D23 Expo, 2022

Beast and his Carol of the Belles

This past weekend was Disney’s ‘comic con’- the D23 Expo. 23, as in 1923, when Walt Disney arrived in Southern California. Direct from Main Street, USA. I have two words to describe this past weekend: magical; inspiring. Maybe I should have said three words: magical AND inspiring. We were looking so forward to the weekend and it absolutely flew by in a blur of dragons, beasts, stardust, and magic.

Shen Long, the Great Protector and I represented the most beautiful movie Marvel has ever made- Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in the D23 Expo Mousequerade. Photo is @yorkinabox

The first day of the con, Friday, coincided with my birthday. So nice of Disney, right? Although Bryn opted for school in the AM, Ken and I, sporting brand new Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings cosplays met up with a friend, who cosplays Shang Chi, and one of our favorite photogs. And stumbled upon a Ying Le. What a beautiful happening. And, if anyone is wondering, 4 Shang Chi cosplayers with 2 Ta Lo creatures is the nexus that attracts the Marvel photographers. We 6 found ourselves in a Marvel video posted on marvel.com. Featuring Ying Le and Shang Chi. (aka @thedolly.llama and @bryan.s.lee on Instagram.) We should have more photos soon…

Photo by @thedolly.llama

Shang Chi sending that Venmo to Soo.

Having found ourselves in the Marvel spotlight, Ken left to pick Bryn up at school and I headed back into the con, to embark on a completely new adventure- entering a costume contest without my crew. Alone. Weird, right? I had entered Shen Long, the Great Protector in the Mousequerade, Disney’s masquerade and costume competition as a solo entry. To my utter shock, they accepted the entry. Over quarantine, Bryn grew frustrated with the exclusion of anyone under 18 in any of the competitions and finally voiced her disgruntlement. We agreed to not do any more cosplays with Ken and myself that she could not join. Hence, the first (and likely last) competition I will ever do alone. I’ll be honest. I don’t mind going onstage alone. I rather like that everyone has to pay attention to me, but I missed my crew. And brace yourselves, y’all…the next major con happens over her 18th birthday weekend.

ACK! Shen Long says, she was onstage with me so I wasn’t alone…

The Off the Screen group, with Agatha Harkness, Vidia, Cinderella, Mary Poppins, Luisa, Rapunzel, and Snow White. And then, those kids doing their own thing- Cubbi Gummi and Shen Long, the Great Protector

And our friends, @rockyrantscosplay and @simbakun with MORRIS!!!

The Mousequerade has spoiled me for all other cosplay contests. I cannot carry on enough about how awesome the entries were, how amazing the people were, how great the staff was, how beautiful the stage was, or how gobsmackingly wonderful Nina West was. I AM SPOILED. It was such a great event. I loved every minute. And I have to say, the costumes were SO GOOD. Y’ALL. THEY WERE SO GOOD.

Our Belle and Beast are based on this piece of art by @gregluzniak

And then, it was Saturday. We had been asked to do a princess/prince group on Saturday, specifically with Beast and Belle. It has been hot. It was going to stay hot. It was supposed to rain. But, once the idea of Belle and Beast at D23 had been presented, we seriously considered it. And thought, hell no. Its hella hot. And supposed to rain. No, no, no. But, we wanted to do a friend a solid. So, with a lot of caveats, we plotted how we would bring the Beast to D23. We settled on a chill vest and a neck fan. And putting the costume on inside the AC. And honestly, people- we have no AC at our house, so we’d spent the last 2 weeks sweltering in 100+ degree weather with no AC break, save driving the car around, and, so suddenly, Belle and Beast in the AC didn’t seem so bad. Bryn nixed Eilonwy- she wanted to make our group cohesive and we decided, sure, why not? Town Belle, it was. And Beast and his Carole of the Bells went to D23.

By @yorkinabox

Photo is @yorkinabox

Among the people wanting pics with Beast and the Belles, was Chris Buck and Fern Veerasunthorn. Mr. Buck- all your Disney work is wonderful. We love it. But, let’s talk Surf’s Up, people. This is a movie about surfers for surfers. The scene pulled from Stepping into Liquid where the penguins (gal surfers) dive under the wave? GAH!!!! The day Cody spends surfing with Z?????? We haven’t seen this movie in far too long because we haven’t paddled out in far too long. THIS WEEKEND. SUNDAY. We’re going to paddle out and maybe, we’ll watch some Surf’s Up, a magical wonderful movie about why we surf.

Walking through the con as Belles and Beast was magical. So much so, that we’ve started planning our next Belle and Beast cosplay. Yep. Belle, singular. We need an Enchantress…

And then, Sunday. Egad, we were tired. We agreed to handle for a friend- a lot of people have handled us- was it this hard???? Maybe we should pay them. But, we handled. Got pecked in the head several times. Warded off rogue strollers that apparently could not see an 8 foot tall bird. Took photos, got info. And wrangled Kevin, from UP.

We cosplayed Ego, Meredith Quill, and Star Lord from GOTG Vol 2 on Sunday. No one asked for photos and honestly, it was very nice.

At the end of the day, we finally used one of our reservations- the Conversations with Disney Character Voices- panel. And happily found ourselves in line next to the actor who does Black Panther’s voice at Avenger’s Campus. He’s also a Dapper Dan. He said, “have you been to Avenger’s Campus”. Bryn: we have a friend that says we live there…. He was with another voice actress who’s done a number of projects we love. SQUEEE!!!!! They were there because their friend, the new voice of Minnie Mouse, was going to be formally introduced.

The Fab 5, Heroines, and Donny Osmond

After a barrage of voices we love, Donny Osmond performed his song from Mulan for us. I can’t even say how magical that was. I spent some time on Sunday night looking at friends’- old and new- posts about D23. There was so much magic floating around at D23 this past weekend. I truly hope you found some of it. Or that some of it found you.

There once was a Zouwu named Charlie…

Before Quarantine, myself and others had a plan to bring to the Wondercon Masquerade stage a Wizarding World/Best in Show crossover. Mayhem aplenty was planned. But, then, real mayhem took hold. And all the costumes were put on hold, including Charlie. The Zouwu.

Charlie (puppet No. 3, as in he’s the third puppet I’ve made) was originally intended to be a wearable puppet. That was the 2020 plan. His head would be on mine. Attached to something like a bike helmet. My back feet would be his. His tail would attach to my ass. But, after he sat in storage, sad and unfinished for 2 years, that plan didn’t freaking work. Really, the entire effect was AWFUL. So, there I am with this awesome zouwu head that was crazy heavy. What to do????? Ultimately, I made Charlie into a fancy shoulder puppet. There are canvas straps inside of his body that attach all his pieces and rest on my shoulders. I wear wrist braces to help with the weight. I’ll rest his head on mine. Let his tail droop.

In this pic, we all look rather chill. I’m actually thinking, THIS IS SO HEAVY. HURRY UP, PHOTOGS, AND GET YOUR SHOT!!!!

We put Charlie into a skit with Rowan Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. We have a running gag for these cosplays and characters that there is an unmentionable incident that occurs in Constantinople. And no one is supposed to talk about Constantinople. We decided to put that incident onto the stage and involve the basilisk and the zouwu.

Final Charlie was designed for me to lift. And spin. Zouwu should not pay attention to gravity. That said, Charlie is HEAVY. The skit was a serious workout. I left that stage panting from the exercise. The results, however, seem pretty damn good.

Stage photos are a friend; gray background photos are SDCC photogs.

Making a Beast

Our Belle, Beast, and Chapeau (Beast’s valet, the violin playing coat rack) are inspired by a fantastic piece of art by Greg Luzniak. At Wondercon 2022, a couple of weekends back, we finally saw Greg after 2+ years and we were talking about this cosplay based on his art. I mentioned to the artist how I’d had to change Beast’s coat because of logistical issues with the original design. Greg’s Beast has a super well-fitted coat that shows all his arm muscles. Ken, not being the size of the Beast, didn’t quite fill out the coat right and trying to create the foam arms that would, well, it wasn’t working. Greg said he’d be interested in seeing how the Beast was created. I thought, sure, why not? Maybe someone else might be interested, too! Photo below with our awesome handler, @kiez21 . Artwork below is Greg Luzniak’s Belle and Beast.

I learned a lot about proportions from our first large creature build- our Game of Thrones dragons. We also learned beaucoup de things about how to make something like this wearable. Note in this pic how our legs are sagging…..

So, the first thing I made for Beast were his feet. They had to fit over Ken’s platform boots and was THE item that drove all the rest of Beast’s proportions. Everything had to fit with the feet that had to fit the over the boots. I had also learned from dragon making 101, that the fur had to go onto the feet before I could really determine the final size of the feet. Fur and scales make everything bigger!!! I added foam piping to create a muscled look.

Once I had made the feet, I had a pretty good idea about how big the head needed to be, again, largely based on our experience creating the dragons from Game of Thrones. The horns were fairly true to size. The head was small- fur and padding would drastically increase the size of the head.

I started by adding foam, glued directly to the chalk outlines, to his brows and cheeks. I had made eyes from clear plastic holiday ornaments and DAS, a sculpting medium. Aside from the hilarious in between with his goggly eyes, note that one cheek was flatter than the other, so I pulled the fur and stuffed it until they were even. His lip is actually fabric, stuffed and sealed with modge podge. And painted. His fangs are moldable craft foam. He does have a small ponytail that has a clip in bow (bow not pictured). His tail was made just like the back of his head, with a bit of wig hair at the bottom. I have no photos of his tail.

Like the dragons, the lookout- where the wearer sees out and gets air is actually below the head. Ken wears the same harness for Beast that he wears for Drogon. Why make it twice, right?

Once Beast’s head and shoulders were created, I made his chest. I used an armor pattern- increased in size to match Beast, and cut out foam and glued it together. I added straps and parachute clips to the armor so that it clipped together. The shoulders clipped through the head piece so that its all solidly attached. If necessary, Ken could run from a T-rex. (This is Bryn’s costume requirement. And while he could run, I don’t think he’d outrun the rex…) Beast’s hands were made from large Hulk gloves, with foam glued to the gloves. I added the same foam piping to his hands. The unphotoed tail parachute clips into the back ‘armor’.

I also added foam to the shoulders and around his neck. I also added the rest of his face fur at this time. Beast’s vest is only visible in the front, so rather than make a vest, I attached a vest front and shirt front directly to the front foam piece. It is both glued and stitched on. The cravat piece is snapped onto the Beast head with large snaps and tucked into the vest.

Once I had the Beast top built, I could put him onto the Ken sized dress dummy and pattern the coat.

So, looking good, right? Yeah, here is where things started going south…. In the photos, Beast has large muscled arms and his jacket stretches tightly over his arms. I created muscled arms; however, because Ken’s arms are so far below Beast’s shoulders, Ken couldn’t make Beast’s arms move properly. Also, his arms looked super wonky…. We do have video of Ken trying to make the arms move- its both hilarious and disturbing.

So, approximately 48 hours before the Masquerade, I remade Beast’s coat with fabric hand me downs…. and I gave him crazy puffy sleeves to hide the issues above. Note how the puff from the sleeves hides all. The cuffs are directly attached to the coat. The more things are attached, the better for a Beast.

The final piece added is the cravat that attaches around the neck. This is snapped to the Beast head piece. Hand claws are a 3D print from Dream Vision Creations. Beast is also wearing specially made muscle pants- that clip into the bodice/harness. Booty was added, as well as thigh and calf muscles. The muscle pants were made with black dance fabric- nice and slippery! The pants are stretch velvet and are held up with suspenders- no more saggy legs!!

One of my favorite parts about Beast are his eyes…. they follow you. Its a little bit creepy and a little bit awesome and I have absolutely no idea how I managed it.

Below is the link to purchase Greg’s Belle and Beast:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/636139468/beauty-and-the-beast

The Case of the Missing Founder (CLOSED)

By Epiphelia Holmes

/Abstract: Circa 1010 common era (CE), Salazar Slytherin, learned magicker, scholar, world traveler, and basilisk breeder, disappeared. All wizarding histories, including the penultimate source on Hogwarts, Hogwarts, A History (Bagshot, 1905), note that Slytherin disagreed with the other three Founders on the teaching of magic to the Muggle-born, and thus, left Hogwarts, angry and disillusioned. Through dogged research and exhaustive detective work, the author of this paper reveals the true fate of Salazar Slytherin, and surprisingly, the fate of Rowen Ravenclaw, utilizing the early enchanted and startlingly lifelike paintings of Grimhilde of Bingen and Hildegard of Bingen, as well as accounts from Slytherin’s own newly discovered journal for Year 1032, 33, revealing the magicker as an avid naturalist of Fantastic Beasts, who extensively traveled the various routes of the Silk Road with Rowen Ravenclaw, after Ravenclaw’s ‘death’. Additionally, this article presents new evidence regarding a second Ravenclaw diadem, created after the infamous theft of the original artefact.

Excerpt from Section 1.3 History of the Artists:

Note: Artist history is primarily sourced from Vasari, 1569, unless otherwise noted. 

Grimhilde of Bingen (b. 964 d. 1138), a most misunderstood woman of her time, largely due to an ungrateful stepdaughter widely known primarily for her snow white skin, was, in actuality, a writer, composer, mystic, and artist of the 10th century. Forced to leave her homeland, in the Rhine, due to the aforementioned stepdaughter and an unfortunate incident involving a huntsman and several angry miners, Grimhilde settled in the region of what is now Cornwall in England. Her many interests and skills led her to the creation of an enchanted paintbrush, which created paintings, so lifelike, they are nearly indistinguishable from the photographs of today. 

Although Grimhilde’s paintings and writings became well known in the Wizarding world, her scholarly pursuits were not her only passion and she married and bore one daughter, also an artist, composer, and mystic. Grimhilde’s granddaughter, however, was born a Squib, which may have been what drove her to successes even beyond her mother and grandmother. Hildegard of Bingen (b. 1098 d. 1179) returned to her grandmother’s homeland as a young adult and became a German Benedictine abbess, a writer, a composer, a philosopher, a mystic, a visionary, a polymath, an artist, and is considered among Wizards and Muggles alike, to be the founder of scientific natural history in the Germanic region.

Among their many accomplishments, Grimhilde and Hildegard painted several important wizarding figures of their day, most notably, Salazar Slytherin and Rowen Ravenclaw. Grimhilde completed a series of paintings of the pair between 1026 and 1028. Hildegard, who inherited the enchanted brush, also painted Slytherin and Ravenclaw, circa 1132. These paintings, which show the two Founders, reunited, after Slytherin’s disappearance and Ravenclaw’s death as the witch, Rowena Ravenclaw, are masterfully created and provide a number of interesting facts regarding Slytherin’s mysterious disappearance from the school and Ravenclaw’s supposed death of a broken heart. The series of paintings of Slytherin and Ravenclaw by the two artists is known in the Wizarding art world as the dual Bingen series.

Excerpt from 2.1 Archival Research:

[…] No one in the Kavalier family possessed an ounce of magic any longer and thus, no one over the ages was able to decipher the ancient text, largely written in a combination of Middle Irish, Old Norse, Latin, and a code, possibly based on spoken Parseltongue. The journal, a simple leather book labeled “MXXXII, MXXXIII, A.D.”, containing sketches of strange beasts, was an unreadable text among nearly two dozen aged tomes, and almost universally ignored by the family over time. Indeed, until the late 1980s, when Mr. Clay Kavalier, a graphic novel artist, discovered the sketches of the Fantastic Beasts in the journal and used them as an inspiration for his drawings, the book was almost never opened. Mr. Kavalier’s highly accurate depictions of various Fantastic Beasts, found in a Muggle ‘comic book’, led the author of this article to the Slytherin journal, carefully stored and preserved by the Kavalier family, now, of Orange, California, USA. The authenticity of the journal was verified by the Historical Records Department, Ministry of Magic, in 2020.

/[…] The depiction of the diadem in the dual Bingen series has long puzzled wizarding scholars, as it is widely known and accepted that Ravenclaw’s diadem was stolen by Helena Ravenclaw and hidden, only surfacing during the reign of He Who Must Not Be Named in the modern era. The original diadem possessed an oval blue jewel and “was said to grant wisdom to the wearer” (Bagshot, 1905).  A description of the dual Bingen series diadem is included in Section 3.1; it is noted here, however, that the two artefacts are different. Considering the possibility that Ravenclaw crafted a second diadem, the author of this article researched Wizarding metalworkers of the 10th century, finally discovering among the preserved papers of Lillith Helmschmied, the most famous female Wizarding metalworker of the 10th and 11th centuries, a sketch of the diadem depicted in the dual Bingen series. Unfortunately, Helmschmied does not indicate if the new diadem possessed the same abilities as the original. If, as many scholars opine, Ravenclaw enchanted the jewel herself (Bagshot, 1905), it seems likely that the second jewel was also enchanted.

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Excerpt from 3.1 Description of the Garb:

The dual Bingen series may be the most important depiction of any of the Founders completed to date. Not only is the garb consistent with 10th century fashions, and thus, likely representing one of the more accurate portrayals of the Founders, there are accents to the garb which offer insight into the Founders themselves. The paintings in the series were created nearly 100 years apart. Neither Founder appears to have aged between the sessions and both are garbed identically in all paintings in the dual series. There is agreement among experts that Hildegard likely created her paintings from sketches completed by Grimhilde. 

Salazar Slytherin left Viking occupied lands, in what is now Ireland, as a young adult, and the garb the Founder wears in the paintings reflects the Founder’s roots in Viking Age Ireland. Salazar is painted wearing a green dress over a léine; the dress is heavily embroidered with Fantastic Beasts, including a zouwu, a demiguise (both visible and invisible), a phoenix, a unicorn, a manticore, an occamy, and a basilisk, all done in the style of the Book of Kells. One of the embroidery designs shows a kelpie, which are known to live in Black Lake, at Hogwarts. Snakes are embroidered over a border of Celtic knot work that runs along the base of the dress. The top of the dress and the top of the léine are both decorated with lace that incorporates Book of Kells style snakes. Salazar also wears a green coat, adorned with still more snakes. The paintings indicate that the Founder preferred fancy Wizarding fabrics and possessed an almost excessive flair. The coat is pinned with metal brooches to show off the dress embroidery and like many items made at the time, the base of the coat is lined with fur. From the painting, it is not possible to definitively ascertain the type of fur, but magi-biologists generally agree that it is likely Bodmin Moorcat (Challenger, 1899, Mirza et al., 2018).

Rowen Ravenclaw, who originated from the Kingdom of Alba (now, approximately the lowlands of Scotland), is painted in traditional Anglo-Saxon garb. Like Salazar, Rowen also wears fancy wizarding fabric unavailable to the Muggles of the time. Celtic style ravens are embroidered on the sleeves and around the keyhole opening of the long tunica. Chain embroidery winds around the ravens. Celtic knot work is embroidered along the base of the tunic. Consistent with Anglo-Saxon fashions, Ravenclaw is wearing short pants tucked into high socks that are secured with ties. Ravenclaw’s simple silver band diadem is completely consistent with Muggle styles of the day and contains the Celtic phrase, “Cíall gan chiomhsa • Maoin mór duini”, in a version of Gaelic spoken in Alba. The phrase approximates “Wit without limit: great treasure of Men”. According to Helmschmied, the band is made of silver and the words are stamped into the band. The jewel is noted as a sapphire and it is also set in silver. Rowen’s rich cloak is decorated around the base with silver trim and it is worn draped, similar to a Roman toga. Generally, Rowen’s garb is less decorated than Salazar’s garb. It is thought among some scholars that the Founder of the Ravenclaw House was more reserved than his Slytherin counterpart. The dual Bingen series would counter this idea.

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Excerpt from 3.2 Description of the Fantastic Beasts

There are few records regarding the Fantastic Beasts depicted in the paintings, which include an occamy and a basilisk. Salazar’s journal records the names of both beasts who appear in the dual Bingen series and notes that the basilisk was one of three successful hatchings. The occamy is called Ocarina and the basilisk is King George. The occamy could be of any age, as occamy will grow or shrink to whatever size to occupy space, an ability they possess immediately after hatching. The basilisk is clearly a youngster, as it is small and still has wings, as compared to the centuries old and massively huge wingless basilisk found in the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts in 1992. Salazar’s journal does not include any dates for the hatchings and says nothing about the other two successful hatchings. The journal also does not offer any information regarding how Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Grimhilde of Bingen all lived beyond the sketching and painting sessions involving the basilisk. As breeding of basilisks is currently illegal and has been illegal for centuries, very little is known about them. Magi-biologists generally agree that the most likely scenario is that the beast had either not yet developed any of the paralyzing or killing abilities possessed by the Chamber of Secrets basilisk or he was able to control his abilities (Verne, 1863, Challenger, 1891). Opinion is split regarding whether the basilisk himself decided against rampaging during the sessions or whether Salazar was able to train the beast (Mirza, 2020).

Oogie Boogie Bash

The Halloween party put on by Disney in the Disney California Adventure Park was our second costumed outing since Anime Los Angeles in January 2020. That was a while ago now, you know?. Our first was the Bilbo Baggins Birthday Bash, an informal but super fun, gathering in September in LA’s Griffith Park. I guess we just love a good ‘bash’.

We had reservations for the day on our passes so we did not have to wait in the HUGE line to get into the park. We actually showed up early, but without Kid Loki’s belt, so we left and went home to get it, putting us in the park right at 3PM. D’oh. At least we jumped the line by having that handy reservation. Then, we checked in at Blue Sky Cellar. Nice, right?

We thoroughly enjoyed all of the new Marvel series, but as lovers of all things MYSTERY, Loki really found a special place in our hearts. Most particularly Episode 5, called by us “The Carnival Episode”. Its actual name is “Journey into Mystery”. We dressed as variants, gathered our Tesseract and our glorious purpose, and headed for our second bash in a month.

Cast members appear to love the Loki series, as well- several made sure that we were able to meet 2012 Avengers Loki. And we also met a few other variants. Behold, Tiki Loki, possibly my new fav. How many Lokis does one need? At least 8!!! We also saw a TVA Loki from afar. So…. 9!!!

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One rule of the OBB is that one cannot take photos with other guests- Disney wants to make sure that no one mistakes other guests for actual Park characters. So, when a gal ran up to us and wanted a pic, we did say there was a rule, but hey, we’re Lokis, so let’s chat for a mo’ and if your friend takes a snap, that works for us! Turns out, she was a producer on Episode 5 and wanted the pic to show her team. COOLEST THING EVER, RIGHT?????? She was truly delightful and we talked about the various Easter eggs and how very few changes were made to the original script and how it was the Carnival episode and we love a good carnival episode in whatever cozy mystery we’re watching at the time. Also, the real alligator Loki Gator is based on is named Wally. Wally!!!

The great thing about dressing as a Loki is that no one expects good behavior. Its entirely possible that we cheered for Anastasia overly enthusiastically in hopes of starting a squabble between her and Drizella. Its also entirely possible that Loki Gator tried to eat more than just my hand. But, hey, all the villains loved us.

It has been a hot minute since we’ve done one of these parties. I don’t know if the characters were added to the treat lines this year, or if they were added prior to this year, but they are a stupendous addition. Bryn had never seen Tarrant Hightop, aka The Hatter, at the parks, ever. (That she remembers.) This pic was taken right after Hatter spotted another Hatter.

Cruella had an entire stage with several of her creations set up in a fashion show. It was spectacular.

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And, of course, we had to visit Agatha Harkness’ treat line. Twice. The second time we went through the line just to chat with her. I mean, she’s a witch, Loki’s mom was witch- there is some common ground there.

What If….??? Disney decided to go with a slightly scary vibe? Monsters After Dark does a pretty good scary vibe, as does Ghost Galaxy (not running this year). But, What If??????

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I hadn’t actually seen the Zombie episode of What If? yet, but this was still pretty darn cool. I’ve since seen the episode since (twice- Karl is in it- the Baba Yaga guy from Antman and I love those three wombats).

There were photo pass photographers around, as well, and photos were included in the ticket. Super bonus, as we snagged some great pics waiting for the parade. Note- the OBB tix also included any photos taken by photo pass or on the rides before the event started at 6PM. You just have to link your OBB tix to your ticket or photo pass.

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OBB was worthy of being our second costumed event- we had a very good time. And if Drizella and Anastasia were fighting on Buena Vista Street as the fireworks started, we had nothing at all to do with that. Nothing.

The Gal in the Back

I find the designs for all of the various gods and goddesses in Disney’s Hercules utterly delightful. Yes, the story has some major issues, but it’s fun. FUN. Plus, I enjoy retellings and new perspectives. Myths and fairy tales and oral stories change over time; I can appreciate all the differences from the older stories and still enjoy the new ones. I’ll be honest. I often prefer the newer versions. They resonate better because there is something of the now in them.

Back to Disney’s Hercules. One of the characters Ken has always wanted to cosplay is Hades, specifically from this movie. He’s snarky. He’s cheesy. He’s villainous and so Las Vegas sleazy. And… he’s FUN. Plus? That costume looks pretty comfy- aside from all the makeup and gloves and tights due to the fact that Hades is a bluish gray. While we’ve toyed with cosplaying Philoctedes and the nymphs (that turn into trees) for an unspecified D23 in the future, I haven’t really fallen in love with any of the characters enough to get around to making costumes. And then, -probably while reading Lore Olympus by @usedbandaid – it occurred to me to look closely at all the gods and goddesses in Disney’s Hercules and see if perhaps, Persephone was hanging around.

And did you know? She IS.

Do you see that gal in the back? Behind the large green goddess that is so obviously Demeter? Yup. That is Persephone. Cosplaying Disney’s Hades and Disney’s Persephone is something that really peaks my interest. Ken is super stoked. They never interact in the movie or in the subsequent series; apparently, the show creators never found a storyline that worked for the goddess of Spring and the lord of the Underworld. Doesn’t mean a couple of intrepid cosplayers cannot run amok with those characters, however.

My intent for these two costumes is to actually describe my work process and show pics and possibly how tos… I benefit greatly from others doing so and keep feeling that I should pay it forward. I’m going to try. To that end, I actually created drawings of my plans. (Usually, this is all in my head. And, yes, while cutting fabric, I’ve already made changes.) I think I like the drawing out process; I figured a few things out ahead of actually sewing and cutting. So, yay!

I start with reviewing the characters and costumes. Persephone is pretty easy. I have 2 pictures. Two.

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Cartoons are much easier than IRL, but I prefer to add some embellishments to give the characters something of a real world feel. Around here, we agree that her headdress is a huge flower and her earrings are white leaves. My smart high schooler keeps referring to her dress as a “chiton”, which is a long Greek woolen tunic. I did not know that. Learn something new everyday, right? I find Persephone’s dress gobsmackingly unflattering, even on a young slim purple goddess. So, I decided that although I want to keep the pleated look in the front, I was going to take in the waist, and blouse out the bust, thus hopefully avoiding a horrific Persephone the Floured Potato look. Add some flowers at the shoulder like Demeter has, some flowers down the sides, and maybe layer some fabrics so its not just a plain white dress. Also, off-white. That is ticket. What blonde ever looked good in bright white???? Seriously.

The dress is designed to be pulled on over the hips- no over the head action. Off-white dress, purple face and neck, that way lies disaster. I intend to give it a long side zipper and snap the shoulder on that same side. The flower shoulder brooches will also snap to the dress. Since making Odin and Frigga, I’m all about the modular approach to costumes. Things stay in place so much better if they have designated connections and they are easier to get on and off. I will put a strip of purple close to the top of the dress- again, note the off-white dress and purple body paint. Since the shoulders show, neither of us can use long gloves, so we are planning for leotards with short gloves. If we also had to paint arms and hands, we’d never get out of the house. Like EVER. I am going to put bracelets with flowers on the seam where the gloves meet the sleeves to hide them. I like some color so I decided to add a bunch of flowers. I used scrap fabric and silk flowers to create the flowers below for the dress. (I have pics for a how-to and intend to use them- stay tuned!)

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I have many more reference pics for Hades, although one doesn’t really need all that many.

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I really want to include Hades’ smoke tendrils. I am planning to create those with worbla and foam and Wonderunder and tulle and wool and connecting them to a manly cage crinoline. That will probably need manly petticoats. MANLY PETTICOATS. Much like Persephone, I want to add bracers to cover the seams between the gloves and leotard sleeves and add gray to the top of the tunic where it will meet the body paint. We are thinking of adding a goaty beard to lend to the image of that huge chin Hades sports in the movie. Here are the current plans for Hades. Ken insists he’s going to do some additional work outs- guess he likes the manly chest.

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This is Quarantine

To see all Wondercon at Home Masquerade posts on Tumblr: https://wonderconathome.tumblr.com

(We’re near the bottom of the posts- there are some great costumes there!)

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I sense there’s something in the wind

That feels like tragedy’s at hand

Come with us and you will see

This, our House of Quarantine

Life’s no fun without a good scare

assuming we could go anywhere

Since I am dead, I like to take off my head

To recite Shakespearean quotations

Yet, day after day, its the same routing

And I so, so miss the sound of screams

And, I, Jack, the Pumpkin King

Have grown so tired of the same old thing

And somewhere deep inside of these bones

An emptiness began to grow

Oh, will we ever, end up together?

What’s this? What’s this?

I can’t believe my eyes

I must be dreaming

This looks fun!

Oh, could it be I got my wish?

What’s this? … Wondercon at Home Masquerade????

Our dearest friends,

If you don’t mind

We’d like to join you by your side

Where we can gaze into the stars

And sit together, now and forever

For its plain, as anyone can see,

We’re simply meant to be.

Photos 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10, taken by @disneypoohbearfan

Photos 3, 4, and 8, taken by YorkInABox​

These costumes are based on Hannah Alexander’s artwork and were made last summer, largely with fabrics meant for other projects that were never made. Because 2020. Jack’s stripes are soutache, stitched  onto different black fabrics (I only had so much of each one, you know?) to create his coat, pants, and hood. His coat is lined with an ombre black to gray fabric, custom designed by us, and there are more white pinstripes made from soutache (see pic with Jack not wearing his coat – Sally holds his coat inside out). Jack has two vests – one is beaded and has a super huge collar; the other is appliquéd and embroidered and has two double welt pockets. One has to learn new skills with each project, right? 

Sally’s different skirt panels include black stitching to create a checkerboard-style pattern, crystals to create spotted fabric, appliquéd circles (on the dress and on skirt panels) and dotless question marks, and more crystals to decorate the circles and hems. She also has two ombre’d skirt panels. Sally’s stays are fully boned with steel bones and were made from an 18th century style pattern. Her shoulder wraps are machine embroidered; the design was drawn in Inkpad and digitized in a very obnoxious and now replaced embroidery program that shall not be named. All the visible stitching was done with embroidery thread. All natural fabrics in her skirt panels were stitched and ragged. Synthetic fabrics were hemmed or burned with a wood burner. Her two-toned Victorian boots were painted black on the lower half of the boot with a most excellent leather paint. 

Now, if you’ve stuck around this long, maybe its because you’ve recognized some of these photos and their resemblance to famous paintings?  And yes, we did base many of the above photos on some of our favorite paintings. 

Photo 1:  “Woman with a Parasol Facing Left“; Claude Monet, 1886

Photo 2:  “American Gothic”; Grant Wood, 1930

Photo 5: “The Scream”; Edvard Munch, 1893

Photo 6: “I Am Half Sick of Shadows,” said the Lady of Shalott; John William Waterhouse, 1915

Photo 7: “Paris Street; Rainy Day”; Gustave Caillebotte, 1877

Photo 8: “The Black and White Ball”; Jack Vettriano, 1996

Photo 10: “Boy and Girl gazing at the Moon”; Norman Rockwell, 1926

From a 4″ hoop to a 26″x14″ embroidery

Our current cosplay project is a version of Belle and Beast from a much beloved piece of art in our house by Greg Luzniak http://greg luzniak art

The bottom of Belle’s skirt has a wonderful design which I ultimately decided to recreate with my embroidery machine.  I tried satin stitching and hand embroidery- but, neither twisted my melon enough.  What can I say????  The results weren’t suitably dramatic and well, without some automation in this process, I’d still be at this in 2022.

I don’t own an overly fancy embroidery machine. I had a seriously bottom of the line Brother embroidery machine that worked mostly well enough, but was a casualty of a downpour in my work room two winters back.  Electronics and rain. Not good bedfellows. The current machine was a slight upgrade; however, like its predecessor, it has only a 4″ hoop, and I’m fairly certain that it cannot take a larger one. I read that in the Instruction Manual.

The embroidery in Belle’s skirt consumes the bottom of each of the six panels which make up her gold ballgown skirt. So- larger than my 4″ hoop.

From Greg Luzniak’s Belle and Beast

And so, it began. First, I drew the designs in Inkpad and ran them through my Sew Art program- a program that runs on a Mac (sort of) and turns digitized pictures into embroidery files. I’ll admit- I’m not a huge fan of Sew Art. Its clunky and finicky and sometimes does not do a particularly good job with the digitizing and has to run through Wineskin, which is probably why it acts drunk sometimes. I’ve been looking at other programs- but am a bit limited by my Apple computer. There is an astonishing lack of sewing programs out there for Mac.

The first designs I created were suitably similar to the ones above, (kind of) but I crammed them into the 4″ hoop. Hence, the reason the one branch is curled up instead of flowing out.

Yeah- kayso, that didn’t work all that well and there are no photos. Too, too, too small.

Then, I attempted to spread each design over four 4″ blocks. I divided the files up in Inkpad, so that I had 8 embroidery files for the two main panels and 2 files for the additional flourishes. This was not an entirely successful enterprise. The overall design was a little better, size-wise; however, you’ll note that the stem on the branch isn’t well aligned and one of the squares was off on sizing. And I left the design on the right squished so that it fit entirely into the four 4″ blocks, tacking on the flourishes with the aforementioned 2 files. They’re rather small, right?

While this iteration was better, it still didn’t look right. So, I embarked upon the 3rd iteration of embroidery files. This time I spread out the designs as they were originally drawn. And I fiddled with the images- moving leaves around so that the only parts of the images which were split were a single point on the main vein of the branches. Rather than the files above which required lining up more than one connection. Let’s just say, I don’t recommend that, if it can at all be avoided.

From the five image files above, I made several different embroidery files. I split all of the above images so that when finally embroidered onto the skirt panel, the embroidery would reach across the entire panel. The five images above resulted in 15 embroidery files. Then, I printed out hard copies of each of the images for those 15 files. At scale. The thumbnails below are for the first of the images above. (I have screenshots of the intensely laborious process of dividing these up in Sew Art, but this is really a you-can-make-a-big-embroidery-with-a-small-hoop post, not a how-to-trick-Sew-Art-into-actually-being-useful post.)

And then, finally, HOPEFULLY, after seriously a dozen tests, I did a final test run on the satin I wanted to use for Belle’s skirt. I had done many of the tests on the same fabric- this entire process stretched out over several days and at least one boxing up of the everything I had to make the dress accompanied by promises of never pulling any of it out ever again. I bought extra fabric at the outset because I wanted to see how the satin would hold up to the embroidery.  By the final run, I had figured out that the satin needed not only the iron on embroidery stabilizer, but ALSO, heavyweight fusible on the back of the entire area to be embroidered.

So, Step 1. First embroidery run.

Step 2, next embroidery file.  BUT FIRST….. I attached the print out of the file I wanted to the completed segment.

And I lined up the hoop based on this. A little overlap at the connection is best. It helps to hide the connection. (I didn’t manage to do that this time around, and you can see the gap below.) Also, because Sew Art is basically Evil, you’ll note that the tif file is a little smaller than it should be. So, I lined up the one side which connects and lined it up evenly top to bottom. It mostly worked.

Now, my embroidery machine may not be the highest end machine, but it does allow for some adjustment.  I can move the images around a bit and before I hit ‘start’, I can scroll through the embroidery and make sure it will line up before embroidering the entire section. Most of the embroidery required some adjustment. Two of the files had to be completely rehooped because, well.  Sew Art.  Evil.

I also babysat the entire process. While the machine is supposed to stop when it runs out of bobbin thread or upper thread, it doesn’t always. Also, sometimes when the bobbin thread gets low, it will try and use the upper thread and it makes a huge ass mess. The bonus part about having print outs, even if say, your machine goes bananas and you were outside with the damn dogs, and the hoop popped off, you can use that print out to realign your fabric and you won’t even be able to tell you had to completely rehoop mid stitch out. Hypothetically speaking.

Here is the final stitch out. Took all day, but I think its pretty good.  I also added a few additional leaves to fill out some of the space. Its pretty easy to see in the picture where the connections are- that is mostly due to the lighting. Its quite a bit harder to see IRL and I may add embellishments over those areas to further hide them. So….only five panels more and all the embellishments to go….

It’s WIP Wednesday! In Paris, 1927…

The Circus Arcanus is first mentioned in the Fantastic Beasts franchise on a movie poster briefly seen in NYC in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This is according to the Harry Potter Wiki Fandom, which let’s be honest, is a pretty darn good source.

The Circus Arcanus is first really seen in Fantastic Beasts, Crimes of Grindelwald. And oh, what a vision it is. And the inspiration of our Wondercon Masquerade group this year. We have a Newt. We have a Grindelwald. We have a Queenie.  And…. Nagini! Also, Antonio, a nifler, and hopefully, an occamy.  If we can find someone to puppet Occarina. Plus, a ZOUWU.

This is Charlie, our Zouwu. His design is largely based on the puppets and costumes of Broadway’s Lion King.

Charlie is Puppet No. 3. His eyes blink- FINALLY.  It has taken me the better part of 3 weeks to get his eyes to work right and to not be frosted because I accidentally tried to clean plastic with nail polish remover.  UGH. Ultimately, I had to replace the fronts of his eyes. It SUCKED. Also, I had to cut his nose out and completely redo his muzzle….

Do you see how low his nose is here?  It just doesn’t look right….

OK- backing up…. to the start of Charlie.

First- his eyes and nose. I created the eyes and nose out of DAS- a sculpting medium that air dries hard and is pretty easy to use. I was first introduced to DAS years ago- when the Block at Orange still had the Wolfgang Puck restaurant. When it first opened, the restaurant had a resident artist every night. One night, when we went in, there was a guy sculpting a fairy.  From DAS. I hung out, watching and talking to him. And bought some DAS a few days later.  20 years later, I finally found a real use for it.  The jaw set is Dream Vision Creations- the large dragon jaw set. Everything was painted with my airbrush set- which I got with a Christmas Amazon gift card a year ago- I’m so much further along with the airbrush than the DAS…

Charlie’s eyes are set up on the blinky model from Tiny Badger’s youtube videos- except I use slightly different pieces for the spring attachment.  Also, I use Loctite for attaching sprinkler hardware to the wood dowl for the eyelids. After the eyelids are added and the eyes blink, I started building Charlie’s face from scraps of floor mat foam. 9 bucks a pack from Harbor Freight.

The bottom of the mouth is largely shaped based on the Dream Visions jaw set. I did not intend for Charlie’s mouth to move, since his head is essentially going to be a hat.

Note that Charlie’s nose has been elevated in this pic. I’ve only partly attached his mane in this pic- while I was working on his mane, I realized he was missing something….. EARS.  The final Charlie has huge ears.  Almost like a coyote.

So- talking about Charlie’s fur.  All of his face fur is faux.  Its pieced together- most of the face fur consists of small pieces measuring an inch to two inches long, and 1/2 inch wide. Most of the fur is also trimmed. His mane, though, is actual animal hair, specifically Icelandic sheep from Iceland.

And here is how we acquired the Icelandic sheep skin….

Nowadays, Ken and I both make our livings as archaeologists.  And all archaeologists have, at some time or another, worked as what is known as a “shovelbum” or a “dig bum”- basically, an archaeologist who moves from job to job, a kind of Indiana Jones style drifter. Unless a shovelbum has a permanent address, often their stuff is crammed into a storage unit in some random state, and they rather float around the country. Our friend, Eric from New Jersey, was just such a dig bum. He criss-crossed the US so many times that he could have given Jack Kerouac lessons. When I met Eric, I was a dig bum, too, and Ken was teaching physics. Yah- this was a while ago.  We had a HOUSE  and SPACE and Eric lived with us for the better part of two years, while he worked at various places that I and eventually Ken worked.  Hellman Ranch. Playa Vista. Tehachapi. Eventually, the work in California slowed and Eric wandered off to travel the world for a year or two.

Fast forward about one or two years after Eric left. I got home from work and there was a box on our porch. Just a label with our address.  No return. The dogs were wild over the box. I opened it.  There was a plush animal skin in the box.  No note. No indication from whom the box came. Weird, right?

But, I am an anthropologist. An archaeologist. And I have WEIRD FRIENDS. So, I ran down the list of possible people who might send us an unlabeled animal skin. Eric was an early possibility. So, I texted him. “Musk Ox?” (I’d just recently been to Alaska for work and thought maybe Musk Ox?). He replied almost immediately. “Icelandic Sheep.”  Ah, ha!

We put it out in our living room, at that time, recently restyled as a sort of Gryffindor type common room. That lasted approximately 3 days. We have 3 akitas. If you are unfamiliar with akitas, they are essentially fancy looking wolves. They play like wolves (vaguely horrifying if you’ve never seen it), fight like wolves (occasionally, they have actual disagreements that require breaking up and sometimes vet visits), and have a lot of wild left in them, despite claims of domestication. I mean, they really are great with anything that is considered pack- they don’t bother our chickens, our rabbits, or our cat.  All those things are PACK.  Things that are not PACK- mail people, Fedex delivery people, other cats, squirrels, other dogs, and the Icelandic sheep skin. They pulled it apart. INTO PIECES.

We put it away. And it sat. In storage for nearly 8 years. Until Charlie. I needed something that looked like a mane and I thought, I could get one of those sheep skins from IKEA! But, then, I thought about the pieces of sheepskin from Iceland. It combs out beautifully, holds it shape with a little spray glue, and looks like an actual mane. And honestly, what better use could I get from our poor beleaguered sheep skin than a piece of art like Charlie? Who will live in a plastic tub that seals and is stored way above where the akitas -wolves can reach….

 

Important link!!

Tiny Badger Blinky Eye Tutorial

 

Rethinking Salazar Slytherin

All pics in this blog post are York In a Box, @yorkinabox on IG

I am the puppet maker and the puppeteer. And when I found a bunch of extra fur and other random supplies and thought, oh, I could make a basilisk! And, there was no question of who would cosplay Salazar. Despite my Hufflepuffle-ness.
‘
King George is really the best of basilisks. Just look at how KAWAII he is!!!! I LOVE him. Even if he BLINKED AND CLOSED HIS EYES IN EVERY PHOTO HERE!!!!! He has a special place in my sewing/creature workshop where I can reach him easily for pets and loving words. And he hasn’t turned a single person to stone yet or killed anyone. Sigh. Despite my non-Hufflepuff list of potential victims, well, okay, mostly the Ass Neighbors… But, I digress.

Let’s talk about Salazar- who, by the way, I had a wonderful time cosplaying.
Fact 1: Salazar is not Lucius Malfoy and the latter’s opinions are not those of the founder of Slytherin.
Fact 2: Salazar was genuinely friends with the other founders. And, let us really think about that for a moment. 990 AD. Y’all know buttons weren’t even a thing, then, right? The Scandinavians mostly ruled the British Isles and Old Norse was spoken. That is what Odin and Frigga spoke. Just for reference. In case you need some context. The Founders were FRIENDS. All four of them. Goodest and bestest of friends. And all of them talented and powerful enough to create HOGWARTS and hide it from the Muggles. Ahem. ALL OF THEM THOUGHT IT SHOULD BE HIDDEN FROM MUGGLES. Should I say that louder for people in the back?
Fact 3: The reason Hogwarts was hidden from Muggles is because it was dangerous to be a witch or wizard in 990. Or frankly, 1100. Or 1200. Or 1300. Umm, 1980…. Or…. y’all getting the gist? There are more of them than us. And there always have been.
Fact 4: Slytherin did not trust the Muggles. Not necessarily because they were non-magickers, but because they were excitable and unpredictable and numerous and did not understand real magic.  Also, they had discovered fire when they were still Homo erectus.
Fact 5: Salazar was a Parselmouth. Y’all remember the story of St. Patrick? He drove all the snakes out of Ireland? Oh, Ireland, you say? Full of fens, you know. Everyone on this side of this essay firmly believes Salazar was Irish. Why? Well, he wears green. I mean, have you been to Ireland? Even the construction equipment is green. More green coats than I’ve ever seen anywhere. Also, he’s the ‘villain’. Typical English- ahem, Rowling. And then, there is “the no snakes in Ireland because of St. Patrick bit”- drove Salazar right out, you know. And well, four founders and yeah, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales didn’t really exist as they do today in 990, but the beginnings were definitely there. And would it not be awesome if the four houses also represented those early groups?

Fact 6: Salazar placed the basilisk into the Chamber of Secrets before he left the other Founders and Hogwarts. And that’s it. That is the FACT. Why did he do it? Well…. that part is completely up for debate. I’ve seen many (read most) claim it was to kill Muggles and purge Hogwarts of any with Muggle blood. Maybe? See Fact 3. Muggles were dangerous for Hogwarts and the Wizarding community. So, was the basilisk meant to cleanse Hogwarts of Muggle borns or was the basilisk intended to protect Hogwarts and its students from outside Muggles? That is the thing about history- we’re never sure. Its written by the victors or those that were there and Salazar wasn’t. There. My vote is for the latter. Yours?