Wednesday, August 13, 2014

How To Survive Boston Comic Con

The 9th Doctor, Moon Knight, Poison Ivy, a Baby Dalek, and Batgirl.  


I haven't had much chance to write lately, between being sick and getting costumes ready for Boston Comic Con.  My costume was a little difficult--I went as Poison Ivy on the second day, which meant lots of ivy, glue, and Spanish moss.  I lost most of it carrying Rose around!  But the really tough costume was Punkgirl's Cassandra Cain/Batgirl.  For those of you who don't know, Cassandra Cain was mute when she first became Batgirl, so she sewed a costume piece over her mouth.  I accomplished this with some yellow thread on a morphsuit (a morphsuit is a thin stretchy suit that covers your whole body but you can see through it.) Then I used craft sticky paper to make a Batgirl symbol, and bought a cheap kids' Batman belt.


The effect was pretty cool.

Happyboy went as Moon Knight, which was pretty easy--a silver moon on a a black morphsuit with a white cape.  The little one, Rose, had a pretty tough costume--she was a Dr. Who Dalek!  

Pretty intimidating kids.
We went without Rose the first day, so that we could see the Jon Barrowman/Eve Myles Torchwood Reunion panel--which we barely made it into.  It was fairly awesome.  They were funny, charming, and just a little bit risqué! It was great!  But the staff hadn't planned for the 600 people who showed up for a room that seats 350.  We were packed in like sardines waiting for them to let us come in, and the reality was that we might not get in.  Luckily, we had had the foresight to eat lunch before we came, to spend time on the floor seeing what we wanted to see so that we could get in line an hour early, and to bring our own water so that when we were packed in like said sardines we wouldn't die of dehydration. Luckily for us--we made it in.  But there were at least 200 who didn't.
 The panel was the highlight of our day, though this was pretty cool:

A life-size Tardis!

The second day, we went as a family.  It was a little tougher to keep track of Rose, but such a fun time! We again ate before we went, and I packed a couple of gluten free snacks in my bag.  We did the kids' costume contest first!  Then we went straight downstairs and took a family picture.  When Rose got a little  fussy, I took her for a snack and then let her run around in the back area for a little while, while Coffeeguy and PG went for a walk around the Comic Con floor.  We all met up a little later.  We even got a picture with JB:
JB looks a little weirded out.

And Coffeeguy took this:
Proof that my teenager still loves her mama.

While waiting for our photo to be developed, the kids--even Rose--and I decided to help the volunteers out by removing the tape from the autograph room floor.  The two solo volunteers assigned to that project were extremely grateful, as we finished an all-night project in just about 45 minutes.

All in all, though it was pretty crowded and there were a few glitches (not enough seating for Jon Barrowman, for one, and a very crowded venue for another), it was a super fun experience! And we got to make this:  

Batgirl fighting Poison Ivy.  Or, as I like to call it, the physical interpretation of a regular day with a teen.




Saturday, August 2, 2014

Bada** Forces For Good

I don't think it's any secret that we are a family of nerds (well, except Rose.  One year old Rose finds our embrace of nerd culture amusing.)

Boston Comic Con is nearly here, and we just spent an inordinate amount of time on finding things we need to make costumes.  Punkgirl, 13, is going as Cassandra Cain's Batgirl, Happyboy, 11, is going as Moon Knight, I'm going as Poison Ivy, Coffeeguy is going as the 9th Dr Who, and Rose is going as a Dalek.  

I'm sharing this because I want to point out the magic of nerdism when you have kids.  Two weeks of bickering has morphed into conversations about the costumes and the difference between concept Cosplay and authenticism.  Coffeeguy and HB are both sticklers for authenticity.  If it's a leather pea coat, a leather motorcycle jacket simply will not do.  PG and I like to be accurate, but also like to put our own spin on a character.  For instance:
The beginning of my Poison Ivy concept.

Once again, Rose is not impressed. 

She wore these for a millisecond before her nerd contempt got the better of her.

Little dalek for my little darling.

Today we lie in wait for all the lovely boxes containing morphsuits, gloves, etc. and instead of bickering there is speculation on what might get here today .  Now, you could argue that any interest can do that, and to you I say good for you.  But in my house, nothing gets the gang cooperating like the prospect of doing something outside the realm of "normal."  Maybe that's just my own nerd tendencies rubbing off on them, but I don't think so.  They love comic books, especially stories of outcasts becoming something more.  Cassandra Cain is a mute Batgirl, with a dark past, and yet is the most bada** good gal you could ask for.  Moon Knight has multiple personalities, but is still a force for good.  

We were supposed to go for two days, and the kids were psyched.  In looking at the prices, I realized that if we bought tickets for two days we couldn't get any photos with the celebrity guests.  I talked to the kids about it.  I wanted to be there for two days, too, but I knew that Coffeeguy would really love a photo.  The kids made a decision together--they could dress up on the day of the costume contest, and maybe use the costumes for Halloween, too.  We're going to geek out on August 10th, and we're even getting a picture with Doctor Who/Torchwood/Arrow guy Jon Barrowman, a fave of both Coffeeguy and myself.  It occurred to me, in putting his desire for a picture ahead of their own desire to go for two days, my kids are also bada** forces for good.