I was a bit physically and emotionally unprepared for Comic Con. On the physical side...I make the same mistake almost every year. As soon as one con ends, I start preparing for the next con. That's fine, when the last con is Big Apple and there's three or four months until Otakon, where I'm usually doing group costumes that were decided a year in advance. It doesn't work so well with New York Comic Con, which is at most two months after Otakon, and I'm only starting to decide what costumes I want to do. Emotionally, two fairly close friends of mine lost a parent within a week of each other--one of which being my buddy Pete, who introduced me to cons and anime in the first place, and who I usually spend at least half the con with. But, I decided I was still going to go, in part because there were other people I had promised to see there, and in part because Pete himself decided to go, albeit for only two days. Some people may think it's callous to do something frivilous when you're grieving, but...I don't know, spending time doing what you love with people who care about you...I mean, that's way healthier than my usual way of processing unplesasant emotions, I can tell you that much.

Once again, the train ride wasn't bad, and while the line was longish, it moved fairly well. The very first cosplayer I saw was a Eugene/Flynn from Tangled, who I *had* to photograph for Lady Terentia. I took a few pictures whenever I saw someone whose costume I really appreciated, but for the most part I was trying to keep a low profile until I could find Rae. And wouldn't you know it--even though I was dressed as a almost entirely obscure character, with no wig, two people asked for my photo almost right away. Maybe they thought I was a generic Renaissance wench?

On the plus side, the first person I ran into was Helene and her boyfriend David! They weren't cosplaying, but were on line for the DC Comics photobooth--one of the options was an Aquaman background, which I made note of for the next day. I broke my "no photos before the costume is fully on" rule to take a selfie with Helene--you never know when and if you're going to run into people a second time at Comic Con, you have the grab the brass ring as it appears.

And then the very *next* person I ran into was CHris! Again, we posed for a quick selfie, and I really should've waited to see Jen too, but I had already heard back from Rae and Nicole and they were just a few aisles away--if I pushed on, I could get into my wig and stop feeling half undressed. It was a very strange feeling to be out on the convention floor and not ready, and while I knew it was all in my head, I also knew I wouldn't feel comfortable until I was fully "dressed".

Rae was on line in the Invicta booth, waiting to meet Amanda Conner, who launched Harley Quinn's solo title back in 2013. Rae's a pretty big Harley fangirl (well, I can relate) and she was *beyond* excited; Nicole (dressed as the *cutest* Chibiusa) was holding her stuff and waiting for her. I didn't want to distract from the moment, so Nicole and I found a place on the floor nearby to just kind of camp out and catch up, and as Rae got closer to the front of her line we got up and sort of hovered nearby so we could take pictures of her meeting. I know what it feels like to meet one of your heroes; I really wanted to capture it for posterity for her. And sure enough, when she came out of the booth, she was so excited she was shaking. Again, I know the feeling.

She was, however, also happy to see me, and happy to show me her handiwork! I talk more about this on the costume page, but I was very impressed with how perfectly she was able to match the shade of green of Lily's hair; none of the wig colors Arda had in stock were just right, especially not in the style we were looking at. She helped me pick a style, added wefts she had left over from a wig of her own, and dyed the whole thing, and *then* styled it, and *THEN* put the black ribbon on for me. It was perfect. I tied my pigtails up in the back of my head, threw on a wig cap, and she and Nicole helped me get the wig situated on my head. I had also brought a teal eye pencil from home (because appearing in costume in public doesn't bother me, but appearing in eyebrows that don't match my current hair color does, especially when the eyebrows are an unnatural color), so I quickly traced my brows, and I was finally ready!

And, naturally, no one else asked me for a picture for the rest of the day. Of course.

Now that I was ready, I was willing to tour the con floor. Nicole and Rae had more panels and things they wanted to hit, so they said goodbye. I really wanted a picture of my costume, now that it was complete, so I texted Pete to see if he had reached the convention center yet. He had just arrived himself, so we agreed to meet in front of the main enterance to the Exhibitor's Hall. Thanks to him, I have the only posed picture of my costume--I will need to remedy that in the future. He was bearing up all right, but since I'm usually his Girl Friday at these things anyway, I fell in by his side and we set out to explore the grounds.

At first we just kind of wandered the main floor, at a loss for what to do. It's funny; most of my friends all have very specific "roles" they fulfill at cons, be it staffers, cosplayers, or in Pete's case, press. It's hard to know what to do as a regular fan anymore. We were soon joined by another of Pete's buddies, Greg from Breaking Nerd News. We decided to kind of try to ease into convention coverage by walking around, seeing what was available, and as always, take pictures of people in cool costumes.

It's amazing to think about how comic book conventions have evolved from their earliest days in church basements, and how the exhibitors have changed to meet the new needs. There are still old comic books for sale if that's what you're going for, but with eBay being a "thing", it hasn't been the main focus in a long time. Some old time purists are a little bitter about that, and I can understand that, but it's not like the displays that have taken their place are useless or uninteresting. There are so many new titles and adaptations announced at conventions. There are prototype displays and interactive exhibits. There are teaser trailers and free samples. And, while online shopping is massively convenient, nothing will ever fully take the place of being able to hold a comic--or whatever you want to buy, and really being able to examine it with your own eyes.

And I stipulate that the social aspect of these conventions was always of near equal importance as well. It used to be that these conventions was the only place, in some towns, where you could be sure of meeting other people who shared your interest. Now, the internet has affected that too, and you can have an in-depth conversation about whether the movie adaptation of Watchmen is faithful to Alan Moore's vision at 2 o'clock in the morning with other fans all over the world, but I still say that, much like with the shopping, nothing beats getting to interact with other fans in person--meeting people purely by chance, because they're flipping through the same issues you are. It's wonderful.

We eventually found ourselves by the Stranger Comics booth, where Sebastian spotted Pete in the aisles immediately, and came out to give him the male equivalent of an enveloping hug. I have to say that not only are all the Niobe comics amazingly good reads, but the dude is seriously a class act. He invited Pete, Greg, and me to step into the booth with him, and while he and Pete caught up, Greg and I flipped through all the merch, and again, I was just so taken with how many young girls flock to this booth because they're ecstatic to see a comic book hero they have something in common with. And everyone who works at the Stranger Comics booth really takes the time to talk to every single fan. It's a wonderful thing.

Talking to Sebastian had, I thought, perked Pete up and put him back in press mode, so the next booth we headed to was KRSCOMICS.COM. There were multiple amazing artists scheduled to be there all weekend, but we were lucky enough to catch Warren Louw, who most recently did the Batman #50 variant cover of Catwoman in her wedding dress. The amount of detail he put into drawing that dress, down to the little ends of thread that stick out of the lace applique, is simply amazing. Greg did video duty (pretty much everyone in the universe has steadier hands than I do) while Pete interviewed him, which, as usual, you can see on Pete's Basement.

Just as we were wrapping up, Penny found us, which brought the gender ratio of our party up to an acceptable 50/50 split. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy hanging out with guys (and pretty much expect to, especially at conventions) but it's nice to have another person of the female persuasion around to point out cute guys with, and eyeroll whenever "our" guys say something especially ridiculous.

We also spent some time in the booth for Storm King Comics, because Pete was hoping to interview Mike Sizemore. He was actually in the middle of something else, so we started talking to one of the other men at the booth, David. J. Schow. Pete and Greg did most of the talking, because I spent most of my time staring at the man, and then back to the poster with his name on it, trying to figure out why on earth he sounded familiar. I'm not totally ignorant about comics, but I'm certainly not current, and I knew I hadn't read The Standoff, which he was there to promote. It wasn't until talk turned to some of his other writing experience that the light bulb went off. "Oh yes," he told us, "I also did the screenplay for Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part III"--which I haven't seen, although it is right up my alley and I did see the original--"and The Crow."

Oh.

*That*, I've seen.

Repeatedly.

Religiously.

At which point I (very rudely) pointed and exclaimed, "I KNEW I knew you from somewhere!" And then he and I ended up talking about The Crow for...I really think it was close to a half an hour. I don't know if it's just that writers are by their very nature good storytellers, but the stuff he related about the creation process and working on the movie and all of the people he met thereby...when he was done we were all spellbound, and Pete said, "You know, I really wish I had gotten all that on film." Why are the best memories rarely recorded? That was one for the ages.

I knew I had to have this man's autograph--his work is only second to James O'Barr's in having introduced me to the magic that is The Crow. But I didn't have a thing on me--and while I could've gotten his autograph on one of his current works, I really wanted something Crow related. Specifically Crow movie related. I knew I had something--multiple somethings--at home, so I asked him if he'd be in the booth again the next day, to which is responded in the affirmative. Then I asked, "Do you sign things other than comic books?"

He blinked. I blushed. I can only imagine what some guests have been asked to sign at comic cons. But he said yes, he would be happy to sign whatever I asked him to sign. I blushed again and everybody laughed. I didn't care--this man was a gem. I made note of where the booth was so I could find it again the next day.

Not long after that, we were also joined by Rich, doing his usual shopping and scouting for autographs. He agreed to walk around with us for a little while so we could have a chance to catch up--I pretty much only ever see him and Usagi Seion at cons these days. (Usagi Seion was also at the con, but waiting on a line for something else--I forget what now.)

With a few interviews under his belt, Pete was looking more like his old self, so we decided to go up and down the aisles of the Exhibitor's Hall to see who else was around. Just as we were leaving the booth, David found us--we had been texting for a lot of the day, but had missed opportunities to meet more than once. I looked up as he said he was approaching, and recognized his T-shirt immediately--if I hadn't done so much research on Patrick Nagel for my 2012 layout for Crimson Sky Creations I might not have. I *loved* that he was Bruce Banner in Tony Stark's clothes from Thor: Ragnarok; that is the *perfect* sort of costume if you're looking to do something more low-key than, say, feathered wings or movable armor. Comfortable, recognizable, and unique; it really was perfect.

Pete had heard from Hot Bartender Jess at this point, who, once again, I hadn't seen since last year's comic con, and since she's one of my very favorite people in the whole world I went with him to meet up with her. She didn't have a lot of time to spend at the con, between school and work and life and all that jazz, but I'm so, so glad I got to see her and hug her and tell her I love her. I need to tell the people I love that I love them more often.

Rich had heard from Usagi Seion that she was in the Artist Alley, and since I hadn't been there yet, we decided to go down there to meet her, and see who had set up shop down there. We met up about an aisle or two in, and by this time had so many people as part of our party that we were making quite a little traffic jam in the middle. I was watching the stream of traffic divert around us when I saw a very familiar, very tall Luigi walking our way. Since I am very...not tall, I hunched down to make myself even shorter, and then popped up in front of my ex-husband and gleefully proclaimed, "Ha! Gotcha again."

So yeah, it was Louis, and I'm glad we've progressed to the point in our relationships where we can share in-jokes again. He's seen everyone else more recently than I have of course, but at least I had seen him earlier this year so it wasn't a full year since we had last talked. Plus, we text each other whenever there is really obscure news only the other one would appreciate (rare) or when one of my brothers has done something completely idiotic and I need him to intervene (sadly much more common). He didn't recognize who I was dressed as, which I chastized him for, but other than that we just caught up on what we were doing, reading, and watching these days, before he had to leave to meet up with some other friends of his.

We traversed the aisles of Artist Alley, but again, at this point I was more interested in catching up with Usagi Seion, who I don't see often enough. I introduced her to David the way I introduce her to so many of the fellow fans we meet, as the girl who got me into Sailor Moon. I think at this point you can hazard a guess as to just how much influence that had on the course of my life. Our lives may have taken very different paths since then, but our love of the Moon Kingdom will always, always keep us together in our hearts.

We were all of us in desperate need of a break at this point, so Pete loaned me one of the Pete's Basement press passes so I could accompany them to the Press Lounge in the River Pavilion. They were sharing the Pavilion with Cosplay Central this year, which didn't make a big difference in terms of space (not that I often go into the Press Lounge, but the few times I have, there've always been free tables and seats), but did make a measurable difference in volume--I felt bad for the reporters who were trying to conduct interviews with only a fabric curtain separating them from a panel with several microphones. Our friend Kate was already camped out at a table, so after I hugged her we all took over the rest of the table--I took the opportunity to dig out my Nintendo 3DS and send all of the visitors I had gathered to the line so I could collect more, we did the traditional multiple female trip to the bathroom, the whole nine yards. I was just enjoying listening to all of the conversations going on around me, when I saw another very familiar figure winding her way through the tables, but this one was on the opposite end of the height spectrum...

IT WAS SAILOR FLARE! IT WAS MY TINY! I don't think I had seen her since my wedding back in 2009! I had known she had more or less stopped cosplaying, and I thought she had stopped going to cons as well, but not only was she attending, she was interviewing on behalf of the radio station she works for! Her dream has been to be a radio DJ for almost as long as I've known her, and here she was. I've said this before, but *so many* of my friends have fulfilled their dreams, that I am truly in constant awe of them. I know some incredibly amazing people.

I yelled out her name several times until she spotted me, and we squee'ed (yes, I'm bringing that term back, because it was especially appropriate in this case), and rushed into each other's arms, and I had to let her go pretty much immediately because she was there to actually conduct an interview. But after not seeing her for a good nine years, there was no way I was going to let it go at that! So I camped out with the Pete's Basement crew and the other podcasters they knew to wait for her. On the plus side, I got to take a huge group photo of them, and when they mistook my counting down to the shutter flash, as counting down to jumping in mid air, they all tried to jump at the same time, which resulted in one of the funniest pictures I've seen in a long time (which of course I don't have, because it's either on Pete or Kate's phone.) Pete's face was absolutely beaming by this point, and I felt this great weight lift off my heart--we had both made the right decision in attending the con.

Finally Sailor Flare's interview was over, and we rushed again into each other's arms...and everybody surrounding us burst into applause. It was the cheesiest, most 80s movies scenario you could ever possibly imagine, but somehow it seemed just right--I love this girl so much. She sat down with me and we caught up on the past nine years, and it was as if those years melted away. Being an adult has its perks (like, you can work to get money to go to cons, and you don't have to ask permission first or anything), but real life stuff gets SO in the way of keeping in touch with your nerdiest friends. I am so, SO glad we found each other again in the most coincidental way possible.

Since there was absolutely no way to top that, I figured it was time to leave, and Pete, Penny, and I headed for the train. From 34th Street-Hudson Yards, until I got off at 5th Avenue-Bryant Park, Pete and I argued about the stupid, stupid conspiracy theories he believes in (because he is WRONG), while Penny silently shook with laughter and our fellow commuters looked on with varying degrees of disgust. So in other words, a pretty typical Thursday evening in New York.

Amanda doing a signing for Rae

I LOVE THAT SHE CAN FIT ON MY LAP

I'M SORRY ALL OF MY CAPTIONS ABOUT MY TINY ARE GOING TO BE IN ALL CAPS.

This is the image that validated my attendance.

Her nickname "My Tiny" comes from our shared love of Invader Zim.