Becoming someone else might sound impossible, but for senior Bri Rucker, it’s just part of the hobby.
As a cosplayer, they dress up as fictional characters, design costumes, props, and makeup looks, and post videos in-character for an audience of 35,000 TikTok followers.
If it sounds like a lot, it’s because it is.
However, for them, doing cosplay is worth it for its supportive community and potential for joyous self-expression.
Their journey into the hobby began during the COVID-19 lockdowns, but their interest was piqued long before that. As a self-proclaimed theater kid, they held a deep love for costumes and makeup, but they were also intrigued by prop-making, which they had never done before.
“The pandemic was definitely a catalyst,” Rucker said.
Having the time and resources to begin getting into cosplay allowed them to “start making stuff, and experimenting with makeup and characters that I enjoyed, and new pieces of media that I felt that I wanted to convey in a more true-to-myself way,” they said.
Their process, which they cataloged on TikTok, started small.
“My first video was me, in a corner, wearing a normal shirt with makeup on my face, and that was it,” they said.
Over time, they began to try a few more ambitious ideas and cultivated a small following.
Then, a video they posted went viral.
“I had about 82,000 likes on [the viral video],” Rucker said. “It’s my most seen video of all time. It got me from 200 followers to about 5,000 in a week.”
Although they acknowledge the similarities between theater and cosplay, they see a big difference, too: when they cosplay, they are their “own everything,” Rucker said. “I was the set designer, I was the sound designer, I was the lighting designer, I was the actor, I was the makeup person and also the clothing designer, and everything. I was the entire production by myself.”
With the demands of junior and senior year, their online presence has taken a backseat since last fall, but they’re not stepping away from cosplay for good.
“I think I stopped posting consistently around junior year, right around this time,” Rucker said. “But I’ve got lots of ideas for projects that I want to continue doing.”
Becoming someone else is a thrill that’s hard to put down, Rucker said, especially with full creative freedom to add artistic takes and share them with a wide audience.