#elikathal

[elikathal]

What if dragons were just dinosaurs that survived. I mean we don't know everything about dinosaurs. Maybe they fucking breathed fire or poisons or could create storms with their roars. How would we know? It's not like we know what the anatomy of a fire breathing creature would look like. It could be right in front of us and we'd be like "nah that's a fucking dinosaur"

[elikathal]

My family always asks me why I don't use sewing and costume making as my career when I have obvious talent for it. I just say because it's a hobby I wouldn't want to make a job of it. But in all honesty I feel like I can't make a career of it and it's because of them. I begged my mom to teach me to sew or let a friend teach me if she bought me a sewing machine starting at 14 until I graduated and went on to college. All I ever got in response was it was a waste of money, only for nerds, and not fun. All of my friends were making awesome costumes and capes and period dresses while I was forced to go on hikes, camping trips, fishing. Don't get me wrong. I like hiking and camping. Fishing not so much. But what I craved when I was younger was art, museums, history, science. Making things from other things fascinated me. But not a single person in my family shared my interest. I was not lucky in that aspect and so instead of supporting my interests and dreams, my parents interest and dreams were crammed down my throat. Looking back on my life I can tell you exactly why I have never found my place, why I don't feel there is something I'm meant to do and that's simple; everything I was meant to do was stripped from me by an unsupportive family. I'm not trying to be that person who shifts all the blame onto their parents but there is blame to be placed on them. I've often wondered what my life could have been like if my mom had supported my interests and encouraged them. Where I would have ended up if she'd taken me on the college tours I wanted to attend rather then denying them and forcing community college on me. What it would have been like to dorm rather then commute because she didn't believe I could handle living on my own. Now it feels to late to have any of that. I'm older, I work almost full time. I'm trying to buy a house and live a life that's my own. For 25 years of my life my family forced me to only be what they wanted, to do what they wanted and thought was best. Last October I finally broke free and moved out and I'm able to look back and see how toxic they really were. I'm not saying there were never good times. I'm grateful for all the things I did get the chance to experience even if they were not my interest, after all how do you know you like or dislike something until you try it. But it would have been nice to know support, that someone besides yourself believed in you and your interest.

[elikathal]

Hey everyone I'm trying to reach 1000 likes on my page and would love it if you guys could give me some help! Once I reach 1000 likes I'm going to do a give away between tumblr and Facebook for a gift card to Arda wigs and Joann's.

[elikathal]

Can't decide if showering at 2 am with a bottle of rum is a high point or a low point in my life..

[koumatsuokakitty]

elikathal reblogged your post ((My friend (and me too) wants me to d... and added:

This is going to be so epic when we film it you have no idea. Then I want to do one with Chris as haru and gou to the...

OMG that would be great! I love all the songs in Frozen!! 

[elikathal]

So the coolest thing happened to me this past weekend while attending the state fair~

A friend of mine made friends with the "character" performers at the fair and we ended up going out to dinner and to rojis tea lounge with one of the girls after her shift ended at the fair. We had a great time and while we were at Roji we got on the topic of cosplay and the girl asked if I had photos of my costumes. I handed her my phone and she started to look through my pics and she says "Wait you're this cosplayer? I know you from DA I follow you! I love your Seras Costume!". This girl is from California and knows who the hell I am because of my costumes x3 I was so freaking happy! It just made my day to know that there are people all over the country who enjoy watching me do something I love and appreciate what I do! I mean I know I'm pretty well known locally but to be known by someone on the other side of the country is just an amazing feeling <3 

[elikathal]

Cosplay Tip #3

Is staying off site of a convention cheaper then staying at it?

The answer I've found after researching it a bit and talking to many people about it is usually - no its not.

Here are some things to consider when trying to decide if you should go with the more pricey room in the hotel the con is happening in or right next to or if you should go with the cheaper one a bit down the street.

Parking

Distance

Food

Time

A lot of time people will book the hotel down the street as a means of saving money without thinking about the things that staying farther away from a con add's into the mix. The factors listed above are some things to consider when deciding and here's why.

Parking - A lot of hotels (specially in cities like NY, Baltimore, Boston, etc) will expect you to pay extra to park in their lot or garage because of how little space is available on the streets and also the extra security they can provide to your vehicle. What many people don't realize is that often times if a convention is happening inside a hotel they will offer free or discounted parking for people attending the convention that weekend.  Instead the book the cheaper hotel and pay to park, which while by itself doesn't usually end up equaling the same cost of staying at the pricey hotel when added with the next factor it can.

Distance - If your hotel is a half mile or more away from the con chances are you won't be walking to it, specially if it is happening in the middle of july or february and you're in costume. This will lead either to the expense of driving to and from the con daily (and in some cases parking) or to the expense of taking a taxi or other transport to the con. In this case the amount of money you will have spent driving back and forth (and parking) or getting taxi's (sometimes mulitple times for both) will equal out to be the same as having stayed at the con. You also have to think about if you are walking and want to leave the con for a bit how you are going to feel about needing to walk back later. As well as the time it will take to do so.

Time - Staying away from a con cuts into your time. The time you have for sleeping, eatting, getting ready, attending the con, etc. No matter if you are driving or walking you will need to figure that you will be missing out on something you wanted to do at the con at some point simply because it is taking you longer then the people staying at the hotel the con is in to get there. For them they have a 2 min walk or elevator ride down stairs. For you it will be a 10 - 30 min ordeal depending on distance and traffic. In some cases you might realize that with the time you spend traveling back and forth equals out to missing almost a whole day of the con at which point you have to ask why you paid for a 3 day pass when you really only spent about 2 days there. 

Food - You will almost always end up leaving a convention to get food but there is a difference in this subject matter for those staying away and at the con. If you are staying away any food you bring with you will be left back in the room because you wont want to carry it with you, this means going back to the room to eat or in most cases as this is how people who leave the con to eat thing you will go out to eat at a restaurant. Again cutting into the time you are at the con and adding to the expense of traveling back and forth if you are not within walking distance. For those who stay at the con they simply can go back up to the room, grab something, and be back down in the con within 8 mins. Missing nothing important and getting head starts on lines. They can even order a pizza to there room and go sit in the middle of the con and eat it without ever having to leave the fray.

One final thing to consider that is not listed above because it is not a cost that will effect everyone in the party is:

Roommates - If you are rooming and traveling with multiple people and are staying away from the con and it is not within walking distance one or more people are going to end up paying for a ride back to the hotel. Not everyone will want to leave the con at the same time and usually the driver of the car gets the say as to when they are leaving. If they want to leave at 8 pm and you want to stay till 1 am you will be faced with paying for a taxi or bus by your self. Even if you are within walking distance you may find you are the only one who wants to stay late and be faced with walking back to your hotel, alone, in a strange city, in the middle of the night. While this may be fine for a few tough guys out there, if you are a girl dressed up as sailor moon it may not be the best or safest choice and you may find your self leaving the con well before you are ready to simply for your safety.

Again these are just some things to take into consideration when looking into staying at a con verses away from it and every situation is different. Some cons like NYCC are just so pricey that staying away with all these factors is still cheaper and others like metrocon can swing either way.

The fact is you should always sit down with those you are traveling with and have a serious talk about how late people plan on staying, how often travel back and forth to hotel and con will happen, and price out these extra added costs to determine which plan is truly better for you.

A great place to inquire about this and get feedback from others is in the forums of the actual cons and of course at cosplay.com

[elikathal]

#079 - I Worked at Walt Disney World

Posting this as part of the 100 facts to go along with my post about cosplaying Rapunzel. I worked there I know all the rules, use to enforce them everyday. I'm going down during the Halloween Party. During which you can wear any costume you like so long as it doesn't expose you or pose a hazard to other people and they can't say anything to you. Last year when I was down there for it I probably met at least 6 cinderella's. It does confuse the youngest of kids only if their parents don't correct them and tell them its just someone pretending to be her because its halloween. However most of the people cosplaying princesses or other disney characters during the party just work that disney spirit of acting like the character and taking a picture with the kid to keep up the disney magic.

Really its not hard to fake, you greet them, ask if they are enjoying their stay in the kingdom, what their favorite ride is, who their favorite character is, answer their questions, take a picture, and princess wave goodbye xD