Attack of the Killer [redacted]

I decided I would do something a little crazy on here and post the digital version of my entire Black Dahlia cosplay that I made for Combo Breaker. (The printed version also included fabric swatches)

This build took me almost exactly 2 months, and I put an absurd amount of hours in (largely due to my preference to handsew large portions of this. I recently got back final photoshoot pics back and I did make extremely small adjustments for that shoot, because after wearing this for a day there were some wear and tear things I wanted to fix.

I made and wore KOS-MOS for Magfest 2023 back in January for aXenosaga ep.1 group 💙 these are some of my solo shots as taken by @/chezphoto (ig)

posting some cosplay here because you can actually post full image sets here on tumblr and I need to figure out how to use this site again (as if I ever knew despite how much time I spent on it in ye olden days)

but i did completely fail to take selfies with friends on my phone because it never occurs to me until way later.

so heres some pics of my face to prove i was there, i may be stealing any pics i come across from other people to add to my folder of con memories

To me, cosplay is art. My relationship to it is inherently personal and impossible to fully communicate, just like any other art form out there.

For me its a love I get to experience in waves through my various interactions with it, as well as variety of emotions both positive and negative.

Its in the way I decide what I want to make and why, and equally what I do not. The research I do, trying to pick apart something from images and decipher how it comes together and should be layered in real life.

Its getting to challenge myself with new (techniques, materials, shapes) and attempt to perfect the old. Its learning and succeeding (and failing) and learning what the limits are and whether to keep pushing or try something new.

Its attempting to embody a character, and understand them through the clothes they wear and the way they look and hold themselves in a new light. Its not about a perfect emulation but a fusion, and using that to learn about myself as well.

Its the memories I make and possibly capture, and the way I look back at them over the days and months and years that follow. Its me changing and growing and looking back and learning from my mistakes and triumphs both. A cosplay often carries with it associated memories of the time in my life I was making it, and is often important viewed in context even if only to me.

cosplay progress posts are moving to tumblr.

Text for each image will be before it.

I started with the Aranea Black bunnysuit pattern. taped the paper pieces together to get a base idea for fit and did an initial modification on the shape.

I then cut the entire set out of mockup fabric (im using cotton ticking in both the mockup and final, though in different colors). I sewed the entire thing together, added boning channels, and basted some temporary lacing.

I tried on the mockup and realized I had to make some changes, mainly to the edges to get the exact shape I'm looking for. i also basted the zipper i will use in the final version to get an idea of the fit for that.

I decided that going into 2020 I was going to get myself out there make new friends try new things etc etc. the plan was always for this to be in person since I'm ass at making friends online, but decently good at it in person.

it actually started pretty well. went to a bunch of events, went to group photoshoots where I knew no one, and got along well with some people. all within 2 months.

and then covid happened. while I still had my old connections and some tentative new ones, I hadn't actually connected to anyone deep enough to really make good friends with everything else going on. which is completely understandable, but still a shame.

you think that at this point I would be willing to get myself back out there or have switched gears and try and make internet friends. but i feel even more adrift then ever.

there are even less things to do in person that im comfortable with now. i still am too awkwardly quiet (and honestly, paranoid) to make friends online. i struggle to keep up with people via dm/texts/group chats from lingering trauma.

From the Cosplay Backlogs:

Fencer Viera based on the Final Fantasy Tactics design

📸 by Marlo Louden  in 2020 originally made in summer of 2018 as part of a group (we were all different classes of Viera, I made all the ears and about half of one of the other costumes)