Alicia is finally underway!!!

I got so excited to have a new cosplay project when a couple of my good friends decided to get a VC cosplay group together they immediately pressed for me to do Alicia. I'd never played the game before, but after hearing about her personality and character, I was all for it. I've watched the first season of the anime, and I'm slowly working my way through the game right now. I don't have a PS3 yet, so I gotta share with a good friend.
But I think it's pretty safe to say that I have fallen in love with Valkyria Chronicles!!!

The project is set to premiere either this December or early in 2010. My very good friend is going to be our Welkin and we've started production his and my costumes already. In addition to those two, we have five other members in our Valkyria group, and we're all working together on this project.
Hopefully we'll be able to get everyone's costumes completed by February of next year! I'm so excited for this project to finally come together! It's been in-planning since June.

The guys in our group are in charge of armor-making, while myself and my bestie are working as the seamstresses for this "mission." XD I have high hopes that with a weekend or two of very strict, devoted production time, we will be able to put a sizable dent in our production list.

Many more details to come!!!

First official cosplay journal entry, ROCK ON!

I've been debating for awhile on what to fill this thing with, and as usual about a million different subjects come to mind. I think though, that I may focus on one that is more...personal, more sentimental.
You should feel lucky, in reading this. I don't typically care to share the more personal side of my life, but because this is so intricately connected with being a costume maker and actor, I feel that it is...logical.

Cosplaying, in the shortest, most generalized sense in my mind, is absolutely nuts. As I've looked at it in the past from an objective perspective, there are so many facets of this highly fun, entertaining and EXPENSIVE hobby of ours. What are the pros? What are the cons? It always seemed to me as if spending lots of money to play dress up made no sense at all. We aren't paid to do what we do. The work we put into some of our more difficult costumes and props is sometimes over-looked because the people at the conventions we attend may or may not recognize the characters.
Hell, even drama can be stirred up between cosplayers who believe their costumes to be better than others cosplaying the same character as they are. Elitists in the "business" of cosplaying always make me laugh. For goodness sakes, we're supposed to be having FUN here, not putting other people down! lol!

But none of that, absolutely none of all the negativity that I just mentioned has left me bitter towards cosplaying...not really.

I cosplay, because of friends. Because of the moments that I share with the handful of good friends that I am blessed to have in my life. We all may not even be cosplaying from the same series or fandom, but we can have fun just sitting around at a table at a convention, talking, ragging on one another, or just hanging out. I can recall a particular moment of hilarity that involved a couple of the guys in our group and a banana peel...

Cosplaying to me, isn't just about dressing up from a series, spending hours working on a costume, or even entering into contests. It's about being a hard-ass NERD, fully enjoying the time away from responsibility and reality, and spending time with people I unfortunately do not get to see often enough.

I know plenty of people, as I've attended many cons up and down the East Coast, that place so much importance on cosplay popularity, who you know, and how big your name is. I used to be in that group of folks, thinking that if I was a recognized cosplayer it might mean something. But fate has a funny little way of knocking you on your arse and giving you that sharp crack on the head that, like a bolt of lightning, grounds you instantly with an intense shock that can only leave you wondering what the hell you were thinking.
Thankfully...I am no longer in that mindset. It's still fun to get back in touch with people I knew from a few years ago, but for the most part, I'm happy to be back to just sticking to the local cons. Being recognized doesn't hold the same meaning for me anymore, and in truth, I wanted to break away from the identity that had been created about me so that I wouldn't be recognized! Hence the new c.com account. lol!

Anyhow, I believe I've gotten a bit off topic.
After the "break" that I took, I'm able to understand better that cosplaying really should just be about having fun. That's why we do it, you know? We aren't paid for this, we aren't even credited for it. You can't put "I am a cosplayer" on a job resume, and it won't help you get into college or grad school. But it brings about a happiness that is unlike any other.

I can equate this to medaling on an event in gymnastics (I was competitive until a few years ago thanks to an injury,). When you go to a convention, you have an absolute blast and don't have nonsensical "con drama" or "moody friends" to deal with, you conclude your weekend with a satisfied smile. Your heart swells within your chest and the outpouring of happiness is unsurmountable to any responsible thing you could have been doing that weekend. I have felt the same after sticking a routine or finishing with a high score.

Cosplaying is unique in and of itself. We do this because it makes us happy.