Episode 474: Serenity aka Seriniteacup talks Superheroes, Book Recommendations, Project Gateway to Reading, and Cosplay

I've been following Serenity aka Seriniteacup for over two years and was drawn to their cosplay work and creative style. After getting to know them, I was happy when they said yes to coming on the podcast. We have a great conversation about things they love.

We kick things off by talking about their love of Superheroes and how they got into the Marvel and DC superheroes. We focus particularly on Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel), and Moon Knight on the Marvel side of things, and we talk about Jason Todd (The Red Hood) and Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle) on the DC side of things. We talk about what these characters mean to them, why they're drawn to them, and much more.

From there, we jump over to books! Serenity primarily reads Sci-Fi and Fantasy books. We spend some time talking about books like The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma, The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, and books that influenced them in the beginning of their reading journey. We also get some book recommendations including Dune, and The Diary of Anne Frank (this is a story you'll need to listen to!)

Then Serenity talks to me about Project Gateway to Reading. PGtR is a project that Serenity has started to get comics and graphic novels into Title 1 schools in Central Florida. Serenity talks about the influences behind the idea and what they've been able to do so far this year, and what drives them for this project. We also talk about Tony Weaver Jr's Nerds for Literacy program.

Lastly, we wrap up by talking about Cosplay. Serenity talks about how they initially got interested in Cosplay in High School and their early experiences with it and with conventions. We talk about characters that they've represented and how they decide which characters to cosplay, along with how they decide the style and look of the characters. We talk about the community that Serenity surrounds themself with and some potential future projects (along with con safety tips).

You can find Serenity at:

https://www.instagram.com/seriniteacup/

https://beacons.ai/seriniteacup

https://www.twitch.tv/seriniteacup/

You can support Project Gateway to Reading at:

https://ko-fi.com/seriniteacup

You can find Tony Weaver Jr's Nerds for Literacy campaign at:

https://www.nerdsforliteracy.com/