Worn at: AX 2003 (Anaheim, CA), Yaoi-con 2003 (San Francisco, CA), Yaoi-con 2004 (San Francisco, CA)

Future appearances: .@_@   Eep....

This is probably one of the most difficult cosplays I've ever pulled off.. ^^  Well...I mean, the shirt was downright impossible for me, so I had it made for me at Nezumi's Cosplay Shoppe (because she's the best cosplay maker in the world!  =D ), and it came out absolutely awesome!  Everyone said the shirt and cape (she did both) were some of the finest pieces of craftsmanship they'd ever seen.  ^-^  I'm inclined to agree.  The rest I did myself...and it was a lot harder than it probably should have been.  Ok, the goggles were easy, the rest was just a pain in the butt.  The pants I bought, but they went way too high on my waist, so I figured I'd roll them down.  Then, out of pure genius (or laziness, I can't decide which..), I decided that instead of making a belt and figuring out how to put it on with the top of the pants rolled down...I just painted the rolled over part to be the belt. ^^  Though I angsted for a while over how I'd do the buckle...and a few days before AX it occurred to me if I was just going to paint the belt, I may as well paint on the buckle too. ^^*  And that was that.  The pants were too long for me though, so I cut a bit off the bottom, and in another stroke of genius, I used what I cut off the bottom to make the little wings at the top. ^^  Whee!  The pants are now completely different than how I bought them. ^^*  The bag I had since forever, just stuck on some vinyl and painted it; though it was amusing that since the bag was so used already, I had to re-paint parts of it white because it was so dirty. ^^ (and, no, just washing didn't work)  His bag is supposed to have a white strap, and mine was black, but I couldn't decide how to fix that, so I just left it.  I may try something before Yaoi-con, but I'm not really that worried about it.  Hmm...the shoes I kept a lookout for for months, before finally coming across a cool pair that I loved and would work wonderfully.  I couldn't decide if I should've painted them the proper colors or not - on one hand it'd be more accurate, but on the other...I paid a lot of money for those shoes and wasn't about to go painting them. ^^  So I didn't, but they looked fine anyway.  ::nods::  The leg coverings were pretty easy, just wrap white cloth around and sew it and paint the top.  Stuck some rivets down the sides as false buttons.  The black under-gloves I just bought black mittens and cut the fingers off of.  The white over-gloves.... -_- eh...so much difficulty...  Especially since one is longer than the other.  Let's just say...a little vinyl, and a lot of trial and error.. ^^*  There's two little...things on the top of each glove, and I had originally intended to make them out of the vinyl too, and sew them on.  Then I got my hands on a hot glue gun and thought I'd just glue them on...but they wouldn't stay.  So I threw a fit and just made them out of hot glue. ^^*  Put down several layers, let it dry, then painted.  Worked out ok.  Looks like crap up close, but not noticeable from a distance or in pictures. ^^*  (which is strangely how most of my cosplays are.. ^^** )  Then the knee pads.... -_-  Biggest.  Pain.  Ever.  I bought volleyball kneepads at a sporting good store, and that was fine, but they weren't quite the right shape so I cut them properly and sewed up the seams.  Then I needed to dye them because they started off white.  So I bought some dye and dyed them...and they came out purple.  -_-  Navy blue = purple, I guess.  Shit.  So I bought some fabric paint and just painted the damn things.  But it turns out, if you paint elastic, it stops being elastic.  With them being unable to stretch I wasn't able to get them on my legs, and I angsted for a long time over how I was going to get them on.  Then while browsing the fabric store I saw they sold extenders for bra straps.  Aha!  So I got those and some hooks and eyelets and cut the backs and sewed everything in so they would hook like a...well, like a bra. (which is funny because every time someone saw me with the knee pads they'd ask if they were bra cups.. ^^* I guess in the end they did become knee-bras.. =P )  After everything, it took about six months for me to make them.  -_-  Irritating, I tell ya!  And, ah!  The elbow pad was made in the same way, except after painting I was still able to wiggle my arm into it despite the lack of elastic, so I didn't have to do anything special there...except that I couldn't bend my arm with it on.. ^^* (well, with a little work I got it loose enough to move in. ^^ )  So, getting the completed costume on took a little help, and wearing it was...weird.. ^^* (I'm used to the collar of a shirt being around my neck...not sitting on my shoulders..  and those damn knee pads kept falling down!), but it looked pretty good and made me sooo happy to get to be my beloved Zeph.  ^,^  Squee.

For 2004 cosplays I needed my hair to be quite a bit longer then Zephel-spiky cropped, so I got a wig.  Found a really good one!  Spiky white.  But it was still a bit too long, even though I trimmed it a bit.  I was too frustrated/annoyed to work on it any more at the time, so just wore it as-is, but rest assured by the next time I portray the Guardian of Steel I will have it cut properly.  .^_~

Taken at AX 2003:

  <----my friends obviously don't know how to use a camera....

We also did and 'Angelique' cosplay in their casual outfits.  For Zephel, it was a simple matter of buying a blue tee-shirt and painting an orange X on it, and getting a green jacket and shorts. ^^  Pretty easy, and very comfortable.

Taken at Yaoi-con 2003:

Taken at Yaoi-con 2004: