If you like good books and aren't busy for the next 2-3 years...

One of the single most overused words in today’s culture is “epic.” Don’t believe me?




I love you Kirby, but "Epic" you are not.


In my opinion, few things truly merit being described as epic. One such example that without a shadow of a doubt earns the label, however, is Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series of fantasy novels. For how long the series has been around (The first book came out in 1990, if I recall, correctly), I find that the vast majority of people, even among those who actively read fantasy books, are unfamiliar with it. This needs to change. If you enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, Jordan takes what Tolkien established and blows it out of the water. I won’t try to describe the plot to you here, simply because there's no way I could possibly do it justice, suffice to say that the series contains everything you could possibly hope for. Yes, even crazy Asians with Southern accents . Not kidding.


The major barrier preventing people getting into the series is its length, which I suppose can be construed as good or bad. I mean, I will admit that sometimes there's an aggravating amount of detail that makes you want to yell, "I DON'T CARE WHAT KIND OF DRESS SHE'S WEARING OR HOW SHE DID HER HAIR TODAY." On the flipside, the character development of this series is absolutely unparalleled in any other series. Even before one finishes the first book, the reader feels truly attached to the characters, and cares about what happens to them even if they don't LIKE them necessarily. And in a world that's as fleshed out as this, it's easy to become lost in thought about all the potential scenarios and outcomes of certain events. (Can someone say FAN FICTION?)


Initially, Robert Jordan only set out to write a trilogy of fantasy novels. It didn’t take him long to realize he wouldn’t be able to finish the story he had started in a mere 3 books, so he soon expanded it to 6 books instead. Well, 6 books didn’t prove to be enough either. Alright, 10 books. Nope, still not enough? OKAY, 12 BOOKS. THAT’S IT. Sadly, shortly after Book 11 was published, Robert Jordan passed away before he could finish his series. Needless to say, fans were pretty distraught, especially after coming so far with the characters and the story. Fortunately, Jordan had kept extensive notes on the series and his plans for its conclusion, in addition to having told his wife and editor Harriet his intentions as well. A new fantasy author (Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn series and a whole bunch more great books) was hired to work with Harriet to finish the series with one last book. Upon seeing the extensive amount of notes and just how much needed to be brought to a conclusion, Sanderson decided he couldn’t finish in 1 book. So now he’s writing 3, with the next scheduled for release later this year. There were mixed opinions among fans. Some of them were thankful that at least the series was getting a conclusion, while others starting jumping and growling like angry puppies at the prospect of someone else finishing Jordan's life work. Despite the anxiety among fans, the first book by Sanderson (released last year) soon allayed their fears, as if soothing the anxious puppies with a delicious Milkbone. (Boy I hope that analogy makes as much sense in text as it did in my head. Not that it made much sense there either.) In any case, the book was GOOD.


So, even though the series may require you to trundle around a wheelbarrow full of books, it truly is worth it. Look up Eye of the World (the first book in the series) and give it a shot!

On a completely unrelated note: In her last post Inanity discussed my Mafimano costume, which is nearing completion. I hope to have pictures of it up soon so you can see what Inanity and I have been up to. :)

I Have Been Productive, Otherwise Known as "the Apocalypse"

Long time no see, intertubeland! I haven't updated for at least two weeks, have I? Whoops, my bad.
Well, I have much news for you follower-types. I have been working on my leatherwork like freaking crazy for the past two months, and I'm nearly done with both Teutonic Knight Prussia's suit of armor, and Ancient Rome's breastplate. I really just have three more bracers left to create, as far as I know: two for Ancient Scandinavia, one for Ancient Magyar. Rome's medallions are next on my list, followed by the two belts that rest on the bottom of the breastplate near the piece we affectionately call the "Crotch Protector."

I'll put a tutorial on basic leatherworking here once I can use the camera. Heck, I might make a whole new post just for talking about that breastplate. I remade the entire thing, and it is fantabulous, if I do say so myself.

Now that I know how to work with leather, I started asking around to see if anyone worked with plate metal. As it turns out, a friend or two of mine does work with plate, and is willing to teach me. Soon, I'll be making my own suits of steel armor just for the heck of it.
...That's pretty cool, I think.

I got purple contacts for Austria (and by extension, my planned Norway and Finland cosplays) and they look really cool! For those of you who are interested, I got a pair of quality colored contacts from this site, http://www.youknowit.com/ , for about $25. Their selection is fairly good, but for the random colors you just have to have but can't find, there's also this site: http://www.cosplaylab.com/proshop/cosmeticlens.asp . They sell every natural and slightly unnatural eye color under the sun, every pair for just $35. While the first site doesn't require a prescription, the second site does, even for lenses without a prescription. Beautify your eyes for the cost of a wig! Correctly-colored eyes really brings life to an already good cosplay.

Next up is the Terminator eye I'm slowly assembling. I still need to head to Axman (or is it Axeman? I don't remember) to pick up a switch and a battery case that can hold 2 AA batteries. That's right, after blowing up one LED with a 9v battery, I discovered that LEDs can run off of 2 AA batteries. My next step, after grabbing the switch and case, is to go out and find a skull mask and a ping pong ball.

I will try to put in a tutorial here after I have all the pieces and, once again, have the use of a camera.

Mafimano's cosplay is very nearly done, he just needs his hair curl (a la weft and sewing) and a cigar to wave around like a rich hitman. I also still need to spray paint his Nerf pistol (still, Inanity, still?) and attach a red feather to his black fedora. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do that. He's got his black suit with red shirt and thin black tie, his black leather gloves he's borrowing for me (I'm confused as to how they can fit him, since his hands are twice the size of mine, but hey, I won't ask questions if it works), and I taught him simple cosplay makeup.
Guys, do not be ashamed of wearing light costume makeup to a convention. You actually look more professional, and less blotchy and oily, especially in photographs. It's like being in a theatre production: even the men wear some makeup.

I bought about 60% of my fabric last Monday, and I managed to save almost $40 on polar fleece by picking it up during a 50% off sale at Hancock Fabrics. It's more navy than slate, but it looks very nice against the blue and brown of my tunic fabric. I also picked up a cloak pattern while I was there, and the tissue is now all over my living room floor. Washing the fabric was interesting as well; I was given two old bedsheets to use however I wanted, and I decided to try to make my Teutonic Knight cloak and Rome's under-manskirt out of it. It has a few blotches on it, but I can just cut around those, right? I bleached the crap out of that thing, and still, these little orange stains persist. As soon as the pattern is all cut out, I'll have to pin it down to these sheets and make sure I'm not going to have to buy a million more yards of white fabric for my cloak.
Tip for buying fabric: bring tons of reference pictures to make sure you are getting exactly the color you want.

A friend of mine from Anime Detour 2010 found me on Skype yesterday to tell me he's making me a 4 foot broadsword and several knives for my cosplays. I found it quite comical when he asked "How long do you want these knives? Is two feet long enough?" I nearly died, because seriously, the man cosplays scary Sweden without even needing to try, and he's so freaking nice! But two foot knives? My mouth flapped open and closed a few times, and then I said "...Anywhere between 6 and 8 inches is plenty long, thank you" because I try not to be a jerk. >>;
Anyways, he's letting me paint them, too, so i can put pretty little details onto the hilt all I want! I'll be using Cynical Pie's tutorial here: http://cynicalpie.blogspot.com/2010/07/pen-is-mightier-than-sword.html to try to make my paint job look as professional as hers.

Tomorrow, my amazing friend Paige (whom I commissioned my Austria maid dress from) will be coming to my house to help me pick out some overcoat fabric for Magyar and also help me cut everything out. Then on Wednesday, my wonderful grandmother (who's helped me on every other cosplay, it seems) will be helping me sew everything. I'm going to try to run over to Tandy Leather Factory on Thursday and do all of my leather painting/staining/sheening that day, and then do acrylics on Friday morning. If all goes as planned, I will be done with all of my cosplays by the pool party on Saturday, save for minor painting and a few props.
And really? The only thing I'm worried about is boots. Maybe I'll go diagram those suckers out today. Right after I carve some leather medallions and finish those lower breastplate belts.
And find that darn camera to make some tutorials.

You don't need to be more accurate, you just need to shoot more bullets.

Violence is never the answer. Guns are.

Firstly, I must admit to procrastination. I should have finished spray painting my Nerf guns a while back.
In my defense, it rained a lot recently. I only own one of the three guns I decided to spray paint, so that doesn't help either.
I own a Nerf Vulcan, one of the bad boys that people love to mod for extra firing speed and ammo capacity. I still need to put a few more coats of paint on it and get a strap to hook it over my shoulder with. If I'm really feeling ambitious, I'll paint silver accents onto the gun. Pictures to come~
The gun I'll get the most use out of is the Nerf Scout, which looks like a big 9mm pistol. Not only will I use this for my Terminator Austria costume, but also for Intrigue's Mafia!Romano outfit (Mafimano for short). Then I can also use it for my boyfriend's planned Wesker cosplay. (Boy, am I ever pumped for this. Not only is Wesker my favorite Resident Evil character and one of my all-time favorite video game characters, but this means my boyfriend will finally get to experience the cosplay scene. And I get to go with him as another Resident Evil 5 character, the "plague doctor.")
Long story short, that gun will get a ton of use. I might even repaint it as a Vladof shock repeater pistol for my planned Mordecai cosplay. (Woot woot Borderlands!)
I also plan on buying an off-brand Buzzbee Lever Action Rifle for Terminator Austria. It was in the movie, guys.

Deadlines draw near...

In other news, we have just hit the one month mark before Anime Iowa. You know what this means: finish up those costumes! Start your acne regimens! Make a shopping list with things like "deodorant" and "shampoo"! Do 200 crunches a night for those sexy abs! Drink tons and tons of water, until you pee clear.
No, seriously, this hydration strategy will make you so much more comfortable in the heat of a summer convention. Take it from a girl who was in one of Minnesota's top marching bands for four years of her life: drinking water and eliminating pop from your diet will keep you feeling good during all that running around.
In marching band, we wore full head-to-toe wool uniforms, and were expected to practice in the sun for hours on end. We alternated between rapid marching and returning to an earlier spot to repeat our routine, and standing stock-still with perfect concentration, the sun beating down on us and heat rising from the black asphalt below us. In other words, it was really freaking hot. Drinking water for a convention will have the same effects: fending off the ambient heat and the heat from your costume, and keeping you from getting tired as quickly. It has the added effects of keeping headaches at bay and keeping you pleasant. One of the first signs of dehydration is grumpiness, which just ruins everyone's fun. So pee clear.
I, for one, will drink plenty of water for the rest of the month. However, I'm also an avid pop-drinker, so I'll have to cut that carbonated high-fructose corn syrup out of my diet for at least the last two weeks of the month. That should be plenty of time for my body to cope with the lack of caffeine. Hopefully I don't crack mentally because of the strain.

Who you won't see at AI, or, why anime conventions are like high school

We have a dropout this year at AI. My friend who was going to be France and Ancient Gaul can't come anymore. She's been having some weird mini heart attack things, and the only day she can get her chest checked out is during the weekend of AI. So, while I mourn this loss, I am also glad that she's mature enough to keep her priorities straight. Her health is always more important than an anime convention.

Excuse me while I go make my list of planned cosplays even longer. Le sigh.