Making the 'write' pen for Kotoko.

inusarekawaii · Post by **inusarekawaii** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 8:20 pm

Sometimes Kotoko cosplayers carry a pen...I've actually seen it in my "Chobits" playing cards (I don't remember whether or not it was in the anime or the manga.) It seems to be used as a prop to make the persocoms seem smaller...anyway, any thoughts on it's construction? I have a picture of a cosplayer that made it...(or bought it)...whatever...just has it...LOL!
http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=186231

Go to that website for the picture thanks!

mrs.tomoe · Post by **mrs.tomoe** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 6:00 pm

That picture won't load for me for whatever reason (will try again later), and I haven't been able to find my Chobits cards for months -_-*....

...but! I'd use a Fun*noodle. I really wanted to make one for my little Sumomo, but even though it would've been flexible & fairly soft, it was too dangerous to let her have a big prop at a crowded con. I've seen yellow Fun*noodles that are already cut hexagonally so they look just like pencils (also available in pink, blue, or green, I think). You'd just have to make the pointy writing tip (carve with an electric knife) and an eraser top (maybe buy an additional round noodle in "eraser" color to cut and glue onto top). Aluminum duct tape would probably work well for the metal band that holds the eraser onto real pencils...stack 3 or 4 bands of tape to get the right height in proportion to your giant pencil. If you find the color noodle you want, you wouldn't even have to paint. ^_^ Really, I suppose any color would be fine. Someone would have to be really tacky to complain about this particular prop being the "wrong" color.

This will be a cool prop! Good luck with it.

Edit: OK, I can see the photo today. The pen looks like a plastic tube because of how shiny it is. I've seen long, transparent tubes for fluorescent light bulbs, but I don't remember them being that fat. (It's been awhile though, so you'd better check the hardware store yourself.) You may end up having to check all sorts of packaging for tube like that, or try this product from Tap Plastics (They have other stuff too, but be careful of what size it is because you don't want to pay for oversized shipping.): http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=275&
I know cardboard tubes are easier to find, but they're not as slick, are they?

Lower black part looks like craft foam; upper one seems shiny...pvc pipe maybe? The point could be transparent plastic floral cone w/ inside painted silver or a silver party horn; the coil might be a keychain belt thing or a telephone cord. Have a good time!

inusarekawaii · Post by **inusarekawaii** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 1:25 pm

mrs.tomoe wrote:This will be a cool prop! Good luck with it.

Thanks for all of the great advice! I can't wait to get started on the prop! My sister is very excited about trying to cosplay as Kotoko. We even came up with part of a song/skit for a cosplay...if her friend agrees to cosplay as Sumomo again. The conventions aren't for quite awhile (the soonest one is in June), but we like to be able to leisurely work on cosplay outfits, epecially since it may take a while to find or order supplies. Then there's the whole period of trial and error when it comes to cosplay. Besides, you never know how soon you'll find out about a convention...the last time that we had went, we decided to definetely go to the convention at the last minute. It's cool to have a costume ready for any convention that may come up. By the way, I was looking at all of costumes that your children have done and they're all incredible...it's too bad that we don't live near each other and probably wouldn't be attending the same conventions. But I'll try to share photos of any convention that we may attend!

mrs.tomoe · Post by **mrs.tomoe** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 6:10 pm

You're welcome. ^_^
It's always good to start early and work along steadily rather than trying to rush everything at the end. Stressing out about costumes just takes all the fun out of cosplay.

I think you mentioned once where you lived...midwest, was it? ^^;;;
We'd like to go to Anime Central one year because we used to live near Chicago so we'd visit family and go to the con too, but the time it's held (May) clashes with school. If it were a little earlier, like during spring break, or a little later when school ends, it'd be much easier to plan a trip there.

Otherwise, you never know when we might meet up. Could be at one of the big shindigs like AX or Otakon. Or you could convince your family to plan a Florida vacation to coincide with one of the numerous Florida cons. (hint hint...heehee, j/k ^_^)

inusarekawaii · Post by **inusarekawaii** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 1:00 pm

mrs.tomoe wrote:You're welcome. ^_^
It's always good to start early and work along steadily rather than trying to rush everything at the end. Stressing out about costumes just takes all the fun out of cosplay.

I think you mentioned once where you lived...midwest, was it? ^^;;;
We'd like to go to Anime Central one year because we used to live near Chicago so we'd visit family and go to the con too, but the time it's held (May) clashes with school. If it were a little earlier, like during spring break, or a little later when school ends, it'd be much easier to plan a trip there.

Otherwise, you never know when we might meet up. Could be at one of the big shindigs like AX or Otakon. Or you could convince your family to plan a Florida vacation to coincide with one of the numerous Florida cons. (hint hint...heehee, j/k ^_^)

Hey, do you guys usually attend Otakon? I've been wanting to get there for the past two years...this year I was supposed to go and my family was coming back from a cruise the first day of the convention...I'm hoping to get to Otakon this year, though!

Tia · Post by **Tia** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:40 pm

I wanted to go this year, because a band I really love, L'arc en Ciel, performed there, but unfortunately I couldn't. I'm not sure if I'll be going this coming year, but I might. It's a bit up in the air right now, depending on how many cons I can fit in this year.

inusarekawaii · Post by **inusarekawaii** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 10:44 am

Tia wrote:I wanted to go this year, because a band I really love, L'arc en Ciel, performed there, but unfortunately I couldn't. I'm not sure if I'll be going this coming year, but I might. It's a bit up in the air right now, depending on how many cons I can fit in this year.

L'Arc~en~ciel...I know...that was one of the reasons that my friends and I wanted to attend Otakon. Newtype U.S.A had described it as, "A rare performance" and I hope that Otakon can bring them to the convention next year as well, so that we could all get another chance to go to their performance!

Tia · Post by **Tia** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 12:01 pm

Yeah, it's really, really rare to get to see them. I hope they get them again this coming year, too. Whether or not Otakon has a big-name Jrock band makes the difference between me going or not.

inusarekawaii · Post by **inusarekawaii** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 4:19 pm

Well, my friend went to Otakon 2003 and loved every minute of it. I have never been to a big convention like that and would probably want to get their despite them getting L'Arc~en~ciel to perform...although that would be great!

Tia · Post by **Tia** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 8:57 am

I dunno. I'm a little picky about cons. They seem to not care at all about con-goers. I dislike some of their policies, also.

Hemuloki-sama · Post by **Hemuloki-sama** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:21 pm

I agree fully with Tia.

Otakon cared more for L'Arc~en~ciel rather than making sure that cosplayers felt welcomed there. I don't like any cons where more emphasis is placed on the J-rock star rather than the cosplayers

mrs.tomoe · Post by **mrs.tomoe** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 12:31 pm

inusarekawaii wrote:Hey, do you guys usually attend Otakon? I've been wanting to get there for the past two years...this year I was supposed to go and my family was coming back from a cruise the first day of the convention...I'm hoping to get to Otakon this year, though!

We've never been to Otakon. We went to AX for the first time this year, and so we thought it'd be good to check out Otakon sometime just to see what all the fuss is. I suppose it depends on the guests too. This year, one of our favorite illustrators, Range Murata, was a guest at AX so it was cool getting to meet him.

Tia · Post by **Tia** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 12:41 pm

Yeah, but I guess we can't be too hard on them. I mean, it's not like they're the only con that does that. sigh. It's more like, all of the cons need a complete reworking of the way they view their con-goers and what keeps them afloat. I mean, we're a lot of the reason they stay in business.

mindtailor · Post by **mindtailor** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 7:02 pm

Tia wrote:I dunno. I'm a little picky about cons. They seem to not care at all about con-goers. I dislike some of their policies, also.

hmm... not all cons are like that- A-Kon from my experience was pretty good about how they treated people (except for the line nazi...), except for those con-goers that got out of hand (i.e. saturday night concert *rolls eyes*)