#virtualcc

[tereshkova2001]

Thank you for participating the Virtual Comicon Masquerade! This was my first time judging a costume contest, and the entrants didn't make it easy on me. All of the entries were wonderful, and I hope to see more from you next year. (if there is a next year.) Thanks to Optimystical Studios for organizing and letting me judge. I really enjoyed it.

To the audience, thank you for watching, and please consider sending in your costumes in the future.

[optimysticals]

And the winners of the 1st Annual Virtual ComicCon Masquerade Are:

In 3rd place with her Pajama-Party Tamiyo, is MoxyMtg!

A simple costume with a strong, creative backdrop; an interesting and innovative interpretation of the character.

Our 2nd place award goes to BelleChere's Captain Marvel!

This costume looks like she stepped straight off the comics panels and captures the strength and power of the character.

And the 1st place prize goes to Air Bubbles Cosplay's Chandra Pyromaster!

I was impressed by the variety of techniques and materials used and the attention to detail.

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We want to thank all of our wonderful costumers. Each one was fabulous and it means so much that you would participate in this fun new event.

We'll be contacting each of the winners to get them their prizes!

[optimysticals]

We will finish up with this Luthien cosplay from Lyra.

Beren and Luthien costumes were a couples cosplay I've wanted to do for a very long time, but only recently had the guts to try. The challenge of doing Beren and Luthien costumes was that unlike the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit with their movies there's not very much of a standard fandom visual vocabulary for them, so trying to make them recognizable was a real challenge. To do that, I chose to use the patterns that were established for Arwen in The Lord of the Rings but adapted them to colours more suited to Luthien (silver and blue) to harken back to Arwen as Luthien is her grandmother, and added distinguishing features such as the circlet and the larger elf ears (to mark Luthien's Elvish/Maiar heritage), and the belt of woven hemlock blooms. Adapting the full Aragorn costume to Beren was quite a bit more challenging both visually and due to skill, and so I went about modifying and borrowing several different looks: colours from Strider/Aragorn in browns and green, and a less ornate tunic/coat look from the Dwarves in The Hobbit. The most distinguishing features of the Beren costume is, I think, the bloodied and ripped sleeve from when his hand was bitten off by the great wolf Carcharoth, as well as the Ring of Barahir he wears around his neck (which is later passed down to Aragorn and visible in the *Fellowship of the Ring *movie). And for anyone curious about the arm effect, my husband actually *is* missing his right forearm, though there was at least one young person at Emerald City Comicon who was convinced it was a special effect. And I will end simply with this: *It is told in the Lay of Leithian that Beren came stumbling into Doriath grey and bowed as with many years of woe, so great had been the torment of the road. But wandering in the summer in the woods of Neldoreth he came upon Lúthien, daughter of Thingol and Melian, at a time of evening under moonrise, as she danced upon the unfading grass in the glades beside Esgalduin. Then all memory of his pain departed from him, and he fell into an enchantment; for Lúthien was the most beautiful of all the Children of Iluvatar. Blue was her raiment as the unclouded heaven, but her eyes were grey as the starlit evening; her mantle was sewn with golden flowers, but her hair was dark as the shadows of twilight. As the light upon the leaves of trees, as the voice of clear waters, as the stars above the mists of the world, such was her glory and her loveliness; and in her face was a shining light. *

[optimysticals]

Our next entry is Chandra Nalaar by Air Bubbles Cosplay.

Hi! I'm Arielle from Air Bubbles Cosplay (cptairbubbles on Tumblr and Air Bubbles Cosplay on Facebook). I have been cosplaying for about 4 years now with my first cosplay as Codex from the Guild. For this entry I present to you my Chandra Pyromaster cosplay from Magic the Gathering.

[optimysticals]

Our next fantastic cosplay is Pajama-Party Tamiyo by moxymtg.

I'm a 34-year-old mom who's been nerding out all my life, but I've only recently started to really channel it to do meaningful things. Currently I do freelance creative writing for the card game Magic: The Gathering, which means I get to make up card names and such. I also write a column for Gathering Magic, paint card alters and write fanfic on my blog moxymtg.com.

In this cosplay my goal was to show a different side of one of Magic's flagship characters. My concept for this cosplay was, "What's Tamiyo look like at bedtime?" In her card art, Tamiyo wears a complex updo and very businesslike attire. I wanted people to see an intimate side of her, while still being respectful of her understated aesthetic and demure personality. Tamiyo is a very unique character and on the card Prosperity, a quote I wrote was attributed to Tamiyo, making her even more special to me: "True riches are found in the mazes of the mind." Through all of my work, I hope to encourage people to get creative and let more fantasy into their lives.

[optimysticals]

Our 2nd entry is Captain Marvel by BelleChere.

Hello! I'm BelleChere! I've been happily participating in this hobby for 9 years now, and have always been a big Marvel fan. My first love was Rogue (X-Men), and it's through her that I got interested in Carol Danvers (then Ms. Marvel/Binary). I appreciated the character's strength, wit, and intelligence, but it wasn't until she took on the title of Captain Marvel that I really felt a strong relation to her. I love her struggles, her adventures, and she helps me dream big. Photos by my friend Benn of Robbins Studio of Photography and Fine Art (https://www.facebook.com/RobbinsStudios).

[optimysticals]

Up first is DBVivtoria's Steampunk Airship Pilot

Victoria's been costuming for over 25 years, combining thrift store finds with handmade pieces.  She does mostly fantasy and Steampunk costumes.

[tereshkova2001]

Hiya! I'm Torrey, @tereshkova2001, and I am delighted to be serving as the judge for the Optimystical Studios Virtual Comic Con Masquerade. I've been costuming since high school and have been competing (and winning) at science fiction conventions since 2010. Here are a few of my favorite costume photos; the captions have more details. I handmade all of these and am happy to talk costume construction at any time.

We got some lovely entries, and it'll be a challenge to select award winners. I hope you enjoy the show!