What Have I Done Cosplay Blog

Sooo this is a compilation of stuff i've done. Hopefully i'll remember to add to it.

[enigmaticagentalice]

shoutout to the guy in charge of the train station at my hometown, who doesn’t limit himself to announcing trains but also:

comments on interesting birds he sees on the platform

gives completely unofficial weather reports on what he thinks the day is going to be like

refers to very crowded trains as ‘friendly trains’

regularly congratulates everyone on having gotten up on time on Monday mornings

basically seems to use the tannoy system to amuse himself and try and brighten up everyone’s morning commute

refers to himself as ‘the fat controller’

[earlploddington-deactivated2019]

what magical land do u live where there’s something other than a robot in charge of the train announcing

[hagane-cosplay]

Battered and Bruised - Ways to “Weather” EVA Cosplay Armour & Other stuff too!

After finishing my Mass Effect armour, I wrote a tutorial series about some simple, but effective weathering techniques for cosplay.

A recent reblog alerted me to the fact that the links in these pages were broken, so here’s an index:

Part 1 of 4

Part 2 of 4

Part 3 of 4

Part 4 of 4

Thanks those of you who have messaged me to say you’ve found these useful; I hope they’ll help more people who are doing similar projects!

[yendys16cosplay]

A wild Ruby appeared

[yendys16cosplay]

Got shirt. Got pants. Commander Shepard is a go.

[yendys16cosplay]

Cousin trying pocky for the first time

[yendys16]

#Ellie’s First Con

ALLRIGHT YOU POOPNOGGLERS

today me and my adorable cousin will be attending Convergence 2016

Stay tuned over here https://www.tumblr.com/blog/yendys16cosplay for adorable selfies and what not

[ardawigs]

Can’t get the belt buckle just right for your ‪#‎cosplay‬? Need that extra jewel for your accessories? Those fine details are finally attainable with an easy, one-part, light-activated UV resin! Check out Jessica LG’s tutorial on UV resin casting and get creating! See the full video here: http://bit.ly/1RzLIxh

The first 17 people to buy 100g or more of UV resin will receive a free UV lamp with their purchase! Purchase UV resin here: http://bit.ly/25nnGjx

[kakashi]

i want a whacky comedy sitcom featuring all the hokages living in one house

[kakashi]

“tobirama did you persecute the uchiha AGAIN??”

[laugh track plays]

[cosplaytutorial]

Cosplay Tip

Decide if you want to do a realistic or screen-accurate costume before starting your cosplay, this can make a huge impact on your choices. 

[chibiannecosplay]

Really cool and fast way to cover foam!

[cosplaytutorial]

Age and Cosplay

Now that I am home and at a computer…sharing time!   This is in addition to the post I reblogged earlier that responded to an anon saying “ Confession: I’m 20 years old and I’m afraid that I’m getting to old to cosplay.”  I started cosplay when I was 13. At this point my sewing skill was level 1: I could sew a beanbag and I could sew scraps of fabric around a barbie. The barbie had to be cut free of the scraps (since there were no proper zippers,buttons or closures) but it looked somewhat like clothing! My friend and I LOVED anime, we rented VHS and DVDs from our local comic book shop and were ready to experience our first anime convention. We learned about cons from her mom, who used to attend sci fi cons when she was growing up in California. She also told us that people wore costumes to these things and so we decided to wear some as well. With a lot of help from our moms we dressed as Puchiko and Pyocola from DiGi Charat AND IT WAS AMAZING. Our costumes weren’t perfectly accurate, we didn’t use wigs but DAMN did we have a good time! We stopped counting at 60-some-odd people asking for our photo. We were young, we had no money, we had no skill … but this cosplay thing was awesome!  

Things i made: the nurse’s hat. Bristol board and earmuffs that were colored with sharpie 

Fast forward a couple years. I LOVED cosplay and I got super invested in it. I learned to sew, fixed up my Pyocola costume and then made several more cosplays. I started going to 4 cons a year and making a couple costumes for each convention. I pushed myself to try many new things, but still stuck within budget. Looking back it’s really weird because I pushed so hard to make amazing things but because of budget constraints I made props with cardboard. I am both impressed with what I made, and a little ashamed that I didn’t invest more to make them better. I was young-ish, had time, had some skill and I didn’t have much money but I was still passionate and involved in the hobby.   

Spot the cardboard: Gun, wings, necklace, headband. 

 Then came college: I worked while in school so I HAD NO TIME but somewhat more money and definitely more skill. I know my costumes suffered from having to quickly put them together after exams but you can still see the difference in craftmanship from what I made in highschool. I still had some duds but I knew they were because of my time constraints. It took a while before I could accept not making a new costume for every con. I had somewhat more money so I could afford to experiment with fabric and with different materials and I really started to identify that the experimenting and learning process of this hobby is what I love most. At this point I felt like I was getting to be the older crowd (in my 20s) but I was still passionate about the hobby and was able to pinpoint WHY. This is when I started to produce work I was proud of. 

This costume looked even better when I distressed it

By the end of college I started to wonder if I was getting too old for cons or cosplay. I knew there were people my age in the con scene but they weren’t as visible, and there were definitely a lot of highschool kids. I started doing panels and volunteering at conventions to help meet people, get involved and reinvigorate the con experience. It definitely helped, I had a ton of fun with panels and I got to volunteer with my friends! However I was still being discouraged by posts talking about “How old is too old to cosplay?” and people saying they felt too old at 19/20. Then I went to Costume Con 32 and it completely changed my mindset. The con itself was geared toward an older audience and it was ALL about costuming, I felt like I was home. There were families cosplaying together, there were groups of people who were much much older than me and ROCKING their costumes and so happy to share details of how they made something. I always encouraged cosplay for any age, but this really cemented it because I could see it being represented.

So here I am, turning 27 this year and still 110% dedicated to this hobby and this blog. I don’t have plans to leave anytime soon. I finished school last year and now I have the funds to dedicate to costuming, actual free time and  skills that I have built up over 11 years. IT IS MY TIME TO SHINE! I can’t wait to see what I can make and how much that will improve in 5 years, 10 years and even further in the future! (Plus I just got my close friends to cosplay with me and I got them planning future costumes!)  So final thoughts:  You’re never too old or too young to get into cosplay or to be a cosplayer and this hobby welcomes people from all skill levels. There is always something new that you can learn and new ways to apply your skills. Each stage of life is going to give you different challenges and opportunities which can make an impact on what you create.  If you feel like you are getting too old, it might just be that you need to refresh your experience: take on new challenges, cosplay with more/different people, get involved with the conventions, try to find events with an older audience or connect with cosplayers online. Find what you love MOST about the hobby and focus on that. If you feel burnt out, take a break. Try conventions without cosplay and come back if you miss it. Costuming has a long history and will most likely be here for you if/whenever you decide to come back.

[cosplaytutorial]

Cosplay Discussion

The hot topic of this week is the hotel damages spotted at Katsucon. People are outraged and for a good reason, damages can cause cons or hotels to raise their prices and enact stricter rules. In some extreme cases, these behaviors can contribute to a con not being welcomed back to the venue. But I am a convention veteran and I know that I’ve seen think kind of stuff at other conventions, and not just caused by teenagers or anime fans! So please: share your stories and your solutions! Discuss:

What kinds of damage have you seen at conventions and similar events? What do you think conventions or attendees can do to cut down on damages?

*Please answer with reblogs, so the askbox doesn’t explode. Responses sent through the askbox are not guaranteed to be posted.

[shinitama-deactivated20190102]

Someone literally broke the front door at Anime Detour one year. Just… walked right the fuck into it. Or stumbled into it, I guess. Massively inconvenient and super embarrassing for the con and everyone attending.

Not really a “damage”, per say, but another year cosplayers had police called on them because they took their signs/fake weapons/their fake-blood-covered selves over to the Mall of America, which was right across the street from the hotel the con was usually hosted in at the time. Not smart.

I’ve seen a fair share of makeup stains, ruined pillowcases from hair dye or colored spray, people breaking stuff from getting too enthusiastic with their props, people finding ways to make the elevators jam because they thought it would be funny.

Basically, if you’re attending a con, just don’t be an ass. Seal your bodypaint, or don’t wear it at all. Bring towels if anything you’re wearing will stain. Don’t wield your props with reckless abandon. Watch where you’re going. Remember that you’re in this space as a courtesy, and it is a very real possibility that the con won’t be invited back if this sort of crap happens.

[cosplaytutorial]

FX Makeup: Basic Gash

Tutorial by: a_skeleton Tutorial Link: http://www.instructables.com/id/FX-Makeup-Basic-Gash/

[cosplaytutorial]

Cosplay Tip:

After the con: evaluate your costume. What can you do to improve it for future wear? Even if you don’t plan to re-wear the costume take the ideas for your next project.

[yendys16cosplay]

Cosplay List as of November 2015

What is a cosplay blog without a list of characters you want to do in the future? 

Some Have planned dates, others are just kind of thrown in the “eventually” pile, and some are ideas that I can only dream to do sometime in my lifetime.  

Let’s take a look see

–(organized alphabetically after con/date)

–Bold means i’m working on them

– Slash through means they’ve been done/ costumes is completed

–? means I have no idea if they’ll actually be done or not

THE LIST

Ellie (last of us)–Comic-con Minneapolis May 2nd or 3rd

Little Sister (Bioshock)–Comic-con Minneapolis May 2nd or 3rd

Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite)–Photoshoot

Ruby Rose (RWBY)–Nebraskon 2015 (still need crescent rose/will wear again)

Christine Daaé (Phantom of the Opera) 

Crona (Soul Eater)–(project is a little dropped till I can find a con and a ragnarok for them)

Dipper Pines (Gravity falls)

Harley Quinn (Batman)

Lucille (A Monster in Paris)

Liz (Hellboy)

Mabel Pines (Gravity falls)

Miss Martian (Young Justice)

Nora (RWBY)- (for little cousin not me)

Penny (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long blog)

Princess Serenity (Sailor Moon)

Sally (TNMBC)

Shepard (Mass Effect)

Sophie (Howl’s Moving Castle)

Spider Gwen?

Spider-woman?

Starfire (Teen Titans)

Star Butterfly (Star vs foe)-All of her outfits-mwahaha

Vanellope (Wreck It Ralph)

Violet (The Incredibles)

Suggestions? Feel free to leave them in my ask box.

[batmans-tiny-dick-grayson]

Roosterteeth shoot part 1 (i only got half of this because I got arrested)

neo is @whiskycow

right Blake is @hyperionwitch

[yendys16cosplay]

Nebraskon 2015

All in all this has been one of the better cons that i’ve been to, I would definitely go again next year if I wasn’t planning to go to some other cons instead.  I met some great people, bought some christmas presents, and went to some really interesting panels.  My only nit picky thing is that I was disappointed in the lack of a con sweet, I wouldn’t mind a 5$ boost in admission if that meant free ramen and rice

Con 6.5/10