The Pure-Hearted One

Hey guys, it's time for another Throwbacck Thursday and I wanted to show off one of the few costumes I've made for the most important man in my life. Gosh I'm no that vain, come on; I'm talking about my husband!

Jordan is just as big a nerd as I am, he's just not much of a cosplayer. He doesn't like making stuff the way I do but he does enjoy wearing the things I make for him! We've only done a couple of pairs together, but we're planning more for the future. The very first set of cosplays we did together were from one of our shared loves, Ni No Kuni (it seemed particularly relevant given that Ni No Kuni 2 is coming out in a couple of months). I am of course referring to Oliver and Shadar. It's funny that we cosplayed Soul Mates... although that has a very different meaning in the context of this game.

TBH, I had way more fun making Oliver for Jordan than I did making Shadar for myself. I'm guessing most of that is because of all the fun details I got to make. The costume itself is pretty simple. White shorts, blue tunic, red cape, and some belts doesn't exactly make for a particularly impressive costume.

So that's where all of the props came in. The two most important, in my opinion, are the wand and the Wizard's Companion (Oliver's spellbook). I decided to go with Mornstar for his wand, because it is the most story-relevant wand in the game, and it's design is a lot more interesting than Oliver's first few wands.
The gems at the top are actually translucent so they look really cool when the light catches them the right way. And the handle is actually half of a karate staff because I wanted it to taper the way it's supposed to!

Looks like Oliver got a gold glim!

One of the coolest aspects of the game was your ability to leaf through the wizard's companion in-game. The illustrations are beautifully designed and the book is full of awesome mythology, info about the different regions and familiars, and other helpful things to use throughout the game. For those who pre-ordered the game, it actually came with a copy of the Wizard's Companion. Sadly we didn't get that edition and after looking for a copy online (which would have cost around $300 at the time, you can't even find them now!) I decided to try making one myself! Fortunately for me, I'm not the first person to do it, PrimeJunt on Reddit apparently didn't get the copy with the game and made one for themselves! You can see the methodology here, which I followed to create my own. 

With the two major endeavors done, my thirst for as much detail as possible was not yet quenched, so I decided Jordan needed a creature cage and a locket to complete the costume. Of course the cage needed a familiar in it so I made a little Mite out of sculpey. Sadly his sword broke but otherwise he's intact.... and adorable!

The coolest part about the locket is that it's more than just the locket. I actually made tiny sculpey versions of all the different Pieces of Heart and attached them with a chain to the cork so when you pull the top off of the locket you can see all of them.

Like I said, I had a ton of fun making all of the props for this costume and it remains one of my favorites, even though I didn't even make it for myself! I mean, that doesn't stop me from wearing it every once in a while since it fits me just fine and Jordan usually only goes to one con a year.