Alexandra Hostess on WoW, brutality and sexual cosplay
In Moscow, started exhibition of interactive entertainment "Igromir". Within its framework this year, for the first time, “Russian Comic Con” is held - a congress of fans of pop culture from comics to gadgets and, not least, cosplayers - masters of reincarnation in their favorite characters. Many do it professionally, and someone just comes in the original image for the sake of entertainment and meeting with like-minded people. Cosplay has long been a mass phenomenon all over the world, and in Russia its popularity is only growing every year. We talked with six characters, for whom cosplay has become an important part of life, about their characters, about how they regularly dress in a costume, why they do it and how it changed them.
Alexandra Hostess
23 years old, cosplaying Paladin from World of Warcraft
I still have a hammer, but it's uncomfortable to wear it
I have been practicing cosplay for over six years. I decided to show one of my best and first images, a paladin from World of Warcraft, a set of Justice. This costume took more than three prizes, now I’m working on many other images of the Blizzard Entertainment gaming company - I will probably show them on Igromir.
The costume can be ordered to the craft, but I do everything myself: I try to find the 3D model of the character or his costume, I study all the details in a proper way - I try to take every little detail into account. I transfer the scheme to paper and then recreate it in a 3D model - so, gradually, a costume is created.
I practiced paladin for half a year. Many represent all paladins as Uther the Lightbringer, one of the key characters in the "Warcraft" universe. He is, of course, one of the best, famous hero, but my paladin is closer to me. I wanted to convey with this suit the concept of the set itself - there are a lot of them in the game, 17, if I'm not mistaken, but I chose the second one, which was created seven or even eight years ago. He is still considered one of the best, most beautiful and memorable, and usually when someone sees me at a festival, he immediately guesses the set: “Oh! This is Tier 2! Armor of Justice!” (my kit is so called).
I like not "magic" in flying silks that run from behind and cast spells, but brutal women
In this paladin everything is carefully worked out. For example, on the seals on the torso are not just scribbles - these are Latin expressions, for example, "Through thorns to the stars", "I always carry everything with me", or "Veni vidi vici" - "I came, I saw, I won." I tried to look at the model and understand what was written there, but it was impossible - so I wrote something that was close to me. And my top seals were made according to art: I made them from beads, it took me at least five hours. The elements themselves are made of papier-mâché - it is primed, skins for a long time and is painted with acrylics.
In WoW, I play as a paladin, for a bloody elf. At the same time, it is impossible to say which of the factions in WoW is positive and which is negative, it is impossible. These are two constantly hostile forces: the Alliance and the Horde. Each has its own principles and history - Blizzard is now trying to turn the history of the world, but everything is so twisted and confused that you can’t even explain, we can only say that for now the forces of the Alliance outweigh. I like game images, although I haven't been playing in WoW for two years now. For two or three years, I cherished my dream of an idiot - I wanted to make a paladin. After six months of work, I have been working on some other things.
Such an atypical female role may be very inspiring to me, it is a peculiar stimulus. I love warriors: Red Sonya or Xena, warrior queen. In such warlike and masculine images I feel at ease. I do not like some "little magic" in flying silk that runs from behind and reads spells. I like some brutal women.
I try as close as possible to convey the beauty of the kit itself - without undressing and sexualizing the image. There are, of course, a lot of fanart options, where they depict this set with armor, more open belly or legs, stockings are added, and so on. But I always try to repeat the character as accurately as possible. I do not pursue the idea of making the costume sexy. If there is an image, it should be embodied, no need to undress, no need to simplify. I don’t really like it when they try to make the image easier and simpler, to make it more frank - it seems to me that this is wrong. I do not really like cosplay, where - no offense to anyone - in fact, there is no costume.
I once made a suit to order, I got money for it, but for me it was a very tedious process. I realized that this is not mine - I can not do something that is not close to me, unlike those characters that I love. For me, cosplay in the first place - is getting pleasure from playing up the character, from creating a costume - if the character is not interesting to me, I just can not.
Photographer: Alexander Karnyukhin