Are you f-ing kidding me with this? <br />Amazing GFL cosplay at Dragon*Con
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"] Coach Hokor the Hookchest, people. Dig the softball-sized glowing eye.[/caption]
Sometimes, shit just blows you away.
I've wanted to be a fiction writer since I was in the sixth grade. I've been a professional writer for over twenty-five years. I sat down about twenty years ago and set my sights on becoming a full-time novelist, accomplished that goal six years ago. Along the way, there has been crazy-cool writerly stuff I never saw coming, like people with tats of my fiction or tons of people coming to an event called SiglerFest every year. Allow me to add to that something else I didn't see coming, something so humbling it makes me all red about the face: people cosplaying as characters from the Galactic Football League.
Enter the Dragon*Con 2014 in the ATL.
We had a little Irish Wake for one PG Holyfield (may he be awesome forever on the next plane), and to my surprise, a crap-ton of amazing GFL fans showed up in full-on Krakens gear. Here is the link to the full picture set shot by Bruce "Icepick" Press, resident photog of all things Siglerism.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="400"] Quentin Barnes tries to be patient with Denver, who is very excited, as usual. LoveLOVElove![/caption]
Hey, Scott, what's this "cosplay" stuff?
I know, I know, many of you aren't geeks that go to scifi conventions. "Cosplay" means dressing up in costumes that replicate or represent a character from fiction (TV, movies, comics, and — sometimes — books). See the picture at the top of this post?* Front row left to right: that's the smokin-hot Somalia Midori, Coach Hokor the Hookchest (amazing costume), me throwing up in a golden puke bucket, John Tweedy (complete with a forehead tat that read "I know words"), Ju Tweedy and Denver (check out those eyestalks and tentacles!).
Are you kidding me with this?
Quentin Barnes was in the background of that pic above (along with other members of the Krakens Offense) but you can't see him, but #10 is shown in this blog post along with Denver. Barnes also had Doc Patah on his left shoulder (you can't see him here but you can on the Bruce Press page).
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The Tweedy Brothers! Ju (left) and John (right) bring in Quentin's golden puke bucket.[/caption]
So, that happened. To be honest, I didn't know what to say about such an outpouring of pure love (loveLOVElove) for the GFL series. I couldn't believe people had put in that much work to not only make costumes, but to coordinate their cosplay with stuff that I invented for my stories. If you know me, you know I rarely shut up and I always have something to say — this was one of the few times in my life I was speechless.
Thank you, GFL cosplayers. That was amazing. Go Orange, Go Black, and gooooooOOOOOOOOOO KRAKENS!
*L to R: Emily Finke, Beth Copenhaver, Nicole Gugliucci, me, Maria Walters, A Kovacs, Liz Gaston. (Back row, not fully pictured, but fully awesome: Mark Copenhaver, Tim LeGower.)