I'm always looking for new events to check out, even though scheduling and traveling challenges mean I tend to keep going to the same ones annually. However, this year everything worked out to be able to visit the (relatively) new Toronto Game Expo! I had a lot of friends going either as guests, panelists, or vendors and I was available to travel that weekend, so I had to see what it was all about!

While a large majority of the con was vendor and artist tables, that was perfectly fine for me, since November is a great time to shop for Christmas Gifts. I enjoyed looking at all the indie/local games in display, even though many didn't suit my taste, I still played demos of ones that were appealing. I attended a few presentations/panels (notably by Kamera Ninja, Holly Wolf, Zee the Raccoon, and Dart) though while the main stage worked well, the other panel/workshop area was pretty terrible for that kind of thing (basically tables in the noisy main exhibitors hall). 

Cosplay-wise, I wore my Mario Kart Rosalina on Saturday and Helly R on Sunday. As Rosalina I joined a small-but-mighty Nintendo/Smash Bros meet-up as well as taking lots of pics around the con. I didn't take nearly as many photos on Sunday (maybe I was feeling self-conscious about how big my wig had puffed up since Fan Expo) but still grabbed some photos from Paul Wishart at the official (and much cooler than my costume) photo booth. 

Overall I had a great time; loved getting to hang with the people mentioned above plus Dan the Video Ninja, Nt3rp and Lulu a la Mode, Captain Pira, A Sleepy Meow, and Bear Sailor Moon (who kicked my heeled butt at DDR). Will definitely consider returning next year if I have the time off again!

Fan Expo Canada hasn't been one of my favourite cons in a very long time (a glance through some previous Fan Ex posts will reveal heavily mixed reviews), but I had been keeping an eye open for an opportunity to see The Cybertronic Spree live again, so when their annual Fan Expo weekend show came up and the timing worked out perfectly to go to Toronto with my boyfriend, I decided I should also spend a day at the con. But first, let's start with the concert.

If you couldn't tell from the poster, the show was leaning hard into Scott Pilgrim influences (why not, since it was at Lee's Palace, right?) and they were specifically requesting Scott Pilgrim cosplay from attendees. So I re-thrifted my Kim Pine cosplay (since nothing of the original was still around) and was psyched for the show! Clay, Dan, Tyler and I went out for dinner before the show on Harbord st,  and then took a nostalgic little walk through my old neighbourhood before hitting Lee's Palace. I sadly didn't get any "cosplay photos" at the venue - I kinda thought there would be a whole collection of SP cosplayers to take pics with, but I actually only saw a couple of tansformers cosplayers, so that was also a little disappointing. Otherwise the show was lots of fun; Wordburglar was great, I've never seen Dragon Sounds before but they were fun, and of course Cybertronic Spree killed it.

We went to Pizza Pizza after the show and then I was sad and nostalgic again since I haven't spent time at that intersection since Honest Ed's was demolished. What a loss.

Saturday I headed over to Fan Expo, geared up in my Helly R (Severance) cosplay - considering the majority of the convention centre is underground I thought it was appropriate LOL. I'll start with the good stuff: I got to watch both the Avatar VA panel and the cosplay contest, and both were very fun. Always love getting to cheer on my friends competing. It was also lovely to run into the friends who I ran into and got to have a chat with!
Just about everything else was disappointing; nobody recognized (or commented on) my cosplay, I didn't find any of the books I was hunting for from the dealers, didn't have time to browse the whole AA, I ran into relatively few friends, and the ones I did see were working/volunteering (or in the Cosplay lounge where photos aren't allowed) so they couldn't wander with me. And being on my own meant that I had little to no interest in waiting in line for any of the big corporate activation booths, since doing that solo is not how I wanted to spend my day. I almost forgot that social anxiety hit hard enough that I skipped the chance to meet a couple of guests that I follow. It was as cramped and crowded as I remember and I can say with confidence that I don't need to go back again next year. Might be difference if I was still living in Toronto, but now that it's an expensive trip? Ugh, no thanks.

​Anyways, here's a few photos (mostly from the contest)!

Let's have a quick run-down of YetiCon!
I was ambitious on Friday and actually wore two costumes - Helly R from Severance (pretty much just for badge pick-up, dinner, and a couple of silly photos) and then a repeat of last year's Vaporeon for the glow parade (now with bubbles)! Helly was a thrown-together closet cosplay so I was pleasantly surprised by the positive response she got, especially for only being out for a little while - I'll be bringing her to more cons this year!
The Glow Parade was fun as usual, but man, it's so huge now - surprisingly hard just to keep our little Eeveeloutions group together.

Saturday consisted of two highlights: a "Witchy Vibes Sailor Moon" photoshoot, and big pot luck dinner in our suite. The Sailor Moon group was stunning - it was in the planning stages for about a year, and an unbelievable 16 people showed up in costume (unbelievable because its so rare that everyone who expresses interest actually pulls off a costume and makes it to the event). It was a lot of fun to be part of such a big group and we shot everyone with Kameraninja, who is always amazing. Unfortunately, between getting dressed and spending a couple hours doing private photos, and then having to get ready for dinner, we didn't actually get to walk the con as a group and show off the costumes, so that was a bit of a downer. 
Next time we will schedule time for the con itself (and yes there will be a next time, if for no other reason than my costume was incomplete and I need to wear it the way I had envisioned LOL)

Sunday was supposed to be my War cosplay, but time is always tight between check-out and the long drive home, and in the end I decided to skip cosplay and Clay and I spent some of our remaining time at Blue Mountain riding the coaster and zip-lining! We still had just enough time leftover before departing to make a last visit to the exhibitors hall and ran into (spooky) friends on the way. Another year of Yeti in the books!