Moon Princess Derpy Power!

Whew, it's been busy, but I'm being as productive as I can be! I'm a little dazed that Anime LA is only a few months away! "Technically" I've started, but I'm not where I want to be. Obviously with the holidays coming up, I'm going to be doing my very best to keep my eyes on the goal!

On top of that, I start school again this upcoming week! It's kind of weird starting when my friends studying are on break for the Thanksgiving week here. I'm here just hoping I can brave through the holiday sales and crazy store hours, but we can get through this!


So some updates before some more plans and whatnot:

Last minute, I got to attend LA Comic Con with a few friends. I ended up there for a short while before migrating over to Little Tokyo for some ramen and my guilty pleasure of a trip to the Kinokuniya to pick up more office lady manga. Overall, I liked the whole vibe of the con and since I don't attend many comic conventions, it's always nice to see the comic booths and artists that you don't often see frequenting anime ones. I last visited this con when it was Comikaze back in 2013 (so it's first year, I think?) and it's definitely expanded and the Dealer's Hall feels very Anime Expo but without as much insanity, though for reasons I don't even want to know, I found myself missing the craziness a litle.

What was super unexpected was how I decided around 11PM the night before to remake Usagi's entire fuku top in a span of four hours. It was a pretty surreal experience, since I came home from work and went fishing for a cosplay that would be fun and comfy for the day since I didn't know that I was going until the day before. I figured that Usa would be perfect, also as a little homage to making it for Comikaze back then.

Yet much to my embarrassment, when I finally pulled out my cosplay from the depths of derp, I wouldn't believe how horribly put together it was. Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but seeing that made me realize that I rarely stop and notice the improvements I've made over the years with sewing. I love it and I enjoy each project for its challenge and experience, but I felt a little awful with myself for never stopping to acknowledge more often that I've improved in several ways, not just at putting on makeup and a better wig. I try my best to understand the silhouettes and sew as cleanly as I possibly can, and I've learned a lot over time of how to make costumes I want to make fit me properly so that I can feel comfortable with myself in them and make them longer lasting.

I used to sew as if all the costume needed to do was to last through the day. I don't have that kind of time and effort to waste anymore on throwaway projects when I have other obligations, but even then, I think it has a lot to do with self-confidence and feeling that your time and efforts are worth more than just making the same thing. So in a weird segue to a PSA, I think it's important to stop and pat yourself on the back for a minute to acknowledge when the growth is real. I personally am not someone who says these kinds of things to myself often since I get so caught up in the project and the magic of the moment. At the same time, I also recognize that I can be proud of my work for myself. I've never been good at selling "how good" something is when I feel like the experience of it for myself and for others should speak for it.

That being said, seeing this old cosplay really opened my eyes that yes, I've improved, but also that I have just as much to improve for the future. With a new year of cons and contests I'd love to do, I want to elevate that by using this moment as a productive checkpoint. I don't think that there's any fun in feeling I've done all that I can. That's definitely the opposite of how I truly feel since I always  want to keep on learning wherever I go and whatever I do.

To be honest, I don't think that I wanted to encourage myself to sew a new top but I felt invigorated by the challenge. I probably should have been resting after work, but without missing a beat, there I was, sewing my new sailor fuku top. I managed to salvage parts of the original (which you can probably find in my old posts, now that I've just realized) sailor collar and cuffs, but the bow was atrocious and admittedly held together by hot glue. I don't even want to remember why I did that.

The top is now entirely cleaned, hemmed, and serged, and the collar has a proper facing. The cuffs might be something I want to revisit in the future, but I'm glad I had some spare interfacing to add some life into the poor sailor collar. To be honest, there's a lot of things that I sort of glossed over back then that now I've realized how crucial they are to the process. I didn't have any time for the skirt, but it's definitely going to be remade now that the top has been redone.

The bow is my favorite part since I was more inspired by her recent S arc version of Sailormoon Crystal. It definitely has more life and while I don't own any of those fancy compacts (maybe in the future!), I ended up using some leftover glittery pieces from my Sakura stash to give it some mahou shoujo sparkle. 

So lo and behold, the improved top!


The top fits a whole lot better than the original and it's better proportioned to me since I'm short. I got super lucky that I found my Kagome patterns that I'd previously fitted to help me finish this without a problem. Overall, the process was very intuitive and I quite enjoyed just getting to sew once again. I haven't been avoiding it because I don't want to, but with a busy schedule and this mentally draining time, I  had been taking a break that with this project, feels very well worth it. I felt happy making and wearing this cosplay out.

My intense derpiness knows no bounds.
Honestly, I felt like my con was made getting to sew and feel pretty happy about a couple hours of work. I do admit that I got super lucky that I had this white bottomweight around for Cardia's Alice version, so she had to take one for the team for me to complete this, but in the end, I not only got to wear Usagi for the con, I wore her for Halloween too!

Usagi is a character I always identify with. I even got a matching bag with some Usa keychains my friend kindly got me, so I felt happy and sparkly for the rest of my day! 

Now onward to more derp! ~~~<3

I got tickets for Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel this upcoming Monday! I'm really over the moon about Heaven's Feel not only coming to the US but actually having been made (well, might I add!) after years and years and years of fans waiting. I'm here in the land of Dies Irae and FSN being my loves back in 2006/2007, along with Nanoha and Onegai Twins. 

I was about fourteen and a freshman in high school when I first got into FSN. A friend in orchestra casually mentioned it and I immediately consulted with the Internet. At the time, I'd been really seriously getting into studying Arthurian literature, so that was a huge hook in, but the fact that it's now spanned a lore of its own is an absolutel marvel both to the anime and visual novel community. FSN got me seriously into visual novels. Ataraxia gave me Caren Ortensia, who I obsessed over, beyond obviously obsessing over Saber as Arturia. Rin was my Halloween costume for a party when I was fifteen because I was over the moon for magical tsundere.

Now a decade later, I'm knee deep into Arthurian literature and Fate lore. Weirdly now that I think on it, I'm combining both of those loves in my studies in some form. Besides my beloved husband Jumin, he knows that the man who's had my heart since 5ever has been King Arthur. 

But that's also why he's my husbando, because he understands these things. 

Heaven's Feel was hands down my favorite route because of Sakura, who I identified the most with throughout the series. It's actually interesting to me how I loved buying merch for Saber and cosplaying as Rin because I think that at the time, they were girls I idolized and wanted to be more like when deep down, I felt the most like Sakura. Heaven's Feel really highlights her own personal growth and power through tragedy and pain. I think it's a healing process in some ways to be able to see people enjoy this film and appreciate her character, not that she hasn't been before, but this route puts such a spotlight on her that magnifies her own beauty and courage. 

To commemorate going to see Heaven's Feel, I really am going to do my best to get Sakura finished for it! I have about two nights to pull this off, but I'll give it my all. If I don't, I'm not going to freak out, but I've gotten all my materials and I'll be doing my best since I would absolutely love to finally cosplay her not just for this film, but personally to express how happy and confident I am to connect with her as a character. 

Cosplay Calendar:

Breakdown of my projects from here until ALA. I know I mentioned that I was working on Cardia for ALA, but we'll see how that goes since her due date is Fanime and I have another big project ahead of me.

NOVEMBER:
- Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel - Matou Sakura - For the movie event and just for fun to have a Sakura cosplay since she's definitely been my favorite all this time.

DECEMBER:
- Probably derping and trying to forge ahead, or maybe do a test run of something for a group holiday event.

JANUARY:

- Anime Impulse - I might go again, so if I do, I might likely wear something that's comfortable and fun! My instinct says Kohana, so we'll see! 

- Anime Los Angeles - I don't have an official lineup yet but I have a good idea of which costumes I'm deciding between and will be working on:
  1. Noctis Lucis Caelum (Kingly Raiment) - Final Fantasy XV - As soon as Thanksgiving is done, this bruh is getting a lot of work done on him. I also have to work on Ardyn and Regis, but so help me, I will get these bad boys done. It's crazy how it's been nearly a year since I finished FFXV but that candle still burns brightly. Also, Episode Ignis comes out in December! I finished the cape obviously for Fanime, but I'm going to try to remake everything to properly add more detail to the pieces. We also have a few things we need to experiment with for everyone's costumes. By date, this is also the longest group project I've done with other friends outside of the Goonies family, so it's an absolute blessing and all the good things that they are just as excited to see this project through as I am. Not that it might be a dramatic change, but I'm also going on a Super Noctis diet to attend to at least lean out a little more to see if I can also not only feel healthier but go through a more method experience of getting into his character for intensely derpy reasons. Given how much I love him as a character, I feel like this transition won't be painful at all. It's evolutionary and revolutionary, much like his own story.
  2.  Aigasaki Kohana - Magic Kyun Renaissance - I feel like my entire cosplay list is everything that I wanted to do last year but my last year before transferring from one game design program to another totally wiped me out (part of why I've been exhausted as pickles too), so Kohana was a character I desperately wanted to cosplay since I first got into the series around the same time last year. I loved her from the get-go and loved her with each episode, privately shipped her with Aoi, and I loved her quest for her inner strength and power through her magical art. I also really, really, really loved her uniform but for some reason, it just wasn't one of those that I wanted to make more than I wanted to just wear and be bright and happy, so I tried looking around online back then or any sellers to commission it from. After a year of finding nothing but Rintaro and Monet (for whatever reason), one of my regular shops finally listed Kohana! I immediately commissioned for it, and I'm over the moon that finally I'll get to be her! I'm for sure planning on bringing her for Anime LA as one of my alternate cosplays, especially since Shii will be cosplaying as Rintaro and has already bought some cute pastry props for us to carry around. 
  3. Ren Kougyoku - Magi ~ Labyrinth of Magic - I'm trying to sort through my cosplay plans, but since Kougyoku never got more than two, maybe three, hours of being worn at Fanime and given how much time I put on her, I figured that I could fix a few things and rewear her. I love her character and I love how everything came out since I wanted to make something colorful and a little extra. I'll probably try to convince one of my friends to bring their Magi stuff since I want some sparkly pictures too. 
  4. Kinomoto Sakura - Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow - Holy pickles I'm debating on this, but given how much work I don't want to skimp out on Cardia, I realized how much potential I have in adding more to Sakura while not compromising Noctis or any of my other projects. I love Cardia enough to move her for Fanime, when our next group project will be completed, so my goal will likely be adding all of the fun and magical things that I didn't get to add to my Sakura for WCS to wear her around. I might end up having to remake the staff, the headband, and the sash, and I'll see if I can finally finish those booth covers and add all the sparkles that I'd been looking for. I also bought a new wig to actually have a better option. Given how much time I've placed on that costume and what an experience this was, I realized that it has no right to be just stashed away for a rainy day. I want to add more and make it feel its true potential. I'll probably have to buy a whole new set of hot tools for this experience but it was well worth it the first time.
  5. Cardia Beckford - Code Realize - I mentioned earlier that I will do my very best to finish her for ALA, but I also want to be realistic that not only do I have a lot on my plate, but my due date for her is actually spring 2018 since I'm a huge nugget who doesn't want to just settle for finishing the cosplay because I want to create something more than that. However, that doesn't mean that if I potentially can work on her (since I might need a break between all of those manry silhouettes of those FFXV ikemen) I will keep the option open! I actually ordered the headband so if it turns out well, I do have that, and I have a lot of materials already that I need to complete her. I started shopping for boots to modify, and I know most of my work will be on making sure that overskirt has the full effect I want and the corset fits well. Maybe it might be beneficial to make parts now to test out so that Fanime isn't one big surprise. Cardia was originally my winter project, but also realistically work has been my winter project lol, so I also don't think that it's fair to compromise the cosplay's potential for the January deadline when it's really for May. 
  6. Hino Kahoko - La Corda D'Oro - I had to go back and edit this entry when I realized that I actually realized that I did forget a cosplay, which now means that I'm in a decision mode about whether to make it or to commission it. I don't want to announce much yet, but I will be participating in something for ALA that will have to do with La Corda D'Oro! I think for the sake of timing it will benefit me to have this commissioned, but at the same time it's a character I've always wanted to be since I first got into the series over a decade ago when I was competing in an orchestra in high school. I even bought the manga while on a trip to Hawaii where we were competing. Kahoko is a special character, so I'm ridiculously excited to play my violin as Kahoko and capturing the spirit of another favorite otome game of mine.
It works out that I have 2 cosplays technically complete, although I do want to fix Sakura, and a cosplay commissioned. That still leaves me with 3 FFXV cosplays, Kahoko, and Cardia, so I have a lot to work on. Next spring and summer's projects will be full of ideas that as always, are near and dear to my heart and will require my time.

I'll try to post some progress on Matou Sakura, or at least a post-write up. I'm not opting for anything too insanely fancy, but I'm excited to be setting a timeline out. I'll likely have to get much more detailed within the next couple of days of what I need for those FFXV cosplays. I have a decent chunk to work on for Noctis, but it's Ardyn that's been weighing on my mind.

In other derpy news, my most recent order has a lot of new wigs for Noctis, Rose Witch, Kinomoto Sakura, Kohana, and my precious, precious Leonardo Da Vinci. Gonna fight Black Friday this year by telling myself that Noctis needs all the cash his way that I can earn extra.

Only a few months left before the winter Olympics! Last time it was on television, I made my Utena cosplay for ALA! This year I'll probably be sewing Cardia and Lupin!

Happy Sewing!

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