PoP!:  That’s one of the things that makes our tremendous roster of PoP! Fangirls of the Month so inherently awesome.  So, what started you off?  How and when did you become a Fangirl?

Photo courtesy of www.hottopic.com

Princess Traci: I don’t think I can pinpoint any single moment. I remember fighting with my pre-school friends over who was going to play Ariel on the playground (funnily enough, never me), and later in grade school playing X-Men with the coolest kids in school. We were the cool kids…just, nobody else knew it yet. In junior high, I remember thinking, “I would do almost anything to be in a Star Wars movie,” and when someone hinted that I might very subtly resemble Natalie Portman as Padme with my hair pulled back (I didn’t but even still), I styled my hair slicked back in a bun (from her white outfit in Attack of the Clones) for months. In high school, I found myself puzzled that I was one of the only girls still decorating her binders with Disney stickers, addicted to Sailor Moon, and agonizing for months over who I was going to dress up as for Halloween (Klingon, Disney Princess, Batgirl, Sailor Scout…?).

PoP!:  Halloween is essentially Cosplayer Christmas.  All this talk of Halloween and Christmas and costumes makes me think of simpler times.  Do you have a favorite childhood geek-memory?

Princess Traci: My BFF Danielle and I owned matching Little Mermaid parachute pants: dozens of little Ariels swimming all over our legs in a black sea of cotton, polyester and good old 80’s attitude, complete with the elastic around the waist and ankles. We wore them together every chance we got, and I treasure those old photos of us grinning from ear to ear with our arms around each other sporting our spiffy Ariel pants. We were like 5. Typical little girls, but geeky nonetheless.

Princess Traci: My obsessions might differ from a lot of your previous Fangirls.  I have always been obsessed with Disney, The Little Mermaid especially, but I love old school Disney and dream of one day working for them in some aspect. I will never be finished with my Ariel cosplay…I plan on eventually cosplaying almost everything she wears in the movie, and already have created 3 costume variations on her fin and seashells alone. I am always improving. She is my obsession and favorite character to cosplay. I’m also pretty obsessed with anime in general, but I go on my kicks…some months, I’m all about the anime, and others, I’m spending more time on good ol’ American-made TV. Right now, I find myself watching a lot of V, Heroes, Fringe and Glee, along with some current anime titles: Vampire Knight, Claymore, and Nana, to name a few. I’m also pretty deep into this whole Twilight thing. Groan all you want, but those books are addicting! I actually wrote an original duet called “Stay With You”, inspired by the first movie/book and debuted it acoustic style on YouTube with a friend. I am currently in plans to get into the studio to record the track for iTunes, and then start work on the music video! It’s generated a bit of interest and I’ve had a few offers so I’m gonna go for it!

PoP!:  Writing and performing a song based on Twilight?  My next question was going to be “What is the most Fangirl-ish thing you’ve ever done?”  Can you top that?

Princess Traci: Um…when I cosplay at cons, I usually try to be as “in character” as possible, so when someone is talking to me or interviewing me, I do my best to respond as the character. For instance, at the last con I went to, a few people asked me where I was from, and I was dressed as Ariel, so I typically responded with something like “Atlantica” or “Under the Sea”, etc. It’s pretty geeky. But I don’t just keep up the act for kicks, because especially if there are any kids around, you don’t want to ruin the magic!  It also throws off the stalker types.

PoP!:  What has been your biggest Geek-Out Moment?

Princess Traci: Well, to preface, I work a lot of parties and events dressed up in some sort of costume, mostly as fairytale characters like The Little Mermaid or Cinderella, for children’s parties, events and charity work, but I also occasionally do marketing events like book fairs and conventions for local companies. One such instance I was hired by a couture Orange County bakery, where I played a character similar to Alice in Wonderland. I wore a blonde wig, this huge, fluffy cupcake dress with puff sleeves, complete with a holographic sparkly pinafore, a large bow in the back with a swarovski crystal the size of a plum, white stockings, and glittery mary jane shoes. I looked just like Alice, only I was in pepto pink, not blue, and very “blinged’ out. It was quite ridiculous and adorable all at the same time. I attended these events to draw interest for the bakery, and to entertain kids while giving their parents information about the bakery’s baked goods, merchandise and in-store events.

Now, on one such occasion, I was working at a book fair, and I learned one of my idols, Kristen Chenoweth (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Wicked), would be there that day for a signing of her new book! I had always dreamed of meeting her, and started actually shaking with excitement at the thought of meeting my idol face-to-face. I just knew we could be BESTIES and I didn’t want to ruin my chances and make the wrong first impression. I gathered up all my courage, and on my break, I headed inside the area where she was scheduled to do her signing.  And I froze. She was RIGHT THERE in front of me, sitting at the table, with a horrendously long line to the side of her. I knew I didn’t have time to wait and I certainly had no money to buy her book for her to sign. I didn’t know what to do.  Thoughts started rushing through my head, “what will she think if I show up AT HER BOOK SIGNING without a book for her to sign? She’ll think I’m an IDIOT, that’s what she’ll think. Worse, She’ll think I’m a B1#$%!” And then when I started to notice the odd looks from people around me, I looked down and remembered what I was wearing. I couldn’t meet Kristen Chenoweth as the cupcake girl! At that moment, I decided I wanted to be “me” when I met her for the first time. I figured there would be other opportunities. I sneaked as best I could behind a bunch of press and important looking people to watch her from afar for a couple minutes. My plan was to get a good view of my idol in person, then leave. But oh no…all the VIP types saw me and started saying to me, “Have you met Kristen?”, “You should go meet her,” “Don’t you look cute!”, “She won’t mind, go to the front of the line.” They started drawing attention to me, and I will forever hate myself for what I did next. I chickened out. I ducked my head and left. Who knows if she saw me. How could she have missed me in that getup? But I’ll never know for sure.

The point is I didn’t meet her, and looking back now, I should have just sucked it up and approached the table. As my friend Amy would say, she’d NEVER forget me after meeting me like that! Ah, well. I am still hoping for another chance. After that I began to wonder what I’d be wearing next time I got the opportunity to meet a celebrity….and months later, lo and behold, I was cosplaying as The Red Queen at the Hot Topic Alice Ultimate Fan Event with friends in Hollywood, and our costumes got us in to see Johnny Depp and Tim Burton at the event!

Photo courtesy of www.camoden.com

PoP!: How has being a Fangirl affected other aspects of your life?

Princess Traci: Let’s see…I spend my weeks deciding which cosplay I need to work on,  budget my finances for bills, rent, recording my music, and bulk rhinestones, fabric, plaster etc. for cosplay supplies! My wardrobe is influenced by my favorite manga:  I saw my fave character Reira in Nana wearing legwarmers in an issue, then found my mom’s old dance legwarmers and started rocking them before they were “in” again. I learned to sing in Japanese and I perform anime music themed concerts at conventions.  A lot of my original music is inspired by cartoons, books and movies. Almost every weekend I don some fairytale costume and play princess, and last but definitely not least, I am a panelist on the Bang Zoom! Entertainment show, AnimeTV, an anime and Asian pop-culture centered show on www.Revision3.com.  Yeah, I am pretty much a fangirl full-time.

PoP!:  You’re stranded on a desert island. You can have one action figure, one trade paperback, one Video Game, one DVD and one CD. What are they?

Princess Traci: Action figure? Skip. Can I bring my cat Casper instead? He’s more entertaining. Paperback…can I bring my Bible? Need that. If it has to be a paperback how bout Princess Ai. That manga inspires me. Video Game? DDR all the way. (I need the mat too). DVD:  The Little Mermaid.  CD? Oh MAN, only one? This is killing me… I’d beat the system. I’d make a CD of my favorite custom playlist. A mix tape, so to speak. Is that allowed? It would have some Gaga, Lights, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Paramore, Disney tracks, Maroon 5, N*SYNC, Sara Bareilles, and anime themes by artists like Yellow Generation and Mika Nakashima.

Follow Casper on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CasperTheKitty

PoP!:  What would be your advice to the Fanboy/Fangirl wanting to win over the Fangirl/Fanboy of his/her dreams?

Princess Traci: Just be yourself. Plain and simple. Oh, and don’t get so stuck in the World of Warcraft you forget to romance your guy or gal.

Photo courtesy of www.benjaminhines.com

PoP!:  Where can folks go to learn more about you on the interwebz?

Photo courtesy of www.hottopic.com

Princess Traci: My website should be up pretty soon, so check out TraciHines.com and see what comes up.

In the meantime, you can find me on…

YouTube - Original Music, Vlogs, Tutorials
YouTube - Cover Songs
Myspace Music
Twitter
Facebook
Cosplay.com - Member: Arielle
Cosplaylab.com - Member:  Arielle

I love Myspace, Facebook, Twitter friends and YouTube subscribers! Don’t be shy!

<3 Traci

"Ariel" Photos courtesy of www.camoden.com

“Sally” photo courtesy of www.camoden.com & www.benjaminhines.com, costume by Traci Hines & Lisa Fabio

Big thanks to Princess Traci for being our June 2010 PoP! Fangirl of the Month!

–Knize