• Costumes: hopefully by end of the week, there will be preliminary content for all costumes listed there.  As long as we have basic info up for all costumes, we can expand the pages for really BIG costumes (FFVI, FY) ongoing.  And if we want to be really ambitious, pages for costumes we’re working on can go there too.
• Props: will add some testimonials and reference some photos of Cachalot’s AWESOME PROPS OF AWESOMENESS
• Photoshoots: end of week/weekend I aim to have the Shadow + Kefka photoshoot online.  this is hugely ambitious! but I really want to have all the amazing photos from that session in one place so I can send the link around and brag :3
• Blog (you’re on it): I’m making some very minor tweaks. It’s basically fine though XD I don’t want to break something that works!
• ikasuze!who?:  Cachalot and I need to build our profiles.  No rush on this. I think it’d be hilarious if we made them like jrocker profiles and post totally useless information like our blood types (I don’t even know mine), our mottos, our home prefectures, and our favorite kind of juice or something. But obviously Cachalot I need your opinion on this XDDDD
• ikasuze!when?: I’d say this is done, actually. EASIEST PAGE ON THE SITE
• ikasuze!how?: Not urgent. I’ve got some ideas in my head but I just need to write them down… or port them from rants on LJ or something   I’d also like to put some specific costuming how-tos, like how we dyed our scarves or something, since I actually documented that.

Top priorities for me are the costumes and photoshoots pages though, as they require the most heavy lifting.

WOW THAT WAS A LOT OF WEBSITE NERDERY.

Here’s something shiny to distract — Cachalot and I have our photos up on the official Tokyo Kid costume contest page, which is here: http://www.tokyokid.com/?p=646

Our group picture is towards the bottom:

Shadow and Kefka at the Tokyo Kid costume contest 2009

I LOVE the fact that Naruto is just lurking behind us.  It’s so perfect!

As you can also see towards the top of the page, I got 2nd place in the Master/advanced category for my Kefka.  I am super tickled about that, especially since I would definitely NOT consider myself an advanced cosplayer. I am really not sure how I got placed in that category? xP

But, happy though I was to win, what I’m bummed about is that Cachalot and I couldn’t enter the contest together.  We really are a group entry—my costume had a lot of flash, but Cachalot put tons of hours of work into her costume too, it’s just more subtle because she’s super ninja like that.

That’s one of the more aggravating aspects of cosplay though… a lot of the time, unless you make a costume of a character that’s really flashy and well-known, you won’t get much (if any) recognition for your work.  Kefka was the first costume I’ve ever done where people instantly know who I am and just fawn all over the work.  Everything else I’ve done has been really obscure, I’d be lucky if 2 people in a day had any idea who I was.

Sucks though when you’re a weirdo like me and everything you like is from shows nobody has seen.  You want to cosplay characters from what you like, but if nobody knows who you are, it can be a BIG let down at a con.  Let’s not fool ourselves, cosplay is ultimately an expression of vanity, and you want those photos taken.  (Anyone who says they’re in it just for the craft and not for the recognition is lying.)

That said, Cachalot won the evening when a photographer instantly recognized her as Shadow but took a few minutes to realize I was Kefka. Never would have guessed that would happen, but it is super awesome that it did.  NINJAS RULE!

(–and insane clown mages are pretty cool too)