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I don't wanna talk about the MaM event so I'm gonna be positive and share what I made before the event announcement last night. I got a bunch of stickers to decorate toploaders with a bit ago and finally picked up a pack of toploaders last night~ I've never made any before, though, so I decided to start with this Tsumugi pasha I got awhile back:


ta-da!!!! I just had to highlight him crying uwu
Overall, a lot of fun to make, but I do feel like I need to buy even more stickers XD As if I don't have enough already ;D

More than anything, I think I need more cards of characters I love....I have so few ;w;

The first rate up box for the MaM event started last night and 1) I really like the card and 2) he came home!!!!


Yume is suuuuuch a cute brat and I'm glad here's gonna support me in my quest for Madara~
Also, he crashed my phone XD like literally in the middle of the scout my phone completely froze up but wouldn't shut off, so the scout music was just playing while I was desperately trying to get my phone to turn off. Thanks, Yume.

I ended up really liking the most recent JP event, tour aspect and all, though I do need to sit down and read the last little bit of the story. I'd been more meh about the Megastream arc this year - especially the first chunk of it - but omg it picked up in the last few parts!!!! And I'm not just saying that because Raika was a 5* in one...promise! I know that enstars stopped showing the authors of stories anymore, but the final Megastream story really feels like an Akira story. It gripped me in a way that others don't and just...idk man, it just had the vibes. Liz and I talked about it and we said way smarter things but my brain is currently like PPPZZZZZZTTTTT so idk what to say now.

OH BUT WAIT THERE WAS MORE I LIKED!!!! Instead of each stop on the tour being 4 assorted song with only the last song being related to a character from the tour (usually), each stop was a specific unit. And then the second half of the tour includes cover and/or fusion songs in each stop. It just really felt like it pulled the gameplay aspect of enstars into the story itself, and I really loved it. Also I like being prepared in advance, so knowing what units were coming up was nice.


AAAAAAAAAAAAND!!!!!! The second MaM stop had two Double Face songs, so you know I was crashing out (with joy, and also because my phone crashed twice during it)
So, overall the tour was really good!!!! Which is not something I usually say, since I usually find them grueling :T But this one was fun!!!! My only major complaints are:

1. No MV outfits- not even for the gacha cards. I didn't end up scouting on the rate up box, because what's the point if even the 5 stars don't come with a dress up option?
2. BRIGHTEST STARS!! didn't need another version. like. okay, this is personal bias, but LIMIT BREAK DREAMERS is the best anniversary song and I knew the 10th anniversary one probably wouldn't top it, so maybe I'm just salty that it didn't get another fancy version. Also, I'm still haunted by having to play BRIGHTEST STARS!! repeatedly last April, so this was like a horrible flashback D:

Like I said, I really liked it!!! I feel like these complaints aren't even that major, but because I did like it so much, I'm more able to critique it in ways that aren't just "idk man it sucked?"

MaM event preview + other scout preview are tonight and I'm like....beside myself ngl, I'm not sure how I'm gonna make it XD I'm having a combination of excitement + anxiety, which is really fun. I just love that my mental illness makes me anxious about...being excited for a thing I'm gonna like???? Like, what? That doesn't even make sense!!! I just wanna enjoy myself ;w; I'm also nervous because like........most of the fanthanx have been really good with fantastic songs, but what if I don't like this one? What if one of my favorite characters ends up having something shitty? Even trying to remind myself that the rest have been good only stresses me out more, cuz I get reminded of my high expectations, and it starts the cycle again.

Unrelated, I should probably get back into therapy. This isn't even a situation where I should step away from enstars because it's causing undue stress; I'd be like this about anything I tried to enjoy right now. Why? Who knows!!!!! Like I sorta know why, but also that isn't enough to stop me from completely locking up when I try to have a nice time.

Speaking of things that upset me for no reason other than ~mental illness~, there are some changes coming to scouting in JP. They're shifting some of the percentages around slightly and also...scout coins are now gonna be universal, instead of tied to just the box you got them from. Of course, this kicks in after this event's scouts, so like...I'm only slightly salty that I'm not gonna get to benefit from it after scouting a ton for rate up for MaM. The news also dropped after I'd been up for 30+ hours straight, which made me take something that honestly sounds quite good badly, for ????? reasons. From what it sounds like, you'll be able to save up the scout coins and use them whenever, so in theory I could start saving them in preparation for the next time one of my faves has a scout box, just as back up if I don't get them from scouting for them.

....it does sound kinda too good to be true, so I'm waiting to see how it works when it rolls out. But if it really does end up working out like that, I might be able to max Madara's next gacha card without spend nearly as much as I did on Kohaku's XD

( other enstars accomplishments )

I've had other stuff going on, but I've been rambling long enough and I think I can finally go sort out the website stuff I've been dealing with all week...just one thing after another, you know?

I only went to one day of Katsucon, but omg it was fantastic this year!!!!! Alex was house/catsitting for her sister for the weekend, and since her sister lives near DC, it was closer than our place. Sooooo Liz and I headed there Friday night, grabbed a very late dinner at McDonald's with Alex, and then watched a bunch of enstars videos on youtube so Alex was ready to be excited for Absolute uwu

Also, she gifted me an adorable new friend, who goes absolutely perfectly with my CNstars cat nuis ;w; I also made them ice cream cones to match Madara's global exclusive card, and I think they came out really good ♥


if anything happens to my tutulong I'll just fucking die lmao
.....and then I stayed up waaaaaay too late because I'm fucking nocturnal D: Even though we had to wake up at 7 am to drive down early enough to get parking....I'm not smart :T

Liz and I didn't cosplay this year, cuz I didn't feel up to it, so I wore...a wig, a corset, and a floor length skirt XD wig is my Mayoi wig that I haven't styled yet - I pulled it out of the bag on Friday night and was delighted to discover that it's a lacefront - and the skirt is one I made for the Vampire Ball Liz and I went to in 2017. This did end up biting me in the ass because the corset ended up not sitting super well by the end of the night D: But we'll get to that later~

First thoughts on this year's katsu: holy shit I didn't realize how bad lobbyconning had gotten. I could actually move through the halls without be crushed by crowds????? Like, I was there on Saturday and I didn't feel cramped every second of the day. They did move registration to its own building, which freed up space to give Artist Alley a larger location, but still. It was really nice to be able to breathe during the con.

After getting our badges, we ran into some friends of Alex and Liz that they hadn't seen in over a decade, so everyone had a good time catching up. Which is, tbh, a classic Katsucon experience, since so damn many people go.

The first programming we went to was an absolutely delightful performance by Special for Princess!- or should I say Nice? XD Nice Arneb Thunder was MCing and they did a fucking incredible job. like. not to spoil it or anything, but this was such a highlight of my day, idk if anything topped it :0

Also, the esupuri group was just really sweet!!! They seemed so excited and a little surprised that so many people had come out to see them ;w; But seriously, they were quite good and did a good combination of songs and games. The trivia was great for me and Liz, since we actually keep current with the JP stories~ Liz won a tiara for answering some 4piece trivia correctly!

We hit up the Artist Alley for a bit after that, got lost in conversation with a Nagisa cosplayer who usually cosplays Double Face Kohaku, and I was blown away by their gorgeous ita bag. They had so many can badges from the DF TRIP album *w*

....and then we remembered we woke up balls early and Liz & I hadn't eaten :T So after debating a few options, we made our way to our tried and true katsu food: Mezeh. They opened sometime between katsu 2017 and 2018, and we've gone basically every year since. It's affordable and actually filling, especially since they have fresh veggies. Sometimes you gotta get some greens in you- especially at a con!!!

not me sounding like an ad read for my favorite fast casual restaurant lmao

The dealers room is a bit of a blur to me because it's soooooo big and there's so much to see, but I remember it being.....fun? Busy? It was probably one of the more cramped places at the con, but that was partially because some people are just rude. Many people shoving their way through...I didn't come with much money cuz it was a last minute decision to even go, so I wasn't sure about buying anything besides maybe something small from the idol goods booth. But since the idol goods booth wasn't there this year (?????), I ended up getting a new ita bag~


I'd seen it around on insta and lusted over it, so now it is mine!! I'm planning something around Double Face's TRIP album for it OwO
And then we had to hustle to finish artist alley before it closed, cuz we weren't coming back on Sunday D: Liz and I weren't planning on spending any more money, but 1) Alex wanted to buy more stuff and 2) we still wanted to see all of it. And in the end we did buy more XD We got a few more Trigun charms from magpiesoddities, because we've been collecting their super chibi ones since Stampede came out~ They also gave us a free plantcest sticker for being men of culture (perverts).

uhhhhhh what did we do after that..............

OH RIGHT!!! Liz and I chilled on a bench sorta new the dealers room/artist alley area while Alex went to the MXTX photoshoot, and basically just took in the sights. I love people watching at cons :D We also got to help some youths (late teens/early 20s maybe?) learn the ways of Caramelldansen. They knew the dance and song, and it sounded like they'd heard people used to dance to it at cons? So they were trying to figure out how to bring it back. So while it was a conversation that made me feel very old, it was quite wholesome.

After debating back and forth a bunch, we ended up eating dinner at the grab and go place in the Gaylord. It wasn't necessarily "cheap" but like...nothing in National Harbor is, you know? And we didn't have to leave the building, which was a big plus. I'd never grabbed anything from there before, so now I know that it's not half bad.

We wanted to go to the video game room next, but my corset was fucking killing me and I needed to find a family bathroom so Liz could help me loosen it (since all the handicapped stalls in the Gaylord are barely wider than regular ones). So that was quite the fucking adventure. BUT WE EVENTUALLY DID IT. And I've learned I'm never wearing a floor length anything to Katsucon again.....idk how I forgot this lesson from 2017 lmao.

Next up: video game room! And..............it kinda fucking sucked??????? Lie, the games were brought from the same people who supply them for a video game bar I go to here in Baltimore, and usually it's a much better selection?? Like how did Anime USA, a significantly smaller con than Katsucon, have such a better video game room? idk man like......it was kinda disappointing. They didn't even have Chunithm ;w; And it closed at midnight, which is baffling. Katsu used to run sooooo late into the night, I swear it was originally a 24 hour con. Maybe I'm wrong? But I've been going for 17 years now, so I'm pretty sure I'm right :T

Whatever! Alex is gonna come down so we can go to the much better video game bar here~

After we watch cookie monster and godzilla have a cage match in the hall, we were all wiped and ready to head home. So lemme share all the pics I didn't include throughout the entry, cuz it would have ended up even longer :T

( welcome to the party (many katsu pics inside) )

Happy Valentines and goodnight from the boys!!!! I carried many nuis around all day but tbh it was such a rush that I barely took the time to sit, let alone take pics of them D: I will say that the cat kigu nuis with their ice cream cones were a hit with the many Double Face fans and cosplayers I ran into~
All in all, a successful day at the con!!!!! Hopefully finances will be better and I can go for the full weekend next year, but I can now say I've been going to katsu for 17 fucking years.....which is wild. Here's hoping the next 17 are even better!!!!!!