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sukka-week · 2 years

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Hey everyone, we’re back with another theme post! This week our theme is going to be “warriors” and today’s post is about...

Warrior Face Paint

I think something we Sukka fans love about this couple is how much they have in common with each other. Their identities as non-bending warriors is obviously very important to each of them, which gives them something they can relate to each other deeply about.

In fact, I always like to think, despite all his belly-aching about how “girly” the Kyoshi Warrior uniform was, that Sokka found the Kyoshi Warrior face paint to be...pretty familiar? Comfortable, even? Because he’s no stranger to applying war paint.

Now, about that war paint. As far as I can tell (and please do correct me if I’m mistaken!), circumpolar peoples do not have a tradition of painting their faces. Tattooing their faces, yes! But Sokka’s war paint may be inspired by Native American practices of face and body painting.

From what I’ve read, in Native American cultures, painting one’s body is a solemn and sacred act, like a prayer. It can be a prayer of thanks, or a prayer for protection. It can be to celebrate a special milestone, or to honor loved ones who have passed. The colors used have significance, and although the meanings may not necessarily be shared across all tribes, I’ve seen some of these meanings for the following colors:

Red symbolizes strength, power, success, happiness, and beauty

Black is the color of living; it is worn to prepare for war and symbolizes victory and homecoming, but in some cultures can also symbolize mourning

White symbolizes peace and prosperity, or it can also symbolize mourning

In the first episode, we see Sokka wearing mostly gray, with large swaths of white and accented details in black. If we apply the meanings above to the patterns Sokka has painted, then his act of face painting takes on a particularly poignant message...one of hope, for victory and peace, in preparation for facing the Fire Nation.

In the sources I saw online, I didn’t see mention of gray face paint used in Native American tribes. However, I did come across one website, though I can’t vouch for its accuracy, that described gray paint used in African tribal face paint as commonly symbolizing security, authority, maturity, and stability.

So what about Suki? The Kyoshi Warrior face paint is not inspired by real-life samurai, who did not paint their faces, but by the depictions of warriors and heroes in Japanese and Chinese opera.

(Oshimodoshi, from the series The Eighteen Great Kabuki Plays)

Kabuki, Japanese classical performance art, makes use of face paint called kumadori, which is meant to exaggerate the blood vessels and muscles of a character’s face and expressions.

Colors have meaning here, too. Black is used for details and accents and doesn’t seem to carry other significance. A base color of white represents a good person or a high-ranking character (as opposed to a base of light brown which is used for supernatural entities, or a base of red which is used for the main villain’s henchmen). Red details, then, are used to represent justice and courage, and also sometimes hot-headed youthfulness.

The patterns of the face paint have meaning, as well! There are several types with meanings ranging from “great villains with high status trying to take over the country” (this pattern is called kugeare) to “heroes who have been imprisoned and so have become pale and thin” (this is called kagekiyo no kuma) to “heroic samurai who are comical despite their status” (called saruguma). You can check them out here, but I picked out a couple that I thought looked similar to the Kyoshi pattern.

According to the site I linked above, ipponguma is used for characters who are “strong and reliable, but also rough and rascally,” while nihonguma is for “calm, majestic, and strong adult roles.” Meaning-wise, I think ipponguma fits Suki pretty well. ;) (And Suki’s eyebrows are about as ipponguma as you can get!)

Now, in Chinese opera, the colors have meaning, as well, but the elaborately-painted faces tend to be more colorful and detailed than in kabuki. So, red symbolizes loyalty, devotion, and courage. Black is for serious or bold characters and symbolizes strength and roughness. And white is for characters who are sinister or suspicious. But the patterns you would see with these colors look nothing like the Kyoshi face paint.

(from https://www.chinaculturetour.com/culture/peking-opera.htm)

Rather, Suki’s makeup more closely resembles the typical face paint of the dan role in Chinese opera (which is any female character). The patterns and colors for these characters is less about symbolism and more about beauty.

(Kunju actress Fengying SHEN performs in Kunju Peony Pavilion on the stage of Peking University Hall in Beijing, China, April 18, 2006)

And actually, the male sheng roles in Chinese opera do their makeup very similarly, so Sokka in Kyoshi Warrior paint fits right in.

#suki #sokka #sukkaweek #sukka week #sukkaweek2022 #sukka week 2022 #'warriors' week #warrior face paint

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marenwithanm · 1 year

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Inspired by this post right here , have a post I'd like to call

Ranking how easy each linked universe link would be to cosplay!

1-5, 1 being hard, 5 being easy

Read more if you dare ~

First up to bat is Sky!

So there's a lot of ways to approach his outfit. I think his shirt, pants and boots could easily be thrifted. Earrings too probably. Hack up a green shirt and put it back together with some slits and there you go. His white undershirt seems pretty simple too, minus the blue, but I'll come back to that.

The red wrap+belt might be a tad more difficult, I could argue for making the red wrap out of a base or from scratch. The cape though, make that from scratch. Thrift some white bedsheets and make a simple cape. You've got a lot of options for his blue designs. Vinyl appliques, topstitch some blue fabric, paint, even embroidery if you're crazy (like me lol)

I don't think his wig would be... Terribly difficult? He's just got chin length hair and bangs. I just feel like it would be hard to get volume into it and keep it from looking flat and lifeless.

The chainmail is where I stop bc. I know nothing about chainmail in cosplays. How make it? I met a guy once who made his own chainmail by individually twisting metal wire around itself for each loop, and I think that is utterly insane. I embroider and I don't even have the patience for that. But I wouldn't know an easier way to do that so ¯⁠\⁠(⁠°⁠_⁠o⁠)⁠/⁠¯

Overall Sky gets a 4/5 his base outfit is pretty darn simple with some minimal sewing knowledge required if you want it 100 percent accurate. His cape would be fairly easy to paint, so maybe not a beginner cosplay, but not too hard!

Now Four (sword not included)

So Four's tunic is where a lot of the difficulty comes in (clearly lol). I could see fusing four shirts together, but I would be concerned about the way they would fit together being different patterns, different fabrics, ect ect. I would probably not bother and just make his tunic from scratch. If you want 1000 percent accuracy, you could make his tunic lace up in the front, which would look awesome but is out of my skill set lol. His hood I feel like would need a couple mock ups to get the right shape. His whole tunic actually. It's kinda dress like. The drape is important if ya feel me.

Other things I would make would be his weird belt, his kinestones, and his Ezlo bobble (don't want it to be too heavy or else it would drag down the hood, so no metal = harder to thrift) For his earring I would probably dye a plastic feather.

Now his tunic would require quite a bit of embroidery, which sounds very fun to me, but a nightmare to many others I'm sure.

His wig would be pretty simple, but again I feel like it would be hard to make look good, especially with the headband. I'm not really a wig person so I wouldn't know though.

As for easy things, his tights, boots, and undershirt would be pretty simple to thrift or cobble together 👌

Overall Four gets a 2/5. Definitely not the easiest out there. There are ways you could make it easier on yourself, but there's quite a few skills you need to even start.

It's time for Time! (Kaepora Gaebora not included)

Oh Time buddy where do I even start...

Let's start with the easy stuff. His underclothes are super simple. Just black turtleneck and black pants. Thrift em, easy.

We've discussed how much I don't know about chainmail, so I'm choosing to ignore that. The boots I think depend on how much you care for accuracy. Brown boots are easy to come by. This particular style? Not so much. I've only ever modified shoes via paint so I wouldn't know all that much here.

With time's wig, I think the biggest thing would be getting his bangs right. I think using that combing backwards technique would work well, but I haven't used it so idk

Ok ok let's address the elephant in the room. I have no idea how to make armor. I know there's a lot of different methods, I've never used any of them, I don't know. Armor isn't necessarily gonna be harder than embroidery, but my complete lack of knowledge might tank time's score a bit.

For time I'm gonna give a 1/5. You gotta know quite a bit of cosplay stuff for this guy. I've done about four cosplays now, and I look at him and shudder in fear. Do Time if you're good with armor and chainmail.

Let's go downfall boys, starting with Legend (seasons rod not included)

I think legend's might be one of the most fun (for me lol) I could easily see both his tunics starting as thrifted bases which you hack up to fit the design a bit more. If you wanna be lazy, just find a blue beanie for his hat lol. If not, it's just a standard link hat but blue.

For his shoes, basically find some brown books and add some feathers. For his weird belt maybe buy a Hufflepuff scarf 😆. His bracket and rings could be super fun to thrift and modify if you're into that.

Now, admittedly, you would have to embroider stuff for legend, which hikes up the difficulty a lot lol. But whoopsie ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

I think his wig would be super fun. I don't know much about dying wigs, but this could be a fun project to learn about it bc it's such a small, low stakes section of his hair.

Overall, Legend gets a 3/5. The required embroidery makes things difficult, and modifying some bases to fit could be a bit hard, but overall seems like a super fun cosplay to put together.

The hero of Hyrule!

Ok so I feel like a lot of this outfit could be thrifted and modified. Just buy the pants, find a brown shirt and add yellow accents, maybe tear the sleeves off a green shirt, dip the neckline, and open the bottom up. Not too bad. I could see the boots being easy too. The gloves is where I'm not sure on. I've never actually made gloves bc I'm not good at sewing tiny, form fitting things. So I'm kinda ¯⁠\⁠(⁠°⁠_⁠o⁠)⁠/⁠¯

I think his potions could be fun to make. Of course, he doesn't have them in the comic, but hey it could add some depth to the costume. Just buy some glass bottles and line the insides with different paint colors. Could be a fun afternoon.

I'm not really sure where to start with his wig. Fluffy wigs are hard to make fluffy as far as I'm aware. Synthetic hair tends to lay quite flat. But I've seen ppl curl them, I know it's possible, but I don't really know how. So this is gonna be a "do your own research" thing.

Overall, debating between 4 or 5/5 for Hyrule. I think his getup is as hard as you make it really. If you go all out in accuracy, probably a 4. If not, a chill 5. Probably the simplest you'll get from the lu boys.

Child timeline with Twilight!

Not the chainmail 😭 we've established I simply do not know. I am actively ignoring it. Anyways, his under clothes are just white/cream pants and shirt, easy, thrift store. His tunic could be pretty simple, just take a green Tshirt, cut some slits, and transfer a dark green sleeve from another shirt and boom you got twilight tunic. The wrap wouldn't be to hard, basically the same as sky's so I'm just gonna move on.

I think if you don't wanna go to hard, his boots are easy, just get brown boots, thrift stores my beloved. But, on the other hand, twi's a cowboy, his boots gotta be intricate! I don't know much about shoes so I couldn't say how but y'know ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Twilights hair is basically the same as Time's in the bang's swoop being important. I think you could do it with a tutorial on wig styling 👍

So his wolf pelt... I'm not quite sure what to think. I know they make fabric that mimics fur, but the idea of letting that furry monstrosity near my sewing machine is giving me chills. I would have to clean it out after ever seam. I dunno man I'm afraid of that fur 😆

Let's give twilight a... 3/5? I'm really not sure what to do with his chainmail and wolf hoodie, but the rest of him doesn't seem too terrible. Basic sewing knowledge needed

The best timeline adult timeline with Wind!

Ok I lied when I said Hyrule was as simple as we were gonna get. Wind is challenging for that spot. Let's break this down. He's got a greenish undershirt, orange capris, and black booties. Thrift em.

Like four, most his difficulty comes in the tunic. But unlike four, you've got a lot of options. For legend and four, I only mentioned embroidery for their tunics because I don't know if other methods would look good in such small details. but with sky and wind, you can basically do whatever you want! Alter a blue shirt (or maybe dress with the length of his tunic) to fit the neckline and slit. Then, for the details, you could do embroidery (you're crazy, but sure), white fabric topstitched on (mostly worry about the curves), vinyl (again, you're crazy, but sure), even paint (underrated option in my opinion)!

His wig seems pretty easy, again just getting it to be fluffy is the issue. And that's one I can't help you with lol.

You could basically stop there, but if you want some finer details, the spoils bag would be a fun felt project, his swirl belt buckle seems like a job for polymer clay and paint, and I think a bead + gold wires and some kind of pink see through sheet could make a very cute joy pendant.

Another case of "as easy as you make it" let's give wind a more solid 4/5 since it's maybe slightly harder than Hyrule.

Nebulous timeline placement with Warriors!

Hhhhhhhhh I'm crying what. Chainmail, armor, and custom shoes???? Just kill me now.

Ok ok so we all know how I feel about chainmail and armor, I'm gonna leave those alone. He's got the same under clothes situation as twilight just white shirt and pants. His tunic I could see as a modified dress or very large shirt. Make the v neck the deepest v in the world lol.

He has... So many belts. I've not been mentioning belts unless they're weird bc, again, thrift store. But I. I think you're gonna buy out the whole store's worth of belts my goodness. But yes, you can modify belts to fit the areas he's wearing them.

His amazing scarf cape kind of scares me. It's too beautiful, it relys so much on the drape, and I am but a poor soul on the internet. Buuuut I could see maybe a deep blue knit fabric, or even just blue bedsheets at, again, the thrift store. I dunno what the orange is, if it's embroidery or what. I'd find a reference of it, but it's midnight and I've already spent way too long on this lol

The shoes... Like ok they're cool conceptually with them being a reference to historical army shoes. But you're not gonna find those out and about. Luckily, I think if you took some brown boots and did some cut outs in the back, you could get a similar affect.

Finally, his wig also kind of scares me bc his hair is so nice, but this one seems simple with some bangs styling required 👍

Overall warriors is getting a 1/5. I don't think he'd be as hard to make as time, but definitely harder than four with the shoulder armor, customized tunic, cape, and customized shoes.

Last but certainly not least, the Wild child!

So wild is basically a cartoonized version of his botw self, and there's plenty of botw link tutorials out there if you want some more advice. But! He doesn't seem too bad. He's got the white underclothes deal, easy to thrift. his tunic could just be blue with your choice of white applique like wind. You could be extra and do the dualing colors. Can't remember if wild keeps that design element in the comic itself, but it's neat! Basically Frankenstein two shirts together. The only concern would be how the different fabrics interact and how the differences in pattern and sizing interact. But with only 2 pieces it shouldn't be too bad.

His boots are as simple as you make them. If you want the orange flap, I could see it made out of some wiggly foam and painted. His arm wraps are basically any grey fabric in strips so I'll leave that to your disgression.

His cape doesn't seem all that hard, your choice of applique on the back, make it out of a simple cape pattern, basic sewing knowledge maybe required.

Honestly my mind concern is his wig since long wigs are always such a pain. But styling wise, looks pretty simple.

Overall, wild gets maybe a 3/5? About on par with legend, maybe a bit harder. Or maybe not necessarily harder than legend, but more effort.

Bonus Malon bc I love her

Another case of as hard as you make it. I don't think it would be too hard to find a pink skirt and white shirt. If you want it too be accurate, you'd have to do some finagling, but it wouldn't be too bad. Her waist wrap is similar to sky, and whatever that brown drape from her belt is doesn't seem to hard. Her yellow cape thing could honestly just be like a square of yellow fabric, it's all in how it's tied.

Shes another, simple shoes, unless you consider this is a cowgirl, they gotta be good wink wonk. but not actually, make it as hard as you want lol.

Honestly, her wig is what scares me most. She's got the time bangs and the long hair.

Let's give malon a 4 or 5/5 like Hyrule. As easy as you make it! Quite a range you can get while still having it look good.

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