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Bonus: Fabulous Live at Brilliant Baltimore 11/2019 with Demetrius Holt
122 Plays4 years ago
This episode was recorded live at the Brilliant Baltimore Festival on 11/3/2019. Please forgive the sound quality as the recording conditions were not ideal. Edited by my son. Enjoy the raw conversation about cosplay, business, and family life.
This episode features Demetrius Holt of Hellspawned Cosplay.
Hellspawned Cosplay has been active in the community since 2017 and he’s portrayed a number of characters that were personal to him. From Kratos to Sub-Zero to He-Man…. he’s never really embodied characters that were of the “bandwagon” sort. Only those he has a deep passion for. He’s best known as the “Afro He-Man”.
Hellspawned has been to the most recent San Diego Comic Con as press, and interviewed actors, actresses and composers on behalf of JVS YouTube channel. He’s a brand ambassador for Black Heroes Matter clothing and Figure This in 3D while also being represented by Invictus Modeling, LLC.
Meanwhile, he’s trying his hand at acting these days to see if it’s a viable option for him financially since he recently became a father to gorgeous and strong little boy named Kaua’i. There’s a short film that Hellspawned has been working on based in Baltimore that is being submitted for consideration at Sundance and other film festivals and he’s become a member of the “Lost Cos” TV show that is a scripted narrative centered around cosplay filmed in Manhattan.
Featured in 4 cosplay magazines in 2019….two of which he made the cover for….the February issue of Cosplazine and the November issue of Cosplay Alliance Magazine. Hellspawned Cosplay has been learning the various paths of the craft but it’s been slow going. Sewing, foam-smithing…all of it is something that he’s interested in becoming proficient in.
His cosplay mission beyond having an outlet for creativity is to push for the proliferation of minorities within mainstream media. He’s been making some pretty sizable strides in that arena seeing as how his He-Man cosplay went viral enough for the writers of the DC Comics mini-series “He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse” are considering using his image within the final issue due out in April 2020 and to be THE featured He-Man cosplayer at this year’s Power-Con… the He-Man and She-Ra convention held in Anaheim, California.
https://www.facebook.com/HellspawnedCosplay/
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Transcript
Introduction to Fabulous Fuckery
00:00:00
Speaker
you
00:00:13
Speaker
Welcome to Fabulous Fuckery. I'm your host, Baroness Brie. Fabulous Fuckery is your sophisticated destination for discussion on wellness, dating, family and blurred life. Come with me while we discuss emerging fabulously in spite of life's fuckery. It's your girl Baroness Brie. Thank you for joining
Guest Introduction: Demetrius Hope aka Afro He-Man
00:00:31
Speaker
us. We're doing a live taping of the Fabulous Live podcast here at Brilliant Baltimore. My guest for tonight is Mr. Demetrius Hope. He's a cosplayer, bodybuilder and model.
00:00:43
Speaker
Right? Yeah. Kind of? Yeah. Am I supposed to say that? No, it's just something I don't think about. His trademark, and you call us play everything. However, you are best known for being Afro He-Man. Yes.
00:01:00
Speaker
Thank you for joining us. All right. Sweet. I want to talk to you about how you got in the cosplay.
Journey into Cosplay: From Bodybuilding to Afro He-Man
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Speaker
Oh, okay. Yeah. You know, the list that you sent me is the topic. I was like, okay, that's going to be simple. Oh, yeah. Wow.
00:01:17
Speaker
Well, essentially I got into cosplay because I needed a different hobby to do because I got divorced. And bodybuilding was something me and my ex-wife did together and that was something I didn't want to do anymore.
00:01:30
Speaker
alone. So I always wanted to go to a convention within cosplay. And I didn't know it was a community. I didn't know it was a thing. I just like, whoops, I've seen people dress up in costumes and stuff. I'm like, I could do that too. And the first cosplay I did was Kratos from God of War. And apparently that was a big deal because I went the full nine as opposed to just like, are we going to cuss on this?
00:02:00
Speaker
You just remember we got babies. Okay. We got babies. I see you. I'm edited for audience. Right, right, right. We got this.
00:02:16
Speaker
Yeah, so that's how I got into it. And then a friend of mine referred me to a, I got reached out to by someone who wanted me to do a Mortal Kombat cosplay with her and start a small group within the DMV community.
Building a Community: DMV Combatants and Family Cosplay
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Speaker
And, you know, that's when I came up with Sub-Zero and from there we
00:02:36
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created the DMV combatants and that's a group of well over 115 people.
00:02:52
Speaker
The drawings doesn't last too long. We have to use other methods to come up with a vaping machine strapped to your arm. The community is really welcoming when it comes to the Mortal Kombat side. I let my friend and some other folks just really handle that and I started doing more characters that
00:03:18
Speaker
really appealed to me and something that I've always wanted to do. And Baltimore Comic Con 2018 was when I debuted that one, the He-Man thing, because I grew up watching He-Man. So that was my thing. And I didn't realize it was going to take off the way that it did.
00:03:35
Speaker
Well, it did. Yeah. It has. Yeah. So, it was a, my cosplay experience came from me out of divorce. Okay. I have two kids. Okay. And my oldest, he made me be Yato for Noregami. I didn't know what this was. He picked that out for me, but he said, okay, this is what we do now. So, his 16th birthday was the first Florida cosplay. Okay. And he was like, mom, let's cosplay as a family. Let's do this. So, we just started cosplaying. We did family,
00:04:05
Speaker
cosplays we said that one night made all the Dragon Ball Z costumes and then there's like Amazon would make this really cheaper and faster but it was something to do as a family but we've been doing this since. But were you always into like into the anime? I was always an anime person. I always loved starting the sale.
00:04:23
Speaker
and you guys show all the girl stuff you know listen listen I have to be photographed as Sailor Moon like that's the best thing ever to make it into ESPN undefeated and make it to all these websites and it's like what this person from Amazon or from Alibaba Express and they all that start making
00:04:43
Speaker
right now i gotta upgrade i can't just come out the way i was so you know y'all step the game up like you and miss skittles is here and you know like y'all step the game up y'all be like instagramming yourselves making stuff at home and well well that
00:04:59
Speaker
Okay, so I I I am very aware that people have a certain type of perception of me and so Because I have it of other folks But then I don't I don't single out people until I see something and I'm just the type of person where I like to do things That are comic book accurate or that are screen accurate or whatever, but that's me No
00:05:26
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or get it commissioned.
Handling Criticism and Promoting Diversity in Cosplay
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And if I happen to notice it, then if someone asks me my opinion, I'll say my piece. But the community is really funny about what you're allowed to say and what you can say. So I'm learning that some things don't need to be said, but at the same time,
00:05:47
Speaker
I'm going to be me, you know, as much as possible. But in any case. This is your space. This is you. So we have to be authentic to ourselves, regardless what people think about it. Unless I'm causing bodily or mental harm to someone. I swear. I mean, that is the... So you, I guess you and I come from a different era. Okay. I mean, I'm 35. I'm 38. See, and everyone else that is like offended,
00:06:16
Speaker
comes from there around under 30, under 28 years old. Yeah, see, it's real, but it's also a very perceived thing amongst a small group of people who think that they're doing more than what they actually are. You know, because I recently had an issue where a small group of people really have an issue with me and was trying to be as vocal about it as possible.
00:06:43
Speaker
But what was happening in the midst of it? I mean, I'm in the midst of filming a movie, a short film. I've got a part in an ABC pilot. Thank you. But once again, an ABC pilot is something that can be taken away or whatever. You know how things go with the studio. Right. But all these things are happening.
00:07:05
Speaker
in real life. I have a nine week old boy. All these things are happening in real life while online it's chaos about three lines of criticism about why I would not join a certain type of cosplay group.
00:07:23
Speaker
There's so much ire for people not being exactly the same as everyone else. It's ridiculous. I'm not trying to be politically correct or anything like that. I'm just being me and you don't like it. It's okay. It's hard. So navigating the online space, you have to create your own safe spaces.
00:07:49
Speaker
Unfortunately, sometimes we have to pick our battles. And if I pick my battle in my safe space, then that's my safe space. I can say what I want on my page. I can say what I want on my, as long as my sponsors don't have a problem with what I'm saying. So it's just like, you have to pick the avenues. The cosplay community is already ultra sensitive because we don't feel as though it's inclusive enough.
00:08:12
Speaker
right and you know so we already got the diversity issues you know and so then it's like you got all these African-American blurred roots now everybody's alert everybody wants to be alert but then we're defining what blurting this means so it's kind of hard you know what I mean it's just we have to you know stay speak your piece do our thing always gotta do our thing right always gotta have fun and what you're doing offline is amazing like you're doing dope stuff so don't get caught up in
00:08:38
Speaker
I'm trying my best not to I know you know I'm a real passionate person. I'm so passionate some days I want to just be like I can shut it down I can say listen I can say something about your mother being a hamster and shut it down, but I have to remember I have a brand and I got kids, you got this, you got this.
00:09:03
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And that's what I'm waiting for cuz I mean everyone knows That knows me knows that I'm pushing for the proliferation of minorities within mainstream media, right?
Afro He-Man's Recognition and Achievements
00:09:12
Speaker
There's been I've been making strides within that with he meant, you know, like I've gone to San Diego Comic Con and spoken to Mattel and spoken to you know legendary pictures
00:09:24
Speaker
thank you and I got I got really good responses at San Diego to the point where they said we need you to meet these people at power con and I didn't know well I knew what power con was at that time but earlier this year I did not know power con is the key man and she was specific convention in Anaheim California
00:09:47
Speaker
You get there, it's in the hotel that's right next to Disney. Like, it's across the street from Disneyland. Massive, right? I walk into the hotel, and since I had the size that I am, people thought I was an MMA fighter because there was MMA 220 or something like that was happening there. And I was taking pictures with random people thinking that I was a fighter. And you're me, man.
00:10:15
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Great, but then I was like smiling and then I went right upstairs with these placards that had all of the different versions of Heat Man and She-Ra going up. This is where I'm going. That's where I'm going. Yeah, and that's when I met Kevin Smith, Mark Bernardin, Tim Seeley, who was the writer of the DC Comics miniseries that's starting out this month. It's a six-part miniseries where it's Heat Man and The Masters of the Multiverse.
00:10:43
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Through that experience and through conversations, I've got a tentative promise that there's going to be a He-Man with melanated skin with a big afro featured in the sixth issue of that miniseries that comes out in April. And I'm just waiting to see if it's true before I trip out.
00:11:08
Speaker
If that happens, then that would be like the pinnacle of anything that me and my mom couldn't have ever really thought because my mom got me into collecting action figures and actually collecting comics and such. So who would have thought, you know, here we are thirty-some years later, you've got a room full of like Barbies and Heymans and all kinds of crazy toys and you've become a real-life action figure. That happened this morning and it still took me aback.
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Like this would happen. Those of you who are unaware, Mr. Holt has now been made in this costume showing here into an action figure. And so it is pretty dope and we're excited for you as a cosplay community.
00:11:53
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Yeah, it's just, it's expensive. It's like, the dude told me it's gonna cost me 160 pounds. Oh, excuse me, 160 euros. So that roughly translates to about $172. So, you know. Just wait for the euro to fall, it's coming. Well, but in his defense, he has to make these figures on his own, and he's got to buy certain figures that cost about 40 bucks on their own. So, right. So, I can't, I mean, I'm... No, no, it's worth it. Yeah. It's worth it.
00:12:20
Speaker
I mean, I've got three $900 statues of 14 inches tall of my Sub-Zero, my Kratos, and now my E-Man. Yeah, you just had your first baby. Good luck with that. Yeah, that's not happening anymore. But see, that's why I work for that company, too. We talk about discounts all the time.
00:12:39
Speaker
You're connected, good for you, but you got family now. I'll just let you know. Cosplay, get real expensive when you're doing your time, sorry. I can imagine. Yeah, so when we go to cons and it's like...
00:12:51
Speaker
They wake up in the middle of the night two days before calling. I want to be in inflatable Pikachu. What? What? What? And you know, then I'm up in the middle of the night, like, can't sleep because I can't find a mini child size Pikachu. I found it. But it costs a lot to get here. I bet. Overnight shipping. But, you know, we got it. So you have a baby. And you know, right now he doesn't get to be, he doesn't get to pick when he's cosplayed. At this point he can be a basketball. Oh.
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right now i have a nice little afro wig waiting for him tomorrow and that was like 15 dollars get ready he's a baby why is this 15 dollars but yeah it's we'll see the pictures tomorrow so you got a costume already? well my it's costume he's a child he's wearing a halloween costume
00:13:38
Speaker
What I've been doing with him is I've been, I've got these stickers that mark every four weeks or every month of his life and they are different superheroes or supervillains or whatever. So I've been taking pictures with him in his onesies that are the character and then I got like a t-shirt or whatnot and you know that's our thing that we've been doing every month. My, his mother
00:14:03
Speaker
did have his first Halloween with him and she was Roma, he was Bam Bam and I understand that Bam Bam is a rebel and not a Flintstone. It's not technical, it's just a costume. No, but see the type of person that I am, I came up with a story to cover that.
00:14:26
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Betty had to
Challenges and Support in the Cosplay World
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Speaker
go somewhere, had to go out. Roma decided she was going to babysit. You know, Pebbles was out, requesting a hit, a single. Because, you know, that's a double entendre with Pebbles being who she was in the 80s. I know. So, okay. You know, like, it all fits. You made a storyline for the baby. That's okay. That's all right. But, you know. If I'm not consulted, this is what going to have to come after the fact. Costumes are fun and, you know,
00:14:51
Speaker
It's a lot. It's a lot. You know, you're just like, I was going to wear a costume next to no people. You can't ring your face and you show up online. Yeah. How do you handle the online notoriety that goes along with cosplay? I don't, I don't see the notoriety. Okay. It doesn't, I mean, some, okay. That's a lot. When people come to me and say, Hey, you know, I really appreciate what you've been doing or
00:15:17
Speaker
you know you've inspired me to this like this one guy tagged me in a in a in a post that he made his own Skeletor costume just inspired off the he-man thing just the other day and you know it it it does promote that ugly cry because you know your if your whole purpose is to
00:15:37
Speaker
make sure that people of color know that they are that they're seen when they are different from other folks because we like the nerd stuff that we like then you know it's it just hits you in that one place like okay you know i'm not doing this out here just for me i'm doing this for other folks what uh... and the other the other side of it is just seeing my picture applied to things that i would not support right and that has happened
00:16:05
Speaker
I think two or three times just this week alone. Yeah, there was a there is a there was a sex party that was that was attached to my picture and then my lady and I we were just this morning or late last night we noticed or someone told me that our pictures were applied to a thought song
00:16:32
Speaker
that's on YouTube and on Amazon Music. And people are getting money off of that if they're by the single. And I'm like, wow, that's... I'm gonna give you a name of an attorney. Well, I mean, my representation from my model agency is supposed to be handling that too, but then also I did tag one of the artists that was attached to that. And, you know, since he's got the copyright to that artwork that they're also using, he should be able to handle that too. Yeah, I'm so sorry that happened.
00:17:00
Speaker
I mean, I've just only been used as like a mock tinder and match.com account in my cosplay. So, you know, I don't know, you know, somebody tried to make money off of me, but, you know, there's a whole profile out there doing interesting things with my pictures. Really? Cosplay.
00:17:15
Speaker
And I'm like, hey, let me check this down real quick. One of the coolest things about it is when you inspire other artists, when your art inspires art, it's awesome. Like Terry Huddleston. We see you everywhere. There was a series of other artists who did their own version of that pose. And every time something like that popped up, I was just sitting there thinking like, man, this is... So wait for... was it CatchyCon you respond?
00:17:43
Speaker
Yes. Okay, so Casablanca, you scared my son. So you had on a costume and so it's like a movie grade balling costume. And he was like, I think it's, it's, it's the afro. You know him. He's like, nope. And I'm like, what? You know that person. You've met that person before. You get so into these characters when your work is like,
00:18:05
Speaker
You just need to be in the movie already, you need to do this. Okay, we're gonna pitch some ideas if you got this. You got an agent now, you got people. No, the short film that I'm a part of happened to be just, the director actually asked me to audition for a couple of the roles, because I have a size
Transitioning into Acting: Leveraging Cosplay Experience
00:18:29
Speaker
in stature that is not common,
00:18:32
Speaker
in most movies because I guess a lot of actors don't really spend that much time in the gym. And that's why when you do see athletic or bigger people in movies, they have
00:18:45
Speaker
limited speaking roles because they're just there for the presence. But since I am able to articulate my words and be able to do what I need to do and emote, they want me to actually be a part of these things. So I did the audition and he was like, sure, come on in. This is what we want you to do. And then Saturday, I spent a good couple of hours ground fighting with the main villain of this movie because we are...
00:19:14
Speaker
I'm a former police officer so I do have some training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and that because that's what they trained is down in training and you know that was... I can edit, we're not live. We spent a few hours like getting like
00:19:43
Speaker
down into it. And it took me back because I haven't been ground fighting in a while. And where we were, there was a lot of broken glass. So I was like, oh man. Hey, it's your girl, Baroness Brie. Save yourself that trip to the market. Instacart delivers groceries as fast as one hour. And if you're busy like me, we don't have time to go to the grocery store.
00:20:06
Speaker
Go on and check out my link on my website and get yourself a discount code to get something for cheap. Talk to you soon and enjoy. Now what are you doing to take care of yourself? What are your self-care things? What do you do? You just told me you know because you work a day job, you got a child, you do cosplay, you outside fighting.
00:20:28
Speaker
You know, you got a lot going on. What are you doing to say, okay, you know, you're a big man. Do you like candles and land the tub? Like, how do you take care of yourself? Honestly, I haven't been really doing that at all lately.
00:20:43
Speaker
If we're being completely honest here, the outside factor of where my child is concerned is a huge stressor. Mainly because we are going through a whole custody thing. Since I am not adept at being in this position and I'm managing my emotions as much as possible just so that
00:21:32
Speaker
There are moments where I do have breaks and those breaks are emotional breaks where I do just like just come down with it. But I don't have time to sit and not do anything. I mean I did that today.
00:21:37
Speaker
It doesn't put me in the worst position later on.
00:21:51
Speaker
We watched a couple movies. Dolomite is My Name was one of them. That's a good one. That was real motivational, right? Yeah, Rudy Ray Moore. Who knew? You liked it? Okay. No, that's a good movie. So me, I went through divorce. I went through custody battle. It was drama. That's my sister right there. So yeah, drama.
00:22:14
Speaker
You know, it was a process and you know, you just have to learn how to dump it in the right compartments at the time. And when it, you know, first is welfare of the child. Is the other parent completely incompetent? Most times they're not. No. We just don't like each other.
00:22:32
Speaker
So once you can pray through that difference, you know what I mean? See, I'm the, I'm the plaintiff here seeking joint custody. Listen, I'm good. I'm trying my best to be as reasonable as possible, but this woman here is not on that same level yet. I'm gonna say this from the woman's side. She just had a baby. Our hormones not quite right. Okay. It takes about a year. Ladies who've had babies know I'm right. It takes about a year.
00:23:01
Speaker
for me to get my hormones back together. So the rational side is coming, but just be patient and pray on it. God has got it, but you gotta pray on it. That's all I can tell you, because things that you, it may not be in your hands. You gotta suck up. Because you're a person, you like to control stuff. I can tell right now, you're switching. No. You're like, wait up. This is me controlling my emotions. Because,
00:23:32
Speaker
It's outside of my level of understanding as to why someone can call themselves rationally responsible when they are doing things out of emotion.
Personal Challenges: Custody Battles and Emotional Stress
00:23:43
Speaker
Correct. That's why you pray on it and let the higher power always show who that person really is. Oh, the judge, right. This is bigger than the judge. Once you go in there covered and whatever you believe the universe has got in your favor, go in there and just say, so this is where the self-care comes in.
00:24:00
Speaker
I have affirmations I say every day, and regardless if you believe in God, or Yahweh, or Buddha, or nothing, the universe has always got energy that's gonna pour into you. You never know when it's gonna happen, but if you have things like everyone I get up and say my children are safe and handy when they're with their father, because I have to deprogram them when they get home, okay? So, you know, you say, listen, no, I say this because your house has different rules than my house.
00:24:26
Speaker
that we have the same common understanding of what, you know, did the child eat? Did the child go to sleep one time? Did the child do their homework? But everything outside those core care values for a child, we can't
00:24:40
Speaker
We can't control with another house. You know what I mean? But we're not going to stay on this. I'm going to give it out. No, no. I just see it as, I'm just saying, I just see it as like, if you're two parents who want to have some level of consistency, then why not maintain that on both sides? I agree with you. One thousand percent. We just can't control other people. We can.
00:24:58
Speaker
You know, I just, I speak, but I tell you, I just tell you, I lay on this floor, pause straight and pray. I'm like, you know what? I don't agree. I don't agree. But instead of arguing with you and letting the kids see me arguing with you, because even though it's a little person,
00:25:11
Speaker
don't want that memory because i remember stuff back to i think what like 11 months old i scared the crap out my dad one time i remember my first up was 11 months old washington shaved in the bathroom so those little things kids remember and you're like dang how did my father was like what and i remember the else that he had on you can tell you to this day and it's just crazy so you
00:25:38
Speaker
We're only responsible for ourselves. We're only. I'm just telling you. Because this is still my assignment. I'll take you in my car, because you know, that's what we do. Well, this is OK. But no, we got you. And also, because we're a cosplay community, we're a family of dysfunction. And that's why I support everybody just doing their thing. And thank you for always being honest and being yourself no matter what, because that's very hard to find. You have a level of authenticity that goes with everything you're doing.
00:26:07
Speaker
Thank you. I appreciate that. No, I'm serious. OK. I've been hit with different opinions of that very aspect. And I've been wondering if I've been really consistent on that. Because I am all for minorities succeeding in being in front of the camera, and being behind the camera, and just being known and present. Hell yeah. Right?
00:26:33
Speaker
But it's not perceived that way when the way that I carry my social media thing, I like to take pictures with people. People want to take pictures of me, and I'm like, no, get it here. Let's do this together type deal. And that's seen as being a little narcissistic, because I have to be in the picture with everyone. Even though it's like the 28 Days of Black Cosplay, one of the things that I do is that I
00:27:02
Speaker
I create a video the very first day of me and everyone that I've met throughout the year and tag them just so that everyone can see who these people are and all this other stuff. And that is being perceived as, oh, well, why do you have to be in the photo? Why are you doing? Well, because I like being with people in pictures. Or judging you for wanting to take pictures with other people. Yes. No, no, no, no, no. Posting them. Pictures with other people? Posting them, yes.
00:27:32
Speaker
But isn't that what people do all the time? I'm not allowed to do that. Because it's looked at as being very narcissistic. Oh, and just don't read the comments. You know, it's children here. And you know what the second word of my podcast really is. I like, you know, just for people, man. You just do what you do. It makes you happy. Do what makes you happy. Like if that is who you are, do what makes you happy. People will stress you out all day.
00:28:01
Speaker
All day, you got that person at work that stress you out. You got that person at home that stresses you out. I'm gonna tell you right now, you love your baby right now. And about six years, he's gonna stress you out. So it's just part of, you know your child will stress you out. Don't look at me like that. But you know, I just pick my battles because if I paid attention to everybody who wrote a crazy review or something, they'll drive you crazy. And like right now, you have this level of, you wanna be inclusive.
00:28:30
Speaker
Just coming from a place of authenticity. You can't let people who don't know you judge you. They don't know where you're coming from. They just say, oh, that's that guy. He got all them followers. He always naked. He want to be online. He wants your pictures on himself. They don't really understand. And I'm just saying, I'm just giving you a rundown of how I'm receiving it. Just let people hate. Hate is publicity too. I guess. Is hate stopping you from eating? No.
00:28:59
Speaker
Is Kate putting money in
Staying Authentic Amidst Criticism
00:29:00
Speaker
your bank account? No, it's not. And there's the thing, if people say that I have this level of clout within the conflict community that I can get people blackballed, I'm like, really? Apparently, I can't. I have been known and called a tyrant. And I'm like, man, that is hilarious, because I'm still living paycheck to paycheck out here. You keep doing what makes you happy with people who support you.
00:29:29
Speaker
and screw everybody else. What do we do? I mean, I've had people tell me, oh, you're a important podcaster. Well, tell me what to do better, and I will fix it next podcast, if it's worth my time. But in the meantime, it doesn't stop me from the pitches that I'm getting, from the opportunities that I'm getting, from the affiliates that want to work with me. You know, it's like, did your podcast deal with me? You know, it's like, you know, just, it's so many people, like, for what we're doing,
00:29:59
Speaker
thousands of podcasters at all levels. You invest time in what makes you happy. You are trying to be inclusive, but people don't understand your vision. You have a vision that you haven't shared yet. You don't have to share with anybody. Keep doing what you're doing until you're ready. I mean, maybe do a panel about your background. You can go to any convention you want. Do a panel.
00:30:27
Speaker
Teach people how to cosplay. Teach people how to take pictures of us. Teach people how to do this. My core about my top five steps to awesome blah blah blah. Oh, you can do a guest blog post or a website. It's like I'm not into any of this. No, it's not that I'm not into it. At this point, if
00:30:51
Speaker
Since I do have the baby boy, if it's not really going to bring me any kind of money anytime soon on a quickness, then I can't really be too focused on it. No, you cannot. You got this. I work a day job, a 14 hour days, sometimes 18 hour days. And I come home and I read foolishness. You be shocked that some of the emails I get in my mailbox about some of the topics I've had on my podcast. And, um, you like what?
00:31:19
Speaker
Like you really got but heard about that. Like this is a fun show. This is a fun show. I like people like me. I'm a nice person, but people get but her and there is nothing you can do to control by her. Nothing.
00:31:31
Speaker
Because if you got more pictures or if you got on this and I didn't get that, well why did he get that? He's supposed to stop being weird in the corner and talk to people. I swear to beans, I do! I'm going to get all kinds of yelled at. Oh my fuck, I'm sorry, I got all upset and my mic fell off.
00:31:51
Speaker
you know in the cosplay community we have different levels of ability social ability and it's a place that we all are inclusive now hold on when you say that you're giving you're giving people a pass to be
00:32:07
Speaker
introverted, but then yet you're also giving them an opportunity and ability to talk all the crap that they talk because they're not getting the opportunities that they're not getting. But that's the spectrum of life, right? Like, not everyone is an introvert, not everyone's an extrovert, not everyone is cute, not everyone is ugly, you know, it's just, that's life. So we have people who, um, I've met people like, oh my goodness, thank you so much for talking to me. Cause I didn't know, cause I would go up to people and say, Hey, how are you? Are you having fun?
00:32:35
Speaker
And they went, oh, thank you so much for talking to me. I wanted to speak to you, but I was scared. And I'm like, why are you scared of me? And they're like, I'm not scared now, but we have a perception that Instagram famous is real fame. And it's not. And you have people at these events that are like, oh, I want to talk to you. And it's like, come on, come take a picture. Come talk with me. Come party with me and my kids. Let's go get pizza. And it's just, it's a community. We have to meet people where we are. We have people who are all over the place of comfort. Right.
00:33:04
Speaker
You've done wrong. It's just people don't know how to communicate. And instead of saying, oh, you know, I really like to be Trish, so I want to hang out with him or I want him to be my man. Essentially, we're going to be that man. We're going to talk smack about him.
00:33:22
Speaker
I mean, people have had their reasons for being mean to each other. And so I'm not a therapist. I pay my therapist every two weeks to tell me what's wrong with me. Other people need to pay their therapist and find one every two weeks to tell them what's wrong with them. You can't diagnose the world. You just gotta navigate in your little circle of awesomeness. I call it my circle, circle of excellence. I keep people around me that tell me the truth, like, hey, you're doing too much.
00:33:48
Speaker
And when they tell me I'm doing too much, I say, why? Because my brain is extra. I'm an ESTJ. So I get that. Yeah. So yeah, my brain is extra. So I sprinkle glitter wherever I go. It's not on purpose. And I have people that work like, here she come again, she happy. Sparkle. Why she happy? Well, because I prayed for a half an hour before I got here, prayed all the way here, drink some tea.
00:34:13
Speaker
And my team makes me happy. And when I get home, I know that there's a bottle of wine waiting for me. Yay, happy! So, you know, we have to find out a little bit of happy. So cosplay is my little bit of happy. Mentally, it has been that place for me to go to when I am feeling super stressed out, when I'm figuring out how to make something
00:34:34
Speaker
work in real life, then yeah, then that's where I zone out and I'm like, okay, well, if I put this together, we couldn't do that, and then I talk to this person who might be able to help me out here, then all of a sudden, all of that stress that I had with something I was thinking about before does go away. Circle of happiness. Just keep your circle of happiness. And you know, stuff happens. Life happens every day. And I mean,
00:34:59
Speaker
We just got to keep her a little bit of happy despite the circumstances, which is my brand. That's what it is, is being, this is the sophistication, that's the nation for self-care and being fabulous despite of life's effort. So, you know, last, you know, it's, I'm sorry that you feel like all of these things are, you know, these things and people are being this way, but that's part of, you know, you got to start, you got a fandom, you're your own fandom. So you know how like people are fans of things? Yeah.
00:35:29
Speaker
people are fans of you. So then you have the people who hate Game of Thrones and the people who love Game of Thrones. So people either love Afro human or they hate Afro. It's just funny that that's the only one that they focus on because I've done like at least 17. This is the most visible. Every show I go to, we see this. So now I don't, I'm scared to be, I'm scared to be
00:35:55
Speaker
I'm selling her with braids now, because I go and I'm like, I'm selling her with the braids. And now I'm scared to be selling her with the braids. And then she's, you know, she's sexy storm. You were storming. Sailor storm. She was awesome. And you know, but you, you know, as a cosplayer, you play a lot, you do a lot of cosplays. You do a lot of fun things. Do you find that you have hate in
00:36:23
Speaker
See, she doesn't know because she doesn't pay it no attention. She don't. She doesn't. So sometimes you have to pick that circle and be like, I'm not paying it no attention. Because it's not bringing me. And you know, somebody brings it to you, handle it just the way you did now. Hey, listen, this is what we're doing. This is my focus. This is where I am. This is where I'm at. You doing the right thing? Yeah. I noticed it the first time you had heard this. No, it's not.
00:36:49
Speaker
So, you know, but, you know, in addition to that, like, so what else you got going
Future Plans: Major Events and International Opportunities
00:36:53
Speaker
on? What's going on other than?
00:36:55
Speaker
Well, to piggyback off of this Afrohuman thing, on April 4th, Philadelphia Comic Con. That's right. Right. We've got 66, 67 cosplayers that have decided to join in and do their own specific character. There are no doubles and people are doing versions that you can point to and immediately know that character. So it can either be the original Motu series or the
00:37:24
Speaker
And Motu is masters of the universe for people who don't know. Right, so you got that, and then you got the Shuir, Princess of Power, then you got the current Netflix version, Princesses of Power. And then you got the 2000s He-Man, where, you know, all, and also the Star Show collectibles is being looked at as well as far as versions.
00:37:45
Speaker
gender bins Tiffany's doing a gender bin bow we got I just got in word that we having many faces which is like you know when you start thinking about Masters of the Universe and how difficult
00:38:00
Speaker
a real-life cosplay would be of some of those characters. Many faces are going to be so hard. Between that one, we have a Stratos. We have essentially the entire gamut. I still have some of my Masters of the Universe toys and this is going to be so dope. It's going to be fun. When you say there's 67 of us,
00:38:20
Speaker
The biggest plan between Eric Moran and myself, who is running the villains, and I'm running the heroes, but he's also the cosplay director of Philadelphia Comic Con. His vision is to get as much exposure to all the cosplayers who are a part of this, and they're trying to build something forward. He's always that type of person to pay it forward, where he'll invite
00:38:49
Speaker
certain cosplayers to his house to get pictures of their cosplays taken by maybe five or six photographers for free. And then that's how you get different looks. And then when the pictures come in January, February, you put them out there and you have content for people to see what your people are doing. And you can start your publicity tour based off of your pictures. You can start your Instagram tour for this event. That's going to be dope. So that's Philadelphia.
00:39:18
Speaker
Guys, let's go become a con on April 4th. April 4th, okay. April 4th, 2020. You know, I didn't realize, so one thing I did not know is that there were so many freaking cons. Woo! I, you know, had an idea of maybe about 20 nationwide, and now I've learned that there's thousands. Thousands. And I can't afford to keep going to these cons. I can't afford, y'all be like, oh, that's the same costume she had on last time. Hell, yeah! This costume cost $200.
00:39:47
Speaker
Y'all gonna deal with this costume until it falls apart. With all the different pieces that I brought together, my Sub-Zero was $1,000. Exactly, right there. And then at the Sailor Moon wig, keep falling apart, so I got to buy a new Sailor Moon wig. You know, and then, you know, every time I, you know, this old purple wig is in my eye right now, I don't know what's gonna happen with this. So, you know, every time you go to the store, like, right there in the spirit of Halloween, 50% off, I'm about to go buy every color wig, because I don't know what I'm gonna be this year.
00:40:13
Speaker
And I need blue wings, purple wings, orange wings. I got approached by Maui Comic Con. I was hoping that they would say something of that matter, thank you. Because they said, we just wanted to bring ourselves to your attention. I'm like, oh, OK, that's nice. Maui. Maui. Maui. Maui. Maui. There's one of the islands out there. Oh, look where it is. I'm excited. And then there's one that has
00:40:43
Speaker
There has been one Comic Con that has been talking to me at various times to say, hey, I want to try and get my husband to pay for you to come out here. Barbados. Barbados? Yes. So why her husband? Was it the president of Barbados? No, he's the president of the convention. So apparently, they've gotten Cutie Parcense and K-Bear out a few times. Oh, one of the talks. It's so legitimate. Can we do something? Yes. My husband's going to bring you out. What kind of con is that? Bedrock con.
00:41:17
Speaker
I really wish that you I hope for you to have the best like you have thank you first of all for agreeing to do this today because this was like it's like a Facebook DM hey you want to come it was kind of sketchy but thank you for coming out it's important to Artway Alliance I know you through
00:41:41
Speaker
I think. Oh, yeah. That's where I first knew of you. So, yeah, you weren't. I didn't hear anything bad. It's coming. Oh, I could say that's the disclaimer. No, no, that's a disclaimer that I have. Yeah, you might like me now, but just wait. You're going to see something I want to say. You'll be like. So, and then thank you to Tim from I Love Nerd Life and Swift Kit Show. He's dope.
00:42:11
Speaker
He is a nerd even though he's, you know, still finding his nerdum. I'm gonna get him to act out on occasion. You got that Tony Stark money? I mean, I thought it changed. You're rocking the rope. Occasionally I can get him to act out. You gotta really bring it out. Thank you for sharing this journey because
00:42:37
Speaker
A lot of cosplayers look up to you, even though you don't realize it. It's a lot of young, socially awkward men, boys. Their first interaction sometimes with a girl is at a con. There's a lot of guys that the first time they get to be seen as who they are is at a con. So when you get these people online in all of their socially awkwardness and all of their, you know,
00:43:03
Speaker
Some of them are older, some of them are younger, but it's a lot of babies out here. They get to these events, like, I met Black Afro, he was awesome. And you're like, okay, what happened? Nothing. And you're like, oh, okay, so what happened? I don't know, but I was near him and it changed my life. And you kind of gave them some ass, you know, you rubbed off on them and they ended up, you know,
00:43:23
Speaker
In the soccer world, I'm calling out a girl, because I just met Efron E-Man. You're going to be my girlfriend. It's a lot of boys. I'm serious. I'm serious. You have changed a lot of young men's lives, so just keep it in mind. I know I don't want to put an extra layer of stress upon you, but the young dudes look up to you. I've acknowledged that there are people who need
00:43:48
Speaker
Tangible figures in their lives. That's cold. I'm sorry. I just blew my breath But yeah, um, yeah, I know that there are people who need tangible figures in their life to To know that they are seen to know that you know that they're not weird, you know me and then For all just the purposes. I am very very approachable I just I just don't really accept a lot of like crap because
00:44:17
Speaker
But also don't talk to me when I'm in character. My character is me. The day I am me. Rawr. I'm in character. You know, it's like, it is what it is. I think the only thing that's annoying about when people want to talk to you is when you're eating and you're in cosplay and you're like, can I take a picture? I'm like, do you not see this? I just had to take my things out. I can't. I'm drooling on myself. Or if I'm going to the bathroom, sir, this, this.
00:44:40
Speaker
This outfit has 31 straps. You know, snaps in between the legs. It's got zippers. Can you, I need three people to help squeeze me back into the costume so I can come out the bathroom. So yeah. And then I'll be honest, I'm not the most approachable in the morning. Just because when I'm doing this, I've gone through a dehydration process because it's like the whole bodybuilder trick of
00:45:05
Speaker
I'm about to involve seekers. You basically, you drink three gallons of water a day for four days straight. And then you drop it down to one gallon on that fourth, on that fifth day. And then in the day of the show or the convention, you sip from a 20 ounce bottle of water and you're going, that's your peak week. So you have tricked your body into thinking that you are dehydrated and therefore the skin sucks itself as close to your body as possible so they can get as much moisture.
00:45:44
Speaker
He said, he concerned about your waist trainers. It's all about time management. How do you get three gallons done in a day? Listen, if you start. I'm going to die. I'm only 128 pounds. Listen. I just waterlogged. I remember when your doll used to get the water, they'd come out the arm. Yeah, that's it. If you drink the water, you get the first gallon between 6 and 8 AM, you're good. Who's having sex? And then the second gallon is from 8 to 12 PM, right?
00:46:04
Speaker
What's that thing?
00:46:12
Speaker
Then you can take the rest of the day to finish off that last gallon. As long as you get done before 6 p.m., you won't be getting up in the middle of the night to pee. When do we drink alcohol? When do we drink alcohol? That's not your diet.
00:46:26
Speaker
I need a shot or something in there. I mean, I saw a video of a dude doing 30 patrol shots or 50 patrol shots. Yeah. Hey. We didn't make it. We didn't make it. I am up for the challenge. That's the challenge I could do. I can't do no three gallons of water. See, that's what happened because I kind of BS that prep.
00:46:48
Speaker
And I wish I didn't, because I knew I could look a lot better if I didn't. But that's what the water trick does. That's what they do in the movies. They drink a lot of water. And then we dehydrate ourselves. So that's what I do to have like a half an ad. Yep. I'll be trying for that half an ad if you be doing this. You know I'll be working out and all that shit. So I got to drink a lot of water. Drink all the water. And then drink some water. You need the fruit too, aren't you? You need the fruit too, aren't you? No. Oh? No.
00:47:15
Speaker
Good job. Not when I'm about to do cons and stuff like that. I'm trying to keep it down. I'm learning from y'all. I'm learning from y'all. I've been following everybody's workout regiments and I'm like, there's some bullshit.
00:47:33
Speaker
It's just a lot of work. So the fact that you're doing that and training your body to do that, that's crazy. Yeah, well, I mean, that's what I was doing. You already drank 100 ounces. That's what I was doing when I was married, yeah. Wait, how was all of you? I'm 62. You're 62, how much you weigh?
00:47:49
Speaker
Right now? Oh no, I fluctuate. At that weight, I was 210. Okay. But right now, I'm around 235. Okay, you still act like this fan is on. You got this. Thank you for following him on Instagram. But yeah, I know that's right. I love Paul Moore so much. He said you better follow that. Okay, we got you.
00:48:17
Speaker
But yeah, so no, this is dope. Thank you so much for your time. I don't want to take up any more of your time. Thank you for coming. Please, please, please just, you know, keep me posted and I will share like whatever, you know, cross-posting is real. I feel like you really are trying. You try to do your best. We got you. Yeah. I, yeah. I mean, the only thing that I really try to post is
00:48:39
Speaker
As far as on my Facebook page, I try to get as many people as possible interested in cosplay. That's why I share a lot of the family cosplays. There was the Addison Family one that I shared not too long ago. And then there was a Catwoman one that I shared this morning. I want to be Catwoman now. She's amazing. I want to be yoga. I'm going to love to be a gymnast. She's had her leg all up in the air. I was like, ow! I don't do that yet. I'm ready.
00:49:05
Speaker
Facebook is supposed to be like the intro. It's like, you know, I think I can do this. Do you have a website where people can find you? Other than Instagram and Facebook is all under Hellspawn underscore pathway.
00:49:17
Speaker
I have not done anything as far as my LLC, because I don't have any clients. But I am trying to do the whole consulting thing. I own a home, I own a business, you got to do what other folks do. Congratulations. Let's do L.A., L.A. Yeah, because that tax season is coming soon, so hopefully we can write some stuff off and pay some bills. I don't know, but thank you for your time.
00:49:43
Speaker
Join us. Thank you guys for sitting and joining us and listening to our conversation. We do appreciate it. I'm Baroness Brie. You can find me online at BaronessBrie.com. And thank you to Artway Alliance who hosted this tent with Bopa. And thank you to Mr. Holt for coming out at Mr. Hellspawn Cosplay. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Good night. Where did you come from? I know you.
00:50:13
Speaker
I mean, uh-oh, I'm not trying to make it weird, but you know.