to rip them off with pliers later because I had an anniversary dinner to go to -_-




Hope you enjoyed!
~Aki Ame Okami

Hickory-Con Spring 2016: A Review and Surprise by Aki Ame Okami

                  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

Marion-Con 2016: Debute!

Hello again! Heiwa and I were at it again as we hit the con front bright and early this morning! Today a neighboring town debuted their first comic-con. To be honest the last small town con I went to (Morganton-Con) had a weird industrial feel to it. What does that mean you ask? Well I felt like if you weren't in line to buy something then they didn't really want you there. I also noticed that some vendors I had previously admired had considerably raised their prices for some unknown reason...
I was a little nervous as we started the hour long drive (one way) to Marion.
What if I had lost my passion for conventions? Surely that wasn't possible after just one bad experience..... Right?
That's what I was thinking on the way over.
Marion-Con instantly revived my passion. 

We weren't even out of the car and could tell that we weren't going to get a swag bag. ( Marion-Con gave out EPIC swag bags to the first 100 people in the door, we got there before the con even got started and we still missed them.)

 

The line was actually really fun. I know that sounds weird. Seriously though, every one was laid back and just having a nice chat. At one point the ROTC class ran by and someone shouted "There goes the G. I. Joe cosplayers!" It was great. The only that would have made it better is if there was music to rock out to while waiting in line.

 I took this picture while Heiwa was paying for us to get in. The first room was packed in pretty tight. (Did I mention Marion-Con rented BOTH floors?!)

 

...............Over priced plushies that can steal your heart because they are adorable or...

Sorry that its blurry, I actually stepped on some ones foot while trying to take this picture. Sorry random person!

Over priced plushies that can steal your soul :p

 

Now keep in mind that when I say "over priced" its not actually an unfair price. Anime/manga merchandise is hard to come by in person (not online) so its actually a decent price. Anime/Manga is just an expensive addiction hobby :)

 

Not just one DeadPool but two. Think about this. TWO DEADPOOL! They didn't ask us to conga-line but they did direct us to an Itachi Uchiha. That makes them saints. Who doesn't need more Itachi in their life? Well, I mean Sasukes parents probably...

 

 

The second room (actually kinda a separate building) seemed a lot bigger than the first but now that I think about it, it probably wasn't that much bigger.

                                   It was still super packed.

On to the Artists!

**Ok, first off I would like to say that there is a reason why I took photos with a visible glare, multiple pictures in the shot or slightly blurry. Artists protection! This way no one feels the need to download the image and sell it as their own creation. The only people with rights to these pictures are the creators. I got permission to take the pictures and write about them. If any vendors are displeased with the pictures or article written about them they can/will be removed at their request.**


First up is,
                                   Dungeon Wears

I don't have any pictures of their booth because the man in charge of it really knew how to work a crowd. There was constantly patrons at the booth. Trust me, check them out ;)
The quote on the back of their card is:

        "Fine Wearable Art For The Average Adventurer"

........................................................

 Wow, Fantastic Baby.

          I was referencing the song: Fantastic Baby

Can we all take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous this is? 

This was done by The Painting Mama's 

They had some pretty fantastic art. It came in a wide variety of sizes and they had something for every fandom.

Heiwa actually had to talk me out of buying a copy of the beautiful beast that is Ghost Rider. I had to save money to take my parents to dinner for their anniversary. They are worth it :)

 

All City Studios

 

This booth was pretty cool. The artist actually made a painting while he was at the con so that was really fun to watch.

We didn't get to watch him finish it though....

Their business cards actually have some really awesome pictures on the back. Being an editor I really admire their business card layout.

 

                                                        
                The Walking Dead fandom has the right  to fangirl.

               They had everything from TWD to Star Wars.
                           Zombies and Jedi's am I right?

 

 

"Why do you look like someone died?"

"Wait."

~The Addams Family

Correct me if I'm wrong but is that a set of grumpy CareBears?

Would that make them Don't-CareBears?

 

 

Next we have something that I have been fangirling about for a while. (Not in a creepy way)

 

Spider Spot Shop

 

The first time I saw them I guessed at what the are style was called.

Splatter Art is what I guessed. He is actually "The original Splatter Grunge Artist" so I was pretty close :P

They have incredibly fair prices when it comes to the posters.

This was another booth that I had to be talked out of purchasing something at....

 

 

This is the blurry photo I mentioned earlier. These characters are incredibly popular and I didn't want to risk someone trying to steal the art. That Sebastian X Ciel picture would make the shippers swoon. 

 

 

 

This is one of the best Link pictures that I have ever seen and I have seen A LOT of Link pictures......

 

 

I will add the glamour shots of Heiwa and I later.

Marion-Con was a blast and their debute was fantastic. I certainly hope that they continue to grow and maybe add an event like maybe a gaming contest or cosplay chess or something semi-social.

Thanks for the read! Sorry that this post was so long.

 

 

~Aki Ame Okami