#FeatureFriday with LostWeasleyChild Cosplay

Continuing on the Cosplay and Comics thread, I luckily get to feature the adorable LostWeasleyChild Cosplay! I had the pleasure of briefly meeting her when she was here in Canada and she has been such a great person to chat with. Read below to learn all about this wonderful gal!

How and when did you get into cosplay?
I was introduced to cosplay through some friends in college! I thought it was such a cool way of showing your love for a series or character, so I decided to try it out myself. I started my first cosplay all on my own during the summer of 2014 and wore my Bombshell Harley Quinn to Comikaze 2014! I was astounded at the community and the attention I got having only been in the convention center for about 5 minutes LOL so after I cosplayed as Arrow and Black Canary with my boyfriend at Wondercon 2015, I decided to try doing this kinda stuff more. Aaaaaand here we are!!

How did you come up with your cosplay name?
LostWeasleyChild was kind of an inside joke in high school - I was obsessed with Harry Potter and a redhead as well, so they always said I was some kind of distant Weasley cousin or a lost Weasley child...I used it as my email and usernames forever, so when it came time to figure out a cosplay name for myself I figured it was kind of a sign that I use that nickname :)

What do your friends and family think of your hobby?
​Dedicating my Instagram to this hobby really weeded out the people I thought were my friends. They began unfollowing me and stopped talking to me shortly after Wondercon 2015, which I figured was for the best because I don't need people like that in my life anyways! My family is pretty supportive, but my closest friends and my boyfriend are all super supportive and are always cheering me on to do better and be the best that I can be!

What do you do when you're not in cosplay or geeking out?
When I'm not locked away in my cosplay dungeon, I'm usually at my day job where I'm a teller at a bank! My coworkers know about my cosplay life and love to tease me about it in a fun, lighthearted way. They totally understand when I need a weekend off for a con and I'm so thankful! I've just gotten into playing Overwatch so I do that a lot in my spare time with my boyfriend and our friends.

What has your experience been like as a Cosplay and Comics page model?
​The page modeling thing was very different to me when I first started! I was with a different page prior to Cosplay and Comics, but I honestly feel more at home with Nate. Cosplay and Comics was the first page to ever feature any of my cosplays, so when he asked me to be a page model I was truly so taken aback and honored that Nate wanted me! When the original page was removed it was hard on all of us, and all I wanted was to help in any way I could. I sent SOOOO many messages and email to people asking for help. While we never did get the old page back, it's kind of fun to be at the beginning - a fresh start, I guess!

How do you choose your next cosplay?
I definitely choose characters I identify with or love dearly. Sometimes I just do simple costumes for fun with friends! Sometimes designs or new characters will pop up and I'm just like YES I NEED TO DO THIS RIGHT NOW and other times I keep pushing them off until I have time because of other projects that seem to weasel their way to the "front of the line" LOL

Who is your cosplay idol/inspiration?
I have a few! Yaya Han is definitely the first cosplay idol I had. When I met her at Comikaze 2014 and she said I did a great job on my Bombshell Harley Quinn, I knew from that moment I wanted to keep doing this. Her attention to detail and impeccable seamstress skills KILL ME! Jessica Nigri is another, because she started out like a lot of us do - and now she's making INSANE cosplays like her Deathwing! Also how I've seen her interact with fans is really inspiring to me, and I want to be as humble and sweet as her all the time!

What is your dream cosplay?
​I have SO MANY! A full-fledged Tracer cosplay is the ultimate dream right this minute.

What is holding you back from making your dream cosplay becoming a reality?
Mainly time and money - I don't have a lot of time to be creating things from scratch nowadays with work (gotta pay the bills somehow am I right??) So commissioning the chest piece and pistols is a helluva lot of money when I'm barely making ends meet anyways! Once I'm a little more steady on my feet finance-wise, or if I can figure out how to make one myself, THEN I'll definitely do a whole Tracer cosplay!

What is your favorite convention to attend?
Wondercon has always been my favorite! I love that it's kind of a smaller, more manageable version of San Diego Comicon!

What is your dream convention to attend?
I definitely would love to go to DragonCon, MCM London and New York Comic Con!

You recently came to a Canadian convention. Do you find there are many differences between Canadian conventions and American conventions?
I think Canadian conventions are WAY more laid back compared to American conventions, cosplay-wise. Recently I've been feeling like a good chunk of (at least Southern California-based) cosplayers are taking things waaaaayyyy too seriously. I mean, you do you, but don't let it affect the people around you, y'know?? We're all just nerds dressing up for fun in the end! And I definitely felt like the cosplayers in Canada were way more chill and were really enjoying themselves! I'd definitely come back for more cons up that way!!!

Do you have any cosplay or convention pet peeves?
​I actually reeeaaaaalllllyyyy dislike doing full-on photoshoots at conventions recently. It's become too stressful to schedule out times, and I miss out on the fun of the convention itself! I go to enjoy myself, I'd much rather do a photoshoot outside a con at a location where I can dedicate myself fully to it.

Do you have any horror stories or mistakes you've made that others can learn from?
If you have any doubts that you may not be able to handle yourself and your belongings while in cosplay, BRING A HANDLER! Ask a friend to come with you and help you! I'll even have a handler (aka my boyfriend 99% of the time lolol) at photoshoots! The last photoshoot I did, I had limited vision and I was in heels and I fell face-first into a tide pool in costume! Don't be afraid to ask for help!

Do you have any tips or words of encouragement for other cosplayers?
Do. What. Makes. You. Happy. Simple as that! You don't have to make every little thing from scratch! Amazon wigs are a great place to start if you're short on cash (I have like 3 really awesome wigs from there myself that I still use!). You're gonna have so much more fun cosplaying when it's a character you absolutely adore.

Do you have anything else you want to say, or add to this interview?
Reliving that tide-pool story hurt a bit LOL

Where can we find you on all things social?
Facebook
Instagram: @lostweasleychild
Twitter: @lostweasleykid
Snapchat: lostweasleykid
And if you wanna help support my future cosplay endeavors you can always buy some cool prints from lostweasleychild.storenvy.com!

Pictures provided by LostWeasleyChild's Facebook; York In A Box, Nels, OCM Photography, Rulison, MKS Photography.

I adore her so much! Her interview was so light hearted, it just makes me love her more!

As always, go follow this amazing cosplayer, and then leave a comment below!

​*kiss kiss*