Gotta go save the Mushroom Kingdom, but first, lemme put on my bow.
I’ve been with this woman for 13 years and I’m looking forward to 13 more, and more, and more until we reach forever. She’s my co-author, my seamstress, my partner, my everything.
Pictures taken by our friend Lavonne Brite, who’s getting into photography and wanted to do some couple shots of us, from us being in normal clothes to showing what we normally do together, which is this lady making my cosplay and making me feel amazing :) You can also find my cosplay page here and my wifey’s here. We have many new things planned this year and are excited to continue to bring our ideas to life.
There’s two things I want to address that always come up when things like “Blackout” or “28DaysOfBlackCosplay” happen.
1. Why is this necessary?
For the “why” I’ve included a pic of me in what my partner and I called “the hate shirt.” This shirt shows just a few things that have been said to me in regards of cosplay. As you can see, they range from bashing my weight, to disqualifying my race in that “stop acting white” comment. For those of you who don’t know what that means, it means that I don’t “act black” because I don’t follow the stereotypes that are often seen. I like anime, I like video games, I’m a geek, I speak in complete sentences, so somehow this isn’t “black” to some people. Black, to some people, is ugly, and lacks intelligence, and people don’t realize that such characteristics isn’t exclusive to one race. Anyone can have an ugly soul. And anyone, most certainly, can be beautiful.
For the most part, I’ve found that people do want equality for us all, but some feel that its not necessary to have movements that revolve around the group we’re working to have equality for. "Equality" does mean that all of us should be seen as equal, but the problem is that not everyone sees us as such, and until then, movements like “Blackout” and “28DaysOfBlackCosplay” are necessary. There’s two parts of it, to me. We not only have to make sure everyone is on board, but we have to make sure the group we’re fighting for feels like they’re worth it, and the sad truth is… not all black people feel like they are, because of the hate. That’s what movements like this are for: to show them that they are beautiful.
Here’s a quote from an article I wrote for Twin Cities Geek:
If someone tells me that I’m not worthy of something enough times, I’ll start to believe it. I have believed it. I’ve believed that I wasn’t worth it because of my race. I’ve believed that I was ugly. I’ve been told to “stop acting white” because I like anime, video games, and cosplay. And I know a lot of others have felt the same way because of the color of their skin. Those people need to be shown that they are beautiful, that they’re worth it, that they’re equal. It’s great to think we all should be equal but there are plenty of black people out there who think that they shouldn’t be because of the crap that gets flung at them; who think that they CAN’T be. Equality is great, but you have to WANT it, and if you feel like you’re beneath everyone around you, you’re going to think you don’t deserve it.
2. How do you stay so confident?
The truth about confidence is that it’s not a constant. It’s not one of those things that, once you have it, it’ll be there forever. You will have bad days. I’m 31 years old and I am a confident person, but that doesn’t mean I’m confident all the time. I do have bad days. I do falter. I do have moments where I wonder if I’m wrong, somehow, whether its looks, or the things I’m into. Sometimes I get comments like the ones on the shirt I’m wearing and they hurt, real bad, and I wonder if I should just listen to the hate and stop what I’m doing. And you know what? It’s o.k. to get upset. It’s o.k. to be hurt. I get hurt, I get sad, I curl up under a blanket and don’t want to come out.
The trick is to not STAY like this.
When I do have faltering moments, I take time out to breathe and remember the positives, and the positives are there. I have an amazing partner who loves me and supports me. I have friends. I have family. I have fans. I have people who have come up to me at conventions to say that I was the reason they came. I have people who message me such wonderful, positive things. These are the things you should focus on. Surround yourself with support. If its not in your “real” life, find it online, because it’s there. There’s groups who support our differences, and promote them, and are there for you if someone is giving you a hard time. You’re not alone in this.
Move at your own pace. Don’t look at the person next to you and think you’re doing something wrong if they’re further than you. It’s o.k. if you’re not there yet. It’s taken me years to have the confidence to wear that shirt I’m wearing and say, “You said this shit about me, so what? I’m still here.” It’s taken a long time, and even if I am confident, like I said, some days I’m not. Some days, that shirt cripples me. Some days, I feel ugly, useless, and not worth anyone’s time. And that’s fine. Your feelings are your own and there’s nothing wrong with them. The way confidence works is that, when you do get in that head space, you’re able to take a breath, close your eyes, and slowly dispel the negativity. Then, when you look at it you realize… there’s no reason to let it hold you back.
It can make you stumble, it can even make you fall, but you have the power to get back up and keep going.
Princess and the Frog was released back in 2009 today! As soon as I saw the movie, I knew that I wanted to cosplay Tiana. I love everything about her and she quickly became one of my favorite Disney princesses <3 I’ve had this cosplay since 2010, but I am still in love with it and bring it to cons any chance I get. I have a feeling that it’ll be in my cosplay wardrobe for a long time :)
Shout out to Nude Carbon Studios and Andrea Frederick Studios for the pictures in the top row. And, as always, you can check out my cosplay page here.
Take care, and keep working towards your dreams!
“How do you go strapless with your cosplay?”
So a kind anon asked me a question and for some reason Tumblr won’t let me post multiple pics to answer, so I’m doing it here. I hope you see this, anon, and I hope it helps! The question is as follows:
I’ve recently found your cosplays and noticed that a number of your dresses are strapless. I was wondering if you had any advice/recommendations/tips for similarly buxom ladies for how to pull off a strapless dress without inadvertently flashing someone at some point during a convention?
This is a great question because, I am definitely busty, and strapless or braless or anything like that would NOT be an option.
Unless…
So with Tiana, the top part was actually made with a couple of layers of a really thick fabric, I forget what it was, it maaaaaaay have been canvas? (my wifey makes all the costumes so she’d have a better idea but she’s sleeping right now). Please forgive my blank memory, the cosplay is actually 4 years old. The fabric is so thick that it holds my breasts in like a corset. I normally wear a bra, put the costume on, then kinda shimmy out the straps :) It was kinda a happy accident, because I remember that we were considering invisible bra straps then when we put it on for the first time I was like, “Huh. They feel secure…” so yeah :)
So basically, it ends up looking like this:
(please ignore the tank top it’s there for picture taking purposes)
Then we put the dress on, I maneuver out of the bra straps, tuck them in, and:
So since that worked so well and the top was acting like a corset, we decided, “HEY! Let’s get a corset to wear underneath your cosplay."
Here are some pictures:
This is the corset in question. I highly recommend spending the money to get a good one. This one came from Corset Story, who lets you try the corset and ship it back if you need a different size, just keep the tags on. Pro tip from a friend: get the corset in two sizes smaller than you are, I made the mistake of getting it in my actual size the first time and it was too big, because when we tied it, it was trying to fit me to the size I already was. As far as corsets go you want steel boning, the works, so it can get the job done, hold them in, and be secure. I’m a big girl, so I need something that recognizes that fact ^__^
Now, it may feel uncomfortable at first, but you have to get used to it, and you will get used to it. It’s actually not that hard at all. I wore this one twice before wearing it with cosplay. I wore it in the car to get used to it, walked around, ate, all that stuff, and it’s actually pretty comfortable (I have also gone to a bunch of cons this year so have been wearing it a lot). Even if we’re all like "Hahaha can’t breathe corset” the truth of the matter is we can breathe and they aren’t going to kill you. They shouldn’t. If you feel actual pain or discomfort beyond the normal “I’ve been in a costume for hours I want to go home” then remove the corset and look into getting a different one. Corsets should not hurt you. A lot of cons have booths like “Scoundrelle’s Keep” where you can try them on and they’ll show you how to tie them and everything (this is the place I look at for actual “I wanna wear this corset and show it off and have fun” corsets and not just “no one is going to see this corset because it’s basically a bra for my cosplay.”)
So anyhow, after we put the corset on, we pull on the red part to the Wonder Woman dress, for example, and it looks like this:
The red part is made of T-shirt fabric so it stretches and fits to my shape, so it almost looks like a corset when I wear the whole thing. What we do is pull on the hoop skirt over it and the blue skirt and it looks like this:
And that’s that. I do the same thing for my Neo Queen Serenity:
It really comes in handy. Honestly I don’t mean to have so many strapless cosplays, it just works out that way. Needless to say, if it isn’t strapless, I tend not to wear a corset and just wear a bra:
Urm… sometimes, sometimes I just feel sassy, lol:
It all depends on if it’ll work with the cosplay.
Hope this helps!
I was tagged by @cooke_gabrielle to do my favorite/top 4 cosplays of 2014. #cosplay #top4
1) #leilei #hesienko I put a lot of work into this cosplay and I really hope to get some really nice pictures of it soon. I worked a Aki Matsuri and though I didn’t win anything I’m still very proud of the way it turned out.
2)#fatherfuji I didn’t expect to look so much like an old man when I put this cosplay together. It was so much fun to see everyone’s faces when they saw it.
3) #Scanty I think scanty has been the most fun I’ve had. It was really great to walk around with the pain and the outfit, not to mention she had been a dream cosplay of mine. With Subaru as my sister it made it all the more fun!
4)#chunli I was so terrified to put this cosplay to gather. I’ve seen so many of my mentors do this cosplay and I was kind of scared I wouldn’t live up to it. When I finally finished it it was really exciting all the lovely encouragement I got from it. This cosplay is been the most motivating cosplay for me this year.
I tag @innocentlycreating @awesomesammich @littlebitx92 @auriheart
Look at this cutie!
So according to Gail Simone it’s Cosplay Appreciation Day! So here are some of my pics from this year. It’s been quite the year and we’ve gone to more cons than ever with our art, our books, and our costumes. It’s also been quite the year in spreading the message that cosplay is for everyone, and it’ll continue on into next year and years to come <3
Special thanks to my wifey (the Belle with the design on the front of the dress and pretty much the girl in every pic with me except for the group shot of Disney characters) for making these costumes and always being a supportive voice. Also thanks to all of the cool people I’ve met at all of these conventions and online through my cosplay page, I hope we all have just as much fun, or even more fun, next year. Thanks for all of the support in what I do, it means a lot to me :)
Also thanks to ilessthan3photography, Nude Carbon Studios, DWB Photography, Stray Things Photography and Cerulean Photography for the professional photos throughout the year :) And thanks to artists like asieybarbie and Timothy Lim for letting us use their work for our cosplay (asieybarbie for Neo Queen Serenity and Timothy Lim for the Five Nights at Freddy’s pizza box).
Also cosplay credits to the following people in the pictures above:
Queen of Hearts is Sweets4aSweet Cosplay
Belle (in the pic with the Queen of Hearts) is Pretty Lush Cosplay
Freddy Fazbear is Brad Duct-Tape Hale
My cosplay page is here and, as always, remember that to love your cosplay is to love yourself <3
Reblogging because it’s been about two weeks since I posted this and LOOK AT THE AMOUNT OF NOTES THIS HAS! OMFG! I have never had a post skyrocket so quickly, or have so much love on it. I mean… whut? WHUT?!
Everyone, thank you from the bottom of my big ol’ heart. I’m so glad that people are not only enjoying the cosplay, but spreading the message of loving yourself and loving one another. Let’s all keep having a good time with this and keep being kind to one another along the way.
And, as always, to love your cosplay is to love yourself <3
