I'm apparently not able to delete my own post. Who knew? But I've come close.
Just wanted to make sure no one else saw it. Once again. I'm terribly sorry my friend made that kind of "mistake" and I intend to have a talk with her.
And for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, move along.

LIBEL REMOVED

With as clear as you made it to the judges, it is more likely that someone accidentally checked the wrong box. Stupid mistakes happen to everyone. I'm sure the cosplay staff are very sorry that you were unjustly put in that category, but, unfortunately, we can't undo the whole thing and give you another shot. I'm sure next year they will be more than willing to make extra sure that your paper is filled correctly.

You were a great Ritsuka. The leatherwork was amazing.

But one little irk form one Ritsuka to the next: Your natural hair, while the right color, was not the right cut. Sorry if I seem a little bitchy, your Ritsuka kicked my butt bigtime. XD But I kind of get... twitchy when everything is GREAT but your hair.

And how dare they accuse you of cheating...!

I never did see your Soubi. Though you ran into mine on her way back from the rave. She was the one with the mask, and the glowstick spheres on her arms. XD

You looked great. I wish I would have seen your Soubi.

Completely unrelated but...I never got to see your costume ;_;

Yea I'm aware of that fact. Actually my hair was the right cut on Thursday, I didn't even realize it till now. But I had two different cosplays I had to do, one for the costume and the other for the actal cosplay in and of itself, so as far as my personal appearance went, Sasuke's hair took priority. I had some gel to try and get my hair styled for Ritsuka's cosplay, but unfortunatly it was stolen...
I was also painfully aware of my hair and it bugged me all weekend. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's OCD about those sorts of things.
But I hate using wigs if I don't absolutely HAVE to....They never look right on me...

If you DO opt to invest in a wig, the one I used (I was the purple plaid & denim Ritsuka) was the Wisp from www.cosworx.com It was razored a bit though you can't really tell and people kept telling me how much it looked like my real hair.

Your chains looked heavy...

They were. My neck is still cramped. But we tried to be as accurate as we could and opted for those chains rather than the small more managable ones that didn't look right. The only ones that looked right and were light where made of a very expensive blue metal that we couldn't afford.
Also I would most definitely like to invest in such a wig. Actually I saw a custom-made Risuka wig on ebay which I plan to get for next year. And I plan to re-enter the cosplay. I'm going to make som adjustments to the front of my outfit as well, I don't know if anyone noticed but there was a small gape in the neck which I really wish I could have altered. But we were sadly underfunded and didn't even know we were going to be able to do the cosplay until about a week before the con...
My ears as well. I hated them. I had custom made my own clip-on ears. Fluffy and made to look very accurate but right before the con one of them dissappeared and my mom bought the crappy ones that I was forced to wear. So I'm re-making the ones from before and putting them away in a special box so I don't lose them next year. Which I have a bad habit of doing.
Under those conditions I myself think I did okay... Nowhere near amazing, but okay.

It was a nice cosplay, and you did very well for your first time working with leather! I don't remember if I really noticed you in the halls, but I did see you on stage, and I was the girl that came in to wash the ramune off my hands before the cosplay contest while you were in the bathroom! XD (I had a brief chat with your Soubi, who was sitting on the floor.)


One thing, though (and I'm 95% sure this was you):
You were having a bit of a, *ahem*, "wardrobe malfunction" in the back. I'd suggest trying to lengthen your skirt a little before wearing the costume again.

Hmmm. Well, I was one of the cosplay judges and I know that myself and as far as I know AT LEAST two of the other three judges knew you guys had made your costumes. As for being told otherwise at the cosplay feedback panel, I was ON that panel and don't recall that even being discussed.

While I understand being unhappy about not winning (I'm never happy when I don't win!), I believe all the judges were well aware of the origin of your costumes. If you'd like to ask specific questions about what you can work on to help your future costumes, we're happy to answer them! You might, however, have been better served by asking around for contact info for cosplay judges and asking us directly rather than implying that we are inept on a public forum. By publicly posting second-hand information, we're now confronted by such profound statements as, "How dare they accuse you of cheating!"

Even if one of the judges was under the impression that you bought the costume, three were not. As far as I can tell, no one ever accused you of cheating.

I think a lot of drama can be prevented on these forums (and elsewhere) by verifying information BEFORE spreading it publicly.

That being said, feel free to contact me if you have questions about your costume (or a future one) that I can help answer. I will happily give you tips and suggestions if you want!

And as an overall note on this, it's not that there was anything WRONG with your costumes, there were just a lot of REALLY GOOD entries! It doesn't mean you did a bad job, just that there are some crazy talented peeps that came to MTAC!

Awww...I missed you and your Soubi! We got stuck in the pool with no towels and a rude woman at the front desk wouldn't give my friend any for us. TT_TT Got any pics? I'd love to see your costumes.

Yeah, it was a real shame you guys couldn't get the mithril chains, and thick crowds bother me so I didn't get to see the cosplay (the cosplay fairy gave me a sound kicking for that), but we did share a room, and I know for a fact that your mom spent all night still sewing that costume for you. She brought her own machine from home to do it and Rain and I heard it running. Still, people do make mistakes and the mischeck is an easy one to make. Your outfits were great, but there were a lot out there that were better this year. The cosplay fairy would get pretty exhausted using her magic up so quickly and come crash in the room before the day was even over.

there was no box on our forms to indicated "store bought costumes". None of the judges thought you were cheating. We were all very impressed by your cosplay, and unfortunately you just weren't as good as the winners for your category. I'm sorry you are disappointed by your loss. No where in the judges panel did we ever say or imply that you were cheaters, or had you bought pieces to your outfit.

Please try again next year, you really have a shot and we strongly encourage good cosplayers to re-enter. If you don't enter the contest you definitely can't win.

I'm terribly sorry if it came out that way.
We were under the impression that maybe an assistant or volunteer had made the mistake of thinking we had bought them. Or at least that was how it sounded. Oh, Dear God, please don't be mad at me, I hate when people are mad at me. I was just reporting what I was told to...
But no, I just wanted her to find out where we had placed in, if there were numbers for everyone, or see what grade we got. I myself didn't even expect to place (as I said, it was VERY last minute). I just do this for fun. I wasn't even paying attention when winners names were called (I was reading a manga) But as I said before, I hate it when people are mad at me, I'm a terribly neutral person, and it takes a lot just for me to pick a side to voice an opinion. And when I was told that they thought I cheated, I got the insecure feeling that they got the impression that I was I cheater or something. And I hate it when people get a wrong impression.
It appears my Soubi may have lied to me. I'll talk with her about it and get it cleared up. I really don't want to seem like a bitch or anything, I felt I was soundly beaten just standing in the line. I just hate having the wrong impression made and my Soubi, mamasan, and others told me I should say something. Now I feel terrible....

Oh, and no that wasn't a wardrobe malfunction. That is literally and quite accurately the exact length of the shorts (not skirt) based on all of the drawings I have seen. And anime sometimes just isn't as flattering in real life...

Though next year I may try a special .hack GU cosplay. If I find myself with the funds. I'm actually going to try for an award now that I know what they are. Tip: I'm going for best weapon.

Really? Still, might want to think about modding it a little...you were kind of bordering on indecent exposure. ^ ^;;

I'm not mad at all, hon! I'm just one of those nerds that feels everyone should collect all information possible before sending something out into the ether. The fact that you apologized and retracted the comment shows that you are willing to deal with it in a mature and responsible manner - that's really cool. I really respect that.

I look forward to seeing your .hack GU costume next year - I'm sure it will be great!