Getting in Shape for Comic Con, Part 3: Crunch Time for Costumes

Since today marks the 1-month countdown for our trip out to San Diego Comic Con, I thought it an appropriate time to provide an update on our progress.  So here goes...

Captain Marvel.  Done and DONE!  I put the finishing touches on the accessories yesterday and did a trial run of everything this weekend.  It's looking great!  I thought this could be my one preview costume prior to the event since the other two are still in progress, so I've included some photos here.  I really need to work on staying in character in being serious...kept cracking up the whole time!

 Madame Hydra/Viper.  What can I say, the spandex is at the tailor.  I have the boots and holster ready, but the main feature of my costume will be her back tattoo (pictured below).

If anyone has any tips on the best method for doing a large (5x5") temp tattoo that won't rub off for a few days, let me know.  I'd really rather not use that much permanent marker on my back and, moreover, do not trust my husband or brothers to doodle with marker on my back.

 

 





Spats in progress, made from white leg
warmers...I learned to sew buttons!!

Mad Moxxi.  Almost complete!!  Here's some photos of the latest accessories to be finished up.  In keeping with my budget-savvy tendencies, I bought some $5 leg warmers on Amazon which I crafted into spats.  I also made Moxxi's belt buckle with some cheap items from the craft store and a little bit of painting skills.   Still fixing buttons on the jacket, but otherwise ready to go.

Moxxi spats, hat, and belt buckle, all handmade.


 

 

One of three versions of Wolverine that Jon will cosplay
at SDCC.

Wolverine.  Jon's cosplay is still coming along, but I think he has the beard part handled...

No beard? No problem!
Grown in three weeks.

Most recently I have been working on Wolverine's blades, which I finished up today. I used some sturdy foam board which I painted silver, and are secured together with aluminum wire.  I molded them to fit his hands and wrapped the aluminum wire with floral wire for comfort and extra support.  They're not retractable or anything high-speed, but easy to don and doff and I think they look realistic enough!

Step 1, cutting the blades
out of foam board



Step 2, threading aluminum wire
through the foam blades

Step 3, molding wire and covering
in floral wire.

Step 4, painting foam blades
and floral wire. Done!




  

That's a wrap on the costume update...coming soon on Getting in Shape for Comic Con: our adventures in juice cleanses from Khepra's and some more previews of our cosplays!   Plus a Comic-Con warm up at Annapolis Comic Con later this month!



 

 

 





 

Telltale Games Poker Night 2: All In!

"Winning streaks are like dating beautiful women. Enjoy them while you can, because it's only a matter of time before they dump you for being weird and clingy."
      --Sam

I have to admit that I was sold on Telltale Games' Poker Night 2 as soon as I saw the teasers on YouTube and Twitter.  I'm a long-time fan of the Sam and Max adventures since the days of Hit the Road, so I will pretty much play anything involving them.  And they didn't fail to deliver this time, either.  Poker Night 2 is good fun: an interactive poker game with great dialogue, entertaining characters and many unlockable features both inside and outside of the game.  There's a few features which could be improved to make the game even better, but overall it's a solid bet for any gamer out there looking for a short-term diversion from the more involved RPGs and FPSs out there.

Poker Night 2 features the following characters as players:
Brock Samson, The Venture Bros.
Claptrap, Borderlands / Borderlands 2
Ash Williams, The Evil Dead franchise
Sam (and Max), from the Sam & Max Freelance Police adventure games series and comic

The fifth player is you, portrayed as a mute (eliminating the need to provide dialogue options for you).  When you begin the game, you are given the option to play Omaha or Texas Hold 'Em style poker.  Instructional prompts are provided during your first hand, so even if you are not an avid poker player, you should be able to muddle your way through the first game until you get the hang of it (like I did).  Every game starts with a $20,000 buy-in, which is regenerated for you every game whether or not you win.  However, the system will still track how much money you've lost over time, so you could conceivably continue going  further and further into debt if you continue losing.  Even $180,000 in debt.  Like I did...

The backdrop of your poker game is an old-timey bar presided over by a very sad-looking, gray version of Mad Moxxi from Borderlands.  You are able to buy drinks for the other players from Moxxi once you begin earning tokens.  Tokens are awarded at the end of each game, and the amount you receive depends on what place you finish during that game.  The perk of buying drinks for your opponents is that it will cause them to show their "tells" more easily--a finger tap here, an ear scratch there, indicating whether or not your opponent is bluffing.  Unfortunately, you can only purchase one drink per player per game...I was really hoping that getting the other players utterly hammered would be an option.  Can you imagine things that Brock Samson and Ash Williams would say if they were obliterated?!  Oh well. 

Also joining this cast of colorful characters is GLaDOS from Portal.  She acts as the dealer and delivers many excellent deadpan lines, including some witty banter with her male AI counterpart, Claptrap. 

As I mentioned at the start of this review, the dialogue between your opponents is one of the highlights of Poker Night 2.  Nearly every word that comes out of Claptrap's mouth is a gem.  I started noticing that the dialogue was getting recycled until I actually started winning, which allowed me to unlock more table themes which, in turn, unlocks more dialogue for the players.  So if nothing else, use that as your incentive to win some tournaments!

I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to mention just a few of my favorite quotes:

"This hand was brought to you by the letters W, T, and F!"
      --Claptrap

"If you guys keep indulging my transparent dishonesty, I'm going to have to run for Congress."
      --Sam

Claptrap:  "That's what you get when you screw with the clap!"
Brock:  "There was probably a better way of phrasing that."

"I think I just got kicked in the statisticals!"
      --Sam

Sam:  "You know, I'm still not really sure what a 'Deadite' actually is."
Ash:  "It all starts with an evil book that must never be read."
Sam:  "Battlefield Earth?"



I also mentioned the unlocks outside of the game. For every tournament, there are three random tasks or missions that you can complete (e.g., win a hand in a showdown with a pair) and, when completed, you will be offered a "bounty challenge" in the next tournament. One of your fellow players will offer up a trophy which you receive if you win that tournament. With the trophy win comes an unlock of something outside the game. So far, we have been unlocking exclusive themes for Borderlands 2. I understand that later on, other PSN exclusives are offered as rewards as well.

 

You're probably thinking the whole game can't be without fault, and you're right. The game saves quite often and there are significant delays in dialogue or skipping of the soundtrack when the saves are occurring, which is disruptive to gameplay. There have also been several instances where the game has completely frozen up in the middle of a hand that I was winning, which is equally frustrating. It sounds like this might be a common error and is probably the most significant flaw of Poker Night 2.

I would also say that the inability to engage directly in dialogue with the other characters is a downside to the game and potential area for improvement in future sequels. It would be interesting to explore options that would allow a human player to verbally react to opponents' actions, or to try to elicit responses or tells from opponents through conversation. 

 

Bottom line? Poker Night 2 is worth the $10 price tag on PSN given the opportunities for external game unlocks, entertaining witty banter amongst NPCs, and enough variety in the scenery to entice even novice poker players to come back again and again. Check it out!

 

Cosplayer Interviews from AwesomeCon DC

Hey all, regarding my BioShock on a Budget project for AwesomeCon DC, ATMEtv DC posted a YouTube video of the costume contest which includes interviews with a number of the awesome cosplayers in attendance, including us! You can check it out below.

Redefining Hunger Games...

I love, love , love Jennifer Lawrence.  But somehow I don't think her eating habits will help me get in shape for Comic Con.
Any other time, I'm right there with ya, sister!

Things You Can Learn About Eating From Jennifer Lawrence

I love eating. "Work out to pig out" is a mantra I have embraced in the past. I would never take on a diet that left me starving all the time.  While I have still been eating reasonably since starting the Getting in Shape for Comic Con initiative, I didn't realize how unbalanced my diet has actually been for the last, oh, ten years of my life. I don't eat much junk food, but I certainly have not been eating the right kinds of things to recover from workouts, keep my energy level up, and slim down.  Case in point: on a rigorous workout day--one where I am burning 800-1000 calories with high intensity interval training--I need to be consuming about 110 grams of protein on that day! That is a LOT of protein. To give you an idea, one protein bar typically has 10-12 grams of protein.  I had no idea that my protein intake was too low until a few weeks ago, and now I have to really think about the protein in all my meals, which I never did before.

If you are looking for a decent post-workout recovery protein drink, I would recommend Melissa's Mix, which you can get on Amazon.com.  it is much less expensive than the more well-known competitor brands, has the same composition and is actually better in that it is formulated for women.  There is a chocolate brownie flavor that tastes really good with coconut water or plain water.

Another thing to watch out for, ladies, particularly if your dairy consumption is low, is how much calcium you're getting.  Since I have eliminated most dairy from my diet (it causes me to bulk up really fast) I have to ensure I take a multivitamin to get enough calcium. Or drink milk! Bone strong = Captain Marvel strong!

Of course I am writing this on the evening of a splurge day which is being capped off with a few hours of adult refreshments and playing Defiance.....so I should wrap this up before I make some not-so-healthy recommendations. I'll have some new opinions out about Defiance soon!Photo via Buzzfeed.com

It's a Dance-Off! A Comparison of PS3 Dance Titles

"I got started dancing because I knew it was one way to meet girls."
--Gene Kelly

No more wallflowers -- get 'em singing and dancing!  We are avid party hosters, karaoke participants, and gamers, so naturally I have a small collection of song-and dance-oriented games in my PS3 library.  For several years, Singstar and Singstar + Dance have been my go-to staples for party entertainment.  However, I recently acquired Just Dance 3 and 4 which definitely left me wondering why I had waited so long to check out these titles?  Since both game franchises have strengths and weaknesses, I wanted to do a comparison of them for any of you out there looking to hone your dance skillz, entertain at a party, or get in shape for Comic Con like us!

SingStar + Dance

We started out with SingStar, a Playstation exclusive title, before they added on the dance capability.  We were looking for a good karaoke-type game to use at our house parties, and SingStar was wonderful for just that.   The thing that drew me to SingStar over other karaoke games out there was that they featured the actual music videos as the background while singing, as opposed to a cartoonish animation themed after the artist or song (a la Konami's Karaoke Revolution).  In addition, SingStar had hundreds of songs available in their library on the PlayStation Store, on a pay-per-song basis.  Although it was an additional fee, the variety and quantity of songs available for download was a major bonus when trying to keep content fresh and interesting for multiple parties (and for our own personal use!).

Another fine example of the fun that
can be had by party-goers with
SingStar

At some point, the SingStar franchise decided to get in on the PS3 Move / Eye action by launching a dance component to the game.  As a big fan of dancing (and former avid DDR player), I immediately bought the dance version and was pretty pleased with it.  The gameplay allows for various combinations of singing and dancing roles, such that one person could both sing and dance, or the roles could be split between two different people (i.e., one person could do the dance while another person was singing).  This was especially helpful for party situations to encourage more timid guests to team up.  The online library in PlayStation Store contains about 90 songs available for purchase that have a dance routine associated with them.

 

For the dancing component, the SingStar display features an avatar in the bottom right corner which the player emulates.  It evalutes the player's dancing accuracy using inputs from both the PS Move Controller and the PS Eye camera, so it is quite accurate and, in my opinion, more challenging than XBox Kinect dancing games.  This aspect of the SingStar + Dance can be both a strength and a weakness depending on the situation....harder evaluations can be discouraging for party guests that do not normally dance, but they can also afford longer playability for someone who intends to use the game repeatedly over time.

 

One downside to the game for party use is that when using the Team Mode--particularly applicable when playing with large groups--any PlayStation Store-downloaded songs in your library are not available for play.  "Play solo" mode has to be used in order to take full advantage of your song library...not a deal-breaker, but it does restrict a player's options depending on what your priority is: larger selection of songs versus use of various team mode options (for example, Pass the Mic, Battle Mode, etc). 

 

One other limitation of the dance component of SingStar compared to other dance titles on the market is the lack of a tutorial mode.  Games like Dance Central offer a mode in which to practice different moves, breaking them down step-by-step to simplify the dancing.  SingStar does not have this, and takes a "jump right in with both feet" approach.  There is a practice mode in which a player can sing or dance without the pressure of being scored, but it doesn't really do anything in terms of slowing down the gameplay to make it easier for first-time dancers.

 

Good: Large song library, additional modes for large groups, simultaneous sing-and-dance gameplay options

Bad:  Limits on using downloaded songs, challenging/frustrating for first-time players, pay-per-song beyond in-game library

 

Just Dance 3 &4

 

Enter the competition: The Just Dance franchise.  I bought both 3 and 4 simultaneously just so I would have the additional song library for variety; but for the purposes of this comparison I'll limit myself to Just Dance 4 since it has significantly more features than its predecessor. 

 

Just Dance uses both the PlayStation Move and Eye to evaluate the player.  Up to four players can dance at once, provided there are enough Move Controllers available.  Although I am still unlocking content, there appears to be approximately 30-40 songs available for play in addition to alternate song versions and "mash-ups" for the fitness mode of the game. 

 

I thought that not having the actual music videos as the background for gameplay would be a major let-down, but Just Dance does quite a good job with avatars and theming for the various artists and songs--I imagine many of them are more interesting than the real-world music videos.  For example, the song "Final Countdown" features two dancing avatars dressed as wrestlers and the routine incorporates some wrestling-inspired moves.  Very entertaining.  Another nice feature for the dance aspect of the game is the use of dance move "prompts" at the bottom which show the next one or two upcoming move(s) in the routine.  I have also noticed that the scoring in Just Dance is significantly more forgiving than SingStar + Dance, which tends to make partygoers more receptive.  We observed that significantly more guests are willing to get up and participate with Just Dance compared to SingStar. 

 

Don't hesitate, participate!  Busting some moves in Just
Dance 4.

As indicated by the title, Just Dance 4 is primarily a dancing game, but also offers a "karaoke mode" in which the song lyrics are displayed along the bottom of the screen, and the PS Eye is used as the audio input device. However, the game does not evaluate or provide any feedback to the player on singing performance. This is a downside when compared to SingStar if the player desires fully scored singing and dancing features.

 

In addition to multi-player dance modes, Just Dance has a mission component where new content can be unlocked following completion of five tasks for each song; for example, achieving a four-star score, completing all "gold star" moves in a song, etc.   This is nice for large groups in that it provides potential team goals to collectively work toward, or a way for groups to compete against each other.  The additional content is unlocked in-game but also can be earned through a Ubisoft UPlay account via the PlayStation store.  As a solo player, I relish the prospect of unlocking new dance content and the missions offer incentive to come back to a particular song even after multiple play-throughs.

 

Good:  Multi-player dance options, dance move "cues," mission achievement component, easier scoring for newcomers

Bad:  No scoring/feedback for karaoke mode, somewhat limited song library

 

So who's the winner of this dance-off?  If you're looking for a dancing game, I would definitely say that Just Dance offers superior playability for both the solo dancer and for large groups or party situtations.  If you're looking for a solid singing game with a so-so dancing option, SingStar is still the way to go.  They're both pretty inexpensive at this point, so you may as well get a used copy of both games from GameStop!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 10 Things I Learned at AwesomeCon DC

Hey folks. I'm back after a fun-filled weekend at AwesomeCon DC.  It was, well, awesome! And I'm not just saying that because our BioShock Infinite costumes scored us first place in the costume contest yesterday (YESSSS!!).  We had a great time and it was great to see fellow comic and gaming fans turn out en masse to represent DC. 

As I've mentioned, I work full-time and it turns out I  am running low on time for the blog tonight, but wanted to make sure I got down a couple afterthoughts on "BioShock on a Budget" and AwesomeCon.  To that end, I am going to wrap up with a top 10 list of things I learned at AwesomeCon DC.

10.  Homestuck.  I finally learned about this web comic and who the hell all these cosplay folks are with the bright orange horns.  Thanks to our fellow entrants in the costume contest for educating  me!  

Thankfully, no fire marshals in the room
for Super Art Fight....lots of
spectators!

9.  Hard-Core TableTop Gaming.  Admittedly, board games have never been a big part of my gaming experience--I'm more a console person--but AwesomeCon's "Mind of the Geek" game room showed me that tabletop gaming is alive and well.  Not only that, but people are really serious about this stuff---we saw the Warhammer table break out a tape measure to determine the outcome of one player's movements.  That was a new experience for me.  And hard core. 

8.  Super Art Fight is awesome and showed that it is possible to cover a large sheet of paper with comic characters disguised as Amish gangsters, seahorses, and baked goods.  Who knew there was a whole world of randomly-themed and timed competitive comic artistry out there?!

7.  Cosmetic contact lenses suck. I tried to stick it out all day Saturday with the blue contact lenses for my Elizabeth cosplay, but ended up wandering around with my finger stuck in my eyes half the time trying to readjust my contacts; the other half of the time I could barely see, and just walked uncomfortably around the vendor area. Perhaps a secondary lesson learned should be that spending $9.99 on a pair of blue contact lenses online is a bad idea.  That part of my BioShock on a Budget cosplay was an epic fail.

6.  Ernie Hudson is the same as ever.   It's like he's been preserved in a jar since Ghostbusters.  He looked the same this past weekend as he did when he played Winston.  So cool to see him there!

5.  Cosplaying is an event unto itself.   Since this was my first event truly cosplaying, I didn't realize until this past weekend how much time I would spend just walking around, getting photographed, taking photographs, and talking to other cosplayers...to the point that we missed several panels that we wanted to attend!  But it was great, and I would definitely cosplay again.

4.  Comic and gaming fans are just nice people! In a city like DC where people tend to be very stand-offish, it was refreshing to go to AwesomeCon and be able to strike up a conversation with just about anyone, of any age, any background, and not be judged or ignored.  We really enjoyed getting to meet all sorts of other gamers and learning a thing or two about comics and tabletop games as well!

3.  Comic people helping comic people.  We met volunteers from the Hero Initiative, an LA-based non-profit that raises funds to help comic veterans with financial aid, for anything from medical expenses to retirement to getting back in the industry.  It's a great cause.  You can help out too, via their website, www.heroinitiative.org.

2.  You CAN cosplay on a budget and, moreover, win a costume contest on a budget!! Jon and I were overwhelmed by the support and approval that we received from judges, fellow cosplayers, and the crowd at the group costume contest yesterday.  We're so happy that people enjoyed our version of Elizabeth and Booker from BioShock Infinite!

1.  DC Fandom.  There IS a large comic and gaming fan base here in DC, we CAN have our own convention, and AwesomeCon will be back and even bigger and better next year!

BioShock on a Budget: Cosplay for under $50

Just a few weeks ago, I decided to cosplay for AwesomeCon DC this coming weekend.  Now, I've been preparing my costumes for San Diego Comic Con for months, and one of the challenges I have frequently encountered is balancing cost, time, and attention to detail (the latter being extremely important to me).  But, I have found that being resourceful and creative can cut down on costs, and putting together a costume can still be managed as a side-project for someone working full time.  To prove that point, I decided to challenge myself to put together a convention-worthy cosplay for less than $50.

The Decision

Inspired by my recent playing of BioShock Inifinite, I settled on Elizabeth.  Before I definitively selected this character for cosplay, I considered several main factors which are relevant to any cosplay project (unless you're independently wealthy): 
1.  What skills do I have? 
I cannot sew, so I knew whatever I put together would be limited to stitch-free modifications and ideally a lot of pieces that could be found in my closet or at a thrift store. I do have some painting and artistic ability so I wanted to capitalize on that for some of the details.
2. How much time do I have? 
I work 10+ hours a day and do other stuff on the weekends, so assembly of my costume could not be a full-time commitment.  I was willing to set aside roughly 1-2 hours every couple days to work on different aspects of the costume.
3. How much can I spend on this?
I limited myself to $50 for this cosplay. Cost is something that I weigh carefully before embarking on any new costume projects.
4.  How accurate do I want/need this costume to be?
To me, costume accuracy to the original character is paramount; however, sometimes it is unrealistic to get every single detail correct, particularly when you consider my other three factors.  I had to ask myself which details of the costume am I willing to sacrifice on in light of the other constraints? I discovered that this answer changed as I began to search for key pieces of the costume.

The Hunt

Having assessed Elizabeth's costume while playing the game and looking at additional images online, I determined that many of her clothing pieces could be reasonably found at a thrift store, or at least something similar that would require embellishments or small alterations. So, I made my shopping list and headed out to my favorite thrift shops: Unique Thrift Store in Wheaton and the Georgia Ave Thrift Store in DC.  These places have a large inventory of clothing and are much more reasonable than the hipster consignment shops in U Street Corridor (but you know I Iove you guys).

My first visit to the thrift shops was largely a success! I found the pieces below which were more or less consistent with Elizabeth's main clothing pieces.  In total, these cost me  $11.89.

I knew it would be unrealistic for me to find a white blouse with blue-with-gold-trim collar, so I thought I could use a fitted blue collared shirt under a blouse, and paint on the gold trim, which is what I've done above.  Any gold acrylic paint will do, but in this case I used a gold fabric pen (about $2.99 at Michaels).  The skirt isn't exactly what I wanted--Elizabeth's skirt is a lighter shade of blue with dark trim on the bottom--but this is one of those times I had to ask myself, given time, money, and my skill limitations is it likely I will find a skirt that is a better fit for this cosplay in two weeks?  I decided that I wouldn't.

The other accessories that I wanted to ensure were part of my cosplay to really add that attention to detail (and utilize my art skills) were Elizabeth's brooch necklace, her blue hair ribbon, and the book that she was carrying with her when Booker first encounters her. I figured out from looking at a ton of online resources that the book is The Principlies of Quantum Mechanics by Rosalind Lutece, an NPC in the game.  At Michael's, I miraculously discovered that they sell small photo storage boxes that are designed to look like books.  I couldn't believe my luck!  It was $10, but splurged since it would save me some time (would only require minor modifications) and it would be dual use as purse-like storage for my cosplay during the convention.  Taking cues from BioShock photos online, I hand-painted a paper cover for the book and the binding to reflect the correct title and author.  I just taped it over the pre-printed design.  Here's how it came out.

The second accessory I crafted was Elizabeth's brooch.  In screenshots it appears to be a light blue lace necklace with either a birdcage or a bird design on the blue-colored brooch (depending on what Booker chooses for her in the game).  I found some inexpensive white lace ribbon at Michael's ($1.99) and a sheet of blue foam which I planned to use for the back of the brooch. I used blue acrylic paint to color the lace, and then I drew a bird like the one on her brooch and cut it out of a fairly thick piece of white cardboard.  I cut a circle out of the blue foam that would fit the bird cut-out, and painted the edges (again, just plain acrylic craft paint, $0.99) to match the design of Elizabeth's brooch, and glued it all together.  To make it a necklace, I used an elastic hair band piece that is usually sold in the jewelry section of the craft store--again, inexpensive, like $1.99.  Here's what it looked like before I linked all the lace pieces together.

The third accessory, her blue hair bow, was easy enough to find at the craft store; I intended to just buy some plain blue gift ribbon, but they actually had pre-made bows for the same price ($1.99), so I just bought that instead. I'll just tie it on to one of my hair elastics.  Done!


Lastly, I knew that I still wanted to modify the skirt that I bought so that it looked at least a bit more visually similar to Elizabeth's skirt, even if the coloration was off.  In the game, her skirt has four horizontal strips fastened by buttons at the top and bottom of the skirt.  I cut up some similar-colored blue fabric ($2.99 at the thrift store) to look like these strips and used fabric glue ($1.99 at craft store) to adhere them to the skirt.  I added some buttons to match the placement on Elizabeth's skirt.  I also used the fabric glue to shorten the skirt slightly since it was almost full-length when I bought it. Here's what it looks like now.

One thing that you have probably noticed I haven't touched on...and is a fairly important part of any ensemble for us ladies...is shoes.  Elizabeth is wearing steampunk-style, lace-up knee-high boots in the game.  I was concerned about this component of the costume because a not-so-great pair of boots can easily go for $30-40, and my timing is off to catch the clearance sales from winter.  While I did not own any such boots, I do have several plain brown and black knee-high boots that would suffice in the case that I would not want to spend the extra cash getting a pair of lace-up boots that I may or may not use again.  Now, don't judge me, but I opted to buy a pair of lace-up boots that I really liked, but they put me WAY OVER my $50 budget for this cosplay project.  I have decided to write off this part of the costume as an expense because 1. I did have another option in my closet that could have been used, and not exceeded my $50 budget, and 2. shoes have reuse value  for costumes and I could have conceivably already had a pair of boots like this.  Fair enough? Good!


The Verdict

So, tallying all my expenses above the total came to $33.83, not including shoes as I mentioned.  So it was absolutely realistic to stay under $50 for this cosplay! YOU CAN DO IT!  You may be wondering how much time I spent on this project, between the thrift store trips and putting everything together.  I would estimate about 12 hours, spread out over two weekends and 3-4 evenings during the week.  It was a bit of a time sink, but ultimately doable since I chose to make it a priority for AwesomeCon.  It did interfere with my ability to get on the PS3 for a couple days, but I thought this was a worthy excuse!

Check back next weekend for the big reveal of my BioShock cosplay (to include my husband's cosplay of Booker--a whole other project!) and photos from AwesomeCon DC!