Danger Mode

GeekGirlCon 2014 Trip Report

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 23:06:00 +0000

New treasures! Free XBOX Games, a dream date in a box, and an amazing Louise hoodie!

Hi blog!

I can't believe it's the middle of October already! When did that happen?! It seems like I was just panicking about making costumes for GeekGirlCon at the beginning of this month. And now t's over and time to start panicking about Halloween costumes! Argh!

GeekGirlCon was a blast! (Of course!) This was my second year attending and it's one of my favorite events of the year. It's small and intimate but as thoughtful and well organized as any larger convention.

One thing that everybody talks about when it comes to GeekGirlCon is the atmosphere - it's truly a safe, fun space. There is a lot of talk, especially in my circles of friends, about what makes a good safe space and how everyone should feel comfortable everywhere - but I've never actually experienced it outside of GeekGirlCon. It's really impressive how hard GGC works to cultivate a welcoming environment and how palpable it is when you actually get there because everyone participates. <3

:D :D :D

Also! I was shocked to learn that my Louise cosplay from last year was on the GeekGirlCon website AND cover of the strategy guide AND another one inside too! I have no words for how flattered and happy and proud I am to be included with all these other amazing cosplayers! Totally awesome. I will probably frame it and put it on my wall, ngl.

I had a great time doing what I do best at conventions - wandering around marveling over everybody's costumes and geek goods. Yes, I am that annoying girl with starry eyes going "ohmygawdthatisamazingsoadorableandperfect" every two seconds. I got up the courage to ask more people for their photos this year, most of which I put on instagram right away - but I'll repost them here too. I wish I'd taken more! There is a special kind of creativity that folks break out for GGC that makes cosplay spotting extra fun.

I only made it to one panel. I would have like to see Anita Sarkeesian's panel and the Geek Elders Panel, which I heard were AMAZING... but I didn't. I did catch the Geeky Careers panel, which was interesting and made me really want to find a mentor... but mostly, it was a great reminder that struggling to make it doing something you love is normal. I think it's easy to forget that most people post about what they love online and not about the less glamorous things they do to pay the bills. So, that was actually a great reality check for me. :D

My favorite, favorite, favorite thing about WA conventions is simply getting to hang out with all of my wonderful friends for a whole day. I have great geek friends, but we all live just far enough away from each other and are juuuust busy enough that it's hard to get together regularly. So, conventions are a huge treat for me because I we can catch up AND/OR dress up in coordinating costumes. Look at all these amazing people! ↓

Saturday costumes / our GGC family portrait / your weird fan fiction inspiration~!
America Chavez/Celeste the Owl(below) runs the awesome new site Beyond Geek Culture.
And the Queen of Hearts' cosplay facebook is Cheezee Doodle.

Our Animal Crossing group on Sunday!
Evan has never played animal crossing and kind of hates KK Slider which may or may not have crushed some KK fans when he refused to even attempt to play his songs! lol

And now... a ton of cosplay photos!

Traditional cosplay car selfies always turn out the best!
Loading View on Instagram	Loading View on Instagram
Loading View on Instagram	Loading View on Instagram
Loading View on Instagram
So many great Adventure Time cosplayers! Rachel IS LSP.
Loading View on Instagram	Loading View on Instagram
You might recognize Dora as Katy Perry Sim from PAX and @sarahhiraki is hiding under that Starlord mask.
Loading View on Instagram
Loading View on Instagram	Loading View on Instagram
Daria cosplayers run my favorite LCS - Fantasium! And Invader Zim's hair was just perfect!
Loading View on Instagram	Loading View on Instagram
Loading View on Instagram
It was a challenge to get Jack's big pumpkin head in this picture!
Loading View on Instagram	Loading View on Instagram
Loading View on Instagram

Cosplay details...

Princess Bubblegum was kind of a last minute closet cosplay. I de-tangled my Jem wig, made a fun foam crown and a quick circle skirt and called it good. I already owned the shirt from WeLoveFine and I had the prefect purple boots in the back of my closet. Evan skipped the face paint and the fangs for Marshal Lee since we were feeling lazy. :P

Isabelle! I meant to fix all her problems from PAX 2013, but I ended up procrastinating and barely improving anything. I keep thinking I can improvise with the vest, but I'm ready to admit that it's time to go get a pattern and make something that actually fits! I do think I improved on the colors this time around. The pattern is much less accurate but it shows up a lot better in photos than the spoonflower fabric I tried to make to match the actual sprite last year.

DJ KK Slider is just a white hoodie with little floppy ears I made in a hurry the night before. We had the cool headphones and Evan's hipster glasses are leftover from hipster robin. If he'd agree to do it again, I'd make him a tail and frost his hair white and maaaaaaaaybe bulk up his eyebrows.

Also, my butt looks really good and I'm really happy that my tail stands up so well with just a couple of strategically placed safety pins!

That's probably enough pictures and rambling for now. GeekGirlCon is seriously such a great, positive, welcoming experience. I can't say enough good things about the people who run it and the kinds of geeks it attracts. It's wonderful. If you have any inclination to go... you should! Get your tickets now because they sold out last year.

See you next October 10th and 11th, GGC~!

Cosplayers! If you want me to add a link to your whatever or take down your picture please let me know.

PAX 2014 Trip Report

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 19:27:00 +0000

Loot! A Pain Elemental from Doom and the Midnight City t-shirt!

Last year, I wrote about how I planned to skip PAX in the future for a multitude of reasons - but mostly because Penny Arcade continues to make a mess re: dickwolves that I find it embarrassing/frustrating to be anywhere near their shit.

And yet, if you follow me on instagram or twitter, you may have noticed that I still ended up at PAX Prime 2014 this year. Weird! Actually - it wasn't that weird. My friend got PAX tickets for her birthday and invited me to go with her on the days she had an extra ticket. I was happy to be her tour guide and cosplay buddy for her first PAX - and we had a blast without any actual Penny Arcade getting in the way. /grumpy

Giant Evolve Monster & Me being REALLY excited about the Mass Effect photo op.

Anyway! I came home with a new love - VIDEOBALL. I'm ridiculously into it even though Evan and I lost to some small children playing the demo. We also got my favorite free T-shirt ever from videoball's publisher, Midnight City - look at that shit! It's amazing! Midnight City supports their artists/developers by operating like a record label, which I think is fabulous too! Look at all those exclamation points in this paragraph! Videoball!

I played some other games this weekend, like Smash Bros 3DS and the Evil Within. And now I have a wishlist of games I want to see more of like... Sunset Overdrive, Alien Isolation, The Order 1866, and Evolve. I'm kind of surprised that the only cutesy game I'm interested in is Captian Toad Treasure Tracker - the rest is all a lot more intense than what I usually like to play.

Thanks for the photo, sims booth & liftedgeek!

My friend was the Katy Perry Sim from the Sweet Treats expansion! (Genius!) I'm pretty sure she glitter bombed the whole convention with her cupcake top and sparkle shorts! Look how cute she is!

And I went as... Dig Dug! I've actually been wanting to do it for a while, but I hadn't really sat down and figured out how to make it happen until I got invited to PAX. One kim kardashian-y jumpsuit, a thrifted baseball helmet, and some paint actually turned out pretty awesome!

Do you guys like my Pooka purse?. I made it the night before the convention using my Ramona Flowers star bag as a model. It's even got a zipper, yellow polka dot lining, and a cellphone pocket! Looking at it in photos, I wish I'd made it bigger. And I want to applique the pooka face on the next version, instead of velcro-ing fun foam to the front. But I'm still very proud of it.

The whole thing was a lot of fun to wear. I thought I'd get tired of holding my little shovel all day, but it was totally worth it for the photos. It also helped keep people from thinking I was fucking Speed Racer.

That's all for now! I still need to get some good pictures of my Sailor Moon collection at the fair next month and I'm going to try to put together a costume with some time and planning instead of one night's frantic freak out for Geek Girl Con in October! Stay tuned!

Why is there a Sailor Moon tornado in the living room?

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 17:44:00 +0000

Source: MangaStyle.net

This Sunday, I'm packing up my Sailor Moon collection to put it on display at the Washington State Fair! I can't wait to show you guys (and actual people in real life) my Sailor Moon treasures - especially some of the new ones!

Every year, our fair hosts a lot of traditional fair exhibits - 4H, baking contests, quilts that your mom made, petting zoos, table setting competitions, blender demonstrations... but my favorite has always been the collections! Clearly, I understand the compulsion to collect - so it's always fun to see what other people are hoarding in their homes. My favorite display ever was just a couple years ago when someone had a ton of AOL sign up discs. It was amazing.

In honor of Sailor Moon's 20th Anniversary and thanks to my boyfriend's encouragement, I submitted my sparkly Sailor Moon corner! Of course, once I was accepted, I decided that meant it was time to beef up my collection and actually frame everything. Goodbye, $$$!

I'm trying really hard to share a little of everything that's out there - new and old stuff from Japan and the US, and across a variety of media. I think it's gonna be pretty cool!

Although... I couldn't get anything to represent the musicals. And I couldn't source a copy of Smile Magazine in time. (I used to have it! It was a teen girl magazine with things like articles on Britney Spears and chapters of Sailor Moon and those yellow smiley faces all over!)

But the one thing that really bothers me... is that the Sailor Jupiter figarts won't be released until a couple days AFTER I set up my stuff! And I don't think they're gonna let me add her once the fair has started! It's going to look so incomplete! :(

I also have to say that I LOVE the nerd community. I reached out to some Sailor Moon collectors with a wishlist and a budget - and they came through with the fairest prices, even under what I had budgeted AND got to the post office asap for me. <3 <3 <3 I just think that's awesome and I hope I do everybody proud with this silly display. But what I really hope is that some little girl sees Sailor Moon at the fair and goes home and falls in love with the stories of love and friendship the way I did when I was little! #missamerica

P.s. You can follow my instagram for Sailor Moon spam while I prep everything this weekend. And I'll be sure to share photos of the full set up and all my new adds next week!

CLUE! or Are you there phone? It's me, Emily.

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 18:47:00 +0000

Let's take a quick break from Sailor Moon to talk about periods and technology.

A couple months ago, I finally found the app of my dreams - Clue. It's a period/fertility tracking app - that is stylish AND functional.

That's important!

Seriously. Have you ever turned to the app store in hopes that it would have something to help you keep track of your uterus business? I have. And it is a mess out there. It's all flowers and butterflies and basic, eyesore calendars that are just impossible to look at and hardly functional. I deleted every app before I'd even used it for a month!

But~! Clue is a this beautiful, functional tool that helps you keep track of your period. It's highly customizable - you can add your own tags and set your own reminders through the app to keep track of what's important to you. And it's accurate! I've been using it for a few months now and as it adjust to my data, it gets more and more helpful.

I'll admit - I've never been that in touch with my body.

I keep irregular hours, I have irregular access to healthcare... and I just plain never took the time to figure myself out. It's hard! But Clue is really, truly helping me to get to know my biology better.I'll never go to the doctor again and go "uuuuuuuhhhhhh" when they ask me about my last period. I'm better informed and prepared when it comes to my PMS symptoms. AND I have all my past data at my fingertips in case I need it.

Anyway! I just thought I'd share with... all of the internet.
Does anyone else use the technology to keep track of their cycle? Or are all of you much more in touch with yourselves than I am?

Clue in the App Store.
Clue's Website.

Stream Sailor Moon on Hulu, Have a Million Feelings

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 19 May 2014 20:13:00 +0000

I swear this blog isn't exclusively about Sailor Moon... but we keep getting amazing Sailor Moon news and I have to celebrate on here. Look at that screenshot! Sailor Moon is now streaming on Hulu, uncut and subbed. And Viz is releasing a new dub later this year along with DVD sets!

Owning complete, official hard copies of the show is what I'm most excited about! I have the entire series on some very nice bootlegs - but it will be SO nice to own a cleaned up, high quality version.

I'll still treasure my bootleg DVDs though, honestly. Now, I feel like they're a fandom artifact -- from a time when Sailor Moon was in licensing limbo and nobody was sure if we'd ever see an official release of the last season. I bought those DVDs probably five or six years ago thinking there was a 50/50 chance that Sailor Moon could just as easily fade away into obscurity as it could experience a nostalgia revival.

Those were dark days!

But now, there's a flood of high quality merchandise celebrating 20th anniversary AND Sailor Moon Crystal debuts in 6 weeks AND I can stream the original old episodes on Hulu starting today! Yesssssss!

Moon Collection... Update!

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:10:00 +0000

Hey internet!

I finally got my preorders the other day, so I thought I'd share some of the new additions to my Sailor Moon corner. Look at that gorgeous pile of magical girl goodness~! This round came from Jlist - whom I've had very good experiences with over the last few years. They can be a little more expensive but their customer service has been excellent when I've needed to change/cancel orders I've already placed.

With the flood of new merchandise, I'm having a really hard time picking and choosing what should go in my collection. Especially since my collection doesn't have a theme - it's just things that I personally like! And lately, I've liked EVERYTHING.

The other thing that makes it difficult is that everything has sold out FAST. For instance, I thought I'd snag one cup and if I liked it, I figured I'd buy 3 more for a set -- but NO. They're all gone or 3x as much on ebay now. And I really, really like my new cup!

Here's the nesting bento set! It's really small, with the largest box being just under 10" long. I should have included something for scale. The lids peel off like tupperware. The colors are nice and vibrant. I'll probably use these to store gashapon papers and little tags from my collection.

The cup! It's a plastic tumblr with items from the show printed all over it. I really am a sucker for anything with the compacts and stuff. Mine came with a small crack in the plastic, which kind of sucks. But I took that as a sign that I should use it. So I do. ALL THE TIME. ~~On the plus side, it holds up in the dishwasher really well.~~ HAND WASH YOUR PRECIOUS CUPS, MINE WAS FINE IN THE WASHER A COUPLE OF TIMES AND THEN A BIG CHUNK OF THE DESIGN WASHED AWAY AND NOW I'M SAD FOREVER.

The die-cast charms are HEAVY. (Duh!) I think they're the least favorite of all the new stuff I've purchased, actually. The gold metallic is pretty dull in person and the crystal parts are cloudy.

Swing (Keychain) Set 2! I love these so much - and not just because Sailor V was included in this round! They paint jobs and faces are really great. They're just so cute and perfect! I can't wait to get the 3rd set and display them all together.

Last but not least, the gashapon compacts! They're just gorgeous. I could stare at them all day. I wish I'd bought a second set for cosplay & storing bobby pins around my house. You can see the true crystal parts and metallic coating are much more attractive than their die-cast counterparts. <3

As you can see, my collection is pretty crowded! But I think I'm reaching a point where I'm very satisfied with what I have. Although, I have a few more pre-orders coming that I'm really excited about... and then there is the problem of what to do when the new anime comes out this summer with all it's own merchandise I'm sure! Eep!

Emerald City ComiCon 2014 Recap!

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 23:55:00 +0000

You guys! Emerald City ComiCon is over!

I spent my morning going through our photos and wishing I'd taken more. I always forget to take photos and then I come home and feel bad about posting a wall of text about whatever. So, I'll try to keep it brief.

Maybe it was because I had to work on Saturday and we got off to a really late start on Friday - but I had a hard time getting into convention mode all weekend. I felt bad -- ECCC is the big convention in the PNW and it just didn't feel like ~convention~ time. Evan and I spent both days just sort of aimlessly browsing the booths, people watching, and saying hi to friends... and that was kind of it. I feel like I need a do-over.

Jem and the Wrinkly Dress (Jem)

FRIDAY

I decided I needed to be Jem the week of the convention and was working on major parts of my slapdash costume the MORNING of! It was a terrible idea and I made us really late for the show - which was made even worse by the insane traffic downtown! Parking garages were FULL, it took 30 minutes just to circle a block - ugh! It was terrible.

My costume was fun to wear though! But I definitely learned my lesson about last minute costumes. It doesn't feel good to show up in a costume that's poorly constructed and inaccurate when I KNOW if I'd started even two weeks earlier I could have done much better. Still, I met some outrageous fellow Jem fans and we talked about the ~new movie announcement~. (Ugh.)

Nathan Drake (Uncharted) & Joel (Last of Us)

Evan wore his Nathan Drake, which we're both still very proud of! We upgraded the harness by finishing (most of) the edges with Edge Kote. I would like to re-do the harness to be sturdier and fancier someday but by the time 'someday' rolls around people might not care about Nathan Drake so... we'll see. Currently, it's made of layers of pleather glued together with industrial strength e600! It actually holds together really well and it looks pretty good in the photos... so I don't know why I'm complaining when the next step up is to do it in $$$leather$$$! Whatever!

Jimmy Jr., Tina & Louise Belcher (Bob's Burgers)

SUNDAY

Sunday was Bob's Burger's day! Evan was Jimmy Jr. and and I wore Louise AGAIN. I've been wearing the same inaccurate Louise hat since SDCC 2011. It's another one of those things I keep meaning to upgrade, but never get around to. Maybe before Rose City?

I've been Louise at like, 4 conventions in a row now... but this time I had Tina and Jimmy Jr with me! I leant Evan's butt to our good buddy Lillinox for her amazing Tina cosplay. She had all her friends and artists we met throughout the day draw butts in her Erotic Friend Fiction notebook, which was so PERFECT. We also took some great photos, which I promptly plastered all over Facebook and Tumblr. And now my blog.

Belcher sisters 4 lyfe!

Tina had her erotic friend fiction book filled with butts!

We found a BurgerTime game! Very appropriate.

Gotta thank DTJAAAAM for always taking amazing cosplay photos at every convention ever. And South of Autumn for taking amazing portraits of us in his photo cave under the escalators too!

It's seriously so wonderful that people with amazing equipment spend their time capturing everybody's costumes, no matter the skill level or popularity of the character! <3 Maybe I'm a little sappy, but it's such a perfect example of why I love conventions and fandom - strangers coming together and celebrating pop culture and each other! Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

<3 See you next year, ECCC!

Ready for ECCC 2014?

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 07:17:00 +0000

I've cleared all the candy wrappers and junk off my sewing table because it's THAT time of the year again.... Emerald City Comicon is almost here!

I have a pile of cosplay related things to take care of this week and I foresee a couple trips to Joann's for emergency supplies. In fact, I still haven't figured out what I'm wearing on Friday! I've definitely made time to comb the ECCC program for fun panels though - and while I mull over my cosplay options, I figured I'd share my picks with you!

As usual, I gravitated toward panels on women and inclusion in geek communities -- but this is why geek culture is important to me and why I love conventions. I don't want to stand in a super long line to preview 20 minutes of a show that will be airing in the fall. And I'd rather just cross my fingers and hope I run into Eliza Dushku getting sushi down the block. Conventions are all about community (and collectibles shopping) for me.

FRIDAY
Women - Exposed!
Room 3AB, 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Professional female illustrators discuss their craft, clients, running a business, and sex -- I'm a little miffed that the description felt the need to disclaim it as not a "women focused" panel. What does that mean? But whatever.

Changing Role of the Character of Color
HALL C (610), 12:20PM - 1:10PM
Examining the role of characters of color - are POC still props for white leads or is the industry evolving? Yes, please.

Broadening Comics Readership
Room: HALL D (602-603), 2:40PM - 3:30PM
How can the comics industry (publishers, retailers, etc) can be more inclusive for readers of all races, creeds and color? Double yes please.

Looking Past the Target Audience
HALL D (602-603), 3:40PM - 4:30PM
Creators, curators, community leaders and critics on the front lines of this issue examine the fight over geek identity and the barriers to diversity in geek communities and media.

Kindle Worlds
HALL D (602-603), 5:40PM - 6:30PM
I would really love to hear all about how much $$ i can make with my air bud fan fiction.

Answer This! Trivia Game Show
HALL B (608-609), 7:10PM - 8:00PM
Because trivia, duh!

OFFSITE: ECCC Live Art Event
Q Nightclub (1426 Broadway,) 8:00PM, Free
Real live artists making art before your very eyes! Proceeds from the raffle and auctioned pieces will go to the Seattle Children's Hospital. (I'm helping out with this event some come say hi to me!)

SUNDAY
Movie Mash Up
MAIN HALL (6ABC), 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Listening to voice actors mess around is a great way to start the day.

Best Action Figure Playsets of the 80s
HALL D (602-603), 11:40AM - 12:30PM
I don't know if you guys have noticed, but i LOVE toys. I'd love to see 100% more toy and collectibles panels, tbh.

ECCC presents Michael Dorn
MAIN HALL (6ABC), 1:00PM - 1:50PM
I would wait in line all day just to hear Micheal Dorn say "sen-sor readings," and that's probably what I'll be doing.

Goofy Golden Age Superheroes
HALL C (610), 2:20PM - 3:10PM
Bizarre superheroes from history would have been my major in school if I was cooler.

Building Cosplay Communities
TCC 302, 4:00PM - 4:50PM
I've made a lot of fabulous friends who cosplay - but I would love to actively seek out more.

OKAY! Those are my picks for Friday and Sunday! Of course, I'll probably only end up at a 3rd of these panels and I'm going to miss out on Saturday so it looks like I'll have to live vicariously through someone else's blog.

What are you planning to see? Anything I missed?

[ Birchbox ] March 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 22:37:00 +0000

For Christmas, my sister-in-law gave me a three month subscription to Birchbox!! I've been eyeballing subscription boxes for years but never actually tried one... which is weird, because I love sampling things. Like, a lot.

Anyway! I'm two boxes into my subscription and I figured it would be pretty shameful if I neglected to blog about the bloggiest product to ever exist. (A monthly variety of things to review?! Hell yeah!)

My overall Birchbox experience has been pretty fun. I filled out a short survey about my beauty needs and automatically receive a box each month. You can find tracking information for your box and even see what's coming on their website -- but I honestly kind of forget about it until it arrives in the mailbox.

Each month, there are a variety of boxes that get sent out - so, not everyone gets the same things. This month, I got March Box #33 which came with everything you see in the picture - skincare, hair care, make-up, and CHOCOLATE. Fabulous.

I thought about reviewing every. single. item. in the box... but in the interest of not blathering, I decided to stick to the best and worst from this month.

BEST
theBalm's "How 'Bout Them Apples?" in "Pie"

Look at that adorable packaging. Although I have trouble blending cream blushes in a natural way, I like the sheer color of this sample enough that I'll keep it out to practice with. It's dual purpose lip and cheek cream - but I like my lip colors STRONG, if I use 'em and "Pie" is pretty close to my natural lip color already. Bonus points for re-sealable packaging that I could take with me on the go though!

BLAH
Benefit's "Big Easy" BB Cream

My big beef with this sample is the packaging. I really, really hate these flat little pouches on cardstock. It's kinda gross to scrape a liquid off the card. As a foundation, it's OK but there wasn't enough for me to cover my whole face - I get that this is a SAMPLE, but I was only able to cover 80% of my face... So it turned out to be more of a chore to try this than anything else... I scraped it off the card so I could try it on and then I found I had to wash it off so I could use my normal products to get even coverage. Bummer.

I'm finding that most of the boxes are like this - I always get at least one thing I'm excited about and something I could care less about. And the rest either get stashed away for later or used and forgotten. I have yet to find anything I need to add to my beauty routine, but I also haven't received anything I hated.

The major value in Birchbox, for me, is the fun of sampling - for $10 a month, I get a handful of new things to play with.... It's a fun way to experiment - but the random nature of what you get makes it an ineffective way to find the next essential thing for your beauty routine.

I think I have one more month of Birchbox to go before my gift subscription runs out! Honestly, I don't think I'll be renewing right away but I've already given someone else a subscription as a gift and I would definitely like to subscribe again later this year.

Check out Birchbox here!

Sailor Moon Crystal - 2014 News!

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 01:48:00 +0000

Last night, the Sailor Moon fandom basically had an aneurysm when the teaser leaked ahead of the official countdown! We've been burned before by amazing fan art and false rumors -- but this is the real deal. Since leaking last night, the announcement has been posted on the official Sailor Moon site.

See the leaked image in it's full glory along with the English translation of the announcement at MissDream.

Compare the new art with the original anime style and Naoko's artbook style!

As you can see, the series will be called "Sailor Moon Crystal" and Sailor Moon herself looks gorgeous. The new art is much closer to Naoko's elongated, graceful style - which is not that surprising since we've been told that this will not be a re-make of the anime but an adaptation of the manga! (There are major differences in both!)

According to the information released with the image, Sailor Moon Crystal will simulcast worldwide on NicoNico Douga this July.

I am so excited! The past year has really spoiled us Sailor Moon fans after years of nothing. I know we would have carried the torch for Sailor Moon if Toei decided to leave her in the 90's - for many of us, she was an integral part of embracing girl power. And the original manga and anime continue to catch new fans with its message of love and friendship... but I'm very glad she's getting an update!

My only dilemma now is how to divide my collecting dollars! I have a strong preference for the old stuff out of nostalgia, but a LOT of the 20th anniversary merch is amazing... and now we'll have re-boot merch too! I have a lot of pre-orders on their way to me right now! I'll be sure to do a collection update soon.

What about you? Are you a Sailor Moon super fan? Are you ready to become one?!

Penny Arcade Ruins PAX 2013 & Trip Report

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 18:42:00 +0000

Waiting to play counterstrike for the first time since 9th grade.

Before I talk about PAX, I need to talk about the Penny Arcade and dickwolves thing. If you haven't heard about dickwolves, you can read a great round up of everything awful here. You'll notice that yesterday, Mike Krahulik said he regretted engaging and removing dickwolves merch from their store.

And it's totally my fault for not doing my due diligence in keeping tabs on what awful, inflammatory things Penny Arcade continues to stand for -- but tbh, Penny Arcade is not my corner of the internet. I'm just not interested and neither are most of the people and blogs I follow -- so it takes something like dickwolves for Penny Arcade to pop up on my radar. And then it dropped off again, because I find the comic itself to be pretty blah. And I'm not in the habit of following things just to check and see if they'll continue to be awful. (There's enough fresh awful seeping into my life everyday via things I already care about.)

So, dickwolves came up in 2011 -- I attended PAX in 2013 because I was under the impression that Krahulik and Holkins had made (big) mistakes but were learning from them. If you say something hurtful but listen and learn from it eventually -- then I don't feel the need to kick you into a volcano. Because how will you learn and grow and become an ally if you're all soot and ashes melting back into the core of the earth?

BUT Penny Arcade has made it clear that they aren't learning and they don't give a shit about the dickwolves thing and not being hateful in general. I'm embarrassed to only now be learning about all the other rape-y, sexist, transphobic things that PA has perpetuated since dickwolves died down (in my feeds) over a year ago. This has gone beyond making a careless joke and hurting feelings -- this is actively and repeatedly being shitty, ignoring members of their community, and silencing minorities.

So, no more PAX for me!

---

I might actually have more to say about Penny Arcade being awful than I do about the convention itself -- since I'm not a Penny Arcade fan or a tabletop gamer, there was a large chunk of PAX that did not appeal to me.

What surprised me about PAX was that it felt more like a trade show than any convention I'd ever been to. The expo hall was almost exclusively companies and demos of their products -- not really a surprise, I know. But there was no artist's alley or anything like that. And Pink Gorilla was the only booth selling retro games and merch.

Just imagine demos and demos and demos for companies big and small as far as the eye can see. And then imagine more demos for expensive gaming headphones and mice. And then imagine aisles so dense with people in some places you can't tell who's in line and who's just stuck 'cause there's nowhere to go. That was most of my weekend. Evan and I stood in line for demos and freebies with occasional breaks for freeplay rooms or food.

As usual, I didn't make it to even a quarter of the panels that interested me. But the few that did I did get into were great.

You Game Like a Girl

Panels about being a woman in geek culture are my favorite, even though a lot of them have to spend the first 1/2 going over the basics of feminism and why we need to be inclusive. There was an interested discussion about booth babes and the booth babe ban at PAX and a little about how the panelists almost backed out after Krahulik's recent comments dismissing trans identities.

Retro Game Roadshow

I thought this would be like antiques roadshow, but it ended up more like the Price is Right. It was really fun to see the games and artifacts that people had brought and hear the experts talk a little about their history and value. I wish I'd brought my small collection of Sailor Moon games for Super Famicom, I'd like to know how they hold up outside the SM collector community!

Bad Games

Bad Games was basically a lesson in how to critique games and all the different ways a game can fail to be a good game - or even a game at all! We went to see silly, horrible games and we came away with knowledge about how racewalking is full of cheaters and some new vocabulary words.

Dark Secrets of Game Development

Surprise! This panel turned out to be mostly for game makers. Eight speakers got five minutes to talk about their interpretation of what a 'dark secret' might be (they ranged from developers should read more to make better stories to imposter syndrome to directors don't know what do do with voice actors) and unfortunately that was just not enough time for most of them to get into any real stories.

We cosplayed on Sunday, since Evan didn't have to work for part of the day. I rushed our costumes a little bit but I'm excited to fix it up and take it to other conventions! Evan got a compliment on his costume from someone who worked on Uncharted and I... was a cute dog. Please let me know if you got a picture of Evan as Nathan Drake or myself as Isabelle, I'd love to see them!

That was about it! All PAX really did for me was get me excited about going to PRGE next month and give me the worst case of buyer's remorse after I heard Krahulik's comments. Ick.

Even before Krahulik insisted on reminding the gaming community that he's an unbearable fart sandwich, I wasn't positive that PAX was for me and we definitely weren't going to be returning for another full four days. So, boycotting it in the future will be easy.

If you've never been or you're wondering where you'll get your gaming fix next year, consider this... PAX didn't offer a lot of unique experiences -- just early ones. You and I can easily save money by waiting to watch that trailer or demo that game a little later. The freebies were not abundant, amazing, or worth how hard most of them were to obtain - I bet dollars to donuts that it'll cost less to get that PAX exclusive on ebay than a pass to PAX that comes with a heap of guilt. And nerd community is all around us -- conventions are fun but we can street pass and make new friends at the local comic book store, the midnight movie premier, or any of the other bazillion conventions that happen in the NW. (Worst case scenario, I heard you can even meet new friends ONLINE!)

Your Fandom Documentary Fix

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 16:49:00 +0000

If you've spent two seconds on this blog, you know I'm all about pop culture and the fan communities that celebrate it. I don't care about the Mariners -- I care about Sherlock theories and which spandex is just the right amount of shiny so I have an accurate costume for the next convention. So, watching documentaries and reality TV about fans is naturally one of my favorite things to do. There aren't many -- and as you can imagine, many try to work the ~freaks in mom's basement~ angle. But I've found a few that I think are entertaining without mangling their subjects. Which, tbh, is probably a little hard to do because characters are not hard to find in and out of costume at conventions. ;)

Anyway! Here's what I like to watch when I'm having dork withdrawals.

MONSTER CAMP (2007)

Monster Camp follows a Seattle chapter of NERO, a Live Action RolePlaying organization, and a few of their key members. And a great primer for what LARP-ing is like, if you've only ever seen an after-school club going at it in the quad on your way to class. I saw it at SIFF a few years ago and I've probably watched it at least once a year ever since!

FANBOY CONFESSIONAL (2011)

Fanboy Confessional was a short-lived Canadian series that explored six different fan subcultures, including cosplay and horror fans. The cosplay episode is, of course, my favorite. I loved seeing other people do the last minute cosplay scramble. And the some of the costumes they feature are especially impressive!

TREKKIES (1999)
Trekkies is a classic, obviously. If you've never watched it, you need to right now! And it's fun to see an earlier generation of fans and conventions in action. It's available for streaming on netflix right now!

PERFECTION ZERO (2013)

Perfection Zero is a super short cosplay documentary with a great balance of the personal lives of the cosplayers and how they approach their craft. It also made me cry a little at the end. You'll see!

LEAVING MUNDANIA (2013)

Leaving Mundania includes some really beautiful interviews about why we cosplay and how important it can be - as well as the usual peek into the lives of cosplayers and their crafting successes.

Wow! I didn't realize these would be almost exclusively cosplay documentaries. I guess I didn't realize how many I'd watched! If you have any documentaries to recommend, let me know!

[DIY] Frame Your Studs

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 19:42:00 +0000

Behold! The curse of Forever21 and the $2 earrings!

I love stud earrings - but they are ridiculously hard to keep organized. Sure, you can buy a little wire mesh butterfly or Eiffel Tower at Claire's... but those things are hideous and I'm not a tween anymore. Plus! I don't think the studs will stay on there unless you put the backings on and TBH, that's just too much work. Knowing me, I'd put them all on nicely once and they they'd just go back to rolling around on my nightstand 'cause I couldn't be bothered to fasten them to the stand every night.

Clearly, I needed a better solution. So, I crammed some cork board into a frame from ikea and now I have the prefect place to store my studs. The nice thing about the cork is that the earrings stay in without needing their backs to hold them on. I keep a supply of earring backs in the ring dish my mother gave me. E voila! The perfect earring holder.

Too many Mickey earrings.

It's not hard to figure out how to make your own. But there was a little bit of experimentation involved, so I'll share how I made mine anyway!

YOU WILL NEED...

✦ Cork Board

I got mine from Target in a pack of four square sheets for about $7.

✦ Frame

You'll want a deep enough frame that your earring posts will sink in all the way. I used a RIBBA frame from Ikea. It's about 1.75" deep.
✦ Marker

✦ Scissors

STEP 1 - Open up your frame. You will not need the glass or the mat, except to use as a template for your cork sheets. Discard them or save for some other project!

STEP 2 - Use the glass or mat to trace the right size and shape for your cork board. Cut two, if you're using thin layer sheets like I did. I managed to cobble together my second layer with scraps leftover from the first square.

STEP 3 - Put your frame back together! The fit will probably be really tight, but the thick layer makes it so you can sink your posts all the way in before you hit the back board. Ta da!

My frame ended up being much too big for my little earring pile, so I stuck some pins on there too. I'm on the lookout for a smaller, cuter frame - but it's so nice to be able to see everything now!

Mahou Shoujo Hideaki Kobayashi

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 17:35:00 +0000

My Schoolgirl Fantasy is a short Vice Japan documentary that explores Hideaki Kobayashi's unique hobbies and surprisingly gentle soul. Kobayashi is famous for wearing his schoolgirl uniform in public, but not for the reasons you might think!

I don't want to spoil too much but he's definitely someone who's trying to touch the world with a little bit of love and happiness every weekend. Kobayashi is a real life magical girl. After hearing his story, I can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Just knowing someone is doing exactly what they want to and enjoying it so much is a real inspiration.

PAX Prime 2013 Cheat Sheet

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 00:37:00 +0000

PAX Prime is coming up quick! And while I wait and see if my wigs will get here in time, I thought I'd go through the schedule and see what's up. My usual strategy for conventions is to write down all the options that interest me and hope I don't get too distracted by shopping.

I'm honestly kind of surprised by the amount of panels I want to see. I enjoy video games (Animal Crossing all day, everyday ya'll!) but my boyfriend is the one who's always playing and re-playing six different titles at once. So, I thought I'd just be tagging along and racking up street passes... but clearly I was wrong!

FRIDAY

12:00 - 01:00 - Extra Credits: Diversity (Serpent Theater)
01:00 - 02:00 - Achieving Gender Diversity in Gaming (Kraken Theater)

01:00 - 02:00 - Making of NES Games (Wolfman Theater)

03:30 - 04:30 - Doing Retro Right (Unicorn Theater)

04:30 - 05:30 - Top Women Video Game Characters (Serpent Theater)

06:00 - 07:00 - Gays in Love (with their RPG's) (Raven Theater)
07:00 - 08:00 - Military Servicewomen in Games (Wolfman Theater)

08:00 - 09:00 - Arabian Fights {Disney's Aladdin on NES vs Genesis} (Pegasus Theater)

08:00 - 09:00 - Jeopardy (Kraken Theater)

09:00 - 10:00 - Video Games & Hollywood (Raven Theater)

SATURDAY

10:30 - 11:30 - Everything We Know is Sexist, Now What? (Wolfman Theater)

11:00 - 12:00 - Fun Facts and the Dirty Truth (Unicorn Theater)
07:30 - 08:30 - You Game Like a Girl (Kraken Theater)
08:30 - 09:30 - Political Correctness in Gaming (Raven Theater)

09:00 - 10:00 - Retro Game Roadshow (Kraken Theater)

SUNDAY

02:00 - 03:00 - Evolution of Games Blogging (Pegasus Theater)

02:00 - 03:00 - Women in Tabletop Gaming (Unicorn Theater)
06:00 - 07:00 - History vs. Gameplay (Kraken Theater)

06:30 - 07:30 - Video Game Music Trivia (Unicorn Theater)

07:00 - 08:00 - Video Game Data (Raven Theater)
07:30 - 08:30 - Foreplay: Romance in Games (Wolfman Theater)
10:00 - 11:00 - The Worst of the Worst (Raven Theater)

MONDAY

10:00 - 11:00 - Gamer Etiquette (Serpent Theater)

11:30 - 12:30 - The Life of a Game Tester (Wolfman Theater)

02:00 - 03:00 - Gender Diversity in Games (Pegasus Theater)

As you can see, I really like trivia and discussions about inclusion in the gaming (and geek!) community. I'm really stoked that a lot of the panels I want to see happen in the afternoon/evening, that's a nice change from having to get up and into costume early so I can make a panel right when the convention opens.

What do you think? Did I miss anything good? I wish there were a few more options about diversity in gaming. I'm happy to a good handful of panels about women in gaming but this is 2013 and I wanna see more WOC and LGBT voices get the spotlight too.

See you there!

Meet My Sailor Moon Collection

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 18:11:00 +0000

Hey internet! For my birthday this year, my boyfriend got a nice cabinet so I could display my Sailor Moon collection. And now that it's not in a box in the closet, there's no excuse not to show it off! There are still a few things that need to get framed or rescued from storage -- but this is the bulk of it. I've been collecting Sailor Moon memorabilia seriously for about four years now. Although, I think the oldest thing in my collection is a bootleg sticker sheet from Archie McPhee's in the 90's....

Sailor Moon was my first real pop culture love and my introduction to anime, you know. When I was little, I would get up early specifically to watch it -- and that's a pretty big deal because I was a very unaware little girl. You could plop me down in front of anything and I would watch it all day but Sailor Moon was the first show that I actually cared about. Sailor Moon has held a very special place in my heart ever since. And I appreciate the characters strength and friendships and the way the show celebrates being a girl even more now that I'm older. I guess that's why there's an ever-expanding museum of Sailor Moon in our home! And, I'll admit, I just love pink and sparkly toys.

My collection doesn't really have a theme or focus -- I usually buy things that I think are unique or would look really great on display. I love the art style for a lot of the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (live action) merchandise, even though the show is painful to watch (in the best way.) And I'm pretty proud of the production-related collectibles I have - the douga, a script, and a hilarious "Sailor Moon" cel from the Toon Makers pilot - little bits of Sailor Moon history!

I didn't take pictures of every single thing, since I usually instagram things as I get them. For my blog, I thought I'd just share ~~some~~ most of the highlights!

What do you think? There are several pre-orders that I can't wait to get my hands on in addition to some older stuff that's in the mail on it's way to me, so I'll probably have a new collection update before you know it! It's a great time to be a Sailor Moon collector - with all the new stuff that's being released for the 20th Anniversary of the show PLUS the re-boot coming this winter! And, of course, there's always my ever-expanding wishlist of things I need to round out my collection... It never ends! And I think that's the best part! ❤

SRGE 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 18:47:00 +0000

Everybody's talking about SDCC, but I still need to post about last week's adventure at the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo. Check out that pile of famicom games! Does that get your motor runnin' or what?

I was pleasantly surprised to walk into to the NW Rooms at the Seattle Center to find the tiniest convention I've ever been to! It felt like we'd time traveled to the 90's, before conventions were cool and all the jock poseurs started ruining everything. The dealer's room was the main attraction -- stuffed full of people and cartridges! All the vendors had a ton of games and memorabilia to sift through for every budget. There were seriously plastic tubs and file cabinets crammed full of every type of game for every console. Evan and I combed through most booths at least three times and found amazing treasures at each round.

Of course, neither of us are super hardcore retro game collectors so we were mostly just browsing for interesting deals. We're always on the hunt for different versions of Jeopardy. Jeopardy Deluxe. Jeopardy Jr. Super Jeopardy. Teen Jeopardy. Talking(!!!) Jeopardy... it's all GOLD. And I like to buy anything girly and nostalgic, even if the gameplay is fucking unbearable. (I'm really glad I only spent $1 on Powerpuff Girls: Paint Townsville Green for Gameboy... yikes!)

Evan and I teamed up for the Question Block's Videogame Trivia as Team BØNESTØЯM!!!!!111!!11! Probably the hardest thing to do is come up with team names... and we couldn't do Xbox420 or Nintendo69 'cause of the impressionable teens sitting behind us. Although, I think those impressionable teens beat us by about 5 points. Still, I'm proud to say we weren't the worst. I think we scored squarely in the middle! The questions were really, really hard. And I learned that I am not a good guesser when it comes to identifying games by the first 20 seconds of gameplay audio. (Go figure!) It was fun though! I think we might check out a pub quiz night one of these days.

I also played Dreamcast for the very first time in the freeplay room! Evan was appalled, since he owns one and somehow in the 10 years we've been together he's never dug it out for me to play with. So, we played Powerstone while various passersby stopped to watch me kick his ass. I'm looking forward to trying more games and consoles in the freeplay room next year, since we really only made time to sit down and play towards the end of our day.

Check out more SRGE pictures on my instagram and/or twitter and follow me for future retro shopping whatevers. And you should follow Seattle Retro's twitter for updates on next year's event! See you there!

Deadlight is Dead Wrong About Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:46:00 +0000

Deadlight is a side-scrolling platformer developed by Spain's Tequila Works for the XBOX arcade. With a few surprises and a little trial-and-error, it's relatively easy to guide Randall Wayne (a melodramatic park ranger) through the ruins of 1980's "Seattle," which has been ravaged by the zombie apocalypse. Wayne is great at launching himself like a little frog from windowsills and ledges as he searches for his family, just out of reach of the undead and 'the new law.' He also likes to grumble about humanity and brood during cut scenes.

Plenty has been written about Deadlight's (abysmal) story and (pretty good) gameplay. I'm here to complain about the setting.

One of the main reasons I bought this game, and now feel compelled to review it, is that it was supposed to be set in Seattle. However, once Wayne starts moving through the game it becomes clear that the developers didn't even bother to google Seattle.

Sure, there's the Space Needle. And like every other depiction of Seattle it's in the background of so many places around the "city" that you'd think we have 10 of them.

And then, there's the part where you spend 1/3 of the game deep in the SUBWAY TUNNELS under Seattle. (We have one underground bus tunnel and we're only just now slowly adding some underground tunnels to accommodate our single-route light rail system.)

There's a major missed opportunity with the stadium. I was so excited to see our beloved/imploded Kingdome overrun with zombies. But instead I arrived at "The Colosseum." Womp womp.

Also, the city is littered with the bodies of serial killers whose ID cards are part of the secret bonus collectibles. But there's no Gary Ridgeway (the Green River Killer) to be found. So, our very own serial killer who was active in the time frame of this game is totally absent.

Etc, etc.

F- for attention to detail.

Missed opportunities!

I'm disappointed. I don't understand why anyone would choose to set their game in Seattle, only to completely ignore the stuff about our city that would make a zombie apocalypse unique. I could have been dodging zombies in the world's fair leftovers at the base of the Space Needle, searching for survivors on a ferry-turned-floating-fortress, or sneaking around the 1800's ruins of the Seattle fire that make-up our actual underground. But instead I got any-city-USA with the shadow of the Space Needle in the background and some rain.

2.5/5 eyeshadows or lipsticks or donuts or whatever my rating system is.

Get it on sale if you like zombies and platformers and nitpicking.

Sakura-Con 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:37:00 +0000

Angelic Pretty's Neko no Ochakai at Sakura-Con 2013.

On Sunday, I attended Sakura-Con for the first time in over a decade!

Sakura-Con was my first-ever convention back in 2001. Let's all thank my Mom for being a great sport and safely shepherding her daughters safely through the otaku-packed halls of a Holiday Inn and probably hating every minute of it. What an angel!

I have vivid memories of combing through the dealer's room for Sailor Moon comics, watching the Cat Returns, and hearing the original Red Ranger tell stories girlfriend troubles and filming the series. I still have my convention badge, autographed by Lia Sargent in a shoebox somewhere!

Sakura-Con 2001 saw my first adventures in Cosplay too! I was Sakura (ha!), from Ninja Cadets -- my favorite (and one of a handful of) anime VHS at our local Hollywood Video. (Yikes, that makes me feel old! Someday, remind me to lecture you youngsters on the dark days before torrents when you had to go to Suncoast Video to spend all your allowance on one 4-episode tape of Slayers!)

On the convention floor (Thanks, Molly!) & photoshoot time outside!

Fast forward to this weekend...!

Evan and I decided to go at the very last minute. I think we got our badges and made it to the convention center by noon -- just a few hours before it closed! But it was plenty of time to shop, which was really the only reason I wanted to go. Although, I was a little disappointed by the lack of collectibles. There was a lot of new merchandise but very few booths had older stuff, which I think is much more fun to comb through. I'm really starting to miss California and places like Frank and Son's Collectibles Show.

Anyway! I wore my lolita dream dress, Angelic Pretty's Neko no Ochakai (Cat's Tea Party) for the first time ever! I paired it with my favorite pink wig and a blouse with sleeves that are just a tiny bit too short. But to be honest, I like the look of a rolled sleeve on me anyway. My boyfriend wore his popular Hipster Robin ensemble, minus the latex domino mask. So adorable!

I'm bummed that I missed all the lolita fashion shows and tea parties, but I did meet some really sweet lolitas and cosplayers while we roamed the exhibition halls. And later on, we met up with my sister and her pal, Molly. They were dressed as arpakasso! If you follow my instagram (or either of their instagrams) you've probably seen a lot of the pictures we took of each other in freeway park.

I look really tired/allergic in all the ones I didn't share (and the ones I did share!) So, this post will remain pretty text heavy, unfortunately! Someday, when my allergies have calmed down and I can get a full night's sleep I'll take my dress back out and take some nice pictures that really do justice to the crazy cat lady print.

Evan looks really excited to be at an anime convention in all these pictures!

That's all for now, internet!

Thanks for a fun time, Sakura-Con! See you next year! ❤ ❤ ❤

SDCC 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 03:25:00 +0000

Alright, it's been over a month since Comic-Con and this trip report is overdue! (Again!)

To be honest, we were a lot more disorganized with our convention plans this year. For example, the night before we left, I was up all night putting finishing touches on multiple costumes -- one of which, I finished and didn't even end up wearing! I didn't start packing until about 6 in the morning, and when we arrived I discovered that I'd full on forgotten to pack PAJAMAS AND REGULAR CLOTHES. I had 4 full costumes, wigs, a billion shoes/boots/heels, 2 different dresses for fancy dates just in case.. but only 2 t-shirts and 2 pairs jeans. And some of that was originally for cosplay too.

Lucy & Ricky status w/ separate beds.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Bay, which was a little over a mile away from the convention center. It was on the free shuttle route, but we opted to walk to and from the convention each day instead. It wasn't a bad walk but we underestimated how it would take to get gussied up in our costumes and get to the convention center -- and we ended up missing a panel or two. Boo hoo! But at least it was cheaper and wi-fi was FREE and there were more than 3 channels of television unlike last year's stay at the Westin. It was also across the street from some of the most delicious sushi I've ever had.

Give me a beat!

The other bonus to staying down on the waterfront was that we were near the USS Midway -- which is not something I would have been excited about except for the fact that Adult Swim opted to host their SDCC part on that particular battleship rather than a club in the Gaslamp this year. AND we happened to get in! Granted, we missed Metalocolypse flying in on a helicopter and the chance to see Brendan Small live -- but for some reason all the hardcore cartoon metal band fans didn't want to stay and see the secret headliner (GIRL TALK!) and when they flooded out, Adult Swim let all us poor saps in the stand-by line in!

I tried to prepare myself for this year's convention would probably not top last year -- but dancing the night away on a battleship to the best party music ever was just as good as the costume contest at Quality Social. Bonus Venture Bros time -- Doc Hammer was walking the same route from the convention center to the Midway and graciously shared a neco wafer with me after I told him how much we loved his show.

Adult Swim TP'd your battleship!

Other highlights included reading 50 Shades of Grey for Young Hollyw ood, finally meeting up with the lovely Betty Felon in person, Venture Family photos, the Bob's Burgers panel, and eating our way around San Diego.

Fionna & Cake, Lolita Batgirl & Hipster Robin

Hank (now with Brock's Jacket!) & Dean Venture!

Louise & Tina Belcher

This year's costumes included a lot of repeats and upgrades from previous conventions. I added Brock's jacket to Hank and re-made Louise's dress -- but most of the work I did went into my Batgirl lolita outfit! I'M SO HAPPY WITH HOW IT CAME OUT. I got a lot of compliments and it even got reblogged on fynerdylolitas and Gail Simone's tumblr! You can't see it, but I included hidden side pockets for my phone and camera and the bow at my waist is attached to a functioning utility pouch! :3 I want to re-make it with a lighter cotton so the cape falls a little easier and the skirt can be more cupcake-y & have more pintucks and details without getting too heavy. I'm also thinking about getting a bigger wig if I can find one in the right color.

Most of the work on Evan's costumes involved experimenting with body paint and liquid latex. I love/hate liquid latex now -- it smells AWFUL and I still haven't come up with a great template for a domino mask that stretches over his face the way I want it too. But it came out pretty OK. I'm glad we went with the latex rather than an expensive leather mask.

Cartoon Network was celebrating its 20th anniversary and there was a lot of Adventure Time stuff to be seen and had! Including an Adventure Time take-over of the nearby children's museum and a scavenger hunt around the convention floor with a gorgeous Land of Ooo map and fancy medal as a reward. I absolutely love the map and 20th anniversary posters we got -- I can't wait to get them framed! But CN was clearly overwhelmed by the attention their freebies brought to their booth and exhibit -- there was a lot of unnecessary mess and panic. Their booth was mobbed, lines were crazy long, and at one point we were racing 200 people from the convention floor to the sail's pavilion for our scavenger hunt medal. Also, the Penguin Publishing booth did not want to participate and was super rude about stamping our map and now I'm holding it against them.

As someone who gets paid minimum wage to be polite and do crowd control, I know it can be annoying to deal with a million people needing an answer -- but I also know how easy it is to be patient and polite anyway. Wrangling people effectively is an art, everyone working at SDCC in general needs to take notes from Disneyland.

AND NOW, a photo dump!

Fionna and Marshal Lee with the biggest superstar of all!

Some of our loot! There are so many posters crammed in that tube!

I can't wait to have it all framed!

Venture Bros Toys @ Entertainment Earth

Hover Boards are real!

Showtime Synergy!

Curses!

I fantasize about having a giant display like this instead of a Christmas town.

Someday, I'll get that other ear to stay up!

I totally regret not buying this little guy!

A Gurgi plush!

I could shop for toys all day! And we pretty much did!

After the Venture Bros panel, there was a massive gathering in the lobby.

I can't wait to see the pictures!

Dah-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-- Batmobiles!

That's all for now!

I slept through pre-registration for SDCC 2013, so I'm not sure that we'll make it to San Diego next year -- but we'll see! Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to Comikaze and Disney World next month. But more on that later!

Musueum of Jurassic Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 09:16:00 +0000

Yesterday, I found myself in being drawn out of a very dark, moody room lined with dioramas of moonlit mobile homes by a booming monologue discussing the death and decay of dice. The hallway of chipped and melted die eventually lead me to dead-end in a room of floral stereoradiographs where I was required to use sturdy metal viewfinder on a stem to check out each flower -- like a bizarre mardi-gras-science-ball.

The radiographs were pretty, but not as captivating as the nineteenth century collection of microsopic works of art made with scales of broken down butterfly wings. Around the corner was a preserved chunk of placenta in a velvet lined case illustrating one of a fascinating variety of folk remedies and superstitions. Upstairs, there was a gallery of oil paintings memorializing dogs of the Soviet space program -- which was just before the Russian tea room and rooftop garden...

And that is only a small sample of the intriguing exhibits I came across in Culver City's Museum of Jurassic Technology -- which is just as much a Victorian cabinet of curios, and/or art installation as it is anything else. To be honest, it was a bit of a disorientating experience. The MJT is densely populated with exhibits or collections of things that reveal and contrast the weird and wonderful of human experiences past.

Obligatory instagrams.

Microscopic art made with butterfly wing fragments.

Re: Athanasius Kircher writings on why the Tower of Babel would never reach the heavens.

More Athanasius Kircher: A wheel of bells that scared the shit out of me.

I really had NO IDEA what was in store for us when my friends and I took this detour from our exploration of Venice Beach. See for yourself! The museum is open Thursday - Sunday, check the hours on their website.

Wondercon 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:20:00 +0000

Saturday: Evan and I with a lovely Disney cosplay group!

Wondercon has come and gone -- and I suppose I've recovered enough now that I can write about it! I was so happy to learn that Wondercon was coming to the Anaheim convention center this year -- that's practically in my backyard! So of course Evan and I were there all weekend. And we enjoyed free parking since Disney's Toy Story lot was right across the way! (Although, that meant getting absolutely soaked walking to the convention center in the rain on Saturday.)

I thought Wondercon was a great convention -- it was a good size crowd with a range of programming that kept me busy. Although, you could tell the crowd/attitude was more comic focused versus the general pop culture craziness at SDCC. We went as Hank and Dean again on Friday and I'm pretty sure most people thought we were Archie and Scooby Do's Freddy.

It was great to have Wondercon so close to home BUT the Anaheim Convention Center area kind of sucks to be stuck at all day. It's surrounded by big hotel blocks -- so there's nowhere convenient to walk to for a break from the crowds or food. I think that was my biggest complaint -- the lines for the small food court and taco stands in the convention center AND across the courtyard at the Hilton were insane all day. We carried our own snacks, but I found myself daydreaming for all the choices in the Gaslamp while I struggled with my desire for something warm and substantial versus rage at lines/expensive/bland food.

PANELS

The Last Unicorn

Lots of exciting Last Unicorn news/events coming up. I wish they'd gone into more detail about the legal complications they had to sort out and showed some of the restoration work they're doing, though.

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund & History of Comic Book Censorship

Scary stuff! Especially regarding a recent case where comics and fan art on a personal computer almost landed one poor guy in jail in Canada (Charges dropped, but it was dragged out for 2 years a $$$$ in legal fees!) Check out the C.B.L.D.F website!

Adventure Time

I can't believe Maria Bamford was on the panel and she barely got to say more than "Hello!"

Comics Arts Conference: Females and Feminism

I wish I could have made it to all of the CAC panels! Females and Feminism was interesting, but I definitely wished it was longer and more in depth. And I was a little disappointed that the panel shied away from "getting political." Feminist issues are inherently political -- even if they're being examined in pop culture! More please!

Geek Girls Create

Again, I wanted this panel to be longer, more in depth, and more focused on being a woman in a male dominated industry. Instead, they barely got through what projects the women on the panel were currently working on before time was up!

Tournament of Nerds

Hilarious! I'm glad it's a regular night at UCB -- I want to go more often! The final debate was Twilight Zone vs. Godzilla. Amazing.

Max Brooks

Serious discussion about surviving the zombie apocalypse AND parenting. Beautiful.

Community

My memory of the Community panel is mostly dominated by how upset I was that I had to sit through a WHOLE episode of Once Upon A Time before it started.

And now for some pictures!

Max Brooks invited some of the audience up on stage to fill the table while he talked. Cute!

Cosplay, cosplay, cosplay!

The Bay Area Ghostbusters Club Table was adorable!

And the R2 Builder's Club had an impressive collection around their booth!

Small children were chasing Finn and Jake down for a picture all day.

Custom lightsabers started at only $50!

So close, and yet so far @ the Community Panel

I think you could spot the Troma booth from space.

Some instagrams from the weekend - Cake & my schedule planning, Wondercon loot (we bought some art!), and my badge!

See you at SDCC 2012!

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:50:00 +0000

After months of much agonizing and obsessively checking the SDCC facebook page -- the moment of truth has come! And gone! Pretty painlessly, in fact.

I woke up at 7:45 and rolled out of bed to fetch my laptop. By 7:47, I was back in bed and cursing myself for leaving my credit card in my wallet across the room. Of course, I have the number memorized... but I didn't want to risk it! 7:55 -- back in bed, already bored and sleepy. 7:58 -- debating how soon to open the waiting room... right on the dot at 8? seconds before? after? Suddenly, there was no time to think! It was 8 AM!

At 8:00:10, the waiting room was loaded and I was surprised to see that I was only #1522 in line! After last year's marathon refreshing frenzy, I was incredibly relieved. I watched my spot move steadily up the queue every 120 seconds, with facebook and tumblr to keep me company in another window.

Ten minutes later, I escaped with two 4-day badges for myself and my beau!

I call this one, a thrilling Saturday in march. Beautiful, right?

SDCC Badge Sale E-mail

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:56:00 +0000

"As a member of the Comic-Con Member ID preferred “E-List”, you are receiving first notification of the badge sales date/time and the exclusive link to registration. Although you are required to have a Member ID to purchase a badge, sharing the above link on a social networking site may decrease your chances of obtaining a badge. Although only those with a Member ID will be allowed to purchase a badge, the EPIC waiting room is open to the general public and if the link above is leaked online, we anticipate that several thousand people who did not sign-up for a Member ID will attempt to access the registration system erroneously. Additionally, should you choose to share the date or link online, it is likely to be picked up by numerous media outlets who will share this information with a larger audience."

Comic-Con's 2012 badge sale announcement is hitting inboxes as we speak! I'm kind of laughing/frightened my Comic-Con's warning that came along with the badge sale info e-mail. KEEP IT SECRET, KEEP IT SAFE, FELLOW NERDS.

P.s. I'm sure that the link and time will be all over the internet by the end of this sentence. Good effort though, SDCC.

Three One G in Long Beach

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 02:31:00 +0000

Last night, Evan took me out to Long Beach to catch a Three One G showcase featuring Retox (Justin Pearson's new band.) To be honest, super hardcore/grindcore/mathcore/brutal shit is more my boyfriend's thing -- but sometimes I forget how much I like it too. Retox was really great and Secret Fun Club put on a good show as well.

Plus, Three One G put out one of my favorite cover albums of all time -- Dynamite with a Laserbeam: Queen as Heard through the Meat Grinder of Three One G. I put one song end of this post for your sampling pleasure but you should probably just buy the album (on pink vinyl) right now if you know what's good for you. ❤

The showcase was held at Alex's Bar which was adorable and appropriately grimy at the same time. I really loved the smatterings of gold glitter on the ceiling and the murals in the ladies room -- check out those vampire children and that monster kewpie! (Oh, and there's me too!) Fabulous!

Also, when we arrived an hour and a half before the bands started -- somebody had already barfed all over the floor by the bar. Party!