Chibicon 2016 is over in a blink, as far as I'm concerned, and I'm kind of falling apart... hahah
What a packed weekend!! On Saturday, my cosplay senpai Ferasha and I held a panel on Shinsengumi, or the phenomena of glorification of the defeated ones in Japanese history and pop culture, a topic thanks to which we met about two years ago and bonded quickly over. I was a tiny bit nervous because it was my first panel in front of such a big crowd, but thanks to her it turned into a casual talk in no time, and we poured legends, facts and anecdotes from our well of knowledge for an hour and a half... and we could've gone twice as long had we had a bigger time slot in the timetable!! Cultural attache of Japanese Embassy even asked the two of us to hold it again in the Embassy in a month or so.
As for our cosplay, we posed as the fabled Shinsengumi trio, as seen in Hakuouki Bakumatsu Musouroku, I was Okita Souji, commander of the First Shinsengumi Unit, and the youngest master of the Tennen Rishin-Ryuu swordfighting technique in history. Ferasha was the Shinsengumi Vicecommander, or Fukuchou, Hijikata Toshizou, while Wacky Cherry jumped into the robes of Saito Hajime, master of Iaido and captain of the Fourth Shinsengumi unit. (brief explanation: Shinsengumi were the last paramilitary formation of pro-shogunate orientation, which fought for the Shogunate until its fall in 1869, and it consisted of brave-hearted farmers and poor people who trained themselves to become samurai through merely following the ideals of higher cause and heroism) This is me in the right!!
(Also, Hijikata and Okita make my One True Pairing, they are stars of my favorite homoerotic stories from Japanese legends)
(HijiOki ftw, heheheh)
Considering that I made the entire costume in two days thanks to my university errands and that it still needs some pimping, it turned out pretty damn good!!
As for the experimental Cosplay Workshop stand Ferasha and I had for the weekend, it turned out to be a success, we had our best costumes on display, prints on sale and we had some activities - I myself was styling people's wigs for two ours or so on Saturday, and made cosplayers happy.
Last, but not the least, I had the honor to act as host to our Bulgarian guest, The Irstress, the girl who was her country's nominee for Eurocosplay 2015. She was very sweet and the audience enjoyed seeing her talk about her amazing work. I look forward to meeting her again!!
On the second day, I had duties as the backstage cosplay competition organiser, so I really had no time to mingle around and enjoy the con, but I did help people prepare for the competition beforehand.
In a nutshell, I now need a good night sleep, but I'm really happy how it went through
