Cosplay Feature: Sennedjem Cosplay
Hello and welcome to Andrew’s Cosplay Feature. I will feature a weekly cosplayer showing their work as well as questions about cosplaying and life in general.
This week I introduce to you Sennedjem Cosplay.
- How long have you been cosplaying?
I’ve been costuming in one sense or another since I was a kid, but I consider myself a cosplayer since my first con in 2012.
- Why did you choose Qrow Branwen to cosplay?
I knew fairly early on in watching RWBY that I’d end up cosplaying from it. My initial leanings were actually towards Lie Ren in the first couple volumes. And then Qrow showed up. His entrance in the show had me hooked almost immediately – his no-holds-barred attitude, his casual skill in a fight, his rough yet clearly displayed affection for his nieces. I’ve always been drawn to the ‘snarky loner with buried angst’ type of character, and Qrow falls right in there.
Another major factor was the fact that he’s a twin, because I’m a twin as well. Once Raven showed up, I bullied – that is, persuaded – my sister that she needed to cosplay Raven (since she introduced me to the show in the first place). We have a TON of fun as twins cosplaying twins.
Funnily enough, at first I wasn’t sure I wanted to cosplay Qrow, simply because I wasn’t a huge fan of his outfit through the first six volumes. But my love for the character overcame that, and I was able to add a lot of details and textures to an otherwise simple look that made me appreciate it more. I was THRILLED when he got a new wardrobe for volume seven – I really enjoy the fancier Qrow and immediately dropped all other plans to create the new cosplay once a few refs were available from the episodes.
- How long have you been watching RWBY?
I started watching back in fall of 2017. I was in a months-long recovery from a bad car accident, and RWBY honestly got me through that. It was a real support/comfort mechanism, being able to immerse myself in this fantastical world full of incredible characters. Despite how dark it can get, RWBY is a hopeful show about moving forward no matter the odds, and I needed that.
- What kind of materials did you use for your cosplay?
Especially when it comes to cosplaying from animated franchises, I like using fabrics with a lot of textures to bring an outfit to life. With Qrow, I didn’t want it to look like a costume – I wanted it to look like regular clothes that he would just wear around. Both old and new Qrow shirts are made of linen, with subtly textured cotton for contrasting parts. Both capes are actually made from thrifted polyester tablecloths (it seemed on brand, to be honest). V7 Qrow also has a thrifted undershirt, a dyed cotton waistcoat, and the vest that goes over it is a very strange upholstery sort of cotton that I found in the clearance bin that was precisely the weird green/brown mix I wanted.
Harbinger was my first venture into large-scale prop-building, if you can believe it! I used PVC as a core/for the hilt, and the rest is EVA foam, covered in worbla in a few places for solidity. I wrapped the hilt in suede leather and used a combo of spray and enamel paint for the rest. While it (sadly) doesn’t transform into a scythe, it does come apart at one of the blade segmentations for travel purposes.
- I see that you went to New York Comic Con in 2019. Can you describe your experience with your cosplays at New York Comic Con? How is New York Comic Con compared to other cons?
NYCC is definitely a LOT. As an introvert, I truthfully found it to be overwhelming the first time I attended, but I’m also very glad I’ve gone a couple times, just to have that experience. While you do see some incredible cosplays there, I think it’s also not the best place to showcase that – it caters to fans of all types, and cosplay is just a small portion of that. I personally prefer heavily cosplay-centric cons like Katsucon. That said, I did get quite a few people at NYCC who appreciated me in particular as Aziraphale (Good Omens) and Callum (The Dragon Prince).
- How many cons were you planning to go to in 2020 until 2020 decided to be 2020 and cancel everything?
I’m deeply thankful that Katsucon was able to happen before everything got shut down. That was at least a great con to start (and end) the year with. Ordinarily I would have been at Anime Boston in April, ConnectiCon in July, and likely Fan Expo Boston towards the end of the summer, but of course none of that happened. It’s for the best, of course, but there’s still disappointment.
- What are you planning on cosplaying next?
‘Next’ is sort of a wibbly concept right now haha. I’ve been working on Varian from Tangled the Series, so he’s likely the next to be finished, motivation providing (and that’s been the hard part). I’m very slowly picking away at one of my dream cosplays, Kell Maresh from the Shades of Magic trilogy, and I’ve got plans for cosplaying a couple of my own elf characters from different games. Also in progress is Ruby’s v7 outfit, I’m making that for a very dear friend of mine. Beyond those, I’ve got a LOT of plans, but no time frame at all for when they’ll be happening. I’ll just keep adding to the list!
You can find Sennedjem Cosplay online at:
Facebook: Sennedjem Cosplay
Instagram: Sennedjemcosplay
Twitter: Sennedjem
