It’s been a while! Oops. The only meagre excuse I can offer up is as follows: “Uni kicked my ass for a couple of weeks, and then I forgot to write another post in the week after term ended.” Sorry! I’m back now, and hopefully my turbulent end to the first term has left me better informed on how to manage my time in the future.
So, onto what’s been happening lately! This is an update post of sorts, since there are some exciting things in the works at the moment that I don’t have much to show for as yet.
Ai no Aidoru’s Christmas meet
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bcw8p_Xjh93
Last week we held our first proper meet outside a convention! I say “Christmas meet” but really it was a Christmas-and-joint-birthday meet, since Ammie’s birthday is in December and Hollie’s is in January. Regardless of the reason though, I had a really good time! It was great to see everyone, both in the group and other cosplay friends.
We recorded Snow Halation as a group of seven (our Umi and Nozomi couldn’t make it) in Hyde Park, and it was actually snowing! It wasn’t a perfect run – between Maki wandering off screen, Nico taking the wrong side at the climax and nearly everyone messing up at least one move, it should have had a second take – but we were just too damn cold to bother doing it again.
We’ll be uploading the full video tomorrow, by the way! It’s our first proper MV (PV? I’m not actually sure) and despite the flaws my nitpicker self is keen to highlight, I’m ridiculously pleased with the outcome. Keep your eyes peeled on our instagram!
Instead of heading to Winter Wonderland like we’d originally intended we made a beeline for McDonalds, where we spent a good couple hours just hanging out (and Ai no Aidoru did our secret santa, woo~). By the time our numbers had dwindled to around five we decided to go to Japan Centre as well, where I got a melon pan to try and a packet of mango gummies for the first time in four years! Melon pan is SO GOOD, I’m amazed it’s taken me this long to try it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcsX9ivj3wm
One other thing of note: Criss gave me Honoka’s Christmas outfit! I was speechless at the time and I hope he knows how much I appreciate it! If my parents get their act together and sort a tree for this year I’ll be sure to take some photos in it (and will spam Criss with thanks in the descriptions when I inevitably dump them all on insta).
Mission of the year: God squad
Somehow I’ve convinced my best friends to cosplay the god tier beta kids with me! We’re heading back to 2013, folks. For a little backstory, we cosplayed our chosen kids through ’13 and ’14, and since I’ve been on a Homestuck kick of late, I thought it’d be fun to revisit them…
Except I’m extra as hell, so I’ve taken on the task of making all 3 of their god tier outfits before the New Year, since I think I’m finally good enough at sewing to do them justice. So far I’ve managed to get fabric or base clothing for everyone, and have cut out the aspect symbols ready to sew onto the shirts. I’ve also made 1.5 hood mock-ups, but desperately need to make Rose’s one too since it’s such a terrifying shape.
I’m super excited to see this project through. I still love Homestuck with all my heart and some of my fondest memories are from messing around as the beta kids round each other’s houses. I think it’ll be pretty cute to see how we’ve all changed as we’ve grown up, too – we started cosplaying the kids at age 13, same as in-comic. Now we’re all 18+, and Homestuck is over, with the kids having reached adulthood too. Also I want to laugh at my old cosplay skills from back then lmao
I’ll probably be making a write-up for Rose, and possibly Jade, though I’m not sure how I’ll break it down (full costumes, bit-by-bit, or hoods only across all 3 kids). Watch this space!
SHSL Despair
So. Junko Enoshima. A character I love cosplaying, but not one that I feel I’ve done justice to (especially with my makeup), and one whose costume is in fairly poor shape. The solution? Touch up time!
I’ve remade her bow and her tie – the difference is phenomenal, but I did screw up the tie measurements a bit, and now it’s super thin. Oh well! I’m gonna see if I can tweak the fit of the shirt to utilise this – I must admit it could be useful to have a slightly thinner one in terms of exaggerating my proportions, perhaps.
Up next is teasing her wig to get those ridiculous pigtails; a few months ago I tried to style it in curls using hairspray and a hairdryer but I didn’t really like the outcome, and I think the teased look suits her better anyway.
I’m also so excited to try a proper makeup look for her! A pretty big part of Junko’s character is how fashion-forward she is, and that includes her makeup. I got myself some new foundation that I’ve yet to test, but it’s cooler than my current one so it should suit the pink of her face pretty well. I’ve also got to try those mammoth lashes I got for her! They’re so big they don’t actually fit the box they came in.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSZicRJDc9r
(^ I remember putting makeup on my face that day, but all I can see is bronzer. Where’s the rest. Where is it.)
My eyebrows are still causing me a little stress as they’re just way too thick for anything, but I don’t know how to pluck them nor do I find myself particularly driven to. (I’m lazy, yes, but I also like them the way they are right now). I actually think my best course of action is to fully cover them, since that way I can redraw them super thin and in a totally new spot on my face. Gotta love the feeling of pulling glue out of your brows, am I right?!
Junko and the god tiers are actually why I haven’t done any sort of year summary on instagram, even though the Top Nine bandwagon is already headed out of town. I have 3 entirely new things to make, two more costumes to rewear, and one to do a festive shoot in! That’s genuinely more than I’ve done in the rest of the year combined, and December’s more than halfway over. (For the curious: this year I remade god tier John and Kyoko, made Mina’s hero suit, and borrowed two of Honoka’s outfits from Criss. I’ll elaborate in my upcoming recap!) I have so much sewing to do, oh my god…
Thank you for reading, and for putting up with my radio silence! Next week: a frenzied update on my god tier adventures! The Sunday after that is actually New Year’s Eve, so what better time to recap all the work I did in the last two weeks of December during 2017? ;D
set the sewing machine on fire 