#cosplay competition judging

[telekineticmaniac]

Still talking about cosplay competitions but this time WHAT GOES ON BEHIND THE SCENES IN PERFORMANCE JUDGING!!

[femmedaraya]

hello hello!! hs cosplayer here; was curious to how you pulled off your talald cosplay!! im plannin to do one soon at some point and i wanna atleast know what materials i need for the outfit since im already havin a big bopper in the works!! :o

any help would be appreciated!! thank you in advance,, 🥹✨

Hey there, thanks for the ask! I think one of the great things about Talald’s jester outfit is that the way it’s rendered in her sprites allows for a lot of interpretative freedom towards your fabric choice.

(whoops this post ended up really long)

You can really make it work for your comfort level and budget—for example, I used neoprene for the main body of the dress because I like working with fabrics that do weird structural things, but you could just as easily use a woven cotton with a zipper somewhere in the bodice, or a jersey fabric if you want to make it more like a skater dress.

Regardless of fabric choice though, really stiff iron-on interfacing is probably gonna be one of your best friends. It’s how I got the “shoulder pads” on the tabard to stand up, it gives my purple collar its stiffness, and it keeps the points in the skirt from flopping down past the bottom of the petticoat.

There are a couple of specific fabrics I’d recommend for specific parts of this costume: for the pink under-sleeves, your best bet is a light to medium weight stretch fabric like spandex, stretch velvet (what I used), or cotton jersey. For the purple sleeve petals, you’ll probably want a super light woven fabric so the petals flop around the way they do in her sprites. I like polyester chiffon but I could also see cotton voile working well, or something else that’s really light without any stiffness.

Also, a lot of people ask me how I got the tails to stand out the way they do! I used polyvinyl tubing, thanks to this very helpful video from Vailence the Clown/sugarvail on Tiktok, whose whole page is full of great reference material for clown and circus type cosplay stuff.

I’m planning on making another cosplay detail highlight post soon, so keep an eye out for that too!

[projectgoblin]

Miss when I had the time and energy and expendable income for building cosplay like this, Big Sister has been my favorite cosplay for years.

[thatrandombystander]

Me looking at previous winners of the Australian Cosplay Championships: "Yeah I could make a respectable entry for next year. Dunno about winning, but at least not enough to embarrass myself."

Like surely if I get proper motorised articulated wings working I'd be a decent contender for the FX category????

[olive-schmolive]

hehehe i applied to help coordinate a cosplay contest today :3

[yupuffin]

omg I'm so glad I don't compete at Sakura-Con anymore. They were absolutely overblown with cosplay contest applications this year. (Apparently, within 10 minutes of the submission form opening, they already had 70 applications. Not sure about walk-ons, but I know they only allow space for 20 skits.) So glad I don't have to stress about that

[nyoomerr]

Normally, the community of Proud Immortal Demon Way can hardly be called as such. To call PIDW readers a ‘fandom’ would be akin to calling everyone who visited the same porn site a family. PeerlessCucumber is a loud exception, but in the end he’s still only an exception - by and large, people reading PIDW know exactly what they’re there for, and it certainly isn’t for any sense of shared enjoyment or community.

The community of people following PeerlessCucumber himself, however, is a whole different story.

PeerlessCucumber is the asshole single handedly responsible for at least seven different copypastas, the rich bastard that will pay an artist’s rent for a single picture of Luo Binghe if only the artist can tolerate his demands for constant revisions, the dictionary definition of an anti-fan.

He is also blissfully unaware of the absolute glee in which people take in riling him up. And in the age of the modern internet, nothing brings a group of strangers together like the opportunity to poke fun of a guy like that.

“How do I look?” HualingsWife whispers to her companions. They take a moment to scrutinize her, gaze lingering around her chest.

“I don’t know,” SwordsOfCultivators says, “I think the guy ahead of you let his robes drape open further.”

HualingsWife rolls her eyes. “If I let my robes drape open that far, I’d be disqualified - you know the rules are different for men.”

“It’s not like you’re looking to win, though,” XuanyuMeat says. “And the open chest is clearly effective.”

The three of them pause, turning to look at the stage from their spot in the wings. The competitor that came before HualingsWife is running through a series of poses that are slowly but surely allowing his robes to slip ever wider. 

Two of the judges are watching with thinly veiled amusement - after several years of this tradition, they’ve gotten used to the chaos that PeerlessCucumber’s fans bring to these cosplay competitions. 

The third judge is PeerlessCucumber himself, and he looks like he might be experiencing a serious health condition. A serious mental health condition, to be clear.

“- robes of inferior make! Binghe’s exposure is always purposeful, and artful, and it wouldn’t be because he was wearing robes that didn’t fit him! If you don’t care about dressing true to his character -!”

“Hm,” SwordsOfCultivators hums. “Is it just me, or is Peerless not being as harsh as he usually is? Do you think he’s finally losing some of his obsession with Luo Binghe?”

“He better not!” HualingsWife cries. “I’ve put way too much time and money into working on a cosplay for that awful porn book for him to lose interest right when I get my chance to join the torturing-Peerless-fun!”

“No, no,” XuanyuMeat says, shaking their head. “You heard his rants for the Luo Binghe cosplayers one through four - he was especially cruel to them! Look at his face now, that isn’t the face of someone losing interest!”

They turn back to the stage. Luo Binghe cosplayer number five - likely DickBiggerThanBinghe, if HualingsWife were to guess based on her limited interactions with him in the PeerlessWatchers discord chat - looks unbearably smug. His robes have fallen completely off his shoulders by now.

PeerlessCucumber, on the other hand, looks so red HualingsWife wouldn’t be surprised if she started seeing steam pouring out of his ears.

“Ah,” she says, understanding. “You think he’s recently finally realized his obsession with Luo Binghe isn’t that of a straight man’s?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him to get this flustered over a man’s exposed chest and still think it was caused purely by the outrage of seeing one of our ‘poorly done’ cosplays,” XuanyuMeat says wryly. They send HaulingsWife a pointed side eye. “So…”

“Oh yeah, I’m on it,” HualingsWife says, already loosening her robes further. “Just make sure to have the cameras ready to get the direct comparison of his reaction to a woman’s nip-slip versus the absolute conniption he’s going through now.”

“Please, he probably won’t even see it - he’ll probably get all awkward and look away like he does with any female cosplayer dressed in anything but a full body suit.”

“I think he’ll peek through his fingers anyway,” SwordsOfCultivators says gleefully. “He wouldn’t dare miss the chance to oggle another Luo Binghe cosplayer.”

On stage, DickBiggerThanBinghe finally waltzes off, having received his scoring from all three judges and a score from the back of the room where the group of PeerlessWatchers are sitting. 

After all, none of them are really here for the actual cosplay competition. They only care about one thing: whoever can get the highest scoring Peerless rant about their cosplay will pay for dinner for everyone that night. 

“Ohh, seven out of ten!” HualingsWife says, as the group PeerlessWatchers wave their scorecard around with glee. “The last time someone got scored that highly was when TofuBuns dared to cosplay as a half-dead Luo Binghe covered in wounds!”

“TofuBuns still has their display name set to ‘faithless mongrel undeserving of witnessing Binghes success’ in the discord server,” SwordsOfCultivators sighs. “I can only hope to one day trigger a Peerless rant so iconic.”

On stage, one of the judges glances down at the score sheet, sees that another Luo Binghe cosplayer is scheduled to come out next, and stifles a laugh before gesturing for HualingsWife to come on.

“No way I’m getting something that iconic my first try,” HualingsWife says, “but if I can get Peerless to make that hilarious choking noise he made the last time he saw a female-presenting Luo Binghe, I’ll count it as a win.”

[qui-gg]

that one post you made about lightbulb and how she made up her entire relationship with paintbrush until ep12 made me like her character a lot more soo has ur thoughts and opinions on lightbulb and maybe paintbrush changed since episode 15??

Thank you for this question and it definitely has, it’s just been taking me a bit to think and format into words exactly how to say this! But with ii16 releasing soon i should go through this now, so be prepared for a ramble.

Since i’ve made that post, I’ve gone through a few more realizations about the preexisting material itself. I should say it’s a bit dramatized when I said she made up the ENTIRE relationship- there was obviously something there since they’d known each other for a very long time, after all Paintbrush does say “we’re STILL friends”, but she moreso took it and ran with it to a level it was never at. I’ve never properly talked about my feelings on Alternate Reality Show here? But it’s my favorite episode and I have TOO MUCH to say. I’ll be bringing up key parts of my analysis though since this is about 15.

This episode features Lightbulb’s elimination, and so evidently that means it should be seeking a way to properly wrap up her story. It’s not the total focus of the episode, and neither is she the main character (she already had that in 12), but I think it was handled the best way it could have been. Initially when I watched the elimination in the Chicago theater (slack jawed and having my heart broken I was cosplaying Lightbulb😢) there was a lot running in my mind but the fact Lightbulb’s expectations had been subverted in the very best way was on the forefront. Leading up to 15, there was a lot of extra material released that pointed towards hyping up Lightbulb. She’s a very popular character so the average fan’s expectation is exactly what she mentioned in the episode, that she’d win for her team. The exit interviews of the flying buddies ALL point towards their expectations of Lightbulb to win- which I think was SO clever and must’ve been intentional. Lightbulb likely hasn’t seen these interviews, but I think on a meta level it’s for us to see and then Judge Lightbulb’s reaction to those expectations. Because as she does, she takes something as friendly and simple as what Test Tube said to her at the end of 14 and blew it out of proportion. Her friends are giving her encouragement to win of course, because that’s the nice thing to say and do when your friend is in a competition! But as we learn from 12, Lightbulb is seeking more from the game than just the game. She’s here for relationships first and foremost. And, we see that she has so much more of a thought process beneath the surface than we initially expect, that she is very observant and aware of her own feelings and others and takes that into account which presents as her backwards intentions in her quirky behavior, the stuff she does that doesn’t seem to make sense all has meaning. (We also see this exerted in one of my favorite Lightbulb appearances, the Jacknjellify upload of the 2022 meetup short, where there’s a scene of her in her own head through the situation. She recognizes she’s failing an interaction, gets insecure about it, and we see her make up a quirky lie in real time! It’s incredibly important LB material) She just prefers to distract herself from them the more intense they get because when things get more serious it is hard for her to be taken seriously or believe that she could be. And Test Tube is very important to all of this despite not speaking in 15 because Lightbulb’s relationship with her was one of the first that became Real. Test Tube recognized that Lightbulb was struggling most prominently as she alone had been on that journey with her and had that talk, she knew her heart wasn’t in the game for a long time. Which affects her actions towards her in 15! But I’ll get to that in a bit. The point i’m trying to make here is that it is the PERFECT SUBVERSION of audience expectations, that Lightbulb would be willing to win for her team, to reveal that instead she just wanted to go home and be with her friends. She had built up those expectations for herself too and thought EVERYONE (both her friends and on a metatextual level, the real fans) would be disappointed in her for feeling that way but it’s something you can see if you’re looking! Her reactions to all the flying buddies’ eliminations, in the 14 stream there’s a discussion about how she’s not doing well at all being all alone, She just disguised it! As usual! And punished herself for feeling different. And I need to emphasize IT IS THE PERFECT WAY TO GO TO ELIMINATE HER VIA LIE DETECTOR. That was one of the coolest things to me. LIGHTBULB, WHOSE FATAL FLAW IS THAT SHE CANNOT SAY WHAT SHE’S FEELING COMPLETELY STRAIGHT OR HONESTLY, WHO NEVER MAKES SENSE, is forced to fight for a position she doesn’t believe she deserves on a lie detector. My little analytical heart knew as soon as the challenge was revealed she was out. But again, the way it all played out was subversive in just the right way and accurate to her character and I couldn’t be more thankful.

Now it’s time for me to address the Lightbrush elephant in the room. I think Brian said it best on the Jazzy ii15 stream- why does a relationship need to be romantic in order for it to be special? There’s a lot there that is written into the show as is that doesn’t need a kiss scene to suddenly make it pay off or matter. So in this analysis i’m not here for Lightbrush at all. It’s best appropriate to look at it from the lens of a platonic friendship as it was intentionally written and portrayed in the show itself, not to speculate on things that aren’t there.

(Plus, i’m less of a fan of the ship these days. My relationship with it is complicated. I just adore Lightbulb and Paintbrush as characters too much)

Obviously it had to be Paintbrush who responded to the emergency signal. It wouldn’t make sense thematically for it to be anyone else. It was revealed by Brian on a few streams that Test Tube chose to tell Paintbrush to go answer the signal intentionally to help Lightbulb out, knowing that she was missing them and her heart was not in the game. I think it speaks to the strength of the flying buddies that they’re able to read each other like this! In III, we come to understand this is how Paintbrush was feeling after their elimination in 12 and solidified in their season 3 elimination, Their heart wasn’t in the game without meaningful relationships. Both of them were just seeking connection the entire time they were apart, and I think this has to go back to what I said in the post you mentioned that she made up their entire relationship with them. They both had a lot of regrets about the way their friendship worked before their first real connection in 12 before being separated, and spent so much time dwelling on how they could repair that but weren’t able to yet. So now that they have to chance to build that up again together they’re going to take it. I think the talk with her between Baseball Knife and Suitcase at the start of 15 is indicative of this as well, she questions Baseball about voting out Paintbrush, something she never previously expressed any anger about. But she’s not angry, she just has been thinking about it more. And also, that scene is incredible because I fully expected Lightbulb to be alone and misunderstood by the Grand Slams because they saw none of her development and hardly understood her but they approached her to see if she was doing okay and I was surprised! Very much a necessary step towards her decision in the end.

It is INCREDIBLY difficult for Lightbulb to be straightforward. When she’s clicking the pen that’s a coping mechanismmm and when she’s FORCED to say outright “I’m scared, and I need help.” That’s painful for her. Unnatural. Her behavior and method of presenting herself through quirks can’t just be turned off, it’s baked into who she is. And she doesn’t need to change that, she just needs to be seen and recognized and taken seriously anyway. Which makes it perfect when she chooses to eliminate herself with what else but a lie. It’s too hard for her to say “I don’t want to be here. I want to go back and stay with you all”, so she tests her resolve once and for all despite knowing in her heart she just wants to leave with them. She’s not giving up a million dollars just to go be with Paintbrush and I think that take is a bit degrading towards her character- This decision holds a lot of weight to her and the audience who expected a lot from her over the four years of buildup to her appearance here. But everything I mentioned previously built up to this choice, plus the point Taco had been making about leaving the game spoke to her but she chose to leave in her own way, not for the reasons Taco thought she should. And we see also at the end of the episode “today I think an old friend tried to show us she’s drowning” despite being scared of her earlier in the episode SHE STILL SEES TACO AS AN OLD FRIEND FROM SEASON 1! It’s so good that Lightbulb says that line so juicy. But that goes to show again Lightbulb is extremely observant of others. Also i love all of the ocean lingo and theming with her. I should post the Baxter essay sometime. ANYWAY! The point is Lightbulb didn’t make this choice lightly, she’s been toiling with it for three episodes now. She missed “her crew”. And she was always here for relationships and fun, not for the money or the game. She finally built something, and now she just wants to lay with it. She’s earned her rest.

I also need to mention the Dunce hat. Oh my god. Her exiting the show with a Label announcing her as an idiot, a perception so so many have of her and within the show, her friends previously had of her, but she doesn’t care because there are people who see through that, who see her! Sure she might not be understood by everyone for the way she is, but there are special people in her life who do. Lightbulb is such an incredible character.

I tried to keep this brief but of course it isn’t!! And this still feels like I haven’t said enough. But yes 15 was very good for Lightbulb and a great way to wrap up her story- even if it’s not technically over yet! We’ll see what happens in the movie. Thank you for reading this far!

[ichigo-kitten]

Happy to finally be able to share my Titan Luz cosplay from The Owl House!!

I debuted this at Amecon and won the judge's wow choice award in the cosplay competition!! ✨️

I wore full sclera contacts for my Titan Luz cosplay and became my friends new sleep paralysis demon 😈☠️

Now eat this sucka!!

[cutegirlmayra]

Doing this while on a double-16 hour shift. Meaning, I did 16's yesterday and today, so if my writing seems really off, you know now why XD

I've been struggling with writing for some time now. I've been trying to heal and work on other things, but thank you so much--My Cuties--for your patience with me.

I always am inspired by your support, and your passionate memory of me and my works.

I'm so glad I could inspire you. Stay tuned!

PROMPTS ARE SHUTDOWN FOREVER. Sorry for your loss :'( Finishing the ones already submitted during the event due date. None are to be accepted henceforth and forever more! I gotta write my own stories again, sorry XD Life is but all work~ (Sang like, 'Life is but a dream'.)

Prompt:

Fabrics. Buttons. Can’t forget the soft stuff is the outer layer. Oh! Sewing! Finally!

I was so excited to get this going! I put it straight up to my mirror, overlapping my body to make sure the proportions were right.

I often made sweaters for Penguins, but if I’m being truly honest, I haven’t really tested myself properly with forging my own clothes!

“I will conquer this contest!” I held up my arms to the ceiling, as though declaring my intentions with sound, purposeful might!

After all, the winner gets to meet the voice actor for my favorite little pupper! His voice is so cute when he barks on the new show they just aired, and everyone wants to dress up as a version of him!

Looking online, though… It seems there’s a lot of people who judge ridiculously for these competitions… I felt a little embarrassed… but I ended up asking Sticks for some advice.

She’s really good at… umm… should I call it, ‘Makeshifting’ stuff?

I think that’s appropriate. It’ll suffice.

Sticks, of course, couldn’t keep a secret for the life of her. I was asking the Walrus mother about some patchwork questions when I heard a BURST of laughter coming from our favorite Burger place…

Now I was really mad..!

I squandered my entrance with hasty, stomping footsteps as my cheek kept puffing up to ridiculous heights of anger.

I stopped only to square up as Sticks was showing my prototype cosplay of my favorite Pup to our friends, who were mocking it as I had feared the judges would as well.

But… But I had to win that one on one time with that Voice Actor!

“Enough!” I stomped my foot down again and threw my arms down. That really made them flinch, they were so… So..! 

My fist shook in rage. It rose up… and I… I regret it, but I couldn’t keep my emotions from blowing up.

“You’re all so self-absorbed sometimes!”

The silence was deafening.

I felt my eyes welling up, but I wouldn’t dare release tears to their mockery.

I stormed past Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails to rip the Pup costume out of Sticks’s hands… she was standing up on a table, the others sitting at another one to watch as though an audience to my hard work being treated like a child’s art and crafts hung on the fridge…

I wanted so much more than that for this costume,... and looking at it, my rage turned to disappointment… mostly in myself.

I just wanted to meet my favorite character’s voice actor… Or at least, get a chance to take pictures and… and…

I saw the fake fur growing darker in spots… water falling from my eyes.

I threw my face into the fuzz and raced away, the little prototype face of the pup still forever dorky and adorable, as though trying to comfort me…

Back at home, I heard a knock on the door, and ignored the pitiful cries of my friends… before looking up from leaning my head over the armrest of the couch to see they were all just watching me from my bare and open window.

I sighed, letting them in.

They were adorable!!!!

They actually spent the time to all make Puppy costumes! We’d all be so cute going to the convention they were hosting for the World Championships of my favorite puppy game, that I almost lost it in my excitement!

We all then worked together to perfect our cosplays, looking up tutorials–as recommended of Tails–and Knuckles doing the heavy-lifting bargaining sales by fighting old ladies for our supplies at the one craft store in the village.

Sonic was speedy with needlework, though it wasn’t the finest, he practiced and pricked his finger all night to perfect it. He admitted he felt a little weird doing the hobby, but you know what?

I saw him practicing with yarns in knitting! Haha! I think he found something he actually really likes! Now that he’s got the whole ‘hand-eye’ coordination nailed down flat.

I winked at him, and he smiled to me. For the first time in a long time, I was reminded why I loved him so much.

I blushed when he asked me, still minding his own business with his cosplay gluing of silly eyeballs that bounced around for the project. “Why do you want to win so bad at this costume contest, anyway, Ames? We could have all just gone to support you in winning the championship.”

“Emm… I think Eggman’s gonna enter it. I would much prefer the prize of-” I suddenly halted and put my face into the paw that I was working on, making sure the fluff was getting stuffed into it correctly. “Quality time with the Voice Actor!”

“H-Huh?” Sonic suddenly stopped working but I was buried deep in soft toe-pads~

My literal dream~!

“Hehe. He’s my favorite.” I pulled out only to hear the heavy fabric of his cosplay slide off the couch from Sonic’s lap.

“Hmm?” But when I turned to look at him, he had sped off, and I wasn’t sure what that was about…

My best guess? He was probably antsy from putting in so much work while staying in one place for too long. He needed to stretch his legs, I get it.

It was then that I noticed… his Pup Costume was actually the best friend of my Puppy’s! I was so happy to see which Puppy he picked!

I wonder… did he watch the show? I thought him and Knuckles called it a bore when I tried to watch it with them. Sticks just thinks the convention is a conspiracy to drain creatively suffering artists of all their pocketbooks while feeding them government distractions from what was really going on in their lives… but everyone already knew and accepted that, so I didn’t bother discussing it further.

However, Tails and me were all about that sweet, sweet lore~

Tails had some fun theories! He was playing the Grand Grandpa German Shepard character that was only found within the television series, having some CRAZY theories that he was actually a wizard.

I think the new collectible line of their pieces for the game is going to eventually come out with him, not just as a toy, but they’re waiting for the big season finale coming up before they drop it, I think.

Finally, we had all gotten our cosplays ready, and taking a fun picture really quick, we entered the convention as Sticks immediately began a protest soapbox performance in the corner of the giant building.

Not surprising anyone… she got a huge following, who wanted to add her to their social medias, but she thought that meant scuba diving into her personal life and breaching her security, making her rear up like a cat’s back hairs and hiss them away, running from her new adoring fans.

Knuckles was the giant Saint Bernard Pup, and immediately got stepped every few steps he took for a picture. He lifted up fans and seemed to really soak in all the attention! In fact, I think he even mentioned that maybe the show and game wasn’t all that bad! I was proud of him for opening up his… uh… well, what was surely there of his big noggin’ brain to other possibilities of what was defined as ‘cool’.

Tails was already debating with fans about rumors, leaks, and got really sucked into the collectible Puppy Piece Bobbleheads that were there. Extremely limited editions, and although he told me he wasn’t about that life, he clearly got thrown into the puppy void vortex of their advertisement and ranking pool.

I hope he got a rare rainbow or reverse holo. I hear those skins are rare.

I suddenly felt a hand grasp mine and gasped, turning around to see… Sonic?

I was almost certain everyone had dispersed… but seeing him still here… it brought a warm smile to my anxious heart.

“You… You’re gonna come to the contest with me?” I beamed, trying to hold my excitement in at his sweet gesture.

“Why else would I wear this costume?” He shrugged, trying to play it cool, but I loved his shyness.

Evvvveeennn if it got a little annoying sometimes… because he really ought to learn how to express himself better.

Sigh, for another day~

“Oh! There he is!” I pointed to the man of the hour! The admiration of my tiny little heart beating like a true Puppy Fan! “There he isss!!!” I shook Sonic, careful to not mess up his cosplay, but incredibly overjoyed as I jumped on differing legs, back and forth, swinging my oversized onesie I made from scratch to and fro.

“It’s Marks Dan Barkman! His yips and growls are so profound! His whines and gruffy huffs are to die for! And his howl!!!!” I held up my hands to my idol, not realizing…

Sonic had let go of my hand long ago…

I was so distracted, but quickly reached back to grab Sonic’s arm and drag him over to the sign up table.

“Dave?” I was surprised to see him working the stand.

He shrugged, “Eh, it’s a job.” He breathily stated as though exasperated, pulling out a baton and whacking some eager fans hands away from the participation sheet. “ONE AT A TIME!” He hollered, then sighed and sat back down, handing me the paper.

“Here you… uh… go. Just sign here… here… sign your soul over here… Your individual property rights… name and number… social security… thank you, you may proceed.”

After I just filled out the necessities, I rushed to the stage’s stairs and looked back at Sonic.

He looked… for some reason, shaken up.

I smiled warmly to him, rushing back over and giving him a hug. “I know it’s a lot of people and the smell is atrocious…” I gagged a little, then pulled away, “But it really means the world to me that you’re supporting me, Sonic!”

I couldn’t read his expression.

I just gave him a sweet, close-eyed smile and raced up the stairs!

I did a cute little improv, walking around as the fans cheered for me. It was amazing!

Since I liked doing a little writing on the side… I decided to perform and even shook my bum to make the puppy tail, fashioned with springs, to wiggle wildly, which was a signature for the pupper.

They all went ballistic with the detail and fine-finishing of my cosplay! And I actually won!

I was so excited, my fists were up by my face, and I got to stand. In. front. Of. “MARKS. HEHEHEHE. DAN. HAHAHAH. BARKMAN.” I almost fainted, but he was so charming and caught me, pulling me back to him.

“Haha, you’re a sweet one! What’s your name, little pup?”

I practically died.

“Amy Rose! Heheh~ I’m your biggest fan!”

I heard something like a howl or whine from the crowd, but the impression didn’t sound anything like a puppy character I knew, and it followed by a snap of something, but I couldn’t see from the spotlights on the stage.

“Well, to the victor the spoils!” He did some impressions that I literally did back, barking and yipping in little ‘quotes’ from the show, which was mostly just puppies as the crowd mimicked us back.

However, went he went down to kiss my cosplay puppy’s nose…

“THAT’S IT.” Sonic raced up from the crowd, shook out my arm–summoning the Piko Piko Hammer–and went to-

ATTACK MY FAVORITE VA STAR?!

“Sonic! What are you doing!?” I grabbed his arms as they were pulled back, ready to overhead slam and spike my favorite voice actor through the wooden stage!

“This is not a fighting game!” I cried out, pulling him back, “We do not smash our brother puppers here!”

The security, like hounds to a rabbit, suddenly swarmed over us and when their pack of matted hairballs dispersed, my Piko Piko Hammer had a single zip-tie around its handle.

I gasped, “You got my hammer securitified!” I gasped, letting him go as he hobbled a second and looked at the ‘clearly not helping’ single zip-tie on the stem.

“H-huh?”

“Weapons aren’t allowed at the convention, idiot!” A fan heckled from the crowd.

“O-Oh.” Sonic lowered it a bit, then pointed accusingly to Mr. Barkman. “This old geezer was trying to kiss you, though!”

The crowd, including myself, were aghast with gasps at such disrespect.

“How dare you!” I whipped the Piko Piko Hammer from his grasp and went to bonk him, but the convention security whistled, I looked over with Sonic, and we both lowered the hammer as he cleared his throat.

“Ohh!!! He was gonna give my Puppy cosplay a kiss on the nose!” I pointed to the hoodie of my detailed and perfectly chubby puppy onesie cosplay, as Sonic suddenly seemed greatly embarrassed by his misunderstanding.

“B-But… I’m your hero, Amy!”

The crowd, as is typical of drama alluring their starved minds for entertainment, suddenly sat back against their seats, as though respectful spectators of the new ‘series’ they were now willingly participating in with their full, judging, and undivided attention.

“... Sonic?” I lowered the hammer as it fell to the ground, crashing through the wood and showing just how strong it actually was.

“We’re not paying for that.” On his phone, Dave the Intern just scrolled and didn’t even bother to look up, “My contract doesn’t specify anything more than being here.”

“You… You called him your favorite!” Sonic looked away, being more vulnerable than I was normally used to…

“This is so in-character.” I heard someone whisper.

“Yeah, they’re best friends, after all.”

It was then I realized… They all thought we were performing a skit!

I sighed in relief, they weren’t judging us…

I put a hand to my heart, “My pupper brother…” I stated, and in the language of the pooches, confessed my undying love of Sonic The Hedgehog.

While all Sonic could hear was intermediate barking, the audience pulled out tissues and began to blow their noses or wipe their eyes at my speech of profound, unyielding fidelity to my pupper brother.

Although my yips, barks, whimpers, and yowling howls were all emotionally gripping in the very character of my favorite puppy character, I was actually speaking from my heart, referring to Sonic as the greatest friend I’ve ever known.

“... Amy… What?” He held up a hand, “I’m supposed to be getting all this…” He gestured to me, “Weird animal noises… stuff?”

I laughed, “Oh, Sonic. I’m just saying you’re my number one idol! No one can compare to you!” I jumped into his arms, and the crowd all sounded off with ‘Awww~’.

Mr. Barkman started the claps, and I did get his signature and picture in the end!

However… We were now wholly in a compromised situation… as one fan suddenly spoke out.

“Wait… Sonic? And Amy Rose?”, “Heeeyy… How did Sonic pull out her Hammer from Hammerspace?”, “No, no. He didn’t ‘pull it out’.” He did the bunny ears.

I knew that voice, and Sonic looked like he was having PTSD flashbacks from hearing it, too.

Mark the Tapir… Sonic’s proclaimed ‘number one’ fan…

“Clearly,” He made himself the leading voice on the ‘debate’ now. “The simple action of ‘shaking’ Amy’s hand out triggered the reaction of the hammer. Simple as that.”

“Nuh-uh!” A little girl suddenly poked her head up from the crowd, being now on her father’s shoulders, “Only Amy can summon her hammer! And how was he able to wield it? What triggers it, anyway?”

“Uhhh…” I slowly brought Sonic towards the stairs, also reaching back to paw the air for Mr. Barkman’s arm, not wanting to lose my ‘one-on-one’ time with the celebrity, still. “This is gonna get gnarly…” I warned, but it was too late…

“What if it’s an imposter Amy Rose? Amy Rose is a common name and surname. Plus, it could be meta. A cosplay WITHIN a cosplay!”

“What if the contest was rigged just to promote a new Sonic convention!?”

“I thought the power of Love triggered Amy’s hammer! That’s why she has such strong emotions!”

“Isn’t her hammer heavy? How could he hold it over his head?”, “Hang on, her hammer is REPEATEDLY shown to change in size. She can manifest it anyway she wants!”, “If that were true, how come it’s also shown that the bigger her emotions, the bigger and more powerful the hammer gets?”, “Is it one hammer or many? Can she duel-weild!?”

I began to try and covertly hide herself, while also getting Sonic to pose with our elaborate cosplays to take more videos and do impressions with Barkman, sneaking out as the fans went ballistic.

“Thank you, everyone, for not having me go alone.” I smiled at my friends when we all were getting the overly expensive food at the convention, getting ready to go home.

“But… But how did Sonic manage to hold your hammer, Amy? Did you just… summon it cause he clearly wanted you to?” Tails was, unfortunately, sucked into the lore debate just as promptly as his white tote bags also clearly showed his new obsession with rare pieces of a specific merch having crept in unwillingly.

The environment can get to people, sometimes…

I laughed, “It’s a secret~” Winking to them.

Sticks groaned, having gone full incognito now, slurping her overpriced drink. “It’s clearly cause Amy’s got muscle memory. Sonic’s seen her summon the hammer a thousand times. He shook her hand, she noticed what she wanted, and honestly, whenever has our Amy denied Sonic anything? They fight alongside each other all the time, it’s clearly just that she indulged him after realizing what he wanted from the shaking and she just–did it.” Sticks tried to explain.

I blushed though,... the real reason wasn’t just because I felt ‘trained’ or ‘condition’ to summon my hammer and trust Sonic had a reason…

It was… because…

He grabbed my arm with such firm haste, shaking my arm as though wanting my attention more than anything else in that moment…

Now that I knew he was jealous… My heart, in that moment, only knew that it was racing with how speedily he came to my side.

Without really thinking about it, my hammer came out.

Sonic wouldn’t know my secret… but everyone who heard my heartfelt pooch language cries would know the truth…

At least, they should.

Twas the startlement of love that summoned my hammer~ From the get-go, that’s how it’s always worked~

Since I first met Sonic, I wanted to get stronger, and the Hammer came from that feeling, I think.

To be closer to him…

“... Isn’t the hammer just a meme off a children’s toy?”

Everyone looked at Sonic.

Especially me, in disappointment.

I summoned it and went to bonk him lightly on the head when I suddenly heard a whistle blow and the pack of clouded fluff from security glomped me again!

Luckily, my cosplay was easily fixed at the nearby ‘Cosplay Medic’ Stand, so I wasn’t too upset. They did confiscate my Piko Piko Hammer, but I simply ‘poof’ed it back into my hand when leaving the convention.

My other hand… was occupied by Sonic, as we tagged behind the team so no one saw us…

Aww!~ He really is so shy! Ah…

I looked behind him, “Barkman… You… You can go back to work or… I don’t know, go home now?”

Barkman looked a little lost, but nodded, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and waving us farewell.

“You know, I bet even Voice Actors miss hanging out with their friends. They live busy lives.” I nodded.

“That, or he really is a creep with his fans.” This time, nothing could stop my hammer from colliding with Sonic’s big, handsome, and FAT spiky head!

“No one. Not even you, Sonic The Hedgehog, disrespect Marks Dan Barkman!” This time, I think he laughed after saying, ‘Ouch! Amy..!’ because he knew I would do the same to anyone speaking ill of him, too. ^^

[telekineticmaniac]

I’ve talked so much about the basics of cosplay competitions, but what about the honest-kinda-frightening MASTER LEVEL??

[innominaterifter]

My friend who accompanied me to the convention sent me the results of the cosplay competition, the three winners. Until recently, I didn’t even know that there was a jury and that they decided who won.

This was my first participation in a cosplay event of this format. I saw the opportunity of the performance as an interesting challenge to convey the impression of Taylor in her cape look to people who are not familiar with the world of Worm. A separate, interesting, and difficult task was how to convey the image of a swarm (and it's really not easy). I liked how the fabric idea worked out, but I have a few more ideas to improve it.

As a result, my thoughts were busy with a bunch of things, and I didn’t think about the fact that this was also a competitive performance. Which, in general, is for the best since it definitely eliminated one of the reasons to be nervous.

Therefore, when I did not see my name in the winners' top three, I was not upset because I did not count on such an opportunity in principle.

But my friend was definitely more worried than me. She started writing supportive comforting messages, which was very cute, although not necessary.

She began to explain that this was probably largely due to the fact that it was an anime event, and my cosplay is different both thematically and visually. I told her that I remember her funny (and unexpected) video about how people reacted to my insects. It is quite unlikely that the judges' reactions will differ from the average reaction of other people. (I I have already made a mental note to increase the expected level of negative reaction to insects for the future).

She smiled and said that it’s not just about insects. Moreover, the judges from their seats could hardly even understand what was in my backpack.

As it turned out, those vague spots in front of the stage were judges and not just spectators. But in general, I had no time to look at the hall at that moment, I was focused on my actions, and poor eyesight did not make the process easier.

My glasses don't fit under the mask, so I left them in my backpack. I have not yet found a way to make lenses for a mask that would be at the same time:

a) curved to the desired shape;

b) yellow;

c) with diopters.

At the moment, a temporary solution in the mask is a net with cells in the shape of a honeycomb, which facilitates ventilation but certainly does not contribute to clarity of vision.

I was toying with the idea of ordering additional lenses with diopters (the same ones I use in my glasses) and gluing them from the inside of the mask onto the honeycomb net. But as a result, I decided not to do this because of the risk that the lenses might come unstuck during active movements, and this could be dangerous for the eyes.

In general, I didn’t know about the judges at the time of the performance, but the judges really were also unlikely to understand that the cockroaches in my backpack were alive.

In response to my questioning grunt of what else she thought was the matter, my friend giggled and said to watch the video that she had just sent me. I looked and I can say two things.

First: she clearly enjoys conveying to me the subtleties of social interactions in this format.

Second: yes, it’s not just about insects.

She found videos of the performances of other participants and compiled a cut from them with my performance. Well, it turned out quite clearly, just like last time.

My costume was indeed very different from the other participants' costumes, but it was the comparison of performances that showed how “your vibes are on different ends of the scale” as she put it.

I myself did not see the performances of other participants, since I was one of the last to go on stage, and before that I prepared, checked my equipment, repeated the snatching a knife and baton, and working with a fabric swarm.

After the performance, all the participants scattered around the location and mingled with the audience. So, before watching this video, I didn’t know how different I looked compared to others. It was contrasting, mhm. I didn't think that the image and performance would look so grim, especially compared to others. My swarm did not save the situation, although in my opinion, it should have added entertainment in a good way.

When you are making a suit, until the last moment, you see it not as something whole but as a set of different parts, each of which individually looks quite neutral. Only after fully putting on the suit and armor could one understand that they looked really grim. But I still underestimated how much. That video with visitors’ reactions to insects also did not provide a complete understanding since it was mainly concentrated on the audience, and I saw myself in the frame in fits and starts.

Also, when I watched the video of my performance separately, I concentrated on how well I was able to perform what I had planned and trained. I didn’t think about how it looks in general, from the outside, and in comparison with other performances before and after me. Especially from the perspective of a person who sees this character for the first time.

Yes, I didn't place on top, but I was glad I did well. Almost none of the cockroaches escaped, and those couple of videos were pretty interesting to watch. In my opinion, a good result for the first appearance in a suit.

P.S. The song from "Wednesday" made me smile🙂

[transatlantic-crochet]

When I say - this was THE photo I was waiting to share 😂

After the prizes were handed out, we all milled around the stage and photographers appeared from all angles - and I saw an opportunity to continue being my dweeby self 🤪

In other news, I have gone through the full spectrum of emotions regarding crochet, cosplay and competing - and being a judge in our own local competition (Heimar og Himingeimar) helped a lot. I am now able to redirect all these feelings back into productivity and have decided I'm gonna start making shoes. Like from scratch 👠

But I'll start with Mirabel's espadrilles as the base of those is ACTUALLY crochet (gasp) 😱

I am of course still diligently working on queen Anna's dress but I had to frog 3 balls worth today lol

[meglyfer]

Today I went to an anime con cosplaying as Cross, and took pictures with a bunch of other cosplayers, so I wanted to share them :3

Most faces have been censored for privacy reasons, and those who haven't I will be tagging their Instagrams

Wolverine is javiparedes2814

Alastor is reita_351 and Lucifer is kuronokaren (must clarify, I do not like Hazbin Hotel and do not support Vivzie in any way, but the cosplays were drop dead gorgeous, so I HAD to take a picture)

Mitsuri is erigmeza

Link is joakenobi

This absolutely amazing Vi is xmoonartx, and also the person who won first place in the cosplay competition (I got second place) (If you ask how Alastor, Lucifer, Link and Wolverine didn't win, the first three were judges and the last one didn't participate)

Minecraft villager, Sub Zero, Escorpio, Saw and one of the seven deadly sins whose name I do not remember

This is supposed to be Sasuke during the exploding people arc (without the cloak, and with his left arm)

Human Alastor (kinda worrying that this kid knows Alastor because he was 11, Jesus Christ)

And lastly, Bonnie

Here you have the picture I took of my cosplay alone

[limbuscompanysituations]

situation where all the sinners go to an anime convention? :0

The company surprisingly has a booth in this one event. They're trying to advertise their services to the public, as well as hopefully open a line of recruitment. Vergilius tells them they have to be by the booth at a certain hour for a Q&A event. He doubts anybody will come, as the corner they're at is pretty deserted, but still it's their job. The guide warns the sinners they can wander but should stick together and absolutely not get lost.

Don Quixote is already rushing to find her favorite color fixer fanmerch sellers. Faust and Yi Sang are off to find their favorite serialized comic panel, Dr. Rock; a comic about a scientist who uses logic to defeat her enemies.

Gregor is swarmed by curious people who ask him about his cosplay prop and how did he get it to look so lifelike. Hong Lu sneakily signs him up for the cosplay competition. Rodion helps him with this, and then vanishes into the sellers area. Ryoshu clicks her tongue disapprovingly as she watches the trailer of an upcoming murder-mystery series.

Sinclair wonders if he will have enough time to visit a panel that has his favorite voice actors. Dante is trying to wrangle them all with Outis' help but failing miserably. Meursault got too into playing a rhythm game at the arcades section. Heathcliff is too nervous to leave the Limbus booth, he doesn't want to have to face another consultation with Vergilius. Ishmael got a map of the location and uses it to find the booths/panels that might interest her with ease.

They all somehow manage to make it to the booth in time for their presentation. Three people show up. Two of them realize they're in the wrong place, and the third is there to give Gregor his third prize winnings for the cosplay competition. The judges liked the concept and the execution but thought the materials weren't of high quality enough to justify even a second place.

Dante is just happy everything turned out fine.

Where's Charon? Impatiently waiting to vroom vroom. Cons are boring.

[femmedaraya]

Welcome back to my series breaking down my Talald cosplay, the details and techniques that helped it win Journeyman at ACen, and how you can use these for your own competitive work! In this post I'm talking about all the hidden snaps on this costume.

This series is primarily made for intermediate cosplayers who have some sewing experience under their belt. It's less of a tutorial and more of a build log with tips.

At my day job, we use a lot of snaps in the costumes we make to keep things together, from gloves to collars to detachable accessories. My theatrical background is also snap laden—button up shirts are commonly quick-rigged with them to make costume changes faster behind the scenes. Their wide range of sizes and colors makes them extra handy!

Here's the finished collar piece of the costume compared to an earlier pattern draft. I needed it to connect in the center to create the little mandarin collar on top, but I also wanted to keep the center flat to match the pictures I was referencing.

(Note: Throughout VE and SBB she's drawn with a varying number of collar scallops, anywhere from 4 to 8. I chose 8.)

So, how'd I do it?

Using lots of little snaps reduces bulk, allowing pieces to lie flat, and gives me precise control over where everything sits. To keep it hidden, I put a decorative seam on the other side of the middle scallop. If you want to hide a closure or seam but can't make it fully disappear, give it a friend or two and pretend they're all decorative. It's a nifty way to make judges ask themselves "how does this work?" and then surprise them with the answer!

I also used snaps to keep my sleeves from riding up past the tops of my gloves:

(Don't mind the purple marks, I use purple disappearing fabric pens. This was taken when the ink was fresh)

And also to fasten some straps under my arms that kept my tabard in place:

I do need to replace these ones with larger snaps though, they kept coming undone all day.

Part 1

Thanks for reading!