Since almost half of the month was me on vacation, September wasn't too bad. Thankfully the workload wasn't so bad either, though it is starting to get busy again. I'm a bit surprised with all the hangouts I did this month, and many of them were after my vacation. How did that happen?! Hahaha. I feel the rest of the year will be more shut-in months as I try to finish as many outstanding New Year's resolutions as possible.
Outings/Events in September:
- Hung out with friends overall x7. - Had a dentist appointment. *sniffle* ;____; - Attended Fan Expo Canada. - Celebrated a friend's birthday. - Watched one movie for TIFF. - Finished up the two week vacation that I mentioned in my last recap blog. - Said good-bye to another co-worker *sniffle* ;_________; - Played on the Switch for the first time. - Had a game day with my sister, her hubby, and a friend. - Stayed over at my sister's place x1. - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn achievements / news: -My sub expired. I'll likely re-sub for the Halloween event.
- Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius achievements / news: -My rank is currently 166 (yay I can leave the game alone for 14 hours 25 mins) -I got 2 Hyohs, 1 Olive, and 1 Awakened Rain for the 25k step-up summon, yayyy! -I ran through the equipment enhancement event with Elza's spear many many times, but was unsuccessful in getting the best enhancements u__u -I'm still waiting for the Valkyrie Profile banner... and the Nier banner (please please please come!).
Exposures:
- (Card Game): 1000 Blank White Cards (aka 1KBWC) -- This is a card game where everybody playing can create their own cards. The general objective is to have the most points at the end of the game -- but the real goal is to have fun! I saw it for the first time on StephenPlays. Here is a video about how to play it. - (Restaurant): Ramen Misoya -- This has delicious ramen! - (Nerd Store [and I say "nerd" with the utmost affection, since I am one myself!]): Meeple Mart -- This is a store that has tons of nerd stuffs: anime figures, gundam, board games, card games, lots of materials for tabletop gaming... and more. When I went there with my sister and friend for the first time, we ended up spending about 3 hours just looking at all the stuff. It was really cool!!
Finished...
Watching:
- (Movie): A Simple Favor -- This was more funnier than I had anticipated. Some parts were predictable while other parts not so much. Overall an interesting watch. - (Movie): Nekrotronic -- I watched this for TIFF. This was a crazy movie with lots of pop culture references. This was good. - (Anime): Chobits -- No matter how I look at this -- it is a show for guys. There were some cute moments, but not enough for me to really care about the 2 main characters. I actually liked many of the secondary characters more.
Playing:
- Nothing this month.
Reading:
- Nothing this month.
Currently...
Playing (not all at once):
- (PS4): Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below - (PS4): iDOLM@STER: Platinum Stars - (PS4): Fez - (PS4): Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls - (PS4): Nights of Azure - (PS3): Borderlands 2 - (PS2): Drakengard - (PS2): Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm - (Xbox 360): Magna Carta II - (3DS): Story of Seasons - (3DS): Culdcept Revolt - (3DS): Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker - (GBA): The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition - (PSP): Persona - (Wii): Fortune Street - (PC): UnEpic - (PC): King's Bounty: The Legend - (PC): Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry)
Watching:
- (TV Show): The Walking Dead (Season 7) - (TV Show): Orphan Black (Season 3) - (TV Show): Criminal Minds (Season 12 - Episode 22) - (TV Show): Six Feet Under (Season 1 - Episode 3) - (TV Show): X-Files (Season 11) - (TV Show): The Strain (Season 2) - (TV Show): Galavant (Season 1 - Episode 5) - (Anime): Log Horizon (episode 3) - (Anime): Attack on Titan: Season 2 (episode 8)
Reading:
- (Comic): Bodie Troll by Jay Fosgitt
That's it for September. Here are a few pics I took this month, plus a YouTube video.
What I had at Ramen Misoya. This was curry ramen. Sooooooo yummy! Though way too much food for me, hahaha.
Me, my sister, her hubby, and a friend playing 1000 Blank White Cards. It's a really fun game!
One of the funnier and creative cards from 1000 Blank White Cards.
Honest Trailers YouTube video for Predator (original movie).
There are spoilers so don't watch unless you've watched the original Predator.
It's so funny.
Thanks for reading! As usual, if you have any questions / comments about anything, feel free. :) Have a good rest of the weekend and until next time! :3
So these were thoughts I had last week, but was still thinking about this week.
Telltale Games Studio Closure
This news was really surprising and saddening. I kinda thought they would always be around. I mean the first season of The Walking Dead game was so good -- and they were releasing more and more games based on popular titles (Batman, Borderlands, Game of Thrones, to name a few)... I thought things were going well for them. About the mass layoff of Telltale Games' employees without severance and the class action lawsuit from former employees against them for not giving enough advance notice (if this happened to me I would probably try doing the same) -- wow. Just wow. Being laid off without severance is horrible and in my mind, terribly unjust. Being laid off without proper advance notice is really bad, too. If the employees really did get laid off without proper advance notice, then I hope they win this lawsuit. All in all, this whole thing saddens me -- game-wise in that we won't get any more Telltale games, and work place-wise upon getting a bit of an idea of the work environment (if laying off employees without severance and without proper advance notice is saying something). *Tips hat* You will be remembered.
StephenPlays/StephenVlog and Hurricane Florence
I think Hurricane Florence has already passed by now... but I still want to talk about this. I mentioned briefly in my last end-of-month blog that I started following this Youtuber named StephenPlays (he mainly does Let's Play videos [sometimes with his wife Mal], but also sometimes does other gaming type videos with his friends -- it's great and funny, you should totally check it out! <3). Well, Stephen also has a vlog channel, which I barely paid any attention to until a couple weeks ago when I saw one of his videos titled "We Are Evacuating . 9.12.18". All of a sudden I thought, 'That's a recent date. *brief moment of silence* What?! You're evacuating?! Why??!'. I clicked on the video and found out that Stephen and Mal, their cats, and Stephen's mom and dad were evacuating because of Hurricane Florence. In general I don't think too much about hurricanes nor any natural disasters and about how bad they can be. I think it's because I've been kinda "lucky" (if you would call it lucky) to not know anybody personally so far who had been affected by one. While watching Stephen's video, about him talking about their decision to evacuate and the mindset their decision puts them in, I think it really helped put some things into perspective or it helped to get a better understanding of what somebody could go through when faced with an oncoming hurricane. If I ever had to evacuate with the thought that there might not be a home to go back to, what would I take with me? Over the next few days I checked Stephen's vlog channel for any new videos or updates since their evacuation. I even checked Stephen's Twitter page -- and I don't exactly use Twitter! Haha, I was very concerned for Stephen and Mal's well-being, as well as their friends. I was very glad and relieved when Stephen and Mal went back home days later and their home was still in-tact. Hugs to everybody who has been affected by Hurricane Florence in any way... and any other natural disaster. (>'w')> That's it for this blog. Thank you for reading! :) As always, if you have any questions or comments about anything, feel free. Until tomorrow, when I post up my recap blog for September, haha :3
So... I'm using the word "exhume" incorrectly in my title. I just like how R from the movie Warm Bodies used it incorrectly so I'm doing the same (yes, even after so many years I still think back fondly to that movie every now and then <3). Anyway, I'm writing because I want to try getting back to blogging weekly. I've been wanting to for so long now, but when I think of all the time I tend to dedicate to an entry (roughly 6-8 hours depending on length and content -- the Fan Expo blog took almost 2 days -- this doesn't count the end-of-month blogs which don't take as long)... and when I think about how much free time I have for myself and what I want to do during my free time... I tend to opt for doing other things. But -- I don't want to give this up. I enjoy writing and really like reading back on my past entries (one of my favourite entries is still my review on Battle Royale-- I am so proud of my writing there). Soo... here is my compromise with myself: I will try blogging every weekend (either Saturday or Sunday, though more likely Sunday) but my entries will be shorter. And they might be more about my thoughts on various things / happenings during the week if I'm not blogging about something specific. My reviews and Japan blogs and Fan Expo blogs can still be lengthy -- but I guess we'll see. I might change up the format. And my end-of-month blogs will still happen. I want to get back into the routine (it was probably the only routine thing I had kept going years ago -- I can get into that another time) -- but I don't think I can dedicate 6-8+ hours a week to it. At least not with my current situations. That's it for this entry. Thanks for reading! If you have any thoughts or comments, feel free! :) Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and till the the next time!
So Fan Expo this year... there were a couple things I noticed right away. 1. The most up-to-date schedule is now in app form. This kinda bothered me. What about attendees who don't own a smartphone? I'm not sure how often the schedule on the website was updated, but even then attendees wouldn't have internet access all the time to check and make sure all the panels they planned to attend were happening at the right rooms at the right times. The schedule wasn't even printed in the program booklet for Fan Expo; the schedule was printed on a separate sheet (one sheet per day) and was only available to pick up from special booths that didn't advertise they had printed schedules. Like... what the heck?? 2. As I looked through the schedule, I noticed that there was almost nothing for the horror side of Fan Expo. No panels about embalming or taxidermy or anything discussing horror-centric topics with panelists. Just some Q&As with celebrities, LARPing sessions, a screening of Charmed, and some cosplay meetups. Does this mean anything? o_o!! Aside from those two things, overall Fan Expo was still enjoyable. I'll be sure to give these feedback whenever the post-convention survey gets sent to me. This year, there was one autograph I just had to get: Cary Elwes! Ahhh, sweet Westley. There were other autographs I was considering as well: Michael J. Fox and Lucy Lawless. I liked Michael J. Fox in Scrubs, but his autograph cost was reallly high. After hearing that he donates pretty much everything away, I was still considering it... but in the end couldn't go through with it. Mainly because I knew how long the line-up would be just for him. For Lucy Lawless it was just going to be a gamble on if I was there as she was signing.
Just like in previous years, Fan Expo was split between the North and South building. My legs probably got toned, having to trek back and forth between buildings so many times throughout the convention. Just to warn you (as I always do): this blog will be quite long. I'll be covering each day of Fan Expo Canada -- what I did, what panels I attended, and any thoughts. That's four days' worth of blogging. I've lumped all my pics of cosplayers into one section. If you want to see just that, search for "Photos of Cosplayers". For the section of what I've bought, search for "My Convention Purchases". :)
The Little Details
Dates of Fan Expo Canada: August 30th - September 2nd, 2018 Location: Metro Convention Centre (Toronto, Ontario) Ticket Price Total: $179.00 (Premium admission; Deluxe 4-day admission was $125)
Thursday Time Attended: 1:15 PM - 6:45 PM
So... I think I actually got in a little too early. When I showed my Premium badge to the staff at the priority access entrance and asked if I could go in, they looked at each other hesitantly, but said okay. The first thing I did was line up at the Special Ticket booth (not that there was much I could do -- the dealer's room didn't open until 2 PM for VIP and Premium attendees). I needed to pick up my ticket for the "Maid Cafe Experience" that was happening on Saturday. Behind me were a few VIP attendees who talked about their experience at Fan Expo last year. One was disgruntled, saying they were out of T-shirts when he tried to pick one up last year. Then when he was contacted months later about participating in a focus group regarding things he'd like to see at Fan Expo, he said that he would like his T-shirt. I really feel for him, especially when thinking of how much he spent on VIP admission. After picking up my special ticket, I made my way to the South building to first pick up my Premium swag (you know -- to make sure I got my T-shirt), and then got into the long, long line into the dealer's room. I didn't need to get into the dealer's room right away -- like what I sensed from many attendees in this line. But with the long wait until my one panel for the day (at 5:30 PM), I figured it'd be a good chance to check things out. I didn't want to miss out on anything at the dealer's room like what happened to me last year. When I was finally inside the dealer's room, I worked up a plan: I'll start at the corner farthest away from the artist alley and snake my way through -- that way, when I end up in the artist alley, I can buy whatever I feel like buying and then just lug the stuff to the panel instead of all around the dealer's room. This was a much better plan than I had anticipated because the first thing I hit was the Nintendo booth (note to future self -- first priority in the dealer's room: the gaming booths!). They had demos of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate available to play and I was able to try it out! I played two rounds with another attendee. I first played as Inkling and then as Bayonetta. It was my first time playing on a Switch and it was quite nice. I lost with Inkling but "smooshed" the attendee with Bayonetta and her strong legs. There were booths for PS4 and Xbox One as well, but for the PS4 booth, I had to download an app to reserve a timeslot to play their games... and for Xbox One, I was told if I played... I think six of the nine games they had available, I would get some kind of prize. When I was told that, all that went through my head was 'that'd be a lot of lining up...' Other notable places in the dealer's room were the Dragon Ball Tour, and... the OLG booth (Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation)! Yes, they were there promoting their "Hit or Miss!" game, giving out vouchers for one paid ticket for "Hit or Miss!". They were also selling scratch cards, but I'm guessing you could have also bought tickets for their other games. They seemed pretty good about selling tickets / redeeming vouchers to only those within legal "gambling age" in Canada. When I reached the artist alley, I pretty much did as much shopping as I could, to reduce the amount of stuffs I'd have to carry throughout the convention days. When I reached Jay Fosgitt's table, I asked for a commission of myself -- the same thing I asked for last year. He seemed kinda tired and also a bit pre-occupied, so I didn't talk as much as I did last time. I hope things are okay. Then I went to the panel room and waited. About 30 minutes before the panel started, one of the staff people entered the room with a bunch of volunteers and told me and another attendee who was also in the room that he'd be giving some training to the volunteers. So I got to hear some training on how to manage a room. Who knows -- it might come in handy one day.
Is it Time to Sell Your Collectibles? -- 5:30 PM
So this panel didn't get into anything like "keep your eye on when things in your possession are selling for a high price and then sell!" -- unless you have items in your collection for the sole purpose of selling for a profit. This took a more... down-to-earth and realistic approach, and encouraged collectors to review their collection every few years and decide if things are fine as is -- or if it would be time to reduce the collection (i.e. there is too much stuff and it is becoming a detriment to your daily lifestyle).
A few thoughts this panel addressed:
-How much money do you want to have left over when you die?
-You can't spend a collectible [encouraging you to turn your collectible into money so it can be spent].
-Unless your family / significant other enjoys your collection as well and would want it, do NOT leave your collection to others to dispose of / sell for you -- it would be an extra burden on top of whatever would normally be processed after passing away.
This panel also went over some Canadian taxing notions, but I only remembered these two points. If I list any misinformation ('cuz I didn't hear it 100% properly), I'm sorry!
1. When selling your collectibles, if you make one sale / transaction of multiple items totalling over $1000, you will end up paying tax for it (assuming that taxes are filed honestly). Due to this, it is often recommended to set up items for sale individually (e.g. one listing per item on eBay). That way, even if somebody ends up buying multiple items that could total over $1000, the sale would be perceived as multiple sales and if each sale is under $1000, no tax would need to be paid on it.
2. When you pass on, your executor will file your final tax return. If anything of your collection was left and it needs to be sold, whatever value the collection was sold at (even though they could be multiple transactions) can only be listed once, so taxes would need to be paid on that gain.
Overall, this panel was quite interesting -- and very real. I'm going to have to sit down one day and look at my collection... I know I have a lot... and I know some of it will have to go in the end. I mean -- if I can't prance about freely in my room, I definitely have too much stuff!
Misc. Photos for Thursday
My premium admission swag. The Nintendo booth. Everybody is there to try out Super Smash Bros. Ultimate! A poster I got for trying out Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
King Dedede's hammer. It looks just like the real thing!
Shenlong floating above the Dragon Ball Tour area. He was massive!!
I haven't watched Dragon Ball Super yet... but I'm guessing this is Goku? The history of Dragon Ball.
The tournament stage. I could have posed up there... but didn't, haha. Some of these foods look delicious!
If I tried to stand on the flying nimbus, do you think I would fall through? Uhh.... please don't answer that, hahaha. All the loot I got from the Dragon Ball Tour area.
The OLG booth promoting "Hit or Miss!". They also had a nerf gun game where you would try to hit 12 numbers. I tried it but was very bad at it.
My prize from the nerf gun game (a portable hanger thing) and one of the vouchers they gave away. When I redeemed it, it wasn't a winner, hahaha.
Justin Currie, the artist for Chasing Artwork. I've been buying his stuff for I think the past three years.
Friday Time Attended: 10:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Today, I did something a little brave: I didn't bring any large bags to Fan Expo. I was betting that I wasn't going to buy anything more from the artist alley except for maybe small items. It was also my way of discouraging myself from buying more things.
Why Do We Collect? -- 11:00 AM
So for this panel, I was kinda hoping for a psychological / philosophical discussion on why people collect the things they do, but instead much of it was discussing the actual definition of a "collector". To some of the panelists, a "collector" was somebody who obsessed themselves and learned all the terminology needed to seek and acquire at least one item -- not necessarily needing to acquire the full set. To another, a "collector" was somebody who would collect everything in a set -- with a "had to have" / completionist drive. Another panelist was adamant he was not a "collector", because often he would be very fluid with his collection, being open to giving his stuff away if somebody else wanted it more. There were a couple interesting stories, but to me, aside from saying we collect because it makes us happy (which I could probably debate against for a collector with a completionist drive), the panel was a bit of a let down because it didn't really go into depth on why we collect.
After the panel, I trekked to the North building to see if Cary Elwes was signing. Before I reached the Autograph area, though, the Maidreamin booth caught my attention. I think they noticed this, too, 'cuz one booth person came up to me, said hello, handed me a flyer, and invited me to look around the booth. The Maidreamin maids were also there and they were waving brightly and saying things in Japanese. This is when I wished I knew more Japanese! I kinda wanted to ask how their flight was to Toronto, if they tried out the poutine, and how their time was at the convention so far, and other things, hahaha. I ended up buying a polaroid picture with the three girls. After the picture was taken, each of them greeted me and asked for my name. Then one of them said [in as best English as she could speak] that each of them came from Maidreamin of different regions -- that she came from Akihabara, another came from Shinjuku, and another came from... an area known for ramen. When I had to go, they waved cheerfully and said "mata ne!" (pretty much translates to "see you!"). I waved back and said "mata ne!", knowing I would see them again in an upcoming panel.
Flyers and the photo from the Maidreamin booth. The wristband
was from the Maidreamin panel I attended later this day.
Close-up of the photo. The booth's translator asked what pose I would like
the maids to do, and I said "cat". I think this pic is blurry enough that I don't have to
grey block my face, hahaha. I'm also wearing my fake glasses.
I reached the autograph area for Cary Elwes around 12:30 PM. I felt like I lucked out. My next panel wasn't until 3:00 PM so I felt there would definitely be enough time for me to get Cary's autograph and then have sufficient time to line up for the next panel. I took a quick look at the table for Cary, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, but then noticed something strange: the autograph line in front led past the table and to somewhere behind the autograph table! A few of the attendees in front of me commented on the line, saying that Cary prefers that kind of privacy with his fans. I can really appreciate it. Those few minutes you have while he signs your stuff becomes more... "exclusive" in a way. Those few minutes are minutes that you do have with him, and not just minutes that he spends signing and everybody's behind you, just waiting for their stuff to get signed. I was initially going to get just his autograph, but when they mentioned a pricing involving his book "As You Wish" and a selfie, I went for that instead and requested a personalized message. When I reached the front of the line, only a few were allowed inside his signing area at a time. His signing area had curtains on all sides to allow a more private atmosphere. I had a brief chat about smartphones with the helper who would take the selfie while the attendee in front of me got his thing signed and had his few minutes. When I saw the attendee and Cary shake hands from the corner of my eye, I took a deep breath. 'Omg it's my turn and Cary is looking at me!!' To the best of my recollection, here were my few minutes with Cary: Cary with a smile: Hello. Me: Hello! Cary with a smile: What's your name? Me: Rose... as you would find out soon from my message. Cary opened the "As You Wish" book and saw my requested personalized message ("To my beautiful Rose"). Cary with a smile: Ahh, clever! Cary started writing while I quietly made observations. I noticed he was chewing something (I noticed this also when getting Gillian Anderson's autograph at Fan Expo years ago). Me: What are you eating? Cary, in concentration: Some gum. Me: What brand is it? Cary, in concentration: Something I got from Starbucks. I'll show you in a minute..." Then all of a sudden, the last attendee who got his thing signed burst from the side curtain and asked if he could exchange his autographed photo for another photo on the table, not realizing the photo he picked was an action figure of Cary and not of the real Cary. Cary said sure, taking the attendee's old autographed photo, and told me to hold on for a minute. While Cary signed the newly picked photo, I took this chance to quietly make more observations. I noticed Cary was wearing a black leather biker-looking jacket -- then a grey T-shirt with the words "The Police" on it. Then my mind went racing with thoughts. Ohh... is that a T-shirt for the rock band? Does he like rock music? Is he actually... a "punk" in real life? Man, I must be boring him, asking him what gum he is eating...! >__< When Cary finished signing the photo, the attendee thanked him, apologized to me, and burst out. Then Cary went back to signing the book, apologizing to me as well. When he finished signing the book, he got up to stand for the selfie. I stood some distance away and smiled, not wanting to invade his space. I was happy just to have a picture with him. After some seconds, though, Cary's hand went on my arm and gently pulled me to him, saying something like "Let's get closer." I was very giddy! We had a few more verbal exchanges after that (more boring stuff about his Starbucks gum), but I'll keep that for myself, hahaha. The line-up for his autograph took about an hour. It was well worth the wait! xD
The line leading to the mysterious unknown where Cary Elwes sat.
The pricing for Cary Elwes. I ended up getting the $100 combo which was
the signed hardcover book + selfie. I figured it was the most worth it and
I would finally have myself a copy of "As You Wish".
Cary's autograph! I requested a personalized message which was supposed to be
"To my beautiful Rose". I'll assume he wanted to stay faithful
to his wife even when writing personalized messages, which I find to be sweet. x3
Uhhh... I'm sure I've divulged my real name in a past blog!!
My selfie with Cary Elwes with my face blocked out.
I don't know why -- maybe it was the angle of the shot or the lighting --
but Cary's smile looks a bit menacing, hahaha.
Meet Maidreamin: Maid Cafes in Japan -- 3:00 PM
When everybody was first let in, one of the Maidreamin maids were handing out wristbands. When she handed it to me, she recognized me and waved brightly. This panel talked a bit about Maidreamin and a bit about the Japanese culture in Akihabara. About Maidreamin, every year they do some kind of competition to determine the top maids. The ones at Fan Expo were the top 3. For Japanese culture in Akihabara, they talked about ramen, tonkatsu, takoyaki, gacha, and some other things. Overall, this panel was really cute!
I just wanted to note that while waiting for the next panel, the lineup for the panel next door was massive ("Superstar Voice Actor Jim Cummings"). It wasn't until maybe 4:45 PM that another person lined up behind me. This sparked a thought about strategizing my line up "tactics" (more on that in my "Overall Thoughts" section).
This was an interesting panel. It started off with each panelist telling their story of how they began doing indie comics. Then it went to the difference between doing indie work and working with a major publisher on an existing series. Then to audience questions and somehow ending up with playful banter between two of the panelists regarding... a private cam... hahaha... My friend Brent Chittenden was moderating the panel. Just to plug Brent a little, he is also a co-host for podcast True North Nerds. A few things I took away from this panel: 1. When working on your own original work, there is less interference from publishers. 2. When working on an existing series, especially if it's popular, you will likely be known for a while, but the fans will put you "on probation" until you deliver work that "passes". 3. One idea to battle piracy of your comic (though piracy among comics might not be as large an issue as with other mediums) is to create some two-page spreads that need to be looked at together instead of looked at per page (how most online comic reading tools are set up). 4. While the internet might have resulted in less and less physical comic shops existing today (due to being able to buy digitally or from online shops), it has also allowed for a wider audience reach and quicker access for those living overseas.
Misc. Photos for Friday
Large Catan game, Game of Thrones edition.
I took this pic just because of the red balloons. I didn't get any photos of Pennywise during the convention. I was too scared to approach one! Hahaha.
Saturday Time Attended: 10:30 AM - 6:00 PM
When I got to the convention centre, I went straight to the South building and waited for my next panel. Yesterday I wore a skirt and because of that, every time I was in line for a panel or anything I was standing. My feet were tired and I just wanted to sit on a chair and relax. I was wearing a skirt today, too... but only because I was attending the "Maid Cafe Experience".
Anime Music Videos: Action! -- 11:00 AM
This was nice and fun. The moderator was Tom Croom, who was really funny and interesting. Every now and then between AMVs, he would tell us funny stories / thoughts and with a good deal of snark. It was great. The audience chose most of the AMVs. Tom would have his laptop screen showing on a projector and there'd be a bunch of files with thumbnails and titles and he'd pick somebody from the audience to choose an AMV. Almost every time when he started the file Tom whispered "Please don't suck please don't suck..." After maybe the third AMV, Tom chose one AMV that featured Neon Genesis Evangelion. After the AMV ended, Tom asked if anybody hasn't watched Neon Genesis Evangelion. Then he said jokingly to everybody who raised their hand, "Get out", and went on saying that it was one of the biggest series back in the day. Then one of the audience members asked, "Am I old enough to watch it?" Then Tom asked, "How old are you?" The audience member said, "11". Tom paused for a moment and said, "You'd probably need some therapy afterwards, but you can watch it." and then went on to say that he first watched it in his early 20s and probably needed some therapy for it at that age. Then halfway through, Tom asked us what else we were planning to do at Fan Expo today besides "watching videos of blood and action on an early Saturday morning". After some responses, he told us that based on surveys that were filled out after going to a convention (I'm probably gonna be filling one out soon), the top three reasons for attending pop culture conventions were: 3. Guests 2. Shopping 1. To hang out with my friends To me, that makes a lot of sense. For friends you've made who aren't in your immediate reach, the common connection would be attending conventions. It's sweet. :) One time, an audience member directed Tom to play the AMV titled "Nein Nein" (translates to "No No"), saying that he just wanted to know what the video was about because of the title. Before Tom clicked on the file, he told us somebody else had put together the video list for him, and he had wondered if a hentai video was thrown into the list for fun. Then Tom commented that the video's thumbnail looked the most hentai out of all the video thumbnails. Then when he clicked on the file, an error message popped up, saying that it couldn't open. I guess that's what "Nein Nein" really meant, hahaha... :3 Every time an AMV would play, I would take down some notes in case I wanted to search it out later on... or if I liked the song. I guess I can't let go of old habits, hahaha.
Below were a couple AMVs that I enjoyed that I could find on YouTube. Please note that I haven't watched any or many of the series featured so there COULD BE POSSIBLE SPOILERS!
"Centuries" featuring various series.
This is the first time I've ever listened to this song and I like it!
After the AMV panel, I went to the North building to see if the Lucy Lawless' autograph signing was happening. The staff person for her area said she was on lunch and that I should check back in about an hour. Calculating that it'd be cutting too close to my next thing, I trekked back to the South building, but was unsure of what or where to go. It was just past noon, and I had to start lining up for the next thing at 2 PM. When I thought hard about it, I really wanted a chair or ledge to sit on comfortably until I had to line up for the next thing. I didn't want to dirty my skirt by sitting on the floor... and that was how I found my little "safe haven". It was actually in plain sight -- just not frequently ventured to. I'm talking about the 6th level, the level just below the main level in the South building. The only thing going on on the 6th level beside being a major hang out for cosplayers was the speed dating room. Other than that, none of the other rooms were used so almost nobody was around. That also meant: some empty seats! :)
Fan Expo's Maid Cafe Experience -- 3:30 PM
For anybody wondering why I lined up at 2 PM when the time for this was 3:30 PM, the ticket said to be seated by 3 PM. Things were running late, though, and we were seated at 3:30 PM in the end. This was the maid cafe experience! We were seated at large round tables with a dessert for each attendant. I sat at the seat closest to the stage, which will show later as a detriment for my phone, hahaha. While we were eating, Act102, Toronto's maid idol group, danced to various songs. Then the Maidreamin girls came and took the stage and danced several more songs. It was really fun and nice. At the very end, we all gathered together and Tom took a selfie with all us behind, making heart shapes. You can see the post and photo on his Twitter here.
My dessert. At first I thought the design was a rose, not a cactus, hah...
I would have appreciated a fork, but I guess this is fine.
The dessert itself wasn't too bad.
My neighbour's dessert. I asked if I could take a photo, lol.
From left to right: Maid Mariru, Maid Peace, and Maid Hima from Maidreamin.
Act102 doing a dance. If you want, you can follow them at Instagram.
You can tell that I sat too close to the stage.
The Maidreamin girls doing a dance.
I'll probably have to dine at Maidreamin again sometime.
After the event, I was rushing to the next panel. Only problem was that the room was displaying a panel title completely different from the panel I was expecting... When I asked the room's volunteer about it, she explained that it's possible the panel got moved to another room or another time. *sigh*
Prop Making II: Techniques & Resources -- 5:00 PM
This panel was a substitution for the panel I wanted to take ("Beginner Sewing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them"), but this was really way too advanced for me.
Huge Pokemon displays. From another angle! And another! You can see how huge it is when comparing to the size of other attendees. Mewtwo! I don't know which pokemon this is, but I liked the shadow effects. It looks like it's bowing for a dance, lol.
I like that out of all trash bins around Fan Expo, the largest ones are reserved for only pizza boxes. The Storm Troopers are at it again!
I just like how in a crowd of attendees a dinosaur is stuck among them.
Sunday Time Attended: 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM
So today was my "full relaxation" day. I only had two things to attend and I was more or less done with the dealer's room. I also wore pants so was able to line up and sit on the floor, hahaha.
How to be Successful on YouTube -- 12:00 PM
So Sean Ward and some of his crew handled this panel, and it was pretty interesting. One of the biggest things -- aside from the encouragement to just go for it and make videos if you are passionate about it -- was the importance of your video title and description. As of this writing, YouTube's algorithm pays the most attention to the first three words when matching videos up with somebody's search terms. Sometimes I'd like to make some videos... but I don't want to show my face, hahaha. If I could, I'd love to make some gameplay videos as I'm going through my video game collection. :3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the panel, I went to the North building to see if Lucy Lawless' autograph signing was happening. The line was already cut off. So no Lucy Lawless autograph for me this year. I went back to the South building and sat at my "safe haven" until it was time to start lining up for my last thing for the day. Originally I was debating attending the Q&A with Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor that was happening at 2:30 PM, and then rushing to the Q&A with Cary Elwes at 4 PM, but decided in the end that it would be too risky and cutting things too close for the Q&A with Cary Elwes -- the thing I just had to attend. I never want to feel again the kind of regret I felt from missing the Criminal Minds Q&A all those years ago. Pretty much when the Q&A with Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor started, I got in line for the Q&A with Cary Elwes.
Celebrity Q & A With Star of The Princess Bride Cary Elwes -- 4:00 PM
Cary Elwes!!! <3 <3 <3
This was an amazing Q&A. Cary was polite, sarcastic, and had such a deadpan delivery to so many of his funny stories. He also exaggerated a lot of details, but they'd be so obvious, it just made things funnier. From the questions from the audience, Cary ended up sharing some stories of his time on Robin Hood: Men in Tights, The Princess Pride, Psych, a bit on Stranger Things, Glory, and The Riverman. Below are a couple audio snippets from the Q&A. I was initially going to video-record, but I really wanted to fully enjoy it without my hands having to hold up my phone the whole time... also I was sure that would ruin the experience for those sitting behind me.
Cary's story when asked about how it was working with Andre the Giant.
The audio is quiet so please turn up the volume.
Also... any prominent laughter you hear is NOT from me! I definitely do not laugh nor sound like that!
Cary's response to a fan who asked this: "I know the movie [The Princess Bride] wasn't
really a hit when it came out. When would you say you realized it had become
the iconic movie it is now considered as and what was that like for you?"
Again, turn on the volume, and again, any prominent laughter you hear is not from me!
At the end of the Q&A, everybody gave Cary a standing ovation, myself included. It was the best thing to end off Fan Expo for me. :3
Misc. Photos for Sunday
None this time.
Overall Thoughts
Well, I will say that getting Cary Elwes' autograph and attending his Q&A definitely made Fan Expo THE experience for me this year. The Maid Cafe Experience was also really fun. I was pretty bummed that I didn't get to attend any Sketch Duels this time, though. The lack of Horror panels also gave me concern. Overall, though, I had an enjoyable time at Fan Expo, especially now that I have a "safe haven" to go to if I need it. Cosplay was very varied this year. Often I would see about a handful of the same kind of cosplay and that was it -- except for Deadpool and Spider-Man. There were a ton of those. Next year I will try attending more Sketch Duels. Also I will try deploying my new strategy for line-ups, which is pretty much this: try to determine how big the line-up for a panel would be, considering all other panels happening at the same time. That way, I might not have to line-up so early for some panels if I know a bigger, more "popular" panel would grab the attention of many attendees who would go to the same panel as me.
My final shot for Fan Expo: exiting Cary Elwes' Q&A.
Photos of Cosplayers
As mentioned earlier, here are some photos of cosplayers. I think by now I might have taken pics I could have taken at previous Fan Expos.
Bruce Lee. I was quite impressed with his splits!
Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride.
The Man in Black from The Princess Bride.
Elastigirl -original costume- from The Incredibles 2.
Ralph, Fix-it Felix, and Vanellope from Wreck-it Ralph.
Some Star Wars characters.
Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde from Zootopia.
Anna from Frozen.
Baby Groot, Star-Lord (?), and Thor.
A character from The Handmaid's Tale.
No idea who this was.
Toys 'R' Us giraffe.
Kraft peanut butter!
Trunks (right?) from Dragon Ball Z.
Vegeta and Bulma from Dragon Ball Z.
Deadpool from Deadpool and Junko from Danganronpa.
Monokuma from Danganronpa.
Pikachu! He was surrounded by the Maidreamin girls earlier.
Mechanized Leafeon.
Frisk (?) from Undertale (?) and Ness from Earthbound.
Futaba from Persona 5.
Pit!
Cammy from Street Fighter.
Hitman from Hitman.
No-Face from Spirited Away and 2B from Nier: Automata.
Halo character riding a dinosaur.
No idea where this is from.
Umm... I think these both are Zeldas?
Sebastian from Black Butler.
After taking the picture, I smiled and said "Thank you."
She smiled and said "Thank you", too, revealing her fangs. O_O !!
Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes.
I still have to finish this game!
Trucy from the Ace Attorney series.
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiago?
Right here at Fan Expo!
The outcome of a fighting match between that dinosaur and Macho Man Randy Savage.
Baymax was freaking out behind them, flailing its arms.
No idea what character this is, but was a funny thing I observed. The person
walked to the area with his friends, wearing the outfit. Then after a
couple photos, the person said "I'm undressing now." I was sitting right next to
the "undressing". Later, while they were conversing with another attendee,
I found out that they used insulation foam. Ouch -- it must have felt like a sauna in there. >__>
Cosplay I wanted to take a pic of, but missed my chance -Player hiding in a bush -- this was wayyy too unique! I'm so sad I missed taking a pic :( -Hatsune Miku -- Deep Sea Girl version -- from Hatsune Miku -Sayori from Doki Doki Literature Club -- it took me the longest time to figure out this cosplay, knowing I had seen it somewhere
My Convention Purchases
Subtracting the admission price to the Maid Cafe Experience and Cary Elwes' autograph + selfie, my budget for the artist alley was about the same. I didn't set an exact limit for myself, but I knew I wouldn't be spending too much.
So I'm saying this again, but when buying fan stuff, I often have this frame of mind:
1. Does the art style align with my tastes? 2. Does this work express the kind of fandom that expresses me? (like, if I saw a poster of Zuko and Katara holding hands and gently smiling, I might get it, because it expresses how I feel about their relationship -- a sense of deep understanding for each other) 3. Is this a piece of work that will evoke something in me every time I see it?
This year I mainly bought stuff from artists I've already bought from in the past. What can I say -- I'm their fan! I still wanted to support them, but I also knew I couldn't buy too, too many things -- my room is really so full of stuff. Whenever I could, I opted to buy things that expressed my fandom, but in smaller forms like charms or such. Somehow I missed Shilin Huang's booth... I'm gonna have to try buying something off her site later this year. So out of all the purchases I'll be showing below, I'm NOT going to show the commission sketch I bought from Jay Fosgitt. I bought a commission sketch from him of myself because that was what I bought last time and I wanted to see if there would be any differences. Well, considering that I wore fake glasses last time, the sketch looked like me, but didn't so I felt comfortable posting it. This time, I didn't wear my fake glasses, and the sketch really nailed me, hahaha -- to the point where I think if I posted it, I could get picked out if I was ever caught walking down the street. What a difference a pair of glasses can make sometimes. :3
For what I've bought that I haven't yet watched / experienced the series for, I'll note it like this: (*) Here is what I bought (minus the stuff I bought from Jay):
The third volume of Chasing Artwork's art books.
One of the pages in the art book.
Chiaki charm and Futaba mini postcard.
Princess Tutu charms. I really love this series!
Mini-standees for Re:Zero and Nier: Automata. (*)
Posters of Death Note and One Piece.
Poster of Yu Yu Hakusho. Squeee! Kurama looks so intense. <3 <3
Bones book + random goodie bag + free sticker from Koyamori. The cover page for Bones really creeped me out, but was sold after flipping through the book.
One of the pages from the Bones book. I really like the intricacies!
The contents of the goodie bag: a bones-themed hoodie, two washi tapes, and two pins. I'll likely wear the hoodie at home during the Winter season.
So, to calculate the "damage" to my wallet: Maid Cafe Experience admission ticket: $45.20 Maidreamin polaroid picture: $30 Cary Elwes autograph + hardcover book + selfie: $100 Jay Fosgitt commission + comic: $70 Artbook vol. 3 from Chasing Artwork: $50 Chiaki charm + Futaba mini postcard from Roo: $14 3 Princess Tutu charms from Kaze-Hime: $35 2 mini-standees (Re:Zero + Nier: Automata) from Starbottle: $30 Posters (One Piece, Death Note, Yu Yu Hakusho): $40 Bones book + Goodie bag from Koyamori: $75
Total "Damage" This Year: $489.20
Total "Damage" Last Year: $378.00 Thanks for reading (if you made it this far)! If you have any questions about anything I experienced at Fan Expo Canada, or just comments and questions on anything, feel free to comment! Now I can finally sit back, relax, and enjoy my vacation (I usually take a vacation after Fan Expo to recover). My poor, achy feet, lol.
Thank you again and have a great rest of the week! :)
