#maybe they just do things differently on jendell

[ohblackdiamond]

how to: ace’s destroyer costume

The easiest route is, of course, to not do it at all and commission a replica maker-- there are several that make high-quality renditions of most every era. The issue is, basically, expense and time (commissioned pieces tend to take months on average). There’s also the option of buying a KISS Halloween-type costume and these honestly tend to be pretty respectable. 

But with some background in sewing and a lot of patience, Ace’s Destroyer costume definitely isn’t an impossible DIY project at all.

First off, you’ll need to reference like crazy. I started out looking at the costume breakdown here, but I also ended up looking up individual photos (particularly those that ended up on posters) and concerts (Ace’s solo here in particular) for a better sense of how the costume was built and the parts needed. 

Basically, Ace’s Destroyer costume, broken down, is two very large triangles (the chestpiece, which actually has a seam in the front), and two trapezoids (the gauntlets). For my initial patterns, I cut out some leftover wrapping paper (a good, easy way to cheap out as it’ll give you the length you need).

Ace’s costume, like basically all the non-Elder costumes, also has a regular black bodysuit as its base. Although I’ve made bodysuits before, I opted to save time by purchasing a plain black bodysuit instead of making it from scratch. I had initially planned to mod the bodysuit to my measurements as it was a little big, but, well, time.

The big things that stand out about Ace’s costume, as usual, are the vest (chestpiece?) and the various silver-piping accents. Because I knew they would be the most boring parts, while simultaneously not requiring a whole lot of measuring/exactness, I started with the silver accents. The only measurement you really need for the belt is your waist circumference (go ahead and increase it a couple inches because this belt goes a bit above and below your natural waist-- my belt ended up being about 2″ wide). The only measurements you need for the silver portions of the cuffs are, of course, your wrist and forearm circumferences.

For the belt and cuffs (and, eventually, the “wings” on the chestpiece), I used the techniques I’d learned years ago when making Sailor Neptune cosplays (the “wing” areas of the sailor suit and the piped accents on the gloves)-- wrapping fabric around nylon roping, stitching it on, and then attaching each fabric-wrapped rope to the other. Personally, I think you could possibly have just broken out the E6000 and glued the ropes instead of stitching them, but then you run a non-negligible risk of there being raised areas where the glue was, or it coming apart. 

I drafted up a pattern for the vest and cut it out of some black stretch velvet I already had handy. There is a sheen on the vest of Ace’s Destroyer costume (not so much on his Psycho Circus reiteration) that is somewhat reminiscent of velvet, although I’m not sure that was what was actually used. I had some extra black stretch velvet lying around, so I initially used that, but if you’ve worked with velvet before, particularly thin velvet, you’ll know it has a tendency to slip against itself and be generally hard to work with. I added interfacing to resolve this problem, but my interfacing, unfortunately, was a bit too thick and didn’t really fix the issue. Eventually, I gave up and bought some non-stretch velvet that was less slippery and easier to handle. 

Now to add the rhinestones. There are several different variations on the rhinestone pattern (Ace, like everyone else in KISS, went through several different costumes/pieces of costumes each tour), but in the end I went with the more classic one, with the single comet on one side and what might be a little galaxy on the other. The back had the other comet and Saturn (or maybe Jendell), per Ace’s Christmas 1977 shoot, because you can’t not. 

I initially sewed on the rhinestones, but after a few test runs on scrap fabric, I realized that E6000 held up just as readily as hand-sewing, so I glued on the remaining rhinestones (make sure you allow at least one night of it being undisturbed for a secure hold). Please use E6000 with caution and in a well-ventilated area; I would recommend the small bottles that are meant for jewelry/notions, since the rhinestones are very small and those bottles have several precision tips.

Attachments/putting it all together: In mine, the vest attaches at the front and back to the belt via large snap-on fasteners, and the “wings” are sewn to the vest. The belt itself also attaches via snap-ons. For the gauntlets, I would recommend sew-on velcro (I initially used snap-ons for this as well, and it’s just not seamless enough).

Thoughts/comments:

*Probably the most important thing for me to keep in mind as I was working on this was proportions. Ace is 6′1,” and I’m 5′1” (and a woman). I had to scale things down very extensively in all areas (the width of the piping accents and wings, etc.) and even change where the v-neck of the vest landed in order to be more flattering-- I couldn’t go for complete accuracy, and in the end, I feel like I actually went smaller on most areas than I needed to.

*Were I to do this costume again, for the belt/"wings,” I might try wider nylon roping, or, possibly, use either upholstery foam or fabric batting instead of roping. The rope had a bit of a tendency to curve (I had a tendency to rush, too) that’s not conducive to the straight lines of the costume-- I think if i had segmented the rope more, I wouldn’t have had that problem. I think creating a pattern for the wings prior would’ve been pretty helpful and was a major misstep!

*I wouldn’t wish those boots on my mortal enemy. While I did buy the fabric for them, time really got the better of me. There are two primary ways of “making” boots-- either you glue the fabric to an existing pair of boots (that has the overall shape of the boot you’re making), or you sew a slipcover for the boots out of the fabric, and put that around the, well, actual boots. My personal recommendation would be the slipcover route for Ace’s boots in particular, due mostly to the size of his boots. When I was planning this, I deliberately bought boots that did not have the extended platform, mostly for ease of wear.

*Material cost: ~$25 (black bodysuit) ~$30 (2 yards non-stretch velvet) ~$35 (3 yards ribbed silver 4-way-stretch spandex fabric, for the boots) ~$20 (3 yards 4-way-stretch silver vinyl) ~$4 (silver thread) ~$8 (rhinestones) ~$30 (boots) ~$35 (nylon roping) ~$5 (E6000) ---  ~$192 (not inclusive of shipping); I would put the actual cost at a bit over $225

*Time cost: I worked on this off and on (mostly off!) for roughly seven months. It absolutely can be done in a shorter timespan than that, but I work full-time and had a lot of things going on in my personal life. I’d guesstimate about 70 hours on the actual construction (including drafting/mockups/various false starts). Things like the silver accents were done by hand in order to try to get as close to the roping as possible, which ate up a lot of time.

*Worth it? I get a lot of satisfaction out of cosplays/costumes I’ve done myself (and hadn’t done one since several years pre-covid), so personally, I’d say yeah, it was worth it to me. Your mileage may vary. No matter how accurate your costume, Ace will not take you with him when he heads back to Jendell, so keep that in mind, too!

#kiss the band #ace frehley #kiss band cosplay #kiss band

[mxliv-oftheendless]

Twist of Fate, Chapter 10

We’re only a couple more chapters away from the end, guys! Which is why I decided I’m going to post the last three chapters every day instead of every other day. Nice way to cap off the week, right? This chapter is going to be a little angsty, but read the whole thing, because I promise it’ll be worth it ;) Tagging @cosmicrealmofkissteria and @tanookiroxx as usual. Enjoy! 

In which old memories resurface, and Starchild worries about his future with Tomaziel. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Starchild headed down the hallway for his room, walking as quickly as he could without breaking into a full run. His head was down, eyes trained on the floor, and it was getting harder to swallow as he felt more and more like he was going to cry. When he finally came to his guest chambers, he headed inside, closed the door behind him, and sagged against it. He sank to the floor and pressed his face to his knees, willing himself not to cry.

They were well into the third and final week, and everything was beginning to intensify. The meetings were longer and in greater number each day, and Starchild was being asked for his opinion on everything, even if he knew fully well his opinion wasn’t needed. Everyone was hoping to get all the diplomacy matters completed in time for the end of the week, when the ball would arrive and then there would be two whole days of leisure time before the KISSterians left Jendell. He hadn’t been able to get time to himself that lasted longer than ten minutes in days. His stress was mounting, and although he knew it was only a few more days it still didn’t keep his stress levels down.

His only reprieve had been the time he’d been able to spend with Tomaziel, and even that wasn’t a lot. Most of the time they could only see each other in the evenings, and by then they were both so tired they couldn’t do much.

Which brought Starchild to the other problems he was facing. The end of his time on Jendell was drawing nearer and nearer, which meant alongside everything else he was constantly thinking about his relationship with Tomaziel. What was going to happen when they weren’t in close contact with each other, and they weren’t seeing each other all the time? Starchild didn’t have as much free time as he used to—he had his royal duties and KISS to worry about as well. He wouldn’t even be in KISSteria part of the time; he would be realms away on Earth. What would happen then?

All of his stress had been bound to reach its peak eventually… and it had, earlier today.

He was in the library with Tomaziel, enjoying a rare few hours of free time. Somehow they had ended up sitting so close together that Starchild could lean his head on Tomaziel’s shoulder.

He couldn’t even remember how the conversation had gotten to this point, but Tomaziel asked him,

“What about… Nikki Terror?”

Starchild fell silent for a moment. “… What about him?”

Tomaziel’s voice sounded awkward. “Well, I… I don’t know all the details, because Ace would not tell me, but I heard… you and he were… together.”

“Yes, we were,” Starchild answered easily. “But that part of my life is over.” He raised his head and found Tomaziel’s mouth opening and closing, the Jendellian seeming to be at a loss for words. “What is it?”

“I… I am not sure how to say it,”

He took up Tomaziel’s hand and squeezed it. “You can just say it,”

“… What happened to end things with him?”

Starchild froze at the question. A glowing purple string flashed in his mind. “I thought about our relationship for the longest time, and realized it wasn’t one I wanted to be in anymore,” he answered, carefully choosing his words. “So I ended things with him. That’s all.”

Tomaziel looked at him and frowned. “Are you sure that is all?”

“Yes, I am.” Starchild hated the look being directed at him. It was like Tomaziel knew he wasn’t telling him the details.

“Starchild… Forgive me, but… I feel like you’re hiding something from me.”

Starchild frowned. “I’m not hiding anything from you. I’m telling you the truth.”

“But is it the full truth?”

“Why does it matter if it isn’t the full truth? What happened is exactly what I said.” And yet the glowing string was still hovering in his mind.

“Whatever it is, you can tell me—”

“I don’t have to tell you anything when there isn’t more to tell.” Starchild’s hand slowly began to leave Tomaziel’s. “Can we talk about something else?” Anything else; he had too much to think about right now to be dwelling on the past. It was why he’d been cherishing this little bit of time he could spend with Tomaziel, and he didn’t want his stress to be any higher than it already was.

Tomaziel’s frown deepened. “Then why do I feel like you are still hiding something from me?” he pressed, shifting to look right at him.

Starchild’s own frown darkened and he turned to look at him. “Have you considered that maybe I don’t want to tell you more?” he suggested irritably. “It’s pointless to waste time on things that don’t matter right now. I ended things with Nikki because I wasn’t happy anymore—that’s all you have to know.”

“Don’t I have the right to want to know more? I am the one in a relationship with you—”

“This relationship could end, Tomaziel!” Starchild’s voice began to rise in volume. “Have you even thought about what will happen when this week is over, and we aren’t seeing each other every day anymore?”

“Have you?”

“I have, actually. That is what we should be thinking about right now instead of something that happened years ago!”

“If it doesn’t matter now, then why are you so insistent on keeping it a secret from me?” Tomaziel interrogated. “What, do you not trust me to know the truth?”

“You wouldn’t understand—”

“Yes, I would!”

“No, you wouldn’t! Because what I did messed with fate itself and destroyed whatever belief in myself I had and it’s taken me years to crawl back from hitting rock bottom! I don’t want to tell you because you won’t understand! And you can say you will understand all you want, but it won’t make a difference because I know you won’t! That is why I don’t want to tell you, Tomaziel.”

Silence. Tomaziel stared blankly at him as he stopped angrily ranting. After a moment, Starchild turned away and got to his feet. “I have to go. My free time is over.”

And after that, he spent the rest of the day avoiding him.

Starchild sniffled and hugged his legs closer to his torso. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Tomaziel at all—he trusted Tomaziel so much. He felt like he could tell him anything. But they had only been seeing each other for not even two weeks. It was still far too early to burden Tomaziel with anything like that… no matter how much Starchild had wanted to tell him everything. Even tell him…

The memory of that night played in his head—the purple candle burning, his voice chanting the spell, the wax melting and pooling in the candle holder, and the glowing purple string around his finger slowly breaking apart.

Tears pricked at Starchild’s eyes. How could he tell Tomaziel—sweet, kind, wonderful Tomaziel—something like that? They still barely knew each other. He longed to tell him everything. But he couldn’t; not even Tomaziel would be able to understand something like that, especially not now.

Starchild didn’t even realize he’d begun to cry until he raised his head and realized tears were streaming down his cheeks. He hadn’t meant to yell at Tomaziel; he’d been so stressed out lately it had just happened…

He forced himself to stop crying and stared down at the floor. “I have to fix this,” he said aloud. He didn’t want to lose whatever he was forming with Tomaziel. Not now, and not when his stay was over.

So he scrubbed away the tears with his hand and stood. He blew out a shaky breath, then turned to leave. It was later in the evening now, meaning hopefully Tomaziel had retired to his chambers for the night.

Starchild traveled swiftly, trying his hardest to remember the way, and it barely seemed like any time had passed before he was suddenly standing in front of the door to Tomaziel’s chambers.

His heart began to pound. Would Tomaziel even want to talk to him? Would he even want to see him?

You have to fix this. You have to try.

He raised his fist and knocked on the door.

For a moment, he heard nothing. Then he heard the muffled sound of footsteps, before the door handle turned and the door swung open.

There was Tomaziel, dressed in a set of nightclothes. He looked exhausted and sad, and it made Starchild’s heart twist with guilt in his chest. When he saw who it was, his look changed to one of surprise. “Starchild?”

“I need to talk to you,” Starchild said urgently. “Can I come in?” He looked pleadingly at him. “Please?”

For a moment, Tomaziel didn’t move. Then he sighed and stepped to the side to let Starchild enter. He closed the door and turned to Starchild, who was gathering up his courage. “If this is about earlier today—”

“It is,” Starchild turned around. “I—”

“I thought we didn’t need to talk about that. You made that perfectly clear.”

Starchild’s heart cracked in two at his words. “No, Tomaziel, please…” He moved forward to take Tomaziel’s hands. “Please let me explain, at least. You can let me stay, or throw me out—whatever you decide, I will do. But please let me explain first.”

After a moment, Tomaziel sighed again. “Fine. Explain.”

Starchild led him to his bed so they could sit down. “You were right; I wasn’t telling you the full truth. Because the truth was… so hard for me to accept. When I met Nikki, he was full of so much pain, after years of abuse and being forced to fend for himself. I… I thought maybe, if I loved him hard enough, and I loved him unconditionally, I could… fix his pain, and make him whole again. And Nikki… I wanted to be with Nikki because I thought it was what true love was like. We were connected by a String of Fate. I thought I would be happy with Nikki, and that I could give Nikki peace.

“But I… I was wrong. That wasn’t what ended up happening. All I did was make Nikki latch onto me, become obsessed with keeping me safe. And the longer I stayed, it was just so I could feel better about myself, and who I was. And I hated the thought of being the one who caused Nikki pain by leaving him. We had no real connection anymore. It was unhealthy by the end… so unhealthy for both of us.

“I didn’t even realize it until it was almost too late. And when I realized Nikki was too unhealthily attached to me, and when I realized I wasn’t happy, but was staying anyway, because I was so unhappy with who I was… I was scared, and confused, and heartbroken. I wanted to stay, I truly did, but I knew I couldn’t. So I severed my… my ties to Nikki, and ended our relationship for good. And after that, I realized if I was going to be happy, I had to be happy with who I was first. And ever since then, I have been trying to grow, to become someone I am happy to be.”

Starchild squeezed Tomaziel’s hands. “That’s the truth. The full truth. I swear. I loved Nikki so much… but it took me years to realize I didn’t need to feel like I had to fix him. And if you think I still have feelings for him—I don’t. I haven’t thought about Nikki in years. All I’ve thought of is how much I want to become a better person. And when I am with you… I feel like I can be myself around you. I can be vulnerable around you. And I know we’ve only been together like… like this, for a week and a half, but,” Starchild swallowed roughly, “it’s been wonderful.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole truth. But please… please forgive me. And if not, please try to understand what I’ve said. I…” A tear rolled down his cheek. “I don’t want to lose what we have.”

He fell silent, waiting for Tomaziel to answer. His heart slowly beat faster the longer Tomaziel stayed silent. Was this it? Was it over?

Finally, Tomaziel exhaled. “Thank you for telling me. I understand now.”

Hope flickered in his chest. “So you aren’t mad at me?”

“I never was mad at you. I just… didn’t understand why you wouldn’t tell me.”

“I didn’t want to tell you, because I still feel like I barely know you. I didn’t want to make you feel like I was burdening you with too much. But I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I’ve been so stressed out from all that’s happening, but that’s not an excuse.”

“So have I… maybe it was a mistake to bring up unpleasant memories…”

Starchild couldn’t help hugging him tightly. “Don’t feel sorry about that. You couldn’t have known. Do you forgive me?”

He felt Tomaziel’s head press against his. “Of course I forgive you,”

Starchild sighed as he felt the last of the guilty weight slide off his shoulders and smiled. “I’m so happy to hear that,”

They stayed like that for a while, hugging each other. Then Tomaziel said aloud, “I’ve been thinking about what you said… about what will happen when you have to return to KISSteria.”

“Really?” For some reason, nervousness began to prickle at Starchild’s insides.

“Yes,” Tomaziel pulled away, but kept their hands joined. “I don’t want to lose what we have either. I want to find a way to stay in contact with you. Maybe through letters?” He gave a sheepish laugh. “That was all I could think of…”

Starchild smiled and laughed. “It’s a good idea. But we can figure it out together.”

“Yes, we can.” Tomaziel peered at Starchild’s face and laughed. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?” Starchild asked innocently.

“Like you want to do something… mischievous,”

Starchild giggled. “I was just thinking of how I want to kiss your cute face,”

The faintest blue tint rose to Tomaziel’s face and he laughed. “If you want to, then please do,”

Laughing, Starchild leaned in and gave him a soft kiss. He felt the Spark flicker on his mouth and smiled.

When he pulled away, Tomaziel spoke again. “I do have one more question,”

“Yes?”

“You said you and Nikki were connected by a String of Fate… Do you think we are too?”

Starchild paused in surprise at the question, then gave a faint laugh. “I don’t know actually. But maybe…”

He took up Tomaziel’s hand, closed his eyes, and focused. His Star Eye began to glow purple. And as it did, a purple string slowly appeared, tied around Starchild’s finger, and connected to…

Starchild opened his eyes, and a smile bloomed across his face when he saw the purple string wrapped around Tomaziel’s wrist. “I suppose we are,”

Tomaziel raised his hand to gaze at the purple string in awe. His eyes flicked up to meet Starchild’s. Then he smiled happily and burst into a fit of giggles. Starchild found himself joining him—he just felt so happy. This relationship hadn’t ended; they weren’t over; they were going to find a way to stay together.

In the back of his mind, Starchild knew he was still keeping one more thing from Tomaziel. But the logic from before still stood—they had only been together for a week and a half. It was much too early to tell Tomaziel every little thing when he still didn’t know every little thing about him. But Starchild was no longer worried; now that he knew this was going to continue, he had time to wait. He had all the time in the world.  

He would wait until he was ready to tell Tomaziel he had severed his String of Fate to Nikki Terror.

#Shandi's KISSteriaverse #twist of fate #yeeeah conflicting emotions are never fun #starchild's just trying to make smart decisions here #also i don't want to spoil it here but A BOMBSHELL IS ABOUT TO BE DROPPED SO BRACE YOURSELVES #spacechild #kiss au writing #my writing #hope you enjoyed! #stay tuned for chapter eleven!