This is the Way the World Ends!!

(PLEASE click the picture to see it in entirety!!)

The world isn't really ending, I'm just quoting Cortana in Halo! It took me way too long to get this Post up (the story of my life). It didn't take me long to edit, I just procrastinated and also being an intermediate user of Paint Shop Pro, I had to figure out how to approach the image and what exactly i wanted to do.

So here it is, the end result of my costume, my portrayal of Cortana from Halo 3! If you've never played Halo or have never seen Cortana, click this link. I am happy with how it turned out. I came up with the idea 2 months before Halloween and then put it together within a month. I was painting it up to the last minute and went to two Halloween events. My friend Mike and his buddy Wolf had a huge party which was a lot of fun and I attended the Wags to Witches Ball. It is a Halloween Costume Ball to benefit the local Humane Society. At the ball there was a lot of older people there, so this meant no one plays video games and no one knew who I was. Then again, a lot of my friends didn't know who I was either. Haha. I was know as "Blue Girl" all night. Of course I got a lot of looks just being a woman in a skin tight unitard!! Lol.

This is the first time I technically "made" a costume. I have received a lot of compliments on the costume and I really appreciate all of it! It really made me feel good to hear how people were impressed with how detailed it was and they couldn't believe I actually did it myself. If you ever search the web for Cosplay, you'd find that I am definitely not the first to portray the sexy A.I.!! I would love to wear the costume to a Sci-Fi Con and I want to put some more into the detail of the costume. I also want to do more detail with my makeup next time. The hands and feet took longer than i thought they would and the makeup would come off my lips and hands. Of course that is to be expected. Now if I only knew how to use a sewing machine. I would love to learn so I could make my own costumes. It would be great to incorporate this with making jewelry. The possibilities!!!

Anyway, if you've never seen my blog, the most recent posts show the progression of making the Cortana costume! So it's kind of backwards ;-)

I am your Shield, I am your Sword....!!

Here you can really see the brush strokes on the costume. I must give credit to another Cosplayer on the internet with this arm pattern. I used the same pattern for the lower part of the arm. I'm not sure where she got her idea, but it was simple to do and looked great. If you go to www.Cosplay.com and search "Cortana"you will see the other girls who were my inspiration to do this costume!

Non-Playable Character

I kept a lot of the basic patterns the same from viewing images of Cortana. I had to get creative with some of it and i made up my own patterns. This view of the arm is one of those moments! The arms and legs have some of my own ideas and i'm happy with the results!

I have defied Gods and Demons...

These photos are not in real time, but it has been a crazy last few weeks! I still wanted to show the progress. More painting! At this point i start to realize how long this is probably going to take. Maybe i should have started during the summer months. Every night after work from Nine something till after Midnight i worked on this for about two weeks. I'll have some actually calculated hours figured at some point. People who do Cosplaying all the time keep track of how many hours they put in. I suppose it makes you feel really fantastic or really ridiculous for spending all that time. I am really enjoying how this is starting to look so i feel good :-)

I heart Sticky Grenades!!!

I used fabric paint to fill everything in and i did this very carefully because this stuff dries fast. I like how starting from the edges gave it a nice brushed effect. The fabric marker, which is the light blue lines seen, wash away with water. For the most part anyway!!

No Needlers yet....

The next step was to dye the unitard light blue. Of course since i have never dyed anything before, i had no idea that Polyester/Lycra was a material that was resistent to dye. Yet, some how it came out exactly how i wanted it. Since i am basing the costume on Halo 3's Cortana. This is the look i wanted. She was more purple in the past Halo's. I was inspired by some other ladies who cosplayed as Cortana (seen online). I knew since i started fairly early on this i should be able to get pretty detailed. I started to do a few sketches and then used measurements to keep some of the patterns balanced, but drew most of the patterns free hand.

"I know you, I know your past,....your future."

Here we see a lonely unitard hanging on a shower curtain....
It has no idea how many neck breaking hours we are about to spend together!!! I didn't even know what a unitard was till a few weeks ago. All i knew was the sound of it make me laugh a little everytime i said it. I enjoy being creative and i get very determined when i get an idea in my head. It can be a good thing and a bad thing. Because once i have decided that i am doing a project like the Cortana Costume, i go all out and get crazy with it.

Ghosts, Ghouls and a 5th of Vodka

When i was a kid, this was never my favorite time of year. But i guess moving to TN and it being hot all the time, made me miss home (PA) and the fall weather. It has actually been cool for almost two weeks and it is so great. It definitely put me in the mood for some Hot apple cider, leaves falling, Halloween and ghost hunting.

The last two years i have went all out for my costumes for Halloween. My love for Sci-Fi & Fantasy has, for some reason, never entered into my costumes till i started watching Anime. I'm sure it all links up somewhere. When i was younger my backup costume was always a black cat. I would wear a black shirt, black jeans, a tail, ears and paint my face. Started getting old at some point, but i never thought to be a Star Wars character or a character from Legend or a Rainbow Brite. Also as a kid you don't have the money to put into a costume like an adult would.

Two years ago i was Arwen from LOTR and you can imagine how much that cost! I can't believe now what money i spent on it. I purchased a real metal crown from Ebay and had a lady make me the dress (also found online). Last year i was a Lolita school girl. This is more along the lines of Japanese/Anime. It was a beautiful Black and white school girl shirt with a black shirt and petty coat underneath. It's so much fun feeling different and being someone else for a night! I had no idea people, young and old, got so crazy with costuming till i started looking at Cosplay websites online. It makes me really wish i new how to sew and make my own cloths and costumes. To the outside eye it would look crazy or geek ridden. I think it's a lot of fun and i have seen some amazing stuff out there! It does kind of hurt when you see some who wear outfits they shouldn't or who just put little effort into it. But then again, i've been lazy plenty of times. No matter what, it should just be fun.

Since i have gotten older i have learned that the old saying be yourself, is truer than ever. Screw those people who are too cool to do certain things. I am lovin' my geeky hobbies and I'm starting to really get into them.

So, this year i am going as Cortana from Halo 3. I didn't realize she was different in each game till i started Googling images of her and reading other peoples' articles about Cosplaying her. She used to look very purple and now is more blue. The black lines are also different. I like the Halo 3 version and have of course been playing this game since it was out. I'm no Officer, but i love playing online and off. Unfortunately when you are on Xbox Live every asshole and his brother are on there playing. Little kids with attitudes or people who shit talk. Although i do enjoy my friend Michele talking it up, he's hilarious!

Okay, i'm back from my tangent :-) I am very excited about this costume because i have almost everything i need already. If i can take my time, i can get it very detailed. I ordered what is called a unitard, wig & make up. I think it will be awesome! I am going to dye the unitard and get fabric paint for the black lines. I also have an idea for putting fiber optics in the wig to make it look like the lines of her hair. I bought a particular wig with advice from some online forums and i am going to have a hair stylist cut it for me. It is super long right now. I will be writing about my progress and put some photos up later. If anyone has any tips, i'm open to any suggestions! Wow i wrote a lot! I'm out.

Oh and yes i will be having some crazy vodka drink this weekend, while sitting around the fire at my friends house! Cheers!