Week 11 Story: The Cosplay Son
There was once a man named Steve who had a son, Mike. Mike was very in to cosplaying, or wearing costumes of his favorite video game characters and meeting others like him. Steve did not understand this, nor did he want to. He stayed as far away from Mike's cosplaying as he physically could.
One day, Mike was getting into his costume, with the help of his mother, to go to a convention when his father came downstairs. It had been a particularly hard week on Steve and he was non too pleased to see his son dressed like he was. He became irate with his wife about how she enabled this weirdness in their son and eventually slammed a book on the table to express his frustration. Steve's wife took this as a cue to leave, and hurridly took Mike to his convention.
After cooling down a little bit, Steve realized he had made a mistake and was determined to apologize for it. He knew where the convention was taking place and drove there himself. When he got to the convention hall, he spoke with the man in charge and asked to be pointed towards where his son would be so that he could apologize. The man did not like how little Steve cared for this pastime, and agreed only to help him if he could pick his son from other cosplayers three times in a row.
Mike saw his father talking and. knowing that this is often a tactic the man likes to use, sent his father some texts informing him of secret signals so that his father could pick him out of the line-up. The first time, Mike would turn his head to the right. The second, mike would hold part of his costume at an odd angle. The third time, Mike would stand on one foot.
The first two attempts went on without a hitch. On the third time, one of the other attendants, having to use the bathroom, was also standing on one foot. Not being able to distinguish the two cosplayers, Steve made a guess and chose incorrectly. The man in charge then kicked him out of the convention hall, from which he was thence forth banned from entering.
Author's Note: This story started as "The Piqued Buffalo-Wife" from the marriage tales readings. In the original story, the man impregnates a buffalo, who gives birth to a son, who eventually finds his dad. The dad then meets his son's mom, who becomes human. They all live together until the dad hits his wife with a stick and she takes her son to live as buffalo with other buffalo. Then the stories' plots become very similar, except in the original, the dad dies and is brought back to life via magic.
Bibliography: Tales of the North by Stith Thompson Link
One day, Mike was getting into his costume, with the help of his mother, to go to a convention when his father came downstairs. It had been a particularly hard week on Steve and he was non too pleased to see his son dressed like he was. He became irate with his wife about how she enabled this weirdness in their son and eventually slammed a book on the table to express his frustration. Steve's wife took this as a cue to leave, and hurridly took Mike to his convention.
After cooling down a little bit, Steve realized he had made a mistake and was determined to apologize for it. He knew where the convention was taking place and drove there himself. When he got to the convention hall, he spoke with the man in charge and asked to be pointed towards where his son would be so that he could apologize. The man did not like how little Steve cared for this pastime, and agreed only to help him if he could pick his son from other cosplayers three times in a row.
Mike saw his father talking and. knowing that this is often a tactic the man likes to use, sent his father some texts informing him of secret signals so that his father could pick him out of the line-up. The first time, Mike would turn his head to the right. The second, mike would hold part of his costume at an odd angle. The third time, Mike would stand on one foot.
The first two attempts went on without a hitch. On the third time, one of the other attendants, having to use the bathroom, was also standing on one foot. Not being able to distinguish the two cosplayers, Steve made a guess and chose incorrectly. The man in charge then kicked him out of the convention hall, from which he was thence forth banned from entering.
An example of cosplay. Link
Author's Note: This story started as "The Piqued Buffalo-Wife" from the marriage tales readings. In the original story, the man impregnates a buffalo, who gives birth to a son, who eventually finds his dad. The dad then meets his son's mom, who becomes human. They all live together until the dad hits his wife with a stick and she takes her son to live as buffalo with other buffalo. Then the stories' plots become very similar, except in the original, the dad dies and is brought back to life via magic.
Bibliography: Tales of the North by Stith Thompson Link
Hi Joe! I actually read this story this week too so it was nice to hear your adaptation of it. I think you did a good job, and I like that your adaptation did not have as severe of consequences as the original did when the father was not able to distinguish his son. Great job putting this into a modern situation!
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this story! I loved the fun and exotic feel as I was reading. You did a great job tying everything together, and incorporating the original story with this story! I also loved the images and layout of your project. The creativity behind your work really shines, and I am excited to read more! I was still curious on the background of the cosplayers. Incorporating the details of the convention might be beneficial to readers who are not familiar with this Overall great work!
Hi Joe. I really liked how you changed your story. It was a fun and modern take on this type of tale, which was interesting to see. I really like how you also made it your own. Cosplaying was a great idea to use as the "disguise" like the buffalo skin was in the original. I really enjoyed your story!
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