zOMG Cosplay

So I'm contemplating going to Fanime 2K6. It's a bit of a last-minute decision, but feasible. I'll have off that whole weekend, and I have a steady-enough, well-paying job to afford a costume commission with the works, depending on who I cosplay and where I get it done. Why cosplay, you ask? That's $200+ you could spend in the Dealer's Room! Alas, Dealer's Room stuff sucks most of the time anyway. I remember hunting through the whole damn thing looking for this doujinshi or that toy, all to no avail. I've had better luck on eBay, Sagusa Books, or IN JAPAN! :P And I already have enough STUFF. It might be nice to be asked for my photo, maybe hook up with other cosplayers from my fandom, or even be in the Masquerade! :)

So here's the skinny:
Been there, done that -

* Rena Lanford of Star Ocean: The Second Story. I liked how I put this costume together, but it was very last minute and pretty shabby. The blue hair is a big deterrent, and wigs are expensive.

* Mireielle Bouquet of NOIR - I liked this costume, if only because it didn't feel like I was dressing up. But many people mistook me as Misato from Evangelion. Okay, so orangeish-blonde hair isn't like the anime's blonde, but geez! Misato's hair was PURPLE, for crying out loud!

* Sailor Mars of Sailor Moon - Not for a con, but Halloween when I was much younger. Another haphazardly-put together outfit that I might consider doing again if a) wigs were cheap (because my hair isn't as long and dark as it used to be) b) the costume were nicely done-- maybe a'la the Live Action, or even the super-glittery Sera Myu. But needless to say, I got mistaken as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Double-you-tee-eff?

* Anzu Mazaki of Yu-Gi-Oh - Another one where I didn't feel like I was dressing up, save for the Duel Disk. The thigh-highs were a pain in the ass to keep on (and keep in one piece), and Anzu's short-shorts had me self-conscious about my thighs. If I did her cosplay again, I'd pick another outfit. Or, I'd cosplay another female character from YGO, or even a female!Kaiba! *laughs*

Want to do it... maybe -

* Yuna from Final Fantasy X, X-2 - I've always been jealous of Yuna cosplayers. From Summoners to Gunners, Songstresses to Gun Mages-- they're all so cool! But I'd like to be a bit original. A Lady Luck, Thief, or a Trainer, maybe? Or more realistically, what about a Psychiccer or Festival-goer?

* Maya Amano from Persona 2: Innocent Sin/Eternal Punishment - Maya *IS* me, funnily enough. She's a journalist/editor, loyal, a communicator, someone who cares deeply and is loyal to others, and she kicks serious ass while still being in style! ^_~ She's also obscure enough not to have been seen at too many cons, and her outfit wouldn't be TOO difficult or expensive to commission. I'm hoping to get a quote back on her costume from a cosplay costume seamstress.

* The original heroine from Read or Die: OAV - Her name escapes me at the moment, but when I first saw "The Paper," I thought "HEY! That's me!" Even better, I could wear my glasses. :P Her cosplay is also mostly a coat with your run of the mill uniform-style vest and skirt underneath it; it'd be easy to put together, after the coat.

* YOUR IDEA HERE!!!

*shrug* I don't know, what do you think? Have I used too many asterisks in this post?

Somebody set us up the bomb

I told you I bombed my Geography midterm. I didn't think I'd bombed it so badly as to get a D (that's what a 65% is, right?), but alas! Such is the case. Half of me wishes they graded according to the Asian style, which would be something like this:
A = 90-100%
B = 79-89%
C = 59-78%
D = 39-58%
F = Anything below 39%
That would explain why Usagi always whined about 30%s, anyway...

Today's my Japanese midterm, and I'm much more confident. I've only been here in the Collaboratory for a half-hour, so I have plenty of time before my 2pm class to study... I think what I need to get down is the various readings (ON and KUN) of kanji, and review the sentence structures/patterns that we've learned:
~ni shimasu (I've decided on...)
~ni narimasu (...is set to/will become/becoming)
~sugimasu (too much)
~tai (Verbs+tai indicate desire of action. e.g. tabetai = want to eat)
~hoshii (Nouns+hoshii indicate desire of possession. e.g. kuruma ga hoshii = I want a car)
Verb stems ("tabe" from "tabemasu" is the verb stem. Use it in a a sentence construction with a destination and a noun to indicate purpose of movement and action. e.g. In-N-Out ni cheeseburger o tabe ni ikimasu. I'm going to In-N-Out to eat a cheeseburger.)
Informal speech (finding the "root" of verbs. Sometimes they're the same as verb stems/pre-masu verbs, but usually not.)
Negative questions/responses in informal speech. ("Restoran ni konai?" is not asking "Don't come to the restaurant, okay?" It's asking "Won't you come to the restaurant with me?" It kind of functions the same way the ~masen ka? structure works for formal speech.)

I don't have school/work on Friday because of Cesar Chavez day. We don't get off for Veteran's Day or anything else, but we get off for this... and we're one of the few CSU campuses to get it, too. I don't mind so much though, because we get a perfectly timed Spring Break (first time in probably 10 years for me). The long winter break is a thing of the past though, because of the new summer session that forces us to reorganize the Spring and Fall terms. I think this Winter (assuming I'm still here in SoCal), we'd start again on Jan. 6th or something.

Anyway, since it's Cesar Chavez week, tons of LAUSD high school students have been protesting this bill that originally made it a felony to be an illegal immigrant in California. I would have thought the whole "illegal" thing sort of made it obvious that it was a felony, but something's going on with the rewrite of the bill that would let those people stay, become naturalized citizens, and pay a fine and back taxes. I suppose that's agreeable, but I wish those so-called "undocumented citizens" would make the extra effort to BE a citizen and participate in the country, even if it takes a long time for everything to get processed. (Then again, is it really all that great to be an American at this time?)

Also, Erin, Joyce, my aunt-by-marriage Susy's daughter Karin, and her boyfriend Guy have all been staying at the house the past 3 days, and will keep on staying through Friday, or thereabouts. They're all on their Spring Break, but I rarely see Karin. Erin, Joyce, Baba, Grandpa and I went out to dinner at the Hot Wok last night (good Chinese food!), but since I'd had a pizza during English class (which I was late to, because I was typing up the revision to my Emily Dickinson essay in the language lab. Bad Mer, bad!) I only had a few potstickers.

Erin and even Grandpa insist that poodles (like Erin's miniature poodle, the "rat" known as Mokie) are hypoallergenic. Even if poodles do have fur and not hair (or the other way around?), I still think it sounds like bunk. They might not have body dander, but they can still have fleas. Here's this snippet from Dog Myths Debunked:
Dog lovers allergic to their beloved companions long for a simple solution. Unfortunately, non exists. Certain breeds may not shed or may shed less than others, but that doesn't make their owners allergy-free. Allergic people usually react to dander. As a dog grooms and licks itself, saliva is deposited on the skin and haircoat. As it dries, microscopic bits of the saliva, or dander, enter the air and environment and affect the owner.

Still-experimental allergy shots are available to owners, but most choose grooming and housecleaning options over this often painful and time-intensive option. Frequent shampooing of the dog can keep accumulation of dander to a minimum, as can regular washing of bedding and vacuuming of carpets. Many people also find a household HEPA air filter helpful. Simply keeping the dog out of the bedroom provides tremendous relief to others.

Also, from "How Do I Find a Puppy?": Many people believe that certain breeds (like poodles) are "hypoallergenic". True, there are breeds that do not shed hair but anyone that's highly allergic to dogs can also be allergic to these types. And remember that the non-shedding breeds require regular grooming which takes time & can become expensive (even if you do it yourself).

Erin goes by her brother, David. He was severely allergic to cats, to the point where his eyes got swollen. But he never had any such reaction to Mokie. I hardly think that makes her hypoallergenic. The whole TERM 'hypoallergenic' is a human-created thing, anyway; I don't think animals can be naturally hypo-allergenic. People can be allergic to anything.

Fanime, here I come!

Okay, so it looks like I am going to Fanime, cosplay or not. Why? Because I pre-regged a few hours ago, and that's $50 I've just kissed goodbye. Might as well kiss another $400 away for the airplane tickets, a hotel room, and anything else I might be forgetting (food, possible cosplay, dealer's room money, transportation to/from airport, if not provided by hotel).

So now I have to find a cosplay commission or pre-made service NOW, because Fanime is May 26th-29th, which means I'd need the costume in my hot little hands BEFORE then. That's two months away, and the bare minimum many cosplay commissioners give for their work. So I have to decide. A few good-looking, relatively inexpensive, and even reputable places offer some of the things I'd want to do... for example, Songstress Yuna. That'd be easy enough to pull off-- get the costume and the ponytail, and I could make whatever jewelry I needed. I'd say "screw the boots," because I happen to like my knee high-black boots very much, and I think they'd even go better with the outfit. I could also get a mic, or not have one at all, because that might be pushing it a little bit.

OR... there's something original and cool, a'la Maya Amano. It'd be an outfit that works beyond cosplay (sorry, Yuna...), but the catch is that I don't know who'd do it, for how much, or how long it'd take. I already sent a quote request to Akire Designs, and now if anyone knows of any other commission places that are currently open, I'd like to ask some others. I'm hunting for any good cosplay sites at the moment-- props, accessories, wigs, costumes, etc.

As for the other stuff... so, who else is going? You know me, I'm always up for rooming with a few other people. I could afford the $300~ for a single room to myself, but I could get a double bed room for the same price, and have someone pay me $45/night, so we'd split the cost 50/50. I don't know if Mom has a friend at the SJ Hilton or Marriott, since neither of them are part of the Starwood Resort chain, but I could ask her to pay for it FOR me, since she DOES owe me $600 for the laptop still.

Airfare would only be around $118 if I get the tickets soon; they'd be early afternoon tickets on both the 26th (I'd take off work, and leave to the airport RIGHT after Geography class) and the 29th, when I have off b/c of Memorial Day.

I can afford this. Why? Because I get paid enough to cover the costs of coming/going to the con, plus a little on the side for food and even the Dealer's Room. That and, Direct Deposit has officially gone through, so I'll have money in Hawaii: not that I'm planning on spending a whole bunch there, but it's nice to be able to celebrate my birthday in style. :O Speaking of which! I can legally attend 21+ parties at Fanime~ Bwahahahahaha...

(Not that I would. I mean geeks + alcohol = bad idea. Now if only I could drag Scott along...)

So anyway, point me at some cosplay sites! Thankoo.

TrustFlow results for the_sweet

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• roserevolution (150 - 200)
• thepatches, vhg (250 - 300)
• gammawitch, one1love, pheardapowah (300 - 350)

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