Cosplayer of the Month: Kaypickle

I can still recall the first time I saw Kaypickle, it was at Phoenix Comicon Fanfest of 2014. I spotted a small woman dressed as an adorable Teemo and snapped a photo. I didn’t give it a second thought until I went to Saboten in 2015 where I saw her decked out in stilts, strutting her stuff in an incredible Female Rengar cosplay with full on LED lights and everything. Seeing these two awesome cosplays worn by the same person automatically made her jump from someone who enjoys cosplaying to a legit cosplayer in my mind.

When I finally had the chance to talk with her I was blown away by how kind she was! Not only was she adorable, brimming with talent but also quite humble and kind. I knew I had to interview her!

Without further ado, here is my interview with Kaypickle:

The Geek Lyfe: Although I am a fan of yours, there may be a few readers who have not seen your work before, would you be alright introducing yourself?

Kaypickle: My name is Krista Lindner, but my friends call me Kay or Pickles. I’ve been cosplaying for 2 and a half years now, and I live in Phoenix Arizona!

TGL: I’ve followed you for sometime yet never learned the origin story! Could you tell us how you got into cosplay and what led you to where you are now?

KP: Back when I use to work at GameStop, we had a launch party for a new Halo game coming out! I was so excited, there was going to be games, giveaways, rock climbing walls, people dressing up and more. My friend Daniel Toledo came to the midnight launch in this amazing Spartan cosplay! I was so intrigued and excited about it that I wanted to make my very own. I did a lot of research, and did many attempts, but sadly failed. So I began working on smaller projects trying to learn different methods and techniques. I started making new friends in the cosplay community that really helped me learn and grow! It actually wasn’t till last year that I finally started to get to a point where I was proud of my work. I have a lot of Senpai’s that got me to where I am today, and I couldn’t be more grateful!

TGL: When you aren’t doing awesome cosplays, what do you do?

KP:  When I’m not doing anything cosplay related, I’m mainly geeking it up playing video games on the Xbone, or League of Legends on the computer. I also live and breathe my job at Apple! I can actually say I enjoy going into work everyday.

TGL:   What geek medium (Video Games, Cosplay, books, movies etc.) would you say has impacted the most and why?

KP:  I have to say Video Games has really impacted my inner Geek. Mostly all my cosplays are video game related. It’s all thanks to my dad, who introduced me to the Star Wars game on the Nintendo 64!

TGL: What has been your favorite moment in your cosplay career?

KP:  I wouldn’t call what I do a career, but more of a really fun hobby that I enjoy! My favorite moment within this hobby has to the girls bathroom at Saboten Con. I know, I know, it sounds weird, but one time my phone went off in the bathroom, and it’s the sound in Halo where when you shoot a Grunt in the head and confetti flies out of it and kids cheer. Well the bathroom gets silent, and one girl says, “Did someone just get a headshot?” I came out of the stall and said, “You know you’re home when people recognize you’re nerdy ringtones.” Then the group of girls started getting excited because they recognized me from my Facebook page and wanted to get pictures with me! (outside the bathroom of course) I was blushing a lot, and it really warmed my heart that people really appreciated my craft.

TGL: What was one major conflict you have faced or do face and how did you resolve it?

KP:  I’m a huge believer in “cosplay who you want”, “dress how you want”, just do you! At Fan Fest 2015, I ran into a group of older men, telling this girl that she was way to fat to be wearing the cosplay she was wearing, the poor girl was standing there in tears! I stepped in and told them they had no right to tell her she shouldn’t cosplay because of her weight, and it’s about having fun, and being someone else that you admire. Eventually, I caused so much commotion that more people started rallying behind her as well. The guys were later asked to leave the convention for bullying. I’ve always heard stories of this happening to people, to actually witness it, blew my mind!

TGL: You can choose a single League of Legends champion to come to the real world and be your best friend. Who do you choose and why?

KP:  Oh my gosh! I’ve actually have thought about this before! If I could have one League of Legends champion come to life and be my best friend, it would be Gnar. Hands down! He’s so cute and cuddly, we would cosplay it up together, enjoy long jogs through the jungle, and if he gets enough rage power, he can destroy all that is evil! Muwhahahaha! But in all seriousness, his cuteness level is over 9000!

TGL: Do you have any projects in the near future that we’d be excited to see?

KP:  I’m actually working on a two pretty big projects! One coming up for Phoenix Comicon that I’m not really allowed to talk about, but I’m so excited, and I can say that it’s a collaboration piece between two very amazing, and well known artists! So stay tuned for that. And the second one I’m working on is a 7ft tall Gundam, Epyon to be exact, with my other friends doing other Gundam’s as well. It’s definitely going to be my biggest project yet, but I’m super stoked for it!

TGL: I see you’ve made some amazing League of legends cosplays! What would you say your all time favorite moment playing League was?

KP:  My all time favorite was when I topped lane Teemo. As well all know, Teemo is super squishy, and not the best character to play unless you know how to build him, that is. My team and I
were pushing towards the Nexus, middle lane, when the enemy team came out of no where, from all angles, and started to annihilate us. Before I knew it, my whole team was down, and they were after me. So I’m running through the jungle, with half health mind you, heading up towards their Nexus. My teams pinging me to fallback, but I have a mushroom field just up a head. I lead them all right through the mess. I turn right back around and head into the crowd. Double kill! Triple kill! Quadra kill! I have on guy left, I’m close to being out of health, so I start running towards our base, and tell my team, “FOR THE PENTA!” They start pining me like crazy to fallback, but I turn back around, circle around him, throwing mushrooms, and using my last bit of mana, and then! PENTA KILL! I seriously couldn’t believe it. A Teemo Penta kill. Best. Moment. EVER!

TGL: What advice do you have for any aspiring cosplayers out there?

KP:  My advice is never forget cosplay is about having fun, and cosplaying what you want to cosplay! No matter what size, shape, color, gender, etc. you are, do you! If you aren’t having fun, then you’re doing it wrong, or maybe you’ve just ran a seam ripper through your project three times now, and just need to step away for a couple of minutes. Always give credit where credit is due! The cosplay community is super tight, and we may not know right away, but we always find out about when you’re lying about whether you made something or not, just be honest! You don’t have to make your own costume to cosplay! There are many people out there who do it for their career, so it’s ok to wear someone else work, or buy that fancy maid outfit you found on Ebay! What really matter is that you’re having fun while doing it! Lastly, never be afraid to ask question. I didn’t get where I am today in my prop making if it weren’t for all the amazing cosplayers who helped me by answering a few questions.

I want to give a huge thanks to Kaypickle for taking the time out of her busy cosplay crafting sessions to answer a few of our questions! She seriously is one of the best people I know so be sure to give her cosplay page a ton of love!

Photos by Modelmosa, Tony Julius Photography, and Madonia Photography.