What got you into cosplay?
A group of friends from college decided to go to Otakon 2001 because the guest was Hikaru Midorikawa. One of the girls who had been to Otakon before said "If you cosplay, it makes you feel like you're a part of the con and not just an attendee"... so we did, though I suppose it helped that I love halloween and making the different costumes.
What was your first costume and why?
My first was Nuriko from Fushigi Yuugi. I wanted something easy and I wanted to dye my hair. Turned out to NOT be easy, and I had to bleach my hair because it was too dark to show the purple otherwise. My mom helped me with the costume, because I had never made pants before. It took several tries before we had pants that weren't inside out, upside down, or backwards. Prior to conventions, everything I made was strictly Halloween, from the Crow, to Eponine, to a Renaissance dress that I never got to wear aside from hemming it.
What is your favorite costume and why?
I have two at the moment: Ruki and Ken Hidaka. Ruki, I love because of the wig. It's my favourite thing about the costume! It was commissioned from godsavethequeen.com and yeah, shameless promotional piece, but it's absolutely incredible. Ken is more because Weiss Kreuz is hands down my favourite series. Yes, it's got plot holes big enough to drive a fleet of Mack trucks through. Yes, the art for the first series is CRAP. Yes, it's sad that the character designs in Gluhen had to change due to legal issues. Yes, you've got to piece the story together through translations of Drama CDs and intersperse it with Kapital, Verbrechen und Strafe, Gluhen, and Side B in order to get the entire story... but I love it anyway.
Do you have a dream costume you'd like to make?
I'd love to make either Nakago from Fushigi Yuugi, Sun Ce from Dynasty Warriors 5, or Mikage from Ayashi no Ceres. There's another I'd love to make, but I suppose it sholuld be under 'like to finish' because I already have the fabric and zippers, but it just needs assembled and studded like whoa: Ruki's (the GazettE) outfit from their Filth in the Beauty PV.
What has been your most memorable cosplay experience?
Hands down, meeting The Underneath (formerly Transtic Nerve), DaizyStripper, and Marbell while dressed as hide. Having them go all wide-eyed and "hide-san! Arigatou, hide-san!" as well as having one of the DaizyStripper boys sing part of Rocket Dive to me made that convention.
Do you participate in masquerades?
I did once, with a group that was kinda tossed together at the last minute. I didn't really enjoy the fact that most of my Saturday consisted of "wait wait wait wait wait, get your spot in line, wait wait wait wait, go rehearse for the hour and a half we were allotted before the thing started, line up, wait wait wait wait wait wait, go on stage for a few moments, done, wait wait wait wait wait, judging, wait wait wait, now we can leave and everything's over around the con", so I probably won't be doing that again.
Have you won any awards for your costumes?
Judge's Award "Dear to My Heart" at Kurokiiro Festival 2010 for Ichigo ; Best of Weekend at Tekkoshocon IX (2011) for Roy Mustang ; Best Master Craftsmanship at Tekkoshocon X (2012) for Seto Kaiba
Tell us a little about yourself
I have two girls, Ophelia (7), and Phoebe (3). Ophelia enjoys her 4pm treat times with the rest of the kids, her 10pm Pit'rPat, her random snacks, clean water, and getting lots of attention. Phoebe enjoys attention, laphogging, having her hair brushed, and attacking the stairs. She also has 6 toes on each foot. They both enjoy long naps, good food, lots of treats, and a clean litterbox. ...what? I never said my kids were human!
My favorite anime
Gundam Wing, Weiss Kreuz, Weiss Kreuz: Verbrechen und Strafe, Weiss Kreuz: Gluhen, FullMetal Alchemist, FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Rurouni Kenshin, BLEACH, Fruits Basket, Outlaw Star, Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, and a few others... mostly older stuff though.
My favorite game(s)
Skies of Arcadia (DC/GC), Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GC), Resident Evil series (GC, PSX, PS2), Final Fantasy 8 (PSX), Xenogears (PSX), Bujingai: The Forsaken City (PS2), Phantasy Star 4: End of the Millenia (Genesis), Dynasty Warriors series (PS2), Indigo Prophecy (PS2), Parasite Eve (PSX), Loco Roco (PSP), Monster Hunter series (PSP)
My favorite book(s)
Actually, I love to read, but I'm picky. I love Terry Brooks' Shannara series, as well as Anne McCaffery's Dragonriders books. Also up there are Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince, Dragon Star, and Exiles trilogies. Battle Royale and Les Miserables are other favourites (yes, I'm an oddlet), as well as some of Shakespeare's plays such as As You Like It, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
My favorite character(s)
It totally depends on the series and the character.
My favorite movies(s)
The Crow, Boondock Saints, Ever After, Les Miserables, Silent Hill, The Last Unicorn, Transformers: The Movie (the 1980s cartoon), Tangled
My favorite actors/actresses
I don't have favourites. Someone who maybe sucked bad in one thing could really shine in the next, so it's hard for me to pick favourites.