sharkbait

110. MT4BWY/FCBD @ DJ's, Hanford, CA - 5/4 (Phasma) Sourcing photo.

109. Fresno Grizzlies Baseball Star Wars Night, Fresno, CA - 5/12 Sourcing photo.

108. Walk MS, Fresno, CA - 4/1 This is a fun one that I've been doing every year since we started attending. Hopefully we'll get it again next year! They raised a ton of money this year, too.

107. Fresno State Men's Basketball Star Wars Night, Fresno, CA - 1/14 (Phasma) I kept trying to stand next to our short troopers, but I kept ending up next to our super tall troopers, haha. For the record, I'm about 6'3'' - 6'4'' in costume. But the TIE Pilot is planning on a Vader next (and the Gunner is also working on one), so they're forgiven! It was our Biker Scout's second troop, and he came all the way down from RENO. That's dedication right there.

A testament to AM armor! But if it makes you feel any better I do need to take it in for various maintenance projects I've been putting off because.... that's just what you do, isn't it? The cover strips on the thighs and shins have yellowed significantly (I assume because of the sanding to make smooth while the main armor parts were already smooth or the sanding joints hidden by said cover strips). And my temp fix from "get it approved, deal with it later" of 2016 on my lenses is finally failing- the tape and velcro is finally no longer adhering so maybe I should actually glue them in like I had originally planned all those years ago, . I'm also going to replace my shoulder bell connections- the elastic is shot and one of the snaps is starting to pull through (though it did make it easier to get into it by myself, normally I have someone snap those for me). It could use a good polish and I'm pretty sure there's still remnants of a "special guest" sticker on one shoulder bell from... many troops ago that I keep forgetting about and not removing. I cannot complain, over all!

100th Troop in the ESB TK Armor! 106. Central Valley Fallen Heroes Car Show, Clovis, CA - 9/24 Well this one turned out to be a roller coaster! It was supposed to be just two troopers, but I found out when I got there the second had woken up with the stomach flu. So I said, heck, I'm here- I'll do it! I suited up at my car and trooped completely solo for the first time! Really glad I brought my TK (I knew the other guy didn't have a TK but was still costume TBD, so figured we gotta have at least one TK at every event, right?). It was totally the right decision! I didn't even make it from my end of the parking lot to the first branch of the show and I was mobbed by super-excited kids who wanted to take pictures and gladly high-fived. I got a couple hugs, even! Adults also went nuts, patrons loved it when they got a photo of me with their classic cars (and there were some fun ones, multiple late 60s Mustangs, which are my personal favs). Don't know if I'd really want to do another solo troop again, but hey, if ya got to, ya got to!

105. Weekend Blender (Fall), Clovis, CA - 8/20 On the left. With a fellow ESB TK! She found us and I helped her a lot in building and it was just so awesome to have another ESB. We've only managed to troop together twice, but it's awesome when we do! (We later trooped our Offworld Jawas together, we're the only two in the Garrison as of now (three more in the works) and we built them together, and it was her debut of it!) Oh ESB TK my old friend, how I have missed you! It felt so good to be back in it! And as I started walking around I immediately thought, "Wow, this is so easy to wear!" One more TK troop and that armor's at 100 troops itself!

104. Star Wars Night with the Reno Aces, Reno, NV - 7/30 (Phasma) Despite a rocky start (including NO HELMET FANS), this troop was an absolute BLAST! I meet some new people from the Reno area, had a second-time handler assist me (and he rocked it! He's working on a Galactic Marine for entry right now), saw some old friends from up North (some I'd just seen at Rivercats, but always good to see them again), the kids and crowd in general were just SO into it (all of us, but I really saw it directed at me and I got a whole lot of actually being called "Captain Phasma" which is just always great- so many high fives, so many excited patrons. I walked out from the back break area and a group excitedly yelled "Captain Phasma!" and I managed to raise my arms to cheer and we got photos together. I beat my record for hugs at a troop! Some of them might have been the same kid, but I couldn't see well enough to tell, haha- I had eight (previous record was three)! Then in the changing room when we were suiting down, I told the others this and one jumped up immediately and hugged me and said "Nine!" and then another jumped up and said "even number, ten!" and hugged me too. I love my Garrison-mates. My rocky start included the venue changing our room last minute, and me not getting the message (despite being early, unfortunately), so I was headed to the changing room (across the street, no less) as they were doing the Parade of 501st walking into the stadium. Whoops. So I scrambled to get suited up and as I'm trying to adjust my fans, one pulls completely from the wires, so I have only one fan. Not a big deal, I've done one fan troops before. It's about 100F so it's hot but we're in the shade on the concourse, right? The second fan suddenly won't turn on. Then I notice the wires are getting really hot. And there's now smoke starting to come out of the battery box. No fans for me. Which actually worked out just fine- I could hear a little better and most importantly my lenses didn't fog up at all. The air was a little warm in there, but there was nice breezes so overall, it was a hot troop, but I wasn't dying. Alan Fernandes! He was there to throw out the first pitch and sharing our changing room. Super nice guy! I got a super fun compliment from his assistant who said "Wow, it's already impressive and it's just laid out on the floor!" when I was pulling Phasma parts out of the bin in a hurry. They wanted pictures with me and that too was a huge compliment. And of course I had to get one for myself, as well. (I guess he's represented by one of our members who's in that industry, he also reps a couple of Jawa actors). I like to say the irony of me doing all this costuming is mascots and people in costumes used to terrify me as a child, and now here I am. I am very sympathetic when kids aren't sure about us and know when I can push it a little and ease them with the offer of a high five and when to back up a bit. That said, these mascots kind of terrify me. I legit have NO idea what either of them are, .

103. Star Wars Night with the Sacramento Rivercats, Sacramento, CA - 7/16 (Phasma) We didn't get a full group shot but we had a great turnout! Such a fun event. Even if it was 106F out. Maybe 104F by the time we were actually trooping. Hot. We all survived! Our Vader was a rockstar and out for a long time, we had a Tusken female, kid Jawas (one of which who was dancing, so, kudos, kid, you didn't pass out, I'm impressed), kid Shadow Scout, a just-approved first troop in Boba Fett (and he looked awesome), and a smattering of old friends and Rebel Legion, too! Good times! She just looked so pretty in the lighting!

SO I'M AN IDIOT! I totally forgot about and skipped over an entire troop. What I thought was my 100th troop was actually my 101st troop. Whoops. Going back and adding it all in and editing now, hahaha. I can't believe I did that. My actual 99th troop was a great one, too! how could I forget about it?

102. Star Wars Night with the Modesto Nuts, Modesto, CA - 5/14 (Phasma) I finally got to troop with a Kylo!! He was excited to finally troop with Phasma, too. We all braved the 96F heat and no one passed out! It was a win. And it looks like we're holding hands in this photo and that also cracks me up. I need to add velcro (or figure out a better magnet situation) to the finger tips/gloves because a few of them just won't stay on. Hence why my fingers are curled here. But I did adjust the velcro placement for the gaskets on the arms and legs and the shins no longer dig into my feet and the forearms don't eat the wrist plate as bad anymore (still needs a little tweaking, but way better) and also doesn't dig into my wrist.

99. Festival of Lights, Sacramento, CA - 12/11 (Reindeer Phasma) Ladies of the Legions represent! Santa Cody, Present Astromech, Reindeer Phasma... we're a really creative bunch and it makes me very happy!

Hit the 100th troop!

WHAT I THOUGHT WAS MY 100TH TROOP BUT I TOTALLY SKIPED ONE SO IT WAS ACTUALLY TROOP #101 100th FISD TROOP!!!! 101. Star Wars Night with the Fresno Grizzlies, Fresno, CA - 5/6 This one cracks me up because I keep thinking it looks like I'm flipping the camera off. I'm waving to the crowd, there were some excited kids in the front row. Still waiting on the photos from our other handlers, so if any standout I'll update the post to share. GONK droid stole the show, unsurprisingly. People though he was a prop until he'd start walking around. It was also Vader's first troop (in Vader, he's got a Royal Guard and a Nihilus). Great group of people, great troop, bordering on hot weather but not boiling like in some years past (seriously, we've done this troop in 100F+ weather before, not fun!) Phasma continues to have a couple of kinks to work out, but they are in progress and overall, she's actually not too bad to wear! I still tap out at about the two hour mark, but I think that's solid. (I switched to Rebel Scum OT X-Wing for the second half of the night, and had a blast, little girls were really excited to see Iden Versio, me and a female Jedi wondering around). Even did an interview for a local news channel! And I finished my new FISD patch shirt just in time for the occasion!

A testament to AM 2.0 armor, too! 98 of my troops have been it. It needs a few fixes and some cleanup, but it's overall going strong. Looking forward to hitting the 100 with the ESB and with FISD generally.