Valentine’s Day Cosplay Couple Spotlight: Cassib and Xai Fell in Love at First Cosplay

Being a geek in love is a magical thing. Not only do you get to go through life with your best friend, strongest supporter, and partner in crime, but you also get to enjoy your favorite geeky hobbies together. Cosplayers Cassib and Xai fell in love at first cosplay. Here’s how it happened – and a look into the exciting life of this cosplaying couple.

Tara M. Clapper: You told me it was love at first cosplay. Let’s hear the story – how did it happen?

Cassib: Ikkicon 2008, Friday of the con. I was chilling in the game room watching friends play DDR. Xai came over and started talking to my friend on the DDR machine, giving tips and stuff. Suddenly Xai and my friend realized they’d met at Anime Matsuri two years ago and we all sat in the corner and chatted. Then I realized what exactly Xai was cosplaying… Shuichi from Gravitation (that one shounen ai!!!) which he HAND SEWED ALL BY HIMSELF THE NIGHT BEFORE!

Literal heartthrob showing off tummy AND sewing skills!!! Somewhere in that time he complimented my Beast Boy and we got excited over me cosplaying Deadpool the next day. Various other events occured like me holding Xai’s finger after he took off his Inuyasha nails and being c*ckblocked by an intoxicated man. Come Sunday of the con I randomly got courage and chased down a Ciel Phantomhive dress-wearing Xai and gave him my number! We started dating almost a month after that!

Xai: What she said.

TMC: What are your favorite conventions to attend as a couple?

X: For a normal convention, it would have to be Ikkicon. It is our anniversary convention. For a laid-back convention, Ushicon would be our choice, because there isn’t any pressure from cosplay and the crowd is a little more mature. We usually hang out with the RikRic OtakuCafe guys and play some drinking games.

TMC Is it easier or more difficult to find cosplay options if you want to cosplay as a couple?

C: I find it easier to find cosplay options! Usually when we have a spark to cosplay, it’s from a show we’ve enjoyed together and we just tend to be driven towards characters that click. Having a matching partner also drives us to put our all into what we make! Even if we don’t match cosplay-wise, we’re still supportive of the cosplays the other makes.

X: Honestly people cosplay to show their love for their anime/game. Cassib and myself love to fall into various fandoms together and find costumes that work well together. Like Cassib said, even if we don’t agree on costumes of the same genre we will find a common ground somewhere and still enjoy the process of making the cosplay together.

TMC: Are most of your cosplays canon character couples, or do you also cosplay characters who are just friends or part of the same team?

X: The couple cosplays we do for the most part have some sort of synergy with each other. Some of them are canon couples, but for the majority of our cosplays we have an attraction towards the character we cosplay.

TMC: What’s your dream cosplay to do together?

X: Well, our initial dream cosplay was Gurren Lagann. But we’ve already done that one, Cassib as Simon while I cosplayed Kamina. We have developed a deep love for that anime, especially when Cassib is sipping on a little alcohol and crying when the twins first appear in the series. So our next dream one would probably have be to the time skip in that anime where Cassib will cosplay Nia and I will take over the role of Simon.

C: On that note, it’s always been a dream of mine to have a Gurren Lagann or Sailor Moon wedding. Kinda my dream “cosplay” of a sort.

TMC: How has sharing the same hobby helped or hurt your relationship?

C: It’s totally brought us together for the most part. Xai is part of my biggest passion and I am a part of his. Through us sharing the hobby we’ve learned so much about each other, especially at 4am the night before the convention. Couples who cry together over cosplay stay together, haha!

There have been times though when our different reasons for cosplaying clash and hurt feelings. I’m about craftsmanship and accuracy, and Xai is about having fun and the experience. But that just balances us out, ya know? We are certainly learning to step back and look at the whole picture of just having fun together.

X: Cassib and I have different techniques we bring to our group. I usually like to wing it and play my cosplays and how I make it by ear, whereas she likes to make a list and draw everything out and make sure everything is perfect. We have learned to use each other’s strengths to better enhance our costumes. She brings the knowledge to our composition whilst I bring the ingenuity.

TMC: What’s your advice for someone interested in dating a cosplayer?

C: Be prepared to have thread bits and wig fibers all over you! Also be supportive of their passion; you don’t have to cosplay with them if that isn’t your thing, but still encourage them to continue with their hobby.

X: It is really easy if you have an attraction towards the same genre that they are interested in as well! Being a nerd is great, but when you find someone that shares in that passion it usually takes off from there. My advice for anyone out there wanting to date a cosplayer is: DON’T be a creeper, cosplayers are normal people too. Just go up and talk to them about their costume(s) and the anime/game it came from and start off slowly from there.

 

TMC: When you cosplay together, what’s your process for deciding on what to do?

C: Lately, I’ve been the one to suggest a series or specific character for Xai or both of us to cosplay since I’m trying to get us through our “dream cosplay” list quickly so we can keep adding to it. Xai usually agrees or throws in his own suggestions. From there we decide which cosplay we have the most excitement for and that’s the one we start making.

X: She is lying. If I try and say something she threatens me with her two imaginary guns that she forms with her hands.

C: No I’m truthin’.

X: She’s a lioness. D:

TMC: What are your plans for Valentine’s Day?

C: Because Xai lives in Dallas and I live in Austin, we don’t get to meet up on Valentine’s day exactly. Instead we spend the weekend before Valentine’s Day at a very small local convention, Ushicon, relaxing with friends like RikRic Otaku Cafe and their crew.

TMC: When you enter cosplay contests, do you enter individually or as a couple? How does that work?

X: Ideally we would enter as a couple, although there are times when I wanted to enter the contest and circumstances didn’t allow Cassib to. I still felt compelled to not enter unless Cassib did as well.

C: I feel eventually we might compete against each other in the future just to spice things up, haha.

X: I WILL destroy you.

TMC: Anything else you’d like to add:

X: If you guys see us at any convention, don’t be shy, come up and say hello! We’re always down to meet new people and have fun with them at the con!

C: Please check out our Facebook page! We love meeting new people who share the same passion as us!