meteordust | Supanova 2009

I went on the Sunday. This year, for the first time since I can remember, there wasn't anyone among the guests I particularly wanted to see. So I mostly wandered around the stalls and chatted to people and took photos of cosplayers. I was astonished to discover that a novel based on the old Australian Realms campaign world, The Fall of Ossard, is coming to bookstores in August. And I was pleased to learn that the new Studio Ghibli movie, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, is coming to cinemas in September.

Conventions are often like carnival - there is so much shiny stuff on display, it's a real temptation to go wild, and you have to stop and ask yourself, do I actually need an inflatable Dalek or a Dexter bobble-head or a t-shirt saying "... and then Buffy staked Edward. The end."? I managed to limit myself to filling in some holes in my manga collection, and picking up some cool new stuff from Artists' Alley. I ended up with the latest releases from FIGHT!! Comics, the first issue of The Pantheon by Rahball, the new full colour Generation anthology, and a very delectable BL artbook from Poshua, Caleyndar, Pirotess and RAE. (And now I am hanging out for the special edition of Adventures of an OG Addict by Libbie and the third Dylan Bradley comic by FIGHT!! Comics, both due out at SMASH! in August.)

I also sat through the entire cosplay competition, which reminded me why I rarely do that anymore. The costumes were fine, but the skits--! If I was liveblogging the event, there would be a great deal of "Please no!" and "*facepalm*" and "I'm too old for this". I'll say again what I said last year: (1) risque banter sounds better on the page than on the stage, and (2) acting really is hard to do without sounding fake, wooden or cheesy.

However, the groups that prerecorded the audio track to their performances came across much better. Highlights included Howl versus Howl-in-Bird-Form, the Dance Dance Avatar group, Penelo of FFXII playing an oboe to the end song, and the Absolute Obedience group, featuring

kawak as you have never seen him before. I was also impressed by the KISS cosplayer wandering around the convention, and by the trio of little kids playing Indiana Jones (8), a Stormtrooper (6), and Zelda (4).

Photos

Best t-shirt ever.

... and then Buffy staked Edward. The end.