If one girl takes three hours to get ready, then two girls should take...also three hours? Six? NINE? The world may never know.

Originally, the plan had been for Skye to spend the night by my house on Friday, so we could wake up and get ready together on Saturday. Best laid plans of mice and men, however; Skye had stuff she had to take care of at home, so I woke up early Saturday morning and started getting ready by myself. The dress was no trouble, and the makeup wasn't *too* bad either (even though it doesn't show in pictures, I was actually wearing a LOT) but the wig didn't look quite right when I put it on--I hadn't realized there were "layers" of curls around Alice's face when I asked Patti and Steph to style it for me. Now, if Skye had showed up at that particular moment in time, I would have left well enough alone. However, I ended up with time to kill, so naturally I started fussing with it. As in, trimming it. While I was wearing it. Despite the fact that when I cut my own bangs (I always cut my own bangs), they only turn out well approximately 50% of the time. And wig fibers don't grow back.

I should have known this. The M doesn't run on its usual course (i.e., all the way into Midtown) on *any* weekend, but you can usually at least make it into Manhattan. This time it let us get as far as Myrtle and Broadway...and just...stopped. With no warning. We all had to transfer to a shuttle bus to take us the rest of the way. Why didn't they announce this earlier, so we could have gotten off at Myrtle-Wyckoff and taken the L in? Ugh. So Skye and I trooped down the stairs in...well, not the nicest area of Brooklyn, me gingerly picking up my dress so it wouldn't brush on the dirty subway steps. As we got down to the sidewalk, a woman cautiously approached us. "Excuse me, are you two going to Comic Con?"

Nope! This is my ordinary, every-day wear. No, of course I didn't say that (to her; I did end up saying it to a bum who catcalled us at Essex and Delancey), I understood; it turns out she and her son (who was dressed as Daryl from The Walking Dead!) were trying to go to their first ever Comic Con, primarily to attend the Walking Dead panel later that day. They weren't from around here, and...

No problem! Skye and I are native New Yorkers, it was no sweat to lead the way. It just took SO much more time than it should have. Nevertheless, we pointed the woman and her son in the right direction (they figured they had better head for Madison Square Garden right away, since neither of us were sure how long the line would be to get into the Walking Dead panel, but it was apt to be a long one), and finally made it to the con floor.

It had been a long time since Skye and I had cosplayed together, so I was stupid excited--I was even carrying around two little tea cups and saucers, and a little tea pot, from my childhood tea set (because I never, ever throw anything away) for us to pose with. She was surprised by how many people immediately recognized her as the Mad Hatter...whereas literally the very first person who took our photo politely asked me if I was Elsa from Frozen. Well, the colors are right, I suppose.

Doc found us right away (and nearly got into a fight with a Dalek, which amused me terribly), so we decided to roam the convention together for a while. There were a lot of really stellar costumes, of course--most people bring their "A game" on Saturday. (Though the best costumes are often outside, due to the fact that they have no maneuverability!) He had his "real" camera with him today, so between the two of us stopping people for pictures whenever a particularly cool costume caught our eyes, we didn't get very far very fast.

As we were drifting around the hallways, I saw Skye's face slowly change into her "What the..." expression, and turning around, saw a glitter bomb of male Sailor Senshi dancing towards us. Apparently this is not an everyday occurence for her as it is for me, and as I got closer, I recognized the Sailor Moon as another one of my Staten Island boys, Giovanni! He has been stepping up his Sailor Moon cosplay game another level every single year, and this was by far his best group yet--the Sailor Idols, all wearing matching vests, and microphones in their senshi colors, and the most amazing makeup, and genderbent wigs, and I can't even tell you how much glitter. They looked AMAZING.

Doc took a few quick pictures of us in our costumes for posterity--we were hoping to fit in a real photoshoot, but it was drizzling on and off all day, so we weren't sure we'd be able to get outside, so we settled for an out-of-the-way corner to try to minimize background people--what with this being the busiest day of the con, that was no easy task! But Doc's a master, and got some pretty cute ones of us, and then we hit the floor again.

There were a lot more exhibits outside of the main floor as well--DC had a number of display cases at one end of the hallway, showcasing screen-worn Wonder Woman costumes from various media she's appeared in, complete with concept art and even swatches of fabric used. In the north pavilion hallway there were multiple panels about feminism in the "Alien" movies (does Ripley count as a "Final Girl" of horror movies, or an action hero?) Granted all of this is advertising in one form or another, but a lot of it was really interesting. (And, generally speaking, you didn't have to wait on a line to check it out!)

Since we had already covered the Exhibition Floor, we decided to check out the Artist Alley in more detail (nope, still no James O'Barr). Let me just say, this space has been getting busier and more crowded every year. It used to be that you had mostly smaller author-creators with their own self-published titles, and maybe a few "big" names that drew the biggest crowds. Now when you walk in it's just a sea of people...and I hate to say it, but prices are through the roof. I get it; I'm a big fan of charging all that the market will bear, and I (probably) wouldn't blink at paying $100 for an original sketch by James O'Barr. But I'm lucky; he's the only one I really care that much about. (And I wouldn't have to wait *that* long--which is nice for me, but not great for him.) I can't imagine if I wanted to get sketches or even signatures (the price for which is also going up) from multiple artists.

Before too long I got a text from Richie--he was also at the con, and wanted to meet up. This was turning into one of those days where the RPG party just keeps getting bigger! (Though still not as big as it has gotten in NYCCs past.) Richie's also gotten into photography lately, so Skye and I were happy to let him "practice" on us. (Well, to be fair I don't think Skye is as big a fan of photos as I am. But she's extremely good-natured and tends to go along with my inane ideas.)

Since we were by the outdoor area we had used on Thursday, we popped outside to see if the weather had made up its mind--nope. Still a little bit of drizzle, and utterly gray and dreary. Richie took a few shots (because gray skies actually make for pretty good lighting, apparently--all I know is at least I'm not squinting because the sun is in my eyes) but when the drops got bigger we ran back inside--they showed up like CRAZY on whatever fabric my dress is made out of. Since we had gone as far north as we could go, we decided to go back inside and cruise south.

We made it as far as the entrance by the pillars, when Skye and I had to take a break--neither of us were wearing the stilettos, exactly, but any heel higher than an inch is going to hurt after hours of walking on uncarpeted floor. We ended up doing the old con stand by of just finding the most out of the way spot we could find on the floor, and just camping out there.

As it happens, there's a reason this is something of a convention staple, because it turns out that staying in one place and letting the world go by you is a *great* way to people (and costume) watch, and find people you know! As we were sitting there, Doc and Richie spotted an amazing Ming the Merciless cosplayer, and bounced up to take his picture, and as the girl who was with him (dressed as General Kala) turned around, I realized it was my friend Ann! I really do have an unfair number of staggeringly beautiful and talented friends--had I not already known her, I probably would've been too intimidated to go up and ask for a picture, they looked *that* good. Ann really is incredibly sweet, though, and so is her SO Clint. About ten million other photographers wanted to take their picture, though, so I didn't keep them for too long.

The day was getting later and we didn't want to miss what little sunlight there was, so Doc, Skye, and I said goodbye to Richie, and left the con to try to find a good place to take a few photos. Doc had access to a sort of "secret garden", a narrow little greenspace no bigger than a backyard right over the Lincoln Tunnel, due to being a member of the Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Association. We followed him to 34th and 10th...

...and walked into Wonderland.

I'm not kidding--go take a look at the photos on my Alice Kingsleigh costume page if you don't believe me and/or want to see, but I never would've believed there was a space like this tucked away in midtown Manhattan if I hadn't seen it myself--and I *work* on 34th Street. I had no idea this existed. There was a little brick path winding through slightly overgrown trees and beds of flowers. There were pinwheels and decorative planters. There were even two little sets of patio furniture, just right for an outdoor tea party. And I don't know what magical lens Doc used on his camera, but I know the day was gray, overcast, and dreary, and yet the photos he took of us are filled with this incredible, warm light. It was amazing.

And the best part? When we were done (it was starting to rain again) and Doc locked the gate behind us, we looked up--the place was called Alice's Garden. What are the freaking odds?

Unfortunately it was now beginning to rain in earnest, but...I didn't just want to go home. Here we were, dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland, having just finished a photoshoot in Alice's Garden--what better place to go, then Alice's Tea Cup?

It didn't take much to convince Skye and Doc, so Doc called for an Uber for us--at which point the sky opened up and the rain came down in buckets. Since we were done with the con I didn't care *as* much about getting my dress wet, but luckily we were able to huddle under scaffolding erected for construction on the corner across the street as we waited, and then the three of us piled in the back seat and it was off to West 73rd Street!

What a perfect way to end the day! I'm not ordinarily much of a tea drinker--and in fact, I always order the same thing when I'm there, and white tea barely counts as a tea at all--but hot tea and tasty scones and delicious sandwiches are just the thing after a long hard day on your feet, and then getting cold and damp in the rain. And of course, the most wonderful (no pun intended) of company. After we were stuffed to the gills, Skye and I bid Doc a fond good night, and then hoofed it home, since there was still one day left to go.

He even had the wings on the back of his vest!

Captain of "Team Crissy"

I can't tell you how much I wish I had been the one to get him that shirt. It is too perfect.

Two Cobra Commanders and a Destro

Me and Ann

Gio's collage of selfies!

YAY tasty snacks!