Con Report!: Yaoi-Con 09~!

Suuuggoooiii~! Guys! I really don't know where to start with this one. All I can say is WOW! But that's a little redundant. I've finally gotten around to writing my con report for Yaoi-Con because the Con-Depression-Fairy visited me. I haven't had 'con depression' since Animazement 09 so that tells me something; Yaoi-con was an awesome convention! Now, I'm not going to actually go through with a fine toothed comb with this one and explaining details to the max. You may ask why... But it's because; in my opinion "What happens in Yaoi-con STAYS in Yaoi-con" because I don't want to ruin the fun for anyone else next year. I will however go through each day but everything won't be accounted for; mainly because of the above and the fact that I've forgotten stuff. Foxberry has a bad memory! With that being said, let's get down to business, yes?

Cosplays involved: Gokudera (KHR), Estonia (APH), Dr. Franken Stein (SE), Reno (FF7BC)

Thursday; Day 0: There were no events going on this day. However I do have to report on this because despite the fact that there were no events, Jon and I were supposed to get to the hotel with Mel- though Jon had to work late leaving us unable to attend on Thursday. At first I thought it was a bad thing but I've come to realize that I wouldn't have gotten any sleep what so ever despite my horrible deprivation of sleep anyway.

Friday; Day 1: So Jon and I arrived from SFO to the Marriott from the shuttle. We had to wait 40 mins but that's okay, I was entertained by the people looking at us funny. In any case we ended up getting to the hotel room which was a really nice room actually and I met two friends of Mel's who were really sweet. Tiffany and Emma. We decided to cosplay to the convention so we wouldn't have to waste time doing so at the hotel knowing that Mel and her two friends had to get dressed. After settling our bags in we soon went off to get our badges, it was rather quick so we didn't have to worry too much. However we were all gathered in one large room to wait to gain our badges. I got to watch two anime while I was there Inbari and Big Windup.

Jon and I were recognized three times by this point as Gokudera and Yamamoto, all three times I wasn't aware and Jon teased me. Mel dressed as fairy Britannia called me over to a group of Hetalia fans, one was dressed as Canada and smelled like Maple syrup... It was pretty special. XD After we got our badges we decided to change into our Hetalia outfits because the KHR gathering did not go through as planned, no one showed up. In any case, we soon changed and I cosplayed Estonia while my boyfriend cosplayed an OC Beijing. Afterwards we retreated to the swapmeet and I got some pretty good deals. A few Hetalia trinkets and 1-16 of Dragon Knights manga for a steal. Our Hetalia gathering went much better and we got lots of photographs.

After this we decided to go out to eat and we found a wonderful Japanese restaurant, Jon and I shared a combination plate (chicken teriyaki and tempura shrimp and veggies) and we got some sushi. I had a really good 6piece kappa (which is cucumber roll) and we had some Tamago (egg sushi) I wasn't really fond of the Tamago... It was cold scrambled eggs pretty much, but rather sweet. We then returned back to the hotel room, got dressed again, changed into my KHR outfit once more and went to Bishounen Bingo; did not win anything in the Bingo but I DID win something in the end raffle; a Lambo poster from KHR. Very cute mind you. If you ever go to Yaoi-con make sure you attend this event, I won't explain it in detail but I must say even my boyfriend found it entertaining. Once this was over we returned to the hotel room and played Dirty Minds and went to bed.

Saturday; Day 2: Woke up at 8am got dressed into Stein... The stitches did not work out well, so Mel helped me with drawing on stitches with an eyeliner... Worked out nicely. Jon's cross however did not work out so well. It ended up being too long but it wasn't bad looking in the end. Once we were dressed and out of the hotel, we ended up going to the Fanmarket, where some very lovely artists were, purchased two prints and wound up at the Dealers Hall, checked out both of them before 12pm hit- I got two doujin while I was there SteinxSpirit and GermanyxPrussia. We then ran into our Hetalia group, apparently we cannot escape Hetalia no matter what fandom we're cosplaying from. X3 We went out for lunch by this point, had sandwiches and hung out at a park then returned to the convention.

Said goodbye to our friends and went in search of other things to do, we met up with a Soul Eater group and were called over to join them for a photoshoot done by EuroBeatKing (who is such a sweet photographer to work with ^__^). After the wonderful photoshoot was over we came to find out that the people we befriended were the judges of the masquerade! We were asked to help out with their opening act but sadly due to malfunctions it fell through. However we got to sit front row near the judges and watch the masquerade. The skits overall were awesome, I enjoyed them a great deal, especially Toby's monologue from Naruto and the skit from Dogs.

After this event was over we had little time to do anything because we had tickets to go to the Bishounen Auction. Now I do not mean to be mean or to ream the people involved with this; however this is my major 'con' of the convention. The lineup and the way it was handled had no organization what so ever. My boyfriend and I were shifted between con officials from con-ops and down the hall at least 5 to 6 times, telling us we're in the wrong area. Finally we got fed up and told one very nice gentleman our plight, and he decided that we were to stand in a "special area", several other people had this issue as well so it was not just us. Further a little bit later Jon and I went to sit down and we were snarked at by another fan because we sat in front of them, and apparently they held claim over the area saying that we broke in front of them... Despite the fact that, well, we were there from the beginning. Rather than arguing with the individual we got up and just stood despite how exhausted we were. Finally things were settled with the lines and we were all let in.

The auction itself was an amazing thing and I'm not going to explain it to you and ruin the surprise for those who would like to go in the future. If you go to Yaoi-con you MUST attend this at least once for its entertainment purposes if anything. Despite the little situation with the mics, which wasn't really a problem for me, it was overall a wonderful event. Once this was over we again had little time to do anything and returned to the hotel room... Got packed and realized that the rave had started. Went to the rave, which was a little dull but at least it was nice and cool inside. Only stayed an hour but then realized we were starving and had little food during the day. This is where my second little 'con' of the convention came in. There really is no food in walking distance of the convention, yes there's a 7-11 and a Trader Joe's but... There's only SO many times one can eat a cheesedog or a burrito. And I was hoping to have actual restaurants in the area. The hotel grill was extremely expensive and we refused to pay 25-25$ for a combination plate. We attempted to order out food but by this time it was too late, and there was nothing close that we could actually get food at. So... I ended up making a peanut butter sandwich and went to bed rather promptly.

Sunday; Day 3: Woke up around 8:40am got dressed as Reno after restyling his wig and took to attempting the bald cap on my boyfriend... which was a disaster, it worked but by the end of the evening; Jon was in pain. Next time we're just shaving his head to a no.1 buzz, people will realize who he is even if he has a little bit of hair so there's no point in putting him through the hell the bald cap put him in. After a slow morning we finally packed up and put our stuff away in Eugene's vehicle (thank you again Eugene). Sunday was a little slow, but that was in part of our issue. Mel cosplayed Rufus Shinra so it was a lot of fun pushing his Geo-Stigma butt around for the day in a wheelchair. We checked out the markets one last time and went to the library before we attended one panel.

Yaoi Positions, which ended up pretty funny and entertaining. After that we decided we were going to call it a wonderful convention, but caught up with Mel and took a few photos, but not before I nearly ejected Mr. President (Mel/Rufus) across the court-yard... Me/Reno squealing out "SHACHOO!! GOMEN NASAI GOMEN NASAAAIII~!" It was pretty funny overall. However we soon gave our goodbyes to our friends and returned home... Exhausted, tired and completely happy with ourselves. Ironically on the shuttle ride home Jon turned on his PSP and was playing Dissidia, the consecutive days he had played up till then was 69. A wonderful end to a wonderful convention. I hope to see you all next year!!

Pros: -Unique atmosphere.
-Not what I'd call an 'anime convention', something entirely different and entertaining.
-Great events.
-No crazy fangirls glomping me.
-Mature atmosphere.
-Lovely hotel, very pretty.
- >3 Beautiful eyecandy!

Cons: -Situation with lines for Bishounen Auction.
-Lack of food around convention aside from 7/11, only so many times I can eat at a 7/11.
-Not many cosplayers, I was surprised... Next time I won't put as much effort into cosplay for Yaoi-con as I did this year... Felt like too much preparation for the convention.
-Next time I plan on attending more panels rather than spending time walking around the hotel. ^^

Overall: Considering what it was, I cannot grade this like I normally would other conventions and events. As such I put this convention in a different class of its own. It's not an anime convention, it's not a cosplaying convention... It's a Yaoi-convention in its own right. And it's at its best. Next year I will plan on going to more of the panels and not worry so much about cosplaying. I've already got ideas for next year, for cosplay to make it easier on myself. Overall... WONDERFUL TIME!

****1/2 Stars: I would have given it five but honestly the two things that bothered me really irked me, that being the situation with the auction and lack of food.

-Foxberry out!

Convention Photos: http://s583.photobucket.com/albums/ss274/foxberryconventions/Yaoi%20Con%2009/