After a brief fight with google support and a name change for both me and the blog, I'm back with another post. (So hopefully google won't mistake it for spam anymore. -_-; )
And now, time for a semi-brief introduction!
I'm Ice-nine, also known (or unknown) as Is-9, Ida, or, waaaay back in the day, Hamster. I've been cosplaying since 2004, though only sporadically until 2008, and when I'm not doing that, I study at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, or spend my time trying to keep my apartment livable, because I'm lucky enough to both be really messy and unable to function properly IN said mess.
Cosplay, though, is going to be the main focus of this blog. I typically have at least one project in the pipeline at all times, so documenting that progress is going to make up most of the posts here, along with convention reports and the like. Right now, though, is probably the largest con-free gap in the danish cosplay scene in years, so I might update with some other stuff as well in the long, dark months until J-popcon next march.
I'm not going to post all of my cosplays here - there's a 'costume archive' tab up there for that - but I CAN brag a bit and say that my biggest achievements in cosplay so far have been to represent Denmark at ECG 2012 (we won 2nd place; visit our team blog!) and at WCS 2009, both which were memorable and very eye-opening experiences. Going to international contests is a real challenge, and something I'm hopefully far from done with. Apart from cosplaying myself, I'm also part of the cosplay organizer team at Genki since this year, which is a great experience and challenge in and of itself; I'm already looking forward to next year.
So why do I cosplay? Why spend so much time and money on this? Well, what initially attracted me to this infernal hobby was a mixture of a love of crafting and the desire to, like, totally be a sailor senshi - what's keeping me after all these years is, I think, equal parts community, competition and crafting.
The cosplay community is probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. At this point, the majority of my friends are cosplayers, and the community itself is to me an endless source of like-minded individuals, bound by our love of nerdy stuff and disdain for trivial things like money, temperatures and a regular sleeping schedule. I love you guys! However...
... I would be lying if I denied that competition was not also a major factor in my continuing to cosplay. Part of it is that I'm a procrastinator; I can't get anything done if it isn't FOR something, and a big show gives me a very tangible deadline that I usually (almost) make. But the contest itself is important as well: despite not being a theater person AT ALL, going on stage in a cosplay context, feeling your adrenaline rush just before the show and (hopefully) hearing the audience cheer afterwards is amazing to me, as is the almost tangible tension in the moments just before the winners are announced, and the joyful relief afterwards when you find out that your friends (or yourself) have won.
Also, it's fun to win stuff.
Finally craftsmanship was my original motivation to go into cosplay, and it still plays a major part. I make all my costumes myself, and while I have nothing against other people commissioning or thrifting their costumes (as long as they don't participate in craftsmanship contests with them, obviously), it would defeat the purpose of cosplay for me. Finding some crazy design, figuring out how to make it reality, and finally showing it off to the world, saying, "yes, I MADE this" is at the core of cosplay for me, and anything else just wouldn't be as satisfying.
Okay, I think that's all for introductions. Since the next convention I'm going to isn't in another six months, I'm not working on anything at the moment, but I'll post progress as soon as something gets going (hopefully soon).
For now, though, thanks for reading and see you later.
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