Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy Book Trailer!

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Cosplayer of the Week : Burnt Circuits Props and Cosplay

Self proclaimed newb cosplayer and prop builder (and also a very good friend of ours) Burnt Circuits is well on his way to becoming one of our favourite cosplayers. His attention to detail and his strive to go above and beyond truly shine through in his costumes. We can't wait for his future projects. 

What got you into cosplay? - A little less than two years ago I helped my friend with a cosplay armor-building panel at the library by wearing one of his full suits of EVA foam armor. We ended up doing a little photoshoot that day and had so much fun that we decided to cosplay at Fan Expo that summer.

What was your first cosplay? - Does Steampunk count? I made a steampunk outfit for Halloween three years back. Otherwise my first cosplay would be Mordecai from the video game Borderlands for Fan Expo 2013.

How long have you been cosplaying? - About a year and a half. Fan Expo in August 2013 was the first time I'd worn anything that I created. But I always cringe a little looking back on that one...haha. I am always a little strapped for time so I haven't created as many cosplays as I'd like but I'm working on changing that this year. I've only got two cosplays completed so far and they are different versions of the same character!

What is your favourite part of putting on your cosplay? - Oh, there's a few things! I love seeing everything finally come together. The few days before a con finishing up a cosplay are always the most stressful so when it's time to get into character it's really liberating. The chains of the deadline are removed and then it's 100% fun. I also love meeting people who are cosplaying characters from the same universe. There's an instant bond that I've never experienced before. Both times at Fan Expo I've met awesome people that I've kept in touch with and have formed a little cosplay family around our love of Borderlands. We all met up for MTCC this year and had an amazing time! We're already planning for summer cons.

What's the best part of cosplay for you? - Building! I love the build process, especially the gadgets. I seem to be drawn to characters that have lots of gizmos and I love adding LEDs and 3d-printed parts to props to make them stand out a little more.

What is your favourite cosplay? - Definitely my latest version of Mordecai. I really like the character and his wacky appearance. It was so much fun working out how to design and craft his hair and beard and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I got a lot of compliments on how it looks.

Do you have a current cosplay or cosplayer favourite, someone that has inspired you? - My friend Chris from AVX Armor! He's a big reason I got into cosplaying and we've worked some long hours together in his garage getting ready for cons.

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/burntcircuitspropsandcosplay?fref=ts

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Marvel's Daredevil on Netflix

Every once in awhile we get that itch to sit down in front of our TVs and binge watch a series. Everyone once in awhile a series is worth shutting yourself in, plopping yourself down and throwing away 13 hours of your life for. 

Gather up your favourite snacks, a blanket, maybe a friend (someone who doesn't talk too much) and get ready for the action fuelled thrill ride that is Marvel's Daredevil. Heck, call in sick. Your boss will understand. Because it truly is something to marvel at. 

Over the weekend Netflix released the Daredevil series in its entirety. As a long time fan of Marvel and a fan of their ability to build their movie universe I can confidently say that this is the finest work they have put out to date. Marvel was successful in its presentation of Agents of SHIELD, a story with close ties to the Avengers storyline. It was a bit rocky at first but smoothed out later in its first season and eventually brought us familiar faces like Quake and Mockingbird. It also created a number of characters we adopted and fell in love with like Fitzsimmons. Its second attempt broadened the Captain America story and gave us something we were all craving, an amazing female lead with a kickass storyline. We all fell even harder for Peggy Carter. But as much as I liked and continue to like these shows they were missing an edge. 

I am not particularly a fan of making things edgy and gritty just for the sake of a dark story, so I like the tone of both shows just fine. I also find myself as a believer that Marvel tends to have a light air about it in contrast to DC. But I am nonetheless a fan of the underdogs, the brawlers and the antiheroes. This is something the MCU had not presented us with yet. Reviewed as " Everything Arrow wished it could be and everything Batman Begins couldn't be," Daredevil was something I took an immediate interest in. It has such a different tone from Carter and SHIELD but still manages to keep with the Marvel Aesthetic. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the character, Matt Murdock was blinded and gained superhuman senses, as a child, after he tried to save a man from being hit by a truck containing radioactive waste. As an adult Matt practices law with his best friend Foggy Nelson and is the vigilante known as Daredevil by night. 

The show takes place following the events of the Battle of New York. It is nice to see Marvel not forget about the surrounding parties. Hell's Kitchen is suffering the effects of property damage and the like. Without spoiling too much, the show takes on Matt's journey to overthrow those in power in his corrupt city through his law practice and through his fists. 

The cinematography and lighting of the show is enough for anyone to want to watch the show because it is seriously beautiful to look at. The show has an interesting way of bringing very comic panel elements to the screen while still appearing very much in the real world. It is also very interesting that the show plays so heavily on the visual appeal of Matt's surroundings. Upon a rewatch I would further explore the sound component of the show and how characters tended to have their own sound theme such as Wesley's ticking clock. A cool stretch if it mimicked his time left in the story. Or the lack of focus on sound with Foggy and Matt's complete trust of him. 

 

I couldn't get away without talking about the choreography of each fight scene in the show, in particular the one shot takes. Episode 2 had us reminiscing about the famous Old Boy hallway scene. Even though we might actually get a few cuts in that scene the transitions are flawless and one for the books.

Beyond cool cinematography and an interesting story the show is cast to perfection. We heard complains, as is the case, that Murdock was missing his red hair and fans had doubts. But Charlie Cox is perfection in the role. We can forgive the absence of his ginger hair because he makes up for it with unbelievable charm and conviction. Everyone in the cast can be met with just as much praise. Elden Henson makes you fall in love with Foggy Nelson and Vondie Curtis-Hall seriously has me questioning his fate. (I mean we need more of this man and Ben Urich in general). I am also personally a fan of the Wesley character (not someone who usually sides with villain type characters) but Toby Leonard Moore offers so much with a character that says very little.  I am always a fan of Rosario Dawson and I am interested in how Deborah Ann Woll will play Karen Page later down the line. But this section cannot go without mentioning Vincent D'Onofrio. He is, by far, the best villain to come out of the MCU. 

So do yourself a favour, drop whatever it is you are doing and sit down in front of your TV. This is the show to binge watch. This is the show to watch again and again. If this is what Marvel has to offer in its future projects sign me up. Bring on Luke Cage, bring on Jessica Jones, bring on Iron Fist, let me watch the Defenders tomorrow. We saw all those easter eggs. But one things is for sure we can't wait for more of those best damn avocados. 

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Cosplayer of the Week: Amishanda

We were introduced to this friendly and talented cosplayer at last years Toronto Comic Con when she was wearing her amazing Tauriel cosplay. Amishanda is a cosplayer who inspires us, she is always hard at work crafting new costumes or reworking old ones to make them (somehow!) even better.  Even more impressive is her ability to bring so many characters from so many different mediums come to life through her cosplays-anime, video games & film, she's can portray anyone from anything and look wonderful while doing it.

1. What got you into cosplay?

 My friend told me about Anime North back in high school. She was part of a Sailor Moon cosplay group and I was like “… wait you aredressing up as SAILOR SCOUTS?!?!” Needless to say, I was sold on the whole idea. She was proud to “corrupt” another innocent soul… lol!

2. What was your first cosplay?

Sailor Jupiter! I made it for Anime North 2008 and my mom helped me out a lot on this one. I learned so much! We used my grandma’s old sewing machine and I remember searching for so long for a pattern to use, only to fail miserably. Instead I found tutorials that are unfortunately long lost in the depths of the internet and based my own patterns around what I saw online. It was quite the adventure!

3. How long have you been cosplaying?

 Almost 7 years. My first convention was Anime North in 2008.

4. What is your favourite part of putting on your cosplay?

I think it has to be seeing a complete costume all together for the first time. It’s awesome to see the final result of all of my hard work! I try my best to do as many ‘costests’ as I can before a convention but that’s not always possible. My Adiane costume from Anime North 2014 definitely falls into this category.  There was so much going on with this costume between the leg and neck tattoos… her corset… her long wig… her scorpion tail… it was just way too much for me to try on all at once before the actual convention. I was so happy to see it all together finally since it was such a labour of (mostly) love for months before the con.

5. What’s the best part of cosplay for you?

I love going to conventions!  I love meeting new people who share the same interests as me! It’s such a great feeling to find someone who is into the same wacky stuff that I am, and the conversation usually starts because one of us is in a costume from a series we both happen to love. I am so lucky to have met some of my best friends through cosplay. They mean the world to me and cosplay is what initially brought us all together. <3

6. What is your favourite cosplay? (personal collection)

This question is so hard! Can there be a tie? lol I honestly can’t decide between Mad Moxxi and Tauriel. They are both such fun costumes to wear and I have poured a ridiculous amount of my heart and soul into both of them. I spent almost 6 months working on Mad Moxxi making it as accurate as I could and I’m very pleased with how it all turned out. It was my baby for so long.

Tauriel on the other hand was a faster project last year but I have some amazing memories associated with the costume. I met Billy Boyd (played Pippin in LotR) in that costume, and attended the third Hobbit movie advanced screening in Toronto as Tauriel. Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and Lee Pace were special guests and I absolutely went full-on fangirl being in the same room as them. I’m always trying to improve my Tauriel costume and probably won’t stop until I get it as close as possible to the official outfit! 

7. Do you have a current cosplay or cosplayer favourite, someone that has inspired you? (Other people’s collections)

Yes absolutely! I’m inspired by so many cosplayers but recently I have become a really huge fan of Bindi Smalls. I found her through her Mad Moxxi cosplay a couple years ago at Katsucon and continued to follow her work ever since. She also caught my eye with her Dota 2 costumes which is really cool to see because Dota 2 is such a fantastic game but doesn’t get as much cosplay love as it deserves. Bindi Smalls does a lot of 3D printing for cosplay and I think it is such a cool way to bring new technologies into the craft. Her costumes are unreal and her props look super professional. 

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