Tell me about the outfit you are wearing – who are you cosplaying and how did you decide to pick this particular character ?
The dapper threads you see me in in this photo are those of Zell Dincht from Final Fantasy VIII. This is the uniform SeeD students wear during their undergraduate missions, when they’re not breaking the rules and running around in whatever they want, that is! I really enjoy the personality of Zell; he’s basically a big dork, the kinda guy who wipes off his hand before offering it out for a shake. I’m also trying to push myself with wigs, so Zell was a great chance to work with new techniques in order to achieve a natural-looking hairline.
Tell me about the process of making your outfit – was it easier or tougher than you imagine it to be ?
The difficulty in making this outfit was matching that of my cosplay group– we all made our own uniforms, yet still had to be… uniform! And considering we all have different methods of doing things, it took a lot of adjusting and re-evaluating techniques in order to make sure we all looked good together. And the wig– sheesh! I had procrastinated quite a bit with that baby, thinking it wouldn’t take me long at all. Boy, was I wrong! I definitely underestimated the time it would take to let so many layers of glue and hairspray dry, so I spent the ten hours before I left for the con sitting in my kitchen in a zombie state to try and finish! Which, thankfully, I did!
Any interesting stories from people’s reaction to your outfit at the con ?
I think the best reaction to my cosplay came from my twin, Hopie, who was cosplaying Selphie in her SeeD uniform. Guess this requires a bit of backstory; you see, she’s absolutely in love with Zell Dincht. Always has been ever since we were young crazy gradeschool kids. So, as we were walking around the convention center having a grand ol’ time, she told me about how conflicted she was. Because, here she is finally seeing a cosplay of a character she obsesses over, BUT the cosplayer is her twin sister! She said she was torn between clinging to me and feeling that would be pushing it. Frankly, I’m a little glad she didn’t. But that’s mainly because Selphie should be clinging to a handsome Irvine, amirite?! 8D …eh, but then again, her boyfriend was our Squall, so that just makes things a love trapezoid.
How did you get started cosplaying?
I started cosplaying in 2006, at the end of my senior year in high school. My twin and I were enjoying the somewhat new (at the time, for many households) technology that was the World Wide Web, and from there we came upon these awesome Halloween costumes being worn in the heat of summer! Then, we realized that they weren’t Halloween enthusiasts with a really messed up calendar, they were cosplayers. At the time G4 contributed a bit of attention to cosplayers as well, so the hobby was instantly a case of, “Yo’, twin, we need to do this.”
And since then, its just been so much fun! The twin and I officially started to call ourselves Twinzik around 2007, using the word our friends’ used in gradeschool when we would have little psychic moments between each other. Twin + psychic = Twinzik!
What con did you first attended and what’s your favorite con that you’ve attended so far and why ?
Our first convention was ShioKazeCon ‘06. I believe it was the con’s second year, and it was so very tiny. I think it died after after year, actually. RIP ShioKaze. But since it was our first con, we were still blown away. Definitely hooked!
I know for a fact that my favorite con is AnimeFest. It’s fun with a capital F-U-N! A great venue, all of our friends from Texas cons and other states usually attend, and it’s usually held on or around my birthday! Family-friendly cons are fantastic, in my opinion, since they attract a crowd that simply loves the same interests that we all do when attending cons. And you won’t find nicer staff and con-goers anywhere else! Texas hospitality right there!
What does cosplay mean to you ?
Oh man, let’s see. To me, cosplay is a great creative outlet. It’s a chance to express oneself in a form that is unique, and it has so many subcategories of expression as well! Some people cosplay for the character portrayals, loving to walk around pretending to be their favorite hero. And some people simply enjoy the craftsmanship, being able to imitate beautiful designs only seen via computer graphics or hand drawn media. Or, like me, the ability to take a frikken crazy hairstyle and try to make it real!
But more than anything, cosplay is… this odd, universal icebreaker. It gives people who, aside from their hobby, are completely different the chance to meet and get to know one another. I can honestly say the majority of my friends now a’days are those I have met through the fun fun world of cosplay and conventions, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything!
If you had unlimited funds/technology/time, what is your dream cosplay ?
Oh! Easy. Samus Aran in full Metroid armor, lighting up, sound effects, voice modulator… the works. One of these days I’d like to put a year or so off just to work on this dream o’ mine, but for now I have to work on my skills!