Legal Disclaimer- All of the anime characters used in this story belong to their respective companies- I lay no claim to owning them. I am writing myself into this as a man, while Christina Speer belongs to me, and both require my permission to use. I am also using Angela Brown and her creation, Sandra; the members of Sailor Jamboree & Barbie and Kaie, Cosplay's Sweethearts, for this series- and you need their permission to use them.

A New Existence
By Dale-chan

For all it was worth, Dale Speer didn't like being laughed at by those who surrounded him.

Ever since he graduated high school Dale was a fan of Japanese Animation- what those like him called animè- and he loved dressing up as his favorite characters. Tuxedo Kamen, MasterMage Clef and even Daiki Asuka Jr. were his favorites, because he loved girls' anime... but when he did dress as one of them, fans at Anime Expo would laugh at his outfits that he would just go back up to his hotel room and change back into his street clothes and take photos of the others wearing their costumes.

Finally, one night, Dale cried out in his room, "Oh, Selene, please make my life a peaceful one by making those who laugh at me adore me for who I am and not for what I look like."

Why Dale said this was because his body was curved like a woman's instead of muscular. If anyone were to see him dress as a female character- Sailor Moon, Sakura of CardCaptor Sakura, Hikaru Shidou in her final armor or even as Saint Tail- they wouldn't laugh at him because he had all the curves in all the right places. Yet when he dressed as a male character, they all thought that he was a girl playing a man's character until they heard his regular voice- and then they would laugh at him for it.

But Selene did hear his plea for a peaceful life- for it was her who gave his man's body the feminine curves and his high-toned speaking voice that he had to exercise to make a deep-throated tone. And then and there, she began changing him into the gender he should have been born in... to give him the peaceful life he always wanted. By the time morning arrived, Dale wouldn't exist anymore... and his documents would prove it.

When he woke up the next morning, Dale felt different- but this was a good feeling and not a bad one. But when he walked in front of the full-length mirror in his room, he just about screamed bloody murder at what he saw.

"I changed you, Dale," Selene spoke in a soft whisper to his mind, "I heard your plea, and turned you into what was meant to be before you were changed into a man." It was then that she smiled- for what she had known through his childhood was now reality.

The curves were still there- but now she had a woman's chest and genitals. Her soft face was framed by golden blonde hair that stretched down to her buns, and her legs were now slim and tapered instead of muscular. Looking through her purse for the driver's license, she found that her name was now Christina- and her wardrobe had changed as well, into all women's clothes and costumes.

She got out a red hairbow and the high school uniform worn by 4 of the 5 Inner Sailor Senshi during Sailor Stars and dressed in it, making sure that everything was perfect- and saw that she made the perfect Minako Aino from the anime. She then headed for the elevator and the convention floor.

Heads literally turned when she stepped into the convention area, and many leaped at the chance to have their picture taken with a nearly perfect duplicate of Minako-chan. She smiled at the number of requests for photos that came from visitors that they thought she was a convention regular.

Across the hall were Sandra and Angela Brown, sisters from Norfolk, VA. who attended Anime Expo every year to see what was changing. They made the perfect pair of sisters, both in reality and in cosplay- for they always chose to cosplay the girls from Sentai, something that was quickly growing in popularity since people had started downloading it from the internet. This year, they chose to cosplay the Magical Sisters from Mahou Sentai Magirenjaa and their counterparts from GoGo Sentai Boukenger.

It was Angela who noticed Christina as Minako and poked her sister's arm, pointing in her direction. "That's got to be a near perfect imitation of Minako Aino," Angela said, "And definitely bound to win the top prize in hall cosplay, if she's entered in the competition." "I tend to agree," Sandra replied, "but still, we're definitely in the running for 2 of the top 5 spots in that with our costumes."

Christina was stopped so many times for pictures by anime fans, both in costume and out- and most of them were of those who were cosplaying Sailor Venus that day. She smiled at the chances to be with them that she wished she had a costume of the Senshi she copied so perfectly.

5 hours after she hit the convention floor, Christina stepped into a forum room featuring cosplay as the topic- and all heads, including those of the moderators, turned to see the newcomer enter. They didn't believe their eyes when they saw her all decked out in a high-school uniform from Japan that instantly they rose and gave her a standing ovation.

When the moderator came up and asked for her name, Christina was breathing heavily as she calmed down from the shock of the applause in her direction. "Christina Speer," she told the moderator- and the leading cosplay judge came up and presented her with an award for her efforts and a complete set of Sailor Moon DVDs, including the Live-Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Set, for her costume.

Once the forum was dismissed, Christina stood with the moderators- who introduced themselves as Barbie, Kaie, Chrissy, Gina and other members of Sailor Jamboree. "Why aren't you a member of a cosplay group in the state- or where you live?" Barbie asked Christina in broken English.

"It's because I only got started this year," she replied, "And I applied for many groups, hoping one would say yes. Unfortunately, all of the ones I applied to said 'no'." "Unbelievable," Chrissy said, "One look at your cosplay costumes and you should have been chosen by any of the ones you applied to."

A vote was taken, then and there, by the SJ members for accepting Christina into their group- and it was unanimously for membership. Finally, Christina had a group she could belong to and help when she needed it. "I think that we found the perfect Minako-chan for our group," Rebecca Chen, the group's webmistress, said, "And I can assume any other Senshi in the group."

Photos were taken all through the remainder of the convention of the new Minako for Sailor Jamboree that would get her established in the group- all while Christina was planning her next big costume projects, 4 of them total...

4 different looks of Sailor Venus for her- 2 based on the anime, the Eternal Version based on the manga, and the Pretty Guardian Version.

Making it back to her home in Stockton, Christina found that Selene worked her magic on it as well... posters adorned the walls, filled with images of her favorite anime and tokusatsu characters, while her photo albums with the male costumes were gone.

After she had admired her new image, Chris went straight for her computer- one thing that didn't change from her days as Dale was that she had a penchant for internet design and publishing, and her computer was state of the art for her work at home. Complete with an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier, she could easily put her new photos on her internet site- and that's just what she set out to do, not to mention putting together a new design layout utilizing her pics as Minako.

First, though, she checked her website for anything new. When she was Dale she had a website with the domain www.venuscosplay.com, called- appropriately enough- Venus Cosplay. She found that the domain and the name didn't change- but some of the content did, reflecting her new image in the world. Silently thanking Selene for all this, Christina went to work immediately on the site redesign.

While back at their home, Gina and Chrissy found Christina's application to join the Cosplay Group and marked Approved for membership on it... and were surprised to find she lived close to where they did. They took the drive up to Stockton, deciding to surprise their Minako-chan with their presence- and alerting others in the group without doing so for Chris, that way she would have some unexpected and welcome company.

Chris heard a knock while she was doing the needed HTML for the site redesign. Going to answer the door, she was smiling as she saw Gina and Chrissy. "Will you please come in?" she asked. Once they entered, Chris had a whole stream of guests arriving- and all of them from the Cosplay Group. So she started iced tea while they talked about her future with the group.

"I saw how Chris was thinking during our meeting her at the convention," Rebecca said, "What I would like to learn is what she was thinking of." "I was thinking of costumes," Chris said, "4 of them to be exact- and all of them of Sailor Venus."

"You shouldn't think in the terms of Minako-chan and Sailor Venus, Chris," Chrissy told her, "You should look at what you could pull off with your given looks and base from there. I've seen pictures of Battle Skipper, and I see Shihoko in you." "She's right, Chris," Gina replied.

The discussion that day centered around what Christina could do for herself in the terms of costumes. When she took them to her bedroom, they were surprised that pictures of Kai Asami and Ayumi Kinoshita adorned the walls besides Sailor Venus's different anime and drama forms, and asked her how they fit into the scheme.

"Kai plays Houka Ozu from Mahou Sentai Magirenjaa," Chris replied, "while Ayumi plays Jasmine from Tokusou Sentai Dekarenjaa." "Didn't we see 2 sisters playing the Magical Sisters at the convention this last weekend?" Rebecca asked, and Gina replied, "Yes we did- Sandra and Angela Brown, if my memory is correct. And this could prove to be a worthwhile diversion for Chris, given she spends time making these costumes."

It was then that another knock was heard at the door- and when Chris opened it, there stood the Magical Sisters in person. "We were hoping we could talk to you, Chris," Sandra said, and Chris let them enter her home.

"We tend to agree with Chrissy and the other members of Sailor Jamboree," Sandra told Chris, "in that you should explore other animes besides Sailor Moon for characters. Besides seeing Shihoko in you, I think you could also be Layla Hamilton from KaleidoStar. But I also love how you enjoy Sentai as well as anime- and you could be characters from those series as well."

"I've been watching Sentai for a while now," Christina told them,