WIP: Books of the Raksura Cosplay
Since it has been a while since I asked the wonderful marthawells about cosplaying as her character Jade, I figured it was about time for an update.
Now, I want this to be cosplay to be so awesome that people will be encouraged to read The Books of the Raksura, 1) because it is a thrilling series to the extent that I am proud to own both the ebooks and paperback, and 2) I want the fandom to grow so badly it hurts. That being said, the work that I have done on this costume so far has been mental, preparing myself for the amount of learning, the amount of money, and the amount of work I have to do to fulfill my role as an avid fan.
For those who don't know, Jade is a queen over her people of shifters, a population that have a vaguely reptilian secondary form of two types: Aeriat, the winged half the population, and Abora, the grounded half. Being a queen, Jade herself does not have a human based form, but alternates between her winged form, and a more humanized version of the abora form. Her scales come in two colors, a primary blue (which I visualize as a dark sapphire color) and a secondary silver. For a better idea, please read The Cloud Roads.
First off, I knew that I wanted to do Jade's groundling form, because I honestly did not want to mess with wings at a con. But Jade still has the spines and frills due to the abora-ness of this form, and the engineer in me wanted to create a pulley system in order to simulate the body language Wells creates in her books. To do so I have decided to use the secondary color of Jade's, which is described as a webbing, as the puppet strings to move the multitude of spines that will replace my hair and run down the curve of my back. A silent motor will be placed in base of the tail to pull on those strings according to the amount of current that I run through it, so the spines can 'snap' up in anger, or slowly lift in excitement.
Secondly, I have decided that I need to make several latex pieces to 1) protect my skin from the moving components of my cosplay, and 2) add the all essential scales. Simple enough. The latex pieces adds to realness to Wells' fictional race, hopefully providing interest in the overall design without looking like a knock-off Mystique. For that, I need molding materials plus time to sculpt and paint in order to create the perfect Jade that exists in my head.
And thirdly, I need all the little detail pieces that will make the entire cosplay to come to life. Claws and fangs will need to be made, along with royal jewelry that Jade wears on a daily basis. While I will be fine with latex covering my chest, I will attempt to create a woven shawl to wear around my waist, for both my modesty and to hide where the tail begins. I will also attempt to create Jade's amethyst and silver pectoral, bracelets, and belt from scratch using resin, colored beads, and silver wire. I say attempt, because I think that it will take me several tries to create designs that looks vaguely alien, yet highly crafted.
This will be the hardest crafting I have ever done, and since I have to learn over half of what I have to do with trial and error, it may take me over a year to accomplish this feat. Yet, I am so excited to do so!
