I feel as if I had an extraordinarily well-rounded Comic-Con this time around.  I got to do pretty much everything I really wanted to do, and I got to see some fantastic not-yet-released footage.  I also got to meet two favorite authors and listen to a bunch of actors and directors talk about shows I love. It was a good year.

It's taken all week for me to write this while trying to recover from con and do a halfway decent job teaching, but here it is:  Corri's 2008 Comic-Con report.

( Wednesday: Preview Night )

( Thursday: Doctor Who (very slight spoilers), Torchwood, Naomi Novik, and the Star Wars Fan Film Festival )

( Friday: SG-1, SGA (possible spoilers), Joss/Dr. Horrible, Bones (definite spoilers), and MST3K )

( Saturday: Heroes (OMG LOTS OF SPOILERS!), The Mummy (Some Spoilers), Lynn Flewelling, and Masquerade )

( Sunday: Supernatural (Spoilers) )

With the move and problems with Trip and the beginning of my summer session class last week, it really shocked me to remember that Comic-Con is coming up fast!  Rei and I went shopping today for our con food, so preparation is really kicking into gear.  We're planning to leave after my class on Wednesday. This is the first time that I haven't been going to Comic-Con with one specific all-consuming fandom eating my soul.  The first year, it was Firefly/Serenity.  The second and third years, PotC movies had just come out, and I was living and breathing Pirates. This year, I haven't really got anything on that magnitude.  (Would things be different if the entire cast of Robin Hood were showing up? Um... yeah. Maybe.) Still, after sifting through the online con schedule, there are a lot of things I have to look forward to that are connected with fandoms I love. This is going to be a good year.  I'm getting to be an old pro at convention going, I know what we need to survive and eat and have a good time, and I know how to take care of myself and do the things that are important to me.

Things I am excited about:

The Stargate: Atlantis panel and season premiere showing with tons of other die-hard SGA fans
The Bones panel (David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel are both supposed to be there!)
The Star Wars fan-video contest
The Heroes panel
The Supernatural panel (need to sit with Jessica to see reaction when she is in the same room with Jensen)
The Doctor Who/Torchwood panel, which includes a whole slew of creators and a good chunk of the Torchwood cast and other actors.
NAOMI NOVIK! This almost makes me happier than anything else.  As much as I love meeting actors, it's authors who I really feel privileged to have met at con. She wrote the Temeraire novels, which I completely adore, and I can't wait to see her in person and maybe get one of my books signed.

Thing I am not excited about:

Terry Goodkind will be at the con. Why, WHY is a shoddily constructed fantasy world by a self-righteous author getting a full-season TV series when so many other ones that are actually good never make it to the screen? ARGH. Must resist urge to become violent should I see him.

Other thing I'm randomly excited about:

ZOE SALDANA IS UHURA!  Why did no one tell me this?

Now I need to find out if there's a panel about the new Trek movie.  And go to it. (Just checked. Turns out there's not. *shakes fist at Paramount*) And no, this has nothing to do with a muse of mine who's so in love with one of Zoe's characters he can't see straight... Well, not much anyway.  I really am excited for her.  She looks great (no bias... really). And from that poster in the article I posted, it seems that they have managed to make their two main leads look a whole lot like younger versions of Kirk and Spock.  Kirk has the smirk and the eyes, and Zachary Quinto making me think "logical Vulcan" and not "psychotic serial killer" when I see him? Quite a triumph. 

I will admit that I was not terribly excited about Gallifrey going into this weekend.  This is mostly because I was tired, overworked, and on the edge of a cold, and the prospect of being excited about anything at all was a bit much for me.  However, even though I was slightly out of it and taking enough cold medication and painkiller to down a small horse for most of the weekend, I had a smashing good time.  I love small cons.  I love the Doctor Who/Torchwood fandom.  I love the crossover between various scifi/fantasy fandoms.  I love my fandom friends.  I pretty much love everything right now, and that's NOT the drugs talking.  Honest.

( Friday )

( Saturday (Torchwood 2x05 and 2x06 spoilers) )

( Sunday )

This was by far the most relaxed Comic-Con I've ever had.  I know I've only been doing this for three years, but I felt like an old veteran.  I knew where everything was, I knew how the con ran and how to prioritize, and I set out to make sure I saw and did the things that were most important to me. 

As I said in a previous post, Anime LA was this weekend. I wasn’t planning to go until Thursday night when Rei reminded me that there was going to be a pirate-themed rum party run by a friend going on on Friday night, and that it would be worth the price of at least a day’s admission just to go to that. I had to agree.

( Long and fangirlish post ahead. Read at your own risk. )

Having returned from Comic-Con on Sunday at about fifteen minutes after midnight, it is now time for yet another convention report. I swear, I’ll write about something other than books and conventions one of these days. Not sure when, though…

( First impressions )

( Thursday: Fantasy fight scenes, Star Trek, and random geekiness )

( Warner Brothers panel (Harry Potter) )

( In which Corri goes on and on about Wheel of Time )

( Star Wars, Atlantis (spoilery), and the Half Blood Prince (not spoilery) )

( Saturday panels: Superman and Serenity (some spoilers… not too bad, though) )

( Wanderings and Masquerade )

( Narnia )

( Lunch with the stars… well, they’re stars to me! )

Anime Expo 2005 has come and gone. My wallet is lighter, but the grin on my face is not going to be disappearing any time soon. We had a blast. And so, without any further ado, here is my AX 2005 Convention report.

( So I don’t fill up peoples’ friends lists… )

I’m back from Anime Expo now. The past four days have been an absolute BLAST. I love conventions. I love it that we got a hotel AT the convention and didn’t drive from Woodland Hills to Anaheim three times. That was nice. The hotel room worked out surprisingly well, considering that there were six of us girls sharing it, four on the two beds and me and Rei sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags and using padding we had brought.

On Friday morning, we got up at a horridly early hour (or it felt that way to me because I’d been up all night practically trying to make shirts) and drove to Anaheim. We actually made good time and we got to the hotel around 10:30. We found out we couldn’t check in until after 4, so we ate an early lunch out of the back of Care’s car (she had the foresight to bring groceries. I love her.) and headed over to registration. Which took FOREVER. I’m not kidding. We were in that stupid line for a good three hours and my backside is still sore. I heard that over 10,000 people pre-registered this year, and they didn’t have the staff to handle all of those people. It wasn’t bad, though, and I was comatose through most of the waiting in line part due to my lack of sleep and the effort I’d put out trying to be awake enough to drive.

After we got registered, it was over to the dealer’s hall for a short while, then went back to the hotel to check in and set up our beds and take our stuff inside. After relaxing for a while, we headed over to the Anime Music Video contest line. Care, in her genius, had spotted the lady giving out tickets for it and snagged some for all of us. I’d never been to the AMV contest before, and it was GREAT fun. I even enjoyed the pre-show “keep the otaku entertained” part, which consisted of showing winners from previous years. All I have to say is… “Chibi things that kill.” And Also… “YATTA!” Heh heh heh. I need to get my hands on those. The actual entries for this year were very good too… I recognized almost all of the series, and quite a few were from shows I know very well, like X/1999 and Esca. There were a few Kingdom Hearts ones, too, and one that was REALLY well edited. Also, there was a Naruto video to Aladdin that had me cracking up even though I’ve never seen the series, and a Berserk video that reminded me that I WANT to see that series. After the AMV, we all went to the hotel and collapsed.

Friday morning saw Beth and I getting up to get in line for a concert by Yoko Ishida that turned out to have been moved. So, we decided to go to the dealer’s hall and come back later. I spent my first money of the day, and bought the third volume of Saiyuki way on sale for $7.50 (it’s usually 10) as well as a Seshoumaru shirt. We met up with our friend Cat, and I had to go let Rei and Kelli back into the hotel room that they’d locked themselves out of. It was ok, though, since I had been meaning to go back anyway and really didn’t mind. We headed back to go to the concert, which was a lot of fun. Yoko Ishida is adorable, and a very good singer! I liked the songs she sang a LOT, and it was cool to be in that huge room with a bunch of other anime fans, having a blast. After the concert, we checked out Artists’ Alley and the art show for a bit and drooled at other people’s talent. Beth then dragged us all to the Read or Die panel (not that I had to be dragged… I’ve seen the first 14 eps fansubbed and LOVED them.) and I got to see the producer, director, Maggie’s voice actress, and several other people involved with production of the show fielding questions. It was pretty hilarious to see them coming up with funny answers.

I got myself over to the Kenshin cosplay gathering and took a TON of pictures, and skipped dinner because of it. Actually, I have eaten horridly all weekend. If it wasn’t for Garlic Cheeze-its and Nutri-grain bars, I’d be dead. Anyway, I now have lots of very nice pictures of people I don’t know in neat costumes. I also went with Rei to the Inuyasha fan panel, which was run by some VERY obsessive (but cool) fans and a guy that worked on the dub and was also very nice. We got some info on the movie, and listened to other fans nitpick. It did me good to know that other people do that. I do it all the time for Fanfic purposes…

On the way to see Tokyo Godfathers, Rei and I ran into this AMAZING Silent Mobius Katsumi cosplayer. She had Grosspoliner and EVERYTHING!!!!! She was quite nice and talked to us a while and we gave her the address of our Silent Mobuis fanfiction and gushed about how cool her costume was. We ended up running into her several more times, which was neat. I like how friendly and open everyone is at con, and how willing people are to strike up animated conversations with complete strangers. I can’t wait till I actually get my butt in gear and make a costume so people will want to take MY picture! And I’ll be just as nice and cool as all of the people I accosted. I promise. (One of my favorite quotes of the weekend: “Slow down, cute Folken cosplayer… I’m too tired to chase you.” This was said WAY out of his hearing range of course… I hope.)

Tokyo Godfathers was excellent, and I’m really glad I got to go see it. It’s very dark and pessimistic and world weary at times, but it’s also strangely hopeful. It’s about a trio of homeless people who find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve and their attempts to get her back to her family. All of them have sad pasts, and reasons they can’t go back to their families, and I was almost in tears at times, and nearly laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe other times. It was GOOD. Rei wants to buy it now, and I’m glad. Next, we watched “Otaku no Video,” which was just plain hilarious. It was a sendup of all things anime-fan related, and I was scarily able to relate to the main character who gets drawn into the world of anime. It was about two years ago that Megan W. said, “Here, Emily, watch Excel. It’s funny.” Then, a little later, “Here, watch Silent Mobuis. It’s a good series.” Then afterward… “Did you like it? Good… You have five characters to create for a Fanfic we’re writing.” Still later… “Hey, watch this Escaflowne thing. You like fantasy… you’ll like this.” I think that last one is what really did it. Anyway, Otaku no Video was hilarious, though slightly disturbing at the parts where they interviewed truly obsessive people who had no lives. I’m different than that… I go to school and work and do other things… right? Right? *desperate look*

Friday morning, Care, Rei and I went to stand in line for Masquerade tickets. The Masquerade is a big fat deal where people show off their gorgeous costumes and do funny anime skits. We waited in line for about an hour, and got tickets all in the same section with no problem. Once again, we hit the dealer’s hall and I ended up with Escaflowne manga and Rune Soldier manga for a decent price. I was going to buy them anyway, and I got them for way cheap at the con. So I was happy. I had been looking very interestedly at the stuffed Tama (Mitsukake’s cat from Fushigi Yugi) that a lot of the dealers had, and was very seriously considering buying one when I randomly stopped at a table with a bunch of cell books on them. Out of idle curiosity, I flipped open the one that had the Escaflowne cells. For the first few, I saw what I expected. Cells of Hitomi and Milerna. None of the male characters, which is what I was looking for, and expecting to cost over $100. And then… I saw it. A cell of Allen and Hitomi. I looked at the price. It was GOOD. I didn’t even blink. I bought it. *happy happy fangirl squeal of joy* I am now the proud owner of a gorgeous Esca cell. Other purchases of the day included various Peacemaker Kurogane paraphernalia, and Saiyuki keychain, and ROD for Beth since she wasn’t feeling good. Then, of course, Beth paid me back in cash, which was a BAD IDEA since I’d used my card to buy ROD and that gave me more money in my hot little hands… but oh well.

I ended up winning an AX 2002 shirt in the middle of all of this… con staff had a table set up where they were playing random anime songs and giving out old con shirts to the first person to name the anime and the name of the song they played. My Inuyasha obsession paid off and within five seconds of them starting it, I had yelled out, “INUYASHA! My Will!” and gotten myself a neat shirt with Kenshin on the back and a free DVD. I even impressed fans around me. Go me.

At the Viz anime panel, I got to see the first few minutes of the Inuyasha movie that’s coming out soon, and found out about the season one box set… (there goes some MORE of my money. Feh.)

I went back to the room and found most people asleep. So, I curled up with the Tama BETH had bought, and drifted a while myself. Finally, we all woke up and went to get in line for Masquerade. We sat some more, I read manga samplers, and after a lot of waiting we filed upstairs in a single file line to get seated. Then we waited. And waited. And went through the ADV trailer tape 2 and a half times. And cringed at the REALLY bad dubbing in the previews. And made fun of the previews. And talked to the very nice man sitting next to us. Masquerade was 45 minutes late starting, but I’m still glad I went. It was a mix of people who just wanted to show off their beautiful or interesting costumes, people with skits, and groups with dance routines. One very shounen-ai-ish routine that was unfamiliar to us had Care whispering to me, “Something Yaoi this was comes!” which I didn’t hear over the music, so about 30 seconds later, I leaned over and said the same thing to HER. She and I have been friends for WAY too long. Rebecca and I had a “noises that I can’t believe we actually made in public” moment when a group doing “Rose of Versailles” with these gorgeous 18th century French costumes started dancing to “The Riddle” from the Scarlet Pimpernel musical, a song I LOVE and that very much relates to some characters of ours. We squealed. And then clapped. Loudly. I was pleased to hear this morning that that group had won best in show. There were a couple of other very funny sketches… like the .hack group doing 8 bit theater, and the fangirls battling the Shinsengumi from PMK. I cracked up. Once the acts were over, after various technical difficulties and some very crazyinsane mecha cosplay, we waited again for the judges. At first, there was a very neat Chinese martial arts group that came on and did an awesome demonstration. Carrie and I both drooled a great deal. However, after that was over, and the judges STILL weren’t done, we started to get bored. And, though the host was a MASTER at handling large crowds of bored otaku, even he was starting to wear a little thin. So we decided we’d find out in the morning who had won, and left.

This morning, we cleaned up our room and checked out of the hotel, and I realized that I had lost my Hakkai pin. Which was very odd, because I REMEMBER seeing that it had fallen off of my backpack at Masqerade, and then putting it in the front pocket. And now, it’s GONE. It is nowhere. I looked and looked and turned my backpack inside out and didn’t find it. After we checked out, I went to every lost and found I could find and asked about it to no avail. THEN, when I went to buy a new one, the place that was selling them was OUT. I was VERY upset. I even made a sign that said, “Lost Hakkai pin. Very sad. Have you seen him?” and used my new Sephiroth pin to attach it to my backpack on the off chance I might see the person who had found him. It didn’t work, but it was kind of fun to walk around with a sign on me. At least it didn’t say, “will pay cash for yaoi.” Heh.

I managed to blow quite a bit of cash at the last minute because I found even more peacemaker Kurogane stuff. I got a second pencilboard, a VERY nice poster, and, almost my favorite acquisition of the con, a Hijikata pin. It’s not chibi, it’s just his face, and he is SMILING. You don’t understand how amazing this is. He NEVER smiles. Ok, maybe once. He spends most of the series looking upset, angry, or contemplative. So, to find a pin where he’s smiling was quite an achievement. And it’s such a cute smile… The anime I plunked down the most on this year was definitely PMK. I think I’m proud that I got into it before it got licensed, all on my own, and I want to have neat Japanese stuff for it before all of the American merchandise gets released. Next year, there will be a lot more stuff, since ADV got the series, but I will have gotten mine FIRST. Hahahaha! (Kidding, kiddking, I’m not that stuck up about it. I’m glad that it’s coming to America and lots more people will be able to enjoy it. I just think it’s fun that I got on the train early.)

My money spent, I headed over to an event called “Whose line is it Anime,” which was basically “whose line is it anyway” with an anime theme. It. Was. Hilarious. I got most of the jokes, and I even got one of my suggestions taken. They asked for an anime location, and I screamed “A dojo!” at the top of my lungs, and other people heard me and yelled that out too, and they did it! I was pleased. There were multiple Miroku jokes, and the party game with Excel as one of the guests was a blast. Also, Hyatt’s answering machine was GREAT. Care and I had a similar brainwave moment when we both realized how very handsome the guy cospalying as Harry Potter’s Professor Lockhart was. And that he really had longish hair. Carrie even dragged me over to get a picture with him later. I still can’t believe she did that… but I’m glad. There was even poking of ribs as we went down the escalator with him RIGHT behind us and Carrie loudly telling me how cute he was. I feel about 14 right now, but ah well.

After that one last fun event, we headed for home. We stopped off at Beth’s to drop her off so she could get Trip and her car, and her dad took us to Coldstone’s which totally spiked my bloodsugar and made up for the fact that I had eaten very little. I got us back to the house with little incident, and we unloaded the cars and took a look at our AX swag. It’s quite an impressive pile, which I look at it all… not as scary as last year. Money spent: not TOO much. VERY good.

I am now going to go crash somewhere that isn’t going to hurt my precious cell that is currently residing on my bed. The floor… looks rather inviting. I can deal with the floor. It’s where I’ve been sleeping for the past 3 days!