Cosplay: MC & "Reflections of Love" End of Year Events

Ash: Wait, there are two events today?

Me: Yes, there are actually two events on this same day in my local area, and I'm sending you to both of them.

Pikachu: Pika pika... ["Hmm, interesting..."]

Me: So, first up, we have the "MC End of Year Event". This one has a real good (actually, not so good) story behind it, one that everyone should know about. This theme event was actually supposed to happen last week.

Ash: But there was a convention last week!

Me: Exactly. And the way that this event was organized, it would make no one go. The event itself seems to be free, but the price to get into the competition was exorbitant, beyond the budgets of most, including you and me. From what I hear, there were even communication difficulties about what should be in it. That was why a few of my friends declined to support it, preferring instead to go to that convention.

Ash: And then it got delayed to today.

Me: Yes, though they say the reason for the delay was more technical. In fact, I'm not entirely sure what would happen, so I've sent you to find out what happens and see if we can get something good out of it.

Ash: On it!

Me: OK, so what happened?

Ash: Well, the place seems OK - it's small but it's really nice. You told me it's a character performance, and you were right!

Me: How'd you do with your Hoenn outfit and the first opening as the background music?

Ash: I did OK with what you gave me. There were a few things I and Pikachu wanted to do but didn't get to do. The judges saw that.

Pikachu: Pika chu, pika pika. ["Maybe, it could be better."]

Me: Hmm. I do have to apologize a bit, since this was kind of short-notice to begin with. And then this event was dodgy from the start.

Ash: The other characters got lots of criticism from them too. Nothing seemed perfect.

Me: Well, that's rough and tough. So who did win?

Ash: There were a few characters that you and I know that won something, so it's good for them. But out of the 12 characters and 7 prizes, I didn't win anything.

Me: It can't be helped. I think the problems just got to us.

Ash: They did seem desperate to show off something toward the end. The concept is OK, but it can be improved - maybe like what I did on stage!

Me: There you go. Let's just move on for now. Now you have to get rolling to the second one.

Ash: Yeah!

Pikachu: Pika! ["Let's go!"]

Me: It should have been simple for you to get to the place of the other event from that one. Did you have any problems?

Ash: No, but the road was a bit busy.

Me: Well, that's kind of a given this time of year. OK, so now we have the second event, as the "Reflections of Love End-of-Year Event". Compared to the other, this one was a little better organized, but there were still a few hiccups. I was thinking of having you go just to this one, but since the other event happened conveniently just before this one, I wanted you to go to both.

Ash: Yeah, I guess it's great that both happened like that.

Me: Now, this one was going to happen whether or not the other one happened, so I set you up for this one and its character parade. What did happen there?

Ash: Well, at first it didn't feel like the theme events you usually send me to. It felt kind of like a lot of things at once.

Me: Yes, there is a fashion and ethnic dance competition along with the character parade. I'm sure they titled the whole thing "Reflections of Love" because it's supposed to represent how we truly love what we do, whether it's this one or that one.

Ash: OK, so you want me with the Hoenn outfit again?

Me: Certainly. It saves you and I a lot of effort.

Pikachu: Pi, pika! ["Me too!"]

Me: Sure, why not. Now, how'd it go?

Ash: The people here seemed more welcoming than in the other one. I and the other characters even got to walk around the park nearby and showed off. Oh yeah - I caught a Virizion too from a raid with one of your raid group friends!

Me: Ooh! That's delicious; you'll have to tell me more later about it. What about the parade?

Ash: It was neat. There were 19 characters including me. It was a bit late, but everyone still enjoyed it. It was a little like a usual theme event at the end.

Me: And of course, there has to be the results. What can you tell me? I hear the prizes are nifty.

Ash: Yeah! But I didn't get any of them, even though there was a good chance of winning. Two good character friends of mine did, and it was the second prize of the day for them after winning something from the other one.

Pikachu: Pi, ka. ["Ouch."]

Me: Rats. A two-for-one deal today and we got nothing.

Ash: But the second event really felt nice. Maybe we should've just gone to this one.

Me: Maybe, but at least we tried something and got a new experience out of that.

Ash: Things weren't too good today, but you'll still send me to events and conventions, right?

Me: Sure. It's only right, as "reflections of love", like the second event. It reminds me of "Reflections of Passion", a piece by Yanni.

Ash: Hey, I heard that one from the concert earlier this year! I think I get your point.

Me: And that's why I keep doing that, and I have this blog. For now, though, we're out of events or conventions for this year and almost out of this year as well, so... see you next year, in whatever's to come.

Ash: See you! Count on us!

Pikachu: Pika! ["See you!"]

One year ago: Local EX Raid (Above and Beyond), 12/29/2018
Two years ago: In Lieu of a Book