Feature Friday: Tali XOXO
My friend David Ginsburg has a podcast that I got the chance to be on a few months ago, and I became a die hard listener. The podcast is Tales From the Fandom, and you can listen for free on iTunes. The other day I was listening to Episode 13: Tali XOXO, and I immediately had to go look this chick up. Her background was so interesting, and her cosplays were spectacular. After reaching out to her I knew that she also has a kind soul because she was very responsive and sweet. Make sure to read the rest of this feature to learn a little bit more about Tali.
What is your cosplay name? Tali XOXO
How did you come about your cosplay name? I wanted something different than Tali Cosplay on Facebook. I’m not very good with names.
What do you do when you aren’t cosplaying? I’m either working on a new costume, streaming that costume progress, or at the gym lifting as many heavy things as I can and sometimes I’m playing video games for my Youtube channel. I don’t really have much of a life outside of cosplay but every now and again I get to go somewhere amazing or see something cool. I’m a big fan of wrestling as well, so every Monday night I’m in front of the TV.
How old are you? I’m on the older side, I’m 27 right now.
How long have you been cosplaying? Honestly I started cosplaying by mistake, it wasn’t a conscious choice. I started making costumes for Halloween because I always wanted to be something that wasn’t sold in stores. I started by making Rikku from Final Fantasy and it just spiraled out of control from there.
I’d say I’ve been taking it seriously as my passion for about 5-6 years though, even though I’ve been making costumes WAY longer than that.
What made you want to start cosplaying? I’ve always been interested in costume design, I loved fairytales and anything whimsical as a kid and I wanted to be one of these fantasy princesses I loved so much. Eventually I got into anime with Sailor Moon and I just started making the costumes. I started cosplaying at my local anime con, Otafest, and just fell in love. It was a place I could finally be everything I idolized when I was younger.
Why do you continue to cosplay? I continue to cosplay because everytime I think I’m out a new character design comes out that I fall in love with and absolutely need to make. I still just love becoming characters. Of course, over time I’ve come to love the process as well. Planning the costume, making it, shooting in it, bringing it to a convention, and especially doing concept shoots with it. I love coming up with shoot ideas to showcase the costumes as best I can. I continue to cosplay because I love it, but I also love the people that I’ve met through it. I’m starting to be able to live off what I love and I just can’t stop, I need to see how far I can take it before moving on to something else.
After hearing your interview with David on Tales from the Fandom I was intrigued by your love of pro wrestling and video games. Tell us more about this love, and does this shock people when they first find out this fact about you? Hahaha, yeah if I’m not working on a costume chances are I’m talking about wrestling. I just love it, there’s nothing else that brings me the joy it gives me. I’m actually still a pretty recent fan too. I didn’t grow up watching it. I started watching because I asked about a Youtube video someone was watching and they proceeded to expose me to classic wrestling starting at Wrestlemania 1, now we watch every week, sometimes every day. I just became fascinated with it, the storylines, the showmanship, everything about it speaks to me. I had one of the best nights ever this year when we were gifted a pair of Money in the Bank front row tickets, I lost my mind that night. If I were a little younger I would honestly want to get into it myself. Most people are pleasantly surprised when they find out about my wrestling fandom, anyone who isn’t excited about it just doesn’t know what I’m talking about and then you just change topics.
As for video games I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember. I started with a NES, moved on to an SNES, which happened to be my brothers but I used it way more than he ever did. Video games were my first love, I could literally control the characters I loved so much, which was the closest thing to becoming them as I could get at the time. I played so many hours on those systems, I have great memories with them. Eventually I got a PS1 for Christmas and that was really the one that did it for me, JRPGs were my thing. This went for years over several different systems, my friends and I had so many guitar hero/rock band parties, I miss those.
Now I really only play something that I see a shred of interest in, I don’t have a lot of time to just sit back and play an 80-100 hour game anymore but that’s actually why I wanted to start my Youtube channel so it gave me an excuse to play video games again.
What are your favorite video games? That’s really tough, I’ve played so many in my life and I think the ones that left the biggest impact were much older. Off the top of my head a few favorites would be Legend of Dragoon, Silent Hill 2 and 3, Shadow Hearts 1 and 2, Guitar Hero of course, Final Fantasy 6 and 10, Odin Sphere. I have a lot of favorites honestly, it’s so hard to pick.
Do you constantly have cosplay in the back of your mind when playing a new game? Absolutely! I’ll develop an interest in a specific character and then that’s it, I’ll want to cosplay it. That happened a lot when I was younger.
You are a fitness enthusiast. How does your fitness affect your cosplay choices? I would be lying if I told you that my fitness was purely for health. It’s hugely impactful, but personally like to cosplay things that suit and flatter my body. I don’t have massive boobs and I’m fine with that, I have a great backside and I’m ecstatic about that, I love my legs and now I’m working on getting a great core. So a lot of the time I’m picking characters that fit my bodytype, like Cammy or Rikku. My fitness started off as a casual activity to keep from gaining weight, it grew into a confidence boost, and now it’s one of the most important things in my life. I’ve rid myself of so many self doubting habits, my anxiety is almost non-existent, I’m more confident than I’ve ever been and I believe that I can push myself further than I ever previously thought of myself. Being fit and healthy lets me better interact with the small community of people I’ve acquired, I’m not worried about my self image anymore, I know I’m capable of more and that lets me take my cosplay to the next level.
As someone who travels between Canada and the US a lot for cosplay do you see any major differences between the two cosplay communities? Or do they blend together well? When I first started cosplaying the communities were very different. I was travelling to Seattle a lot in my early years and it just seemed like they were miles ahead of the Canadian convention scene. Our cons were still so small, spread out and hardly anyone showed up compared to something like Sakuracon or Emerald City Comic Con. Currently, there isn’t much of a difference though, sure the sizing is still disparate from each other but the mentalities and the fans essentially the same, but I believe that’s just because Canada simply has less people in it not for a lack of interest.
What is your favorite convention to attend and why? That’s a tough one but I think I have the best memories at Sakuracon. I still have so many amazing friends in that area and it’s so much fun when we get to see each other again.
What is your dream cosplay? I feel like I’ve had so many different dream cosplays. Some of which I did and some I forgot but a couple that still stick around in my mind are KOS-MOS from Xenosaga, Super Sailor Moon and Princess Serenity, and currently I would absolutely love to be R.Mika from Street Fighter.
What cosplays are you working on right now? Right now I’m working on Tracer from Overwatch! I’ve been working on it for so long on and off, it’s been a big project that I just didn’t want to rush. I also just finished my Halloween cosplay which was Nurse Morrigan from Darkstalkers.
Do you have a negative experience that you have overcome as a cosplayer that other cosplayers can learn from? I’ve had really good fortune of meeting amazing people in the cosplay community, most of them have been amazing, inspiring people. Unfortunately, there are a few sour experiences I’ve had. My advice? Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing, focus on yourself and what you can do to move forward right now. Come up with as many new ideas as you can and try them all, don’t be afraid to make mistakes because they’re not all going to be winners. People are going to try to bring you down, there are a few bad people especially in the highest echelon of our community that will turn on you in a moments notice. Keep your head down and work on you.
You have achieved what some would consider “cosfamous status.” Was there a specific event or cosplay that was the tipping point for your success? Honestly I don’t consider myself cosfamous, this isn’t because I don’t think it exists but because I know that I haven’t reached it yet. There are so many things I still need to do to improve. It’s funny because most of the time I’m freaking out about how I’m not doing enough and need to be better. So no, there isn’t a specific event I felt that I became cosfamous, each one of my costumes gets to a varying degree of popularity and it’s just good feedback.
What is the best advice you have for other cosplayers? Do what you love, it’s so tempting to do what’s popular but in the end who cares? This is your craft, if you don’t love it then don’t do it. Don’t cut corners, improve your skills, don’t be afraid to learn or try new things and especially don’t hold yourself back. The only person standing in your way is you.
Anything else you want to add? Good luck and have fun!
Isn’t she just fantastic? She was so honest with her answers, and her work is spectacular. I can’t wait to see more from her in the future. Make sure to check out her social media links and the amazing photographers below. Leave a comment below with some love for Tali. Don’t forget to subscribe via email or Bloglovin’ to never miss a post!
Tali XOXO’s Social Media:
Website: www.talixoxo.comFacebook: Tali XOXO Cosplay
Twitter: @supertaunt
Instagram: @supertaunt
YouTube: Tali XOXO
Twitch: Tali XOXO
Photography Credits:
Zelda & Quiet- BigWhiteBazooka
Cammy- Jay Tablante