Spock's Pickled Brain

So, as a fun and easy way to celebrate urban fantasy, the Loonatic and I decided to make up some simple Winchester costumes.   I admit, Supernatural has been one of my favorite TV series since I was a kid. I'm not saying that it runs on Emmy-winning acting and writing, or that it has a great relationship with women, people of color, etc., but it is a fun show that has some remarkably poignant moments. There's a lot of these kind of moments Anyway, the costume aesthetic of Supernatural is pretty much flannel and jeans, so having specific character details or a costumed group is kind of key to being recognized. Hence, I would not be a Dean without my Sam (so check out the Loonatic's Sam costume build for more funtimes). Specifically, I decided to build a costume around one of Dean's most iconic looks from the first couple seasons, consisting of a black t-shirt, a green overshirt, his classic leather jacket, and, of course, the god-finding amulet. I swear, ...

Hey, as previously mentioned, I decided to go to Orlando's 2019 MegaCon as Arsenal (AKA Roy Harper). However, if you've followed this blog at all (or...not), you may know that the Loonatic is the person to go to for detailed, picture perfect cosplays. For better or worse, I'm more inclined to make costumes inspired by a character or idea. So yeah, think of this less as a roadmap to becoming Roy Harper from Red Hood and the Outlaws-volume 2-page 6, and more as a Roy Harper outfit inspired by his costumes in Outlaws. Items: Top Most of Roy's costumes involve a more traditional spandex suit, which I decided to nix pretty much out of the gate. Instead, I went for a more casual look that I thought might still evoke Roy's character. To that end, I wore a loose muscle tank and a bandeau in what will become a familiar eye-searing shade of red. Pants After trawling through a couple thrift stores, I found an appropriately red pair of pants that I thought...

Making Necrobotanical Accessories So, ever since I saw this idea mentioned on Pinterest (see the post that stirred my brain here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/835628905835908245/), I've been obsessed with the idea of botanical necromancers. This doesn't necessarily mean necromancers who bring plants back from the dead (there are possibilities there, but it's not quite the aesthetic I'm looking for), but rather magic users who combine their abilities to raise the dead as minions, and then enhance the dead with the help of plants. The post that I linked to above suggests "undead skeletons being supported by plant fibers to make up for missing muscles and ligaments so they can run instead of shamble" and "adding thorns or huge venus fly traps or poison onto minions." So, being so enamored of this idea, I decided to try to include some aspects of this idea into my upcoming medieval faire costume, or even just for the house in general. In ord...

1. Necromancer's lair lantern Lots of Halloween décor could easily be used for pieces to recreate a necromancer's or other dark magic-user's lair. These surplus skull-and-crow lanterns were found in a thrift store for about $10, but you can likely buy these very cheaply close to or after Halloween. The lantern has a LED light, but this object can benefit from additional lights in the orbital sockets of the skull, or additional weathering and aging done to the skull. 2. Royal storage container This started out life as metal-plated ice bucket, and was found in a thrift store for $2. Unaltered this works pretty well as a themed storage container for food or other objects. But you could also using ageing techniques to tone down the newness, add faux jewels, etc. 3. Pedestal for magical artifact I'm not sure what this started out as, but I found this wooden stand-like object for about $2. It could be used as the base or pedestal for a crystal ball, creature, m...