Gender Non-Conformists: Interview with Award-Winning Cosplay Team “The Phoenix Quartet”

I had the opportunity this past Anime Boston to catch up with Addison Butler, Tristan Wells, Richard Sean Mullen, three members of the Phoenix Quartet Cosplay group, who won the Best Overall Performance award at Another Anime Con this past year and Anime Boston’s 2012 “Best Skit” award! This group does some truly wonderful cosplays and skits but the most interesting thing about them is that all four of their members identify themselves as Gender Non-conformists!

Do you find more freedoms in cosplaying?

I do!~ Addison

Oh definitely! ~Tristan

Yes I do find more freedoms in cosplay. And it’s not just the costumes and the passing that makes it better, but the community that I’m in. The cosplay community is much more open and accepting than the public and they learn to ask certain things in accepting ways and not to judge. This type of community is ideal for individuals who may not be seen as “normal.” ~Richard

Cosplaying allows me an excuse to wear “female clothing” without being seen as less of a man for doing so. It also allows me to escape from the social boundaries of the world I exist in and become another person for a day, should I choose to fully immerse myself in that character’s persona. ~Addison

Crossplaying isn’t looked at as being strange in the cosplay community, if anything it’s become a normal and anticipated part of cosplay. I really enjoy being able to express the fluctuation that I feel in my gender, through an artistic form. ~Tristan

When choosing a cosplay how much does your gender identity influence your roles?

It influences my cosplay choices very little. I may identify as male, but cosplaying comes down to two things for me: costumes and fun. ~Addison

Generally I prefer to cosplay males over females. I feel like it’s a lot easier for me to portray emotion as a man, rather than a woman. ~Tristan

When I choose my cosplay, I try not to let my gender identity get in the way. I try to cosplay things that I know I would enjoy regardless if the character is male or female. ~Richard

In the end, all cosplay is about is entertainment for yourself and others. In addition, every cosplayer should remember that it is only a costume. The clothing that one wears and the character that one portrays has little to do with oneself as an individual, and one shouldn’t let such trivial things influence the way one behaves. ~Addison

However, I find that cosplaying female characters makes me feel more distant to male identity. Sadly, I have an ideal body for a female (hips, breasts, thin waist, etc) so when I cosplay females, many other men approach me and see me as a girl. ~Richard

If I do decide to cosplay a woman, generally I like cosplaying strong, independent female characters. I’m not adverse to cosplaying a woman, but they really have to pique my interest as a character because when I first look at a series, I habitually look to see if there are any. ~Tristan

I can tell that people will see me as a female when I cosplay females because I really can’t say I’m male with C-cup breasts and a thin waist. It’s at these times where I feel the most disgusting and I feel like I’m cheating myself. ~Richard

How do you identify your gender identity?

Gender Fluid ~Tristan

I identify as Male. It was about two years ago that I felt that identifying as male was correct. It was a thought that had built up for years and I realized, through cosplay, how comfortable I was being male. It felt like I was in the correct body when I cosplayed and presented as male ~Richard

Even after I realized that I am male, I still struggled with my gender identity. I knew I was transgender because I was born a biological female but I identified as male, but that didn’t really seem quite fitting for me, either. I have more or less come to the conclusion that I am a genderfluid trans*man. This being said, I still identify as male, but there are days when I feel more feminine (although these days are few and far between) so I can’t say outright that I am a manly-man. Therefore, I feel as though I am genderfluid in the respect that I don’t live every single day of my life strictly as being a man. However, for the most part, I identify myself daily as being male. ~Addison

I started identifying as Gender Fluid in September of 2011. As I started observing Richard and Addison’s transitions and learning about the steps they would be undergoing in the future as transgendered individuals, I became more aware of both my masculinity and femininity. I became confused with the way I identified myself because periodically throughout short periods of time I would feel more comfortable seeing myself as a man, rather than a woman. I would go through bouts of dysphoria and I seriously considered identifying myself as a FtM transgendered individual. ~Tristan

To clarify, my “femininity” is more that I mind less on certain days if I am addressed by female pronouns or if I wear “female clothing”, despite the fact that I believe clothing has little to do with gender. In this respect, I do still identify as male, regardless of my wardrobe choice that day. (I apologize if that was confusing.) ~Addison

The thing that held me back was that I still felt a strong connection with my female gender identity, and I felt I would regret giving up that aspect of who I am. I felt torn between the two gender identity norms, like I had to choose one or the other. I confided all of the issues that I was facing to the fellow members of TPQ and they suggested that I look into the possibility that I might be Genderqueer; specifically Gender Fluid. ~Tristan

I first realized that I wasn’t quite a “girl” when I was in early high school. I always wanted to be “one of the guys” with my friends, instead of being seen as “the female friend” in the group. Despite my efforts to appear more androgynous over the course of my high school career, it did little to persuade my friends that I was anything but a “girl”, and they even went so far as to mock and insult, what they called, “trannies.” Every time a comment like that was brought up, I would feel a sting of disappointment and sadness wash through me, though I never quite understood why – until I met Max. ~Addison

At first when I was looking into it, I didn’t really feel that it applied to me. I’d never met anyone who was Gender Fluid before and I forced myself to push the idea out of my head, even though I was still struggling with everything. It was around that time that I took a class called Gender, Identity, and Society at the University I attend. ~Tristan

Max is one of my closest friends, and was the first true transgender individual I had ever met. He explained to me that he is male, and that being transgender is actually a thing, and that it is more common than most people realize. I took home this knowledge and thought about it for a long time. I had never realized until that point that people could fight the gender binary – that they could actually exist as someone that society tells them they are not. The realization dawned over me that I was uncomfortable being this “girl” that everyone knew and abhorred; at the same time, my partner, Richard, was openly coming to terms with his gender identity, and, although he was a lot more confident about the fact that he was definitely male, it took me a long time to come to terms with the idea of my own gender identity being “out of the norm”. ~Addison

I was completely enthralled in the course and it gave me a better perspective on many different topics about Gender. I was given a much more in depth definition of Gender Fluidity and became more comfortable with the idea. I decided that I was going to start identifying as Gender Fluid just to try it out. ~Tristan

I eventually confided in Richie that I was uncomfortable with my gender, and he gave me comfort and peace of mind, ensuring that he would accept me no matter how I identified. If it weren’t for Richie’s undying love and support in helping me realize who I was and how I was comfortable identifying, I may have never come out about being a trans*male. ~Addison

On the days that I felt like I woman I would dress in more traditionally feminine clothing. On the days I felt more masculine, I would wear my compression top and whatever felt most comfortable to me. I started to feel happier and more comfortable in my own skin. It was a couple weeks later that I decided that I would permanently identify as Gender Fluid and I have been way more comfortable since. ~Tristan

After a few weeks of experimenting with my identity – first portraying myself simply as androgynous, and then solely as male – I learned that I was most comfortable with male pronouns. It was shortly after that I made a mass announcement about my gender identity and my chosen name, and began living fully as a man. It has been two years since I came out about it, and I couldn’t be happier. ~Addison

What would you say is the difference between Crossplay and Transgender cosplay?

To me, at least, gender has little to do with cosplay in any respect, and that includes crossplay. If a person identifies as male and cosplays a female, or visa versa, then they are crossplaying. It matters little to me whether they were born a biological male or a biological female or not, because it is how the person identifies their gender in the present that matters. That being said, there is a difference between crossplay and transgender cosplay. ~Addison

Transgender cosplay is just a transgendered person cosplaying. Crossplay is just a person of a certain gender identity cosplays a character of the opposite gender identity. ~Tristan

The difference between crossplay and transgender cosplay is that an individual who is trans identifies as such in the everyday life. They are the opposite gender from their sex. ~Richard

“Crossplaying” is when a person dresses as an opposite-gender character as how that person identifies their personal gender, and “cosplay” is when a person dresses as a same-gender character as how that person identifies their personal gender. ~Addison

What do you think is the most challenging part of cosplaying as a Transgender or Gender Fluid individual?

The most challenging part, for me, at least, is convincing other people that you are the gender you identify as when you are in costume. For me, I cosplay both men and women, so it is difficult for me to ensure people that I am male when my voice doesn’t match my mentality. ~Addison

I don’t find cosplaying as a Gender Fluid individual too challenging because of the fact that I cosplay both male and female characters. The only issue I find is that because of the fact that I’m in a cosplay group, the series we cosplay is outlined before the convention so if I have a female character lined up for a day that I’m feeling very masculine, I still have to dress in the planned cosplay. ~Tristan

The hardest part about being a Transgender individual is passing to the outside public. I, myself, know that I am male. However, my voice and my body give me away as my natural born sex. It’s because of these little hints that people know what I was born as. It’s trying to accept that I’m not in my correct body yet that is difficult because until I am, I’m not going to be the man that I know I am. ~Richard

Your skit for Anime Boston “Venom,” from Vampire Knight won the Best Performance award, what led you to the anime Vampire Night? Were any of your gender identities a consideration?

It’s actually a funny story! ~Tristan

Believe it or not, but the series we chose was a rather last-minute decision. Our original plan was to make a skit for Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles, but one of our members couldn’t participate, so we looked to other series for ideas. The second choice we had made was for Ao no Exorcist, but we couldn’t configure a well-choreographed skit in time. So, as a group, we sat down and considered every series we could potentially make a skit for, and the idea of Vampire Knight came up. There was a character for every person in the skit, and every person involved had wanted to cosplay those characters at some point in their cosplay futures, so it worked out beautifully. ~Addison

I had received a call from Addison and Richard a couple months prior to Anime Boston and they asked me if we ever cosplayed from Vampire Knight, who I’d like to be. I own majority of the manga and I had watched the anime a couple years ago. I knew that I’d love to cosplay Kaname because of his attitude and the tension he has with Zero is so potent that I would love to try and portray that. ~Tristan

The anime, Vampire Knight, was a very interesting show. It had many plot twists and characters that were very different in personality and behaviors. It had many different skit possibilities and that’s why we chose it to perform. ~Richard

After that, we scheduled times to meet up for rehearsals, and the skit went off without a hitch. There were virtually no qualms when it came to choosing the characters we had wanted to cosplay from Vampire Knight. Even though I identify as male, I had always wanted to cosplay Yuki Cross, the female protagonist of the series. ~Addison

Because of the fact that Addison holds no issues with crossplaying as a woman, he was very eager to cosplay Yuuki. And Richie had always been a fan of Zero so everything just happened to fit into place. ~Tristan

My gender identity was of little influence in this decision because I was mostly interested in the character, Zero, who was a male protagonist. I felt like I was able to display his masculinity in my cosplay, as was my goal. However, at some points I felt like I wasn’t able to display enough masculinity to cosplay the character properly. ~Richard

It didn’t particularly matter to me that she (Yuki) was a female character with a very obviously female appearance because, in the end, it would just be a costume, and would not reflect on my gender identity as an individual. ~Addison

I don’t think that the issue of Gender came into play so much as the issue of height. I am significantly taller than Addison and Richard, so it wouldn’t have made sense, and it would have looked pretty funny, if I had cosplayed the female protagonist seeing as how she is constantly the object of affection for Zero and Kaname, to the point where she can be almost treated as a ragdoll. ~Tristan

In both that performance and your Best Overall Performance at Another Anime Convention this past year you took a lot of risks (In some cases physically and in other cases conceptually), what advice can you give cosplayers who want to take risks with their masquerade skits but don’t know where to start?

My advice to beginner performers would be to work from the bottom up. Be careful in the beginning and see how the first performance goes. ~Richard

It can be difficult to think outside of the box sometimes. Really try to come up with ideas that you haven’t seen before. ~Tristan

I find it is also extremely helpful to watch other skits, videos, and tutorials about pseudo-fighting and dance moves so that you have instructions to show you how to safely imitate those moves or to give you the inspiration to create your own original moves. ~Addison

Once you are able to find your comfort level in performing, then you can gradually begin to take risks. Try to be creative in performing however. Know your limits… everyone has them. ~Richard

Always use caution! Make sure that when you are practicing, have a soft ground for you or other members of your group to land on in case something goes wrong, and make sure that no actual violence (ie. punches, kicks, weapons, etc. don’t make actual contact to a person) is used. ~Addison

Conveying the relationships between your characters whether you’re using dialogue or not, is a huge part of adding emotion to your skit. Even if you are speaking, your character and how they feel in regards to other characters should be apparent by your body language and facial expressions. ~Tristan

Also, it is very important that neither you nor anybody in your group ever does something that makes somebody uncomfortable. This could be anything from lifting a person to doing a kiss scene. The idea of romance in a skit is a lot of fun and can be very advantageous if it falls in line with the plot of the series you are cosplaying from, but it can also make a lot of people uncomfortable, namely the people involved in the romance scenes. ~Addison

Do not try to perform in a way that you know is not natural and is difficult. You always want to stay comfortable and expect any kind of result in the end. ~Richard

Don’t be discouraged if a person’s discomfort causes a setback in your choreography; there are always alternate actions that you and your group can take to replace the scenes that caused discomfort. Creativity is your best friend, especially in the cosplay world. 😀 ~Addison

I truly believe in the idea of “show, don’t tell.” If you add explanations into your characters dialogue as to how they feel about another character, it’s going to make your performance very stale and 2D. You need to be able to make your characters seem 3D, like there are things underneath the surface that aren’t explained, but are instead assumed because of their actions. ~Tristan

Perform in a way that seems effortless and show to the audience how much fun you had with it. ~Richard

Do you have any advice for Transgender cosplayers?

My advice is this: Don’t ever be afraid to wear a costume. Clothing has nothing to do with you as an individual, and people are silly to believe that it does. You are a person, not a costume, and you have every right to cosplay or crossplay whomever or whatever you want! Enjoy it and have fun with it, because that’s all that matters in the end. ~Addison

I’ve seen how self-esteem can be a huge issue for my cosplay friends who identify as transgender. Surround yourself with people who are accepting and those who are willing to learn. There are some amazing people in the world who are instantly accepting of other people’s life choices, and there are others who won’t quite understand where you are coming from right away. As long as you are around open minded people who are willing and able to learn about who you are and what you’re going through, you’ll have people who will support you in your choices. Ultimately that will affect how you deal with negativity and hugely impact your self-esteem. ~Tristan

My advice to Transgender cosplayers would be, don’t worry about it. Know who you are and expect others to understand. Stay comfortable with your body and be proud of who you are. Cosplay characters that make you feel comfortable and act in whatever way that you want. Cosplaying is about fun and, as ironic as it is, being yourself. Never hide who you really are. Be the character but at the same time, embrace who you are. ~Richard

(Editor’s Note: All photos belong to Phoenix Cosplay and are taken from their deviantART page)