Sorry it took me so long to write a journal entry for this...been distracted and lazy

Wow...just wow...

I've only been to three cons and cosplayed three times, but being able to stay the whole weekend (Well...ALMOST)...Holy snaz.

Ok, I'll recap from day one and go from there:

When we arrived at the hotel, it was already filled with cosplayers in the lobby alone (Most of which were Ls and Misas) so I ran back to the car and pulled my jacket on, straightened my tie and grabbed my Death Note.

The hotel itself was really nice and even had this awesome indoor pool (but it made the room humid as hell! I never spent over thirty minutes in there for fear of death by exposure) Rina wanted to swim while we were there, but there was no way in hell that I was going out in a bathing suit with people from the con walking back and forth from their hotel rooms there to see T-T

Maybe next time...depending on how long we stay there (If we stay the entire weekend next time then Monday would be the best time to swim)

When we got to our room (After Rina and Leah ooed and aahed at the semi-exotic hotel and all its many guest-exclusive features), I applied some cover-up and watched Leah dress up (Took her like half an hour to apply all that make-up!) while Rina went out to find her friend Al who was also staying there. A few minutes later, Rina opened the door and said "This is Sarah, she is Light Yagami" and suddenly, the door banged open and a person dressed as human Inuyasha performed a running glomp...with scissors in her hand.

Needless to say, Leah's dad and I were vair vair freaked out.

After my 'death by glomp' experience, we headed out onto the floor and started walking around in circles, taking pictures and getting our pics taken. (Every time we passed an L or Misa cosplayer, Rina dragged me over to them and tried to get me to interact...most of the Misas glomped me and tried to pull me away by the arm and the Ls just either smiled awkwardly or accused me of being Kira, which of course, I promptly denied) Luckily, we bought some apples before we got there so I took out one and started munching as we milled around the convention. A girl offered us some pocky halfway through the convention hall and Leah's entire face lit up. Whenever she tried to give me a piece though, one of her friends would take it...but her face was SO red when she finally managed to get past all of them and give me my pocky and I said "Arigatou" with a smug smirk and a low voice. Gotta love flirty Raito and yes, it was incredibly fun (Here is a pic of my costume: [link])

IC: Pfft...sadist...

And Rina attacked and harassed every Sasuke and Ed Elric cosplayer she saw. Every time a Sasuke passed us, she would yell "Hey Sasu-GAY!" and if it was an Ed, then she would glomp him and yell "BROTHER!" (She had on an Alphonse hat...but didn't actually cosplay BRING A COSTUME NEXT TIME RINA!!! )

Death Note was obviously the anime of this year because while Naruto came at a close second, there were more Ls and Misas than could be counted at this con! No Lights though...save for me! (Least for the first day...I got so much L and Misa love...was kind of scary )

Too bad I missed the Death Note shoot though...I would have been the center of the picture T-T

Anyway, I got glomped several times, molested by a couple of Ls and then we found a SUPER IC L who walked, talked, sat, ate, held things...she was just him, I swear it was awesome! She accused me of being Kira and I denied everything and we bantered for a while...but then there was a Ryuk spotting.

He was also IC and eating an apple, but he just asked for more so took my last apple out and gave it to him. He then proceeded to do the Apple Dance (No I am not kidding...he really did it [link] )

Then some Bleach cosplayer stole it from him, so I had to ask around for a pen to write the jerk's name down...and a couple of people took pics. (Many asked how the hell I knew Japanese)

Rina proceeded to drag my arse around the convention and made me introduce myself to EVERY DN cosplayer (Especially the Ls...the first one was so freaked out by her abruptness that I almost felt sorry for him...almost...)

A Kakashi arrived a little while after us and how the poor boy was MOBBED! There were only two Kakashis but he pulled it off perfectly and just took all the crap from the fangirls and boys alike. I felt sorry for him...but was excited because it was friggin Kakashi!

But then I saw Tyki Mikk and my heart just exploded. I got to hug him too...he was so nice to me (I had to suppress a squeal every time I saw him because it's just TYKI! Rina stalked Kakashi, but I kept at Tyki... I admit that I broke character just about every time he walked past)

We waited in line for the Dealer's room for about twenty minutes, but it was hot, sweaty, and a horrible wait...there was literally no air within the hallway (Line stretched through a hall, curved around and went back into the room) but the room itself was pretty sweet....had a lot of stuff that you normally see at cons and some stuff that was new...I spotted some Hellsing merchandise and was tempted, but it was mostly just bags and wallets...neither of which I am fond of (No Hellsing cosplayers though! T-T That I was thoroughly sore about)

I scored a Deidara and a Zetsu plushie...because as soon as I saw them on the rack, my heart just exploded on the spot. (No signs of Hidan or Kakuzu ones though...depressing...although I am REALLY tempted to buy all the Akatsuki in plushie form now...even if they are friggin $22 bucks a pop!)

And just because I saw it and thought it would make a cool gift, I bought Leah Misa's necklace [link] and then walked out of the room. Rina got two wall posters (One with Itachi and Sasuke holding parasols and another with all the main characters from Death Note) an ANBU Kakashi plush, and a pack of Ramune sodas...now I'm no fan of sodas, but these things were great (Although I had the open the first one cause neither Leah nor Rina could do it XD) and so much better for you too (About ten grams less sugar and half the calories of a normal soda, but twenty times teh fizz! It's awesome!) Leah got a NANA wallet and...crap I cannot remember the rest... forgive me Leah!

We had dinner at a nearby Sweet-Tomatoes and got a lot of strange looks (Me for cross-dressing, and Leah for...well having her face painted completely white) Rina just got to be normal...while Leah and I tried not to get food stains on our clothes (My jacket was cheap at the thrift-store price...but it is still dry-clean only!)

I believe some kid had the guts to go up to Leah and ask why she was dressed up. XD I'm surprised...you'd think that people in a big place like Phoenix would be used to weird-shit by now...ah well...it's no New York.

Anyway, I signed up for the Cosplay Chess and got it on the good side (Apparently, just because I kill criminals, I am a good guy) but they switched me over to the evil side at the last minute...only to pull me out of the entire fucking game. I was so pissed, (Least the guy that replaced me was taken out in the first move...THANK YOU INUYASHA!) up until we did the 'Whose Line is That Anime?' in which I was called for every single time by some Light fans in the audience...and damn was the whole room filled with people! I was so nervous and scared...Leah and Rina did it like naturals (And they had the advantage of having seen the show before too...I felt so out of the loop) but everyone said we were great and that it was funny. (Two of the people who signed up though didn't really participate. I could tell the announcer guy was trying to use them as little as possible, while still being fair and giving them a chance...still I wish they had given up their spots to people who would actually try to act)

I won't go into extreme details because we went through about twenty skits...one of which included Rina glomping a random guy for the skit of 'worst elevator partner' which was funny as hell...I wish someone recorded it, but alas...even though the entire room was filled with people watching, no one had a camera on them T-T

Either that or they are just as lazy as me and have yet to upload all their con related shit...

The last thing we did for the night was the J-POP dance in which we got to see the Kakashi cosplayer from before, rave... it was definitely one of the trip's highlights because how many times do you get to see a really hot guy cosplaying as Kakashi rave? He actually recognized us from before when we asked for his picture and danced with us for a little while. I bet my friend Hannah (Loves Kakashi and raving) will kill me for not taking pictures. (Apparently there is a video of him raving on his friend's website...but it has yet to be actually uploaded...if you want the link, send me a message and I'll note you when it's up.)

Rina was disappointed when we saw him without his wig and mask though and called him "Ka-cocky" for the rest of the con (While continuing to stalk him...hypocritical much, Rina? XD) I myself, only recognized him because I caught a glimpse of his tattoo on the inside of his arm from before.

I must say...the night events were a LOT more fun and varied more than the day-time ones...I mean, those are always novel and fun, but really...nothing compares to partying your arse off with a bunch of fellow otakus after a long day of conning around I must invest in a summer home in Phoenix so we can stay the entire weekend for EVERY Phoenix con.

And in two years, I'll be a registered adult and we won't need Leah's dad to drive us up or supervise (As cool as your dad is, Leah...it is pretty awkward...)

The next day we got up and did our costumes again and sat down for breakfast at a table made for four (but Leah and Rina both sat down at the booth end of it, leaving a chair open) although Leah ate for about ten. I swear it's insane! The girl hardly eats anything throughout the day, but at breakfast she is a monster!

And guess who walked right into the lobby with a bagel and Starbucks in his finger-less gloved hands?

Yup...Kakashi!

He asked if he could sit with us (Far be it from us to tell him no!) and we chatted for the rest of breakfast. Apparently he is from Alaska, but he is a nineteen year old soldier being stationed in Tucson for the time being...and he has also been cosplaying since he was 6 (His dad used to dress him up like Astro-boy XD) and Kakashi is one of his main cosplays (Tuxedo Mask being another of them ^w^)

While this convo took place, Rina obessively took about twenty million sum odd photos of him with her phone. He then tried to guess our ages and was wrong on all accounts save for Leah (Me=eighteen/nineteen, Rina=sixteen). Needless to say, when he found out her real age, he was shocked.

After our meeting with Kakashi (In which we all huddled up once he left and squealed like five year olds for about five minutes) we headed back out into the con where Leah got mistaken for Sumomo from Chobits about ten times XD

There were a lot of Lights, but they all pretty much sucked. Most wore a white shirt with a semi-reddish tie and held the notebook, but that was it. They also spazzed a lot and that bugged me (But all the people I met the day before found me again in my Dai-Li costume and whispered "You were better than all of them" so that made me a vair smug Kira)

I managed to find a girl dressed as Fire Nation Toph and Leah got some good pics with her and with the Iroh at one of the booths (Same one in all of the pics from last years San Diego comicon! And he is going to the one this year as well as trying to organize a room for Anizona so he can do an event called "Iroh's Tea Party")

Other than that though...there were no other Avatar cosplayers and Leah and I were constantly confused for other characters...still got hugged and had our pics taken plenty though so it was all good.

Next we went to Laura Bailey's (AKA: Tohru Honda, Sana, and Lust) panel and that week just happened to be her birthday she while she answered all of our questions and requests (An Ed Elric asked her to do "Roy Mustang is dead sexy in a mini-skirt" in both Lust and Tohru's voices...it was GOLD!) she cut her birthday cake and ate. After the actual panel, she gave some of the cake away to the audience and Leah got her to sign her Tohru shirt and the first vol of Fruits Basket (She even doodled a little rice ball!)

After that, Leah headed off to the Maid Cafe, but seeing as Rina and I were broke from the day previous, we had to stay outside and mill around in the courtyard and the Dealer's room.

While we were in the dealer's room for the second time that con, I happened upon some cute bags and began to browse...I had no more money with me, but still...

And randomly this guy behind the table comes up and says "See anything you like." and starts...well...fighting (flirting) with me. We exchanged a few burns before we finished with "Buy something for my self-esteem?" and "You sell anime crap, you HAVE NO self-esteem." and I began walking away. He called after me and pointed me out to some of the other customers and said "I like this one. She's got a sense of humor!"

Twas kind of creepy...but not as bad as Luffy (Failed to mentioned before, but a guy who was cosplaying a Bleach character with fake boobs...before changing out and into a Luffy costume kind of followed us...he was also in the "Whose Line is That Anime?" and he tried to bribe the judges to be in the Cosplay Chess)

Afterwards, Leah came out of the Maid Cafe and we found Kakashi out in the courtyard...where we decided (after all we had been through with him) that we need a pic together with him to cement our con happening. He agreed and we got a nice pic of us glomping/hanging off of Kakashi.

Before we got caught in a game of Red Rover...I joined in though when I saw just how fun it looked. Poor Kakashi was ALWAYS the one taken...so when I was finally called up (They called me 'Earth Kingdom girl'/ 'Girl with the target on her stomach' and Leah 'inky' I rammed through a Mello and Misa combo and took Dante with me back to my side (I thought Kakashi breathed out a sigh of relief when I didn't take him...poor boy...he even had to give piggy-back rides to the people who caught him back to the other side!)

Unfortunately...it was not long after this that we had to go...and so we got one last goodbye from Kakashi (Without the wig or mask) Leah and Rina hugged him...but I decided to give him a break and just smiled and waved.

And as soon as we got in the car we opened our cellphones and swooned over the pictures of him we had taken.

Yes...can you say 'Stalker much?'

Pretty much the whole way home we ranted and raved about the con and how amazing everything was (I had to give Leah my Deidara plush though...she needed someone to cuddle during the two hour ride back) before we stopped at a hick of a restuarant that apparently thought that this was fuckin Missouri and not Arizona...I mean hell...they had CATFISH on the menu! CATFISH!

And as soon as I got home, I took off my Dai Li hat. (Sniffles) The little feather in the back was torn to utter shreds by my dumb ass cat within seconds T-T I need to get another one soon.

THUS: SABOTEN CON '08, TO EVERYONE WHO WENT, SEE YOU IN '09 OR AT SAN DIEGO CC '08 OR ANIZONA '09!

I found this short vid that has all three of us walking right past the camera XD: [link]

And the Red Rover game: [link] ( found this one)

And if you want to see pics of the con, then look in my scraps for all of mine...Leah should upload the rest of hers soon and hopefully so will