Vocaloid 2: Kagamine Rin 15

vocaloid 2 cosplay - kagamine rin 15真夜中の4時にみつけた 四ツ葉のクローバー焼きついた
At 4 o'clock that midnight I found a four-leaf clover, I was impressed
三ツ足のカラス 屋根の上で不気味に見つめる
Three legged crow, upon the roof it ghastly watches us
双子はいつまでも石油で体を清めて ほのかに香る
Twins eternally cleanse their bodies with oil, faintly emitting a scent
有機モノソミー ひとりきり
Organic monotony, all alone

“Deep Sea Underground” Lyrics and Translation by
Vocalochu

Peter, the one who sent in this photo, thought this cosplayer might be the same one I featured back in January 2010. What do you guys think? Thanks again for sending this!

Key Tree Expedition

I was playing in the park the other day, collecting sticks and stones for faerycraft projects and taking photos of marvelous trees and flowers. I had this old key in my pocket that perfectly matches with trees, don't you think? Creates stories.










Ikkitousen: Ryuubi Gentoku

ikkitousen cosplay - ryuubi gentokuA klutzy, ditzy, bespectacled bookworm with seemingly no combat skills whatsoever, Ryuubi Gentoku is destined to become a great leader, but is presently too timid and carefree to become one. She is, however, more than willing to do her best for her friends. She possesses the most destructive dragon ever seen, which is so evil that it radiates entropic energy and nearly made her disembowel herself.

Hard to imagine how such a cute and timid girl would have something so powerful. Thanks to Orion for sending this in! First found on Kyoko’s Tumblr!

8 ways Yuyuko Saigyouji Cosplay can help you survive a plane crash

Photo Source: Cosplay of Yuyuko Saigyouji Cosplay CosplayFU.com

5000 HITS GIVEAWAY!!!

Guys, this is actually happening!  We have reached our first giveaway point of 5000 HITS!!!  This is a pretty exciting moment for us ^^.  The prize will be a $20 gift certificate to Arda-wigs, one of the best resources for your cosplay wigs!  Remember the pony tails I got from them some time ago?
Well, I liked it so much that we have decided to go with Arda.  The quality of wigs really makes a huge difference in your cosplay!

Some details regarding the giveaway:
1. We are using Rafflecopter to manage the giveaway.  The winner will be selected by a random algorithm used by Rafflecopter.
2. One person can only enter once, but you can increase your chances by completing the tasks listed on Rafflecopter.
3. Anyone can enter, as long as you complete the mandatory task of becoming a follower to our blog.
4. This is not a sponsored giveaway, we chose Arda wigs because we love the store.
5. It is rude to become a follower to this blog for the giveaway and then just un-follow, so please don't enter if you are not interested in the blog at all.
6. The winner must claim the prize within 48hours, or a new winner will be selected.
7. The giveaway starts from Thursday 3/29/2012 and ends at the end of Friday 4/6/2012

It would helps us out a ton if you could blog/share this giveaway with your friends and family!

Thank you so much for your support, and may the odds be ever in your favor!  (Hunger Games reference..derp)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior: Chun Li 03

street fighter ii: the world warrior cosplay - chun li

Chun Li is generally a cheerful woman who often gets happy and excited whenever she wins a fight. As a member of the police Interpol, she takes her job very seriously and always does her best to complete her mission. Chun Li can be quite competitive with other female fighters, but sometimes becomes allies or even friends with them outside the ring.

Cute cosplayer! I wonder what that game is? It looks like a slot machine of some sort. Thanks to Ingrid for sending this in!

8 reasons to fear Akiza Izinski Cosplay

Photo Source: Cosplay of Akiza Izinski Cosplay CosplayFU.com

Three Reasons Steampunk Sucks and Three Reasons it Doesn't Have To

Fellow cosplayers, we need to have a talk. Well, not you and I, specifically, but cosplayers, congoers, and geeks in general. The talk we need to have is about Steampunk and why it kind of sucks.

Let me say, straight off, that I’m talking about Steampunk, abstractly, as a style and a genre, not as a subculture. I make exactly zero judgments about Steampunkers as people, except to admire their dedication and skill, ‘cause gods know that shit is beyond me.

Second, I want to define what I mean when I talk about “Steampunk”. Unfortunately, Steampunk is a lot like porn: You just know it when you see it. For costuming purposes, though, I’ll say that Steampunk is anything that takes its inspiration from distinctly 19th or early 20th century styles, often incorporating references to anachronistic or fictional technology. Obviously, this is a very broad definition; there are a million sub-genres and offshoots that aren’t covered by this, and we could spend days talking about the differences between Victoriana and alt-Modern. You have to admit, though, it’s a better definition than “what happens when Goths discover brown”, however accurate that might be.

As a final caveat and clarification, I will add that I fucking love Steampunk, in all its permutations. To be fair, I love pretty much anything with “punk” appended to it, but Steampunk at its best is the very height of elegance, whimsy, and extreme badassery. On the surface, what’s not to love?

Three things, as it turns out.


Go Big or Go Home

The first and most obvious problem with Steampunk is that it’s really goddamn hard. I realize the same could be said of good cosplay in general, but I think we can all recognize that 19th century style requires a different level of skill. If, in fact, you disagree and are thinking “Pshaw, shadowen! Doing Steampunk is not that hard!” Then you, my friend, are doing it wrong, and you are part of the problem.

See, there’s nothing inherently wrong with difficult styles; they’re fun, challenging, and the work tends to pay off. The real problem is that, as we can all attest, there are a whole lot of lazy-ass cosplayers out there. Of course, half-assing it is part of the game sometimes, but part of good cosplay is knowing when you can cut corners and when you have to put in the blood, sweat, and tears. Like the man said, you cannot just glue some gears on it and call it Steampunk, but that is all too often what happens.

In costuming, the difficulty of a project is directly proportional to both the probability that something will go wrong and how very very wrong it can go. If I had any kind of math skills whatsoever, I’d give you a formula, but basically the fact that Steampunk tends to be really complicated means you’re that much more likely to fail unbelievably hard. This is apparently not a deterrent to many cosplayers, and, as a result, there is an awful lot of bad Steampunk.


Been There, Seen That

A few years ago, if you rolled up to a con in full Victorian dress, you wouldn’t have gotten 10 feet across the con floor before a swarm of geeks with cameras descended on you. Now? You’d best have working gears, pipes that shoot steam, and a three-foot TARDIS hat if you want that kind of attention.

I hate to say it, fellow cosplayers, but Steampunk as we know it is played out and on the verge of becoming passe. It is even - dare I say it? - boring. Not that “I want people to take pictures of me!” is necessarily the guiding star of cosplay, but, for me at least, it’s a consideration. If you’re going to put a lot of work into a costume - as Steampunk requires - it’s nice to have some recognition of your efforts. With Steampunk, unless you’re going really above and beyond, you’re not as likely to get that recognition as you once were.

At this point, we’ve seen it, and we’ve probably seen it done better.


White People Fuckery

Oh, I can hear the protests now. “But, shadowen! Can’t we keep politics out of our cosplay? We just want to put on fancy clothes!” I hear you, fellow cosplayers, and I have some bad news. There’s already politics in your cosplay, the same politics that are in your media and your fandoms. All art is political, and Steampunk in particular has some bad baggage.

The ugly truth of the matter is that the 19th and early 20th centuries were really shitty periods for anyone who wasn’t rich and White. Okay, so that actually describes a large chunk of human history, but the Victorian and early Modern eras were especially bad. British colonialism was at its height. The American westward expansion pressed thousands of workers of Color into extremely dangerous jobs with meager pay. The American Civil War decimated the southern states and left poor workers of all colors even more destitute than usual. The Industrial Revolution provided new and exciting environments in which wealthy factory owners could torment, overwork, and otherwise endanger working-class women and children.

Steampunk romanticizes and glorifies this period, drawing almost exclusively on styles worn by by the upper and upper-middle classes. Even the “industrial” elements so popular in Steampunk costumes - the gears and cranks and whatnot - are typically polished and stylized beyond recognition, presenting an image of the Industrial Revolution that is literally gilded. Standard Steampunk reinforces the myths constructed by rich White people about the Power of American Industry and the Glory of the British Empire, myths which alternately glamorize and ignore both the contributions and exploitation of people of color and working-class people, as well is dismissing the damaging effects of European colonialism.

To reiterate my earlier caveat, I am talking about a problematic trend in Steampunk as a style; I’m not saying that all Steampunkers are bad people and they should feel bad or that nobody with a conscience should ever do Steampunk ever. I’m saying this is a thing about Steampunk that sucks, and we need to acknowledge it.


BUT THERE’S HOPE

All of this suck is definitely discouraging, but take heart, fellow cosplayers, because Steampunk isn’t quite dead yet. Don’t believe me? Here’s three reasons Steampunk doesn’t have to suck.


Endless Possibilities

Like I said before, what we tend to think of as “standard” Steampunk focuses on a very narrow slice of of Victorian and Modern society. By expanding your view to include other cultures, classes, and countries, you introduce a whole new realm of possibility for Steampunking.

Take Asia, for instance. There was all kinds of cool shit going on in East Asia in the late 19th century, including a massive increase in trade with Europe (due in part to the aforementioned colonial fuckery) which created some amazing fashion fusions. Want some inspiration on this end? Check out the series premiere of Nickelodeon’s “The Legend of Korra”, which is set in A Place That is Not Asia has a cool 1920s-with-airships-and-magic vibe.

And what about the American West? This has gotten a little bit of attention, to different effects, in Steampunk media like Wild, Wild West (the series and the movie), Cherie Priest’s alt-history books starting with Boneshaker, and Warren Ellis’s alt-future graphic novel Ignition City. Cosplay is behind the curve on this one, though, and there’s a lot of unexplored territory (appropriate metaphor is appropriate), especially if you take into account styles from the Civil War and the major influence of Latin culture in the south west.

If you’re looking for a specific Steampunk text to pull from and want a more global perspective, check out Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan trilogy, in which The Great War involves genetically engineered creatures and steam-powered everything. Seriously, folks, where are my Midshipman Sharpe cosplayers? If you have no idea what I’m talking about, do yourself a favor and look it up. You’ll thank me.

For more resources and inspiration on how to expand your Steampunking, have a look at the Multiculturalism for Steampunk page on Facebook, which has pretty pretty pictures. The best source of ideas, though, is history. A little research beyond the limits of Sherlock Holmes and your high school history book will open up a wealth of possibilities for cosplay.


Big Shiny Playground

Y’know what I saw at Dragon*Con last year? Nerf Steampunkers. True story. It was a group of folks all decked out in Victorian style, but everything was in those amazing neon Nerf colors, and they had Steampunk-ified Nerf and foam weapons. Fellow cosplayers, it was beautiful, and it underscores the fact that there’s a lot of room to play around with Steampunk.

As fans, we know that genre boundaries are a lot like rules for pirates and traffic lanes in China: mostly just guidelines. Steampunk versions of characters are a matter of course in the cosplay world, and we love it! This is a great way to really give your creative muscles a stretch and turn out a truly unique costume. We’ve all seen the Steampunk X-Men, and Doctor Who get’s Steampunked like nobody’s business. Steampunk Star Wars and Star Trek, though, seem to be confined mostly to concept art and prop making. And what about mecha anime? Or cartoons, in general? Basically, if you can think of it, you can Steampunk it.

As evidenced by the the Nerf Steampunkers, the boundary transversal goes both ways. Not only can you Steampunk anything, you can also take Steampunk in whatever direction you want. How about Rave Steampunk? Or Post-Apocalyptic Steampunk? Or Surrealist Steampunk? Okay, maybe surrealism is a bad idea (or is it? What would that even look like?), but you get my point.

Like any other costume, you have to hit those high points, and the rest is just play.


I Reject Your History and Substitute One With Robots

On the one hand, Steampunk glamorizes and whitewashes an era of the (relatively) recent past that is already romanticized and misrepresented in popular media. On the other hand, Steampunk affords us an opportunity to take a look at that past, decide it’s not what we want, and change it.

If speculative fiction lets us imagine a better future, Steampunk gives us room to write a better history, one with clockwork automatons and air pirates and steam-powered everything. It lets us dig into the unexplored perspectives of our culture and tell stories that didn’t happen but could have and should have, stories you’ll never see in a stuffy period drama. Steampunk reminds us that historical “fact” is just another cannon to be re-written, just another sandbox to play in.

So you’re thinking, “But, shadowen, what does this have to do with pretty clothes?” The answer, fellow cosplayers, is everything.

When we put together an outfit or a costume, we’re choosing a story to tell, be it one somebody else invented, something we made up, or a chapter in our own personal narrative. Clothes tell stories as personal and complex as any book, and Steampunk gives us another language to write in.

Like any genre - or any language, for that matter - Steampunk has its own set of problems and limitations, some of which make cosplay especially difficult, but it also has unique potential and possibilities. A costume that tells an interesting story will be interesting. Period. A costume that tells a half-assed, derivative, ignorant story... well, it’s not going to make anyone happy. I can’t tell you how to create costumes that are stunning and complicated and original or how to avoid the trappings of Racist Fuckery, but I can offer you this small piece of advice for Steampunking and for cosplay in general.

Choose your stories wisely, fellow cosplayers, and try not to suck.

-shadowen

Mass Effect 3 - Kai Leng (mask)

I had some leftover Wonderflex after I cut out the armor for my Natsu cosplay, and since Wonderflex is between $30-$50 per sheet, I was not going to let any of this go to waste. I'm still drifting through my post-ME3 depression here, so I decided to make Kai Leng's eye mask. If you played the game you probably hate his guts but his facial gear looks pretty cool. I love the design and I thought it'd be a good opportunity to experiment with making masks!


This took me about 4 hours on and off because I got distracted by the ME3 multiplayer for an hour, hah. I also had to factor in time to let the glue and the paint dry.

FIRSTLY, I APOLOGIZE THAT ALL THESE PHOTOS ARE IPHONE PHOTOS. Half of them are Instagram'd but I forgot to charge the battery for my DSLR and wanted to work on this mask, randomly, my next post will have fancy DSLR photos again.


I drew a pattern on Illustrator with some measurements I made according to my face. I taped these patterns after I cut them out, onto my leftover sheet of Wonderflex. 



I knew I would be making the mask in layers, so I molded the "base" piece (which is what I considered the "black" piece to be) to my face. Using the heat gun I softened the Wonderflex and gently pressed the piece against the contours of my face. That's probably not the best thing to do but well, it worked for me. After that I just softened each layer and molded layer upon layer (painting the layer beneath it first, of course).





I painted a thin layer of gesso the base, but it might not have been a thick enough layer as Wonderflex naturally doesn't have a perfect, smooth surface--you can see the slightly textured surface of the Wonderflex despite the black paint.

Each layer is reinforced with tacky glue. As you can see I have some really fancy clamping tools.

I only used 3 colors of paint, starting with black as the base for each layer. Then I brushed a metallic gunmetal paint or a silver acrylic paint over the black to give the illusion of these pieces actually being some kind of metal. I find that metallic acrylic paints are always too transparent, and that painting a black base first will give more opacity to the metallic acrylic paint.


This concludes my explanation of how I made his eye mask ONLY. Doesn't include his entire face piece. I will eventually make that but it is heaps more complicated than just molding Wonderflex to MY FACE.

Ryuji Takasu Cosplay by the numbers

Photo Source: Cosplay Costumes of Ryuji Takasu Cosplay from CosplayFU.com

Ryuji Takasu Cosplay by the numbers

Photo Source: Cosplay Costumes of Ryuji Takasu Cosplay from CosplayFU.com

10 epic fails involving SF-A2 Miki Cosplay

Photo Source: Cosplay of SF-A2 Miki Cosplay CosplayFU.com

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi: Nagato Yuki 08

the melancholy of suzumiya haruhi cosplay - nagato yuki 8In one of the episodes of the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, Yuki and Haruhi acted as stand-ins for four-member band in their school cultural festival. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), Yuki was able to memorize the music piece just by looking at it, and played the guitar flawlessly on stage. Kyon later commented that Yuki probably played along with Haruhi to keep her from being bored.

Awesome cosplay! I had to crop this, but the original image is linked on the thumbnail, so feel free to see the high-res version! Thanks to Shinji for sending this in!

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi: Nagato Yuki 08

the melancholy of suzumiya haruhi cosplay - nagato yuki 8In one of the episodes of the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, Yuki and Haruhi acted as stand-ins for four-member band in their school cultural festival. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), Yuki was able to memorize the music piece just by looking at it, and played the guitar flawlessly on stage. Kyon later commented that Yuki probably played along with Haruhi to keep her from being bored.

Awesome cosplay! I had to crop this, but the original image is linked on the thumbnail, so feel free to see the high-res version! Thanks to Shinji for sending this in!

Some Updates ...


Hi guys, before I realised, this blog has been inactive for more than 10 days already.

I apologise in advance but I've just been busy with life and my own cosplays. Yes, I just suck at multi tasking and dressmaking =\ I guess I'm feeling pretty burnt out too. My head says yes but my body says no, LOL.

Nevertheless, I just had a Lovely Complex Photoshoot so look forward to the photographs soon! The costume's pretty simple but if you guys want, I might do a tutorial sort of blog entry about the costume and make up. Those of you who have been following TheCosplayChronicles on Facebook would know of my obsession with makeup and looking like a man these few days xD


This is one of the trial Special Effects makeup I did. Virtual love for anyone who can guess which character this is mimicking!


Also, it is confirmed that I'm going to SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show this July! After much agony and self debates, I finally bought my Plane tickets so now, it's towards a no-retreat route! Hope to see you guys at the event ^_^!

And that's not the last travel/event I will be going this year. Which means my wallet is crying out loud for mercy now = \ Help me click on the ads T_T

Either way, see you guys soon!

Some Updates ...


Hi guys, before I realised, this blog has been inactive for more than 10 days already.

I apologise in advance but I've just been busy with life and my own cosplays. Yes, I just suck at multi tasking and dressmaking =\ I guess I'm feeling pretty burnt out too. My head says yes but my body says no, LOL.

Nevertheless, I just had a Lovely Complex Photoshoot so look forward to the photographs soon! The costume's pretty simple but if you guys want, I might do a tutorial sort of blog entry about the costume and make up. Those of you who have been following TheCosplayChronicles on Facebook would know of my obsession with makeup and looking like a man these few days xD


This is one of the trial Special Effects makeup I did. Virtual love for anyone who can guess which character this is mimicking!


Also, it is confirmed that I'm going to SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show this July! After much agony and self debates, I finally bought my Plane tickets so now, it's towards a no-retreat route! Hope to see you guys at the event ^_^!

And that's not the last travel/event I will be going this year. Which means my wallet is crying out loud for mercy now = \ Help me click on the ads T_T

Either way, see you guys soon!

Yasumicon Mascot: design + cosplay!



Back when I wasn't even a student at FIU, I was rather involved with their Anime Club, and in 2006 I revamped their club mascot and made a couple of illustrations for their annual Yasumicon convention.

 I went ahead and made a cosplay for the original design too!!
 Well, the costume consisted of a red vintage kimono, a purple obi, a brown swimsuit and a slightly modified blonde wig... not much to actually "make".

a pic from 2006 Yasumicon.

If Hibiki Hojo Cosplay had a love child with Kim Jung Il it would look like this

Photo Source: Cosplay of Hibiki Hojo Cosplay CosplayFU.com

10 under-appreciated things about Harrison Ford Cosplay

Photo Source: Cosplay of Harrison Ford Cosplay CosplayFU.com

10 under-appreciated things about Harrison Ford Cosplay

Photo Source: Cosplay of Harrison Ford Cosplay CosplayFU.com

Sneak peak at our cosplay contacts

Stuey and I have received our contacts from Pinkyparadise for a while now (about a week or two), here are some sneak peaks at them before we do a review (we don't want to open them too soon):


The pink one is for IBRS and the red one is for MZMA!

Hopefully more exciting posts are coming soon~ whenever we stop procrastinating and get to work >.>

Mimi

Ada Bukit Teletubbies di Perkebunan Teh Bah Butong Sidamanik


Assalammualaikum
Hari sabtu kemarin kami sekontrakan akhirnya berhasil nyatuin jadwal kosong buat liburan *walau minus satu orang juga --> Eti. Tujuan wisata kami adalah perkebunan teh di daerah Sidamanik, Kabupaten Simalungun. Kami berangkat dari rumah sekitar pukul 6.30 WIB *lewat satu jam dari rencana awal. Perjalanan menuju Kecamatan Sidamanik sendiri memakan waktu sekitar 4 jam kalo nggak macet. Dari kota Medan kita mengambil jalur lintas Sumatera ke arah kota Pematang Siantar. Lewat sedikit dari kota Pematang Siantar, ntar kita belok kanan *penandanya ada SPBU deh pokoknya. Mulai deh jalannya rada mendaki. Sekitar setengah jam kami langsung disuguhi pemandangan hamparan perkebunan teh yang luas. Nggak ada kata yang tepat selain Subhanallah yang terucap. Seger banget pemandangannyaaaa... kanan... kiri... muka... belakang... hijau semuaaaaaa.....


Sepanjang perjalanan mendaki itu kita bakal disuguhi pemandangan yang indah juga. Ada hamparan sawah mulai dari hijau sampai ada yang sudah panen. Heran juga sih kenapa beda-beda gitu. Padahal jaraknya paling beda sekilo aja. Oia padi di daerah ini agak pendek gitu jenis dari yang aku lihat *lebih pendek dari padi yang sering aku lihat di Takengon btw. Terus juga ada beberapa petak perkebunan jagung. Sawah disini pake sistem pengairan tera sering gitu loh, jadi manis banget kelihatannya di mata *saking rapinya. Oia karena di daerah ini mayoritas penduduknya itu beragama kristen, jadi jangan kaget kalo pas di jalan ketemu babi yang bebas berkeliaran di pinggir jalannya ya....

Saat mau masuk ke daerah perkebunan tehnya ntar ada dua simpang gitu. Kami milih ngambil ke arah kiri. Ntar ada tulisan Perkebunan Teh Bah Butong gitu deh. Ya ampun, begitu naik dikit mata langsung berubah jadi ijo deh pokoknya. Keren banget pemandangannya. Hijau dimana-mana. Kayak lagi di bukit teletubbies gitu. Terus kami minta izin dulu ke daerah pabriknya, daripada ntar kenapa-kenapa pas lagi asik lihat-lihat perkebunannya. Ternyata nggak masalah kalo cuma pengen jalan-jalan doank, kecuali kita mau berkunjung ke pabriknya, baru deh harus pake surat izin gitu.

Helmi yang setia nyupirin kami sempat bertanya-tanya juga, kami mau ngapain kalo udah nyampe sini... Hehe sebenarnya niat awalnya itu cuma foto-foto doank sih. Tapi begitu nyampe disini, bener-bener nggak ada kata nyesel walau kami jadinya memang cuma numpang foto doank. 






Udah puas foto-foto, akhirnya kami sepakat ngelanjutin perjalan ke arah Danau Toba *soalnya Ilay belum pernah kesana. Sekitar jam 12-an gitu, cap cus deh ke arah Prapat. Nyampe Prapat sekitar jam 1 gitu, kelar shalat baru deh nyari lapak buat makan siang. Hihi judulnya nih numpang makan siang di Prapat deh jadinya :p




Akhirnya sekitar jam 4 kita gerak balik ke Medan. Huuuaaa ini beneran jalan-jalan nih namanya. Oia kalo ke Prapat kalian harus sedia uang parkir lebih ya. Buat parkir di Mesdid aja kalian butuh Rp 5000 dan untuk parkiran di daerah wisatanya bisa kena Rp 10.000. Terus buat uang masuk ke daerah wisatanya  kami kena biaya Rp 25.000 dan biaya sewa lapaknya Rp 25.ooo juga. Tau deh, itu memang harga pasarannya atau gimana. Karena memang nggak ada rencana buat mampir ke Prapat, terpaksa deh ngerogoh dompet lagi. So tak ada acara hunting oleh-oleh deh jadinya....
Siapa bilang di Sumatera nggak ada perkebunan tehnya? Nih buktinya ada nih...

*Oia, kabarnya perkebunan teh ini mau dikonversi jadi perkebunan kelapa sawit loh. Alasannya yah karena perusahaan mengalami kerugian. Duh sayang banget ya kalo beneran kejadian...


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