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.

Hello, I’m GodofNightvale or Vale.
I officially started cosplaying back in 2017, but I’ve always had a love for fantasy and creation. Like most cosplayers, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays and as a little kid, I enjoyed donning a costume and becoming another creature for a night. I was introduced to the world of cosplay in grad school, when my department had a week of Halloween with daily themes. One of my friends saw that I had a costume for every day and asked “Have you ever heard of cosplay?”

My first cosplay was a Jurassic park ranger, a simple closet cosplay that I still have. The convention and community was so much fun that I stayed and continued to grow. When I first started, I didn’t know how to sew, how to make props, how to style a wig, or even how to do makeup, but with each new cosplay came new challenges and I absolutely loved the creative challenge. I’ve taught myself how to sew, to style wigs, to build props, work with foam and horror effects makeup and even how to walk on stilts! Each new cosplay presents a new challenge, a new skill to learn, and to share my projects with friends and people of similar interests has brought so much joy to this hobby.

My introduction to TikTok was in 2019. Learning how to do videography and video editing was another new prospect, but it also gave me a platform to interact and make stories with other creators. Through TikTok, I’ve built several stories and cosplays 
communities that have reached a global audience I would have never imagined meeting.

Cosplay can have several challenges; creative burnout and toxicity are very prevalent within the community, but I’ve seen this community be absolutely amazing and uplifting. At the end of the day, from the youngest beginner cosplayer to the more experienced cosplayer, we all share the same love for characters and stories we hold close to our hearts. I am very proud and grateful to have known so many wonderful people within my community and the communities that have welcomed me. I am so excited to see where my journey will continue!

Triad Anime Convention, circa 2022, staff photographer Fox Dream came to me and was excited as hell because she had done a shoot with a cosplayer named GodofNightvale as Huntokar from Welcome to Nightvale. The cosplay as well as the photos were phenomenal. Fast forward to Triad this year and an actual 8 foot tall Lady Dimitrescu cosplayer waltzed into our photo booth and
had other cosplayers (including some of our staff) begging for us to take pictures of her stepping on them.
It was GodofNightvale.
So we discussed and then did a shoot of her Lady D.…a four hour shoot of her Lady D.
A few weeks later we found a place in Raleigh called the Zombie Tunnels that we wanted to shoot at.
GodofNightvale had an Enchantress cosplay.
Four more hours in an underground rain tunnel with Tomi and staff photog, Josh Thompson and we were all in awe of this cosplayer.
Two weeks ago Vale was hosting a Cosplay Picnic and we shot Huntokar again and then teamed up with Skyview Photography of the Triad to shoot Catwoman (on an actual fire escape eeeeeee) and all around downtown Greensboro, NC. 
I’m not sure what cosplay gods we pleased to meet such an incredibly talented, friendly and
accommodating cosplayer but we decided to keep her.

This month we are super proud to present a great big double-sized GodofNightvale August Cosplay Spotlight with stunning photos by Tomisina Lynn, and Josh Thompson Photography!!!  

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