Cosplayer Interview: Kirsty Johnson!
Coming not long after I featured her, UK-based cosplayer Kirsty Johnson was incredibly kind in giving me an opportunity to Interview her for today. We did try to do some workaround in making it a video style but the time difference and other circumstances prevented that. Nevertheless, she did a phenomenal job with providing me questions and I do hope you all enjoy it! As far as getting into cosplay, Kirsty was huge into anime and gaming growing up. She notes how much she was fascinated by the character designs and overall look that certain universes had. Cosplay entered her life when she was 17 and found pics of people dressing up online! Kirsty's first cosplays were Tier Harribel from Bleach (fully made) and Misa Amane from Death Note (pieced together from clothes she already owned!
While looking for a cosplay of hers to write up (deciding on Tifa in the end), I was pleasantly surprised at how many outfits she created. To this day, Kirsty says she has done approximately 150 outfits and doesn't find herself stopping anytime soon. Amongst all of them, there's a 50/50 split in favorites. Specifically between her Juliet Starling and Psycho from Borderlands cosplays. While each of these characters connect with Kirsty in some way, the main thing is that there's some trait they have which she relates to. That's what it comes down to in terms of should she cosplay this character or not. If there's legit no interest, then Kirsty finds it impossible to cosplay as them. She also went a little more into what it was like to cosplay Tifa after I mentioned that was what drew me to her work.
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What got you into
cosplay and how long have you been doing it?
I have always been a big fan of anime and games, I thought the art,
design and overall look of the characters was beautiful and mostly relatable. I
never actually knew there was such a thing as cosplay until I was about 17 (7
years ago) when I found pictures of people cosplaying online. I was very
inspired by cosplayers Witchiko and KingXMon (now King TW Cosplayer). I wanted
in on it, it looked like a lot of fun! It's almost like fulfilling a childhood
dream of becoming those favorite characters. So, I think it's the fandoms mixed
with the actual glamour of cosplaying which really took me. I have always been
the creative type as a past Art, Graphics and Games dev student. Cosplay allows
me to explore new skills when fabricating the costumes and props, which for me,
is the most enjoyable aspect of cosplay.
Which cosplay was
the first you ever created?
The first costume I ever fully created from scratch was Tier Harribel
from Bleach. it wasn’t great! :) Before this I pieced together costumes with
things existing in my wardrobe, the cosplay that started it all was Misa Amane
from Death Note.
Thinking back to
the last convention you were at; did you enjoy it?
The last convention and I won’t mention names, I had mixed feelings
about. It wasn’t very well organized, and I felt it was lacking the homely
friendly convention feel. Prior to the convention, I had got in touch with
organizers and spoke to them about my plans for costumes for both myself and
Robo Cosplay, they gave me the all clear on props etc. which I sent photographs
of to make 5000% certain. I worked very hard getting the costumes ready to a
point I got sick from stress because I wanted these perfect, I spent a lot of
time, effort and money on these costumes only to be worn at this particular
convention. We arrived at the convention to be stood in the miserable weather
(good old UK weather) amongst many other cosplayers getting slowly picked at
before entering by non-cosplayer security. I saw many excellent looking
costumes getting stripped of their props, armor and accessories, some peoples’
costumes were unrecognizable when they was done. I wouldn’t have personally
considered any of the items taken dangerous in the slightest, including a
little girls foam Harley Quinn bat! After getting stripped we was asked to
place the items in our car and then re-queue for almost another hour to go
through it all again. So, all in all our costumes looked bad by the time we was
finally inside, demotivated, lots of miserable faces around a very plain
looking convention. Spoke to some great people which was the highlight, spent
an hour and left.
What cosplay(s) did
you bring to this convention?
To keep discreet, I will say this was some of my larger complicated
builds.
What is your
favorite cosplay you’ve made so far?
This is 50 / 50 split between Juliet - Lollipop Chainsaw and my
Borderlands Psycho. Regarding Juliet, I adore the character. I see a lot of myself in her, she has
humor, a girly girl who cuts zombies with a bedazzled chainsaw, That’s amazing!
It’s a prefect mix of horror and sparkle (I’m a big horror fan, Evil Dead being
a favorite and which has its own special mention in the game). The chainsaw was
one of the first larger than life props i made. I went all out on it and even
added my own twist by making the chainsaw actually play music with a built-in
speaker. The cost of the chainsaw build was minimal also! If I am able to own
something as such and one of a kind for around £30 and some elbow grease, I’m
going to do it for sure! Regarding the Borderlands psycho. I went through a few months of binge watching
every episode of Face Off, I was fully inspired. The show actually taught me a
lot, I managed to create a face cast of myself which i used to build my Psycho
mask, I finalized this mask with fiberglass which i was completely new to. For
this costume, I knew I was going to push myself, I ended up making a fully
motorized spinning buzz axe. I am seriously proud of this and excited to
photoshoot it one day. Plus, Psychos are hilarious, it’s going to be fun.
What got you into
being a geek?
It’s got to be the first experiences with all things geeky. The anime firsts- Card Captors, Inuyasha and Chobits. The gaming firsts- Tenchu, Bloody Roar, Tekken and Silent Hill, obviously these both escalated... a lot. However, I find the term "geek" quite tough to define now. I like a very broad array of unusual things and can’t really categorize myself as just a geek.
It’s got to be the first experiences with all things geeky. The anime firsts- Card Captors, Inuyasha and Chobits. The gaming firsts- Tenchu, Bloody Roar, Tekken and Silent Hill, obviously these both escalated... a lot. However, I find the term "geek" quite tough to define now. I like a very broad array of unusual things and can’t really categorize myself as just a geek.
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?
My family support what I do which I am quite grateful for to be honest, as I know there are a lot of very unsupportive people out there regarding the cosplay hobby. I think at some point or another they have all been involved with what I do and helped me out. My dad is really talented in building things and often helps me out with some of my builds, I probably wouldn’t have been able to make half the things I have without his help.
My family support what I do which I am quite grateful for to be honest, as I know there are a lot of very unsupportive people out there regarding the cosplay hobby. I think at some point or another they have all been involved with what I do and helped me out. My dad is really talented in building things and often helps me out with some of my builds, I probably wouldn’t have been able to make half the things I have without his help.
What makes you
choose the characters you select to cosplay as?
I think the main thing that makes me click with a character is that the character has relatable traits to me. I find it almost physically impossible to cosplay characters I don’t have an interest in or relate to. I can’t see myself spending money, time and effort on characters I don’t like, I'd get demotivated quickly. A lot of the characters I go for are upbeat, crazies or stubborn sassy cry-babies. These tropes usually have sultry looks but I’m 100% for cosplaying guys or animals.
I think the main thing that makes me click with a character is that the character has relatable traits to me. I find it almost physically impossible to cosplay characters I don’t have an interest in or relate to. I can’t see myself spending money, time and effort on characters I don’t like, I'd get demotivated quickly. A lot of the characters I go for are upbeat, crazies or stubborn sassy cry-babies. These tropes usually have sultry looks but I’m 100% for cosplaying guys or animals.
What first drew me
to your cosplays was how gorgeous your Tifa cosplay from Final Fantasy 7 is.
What was it like making Tifa and what made you cosplay as her?
Thank you! Tifa was a very easy cosplay to put together and I had fun with shooting her, I don’t feel as if I suited her too much visually but nonetheless I still enjoyed it, I was actually quite hesitant to ever upload my Tifa shots. Tifa is a very loving, devoted and strong female role-model which I applaud. She loses a lot but still keeps on fighting. As usual, Final Fantasy has good lessons to be learnt.
Thank you! Tifa was a very easy cosplay to put together and I had fun with shooting her, I don’t feel as if I suited her too much visually but nonetheless I still enjoyed it, I was actually quite hesitant to ever upload my Tifa shots. Tifa is a very loving, devoted and strong female role-model which I applaud. She loses a lot but still keeps on fighting. As usual, Final Fantasy has good lessons to be learnt.
I’m also incredibly
impressed by the giant span of media you’ve cosplayed from! Picking from your
comic book album, most of the outfits come from the Marvel side with Deadpool,
Black Cat, and Emma Frost! Is that your favorite side of comics?
It is! Out of the two anyhow, sorry DC. My all-time favorite are the
Lady Death comics, they are actually beautiful.
What do you think
about cosplay as it is now hitting the mainstream?
More power to it, I’m happy that people are finally understanding to
joys of it and that I guess you could say it’s now cool. It’s a shame people
have had to go through being shunned for liking anime or comics etc. I’m hoping
the bullying is more a thing of the past now, hopefully. Since the hobby has
grown more and more conventions have appeared, I even now have 2 in my home
town. There are now more UK wig and costume suppliers than before too, no more
waiting for overseas shipping. The downside I am noticing is the prices of
things are sky rocketing especially regarding conventions, cons know people are
going to pay for it and with the number of tickets they’re selling how can they
not be woo'ed by extortion. Though I must admit, I think it being the mainstream
is only temporary and that a lot of people are just joining the ride while its
popular. Either way I’m happy, people can cosplay for whatever reason they
like.
How’s the cosplay
scene in the UK?
It used to be tiny. Obviously, it’s still small compared to the US but
it has certainly grown. A lot of people are still confused by it all though.
There seems to be a lot of drama between British cosplayers, I like to stay
clear and to myself personally. There are many talented cosplayers and crafters
here, a lot who are quite unrecognized but certainly deserve recognition.
Do you have any
upcoming cosplays for this year that you’re able to share?
Smite, Smite, Smite, Heroes of the Storm, Sexy demons and Ninjas! All
hints and progress I post up on my Instagram. The sets I’m currently working on
are Nina Williams - Tekken, Fallout and a variant of Juliet Starling.
Do you imagine
cosplaying being a part of your life within the next 5 years and do you hope to
evolve your skill set?
Providing life continues as it is, I hope cosplay to still be a part
of my life. I’m hoping to downsize my wardrobe as I have cosplayed approx. 150
characters to date. I’m hoping to keep the best only and make space for some
new projects. I’m looking to move more focused on helping others for example
using the skills I have gathered commissioning props for others, also live
streaming cosplay creative sessions more often to connect with people and hopefully
share some of the things I have learnt with others.
What’s a day in the
life of Kirsty Johnson? Where did the name Sneebster come from?
A day in the life as Kirsty is just like anybody else, I’m your
regular person... just with a strange arsenal of clothing and weapons. I spend
my free time focusing on my hobbies, family and pets. I end most days socializing
online with friends, playing MOBAS and watching my shows. I'm an unhealthy food
fan, if pizza and tacos are an option every day, I want it! I am quite a hermit, enjoying my me time in
my comfies. I love to explore the great outdoors, forests, mountains, lakes,
they’re beautiful to me. The only problem is that I’m an ultimate night owl
with a terrible sleeping pattern, so I miss out on quite a lot with my
exploring. As for Sneebster, my rabbit is called Sneebles, he is my baby, so I
am Sneebster. I use this name as my game alias so in places like Twitch or
Steam I take this name.
Any upcoming game
releases you’re looking forward to?
Kingdom Hearts 3 if it ever actually comes out. I quite like the look
of the Vampyr game too, gives me that Darkness X Lords of Shadow 2 vibe which I
enjoyed. Fallout VR looks interesting. I’m also on the hunt for new MMORPGS, I
remember seeing many highly anticipated ones. Also, I know it is already out
but Danganronpa V3 as I’m yet to play it.
Do you have a
favorite convention?
Not particularly, they all have their positives in their own way.
If you could live
in any fictional world, which one would you choose and why?This is
actually a very tough question for me since most of the things I like have dark
terrible worlds to live in like Fallout and Final Fantasy, those monsters would
be terrifying. I’m going to go with the Jak and Daxter world on the PS2, that’s
always one world that has stuck in my head, a pretty tropical paradise. The
Ancient Magus Bride deserves a special mention too, I know it’s based in
England, but it makes it a much more beautiful and magical version.
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I definitely want to try and hang out in her future streams since Kirsty seems like such an incredibly fun loving lady. Her outfits are incredibly on point and I can see how much work she puts into each one! I highly recommend you guys follow Kirsty at the following links to keep up with her stuff :D. Thanks again to Kirsty for letting me interview her, so incredibly thankful she let me do so, LOVE YOU LADY!
