#Lumicon 2018

[manabingu]

╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ BLAKE SHEPARD ✨💕

Listen... this man... I love this man. I am in love holy frick. Best Boi 10/10 💯 QUALITY human being right thur. Omygod👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 👀💯👌🏼⭐️🌹🎉

Here's some shots of him at the con& panels and a cool time traveling cadaver he drew while studying animation im college eheh 😊! He's so sweet and adorkable. My fave kinda person tbh. He's a singer (he's in a band called Electric Attitude), voice actor & an animator! He has a series he's working on called Robot Girl (which is HELLA awesome btw 👏🏼 👀)

Special thanks to @cozymochi for letting me print that Ginga to autograph. I ran outta time to make anything new/digital ;w; but it really saved me.

I was SO nervous to talk to him about Ginga but he has been so supportive of me in this thing. I've had days where I felt like maybe I wasn't good enough and that making this OC that literally has been saving my life for years was nothing more than lines on a paper that I was just drawing without purpose. And I thought he'd think it was weird or outta the blue to talk about my OC or show up to him cosplaying him but as soon as he asked me to tell him more about him, I haven't stopped tearing up about it ;u;o! He hugged me so many times & encouraged me! I know this is gonna sound strange but he acts just like I imagined Ginga to act too?? So like DOUBLE screams for me QuQ to top it off he loves green tea just like Ginga so I need a medic pls. I always pride myself in being a good casting director but I never dreamed how perfect this fit would be. He holds Ginga's spirit of compassion, love, humility, support & chivalry. He let us hang out as much as we wanted to & he said he felt so loved he wants to come back to my state for more cons QuQ! He looked straight at me and my friends when he said that 💙💙💙 So I hope he does! I wanna hang out again & become his friend TTwTT/ he said I can reach out anytime! YEeeee! I'm sorry in advance if I never shut up about Blake ever again but he was hands down THE nicest voice actor I've ever met (*´꒳`*)

[crankiart]

All the commissions I’ve done so far from the con I went to ~*

[mysteriousquartz]

I haven't been posting cosplay as much here anymore, but here's some progress pics on my halloween/lumicon cosplay

[manabingu]

🌌Awesome Cosplays @ Lumicon 2018! ⭐️

[manabingu]

SO LAST WEEKEND WAS A TRIP 👏🏼

I was having a hella tough week in general and honestly I feel like I NEEDED this Lumicon weekend to just really motivate and replenish my happiness meter from my otherwise chaotic norm of self doubt TTuTT/

As yall been seeing from my posts, I went to Lumicon, it's a small con, it's their first year & they had this Halloween/galaxy aesthetic vibe to it PLUS they invited my fave voice actor Blake Shepard to be a guest & BOY HOWDY I was hella turnt for that and I decided that no matter what I had to attend or so help me *sniff* QuQ/!

As usual, ever since I started attending cons, I've had this tradition where I like to give VAs some gifts (usually 🇯🇵 candy/pocky) to thank them for all their hard work & as a token of gratitude for making me happy through anime and voice acting 💙 I'm a HELLA slow drawer but I try my best & I really try to put my heart and soul into every project. But I wanted to just make everything perfect for Blake cuz he's really special to me. He is best boi. So I took like 3 days to lineart but was running outta time coloring-wise & my friend @cozymochi swooped to the rescue! What would have taken me 48 hrs to color, she legit did in 4. FOUR YALL. Cuz that Saturday, I gave her the lineart & in order to make it to Office Max in time to print, it had to be done by 6pm. YALL KIMMY WAS A TROOPER. I only gave her the lineart and that reference sheet of all the roles and she delivered magic ヽ(；▽；)ノThe amount of appreciation I feel is off the charts for this gal. Seriously, without their help, I wouldn't have made it in time to print or gotten my cosplay maintenance/ other pre-con errands done so thanks fam /;w;/!💙💙

Due to time constraints I didn't get to tell her to pls add some small details I was gonna do (like putting brightness in Otonashi's eyes, linearting Leonard's hair with grey, adding shine to the Parasyte scythe and adding blood drippings on Laito) so when I got home I added those and a few other things with white jelly roll & gel pens & it looked good 😊! It looked nicer irl but I didn't have time to scan it I'm sorry that the lighting in my room sucks but I tried my best QwQo !

BUT LEGIT I WISH I COULD HAVE RECORDED HIS REACTION TO THIS CUZ IT WAS THE MOST PRECIOUS THING AND IT'S TATTOOED IN MY BRAIN (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)!!! He legit jawdropped and he began showing it to his handlers and fellow VAs and random passerbys! I was just informed that he brought it up to some cosplayers I met too so QuQ/ all that hard work,blood,sweat & tears were worth it. I'm over the moon 🌙💕

He really made me feel validated ;w; I made sure of course to give credit to Kimmy for helping me as well but he is just legit the sweetest & hasnt stopped making me feel validated & loved all week on Twitter so QuQ thanks Blake💙 This is why you Best Boi 😊

[manabingu]

Ok as some of you know, this is the exact outfit I wore back in 2015 when I entered and won my first singing competition (Anime Idol at Metrocon) 💙 I designed it and made it all on my own and it was a really important part in my life. It was actually a very hard year for me cuz I was very close to giving up on my life but getting the guts to get back up and sing and perform really made me happy.

So at Lumicon, when this wonderful, sweet girl came up to me incredibly excited and said "Were you by any chance at Anime Idol a few years ago?!"

And I just jaw dropped and exclaimed hella happily YES?! She just started freaking out and saying OMG I REMEMBER YOU! You had that cool costume change and you sang amazing! You deserved that win for sure. LISTEN I WAS CRYING INTERNALLY. She was SO kind 💙🌌⭐️✨😭👏🏼 I can't believe people still remember my past performances ;w; oh my Ra that made my whole weekend even better! She is pepperpopscosplay on Instagram! Check out her stuff! 🌹

[manabingu]

Okie so I went to Lumicon with my @pandaloverwwf and @sakura-chanmasteroftheclow :3!

And I met up with some new buddies of mine! So we will be doin an Utapri group at Holiday Matsuri and at Lumicon I got to meet my future Ai,Tokiya, Ren and Nanami :D !

Also BIG shoutout to @yukashinamori for having the coolest Utapri Itabag I ever seen! One side was pure Utapri and the other side was otomes in general! It was lit up with cute light OMG it was ADORABLE. I loved the Piyo-chan smack in the middle :D hope they can go to HolMat ^^

and a cool Miguel pic at the end there!

[manabingu]

Some behind the scenes photos of me and my friends at Lumicon! We love doin candids like this!

Also I bought Panda her early bday gift! It's Usa-chan from Ouran! 🐰💖

[manabingu]

UPCOMING CONVENTION/ SPECIAL EVENT PLANS:

I WAS CLEANING MY DESK AND I TOTALLY REMEMBERED. I DON’T HAVE TO PAY FOR HOLIDAY MATSURI THIS YEAR XD ahaha! Cuz I won Best Performance at the Singing Contest last year! Well THAT’S a RELIEF. TTwTT! Omygod thank goodness I did that I was freaking out lowkey XD! Anyhow I will be showing my plans in order by con.

LUMICON 2018 ( Sunday Oct. 28th)

I can save moneys QuQo! Also I’m getting myself hype cuz for Lumicon they have this: (ALSO CAN I SAY HOW PROUD I AM THEY HAVE THE HEI MASK)

So what I was thinking. Since my time limit is 5 minutes. I will make a small skit. The theme for Lumicon seems to be “outer space” WHICH IS TOTALLY UP MY ALLEY :D! I plan on wearing my “Galaxy King Ginga” outfit anyway. I can only afford to go one day. But I’m doin it for Blake ;w;o! I wanna meet Blake Shepard! ANYWAY. What I was thinking is I come out on stage and do a small monologue about how I landed on this planet & I’m looking for someone. So I start singing THIS:

Because I wanna create a legendary moment onstage ewe/! And hopefully I can get one of my friends who is going to help me with the end of the skit XD! Or I will hopefully find a person at the con brave enough lol.All they gotta do is hand me something and walk off looking confused XD that’s it lol. Sounds easy~*

KOREAN FESTIVAL: NOV 3 (I’m just gonna hang with my sis & her buds)

JAPANESE FESTIVAL: NOV 4

I heard there’s a cosplay contest. IF THERE IS KARAOKE CONTEST IMMA SING JAP. Also I plan cosplaying Sakai Tadatsugu :D! Both the Korean and Japanese culture festivals are local & we been wanting to go!So YEAH!

RANGERSTOP 2018 Nov. 11

It’s a Power Rangers/Kamen Rider/ Tokusatsu con. I never been to one XD! So this will be a first. I’m mostly going so I can meet my fellow ExAid Abridged voice actor SpecialForm12 ( Dan & Masamune Kuroto) ! I really wanna meet him REALLY bad & thank him for translating my letter to Takanori when he came for Otakon. So we already made plans & we are gonna hang out and chill ^w^ it shall be fun! I decided I’m gonna cosplay Kotaro Sakuma (Koguma Sky Blue) from Kyuranger! Cuz I have a Seiza Blaster, his Kyutama & a black wig XD hahah. Also he’s best boy tbh QUQ/

HOLIDAY MATSURI Con: DEC. 14-16

I’m going all 4 days! AND I AM BRINGING AN ENTIRE UTA NO PRINCE-SAMA GROUP! o>w<o!!!<3333

That’s right! I managed to recruit ALL of STARISH & Quartet Night! As well as a Ringo, Shining Saotome, Nanami Haruka & Tomochika Shibuya! WE HAVE BEEN EXCITED FOR MONTHS! LEGIT WE RECRUITED IMMEDIATELY AFTER METROCON ENDED & in ABOUT 5 days, we had EVERYONE! And we applied for a panel called Uta no Prince Panel: Shining Christmas! --but unfortunately were wait-listed ;w;! We are shooting to have the group on Saturday to take photos and just bring happiness! I am cosplaying Cecil for the group & I find it cute cuz I brought the groups together just like in the anime QwQ!

 But as I mentioned yesterday, I am also planning to do the Singing competition as a duet with Teppong!  ((We are gonna have a call on Wednesday to finalize our duet song choice!)) BUT  I JUST SAW THAT APPLICATIONS FOR IDOLFEST ARE OPEN! I have always wanted to participate in one but I always thought it was a closed event only people who work for the con got to do QwQ! But no! I can apply! YAY! And I REALLY wanna represent the Utapri Fandom but I’m trying to see what I can sing & bring. And whom I will be for the show. BECAUSE of my voice type my strongest choices (as well as what I can cosplay in such short notice because the rules stated you HAVE to cosplay a canon outfit @u@ OH SNAP!)  I might be Ai, Cecil, Tokiya, Natsuki or Otoya poSSIBLY Ranmaru?? BUT I WANNA DO SOMETHING TO REPRESENT! Gah... Imma need to plan... APPARENTLY YOU NEED TO DO 2 SONGS in order to Participate! Gawd I hope I get in! I wish I had a Shion to sing Visible Elf with me ;w;o  But I WILL ask my cosplay group if they’re interested!

[manabingu]

Some shots of my Galaxy 🌌 King 👑 Ginga cosplay @ Lumicon 2018!✨✨

((Milk tea and matcha bread= 💙👌🏼))

[manabingu]

OK SO THE REASON I WAS YELLIN LIKE A BANSHEE WAS CUZ BLAKE JUST FRICKN MADE ME SOB 😭 CUZ HE WENT AND MADE THE PIC I DREW OF HIM INTO HIS PROFILE PIC ON TWITTER!!!!???? AAHHHHHH!!!!! 👏🏼

Listen, I have made pics for a LOT of voice actors but this is the first time I had a voice actor straight up use my art as their profile pic 😭😭😭💙💙💙

I share custody of credit with @cozymochi tho since she helped me color. Like...LEGIT THO. IM SPEECHLESS AND IMMA CRY 5EVER NOW AHHHHHHH!!BLAAAAKEEEE!!! Cherry on top, Apphia Yu the voice actress who also does her own light novels ((and whol I met at Metrocon last summer)) ALSO liked the pic?! SO 👀👏🏼👏🏼👀💯💯💯 Its an UNDERSTATEMENT to say I'm ecstatic right now 8D ((also his cute Beast Boy with hearts gif OMFG BLAKE IM GONNA DIE FAM AAHHH💕💕💕💕💕💕))

[manabingu]

And here we have @warringbeauties ' Diabolik Lovers group asking Blake Shepard to say

"I am the bitchass fedora" as Laito xD

It was amazing omyGOD I love this man hahahhahaha xD 😂 it was perfect 👌🏼!

[manabingu]

And here we have @warringbeauties as Yui and her Diabolik Lovers group! 🎈✨⭐️💕🌌💙 ((Please feel free to tag them individually QuQ/))

They were one of the biggest highlights of Lumicon cuz I've never seen a big ol Diabolik Lovers group! They were all really funny and nice and we all made hilarious jokes with Blake Shepard (voice of Laito) whom I took a group pic of them with 💕✨ They were so awesome! I hope I see them again at future cons💙🎈✨🎼🎵🎶

[manabingu]

I MET MY FAVORITE VOICE ACTOR BLAKE SHEPARD YESTERDAY @ LUMICON OwO

HE WAS JUST AS COOL AS I THOUGHT HE WAS GONNA BE IN PERSON. GAWD I LOVE THAT MAN. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Ok so, I arrived at the con with my friend Panda & my sis, we got our tickets, walked around the venue, checked out where everything was so we could be early to any panels and such. It was a very small and humble con but still I think the people really made everything awesome <3! YO LIKE LEGIT I HAD SO MANY GOOD MOMENTS AT THIS CON IT WAS SO HARD TO COUNT BUT IMMA TRY!!

1. I met a buncha my Utapri cosplay group as well as some fellow fans & I totally advertized that we are bringing all 11 guys & Nanami,Ringo & Tomo & IM SO happy people got excited for that! Yo there wa this REALLY kind girl with like a HUGE Utapri/Otome Itabag with a big Piyo-chan in the middle! Hope they can go to HolMat! We’d all have so much fun!

2. A random maid cafe girl came up to me because she recognized my Galaxy King Ginga cosplay I was wearing from when I wore it at Metrocon’s Anime Idol singing competition in 2015 - the first time I entered & won a singing competition ;w;o! And she was so super kind & said they STILL remember my performance & my epic live costume change! We took a selfie together ^,^ Also I found out they’re friends with my Ren Jinguji cosplay friend hahah XD small world.

 Panda had a photoshoot to attend at noon so sis & I went to check out the Dealer’s Room, it was pretty small but I ended up getting quite a few things actually XD (to my surprise lol) I got Panda an early bday gift,2 wigs, & as I was  making a new vendor friend & buying milk tea & matcha bread ((which was AWESOME BTW, I WANT MORE ;A; hnnnnghh))

 I spotted Blake in his signing booth, and my heart started RACING like 5 GATRILLION MILES AN HOUR & I SQUEAKED. “Hi Blake!” as he was walking by & he looked at me smiling & said hi! I’ll be right back! I’m gonna go crash a voice actor’s panel for 10ish minutes :D! And I politely said Ok! And then I was probably hyperventilating into a paper bag 8)! 

My sis and the vendor looked at me like ARE YOU OK? And I was like “Holy Ra, he is so gorgeOUS ;A; I love him” And the vendor made me laugh cuz she was like “OH HEY, YOU FOUND YOU A SNACC ;D?” AND I YELLED. And then I ran into some of my Utapri cosplay group people (the ones I’m gathering for HolMat in December) we chilled a bit then when Panda was back we went back in the Dealer’s Room & Blake was back :D!

I was NERVOUS AS FRICK but he was super happy when we approached & gave the biggest smile o>w<o , I told him he was my favorite voice actor & I’ve been requesting FL cons to please bring him so I got super happy when he was announced for Lumicon & he was super humbled by that QUQ so we started off by giving him the little candy goodie bag we made ^w^! It had some peach & muscat grape gummies, matcha pocky & haichews. He opened it up, took out the pocky & smelled it happily & was like “What?! Green tea pocky!?” & we were like “Well we didn’t know if you liked green tea” but he exclaimed “Are you kidding me? I LOVE green tea! Arigatou gozaimasu! ^u^” ((CUE MY INNER GINGA INTERNALLY SCREAMING CUZ FCKYEAH GREEN TEA BUDDIES 8D EEE!)

And then I gave him my drawing that I spent the past 3 days making XD! It was a pic of him surrounded by a buncha characters I love that he voices. I did the lineart but my friend Kimmy helped me color it on time so it would be printed the day before the con ;w; thanks fam! His jaw DROPPED when he saw and he just immediately started showing the other voice actors, his handler & everyone who was passing by the booth & I was bashful as HECC cuz I can’t believe he liked it that much QwQ/ !??!?! (also he said props to Kimmy for being so talented! He was SUPER impressed) I told him that I wrote a message on the back but he can read it later ^^. Then as he was signing my Angel Beats DVD a group of Diabolik Lovers cosplayers just came by & they got him to say a HILARIOUS line request as Laito XD (which I shall post later) but we all made a buncha silly jokes & they left and I FINALLY took out my Ginga picture ( I made 2 copies, one for him to keep & one to sign for me) An I told him about how I fan-casted him as Ginga & how I created him when I was in a really dark place emotionally in my life but how Ginga saved me from giving up in life because he inspired me to start drawing,singing & acting again & as I spoke you could tell he really understood me & he was listening intently, he got really touched & I’m still hella floaty on that moment but he was looking at the pic & then he asked me “What’s his story? What is it about if I may ask?” YALL I BOUT STARTED BAWLING THAT HE CARED SO MUCH TO HEAR ME TALK ABOUT HIM AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

And after I told him he looked at me and said “ You know what?...You’re amazing... Come here” AND HE GOT UP AND  I SWEAR HE HUGGED ME FOR LIKE 2 SOLID MINUTES OMYGOD IT WAS THE BEST 2 MINUTES EVER. Blake is so soft & warm & sweet and man I’m just like ;w; still feelin that hug right now ♥ I was just thanking him so much for being a little piece of Ginga’s soul, when he let go he looked directly into my eyes & told me to please keep making more stuff & he signed the pic for me ((I’m gonna hang it on my wall QuQ so I can look at it everyday forever <3)) YALL I’M STILL SHOOK THINKIN BOUT IT.  Then he took pics with me & he did a small voice over for Ginga ;U; AND I BE CRYIN IN THE BACKGROUND CUZ FRICK IT WAS PERFECT CASTING & I HUGGED HIM AGAIN & He said he was very honored that I made him Ginga’s voice actor TTwTT HELP IM DEAD. As he was signing stuff for my sis & Panda he just let us talk to him & chill till we all went to go to his final solo panel on animation (cuz he is also an animator & has his own series called Robot Girl which I DO highly recommend lookin it up  https://www.patreon.com/Robotgirl :D!)

He was like “Oh snap, it’s time for my panel! I gotta start heading over there!” we said “awesome we’re gonna go see it!” Then he replied “Then, c’mon lets go together ^_^”  ((it was SO tempting to wanna hold his hand XD HAHA!)) But on our way to the panel I NEARLY forgot I bought him a “Best Boi” pin from the Artist Alley & I told him “Because you play all my best boys & you ARE best boy ^w^” And he was all blushy & was like “Awww!! Thankssss!!” & he pinned it on his badge ^U^ <333333 QUQ EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! His panel was super chill & informative, he showed us some animation cells, some of his work & trailers for Robot Girl, some storyboards & told us his process about how he goes about making animations ^w^ it was really cool. And I know this isn’t super important TO the panel but I felt him looking at me like 90% of the time as if he was talking to me directly ((he even made a direct reference to Ginga when explaining how you need a good premise first)) ;W; hnNNgh /)w(\ side note he has really cute eyes & a soft smile. But yeh panel ended & we hugged again & we headed out to get  a few pics of my Ginga cosplay before the ready for Voice Actor Farewell Panel. OMG at that panel he said:

 “Guys, I don’t mean to be the one to get all sappy at the panel but I REALLY felt the love this weekend, you guys really made us feel welcomed so thank you so much! I got some nice giftss & awesome art & honestly I really wanna try to come back to Florida!” ((PANDA NUDGED ME. Cuz she basically was like EYYY! You made an impact ;D!!)) And I saw him look at me again and he smiled ///>W<o/// AND I DUNNO HOW IM STILL ALIVE TBH??? WOW.

And then I wished him a safe flight home cuz he had to make it to the airport on time QwQ *sniff* so we spent the rest of the time talking to a Japanese traveling con singer named Kohei who peformed on Saturday at the con (((he gave me some good advice & I added him on FB)) & making last minute Dealer’s Room purchases. OMG two highlights, I educated one vendor who had Utapri & B-Project merch about how T.M. Revolution is the producer of BPro & he was like WAIT WHAT?? I didnt know that?? That’s awesome 8D! And then my vendor friend when I came back she was like “SOOOO fam, how was your MEAL?? Hmm??? Did you have a good SNACC?? ;D” AND I WAS LIKE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OMYGOD YAAAAAAAAAASSSS XD hahaha, bruh she was rooting for me the WHOLE dang time.<333333333

So NEEDLESS TO SAY. I WENT HOME BEAMING LIKE AN IDIOT. Still thinking bout Blake & his warm hugs & his kindness that he showed me & I cant stop looking at this signed Ginga picture ;w;o I never been more happy to meet one of my heroes since Dan Green a few yrs back TTwTTo bless Blake Shepard, he’s a sweetie & he’s got a great sense of humor too :)! This is now one of my fave con memories ever ;W;! And the cherry on top was that he retweeted ALL of my tweets about Lumicon when he got home AND IM JUST A BIG OL MESS ABOUT THAT TOO NOW YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY TTTWTT hnnnghh