Comics, Cosplay, Conventions & Community!

The Lightsaber of Darth vader

Fyreheart Cosplay

June 2021

Cosplay Spotlight

We’re spotlighting talent in the cosplay community!
Every month, The Variant showcases cosplayers who display talent, creativity, and a positive voice within the cosplay community.

Growing up, and even till this day, I have always been interested in the fantasy world. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, etc. were all my go-to escapes. It doesn’t matter if it was books, movies, video games…you name it! Anything to take me away on a fun adventure in another world!

The first time I remember wanting to cosplay was when I watched Revenge of the Sith. I was captivated by Aayla Secura, the blue Twi’lek Jedi. I thought, “how cool would it be to dress up as a Twi’lek?!” Thus began my research into cosplay and how to become a Twi’lek. I was in a situation for a long time where I could not cosplay but the urge never went away. In fact it kept growing with all the ideas I had. I eventually got out of a long term relationship and part of finding myself was the start of my cosplay journey. I could finally embrace who I was and be proud of it.

After months, I was able to put together my first cosplay- a purple Twi’lek. I didn’t spend a lot of money or a ton of time on it, but I was so happy with my first cosplay. And that one cosplay has turned into multiple over the past few years. Cosplay is my safe space and comfort and I can only hope any cosplayer feels the happiness that I do. It doesn’t matter if you closet cosplay, find stuff at Goodwill, buy it from a costume shop, spend $10, spend $1000, spend 10 minutes on it or spend 10 months on it…. it’s all cosplay! I hope everyone remembers this while putting their cosplays together. Everyone has to start somewhere!!

This month we welcome FyreHeart Cosplay to our Variant Cosplay Spotlight fam!!
You may notice that last month and this month are a little Star Wars heavy. When we coordinated our shoots last month we decided to do a little crossover and that crossover became a story idea. Join Commander Fyre and the mysterious Twi’lek bounty hunter Ly’raa as they race across the galaxy hunting for the The Lightsaber of Darth Vader!!!

WAIT!!…why are you still reading this??
GO CHECK OUT THE PICS!!!!

Photography by

Tomisina Lynn Photography

Photography Director

Greenfield Photography

Senior Staff Photograher