Pokemon Fever (Days 487 - 493)

It seems I've disappeared off the grid again. I miss blogging every night, I really do, I love writing and getting my thoughts out. Perhaps this is why I haven't been sleeping very well lately.

Anyway, not much to talk about on the cosplay front. I might not be going to WonderCon, but I do still really want to cosplay Terra, so I might not cosplay Panty for Fanime. I would still like to cosplay Panty this year, or next year at the latest, while Panty and Stocking is still popular, but before the mega popularity hits. However, I think I'll have a lot of fun cosplaying Terra as well, and it's a more comfortable cosplay as well. Of course, with Terra, it will be more difficult to find a gathering to fit into and people to take pictures with, but that will make it so much more rewarding when I do find people. I also enjoy seeing the looks on people's faces when a lesser-known or older character is cosplayed, it makes me happy to be told that I made their day. =] I enjoy making other people happy.

Speaking of Fanime, I am for sure bringing Franziska von Karma, but I still doing know if I will be cosplaying her the entire day or just bringing her out for the gathering. Chances are, I'll be her the whole day. She's still a lot of fun to cosplay, especially now that I have a riding crop. I haven't gotten into any "antics" with it (and I don't really want to), I just enjoy having it and carrying it around. I like the way it feels to hold it, as odd as that sounds. It feels.. Elegantly powerful, is the best way I can think to describe it.

Anyway, I'm sort of in the process of setting up a photoshoot with a girl who cosplays 18-year-old Franziska, the same girl I met at Animation on Display. I was delighted when she suggested that we have one, she was really nice and her cosplay was very good, she even had a whip prop as well, the two of us looked really good next to each-other, our wigs are the same color, and we have an appropriate height difference. I say I'm "sort of" in the process of setting up a 'shoot because I'm not really actively setting anything up at this point. All that we're going to have to do is set a time and find a photographer, but I don't want to start planning something like this so far in advanced, in case things change.

My goal for Fanime this year is to go to a bunch of cosplay gatherings. I've only been to one (the CLAMP gathering at last year's Fanime) and it was a lot of fun. I really enjoy getting pictures with cosplayers from the same series, as many cosplayers do. I think it took me a whole to realize how much fun it is to take pictures with other cosplayers, because when I began cosplaying, I was very shy, and people asking for my picture was very weird and intimidating to me. However, now that I've gotten used to people asking for pictures and to asking people for pictures, I've realized that it is a lot of fun!

So far, I plan on going to the Pokemon gathering as Pikachu, the Ace Attorney gathering as 13-year-old Franziska von Karma, and the CLAMP gathering as Chi. Originally, I had planned to skip the masquerade and attend the Comedy Club and then Rum Party instead, but since the masquerade is on Sunday this year, I may attend, depending on how it overlaps with the Black & White Ball. In any case, I plan on attending the Rum Party in a sort of closet pirate wench costume (don't ask how/why I have a closet pirate wench costume, I just do), and I believe I'll be attending the Black & White Ball in a traditional Chinese dress that I managed to find in the thrift store a few months ago.

Oh, and as to the reason that I dropped off the face of the planet, I actually would have posted a few days ago I believe, but Pokemon Black and White came out this past Sunday, and I've been superglued to White since then. Yes, it's been giving me crazy new cosplay urges (particularly gijinkas), but I'm trying really hard to resist them, since I feel like I'm already stretching my budget too far.

READ MORE - Pokemon Fever (Days 487 - 493)

Cosplay Survey II

Most Accurate Cosplay
Franziska von Karma (Ace Attorney)

Most Difficult Cosplay
Amaterasu (Okami), so much foam and fur and cardboard and hot glue guns and razors and PAIN! (Totally worth it)

Easiest Cosplay
I think Lady Mario. It just sort of fell together.

Most Out Of Character Cosplay
Chi (Chobits), I don't think I'm capable of being an airhead. D=

Most Fun-to-Cosplay
Franziska von Karma, so fun and easy to get into character.

Sexiest Cosplay
Swimmer Girl (Pokemon Platinum), it's a bikini for goodness sake.

Most Comfortable Cosplay
Clyde (Pacman), believe it or not. Sure, the head is a bit awkward, but it's not that bad at all, and the rest of it is just normal everyday clothes.

Least Comfortable Cosplay
Amaterasu (Okami), with the wig and the wig cap and the mask and the teeth (which make it so that I can't close my jaw all the way), I get a major headache by the end of the day. Chi is a close second, because the elastic for the ears cuts into the backs of my ears.

Costume with longest hotel room prep time
I think Chi (Chobits), because I have to lighten my eyebrows and get the ears, wires, and wig on.

Costume Garment you wear out of costume
The undershirt that I use for Chi

Favorite Wig/Hairstyle:
Franziska von Karma (Ace Attorney), it's so blue and beautiful.

Favorite prop
Pokeball beach ball, it's lots of fun =D

Favorite accessory
My ocarina for my Link cosplay, even though I bought it way before I decided to cosplay Link. It still counts, right?

Ever been in a group cosplay?
Eh, not officially. I've run into people cosplaying from the same series, and I cosplay with my boyfriend, but I've never followed through with a plan for more than two people.

Ever cosplayed a pairing with someone?
All the time =D Hideki/Chi (Chobits)

Pairing support=y/n?
Sure, why not?

Ever been to a photoshoot?
All the time =D So much fun.

Ever entered a contest?
Five times, Super-Con, Comic Arts and Anime Teen Expo, Kin-Yoobi Con, Holiday Anime Faire, and Animation on Display.

Ever won an award in a contest?
Four times, Comic Arts and Anime Teen Expo, Kin-Yoobi Con, Holiday Anime Faire, and Animation on Display.

The Costume you'll never finish
Navi (The Legend of Zelda and the Ocarina of Time), even though I want to so badly!

The Costume you've always wanted to make
A mascot suit, though I haven't decided what yet.

The Costume you'd wear if it weren't for your body type
It'd like to think that I don't like my body type stop me, so I'm gonna say pretty much any male character. =[

The Costume that you can't make for lack of money
Harley Quinn (Batman), unless I make the body suit on my own, which I'm not ready for.

Show us your best cosplay photo
Franziska von Karma (Ace Attorney), taken by [visual pie] studios at Yaoi-Con

READ MORE - Cosplay Survey II

Giant Wig Fail (Day 318)

So I tried to re-style my Chi wig to use for Triela (Gunslinger Girl), but it turns out, you really can't put pigtails into a wig that's not meant to have pigtail in it, no matter how hard you try. And believe it or not, hanging it upside-down doesn't help in this case either. Nope. It kinda makes it worse.

So I had to re-style the wig for Chi. But I decided that that was probably a good thing. All that really had to be done was to put the spools back in the hair, which took too long, but I did it neater than I did last time. The parts where the hair separates to go into the spool are cleaner, and the hair in the spools is less tangled and more even on both sides.

I also kinda did some touch-up on my Chi dress. Just making sure everything's attached and what not. Tried it on with two petticoats. I felt like a cupcake... It was awesome. =] I need to do something with the front bow though. It just looks messy in pictures, no matter how neatly I tie it. I have no idea what to do. Any thoughts?

READ MORE - Giant Wig Fail (Day 318)

Chi Maintenance (Days 250 & 251)

First off, for anyone wondering, I spell Chi with one "I" because that's how it's spelled in the manga, and I've only read the manga, so that's the spelling I'm familiar with.

In any case, however you spell it, I did a little bit of touch-up on Chi. Basically, I made it fit better around my torso because I had problems with it at Fanime and it looked sloppy. Also, I had planned to wear it to the NorCal Summer Picnic.

I changed my mind, though, I will be wearing Pikachu to the NorCal summer picnic instead. So many people are cosplaying Pokemon or Pokemon trainers, and I want in on all the Poke-shenanigans! My boyfriend is going to be Matt from Death Note, instead of the Hideki to my Chi. I feel a little bad switching on him so we're not matching anymore, but there's supposed to be a Misa there, so I'm not really worried about him feeling left out. Plus he loves being Matt, so it's all good. =]

READ MORE - Chi Maintenance (Days 250 & 251)

Fanime Costumes (Days 242-246)

I'm still working on getting photos, so bear with me here. My full review is here, on my convention blog, this is not a full review.

On Day Zero of Fanime (Thursday), I cosplayed my original human-form/gijinka of Pikachu, and my boyfriend wore a fleece Magikarp hat that I made for him a few weeks ago. Pikachu is one of my fly-under-the-radar costumes, as I call them. I wear it when I want to cosplay, but don't want to attract too much attention. I got a great reaction overall, and on girl even said I had the cutest Pikachu outfit she'd ever seen, so I was really flattered. Surprisingly, my boyfriend's hat got more attention than I did. Apparently people still do very much love Magikarp. "Splash Attack!" I do regret wearing heels to stand in line for two hours but, eh, live and learn.

Day One (Friday) I was my original human-form of Amaterasu from Okami. As usual, I was pleasantly surprised with the response to it. I was extremely flattered when the masquerade winners from last Fanime, Chief Pikachu and Charlie the Charmander, geeked out over my costume and asked for pictures and hugs. The response is always big to Amaterasu because it's a really detailed, in-depth, and eye-catching costume, but at Fanime, people actually knew who I was (though I was mistaken for Princess Mononoke again..). My Amaterasu is not officially retired. I may remake parts to make it more accurate (in my opinion) and comfortable, but other than that, I'm done with it, it's too uncomfortable.

On Day Two (Saturday) I was Clyde (the orange ghost from Pacman) and my boyfriend was Pacman. We expected a huge response and lots of love toward these costumes, of course that's not why we did them, but it was a nice perk. However, we didn't expect just how much attention we got. We were stopped literally every ten steps, and every time there were at least three photographers. Good thing we weren't really rushing to go anywhere. People really liked the pants, which was surprising but pleasing, because they were a lot of work.

Day Three (Sunday) I cosplayed Chi and my boyfriend was Hideki (Chobits). I thought that this was going to be another fly-under-the-radar costume, but I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of attention it attracted.Everyone geeked out over me again, this time because my ears were open with AV cables hanging out. People kept saying that it was a brilliant idea and that they'd never seen it before, but i know I've seen it somewhere before, there's no way I came up with that idea all by myself. I actually want to re-make the ears, but more on that later. We went to the CLAMP gathering, which started late because the Tsubasa gathering ran over. It was alright, though, because I ended up talking to another Chi cosplayer and we got swarmed by photographers, probably because we were the same height and our dresses almost looked opposite, so that was pretty cool. When the gathering finally came around, there were five Chi's, and everyone started calling out for a Hideki. It took a while for it to click in my boyfriend's head, but he finally ran out to the cheers and screams of onlooking fangirls. After that, four of us Chi's had a mini photoshoot with Chronoclix, a relatively new cosplay photography site. I'm very happy to help them get off the ground. I also wore Chi the Fanime's Black & White Ball and even had a picture of me taken there.

Day Four (Monday) was very short, and my "costume" fell apart pretty quickly. I pretty much looked like I had run through the dealer's room and grabbed every super popular stereotypical item I could find, haha. I had a short blue wig, steampunk-ish aviator goggles, cat ears & tail, and fingerless black ruffly gloves. However, instead of seeing it as a super-stereotypical "uncool" thing for me to do, for some reason, I thought (and still think) of it was a satirical portrayal of the general anime fandom. Maybe I' just too full of myself. But it amused me, and I will probably wear it again. Unfortunately, in my rush to get ready, I didn't put my ears on right, and they fell off later, so I took of the tail and ended up looking very wannabe steampunk-ish, which just amused me even more. [Pictured left is me with the wig and gloves, but no goggles or ears.]

READ MORE - Fanime Costumes (Days 242-246)

Day 241

(It's technically Day 342 today, but I'm not blogging about Fanime until it's over.)

So "today" my boyfriend bought his Hideki shirt at the thrift store, and it's actually pleated! It's not pleated all the way down, but it goes to about the belt line, so it's all good! ^_^

Packing starts today!

READ MORE - Day 241

I'm... Finished? (Day's 239 & 240)

WAT? For the most part, I'm DONE with everything I need to have done for Fanime. I'm in shock. I thought I'd be working until the last minute. Tomorrow, my boyfriend needs to buy a white dress shirt for Hideki, which I may or may not add pleats to the front of, and that's it! Yes, I never really "finished" my raver outfit, but then again, I stopped caring.

So, yes, the Hideki jacket is finished, and I am so ridiculously proud of it. I look at it now and it's hard for me to imagine that it was once just a pile of fabric. Yup, I made the entire thing by myself. Well. I didn't make the fabric. But the rest of it!

I re-made one of my Chi ears that didn't fit right, and bought an epic push-up bra for Chi. Don't get me wrong, I love my girls, but Chi is like a G-cup (I kid you not) so they needed a little boost. When Victoria's Secret says they'll add two cup sizes, they mean it. I may or may not add black ribbon to the leggings for my Chi, we'll see how much time I have tomorrow and if I feel like working on things.

I also bought an awesome pair of knee-high socks for my raver outfit, just because I could. My raver outfit is black, white, and hot pink. Tomorrow, I'll probably start packing a little and doing last-minute costume touch-ups if I think I need them, like brushing my Amaterasu o.o

I've been working on compiling a personal Fanime schedule for me and my boyfriend as well of all of the events we'd like to go to. The Black & White Ball dance lessons are what's taking up the most time, unfortunately. I didn't want to go to any of them on Friday, since I'll be Amaterasu and have my mask, but I guess I can just take it off while in the lessons. The feet too, I'm sure.

After Fanime, I may or may not take a costuming break. I have two outfits I'd like to make over the summer for Yaoi-Con (young Miles Edgeworth and Franziska von Karma), but I don't know when I'll start those. Yes, I'm going as a girl to Yaoi-Con. I HAVE OFFICIALLY GIVEN UP CROSSPLAY. Even all of my old crossplays are retired. I'd rather gender-bend, I just can't bind anymore.

In any case, back to planning out Fanime~!

READ MORE - I'm... Finished? (Day's 239 & 240)

Hideki + Chi (Day 238)

So on a whim, I re-made my Chi ears, and I may have to remake one of my remakes, haha. They're open now, with wires coming out. I guess I just wanted to do something a little different, and they're so much easier to hear out of! Plus, for some reason, I think they look cuter.

Also, finished sewing the lining into the sleeves of my boyfriend's Hideki jacket. Next, I have to do the collar, but I need more fabric for that, so the plan is to go get it tomorrow. I also made a bowtie! Yay! I'm so proud of it. I based it off of a bowtie I bough a couple of years ago, but other than that, I had no idea what I was doing. My mom thinks it's insane that I can look at something and figure out how it's sewn, usually without taking it apart. It's a gift, I suppose. Making the bowtie still took around five fricken' hours! Would have been a lot faster if I had known what I was doing more and didn't mess up big time twice. First I cut things too thin and didn't realize it until after I had sewn them, then I sewed something together backwards >_<

But I am extremely proud of my little bowtie.. That doesn't fit me.. Because it's for my boyfriend. T_T If he dumps me, I'm gonna cut him with sewing utensils. Or something. Not really. But I'd fantasize about it xD

ANYWAY, happy thoughts~! Fanime is sooo cloose! Four days away! Even though I'm only going Thursday to pick up my badge and hopefully a finalized schedule of events. Then Friday I'm going for the Dealer's Room (assuming it'll open Friday, since it closes on Saturday afternoon), but then I'm leaving, and Saturday and Sunday I'm staying overnight. But since I'm leaving for home Thursday and Friday, I'll actually have parts of those days to work on last-minute cosplay things =] So I have more time than some people.

READ MORE - Hideki + Chi (Day 238)

"It's more than sexy, it's Cosplay_Rose!" (Day 236)

The title ^ was the subject of a message I got on Cosplay.com today, haha. Some random guy from Germany hitting on me o.o But it was flattering at least.

So, all I did today was begin sewing the lining into my boyfriend's Hideki jacket. I did it wrong though, so I had to take part of it out T_T Then I had a convention planning meeting and had to leave.

And now I'm off to work on my paper! Due tomorrow! Aaaaahhh!

READ MORE - "It's more than sexy, it's Cosplay_Rose!" (Day 236)

Hideki Jacket (Day 234)

So I cut out, Fray-Checked, sewed on, and outlined the kanji for the back of my boyfriend's Hideki jacket. It took about two hours to complete it all, possibly more. It's supposed so say "Club Pleasure" but honestly, I'm not sure. I couldn't find any images in the manga, so I took that kanji from the back of a professionally-made jacket I found online. I opted against using the kanji from the anime because in the anime, it's supposed to say "My Pleasure" and I prefer "Club Pleasure." I'm weird like that. Tomorrow I really have to start work on my paper for my Improv class, and then I'd like to finish the jacket =]

READ MORE - Hideki Jacket (Day 234)

Day 232

I really would like to start coming up with actual titles for my posts again. I'm getting bored of these numbers.

Anyway, I have yet to work on things! I would have, but I had to go to my boyfriend's house to register for next term's classes (as my home internet is not secure), and I stayed there for dinner and general hanging out.

But since my boyfriend has to do major studying for the next couple of days, I can do some major cosplaying for the next couple of days! Hurrah! Although I really should write that paper for class.

I'll be putting on a performance with my class (Theater Improv) this Sunday, and I'm both excited and nervous about it. I just really, really hope that I don't get stuck with a bad partner for any of the games. I'm not horrible at improv, but I'm not the greatest either, and I know a few people that if I had to perform with them, I'd fail. I hate having to carry the whole performance on my back, especially when I have to set up the jokes and the person I'm working with doesn't pick up on them... Ugh. Rambling. ANYWAY!

Plan for tomorrow! Work on my paper. Paint more of the Pac-Man pants. Complete outside of Hideki jacket. At least start lining of Hideki jacket. Good thing I can work on the jacket while the pants are drying, or this would all take up a ridiculous amount of time...

(And for anyone who cares about my sickness mentioned in yesterday's post, it's much better already thanks to a home remedy, but the first in-office doctor's appointments that I could make aren't until June, so I have a phone appointment for Wednesday =])

READ MORE - Day 232

Day 229

I deposited a bunch of money into my checking account, so I now have enough for Fanime! My boyfriend hasn't paid me his half either yet, so I'll have more than enough ^-^

Shot another video for Kin-Yoobi's Anime Feud today, it's not up yet though. Also measured my boyfriend's arm so that I can make the sleeves of his Hideki jacket. I'll get to that Sunday perhaps.

Super-Con tomorrow~! <3 I didn't know if I was going for sure until like yesterday. But I am! 50% off for wearing a costume! I'll be going as Clyde with my boyfriend as Pac-Man, even if his pants aren't 100% finished >_>

READ MORE - Day 229

Hideki Jacket (Day 228 pt. 2)

My boyfriend bought all of the fabric for his Hideki jacket today, and I sewed most of it together. right now, it looks like a bright yellow, vest, haha. I'm waiting until he can come over again to do the sleeves so that I can make sure they're the right length. The kanji on the back is a pain in the arse though.

Also, I found out that when you Google search "chobits hideki jacket" and go to images, on the second and third pages are images that link to this blog, haha. It's also on the first page of a regular search.

READ MORE - Hideki Jacket (Day 228 pt. 2)

Styling Chi Wig (Day 124)

I styled Chi's wig (put the spools in it). It was a pain in the butt, but it looks bretty good =] I'm all set for both AOD and Fanime, even registered for the costume contest at AOD, I just need to print and sign the consent form. I'll probably try and get that done today. I have to print a reference picture of Ammy too, but that's pretty easy.

READ MORE - Styling Chi Wig (Day 124)

Spools (Day 119)

There's some irony in here somewhere. I made the spools that go in Chi's hair out of Sculpt It! clay. Damn, I really hate this stuff. I wish I could've just used real spools. but I don't have two the same, and that'd be a waste of thread =/

So, somehow, even though the seal was never broken, my white Sculpt It! was completely dried out. How massively inconvenient. The lightest-colored, least-dried-out was yellow, so now I have two little yellow clay spools. I'll probably paint some of them tonight, but I have to put sealant on them firs to smooth them out a little, since Sculpt It! is lame and cracks. I'm a little worried about threading the hair through the spools, but at least I have a general idea of how to get them to stay.

READ MORE - Spools (Day 119)

Days 117 & 118

I got my wig for Chi! And that's really it D= There's not much styling to be done, other than adding the spools to her hair. I don't want to cut the back of it, since it'll be doubling (tripling?) as my wig for Triela (Gunslinger Girl) and Riza (Fullmetal Alchemist). To get the effect of the cut hair in the back, I'm just going to tie the bottom of the wig into two "pigtails" which will keep it from tangling too badly during the day too.

READ MORE - Days 117 & 118

Ammy's Wings & Chi's Ears (Day Eighty-Six)

I always forget how time-consuming Ammy was. I like to think it's similar to the fact that women have hormones that make them forget how horrible their pregnancy was after they had the baby. After I stop working on Ammy and wear her to a convention, I completely forget exactly how much time, money, and effort she took.

I spent three or so hours on Amaterasu's shoulder wings today, and I only covered one wing with fur, plus a couple of minor things. Although I do want to say again how thankful I am for this blog, both to my starting it and to my readers. If it weren't for my strange yet extremely strong desire to post something, I probably wouldn't work on my costumes until a week or so before their debut. Then today's setback with Ammy's wings would've been a big deal. It turns out that the wings are too heavy and need more than just the one arm band I have to hold them up. So I figured out how to fashion new arm bands that will be attached to the wings in addition to the ones I already have. The new bands won't be as visible though, so the overall look will stay the same.


In addition to all of that, I finally got fed up with waiting to buy a headband to put Chi's ears on, so I improvised. I used elastic, the same kind I used on the back of my mask, and made essentially a headband. I'm not thrilled with it, but it works very well and actually gives the ears a better shape, I think. I may tweak them a bit more, but if for some reason I run out of time or something, they're definitely usable. I also attempted to give them a metallic shine by painting them with an opaque silver paint. However, that may have only made them look dirty. I'll see when they look like tomorrow and go from there. If all else fails, I'll just paint over them with white paint and seal them. The sealant should give enough of a shine.

READ MORE - Ammy's Wings & Chi's Ears (Day Eighty-Six)

Late Night Ahead (Day Eighty-One)

Time to stay up late putting the final touches on my final project for Costume Construction I. Hopefully it doesn't take too long. Just have to label stuff and shorten things. I'm freaking out about presenting tomorrow because it has to be six minutes, and I've only presented for about that long once. And that was a long project.

I had a stroke of dumb last night. First off, I hate Hideki's ugly yellow work jacket. It's.. It's.. Ugly =[ So, I thought "Hey! Why not use is school uniform instead!" Then I searched and searched, and watched about an hour of English-dubber Chobits, which was not fun, only to realize that Hideki does not have a school uniform. LAME!

READ MORE - Late Night Ahead (Day Eighty-One)

Meh (Day Seventy-Eight)

I finally got the stockings to go with my Chi dress =] They're not exactly what I wanted, but I'll live. I also got a "Tattoo Pen." It's not the greatest thing ever. I was hoping that it'd be cosplay material worthy, for pretty much anything that'd need a tattoo, but it's basically an expensive Sharpie. D= Dries better than a Sharpie though... And is harder to get off! xD

I was supposed to go see my boyfriend in his college play today, but noooo. We got looooost. Pfft. Going tomorrow instead. Meh.

READ MORE - Meh (Day Seventy-Eight)

Back to Chi Again (Day Seventy-Four)

For the record, I'm not making the dress pictured here, it's just the closest one I could find to what mine looks like now.

Ah, Chi's dress is almost finished! It is definitely the frilliest, girliest thing I own. And I love it to pieces. Is it sad that it's probably the prettiest piece of clothing I own? I was shocked when I put it on after working on it today. I didn't expect it to turn out so gorgeous. It's definitely worthy of Fanime's Black & White Ball now, which was about eighty-five percent of the reason I wanted to spiff it up. All that's left is finishing a few loose ends. Like lace ends that need to be stuck together or covered with ribbon. They just don't look finished otherwise.

I'm thinking of adding some gold onto it too. Just a couple little gold ribbons or something, but it really depends on what color my Hideki's jacket is going to end up. I mean, I know it's supposed to be yellow / gold, but until we actually buy the fabric or jacket, I can't match a proper ribbon color to it.

In other, slightly related news, stuffing a bra is fun xD And surprisingly effective if done right. Even though I'm not flat, I feel like I make a flat Chi (I mean, come on, she's like an E or something). I can stuff so that I actually have cleavage showing and it doesn't look misshapen. =D Proud of my self for no real reason.

Tomorrow I want to finish off the parts of the dress that I can, then work on Ammy some more, since Chi will be in a wearable state and I will be wearing Ammy three weeks after Chi's dress.

READ MORE - Back to Chi Again (Day Seventy-Four)