Crittle - You may both hate me and post the picture.
And now, a proper review.
But first! Cosplay characters and the people who inhabited them.
Minish Cap Link - Me
Windwaker Link - Drakos
Red Tunic Link - Umbra
Ordon Link - Boston
Dark Link - Little Boston
Oni Link - Bee
80s Cartoon Link - Moogle
Navi the Fairy - Renegade
Kona (from Lucky Star) - Yorkie
Okay. NOW a proper review.
ThursdayI went into New York to meet Drakos and Umbra at their apartment. We did costuming things while waiting for Bee to arrive. After some creative packing, we were on our way. We detoured in Connecticut to pick up Yorkie, who is a friend but not really in our cosplay group. We then continued on to Boston's house, which is very near the obvious place. We arrived at midnight to discover that, although Boston had done great detail work on her own costume, she had not finished some other stuff we had asked her to do. Feverish costuming ensued. Sleeping did not.
FridayThe mad costuming dash continued. We finished the script for our skit and recorded our lines. Renegade arrived (Moogle had come the day before by unknown means), so we were all assembled. We continued costuming beyond the last minute and finally got out of the house. Boston's parents kindly gave us a lift to the T (the Boston subway). As soon as we entered the shelter to buy our tickets and wait for the train, a woman said in a wary and challenging voice, "What's going on here, ladies?" I explained that, although we were armed with impressive-looking cardboard swords, we were not going to hurt anyone and just wanted to wear silly costumes. We boarded the train, where adults were angry (probably because we were taking up so much space) and children were frightened.
We walked a short distance to the convention center, and were just in time for our costume judging. We showed off our 1337 skillz. Some official-type guy found us there and helped us skip the registration line. Win! Unfortunately, we didn't get the goodie bags containing such useful things as maps and schedules.
We wandered over to a Legend of Zelda photo shoot, where we met such cosplayers as Majora, Zelda, Sheik, and a Link who could play the songs from the games on her piccolo. An enthusiastic Hyrulian singalong spontaneously broke out. Then I sang Epona's Song with a farm girl (sometimes called Malon or Cremia).
I took Moogle to Con Ops to seek maps and schedules while the rest of the Squad checked into our hotel room. (Yes, one hotel room for all of us. NEVER AGAIN.) Moderate success!
I then departed for a panel with Brad Swaile (X-Men: Evolution, Death Note, multiple Gundams). It was super-awesome, and I got him to sign my XME DVD box. Hooray!
Around this time I decided I would start collecting pictures of con-goers cosplaying characters from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I regrouped with the Squad and we ate some dinner. On the way out, I encountered Majora in civvies. I went with her to Artists' Alley, then took off to sit in on a panel hosted by Drakos, Umbra, and Moogle. They talked about the mythology of Final Fantasy summons. It was well-attended. We meandered back to the hotel room and attempted to sleep.
SaturdayAt 11:00 I headed off for the Voice Acting panel, but sadly it was cancelled. I then aimed for autographs with Mike S., but his plane was delayed, so that was cancelled too, as well as his panel that afternoon. I wandered, dazed and confused, until the Squad decided it was time to practice our skit. We found a quiet corner and sorted out blocking (positions/action on stage) and saying our lines along with the recording. Our theme/terrible pun was "The Weakest Link". Navi, searching for a better partner than Red Tunic Link, asked each of the Links what they feared the most. When 80s Cartoon Link tried to get us to focus on the real enemy, Dark Link killed him. This prompted a smackdown free-for-all. In the end, Red Tunic Link survived. But he didn't like Navi any more than she liked him, so he killed her with the Mega-ton Hammer. All this in two minutes!
We went up to Artists' Alley, where a dealer had promised Umbra a free art print if she made all her friends buy keychains. I needed a new keychain anyway, so I obtained Mr. Game & Watch. Yay!
Dinner was consumed at speed, and we went up to the Masquerade. We were escorted backstage, where we waited with the other performers. Unfortunately, this meant we had to watch the whole show from *behind* a projection screen. Besides making all the performances backwards, this also meant that all the words were reversed, which made it pretty hard to read the jokes in the pre-show. Alas!
Our skit was early in the show. We performed, and it was good. There were a number of skits, including
(with Annoying Anime Characters) from the Stage Ninjas who brought us
. There was also a costume fashion show, the winners of the AMV contests, and other entertaining things. Finally the Masquerade awards were announced - the Squad took runner-up for the Novice division! FLAWLESS VICTORY!!! We got a trophy, random DVDs, and a gift certificate to a cosplay website.
The Masquerade ended about midnight. We went back to the room, somebody ordered pizza, and some of us may have slept.
SundayI rolled out of sleeping bag and stealthily left the room. I was, in fact, STILL IN MY PAJAMAS. I went around demanding information from likely sources until I found out where Mike S. was, or would be shortly. Then I went there. I waited in a relatively short line - most of the people showing up were looking for a band called the pillows. A staff person firmly told them all that they could not line up yet.
The time when my friends were making me leave ticked closer, and still Mike had not arrived. But then, a reprieve! Umbra called and said I was not needed for another forty-five minutes. Ultimate win! The line started moving, and I got into the autograph room. I asked Mike to sign my program (rescued from sad abandonment at Brad Swaile's panel), which he did with gusto. I told him how the Foot Clan had missed him in New York. He said he could have taken us on, but I disagreed. He also liked my sweatshirt (it's from my college dorm last year). The attending staff person took our picture. Our heads were smushed together. I hope my unshowered, pajama-wearing, slept-on-the-floor body was not too offensive to him.
I departed with joy, ran into Yorkie, obtained breakfast, and dashed back to the hotel room. Cleaning and packing happened. We ferried our masses of stuff down to the lobby, checked out, and headed back to Boston's house in her parents' cars. There was then lunch, and sorting of more stuff. We made plans for our next cosplay (Anime Next, June, FFXII) and attempted to visit the fabric store, but it was closed for Easter. I climbed into the car with Drakos and Umbra (Bee and Yorkie were going back to school by other means) and we drove back to Drakos's house. After a brief and unsuccessful attempt to find our skit on youtube, Drakos's parents took us back to the apartment in the city. My parents met me there and we went back to NJ. Then I died.
Well, I ate food, took a shower, poked the computer, and WENT TO BED.
More pictures will be forthcoming.
This very awesome cosplay was brought to you by the Bhujerban Notoriety Squad. Don't believe Ondore's lies!
