To see the pictures, go to the LJ entry here: [link]

Finally got around to putting this together, hehe. I had a LOT to say.

FRIDAY

Okay. So, the con started noon-ish, but of course I was given a 1-5 class on Fridays. So as soon as my class gets out I zip on over to Mesa and pick up Subway for dinner. *fireflymist /Nikelle calls me and tells me that our group, the bunch of friends I was gonna hang with, wasn't cosplaying on Friday. So, I don't don Canada. I leave my house around 6:30, 7 pm. I call up Yagami, who got the same message, and we meet up at the Hilton Phoenix/East Mesa hotel where the con was (her parents had to come find me, I got lost upon entering the hotel. |D And the parking lot alone is GIGANTIC) to find that our friends changed their mind last minute and we're the only two not in cosplay. WHAT. Well, except for ~skorpyon9 /Sam, who looked kind of out of it that night and left soon after Yagami and I went to the vendor's hall. He was supposed to be England that weekend (the same guy from PCC, for those of you who remember) but he never showed up Saturday or Sunday so I'm not sure what was wrong. I missed his snark.

Nikelle was Taiwan--which I totally called. She wouldn't tell me previously who she was cosplaying but at the time I thought Yagami was being Hungary so I figured Nikelle, being small and rather petite, could pull off Taiwan really well. That or Seychelles, but I don't think she knows who Seychelles is. XD She was the most adorable Taiwan! And ~XxeMmUmFeFtItNxX /Bariah was a stellar Austria, even though we failed at making her haircurl. Taiwan was scared of my Canada and got all buddy-buddy with MY bff Austria. (She stood in for Hungary, who was not there) What is this madness.

-Met up with ~project-yuki and ~Eshiza, who were America and North Italy respectively. It was nice to see them again, haven't seen them in person since PCC. Was kind of awkward at first though, I don't think we knew what to say to each other. LOL I am sorry I am such a social retard, guys. ;_;

Anyway, Yagami and I blew what little money we had at the vendor's. I got myself a Demyx plushie, which I do not regret because Demyx = awesome. Also picked up a Sephiroth keychain for roomie Yoli and a Sora keychain for roomie Bree. Aaand got myself this obscure manwha for $4.

-Looked for =RavynCrescent's table so I could finally meet her but every time I passed it it was someone else! Phooey. Yagami and I waited for the longest time just so we could go to the Johnny's Entertainment panel. We were so bored, and the vendors/artist alley was closed around 9:30 so we just wandered around and chatted. Luckily the Johnny's panel was totally worth it. I love finding new groups to listen to, such as KAT-TUN. <3

-After the panel I went home to sleep. Cons make me tired so much easier than anything else. XD

SATURDAY

I donned Casual!Canada today, which looks about the same as PCC's version but I have a wig (complete with haircurl!) and a Canadian flag patch on the chest. Got to hotel around 9:30 and stood in line for Masquerade + Voice Actor tickets with Bariah, Nikelle, and Yagami for a little bit (then she had to go back to Scottsdale to pick up the rest of her costume).

The moment I entered the hotel I was bombarded with people calling out "CANADA!" from all different directions. And I can't count how many times people asked for hugs (which I couldn't help but oblige). Twas amazing.

The roomies showed up finally around 10:30, by which all Voice Actor tickets had run out. A classmate came with them...long story short she kind of invited herself along once she heard Vic Mignogna was going to be at Sabo. I was anxious because one of the major reasons they came was to see Vic, and they didn't get tickets because Yoli had to drive Jelise (classmate) all the way back to Phoenix and halfway to Surprise to pick up Jelise's wallet that she had forgotten.

-Went to In-n-Out with Nikelle, Bariah, Yoli, Bree, Jelise, Yuki, and Eshiza.

-Attended J-drama panel with Yoli and Bree because we all love watching Asian doramas. We were shown some we'd never heard of so now we've got something new to watch. XD

-Went to Vic's panel or so we thought. turned out to be one with David Boum and Jolene Houser of Dusk on "How to do Horror". So the roomies and I sat in on that, which gave us early bird seats for Vic's panel which followed directly after. XD Turns out it was a Q&A so you didn't need tickets for it.

-Found Yagami after the panel while the roomies went back to Chandler to help with Yoli's mom's Halloween party. Yagami was Princess Peach!

-Met up with Bariah, Nikelle, ~Sonavaturo (who was Japan) and Nikelle's bro so we all went outside to stand in line for the Masq. Where I saw this awesome Yuri Lowell (Tales of Vesperia) cosplayer running around, but he was on the phone.

-Bariah and I were bored, and she was woozy and tired of wearing heeled boots all day, so we started taking crack photos with Austria, Canada, and Peach.

-Masquerade was awesome. So many Code Geass cosplays...I'm taking that as a sign that I need to actually continue watching that series. D;

-Got to see ~OrangeTablet's group skit (they won! Felicidades!~)

-After Masq I drove home and went to bed, again.

SUNDAY

TODAY WAS THE MOST EPICALLY AWESOME PART OF THE ENTIRE CON.

The Hetalia gathering was at 12:30, but until then I chilled with my roomies. Bree was the child of Naruto and Hinata (we said) and Yoli was "Madara's Wife/Sister/Relative". This little story earned them many photo oppurtunities.

-There was a pre-gathering gathering in the hotel lobby, where I gave my commission to ~Maniac-Lady /Nikki who was Belarus. And we totally became BFFs right then and there. BROLARUS <3

Now onto the Gathering!

It was ridiculously hot outside. At least, we all thought so. My sweater was made for insulation plus everyone was wearing uniforms so we just about melted. Luckily, ~ShadowGarnet and Eshiza saved the day with Eegee's Shaved Ice. It was HEAVENLY.

So many APH cosplayers! At PCC there were maybe five, including myself. It was awesome seeing such a large group.

There was another Canada cosplayer but apparently she ran off. However, I was still looking for her while pictures were being taken so I appear sort of confused/out of it. Maybe it worked in my favor...

I don't have that many photos from the gathering itself, but rest assured there are a LOT. I've pulled some of my favorite from deviantART:

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-After the Gathering, Brolarus, Romano, England, ~The-Laurasaur /Poland, *MidnightAqua /America, Sweden, and I went to In-N-Out. =AldenEcho /Romano gave me mint chocolate. <3

-We drew a lot. Brolarus and I made up all these crack pairings based on who was hanging out with who that day. Including Canada/Belarus and England/Sweden.

This was probably the most enjoyable con experience I've had thusfar--can't wait until the ComiCon in May! 8D
I met so many new people at this con~ I hope we can be friends! I'm getting better at not being so shy, I think.