A-Cen 2013 AKA Cookie Con

Hey everyone! I'm currently back and safe from A-Cen. Taking a break from unpacking my bags to give you all my traditional Post-Con blog.
Beware Potentially Long Post Ahead!

I drove down to where Liz ( ScribbleYugi ), Abby ( Kaia-of-the-wind ), Jasmine ( blackfireryu ), Kayla ( kmrsworld734 ) (who was in Texas at the time), Dan, and Dana live on Wednesday around noon (forgot my badge other wise I would have been a bit earlier). There I got to meet up with Jackie ( Akumabaka ), as well as Dana's little brother Dean, and we hung out as well as ran a few errands before working on cosplay and crashing.

Thursday- Day 0
In order to beat the traffic we woke up around seven, around that time our friend Dustin, and James (Liz 's boyfriend) showed up to help. There were a few quick runs for a few things like dropping money off at the bank,  pick up a forgotten wig, and grab a bite at the Waffle House before we set off of Rosemont and Chicago.

Now I wouldn't call the drive there super long when compaired to other trips that we've taken in the past (like the 12 hour trip to Dallas and the god-knows-how-long trip to Ikkicon that one year). But we did have a few crazy things happen which made the trip a bit longer then usual (I.E. Triggering the Anti-Theft system on a friend's car... we didn't even know that thing HAD an Anti-Theft System!), as well as had to put up with some crazy drivers (people were driving on the shoulders of the on-ramps! ... What?!) we made it to the hotel in pretty good timing.

I joined Abby, Jasmine, Jackie, and Dustin for a Mitsuwa dinner (Liz and James met up with a few of James' friends, and Dan, Dana, and Dean decided to take a rest). To which I had some yummy ramen that ruins all instant ramen for me (soo worth waiting once a year, trust me!). Before going to the room to have a few drinks (hey hey hey! we're all over 21 and didn't plan on going anywhere thank you! ), and to watch "Attack on Titan". Malinda ( Malindachan ) and Kyle ( exshadow ) came over for a little while, and a bit after Kayla made it to the hotel we found ourselves crashing.

Friday- Day 1
After waking up around nine or ten in our room (we had two rooms, both on the same floor this time!) and having some breakfast we all changed into our first cosplays of the day for most everyone besides myself, James, :Jackie, and Dean this meant Magi cosplays. For me I pulled on my Fem!Cas cosplay and we started to trek towards the dealers room. Just outside of it we met up with Malinda and Kyle who had the day off from Arda to hangout.  I decided to join Jackie in the autograph line for awhile before wondering around Artist Alley and the Dealers room itself.
I went a head and bought a cute bottle cap necklace and as well as a silver Luthien from the Arda book for my future Daenerys Targaryen Cosplay (finally got more references for Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion! ^^). Before Jackie and I went back to the room to meet up with Jasmine and Abby. There I changed into Belle & grabbed my copy of "The Hobbit" (Belle's a bookworm plus I don't have any Jules Verne), and went to the dealer's room once more. There I was recognized by another Belle who was super sweet and wanted a picture before we exchanged tumblr accounts.
I was also recognized by a few other people before we finally made our way to the Magi shoot. There we snapped a few pictures and I got to meet up with TheFlyingGrayson and Savvyxoxo who were so very adorable in their Doctor and Claire cosplays respectively. The photo shoot ended up moving inside and as the light was so very blah and I didn't want to risk an annoying flash I visited with them catching up before we ended up splitting up for a little Magi/Belle Photo shoot.

After thus we grabbed some dinner at Chili's, dealth with some crazy parking issues (apperently there was a prom taking place nearby thus all the parking spots were full... >.<), as well as a lost phone scare, so we vegged out in our rooms before hitting the hay.

Saturday- Day 2
After waking up around ten I pulled on Zuko as well as did my makeup (I used a tissue paper and glue tutorial from Instructables since I'm madly allergic to latex so I wanted to be ready for the Avatar: The Last Airbender shoot),  meanwhile Jasmine and Kayla pulled on their Sugar Rush cosplays, Abby pulled on her awesome Elderly Impa cosplay from Skyward Sword (I still jawdrop when I see it!), and Jackie pulled on her adorable Celebi cosplay.
Right after that we made our way to the Legend of Zelda shoot. I have to say I was pretty disappointing in how the photo shoot was run as it seemed like they called all the Link's up four or five times to do the same pose and all the side characters (including Zelda) were largely ignored. Plus it was pretty hot by that time.
So we hung out in the shade, watched a little private Sailor Moon shoot (I want to do Sailor Mars so badly now!!), before running into TheFlyingGrayson , Savvyxoxo , and Inspiral (whom I hadn't seen since last A-Cen!) and chatting about quite a few things before I had to boogie to the Avatar shoot with Dustin, and Kayla
I have to say if I thought the Legend of Zelda shoot was a hot mess it was nothing compared to the Avatar one. The area was waaay too cramped, plus there were a few cosplayers who were just being pushy and competitive. I did get to meet up with an awesome Adult!Toph  and Eleksin  as A:TLA!Toph (I got to talk with her a little at the Magi shoot on Friday but just in passing). We hung out a little as well as took a few pictures of their "Life Changing Field Trip... Uh Not really"  (speaking of, please holler when you post those Eleksin ! ^^) before I had to go to get my make up (which I was sweating out off) off. There I changed into Fem!Cas and after wondering around the dealers room (and buying a custom made Castiel plushie!) with Kayla, Jackie, and eventually Dustin, Jasmine, Abby, Dan, Dana, our new friend Diana whom we made at the Magi shoot for the Masquerade line of the line...
Now I've stood in some crazy lines before, don't get me wrong, but A-Cen's line took the cake and ate it in one gulp. I mean this freaking line went AROUND the hotel and into the parking lot! I do have to admit that it was actually really fun, despite the fact it was a bit nerve wracking as we wanted to see Liz maker her Starscream walk on. But on the plus side we got to see Jackie as she had left for the autograph line sometime while we were in the dealers room (I think) and I got to sit with her when we were seated (In fact one of my favorite con experiences was after we were sitting in our seats a staff member noticed my Castiel cosplay and asked me if I was God. To which I responded just as Cas did when Dean asked him the same thing. ).
I have to say, compared to other masquerades, I loved the lights and the theatrics of Acen's Masquerade the most (last year was canceled so I didn't go), I mean spotlights, mood lights, AND a halftime show? Pretty cool! Plus our announcers (Loki and Loki ) were alright. However the sound was pretty bad so it was hard to hear, especially during the awards ceremonies. I also got a little annoyed as someone who competed in BOTH the hall cosplay contest AND the walk on contest won an award (sorry, I didn't find it fair at all), but other then that I rather enjoyed Acen's Masquerade. I also really love the "Non-Anime" Category and hope to compete in it myself next year.
After the Masquerade we headed to our rooms, changed into something a bit more comfortable and went to the Hyatt's bar to hang out with Diana, Kali (whom we were riding home with the next day), Heather, Malinda, and Kyle. After a little bit of playing around we made our way to the rooms, ordered a pizza and bread sticks, watched some "Young Witch's Academia"  and crashed.

Sunday-Day 3
After waking up and grabbing some cold pizza and bread sticks for breakfast we packed our stuff into the car. Tried to figure out a few issues that our hotel with having (apparently their system went ka-put and they were trying to help check people out), and after a last run around the dealers room we went over to Mitsuwa for one last meal before setting off.

Liz and I had planned on heading back that day but after hearing about a few storms as well as how late our ETA was going to be... yeah we decided to run up today.

And thus we come full circle eh?

The Verdict
I have to say although it was a bit stressful, and a bit annoying at times, Acen was- and still is- pretty damn awesome. I made quite a few friends there and I really enjoyed myself. I wasn't able to hit up any panels but I do plan on doing so if I can next year.

I also hope to possibly compete, maybe maybe maybe, but I've got a year until then.

My only issues were, of course, badly organized photoshoots and locations, the lack of communication between the Masquerade Judges and the Hall Cosplay Judges, as well as the Sound System for the Masquerade.

Save for a few pushy people, I had a lot of fun. I got to talk to a few amazing artists. Met up with a few fans of Once Upon a Time, Avatar:The Last Airbender, and Supernatural fans (we all freaked out about this season finale together because... well if you saw it and understood the context you'd do the same as well), as well as got introduced to a few fun fandoms that I plan on diving into headfirst.

I certainly do plan on hitting Acen Up next year as It's too much fun for me to miss.  

</End Con Post>

Also with Acen done this does bring me back to something I planned on doing since March. That may dear friends is my Retired Cosplay Sale! I plan on selling a few wigs, and cosplay items that I don't wear/ plan on re-making if I ever revisit.  I've also got some Anime Merch I'm also considering selling. I plan on posting the Items and Prices here as well as my Facebook Page ( Here!) and my Tumblr Page ( Here!). I'll be selling them on a first come first served basis so please be sure to tell me ASAP if you want to buy something from me kay?

Well I better go, I have a few anime's to watch as well as games to play, a room to clean, things to price, and Con V-Log's to make. I will either post updates on videos on You Tube, Facebook, and Tumblr so keep an eye out for them! And I'll see ya around with pictures! ^^

Later and DFTBA!