I combined con prep with social time by inviting an old high school friend, Fernando, to keep me company Saturday morning. We chatted while I straightened my hair, exfoliated my face, put in my purple contacts, and slathered on makeup, and then he did me the ultimate favor of lacing me into my faux leather corset that I had bought for the day. I had made the mistake of trying to lace myself into corsets before, and while at least this time I had a blouse on underneath that would keep me from flashing anybody, having someone who knows what they're doing (and he does) lace you up makes a *huge* difference in both your physical comfort and the look of your outfit. And then he did me one better--because it was gray and drizzly out, and my feet were still hurting a little from the day before, and oh yeah I was in a corset--and offered me a ride to the con. Bless the man.

I had some time before our photoshoot at 2 (though we were meeting at 1ish) and I knew I'd be busy with it afterwards, so I decided to do my first "photohunt" of the day, and I started in the Artist's Alley. It wasn't super crowded yet, so it was much easier to spot people and take pictures--including my friends Nicholas and Frances! They had gotten engaged at the previous year's con (I'm still sorry I missed it!) and had gotten married the month prior, so this was the first time I had seen them since the wedding! They are both wonderful people and a beautiful couple, and I was so happy to get a chance to congratulate them in person.

I also really wanted to see my friend Nes, so after I had made one tour of the Artist's Alley, I headed upstairs to his favorite spot--I have to say that for a guy who doesn't have a booth, he definitely has a place that I think of as "his", because I can always find him there. It's so handy! And it's right by the stairs outside of the Exhibition Hall, so it's so convenient, both to meet, and to find other people. We always make sure to meet up at least once a year by the stairs to catch up and grab a few pictures together. I can't believe we've been doing this for eight years now!

Around this time I got a text from Paul, AKA Pope Cerebus saying that he was at the con and wanted to meet up, so I said goodbye to Nes and went off to find Paul. He wanted to take a few pictures of me, so we wandered around the downstairs hallways until we found a spot that was relatively empty (nowhere in the Javits Center is *completely* empty during Comic Con) and had a neutral background. Pictures done, we actually had free time at the same time for once! Miracle of miracles! It was his first (and only day) at the con, so we decided he had to see the stuff in the Exhibition Hall.

Paul was interested in all of the comic stuff, of course, but the booth we stopped at the longest was Troma Entertainment, Inc. We both share a love of bad movies, so I was shocked that he had never seen Sergeant Kabukiman! Or Cannibal: The Musical! Or even the Toxic Avenger! The people manning the booth noticed our interest, so when I explained Paul had never seen a Troma film, they gave him a brief rundown of Lloyd Kaufman's legacy, and showed him a few clips of his best scenes. We almost bought Zombie Island Massacre, with the intent of showing it at my annual Halloween party, but since I already have a sizeable collection of movies no one should ever watch sober, we made the wise decision and put it back.

It was getting on to 1 o'clock at this point, and I usually prefer to be early rather than late, so Paul continued to peruse the Exhibition Hall, while I went outside to our agreed-upon meeting place. In our Facebook group message we had decided to meet at 35th Street and 11th Avenue, and as luck would have it, there was some sort of concrete...bollard, maybe? But it was larger than that--large enough for me to hop up and sit on, enabling me to get off of my feet. It was so big, in fact, that I heard a female voice say, "Gosh that looks like a good idea," and another woman--not in costume--hopped up next to me so she could have a smoke break. She wasn't in costume and she asked me a lot of questions about the convention, so I don't think she was an attendee, but she was very nice, and helped me pass the time while waiting for the other cosplayers.

I was just starting to get nervous that I had the wrong meeting place, when I found out that I didn't have everybody else's contact information in my phone! Only Rae's! Luckily, before I could panic, I saw bright flashes of green and orange, and I looked up, and Rachael was there as Jupiter, with our new Venus, Brooke. Rachael's phone was a lot better than mine, so she was able to communicate with everyone else through Messenger. I mean, I knew where we were supposed to shoot--kinda--so I'm sure I could have met up with everyone else there if nothing else, but there's nothing like walking through the streets of Manhattan with an entire squad of senshi.

We had contracted the same photographer we used last year, Cat Trzaskowski, and she had suggested we shoot at Chelsea Park, about ten blocks away from the convention center. We had agreed, for one thing because photographers generally have good ideas, in part because we figured it would be less crowded, but let me tell you, ten blocks seems a *lot* farther when you're wearing heels. Mine weren't so bad, thank goodness, but some of the girls were suffering by the time we got there! But it really was the most adorable little park, and I had never even heard of it before. No one can know all of New York City, and it's exciting getting to discover new bits of it.

Once again we had a good group. Rachael and Brooke, as I said, were Jupiter and Venus--Rachael and I bonded over our discovery of Botani, a button store near where we both work, and where she had gotten little tiny rose buttons to put at the knees of her pants. Rae had been our Luna the year before, but this year was our Moon, with these *amazing* light up steampunk wings that she had made herself!

Elena once again kept us all organized, though she was Mercury (with the cutest little potion bottles) instead of Uranus. Michelle was Neptune, and a few members of the group had gotten together to ruffle the long skirt she was wearing--it actually rippled behind her like waves when she walked, which was amazing. And I had seen Nina more recently than anyone else, since she had been Squirrel Girl at Big Apple Comic Con earlier in the year, but I especially love her as Pluto, she just looks so incredibly elegant.

Nicole wasn't cosplaying with us this year, but she looked so adorable as Card Captor Sakura, she kind of made me wish I was matching her! She and our friend Charlie came along to be cat herder and bag wrangler, making sure we were all okay and together. It was nice getting to relax in a beautiful park while waiting your turn to take pictures, and I really appreciate getting some "face time" in with the girls I only speak to in Messenger all year long! Bonus: before we were even done with our photoshoot, we had decided on which Sailor Moon costumes we wanted to do for New York Comic Con 2019. Watch this space.

Chun Li from Street Fighter

As usual, we had a ball, and Cat and her friend Jane got some really great pictures of us. Once we were done, we trekked the ten or so blocks to the convention center, and decided to spend some time walking around together, which we hadn't gotten a chance to do the year before (in part because I had had to leave early.) One of the neatest things we did was the Mortal Engines exerpience--after all, our steampunk costumes fit perfectly into the world's aesthetic perfectly! Basically what they did was they split us up into two groups (Moon, Neptune, and Pluto went first, and Mercury, me as Mars, Jupiter, and Venus went second), and they had people stand on a slightly tilting platform in front of a green screen, and you watched the footage on a screen above you, and the staff told you when to duck and how to react. At the end of it you get about a thirty second film clip of you and your friends in the Mortal Engines movie! Pretty neat, except the gusts of air they used to make your hair blow dramatically...made my bangs stand *straight* up. Hair, you ruin everything.

We also took a quick trip through the Exhibition Hall to get our picture taken in front of Viz's Sailor Moon display. While we were there I texted Cheez and Greg so they could meet up with me, and although Nina, Michelle, and Elena had somewhere else to go, Cheez and Greg accompanied Charlie, Rachael, Brooke, and I to the Rilakkuma booth, so we could get our picture taken with the adorable mascot! Charlie, Cheez, and Greg also took a picture, and it was...let's just say grown men seem to face chainsaw-wielding maniacs with far greater bravery than they do oversized teddy bears. It was magical.

Hanging out in Cosplay Central

A bunch of us had to use the facilities at this point, so once again I brought everyone to Cosplay Central (where we met a really cool Sailor Galaxia cosplayer!) and borrowed the press badge in turns to get access to the special bathroom. The rest of the girls were planning on going to a whiskey tasting, and since I know "whiskey" does not end in "tasting" for me, I decided to say goodnight to everyone and head on home. One more day to go!

I love meeting up with Nes!

Selfie with Charlie!

Cat working her magic on me

Hanging out, trying not to aerate the entire park with our heels.

The photographer really does a lot of work.

I *love* how long Jane's hair is!

I can't imagine what this looked like to the other people in the park.

My OT3? Let's face it I ship everybody.

Everybody pose!

"And now, a fun one!"

Sailor Senshi in Rilakkuma's forest

I so should have made this my Christmas card.

Nes and me