GROWING UP

‘SUP, NERDS. Today is all about my first exposure to conventions and how the Nerd Queen was born. Conventions are basically weekend-long parties to celebrate fandoms. These are events dear to my heart, since they helped me grow as a person.

Diversity

Anime Central 2009 was the first convention I ever attended. I had no clue what to expect. Back then I was a sophomore in high school and never knew anyone outside of my group of friends who was just as crazy about anime and video games as we were.

ACen enthralled me because I truly felt at home. Nobody would make fun of me for what I liked. No worries to be had. Conventions are a safe place to discuss what you can’t with others. It’s relaxing because you can simply be yourself.

So I'm going to mess with your head for a second. I found this cosplayer during my first ACen. This is a girl, dressed up as Teddie. Teddie is a boy, but this is an outfit he wears when he enters a high school drag contest. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Teddie isn't actually a boy, he's a bear. Not even a real bear. A bear from the TV world. And he was never originally a bear even there. Teddie was originally a shadow... so I guess this girl must identify as a shadow??

It was also the first time I encountered openly gay people, which was at first quite shocking. My hometown is a little bubble—a primarily Caucasian, conservative population. ACen was great exposure for me to meet a large number of people of a different color, sexuality or religion compared to what I used to consider “normal.”

The Power of a Crown

During my first ACen I was a little overwhelmed, but it was a welcomed culture shock. Once I knew what an anime convention entailed, I decided to make the most of my time at ACen because it wouldn’t happen for another year. I am fond of my old Nerd Queen persona. She was created for my second ACen and I stuck with this character for a long time.

Keith Apicary, 29, is my biggest boy crush ever. Photo taken by the amazing Ron Ladao. If you don’t know Ron, you have never been to a convention in the Midwest.

The Nerd Queen was a way for me to release all my pent-up energy. Admittedly, I used this as a way to muster up the courage to talk with boys, even though I didn’t actually start dating until college. I have never been shy in my life, but if it weren’t for the Nerd Queen, I wouldn’t have made so many friends.

Michael, my best friend from high school, dressed as Cat Len with the Nerd Queen.

As I frantically ran around conventions, the Nerd Queen was essentially my tool to network. By talking to everyone I possibly could, I have met several significant figures in the video game and anime community. Some of these people I’ve actually become good friends with and I learned to value them as regular folks. I don’t put celebrities up on a pedestal like I used to by realizing how much hard work they put in to be where they are today.

At one ACen I bumped into contestants who were on Sony’s reality program, The Tester. Skyd1ddy on the left and Mo Chocolate on the right. Next I hope to meet Adrianne Curry: judge on The Tester, retired cosplay diva, and the first winner of America’s Next Top Model.

The End of an Era

The Nerd Queen was officially laid to rest almost two years ago. If I ever wanted to make it to where all these professional geeks are, I had to stop pretending. I decided to make myself a real convention queen.

My time as a fake queen will never be forgotten. I opened up and most importantly had fun. Have conventions impacted you like they have for me? How did you get out of your shell? Comment below!!

Next time we’re going to look at my first original cosplay design and you will quickly learn how much I love the essence of ScrewAttack.

LATER, DWEEBS.

-Loverly Liz

MY HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Let’s Rewind Time

‘SUP NERDS. Today I want to show you all of my old cosplay from high school. Most of these aren’t all that great, but I had to start somewhere, right?

Only one of these outfits was made (mostly) from scratch. Unfortunately some people boldly express their distaste for cosplayers not sewing everything on their own. Just remember that there is nothing wrong with using the resources around you to dress up and have some fun!!

School Days

Ah, I remember the days of high school. I had my absolutely awesome group of friends who were all geeky and cool. We all loved to hang out to work through video games and watch anime, especially those starring pretty boys.

I searched through old FaceBook photos and came across what I would consider my first cosplay. For a while, Death Note was my obsession.

Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba’s Death Note is one of my favorite manga series still to this day.  Characters pictured starting from the left: Light, Misa, and L.

For a couple of years, Death Note was my jam. I even went so far to make a horribly embarrassing music video for my Spanish class. No extra credit. Just my and Dan’s goodwill to mix screamo and education.

Me and my best girlfriends at the time cosplaying during Halloween. I’m the dork with the long wig.

I dressed up as the female lead, Misa. I always thought she was adorable, wearing nothing but gothic lolita styled dresses. Misa is pretty mental throughout the whole series, but I still love her… fashion sense.

Too Scared to Finish

Have you ever loved something so much that you put yourself in danger? Hope I’m not the only one raising my hand.

I’m an avid fan of anything Shin Megami Tensei. I make sure my ass is inside a GameStop when the next game comes out. Persona 4 was released when I was 15, a time when I was stuck with just a driving permit.

Persona 3 was so amazing that I forced my mom to drive me through a snowstorm the day P4 came out.
 

It was worth picking up my long awaited pre-order. I indulged myself that night, staying up way past my bedtime, and I quickly learned that Chie Satonaka is Best Girl.

Chie is not only Best Girl, but the best Kung-Fu artist of any Atlus game.

 

As I pillaged the dungeons of P4, I was constantly searching for a perfectly green-colored athletic jacket in the real world. I found an expensive enough jacket that my mom didn’t help me alter it in fear of ruining a name brand piece of clothing. Discouraged, I allowed this cosplay to remain incomplete.

I think I was going in the right direction with this (incomplete) cosplay. If you look hard enough, you can see my Death Note and Evangelion DVD box sets.

The Best-But-Worst Character

Out of all my high school outfits, I am definitely most proud of my Asuka cosplay. I remember being invited to a Halloween party with only a week to make it. My mom was gracious enough to help me make it on such short notice. We winged it, having no time nor any patterns on which to base the outfit.

Asuka’s school uniform from Neon Genesis Evangelion. The cosplay didn’t turn out so bad.

Overall this cosplay was pretty solid and I received the most compliments at the party. There were plenty of anime geeks there who loved it.

This meant a lot to me since Asuka is my favorite character from Evangelion. She's expressive, which is a nice way to describe her. Either you love Asuka or you hate her. I wouldn’t blame you if you dislike her… simply because she’s a raging bitch.

For those who aren’t familiar with Evangelion, I found a pretty cool fanmade “theatrical trailer” of the anime that you should check out. The series is a must-watch classic.
 

Next Time…

Next time we’re going to look at my Nerd Queen persona. She is one heck of a cool person.

Out of the old high school cosplay, which do you think is the silliest of the bunch? Comment below!!

LATER, DWEEBS.

-Loverly Liz

WELCOME TO LIZ

‘Sup, NERDS!

Welcome to the official Loverly Liz cosplay blog. Expect to see the progress of my cosplay, events I will be attending and photos showcasing my outfits! I am moving the bulk of my updates from my Twitter to this blog.

For those who do not know—cosplay is short for “costume play.” It refers to fans dressing up as their favorite characters from a movie, television, graphic novel, game, or book series. Some cosplayers enjoy making elaborate costumes from scratch, others thrift and modify existing clothing and some just order completed outfits online. Many combine all of these elements to dress up!

Gainax’s famous character, Shinji Ikari, as seen in Neon Genesis Evangelion is a perfect example of what I like dressing up as.

My cosplay are primarily inspired by video game or anime characters. I like to think that my style is different than others: I do not like dressing up as just a typical character. I strive to stand out among my fellow cosplayers and make sure what I do hasn’t been done before.

When I was in high school I would throw together a few costumes with the help of my mom. To be honest… I was lazy. So I eventually made a persona and proceeded to run around like a jackass dressed as the “Nerd Queen” at anime conventions. Now that I'm a big kid, I have money to burn so that I can make a unique outfit.

The beautiful Travina, photographed by Dan. Mascot of my Twitch channel.

Where Liz is Now

 

I currently attend North Central College, working toward a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications and Japanese. Prior to returning to college, I streamed video games every day on my Twitch channel usually
co-starring my best pals Travis and Dan. Unfortunately my roommate and piles of schoolwork are soul sucking enough that I now occasionally stream on the weekends and during extended breaks. Ironically I broadcast less now that I am studying it.

Putting all things nerdy aside, I also love baking and decorating desserts. When it is nice out, I play tennis with friends and go to the gym when schoolwork allows. It's also quite easy for me to pick up and learn new languages. I discovered my love for language in high school starting with German. By the time I was a senior, I was enrolled in German, Spanish, French and Chinese. At community college I studied more Spanish and German, but now I solely focus on Japanese.

For some reason I also enjoy looking at freaky and gross things, like deep sea creatures. I don't know if this is considered a hobby, but I. Can't. Stop. Looking. You will quickly learn that I have a thing for weird.

That's enough about me for now! Thanks for reading my ramblings. Next time, we're going to point and laugh at my old cosplay.

LATER, DWEEBS.

-Loverly Liz