Filled with fuel to forge through the day, I returned to the room and got dressed in Utena's school girl uniform, though I had brought the accessories to turn it into duelist on the very off-chance that I should run into an Anthy in her rosebride dress. My ankle had felt completely normal during the walk to and from the restaurant and around my room, so I figured I was healed, and skipped wrapping my ankle. This is precisely the sort of bone-headed decision I am prone to making. I got as far as the lobby when the pain caught up with me. At least I'm not that stubborn about changing my mind; I turned right around and limped back up to my hotel room. Thankfully Utena's a pretty simple costume, so I was able to just yank off my sock, put the bandage right over my stocking, replace my sock and shoe, and get back on my way, sans pain.

Outside of the convention center proper, I ran into Junior again! He had a little time, so we decided to do another quick photoshoot together. It was so bright it was actually a problem: my bright pink hair kept reflecting the sun into his lens, while my matte black jacket was absorbing shadows. On the plus side, the costume was so comfortable that I had more freedom in posing than I would have ordinarily; I'm not outright saying that I climbed a tree or did anything that might be against the policies of AnimeNEXT or any of its locations, but, you know, I was certainly willing and able. Hey, we all put ourselves in precarious positions for good photos, right? Once again, it was honestly just nice to get to know Junior a little better, I hope spend a little more time with him at future cons. (Hey, us adult congoers have to stick together!)

At point during our walk, I felt someone tap me on the arm. Turning around, I saw a very pretty girl dressed as Tifa from Advent Children. "Excuse me," she said, "but are you dressed as Utena? I'm going to be wearing Anthy's school uniform this afternoon, will you be dressed in Utena all day?" It was like providence! How often does that happen, especially with an anime that hasn't been popular in ages? Right then and there I did something that I hadn't done in years--I gave a complete stranger my phone number, just so that she could text me when she had changed, and we could meet up and get some pictures together. When was the last time I had met someone brand new at a convention, purely through a mutual love of a fandom? That's *all* conventions used to be for almost all of us when we first started. To have that experience again, more than ten years later, really reminded me why and how conventions are so special to me in the first place.

After the Dealer's Room, we crossed the hall to the Artist's Alley. While academically I know that Ranma knows a *lot* of people, actually experiencing it firsthand by being introduced to virtually every third person you pass is an entirely different manner. There's no way I would remember everyone's name--I don't know how he does it! For my part, the most I could do was draw his attention to every piece of Sailor Moon art that I thought would interest him--so basically anything that featured human Luna or Sailor Venus. The people in the Artist Alley were SO talented, it can really make my own art feel completely pointless at times! But on the other hand, it's very inspiring, seeing people love the same things I love, which at the heart of the matter is the motivation behind all art, really.

By this point it was well past noon, so I decided to break off on my own for a bit, and find a quiet place to sit, take a bit of a lunch break, and call my grandfather and mother. The weather was so gorgeous that I was able to find a place under the shade of a tree outside the hotel to get off of my feet and relax while I talked; I'll be honest, even just being *outside* made the weekend worthwhile, after the long and bitterly cold winter we've had. For a while I did nothing at all, except play my 3DS--I wanted to try to keep up with all of the Street Passes I was getting!

We decided to get out of the crowd before too long, so we headed back to the shady spot I had been camping out in before so he could unstrap the twins and let them and his oldest run around for a while. Those of you with children know this already, I'm sure, but adorable toddlers have to be the best ice-breaker ever invented. Old attendees and young, cosplayers and photographers, steampunkers and Homestucks all absolutely melted when his daughter would toddle up to them to show them her stuffed monkey, or when his youngest son would suddenly discover the laws of gravity and end up on his diaper. However, Tony pointed something out to me, and he was right...I wish I had been able to make a sign, "YES they are adorable, NO they're not mine." I could NEVER produce anything as beautiful as those three children!

We only had about a half an hour in which to conduct the shoot, as PopeCerebus had an extremely full schedule, but we still managed to venture out a little further off the beaten path than I had gone so far, and find some really great places to take pictures. It can be a little difficult finding good backgrounds when you're at a crowded convention, but luckily PopeCerebus has done this plenty of times before, and knew the location better than I did, so while I haven't seen all of his photos yet, I'm confident we got some good shots. (I *do* need a new wig, though, this one is really showing its age! Well, it IS nine years old!)

While I was waiting, I heard a tentative voice say, "Crissy?" I looked over, and there was a really cute girl in glasses and freckles peering at me. "I don't know if you remember me, or recognize me--" and as soon as she said that, I DID. "You're Cassi! You're the girl I can never recognize in costume!" I threw my arms around her--I hadn't seen her since AnimeNEXT 2007! It was SO good to see her again--in the same way that Ranma and Usa (and a few other of the New York cosplayers) are the very first people I met at my very first con, I was one of the first people Cassi met at her first con. I've virtually watched her grow up, and seeing her so happy and confident and beautiful makes me SO proud.

I didn't have too long to wait--soon after, Nicole and her friends arrived, and she looked...just beautiful. There really are no other words to describe her. She even had a white rose and a beautiful little watering can as props! Cassi came back to join us, and as PopeCerebus had a free spot in his schedule just at that time, he decided to accompany us as well. Introductions were made all around, and then Cassi led the way to yet another part of the property I hadn't seen yet--the grounds could easily pass for Ohtori. I'm not sure I've ever posed for two photographers at the same time before, but Cassi and PopeCerebus knew what they were doing, didn't get in each other's ways, and even collaborated on ideas. And I've obviously never done a shoot with Nicole before, but I had SUCH a good time that I hope we do more in the future--she really is a PERFECT Anthy, but also, just a really, really nice girl.

I did a fair job of juggling my sandwich and my giant soda when it came time to stick my key card in my hotel room door...to no result. Figuring I must have just done it wrongly, I set everything down, and tried again. No dice. I was starting to get frustrated, when I looked to the right and saw a girl at the door next to mine, having the same problem. There was a chance that this was the symptom of a problem rather than just a random coincidence, so I suggested we head down to the front desk together and let them know what was going on. As we waited for the elevator, she asked me who I was dressed as, so I told her, adding that Revolutionary Girl Utena wasn't exactly a current series. "Oh, that's okay, I LOVE old anime!" she told me. "There's this really old one I just got into, Inuyasha, it's really good!"

The hotel got our cards straightened out (and cautioned me not to keep them next to anything magnetic--which I already knew, having ruined my keycard at AnomalyCon by keeping it next to my credit cards, and I had deliberately kept my keycard in my swag bag this time to avoid that, but things happen), and I headed up to my room to enjoy my dinner and the Belmont Stakes. The sandwich was okay. The race was HEARTBREAKING. I called each of my parents after it ended, trying to figure out what went wrong, but again, things happen--the horse just ran out of steam. At least none of the horses got hurt. And I do feel that the owner's subsequent comments were completely out of line, but since you came here for a convention report rather than my thoughts about the state of horse racing, I'll leave it at that.

Jesse and I had a great time catching up in the hotel bar, catching up on each other's lives, talking about the current state of the fandom, and also joining in cheering on the Rangers in the second game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I limited myself to two drinks--after all, there was still another day left, not to mention the drive home--before saying goodnight and starting back to my hotel. I tried to stay up for the end of the game, but once it went into double overtime, I had to give up and go to sleep. Not a great sports day for New York at all--thank goodness I had cosplay to look forward to.