Ok so after suffering an unsual downward spiral of depression for days, which I suspect had a lot to do with PMS - which uh, I never had such a problem with before, but um, I guess... things change...

ANYWHO

Animazement was exactly what I needed for a morale boost. For a state such as North Carolina, we may not have a lot of shit going on here but damn, when we do get to have opportunities such as cons...wow. lol There was so many cool ppl and cosplays. It really surprised me but then again, anime cons are rare here. So I can understand why the turnouts would be so awesome. My and cousin and I was like...why didn't we try to do this years before? xD

Friday was very, very mellow. We spent the evening ppl-watching, browing the dealer's room and Artist Alley.

Artist Alley was where I finally got to meet, ShadowIvy. She's a very popular artist here on Deviantart and a good one too. :3 When I first saw her, she didn't quite understood who I was and I was like, "You know Kaine" She slowly shook her head and I was like "Well then, I'm the Jou cosplayer" Then her eyes got big and she started spazzing out. She was so adorable and I instantly fell in love with her personality. She was one of those ppl who you would like to hug over and over again. I made it a point in stopping by her booth ever so often the whole con. I bought one of her comic books, we took a few pictures and she drew me a Jounouchi. I was very happy to have met her. One of the bright highlights of the con for me.

We also attended the rock concert hosted by the jp rock band NOIZ and thinking back to the surprisingly horrible concert at Anime Matsuri, I didn't plan on staying...

But, again, I was surprised. NOIZ kept me interested throughout the whole concert and they were very engaging. Every so often, the singer, Angel Voice would take out a sheet of paper and try his hand at speaking English. I personally thought it was the best and cutest thing overall. ESPECIALLY the parts when he said,

"Are you guys my babies? You are..my baby"

"OH yeah, Oh yeeaaah! I am so horny~~"

"Do you like Pokemon? I say, do you like Pokemon~~?" Then he proceeds to lift up his little loin cloth thing on his weird costume and says "Well here's my pokemon! "

Then the guitarist, Super Vibrator (pause to laugh) pipes in and says, "Yeah and he likes to Peek at you (Pikachu)"

That concert was pretty damn hilarious and awesome in its own right, though I had a super bad headache afterward from the sound system that did too good of a job. They had another shorter concert Saturday, but I didn't go because I didn't want a migraine repeat, though I heard, they were just as random, wetting each other with water and stuff. LOL

Now speaking of Saturday...and to say I had a blast was an understatement but, damn, I had a blast.

I was Rikku from the Final Fantasy 10 installment and my cousin was Yuna. Now being the Leo that my cousin is, she was very cocky in our cosplay success rate. She was all hyper saying we going to own the con! So many ppl are going to want to take our pictures! I didn't think too much into it as I can only be 'cocky' when I feel that I have a reason to be. Though maybe that was how my cousin felt, just more often then not...so I shrugged and said yeah, I'm sure we'll have fun.

Lol..

We were not prepared for craziness that will ensue.

It wasn't even five minutes when we stepped our foot into the doors at the con when we had someone say, "OMG!! CAN I TAKE YOUR PICTURE??!?!?" It was to be the premonition to the whole day. Sure there were other Rikkus and Yunas but there was something about us that had everyone spazz out. I mean we couldn't even rest, shop in the Dealer's room, take money out of the ATM or even cross the street without someone screaming for a picture. Then we has someone invite us to the Final Fantasy photoshoot where everyone dressing up as Final Fantasy characters take pictures as a mass group - which of course my cousin and I participated in. It was amazing because I haven't been physically popular with anyone before or popular period since my days as a Fanfiction writer - yeah, before I was a bit more stable and didn't hit rock bottom in which I can't seem to climb myself out of. lol..

ANYWAY,

I think one guy summed it up for us when he ran up from behind us and yelled, "OMG! It's AFRICAN AMERICAN Rikku and Yuna! Can I take a picture?!" My cousin and I couldn't help but smile as he and his group of friends made us laugh. After he took the picture, he then said, "Thanks, you guys are beautiful!" I think that did it for me...not because he called us 'beautiful' per se, but because he saw through the superficiality of skin color to say that, even though he clearly acknowledges the fact that Yuna and Rikku aren't even tanned. I've always felt self-conscience in cosplay or who I am because I honestly don't fit the stereotypical mode of a black person. Not to say I'm alone but where I live, stereotypes are literally almost fact which is why I'm constantly struggling with myself and plus, I'm just so damn miserable where I am. Then to put it internationally, African Americans are rarely represented as something 'ositive' and will you rarely ever see an African American as major character in anything so it kinda saddens me that most other black anime lovers feel like they have to cosplay characters that match their skin color. I did thought like that at first but then, I decided to break the rules. I couldn't have been happier as a result. So yeah Animazement in a way, opened my eyes to a lot of things, all positive. There was also a rave that lasted from 10am to 3am but sadly, my cousin and I were just too beat to go. Next time, we would give ourselves more breaks in between and sleep better so that we can enjoy the night light. It was the only time we actually felt old.

The only disappointment that I had with the con was that they changed the system as far as the Cosplay Masquerade and of course with it being me and my cousin's first Animazement, we didn't know - thus we had to miss it. However, that HARDLY screwed up our good time. It was simply a lesson learned for next year.

Sunday was pretty much a repeat of Friday. We took one last look around Dealer's room and Artist Alley and then we went home with plenty of memories. I only wished that it had continued forever or at least longer. I would never be able to subject myself to such ppl going back home and it would probably be awhile before I can again.

-Sighs-

Though for the time being I will savor this weekend and research the internet, youtube and maybe even DA for my face. I'm pretty sure I will be smiling all week.

Hopefully soon, I will retouch up some really good photos to post on here as well as some drawings I've been slowly working on. Though you would probably see the photos A LOT faster lol.

Things that I bought from the con:

A Nintendo DS starter kit featuring Princess Peach (now all I need is the DS system lawl)
A yaoi manga
One of those huge sought after yaoi paddles (WHOO HOO)
Awesome Art from ShadowIvy and Kayoha Siemens
Gold dice earrings

Huzzah!