Mylune cosplayer Lyz Brickley hugs a bunny right now!

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The first memorable interaction I had with an NPC in Warcraft was with a dryad. The starting night elf quests in classic beta were fairly cut and dry until I was asked to speak to Tarindrella. Clicking on her elicited not the staid and composed response of the night elves, but an incredibly enthusiastic and entirely out of place "Hi!" that made me simultaneously laugh hysterically and fall in love. One of the best moments of Cataclysm was meeting Mylune and reading the hysterical quest text to save all the wee little animals, and seeing her again in Firelands was equally entertaining.

Of all the likely characters one might see at the BlizzCon cosplay contest, the last I expected to see was cheerful and bubbly Mylune. Thank goodness I wasn't the only one who loved the character so much. Cosplayer Lyz Brickley came through with an utterly amazing, fully articulated costume of everyone's favorite critter enthusiast that is less a costume and more a fully mobile work of art. Follow after the break for a few words with Lyz and the creation of a four-legged masterpiece of costuming.

WoW Insider: Hi Lyz, thanks for chatting with us today! Can you tell us about your background in gaming? How did you get into WoW?

Lyz: I had an SNES when I was really young, but my first memorable gaming experience was definitely Diablo. I was in fifth grade and I used to play after school; I was obsessed with PvP. My favorite thing to do was try and lure an unsuspecting noob out of town, kill them and collect their ear! LOL, I had a bag full of ears. Not the typical activity for a 10-year-old girl, but I had fun.

I got into WoW when I worked at GameStop in 2007. A bunch of the guys I worked with played and talked me into going to a LAN party. I was pretty hooked after that. When I met my husband, he played, so we would play together.

How long have you been doing cosplay, and what got you into it?

I have only been cosplaying for a year or two. At BlizzCon 2009, I decided I wanted to dress up. I basically threw a bunch of stuff together to make a night elf druid; it didn't turn out too horrible, considering! After that, I found out about online tutorials and cosplay forums. Once I saw how many techniques and materials were out there, I wanted to try them. Every new technique I learn is a challenge, and while it can be frustrating sometimes, when you get it right it is such a rewarding feeling!

OK, I have to ask: Of all the characters in Warcraft, what made you decide on Mylune for the costume contest?

I love the dryad and frost nymph designs. They are just so beautiful! Of course, being a lover of small woodland creatures, I loved Mylune's quests! I chose Mylune because she is an easily recognizable but unique character that I felt really connected to. It was just a no-brainer for me to cosplay her!

That was a really unique costume -- four legs can't be easy to put together! Can you take us through the process of designing it? How did you get all four legs to move?

Once I decided to cosplay Mylune, I spent a very long time researching other four-legged costumes. For how enormous the interwebs is, I was surprised with how few findings I had. I wanted it to look as real as possible, so just adding wheels to the back legs was definitely out. I tried out a few different leg designs and finally decided on creating my own fairly simple one.

I made the entire body from insulation foam so it would be lightweight and comfortable to wear. I put a wooden dowel through the rear end of the body to attach the legs to. Each leg had a knee joint that bent backwards like a horse, and I used thin jewelry wire tied to the opposite front foot to make the legs "walk."

I'm guessing that something that complex took time to get just right. How long did it take to create? Was there anything tricky you had to work with along the way?

It took a while! I started researching stuff right after BlizzCon 2010 and didn't actually start carving foam until June. ( I got married in April, though, so planning that took up a lot of my time!) There was definitely a lot of trial and error. I originally had a pulley system hooked up to pull the legs forward, and it didn't work out in the end. That was very frustrating; I spent the entire weekend before BlizzCon trying to fix it. I ended up scrapping the whole thing and just attaching the wires straight across the bottom. I learned that at least with this costume, the simpler the design, the better!

Do you have any advice for those who would like to try their hand at cosplay?

Yes! Take advantage of online tutorials. There are some amazing ones out there!

Be patient! That is the hardest thing for me sometimes. I get so excited and just want to see the finished product. Take your time with every step; it definitely makes a difference. Of course, the most important part is have fun!

Anything else you'd like to add?

Thank you so much for the opportunity! I am so honored to be interviewed by WoW Insider about my costume! Also a huge thank-you to everyone for all the nice compliments I have received. It is so wonderful to know that people enjoyed my costume -- I just want to hug a bunny right now!

Thank you so much for chatting with us, Lyz! We hope to see you cosplaying again next year!

If you are a cosplayer or crafter and you'd like to be featured on the site, send us an email and we'll make it happen!

World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including arts and crafts, fan art, WoW-themed recipes, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by emailing anne@wowinsider.com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.