My Feet Hurt and I'm About to Cry - a recollection of Another Anime Convention 2014

So the convention was amazing. Both my Kurloz and my Clear costumes went over great and I got a lot of compliments and pictures taken.  I am so happy they both turned out really well. 

I'm really happy that I managed to go all three days this year.  I usually manage to only go Saturday and Sunday because I have a ton of homework that I have to finish on Friday.  This year however, I miraculously did not have a mountain of homework so when I got home on Friday, I immediately changed and rushed off to Manchester.  My costume, aph America, was just something I threw on but many people still loved it. I met up with my a couple of my friends and we walked around for about four hours.  We went to a few panels and fangirled over everyone and everything.  I stayed to 9:30 PM although I wanted to stay later.  I left because I figured that I really needed to get to sleep and get up early the next morning to prepare for Saturday's costume.

Kurloz:

Despite having the most complicated make-up, Kurloz is probably my favorite cosplay I've done so far.  I woke up at  6:00 AM on Saturday and immediately started to get my costume on.  The face paint wasn't hard but it did take about 45 minutes with an added 15 minutes of me just trying to put on contacts.  Then came the fun part: the stitches. I followed this tutorial and I think they came out really well.  All you have to do is take some thread and some spirit gum and stick the thread over your lips.  Although the spirit gum will probably end up getting stuck to your fingers more than your face, it will all work out and you will get as many compliments as I did. uwu  

You're probably wondering how I talked and ate that day.  Well, I didn't.  It was very hard not to talk and I ended up pulling off some of the stitches which we had to re-glue about 5 times.  My diet consisted of an ice coffee from Dunkin' Donuts, a soda, a smoothie, and a protein shake, which I drank through a straw slid in between my stitches

Despite my choice to where high-heeled boots on Saturday, I had a great time.  Everyone looked amazing and there was no end to my silent fangirling.  I met so many new people and I got to hang out with all of them even my old friends.  I stayed at the convention until 7:30 PM and then I went home to eat a huge dinner to make up for my missed lunch. I went to bed hoping that tomorrow I'd be able to talk and eat like everyone else who wasn't as crazily devoted as I am. Boy, was I wrong.

Clear:

Thankfully, I got to sleep in until 7:30 AM on Sunday.  Clear's make up and costume was pretty easy which is why he was so much fun to do.  The hard part was his gas mask which is essential to his character.

My fatal flaw is that I like my cosplays to look perfect and most of the times they do.  But this also means that if I'm cosplaying a character who wears a gas mask, then I'm going to want an actual gas mask which is what I got.  So I was happy and I love how he turned out but it was horribly hot in and hard to talk through the mask.  I ended up sweating off my make up including the two moles Clear has on his chin.  And since I no longer had the moles on my chin I kept the gas mask on pretty much the whole time so I felt like I was perfect.  It made me happy but I had to make my friend talk for me and help me walk through the bigger crowds.  

The only time I took off the mask was when we went to lunch and at the end of the convention.  Other than that, I lifted it up to sip from my water.  It wasn't bad and I loved seeing people's reactions

Like Saturday, everyone looked amazing on Sunday.  I met even more people and we all promised to meet at the next convention.  I left a little before the convention officially ended at 6:00 PM.  It was hard going home knowing I wouldn't be back until next year but I was exhausted and definitely needed some rest.

So, overall the con was amazing, my cosplays, were amazing, and everyone I met was amazing.  Although my feet hurt and I want to cry, AAC was amazing this year and I can't wait to go again next year.

-Rene

Things That Make Me Happy

Well, I don't know how you are feeling but personally, I'm feeling kind of down this weekend.  I'm stressed out over homework and other personal problems but instead of venting all those feelings on the internet and slipping into an even deeper hole of depression and anxiety, I'm going to make a post about all the things that make me happy. 

So whether you're feeling awesome or down in the dumps like me this weekend, I hope this post will make you smile. 


1. Marnie the Dog ( tumblr)

 I mean just look at this little ball of goofy adorableness. How could you not smile at this dog?

2. Otters that look like Benedict Cumberbatch 

I love Benedict Cumberbatch but this stupid otter meme just kills me every time.

3. Welcome to Night Vale ( website )

Everything about Night Vale to the usual weird happenings in the town to the LGBT+ representation just make me smile.  

4. My Clear cosplay

I just love it.  I can't wait for this weekend when I actually get to wear it.

5. The fact that Homestuck is going to be updated this month.

It's been a nearly year since I caught up with the 6,000+ pages of Andrew Hussie's webcomic and it's finally getting updated again! The hiatus is ending, finally!

6. Naps

Naps are nice and relaxing. I want to take one now and maybe wake up Friday night, just in time to go to AAC...

7. Halloween is in two weeks!!

Halloween is my favorite holiday and I can't wait to eat candy and stay up all night watching scary movies with my best friend!

8. Hetalia

It's weird but it's the reason I love history so much.  Hetalia is a webcomic turned anime about personified countries that are just adorable and kind of stupid. It shows different cultures and history through short clips.  It's great, seriously, look it up.

-Rene

COSPLAY PROGRESS

Okay, well finally.  I've been trying to get these costumes ready for months and I finally have some actual progress.  Just in time for Another Anime Convention (which is in like 2 weeks HELP).

1st Cosplay: Kurloz Makara from Homestuck:

I had bought a skeleton from Hot Topic awhile back and it was what initially motivated me to start working on his costume.  I then ordered some skeleton leggings from here and those came in not too long ago.  I had a pair of killer black combat boots with a 3" platform heel and I just sprayed painted those purple. 

I figured that since Gamzee and Kurloz's horns are basically the same (Kurloz's are supposed to be a little bigger but oh well) that I'm just going to reuse the horns from my Gamzee cosplay. 

It took me forever to find a wig for Kurloz.  Originally, i was going to use the wig I use for Gamzee but I found that that wig was too small and kept sliding off my head when I wore it at Anime Boston last year.  I looked everywhere for a perfect wig and I found a couple that I liked online.  Although the thought of them being just as small and uncomfortable as my Gamzee deterred me from ordering them.  Finally, on a hunt for a friend's costume at this super cool costume store in New Hampshire and got this weird black and pink punk wig.  But it was the PERFECT shape and style for Kurloz already. So I tried it on and it fit just as perfectly as it looked.  I bought it and just colored over the pink with sharpie. I know that sounds super cheap but it worked so well. 

The only things I have left to do for his costume is to dye a pair of my shorts purple and to some trial runs of his face paint.

(***note*** the purple shorts shown in the picture are not the shorts I plan to wear at AAC)

2nd Cosplay: Clear from DMMD:

 

Like with most of my cosplays, I decided completely on a whim to do Clear.  I just got up one morning, watched an episode of DMMD and said "yep, that's my next project."  

So I went out and bought some gray jeans and white button-up shirt at Wal-Mart.  I bought material to make his scarf (which was super annoying since I can never tell whether his scarf is a soft yellow or a fluorescent green). Then I found a bathrobe at a thrift store that had this nice cotton exterior instead of it being completely terry clothe.  All I had to do was cut out the terry clothe inside and it was nearly perfect.  Next I had to order some things, mainly Clear's  boots and his gas mask (which I can no longer find the link to).  Both the boots and the gas mask came in pretty quickly so i was very happy!

Only one thing is giving me grief is his wig.  I already have a sliver wig that's as poofy as his hair but the silver just does not look right. So I'm borrowing a friend's white wig and styling it up with some hair wax.

The only thing I have left to do for Clear's costume is to hem the coat and then sew on the new buttons I bought. I'm very excited for his costume and also very excited to get into his character!

 

-Rene