not all miracles are made by magic

☆ Ren ☆ she/her/they ☆Final Fantasy XV ☆Cosplay This blog is a forever work in progress.

[ruby-lights]

[COMMISSION] Voltron - Keith Garrion Jacket

This was made using a pattern by BilltheBrick on etsy.  The pattern is definitely not beginner friendly so I struggled quite a bit with many parts. If I had to redo this I would make sure to cut the fabric so it would be easier to turn on the sharp angles. Also the bias tape I would’ve liked to have done neater but all in all it came out really nice!!!

[ruby-lights]

[TUTORIAL] Hua Cheng’s Silver Vambraces

I was asked how I made these on Instagram so I decided to write up a tutorial for them. I am no means a foam smithing expert and this is actually the first piece of foam armor I’ve made, but hopefully it will help other beginners out there make something amazing. 

 I followed this tutorial by Kamui Cosplay for the base. [Actual tutorial starts at 4:44. I had difficulty with the duct tape method and it can be dangerous if done incorrectly so what I did instead:

Measure the circumference of your wrist + 1 inch for ease.

Measure the circumference of where ever you want the base of the bracer to land + 1 inch for ease.  How long you want it is up to you  but I went a few inches away from my elbow.

Measure the distance between these two points down the middle of your arm.

On a large sheet of 2mm craft foam, make a line with your wrist +1in measurement. Mark the center of this line.

From the center of this line, draw a vertical line that is the length of the distance we got in step 3.

Now draw the base line. This line should be 1/2 of the base circumference + 1/2 inch away from each side of the center vertical line.

Connect the wrist and base lines so you now have a trapezoid shape.

Cut this out with scissors or an exacto knife.

Follow the rest of the video to learn how to heat shape and prep the foam for the next step. I do not have a fancy heat gun so I used a hair dryer as best as I could.  The 2mm foam is thin enough that it will mold to the shape of your arm after the zipper is attached at the end anyways.

Decoration time! There’s no actual “canon” design for his bracers so you can do whatever you want.  As long as they’re silver with butterflies that should be enough. [ I recall that the novel may have said they had maple leaves on them too. ]

For the top and bottom I glued 1/2 in strips using hot glue, BUT I recommend using contact cement as it is thinner and bonds much better. Make sure to use it in a well ventilated area as the fumes are a bit dangerous.

The flourishes are just some fancy puffy stickers I found at Michaels. I glued these down using contact cement.

The butterflies are also just foam stickers. 

Prime your bracers using your choice of primer. Kamui also has a good video on primers but I just sprayed on some modge podge. 

After that finished drying, I sprayed painted them black and let them dry for about 5 hours.

I then went over with silver spray paint.  Do this layer a bit sparingly so the black peaks through and you get a nice weathered effect. You can also go back and add some black back with a brush if you think you overdid it on the silver.  But if you like stark silver you can do that too! I let this dry 5 hours or so.

I finally finished with a satin clear top coat (the finish is up to you really) and let that dry over night. 

Finally I attached the zipper with a hot glue gun. Make sure the zipper length isn’t longer than the length of the bracer. A separating zipper will give you the least trouble but I used what I had and was still able to put it on fine. 

Enjoy! If you have any questions or require further explanation or pictures please let me know! 

[ruby-lights]

First of all, thank you again to everyone who was able to come and attend my panel! For those of you who couldn’t make it I was able to get a recording!!! I haven’t rewatched it cuz I hate the sound of my own voice so I would really appreciate any constructive criticism or things you would like me to expand upon.  

So, just a slight preamble/ramble for this video and FFXV in general:

When I first did this panel last year, I was a bit lost.  There’s so much to talk about with this game from the development to the lore to the fandom, that I really couldn’t find a focus. Furthermore, I did this entirely alone and didn’t have an editor or another person with as much insight as I do to really give me good feedback. But, by doing this twice now I feel that I’ve found my voice and want to have this sound less like a wiki page and more like an exploration into the process that happened with this game.

On that note, I had planned to not do this panel again as I felt with XV finally coming to a close that things would be wrapped up.  I still have yet to play Episode Ardyn and Dawn of the Future just came out in Japanese which has unloaded a whole bunch of more Versus teasing and nonsense that I feel needs to be explored and would probably be interesting to include in a panel (or at least a post when I get my copy).

XV unique and important in that it’s really a lesson in how not to market a game.  Many games have languished in development for decades, but none not so publicly as XV. Publicly, we saw that the scenario, characters and gameplay changed many times. Internally, as confirmed by character designer Roberto Ferrari, this happened even more so.  Therefore you had legions of faithful FF fans latch onto these characters and concepts for them never to materialize.  Square Enix has even acknowledged this as a BAD MOVE and was probably why they are shutting their mouths about the FF7 remake as much as possible. They’ve realized that showing early concepts can be a double edged sword. Sure you’re building up a fanbase, but you also leave yourself very little room to play around with a concept and Square Enix eventually ended up hurting themselves by building up fan expectation and not delivering: first with XV itself and then secondly by cancelling the season pass 2 DLC’s. Thus, the legend of XV’s development isn’t only important in the context of XV, but also the current landscape of AAA gaming development in general. So, if Anime Boston isn’t tired of me yet I’ll probably do it again with much re-editing. 

[daburu]

[COMMISSION] Final Fantasy XII - Fran 

A commission for @tachisoft

Base Pattern: Crystal Lake Skating Outfit by Green Pepper, with some modifications

Fabric:

4 Way Stretch Black from Joann’s

White Chiffon from Fabric.com

Wright’s Extra Wide Double Fold 0.5in Bias Tape in Red

Process:

 I took the base pattern and just cut into where the stomach opening was and made adjustments to the chest line as well. The original pattern didn’t call for a crotch opening but this material is THICK and would be difficult to take on and off to go to the bathroom especially with armor over it so I installed plastic snaps. The chiffon stomach veil is attached using Liquid Stitch as I didn’t want to add extra bulk with more stitching. 

Things I would do differently:

As doing these commissions are still a learning experience for me I want to take note of things I need to improve upon.  First I need to look into a better way of finishing the edges for stretch fabric like this as I don’t like how the zig zag stitch looks.  I tried using a double needle but I believe it was the wrong type and was hence, giving me tons of issues and is where a lot of my time was wasted despite this being a pretty easy costume. For the sleeves i made the mistake of cutting the zig zags first and then trying to fit my bias tape over it. Which meant that some of them didn’t fit perfectly and made them difficult to attach. Also, Wright’s premade bias tape, while convenient, is so THIN AND AWFUL. I’m going to look into other brands or suck it up and make my own from now on. 

[dizzymoogle]

Prompto’s Barcode & MT Info

I have finally decided to compile all information I have about Prompto’s Tattoos and anything about MTs that I have gathered into one post since I’ve had it scattered across multiple posts.

Keep reading

[ruby-lights]

[COMMISSION] Soul Eater - Maka Albarn

A commission for @haruka-kobayashi.  I did everything from scratch and it was a great learning experience. I learned that I’m never going to sew a dress shirt again in my life!!! Ties are also a pain in the ass.  I really just love sewing pleated skirts and obnoxious jackets. 

[daburu]

[00] Kairi v1.0

Progress photos from sewing Kairi.  I learned the hard lesson of seam allowance from this one. The Mickey patch resulted from me messing up the zipper.  Definitely going to remake this entire costume.  This one will probably go up for sale or be salvaged for buttons. 

[ruby-lights]

A while back I attended the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra with some friends.  One of which who took these pictures of me as Kairi in her KH3 outfit. I created the outfit completely from scratch and I’m really proud of how it came out despite it being the first thing I’ve ever sewn in my life!!

[szynkaaa]

Hiyaaa (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ Could you post the links to the first page of both FFXV comic anthologies? Thank you for your time! o(*≧□≦)o

Hello! The entire 2nd Vol can be found here:

https://mangadex.org/manga/25836/final-fantasy-xv-official-comic-anthology

unfortunately, i decided not to upload vol 1 as the scans and translation were provided by someone else and I did not feel comfortable having them floating outside tumblr, but you can find them scattered around here:

http://xzhang.tumblr.com/tagged/ffxv+official+comic+anthology/page/3

Hope that helps!

[allofeos]

So, someone from the FFXV Reddit posted this and a bunch of other info from datamining. I’m disappointed this got cut, as well as some actually unique looking daggers as the Episode Ignis reward… among other things. Bit of an interesting read.

[ravy-nevermore-archive]

Ahahaa I do love when SE can poke fun at itself and display fandom awareness. But I agree, it’s far too OOC to leave in the game.

Keep reading

[chilledfoodtin]

Throughout chapter 10 and 13, Prompto frequently lends Ignis a hand.  When Noctis returns to Hammerhead in ch. 14, Prompto excitedly grabs Ignis by the arm to take him to  Noctis.  It’s obvious Ignis doesn’t need the assistance, but it’s also obvious he doesn’t seem to mind his shorter friend’s intervention.  After 10 years without his sight, I’m sure Ignis is used to Prompto’s helping hand.  I thought it was a nice moment.  

[ruby-lights]

Season Pass 2 Announcement & Predictions

Season Pass 2 has been announced! It will include Episodes Ardyn, Luna and Noctis and a Side Story for Aranea. Also with this news comes the announcement of the "Alternate Grand Finale."

Our heroes will challenge their fates in order to realize the ideal future they envisioned.

Now let's go through the descriptions of the DLC's given and make some predictions.

Episode I: Ardyn

“The Conflict of the Sage”

This story portrays the struggles of Ardyn. Witness the resentment he harbored towards Lucis for over 2000 years, and his clashes with the Astrals. It will be out in the very beginning of 2019.

First of all, it's very important to note here that Ardyn is referred to as "the Sage." Sage has actually been a job class in previous Final Fantasies.  According to finalfantasywikia: "The sage could be considered the ultimate Red Mage, being able to cast both Black and White Magic.."  This is interesting because it somewhat lines up with the "Ardyn is a Red Mage/Red Mages exist in FFXV" theory.

While we have all been told of Ardyn's origin story, we have never actually /seen/ it.  I suspect Episode Ardyn will actually show us his absorption of the Starscourge, rejection by the Crystal and Astrals and the nature of the "betrayal" by his younger brother, Somnus.

Episode Side Story: Aranea

“The Beginning of the End”

A side-story about the Starscourge depicted from Niflheim’s perspective. The final day of the Empire turns out to be Aranea’s worst day. It should be out in early Spring 2019.

Most likely will explain what happened in Gralea when its people were wiped out by the "vanishing disease"/Starscourge prior to Noctis & Co.'s arrival.

Episode II: Lunafreya

“The Choice of Freedom”

This story’s about Luna’s fate, which not even death can free her from. Her battle to save the one she loves overturns the destiny dealt to the Lucian King. It will be out in Spring 2019.

Now this is an interesting description.  At first, I thought a Luna DLC would show her forging covenants with the Astrals before her death but it seems this DLC will go down a different path. Both in Kingsglaive and FFXV Luna has been shown as being incredibly devoted to her duty of assuring the ascension of the True King. In Kingsglaive, Lunafreya tells Regis that her duty is to ensure that Noctis fulfills his destiny. To which Regis responds "and what of your own destiny?" Lunafreya simply tells him that her duty is her destiny.  She is so devoted to this duty that she has sacrificed any thoughts of having the “choice of freedom.”  Because of this, many players found Lunafreya to be a flat/boring character that only exists as a plot device for Noctis.  While this is unfortunately mostly true, there was much more to Luna that we didn't see.  A scene from patch 1.16 shows Lunafreya saying "If we could live out our days together, as we once dreamed," thus confirming that Noctis and Luna did have mutual feelings for each other for a long time.

Judging from the sentence "Her battle to save the one she loves overturns the destiny dealt to the Lucian King." and the title "The Choice of Freedom," it would appear that in this Episode Lunafreya does something to change Noctis's fate, something which she as Oracle duty bound to fulfill the prophecy probably shouldn't have done. Furthermore, that this choice is something Luna decides for herself to do; something not bound by duty or prophecy but by her love for Noctis.

Episode III: Noctis

“The Final Strike”

Parting ways with the Astrals, Noctis embarks upon his final battle in order to attain the ideal future for all his people. It will be out in Spring 2019.

Not a lot to go off with this one.  It seems like yet (another) retelling of the final battle with Ardyn but this time will be the "ideal future." This "ideal future" *may* be the "Alternate Grand Finale" planned.  The artwork accompanying this shows Lunafreya, Noctis and the bros as much older.  There are two children that appear to be Noctis' and Luna's children.  Then most interesting of all is (Uncle) Ardyn.  Perhaps Noctis really managed to make Ardyn "remember the kind King he once was" as he proclaimed in the pocket edition?

And, if we really wanna go far back, we can take another look at Fabula Nova Crystallis and some of its major elements: humankind defying the will of divinity and seeking out alternate futures. Our first iteration of FFXV contained none of this, Noctis and co simply followed the path they were given.  Episode Ignis introduced Ignis and Noctis defying the Crystal and looking for alternate solutions to defeating Ardyn without Noctis dying.  Now we have the "Alternate Grand Finale" which seems like it will be a happy ending for all.

Overall, I am pleased with these proposed DLC even though this is really something I expected from the main game the first time around I played it. Perhaps Square Enix really would have been better off keeping the game in 3 parts....but oh well

[finalfantasyversus]

Final Fantasy Versus XIII Famitsu Magazine (March 16th, 2008)

[ruby-lights]

The Development & Lore of FFXV Slides & Essay

These are the slides and the massive essay I wrote for my panel. I’ve included both the first and final drafts of the essay since the first one has a lot of information that I needed to cut down on.

PowerPoint

Presentation 1.0 

Presentation 3.0

[ruby-lights]

THANK YOU!

Thank you for everyone that came to my panel, “The Lore and Development of FFXV” at Anime Boston this year.  For those who didn’t come or are just curious I will be uploading my powerpoint and Full essays onto Google Docs once the Post-Con Fatigue trails off. I also have some photos of some great cosplayers I’ll be uploading then too.

I really hope to do this panel again next year, preferably at a time that isn’t AT FUCKING MIDNIGHT. But for being at midnight I still had an audience of about 15-20 people so it really went sooo much better than expected. I learned a lot from this experience (mostly that I can’t shut up about NoctLuna and Prompto) and will definitely refine and focus my presentation if I am able to do this again next year at AB or at another convention.

[higharollakockamamie]

Guys I am dying, the answer to "In the alternate ending, how did they defeat Ardyn without sacrificing Noct?” is seriously “Ignis made a plan so secret he didn’t tell the developers.” 

[higharollakockamamie]

Another Possibility

The Extra Chapter shown in Episode Ignis. With but one decision, Ignis’s powerful desire to save Noctis finds another possibility. 

Ardyn’s Arrogance, Ignis’s Secret Plan

In the midst of the pitched battle in Altissia, Ardyn draws a blade on the fallen Noctis and provokes Ignis. Will Ignis die with the rest here, or will he alone come with him? Finding a glimmer of hope in this inscrutable question, Ignis decided to go along with Ardyn. 

Ardyn summons Ignis to Zegnautus Keep, where he reveals that he is a member of the royal line of Lucis who was driven from the throne, and that his goal is to have his revenge by killing the awakened True King Noctis. Along with the fact that to encourage the king’s awakening, he means to make sport of killing Ignis. Though wounded all over his body by Ardyn’s attack, Ignis has no intention of dying there. He puts on the Ring of the Lucii that he recovered in Altissia and, to save Noctis, boldly challenges Ardyn to battle. Ardyn had disdained Ignis as helpless; however, in the face of the immeasurable power granted by the ring,  he is gradually pressed into becoming unable to hide his vexation. Then Ignis, having wagered everything and finally obtained the power to bring judgment on even a king, disintegrates Ardyn’s body. 

Noctis and the others rush to Ignis, who has exhausted his powers. Desiring heart and soul to save Ignis, Noctis puts on the Ring of the Lucii and heals Ignis with the Crystal’s magic. Then he entered the Crystal of his own will, resolving to accumulate its magic power. 

Time passes, and the final battle in the Crown City arrives. Ignis has been devising a secret plan to destroy the immortal Ardyn and drive out the darkness. There is no meaning in a peace obtained by sacrificing Noctis.  His emotion surpasses even the intent of the gods and brings forth another future. 

Details of the Other Possibility

Top left photo caption: In Zegnautus Keep Ignis gets a vision along with a headache, and learns that to save the world Noctis must be sacrificed. 

Top right photo caption: Ignis on his knees before the overwhelming power of the revealed Ardyn Lucis Caelum. However, he did not come all this way just to be killed.

Lower caption: “But I refuse to let Noct sacrifice his life to save ours. I won’t let you take him away!”* In response to this fierce emotion, the Ring of the Lucii grants Ignis the power to surpass even a king. To the Kings of Yore residing in the ring, Ardyn is a enemy who must be defeated. If there is the opportunity to diminish his strength, they may grant power even to a user who is not a king. 

At the Crown City Insomnia. On the path to the final battleground, Ravus awaits. Ravus, recognizing Noctis as the True King, entrusts him with the weapon of the final King of Yore: his father’s sword.  Ravus joins them and the party heads towards the Citadel, expressions bright, appearing confident of the secret plan’s success. 

*Note: This is a direct quote from the game, so I used the game’s rendering. More literally it’s something like “I will absolutely not accept a future where Noct is made a sacrifice!” If you spot any translation mistakes, drop me a line and I’ll fix it up.