Halloween is only a couple days away!! Honestly my most favourite holiday!
It's time to get your pumpkin's carved, last minute costume prep or maintenance, snacks ready and all that! I'm excited that this year I'm going to be celebrating with my co-workers and having a pseudo halloween party at work. Lots of snacks and great costumes, not to mention we decorated the whole office :D Afterwork my husband and I are going on a ghost tour of New Westminster which I can't wait for! Learning the haunted history of the city we live in. What are your plans for halloween??
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Can I be a cosplayer and a Mermaid? If I'm a mermaid does that make me a cosplayer? I hear these topics a lot! Especially when I'm hanging out on Tail Talk Tuesday with Courtney Mermaid on Youtube. So let's discuss these one at a time.
Can I be a cosplayer and a Mermaid? The answer is YES! You'll find that people are going to do things that make them feel good, but also they are going to do things the way they find most comfortable. Whether you want to work on your "Mersona" and build your community as a Mermaid and cosplay on the side, or you want to build up your Cosplayer identity and mermaid on the side, or if you want to equally build both communities or your cosplay is a mermaid, the power is in your hands! If I'm a mermaid does that make me a cosplayer? The answer is no. Again this is totally up to you. If you feel that your mersona is a cosplay that's totally cool. Other people mermaid for the exercise, for the joy of wearing a tail, some feel a strong calling that they belong in the water and this allows them to bridge the gap. I personally see myself as more of a cosplayer, with a mersona on the side. I've been doing both activities equally as long, and enjoy them both immensely, but for different reasons. A very loving, passionate and convincing friend first introduced me to mermaiding, but my love for costumes is what threw me into it full fledge. I love the freedom of being in the water, I love feeling like I'm something more than just a person who likes swimming where as with cosplay I feel I get to express myself fully through my costumes, and escape reality for a while by embodying a different character. But that's what feels comfortable for me. Always do what works for you and what makes you happiest :) For more information on my mermaid adventures you can check out mermaidkim.weebly.com For more information on mermaiding in Vancouver, and to visit Courtney Mermaid's page check out vancouvermermaid.com This is honestly the hardest part of being a cosplayer. Or some may say this is the easiest. Some people stick with a specific character, others choose a fandom while others just choose whoever they like! I've always found this difficult. Not for the sake of I don't know who to pick, but because I have a list that seems to never end of the costumes I would like to create. Everyone has a different way of solidifying their next project, but I wanted to share with you my creative process.
I spend time looking up concept art, other people's cosplays and select a list of characters I like. For me it is very important that I know the character and can relate. I've never been really on top of seeing a trailer or an announcement and choosing a character from a product that has yet to be released. Once I have found a character I'm interested in I go through the following list: - Is this at my skill level? How hard would it be to make? - What materials would I need? - Does this require a wig? - How much sewing/crafting would I need to do? - How long would this take me? - Could I wear this for a long period of time? Will it be comfortable? - Am I happy with this choice? These questions are the driving force behind making my final choice. It's very important to know you'll be comfortable in a costume, you have the skills to make the character or you can easily learn the skills. Another big factor is time. There never seems to be enough time. For myself, I usually aim to do one cosplay per year. I like to start early and aim for the fall when the local Fan Expo usually happens (this coming year is going to be a whole new challenge...but more on that later). Another big factor is will I complete this costume? I've had many a time where I pick a character I love and want to make, buy all the materials and notions for it, then it sits in a bag or a drawer waiting to get started. It gets pushed aside because I find another character that I just "can't live without" or "it's easier" etc etc. So many excuses. I've also planned costumes that have intimidated me so much that I just can't bring myself to start them. I need to hold off and pick simpler costumes to make in between to build up my skill and confidence before I tackle the big one. To summarize, if this is your first time cosplaying, pick a character that you really love, that you would want to embody, but make a costume that is at your skill level. You don't want to overwhelm yourself with something that is beyond your knowledge, skill or patience level. Take your time with it, find tutorials or ask other cosplayers for advice to make it easier, but most of all HAVE FUN!! WOW! Over the past 2 days the amount of love I have gotten on my skull kid cosplay has truely been overwhelming! I can't thank everyone enough for their kind words and feedback!
This has really inspired me to take the next step and start taking a more active role in social media to continue to build my fan base and keep everyone involved in my up and coming adventures in cosplay. So THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!! It means so much to me! Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU! What a whirlwind weekend!
There were so many things about this Fan Expo that made it incredibly memorable. This was the first year that I noticed a significant lower amount of attendees, retailers and sketch duels to name a few. The venue had changed from Canada Place to the Vancouver Convention Centre, but instead of using multiple floors for panels and such, they put everything all on the ballroom floor. This made it more accessible and more compact, but also meant it was a lot louder than usual with quite a few less retailers. The one constant I will say is Saturday is always the most popular day with the most amazing and talented cosplayers! I love seeing all the effort people put into their costumes, and how many people come in costume. Makes me SO HAPPY! My own personal cosplay experience was definitely overwhelming in the most positive way! I know that when you wear a costume you expect to not walk very far or get to do a lot of shopping because people want to talk to you and take photos, but I was not expecting the magnitude of people who were stopping me. Got lots of fabulous photos, and brought home some super great swag! New artwork, keychains, pins, plus some new crafting material! Bought myself a GIANT roll of Worbla as well as this amazing stuff called Foam Clay, blows my mind! I attended the Foam Clay panel learning all about it, which was super interesting. My husband got to attend both the Ron Perlman Q&A and the Kevin Conroy Q&A. Needless to say he was beyond excited for both of those. We also had the opportunity to meet Wil Wheaton who is honestly the sweetest person ever! Overall it was a successful weekend, lots of fun and definitely looking forward to next years con in March! |
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