If Everybody Does Something Embarrassing, It Isn't Embarrassing Anymore

This post, once again, pre-empts yesterday's planned LAN wrap-up post. It also pre-empts my post about the gift that Leaky Spider sent me, because I (much like the person taking LAN photos) have just been too lazy with my camera. Apparently there is some kind of telephotolethargy virus going around that spreads via an airborne contagion (so if you see me, and you enjoy taking photos, or uploading photos, or having anything to do with photography, stay away until I'm no longer presenting symptoms...) With that in mind, let's continue, shall we?

This Is Preferable To Catching Diseases, But It Kills The Mood Dramatically

Later this year (June, to be precise) I am going to be attending a pop-culture expo known as SupaNova. In layman's terms, this is basically a giant nerd convention - part of the Sydney Olympic Park will be converted into a space where the nerds, geeks, and dorks (and romantic partners who don't know what they're getting themselves into) of Australia can go and meet some celebrities, buy some comic books, browse some awesome merch, and just have a good time in general. If you are at all interested in: anime, manga, cartoons, sci-fi, gaming, or anything like that, I really suggest that you give it a look.

For those people who have never attended a con before, or who haven't heard what it's like...well...let's just say that there are a lot of people in costume. This, dear readers, is called cosplaying - and whilst it is often frowned upon in "everyday" society, events such as SupaNova make the whole thing almost infinitely more acceptable. Now, I know what some of you may be thinking: "I have seen people cosplay before. Pictures on the internet tell me that it's a bunch of overweight guys dressed up like Sailor Moon.", and in thinking that you'd be partially correct. You see, there are two ways to go about dressing up like a character you think is nifty - the right way, and the wrong way (and even I am thinking to myself now, flipping duh...)

Fighting Evil By...Wait, What?!

The wrong way is the thing that, it would seem, most people have experience with - see the images below this paragraph for reference in case you had yet to be exposed (if one of us has to suffer, then all of us must...) This is what happens when someone picks a character that does not suit their age, height, or gender. There is, admittedly, a lot of divide on body-shape, however some character choices can get around it (a slightly overweight Tuxedo Mask, for instance, would be okay, as would a kind of undermuscled Ryu - on the other hand a person on the larger end of overweight should probably avoid something like Monkey D Luffy, and an underweight person shouldn't really attempt to be Majin Buu.) Still, there is leniency in various aspects if you want to just pull off "average."

Note The Lack Of Effort (Still, It Is Funny...)

Wrong Body Type For This Particular Costume

Wrong Ethnicity For This Particular Costume

The right way, on the other hand, is truly a thing of marvel and wonder - some people put so much time and effort into their costumes, and look so impressive that it is really mind blowing. This not only includes the people who get paid to do appearances at events, but also just really dedicated and creative people. These are the people who get asked for photos. These are the people who win competitions. These people are (at conventions such as SupaNova) at almost deistic levels of dedication. Still, it's all just a bit of fun - and that's why this year I intend on having a kick-arse costume. I want to see what all of this fun is about.

Good Cosplay

Great Cosplay

Excellent Cosplay

To this end I have decided that it is important to start planning/making my costume as soon as possible. The first step in the process, though, is selecting my character...Well...Characters - because this is a two day conference I want to give myself two options (and after one day, I don't want my clothes to be all smelly and such...) Thus, I have created a list of "contender" costumes that I will potentially dress myself up as for this event. Note that, since I created this list, I have shifted some costumes into the "no longer an option" pile, simply because other people I know have informed me that they are using those costumes for their own nefarious deeds. Also note that I may not pick the costume with the most votes simply because it is too difficult, or it doesn't match my...uh..."me"ness

Character Ideas In Alphabetical Series Order

1. Altair (Assassin's Creeed) [Votes: IIIII] 
2. Allen Walker (D.Gray Man) [Votes: I]
3. Hayate Ayasaki (Hayate Combat Butler) [Votes: I]

Rejected Ideas

1. Gannondorf (The Legend Of Zelda) [Age And Skin Tone Differences Make This Unworkable]
2. Zuko (Avatar - The Last Airbender) [He's Not As Cool As Iroh]
3. Lelouch (Code Geass) [Roo Is In A Set Of Code Geass People, And I Don't Wanna Intrude]
4. Suzaku (Code Geass) [Roo Has Dibs On This So I Can't Do It]
5. Hei (Darker Than Black) [I Promised Spud That He Could Do This One]
6. Kyouya (Ouran High) [Elmo Has Dibs On This So I Can't Do It]
7. Ash Ketchum (Pokemon) [If I Do Anything From Pokemon, It'll Be A Humanoid Starter]
8. Finn (Adventure Time) [Finn Is Cool And All, But All Cosplay Of Him Looks Dumb]
9. Iroh (Avatar - The Last Airbender) [Hair Colour & Placement Make This Too Difficult]
10. Daisuke (D.N.Angel) [Without The Other D.N.Angel Guys, Daisuke Is Kinda Dull] 
11. ZIM (Invader Zim) [Every ZIM Cosplay Turns Out Craptastic]
12. Sora (Kingdom Hearts) [He's Not As Cool As Riku]
13. Wolfram (Kyou Kara Maou) [As Much As I Wanted Something A Bit Yaoi, He's Just Not Right]
14. Yuuri (Kyou Kara Maou) [The Same Goes For Yuuri, I'm Afraid]
15. Ellis (Left 4 Dead 2) [I Don't Make A Good Hick] 
16. Ritsuka Aoyagi (Loveless) [As Much As I Like Loveless, I Don't Wanna Be A Cat Person] 
17. Tamaki (Ouran High Host Club) [I Can't See Myself Making A Good Tamaki]
18. Phoenix Wright (Phoenix Wright - Ace Attourney) [I Couldn't Do This Well Enough]
19. Yugi Mutou (Yu-Gi-Oh) [Upon Reflection, No]  
20. Kunisaki Shuugo (.Hack//Legend Of The Twilight) [It's Cool, But I'm Not Feeling It]
21. Riku (Kingdom Hearts II) [I Enjoy Vision Too Much]
22. Hunter (Left 4 Dead) [Zombies Are Cool, But Require A Lot Of Make-Up]
23. Alviss (Marchen Awakens Romance) [I Like MAR And Alviss, But No]
24. Chairman Takeshi Kaga (Iron Chef) [I Don't Think I Could Pull It Off]
25. Subzero (Mortal Kombat) [I'm Not Feeling It]
26. Li Syaoran (Cardcaptor Sakura/Tsubasa Chronicles) [Cuts Are Getting Hard To Make]
27. Mori (Ouran High Host Club) [There'll Be Enough Ouran Characters There]
28. Starter Pokemon (Pokemon) [Decided Against It]
29. Jareth (Labyrinth) [It's Just Too Flipping Difficult. David Bowie Rocks Too Much]
30. Guido Anchovy (Samurai Pizza Cats) [Robot Kitties Are Cool, But Something Had To Go]
31. Satoshi (D.N.Angel) [Wings Make Satoshi Too Difficult]
32. Akira Nikaido (Monochrome Factor) [Australians Don't Know 'Bout My Monochrome Factor]
33. Dib (Invader ZIM) [As With ZIM - All Cosplay Leads To Poop]
34. Link (The Legend Of Zelda) [Down To The Wire]
35. Alucard (Hellsing) [He Lasted So Long Due To His Popularity, But I Just Don't Feel Him]

The moral of this story is that doing stuff that most people would find just plain odd is, on occasion, quite fun. When I lived in a dorm I used to hang upside down and play video games for no good reason - I just liked to do it. Oh yeah, and also I totally should have mentioned that the list above will be edited occasionally, so check back sometimes to see how your ideas are going (I will add names to the list regardless of whether or not I could pull off the costume, though they may go into one of the other piles quite quickly!)