#ayla cosplay
“Her sense of survival had always been strong; it would take more than loneliness to make her give up.”
-‘The Valley of Horses’ by Jean Auel
“Winter was gasping its last frozen breath, reluctantly giving way to spring, but the youthful season was a capricious flirt. Amid frigid reminders of glacial chill, tantalizing hints of warmth promised summer heat.”
-‘The Valley of Horses,’ Jean Auel
“You must learn to understand with your heart and mind, not your eyes and ears, then you will know.”
-“The Clan of the Cave Bear” by Jean Auel
“Art was as much in the activity as in the results. Works of art were not just the finished product, but the thought, the action, the process that created them.”
-“The Mammoth Hunters” by Jean Auel
“The first light of dawn scattered the enveloping darkness of the cave, and the fresh crispness in the air smelled of snow on its way.”
-‘The Clan of the Cave Bear’, by Jean Auel
I’d love to shoot with this cosplay in the snow someday. Alas, I must make shoes first.
Ready to rest.
“…he never told me the greatest gifts they give are inside. He never told me how it feels when you finally understand. The test is not just something hard to do, the test is knowing you can do it.”
As the brilliant polychrome autumn lost its luster and skeletal branches dropped withered leaves, Ayla returned to the forest.
-‘The Clan of the Cave Bear’, by Jean Auel
“She was one of the Others; a newer, younger breed, more vital, more dynamic, not controlled by hidebound traditions from a brain that was nearly all memory. Her brain followed different paths, her full, high forehead that housed forward-thinking frontal lobes gave her an understanding from a different view. She could accept the new, shape it to her will, forge it into ideas undreamed of by the Clan, and, in nature’s way, her kind was destined to supplant the ancient, dying race.”
-‘The Clan of the Cave Bear’, by Jean Auel
This passage speaks about the Cro-magnons’ (ancestors of modern humans) adaptability and creativity…and the inevitable downfall of the Neanderthals.
“But next summer is a whole year away. I don’t have to worry about it until then.”
A whole year, Iza thought. My Ayla, my child. Maybe you have to be my age to know how fast a year goes.”
-‘The Clan of the Cave Bear’, by Jean Auel
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2021 went by too slowly and too quickly. I always feel that way at the end of the year, but even more so in the past two years. I’m really grateful I got to see friends I hadn’t seen in years (!!) and go to conventions again. Thanks to the omnibus, it seems like it’ll be a while before either of those things happen again. Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year.
“I’m a hunter. I’m the Woman Who Hunts. Ayla lifted her chin and stepped out from behind the concealing screen of foliage.”
-The Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean Auel
“Ayla loved these moments of solitude. Basking in the sun, feeling relaxed and content, she thought about nothing in particular, except the beautiful day and how happy she was.”
-Clan if the Cave Bear, by Jean Auel
Finally got some good shots of Ayla! I’ve been working on this on and off for several months, and it was one of the Cosplays I’ve been wanting to finish before 2022. It involved modifying a standard brown cavewoman dress, faux fur, and a lot of hand sewing. It’s from one of my favorite series on prehistorical fiction about a Cro magnon girl named Ayla, adopted by a small clan of Neanderthals who call themselves “the Clan of the Cave Bear.” The outfit and makeup is based on the 1985 movie starring Daryl Hannah.
“Now that she had decided to stop, she had to put that hope aside, accept her solitude, and learn to live with it. The gnawing worry of survival, alone, in an unknown place through a winter of unknown severity, added to the strain. The crying relieved the tension.”
-The Valley of Horses, by Jean Auel
