Waru Express: The Phantom Menace

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I finally gained a better grip on my sanity and decided to break these reviews into slightly smaller chunks so next up are the Phantom Menace related books!   The good news is that not only did I not hate any of them but I actually loved one of them.

Darth Plagueis
I have Sith Fatigue and apparently the only cure is more Sith!  (They’re like cowbell.)  Seriously though, I loved this book!  Granted, I’m a bit of a political junkie but there really wasn’t anything I disliked about this book except that I wanted another hundred pages of it.  (Editor’s Note: Much like that business on Cato Neimoidia, that doesn’t count.)  I positively loved how James Luceno took everything that happened in the Prequel Trilogy and wove together a background that not only made sense but helped flesh out the story.  It’s the Long Con, folks, and it pays off so gosh darn beautifully.  After reading this book, all of the questions I had about how Palpatine worked both sides of the Clone Wars were answered.

It wasn’t just the story line and the writing that I liked.  I was also rather intrigued by getting to see the characters we know from different angles.  In particular, I enjoyed the parts with Dooku and how his departure from the Jedi Order came about.  Palpatine himself was another character that I enjoyed getting to know better, much to my surprise.  What can I say?  I’m a sucker for a good descent into darkness tale.  (Editor’s Note: Sheeeeeeeeeeeeev!)  Continue reading →

The Costume Counselor: Patterns as a Base

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Unless you’re naturally gifted with drafting your own patterns, utilizing existing ones will be the easiest way to actually construct a costume from scratch.  Odds are, you won’t find a pattern that works completely and perfectly for whatever you’re making especially if you’re trying to be screen accurate.  There is, however, a certain art to flipping through pattern books in search of an illusive base.  First things first, you should ask yourself how willing you are to be inaccurate.  You should also be realistic about your ability to alter patterns.  And then get yourself to the fabric store. Continue reading →

Waru Express: The Really Old Republic

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It took slightly longer than anticipated thanks to some difficulties with the library but I’ve finally finished the first leg of my Expanded Universe reread. (Editor’s Note: There was a two week gap between the opening post and this first one.)  The short version?  There were certainly some ups and downs and WOW am I glad to be getting out of these eras and away from these old school Sith.  (Sith Fatigue is a real and dangerous disease, folks.  It claims hundreds of readers every year.)

The Old Republic: Revan
I’ll freely admit to being a HUGE KOTOR fangirl back in the day.  Somewhere, buried on a hard drive, is probably a lot of half-written fanfic about the characters.  I was obsessed with Revan and had slightly ridiculous crushes on both Carth Onasi and Atton Rand.  (That was totally my right as a 14 year old girl.)  If you’ve never played either of the Knights of the Old Republic games, the one thing you should know is that your character (Revan in the first game and the Exile in the second) is essentially a blank slate.  You decide their gender, their looks, and their personality.  Therefore, I spent most of the first half of the book trying to reconcile the Revan in my head (a very snarky lady) with the canon Revan who is decidedly not her and is, in fact, a man.  (Curse you, canon!)  Also, I insist that Natalya Donn is totally a better name for the Exile than Meetra Surik.  I mean…. Meetra?  Really? Continue reading →

Woo Woo, All Aboard the Waru Express!

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Back in the fall of 2012, I was unemployed and had a very bad idea that Brian, the editor over at Tosche Station, encouraged.  I had a little under 100 Star Wars books sitting on my bookshelf and hadn’t gotten the chance to reread them in ages so obviously the best course of action was to read all of them again.  I also let myself be bribed into adding The Crystal Star to the list.  SOMEONE STILL OWES ME A REREAD OF REVENGE OF THE SITH.

Thus the Waru Express was born.

The goal of the project was never to pull a Pablo Hidalgo and reread everything although it is tempting to do a sequel project one day and reread all the rest of the Legends books.  The rules were thus: I started chronologically and read my way through my own personal Star Wars book collection.  I also be reread and read some books for the first time that I am able to get from the library and/or also interested me. Every two to six or so books, I posted my thoughts on them.  The original project lasted seven months but I’ll be reposting them (with some minors edits and probably a touch of modern day commentary) once a week. On the list below, the ones marked with a * were ones I’d previously read but didn’t own while those marked with a ~ were ones I hadn’t read before.

To those of you who experienced the Waru Express when it originally happened… enjoy the trip down memory lane.  For those of you who have never had the pleasure… buckle up because it’s going to be a wild ride.  Feel free to tweet me any thoughts you may have along the way @chaosbria. 😉

THE LIST: Continue reading →

The Costume Counselor: Armor 101

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Armor is, without a doubt, one of the most intimidating things out there.  And I’m not just talking about when you’ve got a legion of stormtroopers marching towards you led by Darth Vader although okay yeah that’s a little scary if it’s unexpected.  No, I’m talking about the process of actually making armor for yourself.  We’re not going to go into the crazy world of vacuum forming or the kits that you can buy for stormtroopers.  Instead, we’ll look at the more affordable armor materials that are out there.

Let’s cover a couple of basics first.  All of these materials are going to require heat to shape them.  You can get a heat gun/embossing gun from almost any craft store but BE CAREFUL.  Things can get very hot very fast and you may burn yourself if you’re not cautious.  I speak from personal experience.   You’re also going to need to paint the crap out of whatever material you use.  Some of these will need multiple layers of gesso plus sanding in order to get a smooth surface.  (I will admit that this is something I haven’t quite yet mastered…)  I also cannot recommend enough getting some large sheets of paper to use for templates before you start messing with your chosen material.  You can probably find newspaper for free and recutting that a dozen times to get the shape right is infinitely preferable to doing so with a more expensive material.   Continue reading →

Costume Feelings in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

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There’s something magical that makes your heart stop when they first open the blast doors into the Star Wars and the Power of Costume Exhibition because you’ve just watched this neat little introduction video and then all of the sudden—there right there!—is the Queen Amidala Throne Room gown. It was smaller than it comes off on screen (probably because Natalie Portman is a lot smaller than me) and the lights on the bottom were understandably not lit up but there it was. I let out a little squeak and this was warning sign number—no wait, that’s a lie. Warning Sign #1 that I was going to be emotionally compromised was hearing about this exhibit and getting tickets for it. The chances of me not being at least somewhat embarrassing because of all my pretty costume emotions were nonexistent. (Look son, I know what I’m about.) Continue reading →

The Costume Counselor: When Things Just Won’t Work

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Sometimes, a project just doesn’t want to cooperate. It’s frustrating, it’s infuriating, it makes you want to rip your hair out and scream. We’ve all been there. Heck, I was just there on Sunday. I thought that Attempt #2 was finally going to be the thing that made the armor piece of my new Mara Jade costume work how I intended and then it just looked stupid. There went my hopes of finishing the bulk of the costume that weekend. It was one of those situations that just made me want to throw it all away and quit cosplay forever. If you’ve been in this hobby for more than year, you’ve probably faced those moments and if you have yet to… well, brace yourself. And you know what? It’s totally okay. You just need to find out what can help you move past your frustrations.  Over the years, I’ve figured out a few tricks.

Procrastinate Productively
This is a coping method that I have a PhD in. When one part of a costume won’t work, I often put it away and work on an easier part or just work on another costume entirely. Barriss Offee’s cape was driving me up the wall with figuring out how to pattern it so I shoved the fabric into a bag that was out of sight and made her bracer instead. When I went back to the cape a few days later, my brain was refreshed. (I was also starting to run out of time but that’s neither here nor there.) Continue reading →

The Costume Counselor: Packing it all up

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Congratulations! You’ve finished making your costume and you’re ready for a convention but now you’ve got another problem: how are you going to get it there? If you’re wearing only one costume to a convention or if your costumes are fairly simple and will fold up nicely, this won’t be an issue. Things get more challenging when you’re trying to pack six or seven costumes and some normal clothes into a suitcase that’s under the airline weight limit. (That’s step 1, by the way: Make sure that your costume line up for a convention is actually something you can fit into a suitcase and transport to a convention.)

Like almost every other cosplay thing, this is something where you want to start early. The ‘haphazardly throw everything in a suitcase five hours before your flight’ method may seem like a good idea but you are almost guaranteed to forget something. One of my friends is the Queen of this. I usually start making my packing list two weeks in advanced. Every single costume has every single component listed out and I even note which pieces are used for multiple costumes. I also write out everything else I’m bringing to the convention from normal clothes to make up to snacks. For Dragon Con, this usually results in a list that’s three to four pages long when I print it. Continue reading →

The Costume Counselor: Wigs 101

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Wigs are scary. Well, an actual wig isn’t all that scary. It’s just fake hair after all but if you’ve never worn or styled one before, the prospect of getting your first wig can be terrifying. For the first few years that I cosplayed, I felt the same way and only costumed as characters whose hair matched my own. After a friend finally shoved a wig on my head for a Scarlet Witch costume one year, I finally gave in and bought my very first one in 2011. (It was a medium length purple one for Psylocke.) I still have a tendency to try and mostly do characters whose hair matches mine but I no longer have that phobia. Instead, I now have a box filled with probably two dozen of them. Over the last five years, I’ve learned a few tips and tricks that just might come in handy for you if you’re new to this whole wig thing.

Always wear a wig cap
I resisted doing this at first and just French braided my hair but wig caps make everything so much easier. You just shove all your hair into one and it keeps everything contained. It’s also a lot easier to shift your hair around so you can avoid any visible lumps or bumps. They take some getting used to but wig caps are honestly a life saver and pretty darn cheap. (Your wig may even come with one!) If you forget a wig cap at a convention, run to the dealer room because you can probably find a wig vendor there who is selling them. Continue reading →

The Costume Counselor: Shoes Shoes Shoes

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When it comes to shoes for costumes, you will almost definitely have to pick from the following: completely accurate, comfortable, or cheap. Most of the time, you’ll only get two-out-of-three. Getting all of them happens rarely and should be treated as a Christmas miracle any time it does. As always, it is up to you which route you prefer to take and as always, I have my personal preference. (It’s comfort. I always go for comfort.)

IMG_2604But first… Hey you! Yes, you reading this. Do you have new shoes for a costume for an upcoming convention? Go put them on right now. I’ll wait. Look: I even have mine on! The most important thing to do for any pair of shoes you intend to wear for a costume is to make sure that they are broken in well in advance. The absolute last thing you want to do is get to the con with a pair of brand spanking new shoes and get blisters because they rub you the wrong way or find out that you can’t actually walk in them. Put those babies on now and wear them around the house or while running errands. Your feet will thank you in the long run.

Let’s get back to the process of picking those shoes… Continue reading →