WE ARE BACK from San Diego as of yesterday evening! And since Pura keeps bugging me to do it, here's my con report! Also, it's probably best to do these things while they're still fresh in my mind.


Wednesday

Aaand we set off! Since I couldn't drive us anywhere, corrielle and betwixt_worlds came and got purapea and me. The drive was decent and we got to the hotel with juuuust enough time to spare. The hotel itself was fine, except for the fact that the only room available to use was a smoking room, so we left the windows open often. I eventually got used to the smell, but I think the secondhand residue was having an effect on me (and some others in the room), because I had difficulty sleeping and often woke up with big puffy bags under my eyes. 8( HOWEVER, despite the extra cost to us, it was really nice having everyone have a bed and there being floor space to walk on, and just general ROOM to move in our own hotel room. I must be getting old, because I dunno if I'll be able to go back to 6+ people per hotel room again.

We got our badges and made it into the exhibit hall JUST as it opened, so managed to get in a toooon of buyage right from the start. 8D Swag list will come at the end, though. We stopped by many fine tables...got to talk with Pascal Campion again, which is always great, and met the fine ladies from 4th Dimension. Also spent much time at the Squeenix booth, where we went and tried out Birth By Sleep. 8D And yes, I did come back two more times later in the week so that I could try all three characters, since the demo they had available to play WAS the actual game. Tried out Ven in Deep Space first, where I stopped around that anti-gravity chamber that was fun to jump around. I skipped some of the cutscenes because of time constraints and not wanting to spoil myself, but in the little I played with Ven I really like the battle system, and just the game as a whole aaaah. Works well for a button-masher like me, but it seemed to have elements of the KH2, Days and CoM battle systems all combined together, with a bit of its own flair.

Fully explored everything we could and bought way more than I should have, then it was back to catch a bit of sleeps...



Thursday

Pura and I got up really early for the Tron: Legacy panel in Hall H, and we met up with rebmakash and her buds in line! Yay, I haven't gotten to see Reb in awhile! She got me a custom-made Sora shirt for my b-day to go with her Riku one, and we played us some Days multiplayer and Pokemons while waiting in line.

We got into the hall fine, but had the Megamind panel before Tron. That was actually quite lulzy, since Will Ferrell came out cosplaying as his character, Tina Fey ended up cuddling a cardboard cutout of Brad Fitt, and it was just hilarious all around. Honestly, what they showed of the movie looked quite a bit better than their initial previews (further proving my theory that DreamWorks just REALLY sucks at marketing). Nothing OMG AMAZING, but at least Will Ferrell put out a good performance. There was much to lol at.

THEN we finally did the Tron panel, which was pretty damn epic. 8D They had the full cast, including Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner, who were all excited about it. They showed eight minutes from the movie (aaaaaah it looks SO fun!) plus a brand new trailer. They also did this really cool stunt that I've never seen at a Hall H program before...they recorded the audience yelling/chanting/stomping with the intent to put it into the movie during a massive crowd scene. 8D We were given a teleprompter with instructions on when to shout and when to be quiet, with microphones stationed around the entire hall. I have never seen all of Hall H actually be silent at the same time, but (for the most part) it worked. I am sooo stoked to see the movie in December I don't even 8DD

We left that craziness and hung out with Reb for awhile, wandering around the exhibit halls and buying too much stuff again. I played more BBS, this time trying out Terra in the Coliseum. He was pretty fun, but a bit tougher for me to work with (this may have been because I was pitting him against the Unversed equivalent of Large Bodies with a time limit, and that was not fun). But OMG, even though I skipped some of the cutscenes, I could still tell just from what I saw that Terra was a huge derp. DAWWW TERRA.

Then, we all headed off to the Disney character creation panel, which was also informative and fun! Glen Keane was there once again, which filled me with extreme amounts of glee. 8D I didn't get a sketch from him this time since I figured it was more fair to give others a chance to see him. They talked about Tangled the entire time, and how they worked out the character designs they did. Apparently for Flynn (the thief) they actually got all of their women employees together, put them in a room full of pictures of different types of hot guys, and told them to pick out which aspects they thought were hottest. And from that info, they designed Flynn. Still reserving judgment on this movie, but that panel warmed me up to Tangled quite a bit.

We parted ways with Reb, then Pura and I met up with sharamordinae for the Final Fantasy concert! Had a quick dinner at Joe's Crab Shack (yummm) then got to our seats there. I always enjoy the FF/game concerts they have at the waterfront, and this one was no different. They played a bunch of VII and VIII (seriously, why so much VIII?) but I was pleased to get some songs from IX and X, and I was especially happy that they played some music from XIII. 8D They even played a song from XIV, which I'm not going to play since it's an MMO, but was still lovely to listen to. They even had Nobuo himself there, acting really adorable, and then he sang in his own choir for their encore with One Winged Angel. GOOD TIMES



Friday

Got up early again for the State of the Animation Industry panel, which was fine and had a lot of good people there, but wasn't really saying anything I didn't already know. Before that I actually sat in the panel with Stan Lee about the WWII-education comics, which was actually pretty interesting. Mostly, I met up with wyna_hiros at the panel, who I haven't gotten to see in years holycrap, and we spent a bunch of time just catching up on life and art things.

After that, went and picked up some lunch with Pura, and we also met up with famira, whom I got to catch up with as well. While eating lunch, I found out that the egg didn't hatch. I admit, that...kinda put a damper on most of the weekend. I was still having fun with everyone and the cool people I got to see, but being reminded of "oh yeah, back at square one again" every time I stopped to think about it was...unpleasant. :<

We ended up wandering around the exhibit hall for awhile again, although I can't recall doing anything in particular here. After that, we went to the Pixar story panel, which was mostly about Up. (I guess they didn't have much to show on TS3). Still, it was both informative and inspiring, although the artists they had talking there practically had a team of bouncers warding off people after the panel was done. Sheesh. 8|

Despite the fail of the egg not hatching, there was one bright spot...Pura and I met up with Harry of Markosia, and had some good discussion on the comics industry and possibly getting Lunargyros published. It may not see print for awhile, but options are looking good to get it onto places like iTunes and PlayStation Comics. 8D So I may be bringing that up in the future...

It was a good discussion and I'm glad I got to chat with Harry, but I did end up missing the Rifftrax panel, so we just headed back home and got some sleep.



Saturday

We actually ran into Reb again on the way to the con; turns out she was staying at the same hotel we were, just two floors down. XD Go fig! Got up early again for the Film Illustrators and Storyboard panel, which also had some cool people and good info, but not much I didn't already know in a general sense. Pura stuck with me for that, but left after that panel to go and tackle Hall H. I actually stayed for the Butch Hartman panel on Fairly Oddparents and TUFF Puppy, since (as many probably know now anyway), TUFFY Puppy = the egg, and I wanted to say hi to Butch again and ask about the test. Butch was such a huge showman; he did pretty much all of the talking/joking during the panel. The animated clips they showed from TUFF Puppy made me laugh, although they also showed some clips from the live-action FOP movie. Nothing with Wanda or Cosmo in it, just Timmy. I just kind of...smiled uncomfortably. :D;; Just...yeah.

...And woah I just got some weird deja-vu. Like, deja-vu of deja-vu kind of thing. Am I in some kind of moebius strip?! o_o

I was on my own at this point, so I ate some lunch and wandered back down to the exhibit hall. Tried to pass around portfolios, but didn't have much luck. (I really hope that I have more luck with this at CTN Expo.) So I went and played BBS one more time, this time with Aqua in Radiant Garden. Maybe it's because by this time I was more comfortable playing and knew where everything was (it took me FOREVER to figure out how to target lock), but I think Aqua may have been my favorite to play as. She was quick but still hard-hitting. And OMG there was bitty!Kairi and she was SO CUUUUUUUUUTE AWWWWW

After some wandering around and sketching, I got to finally meet up with mistressnashya! I we just sat and chatted and shared the stuff we got, and had bunches of fun. 8D I was so glad to finally get to meet her, she is an awesome dude! Plus it's always great getting to hear opinions from people who've never been to Cali before. XD

I tried to go to the Epic Mickey panel, but even showing up an hour early, the line was closed and I missed getting in. Pleh. :( Instead I met up with wyna_hiros and famira again for dinner at the Tin Fish, and we did a bunch of catching up and chatting about school and industry stuff. I also ended up missing the Masquerade, since I met up with my buds after that, but I would rather hang out with them than watch the Masquerade by myself anyway. They told me their fabulous tales of stuff that happened in Hall H, including someone getting stabbed in the eye (FACT: no one actually got stabbed in the eye.) Looking back, I kinda wish I had braved Hall H instead this day; it sounded like epic things happened there (Harrison Ford showing up, for one?!?!) but I am glad I got to meet cool dudes.



Sunday and Swag

I actually didn't do much on Sunday...Em and Pura got up superearly so that they could catch the Supernatural panel in Ballroom 20, but I slept in and helped Rae pick up the hotel room and check out by 11. The rest of the time we just wandered around the exhibit hall; I strongly considered buying a Settlers of Catan shirt for my brother, but ended up not doing so. Otherwise, I met up with Reb again and we chatted some more while wandering around the artist's alley.

After Em and Pura got out of the Ballroom 20 panels (where apparently the entire SPN cast showed up!) We grabbed ourselves dinner at In-N-Out and made the long drive home.

AND NOW, my list of swag and shiny things procured at con, as always...

- I caved in and got the Riku Static Arts figure. Definitely the most expensive thing I've ever gotten at con. But DAYUM it is so pretty and can go with my snazzy Sora Static Arts figure. 8D
- Em and Rae got me this REALLY really adorable squishable shark plushie, OMG it's soooo huggable and I love sharks
- A lovely Tangled lithograph that we got from the Disney character creation panel
- Jeanie got me a Demona action figure from Gargoyles for my b-day!
- Volumes 4 and 5 of 'Digger' (which I read through completely on the drive home)
- 'The Art of Character Design' DVD from David Coleman, which I need to watch
- Chris Sander's new sketchbook
- Signed copies of the first issues of 'The Meek' and 'Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name'
- Some gifts for ggmoonycrisco, which I shall send along later.

AS ALWAYS, TOO MUCH STUFF, BUT SO SHINY.


AND SO that was this year's Comic Con! Pura should have a bunch of pictures and video, since I lack a camera. The weather was lovely throughout...not boiling hot, but not freezing. Fun and exhausting as always, but very happy that I got to meet some people that I haven't seen in forever, or haven't seen before. (Although I'm sorry I missed you, sillywhims!)

For now, today is relaxing a lot and chilling with the awesome Pura, who is sadly leaving me tomorrow. ;_; I'll probably be back to the internets fully on Wednesday.

Drawing: Need to figure out what to work on next, since I have a bunch of options and a bunch of stuff to get done.

Writing: *looks pointedly away* >>

Days until BBS release: 42