Cosplay USA

I’m enjoying Perfect World thus far… I’m not getting too far in it since the servers will be wiped at Open Beta. That means all hard earned monies and equip will be lost.

There are so many character customizations that it is absolutely insane. It’s a cosplayer’s paradise. You can control your character’s entire look from major things like skin color to fine tuned things like eye makeup and nostril width. The body is also fully customizable. It’s comforting to have a character that’s finally just like me. I made a small waist and a big booty. World of Warcraft didn’t allow my Nightelf Priest to have red hair but I’ve got it here! There’s so many hair types to choose from. They even have “Chun Li” buns.

You can also save the presets for next time, aka making the permanent character after they clear the Beta data from the servers.

I thought you might like to see what I came up with… Here she is!

Isn’t she lovely!? <3

She’s even wearing high heels with legwarmers. I’m just so glad to see an MMO character with a good sized booty, not a stick person with big boobs, and crazy long red hair. She even has wings on her head like Morrigan with a little devil tail that wags. And I didn’t even have to use the cash shop! Woooow.

The game has a few other cool things I noticed… Anti-keylogger protection and the ability to change your character for up to 2 days after creation so you can fix anything you changed your mind on or doesn’t look right.

Go play! :D It’s fun! I get to whack monsters with my big machete. Aww yeeeaah!

So it looks like Concept Art.Org Atelier school has invited me back for another drawing session. I have no idea what I’m going to bring this time except that it will be less. They said it takes too long for me to change between costumes. It only took about 10-15min. to change out of one, pack it up quickly and safely, and throw on another costume. For me this is remarkably fast; for them it is too slow. I guess they get stir-crazy waiting. I totally understand because I don’t get paid to change; I get paid to pose, but it goes along with the territory.

This time I think I’ll wear “themes” instead of characters. It seems like I’m missing a few costumes but I’m sure they’re around here somewhere. I’d like to wear Ada Wong and my Pretty Cure costume. Poor Pretty Cure was only worn for 1 performance and photo shoot about 3.5 years ago. I can’t believe it’s been that long. I’ve been cosplaying non-competitively for about 9 years. I always loved to dress up and I was just happy to find somewhere it’s normal. I started to compete in 2003, but I don’t compete so much anymore. It’s nice to win something back for money spent and hard work, so that’s why I compete. I’ve found that there’s so much more to it though and it can be political drama. Some people can break rules while I whole-heartedly follow the rules. It can be disappointing to lose to someone who doesn’t follow the rules, but in the end it’s all about fun.

Posing for art schools in cosplay is more work, less fun. I will be sure to take some pain relievers before posing this time because no matter how you pose, it hurts after 20 minutes. Cool thing is I’ll be in the city anyway since I’m working for a popular social networking site up in San Francisco, so I’ll be close by and save some train money. Caltrain is too expensive for its own good. It’s still cheaper and faster than driving but the people are rude and the seats are gross.

I’d better get my show on the road! I have 2 cosplay comissions to complete as well as about 4 part time jobs. The shelter is also asking me to foster a new bunny since they were going to put her down just because she grunts. I had a loving bunny of 8 years who grunted. They don’t bite, they just tell you not to mess with their furniture arrangement. Now that I’m totally off subject I will conclude this post. :)

It was my goal to be able to update every day, but unfortunatey LIFE HAPPENS! :)

I do a lot of promotional modeling work that has a very unpredictable schedule. I can be busy for 7 days in a row, or off work 7 days in a row. It just depends on the bookings. The past 4 days I’ve barely had time to even see myself. I have just enough time for the essentials; taking care of my pets, house work, other jobs, eating, showering, sleeping; then I throw on the uniform and rush to the location of the assignment for the day.

The places I work range from concerts, trade shows, supermarkets, clubs, bars, college campuses, and just about everywhere you can find a lot of people. Being that I’m a cosplayer I love when I’m given something interesting to wear. My favorite so far has been my Heineken Dress. It didn’t fit correctly on someone my size so I had to resew it. After that it fit great. For Linux World they dressed me up like a Dilbert cartoon. That was a lot of fun as well.

You also get to talk to new people each day and learn new things. Sometimes I get to see new places also. It’s great experience all around. It’s also nice when you build relationships with people and get goodies from the event. Concerts and trade shows are my favorite.

There are lots of perks but it’s not all hearts and roses. You can’t be afraid of people, rejection, negativity, or bad attitudes to work in this field because you will come across all kinds of people.

I’ve gotten to use my Japanese language skills a few times but I fear I’ll begin to forget it with so few people to speak with. Spanish is something I should focus more on improving.

It’s also hard work on the body. It involves a lot of standing and talking. Even smiling, as joyous as it is, hurts after a while. I’m beginning to think a significant part of my income will have to go toward massages.

All and all I enjoy it along with the other things I’m doing. In addition to modeling work, I also have other jobs to do like seamstress work, website moderation, personal assisting, etc. In addition to wearing many cosplay wigs, I ‘wear many hats’ in life.

Thank you for visiting my blog and being patient while I take on many things. I look forward to sharing with you more over the coming days!

In other parts of the world, the word going around is that Perfect World is a great game. Perfect World is (yet another) free to play MMORPG that can be downloaded and played with thousands of people. About a year ago it was big in Asia and months ago I heard of Europeans playing and now I suppose it’s our turn in the U.S.

There’s no hokey long url to visit for more information. It’s simply http://www.perfectworld.com. I wonder how much that web domain cost… Go check it out!

It appears to be a lot like any other MMO except I’ve heard far less complaints, it seems to have reasonable depth, and the graphics look great. I assume it’s also challenging but not impossibly hard. Some games just become too difficult to grind and progress in. I look forward to trying this one out. Another noteworthy thing is that the characters appear to have a wide range of customization. I’ve seen some pictures of animal like people and women with breasts larger than their torso. I can’t imagine what I will see running around town… x_x

I’m also interested to see what items will be available to wear and for purchase. There are lots of different classes, but I’m at a loss as to which to pick. Since my MMO existence is based mainly upon appearence, I will have to look at screenshots of each class to determine what I will ultimately look like. The official forums lack screenshots in the screenshot section. I mostly found links that link to other posts. I felt like a rabbit going deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole, eating up more of my limited resources and ram along the way. Eventually I found the picture of the horrendously large breasted character and that was enough for me. I suppose I should look elsewhere for more pictures of the foreign Perfect World and make a decision. I’d also like to check out Perfect World videos on Youtube.

Just by pure guess I’m leaning toward Cleric or Magician. I love to spam magic. A melee class is more practical but magic people are usually prettier. *^^*

To play, just go to the website to download the client. Then you register with the site and they will select people for the Closed Beta. If you cannot get a Beta key and want to play Perfect World with me, just let me know and I’ll get one for you. I’m in no way affiliated with Perfect World, but I do make friends everywhere I go and then sometimes those friends go places. <3

The last game I played before this was Fiesta Online. Fiesta was fun too but I felt it lacked depth and there were a few annoying things with the user interface. I also wasn’t able to get anything cool to wear unless I paid real money. I don’t mind some pay items in online games, but Fiesta sold items that had a timed expiration. I’m sorry but I can’t play enough/reliably enough to be worth spending real money on something that literally does nothing and is nothing. If it lasts forever, well then, I may consider it. Albatross also had paid items that expire but they look cute *and* improve character ability/performance.

Perfect World Beta Download is at 98%. I will be playing starting tomorrow.

I feel bad I haven’t been able to blog every day. I’ve been suffering these horrible debilitating headaches off and on and it has to do with a neck injury from a car accident, so depending on how I sleep one night it can effect me for many days. :{ I will try harder to write an entry each day, but I take my time and do it right. So much to blog, so little time.

It all started back in 2005. I discovered this incredibly cute doll named Pullip. I’d heard of and seen Dollfies before. The whole Dollfie thing was overwhelming and the prices were the absolute dealbreaker. But Pullip was somehow different.

Pullips are generally smaller than most of the Dollfies. She stands just taller than a barbie doll; about 12-13 inches. They also have a huge head and large eyes with long lashes that can turn directions and blink. Her body is not as exaggerated as Barbie either but she has similar tiny feet. Her stature is most like a Bratz doll but less limited in coloring and hair types, plus a lot cuter in my opinion. Pullip is also similar to Blythe but I couldn’t tell you much about Blythe… she scares me.

The Pullip Dolls are made by Jun Planning and seem to be released at about a rate of 1-3 per month, every month. They also make a boy version called Taeyang and a little sister of Taeyang who is “Pullip’s rival” and wants to be cooler than Pullip. Her name is Dal.

Each doll releases at a cost of about $70-80USD unless it’s a limited or special doll. Within a month of release the price increases $10-20 and can increase upward from there. The highest I have seen a Pullip doll cost is about $500. It sounds like a lot but the average Dollfie is about that much not including clothing.

I discovered Pullip dolls while browsing for Nana goods on E-Bay in 2005. They make a Pullip doll named Rida that looks a lot like Nana from the manga of the same name. I started bidding modestly on her but did not win. I decided if I got any Pullip doll, I should go all out and get something fancy. I decided on Cornice and received her for Christmas that year. It was love at first sight…

I named her “Dolly.” Not very original I know, but something about the name Dolly made her seem very dear so it was appropriate. I never had a lot of dolls growing up. I mostly played with GI Joe, X-men, and Ninja Turtles. I collected Barbie dolls for a while when I was young but I had to put them in a case and not touch them. This was my chance to have a doll of my very own to “have my way with.” I brought her with me to work and wanted to take her everywhere until I released it put her through unnecessary stress. I also originally wanted to switch outfits and design some for her but she looks so nice as she is! Or maybe it’s that voice speaking that tells me to not mess her up; to put her in a case and not touch.

You can also customize Pullip dolls to an extent. There’s many wigs for sale that fit them. Their head also unscrews in the back to change the eye color. Of course it’s also fun to dress them up. They can borrow clothes from Barbies and Bratz as well as many other similar dolls. Her makeup can also be changed.

It was a long long time before I could afford another Pullip. I had much bills to take care of. :(

A few months ago I had such a rough month with my health, going to the doctor and hospitals, and since I still managed to maintain my fulltime job I rewarded myself with the Angel Pullip. She is beautiful. I also learned my lesson previously since the “Nana” Rida is so expensive now that if I ever want to have one, I’d better buy her when she releases. Therefore I bought the Angel one.

I love her especially so because she is brown haired and brown eyed and she’s beautiful. I always wished I had light colored eyes but this doll shows me my coloring can be beautiful. My hopes are also to someday have a daughter and pass these dolls along to her someday. More than likely she will have brown hair and eyes too, so this doll will be perfect.

At Comic Con I was able to get the Another Alice and Another Alice White Rabbit for a very good price. I believe these ones were limited. I really couldn’t afford it but I took on extra jobs to pay for them. Besides, if I ever wanted them in the future they’d only become significantly harder to buy; I’d have to locate them, pay shipping, and pay over twice as much.

Now Alice and White Rabbit are part of the doll family and I have my first Dal doll. White Rabbit is a Dal.

She doesn’t look very girly, but whatever, it’s the White Rabbit! And its cute enough! I like it. And at the price if I decided later I did like it, I would be stupid to pass it up.

It’s funny though; the boy, Taeyang, always looks more girly! I’ve been looking at Taeyang’s since I have all girl dolls and they need a boyfriend.

I know I’m officially addicted to Pullip because I impulse bidded and won Raphia whom was released the same time as my Cornice Dolly. I really couldn’t afford her but yet again I slaved away extra hours and jobs for her and I got a great deal. She was someone else’s first Pullip Dolly and I know she was loved, so I thought she belonged in my doll family. So, here is Raphia.

Isn’t she adorable? Thanks to her I can’t afford pretty much anything else of a leisurely nature for a month or two.

I also would like to get some furniture for the Pullips. I’ve seen some people online buy them chairs, pianos, pets, gardens, you name it. I will have to wait until I have more space and more money. If you have any cool miniature things you can spare, I have some needy Pullips, so send em my way!!!

They also made some excellent Rosen Maiden and Evangelion Pullips. I don’t have any of those because I’m poor, but look online and check them out. You won’t be disappointed! The Rei and Asuka are awesome!

***Stay tuned for Street Fighter Contest Info! I am currently compiling the prize pack.***