How cosplay helped this Haligonian explore their identity

Becos I Can is a CBC Creator Network series that explores what drives cosplayers to create and how cosplay has had an impact on them.

In this episode, cosplayer and host Misha Bakshi sits down with good friend Xiaoqi (Scoot) Zhu, an East Asian cosplayer in Halifax. Bakshi talks to Scoot about their journey into cosplaying and what it's like being among one of the few racialized members of the Halifax cosplay community.

Cosplay became a creative outlet for Xiaoqi (Scoot) Zhu when they were in high school.

"I was always like an artistic child growing up. I was kind of like a recluse," they said.

Then Scoot moved from small-town Newfoundland to an even smaller town in Nova Scotia.

"There weren't many people of colour around, there weren't many, like, Asian folk. I really had to find something to take my mind off the fact that, like, I didn't have any friends, we didn't have any community around us," they said.

Watch this episode of BeCos I Can to find out how cosplay helped Scoot through their teen years, whythere needs to be more conversations about colourism and sexism in cosplay, and advice for potential cosplayers.

More from the series:

Photo tips for cosplayers and photographers

In this episode of Becos I Can,Misha Bakshi learnsgreat tips from photographerJeff Gold and cosplayer Jessicka Zombieon how they work together to create amazing cosplay content.