Costume Testing

I'm hoping to take Fumi with me to AAC this year, and I'd like to do some actual cosplays. So,  decided to do a quick costume test on her with a few things I had in the doll bin. This particular test is for Saffron from Firefly.  Obviously it's just a test, so the shawl is...in need of imagination, and she doesn't have the right wig etc.  But it does give me a general idea, which is a good place to start!

And for reference, this is what I will be going for:

I think I'm going to tea-dye the top to the right color, and start doing some knitting this weekend. I have a blond fur wig I could also dye to the right red for her hair.  She should probably have a skirt, but I'm going to do the other parts and see how I feel about it once they are done. I might be able to get away with the shorts she's wearing now. 

Another Anime Con!

AAC was awesome this year, I'm so glad I went for the full weekend rather than just a day.  I got to meet all sorts of wonderful people, see neat costumes, play games, and danced my tail off.  I can't wait for next year!

I arrived at the con Friday afternoon, dressed in my "lazy Winchester"outfit (aka my angel sigil tank, plaid shirt, and jeans). Ghost had the devil's trap sweatshirt on, along with jeans so we sort of matched. I didn't get any real pictures of this outfit unfortunately.

Friday night we wandered the con, did some shopping, and then ended up at the Platform One concert.  Love these guys!  Sort of new wave, goth-esque music, with a front man that looks exactly like Alan Rickman's Snape (and knows it!).  We danced along with the band, and then were able to say hello and get a picture with them after.

The band! (my friend SourBrains is Jayne!)

Day two!  Saturday is the biggest day of the con with everyone arriving and setting up, and a full day of panels.  We ran around in the morning to get our friend set up in the dealer's room, and then started our own fun.

Our friend's  booth (SourBrain's sister)! She crochets like a wizard, and made all those ponies for the con.  And she makes a mean Jayne hat.  If you're looking for anything crocheted find her as kalithegeek on Tumblr.

This is me attending what I jokingly refer to as "floor con," or the moments when you need a rest and just sit on the floor and crash for a bit.

Ghost at floor con with me!

Ghost in the hotel room with my mask.

 Shopping! I bought an awesome hair bow (Sailor Jupiter) from Sakky, who makes amazing plush and bows.  I'm going to wear this one to death, I can already tell.  Mohawk + hair bows makes me happy.

Saturday's outfit was an amalgamation of some of my dance attire, making it like a huntress outfit.  

The tail below I bought while there, so awesome!

Saturday part II, we changed and wandered around the con taking photos and doing all sorts of shenanigans.  This is me with two really awesome people in fursuits. Look at that armor! 

Portrait on the lawn by SourBrains. This was my second Saturday outfit.

Got to get the tail!

Saturday part III!  After relaxing and attending a photography panel (photos of Ghost and I pending!), we changed and got ready for the night's activities.  We hit up a karaoke panel first, but it ended up kind of being a bust.  Sour dressed in his fancy best, and I had on some sparkly shorts, a black tank, my tail and a pair of ears, and a bedazzled vest.  No pictures of this outfit, aside from this one.

We partied well into the night, hitting up another club outside the con (we were the only ones dancing!) and at the rave.  Then we joined up with some new friends and played Cards Against Humanity until 4am.  So exhausting, but a lot of fun.

Sunday was a day of "oh my god why didn't I drink more water yesterday" and "ow...my head..."  I don't drink alcohol, but I still get hangovers when I don't drink enough water, and boy did I feel bad on Sunday!  So I ended up helping pack up the hotel room, and attended on panel about bjds (shout outs to all the great people I met!) before heading home.  I did take a few shots of ghost, though none of my equally garish costume.

It was a lot of fun over all, and I can't wait for it to come back around again!

Long posting lag is looooong.

I would like to say that I have a good excuse for not posting, but it's mostly just due to being too exhausted from work.  I love the new job I'm in, but it completely kicks my ass.  I've barely even done anything with Uri at all since I started it, aside from sewing a few things here and there.  But we're getting closer to the anime convention and it's time for me to get my butt back into gear!

So far I have at least one costume done, another mostly together, and a third in the planning stages.  As for Uri, I have probably one done, and two in planning.  If all goes well I'll be putting together another this evening.  So no pictures of his thus far, but I do have one of mine.  Here's a crappy shot of my Kaylee Frye costume from Firefly.

Yay for nighttime pictures after finishing sewing.  I dyed the jumpsuit myself, made the patches by hand, and found the shirt as a happy coincidence at a thrift store.  Uri should be going as Jayne with me, but I have to get his costume done.

I also recently found some beautiful vintage dresses at a thrift store, and I think I'm going to use one for another costume with Uri.  It's long and flowing and white, so I think I'm going to go as a bride of Dracula, or perhaps his victim.  I'll need bite marks for me, and perhaps fangs.  And Uri will have to be nicely dressed up.  Perhaps without his wig (Nosferatu ftw).  But that is still in the planning stages. So there is more to come!

And since it's almost October, it's just about time for the Haunted Vessel posts.  This year I'd like to open up the floor to anyone who has had a paranormal experience with their dolls, or really any toys (or objects if you like).  Feel free to submit your story to me via comment, or if it's particularly long I can give you an e-mail.  I am also happy to accept stories and post them anonymously, so your name doesn't need to be on it.

Cosplay Preview- Mini Party Poison!

This is just a preview of the jacket, but since that's a huge part of the costume, it's kind of a preview of the cosplay too. :)  Uri and I have cosplayed as killjoys before, but not with his own real outfit.  Technically we both have our own killjoy personas (Baby Berzerker for me, After Burn for him), but since I have the Party Poison jacket, I wanted a PP cosplay for us as well.  

So this is the jacket I've been working on for the last couple of weeks.  It's based off a pattern from Undead Threads for a trench coat/duster, but I shortened it.  The details were hand sewn in felt, and the Dead Pegasus patch was embroidered on.  It technically still needs the lighter blue strips on the sleeves, but I totally forgot about those when I bought the fabric, and therefore I didn't buy the felt.  So when I hit the craft store next that will be remedied.  For now it's looking pretty good though.  As a note, the jacket actually sits right, I just forgot to fix it for the photos.  So it's not really uneven.

More to come as the cosplay progresses! 

Another Anime Convention Review!

Overall I had a good time, and was very pleasantly surprised at the size of the convention.  My little state isn't exactly known for putting on big cons, but this one was really well-attended.  I'm going to simplify this a bit and do a pro/con arrangement with a little explanation.

Pros:

• The con was actually pretty well run. Sometimes with cons that are just starting or smaller ones, you can find a lot of issues with the management.  This one however was well done, and nicely organized.  Con staff were positioned all over the place, almost at ever turn in the hotel.  They were ready to help you with just about anything from directions to fixing a broken costume.  They even had a "hotline" specifically for costume mishaps, including a text number.  Really convenient and nice people.
• Well attended, and awesomely costumed!  Seriously, there were so many amazing costumes.  
• Lots of fun activities, panels, and general craziness.
  
  There was a little rave, parasol and fan painting, video game lounge, various games going on in the hallways, a gong show, a hentai showing (hilairous!), and so much more.  I'm kind of sad I missed some of the earlier activities.  
• A wide-spread representation of fandoms in both attendees and presentations.  I saw a little of everything: Avengers, Superman, Sherlock, Loki, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, Kuroshitsuji, furries, Firefly, Dr. Horrible, Doctor Who, Homestuck, and so many more.
• Really nice (if at times overeager) attendees.  It sounds silly, but not all conventions have that welcoming feeling.  This one though definitely had it from staff and attendees alike.  Everyone was more than happy to stop and chat, take pictures, discuss their costumes, etc.  People were also really good about offering help or advice if you found yourself lost or in need of something.

That being said, there were unfortunately a few problems (some big, some not) as well.

Cons:

• The vendor's hall closed early.  Really early.  My friend and I got there at 6ish, and it was already closed for the night.  I checked the schedule and apparently it was open in the mid morning until early afternoon, then closed, opened for a half hour, closed, opened for a half hour, and finally closed completely.  This meant I wasn't able to do any shopping. :(
• We encountered a few, rather rude members of the convention staff.  I try to give them some credit because I know conventions are never easy, and I'm sure they had to deal with a lot of crap.  However, there were a few interactions that were less pleasant than they could have been.
  
  For example...When we first arrived, we got our badges and went to enter the vendor room.  It was already closed which we were unaware of, we just saw a staff member at the door checking badges.  There were still people wandering around the vendor hall at this point, in retrospect I assume they were vendors closing up.  In any event, we get our badges and go to enter.  Rather than simply saying "It's closed," we get this interaction.
  
  My friend and I walk up to go in.  The staffer at the door jumps in front of my friend and pushes him back.
  Staffer: Where do you think you're going?!
  My friend: The vendor room?
  Staffer: No you're not.
  My friend: Because...is it closed already?
  Staffer: *big exasperated sigh* Obviously! You guys should have gotten here earlier.
• Creepy, creepy, creepy men. And staff/security not being watchful enough.
  
  I get that creepy guys are everywhere, and especially at cons they can be prevalent.  I also understand that you can't just kick people out or bar them for no reason but...
  
  There were a lot of older, very sleazy men hanging around the young girls of the convention (I would say 80% of attendees were under 18).  Some were just oggling, some were following them around and snapping pictures.
  
  I actually spoke to one of the staffers/attendees and she told me a very unsettling story.  She was at the front of the hotel outside, and a number of older men approached her asking how they could get into the party.  She asked if they were there for the convention, and they said no, they'd just heard there were underage girls in skimpy outfits and they wanted to come look.  They actually said this...
  
  Unfortunately there was also an issue with an older man who kept telling people he was the "official photographer."  Technically he had a staff pass, but he was using his position to get information like phone numbers, e-mail, and addresses from young female attendees.  He kept saying he'd send their photos if they told him where they lived/their number, but when asked by an older attendee he admitted he just wanted the e-mails to contact the women.  Ew.
• Finally, and most unfortunately...there was a lot of sexism, racism, and anti gay language in at least one of the panels we attended.  Now I'm no stranger to bad/offensive jokes, and I get that a con can have some pretty crazy behavior.  But to have a con-sponsored panel where the presenters yelled things like "lesbian!" as insults to the audience, and made racial and sexist jokes just wasn't acceptable.  

Overall I would definitely attend AAC again, and I think I would go for the whole weekend.  I feel like I missed out by only going for a day.

Killjoy Alias: Baby Berzerker

A very bad picture, but a picture nonetheless of my Killjoy cosplay (in progress!) of Baby Berzerker. M0re info and pictures to come. :)