NYCC

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Another NYCC in the books

I have to say, outside the panels, this was the most crowded and unpleasant it’s been in years. Just hot, sweaty, and tiring. But the educator panels were amazing this year. It was worth that alone.

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I am exhausted and a little sad that nobody guessed my cosplay. I was supposed to be Susan from Hazbin Hotel but only one person made a guess and it was Yzma… At least I get a cool shirt out of it? Because I could totally put in that my rotation of work clothes. I even made that dead fox wrap she has! *sigh* Ah well… Maybe I’ll pick something super obvious for next year.

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Today’s “Workout” : NYCC Day One

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The first day is always the step heavy day. It’s Educator’s Day so, there’s plenty of panels I have to go to. I also forgot my water bottle at one of the panels and had to run back to it, two floors up, to get it back. You may think that’s an ordeal to bother with but my water bottle is a Cupple with a Nuvoe in it. That’s an expensive bottle to replace.

Not sponsored, by the way.

Today’s pictures aren’t all that interesting. I went to several panels but Ask a Comics Librarian was the only one that had a decent picture for me to grab. I am excited for the Little Nightmares game. I love the lore of this game even though I suck at playing games

I didn’t dress up. This was my comfy “professional” day. Tomorrow will be interesting, considering I’m already sore and exhausted. Now, I have to finish the prop I should have finished MONTHS ago tonight…

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NYCC 2023 Recap

Once again, I managed to make it through all four days of the con. I’m in the last picture as Loona and my kid is the bleach eyes guy from Call of Duty. Not many people recognized who I was but it was really cool when they did.

While I did cosplay, I was there for work. I found it both cool and sad that there was so many panels and discussions around book bans and challenges. On the upside, this means that for all the noise, there are more people against bans than for them and the respect for librarians and educators deal with all this is clear. It can feel like our job is thankless sometimes and it was so nice to hear that there are at least some people out there that have our backs.

I did manage not to spend a ton of money; which is good since I’m stretched to the limit these days. But, I am pumped and redoubling my efforts to put out tons more content and goods!

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Another NYCC in the books

No matter what I do, I always feel like one giant bruise by the end of this event. But, here are all the pics!

First up the kiddo:

Yeah, I never had the guts to wear a costume with that many parts… But the grand reveal of the dress I was losing weight for:

Hey, I tried. It was really hard to lose that much weight so quickly for a dress that has no give to it whatsoever. I ended up needing the cape to cover what my chest would NOT allow the zipper to pass. No really… The zipper could not be moved right where my bust started (no matter how much my kid kept telling me I looked fine, I still felt self-conscious).

I have to say, it was kinda cool to see people recognize me. There was on other nice lady who legit fangirl squealed and ran up to me for a selfie with her (she was also dressed as Eda) and that was so cool. Sometimes it’s just nice to geek out and be nerdy with other nerds.

That lady will probably never know how happy she made me.

Anyways, my feet hurt, my back hurts, I have aches in places I didn’t realize I could, I managed not to spend too much money (not a cheap day but not too much) and I got to introduce the child to boba tea.

I’m picking something more comfortable for next year. It’s also a fitness challenge for me but I have a year to go for it.

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Wish me luck!

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NYCC 2022 Day 1.

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Since this is NYCC weekend and I attend all 4 days, my steps are going to be off the charts. And as I figured, being on my feet and wandering around all day left me with little appetite. I just snacked on a granola bar and some homemade popcorn.

Here are some highlights of what NYCC had to offer today! Other than the dudes hawking their CD’s at the front (I literally paid them to leave me alone and left the CD’s on some random table) everyone there was chill and there was space to move around. It’s usually like that on what is usually “Professional Day” and given there’s a mental limit for me being in crowds, I’m able to stay longer and see more things this way.

We’ll see how tomorrow goes!

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NYCC Swag

There’s been a distinct lack of free swag in the last few years but that doesn’t mean I don’t find some cool stuff! Here’s the books I managed to get my hot little hands on.

I haven’t finished reading any of these yet but I will be reviewing them as I do. Those Holy Hell comics are from the panel I went to about comics and comic cons in India; which was an awesome panel. I did give them my card and get a card from them so I hope I can get more comics from them in the future so I can review them for you guys and get them some more exposure.

The Invader Zim comics are the ones I’m looking forward to the most. Ever since I heard they were coming out, I wanted to read them. I still watch the show when I get a chance.

That little Batman mini thing I will probably give to the kid or sell it on eBay. It was one of the few things I got for free but I can’t keep just collecting things. I have to clear out so my office can function as an actual office.

Tomorrow it’s back to reviews! I know I’ve fallen a little behind but I have no shortage of some interesting material for you guys.

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October Writing Update

Obviously, since NYCC just wrapped up, I haven’t written in several days. But being around all those awesome cosplayers and amazing books, my muse is psyched and ready to go.

Not much of an update but I managed to get through all four days of NYCC so I’m exhausted, sore, and broke. I gotta say, tho: the cosplay turned out amazing and since I’ve been doing C25K, I am in better shape s0 all that walking and getting jostled around in such a bog crowd – and taking the kiddo with me two of those days. The fact I don’t feel like a giant bruise tells me I’m doing something right.

Anyways, back on track with my writing and book three will have a complete rough draft soon!

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A Quick NYCC update!

All that prep for the cosplay and here I am with my munchkin and my niece (she came as Alice from Alice: The Madness Returns). I am super exhausted so… Not much to say here.

Those masks came out creepier than I thought they would…

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NYCC Cosplay Progress

Since I keep letting my kid pick what cosplay we will do for NYCC (I seriously need to stop doing that I think…), I’ve been making Silent Hill Nurse outfits for us.

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I used black tea to stain the bandages and nurse costumes. I steeped them for about an hour and I left the bandages rolled up so the color would be uneven to give them a more rusted/dirty look. I unrolled them to dry, though.

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Once the bandages were dry, I made plaster gauze with flour and water and wrapped the strips around styrofoam heads. It took them FOREVER to dry. I had to bake them on the lowest temperature in the oven for about half an hour to get them hard enough to see if they fit around our faces.

Protip: Don’t leave them near your dog. They smell like bread and they may try to eat them.

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As for the nurse part, I put the tea stained jackets in the dryer for 20 minutes after they line dried to make sure the stains set. Then I took them outside with a bottle of fake blood and just squirted it randomly on the fabric.

I’m sure my neighbors were thrilled to see my “bloodstained” driveway…

I’m giving the masks another day to dry until I get to painting them and punching a hole in them so string can be attached. When they’re done, I’ll post pictures of those. I made them without the back of the head (I saw a lot of tutorials online that were covering the whole head and all I could think of was getting overheated and having to take them off every five seconds).

I got the nurse coats and hats from Amazon with my Swagbucks points (that’s a referral link) and the bandages from the pharmacy. This is the first year I’ve gotten this crafty with a costume so I figured I’d post this in case anybody wanted to give it a try. I’ll be posting pictures of us in them of course.

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A HUGE Thank You!!

I am a little ashamed to admit it but, I had completely forgot I set up a Patreon. Nobody ever donated and I am financially in a place where every penny is pinched so I can’t donate to anyone else. But I get an email the other day and I got my first patron!!!

A big, heartfelt thank you goes out to Natalie C., who has honestly been a fan of my work for some time. You are so awesome, Natalie! And I can’t thank you enough for putting me one step closer to my dream. It’s just what I needed as I’ve bene feeling a little down about my creative endeavors lately.

Thanks to that pick me up, I am gearing up for NYCC and I’m excited to see some awesome programs as well as cosplay with the kiddo Saturday and Sunday. Don’t worry, I will take plenty of pictures.

Again, more super gushy thanks and I hope this is a portent of more awesome things to come!

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