Upcoming Cosplays (now with progress photos!)

I've been home for quite some time, but I've tried to limit my cosplay list to 7 new costumes in order to focus on craftsmanship and ensure that I get plenty of photos. This season's theme is...decided on in 5 minutes (and generally by someone else), poofy silhouettes, and unconventional headgear. But what characters does that inquire? In some sort of order:

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu from Glico's Pucchin Purin CM, to be worn at the J-Pop Summit festival in San Francisco on July 27-28th. Not sure when I'll be attending, but KPP will be performing that Sunday, and it's one of my sick dreams to meet a celebrity dressed as them.
EDIT: Not sure if I'll have Kyary completed now, because I was given an amazing opportunity! Harajuku Kawaii!! is having a fashion show on the 27th, and I will be modeling for them~ Never thought I'd be given a chance at modeling just because I'm short OTL

 

Oshino Shinobu from Bakemonogatari, aiming to debut at AnimeIcon in October. I have all of my materials, save for the goggles! Planning on making imitation Mister Donut, but my friends will have to toughen up and eat my attempts >:D

 

Another version of Ciel from Kuroshitsuji~ After re-wearing him at Fanime, I couldn't help but make some more ruffled monsters! I have a decent amount of black velvet in my fabric stash, as well as my red contacts, so there wasn't much of an option for me to avoid this...

Maccha Latte from Sakizo's Afternoon Tea, my first lolita-inspired project~ I've been searching for luxury fabrics online, but I don't plan on debuting this until Fanime, due to my schedule.

Hatsune Miku from Unhappy Refrain, boyfriend's fault. Have the wig picked out, finally get to work with vinyls *not sure whether to be excited to terrified*.

Hakudoushi from InuYasha, what a nostalgic costume! Might have a group for this, I'm just excited to finally play a villian...and have a giant stabby-stick orz

Have some progress pictures, I've been forcing myself to get some major work done lately, especially with my trip coming up on Friday >w<

Thankfully, a lot of wigs I own can be recycled for this season's cosplays. With some extra styling (and the help of a helmet), my Panty wig is perfect for Shinobu! Can't decide between using my EOS Adult lenses in brown or red..in the photos, I'm wearing the brown version, which are a nice gold color on light eyes.

 

I bought a long white wig for Hakudoushi, but it looked really flat. Luckily, I found my Soul wig amongst my wig boxes, and now I only have to trim the base wig and dye both to a pale lavender color.

 

Trying to crank out the rest of Kyary's Pucchin Purin outfit very quickly...I only have the shorts, boots, and gloves left. The ruffles are all ready for the shorts, and I just need to get motivated and dye my gloves, but I'm worried about the boots because of the chance of chipping paint.

Told myself I wouldn't work on anything other than Kyary and Shinobu until wintertime, but Michaels was having a sale on everything I used to make this headpiece for Ciel OTL Just need to fix one of the butterflies, and find a way to attach this to my wig.

I'm really excited for this lineup to come together! Considering that I'll be in Japan next year, I don't think that I'll be able to make any new costumes. Hoping to make it to AX next summer and attend more events in general, just to make up for my absence from the cosplay community in 2014-15. What are your plans for the upcoming season?

Summertime and General Updates

Although I said in my last post that I haven't been too busy, that doesn't mean I have been a total lazy blob! I had applied for work after Fanime (even though I should have sent out apps before I moved back home...) and unfortunately, I had never heard anything from either business. So instead of having a solid schedule, I am spending my summer going on solo-trips, trying new hobbies, and learning to drive (late, I know, but I actually need the knowledge this year).

Here's evidence of what I've been doing~

This was technically taken before I even finished the semester, but 2013 is definitely year of the idols! The week before I moved back home, my boyfriend and I went to San Francisco to see B.A.P. They are very talented, but I felt a bit robbed because the stage limited some of their intense choreography. Regardless, I'm glad that I have started to take more chances after graduating high school and have allowed myself to experience so many things.

As soon as I moved back home, my little sister went to her Junior Prom~ She looked amazing with Madi (an amateur model and complete nut), while I awkwardly took pictures of baby giants in pretty dresses.

My sister developed a summer bucket list because, according to her, she didn't do anything last summer other than Skype me almost every day while I was in Japan. We went on a sister bonding day to the zoo, and felt a little out of place because I guess 17 and 19-year-olds don't go to these places unless they're toting a toddler around with them. Oops

Shortly after, one of our dogs had gone missing for a week! As we put up posters, we found this kitten in a bush on a fence. We sent out letters asking if someone had lost their cat, but we never heard back from anyone, so we ended up with RYE, the very small ball of energy that wreaks havoc in our house.

Went to a karaoke party in SF the day before the NorCal picnic, but to kill time beforehand, the boyfriend and I ate a bunch of mochi donuts and went around Golden Gate Park~

In my last post, I mentioned forcing myself into some new hobbies. And because I have a terrible history with nail polish (I do so much with my hands that it never lasts), I came to the conclusion that I needed to love my fingers more and decorate them on a regular basis. I started out with a set of false nails, which I think I'll save for crazier patterns, and I've had good luck so far! I'm currently sporting the dripping nails.

To continue the theme of "Idol-viewing 2013", I jumped on the chance to see TVXQ in LA for their US-portion of their global tour "Catch Me". I took Megabus for the first time on the 4th of July to Los Angeles, and stayed two nights with a friend from university~ Changmin and Yunho put on a flawless performance, I was surprised that I only teared up a little bit.

GUESS WHO WALKED INTO THE AUDIENCE...TWICE

 

Tumblr was angry that some fans got a bit grabby with them, but I think it's a given reaction to seeing someone famous, and there wasn't very much security to prevent these things from happening. Regardless of your take on the situation, I was in the middle of my row, so I just had to bear with my seat and snag some creepy shots. These men are perfect, can't handle it. After the show, my friend and I were taking some celebratory post-concert photos with my TVXQ towel, and a small group of people had asked us how we knew about the group, concert, etc. Somehow, this conversation turned into a small Japanese interview and ended with a short photo-session.

I will be in Santa Barbara next week (hopefully keeping myself untanned), and then off to SF for Jpop Summit! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures so I have a reason to blog more. I will be posting my upcoming cosplay list soon, too. What have you all been up to?

Most Neglectful Blogger, Here! Fanime 2013 and NorCal Summer

I am so sorry that I haven't been updating on a somewhat-regular basis. I haven't even been that busy, but every time I think about posting, something happens within my brain and it just doesn't happen. Recently, I've made an effort into forcing myself into adopting more hobbies. Hopefully that will produce enough photos, even after I move back to Monterey for school, so there will be no excuse to avoid this blog! Fair warning, while this is predominantly a cosplay blog, if I remember to update, there may be a new rush of photos including my meals and nail art...

Anyway, two months ago, I attended my seventh FanimeCon! It was not as busy as I had imagined, especially when I was too lazy to schedule shoots for all seven of my cosplays. There are some cosplays that I still need more photos of, so despite my shorter list for the 2013-14 season, some already-completed costumes will show themselves again. BUT ENOUGH WITH THIS HOPELESS TYPING..have some photos from my Fanime adventures~

Day 1

Wore Irabu again for a shoot with Johnny, who put up with me conversing in two languages and being threatened with blowing away. I don't think I've mentioned this to anyone, but while wearing this alongside the Jojo gathering, a man asked if he could get a photo with me upon his shoulder. It was a bizarre request, but I went along with it and have yet to see any evidence. Come on, internet.

 

After wearing Irabu for a few hours, I changed into Kitaro for a little while. It wasn't anticipated at all, but a small number of people recognized my costume (I also saw another Kitaro later in the weekend)! Unfortunately, as I took photos with some classmates, Medama Oyaji fell on the floor and broke an arm and a leg. I'll need to perform surgery before I wear this again...

Day 2

 

I tried to get a decent amount of sleep after trotting around in Kitaro, had a 9am shoot with Ben in my boyfriend's room for Hagane Miku~ Didn't wear this around the con too much, but my feet were killing me, so I had to be a diva and change into a kpop suit. That's definitely one of my most logical decisions I've ever made.

/blessing the internet with this beauty/ Fanime played a surprising amount of kpop at Stage Zero this year, but I guess not enough people follow the godsend that is Kim XIAH Junsu. Not sure when I'll be wearing this again. Boyfriend wants to go to KCon in August in this getup, but it'll be crazy hot and that's at the very beginning of my semester OTL

Day 3

No costume malfunctions because Sunday was old-cosplay day! I haven't worn Ciel since 2011, made sure to get photos with Ben and Sara that morning. Didn't even occur to me that Sunday is church-going day for many people...and was brave enough to shoot on the steps of the church next to my hotel. Lucky for me, the people that were late to the service still stopped for paparazzi photos. My bustle survived this time, I remade it using plastic as opposed to the wood and craft foam method from high school. It proved to be very lightweight, flexible for posing, and impressive enough to keep people from talking to me (which is a shame, I don't feel like I was social enough! SOMEONE TALK TO ME)

 

Changed into Inori, had started to schedule a shoot, but it fell through. However, I made plans to shoot...eventually with a friend of mine who has the school uniform for Shu~ I even go to take a selca with a stranger, what a new experience. It still makes me laugh when I invite old classmates to my hotel room for lunch as a small British boy, and once they show up at my door with sandwiches, this is what I look like XD I'm sure they're used to it by now.

For the last day, I did a super lazy couple cosplay! We did purikura as a lame excuse for a photoshoot, but I have yet to scan mine. Now that I have a smartphone, I can only hope to document events better.

After Fanime, I finally attended a NorCal gathering after a year. University took a lot out of my schedule, and these gatherings always happened a week before or after I had come home for a visit. This situation may improve considering that I'll be living away from my campus with a vehicle. I CAN SEW WHEN I WANT AND GO PLACES AND DANCE AND COOK AND ARGH..when I'm not tutoring people. Having experience from the summer picnic last year (going back on topic), I made sure to make something comfortable and covered enough to withstand either hot or cold weather. What did I choose? TSURITAMAAAA

This is me in my natural environment. I had a great time meeting up with people I had missed at Fanime! I didn't get too many photos because without fellow fishermen, people don't always know Tsuritama unless if you call out GAY FISHING ANIME...I wanted to shoot this again in the fountains by the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, even if it means sacrificing my safety in the rash-producing city water.

This post was getting long, so I'll stop here and do a general update as well as 2013-14 future cosplay list soon. I will be in Santa Barbara next week for 6 days to attend a language-teaching seminar, and a few days after that, I will be in San Francisco for Jpop Summit! Not sure which day, but preferably Sunday because Kyary Pamyu Pamyu will be performing in Union Square. Need to power through my cosplay because I'm sick enough to want to see an idol while in a costume of them, but decide that the craftsmanship must be great in case if they were to see me up close. Don't even ask