Astronomicon 3
I was thrilled to be apart of this years Astronomicon. Disfusional Studios lent a helping hand with Astronomicon 3 this past year. We were thrilled to assist in the promotion of such a fun weekend filled with pop culture love, music, and friends!
Last year we unfortunately lost a dear member of the Astronomicon family, Sid Haig. Here is is (RIGHT) holding up one of our Cosplay Fliers. “Come Cosplay at Astronomicon 3!” Thank you Sid, you will be missed – but, never forgotten buddy!
Speaking of fliers/advertisements. (BELOW) are some of the fun promo images that have been floating around social media/FB pages advertising the cosplay contest we had at Astronomicon. I was honored to be apart of this year’s festivities. Being able to see all the creative cosplayers that showed up this year; left me speechless. Our show had literally doubled in size!
Huge thank you to the Sponsors and Everyone else that was involved with this year’s cosplay contest(s).
My Nerdvana Toys and Collectibles gave out $5.00 funko POP! vouchers to every kid who signed up for the cosplay contest. They also provided three LARGE-sized bags stuffed with various POP! related prizes; for our first, second, and third place winners.
Mr.Club’s Underground tackled the job of creating trophies – yet again, for Astronomicon 3!. You can find sculpting progress images/etc. on his FB page. Thank you for creating these unique pieces of art for our convention-goers.
Podcast Detroit was generous enough to be help sponsor our Adult cosplay contest. Because of Podcast Detroit, we were able to give our First place, Adult cosplay contest winner – $500.00 cash! Huge thank you to Cosplay Confidential Podcast for helping me judge the kids cosplay contest. It was wonderful working with you guys!
East Coast Beast Host was a huge help again this year. Chuck assisted with reading through ALL the names/characters that were in the cosplay contest. Bless your soul; i know that some of the anime names are a tongue twister. You rocked it!!!
Ginoza Costuming was this year’s Cosplay Guest. Thank you for coming out for the whole weekend. Ginoza filled her booth of art and cosplay props for convention goers to actually touch and photo with! How cool is that! She even lended her expertise with the Adult Cosplay contest and helped us judge! Shout out to JaJa Cosplay for being her handler all weekend long. It was wonderful talking shop with your ladies all weekend long! I truly hope you guys had fun this past weekend at Astronomicon 3!
This October I wanted to do something fun. With a hand fun of my advertisements and my new favorite PJ shirt, I asked G. E. Anderson Photography (Ann Arbor, MI) for some assistance. Check out his word. He has a creative eye for capturing the female form. It is crazy how comfortable I was in my favorite pink wig, black ears and bottoms. This was a fun shoot to do and I def. look forward to more of this style, maybe with long thigh high socks! I definitely have more band t-shirts. I felt a little bit like Beyonce in the last picture – sitting there after having tossed my own promo cards around! Thank you for indulging in my weirder moments.
Thursday: Pre-Party
This year we checked into our hotel rooms on Thursday instead of Friday. It was easy loading in without being is partial-cosplay or having to worry about there being others loading in around you. Another reason for checking in on Thursday (besides getting a jump on things) was because there was a Pre-Party going on. We told ourselves this Astronomicon we were going to try and stay/make it to every thing that we possibly could.
I wore the same outfit that I shot my promo photos in + space pants/leggings, This may or not have been the excuse I needed to wear my new boots more! It was fun getting a photo in the Astronomicon funko POP! box. I even managed to flag down Jame and Paul for a Pre-Party/Astronomicon photo. Thank you, kindly, for letting me steal some of your time. Favorite concert of the weekend. It was relaxed and def. kick started things!!
Friday: Pool Party + Convention + 80’s Party
Lady Death put on her swim bottoms and made sure to attend Astronomicon first and last pool party. Why first/last? The hotel is filling in the pool/remodeling. There were Astronomicon beach balls, a special drink for the weekend (i think it was a hurricane), color/temp. changing souvenir cups., amd a DJ. I obviously did not get my hair wet; but it was fun hanging out with friends. Trevor and James wore speedos in solidarity. I even was able to convince The Roc and BLAZE to pose for a photo! (Sorry, AMB, the photo we took in the hallway did not turn out. I will have to find you at a future event in cosplay; and grab another!)
We had to leave the pool party roughly an hour early. It was time to get ready for the actual convention doors to open. The first day was a blast. I loved seeing all the cosplayers stop by my booth to talk about materials and fandoms. You all light up my convention day(s). With the convention hours coming to an end; it was time to get ready for the 80’s party.
Keeping most of Lady Death’s makeup on. We wore our jazersizing bodysuit and tulle!! I found Dustin both Friday afternoon and evening for event photos. Dude is always in character too! Another night filled with music and friends. It was pretty crowded in the concert room so we hung out in the lobby most of the night!
Saturday: Convention + Killer Karaoke
I busted my ass; pulled 3 or 4 all nighters leading up to Astronomicon trying to get Moxxi to a presentable state to wear for Saturday. I even put up Mad Moxxi’s bar during the convention to really pull everything together. It was a blast when Ginoza Costuming worse her Shade as well. We had a Borderlands themes cosplay area! I was even able to get Ginoza in the funko POP! booth for a photo.
The cosplay contest(s) were both a big hit. We doubled in number of participants compared to the year prior. There was a vast range of ages and skills but everyone was there to have a blast and show off their fandom. I am honored to have been able to organize/judge this even. I have notes for myself for next year; with hopes to bring you a bigger and better show! I hope to see everyone again next year + many new faces!!!
After the convention we all went out for some delicious Mexican food before heading back for some Twiztid game show/trivia.
Sunday: Convention
I love Sundays due to how chill and relaxed everyone is. It could be because everyone partied too hard the previous days, or the fact that people had to start checking out of their hotel rooms.
Sunday is my shopping day. I was also able to pick up my Kickstarter pre-order of Haunter High-ons Vol.1.
Thank you to everyone that came out to Astronomicon. You continued love and support is the fuel that continues to push us to create bigger and better things. I truly hope to see even more cosplayers at Astronomicon 4! Afterall, who doesn’t want to win $500.00 CASH!!
We thank you for your continued support. If you are interested in following along with current and future projects – Please, check out any of our social media(s):
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Twitch
Until next time; I’m Ashlee Kalthoff of Disfusional Studios – don’t forget to ‘Creatively, unfold your imagination’. Bye!