Star Trek: Starbase 777 - london︱comic-con

Decked out in as good a superhero cosplay as they could put together over their refrigeration suit, Nenn was absolutely ready to take on a whole convention in a day, this time with company. They fiddled with their ticket, turning back to the others behind them, grinning beneath the helmet. “Everyone’s got their stuff, yeah?” They confirmed, “No missing props, tickets, bags, the like?”

Grub probably looked ridiculous wearing Hatsune Miku twintails over his oversized Ferengi forehead and lobes, but Sauk had insisted before they left their shared hotel room that he looked great. The skirt was a bit daunting, but the cadet was confident enough in his masculinity to crossdress for the sake of cosplay. He patted down his legs before remembering his outfit didn't have pockets. Then, he took off his backpack. "I've never been to a convention," Grub said nervously, digging through the various things he'd packed. "What if I forgot something I didn't even realize I needed?" he fretted, looking around anxiously.

Sauk had spent that morning bouncing back and forth between wearing a costume or not. It was tough-- his favorite character of all time was a feral cat, and he couldn't effectively pull that off without a fursuit. Eventually, he'd just dumped the custom buttons he'd drawn, printed out, and made for the con in his backpack and thrown on a shirt he'd gotten from a fan of his Warrior Cats: Live Action collaborative project from a few years ago. "I think we're good," the older of the pair responded as a way to both answer Nenn and reassure Grub. They were going to have fun. And if they didn't, Sauk had packed his laptop and had his favorite movie pirating site bookmarked. He and Grub could always escape back to the hotel. "Thanks for letting us come, by the way," Sauk added, and Shoe, his emotional support cat seemed to meow in agreement.

Meanwhile, somewhere nearby, T'len was standing around near some of the stalls, all decked out in her cosplay. She was dressed as the main character of "Meq'leths and Multiple Attempts to Escape", the Bat'leths and Bihnuchs fangame which she had created herself. She wore a short wig which made her hair look blonde and slightly wavy, and her clothes comprised of what looked like a Vulcan-style dress, only it was made out of a salvaged Klingon uniform; a Klingon who was a fan of T'len's game was kind enough to send her a real Klingon uniform, so she could reuse it for cosplay purposes. In her hand was an 'aqleH; a weapon which looked like half a bat'leth attached to a long pole. Her 'aqleH was made of cardboard, of course - the Klingon who sent her the uniform also sent her a real 'aqleH, but there was no way that T'len would've been allowed to take that to the convention. T'len looked around at all the cosplayers in the convention, and took a moment to appreciate everyone's individual cosplays; the level of skill was irrelevant to her, all she cared about was that the people there clearly cared too. T'len wondered if anybody would recognise her own cosplay; she was even more curious whether someone would recognise her as the developer. She didn't mind either way, of course, but she did particularly enjoy it when people recognised her cosplay, but not her true identity; because, that was usually a great opportunity to receive the most honest feedback about her game.

“I’ve got a sewing kit, a personal dermal regenerator, extra water, and tape. If you forgot anything, man, I’ve got you.” They chuckled towards Grub, “First con’s always a little high-intensity, but I promise you’ll have fun.” “And hey, no problem. I’m happy to have company for these, especially since you guys are actual fans of stuff. I usually dragged my old business partner, but he was only in it for the comic deals.” They joked, shrugging as they stepped ahead of the group, “Okay… what’re we up to first? Panels, artist alley, shopping stalls? I see a sick M&M cosplay over there, I feel like that’s a cool sign.”

As T'len scouted her surroundings, she saw someone who caught her eye; someone wearing what looked like a highly intricate exosuit, which a superhero suit fitted over it. The exosuit, as well as its purpose, became of sudden interest to T'len. Was that part of the cosplay, or part of the person wearing the cosplay? As she stepped a little closer, she realised that this exosuit reminded her of an image she saw once, which depicted the Breen; But how likely was it that an actual Breen was walking around on a Federation planet? Weren't the Breen... Not really friends with the Federation or something? Either way, T'len would've rather liked to take a closer look at that suit; perhaps it would make for a good design reference for any future games she would make. "Live honourably, and prosper." T'len approached Nenn and greeted them with a quote from the character which she was cosplaying.

“Oh, hey! Fuck yeah!” They lit up, as much as they could behind the mask at the very least, “Dude, I love M&M. Your costume looks so sick. I saw you over there and I wasn’t sure whether to come say hi.”

"Thank you..." T'len gave a small nod in appreciation. "Don't be afraid of saying hi to people here." She added, reassuringly. "We are all nerds here... So, what are you being a nerd about today?" She asked, gesturing a little to Nenn's cosplay. Needless to say, she was using the word "nerd" in a positive way, like it was an honourable title to have.

“Oh, I’m dressed as Raptor— y’know, the fifth series of Astro-Gem.” They nodded, “I just read the new issue, it was brilliant. Do you know that one?”

T'len thought for a few seconds. "I have read Astro-Gem before, but I haven't managed to read past the third series..." She admitted to them. "Do you know where I may find the rest of the series? I would love to catch up with the story..." As far as T'len knew, considering that she only knew half the lore of Astro-Gem, Nenn's character did not in fact wear an exosuit... Unless some crazy shit happened in that fifth series, of course. Now T'len was even more intrigued.

“Oh! I, uh… I have a comic store, and we have a— kind of a library-ish website. I have digital copies of the comics, you can borrow ‘em for a week.” They grinned, “It’s so cool, although I’m sad the other comic-accurate cosplay I’ve been working on didn’t fit over the exosuit.”

So, the exosuit really was part of them! Fascinating. T'len was impressed how they managed to pull off a cool cosplay anyway, even if it wasn't the one they originally wanted. "Isn't there anyone who could alter the cosplay to fit the exosuit?" T'len suggested. "But if not... Why don't you create an original character that does wear an exosuit, and cosplay as them?"

“I mean… holy shit, yeah. I gotta do that.” There went their plans for the next protagonist in their comics. Exosuit protag, coming up! “Having fun so far? It’s a big convention this year, damn…”