Random Encounter

  Obligatory photo in the hotel room because the second boots hit asphalt, all bets are off.   Wore the hat through the airport because both it and the box were too bulky and there's no way that's getting crushed. Big hit. No, seriously. If you ever want walk-by compliments, I highly recommend wearing a silly hat through an airport. It will make someone's day. Think of yourself like the frozen watermelons they give polar bears in July.    Truth be told I was really only planning to wear the costume one day. Locals tend to bristle when you point this out, but Atlanta in September tends towards the hot and humid. And you gotta walk. A lot .   Also, technically the hotel I was staying at isn't even on this map.    What? You think I'm making "stays at host hotel" kind of money? Flattered, but no.   Anyway, flipping through schedule and saw a FF shoot. Told myself I'd go if I got ready in time. And if they didn't look bothered. And if I got ready in t...

Chances of the machine eating your project are low, but never zero.   Time for assembling the miscellaneous bits! Apologies, but this is going to jump around a bit. There are several little odds and ends that need to be taken care of before this whole mess gets packed up.   Formed a quick sheath out of black shelf liner. Yes, believe it or not you can run this through your machine. It will hate you for it, but you can totally do it. It's not exactly pretty, but it'll serve it's purpose well enough and now I won't have to worry about what to do if someone bumps into me and the sword breaks. Is there anything appliqué CAN'T class up?   Got some matching appliqué for the mask. They're in the same style as what is on the cape, so it looks like the mask is part of the outfit and not just something tacked on because of circumstances. The mask in question is just a sport mask, so it's light and very comfortable, but more importantly there's enough room to fit a...

     Against my better judgement, got a new sword. Forgive me, I have certain weaknesses. Pointy weaknesses. This one won't be awkward to keep on my right side at least. Yes, yes that's it! This was a thuroughly practical purchase that was in no way motivated by unfettered otakuism. Manderville rapier and focus. Because the Antiquated Murgleis somehow felt like too much honkin' sword to drag around all day.      Sword is noticeably longer than Talekeeper (by a solid 7 inches/17.78 cm). That officially makes it longer than my luggage case. Which is sort of a problem since we're flying down. There was a trick I pulled with Talekeeper, where the hilt could detach and that made it noticeably easier to transport. Might be able to pull off something similar here.        No clue how to attach the focus to the belt or anything. Not all of us can just magick it in place. Maybe invisible thread? ...Although that would be hard to detach. Generic l...

    Honestly, I've wanted to cosplay a red mage for an eternity, but circumstances never lined up. Not that it was particularly hard, especially back then. Red hat, sweatsuit, and bed sheet. White feather. Done. ( Don't recommend re-enacting the hair bleaching bit though unless you know what you're doing. Saw sooo many dudes back in the day burn their scalp trying for a Red Mage (or over-shooting a Char Aznable blond).) There he is. There's our special little guy.     "Circumstances never lined up." That's a polite way of saying the attitude towards cosplay was much harsher back in the early '10s in a lot of stupid ways that are better discussed elsewhere. Point being in many regards things seem way more chill now. Or maybe I've just found chiller cons to go to, IDK.     However, nowadays if you want to make your own outfit it can quickly get a bit more complicated than running over to Goodwill to find a red bed sheet and matching cowboy...