Sorry for the lack of updates again - I intended to have the Gallery page completely updated and a couple more posts done by now. Unfortunately, between health and other obligations I haven't had the time or energy to put into this thing. It's a shame - I know that I have to get myself out there in order to kick-start the things that need to happen in my life, but my current life stands in the way. How do I remedy this..?

On a less morose note, discussion has been heated over next year's cosplay ideas. For once we are ahead of the game. Our hotel room is already booked, next step is deciding on costumes. The current ideas are:

• A trio group from Record of Lodoss War. I would be Deedlit, Krell would be Slayn and our friend Dregn would be Ghim. 
• Krell and I also want to do Fenris and Merrill from Dragon Age 2 at some point... I would have to start those NOW in order to be done in time, but I definitely don't have the funds. Or the time. Ha!

So we shall see where the next year takes us. The only certain thing is that we will be at Otakon 2013 come hell or high water!

Otakon is over, and I apologize for not making any updates since... ::looks:: July 12! So sorry about that... things got crazy, then the con came and went, and then my health just started degrading faster than before. As such, I've spent a lot of time in doctor's offices or lying around feeling sorry for myself.

Anyway, the costumes DID get done in time!!! It's amazing, I still don't really know how it happened. I was up until 3:00am the morning of the con working on Ellen's headgear, which ended up falling apart about 10 minutes after I put it on Friday. I ended up going to the con without it, then attacked it with hot glue and wire later that night at the hotel. I'm happy to say after that it lasted the remainder of the weekend!!

Note to new cosplayers: always, ALWAYS bring your toolbox! We've been doing this for 3 years now and inevitably I have needed my tools at least once a weekend at every con. Stuff inevitably breaks, and it's awesome to have your supplies at the hotel.

If you want to see them, head over to the Gallery page!

Overall, these costumes were mostly comfortable to wear and a few people actually recognized us. Hooray for Folklore fans!! ♥

Folklore: Ellen & Keats

Description of costumes located below the photos! :)

Whew! Our newest endeavor: Ellen in her Cloak of Midnight Sun and Keats in his default outfit. Both are characters from the AWESOME game Folklore, an early PS3 exclusive. Folklore is a sort of.. action/RPG, murder mystery/brawler... yeah, you get the idea. It's really something I consider to be in a class of its own!

These costumes were meant to be less expensive than Judith and Schwann, and more comfortable to wear. Sadly, I only managed to uphold one aspect of that deal: more comfortable! The cost came in close to the Tales costumes, and took nearly 200 hours to complete. Unfortunately I work slow - I hope that my work is worth it to those who see us! (It's definitely worth it to us. :) )

You may be interested to know that my cloak has just about 45 yards of trim on it, and Krell's coat has real leather with faux embossing. (only a cosplayer would have the chutzpah to do such a thing! XD ) I also handmade my buttons - one of my favorite things about Ellen's costume! And on a real costumery-masochism note, the collar and cuff pieces were all handcolored and triple-sealed by me. It took SO long.

More photos can be found on my deviantART page, or my Cosplay.com page. ^_^

I apologize for a few things:

1. Keats' boots: We ordered these with the intention of surgically removing the buckles and altering them to look more like the "real" thing - we got them and thought they were just too cool to alter. :( On that note, tall brown lace up boots for men are REALLY hard to find!
2. Ellen's hair: I know the bangs are wrong... I love the wig though, and didn't want to cut it up to change it. Plus, leaving the thicker bangs sort of helped to cover my terrible brunette sideburns (gasp!). Blasted tiny-headed wig!
3. Ellen's collar: Looks...messy in all of these photos. I messed it up pretty much every time I turned my head and drug the braid across it, so eventually I stopped fussing with it.

All in all, we love these costumes and are hoping to wear them again next year to at least one con. Thanks to everyone who recognized who we were at Otakon! ♥