cemwisegamgee

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  1. Categories: WINTERMUTE, Survival ------- “Presume you are under stress because you have taken the wrong trail, overcorrected, and are now lost. What do you do? How do you handle it? This is where STOPA comes into play. “To stop, you should literally sit down and stop what you are doing. When under stress, you have any number of physiological processes going on that will limit your ability to think clearly – narrowing of your vision, auditory exclusion, high blood pressure, adrenaline dump and much more. If you take the time to sit down and stop, you can then allow your body to calm back down so that you can think clearly. There is evidence available that shows simply stopping and breathing will reboot the nervous system and calm the body… “Next, think about what you have in your possession that can help you stay alive. What is in your pockets, in your pack, in your vehicle (if you have one) that can assist you in meeting your needs? “After you have taken the time to think, you will probably note some things are missing. You will then need to observe your surroundings and start to take, or build, what you are missing from the area. “Once you have stopped, thought and observed, you need to make a plan with that information. Most often, you are best served by letting others come find and assist you. In some situations, you will need to self-rescue…Stick with your plan, but also prepare contingencies for various situations. “Finally, you need to act in order to stay alive. I do not mean that you must physically keep doing something. That will only serve to use up hydration and burn up needed calories. What I do mean is that you must mentally stay alive, keep your mind active and do not let it wander to self-pity or things that will make your situation worse. Stick with your plan.” – from Extreme Wilderness Survival by Craig Caudill, founder and chief instructor of Nature Reliance School ------- I realize I tend to be very long-winded, and I have been thinking about this non-stop since I found out about the cosplay contest, so I apologize upfront for the fact that this will be very long! I started playing The Long Dark about 2 years ago during the pandemic, and it was actually one of the main things that my now-boyfriend (and soon-to-be fiancé) bonded over when we first really talked to each other, which ironically enough was at a wilderness survival school down in Kentucky! Over the past year, in addition to bonding over the game, we have been able to connect over picking up various skills in fire-building, shelter-building, water purification and filtration, land navigation, setting traps and identifying wild edibles, first aid, HAM radio, and so so much more. I started cosplaying a couple years ago for the 2021 Cincinnati Comic Expo, and I feel like I have definitely progressed since then. I actually decided to cosplay as Astrid for this year’s Comic Expo about a year ago, right in the midst of executing my cosplays for the 2021 Expo. I chose Astrid partly for my love for TLD, but also because it would be a fantastic opportunity to exercise my crochet skills. I started by crocheting the red hat (which admittedly was without much of a pattern, which is why it looks SUPER DUPER *rustic*), and then I began my plans for the gray shawl and green cowl. The two of them combined took dozens and dozens of man-hours, and I completed them over the course of several months. I realize that they don’t look the most like what is shown in the art of Astrid, but given the amount of time that I was putting in, I wanted to make items that were both great for the cosplay AND for normal winter wear. That’s why the shawl is so oversized and why it has the fun additions of the collar and tassels. Additionally, I was using a pattern for the green cowl that was meant to be adaptable to being styled 3 different ways, but it turned out that it was a bit smaller than I had originally anticipated, so I had to find a creative way of wearing it. Adapt, improvise, and overcome, as they say. For the bottom layers, I snagged some older jeans, a classic gray cotton t-shirt from in-game, and a red plaid shirt based on the one from in-game. The red gloves I chose based on some of the character art of Astrid which appeared to have her in “hobo-style” gloves, though now that I go back and look at the clothing item of Astrid’s gloves in-game, I realize that those are a tad different. But oh well. Inspired by the Astrid character art, I also chose 2 mismatched boots of different styles. Though I snagged some vet-wrap for one of the bandages, the one on the knee I actually made out of “harvested” cloth from a spare sock (blood was made using Sharpie marker), which I thought was a fun detail that paid homage to the game. I wanted to make my own bow, which had to be stringless for the Comic Expo, so I took a hanger wire, bent it into the shape that I wanted, wrapped a bunch of this junk insulating material that I had around it, covered that in duct tape, and painted it. After recording the video, I added some more “harvested” cloth from spare socks to the bow for the detailing shown in the picture of the costume without most of the props. I had 2 different knives, a Mora Companion and a leather-sheathed neck-knife made by a guy out of Louisville using a blade from some old farm equipment and a deer antler. Makeup is not my strong suit, and I wasn’t able to get together with the friend who’s in charge of makeup for this year’s Expo, so I did the best I could! Alas, it didn’t stand up very well in the 80-something degree Ohio heat that we were running around in for filming. XD Since I chose the video format, I wanted to be able to highlight a number of different activities from the game, including: · Searching a backpack, cooler, and abandoned porch for some items (wool socks, Summit Soda, Crunchy Stuff granola bar, hatchet, newsprint, an empty can, cloth) · Harvesting charcoal · Setting traps (though I went with a figure-4 deadfall instead of the in-game snare, since I had a *very rough* one that I made in Nature Reliance School’s Survival 2 class in February) · Breaking down branches into firewood · Making newsprint into tinder bundles · Using a firestriker to start a fire · Boiling water to make some herbal tea · Burning myself on a hot can (though this wasn’t intentional XD) · Drinking the leftover juice from some Pinnacle Peaches · Doing research with the Wilderness Kitchen book · And lots and lots of walking! Several other in-game items that I got to highlight included: · Blue bedroll · Mainland Spring water bottle · Zap Energy Bar · Water purification tablets I also employed a couple of packs by Hill People Gear, some rope, a lighter and firestarter (I might have cheated with lighting the fire because I was in super thick layers in 80-something degree weather lol), and the Tiny Survival Guide, which I imagine would be a good find on Great Bear Island. Also peep the coyote dummies behind my parents’ house that the HOA put out to scare the geese away from the pond. XD On top of making the cosplay and recording video with my boyfriend, it was also super fun to edit the video with a bunch of filters and some stock footage of a little rabbit and the lights in the sky! Since my boyfriend regularly records videos of his gaming, he went ahead and recorded some of the sounds from the game that I incorporated into the final product (which admittedly took way too much time, but was fun nonetheless). Most of y’all will probably recognize the background music as the theme from Crossroads Elegy as well! In addition to the video, I included a photo that features the costume and gear pieces that I used throughout recording, as well as a photo of me in the full cosplay without the pack or additional props. This was super super fun to put together, so thank you Hinterland Studios for putting it on!!! 874226228_AstridCosplay-Final.mp4
  2. I am so so so here for this, even if the Old Bear gave me severe anxiety!
  3. I've convinced my boyfriend to go out and record video with me this weekend. So excited!!!
  4. Good thing I'm cosplaying as Astrid this year for Comic Expo! Now I just need to get together with the friend who's doing the makeup looks before September 19th so I can practice the entire look and take pictures!