Completed Cosplays in sort of reverse-chronological order, for the most part
Eris Morn
Eris was a cosplay that taught me so much! It was the first cosplay where I made my own sewing patterns, and where I learned to sew a lining. When they did a face reveal for her in the game, I went back and added a facial prosthetic as well, including wiring some seriously tiny LEDs.
I competed with this cosplay at Tucson Comic-Con and was bumped up from Intermediate to Advanced, where I was awarded first place! I never expected that, but the judges said they liked how I pushed myself to keep improving through the process, and went back to remake parts after improving my skill. I definitely feel like this cosplay made me level up in more ways than one! It’s a little scary knowing I have to compete in Advanced/Masters from now on, but I’m excited to try!
House Light Eliksni (with Smallen!)
When the trailer for the Beyond Light expansion came out and we saw a 2 second shot of an Eliksni with hatchlings, the Destiny fandom lost its mind. I had a MIGHTY NEED to cosplay them, and it was so much fun!
I learned how to cast molds and make latex creature effects, made some questionable but workable decisions about the LEDs, and discovered the importance of anchoring costume layers in place so they don’t slide around (that baby sling is heavy and never wants to stay put!)
I competed as a Journeyman at Phoenix Fan Fusion and was awarded first in that category! The judges liked how many techniques I used, and how I got in character and moved on stage. I was following the creature acting advice from Doug Jones when he was a judge on FaceOff (which I often watch while crafting).
I even got a bonus cosplay out it, because when the trailer for The Final Shape expansion came out, we saw an Eliksni playing guitar. I made a new tunic and borrowed my mom’s guitar for a photo shoot.
April O’neil
A closet/thrifted cosplay of April from the 1990 TMNT movie. It’s kinda nice to walk around a con in normal, comfy clothes sometimes. I got to meet Kevin Eastman and he signed by Turtle Van from when I was a kid! Even though it’s pretty simple, this has been a dream cosplay of mine for a long time
Ann
I had a blast playing the game Sand Land, from the late Akira Toriyama, and immediately started working on a cosplay of Ann. Her clothes are simple, so I got to spend time on her necklace, scarf, and wig. The wig…. that was the most I ever con crunched. I actually brought it with me to the con on Saturday and braided it whenever we had to wait in line for something, braided it while watching the masqerade, and then did an all-nighter. You can see how tired my eyes are in some of the photos, but it was worth it because the one person who recognized me told me a booth was selling the model kit of the tank from the game! I got it but still need to build it lol.
Footsoldier D
Footsoldier D from Go Go Loser Ranger has such a cool design and was fun to make. I’m most proud of his head, which is made of Fosshape! It’s heat shapeable fleece, so it’s not all sweaty and hard to hear like 3D printed of even foam helmets can be. Fosshape is super cool! The head even got stepped on and was completely fine! I was also able to sew a fabric cover for it so it matches the material of the suit. Because D isn’t wearing a helmet - that’s his actual head!
Headless Horeseman
My favorite Halloween related character of all time! I love the Headless Horseman so much! His shoulders and neck are built around a hat, and I sculpted an anatomically accurate chopped off neck, which was super fun. In order to wear him at school on Halloween, I covered the neck with fabric and sewed a pink collar to make him match the colorful art style from the old Disney cartoon
Bride of Frankenstein
I love wearing this cosplay. The Bride is such an iconic character and I love doing different versions. I started with her movie dress, then did a Victorian-ish one, an 80s one, and a casual/club one. I love any any excuse to wear this, and not just on Halloween!
Impa
This is the quickest complete cospaly I’ve ever done! It was one of those times when I had a photo shoot coming up, and thought, “It’s pretty simple. It shouldn’t take long.” Reader, it was anything but simple, though I did get it done in time for the shoot. I kept getting more ideas and adding to it. I love how it turned out, and I love wearing it. Being Impa makes me feel like a badass, plus it’s a nice, cool cosplay to wear in Arizona! I’ve since improved the wig and will probably make a new one soon, and I used dance tights to make arm socks, since tattoo cover makeup takes way too long
I did 3 update videos on how the project was going, which I’ve never done before or since 😅
White Ranger
A friend suggested I cosplay the White Range for a group cosplay, and it’s such a fun cosplay to wear! The Green Ranger/White Ranger saga was probably the most dramatic thing ten-year-old me had ever seen, and rewatching the show while preparing for this cosplay brought back so many memories!
I commissioned the suit from Halu Costumes, who does incredible work and was able to customize the design to have the skirt style from the Pink Ranger. I got the helmet on Etsy, and made the armor out of foam. By some miracle, all the golds match!
Aizawa
A quick cosplay I threw together for Halloween at school. Basically I used the clothes from my Tokoyami cosplay, cut up a wig from Spirit Halloween, and made the scarf and goggles before school. The tired look is in character, but it’s my real face from getting too little sleep the night before!
Godot
A character who loves coffee as much as I do! I thrifted and modified Godot’s clothes, and made his visor. The visor has cheap glasses from Zenni built right in so I can be lazy and not wear contacts, and it attaches to the wig with magnets. I learned how to do male contour makeup for this cosplay, and my own mother didn’t recognize me in the photos!
Best Jeanist
Do you ever lay eyes on a character and their outfit and instantly know you need to cosplay them? That was me and Best Jeanist. I mean look at him! I had to get a heavy duty sewing machine in order to Frankenstein a bunch of thrifted jeans together, and I still broke 3 needles!
He’s always a big hit at conventions, and one time an impromptu My Hero Academia photoshoot just sort of happened, because more and more cosplayers kept coming by and joining in. I got to take my dream photo of Jeanist combing Bakugo’s hair!
Tokoyami
Darkness Chicken! … is what a kid at a con called me, and I love it so much. The head is foam, and fits like a normal hat. The beak opens and closes when I talk, and I can see out of the eyes and the mouth. The hardest part of this build was actually Dark Shadow, which involved many hours layering purple and black tulle to create the weird texture he has in the anime. He’s a hand puppet that sticks out of the cape.
Zelda
My second cosplay! This was before I could sew, so my friend sewed the dress in exchange for me making Thor armor for her daughter. Armor is my thing, so I went all out and made detailed armor, belt, and crown.
Sadly I haven’t worn this in ages because the dress is too big now! But now that I can sew, I plan on sewing a new one and bringing this cosplay back, because I love Zelda so much
Starscream
My very first cosplay! Starscream is the first character I loved enough to throw myself into cosplay for. It helped that I had no idea what I was getting myself into, because I might have been too intimidated to start with a build like this.
He took about 5 months, and I figured everything out as I went along. I definitely made some mistakes, like using a lot of hot glue before switching to superglue, and incorporating metal clothes hangers for most of my stabilizing structures. The version in most of the photos is not how the cosplay originally looked, since I’ve made many updates and improvements over the years. I can’t believe I’ve brought this costume to around 20 events since 2014 when I debuted it!
Almost the entire costume is EVA foam, except for his crest and chestplate (which were foam but I replaced them with plastic), and his missiles and cockpit, which were always PVC and plastic, respectively.
Through this cosplay, I met some of my best friends in the world, and worked with them to build Knockout and Soundwave, so we all have Transformers cosplays. Sometimes we run a booth at our local con, called ConsPlay Superior, where we display our suits and props, and take turns suiting up for photos. I’ll create a page for that in the future.
Over the years I have replaced many parts. First I did the face, because the original one was derpy looking. I did the feet twice, once to be as tall as Knockout, and once because the new feet broke, which also wrecked the lower legs. So I replaced those. I also replaced the upper legs once when I gained weight and again when I lost weight. Sheesh. And I replaced the wings with bigger ones to keep the proper scale compared to Soundwave once we built him. At some point I need to rebuild his shoulders because they’ve been repaired so many times they’re kind of uncomfortable now.
Honestly this cosplay has been with me for so long, and means so much to me, that it should have its own page.
Here’s the original version of my Starscream with his derpy face, and small wings and legs. Still, I love how he turned out, and I have enjoyed making him more impressive over the years.
And here’s my sister, helping drink Gatorade through the mouth of the mask. Where would coplayers be without our handlers?
The new mask - pointier, smirkier, and dare I say, Starscreamier? Plus the eyes are brighter because I moved the LEDs. You can also tell that the red crest thingy is sturdier, wider, and made of plastic now. Oh, and bigger eyebrows.
