Tuesday, May 21, 2019

MegaCon Orlando 2019: STORY TIME! (With ALL The Photos)

MegaCon Orlando was bigger - and arguably better - than ever this year, and John and I had an absolute blast taking cosplay photos and video all weekend.

I used to hoard my photos until I'd edited them properly, but lately I've been posting more Instagram Stories - pics and highlights almost in real time, right from the convention floor. Since this is in-between our flash photos and filming, I'm not sacrificing our "real" coverage to do it, and it makes the day more fun for me.

The great thing about IG Stories is they're fast and easy, so I can share a few little things every few hours.

The bad thing is they disappear after a day, so only a fraction of you get to see them in time.

So, since John and I are both furiously editing our video and portraits over here, how about a down-and-dirty YouTube compilation of all my Stories from the weekend?



(Mind your volume; a few clips have sound around the halfway mark.)

 I recommend watching this full-screen on YouTube so you can read my captions. Just consider it the graphic novel version of my usual cosplay post, ha.

That doesn't even scratch the surface of what I took on my phone, though, so brace yourself: here come a bunch more!

(Jenifer Scout)

Vanessa from Little Mermaid is showing her Ursula side. Clever girl. 

(The tentacles are attached with clear line to her arms, so they moved with her.)

Darkwing Duck the Mandolorian:

 
 Let's. Get. DANGEROUS.


The perfect pun mashup, Captain Jack:

(Mark K)

His shield has the skull and crossbones!

Another pun cosplay - and this one will separate the nerds from the SUPER nerds:

Finding Nemo. (Nemo being the captain of the Nautilus in 20,000 Leagues.)

I'm proud to say those are our friends (and FOE) Jen, Jeff, and their daughter Em. After all, people who are THIS nerdy pretty much have to be our friends. :D

 INCOMING CUTENESS ALERT:


There were sooooo many costumed kids there Saturday, and seeing these cosplayers interact with them renewed my faith in humanity.

(BMBshellCostumes)
She-Ra handing little Anna her first sword.

I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

(OK I'm crying.)

There were also tons of gender-swapped cosplays this year! I'm a fan. Anything that lets cosplayers put their own spin on a character is fantastic.

One of the things that made MegaCon so great this year was Cosplay Alley. It was just three photo backdrops set side-by-side, but they were placed on one end of a MASSIVE open floor area - far bigger than last year's. That allowed plenty of room for large crowds of cosplayers to mingle, and plenty of room for photogs like us to chase them down:



MegaCon also scheduled group photo opps in this area every 30 minutes, so there was a constantly rotating crowd of cosplayers. This was BRILLIANT, and made it easy for lone cosplayers to find their groups:

Umbrella Academy!
 
Umbrella Academy, Part 2!

These two are in my Top Five from the whole con:

Uncle Fester and his fiance Debbie, from Addams Family Values!

We got video of these two later, and they were so good at acting in character that we about died laughing. (I think John's leaving our laughter in for the video, ha.) Look for that in my next MegaCon post!

There was a lot of deep cut cosplay this year - things you almost never see -  so much so that it started to feel like Dragon Con! Usually you only see the more obscure and super nostalgic characters in Atlanta, but last weekend I spotted Fieval, Cone Heads, and even Teen Wolf:


 Boo from Monsters, Inc.

... in her own costume!

Gorgeous Rose and Pink Diamond from Steven Universe.


I'm showing off this Scrap Baby everywhere, so yes, I'mma post her AGAIN:


Scrap Baby is from Five Nights At Freddy's, which I've never played, but I already love her. C'mon, she's a murderous (I assume) orange robot with pigtails. And this build is stunning! There are lights and rust and wobbly knee springs, and the maker, @purplemako, is a total sweetheart who made every bit of it herself. (John and I chatted with her dad for a while. Great family!)


Another epic Jack mashup: Jack Sparrow, Disney Princess:
I like how the light-up skirt looks like ocean waves.

These two ladies are high-fashion versions of the River Spirit and Haku from Spirited Away:



That's John filming her on the right; I was snapping these from off to the side.

I can't get over how beautiful this Haku headdress is:

Swoon-worthy.


My friend Emma does the most amazing cel-shading for her Tank Girl:


And more jaw-dropping makeup skills on this Hades:

WHOA.

These three would fit right in at Disney's Dapper Day:
Dapper Kylo, Praetorian Guard, and Leia!

Hazel and Cha Cha from Umbrella Academy:


And the DC Bombshells!


My final photo of the con was taken while waiting to cross the street to get to our car:

You're welcome, ladies and gents.

But wait, I have more!

Because I'm obsessive, I'm been watching the Megacon hashtags on IG -  and found a few more magical moments you're gonna love:

 "We're from another another dimension."

(Photo via @ghostprincesscosplay)

I thought this was a photoshop of 2 cosplayers, you guys, but it's actually 4 people! Hit that photo link for all their accounts. CONVENTION MAGIC!


Here's what happens when 7 Rapunzels are startled by 5 different Flynn Riders:

Sha-POW! I like that the one in the middle has Flynn tied up with her hair, haha.

Photo via @seraphima2846, hit that link for all their accounts!

And one last interactive cosplay I wish I'd caught in person:


Frankie here found every Daenerys and presented her with coffee, like this:

Bahahah! I love how quickly cosplayers play out the latest memes and insider jokes, it's just so good.

There's a whole slide show of Frankie offering coffee here, along with all the cosplayers accounts. Go see!

I'm doing my best to credit every cosplayer that wants it, so if you see yourself and have a cosplay account you'd like me to link to, please comment with your info! And as always, cosplayers, feel free to download & share my pics of you. 
 
I know this was a long post, but I hope these made you even half as happy as they've made me. Mostly because I'm going to keep going to conventions, taking photos, and raving about awesome cosplayers anyway, so it's nice if someone else enjoys my efforts. :P

*****

Speaking of which, if you DO love posts like these, and want to help support me and John so we can keep going to cons and paying for hotels and giving free photos to cosplayers, consider shopping through our Amazon links! (USA, UK, Canada.) That costs you nothing, but gives us a little kickback.

Or, if you're feeling super-duper generous, you can donate to us directly through Paypal. If you do that, well, dang. I love you an EXTRA 3,000.

Thanks to everyone for just being here, though, and letting me have the best job ever.

27 comments:

  1. Ohmigosh, I'm in so much love with that She-Ra!!! I don't suppose you caught a full shot of her??

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    1. Thank you so much!!! My insta is @bmbshellcostumes, and I have some full length shots of me (although Jen/John's shot is my fav)

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    2. I'll also have a full shot of Brittney with flash in my next post, but yes, go see her IG! She's awesome!

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  2. As someone who doesn't get enough opportunity to go to cons, I absolutely love your con posts! They make me so happy!

    Also, I don't watch GOT, but the coffee guy just made my day! So funny!!

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  3. FYI..."cosplay" is not a real word. I cringed every time I saw it. That and the ever present bent knee on most of the women. Oh yea, and the "gender bending"...that caused some cringing. So a lot of "cringe worthy" stuff. blagleeeraaahhhgled.

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    1. Then, why are you reading a post about cosplay if the mere word makes you cringe. Gender bent cosplay isn't new at all and if you don't like it, I suggest not ever reading about, looking at pictures of, or going to any cons. This is definitely a case of if you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all.

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    2. I cringed reading your hateful reaction. If this isn't your cup of tea, no one is forcing you to drink it. There are plenty of other blogs that have nothing to do with awesome COSPLAY and cool geek stuff. (also, this is the definition of "Cosplay" according to Merriam-Webster dictionary:the activity or practice of dressing up as a character from a work of fiction (such as a comic book, video game, or television show) Sooo, it is a word. Have a nice day

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    3. ::sips tea, watches the awesome responses from fans, nods approvingly::

      Also hi, Anonymous! You haven't been around to take potshots at my writing in a while, I've almost missed it.

      Almost.

      ;)

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    4. "blagleeeraaahhhgled"-- is that a word?

      Whether or not it is a word, I'm ok with it, because words are for communication and I think I get that you're trying to express your distaste. We creative beings are good at inventing ways to get our meaning across, such as with "cosplay" and "gender bending"! Language evolves, which is so cool, isn't it?

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  4. Love love love seeing all the COSPLAY. The gender bending Meg from Hercules is so great! I also love how amazing all the women look, secure in being with their "people" and not being judged for silly things like how they stand in a photo. Good stuff! wooo!

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  5. As a non-instsagramer, thank you so much for posting this! I love all the pics, edited and otherwise!

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  6. I was at a convention this weekend too, Anime Central in Chicago. They also had cosplay meetups and it made my heart so happy. My husband and I went to a meetup for our (very niche) fandom on Saturday and it was just amazing to see a couple dozen people who like the thing we like! And the costumes were all great.

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    1. Yay! This makes me so happy. This is also why I'm always encouraging folks to go to cons: it's like nothing else, and hanging out with fellow fans IRL is one of the best feelings in the world.

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  7. These are AMAZEBALLS! Can't wait to see the next batch!

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  8. Thank you, thank you, for capturing that shot of me as She-Ra!!!!! That is my absolute favorite shot of the weekend :) My insta handle is @bmbshellcostumes THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, and as always, it was a pleasure to see you and John.
    -Brittney

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  9. You can add your Instagram stories to a highlight and they will stick around so people can see them after 24 hours.

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    1. True, I'll try to do that for my next con! Even then not many folks go to watch highlights, though, so I'll probably still add my favorites here on the blog. :)

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    2. Please do, for those of us who aren't on Instagram or other social media and only get to see what you post here.

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  10. I died when I saw the bag labeled "Beautiful Things from Catalogs." I love that movie sooo much!

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  11. OMG Jen and John! what great coverage. I have so many feels from that She-ra and Anna photo. Not misting up here at all... ;)
    Also the look of the other little Anna who has spotted Boo!
    Love what you guys do. Now go rest up as I'm sure you need it after that busy and exciting weekend.

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  12. Such a wonderful treat to view the stories and the photos. No need to apologize for long con-related posts. They get better each time.

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  13. I love seeing your convention photos and stories. I'm hoping to go to New York Comic Con In October, which will be my first convention and also my first visit to America

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    1. Wow, talk about starting in the big leagues!! NYCC is a crazy, hectic con, so pace yourself - and have fun! So much great cosplay up there.

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  14. I love the Debbie and Fester! (Debbie was made of tough stuff, and if she had actually been interested in Fester instead of in his money, I think she would've been a great addition to the Addams family. ;) )

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  15. Are we not talking about gender swapped Ariel harem girl behind Teen Wolf?

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    1. Bahaha! I didn't even notice. There was SO MUCH gender-swapping this year - including a pretty fabulous male Ariel who dyed his real hair bright red.

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  16. I just found this now, but wow, you guys are so incredibly kind and encouraging towards the con/cosplay community, and your photos are always so great at capturing the details of each and every costume! And your comments on my Scrap Baby are so sweet and absolutely made my day, tysm!! ;w;
    (PurpleMako here, btw <3)

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