[Edited]Halloween time gathering in Los Angeles (finalised!)

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

After last weekend's AWESOME gathering, I reaaally wanted to go to another one! So, I was thinking that it would be really cool to have a halloween themed gathering! Countries with little witch hats and capes and the like >w< I would DIE from the cuteness! 8D The date I was thinking of is Saturday October 17th or the 24th. The weekend before the 17th I am busy and I'm sure many of you will have other plans on Halloween, so let me know when is best for you~

Ok, So I finally figured out what we are doing! Here is the plan:

Date: October 24th
Time: 10am to 5pm
Location: Griffith park merry go round

THE LOCATION HAS BEEN FINALISED!!!!

And Canada has posted a new page that is less confusing than this! http://invisimatt.livejournal.com/712.html

If you need help coming by public transportation, let me know and I can get something figured out for ya and you may even get to be with other travellers on the way!

No more changes will be made to this
****PLEASE VOTE FOR THE NEW LOCATION!!!!****

Due to safety reasons, the location for the gathering will no longer be at MacArthur park (Stupid Iggy making parks in dangerous areas!! >.<) but out wonderful Canada (invisimatt/westcoastcyrus) has come up with these lovely ideas! Please read them and let me know your vote!

Direct quoting from Canada:

First up is the Travel Town Museum.
http://www.laparks.org/grifmet/tt/information.htm

(Option 1:)

This is a FREE ADMISSION train museum in Griffith Park. Not too many people know about it, which really surprises me since I grew up going to a lot of birthday parties there. I even had mine there twice, and my brother had his there maybe three or four times when we were little. Oddly enough, these parties were usually costume-themed.

There are a lot of cool things here, like a train ride and the museum itself, and the website says there are picnic tables and barbecue facilities (first-come, first-served) and if we REALLY wanna get creative, we can reserve space in a dining car. Those things fit like 50+ in there, but they get booked really fast. Last time I researched it, the lady in charge said that people usually grab 'em a month in advance.

(Option 2:)

The other suggestion I had was the Santa Monica Pier. I usually don't go there in cosplay, since the normie stares are rather intense at the pier and all... but closer to Halloween it won't matter cause it'll seem practically normal to have a party there.

**************

I personally think that Santa Monica is a great choice because it is easier to get to without getting lost and a gathering on the beach sounds WAY cool! My only concern is perhaps cosplays getting sandy, but I will be bringing picnic blakents, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

If you pick Travel town, please also include if you think we should try to reserve a dining car!!


We will be doing a pumpkin carving contest in groups (I'm thinking about 3-5 people to a group depending on how many people we have participating) but we need volunteers who can bring a pumpkin and/or carving tools! I will bring some carving tools, considering my mom trusts me to carry sharp objects with my clumsy self XD;;. Also, if you are cosplaying, please try and go with the theme of countries in halloween costumes! If you can't pull something together by then, it's fine to come in regular cosplay, but please try! :D Some other activities I was thinking of is in-character scary story telling! XD (Please let me know if this is a lame idea!) One person will start the story with a couple of sentences and then the country next to them must continue it and so on!

Well, those are the only things I can think of for now, but I will update once I have more ideas! also, I am always open to ideas from all of you! (HALP!)


**LOCATION EDIT!!**

Okay, so Canada called up the travel town people and sadly, all of the Dining cars are booked ): but we still have a chance of a picnic area! The only thing is that we need someone to be there at 8am to ensure us a spot. I would go myself, but it takes a couple of hours for me to get there by metro and bus so the earliest I would get there is 8:30 or 9.

As for the santa monica, it looks like more people are for travel town, but since there is all this difficulty with it, I am still keeping it up as an option.

since the deadline is nearing very fast, I am also putting up an option three which is to go to griffith park by the merry-go-round like last time. There won't be any picnic tables, but there is plenty of room to sit on the grass and to lay picnic blankets on. Please let me know! Final decision will be posted THIS FRIDAY.

neurotic_banana has posted a thread about this on cosplay.com! http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?p=3116965#post3116965

------------

People who plan to go:

Poland- Me! (Sucrose2071)

Lithuania- taco_grell

Austria- itakun

Spain- yoyosama, haro_chan

France- lolitarevenge

Russia- lullimi, anilechii, neurotic_banana

Iceland- minimucchi

Canada- westcoastsyrus

Prussia- westcoastsyrus' friend

Leichtenstein- shojo-onigiri (deviantart)

Seychelles- 27XxJuDaImExX27 (cosplay.com)

Belarus- 27XxJuDaImExX27 (cosplay.com) , AbbeyDream13 (cosplay.com)

China- fragrant_harbor, Ryuutsuki (cosplay.com)

Thailand- fragrant_harbor, fragrant_harbor's family

Japan- fragrant_harbor's family

Korea- fragrant_harbor's family

Taiwan- fragrant_harbor's family

Hong Kong- fragrant_harbor's family, Zechiral

Vietnam- fragrant_harbor's family

Sweden- mapleleaf

Sealand- Zechiral

Italy-Zechiral

America- yoyosama's friend

Romano- Santeelegs

Not cosplaying/cameramen- rocketsciences, blade_cross, burpinet

undecided/unknown cosplay or not:

xblkdragonx
yaoi_queen
veveveneto
burpinet's friends

People Bringing Pumpkins:
blade_cross- bringing 1 or 2


People Bringing Carving Tools:

Sucrose2071- most likely bringing two or three pumpkin carving knives


People bringing food:

lullimi- bringing candy
 

Comments

[yaoi-queen.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I hope I can attend this one! As for locations, my hometown always hosts a fun Halloween event... but it's usually ON or the day before Halloween. =/ Still, it's a very nice town with no crime what so ever. It's often forgotten considering it's so small. The huge park has a big stage in the front, which would be fun for all the Hetalia cosplayers. You guys can put on a show or something. :D Even if the gathering doesn't occur on Halloween, it can still be fun.

The only thing I'm concerned about is the distance of travel for everyone. I'm assuming you want something that all of us can get to without sucking up too much gas, correct? I live in Sierra Madre, which is right next to Pasadena.

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

Ooh! that sounds fun! I don't think Pasadena area would be too bad distance-wise for most people, but that sounds cool! :D I hope you can make it!

[rocketsciences.livejournal.com]

That sounds really cool! *A* I couldn't go to the last one, but I'll try to come to this one!
The only thing is, do you have to be cosplaying? Dx because I don't really have a cosplay >_> (I've never cosplayed before)

((also, if I were to go, I think I'd prefer the second option... I'm not really that big on haunted houses and stuff xD))

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

Sure! everyone is welcome, cosplay or not! haha yeah, I'm leaning towards the second option more too XD not that I don't LOVE haunted houses, I am just really nervous about the location XD

[xblkdragonx.livejournal.com]

How about Not-Scary-farm? (aka Knotts Berry Farm). I went there last year and it was AWESOME!!! And it's still in the LA area. I forgot how much it is though...

[neurotic-banana.livejournal.com]

Knott's Scary Farm, while loads of fun, would be rather difficult.
Guests aren't allowed to wear costumes in the park. :[

[minimucchi.livejournal.com]

Oooooh my god. Ooooooooooooooh my god, it's timse like this I love living in LA. I was going to be Iceland for Halloween anyways but this. THIS.


Sounds like a wonderful idea :'D

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

OMG! Awesome!!! I really hope you can make it! 8DD

[blade-cross.livejournal.com]

I would love to be able to go! and option number 2 sounds just slighty better because of the area.

I would like to have more details soon though! but this sounds to be fun!

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

I hope you can come! it looks like option two is gonna be our winner so far! haha! I will have better information soon!

[neurotic-banana.livejournal.com]

I actually thought about this a while ago and have discussed it (rather briefly) with a few of the other cosplayers. I was going to make a thread on Cosplay.com for a brainstorming session, and I could still make it unless you would like to instead.

The only thing I ought to mention is that we need to make sure that wherever we go, we can be in costume. A lot of scare houses and theme parks won't allow it because they don't want to confuse us for the scarers. As for a date, either the 17th or 24th will work for me. I have no real preference.

By the way, who did you cosplay at Griffith Park?

[neurotic-banana.livejournal.com]

Derp. I forgot to mention that I will be cosplaying as Gakuen Hetalia Igiko in a witch hat and cape. XD

[yoyosama.livejournal.com]

That sounds AWESOME! :D If I go i'll probably be cosplay Fem!Spain.

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

yay! I hope you can come!!

[neurotic-banana.livejournal.com]

FFFFFFF. I went ahead and made the coscom thread. My cohorts prodded me into it. I REGRET NOTHING.

http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?p=3116965#post3116965

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

ILU 8D you saved me so much energy XD thank you!!!

/RP Account

[veveveneto.livejournal.com]

Ahh! I hope I'm able to go to something like this! I think a gathering at a park would be a lot of fun. Hmm.

Re: /RP Account

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

I hope you can come too!! 8D I think the park is going to be our place! haha! now, I must figure out WHERE! XD

[haro-chan.livejournal.com]

....hunted places *w*
if not then the carving contest sounds like fun even though i have never carved one o.o

[neurotic-banana.livejournal.com]

No worries. I generally suck at pumpkin carving too. Every time my mom made me carve a pumpkin, I would have an hour-long brain fart when trying to think of an image. And then I'd do something really simple and uninteresting. Or I'd screw the whole thing up.

That being said, how about we separate into groups rather than individuals?

[taco-grell.livejournal.com]

Liet wants to go!~

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

You had better!! >8D

It's Canada!! (again)

[westcoastsyrus.livejournal.com]

Yo~ My group is definitely in for this shindig. Right now we're planning our cosplays, but it looks like we're gonna make some references to the Hetalia picture book, in which America is Peter Pan and all that. We made a few cast changes though.

The Cast (subject to change slightly)

Prussia as Captain Hook
England as Peter Pan
France as Wendy
Seychelles as Tiger Lily
Canada, Australia and America as Lost Boys

We *might* add these as well, if we can find people interested:

Germany as Smee
Hungary as the Crocodile
Cuba, Greece and the Italy Bros. as Pirates
Austria as John
Spain (with a turtle plushie) as Michael
Hong Kong and Sealand as more Lost Boys
Poland as Tinkerbell
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as more Fairies
Russia and Belarus as Mermaids
China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Tibet as the Indians

...

Well damn! I think we should just make this the Hetalia Picture Book gathering at this rate. XD It would be so cool to try that for a photo shoot~~

Anyway, this looks like a lot of fun so definitely sign me and like five other people (or more) up for this!

- Cy

[blade-cross.livejournal.com]

so the 17th? Excellent! I will be there! .... with a camera. ^_^; so definitely with a camera.

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

wonderful! 8D So you won't be cosplaying, then? or...?

[lullimi.livejournal.com]

I'll try to help with a new area if you want help with that. :3

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

OMG yes! Thank yous! 8D

<----------- RP account

[fragrant-harbor.livejournal.com]

AH! You changed the date!

Well I may be able to go if I have a ride and all that, and if the rest of our Asia cosplay family/group can come we will go! I might be cosplayign fem!Thailand or China, and we might have a Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, boy!Thailand, and a Vietnam, the rest of our Asia is too young too go...

I just noticed I have a big really family..... ;A;

Re: <----------- RP account

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

yay! Wow you do have a really big family!! XD but that's a good thing because I always love more people! hope you guys can make it!

Location Suggestion?

[westcoastsyrus.livejournal.com]

One of my 'Muricas suggested the Shoreline Village in Long Beach. There's some cool stuff to do, but nothing really particularly Halloweeny is planned over there. I think it would be good to look into it.

Here's a link: http://www.shorelinevillage.com/index.html

And there's also a park here in Van Nuys near where I live. It's actually got it's own stop on the Orange Line, so I guess me and someone else can do that White Flag escort again.... *snickers* That should totally be at every gathering simply because it's one of my more awesome ideas. XD

Linkage here: http://www.laparks.org/dos/parks/facility/balboaPk.htm

It used to be called Balboa Park, and most of us still call it that, but I will point out now -- so as not to create any confusion -- that this is the Balboa Park in VAN NUYS, not the one in San Diego.

Some idiot named them the same and they both have huge lakes, so naturally... fail occurred.

Also, Anthony C. Beilenson (Van Nuys Balboa) Park has barbecues all over the place, so if we wanted to make burgers, this time we can! *awesome pose of awesomeness*

Yeah, so before I start rambling, I'mma shut up and let you guys dicuss my suggestions I guess? *puts duct tape over mouth*

- Cy

Re: Location Suggestion?

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

DUDE. Balboa park would be PERFECT transportation for me and my group because France lives (literally) right around the corner and I would probably be chilling at her house anyway! XD but I think it might be a little too far for people who are driving from the south! >.< The barbecue thing sounds like a totally fab idea! I just looked at a google map of LA and there is a place called MacArthur park that is just ten minutes north of downtown LA so I am trying to find out more about that! :D long beach sounds good too, but it may be a bit too far for me. >.< (I live in Lancaster and have to take public transit because parents who won't drive their children out of town are laaaame. D:)

[mapeleaf.livejournal.com]

I want to go. I want to go and I want to COSPLAY!!
But I've yet to decide fersher which character/country to cosplay.

Would you happen to have any suggestions? Any.... pairings left unfufilled? > u>

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

hmmm well it doesn't seem like we have a south Italy yet! :D or... latvia or sweeden... hmm oh! You know, I have NEVER seen an Estonia before! Haha I don't really know for sure! XD

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

ahh!! So cute so cute! I hope you two can make it!

Canada desu!

[invisimatt.livejournal.com]

Yo~ This is westcoastsyrus on the shiny new LJ she made last night! Just wanted to give an update and stuff.

My group has shrunk!

Aussie decided she doesn't wanna cosplay Hetalia much anymore because her girlfriend hates the fandom. _{I could say A LOT about her obsession with Naruto, but I'm not feeling snarky enough today...}

And then I think UK, US and France may or may not be busy with school-ish things. I'll have to double-check. Seychelles is also busy (and has changed her cosplay plans a few hundred times) as well as our Romano, who I forgot what she had plans for already but mehhh...

As for Prussia...? I have NO idea what goes through her mind anymore. XD I'll pass along the info to her though. She has some buddies who cosplay as Poland, Italy and Japan too. But don't put them on as definite attendees yet.

And then for the OTHER Prussia, chances are I'll be dragging him along as my ride like always. XD

But yeah. So far it's just me who will DEFINITELY show up.

Sorry for any confusion. orz


That aside, looks like neurotic_banana is busy the weekend of the 17th. We're kind hoping you can move the date since there's still time left, but if you absolutely cannot change it then she gave me permission to take over the cosplay.com thread.

Anyhoo. I'm off to watch the last five seconds of episode 34 over and over until I'm done squee-ing at Canada. XD

- C.C.

Re: Canada desu!

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

oh my lord!! Aussie's gf sucks! How dare she?? haha, well I shouldn't really say anything since I don't know her, but still!! D: She is abducting our only Australia! I totally know how it is with the school and the busy and such, I hope that everyone else can make it though! I can move the date for the weekend after~ I will just have to inform everyone. I want as many people as possible to be able to make it! Thanks for the updateh!

[burpinet.livejournal.com]

I might be coming as well, probably wont cosplay but I think i'll bring those mochis i promised to make for everybody. I think I'll sell them if i make them in time. I haven't decided on the prices of them yet because i havent actually made anything yet ( school and reality is taking over my life ;_;). I might bring like 3 other ppl with me.I'll sign up on cosplay.com as well.

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

wonderful! Those mochis of yours were so cute! X3 aww good luck with school! I shall add all of you! Will any of the people you are bringing be cosplaying?

[neurotic-banana.livejournal.com]

I just made a big update to the coscom thread, so check it out~!
Also, I won't be cosplaying Igiko, but Russia instead.

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

whoo! ok! coolies!

Downtown LA around Halloween time = BAD IDEA

[invisimatt.livejournal.com]

I'm an LA native and plenty of my buds live in the downtown area. Since we're kind of familiar with the lay of the land, I figured I'd let you guys know...


Going to Downtown LA around Halloween isn't the best or the smartest idea. Hell, even North Hollywood and Studio City get really bad around that time of year, mostly because of the Halloween Horror Nights hype at Universal.

I think the worst I have experienced personally is cars getting egged -- which is actually a lot worse than it sounds, mind you -- and an increase of bums (but that happens around Christmas too).

But yeah. I don't really like most of the downtown area. McArthur Park has a subway station nearby it and I've been there for errands and all, but I always avoid it whenever possible. Mostly because a lot of my clothing consists of not-so-safe-to-wear colors... One of my downtowner buddies says the gangsters are over there and also near the subway stops along Wilshire. Since a lot of Hetalia cosplays contain red and blue I would advise against this location.....

I also don't like the area ITSELF very much. The streets were very dirty last time I was there. Lots of trash. There was quite a large number of bums near the subway. More than I usually see. And the air was pretty smoggy. I'm asthmatic, so that only added another reason to the long, long list of why I don't like Downtown LA much.

I probably sound paranoid, and I'm sorry if I offend anybody who might live in Downtown LA. It's just that I'd prefer this gathering goes as safely as possible rather than taking a bunch of risks we might not even know about because we don't know the area well.

I know a lot of you guys are coming from farther south, like in Long Beach and San Bernardino. I've been to Long Beach before, and I know that it's a lot nicer there than it is even in my neck of the wood (which is Canoga Park and Woodland Hills). Basically -- and I really hate myself for saying this -- it's because of how "rich" a certain area is. If the people have the money for it, they keep it tidy. I could spend all day ranting about how I think that's stupid and that it should be kept nicer everywhere and not JUST in the "richer" neighborhoods, but that's a story for another day.

I just thought I'd throw in my two-cents. That's all.

- C.C.

Re: Downtown LA around Halloween time = BAD IDEA

[neurotic-banana.livejournal.com]

I kind of agree. That area isn't the best and considering a lot of the cosplayers are probably underage, I doubt their parents would allow them to go.
Hell, I'm an adult, and I can already tell you mine won't be too thrilled about it.

I think we need to look into more options before we finalize anything. We still have over a month to make a decision, so I wouldn't be too hasty just yet.

Re: Canada's Two-Cents

[invisimatt.livejournal.com]

Also, because simply rejecting the idea sounded kind of arrogant of me, I decided to go do some of my own research based on areas I know well and that I like.

First up is the Travel Town Museum.
http://www.laparks.org/grifmet/tt/information.htm

This is a FREE ADMISSION train museum in Griffith Park. Not too many people know about it, which really surprises me since I grew up going to a lot of birthday parties there. I even had mine there twice, and my brother had his there maybe three or four times when we were little. Oddly enough, these parties were usually costume-themed.

There are a lot of cool things here, like a train ride and the museum itself, and the website says there are picnic tables and barbecue facilities (first-come, first-served) and if we REALLY wanna get creative, we can reserve space in a dining car. Those things fit like 50+ in there, but they get booked really fast. Last time I researched it, the lady in charge said that people usually grab 'em a month in advance.

The other suggestion I had was the Santa Monica Pier. I usually don't go there in cosplay, since the normie stares are rather intense at the pier and all... but closer to Halloween it won't matter cause it'll seem practically normal to have a party there.

I had one more up my sleeve, but it seems to be one of those illusive seasonal events and I still have much more research to do on it. I'll keep you guys posted on that for now.

Personally, I rather like the Travel Town idea the best. You guy don't even KNOW how long I've been trying to get a gathering up there. >___<

- C.C.

Re: Canada's Two-Cents

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

*plop* MacArthur park sounds s-scary!! D: eehh...yeah I really don't want to have it there AT ALL anymore. *sob* These are all really good ideas! travel town museum sounds awesome! I'm just worried about getting lost trying to get there because Griffith park is friggin HUGE and I know a lot of people got lost trying to get there last time. Especially for those coming by public transportation *coughmecough* if it happens to be close to a bus stop like the merry go round was, than it will be helpful. Also if it is close to an entrance or somewhere easy to find it will work out great!

The dining car thing sounds really cool too! I would love to try and get a reservation! Santa Monica is probably my first choice followed by travel town depending on transportarion routes to travel town~ mostly because I think it would be AWESOME to have a gathering on the beach and also I like normal people being like, "WTF are you suppossed to be?" and we can be like, "WE'RE COUNTRIES!!8D" *shot* I'm a dork! haha but you have to admit, it's quite fun!

These are REALLY good ideas though. The best I have heard overall! Oh, and it looks like I won't be able to do Tinkerbell Poland for this because, being increasingly anemic, I can't handle cold weather in such a skimpy outfit >.< I'll probably be like, a snow princess or something XD haha that way I can wear a heavy fur trimmed coat and a scarf XDD

[santeelegs.livejournal.com]

I-I think I'm going!

And I shall be... fem!Romano!

'Cuz I can. :|

It's from 10am to 5pm still, correct?

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

wonderful! I can't wait wait to see you there! oh! there has been change in the location~ please check the main post for the new information. :3

VOTE

[santeelegs.livejournal.com]

I vote for the train museum! And if you can get a dining car, then get a dining car!

I figure I should list my reasons for choosing the train museum:

1. It's not the beach. Even here in California, the beaches get cold.
2. Sand. Costumes are a pain in the butt in the first place, and with sand it's just urg.
3. It's dry, and it's like... in a building.

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I can think of right now...

Re: VOTE

[sucrose2071.livejournal.com]

great! thanks! ^^