Tracer

Fandom: Overwatch | Time: ~ 7 weeks, ~ 8 hours/day | Cons: PAX West 2019

personal Essay

Author’s Note: This was written for my college applications, so if the writing feels different from my other cosplay pages, that’s why. I do plan to write an official introduction to Tracer specifically for this page soon. Stay tuned!

The bells on the door jingled as I entered the makerspace; today was the day. The day I was going to finish my costume. It had been seven weeks since I started working nearly everyday on my cosplay. Seven weeks of tireless work morning to night, through frustration and glory, all in a huge test of my grit. I was planning to wear it to a gaming convention that weekend, so I needed to have it completed. The costume design I had chosen demanded skills ranging from sewing a leather jacket to programming LEDs for the foam chest piece, and I challenged myself to create it all from scratch. Imagining myself in full costume and character, walking around at the convention, was the reason I worked so arduously. It brought me incredible joy to watch onlookers’ faces as I spoke in the character’s accent because I knew I had made their day a little brighter. Glancing around at the nearly finished pieces, I sat down at the large craft table, plugged in the hot glue gun, shuffled my playlist, and focused on the task at hand.

One of the skills I have possessed for years is knowing how to learn. My mother has had a handwritten note up on the wall for years that reads “if you teach your children how to learn, they will be able to learn anything.” My parents took that to heart, teaching me how to learn through homeschool. Now when I am curious about a technique or skill I think would be useful to know, I do not hesitate to leap right in. The challenge of learning new skills was one of the reasons I chose the design for my costume: I had never programmed LEDs for wearable art, created a pattern from scratch, or spiked a wig, but I desired to have those skills. 

I reached for the small notepad containing my to-do lists from past days. The morning light poured in through the large windows as I began to compose a new daily task list. I began working on the chest and back pieces of the costume. Through crunching numbers and lots of testing, I had created vector designs that could be uploaded to the makerspace’s laser printer and perfectly cut out foam pieces using the high-powered laser beam. However, the design process was slow and painful, and added to my growing list of struggles: taking an animated design and transferring it to the real world, discovering that programming LED lights to pulse is a lot harder than it looks, and the failure of creating the bracers too small for my arms, ultimately wasting time and material. Yet the moment I tried on my finished costume, I was awestruck by the result.

Everything I was wearing had started from a pile of fabric and foam. Glancing at my family as we rode the escalator up to the gaming convention, I realized that I had them to thank. I had done most of the work, but it was my parents who inspired my geekiness to cosplay through years of epic homemade Halloween costumes and helped develop my creativity and curiosity. Stepping onto the convention floor in full costume and makeup, the feeling of accomplishment truly set in. I was proud of what I had created. The process had pushed me to the limits of my skill and grit, but I came out of the experience with knowledge I did not previously possess and faith that I can tackle just about anything thrown my way. I desire to learn, to do something that no one has done before, and cosplay is something I can use to feed that desire. I do not know what the future holds for me in terms of cosplay, but whatever may come, I am ready. I have pushed my limits before and I will push them again.

 

Gallery

 

Side-By-Side Comparison

 
 
 

Tracer’s Message

I filmed this for a collaboration with Emerald City Comic Con and The PNW Guild of Cosplayers. They are promoting a wonderful activity for kids stuck at home, check it out here 》EmCity2020.com/DreamCosplay

 
 
 

Process

Materials used:

 

  • Various fabric

  • EVA Foam

  • Adafruit Neopixels

  • Adafruit Trinket

  • Arda Wigs’ Jaguar Classic in Spanish Brown

  • Acrylic paints

  • Plastidip

  • 3D printed PLA plastic

  • Various elastic & strapping

  • Neodymium magnets

  • Industrial velcro

  • Airbrushed details

 

I took most of my photos on my Instagram story, which means (regrettably) they often have text over them. However, they are all saved to two highlights called Tracer Pt. 1 & Pt. 2. You can watch them here.

Alternatively, I have saved and cropped the ones that are salvageable and set them up in a gallery-style grid below.