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Recently Chuu has been using her time at convention panels to promote body positivity. She organized “Underwatch” at Katsucon 2017, for which she designed and created lingerie in the style of characters’ costumes in the game Overwatch. Her designs were modeled by people of all genders, races and sexual identities. Overwatch has been insinuating itself into much of Chuu’s work recently. She just completed what she reckons is the most intricate build of her career, the game’s Raptorian Pharah skin. “It took me a little under a year to complete, with many breaks to reassess,” Chuu said. “Although I was working with my favorite material, EVA foam, it was still an overwhelming challenge. I rushed the build for Anime Expo and ended up scrapping the whole project because I wasn’t happy with the result. The craftsmanship was very sloppy and the glue wouldn’t have dried in time for me to wear the costume on the show floor. I put it on the back burner for half a year and dedicated that time to honing my armor building skills. I also completely redesigned all my patterns in Adobe Illustrator. I use a method similar to origami or pepakura but instead of using a 3D engine, I hand drew each polygon. It’s a slow process and I should probably learn some 3D modeling so I can be more accurate.” Learning is a continuous progression for Stella Chuu. Despite the overwhelming pressure to churn out costumes, she knows that her fans expect to see her work with ever newer materials and media. Schooling herself in vacuum form and the use of a CNC machine (a kind of computer- controlled lathe) are in her immediate curriculum. For all of us with faces pressed against the glass on the outside of this candy factory, the pace seems breakneck, if not downright unsustainable. Chuu, however, believes it’s all getting easier, for her, and every cosplayer. “There are so many resources out there that we didn’t have in the past,” Chuu reminded us. “It’s so much easier to make a great costume and photograph. Jump on YouTube, join a forum, and ask your friends to help!” “I want to make being sexy a norm,” she says.

The most important resource, and a recurrent one in the lives of just about every successful international cosplayer with whom we speak, is a partner who “gets it.” Stella met hers back when she day-jobbed as a mobile apps developer. “One month into the relationship, we attended Katsucon,” she told Cosplay Culture. “On the last day of the con, I told him that I wanted to become a cosplayer like Yaya Han and Vampy Bit Me. He nodded at me. I thought that he misunderstood me so I further explained that I wanted to travel the world from convention to convention dressed up as my favorite characters and somehow make it a career. He nodded again and replied ‘Yeah. I know. Just tell me what you need me to do. I want to help.’ He was ready and willing. We’ve been on this journey ever since that day.” There are so many resources out there that we didn’t have in the past. It’s so much easier to make a great costume and photograph. Jump on YouTube, join a forum, and ask your friends to help!” “

Stella and Jeff have been married now for two years.

YOU CAN FIND STELLA CHUU ONLINE HERE:

www.facebook.com/stellachuuuuu

www.instagram.com/stellachuuuuu

www.twitter.com/stellachuuuuu

www.youtube.com/stellachuu

www.twitch.tv/stellachuu

www.patreon.com/stellachuu

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