Cosplay Adventures: The Comic Con Press Conference

Last Wednesday I went to the press conference for Salt Lake Comic Con. It was held in the Utah State Capitol.  I'd never been there before.

my photo

Naturally about half the time I was there I was like "oooh, shiny!"  Needless to say I need to go back and take a tour. It's a great place to take photos, too.

my photo

People were already arriving by the time I got there. I spent most of the time waiting for the press conference to start taking photos and saying hi to my cosplay friends and other people in the cosplay community.  It's always fun to see them in person.

my photo

Eric Hall, known for his spot-on Data cosplay, came as Mr. Incredible. Here he is with Violet.  Eric kept making "incredible" puns all day.

my photo

Ashley McKnight as Scarlet Witch. I hadn't seen her Scarlet Witch before and she pulls it off nicely. :)

my photo--doesn't really do them justice!

Finn and Rey and Baby-8!

Mark Loertscher

This is the Sharon Carter/Agent 13 outfit I wore to the Captain America: Civil War premiere the previous week. My hair didn't stay curly for very long but this photo by Mark Loertscher still came out amazing.

Photo courtesy of Mark Loertscher

Team Cap! Left to right: Adam Galloway, me, Ashley McKnight, Benji Seekins, and TJ DeCarlo.

The press conference itself was all right.  I'm not particularly excited for any of the guests except for Michael Rooker, who plays Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy. But Bryan Brandenburg remembers me from the FanX Press Conference in November. He and Dan Farr are really nice to the fans.

Literally the best moment of the press conference: Vanellope Von Schweetz (aka Melanie Hamburg) ran into both of the Winter Soldier cosplayers who were at the event, Benji Seekins and Ryan Hahn.  I suggested that she give her "You're my hero" medal to one of them.

Photo courtesy Melanie Hamburg. Is it just me or does Ryan look jealous?

So she gave it to Benji. The results were adorable. 

Afterward the cosplayers broke out to get photos taken in and around the capitol. There were professional photographers on site.  We also took lots of personal photos and selfies.  Here's one with me and Ashley. I wish a Black Widow had come to the press conference.  Then we would've had all the ladies of Civil War!

Photo courtesy Ashley McKnight

Chilling on the side of the Capitol: me, Ashley, Melanie, and Kyle Anderson.  Everyone else was bowing to female Loki. *eyeroll*

I've always wanted to try out the shield. Ryan Stevens was happy to lend it to me.

My photo

Scarlet Witch had a go with it too.

My photo

I also got to see my Aunt Peggy!

Photo courtesy of Ashley McKnight

After the press conference was over I went out to lunch at a Denny's in Salt Lake with some of my cosplayer friends who had been there. Right when we were getting up to leave a random lady walked in and asked for our picture. She had come all the way from Australia and wanted to show her family the weirdness that we Americans were up to!  

Cosplay Adventures: Bossy Female Characters

One of my New Year's resolutions was to step up my cosplay game.  So far I am keeping it.

Last week was my first charity event as part of an organization here in northern Utah. It was a suicide prevention event at a junior high in Bountiful.  I went as Princess Leia, and let me tell you my buns were ON POINT.  Nothing is more satisfying in a Princess Leia cosplay than getting the hair down.  

The Ensemble. Ashlee Williams

I was on my way back to Provo from spending a weekend at Grandma's and my aunt dropped me off early at the school.  I was the first person there from Kid's Heroes.  I was later joined by Ant-Man, Elastigirl, Superman and Supergirl, Elsa and Anna, Black Widow, Tony Stark, Captain America and Spider-Man.   The Star Wars fandom was also very well represented.  We had Kylo Ren, Rey, and a TIE fighter pilot.  

I learn something about the character every time I cosplay.  I like to smile for photos.  Princess Leia isn't actually that much of a smiler: she just looks intimidating. So I stopped smiling and started making a serious, sassy face. And it worked.

Davis School District

Being Princess Leia, I couldn't help having a little bit of fun with Kylo Ren (because, spoilers, I'm his momma). My first words to him were, "Well, if it isn't my wayward son." I enjoy cosplay the most when I can be in character and interact with other characters. At one point I was walking behind him in the hallway and I helped him pulled his hood up over his helmet.  And then I said, "I don't support your life choices, but I'm still your mother."  Elastigirl even offered to let me babysit Jack-Jack, considering that I can handle whatever Kylo Ren can throw at me.

I had a lot of fun with Rey, however.  We'd pose for photos back-to-back.  When we got up on stage for the group photo, I told her, "Yes, we Skywalker ladies are short.  It's the family curse."  I also teased her about her coarse manners from growing up on Jakku.

Afterwards, a handful of us went out for tacos. It was a great opportunity to meet more of the Kid's Heroes team.  If I do more events north of Salt Lake (which, considering my grandparents live there, it will happen) I look forward to working with them in the future. 

Last Friday, I went to a cosplay karaoke night, held in a bar in the suburbs of Salt Lake.  Let me tell you, I have never been to a bar and I have never been to real karaoke with alcohol before.  If I had not gone with a very dear friend of mine I doubt I would have gone at all, much less have been comfortable going.  The raunchy stuff stayed at a minimum until a while after the cosplay contest. My only regret is that we didn't leave sooner.  

That being said, it was still a good experience and fun while it lasted.  I went as Agent Carter from Captain America.  I did get up and sing "Ellsworth" by Rascal Flatts but it wasn't my best performance.  We were also treated to the Hulk singing "It's Not That Easy Being Green" and the Guardians of the Galaxy singing "Hooked on a Feeling".  Also, Thanos sang "Bad to the Bone" and we got Gamora and Nebula to go up with him.  It was great.

Photographer Mark Loertscher was there to photograph the cosplay contest.  He captured one of the best photos of me as Agent Carter ever taken. Seriously, I wanted to cry when I saw it on Facebook the next day.

Mark Loertscher

The main drawback is the baggy eyes.  Spider-Man Noir very smoothly passed me the fake gun right when I got to the front. My lipstick was gone but my hair was still somewhat intact. I nailed the pose.  It was epic.

It was really hard for me to stay in character and keep up the British accent because I was in the middle of a sinus infection breaking up. One of my favorite moments, though, was with a Winter Soldier cosplayer right after the costume contest.  He'd gotten a hold of Gamora's Orb and I told him to give it to me.  He hid it behind his back, naturally. I wish I could recall the dialogue perfectly but it went something like this:

"I don't have anything," Bucky said.

"Yes you do, now give it here," said Peggy.  

"Why should I give it to you?"

"Because Steve would never forgive me if anything bad happened to you."

He gave it back. That was way too much fun.  I guess I like being the bossy female character. If you want to have a good cosplay experience, just wait for the right moment.