I'm really psyched for Otakon this year. Not because I expect it to be any good, but because of who I'm going to be with. Of course I'm rounding up my two BFFs, but I'm dragging out a small crew from St. Louis with me. So far, Audry, Natale, and I are planning out our road trip out there. We haven't made much progress in the planning, but I think we're pretty ground in the idea that we'll go. Nick, Jon and Josh are all making plans to go as well, and I'm trying to make plans for things we all can do. Ken also expressed interest in also making the trip with his wife. And Julie might go if she has the money. So WOW, that's a lot of people I'm kind of taking responsibility for finding shelter for. My friend Richard's mom works for Marriott, and he can get us super-cheap rooms at nice hotels, so all that's left is to pick when we want to leave and get back, then ask Richard how many hotel rooms he can actually book.

I'm excited that Yamaguchi Kappei will be at Otakon this year, he's a fantastic seiyuu. American voice actor Richard Epcar will also be there, and while I've loved his voice as several roles, I don't really care to battle the crowds to see him. We talked about trying to book him as a guest at our own convention, so that would be sweet x3 Anyway, the thing about con this year is... I don't really know if I want to cosplay. To me, going to con without a costume on is just strange. I've been cosplaying for years. But I don't have the time or skill to throw together a new costume, and while I love my Itachi (Naruto) costume, I've already worn it to two cons this year. I've done my Nanao (Bleach) costume two years in a row. Neither of them are incredibly comfortable, and wearing them to Otakon, in the blistering Baltimore August is not something I'm looking forward to.

Nanao is a costume that I love a lot, and I can carry a lot of stuff in the giant hollow book that I carry, and I can wear my glasses. But the shoes aren't comfortable, the hakama require a safety pin to hold up properly, and the book becomes bulky when looking through the art and dealer rooms.

Itachi is a pretty comfortable costume, but the shoes are too big and I have only a small pouch carry my stuff in. Not too mention that costume requires chest-binding and I can't wear my classes. My blind Itachi is a hilarious costume, but I think there's going to be a sickening amount of Akatsuki present, and I'm not really a fan of cosplaying the same thing as everyone else (it was okay at Naka-kon and Anime St. Louis because of the small size of those cons).

I don't have any older costumes that I'm really interested in redoing that don't require remaking a prop, piece of the costume, or hairpiece. In other words, older costumes would be a pain in the ass. I don't have the time or energy to do a new costume either, since there's only one costume I'm interested in doing at the moment.

I feel bad because Bradwen and I had talked about doing Gintama costumes, but the character I would potentially play would require buying an expensive wig and an outfit I don't personally have the ability to make.

This year I really want to have a bag to carry things in, I want to be totally comfortable with what I'm wearing, especially shoes. If we end up seeing the Jam Project concert, I want to be able to peel off some layers and not look like a retard. But I really can't walk into a con without dressing up somehow. Remembering Rei-chan's awesome outfit that she threw together last year, I want to try for something similar. My problem with that is that I don't own a lot of really neat clothing like Rei-chan does, and I don't really want to spend money on expensive Hot Topicy stuff. I think I need to really rummage though my stuff and see what I can cut up, alter, resew, etc. *sigh* I'm just not up to Rei-chan's level of clothing awesomeness. Of course, if I was as skinny as her, I'd probably own a lot more clothing xD

So I'm still kind of on the fence. I don't wanna let Audry and Natale down, since we were all gonna redo our Naruto costumes together, but I really want to do something different this year. I'm also a little afraid that if I don't do a costume, as soon as I get there, I'm going to wish I had. After all, I love the attention I get by cosplaying (vain, I know, but it's the truth). So if I don't cosplay, then the clothing I wear has to compensate somehow.

Argh! Can't decide....