Three Cons!

I just realized that between the last time I posted and now, I've been to three cons. THREE! First was Blurriecon, a local first-year that was thrown together in a matter of weeks, so it was a little chaotic, but a whole bunch of fun c: Second was Tsubasacon, a 10th-year con in West Virginia(so far!) that I got convinced to go to. It was SO much fun-- I swear over half of everyone was in costume, and my artist friends broke their records for con sales :D They even had the mayor on video welcoming everyone to the convention and proclaiming the convention open with a "May the Force be with you" and pulling out a lightsaber XD The third was N.E. Geek Expo, a short drive from home. Geek Expo was probably the best in "bang for your buck"-- it only cost $5 to get in the door, and despite buying a bottle of water, a hot dog, and two muffins, I only spent $4 on food c: Photos are to follow, although they are few.

I don't have hardly enough pictures; mainly because my phone is my camera at the moment, and it's not a happy camper unless you give it a full 3-count of the person standing relatively still :c I wish I was in costume, but with moving back from college and getting a job, I've been pretty busy, and can't even locate a full getup right now >.>" ... Not to mention those three wigs I had TT-TT.

But, on to costumes! I know I mentioned in an earlier post about the outfits I want to finish/ am working on right now... But that list is going to change a LOT. I've been invited into at least four more costume groups, and I'm not sure which ones I'll join(if any!) but this really shakes up my year... I'm going to put a somewhat revised costume list here (still tentative!) eventually, in hopes of giving myself the motivation to finish some of them! (too lazy right now.. had Benadryl... unconsciousness calls to me...)

Fall Update!

Mildly interesting news: the dance group I'm in has decided to have a Vocaloid theme for next year. This means I'll be doing a Vocaloid outfit-- most likely Utane Uta (aka Defoko). I know she's an Utau, but I really like her outfit, and I know it's something I'll be able to move in c: Here's a picture:

Isn't she cute? XD 

And it'll blend in with any of the dances we do. We might choose something polished, something cutesy or something hip-hop, so this works for any of those c: Also, it's pretty awesome that she has a rocket launcher!!

I wanna pose with a rocket launcher! c:

So, I now have one more costume added to my list... So many @-@" I'll post my list of which costume for which convention when I know for sure what I'm doing :-/

But, on to other topics! I watched Girls und Panzer. It's a lot of fun! It looks like it'll be a high school anime at first, but it actually incorporates strategy and some history, not to mention a whole bunch of tanks! It made me want to create not only a costume, but a life-sized copy of one of the tanks to take pictures with... >.>" Kind of expensive and probably too much to do, but I can dream :P

And the one lady from Shingeki no Kyojin is drawing my attention... I may try to add her as a costume, but it's not likely because I have so many I'm working on :-/

That reminds me-- I never mentioned the outfits I've already done. The main reason I didn't bring it up was because I don't have photos, but I might as well put them here C: In order of when I wore these costumes:

1) Captain Retsu Unohana from Bleach - This costume I wore to my first Tekkoshocon c: I had actually made the shihakusho that went with it for Halloween the year before, and figured I'd extend it into a specific character. I considered doing Zaraki, but I was so short and bad at prop-making that there was no good way to do it :P  Bleach wasn't very popular at the time, so only one person recognized the costume, but it was especially fun at Bleach photoshoots the first year that Bleach got very popular c: (After that, I don't think I wore it much)

2) Jakotsu from Inuyasha - I've always loved this character, and his outfit was fairly simple, and since he was fairly androgenous I wouldn't have to worry as much about looking manly. I finished painting this the morning before a 6-hour drive to my first Katsucon. Unfortunately, the kimono was so heavy that by the end of the day I couldn't lift my arms, and the folds kept falling out :C I still enjoyed wearing it (despite the fact that I was missing the armor-shirt, the proper hair-pin, the wig, and the prop sword because I hadn't actually finished the costume)

3) Katsuie Shibata from Oda Nobuna no Yabou - This character was so awesome c: I wish I could have gotten the wig to work, and I'm still working on the armor, but it's a comfy costume to wear :D

Gosh, is that all..? >.>" I haven't finished nearly as many for me as I have for friends... For friends, I have made: Link from LoZ, a version of Mokona from Chobits, Harley Quinn from one of the Batman animated series, two other shihakusho (base shinigami uniform from Bleach), and I've helped out on several other projects. Also, I'm still helping out with a Char Aznable from Gundam, a Nico Robin from One Piece, a Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, a Taiga from GaoGaiGar, and probably several other projects I can't remember :P

My current projects list include Cai Wenji from Dynasty Warriors, Asuka Kazama from Tekken 5, Lain from Recast, and Ivan (Origami Cyclone, but out of uniform) from Tiger & Bunny. I've been considering others, but I want to get Cai Wenji done before I get overloaded... I've been trying to do it for SO long, it's almost fallen by the wayside :c

And aside from my current obsession with Ixion Saga DT and HunterXHunter, there's nothing else to report... I'll post progress pics when I start having progress LOL. I'll post again later! Bye! C:

Brand-New Cosplay Blog!

This is my brand-new cosplay blog! I've been doing costumes for so long, and never really had a good place to post pictures. I've been in a bit of a costuming slump lately, and to pull myself out of it, I figured I'd give blogging a try. c:

A quick bio for me: I'm a software engineer, recently graduated AND hired C: (That's why I finally have time and money for costumes!) Don't get me wrong- I'm also really into sewing and crafts! There was just no real career path for something like that... I have enough experience to do a lot of sewing well, but not enough to charge for it- or at least that's my opinion of my work. I live in a fading city pretty infamous for its rapidly-changing weather (85 and sunny one day, 30 and snowing the next- nothing out of the ordinary). I use my spare time for sewing and for watching K-pop videos and trying to learn the dances for them c: I got into engineering because I got really good at math from all the calculating measurements, geometries, fabric lengths and fabric costs. That, and I like the idea of having a direct end-product where I can say, "I did that!" c: Oh, and I'm also really into the idea of WORKING props. Like, let's make it look like all these things are actually functioning C:

But enough about me; on to the costumes!!

So I LOVE the costumes from Dynasty Warriors. Problem is, I end up wanting to do ALL the costumes >.<" I really have trouble picking ones... But I've been looking at the pictures for awhile now, and I've narrowed it down. I like Cai Wenji's standard outfit, Da Qiao's standard outfit from DW7, Da Qiao's standard outfit from DW4 (I think that was the number? could be wrong :/ ), and Liu Shan's outfit. Such a fluffy coat!! <3 Oh, and also Pang Tong's 'moth' outfit. I've always loved Gan Ning, but... tall shirtless male..? I think not >.>"

On the left is Cai Wenji(DW 6 or 7-- only weapon changes), and the right is Diao Chan(DW7). Below is Diao Chan(DW4), Liu Shan (DW7), and Gan Ning (DW7) in that order. Cai Wenji and Diao Chan are always so refined, and Liu Shan has this adorable face with a fluffy coat C:

 See how manly and built Gan Ning is? Unlikely to work for me t_t"..

My favorite series (art-wise... at least one of my faves!) is Recast, a manhwa where the look and feel stays consistent, but the clothes change every few panels. Lain's dresses can change cut and features every other panel (even sleeves to sleeveless!), and don't get me started on Blaise's many coats of amazing >.> But anywho, I LOVE the costumes from it. They're so wild, but beautiful! One of my dream costumes is a full Spirit Tree Puppet Carmen, but it requires a level of prosthetics I can't even comprehend o_o. So I'm going to stick with what I know for now. I've narrowed it down to two... well, maybe three costumes. There's Zaha (or maybe his nameless female companion, because she's the only one shown without the cloak!), or there's Lain's dress from the scene where she storms the castle, or finally there's Lain's castaway dress-skirt-thing. Here, take a look for yourself:

 

 Zaha is shown above. Zaha's cloak is AMAZING, but his blond hair and haircut might look weird on me >.> Each outfit is only shown in maybe two panels, too... The lady with him (below-- I call her nameless companion #1since neither of his subordinates have names) has a black bob, which could be better... They're dressed the same so no difference outfit-wise.

  And then there's Lain, shown below. (I'd probably jazz the hair up like in the artbook-style portrait below, to go with the outfits. This hairpiece matches almost all of her outfits)

 Lain's castle-storming dress(below) is GORGEOUS. It's basically feather-edged satin, so it looks feathery at the hems, but sits smooth in the center. It has a slit on the side in some panels, and arm-covers in others, and in one panel it has these beautiful feather-edged satin 'wings' on the back. She's got long dark hair, so I might not even need a wig c:

  But then Lain's castaway dress (above) is amazing! I think it's her under-dress that's so pretty, because she later has a big, bulky skirt on, but the top's the same... But anyway, she has this super-cool leather utility belt full of magical potions.. The hair could use a little something, but still, gotta love it c: So I'm conflicted, but at least I'm narrowing it down from ALL THE COSTUMES c:

And then, there's Attack on Titan... I actually really like the uniforms from the series! I'm not sure who I'd go as-- there's a girl seen sometimes in passing that had a few lines that has the same hair as I do, so maybe her...

Oh no! o_o My laptop's power is running out. Gotta go! I'll post (with pictures this time!) later!
--Updated to include several pretty pictures because including ALL the pictures was unreasonable XD