A brief Katsucon write-up, while things are fresh in my mind. This was actually my first year going,

A brief Katsucon write-up, while things are fresh in my mind. This was actually my first year going, though I’ve had friends for years who went every year. Some of my motivation was based on the fact that Katsu is kind of one of the big two of east-coast cons everyone goes to, with the other one being Otakon. I handle heat terribly, and found Otakon too crowded and overwhelming when I went the one time in 2004, so I went for Katsucon this year. Opted to drive down because if I have company, I don’t mind long drives, and it meant I didn’t have to worry about checking anything (Southwest, I am still annoyed at you). The venue was lovely - I hadn’t quite realized that a lot of the stuff is inside (like the fabled gazebo) and it was nice to only have to go outside a few times all weekend (getting stuff in and out of the car, emergency CVS run, avoiding the coffee line inside the Gaylord), particularly as I tempted fate by going ‘I only need my light winter coat, not my heavy one’ and then the wind was hideous all weekend. Downsides: the hotel portion is in no way actually prepared for being booked to full capacity, in terms of wifi strength and hot water.

I was a little worried I had bit off more than I could chew by bringing five costumes to wear, because that was my big mistake at Dragon*Con, and I was prepared to drop something if I felt I couldn’t handle it, but it actually worked out easily and I was really happy with most of what I wore (Dolorosa needs some fixes before I’m happy with it, which is why there are basically only photos from the HS shoot Friday). I got to hang out with a lot of awesome people that I had met already, and some I only knew from the internet. There were a few rough spots, but a lot of them were basically 50% me forgetting that I cannot do the ‘six hours of sleep, live on the adrenaline rush’ for cons any more and my mood crashes out really, really badly when I’m tired, particularly if I have to deal with people. Not fun, but something I can remember to watch for in the future. Also, the McD’s on the way out of town is a gongshow Sunday afternoon and best avoided for your own sanity and free time, as well as that of the employees.

Shout-outs to:
All the awesome people I got to meet, or re-meet - neckfruit, drippingcolorsproductions, yaexrae, elementalsight, saccharinesylph, knightarcana, vantasticmess

pyropi for helping me lrn2PAX and knightarcana for helping me get my brown lacefront styled and wearable despite still having stuff of their own to finish.

vantasticmess, knightarcana, and spacedogprincess for being great carmates and helping keep me awake and focused yesterday

And the very many people who gave me compliments on my outfits! After the ridiculous number of hours I put in, I was really happy that other people thought they turned out well, too.