STGCC 2013 Day 1

BEWARE. VERY LONG JOURNAL AND PICTURE SPAM AHEAD.

----------------

Day 1 of STGCC!!

For all the events I've been cosplaying at for the past two years or so, I've always had to rush out costumes/props even on the day before the convention, and end up with little to no sleep that night. When I wake up in the morning (if I slept), I'm always so worried and tired. This time, however, I slept enough (5 hours okay!), and when I woke up, instead of rolling over like I usually do, I actually sprang straight out of bed thinking "TODAY IS STGCC TALES DAY BABA-SAN DAY!!!" First time in years I've gotten so excited about a con on the day ;w;

Got some breakfast, checked twitter and tumblr, arranged my room a little, and then Mei arrived at about 7.30 to join me in preparing. I had some trouble with eyelashes that refused to go on, but managed to do awesome eyebrows for Mei! Then finally, 15 minutes after our original plan, we packed everything up and got ready to leave.

Originally, we were just going to call a large cab, but as we were putting on boots, Dad came out and asked us where we were going, then offered to drive us down! Thankfully his car could fit my hugeass staff in it, though poor Mei had to sit with her arm holding my staff up so it wouldn't die ;; THANK YOU.

We reached Marina Bay Sands and then went to the toilet to prepare. Met Rui in there preparing for her cos as Gakuen!Sophie! Passed her my wig comb, then got the extra parts of our costumes on, and went outside.


(This photo was actually taken on day 2, because I forgot to take it on day 1 8DDD;;

We waited a little for to arrive, then the two of them went into the convention hall first to go backstage for a briefing, because they'd both won places in the Top 5 of the Tales of Cosplay Competition! I stayed outside to watch our bags, speaking to Abital and Rui a little before they left. Aki arrived some time then and went to get prepared. Leanne arrived too and I SERIOUSLY HAVEN'T SEEN HER SINCE AFA <3 I passed her a wig cap, then she also went to prepare.

It turned out that Mei and Sakami were supposed to stay inside until the panel, so I called Nocturne and begged her for help in carrying my luggage inside. Leanne and Aki came back out, so I got them to sign the scrapbook I made for Baba-san before we headed inside towards the stage area for Baba-san's Tales panel.

The One Piece movie screening had just ended, so the crowd seated there was clearing. Most of us (Myself, Waiyin, Nocturne, Greg, Aki, Rui and Waiyin's friend Wesley) luckily managed to grab seats in the last row on the left, while Leanne joined Furen-chan and Hweein in the front row.

While we were waiting, Ume-chan came up behind me and spoke to me. She had been roped in to be the translator for Baba-san by STGCC since they were paying her to translate already, and didn't want to pay Baba-san's official translator. Ume-chan was really nervous because she's not a Tales fan and knows nothing about the series, and she said that she did a lot of research but it may not be enough, and apologised in advance for any mistakes she might make. I patted her and told her it was okay, she looked so scared, and then she asked me how to pronounce Auj Oule and I just... told her the JP one. HAHAHAHA THANKFULLY SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO USE IT.

In a few minutes time, the emcee came on stage and announced Baba-san and Ume-chan! We all cheered pretty loudly. \o/

First of all, the emcee asked him about how he liked Singapore, and the food he likes here. Baba-san said that it was his first time in Singapore, and that he had been looking forward to our famous chili crab. Next they moved on to Xillia, and they played Milla's side OP! Sang along pretty loudly 8D;;;



Baba-san introduced Xillia briefly, talking about the dual protagonists, the link artes system, skits, and so on. They also played the amazing English trailer with the awesome editing! Baba-san also mentions about how it was the first time Ufotable was doing the game opening for them, and it was wonderfully done. Waiyin, Nocturne and I were just going YES YES YES UFOTABLE IS GORGEOUS.

Somewhere through the middle, Baba-san suddenly said, "I see a Kohaku (Leanne in front!), a Pascal (I waved hard), and a Kanonno?" (He probably made a mistake about Kanonno because it was too dark in the audience; there wasn't any there ;w; ) It's great that he noticed us though! Leanne said later "OMG SENPAI NOTICED ME" <3<3 YES EXACTLY LIKE THAT. Later on when Ume-chan was translating something, Baba-san was looking around the audience and then we made eye contact and he waved at me--- okay I'll stop being so creepy.

After Xillia, the next topic up was Symphonia Unisonant Pack! The moment the picture of it appeared on the screen, there was an amazingly loud cheer for it, and not just from our corner! It was awesome!


When this screen appeared, there was a really really loud cheer too 8DDD;;

After that was the Xillia 2 corner, and like Symphonia, it got a deafening cheer and applause from the audience.

First Baba-san introduced Ludger and Elle a little bit, then he spoke about the choices in Xillia 2. The idea, he explained, was that in our daily lives, we're always having to make choices that affect our future. Xillia 2 shows that depending on the choices you make, the results will be different. He also adds that there will be some choices that have time limits, so "For those of you who like to eat and play at the same time, please try to focus on the game, or else the game will pick a choice randomly if you don't do so before the time is up!" XDD



Next was a very brief explanation about the different weapon types of Ludger in Xillia 2, and then the next slide showed a video frozen at the first frame. IT WAS THE POCKETWATCH FROM THE OP OF XILLIA 2! And sure enough, in a few moments, Song 4 U played, and I was singing along again ;w;


It's just amazing, being able to see Xillia in HD quality on a huge screen live. ;w;

With the game introduction over, next up was the Tales of cosplay competition finals! The emcee asked Baba-san what he thought was important when it came to cosplay. Baba-san replied that he liked to see how cosplayers bring the character to life with their portrayal and posing, and how they show their love for the characters, including the details of costumes and props. I cheered again because that's exactly what I feel is important when I cosplay ;w;

First of all, the contestants were called on stage one by one. Sakami as Asch, Mei as Leon, Jiaxin as Jude, Yining as Asbel, and Christie as Milla.


Really dark, unfortunately, because I was sitting in the back row. Nocturne kindly offered to hold my staff for me, so I dashed off to the middle front for clearer photos.

The emcee explained briefly to them about the order of their catwalk, towards the center, pose, to the front of the stage, pose, to the left side, pose, to the right side, pose, then walk back. Then they began. First up was Sakami! The moment she was announced, a deafening cheer rose up <3




With Baba-san and Ume-chan in the back.


Greg was in the audience as Luke, and when Sakami did this pose towards the right, she pointed the sword directly at him. He noticed. 8D

Then Mei's turn! More cheers as she went out.




Mei had said she wasn't sure how she was going to pose on stage, but she did so well!

And then when she was right in the middle, she ended with... Leon's hair flip. SHE DID THE HAIR FLIP. I WASN'T EXPECTING IT. AND SHE DID IT SO WELL AND RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME I JUST DIED ON THE SPOT AND I DIDN'T MANAGE TO TAKE ANY OTHER PHOTOS. And it wasn't just me who was cheering; a LOT of the fans in the audience just exploded in screams when she did that wonderful hair flip! ;wwww;

Then Jiaxin went up next.




"My Jude senses are tingling!"



Then it was Yining's turn.


Battoujutsu!




The coat flared up as she walked back, it was quite impressive!

Finally, Christie took the stage.




Her movement from one side of the stage to the other was done in a series of swift sword swishing spins. It was really amazing!


As they stood together and the emcee spoke. Note how Asch is still looking grumpy. XDD

The emcee asked Baba-san to give out the regular top five prizes before the grand prize, but that was a slight error, and thus they collected the bags back and asked Baba-san to pick the winner. And he said...

"...The winner is..... Leon Magnus!"

I literally jumped straight up and cheered and clapped really loudly; I felt so happy for Mei.


The cheers were all really loud too, and as Mei stepped up to shake Baba-san's hand and receive the prize, even Mr Grumpy had trouble stopping himself smiling XDD


With her Xillia PS3 and a copy of her Day 1 Xillia lying on top of it! Mei was saying later that she didn't know how to carry the box with Chaltier still in her hand XDDD

Baba-san also shook hands with the other contestants and handed each of them their special limited edition Xillia bag with the Day 1 Xillia. The emcee then asked him why he chose Leon. Baba-san then explained that he was very impressed not just with the costume, but also with how Mei paid attention to details in posing. Here, he borrowed Chal from her and held it up for the audience to see, explaining that many people think that Chal should be held with the basket hilt protecting the knuckles, thus pointing the blade downwards. But in actual fact, the edge of Chal's blade is on the other side, and so Chal should be held with the basket hilt on top.


Photo by Shane. Poor Tipo being squashed in one arm haha


Photo by Shane.


Final photo together on stage!

The cosplayers left, and the session drew to a close. Baba-san thanked everyone for their support of Tales, and told us to look forward to Symphonia and Xillia 2 next year. He also said that he might try to come back next year too!

Then he ended it with a common ending known to many Tales fans. Although I see more of the "Viva! Tales of!" in Tales of Festival and other events, as with the Jump Festa events, this time Baba-san asked us to do the "Yappari! Tales of!" together with him.

And so we did. It was one of the best things ever in my life, to be able to shout "TEEEEIRUZU OOOOOOOOOBUU!!" live, in a crowd before a stage, led by Baba-san. It was phenomenal. Even thinking about it now brings tears to my eyes. ;wwwww;

And then it was over! Baba-san left the stage, and we moved out of the seats to gather in the corner just beyond the stage area.

The cosplay contestants came to join us, and Baba-san also exited that way, so many of us snatched the chance to have our photos taken with him. Unfortunately, it was rather dark there ;w; Still, it was great to be able to have that opportunity!


First photo with Baba-san! AWKWARD SMILE IS AWKWARD OTL


MY TREASURE

After Baba-san left, many of us stayed for a while to take photos together.




LUKE YOU'RE SQUISHING BUTAZARU. AND YET HE'S STILL SMILING


Photo from Yining. LOOK AT THE TWO CREEPY PHOTOBOMBERS. YES TWO.


The lovely Sarah as Rapunzel!


Look at her gorgeous braid!

Then most of us scattered to explore the con before the autograph session with Baba-san at 3 o'clock. Mei, Aki and I stayed to look after the bags, while Sarah, Greg, Sakami and Leanne went off to look at the booths. Hweein and Furen-chan left to get ready, while Waiyin and Wesley went off to eat lunch.


Abital came by as Kraehe! SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL. I LOVE THE WAY HER LEGS LOOK IN TURNOUT AOSIJDIOASJDOIJASDOA


Just look at the way she poses ;w;


Rui came back then, and we got a few shots together. LOOK AT HER WONDERFUL OLD MAN GAUNTLETS THEY'RE SO HILARIOUS AND WELL MADE 8D

We chatted and rested quite a bit, then Leanne, Sakami and Sarah returned, and we shifted the bags to a far corner with some of Sakami's friends'. Mei, Aki and I then left to explore the artist booths.

Probably kind of a good thing that most of the stuff there didn't really interest me, but I did invest in a lovely HTTYD2 Hiccup, and a nicely done print of the ending version of Free!. Somewhere along our trip, a Deadpool cosplayer walked past us, and slowed down enough to say "I LOVE TALES OF DESTINY!!!" I WAS SO HAPPY HAHAHA.

Then we headed back to the rest, and when Waiyin and Wesley joined us, we moved toward the Namco Bandai booth for the autograph session.

Halfway through, though, I had to rush back to get something to pass to Hweein. Met her near the entrance, then raced towards the booth. There was already a pretty large crowd forming, and unfortunately, there wasn't any form of queue at all. I managed to collect notes from Waiyin and Christie for my scrapbook, and we spotted an X2 Milla with a Ludger on the far side. Baba-san soon arrived with Aza, who was cosplaying X1 Milla, and the session began.


(Photo taken from day 2, because the booth was just too crowded on day 1)

Because it was so messy, people were pretty much just charging forward one after another from the left side without much order. After a while it got really stifling, and I felt so claustrophobic with people pushing on all sides. Mei returned to the bags because she was feeling so crowded, and if it weren't for the fact that I loved Tales so much and wanted his opportunity as bad as I wanted air, I would have joined her. ;;_;; Still, I hung in there and tried to keep cheerful by chatting to Waiyin and Wesley.

As we approached the front, there was a young girl with her even younger sister holding on to the Gamecube version of Symphonia. Waiyin and I felt so nostalgic as we looked upon it that we exclaimed aloud, and I think we might have freaked them out a little ;; They went ahead and got their games signed, as well as one free signed Xillia poster each, and then Waiyin went up, and then it was my turn.

Baba-san said "Ah, Pascal!" and I replied "Yes!", and handed him the cover of DC Destiny. He looked pleasantly surprised, saying "ooooh Director's one!"; it really is pretty old. XD; I also had him sign my Xillia 2 cover, and then I took out the scrapbook I made for him and handed it over.

I could roughly hear people in the crowd behind me exclaiming, but I was just really focused on trying to talk clearly and grammatically well, telling Baba-san that it was a scrapbook I made for him. "A tribute from the fans in Singapore to you, because we really really love the Tales of series. The Tales series is really important to us, so we'd like to thank you for all your amazing work." ....At least, I think that's what I said. I don't remember clearly anymore because my brain was panicking and freezing and excited and nervous at the same time there.

Baba-san flipped through a few pages briefly, saying "Ooh! This is amazing!" I added that the back including fan letters and notes from each of us, and he said "Thank you!" to me, and I bowed back and thanked him too. I didn't want to take up even more time than I already had, what with the crowd being so huge still, so I stepped forward for my photo session. Baba-san held up my scrapbook for the photo, and I'm just really grateful for the opportunity to hand it to him manually. That scrapbook included works from up to four years ago, from cosplay to peach pie to fanart to games days and overseas collaborations even. After spending about a week or more planning and collecting old photos and printing and decorating, it felt wonderful to finally have it reach the hands of Baba-san.



Then my moment was over, and I thanked him and Aza, collected my camera and poster, and left. I collapsed against the wall immediately after stumbling out; it was really overwhelming, and I was so glad to finally be out of that crazy crowd and have space to breathe. I stayed with Waiyin to wait for Wesley for a while, then spotted another Ludger cosplayer.


I love how he really did colour one eyebrow black and the other one white 8DDDDDDDDDD

Chatted to him for a bit, suggested that he move towards the left side for a higher chance to sneak in, then collected Wesley and we headed back to the rest.

Apologised to the others waiting there, then grabbed my wig comb and made for the Cosplayers' Hall to find Hweein and help her. A series of unfortunate accidents had happened, and her wig for Sophie was in quite a big mess. Fluffy was with her, working on one ponytail, so I sat down behind and started on the other one. After Mist's wig at Cosfest, I was used to insanely long wigs, but it was slow progress, especially because we had no hairdryer to help.

I also spotted a Reid on the opposite side of the hall, and got very excited, but I couldn't chase him because I was busy with hair ;w; Rynx dropped by and said hi, and then took a selfca with me in which I was very unglam because I was leaning backwards with hair in my hands still. Laki as Labrys from P4 also dropped by and said hi. Sorry I couldn't talk to either of you much!

There was also a bit of an unpleasant business with an obnoxious stranger who thought she knew better than the rest of us (she was wrong) and ended up making one ponytail insanely frizzy, but in the end, we managed to get them as neat as we could under circumstances. Attached the fake hair ties on, then we returned to the others.

I made it back first, and tucked my stuff away, and when Hweein finally arrived everyone was squealing at how adorable she looked <333 I asked everyone for some photos before they changed out, and Ruby kindly agreed to take Mei's camera and give us a short shoot. She warned us that we'd probably start up a wall, but the alternative would be moving outside to a quieter corner and I doubt Asch or Leon would survive the heat, so we just did it inside.

Someone recognised me as Pascal, and asked for a solo shot of me somewhere around here. It's amazing how people now recognise Graces characters, whereas when we first did her three years ago, no one knew who we were. ;w;



At first it was just Sakami, Mei, Greg, Aki, Hweein, Leanne and I, but as we shot, we suddenly spotted the Ludger and Reid coming by!



Reid was so happy to find more people that recognised him XD Took various solo and dual shots and then Ludger had left to find Milla. Then Yining and Jiaxin arrived as well!



And then Ludger returned with the X2 Milla in tow!




Greg suggested a pic of all our weapons. The legs were in there because Kohak, Jude and Sophie had no weapons, but I have no idea why Ludger and Milla's legs are there too XD;


Photo by STGCC.

Leanne asked us all for a single group shot for her friends, and so I called "GUYS LAST ONE LET'S DO A FUN SHOT!"


Photo by Leanne. BUT APART FROM ME AND REID LOOKING UNGLAM AND ASCH LOOKING UNCHARACTERISTICALLY HAPPY EVERYONE ELSE STILL LOOKS NICE ANYWAY

After that we took more solo shots, as well as did selfcas on cameras, and chatted a great deal about Tales. There was a good deal of photobombing and crack and hilarious laughing and Tales love involved and a lot of herpderp.


Photo from Yining. I'M SO KIMOI 8D;;;;


Note the smiley face on Asch's hand HAHAHAHAHA. Hweein had no idea she was photobombing us at first.


Then she realised.


LEANNE JOINED IN AND SHE HAS THE BEST FACE. BY THEN SAKAMI AND I REALISED AND WE WERE LAUGHING SO HARD


True friends expose all of your derp photobombing faces.


LIKE SERIOUSLY HOW MANY OF THESE DID MEI TAKE


Asch and Chaltier. I should mention here an anecdote that they told me later! While they were backstage waiting for the competition, Sakami suddenly felt something poking her. When she turned to see what it was, it turned out to be the tip of Chaltier, because Mei wasn't pay attention. "LEON PLS. CONTROL YOUR SWORD."


The cool thing about being Pascal is that WHEN EVERYONE IS DOING SELFCAS AND ARE OOC, I CAN DERP IN PHOTOBOMBS BEHIND AND STILL LOOK IN-CHARACTER. Also everyone else has obviously given up.


...Leanne, what are you doing---


LEANNE STAHP---


SOPHIE YOU'RE TOO CUTE <3


Two grumpy tsunderes looking neither grumpy nor tsundere.
Me: BY THE WAY WHY ARE YOU HOLDING EACH OTHER'S SWORDS
Them: "WE WERE WONDERING IF ANYONE WOULD NOTICE"
Turns out they switched swords because Leon is left handed and Asch is right handed, and Mei is right handed while Sakami is left handed XDD


Weapon photobomb


Leon is not impressed.

Then it was all finally over, and we exchanged our coscards and said goodbye. Leanne and Hweein went to meet their friends, and Mei, Sakami and I went off to dress down. Along the way, though, there was a photobooth that Mei succeeded in dragging us into. But it had a green screen, and my gloves and arm warmers are green.... You can just imagine what happened. oTL Oh well.

The toilets right outside were full, so we found a single free handicap toilet and just squashed inside together. Dressed down, then made our way back to the others. While I packed and rested, Mei and Sakami took one more turn around the area.






APPARENTLY REID DIDN'T RECOGNISE THE TWO OF THEM OUT OF COSTUME AT FIRST. XDDD

After packing up and talking to more people, we headed off to dinner.

Because of the humongous World End I was holding, we couldn't take public transport anywhere, so we headed to the food court at MBS. It was so crowded, it took us a long while to find seats, and then I had some trouble eating and holding on to my staff at the same time. By then I think I was so tired and dead, I just zoned out a little and listened to everyone talk. Despite how I didn't speak much, it was comforting and lovely to have everyone bonding around me. I'm so grateful for them all.

Then Mei and I left first, because her parents were waiting for her. We cabbed back to my place, with her holding on to my staff again, and then collected things, and I helped her carry the PS3 and stuff down to her father's car. Then back I went for a much needed shower, and ended the day by admiring my loot once again.



Day 1, over!

------------------

Acknowledgements:

Mei: Thank you for agreeing to cosplay Leon with me so many years ago, for pulling him out and fixing him up in the short span of one week, for spending the day with me being awesome, for flipping your hair for me! I'm sorry it was boring for you for a couple of hours while I was away; I hope you had more fun during the short shoot we had! Congratulations upon your win; you looked really great and you totally deserve it! \o/ Thank you for holding my staff 60% of the time, and for everything else! MARIAN LOVES YOU <3

Sakami: Thank you for doing the Beloved Son version; you looked lovely! Unfortunately I didn't have much opportunity to speak with you on Sat, but I really hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for loving Tales and I hope you have fun with Xillia, and your sheath was pretty too! \o/ Thank you for holding my staff for me while I was away! Congratulations on placing in top five, and ADAR IS PROUD OF YOU <3

Hweein: Thank you for going ahead with the cosplan, despite the insane number of things that went so wrong for you. It must have been difficult, and I'm sorry for forgetting all about the wig cap. You made a really, really lovely Sophie, as you can probably tell by the number of squeals you incited just by appearing! Thank you for putting up with the headache and boredom from hair combing, and I hope you enjoyed the last two hours or so of the con! PASCAL WANTS TO TOUCH YOU MOAAAAAAAAAAR~~

Leanne: I MISSED YOU SO! I wish I had more time to talk to you properly, and I'm so glad you got to come over for Baba-san and Tales! Despite all the questionable stuff you did to my World End, I enjoyed being able to cosplay and shoot with you again! <333 Let's meet again soon!

Furen-chan: There was a lot of pain involved for you too, but I'm glad you came, and thanks for supporting me while I combed Hweein's wig. I hope to see you finish that cosplay soon and have a shoot! o/

Waiyin: Thanks so much for coming and spending the day with us! Thanks especially for staying with the bags while we shot, and for holding my staff sometimes. I'm truly sorry we didn't get to spend more time together, and I hope you had fun! Look forward to Xillia 2 next year!!

Nocturne: Thank you so much for helping me with bags at the beginning! I would have been stuck there if it weren't for you ;w; I hope you had a great time at the panel and the signing session! Have fun with Xillia!

Fluffy: Thanks for your time and help with the Sophie wig! Hope you feel better now, and managed to enjoy a bit of the con!


.....and now to write day 2's journal. 8D;;