Texas Thread: Don't Shit It Up Edition

>>8747197
Still wondering about this. Like I know the answer is probably going to be "it's shitty, don't bother" but I'd still like to actually know.

>>8754358
I've heard a variety of things about A-Kon cosplay contest, either that its rigged or judges were spot on with their winners. It also depends on who your hearing it from. The best is to try it out for yourself.

>>8754362
I consistently hear that its rigged but I don't know where that comes from of if it's true. Would be interested to hear more if anyone knows?

>>8754374
It's really not. I've competed a handful of times and the winners they pick every year honestly do deserve their spots. Most of them get picked because they go above and beyond in what they do with their materials (I'll never forget the Gankutsuou cosplayers who custom-designed really nice fabric and sewed yards of really intricate beading by hand). The judges actually look into the specific details and stitching, and some people who repeatedly compete are honestly Just That Good.

The Texas cosplay scene for those who go hard-mode is stupidly intense and intricate. I honestly haven't seen any rigging in SJ, Afest, or A-kon's contests at all.

San Antonio gull here! Has anyone attended those events held at Wonderland Mall? There having one this weekend then Ninetails is having another event the following week. What is it like and how many people actually show up to these?

>>8754419
Do you have any more details about the judging process and how the backstage is?
I just want to know a bit before spending several hours of my day doing the contest.
Like I don't mind sacrificing the time as long as it's pretty comparable to other contests in the state.

>best conventions
San Japan

>worst conventions
a-kon and unfortunately afest is starting to fall in my books. Bummed because I used to love it so much but this past year was just bad. It's just going downhill imho.

>upcoming events
Nothing for me until Ikkicon. Just a lot of sewing.

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Texas gull here, wanting to show you guys a cosplay i was hoping to do for akon. Im not the type to actually cosplay real people, but DAMN i wouldnt mind having a cape and scepter like that

>>8754362
I have a friend who was a judge at Akon some time back. She said judges tend to be extremely bias, pick favorites, and if you don't cosplay from something they know and like, you likely won't win anything.

>>8754440
San Antonian here. Honestly, they're extremely hit or miss. I feel like all the weebs come out of their holes for these events because they're usually free, but I've only really seen two of them have good turnout in terms of the amount of people. The SJxNinetails events are usually packed, the others not so much. Theyre fun if you've got nothing to do and want to hang out though.

>>8754461
Seconding this. Its hit and miss but i still find ways to have fun!.I usually go to hang out with friends or shop around.

Also gonna note that these are family friendly events so family and kid friendly cosplay is recommended. Especially around this time of year, the vendors have alot of sales and you can get some cool and unique Christmas gifts.

>>8754454
As someone who has judged cosplay contests in the past (not A-Kon, smaller cons), I will say that picking series you know is sometimes a think that happens just because of how few people give you reference materials. Like you don't do it on purpose, but sometimes when you have something to refer a costume to it's hard to decide if it's accurate or not.
But when a costume is damn good it's damn good regardless of if you know the source material or not, so most of the time that becomes a moot point.

>>8754452
Good luck anon! Please post progress pics in the future!

>>8754495
You definitely will i can assure you that anon!

>>8754454

You might be thinking judge awards. Those can and often are just a cosplay the judge liked in particular - be it a series they know or how they used a certain fabric, etc. regardless of skill level.

In my experience competing at a few around Texas SJ is good. A-Kon gets better each year and I always felt judging was fair at both of those cons. Personally I would love to see more high quality skits. Most cons in Texas seem to be lacking in that area in particular.

Who /animematsuri/ here?

>>8754612
No one who respects themselves.

>>8754536
I know what judges awards are and that's not what I'm referring to. Think about how teachers choose favorites in a classroom. A student may have a potato for a brain, but they're sweet or pretty, so they get leverage with grading.

>>8754440
In my opinion they're pretty dead. It's all the same people over and over who attend. It's not like I don't expect to see the con regulars and expect to see a new crop of people coming in.

The malls is dead so you there's only a corner of the it that has all the weebs hanging out (by the food court where 9 tails is)

>>8754648
Fuck off Lolita.

>>8755041
Fuck off Stefan.

>>8754712

And this why I can't take you seriously. Sorry anon, but your analogy is pretty weak and makes you sound like you're just bitter because you aren't "favorited"

>>8754447
For a-kon, the pre-judging actually isn't too bad but I'd set aside 1-2 hours to get it done. I've always had to wait for the people before me to go/someone running late/more questions, but you just go with your costume and your badge information and they'll ask you about what you did. It's not too bad, just be thorough when explaining it but they'll notice details too.

For the contest itself, one thing I've noticed with most conventions is just "scrap your plans for the rest of the day". A lot of it is waiting, being moved around, getting seated in different areas or being rearranged and seated. Bring a water bottle, phone charger if you get reception, make friends. The conversation is usually pretty light and I always end up with a group of friends talking about the anime of the month. It's not overly stressful until it's your turn to go on stage, the rest is just a lot of waiting.

>>8755041
I'm not a lolita but okay. I'm just someone who appreciates good business practice and AM is the farthest thing from that.

>>8755200
I don't really care as long as the con itself is good. Most cons in Texas don't know good business practice anyway.

>>8755180
Okay so pretty similar to others. Thank you, I think I will definitely be giving it a try!

>>8755141
I've actually never competed before, so I don't really care about not being favorited. This is just what my friend who judged told me.

>>8755287
Your friend sounds like a shitty judge. Maybe unqualified people wouldn't be able to remove their personal bias from objectively looking at the skills used to produce a costume...

>>8755233
There's a difference between bad business practices and people who don't know what the hell they are doing in a way that results in a ton of people being majorly screwed over. AM is exactly that. I know too many people (lolita and non) who have been treated poorly by the Leighs both in a con environment and in any other situation. I don't have a problem ghosting cons that I don't like, but just showing up to AM gives them all the support they need. Strength in numbers what have you.

>>8755256
Good luck, anon! This little seagull believes in you!

>>8755256

Last year we actually got a break after rehearsal to go and eat or just rest outside of the holding room. It was really nice!

>>8754452
I'm incredibly excited to see this no one ever does stuff like this

>>8754349
Which con should I attend to experience the most out of the Lolita comm?

>>8756554
Yay! I'll report back in a few months then, haha
>>8756869
That's actually really awesome. The contest was restructured a bit last year, wasn't it? I seem to remember that.

>>8757469

Matsuri has been the lolita con by far, but there is a lot of controversy over it. Ikkicon has Baby this year, and I can't speak for San Japan. A-fest is small, but good if you want to just relax though they usually only have 1-2, maybe 3 lolita panels.

This year A-kon is making a lolita track. People may shit on A-kon, but I think it's improving and if you want a BIG con experience, A-kon is a good bet. The Metroplex lolita group has submitted a few panels this year and some of the lolitas also submit their own outside of what the group mods are doing.

I'm hoping we have more than just 1-2 lolita panels this year!

>>8757656
>track

I'm new to the whole track concept and all. Dragon-con was the first con I've been to where such a system exists... did they just start doing this for this years akon?

>>8757656
San Japan has had Angelic Pretty the last two years and the designer from Enchantic Enchantilly (Fumiko Kawamura) was one of their guests last year. They also have a fashion show, a swap meet and a tea party. So they're actually developing a fair amount of lolita programming. We'll see if they keep it up.

>>8757662
"Track" is something usually present more in sci-fi conventions, which is why you see it at dragon con. I don't think it's new for A-kon, I just don't think they talk about it publically. Since they are so old they use some terms and structures that are common in sci-fi events

>>8754612
Lolita here. Here is the way I see it:

This will probably be the last year AM can bring any lolita guests because they will never come back again once they realize how much money they lost this year (due to lack of sales/lack of lolitas).

Everyone says they aren't going so perfect for me, I will happily be the only Lolita there, talk with the designers, whatever. I'm a loner anyways, so I really could care less.

Here is my question though:

If a bunch of Lolita's DO show up, will everyone just pretend they didn't see each other? LOL

>>8757685
>San Japan has had Angelic Pretty
No they had AP SF which is run by that cow Lynda and all she brings is leftovers from her store. I doubt Maki and Asuka will ever come to SJ, especially after the shitstorm at AM.

>>8759095

I'm tentatively planning on ghosting. My gf has a friend coming into town to see Morning Musume and I have zero interest in giving my money to that con so it's an excuse to dress up and hang out and not have to pay.

>>8762324
Problem with attempting to ghost this con, is they check badges before you can even attempt to ghost.

>>8762435

Well, I guess by ghost is I may show up at the convention center to meet this friend. I figured I wouldn't be able to get into any kind of con area, but I've been asked to be down there that weekend. Can you get through the doors at all without a badge (like A-kon or A-fest) or is this like Otakon where you can get in a door but not go more than 2 ft before security demands to see a badge?

Speaking of Houston though, is that lolita shop part of the Matsuri money and John or is it separate?

>>8762517
The store is operated by Deneice, John's wife, if that's what you're asking? Same two people. Not sure if there are questionable business practices involved. There's hearsay but I don't really trust it. They do enough crap without people needing to make things up lol. The store does look really nice, though, IMO.

>>8762585
That store is nice. If only it wasn't owned by them, it just makes it so sad.

>>8762517
You can walk some open halls before getting hassled. Badges are PVC RFID which you can't fake. The last two 2 years they would use verifying devices to check if they're legit but after a while they just gave up on them so they switch over to visual.

>>8762622

Since I'm really just going to meet a friend and I don't imagine we'll hang out at the con I don't think I'll run into issues since I most likely will not go inside. But it's good to know what I can and can't do as far as the location goes.

>>8762585
>>8762609

Even if questionable business practices are NOT involved, I'd rather not support them at all, so that's disappointing to hear that they're the ones who own it. I was enticed by Meta, but oh well. Will save my money.

Thanks gulls!

So any Houston-based gulls check out the store?

>>8767412
Yup. It actually looks really nice and cute. Their prices from what I saw were pretty fair, cheaper than anything AP SF puts out. You can try shit on too. It sucks, would be perfect if it wasn't owned by them.

>>8767449
>>8767412
what's the name of this place? do you have an address?
i'd like to check it out sometime maybe, I didn't know there was anything like that around here.

>>8767461
Its called Shop in Wonderland. I hate the name cause it sounds like one of those shops you would see in run down empty malls

>>8754712
Teacher here. No we dont. We see right through that shit. Were not idiots.

You just sound bitter.

>>8767615
Or one that sells Christmas decorations all year.