I am high on catnip: 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.