Title of a True Cosplayer, which are you?

Before i start, i would like to make some claims.
* This blog entry is only but my mere opinion.
* It is in no way directed at anyone, anywhere, any society, any government, any whatever.
* Not an entry to flame, not an entry to troll, but an entry to be pondered upon.
* It is an entry made for the love of cosplay and also to argue back on my own thoughts.
* It is my blog, you abhor what i say, you leave. As simple as that ^_^
* I welcome comments and constructive debates. Trolls can just GTFO ^^
* This will be one heck of a long entry.

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 hmm.....i've been pondering on this once again and everytime i see this crap pops up, i'll be thinking ' AW MAN, not another one of this..?!?!'

but then this time, it has indirectly been directed at not only me, but most of the other cosplayers out there.
heck cares if you cosplay, cosmodel,cosmanequin, cosfuck, coswhatever.........
it's a hobby to be shared by all. Our community is already a minority and if we divide ourselves even more by categorizing, wouldn't that make matters worse?

What happened to ' We should stick together, we should enjoy this together, sportsmanship in competitions '.....where are those values now?
5 years ago, although the cosplay community was small, it was one of the best i would say. Although not many knew about cosplaying, it was, in my opinion, at it's prime.
We'd see a whole lot of variety in cosplay....from old schools to newly released series. Now? well....it is always that ' IF-IT-IS-NOT-POPULAR-I-M-NOT-COSPLAYING' mentality...or 'IF-IT-IS-NOT-EPIC-ENOUGH-I-M-NOT-COSPLAYING' mentality.

I thought cosplaying is about the love for the series and character? correct me if i'm wrong, but all i see now is kiasu-ism....
i have to be more AWESOME than you, my costume has to be more poofy...blablabla...
and now, well...there's a certain arguement that popped out in a certain social networking system.

let me quote and summarize

a cosplayer who only does photoshoots = CosMODELLER
a cosplayer who does photoshoots + joins competition = TRUE COSPLAYER
a cosplayer who buys everything and nothing DIY-ed = CosMannequin

hmm.......what do you think?
if i were to categorize myself in this context, i'd be a cosmodeller (WOOT! I AM A MODEL!!!! XD)
yeah, i only do photoshoots and NEVER had i joined any competitions on my own name. I did help out for friend's performance but that's it. Does that make me a fake cosplayer?
however, think about this...

I never participated in competitions, but when i cosplay, i immerse my mind, my body and soul into the very character i'm cosplaying. HECK, it was so scary that i even picked up loving desserts and sweet food after cosplaying a certain character.
I try my utmost best to understand that certain character before i actually put on that costume. So, does that still make me a cosmodeller? (if that word even exist..LOL coz i see red lines underlining it..LOL)

I do not sew my own costumes, but i make alterations.....
i researched on the costume, trying my very best to make it as accurate as possible....
I lose weight, i pile muscles, control my diet so that when i cosplay that certain character, i'll be logically be as accurate as possible.
I do not choose famous characters, rather characters that i love and has little screen time (Heine Westenfluss..T^T died in 3 episodes, tell me...how many of you actually remembers him?)

i'm not trying to blow my own horn here (well, even if i am, heck! it's my blog...*sticks tongue out*) it's just that.... i was a little bit insulted and annoyed when i read that sentence.
There are a few reasons as to why i do not participate in competitions....
1. Too hectic
I go to events to have fun, not to compete. BUT i salute you guys out there who joins the competition.
2. Time constraints
I do not wanna be under time constraints when i go to events. I wanna wander everywhere, anytime and at my own pace. I was involved in competitions as a fellow helper once, and for us to hang around the place with schedule being delayed wasn't a very pleasant experience.
3. Same faces
hmm......well, nothing much to be said here except i always see the same faces during competitions. Not that that is bad, because you guys have the fighting spirit to join over and over again.....kudos to you guys, but well.....i'm not that type of a person you see...

ALSO, i do not consider myself a veteran, intermediate, master, pro, whatever......
I'm still a beginner.......we're all still learning and we help each other out during the times we get together.
We make mistakes, we learn from it.
We face problems, we solve it together.
We laugh together, We go through difficulties together.
We share skills, we teach each other what we know individually...

Isn't that all part of cosplaying? isn't that what makes cosplaying a beautiful hobby?
So, ask yourself......are you a :-

1 True cosplayer A
Joins competitions
Does photoshoots
REALLLLYYY popular

or

2 True cosplayer B
Cosplaying for the love of it
Getting together with friend who share the same hobby
Learning as well as teaching others at the same time

What are you.....A or B?

also, i would like to quote from a friend's FB..

You do not claim yourself to be EPIC. Others tell you that you are EPIC

Listening to : Tackey & Tsubasa - Yumemonogatari
Mood : .......lazy....

A day when everything could go wrong, WENT WRONG!

This is an entry i mustn't forget. why? because, everything that i couldn't imagine could happen, happened!!! it's as though we were jynxed..!!!

It all started like this...
Last weekend, we (the team) decided to have a photoshoot (ok, we kinda planned this a WHOOOOLLLEEE LONG TIME AGO)
all of us didn't bother to pack until the very last minute, something which i hardly do because when it comes to packing, i would've finished doing so the week before. But you see, i was so freaking busy this month and almost every weekend, i have something on.

SO, the day came and it was Friday. After work, i went over to pyramid to pick up Riko and Relyss who have been waiting for me since .....i think 3pm? not that sure..LOL.....(oh, and my mom hitched a ride from there too. She miraculously found her way to cheras and all the way back to pyramid with her friend, who is also a master when it comes to being lost.)

After the excruciating ride back from Sunway Pyramid during the rush hour, we finally reached home at about 7.30pm. So, we began out final packing and checking.....we were loading stuffs into the car and i slowly remembered stuffs that i forgot to pack.
i almost left my laptop and speakers. It hit me when i went to the toilet when we were about to leave. Then i walked past my room and saw the speakers and laptop sitting happily on the table.
So, no harm done, i packed those 2 and loaded into the car.

when Tsu arrived, we left for my new house which, coincidentally was also the photoshoot location..LOL.
blablabla, we went there, unloaded the stuffs and head over to bukit tinggi for our late dinner. (nope, not supper yet, it was 8pm-ish)
Ok, this is when everything started.....

The service in the cafe was so freaking slow, i was so hungry i could swallow that waiter whole. And to top things up, that stupid guy had difficulties understanding English...goodness me, i had to speak mandarin with him (which i didn't like much because my mandarin sucks). After waiting for like 30 mins, they finally served me my food.

See wah then called me saying she was around bukit tinggi area and i thought, why not she met up with us and then go to my house after that....She was around that area looking for bandages for her bindings and we went to watsons, guardian and also tesco....it's either they ran out of bandages, or the bandages costs a bomb. (who the hell would pay RM16++ for bandages?!!?!)

THEN, i noticed my car petrol is running low, so i told see wah to meet me back at the house and i went and pumped petrol for my car. As i approached the petrol station, i finally realized the most important thing.....
THE CAMERA..!! WE LEFT THE CAMERA IN MY OTHER HOME!!!!
HOW THE HELL DO YOU DO A PHOTOSHOOT WITHOUT A CAMERA?!?!?!?!
i got so frustrated, i started cursing in the car.....and then to make matters worse, my bro had already left the house, or i could get him to bring it over.

So, we went back to my new house, and then planned out something. That was when Riko realized that she also forgotten her toiletries and bath towel (also left behind in my old house)....and also See Wah, left her entire luggage bag at home......
thus, we decided that Relyss and Tsu stayed behind in the new house, clear up the room a little and the rest went to retrieve the forgotten items.

See Wah drove, and first stop was her house to get the luggage. It was so hilarious because the luggage was practically staring back at her....She left the luggage at the most prominent place...seriously, i didn't know how she could've forgotten, judging from the spot she left the luggage..LOL!!
anyway, after that, next stop was my old house. When we reached my house, it finally started to pour......it rained so heavy all of a sudden!
I had to shield the camera with my body....=_=
ANYWAY, we went back to the new house.......and well, we started styling the wigs for the photoshoot the next day.....i really went OMG because.... i styled the wigs till it was almost 3am in the morning.....Hakkai's wig was the toughest to style because i didn't know how to spike it up, and given the situation and time, i was much too exhausted.

At that night, omaigod....everyone in the room was practically frozen because of the full blast from the air cond. Tsu and relyss pulled the comforter so much that i only had half of my body covered. and the air cond was directed at me....DIRECTLY!!!!
See Wah and Riko had to pull the mattress AWAY from the aircond..LOL (not that THAT made any difference..LOL!!!)

SO, morning came and well...we wanted to get breakfast from the burger king drive through, but SHITZ, it wasn't a 24 hour outlet and we had to go to McD instead. good thing it wasn't THAT far away.
The shoot was pretty fun (i get to thwack goku..LOL!!!) but we had to cut short the shoot because we started late, and See Wah had her japanese class to attend. (so, it's bye bye gojyo..T^T)
the 3 of us continued on (Sanzo, Goku and Hakkai) for a little while more before we switched to our C2AGE plans.
so it was.....

Sanzo = Tezuka
Goku = Ryoma
Hakkai = Kida
Photog Relyss = Suzaku

nothing much about the event...it was to me...kinda boring but we found a spot on the 2nd floor which was kinda cool for shoots.

After spending some time at the event, we left the venue and went in search of a park. Good thing it was near my old office, so finding it wasn't difficult..we had wanted to go down to look at the place but there weren't any parking space left, so we just went home.

That night, i started packing for my 10km run the next day. Whilst packing, i finally realized...OMFG...i left my hands free kit at home and without the rhythm of the songs, i couldn't run! (well, i could, but i'd suck so bad...)
Also, i also left my gym card at home.......fuck rite?
so we had to wake up extra early the next day (around 4am) and head on back to the old house before i could finally leave for KL for my run.

The bad luck streak lasted almost the entire saturday......and MY GOLLY, was i glad that this all was over.
Yup, it was a long entry but hey........it was a day when everything could go wrong, actually WENT WRONG!!!!!

p.s...ok, no more photoshoot-today-10km-run-the-next-day anymore for me....
p.p.s...ALSO, gonna avoid morning runs now..!!! (goodness, waking up at ungodly hours kills)

Listening to : FullMetal Alchemist - Link
Mood : =_=

HOLY GOD....Someone died in the marathon!! 0_o

OKay, i remember Tiffany telling that she saw someone screaming 'HE HAS NO PULSE' when she was running through her 8th km during yesterday's run.

I don't really know about the details because I believe i was already near the finishing line that time, but she kinda witnessed something tragic and well, in a way...scary..=_=

yes, there was a casualty during the run yesterday. A runner of the 10km category had a seizure and collapse, and medics didn't come immediately. It was a good and salutable attempt by the other runners to revive the collapsed runner but unfortunately it was too late. There was apparently a doctor in training who was also a participant. He and a few others tried to revive him but due to the lack of machinery (no defibrillator, no Oxygen mask..nothing) he passed away on the way to the hospital (or was it upon arrival)

It was indeed a shocking news to me, i didn't expect something that i participated in would have this outcome.

In fact, my situation wasn't that good if i think back. I was actually having cold sweat at the end of the run (about the 8th km) because of abdominal pain. I started walking, then run and then slowed down to walk. I told myself ' I do not want to come back to the finishing line in a stretcher or an ambulance '

Yeah well, it was kinda disappointing if you asked me. The reason for this failure of mine was because there wasn't enough trainning prior to the run. HECK, we didn't even do any stretching and warm up....

BUT ANYWAYS, RIP Mr Lim. (yes, it appeared in the papers, that's how i know his name)

he was only 25 years old.

I believe IMHO, both sides were to be blamed for this scenario. Firstly the Organizers of this event didn't station enough medics throughout the running route. Compared to the Energizer night race, i could barely see any medics around. And the St John's ambulance, well, it's disappointing to know that there weren't any defibrillator nor oxygen mask in the vehicle. (what's the point of the ambulance then!?)

HOWEVER, one should know his own limitations as well. IF you can't do it, do not force yourself. I'm not sure about Mr. Lim's case (he could've been an extremely athletic person or this could be his first time running a 10km run..note that i do not know much about this guy. I only read about him in the papers and forums)

My condolences goes out to his family because as a runner myself, i could understand the feelings of the family members. To leave the house so early in the morning and never coming back.......It will be heart wrenching to the family members.

THOUGH, i'll still join the runs. I have SIEMEN's and SHAPE run next and the last run for this year (for me) would be the Adidas KOTR challenge. After that i'll stop for the year (to concentrate on others stuffs....*coughscosplaycoughs*)

Listening to : Janne Da Arc - Gekkoka

Mood : -_-

after the Standard Chartered run

i almost died....yes, almost died..
why?
well, i've ran a 10km run before, but i almost lost my legs for this one.
I practically didn't train a single thing for this run. I just wore the bib, and went to this event.
Result was WAAAAAYYYY dissapointing for me.....
I had expected to complete it 15 mins less than what i've finished this time.

Well, maybe the gap between my previous run was too wide...
hopefully my next run i'll be well prepared...
(oh, did i mention? i was feeling shitty for the entire run...yes, literally shitty, as in I WANTED TO GO POO when i was running......timing was ...well, shitty..!! ><;;;;)

Next run, SIEMEN'S RUN....here i come!!!!!
GANBATTE ORE!!!!!!

Listening to : SCANDAL - Beauteen
Mood : Exhausted-ly tired...=_=

random post is RANDOM!

AAAA....why did the police stop me at the road block? do i look like some kinda drug trafficker?!
i don't look like a kidnapper now do i?
my maid was in the car with me la, but HEY, shouldn't you be asking for the maid's permit instead of my IC?
do i look like an illegal immigrant now?! will an illegal immigrant drive around in a such a flashy colored car?!
OMAIGOD...=_=

and and and....

OMAIGOD...TOMORROW IS THE 10km RUN..!! JIALAT LIAO..!!!!!
WAHPIANG LIAO!!!! ><;;;;;

Listening to : Hakuouki - Kimi no Kioku
Mood : ...........................

Mentally Exhausted.....

yes, for the past 1 week.....i had a nasty week...
i've never felt so annoyed, frustrated, gah...*insert whatever shitty feelings here*

well, all i can say before i start rambling about my past week's experience is..

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK, I WILL BE USING LOTS OF SWEARING, AND WELL, IF YOU ARE A KAYPOH AND YOU HAPPEN TO SEE YOUR NAME HERE, THEN DON'T BLAME ME.
I AM NOT GOING TO BE DISCREET ABOUT THIS NOW.
(it IS afterall, my blog...if you wanna talk bad about me, then go get a blog and do it yourself)

ANYWAY~
ok...case number 1..
Place : Office
Human concerned : Ca**n (probably can guess la..haha)
Situation :
Hello? i know you're bz, but do not impose your bz-ness on me too...You may be bz with your own products, but do remember, the AnP department works for the WHOLE company, not you only...
So don't come bombarding me with your own works and telling it's fucking urgent. I have other people's work to do which is EQUALLY urgent too..
Do you know why we have to always finish your's first?
it's because you did a ...how do you say it? a 'jump queue' tactic.
You always go to my boss and tell her that yours is urgent, and knowing her, she'll ask us to prioritize yours first because you used the word URGENT on her.
what about the rest?

and another thing is.....OWN UP for what you said/did. Don't go doing taichis and pushing the blame onto others.
Yes, i admit that the mistake in the box measurements was mine, but didn't you also check? I showed you the mock up, and you agreed to it. When problems arise, you walk away with the 'holier than thou' attitude.
Also, it's not that i forgot to insert the address, i LEFT the space blank, knowing you wanted to insert something. But you signed, you forgot....oh...let me repeat...

YOU FORGOT TO PASS ME THE TEXT!!!!!

and what's with your attitude nowadays?
You have been RUDE, yes...RUDE...why do you think i have been talking less to you lately?
why do you think we've been eating in the pantry lately?
Treat others with respect and you shall be treated back with even more respect.

You want me to rush your work for you, yes, i'll rush.....
But, listen to others when others ask for you. Do not show me your 'holier than thou' attitude.
You know, you should be proud because you made me made an entry in my blog for you. This 1 post is dedicated to you.

I know this ramble is getting me no where, heck, the situation is all over the place...you may understand, you might not.
i hope you will come to realize what you've done, and how much you've changed over the past few months.
Though, being forgiving is in me.... i'll never forget all the things that you've bestowed us upon.
The good, the bad, the ugly.......everything.

Case number 2
Venue : Office
Human : NCFM man
Situation:
RUDE HUMAN IS RUDE..!!! I've never seen anyone as rude as him before. First of all, he'll walk to the AnP dpt, and sneeze, and walk away...(yay, go spread your retarded germs everywhere...WEEee!!!)
Then, from inside my boss's room, he could scream so loud asking for something as though you're his maid.....
Also, there was this one scenario whereby i was so bz working on something else, he could scream from outside, demanding me (note, i used the word DEMANDING) to set up the place for the photoshoot. (in actual, the photoshoot was supposed to be for the next day)
When i told him that it'll be too much of a hassle that we set up today, place back and set up again tomorrow, he answered with a very stuck-up 'SO?'...
i got so furious, i answered him back ' Then you wait la' and stormed off......
It wasn't only these few incidents...there were many many other times whereby i couldn't remember the details...if i were to list them out, it'd take me so long that Harry Potter's book is considered short.

All i wanna say here is..
A person only has that amount of patients. I am usually calm and cheerful most of the time, and i hardly say NO to people. But there's a limit to that, and do not test my patients....It's a dangerous game to play because i could give you shit if i want to.
I try not to be involved in company politics because i want to perform well in my job and not be bothered by outside gossips.
But if the source of the gossip comes hunting for me, i couldn't do anything but to protect myself.
At that time, i'll retaliate, and fight back, and when that happens....i'll bite so hard that i'll make sure that i'm the final victor.
Barking dogs do not bite hard, it's those that are quiet that kills.

Listening to : GACKT - Stay the ride alive
Mood : exhausted...much...

Hakuouki episode 12 is soooooOOoo SAD..T^T

i needed to get this off me, thus this entry.

I've seen sad animes, but to watch it raw and to understand it....that's another different thing altogether.

Hakuouki was the only anime in my life which i've watched raw because i couldn't wait for the subbed to be released.

And at episode 12, i could say by far it is the SADDEST episode yet.

2 major characters died in this episode, and yamazaki's death is soooo.....SAD......Inoue Genzaburo's death was also very saddening..

heck, THIS WHOLE ANIME IS SO SO TRAGIC...T^T

(i didn't know it'll be this tragic)

I suppose they put a little bit of this and that from everyone's storyline, and also included the Zuisorouki part a little (the part where Chizuru dressed up as a female)

To think that they used to have fun whilst drinking sake and to relate that to this episode (episode 12), it is really really...heart wrenching....><;;;

I believe if i were to watch this at home, i would've cried...really, Yamazaki's passing was so sad, and it was accompanied by the ending theme.....

Before yamazaki died, he told chizuru to take care of the shinsengumi (i believe he meant their health and well being, my japanese is only so-so...)

and then chizuru just turned away and told him that he should do that himself. She then poured the medicine into the cup for yamazaki, only to see him stop breathing.

THAT SCENE IS ONE OF THE SADDEST AND HEART WRENCHING SCENES EVER..!!!

OH, i heard that this anime will get a 2nd season too..WEEEeeEEEee.!!

it'll be out in autumn (errr....when's that again?)

Hakuouki FOREVEr..!!!

but.....SAD ANIME IS SAD....T^T

p/s gonna continue the game tonight. I've stopped for 1 week already...hahaha..

p/s/s btw, souji's airtime in the anime is just pathethic.....wonder why they didn't want to feature him more....that guy already had a tragic sickness with him, at least give him more airtime......T^T

Listening to : Hakuoki - Kimi no Kioku

Mood : ........ YAMAZAKI...T^T