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What got you into cosplay?
I saw people doing it in photos and at the couple conventions I attended before I began cosplaying, and said "Hmm, that's cool." Then my high school friend Selie and her sister Celine's cosplaying encouraged me to try it for myself.
What was your first costume and why?
For Halloween 2000, I made a Team Rocket grunt from Pokemon because Team Rocket is super, and I wanted to pick something fun and easy for my first time. It didn't require much complicated sewing, which was good since it was a first attempt - just attach a red "R" to the front of my shirt and purchase the rest of the pieces. I wore it to school that Halloween and one guy called me Team Rocket for the rest of the year.
What is your favorite costume and why?
Naoki was my first love, but I'm afraid I have left him and his shiny red pants behind for a new mistress: Team Magma. It's just cute as buttons, and so comfortable to wear too (as long as I'm not dancing and getting all sweaty under the fleece and pleather). It's easy to care for, too, because I can just toss the fleece parts in the washing machine.
Another reason Naoki was left behind is that I loaned the costume to a friend and she has all of it except the shoes packed up in a box somewhere unknown from her last move. And I wore the shoes too much as everyday footwear, so I have to toss them.
Do you have a dream costume you'd like to make?
I'm getting to the point where a 'dream' is an attainable goal, as I practice sewing and other craft-y skills. So I don't really have a dream costume because that implies that I'd never end up making it. I suppose anything at the bottom of the costume list on my profile page, no pictures uploaded or anything, would somewhat count as a dream costume - of course, that changes constantly as I work on and complete those and add new ones!
What has been your most memorable cosplay experience?
It's tough to say, but I think my favorite would still have to be back at the beginning, when I took my Team Rocket costume over to Selie's house to hang out with her and take photos with Celine as Jessie. We went out to the park to take the pictures, and found some little kids on the playground who were Pokemon fans and recognized us. They loaned us a pair of Pikachu to play with and fight over - they were SO cute (the kids AND the stuffed animals).
Do you participate in masquerades?
I've helped out a friend's skit exactly once, carrying a large prop across the stage. I wouldn't be averse to participating in a masquerade performance if I thought it was a good concept, but I don't particularly care one way or the other. I prefer to be able to watch the entire masquerade rather than sitting in line backstage waiting for my turn. And by "watching" I mean from live feed in my hotel room, or online on Youtube once I get home! No waiting in obscenely long masquerade lines for me, thank you.
Tell us a little about yourself
I live in the Dallas area with my dog, my roommate and his cat. He doesn't cosplay, but he's willing to be a living doll and let me and my cosplaying friends dress him up, so that's close enough! I used to only go to Dallas area conventions, but lately I've been expanding. It helps to (1) volunteer or (2) work for a dealer, heh.
Aside from cosplay, mostly I dance and choreograph parapara (my parapara team, EKS-D, has done panels and parapara promotion at conventions) and read trashy fantasy novels. And non-trashy ones. I play on my DS, mostly Ace Attorney and Pokemon (it's not obvious those are my favorites or anything, since I have three costumes from each series in my gallery...) and occasionally I even play something on the PS2. I also play Imperium MUD, shunning the glitzy graphics-ridden pay-to-play paradise that is WoW. My puppydog would prefer that I played with her more, though.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
It's interesting how what I see as an 'acceptable budget' for a costume goes up as the years go on. This MIGHT POSSIBLY have a correlation to my income level. I find myself almost wanting to re-make my old (but still beloved) Team Rocket and Naoki costumes to upgrade the level of quality in fabrics and sewing, now that I have a bit more skill and a lot more money, but then shiny new projects always come butting their heads in and I never actually get to it.
I really enjoy seeing the chronogically-ordered list of costumes in my gallery or on my website and comparing the different ways I'm improving my sewing, painting, hairstyling and other crafting skills. Now if only I could work on my posing a bit more...!
My favorite anime
I like a little of everything, mostly the sort of thing everyone likes such as any movies by Miyazaki, Wolf's Rain, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fushigi Yuugi, Gundam Wing, Ranma (oh crack!) etc. I haven't really kept up with all the newer stuff that's been coming out, partly because a lot of it sucks, partly because I just haven't found the time to check it out. I'm not too fond of shows that go on forever and ever (though things that are very episodic are all right because I can enjoy it if I happen to come across an episode playing, and ignore it the rest of the time). My not-so-secret vice is yaoi/shounen-ai ^^;
My favorite game(s)
All my friends are RPG fans, so because of them I like RPGs, except that I tend not to actually play them so much as pick up on the stories and characters from other people and websites, because they just take so darn long. Kingdom Hearts stole my soul, and I got a Nintendo DS specifically for just two games: Chain of Memories, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. (That doesn't mean I'll never eventually buy others, but those were the main reasons to own a DS!)
I also love Dance Dance Revolution and Para Para Paradise (the latter just because it offers an opportunity to parapara in a very public area), though I haven't really gotten into other rhythm games. Katamari is, of course, spectacular, and you can never forget the classic greedy marketing schemes of "gotta catch 'em all!"
My favorite book(s)
Fluffy fantasy and sci-fi novels are good. Children's books are also good (the excellent chapter-book sort meant for older children, or children being read to - stuff like The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, etc). Neil Gaiman is great, and when you mix him with Terry Pratchett the awesome-o-meter skyrockets (I fangirl-squeed when I read a thread asking for tips on Aziraphale and Crowley costumes to be more identifiable). I can't possibly pick even a few favorites. The stuff I most often end up reading is brain-relaxant though ^^
My favorite character(s)
How could you even CHOOSE an overall favorite character? The answer, of course, is that it's impossible and I'm not even going to try.
(Phoenix Wright does, however, rock my socks in his own spiky-haired loltastic way.)
My favorite movies(s)
I tend to go for movies based on books I like, Disney movies, kids' movies (because half the stuff made for people my age either sucks, or is too violent and bloody for me...like stupid teen movies, or war movies that perhaps don't suck but have far too much blood)
Oddly enough, I don't mind blood that much in animation...it must be the 2-d vs. 3-d factor...
Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, and The Princess Bride have a huge nostalgia factor for me ^_^
My favorite actors/actresses
I don't pay much attention to the names behind the faces or voices of the characters I like...meaning I can watch a movie, love it, and have no clue who played the main character so excellently. Same with music, too...I can love a particular song or a bunch of songs by a band and know absolutely nothing about them, not even what the members look like.
That said, if Johnny Depp walked up to me on the street I would probably have to work very hard to resist the urge to fangirl.
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United States
