FFXV wasn't the first game in the storied franchise she played, but it is one of which she managed to fully clear in terms of main story. Crisis Core definitely tore her heart out (as it did to many others I'm sure). Dragonball FighterZ is one upcoming game that Lynai shows immense excitement for as do I (even though I'm horrible at fighting games). Like other cosplayers, Lynai is all about the design of the character when choosing someone to cosplay. If it so happens that she's unfamiliar with the source material of said character, then she reads up/watches on it. So does a new fan is born!
As you read through this Interview, you'll get her thoughts on common questions I include in every interview. These include thoughts on cosplay hitting the mainstream, hopes to improve her craft and the obligatory funny question at the very end. Lynai is such a sweetie and I very much look forward to having a wonderful friendship with her. Not to mention her upcoming cosplans have me STOKED AS ALL HELL :D.
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What got you into cosplay and how long
have you been doing it?
2006!
In 2005 I somehow got my parents to take me to my first anime convention ever
which was Anime Expo (back when it was in Anaheim). I felt under dressed and wasn’t expecting everyone to be dressed up at
all. I remember some old ass stuff like people doing Trigun, Ah! My Goddess,
Vampire Hunter D, banana Gundam, I
even saw Man-Faye (up close. Did not enjoy his ass LOL). I left wanting to come
back with a costume. I wouldn’t go again until 2009 but it’s been a shocking 12
years now that I think about it.
Which cosplay was the first you ever
created?
SANJI
FROM ONE PIECE. IT WAS B A D.
Thinking back to the last convention you
were at, did you enjoy it?
My
last two conventions were SDCC and AX from this year. The most amazing moments
for AX weren’t even at the convention. I had an unexpected ‘LA night’ (driving
in a Lyft with fireworks all around us then coming back to our AirBnb with the
neighborhood lighting fireworks off then getting street tacos). At SDCC I ended
up seeing more stars passing by than previous years (Rep. John Lewis, Idris
Elba, Hannah Belcher (set designer for Black Panther!!! and I guess we ended up
sitting near Grant Gustin on day 1?)
What cosplay(s) did you bring to this
convention?
I
usually bring 3-4 costumes. This year for AX I brought Jason Voorhees, took my
STARS Yoko out of the closet and I can’t remember the other. I never bring
costumes for SDCC since I’m usually there to have fun and sit in lines forever.
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| Photo by M3 Cosplay Photography |
What is your favorite cosplay you’ve
made so far?
Dr
Mrs The Monarch. I did it on whim but had to really figure out what the hell to
do to get that serious deep V neck. I ended up making a corset thing out of worbla
and it worked.
What got you into being a geek?
Pokemon
and Yugioh. I have a whole …thing
back home where all my old Pokemon merch is. I was an insane 10 year old.
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’m
the only geek (that cosplays) among my family/home town friends. I think
nothing of it. A few of my hometown friends are into anime and my cousins are
into gaming. They’re trying to get my little niece (who’s about 4 now? or 5)
into Dragonball Z. I told their mom ‘DO IT’ because DBZ was the first anime I
saw at age 5 (But in spanish and I left wondering why the fuck Raditz had no
pants LOL)
Do you have a preferred area to cosplay
from?
Not
really. If it has an interesting design and is my skill set (or can gently push
it) then I’ll do it. Usually I’ll learn the source material along the way (I
worked on Dr Mrs while binging all of Venture Bros for the first time. I’d only
seen snippets of it in animation class in college but it was a fun way to get
into the mood as well. Alternatively, I was doing Jo from Burst Angel (since I
saw it at AX’05) and began binging the
show but had to stop. I was actually bored out of my mind and realized I didn’t
like the show, I just wanted to do the character because I saw the creator at
AX’05 and it brought back good memories LOL I like Jo though and her love of
zombie movies)
Your Cindy and love for FFXV instantly
got my attention after you found me on Twitter. What made you enjoy the game as
much as you did?
Story,
gameplay, controls, music— I spent the whole month of September this year just
playing through. I did so many side quests before continuing onto the main
quest—something I have an issue with LOL Such as I got Skyrim a few days after
it’s release in 2012. I didn’t actually complete the main quest until 200 hours
later in 2015? I don’t exactly remember the last FF game I played (It was
probably Crisis Core— yeah that long ago) so this new way of approaching an FF
game was refreshing. I enjoyed the realistic way that Noct fought with his
emotions. Every step was another step towards being the True King and
understanding his role. I also feel we don’t see men show emotion like that
very often (which I feel needs to happen) so whenever Noct would choke up I
felt he was getting a better grasp of the situation at hand rather than
bottling it up.
Any other Final Fantasy entries you’ve
enjoyed in the past?
Crisis
Core, 6 and 9! 6 was the first one I ever played, I never finished 9 past the
first disk (whoops) but Crisis Core ripped out my damn heart.
What do you think about cosplay as it is
now hitting the mainstream?
A
bit conflicted. On one hand, it’s great that more people are being exposed to
something that’s supposed to be fun. On the other, I’m seeing a few negative effects.
Sometimes it feels like the meaning of cosplay gets lost. It’s a fun hobby,
something fans do to show their appreciation for shows/characters. There are
people in the community who work hard to keep it a safe place and ensure anyone
is welcome to don a costume, sewn or bought. In the media, I still see this
‘drama’ stigma where everything has to be like reality TV. It sells to the normal
audience viewer, yes, but at the cost of years of positive hard work in a
growing community? No thanks.
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| Photo by M3 Cosplay Photography |
Do you have any upcoming cosplays for
this year that you’re able to share?
Probably
Aranea and some Rain cosplays from G Gundam. I used to keep a detailed ‘I’ll do
this!’ list for the year but I always hated being tied so something so I did
away with it ages ago.
Do you imagine cosplaying being a part
of your life within the next 5 years and do you hope to evolve your skill set?
If
I could just build up my armor/prop/EMBROIDERY/pattern making skill set that
would be great. I’m overly cautious on
making armor/props at the moment since I live in a smaller apartment with a
roommate and there’s no room to store anything extra : /
You also run a Patreon mainly for your
artwork! How has that experience been for you?
Slow
haha. I’m absolutely horrible at promoting it. I revised it a couple of times
but then I saw a long time cosplayer I love make her Patreon into a tip jar
with everything given for free instead of behind a pay wall, I jumped on board.
I use it more as a mass notification thing rather than using Facebook since
they’ve destroyed the algorithm for pages. My honest hope for the Patreon would
be to be able to give out rewards, donate to charities of choice and help other
artists on top of funding my own sewing/art supplies. But for right now, it’s
helping me with my cosplays/art. Especially now since I need to get a new
sewing machine as mine busted. I’m absolutely thankful for the tiny amount of
patrons I have up and down. Like, so crazy thankful.
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| Photo by M3 Cosplay Photography |
What’s a day in the life of Lynai? Where
did the name come from?
I
try to get up early (usually does not work), eat a decent meal (I don’t most of
the time), get some stuff done (nope), then slug around work, walk for an hour
during my lunch break (I eat during my shows. My co-workers always wonder why I
never eat lunch even though I always eat it right in front of them. I just eat
at a different time!!), one more show, go home and either lie in bed or do work
while catching up on podcasts. I honestly feel like I’m in college still LOL
My
name came from a generator! I was looking for a new gamer name and I’m awful at
naming myself so I just did a random generator thing. Years later, I found out
the word is a type of fish in Lithuanian? So I guess I’m a fish.
Any upcoming game releases you’re
looking forward to?
DBZFIGHTERRRR.
Do you have a favorite convention?
I’m
not sure. I usually go to SDCC, AX and PHXCC along with some local Arizona cons
(travels toooough) but none are particularly my favorite lmao
If you could switch lives with a Final
Fantasy character, who would you choose and why?
TERRA
FROM FF6 JUST BECAUSE but then maybe Dagger instead??? Even though I never
finished their games I always loved those two girls when I was younger. Maybe
Prompto though? Or Ignis.
No
wait Ignis because then I would have long, beautiful legs and do spinny kicks
and I could actually cook food.
EAT
YOUR VEGETABLES, NOCT.
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That's all I got for today's Interview guys! I can't thank Lynai enough for doing an incredible job with the questions. Not to mention getting back to me so dang fast :). Definitely consider following Lynai's work at the following links below <3.
