#and like i don't even care it was sanders' sides cringe culture is dead

[thecommunityoftrustworthysinks]

thinking about how much i used to love cosplay and how i have barely done any of it ever since one specific contest in 2019.

it was at a decently sized convention, and i entered my assassin's creed ezio cosplay. this thing took me like 60+ hours and over $200 to do, which i recognize that many cosplays have more than that but it was my most extensive one ive ever done.

i adapted the pattern from some guy on youtube who had made an approximate one for the tunic, inside and out, and i changed it to fit my measurements and vision and it was double sided and layered and had the stripes manually inserted (not sewn on the outside!) into the tunic. i spent an unreasonable amount of time adapting of pair of my own boots with cardboard and faux leather to make them taller and more accurate, which looked really fucking good at the end and gave me a ton of hot glue burns. i sized and printed a diagram of the shoulder guard and meticulously wrapped each segmented piece in faux leather and aged it with various paints and actual damage, i modified a belt to attach it to the cape and around my shoulder, i bought two of the assassin blades, painted them both over again, made an entirely new hook for one of them fitted to my wrist, and practically remade the brace for the other one. i found leather gloves and cut one up and resewed it together so the cuff was accurate AND the blade could come through. i so carefully put the hood together with multiple failures to make sure it sat right like the weird triangle shape it is instead of being a circle. have you SEEN the patterns on ezio's collar??? i didn't scrimp on them, i hunted and hunted for ribbons and iron-on designs (because i can't embroider like that) and so carefully lined them up and spliced them together and made sure to have the border and the insides. i 3d printed the belt buckle and modified two more belts to cinch it around me, and i manually sanded primed painted and gilded the buckle. i put my life into this cosplay.

and i lost

to a sanders' sides cosplayer in jeans and a dress shirt.