First name and last initial: Vincent O.
Where are you from originally or reside currently? Waynesboro, VA
How long you have been cosplaying? 4 years
Other Characters cosplayed? Coco Adel (RWBY), Kylo Ren, Star-Lord, The Dayman (It’s Always Sunny), Batman (Armored and Classic)

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1. Who or what inspired you to cosplay?
My inspiration for cosplay was actually two parts, one right after the other – love of movies, followed by crowd reaction. I didn’t start out cosplaying as a future hobby, but instead as a one-time thing.  People often go to big movies in costumes of their favorite characters, so my first cosplay was as Batman for the theatrical release of The Dark Knight Rises back in 2012. Despite being a total novice, I’m still happy with how the outfit turned out… and so was everyone else. Within minutes, people were lining up for pictures with Batman, from little kids to adults far older than me, and the owner of the theater even put a picture up on the theater’s website and Facebook. Me. In my hot-glued hodge-podge of papier-mâché, tin foil, cut-up trash cans, and thermal underwear. I realized that I really liked this sort of thing, and so, several years later when I finally started going to cons, cosplay became an obsession.

2. What do you do when you aren’t cosplaying?  (hobbies, community service, or work)
I work as a QC inspector for a machining company, which, while not a fun job, gives me handy access to specialist equipment like lathes and milling machines that I use to take cosplay to higher levels. Outside of that, I dabble in a bit of everything, from filmmaking to songwriting, photo editing, and even learning new things just for the heck of it (like learning Japanese or just browsing Wikipedia).

3. What costumes have provided the biggest challenge and rewards so far and why?
Easily the Coco Adel outfit. I had wanted to do a cosplay from RWBY for the longest time; the issue was that most of the characters in the show are teenage girls, and I’m a mid-20’s man with a beard. So I decided to do a genderbend cosplay – but with the added challenge of still keeping it as screen-accurate as possible. The process took three months in total, most of that work going into the prop – a five-foot-long, 20-pound Gatling gun with sound effects and rotating barrels. I ended up having to learn a myriad of new skills like foamcrafting, leatherworking, sewing, woodworking, fabrication, engineering, and even how to use an oxyacetylene torch. There’s maybe about 100 to 150 hours of work in it, much of it through sleepless nights. In the end, though, all the stress was more than worth it. The crowd at OmegaCon 2016 absolutely loved it; more people than I thought recognized who I was; I even won a “Crowd Favorite” trophy in the cosplay contest! I’ll remember that day for the rest of my life.

4. What is the best advice you would give someone new to cosplaying?
The single most important thing to remember about cosplay is never get discouraged. Self-doubt is your biggest enemy; don’t let it win.
Don’t think you have the skills? Just practice, then; start small and work your way up.
Worried about spending too much money? Get creative; my first Batman cosplay was effectively made out of newspaper and spray paint, and one of the best Iron Man cosplays I have ever seen was literally made out of nothing more than card stock, glue, and automotive paint with some cheap lights thrown in.
Don’t look like the character you love? Who cares? Do it anyway! Don’t let anyone, even yourself, tell you that your body type, ethnicity, or even gender means you can’t cosplay whatever character you want.
I know it sounds corny, but if you just tell yourself “I can do it!”, and just do it, then you already have the most crucial step in becoming a successful cosplayer.

5. What is one thing the cosplaying community can do better when it comes to dealing with each other?
I’ve heard a lot of complaining lately about “oversaturation” – too many people cosplaying the same few characters. Um… so what? I mean, yeah, Deadpools and Harley Quinns are a dime a dozen these days, but think about it: these are easy-to-do, low cost cosplays that anyone can do, which makes them a great jumping-off point to get into cosplay as a hobby. Ten years ago, cosplay was seen as this kind of weird subculture, but now, as comic book movies and anime have become mainstream media, cosplay has also steadily become this big social norm. The last thing we as a community should do is push people away. We just need to be thankful that our “weird subculture” is growing and welcome everyone, even the 15th Harley Quinn you’ve seen today, with open arms.