Bring 'Em Out, Bring 'Em Out, Yo
11. Something cosplay-related that you will never do (eg. crossplay, cosplay from a certain series)
Not this specifically, but anything that walks the line of the old adage, "No costume is no costume." In other words, nothing too skimpy. I wouldn't feel comfortable (unless I was 100% happy with my body, which let's face it, is never going to happen) and Marvel would murder me.
12. Your cosplay idol
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adella, sailormoon, lovemeeko, Yaya Han (not sure of her LJ name), yuffiebunny, sensitivinferno, alisachan, charmedseed
These days I can't really say that I have an idol, but when I was trying to decide what content I should include on my personal cosplay site, and how to lay it out (not that I was trying to mimic anyone's layout design, but rather trying to decide whether to separate costumes by genre, or by year, for example), these are the ladies whose sites I visited for advice.
And by the way, when I call them my "cosplay idols", that does not me I'd call myself a "fangirl". I've had the pleasure of meeting all but three of these girls in person, and I'd call at least three of them friends. I just remembering admiring their costumes, both before and after I met them. And really all of my friends are cosplay idols in their own rights; all of my friends have achieved the incredible balance of being dedicated to their craft, without losing themselves in it. That's always been admirable to me. I just couldn't list everybody!
13. Your cosplay specialty (i.e. something that seems to apply to a large amount of your cosplays, it could be a specific series, or a common feature in their appearance, such as glasses)
I'm obsessed.
That being said, I also believe there are parallels that can be drawn between Sailor Mars, Utena, and Umi: all three of them are very strong women, who tend to react rashly when provoked, and who have (admittedly to varying degrees) little use for men.
14. Your cosplay-making habits (eg. singing while working on cosplay)
As I don't often make my own costumes, I really couldn't say. I can tell you that I'm an obsessive list-maker when it comes to preparing for conventions. I'll make up outlines at work with varying bolded and underlined headings that tell me what I need for each costume; while trying to remember I'll look at my reference sources, and try to work from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.
15. Your least favorite thing about cosplay
Cosplay itself: the expense. Jesus Christ. Don't get me wrong, the seamstresses I buy from deserve every penny I send them if not more, so I'm not saying my costumes are overpriced. They just cost more than my prom dress. LOL.
The "scene": "kids these days". The hallways of conventions are starting to sound like the hallways of a high school; a bunch of skimpily dressed (which is ANOTHER pet peeve of mine; for the love of God, please put some clothes on. I don't want to feel like I belong in jail because you bumped into me) teenagers running around screeching at the top of their lungs and launching themselves at each other. Don't get me wrong, I squeal when I meet up with friends of mine that I haven't seen in a year, too, but only the FIRST time we meet up, and then we go, you know, sit down or something. I don't know, I guess I'm old. And kids will be kids. But where the hell are their parents? Why are they allowed to run wild without supervision at the age of 13, and how the hell did they pay for this trip anyway?
16. Do you belong to any cosplay groups? If so, what are they?
Well, I was one of the "Kous", back when that was a thing, and we never officially disbanded (although to be fair, we never officially "banded", either), and I'd pretty much cosplay anything with Usa again at the drop of a hat--we have SO much fun together.
I'm an honorary member of Last Chance Myu; I stage ninja-ed for them at Katsucon 2008, and I cosplayed with them at NDK 2010, although we did not perform.
And I'm "Mama Rei" to Outer Power, Inner Beauty. (I started building a website a few years ago, but we never finished it.)
17. What events have you cosplay to?
Big Apple Anime Fest: 2001, 2003
Anime Expo New York: 2002
AnimeNEXT: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Otakon: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010
Big Apple Comic Con: 2004, 2006
Cosplay Formal: 2005
Tokyo Festa: 2006
New York Comic Con: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010
MangaNEXT: 2006
Katsucon: 2008
...my wedding. Shhh.
Japan Day @ Central Park: 2007, 2010
Nan Desu Kan: 2010
18. What is your best cosplay memory?
Ooh, that's a tough one. Being in the group that won Best Journeyman at BAAF 2003, having my head in Usa's lap at Otakon 2004 and seeing the tears standing in her eyes while flashes went off all around us, hearing gasps in the hallways when sensitivinferno, ladyterentia and I were dressed as the Magic Knights in their goddess robes...
...no, you know what? This. This right here:
Not everybody is in this--avian_firefly, aki_reinii, ladyterentia, ngmaster, ragamuffinz, docthestampede, and persoconchii were at another table. (And where the hell is oshidori?) But this is *most* of the cosplayers who came to our wedding. This is the real magic behind cosplay, right here. You start going to conventions because you want to dress up in silly costumes, and you end up meeting some of the most amazing people who will stick with you the rest of your life.
19. What is your worst cosplay memory?
Most of Otakon 2008. Marvel and I had just broken up, and while I was VERY grateful to skyesurfer for going down with me so that I didn't have to be alone, nearly every minute I was down there, I was hurting. (The major bright spot in that weekend was my dinner with docthestampede. For the first time in weeks, I felt like I could breathe again.) And then avian_firefly had a stroke. None of those things happened because of cosplay, but it still colored the entire convention for me.
20. Have you won any cosplay awards?
Sort of, yes; not me personally, but I was part of a group that won Best Journeyman for our skit at Big Apple Anime Fest 2003. Oh, wait! And I also won Honorable Mention in the Sailor Mars Look-alike Contest on CosplayLab. But generally speaking, I don't enter cosplay competitions because I don't make my own costumes.