Behold, our great thingamalingie introduction thingie! Enjoy! Or not!
WHO AM I?
RINDALIN: As someone
who has a small existential crisis going on let’s go with something I know at
the moment.
I respond
to the names Rindalin, Dalin and Linda. Also the names Amazon woman, Titan or
Menos Grande which are more or less references to my towering physique.
I’m 23
years old and live with Ennah as roommates in Riihimäki. We have a cat called
Neomundur von Furpants, also known as Neo. Our apartment could be called as
Cosplay Cave, Sparta Cave or Spartacon.
I was three
years in Hyria vocational school studying as seamstress and clothing designing.
After that I went to LAMK to study fashion designing and …I’m still there.
ENNAH: My first name is Henna which is an anagram of my nickname Ennah (because
I’m clever like that). I’m 23 year old fashion design student. I have a background
as a seamstress.
I am a silly girl who stresses about everything in life. My main
concerns in life are how to balance my school and my hobbies (mainly cosplay),
can I get a job when I graduate (preferably in the field I’m currently
studying), am I good enough for the world and etc. Light topics like that…
I’m socially a bit awkward and shy. I am also a crazy cat lady…
WHICH CHARACTERS/COSTUMES AM I DRAWN THE MOST?
R: The costume needs to be massive! I have made
some more minimalistic costumes, but also some huge things that are pain to
wear. Somehow I’m really masochist when it comes to cosplay (…aren’t we all?).
Also the design needs to be a fitting for my body type. I try to think that okay, I probably don’t
want to show my legs or belly too much, so I search character that has dress or
skirt and shirt/jacket, armor etc. that doesn’t reveal too much for my
liking.
The
character personality also almost every time reflects my own on some part. It’s
easier to identify with the character like that, but it can also be a bit
monotonous. It doesn’t challenge you to try new personalities. Also when you
are competing it’s really difficult to identify with the character if it’s
completely different from what you usually cosplay. For me at least.
E: I
love details, color and variety. I don’t like to do a same thing twice, so my
cosplays tend to vary a lot. I do love cute things so that’s definitely
something I’m drawn to. When it comes to personality of a character, there’s
not really a special kind of a character I’m drawn most to. I do tend to pick
characters that are fun and annoying at the same time! Emotionless badass-
types don’t suit me at all, because well. I’m short as a hobbit…
To sum it up: I HAVE NO IDEA, as long as it’s something I like!
MY
FAVOURITE PART IN COSPLAYING
R: The best part is probably the making part and
showing your costume in conventions. I’m really introverted person, but if the
topic is something I’m really into (like cosplay or various TV-series) I can
talk and talk and talk. So meeting other cosplayers is really exiting as long as we are on the
same wavelength.
I’m really
analytical when it comes to cosplay. I like to break things apart and study how
everything is made. Sometimes I just like to look others costumes and wonder
how they made it and if I’m not too anxious I’ll just come and ask. I also like
to give comments and help other people with their costumes. If there is something
more satisfying than analyze someone’s costume, it’s to give constructive
criticism.
E: Some may think it’s weird, but I really like patterning. It’s something
that comes somewhat easy to me nowadays. I like it because it’s so
mathematical. When you know the fundamentals of patterning, you can basically
do anything you desire. We make a really good pair with Rindalin because she
HATES patterning with passion. So I basically get to do some her patterning as
well which suits me fine. :3
I also love the way cosplay gives me an opportunity to experiment with
new materials and shapes. I can always learn something new while cosplaying. I
think that’s one of the reasons why I cosplay.
At the end of the day, when you make a time consuming costume, it’s
always nice to show it to other people and be the character for that one day.
HOW DO I
CHOOSE MY CHARACTERS?
R: What I look first in choosing a character is the
design and personality. Most of the characters I have cosplayed are more or
less emotionless, powerful, distant, proud, arrogant or elegant. Or they have
huge boobs. I have also crossplayed, but with my big boobs and feminine body
shape it’s really difficult to do it.
I also like
details. Be it print, accessories, jewelry, etc. it’s always nice to just sit
and create something small and constructive with your hands.
It also
depends on my mood... Is the con at summer or winter? Where is it, and how huge
costume can I carry? Am I participating on some competition? Do I feel like
working with dark or colorful fabrics? How much time I have? …I think a lot of
stuff before finally deciding the character.
Like most
of the cosplayers (or so I think) have theses folders full of characters of who
they are going to cosplay on some beautiful day in the future. I also have
those and if I see some interesting character I instantly search it and save it
for the later inspection.
E: Usually when I’m choosing my next project, I look at my last costume and
decide to do exact opposite of it. Repeating the same is the simplest way for
me to get bored with this hobby.
I don’t want to do something I can already make. There has to be some
sort of challenge in every costume that I do. I always think of what kind of a
challenge a certain kind of a design could give me. When I made the Witch from
Moomin, I decided to make the costume from recycled materials just because I
thought it would give me a nice challenge. I don’t want to make things easy for
myself. Easy means boredom!
I think it’s important to think about the occasion as well. It’s bizarre
to choose something insufferably hot for summer convention.
WHAT DO I
THINK ABOUT MY COSPLAY PARTNER?
R: Ennah…well, Ennah and I have known each other
from junior high school through our mutual friend. Then we went to same school
for three years and now we are living in the same household. I think that says
something about how good friends we are. She’s kind of an airhead most of the
times and in contrast I’m really neurotic.
She also likes to rage about things that
are pissing her off for a long time and if she’s reading and you
start to speak her…it might take a couple of minutes before she registers that
someone spoke something to her. Thank you overlord above, that I am a patient
person most of the times.
(And it’s
my kitchen!!)
E: Rindalin
has been my closest friend for seven long years! We started our amazing cosplay
journey with the Alice in Wonderland-project and have been cosplaying together
ever since. She definitely has one of the most innovative minds I know when it
comes to cosplay. I think we complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses
well together. I could never think of competing with someone else, even though
she is a neurotic asshat who dictates our kitchen most of the time! I know how
to cook rice, back off for fuck’s sake!!!
MY SRONGEST
AND WEAKEST POINTS
R: My strongest points in cosplaying, are
probably the craftsmanship and the ability to think and make things into a
three dimensional shapes. I use my own thinking before I go and search
tutorials, because I like to study and test new materials and techniques by
myself.
The weakest
points are probably my disinterest to make patterns and scheduling.I almost
always make my costumes week or two before con. Not good.
E: I have an amazing talent to fuck everything up if I’m not motivated. But
if I am motivated, I can pretty much do anything. Except props. I don’t like
doing props. I’m not good at being in front of the camera either. Also my
patience is non-existent.
I feel that one of my strongest points as a cosplayer is that I know how
to pick good materials and color combinations. I feel that if you have picked
out just the right textures and hues, it will make your costume so much better.
I always think about my characters background before going to the fabric store.
Where does she/he live? What does she/he do for living? etc. To me, it’s important
to invest some money in materials. If you use materials that are cheap looking,
the end result will probably be cheap as well.
HOW DO I
MOTIVATE MYSELF?
R: I need to remind myself constantly of the
thing I’m working on. Be it with pictures, listening music from the series
(etc.) where the character is from or simply putting some episodes or videos
playing as a background noise.
I’m also one of those people that can make the
whole costume in the shortest time possible to a point that it’s not healthy
anymore. I recall this one horrible project when I stayed awake for about 60
hours making costume and performing a skit in front of a couple thousand
people.
E: I
lose focus really easily and sometimes staying motivated the whole process is
difficult for me. Motivating myself begins from the character choosing part.
I’m always thinking of new ways to improve my craft and choosing a character
that allows me to experiment new techniques usually keeps me motivated. I try
to choose characters who I really like as well, that helps too.
WHY DO I COSPLAY?
R: As a kid I made almost half of my toys by myself (doctor Frankenstein style) and played dress up with every cloth and fabric or sheet I could find. I also had this part in myself that told me that I’m going to be a fashion designer. Now with almost eight years’ worth of seamstress and fashion designer schools I think the costumes are way more interesting.
So, by cosplaying I can express myself and my skills more than in I could anywhere else. I’m not that amazing in performing or posing (I’m still learning) but my craftsmanship is something I’m proud of.
E: Cosplay to me is a really great hobby. I get to make and learn a lot of different things, escape the reality for a while at the convention and then get back to my normal routine and start to make new projects. It’s a never ending circle! I really like the way I can see my own improvement in every costume I make.
I also feel like it’s really easy to make new friends while cosplaying. Socializing with people has never been easy to me (because I’m really shy), and somehow wearing a costume makes it all easier for me.
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Some of you might already know that Rindalin is participating in NCC preliminaries at Yukicon! Today we got all the fabrics and other equipments for the costume, which means about 200 euros went flying all over Helsinki. Goddamn you HobbyPoint and Eurokangas. You are our kryptonite! Rindalin's feelings are all over the place, like that beautiful gif below.
We'll post some WIP pictures of the costume soon! There's going to be epic amounts of PINK! Rindalin's going to screen print the shit out of those fabrics.
-R&E
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| MAKE IT WORK!!! |
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