L E M O N

Hi, there! My name is Lemon. I was born in South Korea, moved to the US as a kid, and lived in Alaska for nearly 20 years. I've been cosplaying since 2008, but took a hiatus from 2016 until 2022 when I moved from Anchorage, AK to Boston, MA.I mostly try to travel and attend nearby conventions in the New England area, but also some in the west coast occasionally. Regardless, you will always see me at Anime Boston every year for sure!If you recognize me at conventions, please feel free to say hello, chat, and take a photo with me! I absolutely enjoy meeting new friends especially at conventions and it's one of the main reasons why I attend them.I also draw fanart and sell fan-made merchandise on my online store (Etsy). I'd greatly appreciate it if you can at least take a moment to check it out!At the moment, I'm very much obsessed with Final Fantasy XIV, Yakuza, Jujutsu Kaisen, Tokyo Revengers, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. So, if you also happen to be into any of these, I'd love to chat with you about them!I am also fluent in English, Korean, and Japanese, so please feel free to converse with whichever of these three languages you're most comfortable with.

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con experiences:

I've been cosplaying and going to conventions since 2008. I couldn't travel to any out-of-state conventions until 2015 because I was still a minor and didn't have the best source of income to afford it. Therefore, I've only been to local conventions and cosplay events in Alaska prior to 2015. But now that I am an adult and moved to Massachusetts, I've been mostly traveling to New England/East Coast conventions.At conventions, I mainly attend cosplay gatherings, photoshoots, and go shopping at the Dealers Hall and Artist Alley. Depending on the topic, I will attend some panels throughout the day as well. And because I don't necessarily cosplay competitively, I only attend events such as cosplay competitions, the masquerades, etc. if my friends are participating in them.I am, however, thinking about participating in either cosplay chess and Death Match in the near future. I used to participate in cosplay chess annually at one of the local conventions back in Alaska. Seeing it again at Anime Boston when I moved to Massachusetts made me feel nostalgic!Other than that, I primarily attend conventions to simply hang out with friends, make new friends, show off my cosplays, and nerd out!

cosplay experiences:

For the most part, I purchase my cosplays off of online shops such as Doki Doki Cosplay, Taobao, etc. And depending on the costume, I'll sometimes try to improvise it myself. I have made a few cosplays entirely from scratch before, though. My cosplays of Hinamori Amu (Shugo Chara!), Hinamori Momo (Bleach), Homura Akemi (PMMM), Haku (Naruto), and Hide (X JAPAN) are some of the ones I've made entirely from scratch. I hope to make a couple more again soon!I also used to take wig commissions internationally as my main source of income earlier in the years. So, I feel my skills are definitely stronger in wig styling than costume making. While I do not take wig commissions anymore, I still enjoy styling wigs and offer to style them for free to close friends!As for makeup, I'm no professional but I'm always down to give people tips on cosplay makeup and makeup/skin care in general. I don't think I've actually started getting into cosplay makeup until around my fourth year of cosplaying. I used to go for more dramatic looks back then, but now I try to go for a more subtle/natural style while still giving the character... Character.

The top three are ones from 2013-2015 while the bottom three are more recent ones.

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What happened between 2016 & 2022?

One of the two main reasons why I almost quit cosplaying was because I had entered college. Being a full-time student while also working part-time, I had no time to invest in my favorite hobby of cosplaying and going to conventions. The second reason requires a bit of a story.Prior to 2016, I used to go by a different cosplay alias, Ren-Chan Cosplay or Ren Kimura. I will admit - being immature as I was back then, I was more focused on becoming a "big name fan" in the cosplay community. So, I would primarily try to befriend other popular cosplayers in the community for that reason. There was one cosplayer I wanted to connect with, but no matter what I tried, they seemed far too intimidating and never welcoming. Because of this, I had been sharing my said impression of this cosplayer to other cosplay friends in my circle, but I tried to distance myself from them and mind my own business.One day, I was hosting a campaign on my cosplay page and realized a little late that this cosplayer was also doing a very similar campaign as I was. Not wanting to cause any misunderstanding, I went to send them a message until I saw a vague post they made, stating how they despised people copying their ideas. I immediately assumed this post was about me and felt bad, so I commented apologizing and that I'd be more than happy to take mine down and do something else. In response, they commented back stating it was not about me.However, they made yet another vague post immediately afterwards that clearly seemed targeted towards me, stating how annoying it is when people assume their vague posts is about them, "but if the shoe fits."That was when I got incredibly upset and blew up. I bad-mouthed about this cosplayer to someone, who I thought I could trust but ended up snitching on me, which led to the cosplayer and their circle to create a fake account under my cosplay alias with my cosplay photos and post embarrassing things. And this is what led me to leave the cosplay community for those six years.I will say, however, those six years gave me time to reflect not only on the unfortunate event, but also on myself - how I should portray myself in the community, how I should be cosplaying, who I should be friends with and who I shouldn't. While I can confidently say that I am glad to return to the community and enjoy my favorite hobby once again, I cannot say that the way I was bullied out of the community doesn't upset me to this day still. At the same time, I do wholeheartedly hope the cosplayer is doing better both as a person and in life.Sharing this story, I would also like to remind everyone that regardless of whether you're cosplaying as a hobby or as a profession - bullying or looking down on others is wrong. At the end of the day, we're all nerds simply expressing our love for the character and the series - there shouldn't be a place for any negativities like this.Also, if you happen to recognize me from my old alias... Hi. I hope you've been well. Please feel free to reach out to me on my social media(s) if you'd like to reconnect because I certainly wouldn't mind that - I'd love to reconnect! This stays true even if we didn't have the best interactions back then. From now on, I wish to just have fun cosplaying, going to conventions, meeting both old and new friends, and spreading positivity in the community.

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Art as a hobby

Aside from cosplaying, I also do digital art as a hobby! I no longer take commissions, but I do make fan-made merchandise and sell them on my online shop! If you'd like to support me and my hobby at all, please do check out my Etsy below. I mostly sell acrylic charms, buttons, and prints. If I ever do get a bigger audience in the market, I hope to sell more varieties of items such as pouches, clothings, enamel pins, and the likes!

• Lemon's Etsy

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