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Cosplay disasters almost happen at the worst possible moment

Splitting away from my group next year- got bogged down with too many of their cosplay disasters and lost so much of my precious convention time! D:
On another note, it was really nice to have a successful cosplay! Arrietty was so much fun~

Last minute mishaps rendered my cosplay group without MLP cosplay, which meant we weren't insanely upset for missing the gathering while being stuck in line. I hope the gathering will be a bit later Friday afternoon or another day next year so we can attend though, as we hope to have everything well done by then!

I cosplayed as Arrietty from The Secret World of Arrietty/The Borrower Arrietty on Friday night and most of Saturday. I had a sugar cube and a pin sword I usually pulled out of my belt for photos. I also was Rhyme from The World Ends With You for most of Sunday and probably was found sitting in Artist Alley with my friends at their booth that had Harry Potter scarves. If anyone got any pictures of me, I'd love to see them! ^^

Hello again! So nice to meet you Saturday (and again Monday!). Just in case the pictures you had didn't turn out as well as you'd like, I uploaded my two best on my page. Good luck finding photos!

EDIT: Also, as I was going through videos I noticed that Cosplay in America has a video posted and I believe there's an interview of some sort with you in it!

Completely bummed about missing the gathering entirely- first cosplay malfunctions, my Belgium friend wasn't even close to done with Belgium and my Grandmano got rushed. That and when we were looking for the gathering I was told the wrong place!
Hopefully next year we'll make it! :(

to touch up on a couple of ur points:
- again, miscommunciation between those at the door and what we as staff actually wanted so that was just a general problem for most of the night
...

- unfortunately for the dance display, this is a new system that we worked with this year so there were some glitches that we had to deal with
we do have a prior set list and everything but we had to feng-shui a lot of things because we didnt have a projector this year and all that other stuff

- i wouldn't know about the more experienced dancers but even i coudl tell towards the end that ppl were kind of just dancing around and jumping around
im glad that u were able to teach some other people how to dance and hope that next year things might be a bit difference
as a side comment: maybe you can ask any of us staff members for a dance, since most if not all of us have some experience in all of the dances
:D just a thought for next year

i really hope that even with all the misgivings of the ball this year that u still had fun

Ahhh, good to know! And yes, I had plenty and plenty of fun, the things I mentioned were really minor speedbumps if anything. I'll have to consider finding a staff member who might be interested in a dance, although I'd hope I wouldn't bore them as I'm likely not quite as experienced!

Thanks to all the staff for working so hard on this, the ball really saved Sunday, as the rest of the day hadn't been going so well for me. Can't wait for next year!  :D

A couple of these shout outs I'd like to give!

To the gal in the beautiful blue and white dress at the Black and White Ball whom said she designed her own dress, I wanted to know more about it but didn't want to seem weird or distract you from your conversation any longer! If you see this I'd still like to ask you about it!

To the gal from ARC in Sacramento at the B&W Ball, thank you so much for the dances! Really topped off my night nicely to have a partner who knew what she was doing! :P

To the two gentlemen who were playing Para Para Saturday night- first off, you guys were completely awesome, but also thank you so much for your support and kindness! I truly love that game but was extremely embarrassed that I couldn't seem to pass a single round and almost gave up- thank you two for encouraging me to get back up and try it again. I finally caught my stride after a few more dollars, and you guys were seriously the  nicest people I've met at that machine.

To the Doctor Who cosplayer at the Black and White Ball, I hope I didn't weird you out by asking for a photo- I really wanted to dance with you but I don't know how to follow! I feel incredibly silly for not having seen Doctor Who but follow the fandom trifecta and appreciated your truly excellent cosplay- thanks for the photo!

To the Male Applejack cosplayer- I just saw a photo of you on a friend's picture of the MLP gathering and  I wish I could have found you to give your apple back! A friend of mine picked it up but didn't agree that we should go look for the lost and found because we were low on time so we moved it out of the way and propped it near where it fell. I would hope you found it! :(

There's also a lot of problematic wording with the dress code. I seriously dislike the gendered breakdown of the dress code, the implication that woman wearing pants is "crossplay," no mention at all of crossdressing for men, etc. etc. I would do away entirely with the gendered breakdown and go with specific clothing item breakdowns, like what kinds of pants are acceptable, what kinds of dresses or skirts are acceptable, what kinds of shoes are acceptable, etc., rather than breaking it down in very gender-specific terms. It might seem easier, but it not only actually makes things more difficult, but can be bordering on offensive to the genderqueer. I like the idea of a chart that makes it easier, but maybe have the rows as "pants," "tops," "shoes," etc. and the columns as "allowed" and "not allowed" to make it easier for everyone and to allow for someone to see what is acceptable to wear regardless of gender or sex.

Yes, absolutely! I would very much like to see this.
Additionally, regardless of gender orientation, overall I often prefer professional attire other than a dress and was confused if I would even be let in unless my wearing of suit and pants was official crossplay. Being that the Ball is my favorite event, I brought 3 different outfits in fear I might not be let in! This was a huge hassle on my suitcase though that I would like not to repeat.

I would say also that the dress code was quite variant(?). Many of the gals I danced with had apparently snuck back onto the floor in heels not safe for the floor, and were quickly reprimanded. I had been under the impression however that they would not be let in at all. By the time I arrived there was in particular one staff lady who was keeping things very tight in the shoe district.
However, and perhaps it was due to the late nature of which we arrived, a few of my group members whom I had reprimanded and argued with over their attire (t-shirts hidden under cheap kimonos and a suit jacket but still quite visible) were still let in. I was happy that we were not turned away to go change for such, but also confused at how they managed to pass the inspection.

All in all, the only real frustration I had with the Ball (aside from missing so much of it!) would be that the dancing style for each song was not promptly changed- often not showing up until we were well into the song and causing a halt on the dance floor, and that we were yelled at to leave while attempting to gather our stuff when the ball ended. (However, when we explained the staff lady did apologize, so our feelings weren't too hurt. As to the prior, would a set list be possible? I'm sure it's been asked before but I haven't yet read why there isn't both.)

Just a quick personal side note, but were all the more experienced dancers there early? By the time I got there hardly any of those left seemed to know what they were doing- no one followed the dance suggestions or patterns of the dance floor (occasionally making it difficult to dance such waltzes and so) and I found that all but one dance partner I had did not take any of the classes or have any experience, leaving me teaching or attempting to teach all night! : / My partners were all lovely people but it made me a sad panda to not be able to put my ballroom dancing skills to use.

I absolutely loved the new location! I truly hope you have it at Parkside Hall again, as the ample space to relax, practice, and dance both on and off the wooden floor were wonderful indeed. Very comfortable setting, closer to the convention (or at least the hotel at which I stayed), and the tape marking the direction of dance were excellent! Thank you for a great time!

Saturday/Monday: Arrietty (equipped with pin and utility belt, and most often my leaf as well)
Sunday: Grandmano (Only two photos were taken I believe, and I don't have any, oops!)
Haru (The Cat Returns) -- with Baron and Muta cosplayers

I'll check back in and see if I have pictures of you all to share! :)

Hotel Name: Hyatt Place

Would You Book Next Year: Unsure (I hope to!)

Pros:Great location, calm setting, nice room accommodations, friendly staff, and the atmosphere felt quite safe.

Cons: Hotels keys had to be replaced about 5 times as they randomly stopped working often for both rooms and parking, power outages in some rooms, lots of small parts of the room falling apart (shower control, bathroom doors, etc.), occasional extensive waits for the elevator and stairs weren't clearly marked for everyday use, extensive waits for repairs of issues within the rooms, mini-fridge temperature would not drop to proper levels to refrigerate food

Special Notes to Share: Most of these problems only occurred with only one of three rooms my group had booked, so half our experience was perfectly fine and the other half was bombarded with troubles. I would like to stay here again, however I don't believe all of the other members of my party will agree.

Just a note here, Hetalia's brand manager Char is going to be at Fanime!
Too bad the gathering will likely be after she leaves- she did say she was staying until early Sunday morning.
Gonna be on the lookout!  :P

I am desperately hoping to pass my math final tomorrow.  :-\

Ahhh these look adorable!
I'll be on the lookout- I sure hope I can hunt you down and snag one! :3

I am glad Epic Cosplay is going to let me exchange at their booth for the wig I need- the one I ordered ended up being much too red for Grandmano! x____x'

I am hoping my wig order will arrive today.

Update on my part here- A change of plans should allow my friend to attend the gathering in his Derpy Hooves quadsuit! Can't wait for all the fun!

A bit early for 2013, but I didn't want to forget to suggest this one  :P :
Seychelles Here ★ Vacation Island-- EC Swing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ43QHf-_i0&feature=related

Perhaps I've missed this somewhere, so please pardon me if this is a repeat!
For ladies to wear slacks and a dress shirt, must they be crossplaying? My ballroom shoes would be awful with a dress or skirt, to which neither I have anything really dressy enough at this point in time...

I am utterly uninterested in any of my work and therefore procrastinating.

Draw Something is addicting.

Seconded!

I got bored with it after a week of playing. .___.

Lol. I'm getting bored of it too. XD

I gave up on it after about 3 days... Whoops