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BLU Medic is, technically, not my first cosplay. That title is held by a casual cosplay of a RED Scout I had worn the year prior at Otakuthon 2010, my very first convention experience. I knew about cosplay and conventions already, having seen videos online of events (such as this Ohayocon 2009 clip, which I'm ecstatic is not only still online, but so easy to find.) I thought, however, that it was just an American thing, like a lot of things I found on the internet. I thought these things wouldn't happen in my country, let alone somewhere near me.

My sister, however, found a nearby convention and we convinced our parents to let us go! I immediately wanted to try cosplaying like in the videos, but I didn't know the first thing on how to buy an Organization XIII cloak... I was also deeply embarassed about the prospect of someone figuring out I wanted to cosplay. I got bullied quite a bit for being nerdy, and the thought of my parents realizing I wanted to dress up as a video game character was mortifying. It didn't quite deter me, though; I ended up assembling a RED Scout cosplay out of my closet and borrowing my dad's cap saying it might get too sunny; once I reached the convention I pulled up my crew socks as high as possible, taped the little cardboard Medic bubble to my hat, and walked around the hall hoping my sister wouldn't realize what I was doing. (She did. She didn't mind; in fact, we both ended up making our first real cosplay at the next event.)

Getting to the point; after that first convention experience, the excitement of someone hollering "Hey, Scout!" once at the con ignited something in me that just hasn't stopped since. I was still really into Team Fortress 2, so when my sister and I both asked help from our parents to make costumes, I showed him the Medic on our home computer (aka the TF2/L4D2 machine). I knew labcoats were a thing you could buy, so I thought it was more doable than the other mercs.

Medic started with a couple purchases; a pair of rain boots and rubber gloves, a thrifted dress shirt and tie, and a pair of sweatpants. We got a labcoat from a local uniform shop, and he helped me use iron-on transfer vinyl paper to print and add the class symbols on it. He dismantled an old saw from the shed, cut some MDF wood on the bandsaw and glued it together for me to paint and turn into a Bonesaw prop.

The centerpiece of the costume was the Medipack. We turned an old shoebox into the cube base, with some wood scrap for the top and bottom part. He cut some circles out of scrap styrofoam to make the details and helped me spraypaint a soda bottle, attached with a strip of cardboard. He repurposed nylon webbing from an old backpack for the straps. I remember finding a bottle of NOS energy drink and having to convince him the cap would be perfect for the valve on the medipack and we should buy a bottle, even if we were just gotta dump the content into the drain. (It did fit great on the bottle.)

When we got to the next convention, in November, I was proudly wearing my first real cosplay, and I was beaming. It was super common to see Valve-themed cosplays, so I fit right in. I brought Medic to two more conventions before retiring it. I was too shy to ask for help taking photos at the time, so most of the ones I got were from the last event I wore the costume to in 2011, during a TF2 group photoshoot. The medipack, while cool, hurt my back something fierce. The boots and gloves were a sweatfest, and the bonesaw lost quite a few teeth throughout the year. But finally getting to wear my first homemade cosplay, and going to conventions meeting fellow Team Fortress 2 fans (one of which I met again years later, completely randomly, out of convention! We're friends now) is an experience I don't think I'll ever forget.

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