#youmacon 2014

[endless-traveler]

1uparts:

and its done. Final print for youmacon 2014 featuring the mega babes~

[brawlcentral]

The 2023 SSBBRank: 20–11

This is part 1 of 2 for the SSBBrank 2023. Read Part 2 here: The 2023 SSBBRank Top 10

2023 has been a good year for Brawl. Super Smash Con this year was the largest event in almost a decade, since Apex 2014, and we’ve had 11 (!) events qualify for rankings this year. Brawl is looking to be in a good place for next year, with more events, an online player-base that will only grow, and more. And with this, we are bringing the SSBBRank from a multi-year ranking into a single year ranking. Every event considered here was from 2023. And as we move forward, each year will be able to have its own single year ranking. If you want to join in on the Brawl action, just join us in the Brawl Central Discord server! But for now, let’s take a look at who the best Brawl players in the world were this year.

Methodology:

This ranking considered 11 tournaments throughout the year, starting with Sweet Spot 7 in March and ending with Brotherly Love Fall Fest in November. Any tournament that was C tier or above on the SSBBRank TTS had its results considered for this ranking. Players qualified to be on the ballot by obtaining the necessary placing at one of the considered tournaments (see the TTS for specifics). The ranking was made by five panelists, ninja1167 (me), albs, Ashley, streety, and ElvisNeverDied. Each panelist was given the placements and head-to-heads of each player, and was asked to create a ranking of every player on the ballot. After this, the individual rankings were averaged together, and the panelists voted to make adjustments to the averaged list. If a proposal gained a majority support from the panelists, it would go through. The panelists also voted on the number of players who would make the ranking, and it was decided on 20, which brings us back in line with the 2017 and 2019 SSBBRanks.

20. Max Power

Sheik is a character who has a lot of flaws, the largest being her inability to kill the opponent. Despite her flaws, Max Power has been able to pilot Sheik to success. At Super Smash Con 2023, he defeated Ness682, and reached 17th, losing to Player-1 and Ish. Later, at SSC Ranbats, he would place 5th, defeating Ness682 again, and nearly took a set from Bike, going to game 5. Despite not attending very much this year, Max continues to lab out new tech and strategies for Sheik. Watch out for what he could do next year, and maybe he’ll show us that his mid tier isn’t so bad after all.

19. Dabuz

Dabuz only had one tournament this season, Super Smash Con 2023. At this tournament, he took down Big D and Azazel, but had some unfortunate bracket luck beyond that. His character, Olimar, is one of the best characters in the game. However, the character does struggle against Ice Climbers, and Dabuz happened to run into not one, but two of them. He would end up losing to Hoenn and Lux for 9th place, not a bad placing but a bit of a fall from his top 4 finish last year. Despite this, we all have seen what Dabuz is capable of, and if he chooses to compete next year (which we all hope he does), look out for him to bounce back to his former heights once again.

18. Fabian

Fabian, with his Marth, is one of the best players in Norway, behind Gardex and Bike, and his results this year have shown it. At Smashborg Sesh 5, after beating Edeas, he would even take a win over Gardex, only losing to Bike for 2nd place. Despite dropping a set to Gardex at Smashborg Sesh 6, he still placed 3rd at that tournament, and gained wins over Edeas and Afrotwist. He’s already been making waves in Norway’s Brawl scene, and with a great year in sight, watch for Fabian to make even more upsets next year.

17. LOE1

LOE1 only attended one event this year: the Michigan regional Youmacon 2023. However, at this event, he would end up picking up some great wins, defeating Ori, Chia, and Lain in Grand Finals before losing in the reset to finish in an impressive 2nd place. Taking down one of the top 10 players in the world is no small feat, especially for having not played in such a long time. Maybe this will be a return to prominence for the Wario main who was once in the top 60 on the SSBBRank. With this ranking, he is the first Wario main to have made a global ranking since 2014, showing that he and the character still have what it takes to compete at the highest level.

16. Vex Kasrani

Vex last entered an offline Brawl tournament in 2020. He hasn’t entered Smash Con since 2019. However, this year he and a couple others from the Philadelphia region began putting on their own local tournaments, which attracted attention from other ranked players who lived nearby. At Brotherly Love in September, Vex would showcase that he doesn’t even have to play his main to compete at the top level. He won this tournament over Kyoz using Fox against Kyoz’s ZSS, and picked up a win on Hinkage as well. With the return of the Tri-state Brawl scene, Vex has shown that he has what it takes to not only compete, but dominate his local competitors, which includes some of the best players in the world.

15. RipplePuff

RipplePuff entered this year with a promising start, motivated to achieve higher than what she accomplished last ranking. RipplePuff first entered Sweet Spot 7, and managed to achieve 3rd place at the tournament, falling short to Lux while still managing to take wins over Fino and Chia, which the latter was ranked 9th on the 2020–2022 SSBBRank. However, due to circumstances that have occurred outside of Brawl, RipplePuff could not attend any more tournaments for this season, however, there can always be next year.

14. Lain

Lain is a legend of old school Brawl. He was one of the best players in the world in 2009, and has continued to enter Brawl events at majors even in recent times, and still does well at them, for example he made top 16 at Super Smash Con 2022 last year. This year, his first tournament was The Big House 11. Despite his 7th place finish seeming a little lackluster at first, he only lost to top 5 players Player-1 and Gunnermaniac, and picked up wins on Merrick and Grunyan Using Meta Knight and Ice Climbers. Then, just a couple weeks later, he would have his best performance of the year at Youmacon 2023. Lain would end up winning this event, defeating Chia and LOE1 twice. What’s even more impressive? This event had Meta Knight banned, and so lain decided to use King Dedede instead to take the victory, putting himself on a global Brawl ranking for the first time since 2009

13. Big D

Big D is a Brawl veteran from the early-to-mid 2010s. This year, he took the plunge and participated in his first supermajor Brawl tournament: Super Smash Con 2023. He made a splash by gaining wins over Xufactor, Arch, and Gardex to claim 9th place. He wound up tying with other veterans Dabuz and Chia, as well major newcomers like Kyoz. While his lack of tournaments this season keeps him in the 13th rank, if he continues playing Brawl, he might very well work his way into the top 10.

12. Gardex

Gardex dominated Norway for three straight years. With Bike taking a step back from competing during this time, Gardex was left as the best active player in Norway. This year, he decided to take a trip to the United States for the first time since Apex 2015 and compete at Super Smash Con 2023. He would end up losing to Hoenn and Big D, but beating Fishbait, at this tournament for 17th, however his real star showing would come later that weekend. At SSC Ranbats, he would defeat Tori, Lux, and Player-1’s Bowser to get 2nd at the event, only losing to Bike. After this tournament, Gardex would take a loss to Fabian at Smashborg Sesh 5, going out at 3rd, but would even up the record at Smashborg Sesh 6. At this event, he would get 2nd, only losing to Bike, and solidified his place as the #2 player in Norway. Should Gardex travel again, or if NAs top players make a trip to Norway, they will find his Mr. Game and Watch waiting to take them down.

11. Strawberrow

Strawberrow has been playing friendlies on and off again for some time, but had not attended an offline tournament since BTIKC in 2018. However, he decided to attend The Big House 11 this year. This tournament featured 5 of the SSBBRank 2020–2022 top 10, but that didn’t stop Strawberrow. He would take out both Gunnermaniac and Zenan at this event on his way to 4th place, only losing to Player-1 and Chia. This was a fitting end to the year of Ice Climbers. After 3 others got top 8 at Super Smash Con, Strawberrow showed that he has what it takes to join that echelon. Don’t be surprised if he cracks his way into the top 10 next year, solidifying that the year of Ice Climbers is here to stay.

–written by ninja1167

Well that’s it for 20–11, tune in tomorrow for ranks 10–1! We’ll have another article which will have the ranks and information about each of the players. Don’t miss out!

Introduction, conclusion, and methodology written by ninja1167 Player-cards created by Ashley, built off template from E2B Proofreading done by Tori and ninja1167

This is part 1 of 2 for the SSBBrank 2023. Read Part 2 here: The 2023 SSBBRank Top 10

[aquamoonphotography]

Hall Shots - Youmacon 2014

[sockfaeriecosplay]

Throwback to my first ever handmade cosplay, Homura Akemi at Youmacon 2014! Before this I had only altered thrift store finds for closet cosplay and avoided wigs altogether, so this was a big step for me. 

The outfit itself was a combo of sweaty canvas material and costume satin lining topped with a stringy wig. I was, however, very proud of this, as well as my sculpted shield and soul gem (the first time resin casting too). 

I'd love to revisit Homura sometime soon with my upgraded skills!

[dizzzylizzzy98]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2k7uIY8Ebs

100 Points to Spinador!

[sera-chyeah]

Snagged the only B.A.P merch at the entire con. 😎😎😎

[tidustargaryen]

Daenerys And Dragons Youmacon 2014 by ComfortLove

[cr0wprince]

Now I’m afraid my name might be brought up though. I did some shitty things with her when we were friends. It’s been five to almost seven years (five since the last time I spoke to her and almost seven since I met her). I was 17-18 in the time I knew her and I’m very easily influenced by the people around me, but I’m ultimately responsible for my actions. I saw another ex-friend of hers brought up (not by name) and now I’m kind of scared.

I’m gonna be a little vague and my memory isn’t the best (I try to block things out as a defense mechanism), but I’m going to try to recount it, just for my own benefit. I’m not even going to name her, but will refer to her as LR. I don’t think anyone cares tbh lmao

I met her in 2014. It was probably February or March, so I was 17. We were both cosplaying Attack on Titan, very big at the time. Someone posted in a con Facebook group that they made a cosplay group for the area/con for Attack on Titan. I only had my jeans, shirt, jacket (that I made), wig, and glasses for Hanji at that time and I posted a picture, “I’m not too confident in how I look, but here’s my cosplay.” and she commented that it was a good cosplay. We went from there, started chatting, and made plans to meet at the con. She was 19 at the time, of it really matters, but we were still age appropriate friends.

The con comes by. I didn’t wear Attack on Titan the first day, felt kind of left out when we started meeting other people from the group. She’s always been a social butterfly (I think it’s an attention thing more than she actually enjoys it tbh, but I might be biased??) and I’ve been really shy about approaching people after being bullied in middle school. The next two days I wore my unfinished SNK cosplay, didn’t have the belts, but had a fun time.

She ran a panel and promised that I could be Hanji in it and let someone else be Hanji as well, and this person got more attention because she was more outgoing, which kind of bummed me out, but at 17, I was a very jealous cosplayer and would get jealous about people cosplaying the same thing as me. Not a healthy mindset, but it is what it is and you grow from it.

She had told me she was in pre-med (I’m going to remind you she’s 19 at this point, not unusual but it’s what she tells me next which is the questionable part) and that she’s going to start on the medical stuff the next year. I’m 17 and naive and don’t question it. I know now pre-med takes four years. This is an example of her lying to me/holding things in.

We continued being friends with the SNK group, had meetups at a local park, and whatever. She lamented to me about not being able to go to Colossalcon because she couldn’t afford it or something and my parents pay for cons, so I talked them into letting her stay with us. I had started cosplaying Ymir to her Christa and I did have a cry privately to LR when another girl cosplayed Ymir to another girl’s Christa because the other Christa felt left out by me being LR’s Ymir. I felt jealous they got more attention, again, not a healthy mindset, but I was 17 and convinced I was going to be a professional cosplayer. I know now it’s a bad mindset. LR took my meltdown the wrong way, which I’ll get to later.

It wasn’t long after, maybe a couple months. She had stopped hanging out with the friend I had met her with at the con, which I realize now is kind of sus, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time. But anyway, a couple months later at most, she makes a post in the Facebook group that she’s been feeling left out of the SNK group. A few people from it got together to talk about it, she finds out, and I get pissed. I make a big post in the group about how they’re purposely leaving her out. I’m loyal to a fault, and sometimes it blinds me. It splits the group, they still keep together, but LR and I separate from them.

We move on to different series and start doing cosplay photos. It’s something I wanted to do for a while. She’s a little hesitant, but I hype it up and she eventually gets into it. At Otakon, she asks mentions if I’d be okay with her cosplaying Juvia (a big comfort character of mine, and one I’d failed to finish a cosplay of that con, but I’d gotten Levy done, which still worked with her Lucy) and I’m thrown off guard. I tell her no lmao. I mean really though, what would I do? But it’s important later.

I have big plans. I don’t always finish my big plans. I want to do a ton of different cosplays and she feeds into me. She finishes things while I normally don’t. I realize I shouldn’t have agreed to do so many, but also, the one’s she made aren’t unwearable? She can cosplay without me matching? But it’s something she internalizes.

We book lots of shoots. It’s fun! We don’t get the most expensive photographers (we’re 18 and 20 at the time) but it’s fun. There’s a particular photographer I wanted to work with and she books her since she’s dealing with it at this point since I have a lot of anxiety talking to people. By the time the con rolls around, my costume didn’t work out the way I wanted and my skirt is held up with safety pins. It shows in the photos, so does her back acne. She goes on a tangent on her Facebook cosplay page about how unprofessional the photographer is, how she doesn’t edit photos for anyone but her friends. I, unfortunately, share it. At that time, neither of us have a big following (I still don’t, she doesn’t really either, only 3,700 after she remade, but did have almost 10k at one point), so it doesn’t go far. The photographer and friends stick up for the photographer and it doesn’t go anywhere luckily.

I’m falling deeper into depression at this point. I’m not finishing projects I’m supposed to do with her, messages are spotty on my end. We still do a couple of cons together. The next con of the first we met at comes around, I don’t have anything done, I’m mortified. I skip a whole day. It’s in driving distance so it’s not like I was wasting a whole hotel day. She gets photos solo. It seems fine.

She messages me one day that her parents kicked her out. Something about a fight over her mom saying minimum wage workers don’t work as hard and LR snapping back. Her parents were really nice the couple of times I met them, which isn’t always indicative of how someone really is, but now I feel in my gut that there had to be something more. It feels like petty reason. She moves into her grandparents (and further selfies match that, so it seems like it had to be bad if she never went back). She messages me this and I’m thrown so off guard. Yeah, we called each other best friends. We didn’t talk to many other people as far as I knew at that point, but I had no idea what to say. It’s bad on my part, but I didn’t answer her for a week.

She didn’t message me or anything, didn’t delete me off Facebook, but vague posted me there about being there for people when they won’t be there for you, and people were hyping her up. I realized it might’ve been about me. I called her crying, terrified. Sent her messages. I don’t exactly remember what transpired, but did make up.

There was a point she told me she was dropping pre-med to become an accountant because it took a year and she wanted to focus on cosplay. Again, stupid 18yo me believed that that made sense and was like, “Oh okay!”

We went to a couple more cons, I’m pretty sure she was using me. We make plans for Youmacon, but I don’t message her for like a week in September of 2015. She asks if I’m okay (the only time) I tell her I’m doing really bad. We don’t talk until close to the con. I admit to her that I was thinking of admitting myself to the psych ward it was that bad, but though I didn’t tell her that, it’s ultimately a very hard, very personal choice. (I made it in May and it’s not an easy choice.) She tears me a new one, saying I should’ve went, that I was using her for companionship. She said she had plans to go to another con?? So the way I see it, she cared more about going to a con than anything else. She never checked in on me after I told her I was doing bad, just to take my time.

She has a new bff at this point. This is going to be so cruel, but her new friend isn’t as put together, which is fine! Cosplay is for fun! But I mention this because they get photos together. After my obsession with becoming a professional cosplayer, LR got into that mindset too. I’m so fucking sure that she used this other girl in photos to look better next to. The difference is so obvious in photos.

I make a cosplay that LR cosplayed when we were friends. I’m so proud. I haven’t finished anything in months. I cosplay a couple of things she did, but we were friends at one point, we like the same series, and there are a lot of big series. It’s bound to happen.

She vagues me on Instagram. She continues to stalk me on there (and I did her, not proud of it, but I’ll admit it). She posts things about how an ex friend had a breakdown over her having other friends (when I confided in her my jealousy over the Ymir/Christa duo), how I wouldn’t let her cosplay Juvia lmao (this still gets me. What would I do? Break your arm? You asked me on the spot and I was uncomfortable.). There was one Juvia cosplay post that I mentioned I had lost weight because while my uncle was dying, I wasn’t eating. I was helping with cleaning his house and I just wasn’t fucking eating. She took that as a jab about her because she has self image issues. There was also a big post she made how she KNEW I was cosplaying all the same things as her to make her jealous and to make her insecure, mentioning me by name even. I reported it and it got taken down.

I’d heard things through the grapevine. How she started shit in the Fate community and she was afraid of being beat up at Katsucon’s public photoshoot. How she tried to make a Love Live group, but when two girls couldn’t afford it and they would no longer have all nine, she threw a fit and cancelled the whole group. I’d also heard about her making a fuss over photos she got back when a cosplayer’s grandparent was dying. I stayed away after like a year, but a couple of people who knew me that knew I was friends with her would tell me things.

I wasn’t the best person, either. I’ll take responsibility for that. I wish I could apologize to the people I hurt while friends with her, but I no longer remember their names. I was a dumb teenager. I still get swept up in the people around me and get carried away when the people I are about are hurt. Maybe it’s something I need to work on. But, I ultimately don’t think she’s grown. I don’t think she’s gotten better. I think she’s only gotten worse over the year.

I’m not proofreading. There might be more, but it was a lot to go through, but I wanted to get it out. I hope the read more works, but I’m gonna throw on a long post warning too. If you read this, thank you, by the way. I just felt like I had to get it out.

[dccomicsnews]

Now that Arrow has concluded an incredible eight-season run, I couldn’t help reflecting on more than what happened on the show itself during that timespan. It wasn’t just enough to reminisce on what happened to the Emerald Archer on the small screen, but also to look back on what transpired in my own life over that period.

The more I got to thinking, this game-changing TV series was running parallel to my career as a writer. Although Arrow got things started by premiering in October 2012, I wasn’t lagging too far behind when I began as a volunteer contributor at Comic Book Movie in July 2013. As the show grew, I did likewise as a person and a writer – and there was more than a little overlap.

From this point on, I’ll sum up the finer points of my journey so that you can see the affect an inspiring work of fiction such as Arrow can have on a real person. I hope you all enjoy this piece, and you’re more than welcome to share your own stories in the comments section. Our own Damian Fasciani recently wrote a retrospective of his own, so click here if you would like to check out that as well.

My Name Is Oliver Queen, I Mean, Eric Joseph

Like I said, my time as a writer pretty much ran parallel to Arrow as it grew from a standalone superhero show/crime drama into something that birthed an entire universe of comic book adaptations on television. I didn’t stick around at the aforementioned CBM for too long, later making my way to Dark Knight News (2014-17) and We Got This Covered (2015-19).

Along the way, I had the chance to meet various cast members at different points during the series’ lifespan, thereby lending multiple perspectives on the tale as it grew. Some of them them I merely met at conventions, while others I actually got to interview.

Motor City Comic Con (you’re going to see that one referenced a lot) was often the means I had of making this all possible. In 2014 alone, I was able to shake hands with Katie Cassidy (Laurel Lance), John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlyn) and Robert Knepper (Clock King). Cool as that was, it prepared me for the interview opportunity I’d get with Michael Rowe (Deadshot) in 2015.

2016 was a mixed bag, as I met – but didn’t interview – Katrina Law (Nyssa al Ghul), though I did get to speak with Echo Kellum (Mister Terrific) over the phone. I won’t forget either of those experiences, but I’m holding out hope that Kellum will roll through Detroit as some point so that I may actually meet him face-to-face.

If you’re keeping track, these encounters went down near the conclusions of seasons 2, 3 and 4, respectively, with the Echo Kellum phoner happening right before the “Invasion!” crossover. Dedicated fans of Arrow shouldn’t have to strain themselves remembering what each of these characters were going through at those times, and what it must’ve been like to hear, say, Katie Cassidy tease the inevitable Black Canary reveal, or how Kellum’s Curtis Holt may deal with Dominators.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Cosplay

It’s at this time I’ll discuss the cosplay element. This is a field to which I’m certainly no stranger, and I always wanted to own an awesome-looking superhero costume. Seeing as how Batman is my favorite character, he’d be a no-brainer, right?

Well, if you’ve looked around at gear online, then you know how Batman costumes that don’t look like crap are quite expensive. This was key in my motivation for instead laying down money on a replica of the Green Arrow suit worn by Stephen Amell in seasons 5-7. For an affordable price, I felt every bit as badass as my onscreen hero, and the compliments from fellow convention attendees never cease whenever I choose to suit up. Heck, I’ve even worn that thing to a cosplay beach party!

Although I wouldn’t mind taking a crack at the Dark Knight at some point, there’s something inherently altruistic I’ve noticed about guys cosplaying as Batman that I don’t think I share. But Oliver Queen (at least The CW’s version) is flawed. He’s made mistakes unlike those of Bruce Wayne’s. He’s done stuff he’s not particularly proud of – but he never stops trying to better himself. That, I found relatable, and it occurs to me when I flip up that hood.

All that said, you couldn’t believe how elated I was when Stephen Amell himself shared a DC group cosplay photo taken at Youmacon 2017 (above) on his Facebook page for one of his “Fan Art Fridays.” Yes, I was the one who submitted it, but to see the man himself deeming myself and the accompanying DC enthusiasts worthy of sharing with his fanbase at large was truly touching.

Which brings me to…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Main Event

If I have to single out my favorite event ever attended, that honor will probably go to Motor City Comic Con 2018. Should you have been there as well, then you’ll recall how that particular show was an embarrassment of riches when it came to booking actors from superhero shows – and where I finally met Stephen Amell himself.

Hey, he may have not been doing interviews for that weekend, but getting a photo with him and attending his panel meant the world to me. Despite him being only a few years older in age, that doesn’t mean I can’t look to him as a positive example.  I mean, the guy is known for having an incredible connection with his fans, doing charity work, and has even appeared on American Ninja Warrior.

Speaking of which, a lot of praise could be thrown Kirk Acevedo’s way as well. The man responsible for bringing the inhumane Ricardo Diaz to life is actually an awesome person himself. I actually did get to interview him during that weekend, as we discussed what was next for “The Dragon” in season 6.

Before I move on, I’d like to give an honorable mention to one Cress Williams. Black Lightning may have not been part of the Arrowverse at the time, but it sure is now. I likewise interviewed him on behalf of WGTC, as he was just cooling off after a spectacular debut season.

Fadeout

If there’s any impression I’d like this article to leave on you, the reader, it’s that you shouldn’t let anyone tell you it’s silly to say a TV show can impact you. Arrow, The Flash, Black Lightning and countless others can be a driving force in inspiring ourselves to become better people. To Stephen Amell, his co-stars and crew, I thank you all for eight years of phenomenal storytelling – and I hope to once again meet the people mentioned above.

You helped me become someone else…something else.

Reflecting On A Personal Journey Through Arrow's World Now that Arrow has concluded an incredible eight-season run, I couldn't help reflecting on more than what happened on the show itself during that timespan.

[kurai-lonewolf]

Bronycon N’ Stuff 2019

So here we are: the final @bronycon loot post I’ll be making. First off, I had a lot of fun. Tears were shed by the end, but it made me incredibly happy to see that this was the largest year Bronycon has ever had. Makes me confident that this fandom will be around for a long time!

One last merch and photo dump, and this is gonna be a long one, so here we goooo!

Firstly, an exclusive BC poster I got for the last year:

Next up, bought some prints from my friend @marikazemus34 (twitter), who I hung out with for a few days at the con. We’ve known each other since about 2012 now, but this was the first time meeting in person.

Didn’t buy a whole lot from @lil-mizz-jay this year, but that’s namely because I bought a ton from him last year and had just about every print lol. But here’s a cute femmy Shining:

Neeext up, Skoon! His old Berry Punch ask blog was one of the first blogs I ever followed on tumblr years ago, so it was cool seeing them for the first time, real cool guy too. 

Now we have @shonuff44 (twitter) who I bought a bunch from, he had really cool prints and an art book I bought from him:

And speaking of books, I visited the Fallout Equestria booth and bought myself a hardcover book of the OG Fallout Equestria! I never ended up finishing this fic back in the day, but I really wanna do it now and this was the perfect opportunity! 

Now semi FO:E related, but I bought a mystery box from artworktee.com booth that was pretty damn cheap for what I got: three shirts, some prints (one of which was FO:E related, and other little trinkets. The art for the prints is by Torben and Freeedon

So, while @clinkorz couldn’t come to Bronycon, someone she knew went on her behalf to see for her. A couple years back in 2014 I think, I bought an Umbreon keychain of her art, so this year I decided to buy the print of that art!

And speaking of Umbreon, there was a Youmacon booth where I bought this really cool leather Umbreon journal. And it’s me, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity with that, so:

Bought this really nice Celestia (and Philomena) art by viwrastupr, one of the best paintings of Celestia I’ve ever seen:

I went to the legendary Sonic artist ChibiJenHen’s booth too and bought these really nice prints:

And I bought these two from Harwick’s booth, really phenomenal little prints!

And last but certainly not least for the art prints, we’ve got a print from the lovely @braeburnedart (twitter)! He was super nice! He only had one final print left by the time I got there, so I snagged this:

Now, on to more miscellaneous stuff, I bought these limited edition mugs from the Wild Bill’s Soda stand based on the three mascots of Bronycon! 

Drank them with Birch Beer and Sarsaparilla, really wish those were more accessible sodas around where I live... 

Anyway, so I did something I haven’t done in ages, but I took videos of some bits of Bronypalooza that I wanted to save! During Black Gryphon/Michelle Creber/Bassik and the Wonderbolts’ sets! I’m not used to recording on my phone...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tesxhpqfflne7sy/Gonna%20Get%20Better%20by%20Black%20Gryphon%20%26%20Bassik.mov?raw=1 (Got pretty mesmerized by that dude’s shirt for a bit, lol)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fmi5i76a6kay74j/Beat%20It%20by%20Michelle%20Creber%20%26%20Black%20Gryph0n.mov?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/011d4po8mxzo1po/2019-08-03%2022.44.42.mov?raw=1

And lastly, I wanna show the pics I took of the Bronycon Memorial spot. Was a little shrine some people made by one of the pillars to show their sadness for Bronycon’s final year, and it was getting bigger and bigger by the day. Was honestly pretty heartwarming.

So yeah, that just about covers every picture I took.

All in all, this was an amazing 4 days that I’ll always treasure. Hell, the last seven years I’ve been going to this convention are moments I’ll keep with my forever. But this isn’t the end for pony conventions, I’m gonna be headed straight to Everfree Northwest next year, so I’ll probably post about that next year!

RIP Bronycon: 2011—2019, and thank you to all the staff and attendees that made it possible, you’ve earned your rest.

[steam-powered-amore]

Okay so uhhh fun facts

I just recently became a spg fan but I've actually known about them since like 2013! (Why did I not look into them before in the nearly 6 years I've known about them, you ask? uhh.....)

I live near Detroit and was really into anime during my first two years of high school so I've been going to Youmacon since freshman year, and I actually have pictures of them from the program book from 2013, 2014, and 2015! (I didn't go in 2016 bc I was a senior and had a huge project due the Monday after and while I went in 2017 I don't remember if they went and I can't find the program book).

I don't know if these have been around or not, but I figure it doesn't hurt to share!

[ohpierre]

Are those reasons connected to Bunny being trans? Because you strike me as the type to stop being a fan because of such reasons.

Lol, no. I was a fan from 2011-2015 and active in the fandom, including drawing a lot of fanart, writing, organizing hangouts since they came locally to Youmacon, and making a lot of real life friends because of the fandom.

I’m kinda baffled why it seems you’re jumping to conclusions that I wouldn’t be an active fan for this long just because someone is trans...? I was a fan before and after she officially came out and had her character fully become female and still stuck around after that. My reasons have nothing to do with her gender identity and instead due to toxic fandom drama and also the toxic behaviors she, David and Steve in particular were doing that I knew about and didn’t want to support anymore.

I didn’t really enjoy being an active fan anymore because the more involved with the fandom (including running the meetup group in Michigan @steampoweredmichiganders successfully with meetups with my fan friends for a few years in a row) the more friends/acquaintances I was with actual people who got close to the band members...some became chatroom moderators, some local friends/FWB’s when they came to town, and one even their girlfriend and moved to California to be with them! and with it I found out more and more drama about some of the band member’s personalities and things they had done. I was a friend of one of Bunny’s girlfriends from 2013-2014 and found a lot of ‘dirt’ that way unforutnately. I was no longer comfortable supporting the band with what I found out about their personalities and how they mistreated people I knew, especially when many of those friends in various forms one by one through the years either left SPG’s circle or were ousted out in various ways. The last friend connection I had with SPG’s inner circle left late 2016.

I still feel that it’s good that I’m not involved in the fandom, as when I’ve glanced at their FB pages and such I still see some (in my opinion) immature behavior in public from the Bennetts, like David passive aggressively throwing jabs at Bunny drinking. I still love their music, I just wish I didn’t know so much about them back then as people. If I had kids I wouldn’t mind them listening to their old albums that I still have in the car. 

Here is some old fanart I drew of her, I hope this helps show you my support for Bunny’s gender affirmation:

[costumingofkira]

So let's talk about what it took to make World's End Dancehall. I choose this cosplay because I have by far, the most progress of it saved.  It has been my most complicated and detailed costume I've made to date.  I made it in Late 2014 and won 1st place for it in Dokidokon 2017's Intermediate division.

For those of you who don't know where this costume comes from, it is from "Hatsune Miku Project Diva F" for the PS3. This is Miku's "Emerald" Module for the song  "World's End Dancehall". You can watch the Video here.

So here's a rough breakdown of what she cost:

If you add it all up, supplies cost me around $277, what it would be if I bought everything new but I didn't so I roughly spent $250, because I had the twisted red cord already and I used left over white fabric from another project.

** Side note - I bought a brand new machine for this project. It was the first completely new machine I've ever owned.  I bought a  CE1100PRW  Brother Project Runway 100 stitch

So my project costs were closer to $400

___

I started this project by collecting more reference than I probably needed, by downloading the music video of World's End Dancehall off of Youtube and print screening crap out of it.  I also sourced this image  a lot.

So I started with her sleeves, because I had an idea of how I wanted to do it but I wasn't sure if it would work so I figured if I could get her sleeves to work then I could do the whole dress.

So I patterned out the sleeves and marked on the fabric where each part of the gradient should go with a pencil.

They ended up looking something like this:

I sewed these pieces together and prepared my first dye bath. I got a little bucket I didn't care about, filled with the hottest water I could and added some salt for brighter colors.

This was the combination I used this time. I wanted everything to come out teal but it wasn't the right color the first time I dyed them so I ended up making a second batch and dyeing them again.

There were lots of test swatches done in the process of finding the right color. They ended up coming out like this:

I left the bottoms in longer than the middle, I would watch it with a timer and slowly bring it out the water little by little to give it that gradient effect.

(Please always remember to use old towels and wear gloves when dyeing fabric)

With that done I had to wait to do the next step because things needed to dry, but once they were ready I got to work.  

I looked for my now almost impossible to see pencil guides and laid down the dark blue fabric I'd bought and pinned it to the bottom of the sleeve after taking them apart so they could lay flat.  I drew the design I needed to be on the bottom of the sleeve in with a white colored pencil.

* Please use a dressmaker's pencil instead. It washes out until colored pencil, I was lazy. Don't be like me.

After putting in my guidelines I sewed them all in place and removed the pins, once they were sewn down, I carefully pulled the fabrics apart from one another and cut out the pattern:

I ended up putting the gold lines down first so I had a place to match the leaves to, I also used white ribbon for the border at first but I hated it so I took it all off and started over.

I used this stitch for the golden lines:

Of course I didn't use it in it's original programming. My Machine is computerized so I made it much tighter together so it would look cleaner.  I don't remember exactly what I sat my machine to, but it was much smaller than it's standard version.

But since I down right hated the ribbon, I tore it all off and started again. I later ended up putting a white braid on in it's place.

From there I needed to put the leaves in and I did it one at a time. Basically I used the following stitch. I let it make one full leaf, stopped it and moved it to the next spot to continue the pattern.

Here's a really terrible video of me trying to show how I did it on my facebook. I didn't have any way to film at the time other than my phone and the apartment's lighting was really awful.

*at this point I was working on the dress *

The sleeves with the new white braid and leaves ended up looking like this:

What I was doing was running the braid over the unfinished edge of the blue to cover it. It took a few minutes to sew on because I had to slowly wrap it into place.

Here's some close up on the detail:

So from there, I lined my sleeves in the same blue fabric I'd used at the bottom of them and I put it around the top in the same way I'd added it to the bottom. A golden line was sewn down the middle of the blue at the top and then I added braid to the top and the bottom pieces. At this point the sleeves were done and I was so proud of myself.

So then came the complicated part.  

I had to replicate all the work I just did on the sleeves, on to the dress.

One sleeve was close to 8 hours of work, consider 5 of them were spent just sewing all the golden leaves into it.

I knew this was going to be a lot of work.  4 months went by with having no chance to work on things, but eventually I got back to it.

So I started by patterning out the dress, which took a few fittings to see how it worked since I didn't own a dress form at the time.

I ended up with something like this, pencil guidelines and all.

I had to pencil in where my bust hit in the dress so I didn't dye past it and from there I dug out an even bigger tub I didn't care about and went to trying to replicate the same color in a second batch of dye.

I used this:

to brew this:

I emphasis, please use towels, and wear gloves when dyeing fabric. I can still remember the dripping trail I made when I drug my dress to the sink.

I dyed my dress much in the same way that I dyed my sleeves, in that I slowly brought the dress out of the water little by little to create that gradient effect. It took a lot longer, because I was stupid  and dyed a dress in almost cold water so I had to leave it overnight.

PLEASE DYE IN HOT WATER, THE DYE TAKES FASTER AND IT WILL SAVE  YOU TROUBLE.

But eventually I got the dress to the correct color and I took it a part at a seem so it could lay flat.

I laid the blue fabric on top of it, pinned it in place, drew the design in with a white colored pencil. (Again, don't be me, don't do it.)  I had to not only reference the picture I posted at the beginning but I had to turn on the game (Project Diva F) so I could have the model to turn around.  

After sewing one side in place, we got here:

Rinse and repeat, it's on the next side and soon enough after doing it all over again, we were here:

I'd started putting all the gold lines in but they took some time because again, I had to reference the model. I would be spending a lot of time with the model in coming days, little did I know it.

So once I got all the lines in I had to start the process of putting the leave in one at a time, all over again. The problem with doing it this time, is I had to check the model to make sure the leaves were flowing in the correct direction, so I couldn't just sew them in. I had to make sure all the tips were pointing the correct way.

So  it was a very

Slow

process.

Many Mountain Dews and sleepless nights later, I finally got all the leaves sewn into the dress. So from here, section by section I had to wrap the white braid into each section and sew it in place.

This also was a slow

Process.

I stood on many chairs to take these pictures, but after a while the braid was in and I put the dress back together to work on the top.

I had to put in the "boob window" as my husband likes to call it and again it needed a test fit, things got pinned for measurements while on me, because remember no dress form, and then penciled in later.  Eventually we got here:

After putting that part into the top of my dress, I put on the blue parts much in the same way as I did the rest of the dress. With placing things where they needed to be an anchoring them as I went along.

The golden designs were put into the top of the dress with the same stitch I'd used to make the gold lines for the leaves. After which I covered all the edges with white braid just like I did everything else. I'd killed about 4 , 5 /yd rolls by now.  

After that I placed small grommets at either side of the opening at the top and them four for the closures at the side slant of the dress.

I created a collar for the dress and installed it, complete with blue and gold detail with white braid.  After which I added a zipper up the side of the dress.

It was complete! The dress was done! Four months of work and finally she was complete.

From there I styled my wig - which was a chibi in Ocean Green from Arda Wigs + 2 long pony clips in the same color.  (Apparently they no longer sell it in that color, but it's available in teal)

I ended up taking the side ponytails that came in the way out and pulling them up higher, since Miku's pigtails set higher on her head with this costume.

I did some light styling to the bangs like trimming them and bringing them to tips where they needed it but over all it didn't need much work.

I bought my stockings from a local adult store, and my hair clips were purchased from a vendor we found at Youmacon 2014's artist alley. (I wish I could remember their name)

My shoes are just standard plain high heels.

It wasn't until I realized I'd forgotten at the con, that I made small black wraps for my legs to mimic the straps of Miku's shoes.

And at last Miku was done!

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! If you would like me to breakdown more cosplay for you guys, please tell me in the comments!  

As Usual, thank you all for your support! It really means the world to me!

All Photography of My Completed Miku was done by Artisticaise Cosplay Photography.

[havvehojen]

Makeup evolution! 1) Youmacon 2014 2)Youmacon 2015 3)Youmacon 2016 4) February 2017 5) April-ish? 2017 6-7) September 2017

[edokinz]

I was really second guessing cosplaying Yugi this year at Youmacon. Right up until I got into the convention I was almost regretting choosing him as the character to cosplay this year.

I’m proud of him, and I’m proud of how I have improved him; but I know I can do more and make it look better. I want to remake my wig again, I need a new better fitting outfit, I should learn to do my makeup better and get false lashes. There always just feels like I can do more to improve it. I worked so hard on this cosplay though, I always have. I may not be absolutely fanatic about the show at the moment as I have been in years past, but I still love it. Yugi was my dream cosplay of 7 years! I have come so far with this cosplay! A new wig, a new outfit, new accessories to looks show accurate, better makeup, better posing. He means so much to me as a character and I want to show that. Wearing him has brought me so many amazing friends I know I would never have if I hadn’t finally decided to cosplay him. Walking into the convention center though, and getting that first compliment as soon as I got in the registration line made me feel a bit better. It made me feel like maybe this was the right cosplay to wear. It’s not the best, it’s never going to be the best Yugi cosplay, and that’s okay. I love cosplaying him still, but my drive for cosplaying him had been kinda missing for a while now. It could have been from other interests, my “Kaiba” not really cosplaying with me anymore, the iffy time I had at that one convention I went to for the VAs in 2014. I’m not really sure where I lost the drive, but it wasn’t there whenever I went looking. Colossal I found a little bit of it, but it wasn’t as strong as years past. It’s not that it was all gone, but the drive felt like it was attention only and not my love of the character. But then a newscaster for a local news station came up to my group and interviewed my friend and I. At the time we didn’t know it was live, but if was pretty neat. She thought our cosplays stood out enough that she wanted to put them on television, and that was rad! She complimented our outfits and asked about my wig and I felt a little more invigerated. The day progressed and I had a fair amount of people ask for my photo and compliment my work. Had one of the cosplay guests who I was admiring earlier ( when I saw them walking around in this FANTASTIC fur suit character from Bleach) compliment my cosplay. So many people kept telling me that they saw me walking around earlier and they loved my cosplay and wig work, were amazed that I had did it myself. So many took photos and asked me questions on it, some people said they saw me on the news, or that I looked spot on. I tried my best to compliment everyone who complimented me as well; because they worked had ont heir outfits as well and I could see that. I had an AMAZING Yami take selfies with me and chat with me. It felt nice, I was interacting with people and making friends. I was having fun with my group and I was feeling the “power of friendship’ I had been missing since after last Youmacon of 2014. And this cosplay is totally an attention outfit. I love the attention when I’m in it, and it’s one of the few times I actually feel confident. I have a lot of body dysphoria issues, but cosplaying Yugi makes a lot of those go away. Yeah I’m still overweight and I don’t like certain angles, but my chest looks flat, I don’t mess with my binder 24/7, and that’s a BIG start for me. I don’t like attention usually, and with my dysphoria I usually prefer to hide in a corner, but in this cosplay I like to take the lead, I don’t mind talking and being vocal and showing how happy I am. Getting compliments does that, having a distracting wig helps, but it makes me confident, and I don’t feel like that often. Yugi has done a lot for me, and I think I’ve found some of that drive again. I got to cosplay this remade version with my friend who had remade her Princess Jasmine ( we first met in our old versions of our cosplays) and it felt so special to be able to cosplay like that with them. To take selfies and not be afraid about how horrible my face and wig would look. To have fun with friends and spread that love to everyone who complimented me. Youmacon helped me a lot this weekend I think. I went only Saturday, but I felt more inspired than I have in a while. I’m glad I went, and I’m glad I saw through cosplaying Yugi. Thank you so much to all my friends who believed in me and my work, to all the strangers that took their time to tell me something nice, to all the people that just admired my outfit from afar. Thank you very much, you all helped make this con a blast!

[lunaladyoflight]

Feeling the #FireEmblem love this weekend. Flashback to #youmacon 2014 when I wore #emmeryn from #fireemblemawakening 📸 @mouzycatphotography . I loved the textures and all the applique that went into this. All of the designs were hand drawn based on a high resolution reference image. I did all of the satin stitching with metallic #governmentgold thread from #robisonanton Sewn using @husqvarnaviking machines. #fireemblemcosplay #exalt #greenandgold #sewing #handmade (at Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0ey7zqDIXr/?igshid=1i0olcgsafkfb