NDK 2014

Wow.

What a crazy weekend.

It started rough because the Marriott hotel where NDK is held seriously overbooked. Like, are you new here? The reservations fill up the day they open, why would they do that? People desperately try to obtain those rooms and I know that the vast majority of them are NOT going to cancel. These are highly coveted spaces. And if this was the first year NDK was this big, we could forgive them. It's not. This hotel is always filled to capacity during NDK. So their egregious error sent many people (my party included) to other hotels. Of course, the three in the immediate area (which are all within walking distance) are already full of all the people who could not get into the Marriott in the first place.

The place they sent us to was NOT within walking distance, which irked all of us. It was also more expensive (not by a ton, but enough). And to top it all off, the Marriott originally wanted to do NOTHING to help us out. We FINALLY got them to fax over the official "walking" papers. Walking is what it is called when one hotel sends you to another hotel and is usually attached to a special rate and arrangement between the hotels. We didn't know that until later. So we got the first night at our original rate and could get our second night at the new hotel rate (we were at the Double Tree, which is a Hilton hotel). They were very nice and helpful, but understandably their hands were tied. They needed the Marriott paper work so they could make sure they got their money and could do little for us until the papers were faxed. Also, they gave us cookies, which certainly helped matters.

Later, they apparently came to an arrangement with the Marriott to offer the second night to us at a cheaper rate, which we liked. And when we checked out, it turned out that the Marriott covered our first night altogether. Nice to know that they came through in some way. Of course, we went back and complained, and then another person in our room went and complained, so maybe they were just tired of hearing from our room...

Anyway, we were off to a rocky start, but we got settled and changed and hung out with our friends. The rest of the evening was casual. Of course I wore my Nausicaa costume. But I don't have a picture from this year because I am lame... But here is one from last year! And yes, I brought my plushie Ohmu.

Saturday we began around 9-10. We had breakfast and mimosas (because that is our tradition). We went to a panel by Cupcake Cosplay about hoop skirts and dresses, and that was pretty neat.

I wore my Lady Fourth Doctor costume. Again, I didn't get any new pictures except this one with the TARDIS and the following selfie I took after my hair had lost most of it's friz.

I feel awkward about taking and posting selfies, but I love my Doctor costume...

And here are some other random pictures I took:

Amie and Cat as characters from Kill la Kill

Pixel style Miyazaki balcony!

Miss Frizzle and Captain Marvel (I believe). And yes, that is Night Vale on Miss Frizzle's skirt. Totally awesome.

I think these characters are from Final Fantasy? We LOVE their light-up staffs!!

Hiccup, Toothless, and Valka (I'm pretty sure). Cute!

Some of our friends joined us down there. We did lots of wandering and went back to Cat and Drew and Ben's room for late lunch, beer, and a couple rounds of Tsuro, which was very entertaining.

Looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

We ended up back at NDK later and wandered/sat around to watch people. People-watching is one of our favorite NDK past-times.

Later a bunch of us went back to the room I shared with Amie and Kai and had some coffee, snacks, and drinks (this makes us sound like crazy party-ers/alcoholics, but I promise we aren't. This is just part of NDK tradition now-a-days...). Then some of our friends left to go to late night panels and karaoke (which I never make it to because it starts at midnight and I am too tired to stay up so late).

The next morning we all had to check out of our hotels. So we all had to get into our Sailor Disney costumes and check out. Of course, there were normal people staying at our hotel, so we got several weird looks. That's OK. I worked hard on this costume and I wore it with pride!

Here are a couple of pictures. We also invested in a professional photo shoot. We will have those pictures in a few weeks or so. I will probably post some of those when we get them back, as well as info about our photographer (who was very cool).

Selfie!

Not the best photo location, but here is our group! So fun!

After the photo shoot, everyone dispersed. It had been a long, full day! Thanks for reading and I will post about the photo shoot when we get the pictures!

NDK 2013: Finishing Touches and the Main Event!

Yesterday was the last day of NDK 2013. Sad faces.

This year's program. Pretty, yes?

First things first, I had to finish my costumes! Namely my Jareth costume.

My wig! Starting to put in the blue. I used a sharpie. They seem to work fine.

Coming along!

Before I put rhinestones on, I sprayed the whole thing with fabric glitter spray (which I actually used on the wig as well). It added a general sparkle. Then I created a paste with mod podge and lots of glitter (like I did for the lace cuffs) and painted it on the lapels, shoulders, and back where the rhinestones go.

Dried glitter paste.

Rhinestoning! (That's a word now). I got tons of blue, black, and silver ones and just rhinestoned (see, it's a verb!) until I achieved a 1980's level of tackiness.

It had to look tacky from the front, too. I watched a lot of Sailor Moon during this time.

Nan Desu Kan 2013!!!

Unfortunately, Colorado had some pretty major flooding the week before NDK. I couldn't get down to Denver on Friday to join in the fun. The roads did open back up so I could make it there on Saturday morning.

My first cosplay was Nausicaa:

How it turned out!

How it is supposed to look.

I think it came out alright! Plus, my good and talented friend, Cat (here is her little company page: Addict Outfitters) made me a plushie Ohmu! I love my Ohmu!

Aww, Ohmu!!

Here was our big group cosplay this year:

The whole gang! (Minus our Totoro)

This was a fun one. Not everyone really realized that we were there as a group, but people kept noticing that they were running into a lot of Ghibli characters.

Saturday was when my friend, Jhenn, held her NDK panels. Her first one was on Japanese book binding. I know they were short on time, but she managed to gather a large group of interested people, which was wonderful! It was too full for most of us to sit in on, sadly.

I was supposed to wear my Jareth costume on Friday evening, but since I didn't make it, I wore it Saturday evening. Cat, my Sarah, wore her beautiful Sarah dress Friday by her lonesome. Sad. But here she is looking absolutely beautiful in her home-made ball gown:

So pretty!

Here is my Jareth costume. There are actually a few floating around on the internet, too. That's cool, right? It's OK, most people won't know that it's me.

Trying to glare in a menacing fashion.

How it's supposed to look. Not too bad a job, right?

I bought colored contacts that were not prescription nor were they fitted to my eyes so they were very uncomfortable! But here they are with my makeup that my friend, Katja, did much of.

I also have a decent amount of glitter on my face, which is difficult to see.

On Saturday night, Jhenn had her second panel: Ink! This one I managed to sit in on. Which was nice because she sketched a picture of me with my rat babies for an example. It was a good panel and very educational. Jhenn is a good teacher. Go to her panels! Plus, she is a great artist. She had some art pieces up for the art show that they hold every year. Both were beautiful. People bid on both! So proud!

Saturday also held many of the main events of the convention. The AMV contest and awards are always highly packed. The costume contest happened this day, as did the "Mask-a-rave." They had so many events going on, it is impossible to keep up with! The best strategy is to pick panels that you want to see and make sure you hit those and do anything else in between. Oh, and for future con goers: get to your panels early! NDK has gained a ton of popularity since I started going. They offer so many things, but it is very crowded and space is limited!

And remember, there is always Artist's Alley where artists gather and sell their crafts. This is a favorite spot for me--people are so creative and talented! I actually bought a couple of beautiful dragon prints from an artist. I highly recommend checking her out: Little Wings Dragons by Carla Morrow.

They have two different gaming rooms, one for live games and one for video games, both of which can attract quite the crowd. You may have to wait a while for your turn at the games, but it is fun!

They always invite many, many guests who participate in panels, interviews, and autographs. It is always great to connect with the people involved in the anime and manga industries and hear what they have to say. This has always been a base for NDK. They have been very successful and lucky with participation from the greats out there!

And last, but certainly not least, is the Dealer's Room. It's a hot spot! The lines to get in are almost always long, but they move fast! My advice though? Watch what you are buying. Some of the venders mark their prices up quite a bit, which I think is unfair. Be aware of what is good pricing and what is oddly high. You can probably find these at a shop for a reasonable price. That's not to say that they are all there to rip you off, that's not true at all. Just be aware. Really though, you can find SOOOO many cool things here! It is crowded, but worth waiting and browsing.

And just sitting and watching people is part of the fun. Lots of cool and creative costumes to see. There are several sites where you can find costume pictures. I was pleased by the numbers of people doing female versions of strong, male characters. Represent, ladies! Speaking of which...

Sunday, Katja and I did our Lady Doctor costumes.

I probably shouldn't be smiling... And Katja lent me that hat.

The fourth and tenth Lady Doctors!

I did get many, many compliments on my scarf! Which made me happy because I love it! It is probably 13 feet long or so.

Every year in the past (since NDK has been held at this location, anyway) we have taken a picture of our group in the reflected ceiling windows at night. We actually forgot this year so we used this conveniently dark wall art to take our reflection picture in. You can kind of see us.

Our annual picture!

That's the end of NDK 2013! If I happen to stumble upon anything interesting that relates to this, I will be sure to post it for those who are interested.

Here is the official NDK website: Nan Desu Kan. Check it out! They are already starting registration for next year! And, yes, they do sell out.

Next year, our big group cosplay is going to be a cross between Sailor Moon and Disney heroines. Yes, you heard right. It might sound weird, but it will be fun! Maybe the boys can be Disney heroes crossed with Tuxedo Kamen. Who knows. I don't know what else I will do. There was talk of Power Rangers, so maybe I will be the pink ranger. We will see.

But, if you ask me? The best part about NDK is that it is a tradition for me and my friends (apparently we've been going for about 11 (or so?) years, though I know I missed a couple in the middle). We get to see each other and hang out together all weekend. We get dressed up, we eat our meals together, and we just hang out! I always look forward to spending this time with some of my best friends. I love you guys! You are the ones that make NDK fun for me. I look forward to next year!