This cosplay from Queen of the Damned was inspired by another cosplayer and has lots of stories behind it!
When other creators inspire you, give them credit!
Lestat De Lioncourt
"In July of 2024 I had the amazing opportunity to meet Wolfkyller (Winnie) where we quickly became mutuals while attending WasabiCon PDX. There I had watched Winnie's cosplay journey throughout the months grow! At around August/September I had witnessed them make a Lestat cosplay from 'Interview with the Vampire' and immediately became inspired. The creation of this cosplay and the amount of love put into their cosplay was something so influencial and emotional that it reminded me of why we all cosplay to begin with. It's not about a following, or the clout, and it shouldnt be about those! It should be about doing what makes you happy. If there is a cosplay you've always wanted to do and have been dying to create because its a comfort character, passion, challenge, goal or dream.... do it. Winnie had reminded me of just that."
"For this months theme I had chosen 'Vampire Coven' solely because of three characters I had already decided to do, however I couldn't find out another character until I came across Winnie's Lestat cosplay again. Cloud (my partner) had said Lestat was a good choice and I went with it! It is okay to have other creators inspire you, however, credit them. Don't use their ideas and knowledge and claim it as your own, it may seem to the original artist or creator that their efforts are no longer theirs and they aren't as proud of their content anymore because someone stole the idea. Stealing content and making it your own are two completely different things!"
"So this cosplay is to appreciate the love and passion that Winnie had put into their Lestat Cosplay! They look absolutely amazing and I am so proud of them for making their dream cosplay, and cannot wait to see all the other big builds they plan to make for him in the future. So in all, do what makes you happy! Create what you want! Just know that there will be people that you could end up inspiring and changing their lives through doing what you originally did, and that is completely okay!! Just as long as they credit you for your original idea and it's not 100% cookie-cutter copying!"