As I mentioned on the last page, with the uncertainty of New York Comic Con happening at all in general and for me in specific, I didn't have as many new costumes as I might perhaps have liked. That being said, I do also love an excuse to rewear old costumes that haven't gotten a lot of love, and what with Sailor Moon Eternal being released on Netflix in early 2021, I thought it would be a perfect time to bring Eternal Sailor Mars back onto the con floor. Plus, I'd previously worn Sailor and Super Sailor Mars to NYCC, this was the next logical progression.

On a sort-of related note, being out in Sailor Mars again just felt *so* comfortable, killer heels aside. It's really funny, the connection I have to this character: I did not create her, I have not "voiced" her, I have never been involved with her in any professional way. Nevertheless I've been dressing up as her on and off since I was 19, and I can't help but feel like she's a part of me now. When I straighten my hair and put in the contacts and finish my makeup, there's always a moment of "Oh, there you are" when I look in the mirror. I am not her and she is not me, but I love her (and if you don't think you can love a fictional character, I actually feel a little bit sorry for you) and I love that she's always with me.

The con was, once again, empty. On Thursday that was to be expected, but Friday is usually a lot more popular. And, once again, I have to admit I really kind of liked it. The largest gathering of people in one area was actually in the outdoor "tunnel" where a lot of photographers set up their rigs. That's always a good place to go costume watching (or to show yours off, if that's your style), but it being outdoors also meant a lot more people felt comfortable taking their masks off for a quick shot or so. I took a quick scan of people there, and then headed inside.

Since I hadn't gotten very far in the Dealer's Room on Thursday before being distracted by lightsabers, I figured I'd start there again. And despite the small crowds, there were still so many people wearing cool costumes that I couldn't help stopping and taking pictures every few feet. I even ran into some other Sailor Moon cosplayers, which always makes my day.

I got a text from LunarChandalure saying she had made it to the con, so we exchanged locations and started looking for each other. She was reprising her Kinoko costume that I had seen at Otakon, and once again having a big giant mushroom hat meant she was super easy to find! I'll say right now that Kinoko was a HUUUGE hit at NYCC, even bigger than it had been at Otakon, and for the remainder of the day I don't think we walked down a single aisle that she did not get stopped and asked for photos. She really looked *amazing*.

My Hero Academia cosplay was still very popular; if there was a new "It" costume for 2021 besides HMA, I didn't notice. I had actually started rewatching it not long before so I was a little further in the series than I had been when I last wore Mt. Lady so I recognized a few more of the characters, but I'm still pretty far from current.

It was fun having a shopping buddy, too! Shopping with Pete is great if you want to look at statues and figures and the like, but since I'm rarely looking to buy more knickknacks I'm usually just either admiring the workmanship or asking Pete where on Earth he's going to find enough shelf space to display whtaever figure is currently tempting him. Shopping with LunarChandalure is fun because she finds the same kind of delight in dinosaur skirts (that have pockets!) and corseted steampunk dresses that I do.

Wandering the Dealer's Room is such a good way to meet people, too, when so many of your cosplay friends double as vendors! When we rounded a random corner I glanced into one of the t-shirt booths (The Colorful Geek, actually) just to see what was available, I saw two faces I recognized instantly in spite of the masks--it was Cate and Christine! Both ladies are pillars of the New York Star Wars fandom who, since I've gotten to know them, not only are amazing Leia cosplayers themselves, but are constant supporters of other Leia cosplayers, which is just amazing. I remember when (and it's probably not entirely vanished) some people used to feel, well, "ownership" of their favorite characters, and would feel competitive when other fans cosplayed them, but in later days the cosplay community has gotten so much better about sharing resources and building each other up, and Christine and Cate are perfect examples of that.

I introduced LunarChandalure to them and explained how I knew her, and how I knew them, and all that jazz, and admired their booth's wares and asked them how that were doing. I didn't want to take up too much of their time because they were there on business, but it was just so nice to be able to say hi in person and catch up a little bit.

I was, as usual, texting with Pete as well as "window" shopping with LunarChandalure, and Pete actually got his ass out of bed and showered and dressed at a decent time and was on his way to the con. Once again through the magic of instantaneous universal communication, we were able to find each other on the con floor, and continued shopping together.

One change from NYCC 2019 to this year was that Pete's Basement was not going to be conducting any interviews. Pete was still going to take pictures of costumes he liked and post them to PB's social media, but masks do interfere a little bit with audiability, and even more so with the ability to read lips, which factors more into people's audial comprehension more than most people realize. But there were still plenty of people to see, including vendors he's gotten to know over the years, and cool things to talk ourselves out of buying.

I also got to see Pete's friend Lauren again, who I had met at...oh gosh, some movie (probably Marvel) that we all went to back when Pete still worked for Ralph Lauren. I met so many of his coworkers that I definitely don't remember all of their names, but I remembered Lauren because she was so cute (so sue me, pretty faces are easier to remember than plain ones) and was into the same nerd nonsense that we were. And I was ecstatic to see that she was making her first foray ito the cosplay world, doing her own take on Wonder Woman. Once again we had a good group going as we rambled around the con floor.

There were SO many booths selling things I could see myself being interested in, I'm a sucker for anything that is "nerdy" yet "practical". I'm not the type to drop $100+ dollars on a statue, but I will absolutely drop $100+ dollars on, say, the tea cup from Utena. I didn't see anything that was "OMG have to have", so I just tried to take note of things I liked so I could stick to my (not so hard-and-fast) rule of not spending money until the last day of the con. (I realize that had been out the door after buying the lightsaber the day before, but this was different. I'm not sure how, but it was.)

I felt much more up to doing my old "photo hunt" this day as well, there were more people, and more cosplayers, on Friday as compared to Thursday, and I saw so many of my favorite characters, and just cool costumes. I've been doing this silly dressup hobby for twenty years now, and yet I still see costumes that remind me, "Hey, I meant to do that at some point" or "Oh my gosh I haven't thought about that anime in AGES." It's really nice.

After we had gotten a good look at the Dealer's Room, we decided to swing by Artist's Alley. I wasn't looking for anyone in particular this year (although let's face it, I am always hoping to run into James O'Barr), but I did want to see who was there and what was available. I figured there would be a new assortment of costumes to photograph, too.

It was great getting a chance to socialize in person, too. Granted I see LunarChandalure at work usually at least once a week, and Pete I text nonsense with on the regular, but it's not the same as face-to-face hangout time, especially while indulging in our nerddom. And I enjoyed getting the chance to get to know Lauren better.

Within the first row or so of booths I ran into a familiar face, Lawrence. Lawrence had photographed Pete and I as Tony and Natasha back in 2015 when we debuted those costumes; a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then! It's a lot harder to recognize people when they're wearing both costumes *and* masks but I think my hair plus the fact that I was in a costume of a character I wear a *lot* probably helped. Lawrence showed me some of the photography he's been working on since quarantine had lessened, then we said goodbye and continued on our way.

Artists' Alley is rarely crowded even during peak con attendance, but with slightly smaller crowds it was honestly downright relaxing to walk around. And in my opinion, the art from these relatively indie creators is often far better than the cover art you see on the shelves of your local comic store, to say nothing of the interior art. I don't think there's been a single year that I didn't see intimidatingly talented people displaying their stuff in Artists' Alley.

There were so many great costumes in the Artists' Alley as well. The best part of the night had to be when we saw two seemingly random guys in suits walk by, and then all of a sudden Pete went, "Oh my God, they're hte Night at the Roxbury Guys" and they *must* have heard us because all of a sudden they turned around and started doing the dance--and if you don't know the dance, get off of this website, you are too young to be reading this. (I mainly kid--but seriously get off this website and go to YouTube and look up The Roxbury Guys. The skits, not the movie, I've never seen it but SNL skits rarely translate well to full length feature films.)

It was at this point, however, that we hit a minor snafu: Lauren's costume popped some stitches. I had safety pins on me of course, but they're a temporary fix at best, and don't always look great. It was at this point that she remembered Cosplay Repair. This is still a relatively new concept to me, and I can't quite believe it's gotten as big as it has,but sure enough, we headed down to Cosplay Central, where a line of tables is dedicated to the Cosplay Repair Station.

And let me tell you, the Cosplay Repair Station has SO MUCH. There were bins of needles and thread, buttons and snaps, various kinds of glue, and even power tools, and that's just what was sitting out in the open! They also had stacks of bins behind them, presumably filled with more supplies. Within short order Lauren was able to get her costume fixed good as new, and we were able to be on our way. And it would turn out to be good for me that I had learned of their services later on in the weekend.

We ended up traveling back to the Dealer's Room because LunarChandalure was *really* tempted by the lightsabers, and wanted to get a closer look at the various hilts and options. Because if you're going to spend that kind of money, you want to make darn sure that you're happy with whatever you walk home with. Pete was good after I had gifted him the other day, but Lauren enjoyed playing with the lightsabers as well.

By this point it was getting late and we (especially I, with my stupidly skinny high heeled boots) were all getting tired, so we decided to call it a night. I accompanied Pete back to his neighborhood and we indulged in a Fat Kid Feast--I'm seriously not including a picture of all the food we ordered because I'm pretty sure it qualifies as a cardinal sin. But if the Ninja Turtles have taught me anything, it's that you need pizza to fuel your fun (legally required disclaimer: the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are not official spokesmen of the United States Department of Agriculture.)

After I was finally full and my feet had deflated to close to their usual size, I called an Uber to return to my place to get out of costume. There were still two days to go!

Eternal Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter

I love running into other Sailor Moon cosplayers, especially when I'm in a Sailor Moon costume

Super Sailor Jupiter and Eternal Sailor Mars

I met many Makotos!

Husbando

Me and LunarChandalure

LunarChandalure with Suki from Avatar

I don't know who all these people are, I'm so out of touch

Kinoko and Midnight from My Hero Academia

I haven't gotten this far in MHA yet

LunarChandalure with a soldier from Team Fortress 2.

Lauren as Wonder Woman

Twin Kinokos!

Kinoko versus Himiko

Me and Lauren

I found That Kid Who Looks Just Like Tom Holland again! I don't think he remembered me, though.

Wonder Women!

LunarcChandalure shopping for lightsabers

It's hard to capture the true color of these in a photograph.

Yup LunarChandalure 100% needs a lightsaber.

LunarChandalure and me

Me and Lauren