Why She's my Favorite: Monika Lee

This past weekend I came up with a thought that keeps in with my desires to spread as much love and positivity in the cosplay community. This will at first be a limited series but I have no doubt I'll add more as time goes on. Basically I want to write briefly why certain cosplayers I've met/interacted with have become my personal favorites. I want to emphasize that this is not based solely on talents and or looks but a whole plethora of other things that these girls have done for me in my time cosplaying. I figured why not start with someone I just featured since she's still fresh in my mind ^_^.

I first met Monika Lee back at New York Comic Con 2012 which was also the first year I started cosplaying and going to conventions. I'm unsure if she knew who I was back then having talked very minimal on her fan page which she had just started out. Monika brought her Diablo 3 Wizard cosplay and it still remains as one of my all time favorites that she's ever done. Both me and my Dad ended up talking with her and getting to know her the day the picture up above was taken. I was pretty much in love with how the cosplay looked on her from the fabric choices, to the markings and the purple wig.

I'd go on to see Monika at the next few NYCC's and even sometimes at PAX East like this year. Since then I've seen her in some of her more well known cosplays such as her Little Sister and Elizabeth (which I helped out in getting the outfit together :D) from the Bioshock series. I still wish I had gotten a better picture with her as Steampunk Poison Ivy at NYCC 2 years ago! Seriously I'm a sucker for Batman villain cosplays :).

From her Assassin's Creed Unity cosplay, to the outfit she made for PAX East and Wildstar, I feel like Monika had a strong sense of craftsmanship and she knew her way around dozens of materials. I truly appreciate it when she makes in depth write-ups on some of her cosplays since they do help many who want to try the same methods. Personality wise, Monika is just about the sweetest girl ever. She always manages to make time for me and we'll chat about how things are going school wise and what we have planned next for cosplays. I truly feel like she cares about me and wants me to have as much fun cosplaying as she does. Then of course there's the fact that she strongly supports my blogging and compliments me on all the work I do on it. Yes I'm aware I could be making some of this up but I think Monika has said that kind of stuff to me in the past...right?

I don't know if she still gets hate from being on Heroes of Cosplay and if she does then that's still one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. You'd have to spend time with her like I have at the conventions I see her at to really know what she's like in person. That's pretty much how I see it and trust me if you do, you won't be disappointed. Monika's one of my biggest inspirations on top of me kinda viewing her like a cosplay sister since she's always willing to help me out on cosplay problems. She was also the second "well known" cosplayer I met so that counts for something right?

To Monika, thanks for being the amazing and sweet person that you are! The support and love you've given me means the absolute world to me and I'm glad I can call you my friend :D. Hopefully it won't be too long till I see you again this year but it most likely will XD.

These posts may not surprise any of you if you've known me and or followed this blog long enough so you could easily predict other cosplayers I'm gonna mention here. I hope you guys won't mind! <3 Stay positive everyone!