OMGOMGOMGIT'SHEEEEEERE!!

MY C.C. COSPLAY CAME IN TODAY.

I have a few (lame) pics, but it's the best I could do with my shotty camera without flash and a mirror.




... As if I wasn't ready enough for MTAC to get here... XD

Just something to pass the time. ^_^

[The Great Cosplay Survey]

[Introduction]

- What is your cosplay alias?
Psychopiratess is the alias you’ll find if you’re looking on con forums and such.

- How many years have you cosplayed?
Since Spring of 2007, about 2 years now.

- How did you get into cosplaying?
One of my friends mentioned trying it out and going to a con. It sounded like fun, so I decided to go for it. Haven’t looked back since.

- What was your first convention and how did it go?
My first con was MTAC Prime 2007. It was absolutely amazing. I had such a blast, and I made some very close friends that I know I’ll have for life.

- How many cons have you been to?

I’ve only been to two separate cons – MTAC (Middle Tennessee Anime Converntion) and AWA (Anime Weekend Atlanta). Though I have been going for two years, which makes 4 cons total.

- How many cosplays have you done?
Eight now, though not all of them were good.

[Your Cosplays]

- What was your first cosplay and why did you choose it?
Arisa Uotani from Fruits Basket, the Red Butterfly Jacket version. I chose it because I was told I would make a good Uo, and I really wanted my first cosplay to be from my first series that had gotten me into the world of anime. Plus, my jacket was kickass.

- What is your favorite cosplay you've done so far?
Probably Matsumoto Rangiku or Margery Daw. I felt like I really pulled those characters off well.

- What is your least favorite you've cosplayed?
Eh, it’s a toss up between Light Yagami from Death Note or Sana Kurata from Kodocha! Both of those were put together so hurriedly that no one knew who I was, and in turn, I didn’t feel in character at all.

- What cosplay is the most uncomfortable?
Hrmmm… Probably Margery Daw. It’s really not that bad, but the skirt is so shirt than I can’t wear shorts under it, and it’s difficult to keep myself decent sometimes. Plus, my everyday style of dress is pretty conservative, so it’s always a little disorienting to wear something revealing.

… Light Yagami was also uncomfortable, if only because I had to bind my chest to do it… and I have nicely sized boobs. XDD

[Process]

- How do you research the cosplay before you make it?

I always try to actually watch the anime all the way through before cosplaying a character, though sometimes that’s not possible (I couldn’t make it through Bleach, and didn’t have the time for Shana). But I also look at a lot of pictures and find the perfect outfit that looks awesome and would also flatter my body type.

- Do you sew your cosplays yourself?
I try to. Butcosplay isn't everything and sometimes life screws with my time, so I commission now and then. Of all the cosplays I’ve done, I’ve only commissioned two.

- If so, how did you learn to sew? If not, do you plan to learn?
I started sewing a little over a year ago. I took a class with two close friends of mine for school. For once, school actually helped my cosplaying skills. XD

- Do you make your own props?
Eh, about half of the time.

- If so, how did you learn to? If not, do you plan to learn?
Mainly through tutorials found online. And it really depends on the prop, if I make it or not. Tony is a prop master though. He figures things out pretty easily sometimes.

- Do you style your own wigs?
Ha. No. I have two or three friends who are experts at that, so I let them take care of it.

- What skill has been most useful for making your cosplay?
Sewing, probably. Sure as hell hasn’t been my procrastination techniques.

- What is the hardest thing when making a cosplay?
This may seem silly, but I hate sewing the hem. -_-

- What was the biggest screw up you've had making a cosplay?
Haven’t had a big one yet. It’s only a matter of time.

- How often do you injure yourself while making a cosplay?
I don’t really injure myself. But I’ve broken a few sewing machine needles. >_>

[Budget]

- On average, how much will you spend on cosplay in one year? (not including conventions, etc)
Eh, maybe… $500? I dunno, it seems a little high. It may be more this year, actually. I have quite a roster planned for AWA this year, and I’d prefer to not have to give one of them up.

- Do you try to stay cheap or do you slurge on materials?
I’m pretty cheap, but I don’t settle for crap. Somewhere in the middle, I guess.

[Conventions]

- What is your favourite convention?
Probably AWA. It’s a lot bigger than MTAC, and we get to go out of town for it, so it feels more like a vacation.

- What conventions have you gone to?
MTAC and AWA.

- How far have you travelled for a convention?
… Atlanta. XD I don’t have the money to go any farther away. But I plan to once I get out of school and get a job.

- Do you usually stay in a hotel or stay at home when you can?
I like staying in the hotel. It really adds to the experience.

- What was your worst convention experience?

I’ve never had a bad convention, but there were things in my first three cons I wish I could go back and change, namely just a lot of drama. My last AWA was the best con I’ve been to. It was all a blast.

[cos-PLAY]

- Have you ever cosplayed with a partner or group?
Actually, most of the cosplays I do are in groups (or at least pairs). That’s how I get wrangled into characters I don’t even know. XDD

- Do you try to act in character?
When the character isn’t too out there, I try to.

- Have you ever done fanservice at a con? (Yaoi, yuri, etc)
… I kissed my boyfriend as Matsumoto while he was Gin for a GinRan fangirl once. But other than that, no. We may be pulling some C.C. x Lelouch poses at this year’s MTAC, tho.

- How do you react to cosplayers dressed as character from the same anime/game/etc?
… I haven’t run into one of those yet. I get wrangled into cosplaying rare characters. I mean, there are usually a lot of Matsumoto’s out there, but that’s no surprise, so usually I just do nothing.

- Do you try to duplicate your character's expressions, walk, movements, etc?
Only when I’m thinking about it.

- When crossplaying, do you try to act as much like the gender as possible?
Erm, only crossplayed as Light Yagami. And all I had to do was walk around and scowl. So ya.

- What was your funniest experience of acting in character?
As Margery Daw, I just struuted around in my purple suit and lacy thigh highs. I got a lot of heads to turn. And I liked punching Marco. That was great.

- What was your worst experience acting in character?
Don’t have one. Hope to not have one.

[Competetion]

- Do you compete in Cosplay Contests?
Not yet, but plan to for AWA.

- Have you won anything?
Nope.

- Do you prefer skits or walk ons?
I’ve never actually been able to make it to a cosplay contest, so I dunno. I have heard that skits better be fan-freakin-tastic, otherwise they’re just a waste of time.

[Community]

- How many friends have you made because of cosplay?
Geez, I dunno. Probably about fifteen or so, plus an amazing boyfriend. XDD

- Are you a part of any convention or cosplay forums?
I’m on MTAC forums and cosplay.com, though I will probably be on the AWA forums in a little bit too.

- Do you attend photoshoots and meet ups outside of conventions?
Not really. Only do private photoshoots outside of the con.

[Future]

- How long do you think you'll be cosplaying for?
As long as it’s not creepy.

- Name a few cosplays you're planning to do next:
Eh, if you want that list, scroll down. I’m not listing them all again.

- What is your dream cosplay?
As of now, Rainbow Brite. XDD

[Misc]

- What do you take into consideration when picking a character to cosplay?
I have to really like the characters, and they need to have a fairly interesting cosplay.

- Is cosplay serious business for you?
It’s serious business so I can have some serious fun. XD

- What is your favorite thing about cosplay?
Just strutting around as the character and meeting new people.

- What is your least favorite?
Procrastinating til the very end, and stressing myself out about it.

- What is it that makes you keep cosplaying?
Seeing all my friends, making new ones, and seeing the reactions of people when I’m cosplaying on of their favorite characters.

- How would you like cosplaying to change in the future?
Making more of my own things from scratch, not waiting til the last minute to get stuff done, and more grandiose costumes. I prefer to go big or not at all. XD

Code Geass is teh shiz-nat.

I finished Code Geass yesterday.

AHGDNJKGBNAWEKSDGNJDSBXNVISDOGJIAVBDCVXDKNHJAIOEHDVNKJZAAAAAHHH! SOOOOOOO GOOD.

I downloaded all of R2 onto my computer and got crackin' all weekend, and I finished the last four episodes with Tony yesterday. I can easily say it is one of the best series I have ever seen - period. And now I can definitely see why Tony is so crazy about it. All of the characters are fantastically developed, the plot is so intricate with twists and turns, and it ends beautifully. I bawled at the end (no surprise there, tho - I'm a crybaby). But yes, I love this series, and I am so ecstatic to be cosplaying C.C.

Speaking of which... new progress to report! I ordered my wig a week ago, and it's already in (thanks to Tony forking the bill for express shipping ^_^). It's absolutely gorgeous; I don't think I could have asked for a better wig...



How perfect is it? ^___^ It's beautiful. The color is fantastic - even better than I thought it would be. And while I knew it was going to be a long one, I didn't know it'd reach below my waist. I'm a bit nervous, simply because it is such a long wig, and I know those can be really easy to mess up permanently (as I have done it before), but I think I'll be too paranoid about ruining it to not take good care of it. The best part about all this is that I ordered this wig from an eBay store that just opened in November and they did not have a lot of reviews (though the few they did have were all positive), so I was taking a gamble with my money. But now that I know their stuff is really good, I have a new wig store to check out online for future cosplays.

Man, I am so frickin' ready for MTAC. Now I just need to practice for MTAC Idol... and wait patiently for the rest of our cosplays to come in... >___<

If only I had a million dollars... and school didn't get in my way...

I found a topic on the MTAC forums that made me get to thinking about what future cosplay I would want to do, and I soon realized that my list would be too long to put on the forums. So I decided to post a longer list here, with explanations. Just in case anyone is interested (*coughnotlikelycough*). These aren't necessarily in order of importance; just whatever comes to mind first. ^_^

1. Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion, 2008 Gothic calendar version.
I love NGE, and I have Tony to thank for that. I would have never watched the series on my own, and even though the end (actually, the entire series) is incredibly trippy, it is so well done and artistically stimulating that I can't help but love it. Tony wants to crossplay Asuka from the 2008 calendar, so naturally I wanted to cosplay Rei to compliment him. ^_^ I love those costumes from that calendar...

2. Misato Katsuragi from Neon Genesis Evangelion
This was the female character of NGE that I really fell in love with (but not in a creepy way). I love her sarcasm, her sense of humor, her drinking habits, everything. She is such a fun character, and I'd love to be her one day. Besides, my cosplay stereotype is drunken women with big boobs. She was made for me to cosplay.

3. Kallen Kozuki from Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Kallen is the first character from CG that I wanted to cosplay. From the moment she stepped onto the screen, she was so badass that I couldn't help but love her. Plus her costume is pretty awesome. I want to cosplay her for AWA this year, but instead, I'll probably pull out my C.C. cosplay again, to save money (plus... I don't think I can get the abs to play Kallen well by Spetember). But one day, I will.

4. Princess Cornelia from Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Okay, I know she's on the bad side, but I love Cornelia. Even though she is evil, she has her reasons for doing what she does, and surprisingly, she is justified most of the time. I realized I wanted to cosplay her when (POSSIBLE SPOILER) she admitted for the first time that she hated the Elevens because she thought they killed Lelouch and Nunnally. It made me realize that she acted out of remorse for her siblings, not pure hatred, and made her seem more human.

5. Rakshata from Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Okay, I could never pull her off. She's Indian, and I'm a mixture of German and Scottish descent. I am waaaaaaay to pale to ever play her well. But I love her all the same, and wish I could.

6. Mikuru Asahina from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, J-rock band version
Mikuru is not my ideal character to cosplay; she's way too shy for my tastes. But one of my BFF's, Brittany, makes the perfect Haruhi, and I am her Mikuru. And of all the outfits, that J-rock one is just awesome.

7. Yuuko Ichihara from xxxHolic
You all know about this one. Was planning on it, then it fell thru. One day, tho, I will complete it, hopefully that sexy Butterfly costume. It's so pretty...

8. Celia from Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
I'd probably only cosplay her if I had a good Lloyd, but she's adorable, and very likable. ^_^

9. Hiroshi Nakano from Gravitation
This came about when Brittany said she was Suichi Shindou, which by default made me Hiro. I don't know if this will ever happen, but hey, ya never know.

10. Rainbow Brite
I will be her one day. She was my childhood hero, no kidding. I think she deserves the honor.

That's all for now. I know there's a lot of Geass up there, but the characters in that series are all so good; there are a few others that I didn't even mention (Nina and Viletta, for example).

Also, these are all cosplays I'd like to do, but don't have a date set for yet. I have AWA already planned, so I won't be explaining those.

If there are any more, I'll add to the list. But as for now, that's all I can think of. ^_^ Tootles~

Just a simple update~

Not a whole lot to say, but just a few updates.

Got two AMVs entered to MTAC contest. If you would like to see my work, click here. I'll be entering my Ouran "Savin' Me" vid, along with my Ouran "Wannabe" vid. Tony thinks my "Savin' Me" vid might actually win something. I can only hope so. I've worked so hard on those videos. And maybe if I do win something, it'll inspire me to get back into the AMV making business again (though I've been saying that line for almost two years now...).

Got all of C.C. ordered. All I have to do now is wait for it to come in, and pray it fits right. The only cosplay I have ever commissioned was Rangiku Matsumoto, and if you know that costume, you know it has NO CURVES. It's basically a few different colored sheets with sleeves, and a pair of parachute pants. But the C.C. cosplay is pretty form fitting. I hope I don't regret commissioning this thing. XD The good news is, the wig looks fantastic. I haven't ever ordered from them before, but I've only heard good things.

Also practicing for MTAC Idol (when I'm not rocking out to Nickelback...went to the concert, and now I'm totally obsessed). I don't want to share what my music choices are just yet, but know that they will be fun. ^__^

Well, that's all for now. Can't think of anything else important to say. Til next time~