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Tuesday 30 December 2014

Comic Fiesta 2014

Let me just warn you in advance that this is going to be a very lengthy post. :D

Now. Where to start?

I supposed I'll start with an awesome group photo from Day 1. And then move along chronologically.

My beautiful sisters teammates

I cosplayed as Dota 2's Death Prophet on Day 1. Much better this time, I must say. So glad the new body paint and lenses I got were awesome. If you're interested to know, the body paint I used is Snazaroo, and those lenses are white screen lenses.


I arrived around 11am+, and went to the ladies room to do some final touches to my makeup before moving to the convention area. A lady washing her hands saw me and jumped. Hahaha I must've looked really spooky being all green and white-eyed. XD But she later asked me for a selfie, said she wanted to scare her friends.

Walked towards the convention area and got stared at A LOT along the way cause well, I was green. Finally found Anti Mage after some calls.

My best friend cosplaying as Anti Mage

We then proceeded to meet up with Templar Assassin, before going on to meet up with Warlock and Bloodseeker. Got stopped so many times along the way that we didnt make much progress moving out of the area. 

Dota 2 Malaysia Facebook page posted a photo of us!

Moved around the rest of the day with Anti Mage, Warlock, Bloodseeker and the Shopkeeper (yes we have a shopkeeper cosplayer!). Felt really good when people passing by shouts 'Dota 2!'. Feels awesome that people recognize us!

We then spotted a really huge chested Templar Assassin (Deadly Nightshade set). We were all staring at her boobs until we found out that the cosplayer was actually a guy. But seriously, he's really good! He carries the character so well that many thought he was a girl.

Oppai <3

In the evening, we gathered at the fountain -pun intended- for our photoshoot session with FoxFoo Photography, and took Dota-styled selfies!

Imagine this happening in-game...

And then Krobelus, Magina and Rylai went for Starbucks...

We were still in our full costumes and told them that our names were Death Prophet, Anti Mage, and Crystal Maiden

On Day 2, I went to CF cosplaying as Maple Story's Flame Wizard, Oz.

Irena, Oz, Cygnus, Nineheart, Hawkeye

We had a short photoshoot session before heading off to raid the Maple Story booth! Kinda sad that they ran out of all the plushies, and there wasn't any left for us...

Our group

There was a girl cosplaying a normal Mapler (with Maple Bandana) and she has so many Maple Story plushies! She was so sweet and borrowed me a Cargo plushie to pose for some photos. <3

Feels.

After lunch around 4pm, I changed into my Dota 2 Windranger cosplay. Got stopped so many times for photos before I manage to finally get to my destination for round 2 photoshoot with FoxFoo and my Dota 2 group.

I has Rainmaker~ owo

I can't believe that of all things, I forgot to take selfies on Day 2. I had zero selfies as Oz/Lyralei during CF. No Dota 2 group photos yet for day 2. Will make another post filled with our group photos when they're up. Hehe.

Overall, both days of my CF this year was spent with my group mates, and I must say I feel super blessed to be part of these 2 amazing groups - Dota 2 and Maple Story. Thank you guys, for making my CF awesome as hell, and I love each and everyone of you! Can't wait to do more shoots together next year! <3

Also, I got a friendsign from Yugana senpai, in her Mad Moxxi cosplay!!

Thank you Yugana senpai, I will treasure this forever. <3

I'm so super duper happy I'm still squealing with joy inside right now. This is ultimately one of the best 'senpai noticed me' moments ever. <3 I'm feeling encouraged and this makes me wanna keep on improving myself and become better and better at cosplay. Thank you!

I would also like to thank my mom and my brother for going to CF with me and putting up with the crazy schedule of staying there for almost the entire day for the entire weekend. Big thank you to my mom for making my costumes, and Hui Min senpai for making those awesome Windranger pauldrons!

All in all, thank you everyone, for making my CF this year an awesome and memorable one!

Credits
Costumes made by: My mom
Accessories, weapons, armor (except WR pauldrons) made by: Me
Disclaimer: Photos all belong to their respective owners.

Friday 19 December 2014

Today is not Thursday

But I'm gonna do a little cosplay #throwback anyway. And some love dedication to

Flame Wizard, Oz from the popular MMORPG Maple Story.

Some backstory to this cosplay...
Essentially, Oz is the 3rd character I cosplayed since I started, but the first that I truly consider and willing to admit is cosplay.

The wig I use for Oz cosplay, is also the first ever wig I bought from taobao. Which funnily, was actually meant for Dota 2 Windranger but the colour turned out to be redder than I expected, which then led me to chuck it aside and bought a different wig for Windranger.

Then came this Maple Story online cosplay photo contest on Facebook.

My favourite KoC is Irena, actually. Before anything, my choice of character from Maple Story would have definitely been Irena, (and when the Resistance was released, my fav was Wild Hunter. Well, Belle the WH job instructor, to be precise.).

Anyway, between the time I recieved this red wig and the time I came across the cosplay photo contest, I have been desperately finding a character that will allow me to utilize this wig, because it was the first wig I bought so it felt totally sinful to leave it aside, unused.

There are tons of red headed characters out there. However, I have this principle since the very first time I 'cosplayed', that I will never cosplay a character I don't know well enough. If I didn't watch the anime/read the manga, I will never cosplay a character from that series. If I didn't play a game, I would never cosplay a character from the game. For me, cosplay is a personal expression for series/games I love.

Anyway, so there was this photo contest. The first option that popped into my mind was Irena, which led me to think 'damn, I don't have a green wig.', which then led to 'hold on, I have a red wavy wig!', which essentially led me to think 'OMG I could be Oz!'

Which then led to a discussion with my mom about this project, and led to the creation of the first full, homemade costume by my mom. With that, it was also the first time I made any props at all - staff and brooch. Also the first time I modified a pair of boots for cosplay.

The first ever non-event/convention (somewhat-)'photoshoot' was done outside my house, for this contest.

One of the photos from the 'photoshoot'

The following year (actually just a few months after this contest), in Jan 2014, I cosplayed Oz for a VBG event in One City Mall. That, was the first time I cosplayed at a convention/event with a wig.

One of the photos taken during the VBG event in One City

It was also the first time I was invited to a group (Thanks Kelvin! XD) Anyway, everyone, come find our MS cosplay group on Day 2 of CF 2014!

On the way home after that event, was the first time I felt satisfied and happy with my cosplay for the day.

And post-event, this was also the first time where I actually find photos of me taken by others on Facebook. Hence, the first time having my photo taken by professional photographers.

With all these, Oz was the first character where I learned many cosplay-related skills from.

Later on in August 2014, I went for my very first outdoor photoshoot, as Oz. By then, I have fixed and improved on numerous things on my costume, restyled my wig, changed my style of makeup for this character and bought a pair of green lenses specially for this cosplay.


#selfie


Photoshoot in Lake Gardens.

Oz holds many of my firsts in cosplay. And I must say, After cosplaying her, I have grown to love her more than Irena and Belle. XD

Oz has a special place in my heart. <3

I guess its only right to start the year and end the year with this cosplay, because Oz means so much to me.


See you at CF 2014!

Monday 24 November 2014

Bury me deeper next time.

Krobelus the Death Prophet - one of my favourite hero in Dota 2. Finally debuted my cosplay of her at S.O.X Fantasy Fest in KL yesterday.



I don't know whether it's the uncanny valley or what but I honestly think I looked freaky. I scared myself again in the morning yesterday when I put in the lenses. LOL.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out considering the fact that it is the first time I'm cosplaying this character, first time using body paint and first time wearing the entire costume + makeup. (I didn't do a full costest before this. Only tried the makeup and wig on. Wish I did though, then I would've realised how easily the paint peels off... )

So yeah, the body paint screwed up, pretty badly. It was chipping and peeling off whenever I move my mouth. I couldn't talk, couldn't smile without having my green skin cracking and falling off. Sorry to everyone who smiled at me but I couldn't really smile back. Please know that I am not mean and unfriendly! T-T

See? I'm friendly!
Also, paint around my mouth cracked after this photo.


The body paint made me feel like a snake shedding skin. The colour was too dark as well. Didn't expect it to turn out so dark. Cause initially when I tested it, I only applied one layer and I thought it looked fine. But the finishing was horribly uneven and the only way to even it out was to apply a few layers. But now that it's even, it's too dark. And it peels off.

Regardless of the set backs, it was fun! It was awesome to walk around with my friend who was cosplaying Bloodseeker, and later on meeting up with 2 other friends who were cosplaying Razor and Lanaya. Mommy got to field test her new Sony camera. XD

Some more photos from the event taken by my mom~

I like this. Wanted to use this as my Facebook profile picture but decided against it, in case I scare someone.



And a friend of mine who is an awesome prop-maker, made this super cool Battle fury! I know DP never builds Bf but, just ignore that fact for a moment, for the sake of how nice this photo looks, okay? XD

I actually had a great time at the event. But the venue was super hot. Wish it was more cooling! I think I must be the ugliest looking thing there that day. Hopefully I still look awesome while being ugly though. *Bitter laugh*

This cosplay means a lot to me because first of all, I love Death Prophet. Second, it's really different from all other cosplays I did before this - from the body paint to the make up to the personality of the character. I'm so used to smiling and laughing that I had a pretty hard time not smiling that day. This is also the most matured character I've ever cosplayed. And if I'm not mistaken, I think I'm the first to attempt Death Prophet cosplay in Malaysia. I hope I did a decent job. But I know I could do better. So I'm going shopping for new body paint this weekend. I hereby promise myself and everyone who support me that I'll do a better job at cosplaying DP for CF.

Thank you everyone who supported me and gave me advices, feedbacks and comments. Thank you, senpais for noticing me, and giving me positive comments and encouragement. It really means a lot to me and makes me want to improve and do even better. Arigatou! *bow*

Oh, and I met Ohaiyo. :D

*All photos in this post are taken by and belong to my mom.

Saturday 18 October 2014

How to: Get rid of killer bees!

I am going to share with you how to effectively get rid of killer bee hives in Don't Starve. I'm doing this because initially when I encounter this problem and went on the internet to search for solutions, there wasn't much information and suggestions included more expensive options like having a pan flute (which only has 10 uses before you need to make a new one) to put them to sleep while you destroy the hive. That's not going to work in the long run too, because well, they will wake up and hence it's not a permanent solution.

When I come across the lureplant page on the wiki, I realised I have found my solution. Previously, I've seen people suggesting having lureplant farms for harvesting leafy meat and what not, but did not suggest that they could be used for clearing killer bee hives.

I thought about it, and tried it out - using lureplants to clear these annoying hives. It works and it's pretty easy to pull off. So as long as you know how to kite, even a new player can do this quite easily.

See, these things are pretty troublesome as these killer bee hives normally spawn really close together, and more often than not, they block off certain paths and you cannot explore further due to their presence. The moment you walk close, 6 killer bees will emerge from each hive and chase after you.

killer bee hives, spawned really close together.

What you need, is easy enough to obtain - Lureplants.

First of all, lureplants only grow on places where you have previously explored, so when you see lureplants, kill it, and the eyeplants if they have also spawned, to obtain a fleshy bulb.

a fleshy bulb
a planted fleshy bulb

eyeplant spawned around lureplant

Bring your fleshy bulb to where the killer bee hives are, and plant them as close to the killer bee hives as you can.

as seen on the minimap after planting a lureplant in the middle of 3 killer bee hives

Wait for 2 days for the lureplant to grow and spawn eyeplants around it. Proceed to walk by the killer bee hives, and kite them to where the eyeplants are. Remember to wear protective gear since there may still be a chance for you to get stung (though quite unlikely).

3 hives of killer bees on my tail

eyeplants eating up my problems, one by one.

Do take note that while you're kiting, do not stand right next to an eyeplant as they will attack you too.

Can't really tell you in exact detail how to run, where to stand, how to kite, etc. You'll have to experiment it yourself based on what I have shown you here.

Once the entire killer bee hive has been cleared, go back to the hive and destroy it to collect 3 honey and 1 honeycomb, similar to a normal bee hive. 


pick up the loot - honey which can be eaten, and honey comb which can be used for bee box construction

Do not wait too long to do this as every 30 seconds, a new killer bee will respawn from the hive, even while you're hitting it. This is why it is advisable to plant the lureplant close to the hive so you don't have to kite too far and waste too much time (also, bees will lose interest and stop chasing if you're out of a certain range).

A lureplant will dangle leafy meat as a 'bait' to attract nearby mobs. Killing a lureplant will allow you to harvest the leafy meat.



Sometimes a lureplant can also dangle meat that it has obtained from a previous kill. This one killed a turkey previously and hence, it's dangling a drumstick.

The cool thing about lureplants is that, once you're done with clearing the killer bee hives, you can kill the lureplant and obtain whatever loot was supposed to drop from what it has eaten previously, plus leafy meat and a fleshy bulb for your next use.

Each eyeplant takes only 1 hit from any weapon to retreat back to the ground, making it easy to clear a path to the center where you can destroy the lureplant.

And that's it! Simple as that. Hope this will help you not to starve. Hahahaha!


Thursday 9 October 2014

How to: Ahoge

This is my first cosplay-related tutorial so please pardon my noobness. Hehe.

I'm going to show you how I make my ahoges for some of my wigs. There are actually plenty of different methods out there. This is a method that I tried and discovered myself so I'm not sure if it will be the best. Nonetheless, it has worked for me pretty well so, I'm gonna share how it's done.

Before I start, for those who don't know what ahoge is, it is essentially, 'foolish/stupid hair'; referred to as ‘呆毛’ in Chinese. It is an exaggerated, often single (certain characters have 2) lock of hair sticking out from the head of silly/carefree characters. In many animes/mangas, main characters normally have them.


One of the most common example: Konata Izumi from Lucky Star.


Most people grab a lock of hair from the top of the wig and tie it using a rubber band, which I don't really prefer since the rubber band can be clearly seen in a close-up photo. Also, this does not work very well with thinner wigs, since when you grab a lock of hair from the middle of the wig, you easily reveal the wig net underneath.

Normally when you buy your wigs, they come unstyled and you have to cut your own fringe and trim the ends to make it more accurate. I normally keep those cutouts and use them to make ahoges.

So, on to the tutorial.

#1: Grab a bunch of scrap wig hair, arrange and hold the ends together, and apply a blob of UHU glue. 



#2: Allow it to dry slightly, and using your fingers, sort of mould the glue so that it holds the entire bunch of hair in place, as such:


Then let it dry completely, until it hardens.

#3: Trim the other end to your desired length. Spray with hair spray to keep it standing and in place.



#4: Position it on your wig and sew it on using a thread with colour the same as or closest to your wig.

And it's done!

This method of mine has not given me any problem so far, though I may be lacking in experience so the problem has yet to arise. (Haha, I sure hope not...) I've washed wigs with ahoge done with this method and there doesn't seem to be any problem. Then again, I always handwash my wigs gently with hair shampoo so I'm not really sure how well they hold with other harsher washing methods.

I hope that this post is at least somewhat helpful to whoever out there looking for an easy way to make ahoge for their wigs. Feedback all welcomed, and thanks for reading! :D

Tuesday 30 September 2014

Miku and Neru visits KL!

Late update on my 3rd outdoor photoshoot!

I was invited by Tanaka Photography to cosplay as Akita Neru along with Airi as Hatsune Miku. Had a great time during this shoot, really enjoyed working with everyone. You guys are super nice and I'm really honored to be able to do a collab with you all. Thanks for the wonderful experience. :D

Oh, and I'm glad that I got to see that part of Ampang too! Never knew Ampang looked so beautiful, especially at night.

So, Miku and Neru's outing in KL!

Photo credits: EXE.cute Photography


Photo credits: Tanaka Photography


 Photo credits: Aki the Photobug

Just some of the photos from the shoot. Lots more to come~

The more I cosplay Neru, the deeper I fall in love with her. I don't know why I like her so much. OwO

Coswalk competition this Sunday as Akita Neru, again~

I'm thinking of posting up some guides on props/wig soon. Stay tuned! I wonder if anyone ever reads my blog...

Thursday 25 September 2014

How to: CBTL Coffee Maker Machine

My friend's friend got this family suite in Empire Hotel, all paid for by her company, and she's out doing sales most of the time so we went to her family suite to jakun around.

So there was this really cool coffee maker around. And I decided to take pics of how it works as I prepared coffee. Here's a guide by me showing you how to use the CBTL Coffee Maker!

Step 1: Pull up the handle

Step 2: Insert coffee of choice. You don't need to tear open the seal, just insert the whole thing.

Step 3: Press down the handle firmly to lock it in place.

Step 4: Check water jug

Step 5: Remove to add water and fit it back in if the water level is low

Step 6: Place your cup under the dispenser

Step 7: Select based on your cup size. The example shown here is medium-sized cup

Step 8: The magic happens!

Step 9: Look at that. Take a whiff of that aroma.

Step 10: Done!

And nope, Coffee Bean did not pay me or give me free coffee to do this. And I'm actually more of a Starbucks fan. I don't normally go to Coffee Bean. This is all just random fun since this machine is so cool. XD