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FanExpo is almost here! Check out the Competing in Cosplay panel I'm on with the awesome DCWbuilds, TokenTalksCosplay, CommanderVampire, and ScarredMewtwo, and check out the cosplay guest meet and greet panel on Sunday also with Odfel and ANDcosplay!

I'll be at my booth all weekend outside of paneling, stop by and check out my Etsy goods and cosplay merch at booth #CS3. I'll also have Arya and Magic Armor on display.

Super excited to see everyone this weekend!

Vash 📸 by Lucid Dream Photography

Link 📸 by InsightFoto

Thanks to ANDcosplay for making some of the cosplay promotional images!

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Have you ever had a cosplay idea that's not big or elaborate but brings you the most joy?

Romeo's Blue Skies had a big impact on me when I watched it as a kid and it has remained one of my favorite little-known anime. I've long wanted to do a location photoshoot, especially with more people. Thanks to MoondropAtelier for being my little sister for the day, my brother for being our Dr. Casella, and Marlo Louden Photography for making photo magic happen to bring my cosplay dreams to life. The Glessner House was a stunning place to take photos and I'd go back in a heartbeat for more Victorian era photos.

We got some of the cutest photos I've ever gotten and I'll always treasure them 🥹💖

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I added a bunch of new things to my Etsy shop last month, and just realized I never got around to sharing them here! I'm planning on bringing my holographic pride korok stickers, some of my embroidered patches, and cosplay tattoos to sell at my booth at FanX, as well as some cosplay prints. I'll also have some free stickers and costumes on display so be sure to drop by if you're attending 😃

https://searincreations.etsy.com/

Shares greatly appreciated!

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FanExpo Chicago is coming up in a few weeks, and I'm super excited to be one of the cosplay guests! Can't wait to panel and work with my fellow guests and meet a lot of you! Keep an eye out in the coming days for my panel schedule, booth number, cosplay plans, and more.

I just finished moving into a new place recently and now that my craft room is set up, I have a lot of exciting WIP coming and hopefully some cool new things to bring to FanExpo! And also a ton of new photoshoot pics and content coming now that I have more time again 👀

Link photo by InsightFoto

Special thanks to andcosplay for making the promo images!

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✨Hyrule Prom Queen and King 👑✨

I was so excited to snag Eveille Cosplay's Twilight Princess Zelda for photos with my Magic Armor Link at C2E2 before Crown! Thank you for indulging my silly photo ideas, we got some cool ones too but honestly these are probably my favorites 😂

Photos by @gormasmus, edits by me

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Happy 1 year anniversary to Tears of the Kingdom! I'm nowhere near finished with the game, I've been so busy I haven't had much time for gaming but I'm enjoying slowly savoring my play through 😌

It's wild that I managed to make three cosplays from the game within a year already?? My norm is making things years after release so I'm surprised myself 😂

I have more cosplans from TotK and BotW coming in the future 💖

Cosplays made and worn by me

TotK Zelda and Archaic Tunic Link photo by @gormasmus, TotK Champion Link photo by J Rossi Photo

Decayed Master Sword raw print by @mudaprints

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"Romeo and Alfredo, they fell in love."

Director of Romeo's Blue Skies, Kouzou Kusuba's official statement on the relationship between Romeo and Alfredo. From the special interview in the World Masterpiece Theater Memorial Book: Europe Editon. He specifically uses the word 恋 (koi) to describe their love, a term that is used exclusively for romantic love in Japanese.

Artwork by character designer/animation director Yoshiharu Sato.

Kaori, Chiba (2010). 世界名作劇場シリーズ メモリアルブックヨーロッパ編 [World Masterpiece Theater Memorial Book: Europe Edition] (in Japanese). Japan. pp. 350–351. ISBN978-4-7753-0814-1

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My new TP Link wig that I just finished styling as a part of my Magic Armor Link upgrades for Crown! I was going for more of the wispy, realistic look portrayed in the artwork pieces. I want to make Ordon Village Link and remake his green tunic look and already had a wig on hand for it, so I figured I might as well go for styling it now 😁

Base wig is an Arda Wigs Ken in Dark Ash Blonde. I did extensive plucking and ventilating into the hairline to feather it and add more direction to make it look more natural. I plucked and cross knotted the side part. The rest is knotted away from the face to add gravity defying lift to the bangs, and the hair slowly angles downwards on the sides.

I did some light crimping and combing out on the interior of the bangs, followed by teasing them into an anti-gravity poof. After that, I trimmed and layered the bangs and side pieces. I used a steamer to tame and shape the bangs, and a hair straightener to add a little bit of wave throughout and flips to the ends for texture. The final step was going in with several shades of Copic markers to add more lowlights and color variation like Link's hair in the game!

Crimping and teasing is magic, this wig doesn't have any hairspray in it yet! I'm going to try to avoid adding spray or gel to it except to tame flyaways since it's going to need some styling TLC anyway after being worn under the Magic Armor crown. Once I'm going I wear it for Ordon or green tunic Link then I'll give it the full sturdy styling treatment 😅

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"Well excuuuse me, Princess!"

There's still more silly content to share from Uchi-Con, these photos give me Zelda cartoon vibes 😂

Hylian Armor Link: Maddog Cosplays

TotK Zelda: Me

Photo by @gormasmus

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AMKE might have been a bust for me, but at least I got these cute photos of my Alfredo cosplay by HayleyStein Photo! It's giving promotional photoshoot for the Romeo's Blue Skies stage musical adaptation and I love it haha

I'm still really bummed that I missed most of AMKE after getting really sick, thankfully at least it wasn't c0vid since I tested negative multiple times. For the little bit I was able to attend AMKE on Friday, I was incredibly fatigued and struggling to function. For anyone I missed or barely got to visit with, I'm sorry and I hope to catch you at a future con 🥲

Speaking of which, I'm gearing up for C2E2, and will be posting progress on my repairs and upgrades on Magic Armor Link cosplay which was accepted into Crown! I'm so excited for it!

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It was Alfredo and Bianca's birthdays this weekend, so here's a cover I did of the piano arrangement of Bianca's theme as it is played in Episode 24. I thought it would be fun to learn it and play it in my Alfredo cosplay. I imagine Alfredo would play this song more tenderly and approached interpreting it this way in comparison to Bianca's rather aggressive playing lol

Here's the sheet music for anyone interested in learning it:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ms7jhTIiSFXGRn4kDL2gAqBBFmO5pIB6/view?usp=sharing

Transcription by Casey Score and edited by me. Alfredo cosplay made by me.

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Reflecting on Romeo and Alfredo's Relationship in Romeo's Blue Skies

This is going to be a very long post as I dig through years of interviews with the creators of the series and spend time reflecting on my own feelings since first seeing this show as a kid over ten years ago; I'm curious to see if there are any other queer fans who resonate with my experience. If you're just interested in reading the staff interview snippets, scroll towards the end.

TL;DR Romeo and Alfredo's feelings for each other were confirmed to be romantic in an interview with the director of the series in 2010.

For some background context, I first saw this series as a closeted queer kid. I had seen other media prior to this that were canonically queer on-screen, but had prevented myself from getting too invested in them. Deep down, it scared me that I was drawn to them and I was trying to convince myself that I wasn't like them. Also, I fall somewhere on the asexual and gray-romantic spectrum and as a result I never had much interest in romance-centered stories in the first place. However, something I didn't realize at the time there actually were types of romantic relationships that I desired, but there was an absence of me seeing them portrayed and allowing myself to be drawn to them.

When I first watched Romeo's Blue Skies, I was not prepared for how emotionally invested I became in the story, especially in the relationship between Romeo and Alfredo. I remember feeling confused why I was having feeling so many emotions while watching, and wondering why I was moved to tears over two fictional characters. At the time, I could tell it hit me on a deeper level than some people around me who I re-watched it with, and I was at a loss for what the reasons were. No piece of media had made me feel this deeply before, and few have come close since then. There's definitely a lot of other personal things about the story and characters that have grown with me over the years that contribute to how much I love this series as well, but Romeo and Alfredo were always at the heart of it. Back then, I tried to merely chalk up my feelings to the two characters having a beautiful friendship, one that I desired to have . . .

Years later, after I had figured out a lot more about my queer identity, I decided to revisit this show which had consistently been in my top 5 favorites even though I had not re-watched it in a very long time. Immediately, I started picking up on all the cues and realizing all the things about these two that had moved me and why it had been the case. The way they talked and supported each other, the way they thought each other, and the emotional intimacy between them. Regardless of anything that was stated on-screen, their connection felt incredibly romantic.

Something to keep in mind, I'm analyzing this series through the lens of the split-attraction model and am talking purely about romantic attraction here, not sexual attraction. If you are not familiar with the split-attraction model and different types of attraction, I recommend researching and reading about it. Being a kid on the asexual spectrum, I think it was precisely the innocence and pureness of Romeo and Alfredo's romantic attraction to one another that struck a chord with me. Additionally, being closeted, I believe on a subconscious level I resonated with the fact that these two were clearly in love with each other, but just like me, they did not understand it themselves either.

There were also a couple moments on my re-watch where my interest was piqued by dialogue nuances which were left out in the fansub translations.

From Episode 24, here Alfredo is saying "Romio ga inakucha dameda" (ロミオがいなくちゃだめだ。), which translates a bit closer to "I need you, Romeo," or "I can't do it without you, Romeo." However, depending on the context, this phrase can have a much stronger meaning, translating closer to "I can't live without you."

From Episode 26, although technically Alfredo is agreeing with Bianca here, his exact words are "Aa, subarashiiyo" (ああ、素晴らしいよ) which is "Yeah, he's wonderful."

Later in the same scene, Alfredo says to Bianca, "Omae mo itsuka kitto, Romio ga daisuki ni naru" (おまえもいつかきっと、ロミオが大好きになる。)

"Omae mo" which means "you too," what he's saying here is actually closer to "You too, will surely grow to like Romeo a lot someday." Potentially, there's a stronger undertone here which could be closer to "You too, will surely fall in love with someday."

"Daisuki ni naru" can mean either "fall in love with" or "grow to like a lot," and can be romantic or platonic depending on context. Bianca's reaction afterwards certainly feels rooted in the fact that his words fall in this gray area.

Ultimately, regardless if Romeo and Alfredo's relationship was not meant to be seen as romantic, it would not change the reasons why the series impacted me so much. However, on my recent re-watch, I couldn't help but wonder how much of it was intentional since so many creative choices in the show felt very deliberate. Alfredo's quickness to grab Romeo's hand, the gentle touches between them, the longing gazes, the promises, the daydreaming about each other when separated, how romantic the accompanying music tracks feel whenever they were together.

A side note here, two things about this situation can be true simultaneously. There can and should be more platonic male friendships with this level of emotional intimacy, and this should be more encouraged, accepted, and represented. At the same time though, there is no need to deny the queer-coding of these two characters. Both interpretations can exist alongside each other. After all, romantic or not, a huge part of their relationship is based on a strong foundation of friendship.

Somewhat related to this, I'd argue that a huge part of why the emotional chemistry between these two characters is so strong is because the story/script writer was a woman and they were both played by women. I joked to myself on my recent re-watch that Romeo and Alfredo have lesbian energy, and later realized that perhaps there were actual reasons why I was getting those vibes 😆

I have the 1996 Megu Extra artbook for the series I had picked up years ago. Since I had been recently been starting to study more Japanese, and Google Lens and DeepL have become pretty good at character recognition and translation, I started to casually read some of the staff interviews in the back of the book. My heart skipped a beat when I read this passage from the interview with the director, Kouzou Kusuba:

(scan of the page is edited to just show the relevant passage here)

Here's a translation I later got from a professional translator:

—It ended up becoming quite popular.

Kusuba: Contrary to my expectations… The fans are maniacs (laughs). Every work has its own fans, but for this one, it really did defy expectations. Well, I do understand the reason. I did depict Romeo and Alfredo in a homosexual-like way. Two men staring into each other’s eyes, or being quick to touch each other. Such depictions were not done previously in the Masterpiece series, and they were quite common here.

The vagueness here was what intrigued me, was he saying they were intentionally gay or just explaining why fans were interpreting them that way? He certainly did not seem to be outright denying the possibility.

I started digging deeper down the rabbit hole of interviews with the staff in various books over the years, burning with curiosity.

I found a couple more interesting vague allusions to the nature of Romeo and Alfredo's relationship in interviews with the script writer and voice actors in the 1996 Megu Extra art book and the 10th anniversary book.

From the 1996 Megu Extra interview with the script writer, Michiru Shimada. Translated with DeepL, edited for readability:

Interviewer: Please tell us about the process of adapting the original story into an anime.

Shimada: At first I thought the story would be a bit hard to follow. But as I worked on it, I think I was able to write something that I never thought I would be able to do. At first, I didn't think it would become this much of a friendship story between Romeo and Alfredo. Of course, I thought that would be the main theme and the climax of the story, but I feel that their friendship, or rather their relationship of trust, went further and further than I had expected.

From the 10th anniversary book interview with Michiru Shimada. Translated with DeepL, edited for readability:

Since I started using the Internet, I found out that "Romeo" had fans, and now that it has reached its 10th anniversary, it still has as many fans as ever. It's very surprising. I am deeply moved that 10 years have already passed, and at the same time, I am filled with gratitude that so many of you remember it. At the time of the broadcast, the ratings were low and I wondered if anyone was even watching the show. So I had no idea that there was a lot of talk among some fans about the relationship between Romeo and Alfredo being "suspicious" (laughs).

From the 10th anniversary book interview with Ai Orikasa and Toshiko Fujita, the voice actors of Romeo and Alfredo, respectively. Translated with DeepL, edited for readability:

Interviewer: So what "Romeo" depicts is the most important part, and in that sense, it is an eternal theme. Even when you grow up, you still think, "I want this kind of friendship," at the heart of it, don't you?

Orikasa: In some ways, it's ideal. I wish I had a friend like Alfredo…. Also, you are drawn to both the innocence of a boy like Romeo, whose hard work is beautiful, and the coolness and fragility of a brilliant but unfortunate boy like Alfredo.

Fujita: Even though they're just boys, there's a deep bond between them, like a romance, right? That's a big theme of Romeo and Alfredo's story.

Interviewer: What do you think is the secret behind Romeo and Alfredo's popularity?

Orikasa: Alfredo is unquestionably cool. Even being unfortunate has a kind of charisma…Romeo, on the other hand, is definitely a blank canvas. He's absorbing everything, but he's desperately trying to survive. He loves people desperately, he desperately wants to do something about it, and he can be clumsy or childish at times, but that's what makes him so charming. As for the relationship between the two, Romeo will never be able to live like Alfredo, and Alfredo will never have anything like Romeo, so they admire each other.

Fujita: I don't know which one of them is happier, but each of them has different qualities that they were born with or things that they acquired without realizing it. On the one hand, I feel like I have to protect them, but on the other hand, I also want to throw them away…That's why Romeo's blank canvas looks wonderful to Alfredo. Perhaps his canvas had been already painted over ever since he was born. They both have something wonderful from the start, but they're both attracted to what they don't have.

…It sounds like we're talking about a man and a woman (laughs).

Orikasa: That's really true. So, I'm sure the fans saw the two of them that way as well. But we were also laughing in the recording studio. There were long scenes where they stared at each other (laughs).

Fujita: That was hilarious. "Isn't it a little too long?" (laughs) We would say things like, "That look in his eyes is not normal."

By this point, I was still wondering if the romantic subtext was actually intentional, or if the creators were just joking around and acknowledging fan interpretations. However, at the very least, I felt I could be satisfied knowing that no one was arguing against the interpretation of them being more than friends. I began to assume that even if the romantic subtext was intentional, the creators would never officially confirm it and would continue to skirt around the topic forever.

Then, to my absolute shock, I found it. Fifteen years after the show aired, in the 2010 World Masterpiece Theater Europe Memorial Book, the director unabashedly confirming the feelings between Romeo and Alfredo were always intended to be romantic.

From the special interview with director Kouzou Kusuba. Professionally translated:

Romeo and Alfredo, the two had fallen in love . . .

With Romeo and Alfredo, that was love at first sight. Without even going into male friendships, the two are lovers. Before they start walking down the road of hardships, when they meet during the apple incident, it was love at first sight. They fell in love. That is the only explanation for having a bond that is that strong.

After Angeletta, Romeo’s heart moves towards Bianca. That is because he saw traces of her older brother, Alfredo, in her. So in the end, it was Alfredo for Romeo.

For comparison's sake, the DeepL translation with my own edits for better readability:

Romeo and Alfredo, they fell in love . . .

Romeo and Alfredo, it was love at first sight. Before you say anything about male friendships, these two are lovers. They fell in love at first sight when they met at the apple incident before they started down the road of hardship. They fell in love. If we didn’t think of it that way, they would not have had such a strong bond.

Romeo's heart moves on to Bianca after Angeletta. It is because he saw in Bianca the image of her brother Alfredo. After all, it really is still Alfredo for Romeo.

There's a crucial bit of info to note about the interview in the original Japanese that confirms it was romance without a shadow of a doubt. The director uses the word 恋 (koi) to describe their love, which is a term that is only used for romantic love in Japanese, as well as 恋人 (koibito - lovers/sweethearts/boyfriends). This leaves no ambiguity unlike the words すき (suki - like), and 愛 (ai - love), which, like their closest English counterparts, can be platonic or romantic depending on context.

Although I didn't need the romantic connection between them to be canon, actually having it confirmed simultaneously fills my heart with so much joy and ache even more. The story hits much harder when viewed through the lens of being an intentional, fleeting childhood romance between two boys who are oblivious to the fact that they are in love with each other. There's a sense of disconnect between them knowing that they feel strongly towards each other, but not realizing what their feelings mean and the people around them not understanding how deep it is either. I certainly had feelings as a kid that I wasn't able to identify as romantic until years later because of compulsory heterosexuality, and I'm sure many other queer people would relate to this as well.

It's beautiful, yet heartbreaking. If you consider it, the way their romance is presented contextually makes sense from both the standpoint of being realistic to the 1870s, time period it is set in, and the constraints of when it was created and aired on TV, in 1995. Especially with Romeo's Blue Skies being a children's show and a World Masterpiece Theater series, there probably would have been no scenario where the creators could have explicitly stated it on-screen. Instead, they poured it all into subtext, which shines brightly.

Romeo and Alfredo never needed to say, "I love you." A few words, a tender gaze and a gentle hand touch between them to me almost feels more romantic than a kiss ever could. It is so painfully evident in the way they look at each other and treat each other that they have a much deeper emotional and romantic bond between them than any other characters in the series.

I think that's what spoke to me all those years ago. The feeling of finding someone you're on the same wavelength with; those unspoken understandings between each other. I saw these two and was struck somewhere deep in my heart with the desire for a relationship like that. Even now, there's a part of me that feels: If I were to find my equivalent counterpart of Romeo and Alfredo, I would be set for life . . .

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Romeo's Blue Skies - Official watercolor art for the covers of the compiled script collections by the character designer and animation director for the series Yoshiharu Sato

Yoshiharu Sato worked extensively at Studio Ghibli as a key animator, and notably was the animation director on My Neighbor Totoro and Only Yesterday. He also worked on many of the other World Masterpiece Theater series at Nippon Animation.

The spines of the books are my favorite part ☺️

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It's hard to believe it's been 7 years already since Breath of the Wild released . . .

I'm using the anniversary as an excuse to post a new photo of my Zelda even tho this is her TotK version 😆

There's still a lot of costumes I still want to make from BotW/Totk, I'll be excited to start more in the near future!

Costumes made and worn by me, Zelda photo by @gormasmus with photo edit by me, Link photos by InsightFoto

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I really enjoyed hanging out at the Chicago Historical Costuming Society's 20s/Valentine's Day themed event last weekend and got some great photos afterwards taken by @gormasmus!

I was lucky and found a nice mens suit at a thrift store in my size awhile back that I barely needed to alter. It was fun putting together an ensemble from other items in my stock and getting to wear it for the first time 😁

Photo edits by me. Of course, I couldn't resist playing with B&W filters lol

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Here's a lovely photo by @gormasmus of my TotK Zelda from Uchi Con! I had never been to the University of Chicago before; I absolutely love the castle vibes of the buildings and can't wait to go back for more cosplay photoshoots in the future.

Costume made and worn by me, photo edit by me.

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I was in a drawing mood this weekend and did this little modern AU sketch of Alfredo and Bianca from Romeo's Blue Skies playing video games ☺️

It's been awhile since I've brought out my Prismacolor pencils, I miss using them.