Baltics 🇪🇪 🇱🇻 🇱🇹

Mika Walker (solo): Hi! I’m Mika Walker, my real name is Anastasia, I’m 22 years old, and I’ve been cosplaying since 2016. It’s my first time representing my country and first time in Spain, so I’m honored and excited to be part of ICL this year!

Nik (duo): What’s up! Name’s Nik (he/they), I’m non-binary, 25 years old and am the crafter of our duo. I’ve got a degree in electrical engineering and work in Tele2 as a network monitoring dispatcher. I love listening to TikTok drama and true crime stories, love text-based roleplaying and am a gamemaster in our TTRPG campaigns that we play with friends!

Mia (duo): Yo! My name’s Miauta or Mia for short (any pronouns) and I’m the seamstress of our duo. My full time job is trying my best and I’m proud to say that for the past 25 years of my life I was quite successful in that! Besides that, I’m an illustrator and take commissions, but also love drawing fanart and comics for my favorite media.

How did you discover cosplay and what made you start in this hobby? How long ago?

Mika Walker (solo): In 2015, I attended my first convention, where I saw cosplay in real life for the first time. It does look a bit surreal, and I would never have thought that I could be the one on the stage someday. But later, in 2016, someone organized a small local geek gathering where I planned to go. I found out that if you come in costume, you’ll get a 1-euro discount on entrance. Even now, I don’t understand how it motivated me enough to make a costume almost from scratch. But the process and experience of being a cosplayer was so fun that I still can’t get enough

Nik & Mia (duo): We started cosplaying back in 2014, when we were 14! We dressed as America and England from Hetalia and visited an anime convention for the first time, even though we thought there was no such a thing in our country. Initially we just wanted to look like our favorite characters, but then we discovered the whole cosplay culture, and that’s where we got hooked!

What does cosplay mean for you? And what is your favorite part of the hobby?

Mika Walker (solo): I’m far from being a full-time cosplayer, but still, it’s not just a hobby for me, it’s my life. It’s the way to socialize, to express myself, to escape, or to ground myself. Even when such interest might be pricey and time-consuming and deadlines hitting a nerve, it still brings so much joy that I can’t even imagine myself being busy with anything else. For sure, my favorite part is the process, especially when you don’t need to rush anywhere. After sleepless nights, you put on the final parts of the build, and when you look in the mirror, you can’t recognize yourself. This moment is magical.

Nik (duo): That may sound narcissistic — and I’m sorry if it is — but my favorite part is seeing people’s reactions, when I’m in costume. It’s always so inspiring and fun. Especially when they’re asking for photos — you’re truly feeling like some celebrity!

Mia (duo): Performance. I love the craft, I love the community and I love to represent my favorite character. But that first step before going to the stage? Nothing in the world can compare with it! One moment you’re scared to death and the second — the whole world goes quiet and you become one with a stage.

What changes do you see in the cosplay community in your country compared to when you started?

Mika Walker (solo): It, of course, became much bigger and accessible; I think casual cosplaying became almost mainstream in these years. The overall level skyrocketed, and it’s getting higher every year. And it’s great! It does motivate you to be better, to learn and try more.

Nik & Mia (duo): We think our community didn’t change as much as our local contests did, especially on the part of their level. Back in 2016-2018 it was normal to participate with bought, but slightly modified costumes and still expect some prize. Now you almost have to make your own underwear to be considered worthy of a prize! Cosplay contests became more challenging, but we don’t complain though: we grow and our community grows with us, becoming adults with money that we spend on expensive materials and difficult techniques!

Why did you choose that project for the ICL national selection? Have you already decided on your finals project for Madrid? Can you give us a hint?

Mika Walker (solo): I’ve chosen Bloody Queen from IDV as my project, and I will be wearing it as my final costume, just an upgraded version. Honestly, I saw this project as a challenge, never done a costume like this before, and I loved making her! The moment when I was creating a costume, I didn’t have much free time to play the game itself, but I was able to dive into her kind of tragic character, learn her design, and study her animations I grew to like so much. I hold this project close to my heart

Nik & Mia (duo): Well, we can almost guarantee that 99% of people who are reading this don’t have a clue what this fandom is. Because it’s Brazilian. It started with the TTRPG series on Youtube, and now it’s one of the biggest fandoms in Brazil, with its own rulebooks, comic books and even the official videogame on Steam. So, have you ever heard of Paranormal Order?

Is this your first time competing in an international cosplay competition? What advice would you give to someone who wants to start cosplaying or join competitions?

Mika Walker (solo): It is my first time in an international cosplay competition! Still hard to believe I’m honored to represent my country. For someone who wants to start cosplaying and especially competition, I would like to remind you that winning isn’t the main goal of cosplay. Having fun and feeling good is far more rewarding than a desperate race for a prize. If you like what you are doing, sooner or later, your hard work will be noticed.

Nik & Mia (duo): It is our first time in an international competition, yes, and — oh boy — you cannot imagine how excited we are! It was our dream the whole time, and it finally comes true! As for the advice: don’t be afraid to create your costumes from literal garbage, trust us. Nowadays it is absurdly normalized to buy expensive tools and materials for cosplay, and as a poor student or young adult in general it may be very hard to lay your hands on these. But as someone who crafted a whole dragon head from an old fence, bed sheets and last-year homework paper — and took 1st place with it! — we can say with confidence that cheap materials are still valid and you are cool if you use them! Especially if you’re creative about these.

What has been your most memorable cosplay experience so far?

Mika Walker (solo): My first ever performance in 2018. Somehow, I gathered a group of friends, and it was a debut for all of us. I found out that group projects are even more nerve-wracking, but it was so worth it. Shaky props and costumes that hold on with hope and tons of hot glue. It all had some kind of charm that cannot be recreated again.

Nik (duo): Ironically, that wasn’t even at cosplay convention. We traveled to Poland for a concert of our favorite band, and a singer of this band happened to be a very popular Minecraft youtuber at that time. I wore my cosplay of his character, arrived to the line before an entrance to the venue and was immediately greeted with so much excitement from people standing there! We had such a great time and my friends and I were even allowed to enter a venue first, just because fellow-fans of that band were amazed by the cosplay. Truly unforgettable experience.

Mia (duo): Beside this adventure? Haha, let me think… I had a lot of fun cons and shenanigans besides that but if I take “memorable” as something that shaped part of me, I would say that one time I accidentally combined the top part of Engineer (TF2) and bottom part of Shade (lamp monster from The Evil Within). Imagine a bearded man in stockings, shorts and red heels. At the time I was struggling with self-image, but the AMOUNT of compliments I’ve got for that accidental look switched something in me. After that evening I finally stopped fearing my own body.

What inspires your work the most—series, characters, craftsmanship, other artists…?

Mika Walker (solo): Mostly love for the character design inspires me the most, but sadly, we have only 24 hours in one day, and it’s not possible to bring to reality every impulse idea I might have. And my talented friends are my biggest inspirations. Sometimes I can dive into a new project just to make matching costumes, and even a project for ICL finals that they kind of influenced me to do. I see how they grow, I don’t want to be left behind, so it pushes me to work harder.

Nik (duo): Of course I got inspired by the characters first and foremost, since we never create costumes of characters that we don’t care about. However — and that’s quite unfortunate — I also get inspiration from my own results only. So, basically if the result is satisfying and I like how I look in certain cosplay, I get inspired, but if I don’t, it’s very hard to find strength within myself to continue. Fortunately though Mia always has my back and is the only one who can reassure me if I’m feeling down.

Mia (duo): Characters! I’m a person with very intense feelings, so if I like a character I NEED to make something to express my love. And while drawing them can “scratch an itch”, cosplay feels like the ultimate love letter.

What do you expect from your visit to Spain? Is this your first time visiting the country? 

Mika Walker (solo): Since I’ve never been in Spain, I expect to have a cultural and climate shock since we rarely see the sun here in Baltics. But I’m really excited to see Madrid in real life and not just pictures!

Nik & Mia (duo): It is our first time in Spain and we can’t wait to meet everyone there! Moreover, we know that Spain is absolutely stunning! We’ll be taking a lot of pictures for sure, if we have time. It is also a great opportunity to finally bring Duolingo lessons into practice, since we’ve been following a few Spanish-speaking content creators for a while.

Describe the cosplay community in your country using five words.

Mika Walker (solo): Chaotic, creative, dramatic, connected, talented.

Nik (duo): Growing, queer, impressive, kind-hearted, kebab.

Mia (duo): Like bickering but loving family.

Link to your Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter (add other social media if relevant):

Mika Walker (solo): https://www.instagram.com/mika.walkerr/

Nik & Mia (duo): https://www.instagram.com/double.trouble.cosplay_/    https://www.tiktok.com/@double_trouble_cosplay_

Mika Walker, Nik and Mia were selected at WinterCon IX