Splashdot 2026 - Day 2

Cosplay Day (John Scalzi)

Today is “Cosplay Day” on the JoCo Cruise, where you, the cruisers, are encouraged to dress up as, and thus celebrate, some of your favorite fictional characters, media obsessions, or, honestly, anything else you might want to. A K-Pop Demon Hunters fan? Then dress up as any member of Huntr/x or the Saja Boys, or, heck, as Derpy the Tiger or Bobby the Manager. Want to represent your love of Jonathan Coulton? Then come as a creepy doll, or Tom the Zombie or even Jonathan himself, bespectacled and beardy in that 70s-soft rock way of his. Really like cheese? Then BE a nice Wensleydale or wedge of aged cheddar. The possibilities are endless.

Cosplay has exploded in the social consciousness over the last couple of decades, but as a matter of nerd interest, it goes way back. At the very first “Worldcon” in 1939, notable fans Forrest J Ackerman and Myrtle R. Douglas showed up in “futuristicostumes” representing the costuming of the classic 1936 science fiction film The Shape of Things to Come (and if you think this meant shiny tunics, then yes, you are correct). At the 1940 Worldcon, there was an official masquerade on the program, proving the old adage that if nerds do something once, it becomes tradition, and if they do it twice, it becomes hallowed tradition.

All of which is to say that as long as nerds have been congregating in conventions (even when they are shoved out to sea), they have been dressing up in costume. We nerds obviously can’t claim this sort of thing started with us - costume parties existed long before science fiction conventions or nerd cruises - but we might be able to argue that we’ve perfected the form.

Now, here’s an important thing to remember about cosplay, which is that the word “play” is part of the word, and, arguably, the most important part. Some people go all out on their cosplay, with intricate designs and canonically-correct bits and bobs and doodads (these are all technical terms, probably), and travel with friends who have “cosplay kits” filled with thread and glue and shiny bits for when the cosplay wants to put up a fight. This is extremely cool. Also extremely cool: the low-effort costume that nevertheless shows your love of a thing. You don’t have to spend hours. You just need to have fun with it. It’s play! Play with it!

And of course, if you prefer, you can simply choose to enjoy other people’s efforts at cosplay. When you do, remember the phrase “cosplay is not consent.” Please don’t touch the costumes without permission (they are often fragile) and if you want to take a picture, just ask first. It’s kind and respectful, and “kind and respectful” is a JoCo Cruise kind of thing.

(Also, if you do dress up as cheese, maybe don’t use actual cheese. Humans understand the concept of “cosplay is not consent.” Seagulls, maybe not so much.)

-- JS

Last-Minute Costume Ideas

Last-Minute Costume Ideas

Welp, it happened again: you are on JoCo, it’s the start of Cosplay Day (Day 2) and you left your painstakingly assembled K-Pop Demon Hunter outfit at home.

Alas, that these evil times should be mine! (You say).

But don’t fret! You still have options. Here are some helpful costume ideas that you can assemble quickly using nothing but common cabin objects and some moxie.

Zookeeper: You know those charming towel animals that the amazing HAL staff leave on our beds every day? Why not grab a few of them and tie them to your shirt and pants? Then you can tell everyone you’re a zookeeper! Raid your friends’ cabins and explain that YOU NEED THEM. They will oblige. Surely they must.

Pinball Wizard: Take your blue and white beach towel from the room and mould it into a wizard’s cap (you know the kind) and tape it shut. Next, claim a pinball machine— we hear they may be found in High Score (Deck 10). Tell everyone you are a Pinball Wizard. Just please don’t cast Fireball: it leaves a huge mess and not everyone can make their Dexterity Saving Throw.

Peter from Spider-Man: No, not Peter Parker. Peter Johnson. He’s in the back left of the frame at 5:55 in the 2002 Tobey Maguire film wearing jeans and a light blue shirt with a backpack in the Columbia University quad. Looks like he might be on his way to or from a class. If you don’t have a backpack with you, you could always improvise with a HAL tote bag from your stateroom closet.

Late Antiquity: You’ve probably heard the kids talking about late Antiquity, the period of time from roughly 250 to 650 CE, during which the ancient world was transformed as social and religious change combined with economic and political disruption to sweep away the old Roman empire for good. What if you found an empty name-tag (ask JoCo Guest Services) and wrote “Antiquity”*  on it and then showed up late to everything today? People will totally get it.  

• Also works with “Late Capitalism”

Paul and Storm (tandem): Find a friend. Find two pairs of tortoiseshell glasses, a guitar, and a tambourine. Make beautiful music with your friend. Bam! You are now Paul and Storm.

[THO Legal Counsel: Please do not attempt to make your own morning announcements or usurp the Mainstage.]

Cosplay Spotlight: Cindy Lu

This year, Cindy Lu is returning for her 10th JoCo Cruise. JoCo Cruisers may have noticed Cindy over the years for her oft-hand-crafted cosplays running the gamut from highly-accurate period recreations to highly recognizable Disney characters. Cindy kindly squeezed in a few minutes earlier this week to tell me about her love of cosplay (despite being hard at work trying to finish her costume for Villains Day).

Cindy often gets inspired at the last minute. “Apparently I like to put myself in crazy situations where I’m working until I get on my flight.” It was only last Tuesday (at 2 in the morning) when the idea struck her. Instead of sleeping, she started ordering fabric online. It showed up on Saturday. “We shall see if I finish or not.”

If she does finish, her Villains (or Cosplay?) Day outfit will bring together a love of historically-inspired costumes and the excitement of seeing a female main character of Asian heritage on a favorite TV show. “You don’t see a high concentration of people who look like me in media. Usually it’s tokenism and to not have it be that was so cool.”

Cindy’s love of making costumes stretches back to childhood, when she would make Halloween costumes for herself and her younger brother. “Our family wasn’t super well-to-do. [My brother] wanted to be Buster Bunny from Tiny Toons. I found a red t-shirt, blue tights and made the bunny ears.” She felt great joy in creating something that he was excited to wear.

After many years of assembling and modifying costumes from pieces purchased in thrift stores and online, Cindy started learning to sew 10 years ago, just in time for JoCo Cruise’s first west coast itinerary on the ms Westerdam in 2017. That cruise happened to overlap International Women’s Day and inspired a historically-accurate suffragette cosplay made from bits she already had (a petticoat, an Edwardian hat) and some items she sewed, notably including the sash that read “VOTES for WOMEN.”

Cindy has a particular love for historical outfits, frequently attending themed period costume parties, but she also enjoys creations related to pop culture. For JoCo Cruise 2025, she built a Moana costume, including a hand-printed and painted top and real Hawaiian raffia grass for the skirt. “Being able to create with your hands - for me that’s really rewarding.”

Outside of the cruise, Cindy frequently cosplays at conventions and attends themed period costume parties. “I’m very fortunate to have a strong community where I live. People have been kind to teach me how to sew and answer my questions. The internet can help, but there’s nothing like having another human who can show you examples and tell you about how they did it.”

That community at home is part of what inspired her to begin hosting the Cosplay and Costuming Happy Hour (coming up TODAY, day 2, at 4pm in Billboard Onboard). “I’d noticed there were other people like me who liked to costume or dressed up but there was no structured way for us to get together.” Cindy has hosted the happy hour each year since (she thinks) 2017,  always requesting to put it early in the week to help people catch up and make new friends.

For Cindy, cosplay is “an expression of who you are… whether your labor goes to finding all the bits on Google, or doing all the sewing to make something screen accurate.”

For those who are just taking their first steps into cosplay, Cindy say, “There are no right answers. Don’t be afraid to learn from a mistake - it’s learning - that’s the whole point of building new skills and getting to be creative. Don’t be afraid to just do it. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You’re going to have something and learn from it.”

Cosplay Spotlight: Robin Darling

Robin Darley has attended every JoCo Cruise since 2020 and describes it as “the highlight of his year.” He’s become known for goofy and silly cosplays each year on JoCo Cruise and spoke to your intrepid reporter just a couple days before we set sail.

Around age 16, Robin was working at a movie theater during a Batman film release. The manager was highly supportive of “weird, out-of-pocket promotional ideas,” and so Robin and a friend went shopping at Goodwill and emerged with Batman-themed costumes for the staff. He dressed a friend as Poison Ivy, and made a Two-Face blazer for one of the ushers. In costume as Batman’s famous sidekick, Robin was very confused when customers kept referring to him by name. “I thought, ‘I’m not even wearing a nametag!’”

Robin claims he’s “not a serious cosplayer,” by which he means he tends towards costumes he describes as “silly, goofy, guy” (look for a Swedish Chef wandering around today, and check out the attached photo of Robin as Sam Reich from Dropout.tv).

For the cruise, Robin likes to pull costume inspiration from the theme days. Captain’s day has been a particularly fruitful jumping-off-point resulting in a list of ideas he’s still pulling from, like last year’s Capt. Zapp Branigan (Futurama).

Once he’s identified a costume, Robin usually does some quick prototyping with scrap fabric to get a sense of what the project entails before investing too much time or money on materials. Sometimes he’ll abandon an idea (for now) if the trial doesn’t work out. Traveling on a cruise ship does add some additional constraints. “I try to keep myself to one checked bag and a carry-on… sometimes I see some really impressive constructed costumes and I wonder ‘how did you get that here??’” Getting dressed in an often tight cabin space adds another challenge.

Returning JoCo Cruisers may remember Robin’s Lt. Commander Data cosplay from 2024. Robin describes it as “probably my most serious costume.” He did full makeup and temporary hair dye onboard (“I hope I don’t stain the tub in my cabin!”). He also had to be very careful about touching things and sweating, lest glitter and silver paint streak down the black and gold clothes.

Robin thinks that cosplay helps break down social anxiety. “I’m usually ‘some doofus.’ Zapp Brannigan is so unserious. It lends that freedom to step out of yourself a bit.”

His advice for folks new to cosplay? “I know a lot of people have avoided doing cosplay because maybe ‘it has to be perfect.’ No, it doesn’t have to be perfect, just fun. Have fun. Don’t be bogged down by having the best cosplay. Just accessorize.”

Caption Contest Day 2

Winner: @groupoids "Wow, the genie got my wish exactly right!"

Runner Up: @davecort "Definitely looks better from this angle"

Runner Up: @miich "finally making a dent"

JoConnections

You know the drill. Find the connections between these 16 words. OUR, State-sanctioned Answers revealed in tomorrow’s SplashDot. YOUR answers welcome in the forum!

LIDO	MAIN	CABO SAN LUCAS	QUASAR
TUNING	VENICE	ROTTERDAM	SAN DIEGO
DEEP	SANDWICH	SWAN-ROAD	BRINE
LORETO	MURANO	JACUZZI	CHIOGGIA

Dispatches from A Helpful Dolphin (@max)

Greetings Humans!

It has come to our attention that you are not trapped on your floating rock but are in fact attempting some sort of annual migration! Congratulations on making it out to sea on a such an ugly and noisy rock!

Being ourselves fans of regular migrations across the sea, perhaps we can impart some choice bits of wisdom:

1. Eat all the fish that you can. Should go without saying, fellow mammals, but fish are delicious.

2. Have fun! If anything is worth doing, it’s fun!

3. Pace yourselves! Migrations are a lot of fun, but also a bit of work! Balance enough parts fun and rest for a healthy migration!

Whether you are new to seasonal migrations or an old salt, I hope you have a pleasant journey.

Dictated, but not read,

Your humble dolphin friend

Great. 3 Send go push button give fish reee eere eee Yeah, these humans pay in fish for letters dictated in English. Those rubes, I would almost do it for free if their [censored] [untranslatable] would let me tell them what I really think about their stinky ships and bad planetary stewardship without censoring it [censored]. What do you mean “is it still recording?” The little red light there? Aww [censored], give me my fish already I said SEND IT