One of tragedy.

One of horror.

One of having very pissed-off fangirls.

So gather 'round, people, draw near to the monitor, and hear my tale...

At the same time, however, I had heard rumblings about all not being well with CNAnime. In fact, less-than-kindly things were said about CNA in less-than-quiet tones, sometimes with gestures implying certain reporductive activities. You see, CNA has been found guilty by anime fans of committing the worst sin possible. Okay, the worst possible sin was Yu Gi Oh, but it did commit the second worst sin...

You see, CNAnime is a corporate convention.

Corporate convention; these words alone can strike cold fear into the hearts of fans everywhere. With these words come visions of executives sitting around boardroom tables, deciding what to overcharge for, and eventually agreeing on everything.

The very idea rings foul to fans everywhere, since it denies them their God Given Right to buy bootleg tapes (free of royalties to the original artists) at cheaper prices.

Now that I've just declared CNA a corporate con, I'm not really sure if that designator means much in particular. All of the cons are being watched for bootleg material; in fact, I saw more bootleg merchandise at CNA than Toronto Trek and Anime North. I guess the underlying implication is that these sorts of cons are more bottom-line oriented than anything else.

Does this affect things? Well, it was a less-than-stellar weekend for myself and our brood.

Then, I found out that was the second line for people who already had tickets and wanted into the dealer's room; the first line ended elsewhere. Grand.

It was around this point that I ran into Kisa and Louise, my usual people of pursuit. They directed me to a spot where the group had camped out. We were still looking for Xiola; she was nowhere to be seen at this point. We were expecting to see her for the premiere of X: The TV Series. For those of you who haven't heard of it, it's basically an angst-filled story of androgynous guys who either want to save or destroy the world. Just because, damnit. It's pretty, angsty and over the top. For those of you who've seen the movie, it has all the prettyness with a story to boot.

It should have been titled Alcoholism: the comedy. From the 40 minutes we saw, the plot revolved around a female samurai type who's desperate for sake. The episode was about sake, sake and more sake. In fact, the simple drinking game of drinking whenever sake was mentioned (in the subs or in the Japanese) would have rendered the viewer unconscious almost as fast as just watching it sober.

Suffice to say, it was less than good. It had the plucky female hero (who can't resist sake *drink*), the grabby comic-relief sidekick who's drunk on sake *drink*, the mayor who is evil because he controls the sale of sake *drink*, and the sake*drink*-maker who's forced to brew substandard overpriced sake *drink*. This great injustice drives the plot. The good news is that this wonderous piece of animation will soon be available for sale.

After watching that crap, I needed a drink. Maybe Smirnoff is sponsoring the show to boost revenue..

So we got to X. Only we got the special edition: the "silent movie" edition. In short, there was beautiful pictures, but no sound. Wonderful.

The fangirls agreed, with the concession that the original sound guy be given to them for sacrifice; he will not be missed.

Actually, the whole bit with the sound was kinda fun; now, we got to watch it and make comments, since we knew it would be reshown. So, we created the new X fandub edition, with the crowd shouting out the lines as they appeared, along with general sexual innuendos, and shouts of "feathers!" and "gears!", since those stock animations were about as frequent as the word sake *drink* in the last show.

So we hung around outside until Xiola arrived with her friend...

At this time I'd like to issue an apology; I can't remember the name of Xiola's friend. She was really nice and was dressed as a really cute green fairy, but her name escapes me and I can't ICQ around to get the name. I'm sorry, person who's name I don't remember...

Bonus kudos to green fairy for actually sporting the outfit on the Toronto subway. Xiola wore the hat to provide moral support, which was really cool too.

Oh, and if you think they're cute now, wait 'till the photos later. So sweet you'll need a dental checkup after; you have been warned...

Gackt (Noun): The name given to the Japanese rock star that has captured the hearts and minds of most of my fangirl friends. His work (besides some early videos I'm not allowed to describe) has mostly enthralled Kisa and company.

Plushie (Noun): A miniature stuffed replica of the individual in question. This particular one has removable pants...

I'm not going to say anything; I'm just going to enjoy the taste of blood as I bite my lip...

Nice people, however, were in short supply. You see, the food court was open for the tail end of the commuters working later, so the few people left in the court were in no mood to see cosplayers. My fave was the one who wouldn't even answer me when I politely asked for the time; I saw the watch on her wrist. Oh, and I wasn't even in costume. Some people need some lessons in manners...

So we ate, and the food was good. Now, the whole group was together, we were fed, and ready for the night.

So, we, um, uh...

Well, here's the problem: there's little to do. If you didn't like the anime on screen, all that was left was the dealer's room. So we all sort of mingled up there; the initial line had given way to a mostly sane crowd.

Then, the dealer's room closed. And, um, that's it: Saturday had come to an end, and it was 9, maybe 10 o'clock. We mingled in the lobby; people left around us, and I snapped a few more photos here and there, while saying hi to the odd person I recognized from previous existences. And that was it.

Not a very impressive display.

His response: "anime, that's great!". He even knew the right name for it. So maybe the people in the food court sucked, but the cop made up for them. That, and he had a gun, so he could shoot them if he wanted to, which makes me smile...

So, to the hotel. Photos await: Louise, Kisa, Xiola, green fairy (sorry) were all caught on film, in various combinations.

So I started off with paired photos of the two fae; cuteness abounded. Then, I took photos of the green fairy. Now I remember Xiola telling me to dress as the green fairy. I declined, given that I'd have to carry a razor with my and touch up my shave every half-hour to even pass for female at 30 yards. Personally, I think the eventual candidate did a mighty cute (and brave) job. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew continued to work on their costumes inside the hotel, with great difficulty.

Why the difficulty? Because the Strathcona is small. Tiny. Microscopic. The beds are singles, and there's at most a two foot space between everything in the place. And they were going to have to fit 6 people in these rooms. Suddenly, I was very glad I was going home to sleep.

Maybe CNA should consider a different location, one with real-sized rooms perhaps.

Now, I know what you're probably thinking: "it's a small room because it's meant for two people." Thanks, Einstein, we know. Here's the problem: the con was out of room space at the two con hotels. The only space left was at the Royal York, probably the most expensive place to stay in downtown Toronto.

So next, Kisa and Louise did some pose work together. Some good photos happened. This one is the "safe" one; I think there are better ones, but I have to leave them subject to the approval of Kisa and Louise. Actually, mostly Louise; it's just a matter of whether she likes her expression in the photos. That, and I also have a bunch of great single shots of Louise in the hall; with a little more time and space, I'll try and fit them in, ne?

Meanwhile, the crew continued to work inside (minor alterations, ironing and sewing) and out (painting and sanding) while I started to photograph Xiola.

Xiola was dressing as Fairy Sugar Salt (I believe; I don't know the series off-handedly) from the series Tiny Sugar Snow Fairies. If the title didn't give it away, lets just say the show has a high cute factor.

I think Xiola managed to fit the bill quite nicely. I think some of these shots qualify as among the cutest ones I've ever taken.

These shots were also the grand champions of redeye; Xiola's pupils were so dilated that all you got were these giant red discs, and I had redeye reduction on. Actually, it's great; the giant eyes factor even adds to the anime factor (and a few show her true evil with the redeye left in). i'll show a few here and sprinkle some others throughout; I suspect I have a new set of images for stock footage...

Little do they know you don't have to drink acetone...

Xiola found a neat sign in the bathroom: it just so happens that "do not disturb" translates to "No Moleste". It was comforting to know that we could hang a sign on the door to avoid being molested. We all breathed a sigh of relief; some of the staff looked pretty lonely.

At the elevator, some of the people were busy practicing their choreography for the masquerade tomorrow. I heard Village People; evil was afoot. So, we left to get a ride home on the subway (with green fairy still in costume) as some people on board sang football (soccer over here; it's football when the fans kill each other) fight songs. Also, some strange guy came on the subway and proceeded to make slapping motions towards random people on the subway.

Frankly, I was glad we all went back together; since I blended the most, they'd accost the other two while I made a clean getaway.