Note how the hat helps pin the mask in place. That seemed to add a degree of freakiness to my apparently-already-freaky costume. BWA HA HA HA HA!
Ah. The day of the con. And the day I'd settle the bet I lost several months ago.
Two of my online friends, Gavok and Metal, won a bet against me. I don't remember what it was, but I remember the terms of my defeat. They wanted me to dress up as Q from "Street Fighter III: Third Impact" at the anime conventions that I attended in 2002. And they wanted me to appear in the background of as many cosplay photos as possible.
Gavok also wanted me to stalk small children. "After all," he said, "That's what Q does."
Thankfully, that was NOT part of the bet.
Going into Fanime 2002, I didn't really worry about the costume. 90% was a matter of going to department stores for dress clothes. What would be really difficult would be the mask. The good news was that Young volunteered to create one for me. The bad news... the mask adhered to the mold he used, so it was a wash. I had to buy a mask at the last minute at a costume shop. It didn't look much like Q, but I didn't think I'd get a custom-made mask the day before the con.
So after a session at the breakfast buffet, I put on my costume, consisting of dress slacks, a button-down shirt with a tie, a trenchcoat, a fedora, gloves and the mask. No problem, right?
Wrong. And it was all because of that accursed, accursed mask. For starters, the strap that held it in place broke, meaning that I had to use the hat to hold the mask in place. But what REALLY caused me no end of hassle was the sweat. The mask, as most masks tend to do, kept it all in. By the end of the day, I'd have memorized the location of every restroom in the Westin's first two floors on account of dashing into them, peeling (or tearing) the mask off, wiping my face and mask off, taking a deep breath (and often asking, "Why the HELL am I DOING this?"), re-costuming, and hitting the floors again. Also, I absolutely, positively could not be in the Dealers' Room or the arcade with the mask on; there were too many people generating far too much heat.
So why DID I do it if it caused me such discomfort and dehydration? Well... I'm an attention slut, and my costume was great at getting attention. Even though only one person in twenty recognized who I was supposed to be (wrong guesses ranged from "Inspector Gadget" and "Michael Jackson" to "Robo-Zenigata"), I was asked to pose for quite a few pictures. In addition, I was able to amuse some of the con-goers by trying "Dance Dance Revolution" in full costume, following unsuspecting people and, in a few cases, chasing after some cosplayers (and girls' volleyball teams) that fled from me.
This was the first pic I got of me in action.
Note how the hat helps pin the mask in place. That seemed to add a
degree of freakiness to my apparently-already-freaky costume. BWA
HA HA HA HA!
Yup. There's me again. The girl is Nikki, one of our group from
the night before. She doesn't look scared of me because she wasn't;
truth be told, she was fun to hang out with and a good source of hugs
as well.
In fact, let's have another picture of her!
So I had fun walking around the Westin in costume. However, I spent so much time goofing off on the floor, I didn't take nearly as many pictures here as I did for Anime Expo and Otakon. I did, however, manage to add Utada Hikaru's "Cubic U" to my CD collection and hire a few artists for commissions.
And I did get a few pics of other cosplayers.
For dinner, Young and 11 of his friends (myself included. I swear to
you that Young was a "Suikoden" protagonist in a previous life.)
headed to IHOP for dinner. In attendance was...
Yup. That's Greg Dean. And that's his girlfriend, Lizzie. He draws
Real Life, and he would
join Young the next day at Fanime's online comics panel. Meeting
Greg was cool; not only was he witty and intelligent, he's also
down-to-earth and fun to hang out with.
So we twelve talked about conventions, plushies, singing syrup
bottles, backrubs, catapulting plushies, web comics and how much
corporate America sucks. All in all, a pleasant dinner enjoyed by
all.
"The Lion King: Alpha." *snrk*
Greg and Lizzie assure me that Zach will get the joke later. ^_^;
Back to the con. I watched the first two episodes of Chobits, hung
out with Young and his ever-growing mob of friends, and, of course,
getting into more pictures...
After a long day at the con, I figured I'd head to the arcade one last time (I could only stay briefly; if left to my own devices, I'd play "Snow Bros. 2" for HOURS). Little did I know I'd get sucked into a DDR Tournament.
The tournament was "Mediocre Attack," and it was honestly unlike anything I've ever seen or heard of. The judge would pick a song, and the contestants would play it. Their final score was the lowest value amongst their Perfects, Greats and Goods. I got a walk into the quarter-final, squeezed my way into the semi-final, sucked my way into the final... but then, I went from "bad" to "horrible" when I couldn't even pass the last song ("My Summer Love" on Single Maniac. DAMN THOSE NINE-FOOTERS!) The good news was that I got second place and 40% of the cash pot. The bad news... I'd be listed in the Fanime reports as "Chris." Damn it.
Having proved that there was only one that was more mediocre than I, I headed to bed around 1am.