This blog post is kind of three blog post crammed into one lol. I've been busy these past couple of weeks and haven't had time to write until now :') It's yet another life update from me, but this time with more positive vibes.

I sourced my ribbons from two stores - the first store I went into was so small that they aren't even listed on Google maps! When I went in there, there was another customer who looks to be middle aged chatting with the owners, saying that they've came to this store since they were a kid, so that was really cool to see. It was my first time in a store like this and I was honestly a little nervous lol, but the owner was really nice! There was walls of ribbons—the selection was incredible, so many colors and materials—you tell the owner which one you want and how many yards you want and they cut it for you. No price tags anywhere, you just gotta ask and the owner knows everything by heart :P The other store I went to was more like a dollar store, with bigger space, shelves, price tags, and multiple employees. I got the white lace, big paper flowers, and bow tie from there. Needless to say I will definitely be coming back here for future rosette projects :D I love being able to browse a wide range of selections and get the specific colors I want and the specific amounts I need. Good prices too - a dollar or 75 cents per yard usually.

It took me an entire afternoon to make this rosette and I got to spend that time hanging out with two friends :D Shout out to one of them for lending me his scissor and a scrap pizza box which I used as backings for the rosette. This truly was a "trust the process" process. I had inspiration photos, tutorials, a hot glue gun, and a dream o7 One yard was just barely enough for the inner rings; will definitely need at least 2 yards to make larger ruffles. For my first ever rosette, I think it turned out really well! (Shhh the two I made for Webb don't count because those were not made with ribbons.) Npw that I have a rosette, I'm one step closer to becoming a proper oshikatsu participant 🙂‍↕️

My itabags & freebie stickers I made for TFCon LA!! I had a lot of fun and it was really awesome <33 The convention seemed small at first glance: the exhibit hall ("dealer room") and artist alley combined into one main room. It was smaller than AX Chibi; I'd say it's more chill too if not for the fact that I was rushing around trying to see everything lol. I only went Sunday because it was the weekend before my finals week and I really can't afford to go both days. Next time, though, I'm definitely going both weekend days or at least Saturday because one day is not enough to see everything! I was too shy to walk around the artist guests and autographs areas haha, but even then I feel like it was barely enough time to see everything else.

I caught the tail end of the Beast Wars panel and stayed for the TFOne Q&A panel with Evan Michael Lee and Jason Konopisos. (Jazz and Shockwave's voice actors, respectively). They invited a cosplayer to the stage and had a little skit it was honestly really cute. The panel was lowkey funny as hell Evan and Jason is such a comedic duo lol. The cosplayer—mini-Shockwave, as the VAs called them—stayed on the stage the entire time and answered questions too it was really wholesome. Some things I remembered from the panel:

• Evan did VA work as Optimus, Megatron, and I think Bumblebee at Universal Studios
• Evan teasing that he's on a future Transformers project that we, the audience, apparently "already knows about" 🤔
• Jason saying that if Shockwave becomes a prime his name would just be Shockwave because he'd get rid of primes if given the chance
• I can't remember the details but Jason had a whole storyline thought out for Shockwave in a hypothetical TFOne sequel, in which at some point he receives radio transmissions from Earth of old radio voice dramas. Eventually he adopts the persona of a mad, evil scientist inspired by the voice drama he'd heard, and that's how his voice would become more similar to his G1 voice.
• Evan saying that if he were to give Jazz a new alt mode it would be the F-35 and (answering a separate question) his theme song/entrance song that plays every time the characters walks on screen would be Not Like Us.

My final haul pic 🔥🔥🔥 Actually did not go over my budget which is incredible. I pretty much got everything I want except for a riso print that sold out :( Not pictured in this is the only toy I bought which is Studio Series AOE Optimus Prime. I bet you can never guess who my favorite characters are /s

About half of these are freebies! There were so many people giving away freebies and/or trading it's the most I've seen at any con 🥹🫶 The first ever freebie I got from a fellow con-goer was actually not at a con, but at Miku Expo 2024. (It's a Sand Planet Miku sticker! See if you can spot it in Laptop Stickers :) It made my day and I treasure the sticker so, so much, which is why I wanted to do the same thing for others too <3 Since TFOne was what got me into Transformers I felt that it is only right if I draw them. I gave away most of my stickers to cosplayers and people with itabags and everyone was incredibly nice <3 I'll definitely be doing this again in future cons I go to :D

I am shamelessly an artist alley fiend I NEED to gush about everything I got:

• the TFP meg/op prints look really good side by side 🤤 but I have to say I like OP more I really like his expression in this! the megatron print was the last one too, gotta love it when you get the display item. FOMO fears me.
• I don't even play Umamusume but my friends are into it and it kind of rubbed off on me :P the art is so good I just had to get the print <3 uma bishoujo OP now resides on the wall behind my desk and it's oddly motivating. I think she's telling me to lock tf in
• a total of three (+1) pair of megop keychain charms holy shit 🤤🤤🤤 I've been eyeing the heart charms for a while now... I bought a borderless Optimus charm from the same artist before so I had to get the Megatron one this time around to complete the match. tsk tsk remember what I said about being a shipper sucks? very much still rings true.
• the optimus stickers reads "CALL FROM: thick neoliberal temptress" - oh my god I love it so much I'm definitely putting it on my laptop next I don't care what anyone else thinks lmaoooo
• I was so close to buying the G1 Megatron pin but I'm glad held off and saved on shipping fee. same thing for the pink Optimus charm actually, I had it saved in my Etsy favorites; I love how it's made of rubber - you don't see a lot of non-acrylic keychain charms nowadays
• the lot of opmeg freebies I traded with two artists holy fuckkk I'm going to explode into fireworks 🎆
• someone was doing answer-trivia-for-a-freebie and I got a starscream plushie and elita-1 pin holy shit?!?!!! people are way too generous I could cry tears of joy

All in all I had a great time and I will most definitely be returning next year! 🫡

Continuing my tradition of eating at Kura Sushi as an end of the quarter celebration. I've been looking forward to this moment the entire week and it was very much worth the wait 😋 This was some GOOD sushi man I will forever be a Kura sushi fan. This time I had a friend with me and we walked to a Walmart afterwards. I bought a sign that said NO SOLICITING and my friend bought a NO PARKING sign because we both thought it was hilarious. Might've bombed some of my exams but hey that doesn't stop me from celebrating surviving another quarter 👍 Never taking 5 classes again holy shit

I brought Knight Optimus with me (yes, it's the one I bought at TFCon!) :3 He's such a solid toy woahhh I understand the guy on Twitter who bought like ten now. He's so pretty. The first time I transformed him I wanted to bash my head against a wall. But after I sanded down some of the tabs and got the hang of it the transformation is actually a lot of fun! Might be recency bias but I'd say he's my favorite in my small collection of TF toys. For a leader class maybe it should've been bigger, but I think the engineering and the overall sculpt of the toy makes up for it.