Cosplayer of the Week: Lunar Lyn
Cosplayer of the Week: Lunar Lyn
Lunar Lyn is a cosplayer that I have admired for such a long time. I remember seeing her run around in various cosplays on the convention floor but never realized such amazing costumes came from the same person! It wasn’t until I traveled to Anime Expo in 2016 with Deegan Marie and helped her with a photo shoot that I actually got to meet Lunar Lyn. Obviously she is a very beautiful woman but I had no idea she was such a huge fan of Anime and various other geeky mediums like DC Comics and Star Wars!
She quickly went from “Oh hey, that is that really cool cosplayer, Lunar Lyn.” to:
and now when she is around all I can think to myself is “Don’t say or do anything stupid. Don’t make eye contact for too long! You are unworthy! She is a goddess!” and then wait until she gracefully passes by before I can return to my normal self. I’m sure I’m not the only one who acts this way either! She has won awards, been a judge for various masquerades and is just overall amazing!
I hope you enjoy our interview with Lunar Lyn!
The Geek Lyfe: There may be a few Geek Lyfers who have not seen your work before, would you be alright introducing yourself?
Lunar Lyn: Hi! My name is Karlyn, lots of people call me Lyn. You can follow my work through my cosplay handle, Lunar Lyn! I am a native of Arizona and grew up wearing a costume any chance I could get.
Which is now why I’m an adult, still putting on costumes for fun! I also LOVE anime, Star Wars, Zelda, and the fine arts!
TGL: How long have you been into cosplay and what led you down this path?
LL: I picked up cosplay in 2010. A few things happened all at once that made me fall in love with cosplay. I had a friend at my workplace at the time tell me about Phoenix Comicon moving to the downtown convention center and that I should check it out! So I did, and to my surprise, there were a few people wearing costumes to the convention! It was so cool and exciting that I immediately started getting out old costumes from high school, like my Queen Amidala throne room gown, and spent time to upgrade them and eventually wore them to conventions. I didn’t start competing with my costumes until 2015 though! A friend of mine introduced me to anime cons, which are my true love in conventions. The cosplay is SO my jam, and I love the way they run masquerades. Watching the Saboten Con 2014 masquerade is what made me finally get the guts to start competing. There were so many amazing costumes there and I knew competing is what would help push me to become a better artist. Now I am a completely self-taught seamstress!
TGL: What has been your favorite moment?
LL: Oh man, winning the Saboten Con 2016 masquerade Best in Show is probably my favorite so far. We all started that project MONTHS before that con. It was the hardest I had ever worked on a project and skit with a group. It was also stressful at moments because it was a lot on top of regular life, but it made it all SO worth it that the judges thought that our work deserved the recognition they gave us.
TGL: What was the worst day for you in your cosplay career, what happened, and how did you deal with it?
LL: It wasn’t the WORST thing ever but I had a situation where I was asked to work for someone at their convention but after I got sick and told them there was no way I could come out to California they didn’t even respond to me. I got notification that my hotel was canceled and they unfollowed me on all social media platforms. Which was hurtful and very unprofessional. It was the first time I felt that someone didn’t want me there because they actually liked my cosplay, they just wanted free labor. So that kind of sucked. But I got over it pretty quickly because I felt I had dodged a major bullet if that was the way they were treating cosplay guests.
Overall I’m pretty lucky, I haven’t really had any bad days doing this hobby. I have had the occasional inappropriate comment online that I just delete and forget about, haha.
TGL: When you aren’t doing this, what do you do in your spare time?
LL: I work in accounting at a small business in Scottsdale and I watch a ton of anime and kdramas! I also LOVE video games. Mostly Nintendo and obscure PC games. When finances allow, traveling is my number one favorite thing to do.
TGL: What geek medium(Video Games, Comic Books, Novels, Movies etc.) made the biggest impact on your life and why?
LL: MANGA. Omg, I cannot even begin to tell you how big of an impact the TokyoPop Sailor Moon manga had on me as a preteen/teenager. The art in those comics is gorgeous to begin with, but the story is tragic, beautiful, sad, and sweet. I love the strength and bond that those girls have, individually and with each other. I loved their elemental powers and the colors that represent each character. Also, Mamoru is hot. Haha! I’m a sucker for “magical girls” in Japanese entertainment but Sailor Moon will always have a special place in my life.
TGL: You can bring one fictional character to this world to be your best friend for life. Who is it and why?
LL: Hmmmmm…
Okay so I’m gonna cheat a little here. And perhaps prove how big of a nerd I actually am. I would want the entire Fairy Tail Guild to be real and all be my friends! Fairy Tail (anime and manga) has made me feel the same way I feel about Sailor Moon over the last 4 years. You get to where you feel a real bond and love towards those characters! You get to know them in very personal ways because you see some of the most painful or joyful things happen to their lives. You can’t help but connect to that. The author recently announced the end to Fairy Tail is approaching and I was a WRECK. I love those guys!
TGL: Do you have any projects in the near future we should be excited to see?
LL: Hera Syndulla from Season 3 of Star Wars: Rebels! I started this one over a year ago and it kept getting set aside but I am finishing her for this July’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA! I have already made mockups and bought the coolest fabrics. I even got her pistol 3-D printed so I have a lot of work to do finishing everything in the next few months.
TGL: Out of the costumes you have done in the past, which one has been the most difficult and why?
LL: I still tell people this one was the hardest costume ever, so far. My Love Live idolized maid costume! It is still the only costume I’ve legit cried over. I think it’s because NONE of it was from a commercial pattern. I completely patterned the entire thing from scratch, because I had to, and it was before I even knew I could do such a thing. It helped me grow leaps and bounds as a seamstress when I made that thing a year ago. It also is one of the more expensive costumes I’ve ever made. It has custom printed fabrics, glass beads, and Swarovski crystals all over it.
The only thing that can rival this will probably be my new Hera I’m working on right now. Soooo much detail.
TGL: What advice do you have for any aspiring cosplayers out there?
LL: Ignore the people that tell you what cosplay is or isn’t. Cosplay is something different for everyone and means something different to each person. That’s what makes it so fun! Do cosplay for you and how you like it. There needs to be less negativity in the world in general but especially in our small fan groups of dressing up as fictional characters. We need to be kind and accepting to each other more, if we could all work on that, it would make cosplay and the convention scene a much more welcoming and fun environment to be a part of. And if not, do what I do and just ignore it have fun anyway! 
We want to give a huuuuge shout out to Lunar Lyn for taking the time to chat with us! She is mind blowingly great at cosplay and absolutely deserves your attention! Be sure to check out her shenanigans on Facebook!
Photographers are Deegan Marie Photography, Courtex Studios, and Tony Julius Photography.
Chicano | Fighting/Writing for Diversity | DM since 08 | Anime Lover | Site: https://www.thegeeklyfe.com | info@thegeeklyfe.com | http://twitch.tv/that_deangelo | https://linktr.ee/deangelomurillo
Post a Comment
