Cosplaying: Building A Safe and Happy Community For All

Taking a deeper look into the cosplaying community, panelists share their experiences and discuss their favorite parts of cosplaying while also looking into areas that could be improved or aren’t being mentioned enough. Striving towards helping to keep cosplay a safe, fun, and inclusive environment for all, panelists share their recommendations and insights with the audience while also giving their own unique takes and perspectives on any questions that the audience might ask.

Come and see Shou, Dinny, FoxRots, Gelo, Ithileryn, and Solibeau during PMX weekend, November 21 & 22.

Aid for the Philippines

About Shou (host)

Shou is a professional health, wellness, & fitness coach, fashion model, entertainer, motivational speaker, stage host, and cosplayer. He is most notably known for his cosplay portrayals of Dio Brando from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Tengen Uzui from Kimetsu No Yaiba, and Iida Tenya from My Hero Academia.

He believes that the best thing about cosplaying is that it’s something that everyone can enjoy. He has dedicated himself to being an advocate for positivity and to help change the lives of anyone that he meets. “If we all do our part, then we can make our communities and the world a better and more positive place for all.” Striving for positive impact always, his favourite quote is, “Think positive, and positive things can happen!”

Cosplaying over 20 characters since 2017, he has appeared in several articles on WhenInManila.com for his cosplay portrayals, and has attended numerous conventions professionally in cosplay booths including Cosplay Matsuri (2018 & 2019), Cosplay Carnival (2019), & Cosplay Mania (2019) to name a few. He has attended more than a dozen events in an official capacity as either a cosplay host, cosplay guest, or cosplay booth vendor.

About Dinny

Dinny Grayson is a non-binary full-time cosplayer and artist from the Philippines. They have been cosplaying for over 6 years and have travelled around the country and Asia serving as a cosplay guest, judge, and panelist in various events. They have also worked as a character actor for companies such as Netflix and Warner Brothers and has held panels and workshops on makeup application, wig-styling, costume creation, and cosplay life.

Dinny believes that absolutely anyone can cosplay. They strive to contribute empathy, positivity, and acceptance within the community and believe that through sharing their own cosplay experiences, others can realize that cosplay can have a positive impact in one’s life.

About FoxRots

Fox is a cosplayer, host, and rookie radio DJ on 99.5 playfm. She has done professional cosplay and character acting for companies like Warner bros., Netflix, HBO, and Robinsons, and Ayala Malls. Her most notable cosplay appearances are that for Captain Marvel, Sombra from Overwatch, and Arya Stark from Game of Thrones.

Fox cosplays characters from movies, TV shows, comic books, video games and other western media, but does not shy away from the occasional Anime cosplay. She’s an artist from the Philippines but she might actually just be a woodland creature in disguise.

About Gelo

Gelo Grayson has been cosplaying for 6 years and has been running Gelo Grayson Props to create props and costumes for other cosplayers for 4 years. He has learned and continues to  learn the best techniques and methods in creating some of the most accurate cosplay props in the Philippines.

He enjoys teaching how he creates his props online and he is also credited as a cosplay judge and cosplayer worksop instructor for local conventions.

About Ithileryn

Ithileryn is an award winning and published cosplayer, costumer, and craftswoman from Fort Worth, Texas. Since the beginning of her cosplay career in 2018, she has hand-made, tailored, and modeled dozens of costumes, foam-crafted her own props, won first in her category at her first cosplay competition, and has been featured in many reputable online cosplay journals, including the cover of Creative Cosplay Magazine’s upcoming Avatar issue.

Her most notable cosplays are Elizabeth Comstock from BioShock and Jinx from League of Legends, however she has popular cosplays from many sources, including anime, film, television, cartoons, comics, and videogames. She specializes in sewing, patterning, makeup, and wig styling, and is her own self-taught photographer. She is known for screen-accurate makeup transformations and capturing the physicality of each character, bringing them to life.

Through social media posts and TikTok videos, she utilizes her background in the professional dance world and her love for providing comedic and encouraging content to motivate and inspire many fellow creators in the community, as well as her audience. Ithileryn has made her rounds to almost every convention located in central Texas, as she enjoys interacting with her local community personally. Although she was unable to appear as a cosplay guest at multiple cancelled conventions this year, she is looking forward to her guest appearances next year, online appearances, and more!

About Solibeau

Solibeau is a costume designer, cosplayer and multimedia artist from the Philippines. She started sewing commissions when she was 15, and has been doing that as a full time job since 2017. She mostly works with fabric, but often ventures to prop making and set design.

Come and see Shou, Dinny, FoxRots, Gelo, Ithileryn, and Solibeau during PMX weekend, November 21 & 22.