Almacon

Turns out I felt kinda bad about my rebellious streak at Ohayocon, so much I wanted to make up for it. When I saw a Facebook post asking for volunteers at Almacon a week before the convention, I impulsively filled it out and sent it in, even though I'd never worked at a convention before nor previously even considered it.
They must have really needed volunteers because they promptly put me on the schedule. I clicked the "5-8 hours" button for availability, and they scheduled me for seven hours. Spread out over 13 hours total. Well played, Almacon!
Two hours watching an autograph line -- no shenanigans from signature seekers like I pulled, fortunately. My line was kind of short. J. Michael Tatum's line, which was much longer, was later so I didn't have to deal with that.
Two hours checking for wrist bands at the dealer's room. It was at capacity, so I also had to control access, zero-sum-game style, two go out, let two in, which made it more complicated. There was a line, but I got them all in by the time I left.
An hour in one of the anime rooms, which was cool. Durarara was streaming on Crunchyroll, so all I had to do was remaximize the screen each time a new episode would start. That I can handle.
Lastly, two hours watching the door for a game of Cards Against Humanity, 10:30-midnight, played by some of the celebrity guests for the entertainment of the audience. Adults only, so I had to check IDs. Michigan provides special driver's licenses to minors - vertical format instead of horizontal, which made it easier. An apparently intoxicated cosplayer (Catbug?) decided she wanted to sit in with the guests and had to be escorted out, but I didn't have to deal with that cause I was way back at the door.
Lots of down time, so I still got to do the usual convention stuff.
I met comics creators Comfort Love and Adam Withers and got a print.

Star Wars! It's going on the wall. I'm wearing a coat over my Voyage Trekkers Marine costume cause it was cold.

A married comics creating couple, like some others I could mention, they publish The Uniques, Uniques Tales, and Rainbow in the Dark, and they live in Flint, like me! The Star Wars print is Adam's. Comfort showed me one she's working on, featuring prequel characters, which will probably join its mate when it's finished.
Also, a panel, with Chuck Huber, Mike McFarland, and J. Michael Tatum talking about their careers in anime and other stuff.

Almacon is at Alma College, with classrooms and chalkboards.

And see what fellow cosplayers were up to.

Lenalee Lee and Komui Lee from the anime series D Gray Man. The characters are brother and sister, members of the Black Order, tasked with fighting evil Akuma demons. The yellow thing she's holding is Timcanpy the golem, a cross between a radio and a Predator surveillance drone.

Deadpool and a penguin themed character? It was getting pretty late.

Rorschach from the Watchmen comic, ready to liquify some filthy miscreants.
The patterns shifted on his mask, which was pretty cool!

Anime USA!

Great time cosplaying at Anime USA in our nation's capitol, as well as Retrocon near Philadelphia!
Sack brigader from The Other Grey Meat on Friday at Anime USA.

I'm with very cool voice actress Kari Wahlgren. She said the costume was "intense." Perhaps thinking I was going for some sort of military commando look, I reassured her that I was just a zombie.

Quite self conscious, putting on the makeup and walking through the crowd, even though lots of others were doing the same kind of thing. I skipped the sealer or whatever else actors use to keep the makeup on their face in action, so I found myself in danger of sweating it off! I hung out in a darkened anime screening room until I cooled off. It was a story of a family with shapeshifting powers or something.
Took the Metro subway there and back, but not in full makeup.

Saturday was Voyage Trekkers day for me, in two states! I wore the uniform of a Galactic Union marine.

The conveyance device was for my two anime banners.

The day started with a drive up I-95 to Oaks, Pennsylvania, home of Retrocon, a convention filled with action figures, toys, and other cool stuff. Wore my cosplay uniform the whole way. Got some smiles from operators of the toll booths, of which there were, sadly, many. But more than worth it. I visited Rod and Leanne Hannah, creators of Blue Milk Special, Once Upon a Caper, and tons of other works.

Like Masters of the Universe!

The local chapter of the 501st Legion, Garrison Carida, was also there, raising money for charity. Blast-a-stormtrooper-for-the-betterment-of-others was great fun!

And Vader too, sometimes. Not to worry, her aim was way off.

The dart in the middle of the stormtrooper to my left's forehead - yeah, I put that one there.

Great cosplaying from cartoons and comics from the 80s, when I was a kid.

G.I Joe!

Optimus Prime! And, um, Jesus?

Then it was back to Washington for more Anime USA! Rode the Metro through downtown DC in full  Galactic Union uniform. Some kids may have stared a bit, but no one else seemed to care.
Got some great autographs at the convention!

Met Travis Willingham again, this time with fellow voice actor and also his wife, Laura Bailey.

Laura Bailey's the main reason I attended the convention, because she's in several of my favorite anime series, many as the lead. In Fullmetal Alchemist, she plays "Lust," a sexy (duh) villain.

Her autograph is next to her husband's. Awww. In the anime, their characters fight to the bloody, fiery, screaming death!
BTW, Stephanie Young placed her autograph in an interesting spot.

She also plays the titular role in "Gunslinger Girl."

Her character, Henrietta, is a cyborg assassin created by the Italian government to do their dirty work.
She has a crush on her secret-agent handler. Things do not end well.

Laura is also the lead in Soul Eater, playing Maka in the Harry-Potter-meets-Hellraiser series.

Close to Travis again. Dawwwww! Their characters are enemies again, but they don't fight.

I got a full set of autographs at Anime USA, which is a first for me, as well as attending all three days of a convention.

David Brehm is thought-ballooning Stephanie Young cause they're married and stuff.

I also stopped by the Maid Cafe. I highly recommend it.

She made me creme brulee. Heart!

Took lots of cosplayer photos this time. Some of my favorites...

Desert Punk!

Attack on Titan! I haven't seen this one yet, but my impression is that the attack is pretty serious.

Call of Duty: Ghosts. Sort of what I've had in mind in my previous outfits.

Deadpool!

Kingdom Hearts! These guys should have won the masquerade but they didn't.

Lara Croft!

Devil May Cry!

Schoolgirls? Who fight evil? Maybe?

Youmacon in downtown Detroit is coming up next. I wasn't sure I would attend, but then they announced Caitlin Glass was returning, along with Todd Haberkorn. They're on my banners, damn it! So I'm going after all. I'm looking at Voyage Trekkers cosplay, maybe with a bigger ray gun.
I'll also be working on an cosplay project from an actual work of anime! For later. Maybe much later...

Ready to cosplay!

All the pieces are together for my inaugural cosplay Soldier A outfit! Not much compared to the folks slinging hot glue and mad sewing skills for hours and days - I've enjoyed following along with fellow cosplayers' progress on Matsuricon's facebook page. Someone posted a Metal Gear Solid 3 cosplay. Snake wears woodland-type BDUs. I have those! And  a big box, too? Does he go around in a box in that one? I still need to finish that game!
So anyway, here's the final outfit:

High-speed low-drag! Well, maybe a little drag.

I have a canteen for hydration and buttpack for my camera. I probably won't wear the darkened goggles and scarf much. I don't want to fall down or run over small children! 
I continued my trend today of promoting favorite webcomics during weekly runs through town by wearing their T-shirts. This week, Blue Milk Special!

It does your body good!

Rod and Leanne Hannah's long-running Star Wars parody webcomic has been an inspiration of mine for years. Intensely funny, with strips like this...



And I enjoy their manga/anime influences, like crying Luke here...



They're big supporters of their local 501st Legion unit, folks who dress up in Imperial outfits and armor and do lots and lots of community work, like encouraging children to read, promoting children's safety, and raising money to fight autism. One heck of a cosplay outfit!
I want to eventually do something like that, and if I do, it will be in part because Rod keeps writing about the importance of directing energy like this to "helping your fellow human beings" and stuff like that.
And I could be a stormtrooper - bonus!

Next week's T-shirt will feature ... well, nothing yet. This exhausts my supply of webcomic T-shirts. I might have something soon, depending on size. I won this art contest by the wonderfully awesome Naomi VonKreeps, my favorite Canadian Star Wars/superhero/etc. cosplayer and model, with this...

See, in Star Wars, things tend to get cut off a lot...

The prize includes a couple really awesome T-shirts. One is a woman's small, which I will never ever fit into, but the other is a man's medium, which maaaaaybe I could fit into at some point. We'll see. This is what my Darths think of it...

Yeah, I too am a webcomic maker, with Living Room Wars! It's a mashup starring my old Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. action figures. Anime influences are starting to work their way into it, too, like in this part...

And he is. Oh yes.

Here's what my little Sith lords think of an actual Naomi print...

They're rude because of the Dark Side.

So a week before Matsuricon - my weight was at 188 this morning, almost 70 pounds down from the holidays. The last time I was at this weight was 1997ish, or maybe even before.
Stay tuned for pictures from the event! (hopefully)