"Guess what this call is about" aka Tracon X

Hey yeah, it's been a week since Tracon happened, and I am still so tired that writing an update hasn't felt too inviting. Usually I have started to write a day or two after a convention, but would you look at that, quite a lot happened at Tracon and right after the con I got hit by a con plague. I am still quite dead. :'D

Some time before Tracon 9 last year, some jesmo came to me on Facebook and told me how she had been talking about WCS stuff with her friends, and that she she had been thinking aloud that some yumi could be a nice WCS partner. The said jesmo was then encouraged to tell about this to me by her friends, and I had felt myself so idiotic. "How had this not been thought of before? We would be such a good pair!" I remember answering. All of a sudden, it was decided that we'd take part in the WCS preliminaries together. Next year already. It might have been wise to try out for the 2016 preliminaries instead so we would have been much less stressed about everything. It was my idea to try out in 2015 already. My fault. But hey! We had both been dreaming about taking part in the WCS competitions, but for the lack of a suitable partner it had been nothing more than a dream. And it so happened, that we found each other, ah. ♥

It was a long process of elimination, but we finally got to a decision to participate as Amir and Pariya from Otoyomegatari. This year, people were supposed to apply with a portfolio, and we were quite nervous about it. Personally, I was really happy about using portfolios instead of the usual early-bird-catches-the-worm method, since people didn't have to fear the possibility of missing the registration. In addition, since people would have to start working on their stuff early for the portfolio, less pairs would likely cancel their attendance, and possibly the outcome of the costumes and skits would be a tad more upscale. We were lucky to get qualified, and we celebrated this with waffles.

Omnomnom.

We worked on the costumes and the skit until the very last evening (or well, until Saturday morning; I got to sleep for two hours, and wouldn't have slept at all if jesmo hadn't been such a darling and stayed up with me and helped me out with my finishing touches), but we got everything done, more or less. Previously, I had been a bit sad that our contestant number was 10, since it meant that we'd miss the majority of the other pairs' skits for having to wait our turn backstage during the competition. In Saturday morning though, I was quite happy about the number, because our scheduled time for the prejudging and rehearsals were quite late, and we got to sleep longer.

The whole Saturday went by fast, running from the dressing room to the judging to the rehearsals (where Miro gave us some last minute tips to improve our skit, thanks for that) to the photographs, and we got to stroll around the actual con for a really short while. It was truly fascinating to see the costumes of the other participants and it was clear that everyone had brought their A-game. It was a pity though, that we missed most of the performances, but it was pleasurable to chit-chat and to marvel the genius and beautiful epiphanies in the costumes!

Photo: Matias Tukiainen

Unlike in all the previous contests I have participated in, I felt quite good and excited and I was eager to go on the stage, although I did need a little bit of privacy to get myself ready to go. Our skit did feel really average, but we had enjoyed planning it and it was nice to get to do something sympathetic. For me, the main point was to get on the stage, do our thing, and hopefully other people would like it, too. In my books, it was enough, but of course a place in the Top 3 would have been a huge plus. It felt weird somehow that we'd ever win the first prize, since neither of us is experienced in performing and it was our first try in a "big competition". Anyhow, it seemed that our skit went quite well, never mind that I threw the props around the stage by accident.

Photo: Mikko Karsisto

But apparently it so happened that we did win the first prize. While the judges were revealing the qualifications of the top 3 pairs, I was listening very carefully, wondering if any of them would fit jesmo and I, and when they got around to announce the winners, I was utterly dumbfounded. Yep, I started to cry and it was no surprise in that situation - and it hadn't been one to my friends, either. Later on I heard from a couple of my friends what they had been suspecting to happen (if jesmo and I were to win the thing): "Ina is so going to cry." "Yup, she is." Oh you. :D Augh, it is so hard to tell anything about this. It feels so silly, how usually it's been easy for me to describe the feeling after getting winning something in a competition, but now I'm mostly just unbelieving and experiencing this out-of-this-world sensation. Maybe the truth will hit me in the face someday. By the way, sometime previously in the past week I had mentioned to my dad, that if I didn't call him on Saturday evening, he could make his assumptions that we didn't place, and if I did call him, we had placed. It was so amusing to grab the phone, call dad and say: "Guess what this call is about." He replied: "You won?" and once he heard me confirm this, he laughed joyfully. Dad. ♥ And mom had been really happy, too, and she demanded to see a photo of jesmo and I like right now. :D I was a bit sorry to ask some feedback from the judges after the contest, knowing that they were all surely tired for the long day of work, but we got such nice and useful feedback (especially the comments of these two waterfalls got me to blush), and it was nice to unwind a bit with the judges, too. Thank you so much for all the lovely comments we got from people generally, I can not even. Even Pariya's coat was smeared in foundation and lipstick for all the hugs. :D No worries, it got cleaned up well.

This is the photo I sent to mom
Photo: Kizzy

Video: Bardiel

Huge congrats to Asalea and Elzy for the 3rd prize and D.Koi and Veeraton for the 2nd! I watched all the skits later on YouTube and you guys were so amazing! Hngh, the costumes and the skits, ahh! ♥ I really hope to see all of you next year in the WCS preliminaries, and all the other pairs who competed this year, too!

Later in the evening, it was divine to get some good food at Pancho with some wonderful people, and to SLEEP. When was the last time? I can not remember!

Opposed to Saturday's hectivity, Sunday was totally hurry-free. jesmo got the meet the guests of honor and attend the picnic of theirs, and I got to spend my time wandering about and meeting the friends I didn't have the time for the previous day. I also served some bread made for Pariya by jesmo's significant other (huge thanks, it saved us a lot of precious working time). :D We decided that we'd leave for Helsinki on Monday morning instead of Sunday evening, so the others could attend the Dead Dog, and I got the chance to spend more time with the friends of mine who live in Tampere. It was a good decision, since we got to sleep well and it was nicer to drive back home in the morning than tired during the night.

Overall, Tracon X was here, but I'll probably write anotherentry just for the costume of Pariya's and our skit. Also, a photoshoot for Otoyomegatari is going to happen later on!

Bye!