[Fallout, Danger Days, Cosplay] The Wasteland Has Invaded My Mind

I have transcribed the guitar chords for Uranium Fever and translated them so I can play them on my banjo. A good part of my thoughts are about Fallout and I’ve begun to have nightmares about Vault-Tec. On a completely unrelated note, my ADHD assessment should hopefully be soon.

I’m not joking about the nightmares, by the way. I had one nightmare about Vault-Tec hunting me down for knowing something I wasn’t supposed to know, and another where the Institute replaced my loved ones with synths but programmed them to be completely different. My mom says this is due to my fear of losing people and my fear of fully trusting anyone. Maybe.

Anyway, I’m planning to start making Fallout (and general wastelander) props and pieces to sell for cosplayers and LARPs and things. My dad already makes fantasy and Star Wars stuff like that, and he really likes my art, so I’m gonna ask him if I can have a section of his store for my wasteland stuff. I’ve got some ideas I think’ll work well. I can tie this into my makeup prosthetic design too to make some wasteland-themed ones. I’m gonna write these ideas down somewhere and create a salespitch and some prototypes. Will update with results. 

For specifics as to what I’ll design, I’m breaking it up into these categories: clothes (goes under the armour), armour (reinforced pieces, mostly for LARPs), glitz and glamour (accessories; nonfunctional decorum that wouldn’t fit in armour), prosthetics (makeup, masks, and removable body mods), props (weapons or items, maybe set pieces if this is successful). I’ll have premade pieces, and I’ll start doing customs and commissions once I get more free time. I want to eventually be someone people come to when they need specific wastelander pieces for characters or cosplays. 

When it comes to clothes, obviously I want to include as many different sizes and alterations as I can, so I’ll need to learn patterning for different sizes. Just to get the site up I’m gonna start with mostly custom shirts and tanktops, just because I can get the textiles premade in multiple sizes while I’m still learning myself. Once I get that out of the way, though, I’ll start making costume pieces (ex. custom Vault Suits). 

Armour is a bit easier, because my dad makes armour, and because most of it is made to be adjustable, so there’s more leeway in sizings. I want to put things like helmets in this category too, just because there tend to be a lot of helmets in the wasteland (ex. Courier 6 from Fallout New Vegas). I also want to include Killjoy masks (The True Lives of The Fabulous Killjoys, My Chemical Romance’s Danger Days) in this because there aren’t enough makers of Killjoy pieces from what I’ve found.

Tangent: The general wasteland items will include Killjoy pieces because I just can’t seem to find any other makers or cosplayers at cons. My hope is that if I start making and selling more Killjoy pieces, other people will see it and go, “oh, maybe I should make my own Killjoy kit too”, and then I won’t have to be the only one in the room who knows who Mike Milligram is anymore. Seriously, if you like Danger Days, please read The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem. Please.

Props will be mostly premade, save for ones that attach to costume pieces and need measurements (ex. Pip Boy). Prosthetics and accessories will follow similar sizing to armour, although I’ll do custom prosthetics for better fits too. I’ll also make some tutorials for how to make things look wasteland-y, as well as the guidelines I follow when designing something with a specific wasteland in mind. For example, Fallout’s wasteland is very based in a version of the 60s, so they aren’t gonna have our idea of modern items. Likewise, Danger Days has more of an 80s/90s themed cutoff point, so they have items that would be seen as more modern. 

I really think this idea has potential, so I’m gonna keep working on it. Hopefully I get my ADHD meds before my brain does the “I’ve decided to give up on this thing I enjoy” thing. Will try to keep updating on this as I work on it.

Yours in Eternity,

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