#went a little too hard last night finishing the lilia and silver one so maybe lets take it easy

[0rchidm4ntis]

for the past 2 months I have been starved of any inspiration and now I'm working on three pieces at once planning my fourth one what is happening-

[lazuliblade]

AnimeFest Overview

Four days of waiting in lines and meeting amazing people. It’s over and I’m back to work, but I wanted to write something to capture it all. There are plenty of pictures below the cut.

The organization of the con was pretty terrible to be honest. I think a LOT of people would agree with that. Between the crazy waiting game to enter panels, and the lack of buffer time between panels resulting in the hour-long panels becoming 40 minute-long panels, it was as if the entire con was about wasted time. The volunteers tried their best, but the organizers severely underestimated how big the turnout would be specifically for Kubo, Sayo, and Hiramatsu. With the multiple YOI panels and those three creators being in one event for the first time, the con may as well have advertised itself as a YOI holy land. Of course people would overflow the panel rooms and autograph sessions. 

(Saturday’s live drawing relay. I sat in the front row.)

Despite the craziness, the con did come with its share of fond memories due to the amazing fans there. Meeting and hanging out with my little group, meeting Denki and soukatsu, meeting a mother-daughter team coincidentally from my neighborhood, meeting and hanging out with some great tumblr bloggers, the YOI meetup at a local park, the genderbend Yuuri-Victor-Yurio-Chris-Phichit team, the selfie!Phichit going around on Friday and Saturday, the impromptu dancing Otayuri cosplayers (that Otabek carrying the boombox and dancing with a stoic expression was the most amazing in-character Otabek), the Barcelona-poolside!Chris cosplayer, the Yakov-Victor-Yurio family cosplay group, the giant walking Makkachin cosplayer....

The lowest part of the con, and something that I can feel will haunt me....I didn’t get an autograph. I cried Yuuri!ghibli tears late at night as I handmade thank you cards knowing I wouldn’t be able to personally hand them their individual cards. I finished those cards at 7a.m. on Sunday after an all-nighter, and handed them to a friend who could get them directly to Kubo, Sayo, and Hiramatsu. They’ll probably forget the cards amidst all the doubtlessly amazing other gifts they got, but at least I was able to give a small token of appreciation.

Highlights of the con were catching the Yuri Plisetsky gloves that Kubo-sensei threw to the audience (among other YOI goods that were thrown), sitting in the front rows for all the YOI panels I went to, buying the adorable Yuri Plisetsky plushy, getting free stuff for answering Denki&soukatsu’s questions correctly (and being called a “super fan”!), realizing that I’m way too overqualified for YOI trivia*, getting a Victor manjuu on my second try (and forever laughing at @sachiro for buying 12 boxes and still not getting Victor!), seeing Yuuri “SO HOT” Katsuki being drawn live, and seeing Victor “jalapenos are so hot” Nikiforov + Yuuri “I bathe in Victor’s sweat and tears” Katsuki drawn in the final live drawing relay. 

My final haul (YOI portion only - also, the Victor flower crown button wasn’t bought at the con):

and a separate picture of this card because I forgot it was in my bag...

The Yuri on Museum poster was from Denki&Soukatsu for answering the hard question: “Which four skaters can do the 4Lo?” (Answer: Victor, Seung-gil, J.J., and Emil) The Yurio animate cafe card was from Denki for answering the question: “What are the names of the three main characters’ pets?” (Answer: Makkachin, Victor although nicknamed Vicchan, and Puma Tiger Scorpion - shortened to Pyotya) I got the Minami manjuu free from one of Sachi’s friends who didn’t want it. Emil was my first buy, then the next day I bought two boxes which resulted in Michele and Victor. As soon as I saw the silver, I shouted “I got Victor!” to a stunned Sachi. The first thing we did was poke his hair whorl~ The kinokuniya stall attendee totally nonchalantly turned away when he noticed I caught him smiling at us.

I maaaay be slightly obsessed with the Victor manjuu. He fits perfectly in the palm of my hand, has the heart-shaped smile and adorable slanted eyebrows, and is sooooo soft and squishy! 

I snatched up the Yurio plushy on Thursday within the first thirty minutes that the dealer’s room was open. I had a feeling he would sell quickly. There were two stalls facing each other that had Yurio hidden among the other pokemon, cat, and miscellaneous plushies -- and there was only one other stall at the beginning of the dealer’s room that sold a couple of YOI plushies half his size.  I wonder how long he lasted... I hear that on the last day, some people were looking to buy him from other fans.

*On Friday while waiting two hours for an autograph, the volunteers felt bad for us sitting in section B and C (AKA the “hopeful people that are likely not going to get an autograph” section), and did an impromptu YOI trivia game for prizes. They had ten prizes, so they asked ten questions - they would pick the first person that caught their eye, and if the answer was wrong, they would pick someone else. I didn’t write the questions down, but the ones I remember were: What is the name of Chris’ Short Program song? (A: Intoxicated) Who got gold, silver, and bronze at the Cup of China? (A: Phichit, Yuuri, and Chris) What musical did Phichit’s SP song come from? (A: The King and the Skater) What jump did Yuri Plisetsky teach Yuuri Katsuki? (A: Quad Salchow) Who’s birthday is it today? (A: Minami Kenjirou) Who shot Leo in Guang-Hong’s Free Skate? (A: Georgi -- although that’s not technically accurate, but Georgi was in the little story) What is Victor’s signature jump? (A: Quad Flip) Who choreographed Yuri Plisetsky’s Free Program? (A: Lilia Baranovskaya)

Thank you to all the fellow fans who made it apparent YOI is well-loved, the cosplayers who make walking a con so fun to experience, the very helpful dealers and nice artists who make goods and beautiful art easily accessible, and the hotel staff who were very helpful in accommodating our needs.

Here’s to that brief reprieve from everyday life.

(Sunrise a couple of hours before I left on Monday - along with the autograph that someone in my group was able to receive.) .......I belatedly realized that I forgot to take a picture of myself wearing my dark blue yukata with pink dragonflies. I was going to take a picture from the back and include it in a post. I even put my hair up with elaborate kanzashi... Oh well. Maybe next time.