Q&A - Round 1

Yesterday I offered to make a blog based on a Q&A both on my Facebook and my Twitter. I didn't get a huge response but I'll answer those questions here. I may do it again in the future.

Q: Is there a cosplay or character that you would totally refuse to do? (From Ayrton Frank Pilares Delgado via Facebook)

A: This is an interesting question. I look at cosplay personally as a way to express my love for a character. I don't cosplay a character if I don't already like them a lot. Hence, my list of cosplays is short even if I've rebuilt each of them a dozen times. Since I started, I've cosplayed as Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean), Link (Legend of Zelda), Jecht (Final Fantasy X), HUNK (Resident Evil) and Albert Wesker (Resident Evil). I guess you could also count Deadpool (Marvel Comics) and Thanos (Marvel Comics) although I did those costumes for ASSIST ME! rather than personal cosplay. Of those characters, Jecht was the one time I did a cosplay based on friends wanting me to do it. It was a fun and simple enough build, but I honestly didn't enjoy wearing it because I had no attachment to the character and no love for the series.

For me anyways, when you wear a costume you have no particular attachment to, it's boring. Plus you'll get people who are fans coming up to you to talk to you about the series, and you don't know what they're talking about, and then you look like a douche.

Pictured: my Jecht costume, apparently.

In the future I have plans to make costumes of Batman (DC Comics), Edward Kenway (Assassin's Creed), and perhaps an originally designed Hylian Knight. That's all stuff I want to do, and I know I'll enjoy it.

So in short, there's not really any one costume or character I'd refuse to do. The fact is I simply won't do it if it's not interesting to me. I guess that technically puts the count of characters I would "refuse" to do pretty high though.

Q: Will you be going to Anime Expo this year and/or any convention this year? (From Matthew Nevarez via Facebook)

A: I have no intentions to go to Anime Expo unless they return to Anaheim. The last time I went to AX was 2007 when they did it in Long Beach. The location wasn't the problem as much as the fact that in 2006 and 2007 the con was run so awfully that it just turned me off. I would go back to Anaheim for the sake of nostalgia though. Really, I've fallen out of the con scene. They just aren't all that fun to me these days. I might get back into them in the future, but I did them for 10 years and to me they got dull.

Q: When is next ASSIST ME!? (From Alvin Li via Facebook)

A: That's really a question I can't answer. Season 3 was almost entirely filmed in the spring of 2013. We do have some pickups to shoot, and we haven't shot the finale episode yet. The next episode of UMvC3 (Morrigan) is completely filmed, but to my knowledge Max hasn't had time to do the in-game stuff yet. He's been extremely busy with paid projects (as I've said before, ASSIST ME! costs more to produce than Max gets back from YouTube hits). I don't know when he will, you'd have to hound him for it. Soon, I hope, while people are still interested. That said, he has talked to me about doing more Killer Instinct episodes. They'd be easier to make, and that's what he's passionate about right now. I wouldn't be surprised if he releases some KI episodes before we see Morrigan.

I NEED AN ADULT.

Q: How exactly did you do the Deadpool mask? (From Jaymic Schliesman via Twitter)

A: Pretty simply, actually. The red part of the mask was just a cotton-spandex blend fabric (the same as the outfit) that I sewed into a custom balaclava. I based the thing off of his appearance in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, which gave me the idea to have black makeup instead of fabric to allow for eye movement. Our makeup artists then covered my eyebrows and most of the rest of my face in layers of liquid latex to give the appearance of twisted, chunky, fucked up Deadpool skin. They painted that black with some grease makeup, eyeliner around the eyes, etc. and popped in white mesh eye contacts. It took over an hour to get the makeup done, and taking it off hurt like hell, but I think it was worth it.

eBay? Ain't nobody got time for that!

Q: Any advice for cosplay beginners? A friend of mine wants to do Chris Redfield soon. (From Dan via Twitter)

A: As I detailed a bit in my first answer above, stick to what you like. Do what you're passionate about. Even when doing commissions, if I work on something that I'm not interested in it just isn't nearly as fun. At the end of the day cosplay is supposed to be fun, so don't get too caught up on anything but doing something you want to, and doing it the way you want to. For some people that means a big extravagant debut in their first costume, which is cool and all, but that shouldn't be your standard. Enjoy yourself.

Also, make sure your costume is easy to change out of, use the restroom is, breathes as much as possible, doesn't totally block your peripheral vision, doesn't drag on the floor (an escalator will fuck your shit up) and isn't Hetalia.

Fuck Hetalia.