Evolving Into Oneself: An Interview with VampyBitMe

Spreading positivity in both the cosplay and Gundam communities for over two decades, VampyBitMe is no stranger to longtime attendees of FanimeCon. She is a cosplayer and Gunpla builder who believes that anyone can express themselves through the love of creativity and their passions. She works within the games industry, and has been a host for various events. If all that weren't enough, her #MechaMonday streams are a hit on her Twitch channel as well. As referenced earlier, she was once again a guest at this year's FanimeCon, and we were lucky enough to interview her! We discussed everything from her recent activities, her cosplay horror stories, and even what it's like hosting a panel on a fandom you're passionate about. This interview is sure to delight already existing fans of Vampy, and those discovering her for the first time! As always, check out the interview, and be sure to follow her via the social media links at the end!

A-to-J: Thank you for the interview! For those who may not know you, could you give us an introduction and tell us a little about yourself?
Vampy: Funnily, I came about my name from gothic forums. In Myspace they would call me “vampire something”, because I was part of a community called "Vampire Freaks" from two or three decades ago. I don’t remember and that ages me. I was part of the cosplay community as well, and they would be like: “Oh, you’re so pale like a vampire.” And the artists and I, we joked around and said: “Hey! We should just call you ‘Vampy.’ It’ll be funny. It’s a joke.” So, I was like: “Oh yeah, 'Vampy like Bit Me?'" and he’s like: “Yeah! We can found a website Vampy Bit Somebody. It’s not gonna get big.” After I posted a few pictures, it blew up on the Internet back them, and I didn’t even have a Twitter at that time. So it was super embarrassing to be known as “Vampy”, and I’m still stuck with it. Yeah, that’s how I started out: Just being a regular person posting on forums, finding friends. I always went to conventions, and I still go to conventions to meet people. I always find that community is why I stay. Ever since then I started cosplaying more within the community and working with game companies, trying to involve more of the community in things I do. I even started working for game companies. I’ve been with Bandai for a few years. I don’t really like talking about that side because it’s kind of like numbers and stuff like that, but I deal with the community quite a bit still. All in all, I just love people and that’s why I’m here at FanimeCon 2024 again.

A-to-J: We interviewed you back in 2018 when you were a guest at Fanime back then as well. Could you fill us in on anything exciting that has happened since 2018?
Vampy: Oh yeah! A lot of things have happened since then. I’ve found a new hobby which is hosting. I get very nervous around people, and just talking in a big crowd, so I wanted to perfect my hosting skills during the pandemic since there was nothing going on. I got to host for Crunchyroll, and also Bandai, for a few gaming launches and some Sentai stuff. Then I kind of found my calling to do things more within the community, without costume, because I usually have a costume on. So I would say: “I evolved into myself,” because I used to hide behind extravagant things, but then they just wanted to hear me. That was really fun and I think it strengthened my community as well in Discord and Twitch. I felt more human, and not like a robot speaking. Because when you’re cosplaying, you tend to be like: “I’m playing the character. I AM that character. I’m gonna try my best to not smile because that character doesn’t smile.” So being myself was kind of interesting. Finally showing that side of me, and I like that a lot more. So that’s kinda the news, I guess with my character online. I use my real name now, Linda, which is nice. Then I worked for a game company. I was community managing and project managing during that time. It was a lot. I changed a lot and I was less afraid of being myself online because I’m very secretive very quiet.

A-to-J: It’s not super common for guests to host panels about other fandoms, versus simply hosting Q&A panels about themselves. What is it like putting on a panel that’s about one of your fandoms?
Vampy: I think that ever since I first started social media, it was always about the artist. I think when I was growing up, individuality was very niche for me. Growing up in Oklahoma, there were no Asians. There was no individuality. It was kind of like: “Outside. You go outside and crush cans for preschool and then they collect the cans. All the kids they look the same.” And I was like: “I don’t know what I am.” I think during that time I became a little bit rebellious. When I moved to California, I was like: “Oh, there’s other people that look like me and they listen to not the same music, but they look like me! They’re Asian!” So I was like: “Okay. How do we relate then?” How do I relate to these people that look like me but we don’t have anything to relate with. And I’m like: “Do you watch anime?” And they’re like: “Yeah! I love anime!” I’m like: “Well, do you play Earthbound for the SNES, or do you like Mario Paint? Do you have that?” And they’re like: “Yeah, I have that!” And I’m like: “Oh! I can relate with these people!”
So, I think that for me, relating with others was always: music number one. I love rock. I love metal. I love thrash. Being a Bay Area girl at that time, there was thrash everywhere. I will relate with people with fandoms and also culture. It’s not about me all the time so I think that after 20 years of doing that, it’s easier for me to talk about a fandom to relate with others initially and then, down the line, you’ll get to know them. So it’s a good way to get to know people through music, games, and other cultures and stuff. It’s not always about me. I feel like everyone’s the same. I mean, we’re relatively all the same. Do you go to sleep? Yeah. Do you eat? Okay, that’s awesome. Do you have pets? Okay, I have three. You know what I mean? I think it’s more interesting to know about what drives people. First and foremost, it’s always the artists for me.  

A-to-J: We understand that very soon you’ll be hosting a panel on the history of mecha anime. Can you tell us a bit about your love for that genre?
Vampy: Oh yes. I’m actually very lucky because my significant other is very, very much a mecha guy, but he’s more into Super Robots and I’m into Real Robots. There’s a huge, drastic difference in that, and I’m really happy that he’s pretty much spearheading the panel because he’s very, very passionate about mecha. I am too, but I come from 80’s mecha... Well, he does too but I derive my passions in 80’s and 90’s mecha, and he’s more like... everything. It’s going to be a really good panel. I hope to be able to do more panels like that across the U.S. or maybe in Asia. I really love mecha because it sounds really silly, but I think it’s fun. It’s a little bit silly too. I think a lot of the anime, even though it has a serious tone, I think a lot of it is hilarious because it’s really, really... There’s deep undertones about war, but as a kid I always thought it was funny to see Voltron forming or Transformers. Soundwave was my favorite. I broke my G1 Transformer toy and my mom screamed at me: “Do you know much this cost!? Never again!” So I pieced together my Soundwave over and over again after breaking it and my mom’s like: “That’s all you get!” And, I’m like: “Oh no I messed up.” Luckily I liked He-Man too, but that’s another thing. Definitely, mecha anime is really fun for me. I think it’s hilarious. Whit a lot of mecha fandoms, people fight with each other online, and I think that’s funny too because I like fighting.  

A-to-J: What are some of your favorite mecha anime? Do you have any recommendations for someone just getting into the genre?
Vampy: Yes, something not boring. Let’s see here, because I feel like a lot of recommendations that I give initially scare people. So they’re like: “Ok... This is too deep or scary or annoying.” So I always tell them: “What do you like?” And they’re always like: “Something more fun.” I would say that new anime right now like The Witch from Mercury is really good from Gundam. Iron-Blooded Orphans that’s a really good one too. My favorite is Zeta but that’s... One of the characters getting slapped all the time, or a bunch of characters getting slapped all the time, and I don’t think people find that fun. G Gundam. People love G Gundam. It’s fun I think. My favorite is Bubblegum Crisis. Women in combat suits, and they’re badass. I think I would recommend that.   

A-to-J: We’re curious on your thoughts of fans of mecha anime who don’t necessarily care about the technical aspects like the stats.
Vampy: The stats? Like how big they are?
A-to-J: Like the character models.
Vampy: They don’t care about that? They care about the personalities?  
A-to-J: They just care about the story without...
Vampy: Oh, that’s totally the ones I mentioned before. Just to reiterate, a lot of the anime now, it’s more so... I mean, Real Robots are all about the pilots, so you would stick with the Gundam series a lot of times. Because, it’s about the pilots and everything around it, the wars and things like that. So I think if you want something like that, The Witch from Mercury or Iron-Blooded Orphans would be a good recommendation. What do I think about that part of the fandom? I shouldn’t say. I don’t want to get flamed online. 

A-to-J: Do you have any other types of fandoms you’d like to host panels of in the future?
Vampy: Oh, there’s too many. I would love to do others panels about creating your own wardrobe, but I don’t know how that would fit into anime stuff. Maybe anime inspired wardrobe things that you see online. People do that often. Also creating a wardrobe or cosplay out of anything that you have. Those kind of things like makeup, just reusing the things that you have already. I think that would be a really cool panel.
We kind of have something like that tomorrow: "Cosplay on a Budget". I feel like spending a lot of money for cosplay is not realistic nowadays for a lot of us, even me. I’ve used a lot of things even bedsheets for stuff, and I would dye it and make it into my fabric for cosplay. I think really, really streamlining my panel to be more focused on fabrics and materials you can use. Not "Cosplay on a Budget", more so "Cosplaying Using Things Around the House". I’ve seen that online and I think it’s really cool so maybe, something like that.

A-to-J: Can you tell us about any recent big cosplays you’ve done?
Vampy: I wouldn’t say they’re huge because after I moved, I realized that I can’t fit a lot of the costumes I made before. I ended up throwing away a lot of them which makes me pretty said. I would spend 800-1000 hours on something and I’m like: “Oops! I guess I don’t have space!” and I’ll throw it away because I have three cats! And their fur is everywhere and you can’t paint anything. So now I would say the biggest to my heart cosplay is G Gundam, and also Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII. I really liked his “disgruntledness” again. I really like how he is. Also he’s very loving and he never got a chance. I feel bad for the guy. Turmoil. I like those characters so kinda like that. So those were the bigger costumes that I wore.  

A-to-J: Do you have any cosplay horror stories?
Vampy: Oh! Every show! Every show is a cosplay horror story! It’s in my hotel room right now, but it's about my Vincent Valentine cosplay. I might as well tell the story here. After I wore my Vincent Valentine cosplay for the first time. Well, you know how cosplay is. It’s tiring. Everyone’s like a mess. You’re hurrying up. Glue all over the place in your hotel room. So I was finishing up my cosplay, like the bandana on his head that wraps around. I secured it with sticky tape. And then, after a few hours, when the sticky tape gets undone, it starts becoming sticky... [mocking herself] Like: “sticky tape becomes sticky?” No, but it melts. After the panel was done, I was like: “I don’t care about this!” I took it off and I threw it in the trashcan after spending two hours on that bandana sewing it. I brought the cosplay for this show and my friend’s like: “Hey, so are you ready?” And I’m like: “Oh! The bandana’s gone. I threw it away last show.” So what’s happening now is that my friend is going to buy me fabric, and I’m going to finish the bandana by tomorrow for my panel. So that’s a horror story for right now, but every show has a horror story. I don’t usually admit this stuff, but that’s what happened. It will get done. We always finish. Cosplayers finish. Either we just say: “another day”, or we finish but tomorrow.

A-to-J: Do you have any crazy convention stories in general?
Vampy: Not that I want to share, because legally they’re so crazy I probably don’t want to talk about them. Anything crazy? Not really. I’m pretty boring when it comes to shows. I just stay in my hotel room except for Fanime. I always go outside. People are like: “Oh you’re actually going outside because it’s San Jose.” I’m from San Jose so I try to do stuff, but horror stories? Not really. No. It's pretty tame.

A-to-J: You’ve been a guest a Fanime quite a few times now. Is there something you like about this con that makes it different than others?
Vampy: Everything! I love this con! So I don’t do a lot of shows anymore because I started doing more streaming and just doing more community stuff. But the reason that I always come back to Fanime is because, people are just cool here. I love the Bay Area. I love people from NorCal. I’m a NorCal girl. Every time I see someone here, I get them. We’ll look at each other like: “Oh, you went there? Yeah.” Everyone’s chill here, and I like that. It’s not like people are going crazy. It’s not a Hollywood vibe. I’m not saying any other place is Hollywood, and they’re nice people too, but everyone is so down to earth here. The show, everyone at Fanime, treats you so well. The staff? The best that I’ve seen in the US ever. And that’s a lot because I’ve been to a lot of shows. Everyone’s super nice and interviews are cool. People are awesome. Panels are awesome. The head of staff and the people that put the show together, they’re insanely good. So, everyone should be learning from Fanime I think. Sorry to other cons, but please learn from Fanime and how they do things. That should be a tutorial: "How to Run a Con Properly with Guests". I appreciate that.  

A-to-J: You mentioned streaming earlier. What kind of content is it that you're streaming?
Vampy: I mainly stream Gunpla [Gundam Plastic Models] building every Monday. I call it “Mecha Monday” and I’m really glad that it caught on, as in on Twitch, because it was never really that popular. So now a lot of people use the hashtag #MechaMonday for their Mondays because I’ve been streaming Gunpla, I think almost eight years now on Twitch. I should be moving that to YouTube, but that’s another editor I need, and I don’t have that. I kinda would much rather keep it on Twitch. Eventually I will be on YouTube with that as well. Slowly. I have to build out my Gunpla area. I also play a lot of games on there.  Retro RPGs. I really love RPGs. Monster Hunter. Huge one. Can’t wait for Wilds. If you guys want to play any games, any of you guys out there, if you want to join in on my hunts, I’m a hammer main. I also play hunting horn and switch axe. So if you want to come through, I’ll cut some tails for you. I’ll bonk some heads, get you some fangs or whatever, and we’ll have some fun.  

A-to-J: What are some of your current favorite anime? Not necessarily mecha, just favorite current shows right now.
Vampy: One Piece! I just caught up with a lot of the episodes and it’s insane. Like I don’t want to do any spoilers, but Oda is crazy. I felt like Wano was pretty interesting, and it kinda dragged after a while. I’m sorry but it was dragging. And then, when I got into the new Egghead Arc, the intro was crazy too. I had to watch it like 10 times.   

A-to-J: What about anime in general? What are some of your favorites?
Vampy: My favorite? I tend to like serious tones. I also like friendship building anime. Also, I love action, so a lot of good fight scenes are some of my favorites. I’ve been rewatching anime lately. Even old cartoons I’ve been rewatching. Even old movies. But those are my favorites. Either really serious, really deep tones, or things about world-building. I think those are my favorites. So the new ones right now, they’re good, but they’re too cute for me. And I’m not saying I don’t like cute. I love cute, but it’s a little too lovey-dovey.  

A-to-J: What are some of the ones you’ve been rewatching?
Vampy: God, there’s too many. In my Discord, I’ve been re-watching just cartoons like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers. It’s funny. GI Joe is a cartoon not anime, but that cartoon is so cheesy. Watching it as an adult, I was like: “What the hell was I watching at five?” I didn’t like it. Anime-wise, I rewatched some Evangelion. It’s okay. As an adult, I understand it more. I liked it more when I was younger when I didn’t understand it. Now I understand it and I’m like: “Eh, it’s okay.” So like, every time someone asks: “Do you like Evangelion?” I say: “It’s alright. It’s not bad.” I’m sorry if you guys like it. Rewatching anime as an adult, overall, it’s hard because you kind of look back and you’re like: “Uh, what was I watching?” You can kind of imagine what I was watching, like all the old series. I can’t think of them now, but if you join my Discord, we tend to watch it every week.

A-to-J: What are some of your upcoming plans after Fanime? Anything exciting?
Vampy: I’m going to stay home for all of June, and that’s fun because I have three stray cats that I love spending time with. I’m possibly going to dress them up in Mobile Suits, because I’ve seen that going viral and I really want to make little cardboard suits for them. Just little fun stuff like build Gunpla. I have a stack like everyone else here. We have a stack of model kits that we need to build. And then, streaming a lot. And then, finishing a bunch of Like a Dragon games because I love the Like a Dragon series. 

A-to-J: Lastly, can you give a closing message to your fans?  
Vampy: Oh yes! It’s so funny. I’m a troll so I’m like: “Think of something nice.” I do appreciate you guys always being there for me as a community. If you’re listening, you’re probably a part of my community and I just want to say: “Keep doing what you love because life is too short to be basic.” Just go crazy. If you want to do something, you should do it now while you’re young and your back’s not hurting. You don’t have to get extra hours of sleep every night! That’s all I’ve got to say. 
A-to-J: Thank you!

​​We'd like to thank VampyBitMe for the interview, and we strongly encourage everyone to check her out via the links below. As always, keep an eye out for more from her in the future! Also, special thanks to FanimeCon for this opportunity!

For More Information on VampyBitMe:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VAMPYBITME
X: https://twitter.com/vampybitme
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/vampybitme

The above interview was conducted by Tom Halbert. Transcription by Jeffery Kelly. Photography by Ivan Aburto.