Next up in our Cosplay Meet & Greet series….
@Dezcreepcore & @HarleyQuinn_SLC
Trevor: Hey, it’s Trevor with Comic Con Tips. Today, we’re doing another cosplay photo shoot and interview. Today we have a couple guests with us. Go ahead and introduce yourselves..
Dez: I’m DezCreepCore. You can find me all over the interweb using DezCreepCore. That’s me.
Harley: (in Harley Quinn voice) Knock, knock puddin’! Say hello to your new, improved HarleyQuinn_SLC! (regular voice) Follow me on Twitter, Vine, and Instagram. Thanks.
Trevor: Nice! So, we’ve got two, cleary. Harley Quinn and Catwoman tonight. Let’s do one at a time. Dez, let’s have you tell us, how did you get started in cosplay?
Dez: I actually traveled a lot and during my travels in Asia, I went to a lot of anime conventions. I saw how beautiful people looked interpreting their own characters that I decided to start doing it myself- to just make my own interpretation of characters and show my love for characters. I started last year. I’m still a newbie.
Trevor: What costumes have you done so far?
Dez: I’ve done a David Tenant. I’ve done Daryl Dixon, Mario, Catwoman, Lulu from League of Legends, and I’m working on a Jack Harkness for Comic Con, from Torchwood.
Trevor: Nice. How about you, Harley?
Harley: Oh ya know, I’ve done Harley Quinn mostly. Right now I’m working on this awesome gender-bend cosplay, so that’s in the works right now. It’s the Hercules from that new movie?
Trevor: Hercules?
Harley: Yeah [laughter], with The Rock.
Trevor: So Hercules with Rock “The Dwyane” Johnson.
Harley: Yeah, he’s so hot.
Trevor: So are you doing a lion for your head then?
Harley: Yes! And I just got it- today.
Trevor: So what kind of lion did you use?
Harley: It’s a secret. Cosplayers don’t tell their secrets.
Trevor: It’s a secret! Where are you debuting it?
Harley: I’m debuting it probably at Comic Con Fan-X.
Trevor: Okay, so in the spring.
Harley: Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be done with it by September.
Dez: By next week [laughter].
Trevor: So, you (Dez) traveled a lot in Asia. . . How did you (Harley) get started?
Harley: I got started because I just went to my first Con.
Trevor: Which was?
Harley: My first Con was the first Con in Salt Lake City.
Trevor: So last year’s Salt Lake Comic Con?
Harley: Yep, last year’s Salt Lake Comic Con. I’ve been cosplaying ever since. I just kinda lost myself in it. I kind of embodied Harley Quinn. I just felt like… I was her, and I became her. I just practiced a lot, and then made my costumes.
Trevor: So what drew you into the Harley Quinn costume?
Harley: I had a dream [laughter]. I had a dream that the Joker kissed me and I was Harley Quinn. So I just went with it.
Trevor: So that’s what happened.
Harley: That’s what happened.
Trevor: When the Joker kisses you, then you turn into Harley Quinn [laughter].
Dez: I want Batman to kiss me.
Trevor: Then what happens?
Dez: Then I trap him in a closet.
Harley (in Harley Quinn voice) and I help you kill him.
Dez: No! Because I love, but I hate him. But I love him.
Trevor: So, cosplay community here. I know, Dez, you’re active in the cosplay community here a little bit. Are you (Harley) as well?
Harley: I’m really busy with school [laughter] and work.
Trevor: So not so much?
Harley: So not so much. But I try to. Every chance that I get, my hobbies, I just make—my goal is to make every Harley Quinn costume that there ever was.
Trevor: That there ever was and will be? Are you gonna invent some?
Harley: I already did [laughter].
Trevor: So, about the cosplay community, tell us how that’s been.
Dez: Here in Utah, it’s been really welcoming. I love taking a part of it because I feel very strongly that female geeks that are now actually coming out and just showing their love for everything are not being respected as much. My take on it is mainly girl power- embodying female characters that I love that are strong or gender bending male characters that I feel would be way cooler as females.
Trevor: So when you say they’re not respected as much, what do you mean?
Dez: I mean the bullying, the stereotyping, the – ya know – what everyone says, “You’re a fake geek girl. You’re not real. You’re just doing it for attention.” And it’s like, really? In high school, I was doing it for myself, and I had no one’s attention.
Trevor: So, are you running into this, yourself, right now?
Dez: Oh yeah. I still do.
Trevor: Like, at Cons? Tell us about that because I’m not really hearing your side of it very often.
Dez: Recently, when I was Daryl Dixon at Comic Con, I actually had a couple guys saying, “You only dress like his because he’s hot and you want people’s attention.” They had no I that I actually read all the comics, that I’m dead – serious fan of the series. People just don’t take me seriously, and I want to prove everyone wrong. There is such a thing as a real geek girl.
Trevor: How do we do that? Have you thought about that?
Harley (in Harley Quinn voice) By killing Batman.
Dez: By killing Batman. It’s all his fault. No, I think portraying a more positive image, having more of the girls actually come out and say they are geek girls and to not be afraid anymore gives us all that power. That, hey, we are here and we are here to stay. If you don’t want to respect me, then I don’t have time for you. Bye.
Trevor: Okay. That’s probably fair. Are you seeing that your friends are running into that kind of stuff also?
Dez: I had a friend that quit cosplay because of it.
Trevor: Really?
Dez: Yes.
Trevor: What were they portraying?
Dez: She was Black Cat, and people kept thinking that she just was dressing up as – sorry for my horrible language here but – a slutty, whorish cosplay just because she wanted attention. Her costume is accurate. But, no one bothered to ask her, “Why her?” or “What else do you love about her? Why do you like her?” Everyone just saw her as a girl trying to get attention. She got bullied so much she quit.
Trevor: Hopefully, we’ll get enough attention out there that that will maybe changing in the future. I’m hoping.
Dez: Yes!
Trevor: On a more positive note – because we’ve gotten a little on the serious side – what are you guys gonna do in the future? Any cool plans you can share? I know it’s really secretive sometimes.
Harley: Oh, yes.
Dez: Oh, yes.
Harley: We actually have another girl who is gonna be part of our little type of thing. What we want to do is we want to go to different Cons, we want to travel to different Cons, and we want to do booths. We’re thinking about doing “The Gotham Girls do Booths” as the Gotham Girls and sell prints. I’ve done some Harley Quinn modeling, and I want to sell some prints after I do my online store. We want to sell comic book-type of hand bags, phone cases, just accessories like shoes and everything. We want to sell that type of thing, and we want to do more than that–
Dez: We want to spread the message of strong females. We want to travel just so that message actually gets spread around the world one day.
Trevor: Do you get nervous when you’re trying to spread the word of strong females that a lot of the booths are just poster-oriented, maybe some decoration for your wall kind of a thing? Is that taking you seriously enough? Or is it respecting what you’ve got? I’m not sure on that one. What do you think? Because there’s a lot of girls that are doing the booths with the posters these days, right?
Dez/Harley: Yeah.
Trevor: What do you think?
Dez: I think I personally would love to sell. If I sell prints, the money would probably go towards different organizations that I’m interested in, probably animals because I love animals.
Harley: Yeah! Me too!
Dez: As far as the money, I’m not in it for the money. I’m in it to spread the message and to try and help raise money for organizations that I do care about.
Trevor: Cool. So, you didn’t give any hints about your future costumes yet. We kind of alluded to it—
Dez: I can release one. I am going to do a gender-bend, non-furry Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m hoping to do more renditions of Catwoman. The one that I’m wearing today is my own creation inspired by all her different outfits. But I truly, truly want to do her original cartoon, gray bodysuit outift. That’s my dream.
Harley: That’s what I’m gonna do to. I’m gonna do the classic Harley Quinn jester outfit.
Trevor: Okay. Nice. So, Rocket. Tell us about Rocket. Why Rocket?
Dez: He’s such a bad-ass, and he’s so tiny and adorable.
Trevor: How are you gonna pull off a Rocket that’s not furry?
Dez: I’m gonna do the ears and the tail, and I’ll probably do some makeup to get raccoon-y eyes. But I’m not gluing fur to myself. I’m going to do a–
Trevor: That Spirit Gum isn’t very awesome.
Dez: No. I actually had an allergic reaction to that.
Trevor: Did ya?
Dez: Yes, it was bad. I feel like I wanna make – I forget the correct term – gijinka. It’s that art where they make Pokemon and creatures into human form. I wanna bring Rocket into a human form, and make it look adorable.
Trevor: Material-wise, when you’re cosplaying, what are your favorite materials to work with?
Dez: I just learned how to worbla, and I’m in love.
Trevor: Worbla!
Dez: I’m so in love. It’s so fun.
Trevor: How about you, Harley?
Harley: Hot glue gun.
Trevor: Hot glue gun [laughter], favorite thing.
Harley: That thing, you can do anything with that thing. It takes a lot of glue to do stuff though.
Trevor: To build things directly out of glue?
Harley: [laughter] Genius! I’ve actually seen a good Spiderman web made out of hot glue gun.
Dez: That’s so cool.
Trevor: They have those actual glue guns with the nozzle that will spray them out. Have you seen that?
Harley: I’ve never seen that.
Trevor: You should check it out. There’s like a fan, glue gun, sprays out webbing.
Harley: I’m gonna be Webgirl [laughter].
Trevor: Webgirl! Awesome.
Dez: That’s funny.
Trevor: If there’s anything you wanna tell newbs doing the cosplay thing here in Utah, what would it be?
Dez: Do it! Don’t let anyone stop you. Try new things, and just whatever character you love, the first one that pops into your head, just do it. That’s what I did.
Harley: I think you’ve gotta be really, really passionate about it. You also have to do your history, you know what I mean. If you wanna be Harley Quinn, watch all the animated series. If you wanna be Harley Quinn, watch all of her new cartoons, like Attack on Arkham or whatever that new one is [laughter].
Trevor: Watch that one that you didn’t watch yet [laughter]?
Trevor: Let’s get five of your favorite cosplay tips since we are Comic Con Tips. Five of your best cosplay tips, go.
Harley: Be the character.
Trevor: Be the character. All the time. Even during your interviews.
Harley: All the time. Yes.
Dez: Give yourself enough time unless you work really well under pressure.
Trevor: So you mean before the Con, for building.
Dez: Before the Con, not the night before the Con.
Trevor: So, enough time, be the character. Three more.
Dez: Stay hydrated. I was outside working–
Harley: Wear flat shoes.
Trevor: Shoes are a good thing. One more, then you can tell your hydrated story… (whispers) Something about makeup…
Dez: Practice your makeup.
Trevor: Tell us your hydrated story.
Dez:
I was outside working on expanded foam for six hours straight, and I didn’t drink anything. I passed out.
Trevor: That was a sad and abrupt conclusion to your story.
Dez: It escalated quickly.
Trevor: I was doing this, and I passed out. That’s the end.
Dez: But then I woke up.
Trevor: Well, thank you. I appreciate you guys coming out today for our mini-shoot and quick interview. Why don’t you sign out by tell us how we can get ahold of you again.
Dez: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitch are all DezCreepCore.
Harley: HarleyQuinn_SLC on Twitter, Facebook, Vine, and Instagram. (In Harley Quinn’s voice): Bu-bye for now!
Trevor: Thanks, you guys!
Article originally published at ComicCon.tips here:
http://comiccon.tips/cosplay-meet-greet-dezcreepcore-harley-quinn/
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