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| Photo by Dave Yang Photography |
You guys remember MegaWatt Cosplay right? From my feature on her gorgeous Steampunk Jasmine? I'm very excited to share with you the Interview that me and her had been talking about since late last year. While it wasn't in video form, I can happily say that Megan put so much love and thought into the answers. After being a part of a Zombie Bridal group at AwesomeCon a few years ago, Megan caught the cosplay bug and has been creating outfits ever since. Surprisingly, she hails all the way from Germany, and the many fantasy books/fairy tales she read as a child fueled her love for the geek culture. Megan says that comic books took a little longer for her to get into but novels of any genre proves to be her favorite medium. Megan's first cosplay ended up being Emma Frost worn at the same weekend as the one with the Zombie group. So you can imagine how quick of a build that was.
Disney also holds a huge part of her heart with what she loves. While Jasmine has been the only princess she's cosplayed as, she deems Belle as her favorite. Fitting considering both of them are bookworms right? Megan even has a version of Belle planned on her cosplay slate! The Disney love doesn't stop there. Both of the Theme Parks have been visited by her, in and out of cosplay naturally! One of her recent trips even involved Megan cosplaying alongside her mom--as Tink and Snow White respectively--at the Halloween celebration done in Disney World. Other cosplays of Megan include Lara Croft, a Female Captain Hook, Baroness and several more!
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| Photo by Photographes Sans Frontieres |
For today, you'll get to learn of MegaWatt's involvement with the local Geek group down in the DC area, a look at Steampunk Jasmine's creation, her admitting to having a WoW addiction, and lots other cool facts. When reading these answers, I could feel how genuine they were. She kept apologizing to me with how long it took to answer them. Megan I promise you, the wait was totally worth it. I can't thank you enough for this. Enjoy the questions guys :D
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What got you into
cosplay and how long have you been doing it?
I started cosplaying when a friend
from welding class suggested it. We had a small group of friends who decided to
do a zombie bridal party - complete with staining my old wedding dress with
coffee and fake blood. We were zombies, on Easter Sunday at the 2nd AwesomeCon
in DC, and I walked around shouting Happy Zombie Day at everyone. I was hooked!
Which cosplay was
the first you ever created?
First cosplay ever was Emma Frost
that same weekend. It was a quick costume build with the help of a friend who
could sew; we covered a corset I had from Renn Faire in enough white satin to
pull off being a true white queen. I was on my way to the Awesomecon DC/Museum
of Science Fiction Guinness world record attempt for the most superheroes who
originated in comic books together at one time. There's nothing quite like
walking around the US Capitol as one of the X-Men to realize how much fun
cosplaying in public can be!
Thinking back to the last convention you were at, did
you enjoy it?
My last con was Katsucon 2016 and I
lived t for how casual it is. It's more of a lobby con than some - you're
basically just hanging out at the Gaylord National Harbor Hotel with all of
your friends, all the time. I loved how inclusive the groups became when
everyone started realizing we had so many friends in common.
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| Photo by David Ngo |
What cosplay(s)
did you bring to this convention?
I wore my gender-bend Captain Hook
and debuted Killer Frost from the TV show The Flash.
What is your
favorite cosplay you’ve made so far?
My favorite cosplay so far has been
Steampunk Jasmine. It's the first twist I've put on a character that's truly
entirely my own, and as a diehard Steampunk aficionado, it was so much fun to
add in all the details to the character to make it seem real and come to
life.
What got you into being a geek?
I was born into a little medieval village in Germany with castle on the
hill. We left when I was two, but I'm fairly sure that's why I became obsessed
with fairy tales and fantasy books. From there, any and all adventure stories
had a certain charm for me. While it took me longer to get into comic books,
I've loved every good story I could get my hands on in every genre. Comics are
just one more amazing medium, the same to me as games, movies, and TV shows. I
love them all the same!
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| Photo by Geektography |
Do you have any other members of your family who are
into what you enjoy? Or are you at present the only “geek” in the family?
I've got a very supportive family when
it comes to cosplay - but most are happy to just dress up on Halloween. I did
get my mom to join me at Disney World's Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
as Snow White, while I went as Tink. That was so much fun- and I think she
really learned to appreciate the joy it is to become your favorite character!
From looking at your cosplay portfolio, it looks like
you cover all sorts of nerdy media. Is there one area that you enjoy the most?
Fantasy books are my absolute
favorite type of nerd fandom. I've been in love with the Wheel of Time series
by Robert Jordan for as long as I can remember, and I also have recently
developed an unhealthy obsession with the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin
Hearne. Both make me want to disappear into their worlds - so if I'm ever gone,
just gone, know I've found a portal and won't be coming back!
So I know we talked about this briefly before, but I
did see you at NYCC in your Steampunk Jasmine which not only looked super
beautiful on you, but was the one cosplay that made me a fan of your work! What
was it like creating her? I know you said you collaborated with others on it?
Steampunk Jasmine was a
collaboration with Meschantes Corsetry, who I can't recommend highly enough. I
had the idea and we worked together on designs until we settled on a design.
From there, they built the costume and I worked on the little things and
finding accessories to make it into a complete character, like the tiger purse
and gold necklace. I know my limits and it doesn't involve building corsets, so
they're my go-to costumer for many of my corseted cosplays.
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| Photo by Happy Trigger Photos |
With Jasmine being your favorite princess, you’ve
also stated on some of your pages that you’re a huge Disney nut. Do you have
any personal favorite Disney movies/memories?
Strangely, despite cosplaying
Jasmine first, Belle is actually my favorite princess! It's because like me,
her nose is always stuck in a book. I'm working on a cosplay of her next - the
dark Sith version ;). With regards to favorite Disney memories, though, mine
are a jumble of every trip I've taken with my mother to Disney World. We've
gone eleven times together so far - with no plans of stopping. It's our happy
place! Especially Peter Pan's ride in Magic Kingdom. I could ride that forever.
Your Lara Croft was also debuted at NYCC this year!
From the pictures I’ve seen, you really nailed her look even adding in
dirt/blood marks. What was it like cosplaying such an iconic character?
Lara is my hero. I
can't say that enough. So to cosplay her at NYCC was a huge thrill! Even pretending
to be her for a day was an amazing boost to my feminist self - you just feel so
much more badass in her character. I'm more excited about doing some shoots
with her outside, though - it would be fun to get some dirt on me that didn't
come from my eye shadow palette!
Another thing you’re a part of is running a group
tailored to cosplayers around the DC area. What has it been like managing it?
Have you met with/befriended other members of that group?
I started the DC CosGeeks to network
together all the amazing cosplayers I met at AwesomeCon two years ago and I
haven't looked back. It includes the vast majority of my friends - it's such
the defining circle of my social network for me. What I love most is that there
are people who come to all of our events; there are people who come to some;
there are people who live far away and just want to connect with a solid group
of nerds; there are people who cosplay and people who just want a forum to
share and discuss nerdy news. We're all inclusive and while it takes some
effort to manage that, it's my favorite thing to do. Connecting people makes me
happy - so why not connect all the awesome nerds I know, together? It's just
about making people happy. Nerds belong together.
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| Photo by Maze Studio |
What do you think about cosplay as it is now hitting
the mainstream?
I love that cosplay is becoming more
mainstream! I'm hoping it becomes even more so. I enjoy walking around in
cosplays in public as much, if not more so, than I do at cons - which is why I
host so many cosplay bar hops. Someday I hope it's so normal that I can just
start wearing capes out everywhere. I think normal clothes could use a little
bit more fantasy and romance, don't you?
Do you have any upcoming cosplays for this year that
you’re able to share?
Upcoming cosplays: Sith Belle;
Wonder Woman; Star-Lord; and Soulfire. If I can pull off any more than that,
I'll be amazed! I want to do them all right.
Do you imagine cosplaying being a part of your life
within the next 5 years and do you hope to evolve your skill set?
I think I'll be cosplaying till I
die, to be honest! I never want to stop. It's just too much fun! And there are
so many characters I want to explore. Right now I'm working on Worbla skills -
I have no idea what I'll be into next year but my skill set absolutely will be
evolving as I explore new types of costumes I want to build.
Any upcoming game releases you’re looking forward to?
I've heard there is a fan campaign
to build a sequel to the 7th Guest and I am so so so so excited. It was a
childhood favorite. Beyond that, I'm just biding my time until the new World of
Warcraft expansion comes out - that game is my absolute addiction.
Do you have a
favorite convention?
Favorite convention is always going
to be AwesomeCon DC - it's local, it's got all my friends there, and it was my
first. I've got a lot of feels every time it rolls around! Anyone coming - find
me at the after party!!!
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| Photo by Dave Yang Photography |
If you could date
any of the Disney princes/male characters, who would you choose and why?
Can I pretend Deadpool counts now
that Disney owns Marvel? Because - Deadpool. Always Deadpool.
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| Photo by Maze Studio |
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I hope you guys and gals enjoyed reading this as much as I did. Along with writing it up of course! MegaWatt has one of the sweetest personalities in the cosplay community and I feel lucky to call her a very good friend. You all definitely don't want to miss her adventures! Seriously thank you so much Megan for doing this with me. I owe you a huge hug and the drawing I did for you when we meet at NYCC <3
