Delightful, Fantastic and insert more positive adjectives here, adverbs are also welcome - my
Cosmania 2013 experience topped the charts this year.
Cosplay in the Philippines has reached higher grounds and has welcomed multitudes of fans over the past years. From crowded function halls that seems too small for the ever-growing number of enthusiasts, Cosplay is slowly becoming a titan of an event to organizers. Nowadays, Cosplay venues are turning big time, for years, they have been renting out bigger and bigger venue halls to accommodate cosplayers and merchandisers alike. Cosplay.ph, being one of the premiere cosplay event organizers have managed to address the needs of the event such as stand-by areas, baggage counters, merchandising areas and cosplay proper events, security, and systemized queue of lines - these I have seen throughout the recent years I have been attending conventions and I'd like to think that it will still get better.
As an avid con-goer, you sometimes know your place in the scene. I'm more or less the 'buy and run' type of fan - buy what I like and get out of there as soon as possible. Although with exceptions of selfies with awesome cosplayers/fictional characters. For the recent years, that's my style. I'm more happier with the things I buy and see, but there's less interaction from me and the people I spazz about. But this year, things turn out quite unexpected, positive even.
(Please excuse this entry: this is a hapless blog about my new found appreciation for the cosplay scene again.)
Going to Cosmania is optional for me. For one, I don't have people to go with, so I didn't prioritized it for the weeks to come. A couple of days before the event,
Vinni, one of the member of
Whovian Philippines (Yes, I am a sworn Whovian) messaged me that there'll be a Whovian meet up at Cosmania, which is awesome, and also to my expectations, they would be people attending as The Doctor or a former regeneration of him. So my mind zoomed past every rational thing to do and scavenge whatever I can find to portray a Doctor Who character.
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Close enough~!
Will upgrade to a tweed jacket and add a stetson or a fez soon. |
I already dyed my hair brown, so Rose is out of the picture. Apparently, I can try to be Rose in her Union Jack outfit but I decided to cosplay as the gender-bent Eleventh Doctor simply because I have his Sonic Screwdriver and it's pretty easy to come up with his costume.
On the day of the convention, I'm all giddy to see the Doctor Who cosplayers, since this'll be the first time I'm gonna interact with them. I thought of just saying 'Hi!', take a few photos and runaway. But things got a little bit complicated.
The entire upper ground floor of
SMX Convetion Center was filled with cosplayers of all shapes and sizes and materials and insanity. There are hundreds of kids posing, taking pictures outside of the convention area, that's aside from the cosplayers or congoers inside the stand by area, the merch area and the cosplay proper area. I beeline to the Function Hall 1 where the tickets are being sold. But then I saw a fez, and a crowd of Doctor Who cosplayers. I got drawn to them for real eventhough I absolutely do not know anyone. So I was very awkward in saying "hi" with a matching hand gesture. But someone noticed my cosplay instantly and said, "Another Eleventh!" and the group just started to jeer and introducing their names. Everyone was very warm and friendly. I believe it was
Geanne who said Hi to me, then the 2 guy elevenths,
George with the Fez,
Jocef with the Stetson,
Cielo the other Fem Eleven, then
Andrea, cosplaying as a Fem first, gave me TARDIS sticker. Then I eventually get to meet
Vinni, who is exceptionally brilliant in his cosplay as the 4th Doctor with Jelly Babies and all. There's also
Adrian who cosplayed as the Tenth Doctor.To be honest, the entire time of the convention, I didn't know their names. I just call them "Hey" or "Stetson Dude" or "Fez guy". It's only after we uploaded all the photos did I came to know Who's who. Apologies.
Instead of buying myself a ticket and heading to the merch area, I sort of stayed with the group. They've been very warm and accommodating. We would pop some Doctor Who references and we would get it. This is quite a change considering I only have few Whovians in our area, so this really is a 'hermit convention'. People were taking pictures, some would spazz before they'll take out picture or take our picture and spazz at the same time. Some fans were just really happy to hold someone else's screwdriver. :D And you would know if Whovians are taking pictures, all the Sonics are on, so there's the buzzing sound and we would be all still in our 'shock-looking pose'. Haha. We would instantly assemble and pose accordingly, it is in fact quite cosplaying as a group. And it's quite nice too because you will have someone with the same outfit, that will be considered as meta, and then if you cosplay a different regeneration, you can claim and still consider that as yourself. Haha.
It's a refreshing experience to get into the cosplay scene once again and be part of a group that welcomes you warmly and goofily. I forgot how conventions are aside from just buying the merchandise and walking around tirelessly. For me, those are the things you forget being too over-preparing about costumes or portraying hard characters, Whovian Philippines made me remember that it's about having a good time and being goofy. Well, unless our group does as you can see from the evidence below. We tried to minimize our selfies/selfez with ourselves and contain our awesomeness, but Cosmania wasn't prepared for Whovian PH ripping a hole in the fabric of time and space.
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from Audrey Domasian
Angle 1 |
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from JR Barreto
Angle 2 |
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from Adrian Arcega
Angle 3 |
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From Genesis.ph
Thank you to Genesis.ph for asking to pose alongside their banner. It's an honor.
And thank you so much for the Kinder Joy (?) Egg. Teehee~! Unexpected~! |
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From Genesis.ph
Of course, I had to do this pose. Every Doctor does. |
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From Genesis.ph
We are the Elevens~! |
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From Genesis.ph
Meta-meta-meta-meta Doctors |
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From George Salire
Paradoxes~! |
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From Audrey Domasian
Ran into personal friends during the con. |
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From Audrey Domasian
Yes Lau, it lights up~! Haha~! |
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From Wilson Tortosa
This picture cannot be explained. |
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From Wilson Tortosa
Fem Doctors.....and Vinni. |
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From Wilson Tortosa
Okay...serious guys. Well, sort of. |
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Now this one is:
SuperWhoPotterLock~! |
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To everyone I had the pleasure to spend time with at Cosmania.
It was nice meeting you all.
I hope to see you guys soon. :D
*cries* |
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