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I spent a bit of time on Newgrounds, as a kid, mostly playing flash games and watching animations. It kind of faded out of my general view as I grew up and hung out on other websites on the web, but once Friday Night Funkin' showed up, I could just immediately tell it oozed Newgrounds. I'd always been vaguely interested in rhythm games, but had none of the patience learning them. This game goaded me into practicing with the promise of cool presentation and sick characters. Nowadays, I love trying rhythm games whenever I can; I particularly enjoy Beat Saber and Sound Voltex, and I got to try Wacca on a genuine arcade cabinet and it ROCKS! But, back to Friday Night Funkin... I had a soft spot for Pico, since he reminded me of the olden days of the wild web, and he's got a banger vocals set that quickly made his songs my favorite part of the soundtrack. Since we didn't have conventions yet (thanks, pandemic), I thought a quick project like this would keep me busy while not being too elaborate (or expensive... or difficult...)

Pico's cosplay is pretty simple; the first iteration (featured in the last picture on this page) is a blank green long-sleeve shirt, with the sleeves seam-ripped off to be dyed dark green and re-sewn on, with A pair of pants and shoes from my closet, and a lacefront wig from Arda Wigs. I splurged on EVA Foam for his goofy gun and bought high density foam; it was my first time working with specialty EVA Foam instead of floor mats, and after getting to try it out on Pico's gun I understood just how much of a difference it made. The gun is completely hollow inside, in fact; that's how solid the foam is! I wore it around in the house a bit, took some photos and put it away for a good while. I thought about wearing it at a con, but by the time conventions rolled around I had quite a backlog of costumes I prioritized over this one to wear because, frankly, Pico's just a shirt and a wig compared to, say, an entire suit of Great Jaggi armor. Oops!

In 2024, when The Funkin' Crew announced the Playable Pico update, I fell back into the hype and figured I should dust off the costume. I thrifted a new pair of cargo pants and made a new shirt with the same sleeve dyeing method using a heavier cotton shirt this time, to better smooth out the boob bump from the binder. On the day of the update, I transformed my office with colorful lights and extra props and took a bunch of photos for fun while playing the game. It's like I turned the release night into my own little mini-con! It made for an awesome evening.

I enjoy cosplaying Pico. It still hasn't been convenient to bring him out for a convention yet as I prioritize costumes that are large for big events (small costumes like Pico are convenient to keep for smaller venues, I just haven't gone to a lot lately), but I'm sure the time will come eventually. Until then I'm having just as much fun taking photos at home. And as a bonus, it brought me back to Newgrounds as an artist, and I'll yell about good online spaces free of corporate bullcrock until the cows come home.

I thought about cosplaying Boyfriend someday, too, but I just don't feel like I have the right amount of little shit energy to pull it off.

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