Cosplayer of the Month: Priya Rose

HELLO AND WELCOME BACK!!!! The blog is being refreshed to bring more focus to amazing cosplayers in the community and continue spreading good vibes! This month, we kick off with a talented cosplayer. Learn more about her below!

I'm Priya, I'm 29, live in California, and I am in love with cosplaying if you can't tell!

How and when did you get into cosplay?
I was first exposed to cosplay when I was a tiny kid. I grew up going to cons literally my entire life, so as a kid I was always so in awe of the cosplayers we would meet at my city's con each year. I would always ask to pose for pictures with them and get so excited when they said yes. I didn't get into cosplay myself until sophomore year of high school. It was honestly a mixture of my love for Halloween and my love for attention. I love dressing up but hate running into anyone else with the same costume as myself, so I started creating my own Halloween costumes and the wearing them to cons as well! 

How did you come up with your cosplay name?
My Instagram cosplay name has to do with my absolute favorite band, My Chemical Romance. It's from the title of their fourth album "Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys." As for my cosplay name Priya, that one is a shortened version of my middle name.

What do you do when you're not in cosplay or geeking out? 
For my day job I'm a bank teller. It's repetitive, but also super fun at the same time! I adore all of my coworkers and my branch has a lot of awesome regularsv who I look forward to seeing daily or weekly. My other hobbies are mostly writing (stories and music), dance (Ballet, tap, jazz, modern), playing guitar and piano, and singing! You could also say drinking wine is one of my daily hobbies. 

What is your proudest cosplay accomplishment?
My proudest cosplay accomplishment is probably the majority of my bondage Harley Quinn. It's pretty simple but it's also the first cosplay I got really hands on with. My main pride and joy from that cosplay is the wig I dyed and styled on my own. 

Who is your cosplay idol/inspiration?
I honestly don't have any one specific cosplayer who inspires me. I'm inspired by random cosplays I happen to come across more than any particular cosplayer. There are so many awesome ones out there!

What is your dream cosplay? Why haven't you made it yet?
My current dream cosplay one I'm keeping a secret because it's a unique one I came up with and I want its debut to be a surprise! I'm super excited for it, but I haven't made it yet because it'll need a level of sewing and prop building skills I don't have yet. But eventually I'll get it done and I'm super excited for when its finished.

Do you have any cosplay or convention pet peeves?
I don't have too many cosplay or convention pet peeves. I guess my biggest cosplay pet peeve would be when people try to gatekeep for no reason. My biggest con pet peeve would be sexual harassment, which isn't a pet peeve so much as a serious issue that an alarming amount of cosplayers have to deal with at cons.

Do you have any horror stories or mistakes you've made that others can learn from?
I actually don't have any horror stories or mistakes so far! Fingers crossed, I probably jinxed myself saying that.

Do you have any tips or words of encouragement for other cosplayers?
I would say be confident in what you're doing and be proud of your work! Don't compare yourself to other cosplayers. Do the characters you want, the way you want, and when you want to and rock that shit and be proud of yourself and the work you put into it!

What social platforms can we find you on?
I don't use my other social platforms much but I'm trying to get better at that. I have a few!
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter

Photo credit for Pennywise and Nurse Joker: @talljoey

I'm so excited to have the blog back up and running. It will be more casual, so feel free to recommend some amazing cosplayers to interview or reach out to me if you're interested in guest writing an article or tutorial!

​*kiss kiss*