Another year, another Fanime, right? What can I say that I haven't said 18 years in a row already?
I love Fanime! I've loved it since i was just a little kid! It's definitely a MUCH more enjoyable experience now that I'm an adult with a job who pulls in a pretty decent paycheck and I can go to it and get stuff I want and not worry about running out my budget super early. In a way I'm still kinda in the kid mindset where i'm like "damn can I even afford to be here?" which is a blessing and a curse, since it keeps me from spending willy-nilly. I guess I have that to be thankful for.
I have to say though, my Fanime started with a jolt of FEAR. You see, I had reserved my hotel room for this year about 6 months ago, in November approximately. When I set it all up, I was FAIRLY certain I had selected the option to pay on the day of, because I did not have the scratch on me right then. Turns out, i was wrong and by whatever mishap, i was railroaded down the "pay now" option, and was somehow not observant enough to understand that. So I checked out BELIEVING that the money I owed the hotel was going to be paid on May the 25th, but unbeknownst to me, they ran my card in November, and since I did not have the full amount on there at the time, I was declined and my reservation was given away.
Now you can say "fair enough, that's how commerce works" and leave it at that, but bear in mind, from MY perspective, I still believed I had a reservation and was gonna pay for it on the date of my stay, so I wasn't checking my credit report to make sure it had gone through. I didn't get an email, a phone call, nothin'. The first I heard of the reservation being declined was standing there in the hotel lobby. what a fucking mess, right? I was about to be super livid. THANKFULLY... a backup plan was already being concocted.
So it turns out when things like this happen, hotels have a backup plan to call other hotels in the area to see if they can put you up. A thing like this might normally be an inconvenience if where you're staying was specifically chosen based on it's geography, and that was SORTA the case here, y'know, because Fanime, but ALSO, SINCE it's Fanime, distance is never really a worry because the con sets up a shuttle system for ALL the hotels in the area. Also, the hotel they recommended to me had the distinction of actually being a little cheaper than the room I booked in. This saved me, and everyone who was staying with me a lil' scratch, but the real kicker was that the new room was WAY swankier than the room I woulda booked at the convention center. In fact, this was actually one of the nicest hotel rooms I've EVER stayed in!
First off, it had a KITCHEN! A VERY welcome addition! A fridge, a microwave, a stove top, cupboards and a sink! We also got a damn fine bathroom. The sink and shower were separated, which was great. It helped really streamline getting ready in the morning. If i had ANY criticism at all, it would be that the bathroom needed a fan.
there was a giant fucking TV, WITH an HDMI port, so we were able to play video games on it. Rob brought his laptop and Blake brought his Mini SNES. It was perfect.
The room had a giant, king sized bed and a fold out couch. The bed was amazing, and the fold out couch was serviceable, and even with it folded out, we had plenty of floor space to move around in.
Lastly, I GOTTA mention how quality the free breakfast was. I been to a lotta cons and stayed in a lotta hotels, and usually "free breakfast" means some kinda semi-serviceable buffet. It's not "good food" but you eat it because it's free. You really get what you pay for. THIS food was actually VERY good! It was so good that I actually made it a point to wake up early so I wouldn't miss it. TOP quality waffles.
I love Fanime! I've loved it since i was just a little kid! It's definitely a MUCH more enjoyable experience now that I'm an adult with a job who pulls in a pretty decent paycheck and I can go to it and get stuff I want and not worry about running out my budget super early. In a way I'm still kinda in the kid mindset where i'm like "damn can I even afford to be here?" which is a blessing and a curse, since it keeps me from spending willy-nilly. I guess I have that to be thankful for.
I have to say though, my Fanime started with a jolt of FEAR. You see, I had reserved my hotel room for this year about 6 months ago, in November approximately. When I set it all up, I was FAIRLY certain I had selected the option to pay on the day of, because I did not have the scratch on me right then. Turns out, i was wrong and by whatever mishap, i was railroaded down the "pay now" option, and was somehow not observant enough to understand that. So I checked out BELIEVING that the money I owed the hotel was going to be paid on May the 25th, but unbeknownst to me, they ran my card in November, and since I did not have the full amount on there at the time, I was declined and my reservation was given away.
Now you can say "fair enough, that's how commerce works" and leave it at that, but bear in mind, from MY perspective, I still believed I had a reservation and was gonna pay for it on the date of my stay, so I wasn't checking my credit report to make sure it had gone through. I didn't get an email, a phone call, nothin'. The first I heard of the reservation being declined was standing there in the hotel lobby. what a fucking mess, right? I was about to be super livid. THANKFULLY... a backup plan was already being concocted.
So it turns out when things like this happen, hotels have a backup plan to call other hotels in the area to see if they can put you up. A thing like this might normally be an inconvenience if where you're staying was specifically chosen based on it's geography, and that was SORTA the case here, y'know, because Fanime, but ALSO, SINCE it's Fanime, distance is never really a worry because the con sets up a shuttle system for ALL the hotels in the area. Also, the hotel they recommended to me had the distinction of actually being a little cheaper than the room I booked in. This saved me, and everyone who was staying with me a lil' scratch, but the real kicker was that the new room was WAY swankier than the room I woulda booked at the convention center. In fact, this was actually one of the nicest hotel rooms I've EVER stayed in!
First off, it had a KITCHEN! A VERY welcome addition! A fridge, a microwave, a stove top, cupboards and a sink! We also got a damn fine bathroom. The sink and shower were separated, which was great. It helped really streamline getting ready in the morning. If i had ANY criticism at all, it would be that the bathroom needed a fan.
there was a giant fucking TV, WITH an HDMI port, so we were able to play video games on it. Rob brought his laptop and Blake brought his Mini SNES. It was perfect.
The room had a giant, king sized bed and a fold out couch. The bed was amazing, and the fold out couch was serviceable, and even with it folded out, we had plenty of floor space to move around in.
Lastly, I GOTTA mention how quality the free breakfast was. I been to a lotta cons and stayed in a lotta hotels, and usually "free breakfast" means some kinda semi-serviceable buffet. It's not "good food" but you eat it because it's free. You really get what you pay for. THIS food was actually VERY good! It was so good that I actually made it a point to wake up early so I wouldn't miss it. TOP quality waffles.
I'm wondering if next year I should just book at this place instead. There are definite advantages to being stationed in the hotel that's AT the convention center. It's certainly easier to get there and back. Anywhere else you gotta wait for the shuttle which is I suppose mildly inconvenient and time consuming. I didn't mind it so much, a couple of the people who were stayin' with me were a little perturbed, but we'll see. I guess I'll still AIM for getting one of the convention center rooms, but it's good to know this particular backup exists.
The con itself was as good as could be expected. It was mostly a social event for me this time, as I spent most of my time there just walking around with my friends. We didn't really partake in any of the events. We didn't go to masquerade, we didn't even check out the music video contest, which is a shame because that used to be one of my favourite parts of ANY anime convention. It jsut kinda slipped my mind this year. I was too busy hangin' with my FRIENDS!
I didn't even really get to see all my friends this year either. A LOT of people were there and I missed a bunch of 'em. I was just really in my own little world with the group I was with. One thing I really wanted to do but DIDN'T get to do was do a Fanime live stream! That's an idea I'd been kicking around since last year! But I tell yah, as soon as the main portion of the day was over with, I just wanted to lay down. I had no energy to live stream, let alone draw at all! So I apologize for dropping the ball like that, but I WILL make up for it later this week, I swear.
If ya wanna see for yourself what sorta antics I got up to, go ahead and click that link up top. That pretty much sums up my experiences at Fanime, I just sorta went everywhere and took pictures of amazing costumes. The cosplay talent was above and beyond as per usual this year. I t seems like every year the cosplay community one-ups themselves from last year. It was GREAT seeing all these amazing artists just walking around, showing off their skills. The other place where all the talent was was in the Artist Alley. I think i would up buying like 20 books from different artists this year. I'm very pleased that the amount of original content in the Artist Alley seems to have shot up. It actually makes me think of trying to get back in next year. I'd been toying with the idea of creating a front portfolio that's JUST for Fanime, one that will just get me past the judging phase and then sneak TransCat in on the sly~
Seems like a more worth it idea now more than ever. I think that'll be my next pig project.
In the MEAN time, I gotta lotta plans lined up for June.
I'll be showing up at Illusive Comics in Santa Clara on the 13th for an autograph/Q&A session, more info on that HERE.
and then on the 30th I'll be heading up to Queer Comics & Pride Celebration in San Lorenzo, and you can check that out HERE.
Then of course we have San Diego Comic Con ins July, I'll be attending once again with Prism Comics to help promote the heck out of their new book "We're Still Here", which i took part in. If you wanna check out a book with dozens of top tier trans talent in it (plus TransCat), definitely consider ordering yourself up a copy.
THEN! In August, something amazing is gonna happen! None of this is 100% confirmed yet, but here's my idea! So, for some reason, this year, Sac-Anime and Crunchyroll Expo are happening on the same weekend. I am officially confirmed for Sac-Anime but still waiting to hear back from Crunchyroll (they said early June is when we'd start hearing back). If i wind up getting into both, then i'm gonna do something... AMBITIOUS! I'm gonna send one of my dear friends to Crunchyroll with about half my stuff and take the other half up to Sacramento. TransCat's gonna be in two places at once and it'll be the coolest thing ever! I am secretly hoping to have a conflict in my schedule just so I can do this! TransCat's gonna set up franchises! >:D
Keep me in your prayers, cuz this summer's gonna be a DOOZEY~!
...
Oh yeah, then there's also Alternative Press Expo, huh?
Wow...
Busy Knave! :D
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