#i want them in a linking park- in the end AMV

[arinlangdon]

online friendship AU!

some background:

Arin runs a blog about world history and/or classic literature, FMC runs a blog about fairytales, and MMC posts about food and music. most of the supporting cast are fellow bloggers/podcasters/vloggers/what-have-you

alternately, or additionally?? the fairytale friends have a group chat. Nora is the one who contributes thoughtful and well-researched comments; Lucas is the guy who links all the weird stuff he finds while questing wandering across the internet, Ezra is the sarcastic grump who secretly posts his poetry on LJ/deviantArt; MMC is the mom friend who tries to be the voice of reason. etc etc.

did i mention this takes place in the mid-late 2000s, early 2010s at the latest? i'm talking AIM. i'm talking Naruto AMVs set to Linkin Park. i'm talking the height of Homestuck's popularity.

FMC and MMC still live in Connecticut, but Nora actually lives in Quebec in this timeline, Lucas in South Korea (any East Asian country could do though), Ezra in... some European country—idk, Germany?, and Arin in England.

the timezone difference is too real. FMC sometimes wakes up to 300+ new messages in the group chat because her friends cannot shut up

but of course, she has a private chat with Arin, her best friend out of all of them.

it's one of her favorite parts of the day, when she opens up their private chatroom first thing after waking up and reads everything they left for her overnight

they tell her about the books they just finished reading, books they want to recommend to her, articles about cool scientific discoveries, snippets of poetry that reminded them of her...

she sends them messages about her own reading list, photos of her food (mostly MMC's cooking), memes, cute animal pictures, anecdotes from her day...

sometimes Arin just rambles into the empty chatroom even when she's not around. she finds it very endearing.

Arin is often up at odd hours of the night, and when she’s also awake and available at the same time, what they miss out on in sleep they make up for in real-time chats with their favorite person. in exchange, FMC gets to end her day with quality time with her favorite person.

they start doing video chats eventually. it's so exciting to finally be able to actually see each other!

for one of their earliest video chats, Arin introduces FMC to English confections. their favorite is jelly babies. they show her an experiment involving these candies, thinking it might amuse her

she cracks up and says they have something like that in the States too, only they call it "growling gummy bears", which she likes better for the alliteration and because it's less horrifying than watching "babies" "scream"

Arin decides they like growling gummy bears better too. ...not that it stops them from chomping on a few jelly babies in front of her

(they're a 16-year-old menace, ok)

they definitely have plans to meet up in person someday!

this also definitely ends with them living in the same place, permanently. but that’s probably a post for another day

[arsenicpanda]

The lovely @elizabethbettscooper tagged me for my top ten favorite songs at the moment, and I'm gonna try. Some of these have some great amvs made of them, and I'm going to link them in that case because I love amvs and I can. Now then, in no particular order:

- "L-O-V-E" by Nat King Cole has been stuck in my head for like a solid week, in case it wasn't obvious, but not in an annoying way.  Like, what a song to get stuck in my head, it is only ever charming and lovely and ship-tastic.

- "Otherworld" by Nobuo Uematsu is rad as shit.  All his music is phenomenal, but I'm extra loving this one right now.  And the scene from the game! Oh my god, such a great opening, go watch it here.

- "Heroes & Thieves" by Vanessa Carlton is part of the soundtrack to my life, and I will love it forever.

- "Ball of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)" by The Temptations is such a jam and forever relevant.

- "Pop 101" by Mariana's Trench is just such fun song and parody of Pop music.

- This version of "In the End" by Linkin Park that's a mash up of various styles and so cool. I have no idea what it's actually called or who it's by or where it came from though.

- "United States of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop)" by DJ Earworm is such a great remix.  Like, it takes so many different songs and creates something coherent, and I am very impressed with it.

- "Doki Doki" by 7!!.  I have no idea what the lyrics mean, but it is so upbeat and fun and it warms my heart somehow.

- "Odds Are" by Barebacked Ladies is catchy as hell.  I'm a fan of the band in general, particularly the Stunt album, but I'm digging this one right now.

- "Room @ the End of the World" by Matt Nathanson.  Look, I always love Matt Nathanson, so I'm kind of just picking among a bunch of favorites here, but this is still a really good song.

And I tag @tory-b , @satelliteinasupernova , @stark , @theheavycrown , @bettysnooper , @stillhidden , @a-true-janian-reply , @createandconstruct , and anyone else who wants to

[squeemcsquee]

Anime Iowa 2019: Friday

Hoo boy, I’ve been sitting on this review for too long. I got lazy, I suppose. But the problem of being lazy when reviewing cons is you start forgetting things, and this is one of the ways I like to remember.

Anyway, self-induced guilt trip aside, let’s dive in.

This was my first Anime Iowa but a return visit of sorts for @lechevaliermalfet - I say “of sorts” because he attended in the early years of the con and when it was in Coralville. For 2019, Anime Iowa was in Des Moines.

Just like when we attended Anime Midwest last year, @lechevaliermalfet and I drove to the con on Friday, rather than booking an additional night in the hotel. Well, he drove - I just goofed off on my phone in the car and snapped a photo for some of our friends as we passed by Bettendorf.

It’s our twisted version of this: 

We didn’t quite get started at the time we planned, due to some last-minute grocery shopping for at-con meals. Des Moines is about a 4-hour drive away, and while we didn’t figure we’d arrive right at the start of the con, I think we both initially expected to arrive before 1pm. Oh well. 

Finding our hotel and the con itself was easier than I’d feared. We were staying at the Comfort Inn and were basically right off of the interstate. 

What I did find interesting was that we actually had our names checked against a guest list by a security guard in the hotel parking lot before we could park. When we did check in, we were greeted by a fellow nerd, who commented (based on our shirts) about “being among my people.” 

We treated ourselves to a king room and it was very comfortable for the weekend, honestly. 

From the hotel, we walked to the convention center, which was only a few blocks away. I discovered that I could easily hit a few PokeStops during that walk. 

Once we got to the convention center, THAT is where things got confusing, as we weren’t certain of the appropriate entrance.

When we did find it, a helpful Anime Iowa staffer was seated outside, giving directions to the registration desk.They boiled down to “go to your right till you get to the escalators, take those upstairs, then turn left, go down the hall, turn right, down the hall, and right again...and then down the escalators. There are signs, don’t worry!” 

...Yeah. Despite one set of doors being fairly close to where we walked in, they didn’t allow two-way traffic into the registration / official con merch / snack bar area. So if you were getting your badge, buying Anime Iowa swag, or just trying to nom some fries, you had to go upstairs and across the con center to go back downstairs where you wanted to be. It...really wasn’t that practical. I’m sorry. @lechevaliermalfet probably heard me whine about it for a good chunk of the weekend, as it screwed with my sense of direction - which is shaky at best when in new territory. 

Registration itself was actually fairly quick and painless. We registered at con, since we actually weren’t certain until the week beforehand that my work schedule would work out (my job is regularly short-staffed). Our poor starving registration staffer thankfully got munchies delivered right as they handed us our badges. 

After that, we just wandered for a bit, getting a feel for the convention center and the atmosphere. And I have to say, Anime Iowa is very welcoming. We made a few new con friends over the course of the weekend, actually. I hope we get to see them next year. And there were more fans who appeared to be in their 30s, like us, though plenty of younger fans were running around too, of course. Anime Iowa also constantly paid homage to older anime with the artwork of their mascot, Buu-Chan.

Also, folks on staff clearly had an awesome playlist for the music going over the con center speakers whenever the con was open. I heard many beloved anime opening and ending themes, Disney tunes in Japanese, and more. 

I know we browsed the dealer’s room off and on during the con and we did hit the AMV room at least once in between panels, but I can’t give quite the blow-by-blow I’ve managed in the past, partly because of how late I am on this review.

@lechevaliermalfet thought it was beyond wrong that there was a Charlotte plushie there. I loved it but didn’t buy it.

Thankfully, I did screenshot the schedule, so at least I still can remember the panels we went to!

But as an aside, that was the other major organizational aspect of Anime Iowa that bothered me. The printed program listed the full panel info...but in alphabetical order instead of chronological and some panels weren’t listed. The missing listings didn’t bother me as much - that’s just sadly a hazard of having to do some last-minute shuffling after you’ve sent your order to the printer. But not having a chronological schedule that I could flip through meant I was constantly checking my phone for information - I took screenshots of the web schedule and referred to those or the posted schedules by the panel rooms to verify I was in the right place at the right time.

VS

Anyway, our first panel of the day was the Q&A with J. Michael Tatum. Now, I’m honestly not the best with remembering who voiced what, with a handful of exceptions if a character left an impression. So I couldn’t initially place characters with the name - but I didn’t mind. I learned early on, from when @shbumi and I were basically the only guests at a minor voice actor’s panel at Anime St. Louis way back when, that talent panels are always informative. And usually entertaining, though that can depend on the hour of the day and how caffeinated the guest is. 

Our second panel of the day was Greg Ayres’ Q&A panel. You would think we’d be bored of attending his events at cons now, seeing as how he’s almost always around at Anime Zap. But nope - and at Anime Iowa, in all of his panels, we were rewarded with some new stories we hadn’t heard before. And Ayres’ storytelling ability is part of why we love his panels.

Our third panel of the night was Six Degrees of Shinji Ikari. It’s sad that this panel only attracted a small crowd, honestly. It relies heavily on audience participation and bullshitting abilities. And yes, it really is just using the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” social game, only done with anime/game characters. But it was super entertaining - more so when the challengers weren’t familiar with both of the characters they were expected to link. 

The fourth and final panel was Greg Ayres’ 18+ panel. Some classic stories referencing Grindr and Jigglypuff, but also newer stories involving VAs farting in unfortunate circumstances and determining the question of “What do you do when you are in a bathroom with no TP/kleenex/towels/etc and need to wipe?”

Also, Greg Ayres’ doesn’t allow photo/video during his panel, but he was goofing off with his hair beforehand and I did snag a photo of that.

After that, the con center closed down for the night. @lechevaliermalfet and I did get slightly turned around, since we followed the crowd exiting the building. The upside to that is that we learned that the Hyatt that was hosting late-night events was connected via skywalk, and just how far it was from our hotel. But that was all the exploring we felt up to for Friday, so that also ended our con for the day.  

My Anime Iowa 2019 coverage

1) Cosplayers of Anime Iowa, Part 1

2) Cosplayers of Anime Iowa, Part 2

3) Anime Iowa 2019: Friday (current post)

4) Anime Iowa 2019: Saturday

5) Anime Iowa 2019: Sunday 

[theotherwesley]

x2 Eleven Questions Combo!

Tagged by the delicious @imindhowwelayinjune​ and my lucky star @crocordile​

( ˘ ³˘)❤ 

The rules: answer your set of questions, add 11 of your own, tag 11 ppl.

Firstly I shall distract June from important writing projects! :D

1. If I gave you $20 and told you you had to spend it right now, what would you spend it on?

Well, I’m always a slut for food! 

2. If you waved your foot in the air to the immediate left of you what would you kick?

There’s a 25% chance I’d collide with my wacom tablet, 25% chance I’d destroy all my foot bones on the corner of the side table, and a 50% chance I’d knock over the little electric fan that keeps my whole computer station at a livable temperature. 

3. There’s a new spider in my sink. Name it.

The USS Española. I wish your sink-spider well on her maiden voyage.

4. Describe one thing you’d like to create (eg a specific story, art, type of pancake, etc)

A webcomic. 

But also, eventually, maybe, a major-leagues script of some kind (movie, tv, game, podcast, etc. I’m not picky). 

5. Describe one thing you’d like to consume that someone else created (eg a specific story, art, type of pancake, etc)

A L L. SLURPSLURPSLURPSLURP POUR IT INTO MY DEVOURING MAW (except fanfic-- then feed it daintily to me word by word with a small spoon; my tolerance levels plummeted after college and it is necessary for me to consume them carefully, to avoid overload.) 

6. If you were a cartoon character, what outfit would you always be drawn in/what features would make you identifiable?

Ideally, a trim, hunter green dress coat with grey silk shirt and gloves, a crisp cravat, and copper embroidery. 

Realistically, this damn stripy knit dress that I always wear because donning it requires the least amount of effort to meet the bare minimum requirements for public decency and it does not restrict my slouching. 

-- Bonus: Draw yourself as a cartoon character - take no more than five minutes, and include the sketch here.

7. Tell me some gossip about someone I definitely don’t know

So like, get this: ...................she...............did..... nope, I got nothing. I got no hot takes. I’ve failed the gossip portion of this survey. 

8. Without checking to see if it’s correct, type something you have memorized (a line of poetry, a lyric, an equation)

You’d have me embarrass myself in my own home, I see how it is: 

The very deep did rot, O Christ!

That ever a thing should be!

And slimy things with slimy legs 

Crawled upon the sea

---Compare: 

The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon the slimy sea.  WHOOPS WELP I GOT THE SLIME IN THERE ANYWAY

9. Go to the elf name generator, generate a name, and tell us what the parts of it mean

“Lothpen”-- Flower person   (✿◕‿◕) 

10. Bonus: Describe who this name belongs to

A deeply traumatized orc-fucker who makes everyone just a little uncomfortable.

11. What’s something that made you laugh out loud recently?

Standing with my boyfriend in the kitchen, just... staring at the dishwasher in silence, waiting for the timer to go off so we could finally put cereal in a goddamn bowl instead of eating out of tupperware like animals until we both cracked up. ADULTHOOD.

12. What trope do you secretly love that people like to say you shouldn’t? (eg self-insert characters, purple prose, chat fic, pumpkin lattes - you know, whatever the latest fun is that we’re not supposed to be having)

I’m a dirty, problematic villain hoarder and I love me some captive-to-lover / nemesis-to-lover tropes. 

And now time for Juliana ⚈̤꒫⚈̤

1. What was the last picture you took with your phone/camera that you liked? Can you post it?

HEHEHEHEE I WAS PHOTOGRAPHING M’ WEE BUNS 

2. What’s the last meme you enjoyed, and a meme you can’t stand?

I’m a big fan of the posts that cut off at the end and people just assume they died and/or were assassinated before they could finish :’D

Meme I can’t stand: Nut. >:| 

3. Give me a song and what it makes you think of, or what you like about it

Breaking the Yearlings by Shearwater gets me a montage of the War of Wrath featuring lots of epic last stands and vengeful staring. 

4. The last time you were pleasantly surprised

Please don’t hate me but I’m actually enjoying the last season of Game of Thrones. :’>  THE CRAP BITS ARE STILL CRAP but it’s kind of refreshing to see the plot actually... progressing? XD idk. I still like the actors involved and most the characters, despite some very OoC writing. Also i’m shallow and it’s pretty. 

5. A physical book you have and love as an item

Oh so many! I love most of my books carnally. 

6. Your phone’s bg and/or lockscreen?

MY LOCKSCREEN IS A BUN, SURPRISE her name is Mallow. <3

My background is...... i-it’s Vladimir Mccrary because he looks like Sauron  >\\\>

7. I know I always ask this one, but is there a gif or reaction image you like but that you haven’t been able to use yet? If not, just give me your current favorite gif.

this motherfucker makes me laugh so hard every tim i see it goddamn

8. One thing you would change in your favorite media thing (book, movie, show, video game, etc)

I would be the one writing it, and/or they’d get a proper goddamn editor. 

9. A non-American movie you like

SO MANY?? AUGH. Um, I really like all of Park Chan-Wook’s movies?

10. You’re transported to the setting of the last fic you read. How screwed are you?

@imindhowwelayinjune​‘s death fic drabble WELL, MY CHANCES OF SURVIVAL AREN’T SO GREAT??? Maybe I’m just abandoned in the woods to become a First Age cryptid.  Pray for me.

11. stealing this from VV but it’s a great question: what’s the nearest art thing to you rn?

I am surrounded by art at all times, we have no wall space. XD  The closest thing is probably the pinboard behind my computer? It is covered in little art post cards and dolls and stickers and things, INCLUDING A BUNCH OF YOURS EEYYYY :D

12.(bonus question: what’s a fandom I have that you hate/blacklist/don’t get?)

Rick and Morty e___e to me it just seems like fake-deep nihilism masquerading as wisdom, shock-fodder, and humor that’s indistinguishable from South Park except that it’s left-leaning. I know people who like it say it’s got good moments and redeeming moments of compassion, but I just don’t see the point of wading through gross humor and easily-punctured cynicism to get to it.  

THAT’S IT! OKAY UMMM ...I DON’T KNOW WHO HASN’T BEEN TAGGED YET? I am slow at memes. :’D I really enjoyed reading everyone’s answers though because you’re all so very lovely and it feels like sharing at a sleep over. <3

Instead of tagging ppl, anyone who wants to can choose questions they like and answer them in the comments or with a reblog!  

1. What’s a song you associate strongly with a specific character or scene?

2. Name your favorite mushroom, or favorite pollinator. 

3. What is your favorite pre-post-modern art movement?

4. Find a perfume description on BPAL that you think describes or personifies you in some way.

5. A line from a poem, play, or novel that makes you shiver.  

6. What’s a trait / talent / look / habit you find particularly attractive in another person? 

7. How do you imagine things? Do you have cinematic pictures play in your head, or is it like a stage play taking place on a blank stage, or something less visual and more abstract?

8. Last thing you googled as reference for a fic/drawing/writing project?

9. Link me a music video, AMV, or animation that really lights your fire.

10. Favorite epoch in fashion (western, non-western, ancient, modern, whatever), particularly one you think you’d look good in. 

11. Did you have a fictional character or imaginary friend in your youth that “lived” in your head, or was present in your consciousness somehow? If so, who/what were they?

[xladymalice]

Time to answer SOME Asks! xD - Part 2

Let’s put this sweetie at the top of the ask-replies. I kind of don’t want to hide him x’D <3

Anon 18: Working on sin currently too. But it takes freaking time. So much time. Just take this random doodle that I haven’t uploaded so far:

That’s how you get Pup horny btw. That’s a critical hit for him.

Welp.. there’s a ton more asks.. let’s go on then... hahaha....

@blackroses113sin18 Don’t be jelly D: it’s never good to be jelly! (Except for food, then I’ll take you and eat you up) Oh dear.. then you’re a veteran cookie or the like. It’s always great to read that some of you started to follow me just right when I started to join the Undertale fandom. I’m filled with determination and delight to see that I actually managed to hold your interest so far. I guess I’m doing a good job then. Thanks alot sweetie! I’m always trying to improve on my art and the more I draw these skellies the better I get. Like.. my very first attemps were so much harder and they didn’t seem right to me. I had to find my own style and in the end I’m kind of okay with it now. I don’t draw super cute and fluffy stuff.. my style has never been one of these cutie ones. I always do worry that I don’t do good or that I draw skellies super weird in comparison to others (as I said: my Sanses are bigger than “the mainstream” ones... ha) Lemme smooch and love you. When I read this ask you really brighten up my day. Sometimes I feel down and this one really did good on cheering me up. Thanks alot!

@soraya-chan Hm, I need to be in the mood of drawing something else tbh. I think the most cookies and random dudes should know by now that I’m super obsessed with Swapfell and Underswap. You maybe did notice it: I did draw some Underfell too and even Fellcest in some way. I do like the Fellbros, but my love is rather focused on Fellpaps than Red here. I will have to disappoint you again, dear ^^ I’m not interested in many other characters of Undertale other than the skeles. And in general no GrillbyxSans. I do watch stuff like that and accept it, but I won’t draw it myself. (I really need a good reason for that.)

I’m trying to consider other characters but... I would waste my time and strength on things I don’t like? That doesn’t make any sense for me and four you either. Pic’s look always trashy if I don’t want to draw it. Of course I could force myself, but where’s the point? If people want to see explicit couples they can commission me to do it. Commissions have a complete other motivation for me since I want to make this crazy supporter happy who likes my stuff this much. Sure, I do look at suggestions, but I’d rather take suggesteions into consideration that aim at my favorite skellies, which are Swapfell right now. (Underswap and even Underfell will be still part of) Thanks for your understanding :)

@vixenredfox HECK YEAH. I love him too D: like wtf, I’m so thirsty for him.. I need more yandere sfpap with me. Especially my possessive, crazy asshole... fckkk Glad my art does make you happy!

Anon 14: Makes absolutely sense anon. It’s almost losing the fun how many people want to hug my Swapfell Bro’s, are too scared or act like they’re not dangerous at all. Welp, try to hug them. You’ve seen how angry both can get. So uh.. I think it’s not good to piss of any of them. If you do something they don’t like automatically both will be mad. They are deeply connected to each other and they don’t like seeing the other angry. So both woul attack the one who annoys them, y’know? No fun game there :D

Anon 15: Working on it D: please be patieeeeent

Anon 16: Hah, you should see him if Pup does make him laugh for real. Then you’ll die a thousands of happy deaths. I mean.. ok ok.. at the x-mas special we got close to his genuine smile.

He loves his brother truly after all <3

Anon 17: No shit. A pile of bones that manage to get me horny. That’s just sick. I’m thirsty for fucking skeletons. Possessive ones. Who are basically freaks and psychos. I need some therapyst... but I’m sure nothing will help me to get out of this mess... (It’s still a pain to draw them ‘naked’ ...)

@flamefiends I hope you sweet, sweet cookie did see my newest comic “Dangerous Move”. Then you can fangirl some more over that freak. Gosh, I’m a sucker for psycho Pup.

@lulumoonprincess Heh, you will see some. But it also take times... like.. it’s a nsfw comic I’m working on and sometimes I’ve got troubles with drawing stuff like that. I don’t want to present tons of shit D:

Anon 19: You wanna fite me, cookie? We can do this right in front of all. Welp, we’ll see if you get what you want or go crying in a corner ;p

Anon 20: Hmm... maybe if I’m in the freaking mood for it :D good smut doesn’t happen forced! It’s rather sudden and boom!

Anon 21: You sure, Anon?

I think he could have anyone if he’d be interested~~~

Anon 22: Uh..uh.. don’t compliment me so much.. I’m really not this good with compliments... uhh... Q///Q Thank you sooooo much, Anon! I don’t know why you’re so shy to write me, but let me smooch you and overwhelm you with lots of love. My heart was all warm and fuzzy. I am always happy to read stuff like this... There are honestly times I feel that followers don’t really look at my art and postings in general. I know that not everyone is that interested in the artist himself but the comic and shit. Hearing that you went through my galery means alot to me! I hope I can make your day a bit better with each post by me!

@babypizzawonderland Roger that! I’m alwas on duty to create some random, but complex art! Mwehehe! Thanks dear <3

@luckydazephantom Hehe~ I’m listening to a lot of stuff. But usually it’s rock. I am terribly in love with Skillet, Three Days grace, Linking park. There are so many great bands. I even like some german rock bands, altough I usually prefer the english ones. So... uh... (some of the music I listen to is from AMVs. So uh.. deal with it. xD)

This. This. This This. Maybe This. This. Uhhh.. sometimes I’m super into nightcore. Maybe this.

@marookooart The question is what kind of ghost and why does it want to smooch me? How can I even smooch a ghost? I would fall through him right? xD

Anon 23: It’s always weird to read that I am suddenly the fav tumblr of someone... gosh, stop making me blush here. You’re welcome dear! That author is freaking amazing, you should try to read her other fics too! They’re reaaaally good!

Anon 24: Interesting question you’ve got there. I was confused a little since there’s still room to mix shit up... and sometimes I’m too stupid to read the things right. So.. if Pup would see Blue crying he would probably not care at first. However... looking into that teary face would remind him of something he really cares about. So he still would go there and check on him and MAYBE even comfort him like he did in xSympathy. He might be an asshole but he has a soft, weak spot for this one skele. And Blueberry does remind him alot of that special one. After all... SWAPfell has similiar traits with the Swaps~

Anon 25: Ohh I see. But.. but... it is really that interesting to see me freak out and hype stuff? xD Aren’t you bothered by my own fangirling or something???? Hahaha. I could talk about the fic too, if people want to discuss it. Usually I’m pampering my sweet muse on her AO3 account with comments or PM her. That’s where I really freak out and flood her with thoughts and feelings. Gosh, sometimes I do worry that I annoy her...... x’D I do tend to talk lots of trash and weird things, if I’m into something hahaha. But well, I kind of feel honored that someone is this interested in my opinion. I rather thought it would be boring for others to know or stuff... since talk is not as interesting as some picture for the most? Idk...  You’ll see my excitement soon enough again XD

[ddrkirbyisq]

Saturday -- Day 2! It was a really chill day overall today -- not that I really minded much! I got up slightly earlier than expected and decided to do eyeliner-only for my makeup -- a decision which I definitely don't regret!  I was out of the door a bit earlier than expected and parked at Safeway again...which, I now realized afterwards, was a mistake -- the parking lot across the street is cheaper, both on weekdays and weekends!  I probably realized this on previous years too but just totally forgot about it.  So I'm making (another?) note to myself here that I should park in that lot instead. Anyhoo, I headed to con and met up with Angela, whom I ended up hanging out with for basically the entire day! :D  We ate lunch at this Malaysian place which was not half bad at all, then while I was photographing this Merida cosplayer (yay Merida!) this super random lady came up and said something about the Malaysian food and that we should go again something something she's there something something (????).  And she asked us if we were from Malaysia (uhhh, no?), and where we were from (uhh...here?).  Very odd.  I basically said "okay okay okay sure okay okay whatever" and that was that.  Our best guess is that she worked at the place we had just come from and ....saw me there or something?  but had left, and then recognized me again on the street from my distinctive costume.  ...  or something.  We were quite confused. After that we spent a good deal of the day just wandering around and doing random things, including skimming through the dealers hall a bit, and going through the first two rows of artist alley (which I had skipped yesterday).  We also spent some time in the gaming hall, where I played some more Tetris, including a pretty good master run where I topped out somewhere in the 800s or 900s and got an M1 (M2?) rank.  Nice!  We didn't get to play Bishi Bashi, but I did hop onto the 3rd strike machine and beat two other people pretty handily (heheh), despite my execution being pretty off (I'm going to blame the sticks, as fighting game players are prone to....but for good reason, stick differences REALLY do throw you off a lot, especially when it's a different type of gate or stick than you like to use).  We also had a run on Beatmania 3 (not IIDX, sadly -- there was no IIDX cab this year due to some issue or another), which was kind of fun. We spent some time wandering back and forth -- also I ran into a record number of people from MZ today for some reason O_o -- and also at one point stopped by Stage Zero to watch the B&W ball staff perform some random dance stuff (we said hi to Russell at this point too).  After that we plopped ourselves down on the floor to the right of stage zero where I sprawled out my dress (every year I try and make some time to just sit on the floor with my dress laid out in a circle), and we chatted, people-watched, and had people take photos of me.  Jeremy also said hi to us at this point, having just made it into the final bracket for smash 4 (go Jeremy!), though he would end up getting knocked out thereafter. We met up with Nate and he wanted to check out the tail end of the AMV contest, so we went into that and got to see the last few, which were on the comedy side.  We split off from Nate and I met up with Lann, Alex and co in the Gaming Hall, got a photo and chatted a bit, and then it was time to start thinking about dinner!  We briefly said hi to the RWBY cosplay group before venturing off on our own to dinner...which we decided to get at Safeway!  It was not only convenient since it was right where I had parked, but also ended up being pretty tasty too -- I got myself a toasted sandwich with salami, cheese, veggies, and pepperoncinis -- which I had literally the hardest time communicating to the guy on the other side of the counter, "pepperoncinis" partly because this was the first time I realized how that word was actually spelled (seems that it's also spelled "peperoncino" sometimes too!), and partly because the other guy thought I was talking about pepperjack cheese or something.  I also didn't realize he was going to ask whether he should toast it and then ask for toppings afterwards.  The end result was that he eventually understood what I wanted but put the pepperoncinis (peperoncinos?) on before he toasted the sandwich, which was...I guess unusual.  Communication is hard, lol.  Fortunately the sandwich tasted great anyways, and I got to pair it with a Naked juice smoothie -- my favorite treat, Orange Mango! (which I still have not seen a large size of....) That was it for Fanime today!  After that we drove off to the Art Boutiki where Aivi & Surasshu were going to perform.  Turns out we were wayyyy early and nobody else was there and they weren't ready to start checking people in either, so we just hung out outside at some tables and ate our dinner while chatting some more.  We went in, waited around, and surprise -- ran into Vu and Rose, who were there for the concert too!  We caught up a bunch, chatted, and then enjoyed the concert, which opened up with Noah Hafford (very fun, good stage energy), Omniboy (great music, pretty progressive sound, but also really hit the spot with some sweet rhythms and stabs and such), and Slime Girls (I wasn't as big of a fan, but they seemed fun!).  And then it was onto our beloved Aivi & Surasshu (whom I had gotten to say hi to earlier before they went on)! Aivisura had a great set and I was so happy for their performance!  They played a handful of stuff, including Lonely Rolling Star (ahhhhh!! *squeal*), Here's How! (very fun, very groovy, a song that I didn't realize was so great to listen to while standing up), a cover of Yuri on Ice (which holy crap, gave me chills -- just...the emotion...wow), a song from their new album (so cool!), and a final song from Steven Universe for all the SU fans.  Lonely Rolling Star (I keep typing "Love Everlasting", haha) was great as always...the song from their new album was super interesting and you can tell that their musical style has really developed since The Black Box and all the work they've done for SU.  And they really did great in terms of performance this time too!  It was super fun and surasshu's jammin was less awkward-adorable and more just plain fun and awesome :D  The highlight was Yuri on Ice though, wow, I really felt that in a big way.  I haven't even seen most of the anime, and have only heard that song like once before, but man... And that was it!  I stayed behind for a bit to say hi to aivisura, give them my shiny new business cards, as well as two special ones with the Love Everlasting art on them.  It really makes me happy to know that they are still thankful for Love Everlasting, but even more happy to see them still making great things that I can connect with, as a musical artist.  It made me smile, too, to see another fan telling them that their music helped bring him through difficult times in his life.  Looks like I'm not the only one, heh. Photos from today:

Link taking a selfie......

...and an actual photo, lol.

Merida!  A really well-done outfit.  This was also right before we were ambushed by confusing Malaysia lady...

Adventure time!

A REALLY legit group of Marvel heroes.  Look at that Gambit!!!

 A first-run reddie!

Giant moogle!

Dragon Maid.  I don't know anything about Dragon Maid, but this costume was so pretty, wah!

A random assortment of characters, lol!

Aivi & Surasshu setting up for their awesome gig :D

More loot!  I picked up this cute Sumikko Gurashi folder for just $2 at the Dealers Hall :) That's it for today! As for tomorrow...I didn't get contacted regarding speed dating so I'm assuming that's off the menu (shrug...).  First things first, I gotta get up and drive all the way over to SF in the morning to play chauffeur for some people (zzzzzz).  But then I'll be relatively free for the rest of the day -- technically I'm supposed to have more private instruction time from 12:30-1:30 at the B&W ball place but I'm not even too concerned about that to be honest, I might just let them know I had my share already.  B&W ball itself is tomorrow night, but aside from that I'm mainly just hoping to hang out with Lann, finally get to play Melee with Eddie, hang out at con for the last day that I can, and play some more games of TGM3. Things have been pretty good so far.  Let's keep it up!