I got to start off my cosplay convention season on a high by attending one of my favorite Chicago cons. I had a lot of fun, met new friends, learned new things and came back feeling inspired. Thus I have a lot to share and thought a C2E2 2024 recap blog post was needed.
Bombshell Catwoman Cosplay
First and foremost, I had planned to cosplay as Bombshell Catwoman for all 3 days of the con. This sadly just didn’t work out. By the end of day 1 my feet were in the worst pain from walking in heels all day. I’m not use to that much walking to begin with so the heels just made it unbearable. Thus I had to make a last minute switch to another cosplay.
I did however get to wear her through artist alley and met Ant Lucia! He asked me for a selfie and even gave me a free print of his Bombshell Catwoman art that he signed. It truly MADE MY CON to have an artist I admire so much do all of that while I was in the cosplay.
Vault Dweller Cosplay
As I mentioned already, I made a swap in cosplays for day 2 and 3. This ended up being my vault dweller cosplay from Fallout 4. I pulled out the vault suit, my combat chest armor and the super sledge to wear for the remainder of the weekend. This was really sentimental to me though because it’s the last con the vault dweller is ever going to be at… in that form.
Don’t be scared, she’s not retiring. I made all of my armor and props a long time ago now. I wasn’t that skilled when I did and I want to rework a lot of stuff. The suit was also one I purchased that I would like to modify more.
The overhaul includes replacing the leather straps on the full set of combat armor, taking apart and redoing 2/3’s of the super sledge and modifying the suit quite heavily. This will probably lead to some videos though on YouTube once I begin this process.
I do also plan to modify the helmet however that isn’t on the list for the immediate future and will occur at a much later time.
What I Learned at C2E2 2024
Yaya Han did two panels at C2E2 that I was able to attend. One was about making cosplay a long term career, beyond social media and the other was on competing. The former of the two stuck out the most for me. I learned a lot and it was very eye opening for me about my career as a cosplayer and the content I make. Which is why I’m going to be heavily auditing and modifying my website, and changing my content strategy.
What Does That Mean for Content?
The big thing this means for content, is I’m done prioritizing making separate short form content that is just meant to try and please the algorithms. I want to focus on more evergreen content instead. What does that mean though? Less Shorts, TikToks and Reels and continuing to focus on my blog and long form YouTube videos. This doesn’t mean I will completely stop making short videos, they just will be more focused on promoting my products, other platforms or giving quick cosplay tips so it better aligns with my other content.
How Will the Website be Changing?
There’s going to be a few changes to copy on my cosplay portfolios. I want it to be a bit more insightful about the cosplay and include more relevant information and products on those pages to make the user experience and SEO value better. I also want to convert from using Carrd to having a links page on my website that I can use in it’s place.
The Showcase
I wanted to talk about the showcase last in the C2E2 2024 recap because it was probably by far the most fun. I spent about an hour and a half just backstage talking with and meeting so many incredible cosplayers that I can’t wait to see at the next con. The community is one of my favorite things about cosplay and the showcase truly helped remind me of that.
I also want to clear up the air about the super sledge which came apart ON STAGE when I brought the hammer down. Few questions to be answered there:
- Did the hammer break? Not really. The hammer is designed to come apart in 3 places for travel. I literally just accidentally pulled it apart so it’s not broken and it’s definitely fine.
- Was that suppose to happen? Nope! But I did my best to roll with it. I guess I just had too much put into strength for the hammer to handle.