When nothing is going as planned.

Status: Waiting again, a little more upset.

Deadlines suck.

They suck when you have two weeks to finish a project for a major event, and everything is going wrong.

I had to pull off a layer or so of paper mache from most of the octopus, my approach was incorrect and I realize that now. I'm waiting for the rest to dry now so I can continue with the right method.

The head might need to be completely redone, I feel it is out of proportion. That's a few hours more and a lot more drying time.

On the plus side, I've made progress with my dress tonight, so we'll stay hopeful. Looks like this is going to be a true all-nighter, and a short post.

Adventures in Paper Mache, or, How to Balance a Giant Octopus on a Stick

Status: Waiting for newspaper to dry.

The last few days have been filled with work on my octopus staff for the Labyrinth of Jareth ball.

A little background: Besides my unashamed obsession with cephalopods, I had another obsession that is harder to admit: I used to be a hardcore WoW player back in the day. It's been a long time since I've played, and I think I can now be open about my addiction.

Like any kitty druid in her heyday, I was in love with Terestian's Stranglestaff, otherwise known as the Original Octopus on a Stick(tm).

(Thanks Stil for the screenshot!)

That staff inspired me. I wasn't going to use the same design -- I wanted mine to be right side up, sitting on top of the staff with the tentacles wrapped around it... and the correct number. (It's not a quadapus, Blizzard.)

This isn't a proper progress post, I plan to do a series of posts on building it start to finish, but here's a few pics of how the paper mache is going on the first four legs.

Four chicken wire tentacles -- Plus a head in the background!

Beginning to paper mache...

First four tentacles with a layer of paper mache.

I'm actually a bit farther along than this, but I'll upload those pictures in the next update. More progress pics and some non-octopus related posts coming in the next few days!

"These Are Not The Nerds You're Looking For."

I finished my last final of my first year of college today! Woot! Clearly this called for celebration, and that meant a costume. At least, a mini-costume.

Luckily I received a package in the mail last Wednesday.

Marc Ecko Stormtrooper Jacket

I have wanted this hoodie for so long, and a combination of leftover birthday money and Ecko's 'Judgement Day' 35% off sale meant it could finally be mine. I nearly cried when I opened the package. This thing is fucking beautiful.

It was hard to wait until the last day of finals to wear this, but I needed the unveiling to be special. For the mini-costume, I paired it with my sparkly black H&M shorts (which I've hardly worn... because where do you wear sequined shorts?) some white tights I picked up at Target ($5) a black shirt, and my black boots underneath.

The reactions I got were pretty great. I tried to spend a lot of time with the mask zipped all the way up. I was unrecognizable in it, you can see out but not in -- one of my friends was a little freaked out when I imaginary 'blasted' her as we passed. A lot of people try not to react, which I always find funny, but some groups laughed as a walked by, and that's the reaction I hope for.

My friends were great, and most of them found it pretty awesome, and a lot were asking me where they could get one. My friend Matt provided the quote in the title, and another subverted the "short" comment I was expecting to get all day with, "Aren't you a little scantily-clad for a stormtrooper?"

The boygeek knew I was dressing up, but it still floored him. His reactions to my outward displays of geekery are always fun. I got some interesting attention when I asked the him to take a picture of me on campus -- another guy ran up and asked him if he could get a picture too. I should have taken more pictures, but  here's the one of me posing outside the college entrance.

The jacket is well-made, really heavy, and it is pretty hot and hard to breathe with the mask all the way up. I couldn't have done this if it hadn't gotten unseasonably cool that day (thanks, weather gods!), and I don't know how much I'll be wearing it the rest of the summer. It's very white, which is nice, but I was so paranoid about getting dirt on it... I don't want to have to change my costume to sandtrooper, and I'll probably want to only dryclean this. I bought the smallest size they offered, a men's small, and this thing is HUGE on me. Because of the heavy material, it doesn't shape at all like men's hoodies usually do -- I'm used to buying smalls and having them cling to my curves a bit and looking nice. This one is very shapeless in the way it hangs on me. Worth the money, but I missed my girlshape.

But now the semester is officially over, (!) and I can dedicate the next month to costuming and especially Jareth ball prep, so more posts coming soon.