Today, we made another pilgrimage to our Joanns ;w; I'm very attached to this particular Joanns, because it's the one I went to in college (the first time, so the late 00s) and then I lived basically across the street from it when I first moved back to Baltimore in 2016. It is THE Joanns for both times I've lived in this city, so it's the one that's hitting me hardest.

....to be fair, I haven't been up to Pittsburgh to visit the Monroeville Joanns, aka where I got my start with sewing & cosplay, because I'm just not ready yet. I'm gonna see if we can make a short trip up to say goodbye to it before it closes...but it's so hard to think about ;w;

ANYWAY. In an attempt to fight my depression over the bankruptcy, I had Liz take a couple fun pics of me in the fabric section of the Joanns. I wanna remember all the joy it brought me over the years ♥


also featuring my incredibly good Pusheen cape~
We'd gone with purpose, tho- Liz and I wanna make Kohaku and Madara's first feature scout outfits to wear to DC's Sakura Matsuri this year, and what better time to pick up fabric than during....the closing........sobs ;w;

I'M TRYING TO HOLD IT TOGETHER I'm still very sick so it's hitting me so hard ;w; I want to enjoy working on cosplay and shit, I just...sobs.


the boys with the fabric we got today!!!
We managed to get navy fabric for Madara's pants, the green for his top, the gold for....all his bullshit gold bits, and the light pink for Kohaku's top. We're gonna have to wrangle the embroidery machine for Madara, but I'm honestly pretty excited to figure it out :D

And then we had a time getting Taco Bell for dinner...the one right near the Joanns was randomly closed for the weekend???? And then the next closest one wouldn't let us place an online order...because???????? So we had to loop around and go to yet a different one, which I will always remember for the time they forgot to include the crunch part of my crunchwrap in 2011 XD

I got crunchwrap sliders today and they did include the crunch~ Literally it only happened that one time, but I can't get it out of my mind XD WHATEVER it was tasty!!!!

I've been curled up on the couch since we got home, because I do not feel good. Even with taking more DayQuil, I am not...doing well.....which is frustrating, because I have shit to do! I'm waaaaaay behind on the Switch event- not so much that I can't catch up, but I was hoping to be further than this already.

Also, I barely slept last night, because I was so exhausted and sick that I couldn't fall asleep. I ended up doing quick editing on some selfies from katsu~~~

( click click so I don't destroy everyone's friend pages~ )

Okay....still not feeling great, but I'm gonna make an attempt at playing the JP event some... If it goes badly, y'all can find me...idk, working on sewing my nuis clothes instead? Maybe if I use a tiny, incredibly hot tool (smol iron), I'll feel better XD

FRIDAAAAAAAAY!!!! The day started with us booking it to registration so I could grab my badge before heading to the room for our panel- Anime Before Anime: Animation in Pre-WW2 Japan. Even though we got there 10 minutes early, there was already a huge line waiting to get in OwO This is the second time we've run it at katsu, and both times now it's gotten a really good reception :D

This year, I recorded Liz and Pat presenting it, so we now have a solid recording- or at least I hope so XD I haven't had a chance to review the footage yet, because you know, con weekend~

OH RIGHT. I didn't end up styling Ibara's wig on Thursday night, so I went in casual clothes + a fun wig so it'd be easier to get around and shop and such. Which was nice! It's always very cramped, especially artist's alley, so being more mobile made it slightly easier.

...only slightly, though, because it's still fucking Katsucon XD

We managed to hit artist alley before the infamous(?) "sewage" explosion!!! A pipe burst on Friday afternoon/evening and dumped gross dish water from the kitchens into artist alley, right on top of someone's booth D: I feel so bad for who it affected ;w; I really hope they're able to get some sort of compensation or something, since that fucking sucks!

Anyway...I usually try to do a full round of artist alley + dealers room before buying anything, but I couldn't resist the allure of Yu-Gi-Oh!


also the artist very kindly gave me badge ribbons for buying so much stuff XD I was just so fucking excited to see anyone selling ygo fanmerch *w*
And then the hell gauntlet: Dealers Room. It's soooooo big and katsu is so hit or miss for dealers, so it ends up being a lot of walking around to find a few gems. But that's cons babeeyyyyyy!!!! Honestly, one of the best parts wasn't even shopping: it was catching up with Tasty Peach! I've been buying their adorable plushies for so long, I've gotten to watch them go from a tiny booth in artist alley to a large presence in dealers room to seeing their stuff for sale in Hot Topic and other physical stores, which is so awesome. Apparently, they have stuff in fucking Epcot now!!!!!! I got to see pictures and it was just so wholesome to see how far they've come ;w;

BUUUUUUUT we only got about halfway through dealers room before we had to bitch out because we were exhausted. I ended up sitting in the lobby for awhile, watching the world go by, while Liz and Pat got our stuff out of our locker. Right before they got back, I saw a Kohaku cosplayer in the Spring Night outfit and let me tell you, the way I practically flew out of my seat to go say hi...

Since we had cosplay to finish - me and my wig styling adventures lmao - we went back to our hotel to get to work!!! If I never touch glue again.....

Also, we had snacks in our room, so we didn't have to pay out the ass for a meal in National Harbor XD

However!!! Some local-ish friends that Liz and I first met at Otakon were also staying in Alexandria, just in a different hotel, so we went over to hang out with them :D Liz was still in Nagisa at that point + they cosplay Hiyori and Jun, which meant that after gossiping for like two hours, I took a bunch of pictures of them. I'm looking forward to going through all the raws of those shots once I feel a little better~

By the time we got back to our hotel room, Pat was getting ready to get a Lyft back to the con for the raaaaaave~~~ Because I was still having a rough time with pain + wig styling to work on, Liz and I stayed behind and just kinda chilled while making glue wefts for Madara. It was sooooooooooo time consuming ;w; They look damn good, but I thought my fingers would be covered in UHU + PVA glue forever D:

After all the wefts for his braids were glued on, I realized two very important things:

1. the glue was gonna take awhile to dry before I could safely tug on the hair enough to braid it
2. we hadn't eaten any "real" food since the continental breakfast at around 9 am, and it was now after midnight

So, it was off to the 24 hour diner!!! There was one across the street from our hotel, which was very convenient after a long day. It's a local chain and we actually went to one of them after Anime USA back in October, and I remembered it being pretty damn good- and I was right! idk, maybe it's just me, but diner food always tastes best at 3 in the morning.


the boys went everywhere with me all weekend, including the high risk situation of taking pictures of them with food ♥
I somehow thought I'd be able to get back to the wig after eating, but it was like...4:30 am at that point???? So we passed the hell out, thus ending ~day 1~ of the con!

( but I doooooo have more pictures to share from it! )

aaaaaand that's a wrap on that! I'll get to the next day soon, hopefully, since I'm technically halfway done already!!!! I wanna complete the con reports~~~~~

WE HAVE MADE IT TO KATSUCON!!!!!!!!! We even almost made it to our hotel before midnight- we would have if not for the super long wait on the fucking drawbridge into Alexandria...bluh.

ANYWAY!!! I spent today gluing wefts to Madara's hairline, which was an exercise in patience and also my back fuckin' hurt ;w; Lotsa leaning and holding small strips of hair while waiting for things to dry, which is the exact sort of thing that fucks with my back D: But his hairline is done and looks beautiful!

...now to style the rest of the wig.

I had to take a break and take a power nap on the couch, and I woke up basically just in time for Liz and Pat to get home. Liz and I ran out to the thrift store and I finally found an acceptable shirt for Ibara - cutting it close! - before rushing back home to start packing. Originally, I wanted to style Madara before leaving, but I realized I'd rather be settled into the hotel room and styling him there, rather than having to drive down in the middle of the night.

So, we made it to National Harbor in surprisingly good time, I found a parking spot right by the con hotel, and we made it into Katsucon in time to pick up our badges*

*Liz and Pat got their badges because panelist badge pickup was open until midnight and regular registration was only open until 11....we showed up at 11:02 and they turned me away ;w; Like, yes, I get that it was past time, but I'm sorry my disabled ass couldn't move faster. Now I have to run down there before the panel tomorrow morning.

uggghhhhhh

I suppose I could sleep earlier tonight, but I still have to style Ibara's wig :T And I wanna make at least some progress on Madara's...

OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone in the lobby of our hotel recognized my Double Face nuis!!!!! They saw them while we were checking in and apparently they'll be cosplaying Sora at some point this weekend!! So that was a nice interaction *w* I love cons...

Right now, Liz is sewing wefts into the front of my Ibara wig so the bangs go the right way without any bare spots, and then it'll be back on the wig grind~


locked and loaded to drive down to the con!!!!!! idk why I felt like I needed to dress up, but I sure did drive an hour in that wig~

( more pics inside~ )

OKAAAAAAAY!!! With that, I need to get back to work! No promises on con reports for the rest of the weekend, tho XD

Katsucon is upon us, so it's con crunch!!!!!! I'm of course having a rough pain week, so I'm moving extra slowly :T I managed to set up a wig styling station at the couch, though!


yes, I'm styling a whole new wig for Madara.....spoiled!!!
I'm using a lot of new methods on this wig, because I wasn't happy with how his first wig came out. Luckily, I snagged some cheap wigs from my favorite beauty store, sewed them together, and harvested a bunch of wefts to use for the bangs/hairline.

.........I did run out and have to buy another for the braids, but at least I found one in the same color on clearance for $10! So, in total his new wig has only cost me $22, which I'd say is damn good :D

My fingers are covered in glue right now, which is less good. Also, the whole couch is covered in wig fibers...and I am not enjoying that part. I'm pleased with how it's coming along...just glue and hair everywhere ;w;

Right now I'm actually taking a break from gluing loose hair into wefts because my back hurts so badly. I'm just frustrated!!! It's slowing me down and we leave for the con tomorrow.

...maybe I'll have more caffeine................

Oh!!!!!!!!!! THE ADORABLE KOHAKU AND MADARA BEAR NUIS ARRIVED TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


sobs they're so cute I wanna die they're precious- also featuring Lumos patiently letting me put crap on her for pictures XD
The package also included a rainbow ALKALOID/Crazy:B light stick, some light up Kohaku and Aira stars, and a few doujins :D I'm so glad they made it here before katsu!!!!!!!!! I was afraid they wouldn't, since it was cutting pretty close ;w; BUT HERE THEY ARE!!!

mmkay I'm gonna get back to wig + watching Blazing Saddles, lemme just share some more pictures from today and Liz's birthday :D

( no I'm not procrastinating I'm achy, I have an excuse~ )

Things purchased for cosplay in the lead up to katsu:

• handheld steamer for wig styling
• tripod wig stand to make wig styling more convenient
• wig for Ibara ($16 on clearance at one of my fave local wig stores!)
• two (2) new wigs for Madara ($6 a piece on clearance at the same store)
• casual fit for Nagisa
• new pants for Kohaku

....and I feel like there was something else, but this is all I can remember XD I've got a lot of wig things in the works - clearly! - so hopefully I can get everything done. I still need to figure out what I'm doing for what to wear as Ibara...all his casual outfits are harder to thrift so it's just like uggghhhhhhh :T

oh I also need new concealer D: I ran out of both of my faves, and now that the Morphe store is gone (+ other reasons), I can't as easily get one of them. I'm probably gonna grab a fresh tarte shape tape and then I guess order the jeffree star concealer later...idk I have a method and now I'm gonna have to modify it.

I'm excited for katsu!!! We got the time for our panel and of-fucking-course it's first thing on Friday again. They did this too us last year, too ;w; So Pat called our hotel and extended our stay to be Thursday night instead of starting on Friday, so we don't have to try to drive all the way down from Baltimore in time for our 11 am panel. Looking forward to that~

bluhhhhhhh

I'm nervous/anxious/ahhhhhhhhhhh bad brain feels about trying to style wigs for this con. I feel like I'm sooooo out of practice and there are all these new methods that I'm not familiar with. It doesn't help that I'm like...weirdly uncomfortable watching videos when other people are around, so I have limited time to try to watch tutorial videos. I wish I could just get out of my fuckin' head about it, but here we are!!!

After this, I'm gonna finish bulking out my wig head and maybe tackle sewing the Madara wigs together?? idk. Life is hard XD

edit: finished wig head and realized I completely forgot to share this pic I took earlier, cuz I thought it came out cute uwu


two very good Madara ships, also featuring my MILLIONS KNIVES glasses cleaning cloth ;D

I'm doing a bit of a self-imposed icon making challenge, since I get a bit overwhelmed with just how many enstars characters there are + the multitude of official art. It's a lot!!!! There are 54 of them, not counting any of the side characters. So it's hard to narrow down what to make D:

Which is why I'm doing what I'm calling 5 for 5, which is "make 5 icons each for 5 different characters" and see how it goes :D I'm enjoying it so far! It's less like "oh god there are so many blorbos I love and care about how do I choose just ONE" and now just "okay how do I choose just 5 pieces of art for this specific character", which is overall much more manageable.

Aaaahhhhhhhh and I'm starting to get really pumped for Katsucon!!!!!!!! It's still a few weeks away, but since January is almost over, it's about to be katsu season!!! This'll be my 13th katsu, holy shit~~~ I've been going since 2010, but missed a couple years...but it's somehow become my most consistently attended con XD

I'm also excited because Liz and I had only picked up enstars a few weeks before katsu last year - which was just enough time for me to decide I needed to buy a lightstick from the idol merch vendor - so I'm looking forward to katsu: this time we're so deep in it, we're in cosplay XD To think I still wasn't 100% sure if this would stick as a fandom for me.......how the times have changed!

SPEAKING OF THAT ACTUALLY!!!!!


here's to a full 365 days of logging into enstars!!!! I never missed a day in the whole damn year :O
The fandom may be a hot fuckin' mess but I've very much enjoyed my time in idol boy taptap hell~ Here's to many more :D

HELLO THIS IS ONLY OVER A WEEK LATE (and no promises about the rest of the weekend lmao) BUT HERE WE GO!!!

Started the day strong by skipping class, running a million errands, and desperately trying to finish cosplay in time!!!!! Liz worked from home for the second half of the day to keep me company while sewing and I managed to conquer the difficult part of Knives's sleeves~~~ I was so fucking tired but I did it :D

Anyway!!! Pat picked Elio up on his way home from work and brought him over, so he finally got to meet our kitties (which was exciting). We did some more sewing and packing until finally heading out (around 7:30-ish, aka way earlier than usual for us lmao). We did end up packing a sewing machine because Knives and Legato weren't done yet. Between props, costumes, food for the hotel room, and four people, our car was packed. Thankfully, it's only an hour drive, so we made decent time in a cramped space XD

Actually getting checked into our hotel room and getting our luggage up was another thing entirely...WAY more people show up on Thursday of katsu nowadays, and we weren't even at the con hotel; we were across the street. After a hellish wait and a fight for a cart, we did eventually get into our room and unpacked......however. We were on the 10th floor and only one of the elevators was working. I still had optimism at this point...I had hope that they might fix it before the weekend was up. MY MISTAKE.


there was a really funny notice at the front desk, tho XD the ghost of homestuck never truly leaves
We ended up heading over to the Gaylord to pick up badges, which ended up being a whole fiasco since Liz & Pat had to get panelist badges. Basically no one knew where the fuck to go for them???? We did eventually figure it out, but it involved a lot of running around after I was already wiped from multiple late nights of con crunch. It was so nice to back, though. Every year, Katsucon is a huge pain and stressful and etc etc etc, and I still keep going back because I love it despite all that ;w;

uhhhhhh we went back to the room and ate.......lunchables??? I don't remember us getting an actual meal, tbh. I was so fucking tired at this point, and we still had sewing to do. The rest of the evening was such a blur, and we had to wake up relatively early to get to Liz & Pat's panel.


good night from Knives~~~~~~

aka, I feel exhausted ;w; I didn't sleep nearly enough leading up to the con and I barely slept during it, so today I am just WIPED. sobs. I'm only sitting upright now because I'm in the middle of a virtual class...otherwise I'd be snoozing on the couch still.

uhhhhh

hello *waves* I am so tired I can't put proper sentences together ;w; I'm gonna try to write up a con report this week, but I'm not making any promises...I fell behind on homework during con crunch and I gotta catch up. FINGER'S CROSSED I can get my shit together!!!!

The greatest highlight, the best purchase of the con, and the cutest model: Lumos now has a Persona 5 collar, featuring a Joker charm/name tag. She's so plush that it's hard to see the collar in pics, but it's very cute ♥


she's our phantom thief *w*

CON CRUNCH CON CRUNCH CON CRUUUUUUUUNCH~~~~~~

aka we leave for Katsucon in approximately 12 hours and we're still sewing and we're in the midst of a minor emergency, starring Pat's sewing machine. His is a really nice, top of the line machine, super good at everything it does, etc etc etc, but it's been in need of servicing for a bit now. And of course now is the time it's decided to be a difficult little shit!!!!! Right when we were working on the top stitching for Legato's coat, aka when it HAS to look perfect.

ENTER THE SAVIOR: Increase Mather, the $90 entry level machine I got my freshman year of college (January 2009), the most basic of basic. He was technically a joint purchase with one of my closest friends in college, but I ended up with him after we both left the school.


Named because of something Cait was reading for class and immediately covered in stickers, because 19-year-old me had some good taste ;D I didn't have a proper table in my dorm room, so I sat on the floor like gremlin and worked XD


Some of the stickers have faded and the plastic has started to yellow, but he's still here and he still works!!!!!
I'm so fucking glad I have a backup machine. Liz does too - theirs is basically a slightly newer version of mine - and we're making use of both. Mine is set up with black thread for sewing all the lining and Liz's has the thicker white thread for sewing pleather. The needles and specialty foot we got are universal, so they work perfectly with even our basic machines.

Just!!!! This isn't the best machine by any means, but I got it because I wanted to make my own cosplays and it's still helping me, even all these years later ;w;

yes I've been up for 20+ hours, how did you know?

aka, I'm doing what I swore I'd never try to do again: make a mood theme. Liz told me about moodthemeinayear and I really like how they break it up into sections; it feels way more feasible. Of course, it started at the beginning of the year, so now I gotta play catch up, but I have homework + katsucon is in a couple days, which means I have plenty of time to do it XD


of course it's fucking Knives & Legato; expect nothing less from me~
I plan on coloring them later, but I'm trying to catch up...I mean, I'm also jumping ahead as I find random manga panels, but that's a me problem. I gotta make myself a reference PSD for coloring them though, since I used pretty much the same colors for all the icons I made...

ANYWAY. I made the mistake of downloading jp enstars because....I hate myself, I guess? I dunno!!!! I just wanted to play the newer songs and now I'm in hell, because the upcoming event features Mayoi and the event boost cards are fucking gorgeous and gacha games are so fucking dangerous for my impulse spending problems XD Seriously though, I've been having fun with the actual rhythm part, but I like having pretty cards (and also that dopamine hit from pulling the random box!!!).

Katsucon is fast approaching and I have to do extra homework ahead of time so I don't have to work on it at the con itself, but uhhhhhhhh focus is hard when I could be glued to Photoshop making this mood theme XD