Assignment 2, Sera Cosplay

Avery Stainton

VISA 1500

October 18th, 2021

Dr. Terryl Atkins

Part A: Cosplay Analysis

Cosplay is something that draws in a lot of creative geeks, and for good reason. It allows people to escape reality and become a character that they look up to, or simply show off their craftsmanship. This is exactly what got me into cosplay back in 2015, and what led me to taking this image of myself as Sera, the rogue elf from Dragon Age: Inquisition, back in 2017. This image was taken at AniRevo, a pop-culture convention in Vancouver, BC, alongside many more photos from lovers of the character herself, including a man who worked on the game before it was released. Sera is not the most popular character; many people dislike her, and she is nowhere near the same level of popularity of standard super heroes. She’s a disagreeable thief, and that’s why I thought the best way to go about cosplaying her would be to make the costume myself. Everything I wore for this outfit was either crafted out of materials such as Worbla (a sawdust material that becomes malleable when heated, or altered from thrifted items. Sera is a character that made everything herself, from the arrows in her quiver to the choppy bangs she cut with her knife. It made sense to me to embody the character during the crafting process and build it as if I were her.

Though disliked by many, Sera is a symbol of female rebellion. She isn’t the standard in terms of beauty or personality, as she swears like a sailor, makes vulgar jokes, and kills people that she has decided are bad, and therefore isn’t regularly sexualized. One thing that also makes Dragon Age so popular is the fact that you can further weave the story by being able to romance most of the other party members in the game, all of which have unique preferences. However, one thing that makes Sera stand out is the fact that she is the only lesbian in the game, and is not an easy character to make like you. Again, a lot of people dislike Sera based on her personality, but through romancing her, you get to see a more caring and likeable side to her. This is why people who do like Sera, adore her, and I experienced this when walking around as her. I had boatloads of people running up to me to take a picture with me, or shouting “Sera, you look amazing!” at me from the other side of the room.

When looking at the aspects of the photograph itself, there are many things to be analyzed despite the fact that it is an amateur image. According to “‘Its’a Me, Mario’: Costumed Gaming’s Effects on Character Identification”, by Joshua Tanenbaum, Nicole Crenshaw, and Karen Tanenbaum, “Clothing can convey socio-economic status, cultural background, gender identity, political and religious affiliation, media preferences, and personality traits” (p.1, J. Tanenbaum, N. Crenshaw, K. Tanenbaum). From looking at this image, we can assume that the character is a bit of a scoundrel through her pose and outfit. The colours of the image also bounce off each other quite well, as the dark contrast of the subject is accentuated by the light blue colours of the buildings behind. The depiction makes you ask many questions such as: why is there a jar of bees on her belt? Is she a good guy, or a villain? Why is she stealing from someone’s bag? The image tells a story, which was exactly what the intention was when taking the photograph in the first place.

Works Cited

Tanenbaum, J., Crenshaw, N., & Tanenbaum, K. (2016). “Its’a Me, Mario!”: Costumed Gaming’s Effects on Character Identification. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://web.archive.org/web/20180518190534id_/http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/paper_407.pdf.