Some of you who have been following the page for a while may know that sometimes we collaborate with Titans of Cosplay. Anyone who follows our Twitter will see that Eddie regularly teases him and fights with him. Sometimes if you see Eddie at MCM you will see a guy tagging along. Anna has joined forces with him to help him out on RWBY cosplay and Critical Role Cosplay. But who is Titans of Cosplay? He seems to know a lot of people and interacts with many cosplayers online but not many people know much about him so I decided to interview him!
So tell me, how did Titans of Cosplay start and why did you start sharing cosplays?
Titans of Cosplay began back in 2012 when I first discovered cosplay and the work of Ayriath, Birds of Play and Vampy Bit Me. I noticed that there wasn’t many cosplay sharing pages that actively credited cosplayers or the ones that did routinely focused only on the big names and ignored lesser known cosplayers.
You tend to include not just tags but links to cosplayer’s pages and Instagrams, why do you do this?
I feel it’s important to not only credit the cosplayer/photographer but also to include a link where people can see more of their work. If someone discovers a new favourite cosplayer or are amazed at a photographers work, I wanted to provide a way where that person can support the cosplayer/photographer more.
Are there any cosplayers, photographers or pages that have really made an impact with you or inspired you over the years?
Eddie and Anna of Food and Cosplay have helped massively move from just sharing cosplayers work to actually taking photographs and providing assistance with shoots and editing photos. I love the Spider-Gwen comic book series and this was due to seeing the cosplays of Hendo Art and Maid of Might.
You also run a number of other pages, the Carol Corps, Spiderverse, RWBY cosplay and most notably Critical Role Cosplay, why do you run so many different pages?
While Titans of Cosplay covers a wide range of fandoms and cosplays from those fandoms. I often want to feature content that I have a specific interest in but I don’t want to show favouritism to a specific fandom. Therefore I branch off those interests into other pages where I can share content I enjoy, but not have to worry about featuring too much of the same content on ToC. Carol Corps comes from a deep love of the Captain Marvel comic books (specifically Kelly Sue DeConnick’s run on the character), SpiderVerse because I’ve been reading spider-man books since my early teens, RWBY Cosplay because I felt there was a audience for it already waiting in the RT community.
Critical Role Cosplay was something where I saw there was a opportunity for something truly unique and it started off as something small and simple then grew into something else entirely.
Critical Role Cosplay is probably your most successful venture besides Titans of Cosplay, how do you feel about the community and the support you’ve received from fans and even the cast of Critical Role?
Critical Role Cosplay is a labour of love and I put a lot of my own spare time into the operation of the page. The response to the page from critters and the cast themselves has been really amazing. I didn’t expect to get a feature on Geek & Sundry or a follow from Matt Mercer & Liam O’Brian from Critical Role when the page launched months ago. It’s been amazing to see the page grow in support and it makes me want to work harder on ensuring the page represents the Critter Cosplay Community at it’s best.
How do you hope to expand Titans of Cosplay or any of your other endeavours in the future?
While I enjoy working on ToC and always will, Critical Role Cosplay and it’s continued growth has meant putting more time into this page than any other. CR Cosplay recently launched interview features with other Critter Cosplayers and I would love to expand this to include costume tutorials or going to more conventions to photograph critters. The unique growth behind the page has allowed it to serve the Critter Community better.
You have had your fair share of drama over the years from trolls trying to put down cosplayers to cosplayers giving you a hard time about sharing photos, how do you usually deal with all the different issues that come your way?
I always try to keep drama to a minimum on all of the various pages. However there are times where I do feel the need to call out those who shame or mock cosplayers. When it comes to complaints about the sharing of photos, I try to be understanding as possible. It isn’t always possible to please everyone all the time but I try to make sure the pages are accommodating as much as possible.
While there are other pages that aren’t as concerned with crediting cosplayers or photographs, I feel it’s important that all of the pages I operate are as respectful as possible.
How do you think your life has changed since starting Titans of Cosplay?
Running ToC has led to me being a lot more open and outgoing than I certainly was before. It’s led to trying new things (I learned of Critical Role, RWBY and My Hero Academia through cosplayers) and it’s allowed me to try photography and understanding of how social media operates. Going to conventions has allowed me to grow a circle of friends who I wouldn’t have known otherwise and to be more understanding of the lifestyles and culture of other people.