Next Cosplay: Robe of Departed Spirits

AUGUST EDIT:

So, yeah. Haven’t posted in about three months. Let’s just say I didn’t really have time to do anything…at all…ever. I picked up a second job shortly after Sakura-Con in hopes that I could start saving a little more money, which ultimately means more cosplays and more conventions. Little did I know that also meant no time to do anything fun, like actually making said cosplays. I worked about 60-70 hours a week from the end of April until up to two weeks ago. I was sometimes working 17 hours in a single day. Eventually, my psyche cracked and my body gave out. I said enough was enough. I quit my second job in hopes that my current job with Whole Foods may become a full time position, and I think that will be plenty. Some position changes have been set into motion and it looks like that opportunity might be on the horizon should all the pegs fall in the right holes. Unfortunately, my break from working two jobs might be extremely temporary. My fiance hasn’t been able to find a full time job since he graduated from his Masters program at the end of May, and his current part time job will be ending soon. I’m beginning to feel the pressure of getting back that second job, even though I know it sucks and it practically kills me and my spirit. But if he doesn’t find something soon, I’ll have to dip into all that money that I have saved for things like emergencies, paying off debt and my fall convention line-up. But it’s OK, I know things will work out.

I ended up not being able to go to Fanime due to a bunch of complicated, silly reasons. I also didn’t finish Robe of Departed Spirits. I realized the route I was going with it wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I was being careless with sewing techniques and I wasn’t using the materials I wanted. For example, I was ordering plastic bones from eBay. That’s dumb. I decided to go on a chicken feeding frenzy. I have now collected over a hundred bones in assort shapes and sizes, as a well as a small set of rib bones. The Robe of Departed Spirits should be exactly that – a collection of departed spirits. I also needed some time to develop my character. I was close to my character when I did the Absolution regalia because I actually played that character – I was Siddartha at one point. With this character, I never actually played a Blood Elf in WoW. I never played a mage either, which is the class I have decided for this character. I’ve been working on a back story too, something that gives me some roots. I’ve decided this Blood Elf was raised by the Tauren. Growing up, she realized she wasn’t connecting with nature the way the Tauren were and it frustrated her. The only thing she had to go off was that her mother Tauren promised her she would find out who she really was as time passed and to not be discouraged that she wasn’t like everyone else. One day, while out on the plains in Mulgore, she wandered too close to a cliff-side mine while picking herbs and  she was attacks by kobolds. Scared, with only a small wooden staff to defend her, she threw herself on the ground and screamed. That’s when the magic was released – the wave of flames that engulfed her enemies and burnt the grasses and shrubs. Afraid of what had happened, she returned home and told the elders of what had happened. She demonstrated her powers. While the elders had respect for all the elements of Azeroth, this one frightened them. This was not a power to be kept in Thunder Bluff, not a power they could train or understand. She was to be sent away. The only family she ever knew, and suddenly, everyone was afraid of her. Her mother Tauren did not send her away unarmed though. She had a robe from an old temple that she had visited long ago – a temple that no long existed. None of the Tauren dared to wear the robe, but the mother Tauren saw it to be too valuable to just throw away or sell. This robe was gifted to the young Blood Elf girl. The mother Tauren said, “Do not be discouraged because you can never harness the powers of nature like the Tauren. You hold the power to something greater. You might never be able to connect with spirits as we do, but you will leave those spirits in a heap of ash and bone – all in the wake of your flame.”

With this, the young Blood Elf girl left Thunder Bluff…

Kind of fun! Not sure where she goes from there, but I though it was a fun way to describe how a kind of shaman-like robe comes into the hands of a mage. I also am not sure what to name my character yet. I’ve been rolling around some ideas, but I don’t know what I should call myself. I’ll know it when it hits me, and I’ll be more in character than ever before!

MAY STATEMENT:

For Fanime Con, with 16 days until my flight to San Jose, I have decided to embark on a very difficult task of the Robe of Departed Spirits from World of Warcraft. Inspired by Absolution priest cosplay three years ago, I have decided to do another WoW cosplay, this time as a Blood Elf. I have been looking for cosplays that use my natural long red hair so I can justify keeping it this way. I sometimes look at Yaya Han with her super fun hair that she has all the time because she wears wigs with all her cosplays and I want to have fun hair too >_< but my hair is easier to work with than any wig and I want to keep it that way as long as I can. I also have been looking for cosplays that keep me from having to cover up my tattoos on my right arm. I have a huge half sleeve from the back of my right should down to my elbow of autumn maple and Japanese maple leaves in red, orange and yellow. I don’t like having to cover them as it take a lot of make-up and patience. I think this cosplay works well for both scenarios. Blood Elves are very close to nature so it’s ok if I have my ink showing, and there are red-headed blood elves so I can keep my hair! I also wanted something with a lot of detail, a lot of mixed media. I have been getting a itch to challenge myself lately, and I think this just might be it. Of course, I have given myself virtually no time to work on it, but I want something new for Fanime Con and I want to buy a lot of neat stuff from the Garment District. There are so many wonderful places to buy trim, beads and other decorative accessories and I want to use them all! My goal is to have the main dress finished by the end of this week and to work on the all the details next week. I have two full days off from both my jobs this week, so I’ll be sure to get lots of wonderful work done! I plan on taking progress photos for this one detailing my construction process and the materials I used along the way, so I’ll post that once I get back from San Jose before I start on my next project!

-KLR