Emerald City Comic Con 2021: Cosplay Central Crown Championship BEST IN SHOW
Chicago Comic Con 2023: Cosplay Central Crown Championship PNW Representative
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ This cosplay changed me ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. .⋆｡˚✴︎⋆
Maybe I’m being dramatic, it’s not as if I haven’t been particular about my projects in the past. But something about this build fundamentally reframed my process as a maker. I’ve reflected on this a lot, especially about how the build started vs. how it ended. I have two conclusions, which I’ll share here: The journey of making this cosplay propelled two significant developments in my practice as a maker: (1) it demonstrated how fundamental iteration is in the making process of executing quality builds, and (2) how moving beyond direct design duplication to inspired-by synthesis unlocks levels of creative opportunity that bring me a lot of joy.
⋆✴︎˚Big mouth, little mouth˚✴︎⋆
If you’re thirsty for all the details about how I made this ambitious cosplay, check out my competition book linked below. I’m a pretty detailed record keeper, so this build book is full of WIP images, explanations, reference art, etc.
This is a cosplay I made because I love Aliens AND I had a question I wanted to answer: what would the Queen Xenomorph look like if she shared the stage with the other Disney princesses? I’ve never been great about building super screen accurate cosplays and this project, in particular, let me wander pretty far from the marked trail.
⋆✴︎˚The back is BUSY˚✴︎⋆
I debuted this cosplay at Emerald City Comic Con in 2021. I was also accepted into the Cosplay Central Crown Championship competition. This was a big deal for me, partly to share the stage with so many talents makers and partly because I was ready to be finished with this build.
⋆✴︎˚V1 at the ECCC sign˚✴︎⋆
⋆✴︎˚The big check˚✴︎⋆
And then I won Best in Show. Since it was a regional competition for the Cosplay Central Crown Championships, I was invited to compete at C2E2 2023 in Chicago where the national competition was hosted. The events were at the tail end of a global pandemic, so the dates were farther apart than usual, which was a boon and curse – more time to iterate, but also more time to perseverate on the project.
⋆✴︎˚V.2 at the C2E2 sign˚✴︎⋆
I don’t often share my stage walks, mostly because it’s a skill I’m still growing. This time though, I’m proud of my work. This stage walk marks the end of a HUGE project nearly spanning 4 years; and I think this video does a great job showing all the lights, effects, animatronics, and movement I spent years engineering.
⋆✴︎˚Stage walk at C2E2˚✴︎⋆
Here I am backstage, sweating like crazy and ready to call it a day. I love this picture though; the human just over my left shoulder checking out the build makes my day every time I see this image.
⋆✴︎˚Wrapping up the C2E2 Cosplay Contest˚✴︎⋆
I didn’t win or place or even really make a splash at C2E2 competition-wise, and honestly, I was relieved. Building, iterating, competing, and traveling with this cosplay was starting to erode my joy and mental health. This was a huge project – bigger than I could have ever anticipated. I’m glad I persevered to complete it; I’ll definitely be carrying the lessons I learned forward into all my future builds.
⋆✴︎˚She could hold her own next to any Disney princess˚✴︎⋆
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. .⋆｡˚✴︎⋆
