Star Wars : The Trailer Awakens

It is finally here. Rumours have been circulating that a teaser trailer for the new Star Wars film was to be released selectively this friday but instead the internet proved once again fruitful in my acquisitions of new nerd material. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. For those naysayers I say to you - How can you not be excited? 

That trailer had everything you could hope for in a teaser trailer about a new Star Wars franchise : your leads, droids, siths, cue Star Wars theme, the MILLENNIUM FALCON. Not to mention stormtroopers and x-wing pilots. This is literally a teaser trailer. If I remember correctly the first trailer for the Star Trek reboot offered very little in terms of movie footage. It was a pan left onto the Enterprise. 

Why is everyone being so critical? Did it not take you back to when you were a little kid? Were you not super excited about Star Wars?  I wish people could just fall in love with things again - there is a time and place to be critical of our media and a teaser trailer is not it.  There was absolutely nothing in this trailer that had me believe I should be underwhelmed or not excited about the new Star Wars franchise and this film. 

If you haven't already check out the trailer here : Star Wars - The Force Awakens 

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Naruto Newbie - Journey to Hokage

Beginning an Iconic Series 

Episode 1 and 2 

Naruto is a popular Japanese manga/anime by Masashi Kishimoto. It centres around a young boy named Naruto Uzumaki. After a Nine-Tails attacks the village Konoha the Fourth Hokage risks his life (pays the ultimate price) and seals the demon inside of Naruto.  Studying to become a ninja Naruto struggles with trying to fit it, being accepted and striving for his dream of becoming the Hokage. The story revolves around Naruto and his friends (team 7) and the missions they must accomplish all while the young ninja tries to complete his dream. 

As the popular series is coming to its end I thought to myself what good a time to get into a series then when it is ending. Yuukatan has been pushing me to watch the series for awhile now and now is a good a time as any. Two episodes in and I hear Chopper. I have a bad habit of picking up One Piece voice actors in other things. I am having a really hard time getting into the series. I was promised Naruto would be someone I would easily latch unto because he is very much like other characters I love but I haven't found the right way in yet. I also haven't meant most of the reoccurring characters yet. Two episodes in and I already feel like one of them was used as filler. I don't want to judge it too quickly because I know it means a lot to people and I barely have a taste for it right now. Iruka Umino is that big brother type I find instantly fascinating and hopefully he can make up for the "Sexy Jutsu" 

Check back for further updates and my journey through Naruto.

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Carol Corps and the Importance of Representation

Carol Danvers made her debut in the 1960s as a strong, capable woman who overcame gender stereotypes and excelled in a predominantly male world. Even in the early stages she was a surefire feminist icon. Already sporting a long list of accomplishments - a fighter pilot, an officer in the U.S. Air Force and a CIA agent Carol made her heroic/super powered debut after she was hired as the head of security of NASA headquarters. 

After being rescued by her co-worker Dr. Phillip Lawson, an actual Kree super-agent, Carol absorbed much of his genetic properties and insisted she stand as his equal. Her DNA became a perfect synthesis of Kree and human genes. Thus, begins her story of superhuman powers and abilities and the birth of Ms. Marvel. 

More recently Carol has taken up the mantle of Captain Marvel, a progress no doubt in the way we see our superheroines but also in honour of Mar-Vell. 

Her history at first pinned her as the romantic interest but when she entered the Bronze Age Carol was celebrated and viewed as one of Marvel's strongest heroes. She could go toe to toe with the best of them and she had brains. She even moved away from her romantic story lines and got a revamped costume. Truly coming into her own and becoming one of Marvel's most liberated women. 

After the character underwent some controversial writing she was written off for some time. Our earliest memories of Danvers come from the X-men: The Animated Series story arc that involved Rogue stealing her powers. It took us awhile to warm up to Carol because of this story and the way she was presented. Carol's writing for years had her in tragic territory and shaky grounds as a character. It wasn't until more recently Danvers had her on going that fully established her as one of Earth's mightiest heroes. 

The Captain Marvel storyline has always dipped its hands in feminism and explored sexists views in our society. Carol's dreams and aspirations stem from her misogynistic father. His small minded ideas about Carol's future only led her to strive and become the best she could be. She also powers her way through male dominant work fields, as well as male dominant industries (like the military and comicbooks).

The Carol Corps

One of the most inspiring things to come out of Captain Marvel is no doubt the fanbase and creation of the Carol Corps. The unique fanbase shares a special camaraderie, not only between fans but betweens creators and fans alike. The fans are also passionate and creative. Art, stories, cosplays and discourse surrounding the character show just how passionate the Carol Corps is. You can often find the Carol Corps sporting their versions of Carol's newly designed costume (which is beautiful we might add)

Something the Carol Corps does that is truly unique is show comic book creators that girls are passionate about reading, about reading comic books, about comic book characters, about female comic book characters. 

We have a feeling the Carol Corps will only continue to grow and we sure hope so.

Check out this Beginner's guide to the Carol Corps

CLICK HERE

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Cosplayer of the Week: Lexxie Cosplay

Lexxie Cosplay

This weeks featured cosplayer is Lexxie Cosplay! She is a cosplayer that we've been very fortunate to meet and someone who we are always excited to see what new project she's working on.

This is a cosplayer whos versatility is fantastic and she never ceases to amaze us with her ability to completely transform herself and make any character come to life. She is also a talented seamstress and prop-maker; Through her crafting she is able to make even the most fantastical costumes look realistic. From her high quality costumes and wigs to her perfectly staged photo shoots-you can tell Lexxie is serious about her craft, but that's where the seriousness ends. This is a cosplayer that knows how to have fun and doesn't take herself too seriously...and we love it! She is someone who you can tell genuinely loves cosplaying and has a passion for it. We are looking forward to running into her at our next con and seeing what new and wonderful cosplays shes created!

What got you into cosplay?
I got into cosplay by going to my second convention with some friends that also were okay with dressing up. It was something I always wanted to do but didn't want to do it on my own.

What was your first cosplay?
My first cosplay was L from Death Note, and also my first crossplay which I find amusing. 
How long have you been cosplaying?
I have been cosplaying on and off for 8-9 years.

What is your favourite part of putting on your cosplay?
My favourite part of putting on a cosplay is just escaping from my normal life of a student life to that character I am putting on. Just knowing that whatever I have going on in my life is just pushed to the side for the weekend I’m at a con.

What’s the best part of cosplay for you?
The best part of cosplay is a hard question. There is so much to cosplay people don’t realize as well. The people I have met through cosplay is just amazing. If I never got back into cosplay I don’t think I would have the friends I have now and the experiences I went through with them. Also I have learned a lot from other cosplayers, like where to get good wigs, how to sew certain things, just over all tips on cosplaying.

Do you have a current cosplay or cosplayer favourite, someone who has inspired you?
A cosplayer that inspires me is Jessica Nigiri, I have been following her since she started cosplaying. She is also the main reason why I’m okay with dressing up in characters that are skimpy. Her attitude towards cosplay is amazing and she doesn't let the horrible people get to her, she does what she loves and doesn't care what other people think of her. I try to think like her when it comes to cosplay.

You can check out more of Lexxie Cosplay here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LexxieCosplay

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexxieCosplay

Instagram: http://instagram.com/lexxie_cosplay

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Con Season Wrap Up

Toronto Comicon 

This was our first year at Toronto Comicon. It is a relatively small con that is picking up every year. As far as cons go it wasn't our favourite con of the year. But that doesn't mean we didn't have fun. When we get together it is always a great time. We got to test out some of our costumes only to finesse them later in the year. 

It might not be a con we make it out to next year because the drive home was absolutely terrifying. A huge storm hit and the drive home was really unsafe. 

Anime North 

Anime North is always such a blast. This year was no different. Although the con had a bit of a rough start it lived up to its previous year. We went down a day early and decided to go to our friends premiere of X-Men: Days of Future Past. The movie was a pleasant surprise and Grayson won a Cosplay contest for her Rogue costume. 

Anime North is such a unique con experience. For one it takes place outside as much as it does inside the convention centre, there are constantly people outside enjoying the nice weather and just hanging out with other con-goers. This is what gives AN such a sense of community, despite it being the largest anime con in Canada and taking place in a huge venue it manages to have a comfortable small con vibe to it. The Morning of the con was a bit shaky. Yuukatan and Grayson dressed up as your favourite dwarf/elf best friend duo but the popularity of them lead to the misfortune of misplacing Grayson's wallet. We would like to apologize to anyone who in that frame of time might have stopped and asked us for a photo and if we had seemed ungrateful or ungracious or if we refused one. Hopefully we explained the situation but if not again we are sorry. Thank you for being understanding or for coming to find us later. We appreciate everyone/every time someone asks for a photo. We work really hard for that very reason and we really love that you are excited about our costumes. And we would also like to thank the person that returned my wallet to the security booth and didn't take anything from it. My con experience could have been much different. Other than that my con experience was magical. Everyone really loved our Gimli and Legolas. 

We were happy they were such a hit. We even had regular folks ask for our photos in the restaurant. Which was nice because even though they might not understand, they certainly appreciated it. Also thanks for waiting until we were done eating ;) 

I think Day 2 can be appropriately retitled the Strawhat Adventures. We celebrated One Piece all day on Saturday. We hung out in our One Piece Fem!Cosplays, went to a One Piece Photoshoot, met other fans and bought One Piece merch. (Maybe we went overboard---no pun intended)

Day 3 was mainly spent resting in the shade. We all wore our hottest costumes that day and buying up what we wanted for the weekend. We can't wait for AnimeNorth 2015! 

SDCC 

SDCC is always such a wild ride. It is such a huge convention and the whole city is turned into a geek haven. The girl gang always go down a few days early so we can explore and enjoy other parts of the city and not just the convention. This year our friend Bunny Cools (whom we had met the previous year at SDCC) came with us for the adventure and what an adventure it was. The first day was spent leisurely exploring the convention Nonuniqueindie and C-estmabiologie wore magnificent cosplays. (Clara Oswald and Gamora). We always check out some great panels at SDCC too. If there is any place to do it. This is it. 

Saturday was spent mostly at the Orphan Black Fan Meet Up. Year two and we take home the prize for the Theatre Contest. Super cool and awesome. We all wore different clone cosplays and the girls absolutely killed it. Not much else was accomplished after that because of all of the excitement. 

Sunday was again spent on the dealers floor looking at anything we had previously missed. It is hard to wrap up the feelings and amazing experiences of SDCC.  

Fan Expo

Fanexpo was amazing this year. We met a lot of friends and saw amazing cosplayers. Some of our friends also made the trip down. Grayson and Yuukatan wore their Legolas and Gimli costumes again, tried out there Cap and Bucky with Shereoh and Nonunique's Nick Fury and Hawkeye. Grayson also tested out her Nebula alongside Nonunique's Gamora and Shereoh showcased her Sango. There was a wonderful cosplay lounge that allowed us to rest and fix up and meet other amazing cosplayers. It was a real treat. We wish all cons had one. 

There were some great panels and we went to a wonderful Doctor Who panel. The biggest disappointment of the weekend was Karen Gillan's cancellation but we understood. 

It was an amazing weekend. Topped off with this really surreal moment of entering the CN Tower square after the con and having all eyes on us. We took over 100 photos with tourists. It was amazing. 

Youmacon 

We closed up the con season with a trip down to Detroit. Not to toot our own horn but we are a dream team. Travelling is always smooth sailing. The car is always packed full of gigantic props but we manage to make a 9 hour drive comfortable. 

With tons of costumes planned for the weekend we started working hard but our busy lives soon got in the way. Weeks turned into days and then the con was only a few hours away. Oh! The life of a cosplayer. So we opted for our favourites and went as the Monster Trio on Friday. The costumes were already finished which gave us time to work on others that weren't quite there yet and were an overall success. We usually go as the Strawhats to relax and lay back but they were a big hit at Youmacon. Despite a few hiccups (ie - the cold and Yuukatan's shoes) we always love dressing up as them. It is always such a cool experience. The One Piece photoshoot also took place on Friday and it was so much fun. There were so many talented cosplayers. In typical Strawhats fashion we also made some really cool friends. We ended up staying late and watching a One Piece panel that we absolutely adored. 

Saturday we were all very tired but that didn't stop us from having an amazing day. Shereoh wanted to try out her Thousand Sunny cosplay again which is always a great success. Yuukatan wanted to be comfy and warm and brought her Legolas cosplay and Grayson opted for more One Piece with her young Law cosplay. It was a strange crossover if we do say so ourselves. As you can probably tell the weekend was heavily influenced by One Piece. We were fortunate enough to have a bit of a relax period when we waited in line for the masquerade to begin. We watched an hour solid of breakdance battles in the meantime. Our friends SutekiGo entered their first ever masquerade with their Magi cosplays and ended up winning best overall craftsmanship! Congrats guys! 

Sunday was supposed to be when we debuted our Inuyasha cosplays. However do to time constraints and one of us forgetting a major costume piece we bounced back to the Strawhats. A delightful turn of events that allowed us to connect with so many more people. Grayson befriended several children with her Luffy antics and people we had met days before saw their chance to reconnect. Despite spending most of Sunday taking Selfies in the Renaissance centre, the day was amazing. 

We are definitely a dream team. Youmacon has a wonderful vibe about it. Positively one of our favourite cons and we can't wait to go back next year. 

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