Why did I decide to go to Katson, after four years of saying Otakon would be my only travel con per year? The answer is simple: Patti and Steph.

In August of 2007, after realizing that she and Steph were partially unable and partially unwilling to come back to Otakon, Patti sent me the following e-mail:

"So how much begging, pleading or monitary bribary would it take to get you to go to Katsucon?"

Plus, with us starting to plan in August, that gave me plenty of time to budget ahead of time. So I talked it over with Lou, talked it over with Patti and Steph, and decided to go. And there was MUCH rejoycing.

The only thing I decided to splurge on was to take Amtrak down to Washington D.C., because as I've chronicled pretty extensively here in my con reports, I hate Greyhound. And in the end I ended up not having to pay for my badge, anyway, because the girls of Last Chance Myu were invited to the con as performers, and got their badges, and the badges of all of their technical crew (that's me, Stage Ninja Crissy!) comped. Thank you, Katsucon!

Anyway, enough backstory. February of 2008 rolled around, and I was on my way down to Washington, D.C.! I hadn't been to D.C. since I was 8 years old, I think, but I knew I wasn't going to have time for any sightseeing--not that I minded, the sights I saw were more interesting to me anyway. I had my usual flawless trip down with Amtrak, took a cab over to the hotel (having an entire convention in the same hotel we were staying in? What a concept!), and walked into the lobby with my suitcase in one hand and my makeup trunk in tow. Let me tell you, it was a unique experience being in my everyday wear in the midst of an opulant lobby filled with every type of costumer imaginable.

I saw Carrie right off the bat (I think this is the third con that I've run into her first for, it's like she's my personal Welcoming committee!), FINALLY recognized Cassie without her having to tell me who she is first, then ran into Callie and Renee, and then was looking around trying to figure out where I should go next (after all, this was my first time there) when I saw a large group of Sera Myu cosplayers right in the middle of the lobby. That was them!

I ran over, waited until they were between shots, and jumped on Patti and Steph. I was introduced to the girls I didn't know, greeted the girls I did, and was given a key card to our room...on the eighth floor. Oy. I promised to be right back down, and ran up to our room to drop off my bags, the others girls having checked in the day before.

It was a lovely room, I have no complaints. Two double beds, a large flat screen T.V. (not that we ever turned it on), tons of drawer space, a very accomodating staff that satisfied Steph's requests of about a dozen more hangers without too many odd looks, a lovely view, the works. At any rate, I didn't tarry too long in the room, because I had already decided I wouldn't be cosplaying until after LCM's show was over, so all I had to do was put my stuff down and head back down.

As the girls were busy, I decided I would get my badge while I waited so that I could follow them anywhere they had to go without delay. I got on the of course massive line that wrapped around the hallways, and got to see Fory-san for a little bit, and then Robbie came over and gave me a lovely lavendar rose as a Valentine's Day gift (he had bought a bouquet of them to give out to all of the girls he knew, isn't he sweet?) and basically kept me company as the line inched a long...and then I got a call from Patti on my cell phone saying she had picked up my badge for me already when they had signed in the day before. Oops! Well, no time spent with a friend is wasted, of course.

It turns out I really didn't need my badge all that urgently because most of the day was spent in everybody getting ready for the show.

While Patti, Steph, Auria, Robbie and were staying on the eighth floor, a whole chunk of the rest of the cast was staying on the 6th floor...in the J.F.K. suite!!! I don't know how they got that suite, it must have been a mistake, but it was gorgeous. The place had a foyer, a full kitchen (missing only a stove), a dining room with a chandelier, a living room with a fireplace, big bathroom, big gorgeous bedroom, the works. Plenty of room for the girls to rehearse both singing and dancing, which is what they did until 5 PM when they called a dinner break.

During the break I called my mother and goaded her into walking across her living room to answer the phone. This might not sound like much, but to me it's an amazing example of just how far she's come from last year--even though I wasn't at last year's Katsucon, she and I were apparently the talk of the con due to her sickness. So, yay for Mommy getting better!

After dinner, the girls got dressed (I got to help with makeup!) and went downstairs to pose for a few photos and basically promote the show. We rambled through the halls, basicially inviting everyone to come one, come all to the Live One room to see Last Chance Myu, a Sera Myu performing group's, show. (Can you tell I still have the patter down pat?) Then we headed over to Live One to help the staff break down the table from the Lolita panel that was scheduled before LCM (which I hear was very informative, by the way) and set up LCM's merchandise table and prop/water table.

It was about this time that we found out that the staff didn't have a "sound guy", so we'd have to provide our own. Um...I guess that would be me? So I got promoted from "stage ninja" to "sound tech" on the spot. Really, it wasn't that bad--the guy who was helping us set up really hooked the DVD player and the mics up to the speakers and fiddled with the feed, all I was responsible for was making sure the songs stopped and started on time. I think there were about 10 or so different tracks, and I only really muffed one, which wasn't bad for no practice beforehand!

The show was PHENOMENAL. First of all, they had a good size crowd, who were eager to have a good time, and the girls really just fed off of their energy and established a great back-and-forth. The mics were a little low for the solos but the group numbers came through loud and clear. The "skit" the girls had written to pad the songs got great reactions from the audience, and the song choices seemed really "popular" (joke you'd get if you were at the show) with people. Patti and Steph also announced the next show they'd be doing and a few cast changes that fans can look forward to. They sold out nearly all of their merchandise, and gave away a ton of goodies as well. Basically, in a nice twist of fate, everything that could go right, did.

I'd like to pause a moment to thank some of the people who helped make the show a success. First and foremost, thank you to ALL of Last Chance Myu, for inviting me along, and securing me a badge, and letting me get a backstage look at all the hard work that goes into making a performance like this work.

Thank you to Katsucon for inviting LCM to perform, and thank you for considering them for next year as well! (You'd better believe that if they come back, I'll come back!)

Thank you to Fory-san for showing up dressed as Tuxedo Kamen, and letting Robbie as Sailor Jupiter pull you up on stage as a human prop to aid her in her song.

Thank you to Morgan for helping with the sound checks and running the merchandise table (and offering to take over more merchandising duties in the future.)

And last but most importantly, thank you to everybody who came to see the show--there'd be no show without you.

After the show, the girls posed for pictures on stage, while I helped clean up a bit, and saw Mako Jess briefly, chatted with Hime-chan, who had ducked out of the Artist's Alley to come see the show, and Jeanette, who I hadn't gotten to talk to in forever. After the girls were done, we decided to head back up to the J.F.K. suite so they could change into Harry Potter, and I could change into my first costume of the night...a Sera Myu Super Sailor Mars fuku, made by Patti and Steph!

Oh, I love my costume, I love my costume, I love my costume. I can't say it enough. I know a lot of blood, sweat, and glitter (ha, literally!) went into my costume, and I love the way it looks on me, and I'm just so happy with it. I got stopped for quite a few photos in the hall, and a lot of people mistook me for having been on stage with the girls and told me how much they enjoyed the show, which I was happy to pass along.

At any rate, I took the same opportunity to shove Hime-chan into a dress I had brought specifically for her to try on when she said she wanted to cosplay but didn't have anything to wear. Thanks to the combined efforts of Hime-chan, me, and Auria, we got her laced into the dress, got some makeup on her, and did her hair, and she was ready to face the con!

I ran into a few more people that night--I got to see Usa and meet her new boy, I got to see the girls of Outer Power, Inner Beauty, Avi, Reinii, and Lady Terentia, who were on their way to the rave (Reinii looks REALLY HOT in synthetic hair), and Mandy, who always looks hot on her way to a rave. I got to give Dave his Christmas present, although we didn't have much time to hang out because he had to go pick up a friend from the airport. I got to see Scott in his Wii pajamas (omg I want a pair) and Soni with her Amazing Technicolor Dreamhair.

After trekking around the con for a bit, the Harry Potter crew wandered off to a Harry Potter photoshoot, I think, and Hime-chan had to return to her table in the Artist's Alley (though at least I got to say "Hi" to Molly!), and I was starting to feel hungry, and the very next person I ran into was Fory-san again! He had changed out of his tuxedo, and knew his way around the area, so I begged him to come with me to get some food. There was a McDonald's only a block or two away (where I saw Cristi briefly! Thankfully I was to run into her for a longer amount of time on Sunday) so we went there and just camped out for at least a good hour, I think, talking about everything from anime and manga to religion and history. I also met his friend, Asian Sean, who was very nice and funny. All in all, it was a little down time in the midst of a VERY busy day and I'm incredibly grateful for it.

Back in the lobby, I got to meet Jamie for the first time after talking online for a good many years now, and wander the con with her a bit. But by this time it was getting pretty late, and I was pretty darn tired, so I called some of the other girls, found out they were starting to head to bed too, so I returned to our hotel room and crashed for the night.