Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Behind the masks

April 25, 2013
	<p>Biochemistry junior Brenda Li makes marks on a satin mask in order to take it in to fit her face, April 15, 2013, in her Wilson Hall dorm room. Li has been working on her current costume since the beginning of the semester for a summer convention in Canada. Danyelle Morrow/The State News</p>

Biochemistry junior Brenda Li makes marks on a satin mask in order to take it in to fit her face, April 15, 2013, in her Wilson Hall dorm room. Li has been working on her current costume since the beginning of the semester for a summer convention in Canada. Danyelle Morrow/The State News

Photo by Danyelle Morrow | The State News

For biochemistry junior Brenda Li, it’s safe to say Facebook popularity of more than 2,900 likes is credited to her five years of cosplaying — creating life-like, costume representations of different characters from video games and shows.

After a friend informed her of a Detroit-based anime convention, “Youmacon,” in 2007, Li attended the convention the following year and cosplaying across the Midwest, and plans to cosplay in Canada during the summer.

Li creates her costumes on trial-and-error basis, making most things bigger than she thinks she will need to make adjustments as she works.

Li said meeting people is her favorite part, having met more than half of her friends from the practice. She attributes part of her popularity amongst her peers to the group she cosplays with and how she interacts with her fans via the Internet.

However, the misconception she has noticed throughout her experiences with cosplaying is that stereotypes with the hobby normally are not true.

“Cosplayers are all these weird, sort of nerdy people who sit in their parents basements and just watch anime all of the time,” Li said of the stereotype, normally associated with the practice. “But most of (my) friends (I’ve) met through the cosplay community are pretty normal … they just have a more creative outlet for their nerdy side.”

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