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Q: What is your cosplay alias?
A: Uh, at conventions? It's Rebecca or Becky, I always introduce myself by name. However, on cosplay.com my alias is "Ai no Miko"

Q: How many years have you cosplayed?
A: I've been cosplaying since 2003... so wow, we're coming up on ten years now. That's crazy XD

Q: How did you get into cosplaying?
A:  My first anime convention. I had dressed up as an anime character for Halloween a few months before I attended, and I wanted to wear it to the con I was going to really badly. However, I thought only a select few people cosplayed and I was worried about people looking at me like I was out of my mind so I didn't do it. When I got to the convention grounds and saw EVERYONE in costume I went bug-eyed and said to myself, "okay next time I'm freakin' DOING this thing!"

Q: What was your first convention and how did it go?
A: My first convention was a convention called "Aka-con"(I THINK) It was way out in Richmond, BC and I only went for a day. I found out about it through my anime club at the high school I attended in Burnaby, and a few of us decided to go. It was pretty fun over all, I got to see cosplayers up close for the first time and meet some neat voice actors. I was bitter about Brad Swaile's cheap shot at me for a while(lol), but it was an awesome experience.

Q: How many cons have you been to?
A: Uh I've been to Aka-con, Anime Evolution '03-'10, Sakura-Con 2010, Animethon 2011 and 2012. So that's 4 separate conventions, and 12 conventions over all (if my count is right).

Q: How many cosplays have you done?
A: I've done about 11.

///Your Cosplays///

Q: What was your first cosplay and why did you choose it?
A:  My first cosplay was Rika Nonaka from Digimon Season 3... it was a cheap thing I did piecing bits of things together from thrift stores for Halloween one year. I did it because I had a shirt similar to hers, and her digivice I think, she was also my favourite character.  The first one I ever did for a convention though was Trowa Barton from Gundam Wing. That was also something I threw together from a thrift store and the only reason I did it was because it was the fastest thing I could put together before Anime Evolution. I also "looked most like" Trowa at the time because I had short hair... it also helped that I had made his "frowny face" mask in art class that year.

Q: What is your favourite cosplay you've done so far?
A: You make me choose!? It's probably a tie between Kuronue and Kurama (both from Yu Yu Hakusho). I was insanely proud of the work I managed to do on my Kuronue cosplay, and I had an absolute blast every time I wore my Kurama cosplay ^_^

Q: What is your least favourite you've cosplayed?
A: Hmm, probably Eclair from Kiddy Grade. I looked like crap in that and I don't know what in the hell I was thinking. I want to re-do it and make it look good for once, but it might be a long time before that ever happens.

Q: What cosplay is the most uncomfortable?
A: Kuronue! freakin' double sided tape is EVIL. He also has tight pants and the velcro straps around the arms for the wings are itchy as f***. Sebastian might be a rival for this soon though, his shoes are like stomping on cement -_-

///Process///

Q: How do you research the cosplay before you make it?
A: I generally look up the character from various angles... save screen shots or manga shots and make sure I get images with PLENTY of detail. I don't like to miss anything.

Q: Do you sew your cosplays yourself?
A: I wish I could say I did, but I can't sew. I have a couple of lovely seamstresses who are friends of mine that help me out most times. Aside from that I either closet cosplay, or I have purchased online a couple of times.

Q: If so, how did you learn to sew? If not, do you plan to learn?
A: I don't think I ever plan to learn to sew, please don't slap my wrist for that!

Q: Do you make your own props?
A: I try to as much as I can... I made Trowa's mask from scratch... sadly it broke I mostly make small things, and most of the characters I cosplay don't use props anyway so it's never been much of an issue.

Q: If so, how did you learn to? If not, do you plan to learn?
A: I learned through trial and error, about as simple as that I'd like to learn to do more though, maybe some larger stuff.

Q: Do you style your own wigs?
A: I do, and they turn out alright, not great, but recognizable. I don't know, I suck at styling hair >.<

Q: What other skills do you use to create your cosplays?
A:  Getting ready made items and finding deals! I found my wing-tipped tuxedo shirt for my Sebastian Michaelis cosplay at a Salvation Army thrift store for $8!! XD

Q: What skill has been most useful for making your cosplay?
A: Attention to detail maybe (Is that even a skill? )

Q: What is the hardest thing when making a cosplay?
A: Time constraints I would say...

Q: What was the biggest screw up you've had making a cosplay?
A: The latest wig I had for my Kurama cosplay. It looked like s***. The styling went completely screwy. I've since tossed it out and am going to try again.

Q: How often do you injure yourself while making a cosplay?
A: Uh not often that I am aware of... Maybe I've burned myself with a glue gun once in a blue moon.

///Budget///

Q: Do you try to stay cheap or do you splurge on materials?
A: I try to be as cheap as I can. My most expensive might have been Sophie or Soushi...

///cos-PLAY///

Q: Have you ever cosplayed with a partner or group?
A: The only time I am ever with a partner is when I find someone at a convention. I took groups with me to Anime Evolution between 2004 and 2010, but there was only ONE time in 2006 that someone in my group dressed as a character from the same series as me. I was Edward Elric and he was Alex Louis Armstrong (later Maes Hughes), it was mega fun. I like finding people from my series, but there's only been a handful of times where I've actually stayed in a group with them. Kurama is a prime example, I found a Hiei at the convention I went to in 2008  and we were practically inseparable for three days.

Q: Do you try to act in character?
A: Uh, yes and no... I'm leaning more towards no. I cosplay a lot of introverted characters, and I am about as FAR from an introvert as they come. There have been times when I have attempted to be in character for photos, but I slip out of character more often than not. I'll likely be trying a little harder now that I'm in acting classes - there's more of a challenge now.

Q: Have you ever done fan service at a con? (yaoi, yuri, etc)
A: The only time I've ever really done it was kissing my Hiei on the cheek when I cosplayed Kurama in 2008. Other than that I don't really do much fan service, there's not really many people to do fan service with.

Q: How do you react to cosplayers dressed as character from the same anime/game/etc?
A: I more often than not introduce myself and ask for a photo. If they're not in a rush to get somewhere I'll talk to them for a while.

Q: Do you try to duplicate your character's expressions, walk, movements, etc?
A: Only when I'm trying to be in character

Q: When crossplaying, do you try to act as much like the gender as possible?
A: Uh, I'm just going to go with no on this... I've actually never really though about it because I've never been asked this.

Q: What was your funniest experience of acting in character?
A: Funniest experience in character? I can't say that I've had one. This could change at Sakura-Con if I make it this year. Who knows what will happen as Sebastian or Kurama this time around.

Q: What was your worst experience acting in character?
A: Again because I am rarely in character I can't say there's been one.

///Competition///

Q: Do you compete in cosplay contests?
A: Nope, since I don't make my cosplays it wouldn't be right to enter those. They look fun, but what can you do?

Q: Have you won anything?
A:  If I don't enter, how can I win?

Q: Do you prefer skits or walk-ons?
A: I don't watch enough cosplay skits to be able to even answer this from an audience member's perspective.

///Community///

Q: How many friends have you made because of cosplay?
A:  Three or four-ish? I'm only still in touch with maybe one or two though.

Q: Do you attend photo shoots and meet-ups outside of conventions?
A: Nah, I am out of the loop on all of those things. The only photo shoots I do per-say are when I ask my dad to get his camera out and snap some shots of me in my latest costume.

Q: What is the funniest reaction you've gotten cosplaying from people?
A: I was dubbed "The Sex" the first year I ever wore my Kuronue cosplay... that was kind of amusing. She had no idea who I was or what series I was cosplaying from she just really loved my costume. I remember her running up to me all excited and explicitly saying to me, "Oh my god, I don't know who you are, or what you're from, but you are THE SEX!" and she hugged me

///Future///

Q: How long do you think you'll be cosplaying for?
A: Hard to say, hopefully many, many years to come.

Q: Name a few cosplays you're planning to do next:
A: I've been obsessing over Undertaker from Kuroshituji lately, and so if I have the money this October I really want to do that for Halloween.

Q: What is your dream cosplay?
A: Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing. Yup, it's nothing elaborate and it might seem lame, but I've wanted to cosplay him since I fell in love with Gundam Wing when I was 15. What's kept me from doing it up to this point is the fact that I want to do it with my own hair. I've been trying to grow my hair Duo's length and after I get this cosplay finished I want to cut it off and donate my hair to a charity association like Locks of Love, or something of the like.

///Misc///

Q: What do you take into consideration when picking a character to cosplay?
A: I mostly only ever cosplay characters I really, really love. Sometimes I cosplay something based on time, but not very often.

Q: Is cosplay serious business for you?
A: Well, I want to look good, but usually having fun is the most important thing to me.

Q: What is your favourite thing about cosplay?
A: Playing dress up! I love being able to get into someone else's skin for a few days and goof off as my favourite characters. Meeting people who love the same things I do and seeing all of the artistic effort they put into their work is also very awesome.

Q: What is your least favourite?
A: A lot of the elitism and snobs... People who think they're too good for you because they do all of their own work and look professional. I'm here to have fun for heaven's sake! It's also a little insane when people take the "in-character" thing too far, as in "you're not a good cosplayer unless you're in character all the time because what's the other word in cosplay? 'PLAY'!" and they get all up in your face. It's f***ing insane.

Q: Tag some fellow cosplayers~
A:  Anyone who want to do it can be my guest! ^__^