Cosplay Spotlight: Byndo Gehk's Vivi Ornitier!

Image taken by: DL Photography https://www.facebook.com/CosplayRewind

Byndo Gehk is one of my favorite cosplayers and a talented one at that. Her cosplay name was created using Al-bhed, a language created for the video game Final Fantasy X, meaning Party King. From video games, to making all her own cosplays, going to conventions, and going to school, sometimes I wonder how she has time to do anything! Byndo is known for doing a good amount of gender bend cosplays. In case you aren't aware of what it means to gender bend, it simply means to take a male cosplay and turn it female, or vice versa. Her most recent being Vivi from Final Fantasy IX. Byndo worked on Vivi for a couple of weeks, during January right before MAGfest 2016, where she debuted it. She streams on Twitch when she is building cosplay or playing video games, feel free to check it out! (https://www.twitch.tv/byndogehk).

Who is Vivi Ornitier? Vivi is a playable character in Final Fantasy IX. Vivi is a clumsy, shy, and adorable black mage. Stumbling on his speech and lacking self confidence, unable to believe in himself at all. He was a prototype mage that fell out of a cargo ship into a forest near a town called Treno. Vivi was found by Quan who raised him with plans to eat him. Unfortunately Vivi never physically grew up. Quan, instead of eating Vivi, began teaching him about many of things about the world. I wont go into further detail, I don't want to spoil the game for anyone who hasn't played it yet!

Byndo created her gender bend Vivi completely on her own, paying great attention to detail when she worked on Vivi. She took a small tiny sized character and tweaked it to be a tall female character. Starting with the hat, she made the base from wire to build and size the shape of the hat. She added a “base” fabric than the fabric with the correct color and details. The hat itself is an over-sized style, just like Vivi’s is in the game.

I do not know her process for making the outfit itself, but the amount of work she has put into it shows! Like I mentioned she pays very close attention to detail. From the colors, to the large ring holes that hold her straps. I would like to say this was a dead on cosplay! Her staff which she had to quickly make within a day, held up to expectation as well. It contained every detail a staff would need! Especially Vivi’s staff.

I look forward to future cosplays by Byndo herself. From head to toe, her Vivi costume is spot on. If you ever get the honor of seeing her in person, do not hesitate to snap a photo go Byndo, or even with Byndo, she is always welcoming photos! She's outgoing and loves to have fun, so don't hesitate to say hello if you see her at a convention!