For the Sunday of New York Comic Con, it was time for me to wear a new costume I had bought for Big Apple Comic Con 2020 before the coronavirus decided to shut down all cons: the 2014 resdesign of Batgirl. I had tried it on at least once previously, and noticed that not only was it supremely hot (all that pleather is like walking around in your own portable sauna), but that the cowl would dig into my forehead badly, but I assumed I could deal with it.

I was badly mistaken.

But, thanks to Lauren, I now knew the existence and location of the Cosplay Repair Station. They might not be able to do anything, but it couldn't hurt to ask, right? It was certainly worth making that my first stop, so that's what I did: as soon as I got to the convention center, before even letting anyone know I was there, I made a beeline for the Repair Station. Thankfully, it was early enough in the day that there was no line, and I was able to show and explain my problem to the first tech who greeted me.

Now that I was in measurably less pain (but still pain; I would end up taking the cowl off and putting it on multiple times throughout the day), it was time to hit people up and properly start the day. I let LunarChandalure know I had arrived, because we had designated Sunday as our shopping day! She was wearing Kinoko again and looked just as adorable and was approached by just as many people--at least half of whom didn't even recognize her character, but apparently just really like mushrooms.

It was also my chance to meet CHris's girlfriend, Helena, who was in from out of town, and their friends. CHris and I spent a little while catching up before they decided to hit the con floor: it was the only day they were attending and had a lot to fit in before the show closed at 5 PM!

I intended to start shopping right away but I had forgotten how much little kids love Batgirl for some reason. So many of them wanted to take pictures with me! Well, I wanted to take pictures with them, too, especially the ones that were also wearing DC costumes. There weren't as many children at this year's Kids' Day as there have been in the past, but there were far more than I was anticipating after seeing the attendance levels of the previous days. There were also plenty of grown-ups (or what passes for grown-ups in the cosplay world) that I wanted to take pictures with. So much fun!

And with that, it was time for shopping! LunarChandalure had gotten an early start, and in fact had even picked up a Loki print Pete had wanted to get for his mom, but I had a list of things I was looking for. My first stop was at one of the clothing stores for a rare, not-really-comic related purchase, but while browsing with LunarChandalure earlier in the weekend, I had come across a pair of shorts with a beautiful cosmic print that were SO soft, I knew they'd be perfect lounging shorts. They turned out to be not too expensive and I hadn't really bought myself any non-costume clothing lately, so I didn't feel bad indulging.

I had done some "research" this time, too, after having less than stellar luck at Otakon. I really, really love Sailor Meow's accessories, especially their hair sticks, and while I'm used to seeing them at Otakon, I was surprised that they had a booth at New York Comic Con. LunarChandalure had sent me a text the night before to remind me to take a picture of my pink crystal yukata, so that I'd be able to have something to compare the hairsticks to, and after LunarChandalure and I looked over virtually every single accessory they had for sale, bought not only a really beautiful hairstuck that matched perfectually, but a silver moon barrette with danglies as well! I'm looking forward to the Sakura Matsuri being reinstated at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden again so I can wear the entire ensemble out.

I had also noticed that one of the sellers had the Sailor Moon cameos I was collecting; I had thought I had purchased the ones I was missing at Otakon, but when I got home I realized I had two Princess Serenities (Serentitys?) and no Tuxedo Kamen. Again thanks to LunarChandalure reminding me, I had actually looked at my collection at home and written down which cameo I was missing, so I was able to finally complete the lineup. My Sailor Moon shelf (well, one of them) was very happy.

The last purchase I was tempted by was a Foxy Nerd pin we had spotted being sold by TeeTurtle that I knew I didn't really need but I was on a shopping extravaganza and we had the time, so we went to the giant TeeTurtle booth and sifted through literally all four boxes that sat on the corners of the booth and had no luck. I'm not as much a pin afficiando as most of my friends (and definitely not as much as LunarChandalure is, she's got multiple giant corkboards of them!) and I generally tend to stick them on my bookbag and subsequently lose them in the subway, but I always love anything with foxes on it so I'm a little sorry I didn't buy it sooner. Maybe I will keep an eye out for it next year.

While shopping LunarChandalure and I ran into Smiley Eyed Thor, who was dressed as Thor, which is still my favorite costume (all variants) on him. I'm halfway tempted to dress as a Valkyrie someday; not as THE Valkyrie AKA Scrapper 142, but just as one of the warrior maidens. That'd be fun. And with roughly ten thousand Lokis and Loki variants running around, Smiley Eyed Thor had fun posing with all of them.

With my shopping complete, I decided to focus on taking some more photos of my own. I know I've mentioned this before, but I really, really love the mix of costumes you can see here. Comic book characters predominate, of course, but if any character has appeared in video games, anime, manga, movies, webcomics, you name it, there's a chance it'll pop up at NYCC. It doesn't matter how obscure it is, there is someone out there who loves that character enough to make a costume and wear it all day. I absolutely love it.

Having seen pretty much everything the main show floor had to offer, especially after four days, Smiley Eyed Thor suggested we head outside, where we could take our masks off for a bit, and maybe meet some photographers who had set up outside and weren't venturing in. LunarChandalure and I agreed we could use a bit of fresh air (or what passes for fresh in New York City) so we headed to what is known as "the tunnel" to see who was congregating out there.

And sure enough, as soon as we stepped outside, Smiley Eyed Thor ran into someone he knew; a sweet girl known as The Infamous Harley Quinn on Instagram who as, naturally, dressed as Harley from Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) which, come to think of it, was possibly the last movie I saw in theaters (with CHris, appropriately enough) before the pandemic hit. She looked absolutely fantastic and unsurprisingly was a huge hit with the other D.C. cosplayers, but especially the little kids. (Moral of the story: kids love all Batman characters. This conclusion is not exactly going to net me a Nobel Prize, but whatever.)

I also spotted a costume that (once again) I wouldn't have thought to run into at comic con, but Burt in his Jolly Holiday outfit from Mary Poppins! Mary Poppins was a pretty big part of my childhood and I was delighted to see it at NYCC. I took a picture and exchanged Instagrams with the gentleman, who turned out to be named Dino, and we've been talking ever since. This just might be the push I need to do Mary's Jolly Holiday outfit, because I have always loved that flouncy white dress.

In addition to Dino and the Infamous Harley, there were SO many cool cosplayers outside. LunarChandalure found another My Hero Academia group, and we grabbed them for pictures, and I kept getting caught up in Gotham groups of my own. And everybody is on Instagram these days! It's so hard for me to find and save photos from that, but I guess I'm going to have to learn. Adapt or go extinct!

LunarChandalure, Smiley Eyed Thor, and I walked up the lane in the tunnel, looking at all the photographers who had their rigs set up to capture cosplayers against the metallic background. I spotted That Kid Who Looks Like Tom Holland again, and insisted Smiley Eyed Thor and he take a picture together, and of course then they were swarmed with photographers for a while. I swear I am not deliberately collecting Marvel actor lookalikes; it's just a delightful bonus. (It would be pretty sweet to put together an epic Avengers group someday, though.)

We hadn't gone very far before I spotted a familiar face; it was Matt Durnin, who I had met back in 2018 when he was dressed as P.T. Barnum and I was dressed as Mera (so at least I was in red heair again). He still cosplays, but he focuses more on his photography these days, and was in the middle of putting together a Batman group for a mini photoshoot. I got some great shots with The Infamous Harley Quinn and the other Batpeople we had met earlier and another Harley besides.

After the shoot was over I got a chance to catch up with Matt some more; we had been friends on Facebook, but he, too, has mostly abandoned it for Instagram. I kinda get it but I kinda don't; I love seeing all of my friends' beautiful pictures, of course, but even then, Instagram is mostly meant to be browsed on a phone, and phones don't have very big screens, so are they really doing the photos justice? And while photos are beautiful, words are usually how I get to know people better, in between the time when I first meet them (usually at a con, these days) to the times when I see them again (probably at another con.) That's probably just me being a dinosaur, though. If that's what the kids are using to connect these days, more power to them. Whatever works.

I said goodbye to Matt and Smiley Eyed Thor, and LunarChandalure and I went back into the convention to do one last tour of the con floor before calling it a day. We saw a few more great costumes--including a guy who had built himself a Wooly Willy setup, and let people use dry erase markers to draw on his face the way you'd rearrange metal fillings on the original toy, which was sheer genius. And we took a last look at the booths, but truthfully I think we were both spent out.

The cowl was hurting me pretty badly by this point, so LunarChandalure and I said goodbye, and I headed for the exit. Before I left I ran into my friend Rochelle, and grabbed a quick selfie before we went on our way. I had had a great time, but I had to get out of costume before I collapsed. (That might be an exaggeration, but if so, only a slight one. I was in a LOT of pain.)

Okay, so, first New York Comic Con, if not my first con overall, since the pandemic hit, what thoughts did I have? I gotta be honest, I absolutely loved it. I loved seeing my friends--I had seen individuals, here and there, sparingly, in the previous year, but I hadn't hung out with a group outside of Otakon, and this was a different bunch of friends, and it was amazing getting to be in their physical presence again. There are some people that, even in pre-pandemic times, I generally only get to see at the con, so getting to bounce around and be our nerdiest selves is always rejuvenating (even if physically exhausting).

But it was more than that; this was possibly *the* most fun I had at New York Comic Con, and the MASSIVELY smaller crowds had a lot to do with it. I don't mean to be a gatekeeper in any sense of the word, I love that so many people love the same things I love. And I know that cons need paying attendees to stay in business. But I also love having room to walk without being jostled and bumped and occasionally stepped on. I love being able to recognize my friends in the crowd because there are fewer unfamiliar faces. And yeah, maybe a little bit I do enjoy feeling like a "hardcore" fan; this was my thirteenth NYCC and it won't be my last.

Were there any issues? Sure. One of them I only heard about; you had to have a Covid vaccine to attend, and you had to prove it and get a wristband proving that you proved it, before they'd let you in. I was smart and got mine the day before the con, but a lot of people either didn't or couldn't, and I heard that there were some lines. I can't speak to that. And while the majority of people wore their masks, there were a few that didn't, and I didn't see staff immediately enforce it the way I did with Otakon. But these were pretty minor, and I came out of the con without having caught anything, and so did all of my friends, so that's all right then.

What will NYCC 2022 hold? It's hard to say. At the time of this writing, their attendance policies seem to be a little more lax, in that you won't need proof of vaccination or a recent negative test, which I'm not thrilled about. They're keeping the face coverings mandatory for now, which I guess is some help. And I don't know whether they're going to have plexiglass between attendees and the guests at the photo ops, but since I almost never go to those, that's pretty much immaterial to me. All I know is I'm going, and my friends are going, and so far, that's always been enough for me.

I friggen love Kids Day at NYCC

I assured her she could most definitely beat me in a fight.

Kids love all of Batgirls incarnations. It's pretty awesome.

It was awesome to see another Barbara...

...and a Nightwing!

I think we look pretty good!

And we had a lot of photos taken of us

And LunarChandalure is such a dear for taking so many of them

There's a reason it's called the "selfie cover"

In retrospect we really should have gone outside so we could have taken our masks off for these.

Let's be honest he's an amazing Thor

The perils of taking pictures in crowded spaces

That's better.

I'm sorry I will never get tired of this

Terry Bogard fan for life

She's an amazing Harley!

Thor seems confused by the tiny Batman

I just love posing with kids

"Property of Mrs. Freeze" had me cracking up

This Batman was from Mexico and he was just awesome

I mean check out those wings!

They seriously stopped (foot) traffic

He was so nice too (though we couldn't talk much since my Spanish is pretty nonexistant)

I'm loving that Deku

The Tsukuyomi was nice too, I think I follow her now on Instagram

I never realize how many Batpeople there are until I'm dressed as one myself.

They all have pretty amazing costumes.

Happy Crissy

This is all part of my master plan to surround myself with Marvel universe doppelgangers

More of the great Batgroup

This was a central location, so we ended up attracting a lot of photographers

Batman, Batgirl, two Red Hoods, and a Harley Quinn

We're all from different "Bat universes", if you will

My color scheme kind of makes me stick out like a sore thumb

Lots of black and red in there

Very dark, as befitting Gotham

When we moved up onto the sidewalk

Even more people stopped to take our picture

It was the same group plus The Infamous Harley Quinn from before

My costume is not the most comfortable to pose in

Then Batman put his wings up again and the photographers went wild

So we had to hold our poses even longer

Okay enough with this pose

It's time to think of another pose

But it is hard to think of poses

Mixing it up a little

I don't look anywhere near as badass as I look in my own head

Wooly Willy!

I think I was going for Groucho Marx

I am inordinately proud of my masterpiece

Nes and me

Dino and me