Fanime 2014 Con Report

Fanimaid!Live on Sunday 2014. Photo by Isobel Miraflor.

So after missing FanimeCon 2013 (which might not have been a bad thing actually) because I was studying abroad in England, I finally come back, this time with some interesting surprises. And lots of quick-costume change chaos xD
Fancams and photos to be added over the next couple weeks.

Day Zero:
I carpooled with some friends down to San Jose and on Day Zero I dressed as Ringo and ended up staffing for Registration until night, at which point I went to the Swap Meet and spazzed over some inexpensive Kpop merch xD

Day One(Friday):

Fanimaid 2014 at Opening Ceremonies. And yes that is J Michael Tatum with us.

I think I started out at Ringo Noyamano doing something. However, I signed up as one of the Fanimaids for the Opening Ceremony on Stage Zero. Therefore QUICK-CHANGE into maid, but didn't have time to take off the wig so I ended up being Ringo-Maid. Whats really fun, though, was that when the guests were being announced, J Michael Tatum, the English voice of fricking FRANCE AND SEBASTIAN got a picture with the Fanimaids, once onstage and once backstage. So yea, frickin' amazing! (He was probably happy to be surround by pretty girls). After that, I did a mini photoshoot back in my Ringo cosplay with skates this time. Photos by Tom Hansen and to be uploaded here eventually. There was a Fanimaid meeting, followed by lots of dance practice, and then visited the Swap Meet again.

Day Two: Saturday
Long story short- Fanimaid dance practice. Leave con for college graduation. Doing stuff as Mokona, and fixing up my Grell cosplay and Merry Go Round props. Pretty bummed out that I missed a lot of important stuff. Including Super Nuko World. (Live performance. Cafe performance.)

Day Three: Sunday!
Well at least I was able to stick around for this day! Unfortunately, I did lose my camera in the morning, which meant wasting time and missing out on lots of photo and video ops GDI!
First- I was dressed up as sexy nurse Grell Sutcliff, and I'm finally so so so glad to be part of the Kuroshitsuji gathering at last! The other Grells were awesome, and I think thats part of why I enjoyed cosplaying her/him so much- s/he's such a fun character, pretty easy to roleplay, and portraying her/him pretty much ends up meaning all the Grells play around with each other or Sebast-chan. Not too mention- the most effort I've ever put into makeup (like I actually added red eyebrows, I wanted fang teeth too, but had no time) and weapons- aka a pair of tiny scissors (just kidding). Official Fanime photos of the gathering are here, scattered but most starting from 11850.
However, the gathering was right before my Fanimaid shift which meant... once again... quick-change from nurse Grell to accidental maid Grell!? Yep- just like Ringo, I had barely any time for removing my wig and ended up cosplaying in my maid costume... again. The funny thing, though, is that the usual nurse/maid/whatever fem!Grell is downright sexy, but for the maid cafe, we're supposed to be moe and kawaii and adorable fluffy kittens, so thats like polar opposite, OOC, and kind of fun too.
So, first up: Fanimaid!Live - an hour of performances by the Fanimaids on Stage Zero. I was in SNSD's Paparazzi and Guily†Heart's Merry Go Round.

Then we went straight to my first shift as a Fanimaid. It was interesting and I found being "shy-moe-type" pretty easy and natural to do. Granted, I think I was acting more aegyo (which is the Korean equivalent probably) and kawaii than moe) but who knows the real difference between those. Unfortunately, I mostly had male patrons, and the one party I had that did have a female was more interested in showing off League of Legend imitations with another tablemate. I did think this year was vastly improved from 2011 when I visited the maid cafe then. Although by the end of the evening I was tired and getting embarrassed at my gradually slipping Japanese, I did have a lot of fun, so I hope to do it again next year. As well as learning how to keep the moe/kawaii/aegyo consistent. I also discovered a lot of Kpop fans amongst the Fanimaids.

Then I pooped out and went to get some cocktails in my hotel.

Day Four: Monday

This is what a 3D printing looks like.

Basically the last day.
So yeah, woke up, dressed as fem!Grell again and finally had time to check out the Dealer's Hall and Artist Alley xD Not a bad choice because on the last day, usually there's more discounts anyways. What was really really fun, though, was I got to meet Cheng/Lily Li, aka one of my fave fanartists on DA. Second- there was a 3D printing thing that had free scans. I'll upload the video and a preview pic later, but basically I was dressed as fem!Grell and was scanned. I don't plan on buying the 3D print after its completed, but it was hella cool to do anyways. Then went to registration to finish staff hours and back up to home.

That concluded FanimeCon 2014. I really wish my graduation did not take place during Fanime, as that was my primary regret, and definitely got to do less than I did in previous years (or maybe more actually? Not sure.) But I totes look forward to staffing for next year. Cheers.