Whoop Whoop! Another Con review blog!
I seem to be going to a lot of these lately, but gosh it's such an honor that I was asked by any of these cons to be apart of judging or guesting these days. I am so honored, and it's been such an exciting experience!
To start with as always, these posts are never meant to slander the cons I attend, so please never take it as well. These are simply my experiences within the event, both pros and cons!
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So to begin with, it has been a majorly long time since I had attended Kuroneko Con. This convention takes place in Spokane Washington, which where I live is about a 5 and a half to 6 hour drive. My goodness what had I gotten myself into? It wasn't like I hadn't done this before, and we plan on going to Kumoricon as well which is about a 4 and a half hour drive as well. I am pretty used to driving at this point, what can I say? But regardless of how long it was, it was super nice to be able to get out of Bellingham for a while, something about a change in scenery just makes it all the better. Our plan was to stay overnight, which meant we would be getting to the con late on that Friday, and leave late on Saturday. "But Nichela..." I hear you all saying "Why didn't you stay another night so you weren't driving 6 hours back so soon?". I am broke that is why. We really only had enough to stay overnight, which sometimes is all I can really do for cons. It sucks, but right now with my business only being at the beginning stages, it's all I can really do right now. It's my career after all, and although I have fun doing these, it's not a vacation for me often times.
But regardless of the drive and funds, it was super exciting! The last time I had been to this con was a few years before the pandemic and lock down happened. I had gone for a few years when it was honestly just a small little thing that, in retrospect, wasn't worth the drive. But at the time of just starting out, I was doing panels and talks so I wanted to be able to go. The last time me and a big group went though, it was very devastating. A huge falling out in the group happened that tore us all apart, it was very personal and traumatic for a lot of us. We went from a group of 8 really close friends to now being a trio. Us three went through a lot and it's taken us a really long time to get over things, or to even just move on from it. We still talk about it to this day and how absolutely insane it all was. For a while I wanted to go back because I was and am the kind of person to try and make new memories from past experiences, but a lot of friends and especially these two just didn't feel comfortable or that it was the right time. This is completely valid and I respected their wishes on this.
This year when I reached out about wanting to be a judge, I wasn't all that expecting to be accepted, but I was pleasantly surprised when they did! I knew it would be a lot to handle, for my friends right now, even though they both graciously said they would go with me if I needed them too, but being as how it was going to be such a rushed event, I didn't want to push it. Plus things happen in everyone's lives and I knew they were both busy at the time. My mom came with me, being my handler most of these conventions and all, and we took our long drive on Friday. Mom unfortunately also injured her foot that morning, so there was definitely not going to be a lot of walking for us.
We stayed at the Spokane Club Hotel, which honestly for the price was so freaking cute! Me and my mom love old victorian style hotels. Especially since we always wonder if they are haunted or not. The staff was so sweet, the beds were comfortable, the room was clean, and I honestly have nothing bad to say about it! It was about a 4 minute drive to the con because we couldn't afford the double tree right next to the con, but I didn't mind really. It was nice that the con had cheap parking right next to it!
The first day when we arrived was about 5 or 6 PM, and Jaimie who is the coordinator was so sweet and gave us a small tour of the place since it had been so long since I have been there. The venue truly upgraded, which was sad that there weren't many people at the con this weekend. Seriously yall, this is an awesome venue that everyone was sleeping on, one of the better ones I have been to in a long time. Nothing was hard to find, which was funny because the map made it look like things were hard to find, but in actuality it was all in one area that spanned from two floors. It was perfect for my ADHD brain!
Now onto the main event! I was one of three judges for the cosplay competition this year, alongside the two most amazing people I think I have ever worked with; Maddykate Cosplay and CrypticSoda. Honestly, these two have my whole heart, I was so nervous at first because these two are so amazing in their skills and so well known in the community, and meeting them was such a relaxing experience. I did not once feel nervous, left out, weird, uncomfortable or any of negativity around them. In fact I believe Maddy said this was their first time judging a cosplay contest, and even asked me for some advice, which honestly helped my nerves so much. (So thank you Maddy, you are such a welcoming soul!). And Crypt was absolutely so much fun to be around, they came in with such a bright and inviting energy that got me so pumped for the event! This was truly a duo that I was absolutely honored to be apart of!
The cosplay contest itself was so amazing organized, way better organized than most of the cons I have been to whether I was judging it or being apart of it. Jaimie and their crew were truly on top of things, and even when there were bumps in the road, they thought on their feet so fast and made the adjustments quickly so make a truly memorable and fun experience for everyone! We had the main cosplay contest which became smaller due to no shows, and they introduced a cosplay walk on for cosplayers that didn't want the pressures of a normal cosplay competition. This was such a cute idea, and they even let us judges choose our favorites that walked on and they won a little prize as well!
Onto the cosplayers of the main competition, it truly blows me away with the talent that is brought into these competitions. I feel like I say this every time, but it really does inspire me to keep growing in my work as well. You can see the dedication and hard work these cosplayers put into these cosplays. Some even made their costumes from the undergarments to the actual outfit! That is just amazing to me! Everyone works so hard for what they love and it really shows, some cosplayers even expressed the energy outwardly and it really warmed my heart to see it. The love these people have for not only the craft, but the characters they are cosplaying shows and I want everyone to know that this was such a hard decision for us judges. We spent so much time talking to everyone that they ended up having to time us, and we spent almost the entirety of our break talking about each contestant and trying out best to figure out winners. I'm telling you it was SO DIFFICULT!!!
I loved the fact that we had a rehearsal segment as well, I don't think I have ever been apart of a contest where I had experienced that. Especially since it helped us to get a vibe of everyone's stage presence. We also had a performance from the wonderful Stargazing Astra who was such an inspiration and such a fun person to watch perform on stage, it was a perfect intermission and us judges had a delight rocking out to the music they danced to.
Everyone apart of that event truly made it memorable for me, I took so many pictures and videos because of it, and even purchased a print from Maddy to put in my work room as inspiration from such a memorable con experience! I don't think I will ever forget this.
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Now, onto the cons for this con. Fortunately it was really small things that didn't impact too much of it, and is simply just things that can't be helped. It's a long drive for such a small con to start out with. I think because of the pandemic attendance for a lot of conventions have gone down, which is sad but valid. I truly put myself at risk a lot going to these events still, but I take the precautions I need in order to attend. It was just very sad to see how little of attendance there was, especially for their venue upgrade. I remember going to this event and it being significantly smaller with a much bigger crowd, so when I had the tour and saw the upgrade I thought to myself "Oh fantastic! I remember how crowded and hot it was way back when". But I was not expecting on Saturday, the main day of any con, so have such a small attendance. Truly I don't think this con deserved that because the venue, the atmosphere and the people around me was such a delight, I get it's a long drive, but back than I feel like it was really worth it, and I hope it gets to that point again someday.
Another gripe I had was a few con goer experiences. I had brought this up with Jaimie the coordinator, and completely understood that nothing could really but done, but at least made it aware of what happened and who did it. But one con goer in particular questioned why me and my mother were wearing masks. This took me so off guard, and they really pestered on it when I didn't answer right away. I simply said "I am immune compromised" let them take the photo and proceeded on my way. Honestly if I wasn't so taken back from this, I wouldn't have allowed them to take my photo at all and walked away to report to staff. To some people this may have not been a big deal, and you may think I am overreacting, but in my perspective I am not.
As I stated on my Instagram story, a PSA to con goers, cosplayer and normie alike. Do not ever, EVER, ask someone what they do or choose to wear on their body. I truly feel infuriated just writing this and experiencing it in my head again, similar to how I felt when it happened. I was so surprised to hear this because I have NEVER been asked this at a con. Conventions are supposed to be a safe space for everyone regardless of who they are, and being asked why I choose to keep myself safe from the diseases that are around me is such an insult. I do not need to explain myself nor does my mother or anyone around me, and how would you feel if I asked why you were cosplaying the character you cosplay? I could have been mean and fought back but I didn't. I truly hope that if this person is reading this, you reflect on what you said to me and learn from this because that is not okay in any circumstance. Please check yourself.
Another gripe I have is a few other con goers. I'm not entirely sure what it was, but the atmosphere with some con goers really made me and my handler uncomfortable. We were followed around the con at one point, he eventually stopped when we turned and made it aware that we knew. And there was an instance of people coming up to both me and my handler when one was of us was alone (Away from each other) where someone would sit next to us, make themselves comfortable, never say a word to us, and than leave. Again, these were things that really couldn't be helped out dealt with, but it was weird it happened a lot or at all. We don't go to Spokane often, we maybe this is just a thing that happens in that area? It was just... odd, and uncalled for. Nothing dangerous (We hope), just super uncomfortable.
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Other than those instances, I truly did have a fun experience, and loved that even when I cosplayed Kiki from Kiki's delivery service; something so simple made people super happy. I was approached a bunch by fans, opportunities and people just loving my cosplay, it made the whole experience worthwhile.
But one thing I am disappointment in, Chilli's my dude, I was so excited to eat there again, but that was probably the worst burger I have ever had. I was so sad!
Anyway, video will be posted of the event next month, I am super excited to be editing that, so keep a look out!
Thank you for taking a stroll down the Avenue, and taking the time for reading this! Until the next post!
Artists Avenue Cosplay
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