We kick off February with a cosplayer who’s full of love for the little guy. They are unafraid to make props without a tutorial and have more convention stories than Elsa has snowflakes. Here is Gradual Phase!
Some of your cosplay are of more obscure or newer characters, why do you choose to cosplay them?
I choose to cosplay them because they are from things I really enjoy. While cosplaying stuff from popular/well known series would have gained me more followers/recognition, I prefer to make myself happy by cosplaying characters I’m passionate about. Plus, cosplaying from more obscure or newer sources makes people curious and want to learn about the character/series (essentially think, “Wow that’s really cool! Where’s it from? Where can I watch/listen it?”).
Which of your cosplays is your favorite and why?
My favorite cosplay as of right now is Coronation Elsa. While she took 2 weeks to make, the reason isn’t because of the detail work. She is my favorite because Elsa is my little sister’s favorite disney princess. I used to read her the paperback version of Frozen when she was really little and we both were obsessed with the movie when it came out. In a time where we were always fighting, to have one movie to bond over really made a difference.
What’s your favorite part of going to conventions?
My favorite part of going to conventions is showing off my cosplay. Most of my cosplays are entirely made by me and take hours (or even weeks) of work to complete. To see people genuinely get excited to see my cosplays makes me beyond happy. Another favorite part of conventions is seeing all my friends. Life is extremely hectic so it can be hard to find time to meet up with them outside of conventions, especially if they don’t live in the state I live in. I try my best to spend as much time with them as I can because it could be months before I see them again.
What is one of your most memorable moments cosplaying?
I don’t have a singular moment that I look back on; usually all the memorable moments happen at Saboten Con in Phoenix. The very first Saboten con I went to (2016) I met all of my closests friends and participated in my first panel. In 2017, I hosted my first panel and in 2018, I participated in my very first cosplay contest and won an award for craftsmanship, something I really pride myself on because I worked over a month on the cosplay I competed in (Doll from Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler: Book of Circus).
Do you have any fun convention stories?
OH BOY DO I! There’s a couple of really funny ones and one REALLY embarrassing one.
The first one was during Phoenix Comic Con 2017, where I went as Jojo from Welcome to Hell. Because I have a knack for cosplaying really obscure characters (in this case, a concept character), only 2 people other than my friends knew who I was. My friend, who was cosplaying from the same short film, and I were DYING of laughter.
The second story happened during A-kon 29 in Fort Worth Texas. My friend and I went the convention’s masquerade ball and during which, 3 guys and a girl tried to hit on me (one of which had a wingman, who danced with my friend and kept asking them if he looked like Batman). To most, people hitting on them is more of a nuisance than a funny part, but it takes a lot to make me upset so I mainly found the attempts humorous. Plus, I got to learn how to dance from them so that’s a positive.
The final story happens during Phoenix Fanfest in 2016. Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour were at the convention and I decided to go to their panel with a few friends. Little background information for this story, I used to have really bad social anxiety around people I don’t know and would often use weird tactics to deal with it. Anyways, I’m in line to ask them a question about filming Stranger Things and when it’s finally my turn, I panic and go into a (very bad) British accent. Both David and Millie (who fully note the accent) asked if I was British… and I said yes. I continue my question, get my answer, and leave immediately to explain to my friends what happened to me up there.
What was the most difficult prop you have worked on?
My most difficult prop I made was my Little Sister Adam Syringe. It was my first prop I’ve ever made and it was full of challenges. I had to work on a whim over half the time because there wasn’t a proper tutorial online at the time aside from one video.
If you had all the time and money in the world- what would your ultimate cosplay Be?
White Spirit from Oscar’s Hotel! The ‘Oscar’s Hotel’ series was created by Pj Liguori (aka KickthePj) and it’s one of my all time favorites!! Pj is a big source of creative inspiration and I heavily admire all his work, whether it be as small as a youtube Q & A or a series like Oscar’s Hotel. I would love to pay tribute to his work by cosplaying from one of his works.
What are some other cosplay concepts you are working on now or would like to work on in the future?
Some cosplays I’m currently working on or are planning to do within the next year are Shattered Phos (Houseki No Kuni), High Priestess Nevy Nervine (Ava’s Demon), and Nott The Brave (Critical Role).
What is the next event we can expect to see you cosplay at?
Colossal Con 2019
What is your advice for those just getting into cosplay?
NEVER STOP IMPROVING!! You won’t be perfect right away. Go outside of your comfort zone and learn how do stuff you’d never learn.