Let-It-Shine

So... The new year has come and gone.... How are you all??
We, as a collective, haven't been up to much other than organising photoshoots and working on the new year's cosplay! First up is Tales of Vesperia, which we're showcasing half of the group at Midlands Expo next weekend! That's come up bloody fast... The rest of the group will be getting together at KitaCon and after that we'll be heading for the hills and a big shiny photoshoot~!!

Other than that, it's just going to be one huuuuuuuuge power hour until KitaCon itself. I'm hoping I can sneak in some practice photoshoots before then, but I'll be lucky between uni and the weather, nothing lately seems to want to cooperate!


KitaCon 2011

• Gintama
• Touhou Project
• Baccano!
• Kuragehime
• Vocaloid 02
• Tales of Vesperia
• Sengoku BASARA
• NicoNico Douga Singers

Otakon 2011

• Tales of the Abyss
• Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
• Gintama

AyaCon 2011

• Tales of symphonia
• Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
• Tales of Vesperia
• Fable III
• Tales of the Abyss
• Vocaloid 02

Some say he’s wanted by the CIA, and that he sleeps upside down like a bat... All we know, is he's called the Myst.

So this is the first out-of-house deviant to be featured... I'm not sure I could think of anyone better! A greatly involved photographer, dedicated and beloved member of the con community and just a plain, all round AWESOME guy. One of my personal favourite people to see, and a convention just isn't a convention without a trip to the games room to bother Myst!

Hello! Do not be alarmed by the completely out of character update I'm about to do! I just wanted to get a few things down on paper - uh, well, you know what I mean - before I forget!

At the moment, hitachiin's Beatrice costume is entered in the ACP Umineko competition. She'd very much like that fanbook, so if you love her then please vote here (Under Felixious)!

Another thing, after various talks of Japan and money and how we're all too poor to even breathe we've been looking into an alternate holiday to save up for in 2011. With some dumb luck we'll be hitting New York for 2 weeks and stopping over in Baltimore for Otakon in July~8D If there's anyone on here who has any advice for first time US con goers, please impart!

As for what we're taking... Well, we haven't really talked about it yet but I'm hoping we can do something like Tales of the Abyss, since it got a US only English release, and possibly Umineko or Gintama? That said, summer usually calls for cooler costumes, I'm sure we'll work something out along the way!


KitaCon 2011

• Gintama
• Touhou Project
• Baccano!
• Tales of Vesperia
• Sengoku BASARA
• NicoNico Douga Singers

Otakon 2011

• Tales of the Abyss
• Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
• Gintama

AyaCon 2011

• Tales of symphonia
• Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
• Tales of Vesperia
• Fable III
• Tales of the Abyss
• Vocaloid

Not sure if this counts as cheating, since it's half a pimp out to this journal. I was stuck for a while because there's so many people to write about! It made sense to go onto one of the gang, and one of the founding members of this group (included in the embarassing username!). She hasn't been featured that much, but after forcibly dragging her in front of my camera several times now, she won't bloody let go of the spotlight! Jk, jk!
One of our partners in crime, creator of the disturbing and master of the mouth trumpet, exeliax, we salute you!

We're back! And under a foot of snow! And snow means.... Photoshoots! Hopefully the cold weather will hold on for a tiny bit longer for us to get organised for a few different picture splashes.

Auchinawa was last weekend, and though it wasn't the most eventful convention, it was the traditional laid back laugh we always sign up for. Cosplay was pretty sparse; I think out of the 500-something attendees there couldn't have been more than 50 on any given day!
It was nice to see some old faces, though, and wear costumes without any particular agenda! And weirdly, I don't think we've come away from a Con before with such enthusiasm to work on our costumes for the next one! It's like the opposite of PCD, I think we could do with this more often!!

Next up con-wise is KitaCon! The alcohol-fuelled, party cosplay extravaganza con. Or something. We have one HELL of a lot of work to do, though. About 6 costumes each it's totalling up to be. Scythes, swords, cannons, knives, staffs, lances, guns and leeks! Travelling will certainly be... Interesting.

In other news, our next kiriban is 10,000! Seems like we've come a long way in two years... Here's hoping the next 10,000 views can be as fun and enjoyable as the last! Thank you's will come in the next entry once we've had time to gather our thoughts and such XD


KitaCon 2011

• Gintama
• Touhou Project
• Baccano!
• Tales of Vesperia
• Sengoku BASARA
• NicoNico Douga Singers

Otakon 2011

• Tales of the Abyss
• Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
• Gintama

AyaCon 2011

• Tales of symphonia
• Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
• Tales of Vesperia
• Fable III
• Tales of the Abyss
• Vocaloid

AyaCon is a long while off, yet! Chances are we'll have some shoots and possibly Expo inbetween, but with the amount of things planned... They'll all be rewears!


For the first feature on this account, I'm not sure I could have chosen anyone else but yuka-rin!
A treasure in the UK Cosplay scene, Yuka is a complete all-star in more or less every aspect of the hobby she touches. I can say she's personally shaped the direction I've taken as a cosplayer, introduced me to cosplay photography and continues to be a morale boosting inspiration even when she'd rather boot me across the face d:
I wish we could do more groups together lately, though ]:

So! This all looks a bit new and shiny... I've decided to dust off the part of my mind that deals with CSS and XHTML etc. and invest in a nice, neat journal! Stealing ideas from other people; there'll be features and boxes of stuff and possibly stamps (I don't really understand stamps or their purpose, but I WANT them), the whole thing is just going to look nicer.

I'm not really sure what the 'feature etiquette' is, though. Would people rather be approached before I whack them in a feature, or am I alright to just go ahead and do it?

It's also coming to that time of year when all the Summer Con cosplay plans are starting to get decided... We've got a few groups in talks already, anyone else sorting out their big plans yet?


Auchinawa 2010

• Tales of Vesperia
• Pokémon HG/SS
• Axis Powers HETALIA
• Vocaloid
• NicoNico Douga Singers

KitaCon 2011

• Black★Rock Shooter
• Touhou Project
• Baccano!
• Tales of Vesperia
• Sengoku BASARA

A few plans for Auchi have fallen through at the last moment, but to be fair... Auchi is never particularly organised on our part... It's next week and we haven't even bought our train tickets yet!


For the first feature on this account, I'm not sure I could have chosen anyone else but yuka-rin!
A treasure in the UK Cosplay scene, Yuka is a complete all-star in more or less every aspect of the hobby she touches. I can say she's personally shaped the direction I've taken as a cosplayer, introduced me to cosplay photography and continues to be a morale boosting inspiration even when she'd rather boot me across the face d:
I wish we could do more groups together lately, though ]: