Cosplay Update!

Hey everyone! Let's check in on the cosplay progress!



Valkyrie Frigga

First up, wig!

Originally, my wig looked like this:

I look so weird with long hair....

But, after some work (and I am not good at styling hair) and the addition of two clip-ins for some extra volume, we have this!

And on my head!

The big clip I had originally in the back I have replaced with a brown claw-clip, which is lighter-weight, looks better, and holds a lot better.

It's needs a little fixing, it's developed some flyaways....

Next, daggers!
I decided on daggers because I went with the idea that since Frigga taught Loki to fight, and those are his weapons of choice, then she must be proficient with them as well. I'm even using the ones I bought with a Loki costume in mind. So far, I've re-wrapped the handles and added little styrofoam balls to the ends of the hilts.

They look a little weird right now, but they're still a work-in-progress.


She-Ra

 The first She-Ra piece has been made! Started with the headpiece. As you can see, it's thin EVA foam attached to a headband. The red gem is melted hot glue with food coloring, then painted over with clear nail polish. I tried doing something similar to the wax seals. It looks pretty good, even with the two different color reds (which I may try to fix).

Freddie Mercury is Finished!
 
Okay, the costume is finished. I still need to do the mic and mic stand. But the costume is done! If Elder Spawn needs a bigger size of pants before con, we'll do that, but the shirt will fit even if he grows between now and then. The belt is an old one of mine I found (goes around him about one and a half times). The armband is an old choker of mine from my punky/gothy teenage days that we cut and riveted to fit his arm. 

Diablo III Deckard Cain

Not much started on this one, but we did finally get our first, crucial piece of the costume. One blue robe. It's a bit big on the Elder Spawn, but we'll work on that. His is pretty ratty so that might help us out a lot. But at least it's here.

Well, that's what's going on right now. I did get the new Sabaton album, Great War, and I think I might throw up a review for that sometime and let everyone know how it is. So, until next time!
















  

Spider-Man: Far From Home Spoiler Free Review

Hey everyone! Let’s talk Spider-Man! I finally got to see Far From Home this weekend and I definitely want to talk about it! As usual, no spoilers!

So let’s start with the obvious: how was it? Well, if you want the tl;dr version of the review, it was awesome. If you want a bit more than that, then stick around and let’s talk about it. 

First, off, I have to say it again but Tom Holland is the Spider-Man I’ve always wanted on screen. He actually feels like both Peter Parker and Spider-Man and it’s wonderful. Spider-Man has always been near and dear to me, so it makes me so happy to see him done so right. 

I also love the interactions with him and his peers. Him and Ned are adorable, him and MJ are adorable. I love that we’ve gotten to the part of the story (and this was in the trailer so I wouldn’t call it a spoiler) where Flash Thompson loves Spider-Man, but still dislikes Peter. The relationships between the characters feels really genuine and good. Ned and Betty Brant (can I say I love that she’s here!) actually have some really fun moments as well that I didn’t expect. Throwing Nick Fury into the mix just adds, and you get some really good comedy out of it. I swear they sometimes just let Sam Jackson do his Sam Jackson thing, because you just get these great lines from him that are so in character, not necessarily as Nick Fury, but as Samuel L. Jackson. If that makes any sense.  

One thing I liked in Homecoming and continued here is that of all the movies, it feels like the Spider-Man ones really home in on what it’s like to live in this universe. You really get a sense of how having superheroes and villains and The Snap (known as the Blip here) affects the regular, day-to-day of the world. The movie starts with this in an expository way, but I guess it gets everything set up right off the hop.  

So, I know you want to know: Mysterio? I get it, those trailers really get you pumped. I gotta tell you, and this isn’t just because I absolutely love that we are doing old-school baddies we haven’t seen yet, but Mysterio was fantastic. You just keep waiting for the heel turn, and it kills you the longer it goes on. But when he starts doing his Mysterio thing, those illusions are trippy and the effects look every bit as good as they should. And Jake Gyllenhaal is a great actor, he just nails it. MCU Spidey is 2-2 on awesome villains played by awesome actors. The only downside is that he has a villain monologue that goes on just a little too long and is a little too expository. 

The movie is also quite emotional. Peter is dealing with a lot of stuff. From regular teenage stuff to heavier things like the death of Tony Stark and trying to figure out where he goes from here as a person and as a hero. And Tom Holland really brings it, you really feel like he’s a kid who’s lost and trying to figure out what the hell he’s going to do. On a meta level, it’s also sad because there’s something distinctly missing, as this is the first MCU film without a Stan Lee cameo (Endgame was the last one). 

My only real gripes are what I already mentioned; sometimes you get these info dumps that seem like a lot all at once. I know there’s a lot going on and a lot to cover, but they’re really noticeable and blatant. 

Okay, and I know we’re spoiler-free, but I gotta talk about the mid- and post-credits scenes. The mid-credit one nearly made me scream out loud, and in a good way. And then go ‘holy sh-“ because something happens that will possibly have ramifications for a long time going forward. Then end-credits scene will also make you go ‘what?” but in a different way. Then you start thinking about it and wondering where this is going and how long it’s been going on. Don’t miss them. Either of them.

So there it is, my thoughts on Spider-Man: Far From Home. Another great entry in the MCU and another great Spider-Man movie. Definitely check it out if you haven’t already! And stay tuned because I have got a big cosplay update coming up very soon with lots of goodies to share!  

Cosplay Update + Medieval Food Test!

Hey everyone, I know I've been MIA lately. Things have been nuts lately, especially with school wrapping up. But, time waits for no one and those costumes aren't gonna make themselves, so let's look at what (little, unfortunately) progress we've made! And as a bonus, a cake!



First off is the new undersuit for my Valkyrie Frigga. The bodysuit was fine, but low cut, especially in the back. Also the issue of it being one piece, so it would make things like using the bathroom interesting. Added to that was the lack of texture or pattern. So, I found something else.

Jammies! Well, long johns. Already textured and in two pieces. They are obviously men's long johns, but the front will be covered anyway so the extra space there shouldn't be an issue. They are super comfy, too.


Second, we have another bodysuit. This one for Younger Spawn's new-version She-Ra costume. Bonus with this is that she can use this for dance, as well!

And third, we did a mustache test for Elder Spawn's Freddie Mercury. We got a pack of cheap mustaches and he tried one of the 'non-Freddie-like' ones. I think they'll work just fine! His Deckard Cain robe is on the way, and I can't wait to get my hands on that and really get rocking with that one!

Finally, our cake. Elder Spawn is doing a historically-accurate Norse mythology theme for his birthday, and for that we are making historically accurate food. We tested this recipe:

We did however make some changes. We used honey instead of sugar (not 1:1, more like 1: 3/4), and used one cup of barley flour and one cup all-purpose flour. The baking powder isn't exactly accurate, but you can only do so much. But, this is how it turned out.

It's quite nice. Very dense, almost more like a bread than a cake, and not overly sweet. Ours obviously had a strong honey flavor and the barley flour is definitely there, too. In the pic we tried it with whip cream, but I've had it with jam, and honestly I think it's better with the jam. Both would probably work really well. If you filled with jam or fruit like you're supposed to, plus something on top, it'd be awesome. We have a couple of other recipes to try, and we'll see how they go.

Well, I wish this was a bigger update, but hopefully once birthdays are all taken care of I can turn my focus more on costumes when I do have a day off. Spider-Man: Far From Home is out this week as well, and we have every intention of seeing it. So hopefully the next post will be more exciting. Until then!