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Darth-Sunshine

the Mystic
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1 min read
Hey dA, I made an Instagram! I've been trying to find a social media outlet for cosplay that's actually well suited to the hobby, so I'm giving this a try.  That's not to say I'm abandoning my dA account; I'm still using this as my main gallery for my finished work.

I miss the days of Cosplay.com, when the hobby was centralized there.  Nearly everyone I met at cons three or four years ago had an account there; it made it so much easier to find people and follow their work.   Pretty much everyone has a Facebook page these days, but the recent changes they've made to how pages reach people have really restricted what I see in the newsfeed I had created to follow other cosplayers. :/

I'm hoping Instagram will be a better way to keep up with people.  Give it a follow if you like, and let me know if you have one! www.instagram.com/darthsunshin…
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Whoops, it's been a while since I updated!  Costume wise this year has been off to a bit of a rough start, so there hasn't been much to post about.  I spent most of winter break and the start of spring desperately trying to get my Visas Marr costume off the ground, but long-sad-sob-story short, I was unable to get the necessary materials together in time for my All-Con goal.  Ishval Riza sadly still hasn't seen the light of day.   There are about five seams left to go, and I need to weather it.  If I'm feeling sadistic enough, it might show up at A-Kon. (Just Thursday night though since that costume will be hella hot.)

Convention wise, my plans are pretty low-key for the year.  The wonderful chaos that is All-Con just passed, I'll be at A-Kon for the whole weekend, probably both of the remaining FanExpo Dallas Comic Con shows, and both AFest and ANT for at least a day or two.

As far as costumes go, I'm going to continue trying to get the materials I need for Visas Marr, and I hope to have that complete in time for the May DCC show.  Princess Hilda is my next priority, and I hope to redo Mission Vao this year as well. I've missed that costume dearly.  I'm starting to gather more materials for Jarael, and will likely have some progress to show by the end of the year. 

My body painting guide has been getting a lot of attention lately,  and I do apologize if it takes awhile for me to get back to any notes I may get about it.  I plan on working with new body paints as I work on Mission and Jarael, and hope not only update the guide some more this year, but perhaps finally get a website/blog going where I can post more detailed guides to certain steps of the the process, and videos as well.  There are a lot of things I'd like to share that DA just doesn't have the right format for. 

I've also been getting a lot of hits in general for the last week.  If you're a new visitor, I'd love to know who shared my page! :)  
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Quest complete!

2 min read
I finally finished my Ocarina of Time Princess Zelda costume! 8D YYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEAHHHHHHH!! ...A couple of pieces will need to be remade. >__> BUT I can move onto other things now, and work on those at my leisure, where as before I felt pressured and stressed. It's a huge relief.

While working on it, I came to realize that I don't have time for this hobby any more... or at least not as much as I'd like. Maybe one or two costumes a year is going to be the norm until I graduate. It makes me sad, but all I can do is make the most of the free time that I have.

 

I absolutely can't wait to see the photos my friends took. In the mean time I'll be distracting myself by prepping for D*Con, which is lESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY OH MY GOSH. I can't believe I'm finally going! Nothing new planned for this convention, I'll probably just be taking two of my easily packable costumes.

 

As far as the rest of the year goes, my “con season” isn't stopping, seems like it's year round now and I'm okay with that. :) I'll be hitting up Fan Days for at least a day, along with Anime North Texas.

 

Costume wise, I'm hoping to have “Ishval Riza” done for ANT. I really wanted to start reviving my Four Swords Zelda costume this year, but I think I'll be putting that on hold for now. If I'm going to have a chance at getting my Visas Marr costume prior to All-Con in March so that I can get my 501st approval before then, I need to start that reeeeaal soon.

 

Also, does anyone know what the heck is up with journal views? Mine often get more views in a day the the vast majority of my deviations or my page. o__O

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Welp, I missed yet another deadline for OoT Zelda.

I feel pretty embarrassed at this point; it’s been fifteen months since I started this costume.  I keep saying oh it’s going to be done super soon and then failing.  This entire process has been a one step forward, two steps back, tripping on some stairs I didn't even realize were behind me, falling down several flights and breaking my face kind of thing. ;__;

I’m really close to being done.  Painfully so.   A couple of pieces need tweaking, the wig needs a couple of pieces curled, and the pauldrons need to be finished and assembled.  That’s it.  I was working on it til midnight Friday when I called it.  There was just waaayy to much sanding and refining to be done.  I could’ve primed and painted them, but they would have looked awful.   My progress thus far has been posted to my Facebook -  www.facebook.com/darthsunshine…

I’ve decided not set goals for big costumes any more, period.  Crunch time is just too mentally and physically draining, and takes the joy out of the construction process.  I’ve been very poorly prepared for the conventions I’ve spent all the time leading up to trying to power through and get Zelda done.  I’d rather spend the time leading up to cons making sure I have everything together, and that I’m well rested and ready to face the insanity of a convention.  I was seriously unprepared for a photoshoot because I was out of my mind with fatigue, and I didn’t check my costume in advance.   If it looks like there’s a chance something might not come together when there’s just a week or two left til the next con, I’m just not going to worry about it, and focus on making sure the rest of my stuff is together and in good shape.

A-Kon was still awesome. The most important part of a convention is getting to spend time with good friends.  I had an amazing time hanging out and talking with fantastic people.  :)  The Harvest Moon meet up really grew this year, and was lots of fun!  I didn’t see too many panels this year, there were a bunch of interesting ones but a lot of them were at times that were odd for me.  I’m also very glad that they moved the reg line. @__@

I’m really proud that a couple of my friends were able to finish their dream costumes. Starlit--Rose  was able to wear her Barnaby, and Riicreations beasted through Mulan!   I totally missed seeing a bunch of my friends.  Seriously, out of all the hotels at A-Kon, how can you end up rooming directly across the hall from a couple of people and never see them? :P 

The plan is now to take a breather, then keep plugging away, and move on to other things.  I have two months to go to AFest, but I intend to finish long before that, and then I swear I’ll stop angsting about this damn thing.

But first I’m going to go watch all of the E3 trailers over and over again for like six hours.

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All-Con was amazing again this year! *_*  The extra day they added (Thursday) was a little slow, but it was a great chance to wear another costume, see more panels, hang out with friends, and meet new people.  I'm hoping that I'll be a member of the 501st by next year, which will add yet another level of fun to next year's event.  All-Con is also awesome, because in my mind, it marks the coming of spring.  I am so glad to see warmer weather and spring rain, as opposed to the icy death from above we've had so much of in this area. 

Currently I'm working on OoT Zelda stuff for A-Kon, and I need to redo the bias tape on my Riza uniform.  Colleen Clinkenbeard, Riza Hawkeye's voice actor will be at Dallas Comic Con, which really surprised me.  She's local to the area, but never at any of the anime conventions.  I'd like to get that fixed up and refitted since who knows when she'll make another appearance.

I'm really excited for A-Kon! My tentative plans are to wear Riza on Thursday,  Elli on Friday for the Harvest Moon Picnic, OoT Zelda on Saturday for the LoZ photoshoot and competition, and Claire on Sunday.  Assuming I get a confirmation email, I'll be doing my first walk-on at a big convention in... well I really can't remember, several years I guess. I'm usually shy and enter tinier competitions or hall contests like the Video Game Competition, but they're not having it this year.  I'm already nervous about it. >_> 

Also, could I ask you guys to help me win a thing?  :3  I entered my first Facebook contest, and the prize is a brand new fancy pants lightsaber!  It would mean a lot of if would click on this link and give the photo a "like"!
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