The Cosplaying Uncle and the Shanghai Corpse King—Black Death Emperor
To keep things from getting too gloomy, let's switch things up and take a fresh look at the city from a new angle.
Strictly speaking, Shanghai isn’t really a tourist city—there aren’t that many sights to see. It’s right by the estuary, but good luck finding a decent beach. Still, every year a ton of people come here for fun, because there’s all sorts of stuff to do. There’s loads you just can’t find in the countryside or smaller towns. Not even talking about the super high-end stuff—just look at China-Joy every year, and you’ll see how many die-hard otakus (like yours truly...) make the pilgrimage.
So, if you’re coming to Shanghai just for the sights, you might want to save your money. But if you’re here to chill, eat, drink, and just have a blast, it’s actually a pretty awesome place. Qi Xi invited Maggie Monroe out again—this time, no third wheels, no awkward drama, just back to good old city-girl mode. The two of them wandered all over Shanghai like regular office ladies after work, eating, drinking, and having a ball.
Their faces looked way more relaxed. Qi Xi especially—it was like she could finally breathe after a long, stuffy stretch.
When women go shopping, it’s all about food and clothes—and if you add one more thing, it’s movies. The two of them loaded up on snacks and headed straight for the cinema. Standing in front of the movie schedule, they scanned the list from top to bottom.
“This one, ‘Dearest,’ is supposed to be good. ‘The Golden Era’ looks decent too. Hey, there’s ‘Breakup Buddies’—Maggie, which one should we watch?”
“I want to see ‘Kuiba 3.’”
“An animated film? Weren’t you always the artsy type? Since when did you get into cartoons?”
“Heh, from now on I have to pay attention to all things anime. To be precise—superhero movies, anime, manga, anything that otakus obsess over, I need to keep up with it all.”
“Huh?” Going from a classy yoga teacher to a hardcore otaku—that’s quite the leap. Qi Xi was genuinely surprised. “Why?”
“Well…” Maggie Monroe grinned mysteriously. “Can’t tell you yet. Anyway, let’s go—‘Kuiba 3’ it is!”
So, in a rare twist, two girls walked into what was basically otaku territory at the theater. For Qi Xi, who hadn’t seen the first two movies, this one was a total snooze—nothing grabbed her. Maggie Monroe didn’t seem all that interested either, but for some reason, she had to watch it. Like someone who doesn’t care about exams but still has to do the homework.
“Maggie, don’t tell me you’ve got yourself a boyfriend?” Qi Xi was still focused on chatting. “Wait, are you brushing up on your geek lingo because you landed yourself a hardcore nerd?”
“A hardcore nerd boyfriend? No way! But honestly, most guys are at least a little nerdy, so it’s good to get a head start on all this. Consider it future-proofing my knowledge!” Maggie clearly didn’t want to dwell on the topic. Suddenly, she perked up, “Hey, remember that time you and Dummy Jack went to the movies?”
“How could I forget?” Qi Xi couldn’t help but laugh. Back at the end of January 2013, when ‘Cloud Atlas’ hit theaters, the three of them decided to catch a movie after dinner. The two girls made a beeline for the cinema, leaving Jack Young to clean up the dishes like the perfect budget boyfriend. After picking up their group-buy tickets, they realized they still had time to kill, so they went shopping. Somehow, they ended up hungry again and, believe it or not, went for hot pot even though they’d just had dinner.
“We ended up not bringing any money, remember? I had to call Dummy Jack for help. You should’ve heard his voice when I yelled ‘Help!’—the way he reacted, the pitch, it was priceless! And when he rushed into the hot pot place with the cash, that look on his face—classic! I’ll never forget it.” Qi Xi was laughing so hard, and Maggie was cracking up too. That legendary blunder cemented their nicknames, ‘Daisy’ and ‘Dummy Jack’—no way to shake them off now.
“Yeah, I remember Dummy Jack was in a great mood that day, practically skipping the whole way.” Maggie sighed, then glanced at Qi Xi. “I just didn’t expect you’d remember all that too.”
“Yeah…” The smile faded from Qi Xi’s face, replaced by a touch of wistful nostalgia. “Some things… are just hard to forget.”
Maggie stared at Qi Xi’s profile, wanting to say something but ultimately just sighing and turning back to the movie. The film ended quickly, and the two walked out of the theater, deciding to wander around. “Hey, I heard there’s a cosplay convention and a big performance going on. Wanna check it out?” “Wow, you’re really diving headfirst into geek culture, huh?” “Come on, it can’t hurt to learn a little more.”
Let’s be real—most people in the geek world know what cosplay is. There are tons of photos online, but most rely on two magic tricks: pro makeup artists and Photoshop. That drop-dead gorgeous Diao Chan you see on the web? She might not look half as good before the filters kick in. But at a live convention, it’s a whole different story. You can spot a great cosplay from a mile away: Are the costumes and props top-notch? Is the performance on point? Most importantly—does the cosplayer actually look the part?
Some characters have such unique looks that you really need the right face for it. When someone nails both the look and the vibe, that’s a true god-tier cosplay. It’s a whole universe with tons to learn, but let’s skip the lecture and focus on how the girls are enjoying themselves. This unofficial con drew a huge crowd, but the venue was big enough that it didn’t feel packed.
The two girls made their way through the crowd, and Qi Xi had to admit, she was seeing a whole new world. Since this wasn’t just a commercial gig, the cosplayers could set up wherever they wanted, so you had to hunt them down yourself. Who knows, maybe if you wandered into a dark corner, an Assassin’s Creed cosplayer would jump out and scare the life out of you.
“Hey! Isn’t that Drum Bro? Why aren’t you cosplaying today? Didn’t you spend ages DIY-ing that nano battle suit?”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. I thought my Crysis battle suit was pretty solid, but then Shanghai’s own cosplay god, ‘Steel Body,’ showed up and blew everyone away. No way I’m embarrassing myself out there. So now I’m just helping out the rest of the crew.”
“Is ‘Steel Body’ really that epic?”
“Super epic! Totally god-tier! Here, I snapped a pic—check this out. Isn’t it insane? Looks almost real!”
The two nerds’ conversation caught Qi Xi’s attention. Maggie glanced at her, “What’s up, interested? If you’re curious, let’s go talk!” With that, she dragged Qi Xi over. The arrival of two pretty girls instantly got the nerds hyped. Qi Xi hesitated, then asked, “Can I see the photo of that nano battle suit cosplay you mentioned?”
“No problem, piece of cake!” The nerd instantly whipped out a tablet and handed it over. “Here, take a look. Oh, and I made a comparison chart—see the next slide. This one’s by some foreign geek, this one’s my own, and this last one is Steel Body’s. The difference is night and day!”
The girls leaned in. On the tablet was a street photo: someone in a black, ultra-sci-fi battle suit, standing in the middle of a crowd, holding a gun. Compared to the other two photos, the first suit looked nothing like it was made of foam. The muscle-like fiber strands had real tension and texture, and even the metallic gleam in the sunlight looked legit.
“It looks just like a real battle suit.” Drum Bro sighed with admiration. “Even the gun looks legit—like it could actually fire bullets and take someone out. That’s god-tier cosplay. I’ll never reach that level.” He glanced around and whispered, “Sometimes I wonder if ‘Steel Body’ actually crossed over from Crysis! You never know, right?”
Qi Xi ignored him, totally absorbed in the photo. Seeing her interest, the nerd sent her a copy.
“Hey Drum Bro, I heard your crew’s putting on a big show today—‘Ultimate Splendor,’ right? What are you guys cosplaying?” The other nerd chimed in, playing hype man.
Drum Bro got the hint and grinned, eyes sparkling. “You nailed it! We’ve got a huge act planned—‘Thunderbolt!’” Seeing the two girls’ blank looks, he quickly explained, “It’s a super popular Taiwanese series. The costumes are gorgeous, the cast is beautiful, and we’ve got a secret weapon—seriously, it’s gonna blow everyone away! Wanna check it out? Come on, it’s about to start and the crowd’s huge!”