Recap // Anime Los Angeles '16
February 03, 2016 |
| Photo: James Rulison |
Lined lips + spiked bats // Debut of my new Lone Wanderer cosplay at ALA!
New year, new cosplay! Channeling the hardened grit of the Lone Wanderer from the Fallout 3 series, I dawned my new costume for all to see at my first convention of the year, Anime Los Angeles. As always, wearing a new costume can be frightening- the validation of your fellow nerds places a certain pressure on you to push your skills to the limit. Finishing your cosplay the morning of the con, well, that's another stress all together...
Friday // The morning of the convention arrives, and I'm still not done with my cosplay (surprise, surprise). A majority of the alterations needed on the base of my vault suit were incomplete, nothing had been weathered, and I was facing the inevitable "this is going to be a disaster" moment every cosplayer has. After meeting up with a few friends, I was able to complete most of my cosplay by around 3AM, and had to wait for the following day to pull it all together- no test runs included.
Saturday // The moment of truth was finally upon us. With each cosplay, I consistently try to make each one better than the one before in terms of details, accuracy, and overall quality. I've been following a ton of incredible costume and prop makers online, and felt that if this cosplay didn't turn out the way I had imagined, then all of the tips and tricks I had learned would be wasted. The moment I wiggled into my vault suit, I was overcome with a huge sigh of relief- it actually turned out pretty okay!
Weathering the entire cosplay to death was truly the one detail that I wanted to hone in on. Following the advice of my friends, I do plan to continue adding little bits and bobs to this particular costume. The dart gun scriptgiant is holding was handmade and belongs to arenasta, the belts, straps, pouches, and bullet necklace belong to irradiatedlady (she also takes vault suit commissions!). They really helped transform this costume into something that I was truly satisfied with- thanks guys!
Sunday // Recovering from an intense night of (watching) karaoke at the nearby hotel and a few photoshoots later, the last day of the con had begun. We sported the same grungy, grimy, 'I'm going to kill you on sight' look from the previous day, complete with my first-ever epic faux hawk (styled by the incredible irradiatedlady), blacked-out eyes, and neat-o missing eye. I plan on doing a makeup tutorial of sorts on this look soon, perhaps as my first foray into the YouTubes? Who knows. I'll also create a post on how to achieve a weathered look for general cosplays and a full build write-up, as well.
Mid-sized cons once again prove to be my favorite because of the not-so-crowded atmosphere, friendly cosplay community, and all-around relaxed feel of just strolling through the halls being dorks. I loved every aspect of being a super tough wasterlander, particularly my spiked bat that I made for around $6.
Thank you to everyone that approached us this weekend, thank you for making this convention so enjoyable! If we had a chance to shoot with you, I am always so humbled that you liked our dorky costumes. Until next time, everyone!
Friday // The morning of the convention arrives, and I'm still not done with my cosplay (surprise, surprise). A majority of the alterations needed on the base of my vault suit were incomplete, nothing had been weathered, and I was facing the inevitable "this is going to be a disaster" moment every cosplayer has. After meeting up with a few friends, I was able to complete most of my cosplay by around 3AM, and had to wait for the following day to pull it all together- no test runs included.
 |
| Photo: Joits |
Saturday // The moment of truth was finally upon us. With each cosplay, I consistently try to make each one better than the one before in terms of details, accuracy, and overall quality. I've been following a ton of incredible costume and prop makers online, and felt that if this cosplay didn't turn out the way I had imagined, then all of the tips and tricks I had learned would be wasted. The moment I wiggled into my vault suit, I was overcome with a huge sigh of relief- it actually turned out pretty okay!
Weathering the entire cosplay to death was truly the one detail that I wanted to hone in on. Following the advice of my friends, I do plan to continue adding little bits and bobs to this particular costume. The dart gun scriptgiant is holding was handmade and belongs to arenasta, the belts, straps, pouches, and bullet necklace belong to irradiatedlady (she also takes vault suit commissions!). They really helped transform this costume into something that I was truly satisfied with- thanks guys!
 |
| Video: FanService Renji |
Sunday // Recovering from an intense night of (watching) karaoke at the nearby hotel and a few photoshoots later, the last day of the con had begun. We sported the same grungy, grimy, 'I'm going to kill you on sight' look from the previous day, complete with my first-ever epic faux hawk (styled by the incredible irradiatedlady), blacked-out eyes, and neat-o missing eye. I plan on doing a makeup tutorial of sorts on this look soon, perhaps as my first foray into the YouTubes? Who knows. I'll also create a post on how to achieve a weathered look for general cosplays and a full build write-up, as well.
Mid-sized cons once again prove to be my favorite because of the not-so-crowded atmosphere, friendly cosplay community, and all-around relaxed feel of just strolling through the halls being dorks. I loved every aspect of being a super tough wasterlander, particularly my spiked bat that I made for around $6.
Thank you to everyone that approached us this weekend, thank you for making this convention so enjoyable! If we had a chance to shoot with you, I am always so humbled that you liked our dorky costumes. Until next time, everyone!
 |
| Photos: James Rulison |
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