Zhuque Mercy V2

I made this costume based off Shadowborder Cosplay‘s redesign of Zhuque Mercy, with permission. I made the original version of this design for 2018, as seen in this post. This was one of three costumes I brought to my first trip to Germany in August 2019 for Gamescom, and Connichi.

Year: 2019
First debut: Wondercon 2019
Time Spent: 4 months

Awards: 

• Gamescom 2019 – Hydraforge Cosplay Contest Finalist (Group)

References:

Left Photo: @SchmelzerTobias | Right Photo: Sean McMunn

Design by Shadowborder Cosplay, Vectored Patterns by Sara (@cestlasara)

Casual photos in Germany

This was one of three cosplays that I packed with me on my very first trip abroad to Germany. I truly enjoyed this experience and I had the wonderful opportunity to learn a new culture and truly immerse myself in the cosplay community there. After this trip, I hope to return more in the future! I humbly thank Fynn and Lukas of team Shadowborder Cosplay for hosting my stay while I visited the country. We performed together at the cosplay contest at the Gamescom Cosplay Contest, did a photoshoot session with the Mercy cosplays with Martin (Refkletierte Wahrheit) in historic Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel, Germany, and wore these to Connichi.

Construction Progress

I created this costume over 4 months, while carefully studying the reference pictures that Fynn (Shadowborder Cosplay) was very kind enough to share with me of his own version. I made my own version by vectoring patterns to the shape of my body size and used high density foam and worbla as the base structures for my costume piece. For the colors, I used 4-way miliskin shiny spandex sewn over the foam and worbla. I then airbrushed shadows for gradient effects. I used a Brother Scan N Cut to draw the vectors I had created with Inkscape directly onto the back of the gold faux leather vinyl trims, which I had cut by hand with hobby knives. The wings were made of EVA foam and airbrushed.

Gamescom 2019 Cosplay Contest

Fynn (Shadowborder Cosplay) and I drafted a 1 minute comedy skit for the contest presented by Hydraforge, where we made it into the top 30 finalists to present on stage. Together, we collaborated on this project over Discord as we have not been able to meet in person until two days before the event where we rehearsed and finalized our presentation at Gamescom. Gamescom is an annual event centered around the gaming industry and its community held in Cologne, Germany.

Lunar New Year 2019 Collaboration Video Project

Fynn (Shadowborder Cosplay) and I each made our own individual costumes, and we also created this short video to deliver a positive message to our community: “We want to celebrate with you a fun new season of fresh beginnings, just like how this fun Zhuque Mercy cosplay project meant for us both. We aim to deliver a positive message that cosplay is not about competition and comparison, but rather an opportunity to uplift each other especially when we pursue similar projects. We both learned a lot from each other from sharing experiences in the journey of bringing our interpretations of Zhuque Mercy to life.” With our different cultures and backgrounds, we are able to share one unique hobby and identity within the art and fun of cosplay.

Vector Timelapse – Wing Pattern

Vector Timelapse – Bodice Pattern