Can you tell us who you are and what you do?
Of course! Well my name is Liliana but they call me Red Lilly, that's my cosplayer name. I honestly don't think I'm very creative haha, but I had my hair red for over 6 years and my friends call me Red. I am 27 years old, I am a cosplayer, cosmaker, youtuber and gamer from Tijuana Baja California, not a professional but I love what I do, I am a software development engineer and I have a full time job.
¿Cómo se siente tener el cariño de miles de fans alrededor del mundo?
Nunca pensé en ello para ser honesta. No es algo que realmente estuviera buscando cuando comencé, pero me alegro de que a la gente le está gustando lo que hago. Hay un montón de cosas buenas y malas de tener afecto de los aficionados de todo el mundo, podrÃa ser dulce o frustrante dependiendo de la fascinación del seguidor, he tenido grandiosas y malas experiencias hasta ahora, en general mi objetivo principal es compartir lo que amo con el mundo y con esperanza inspirar y ayudar a otros.
¿Cómo se siente tener el cariño de miles de fans alrededor del mundo?
Nunca pensé en ello para ser honesta. No es algo que realmente estuviera buscando cuando comencé, pero me alegro de que a la gente le está gustando lo que hago. Hay un montón de cosas buenas y malas de tener afecto de los aficionados de todo el mundo, podrÃa ser dulce o frustrante dependiendo de la fascinación del seguidor, he tenido grandiosas y malas experiencias hasta ahora, en general mi objetivo principal es compartir lo que amo con el mundo y con esperanza inspirar y ayudar a otros.
¿Cómo empezaste en el mundo de Cosplay? ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas en este hobby?
¡Soy muy nueva! No puedo creer que todo haya crecido tan rápido. Comencé a hacer cosplay el año pasado, agosto de 2016 para ser más especÃfica de modo que es aproximadamente 9 meses atrás!
Are any other cosplayers that you admire?
Yes! A lot of! Ginny Di, Kimpatsu cosplay, Kamui cosplay, Leon Chiro, Enji night, Azulette cosplay, Nadyasonika, Alyson Tabbitha, Jessica Nigri and I am very sure that I am forgetting some, they are my inspiration and role models, I also admire local cosplayers like Namitsuki, Linda Miku Cosplay, Ganny x Hasu cosplay, Gareki Cosplay, Kike’s Cosplay again I am very sure that I am forgetting many! I think every cosplayer has their own signature in what they do and I admire that.
What would you say to girls who want to cosplay but don't dare because of embarrassment or don't feel beautiful?
DO IT! You should not feel ashamed, people will always talk there is no way to avoid it, you should always do your best in everything you work for. You don't need to be an expert, all you need to do is focus and find lots of friends to help you along the way, if you feel comfortable with your cosplay, if you like the character and really want to feel what it's like to be like that character for at least one day, believe me it's totally worth it!
What advice would you give to all those people who do not cosplay for fear of 'what people say'?
Ignoring them, as I said in my previous question, you will not make people happy sometimes, even if you make an extraordinary cosplay they will always say things the best you can do is just ignore them, all that matters is if you liked your cosplay and if you worked hard on it regardless of what people say.
Do you do all the cosplays or do you buy them? Some of them seem to really have a lot of work to do. Is there someone to help you?
I did 85% of my cosplays, the other 10% was done when I didn't know anything about sewing, the remaining 5% was the amazing keyblade that a friend of mine made for me. Yes, there is a lot of work in each cosplay but that is the beauty of it, the challenge of making it seem as close as possible to the original character; However, I would like to point out that being a cosplayer does not make you less than being a cosmaker, but you must be completely sure which one you feel most comfortable with because being a cosmaker is a lot of work! What I think is not cool is saying that you are a cosmaker when you really are a cosplayer. When I started I had a lot of help from the youtube tutorials of Kamui Cosplay, Kinpatsu cosplay, Ginny Di and many more, after meeting the local cosplay community i had a lot of help from local cosplayers, can't thank you enough
When did you discover that you liked cosplay?
On my first Halloween haha! I have always used the excuse of this holiday to wear a costume! It wasn't until when I turned 16 that I discovered that I was into cosplay.
What is the most complex cosplay you have done so far?
Aqua from Kingdom Hearts: North by sleep, Although it seems to be a very easy cosplay, there are many details that I worked very hard on, just to clarify that Keyblade was made by a very dear friend of mine, This is just the beginning! I want to do better in every cosplay so I am very sure that I will be working on more complex cosplay in the near future
What about makeup and hair? It must take a long time to prepare, truth? For cosplay was it more difficult?
Yes it takes time but only the first time, over time you become a professional preparing for the convention! But comparing casual to cosplay this takes a long time. The hardest part for me, and it's probably just me, is that I usually wear contact lenses, I still remember the first time I was trying on my contact lenses for my Misty cosplay, It took me over half an hour to get one of them in my eye! I was crying like a baby as I was very frustrated, but over time I have learned to put them on and now sometimes I don't even need a mirror. Putting on makeup I still have a lot to learn, Alyson Tabbitha is amazing! I really want to learn how to make up like her. Styling a wig is a challenge, you can buy the wig you need for your cosplay or you can learn to design it to save money but there are a lot of challenges you have to overcome to do it, again I don't consider myself a professional in makeup or wig styling, because I'm still learning, but I'm sure I put a lot of effort into every cosplay project!
¡Soy muy nueva! No puedo creer que todo haya crecido tan rápido. Comencé a hacer cosplay el año pasado, agosto de 2016 para ser más especÃfica de modo que es aproximadamente 9 meses atrás!
Are any other cosplayers that you admire?
Yes! A lot of! Ginny Di, Kimpatsu cosplay, Kamui cosplay, Leon Chiro, Enji night, Azulette cosplay, Nadyasonika, Alyson Tabbitha, Jessica Nigri and I am very sure that I am forgetting some, they are my inspiration and role models, I also admire local cosplayers like Namitsuki, Linda Miku Cosplay, Ganny x Hasu cosplay, Gareki Cosplay, Kike’s Cosplay again I am very sure that I am forgetting many! I think every cosplayer has their own signature in what they do and I admire that.
What would you say to girls who want to cosplay but don't dare because of embarrassment or don't feel beautiful?
DO IT! You should not feel ashamed, people will always talk there is no way to avoid it, you should always do your best in everything you work for. You don't need to be an expert, all you need to do is focus and find lots of friends to help you along the way, if you feel comfortable with your cosplay, if you like the character and really want to feel what it's like to be like that character for at least one day, believe me it's totally worth it!
What advice would you give to all those people who do not cosplay for fear of 'what people say'?
Ignoring them, as I said in my previous question, you will not make people happy sometimes, even if you make an extraordinary cosplay they will always say things the best you can do is just ignore them, all that matters is if you liked your cosplay and if you worked hard on it regardless of what people say.
Do you do all the cosplays or do you buy them? Some of them seem to really have a lot of work to do. Is there someone to help you?
I did 85% of my cosplays, the other 10% was done when I didn't know anything about sewing, the remaining 5% was the amazing keyblade that a friend of mine made for me. Yes, there is a lot of work in each cosplay but that is the beauty of it, the challenge of making it seem as close as possible to the original character; However, I would like to point out that being a cosplayer does not make you less than being a cosmaker, but you must be completely sure which one you feel most comfortable with because being a cosmaker is a lot of work! What I think is not cool is saying that you are a cosmaker when you really are a cosplayer. When I started I had a lot of help from the youtube tutorials of Kamui Cosplay, Kinpatsu cosplay, Ginny Di and many more, after meeting the local cosplay community i had a lot of help from local cosplayers, can't thank you enough
When did you discover that you liked cosplay?
On my first Halloween haha! I have always used the excuse of this holiday to wear a costume! It wasn't until when I turned 16 that I discovered that I was into cosplay.
What is the most complex cosplay you have done so far?
Aqua from Kingdom Hearts: North by sleep, Although it seems to be a very easy cosplay, there are many details that I worked very hard on, just to clarify that Keyblade was made by a very dear friend of mine, This is just the beginning! I want to do better in every cosplay so I am very sure that I will be working on more complex cosplay in the near future
What character would you like to characterize in the future?
I have a very long list! I will love to share the list but I prefer the surprise element but I can tell you my favorite anime, movies, series, video games to give you an idea! One Piece, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Dragon Ball, Ataque a Titán, Fairy Tail, Sailor Moon, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, La leyenda de Zelda, Alice: Madness Returns, Metroid, Liga de Leyendas, Resident Evil, Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Nier: Automata, Star Wars, EVERY PRINCESS OF THE DISNEY MOVIES! Haha (sorry), Spiderman, Batman, X-men and the list goes on and on and on ............................. ... I hope this gives you an idea of what I am preparing for the future.
What do you think of the criticism about the sexualization of your cosplays?
It is a very sensitive topic, there are many misconceptions about wearing a sexualized cosplay, I'm not against it, as long as the original character is already sexualized, in other words, I don't like it when cosplayers sexualize a cosplay when the original character is not like that, for example a sexy Snow White or a sexy Pikachu, unfortunately many cosplayers think that showing more skin is better, or they can be famous faster, but somehow I understand because everyone likes that, they prefer a sexy Snow White than an exact and complex princess dress, I honestly think the world needs to change their idea of what cosplay really means to change what cosplayers think is best than simply sexualizing their cosplay, therefore there is a lot of work to be done
What are your favorite materials to work with and which are the most difficult? Do you have a story that you want to share with us?
Favorite materials are EVA foam, contact cement, hot glue gun, acrylic paint, and worbla pretty much everything haha. I find it more difficult to work with EVA compared to worbla because you have to make a lot of sand in it, but it's cheap and to be honest a lot of time you have to save a lot of money to get a good cosplay, worbla is easier to manipulate but it's very expensive! Mmmm I'm not sure if I have a story to share ... ..nop, I have nothing sorry (* u *)
It is a very sensitive topic, there are many misconceptions about wearing a sexualized cosplay, I'm not against it, as long as the original character is already sexualized, in other words, I don't like it when cosplayers sexualize a cosplay when the original character is not like that, for example a sexy Snow White or a sexy Pikachu, unfortunately many cosplayers think that showing more skin is better, or they can be famous faster, but somehow I understand because everyone likes that, they prefer a sexy Snow White than an exact and complex princess dress, I honestly think the world needs to change their idea of what cosplay really means to change what cosplayers think is best than simply sexualizing their cosplay, therefore there is a lot of work to be done
What are your favorite materials to work with and which are the most difficult? Do you have a story that you want to share with us?
Favorite materials are EVA foam, contact cement, hot glue gun, acrylic paint, and worbla pretty much everything haha. I find it more difficult to work with EVA compared to worbla because you have to make a lot of sand in it, but it's cheap and to be honest a lot of time you have to save a lot of money to get a good cosplay, worbla is easier to manipulate but it's very expensive! Mmmm I'm not sure if I have a story to share ... ..nop, I have nothing sorry (* u *)
Yes it takes time but only the first time, over time you become a professional preparing for the convention! But comparing casual to cosplay this takes a long time. The hardest part for me, and it's probably just me, is that I usually wear contact lenses, I still remember the first time I was trying on my contact lenses for my Misty cosplay, It took me over half an hour to get one of them in my eye! I was crying like a baby as I was very frustrated, but over time I have learned to put them on and now sometimes I don't even need a mirror. Putting on makeup I still have a lot to learn, Alyson Tabbitha is amazing! I really want to learn how to make up like her. Styling a wig is a challenge, you can buy the wig you need for your cosplay or you can learn to design it to save money but there are a lot of challenges you have to overcome to do it, again I don't consider myself a professional in makeup or wig styling, because I'm still learning, but I'm sure I put a lot of effort into every cosplay project!