Meet the Rappigs
Christa
Position: Con Chair and Artist
Favorite Tales Game: Tales of Symphonia
Christa is Rappig Crossing’s Con Chair and a cosplayer and artist in the Tales Of Community. Her first Tales Of game was Tales of Symphonia back when it first came out on the Gamecube. However, Christa didn’t participate in the fandom until 2012 when she found out it was a series and was able to play Tales of the Abyss on the 3DS. She cosplayed Luke at Otakon that same year. After that she was hooked and grabbed all the PS3 games she could find. Christa is working so hard to bring this convention to all of you because she credits even being alive today to the series. Tales Of resonated with her when she needed the stability in her life. Most of all, this community has been there for her. So many of the friends she has today she’s met because of Tales Of and she wouldn’t have gotten this far without them. She is so blessed and thankful to have so many wonderful people behind her with the same dream to make this convention a reality. She pitched the idea for a midwestern Tales Of convention to spread the joy of this fandom. Christa wishes to create a space where no matter who you are, you can come here and escape from the world even for just a weekend. A place to feel welcomed and loved and above all else, have fun!
Ally-Katz
Position: Cosplay Coordinator
Favorite Tales of Game: Tales of Symphonia
Ally-Katz from Tales of Awesome Cosplay has been cosplaying and attending conventions for over fifteen years and has been competing in cosplay contests for almost as long. The Tales Of franchise is what got her into sewing cosplay back in 2006 when she made Zelos. Soon after in 2007 she made Kratos and Colette from Tales of Symphonia. Her sister and cosplay partner Cole was the one who introduced her to the series when Cole picked up Tales of Symphonia in 2003. Ally-Katz was skeptical of the game but all the plot twists and a certain redhead dragged her into the series and she quickly developed a huge passion for it. Since then she has made over fifty different Tales Of cosplays, entered more contests than she can count, and made so many amazing friends through cosplaying Tales. Ally-Katz is super excited to run not just one but two Tales Of cosplay contests, and can’t wait to see and meet more Tales cosplayers!
Kelsey
Position: Webmaster and Panel Coordinator
Favorite Tales Game: Tales of the Abyss
Kelsey (DeguArts/Degu Web Dev) is the webmaster and panel coordinator for Rappig Crossing. She will be keeping the website up to date and putting everyone’s panels in the right order. Kelsey has been a Tales fan for over fifteen years. Her first Tales game was Symphonia, but she really fell in love when she played Abyss. She has a large collection of rappig fanart and plushies! Kelsey also loves art, rodents, books, and collecting pressed pennies.
Noelle
Position: Technology Coordinator
Favorite Tales Game: Tales of Vesperia
Noelle is the Technology Coordinator and Emcee for Rappig Crossing! Noelle has a Bachelor’s Degree in Audio and Video production, and has been hosting public fandom photoshoots and panels at various midwestern cons since 2014. She has also participated in skits in masquerades at various Midwest cons. She is excited to use her experience from both the stage and behind-the-scenes perspectives to make sure the con’s equipment runs smoothly to enhance the con experience!
Noelle has been a Tales fan since shortly after Tales of Xillia (1) came out. After that she was hooked and started going backwards to play older games in the series! Her favorite games are Vesperia, Zestiria, and Xillia 1&2. Her favorite characters are Alisha, Yuri, Jude, and Dohalim.
Noelle also loves animals, especially dogs and betta fish–obviously her fave Tales mascot is Repede! Aside from animals (and gaming), her other passions are musical theatre and writing.
Becky
Position: Artist Alley Coordinator
Becky, from Butdragonsthocosplay, has been cosplaying and going to conventions since 2011. Becky is relatively new to the Tales of scene, but she already has a few favored characters and games. Becky was vaguely aware of the Tales of series for a while before she actually played any. A good friend of Becky’s introduced her to them fully a few years ago and she hasn’t looked back since!
While she has worked on several Tales of costumes, none of them have been for herself until recently. In her repertoire, she has made Colette (maid version) and Elize Lutus as commissions, and she is working on Regal from Tales of Symphonia and Keele from Tales of Eternia for herself. Vicious is the next character she plans to tackle (what can she say, she loves the feral ones lol). She looks forward to being a part of this wonderful community and can’t wait to see what everyone has in store!
Meli
Position: Official Con Photographer
Favorite Tales Game: Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology
Meli will be the con’s photographer. She studied photography in college in 2012, occasionally doing some photo work as a hobby since then, and has been cosplaying since 2014; she looks forward to using that experience to help everyone look their best!
Her first experience with the Tales series was happening upon Tales of Vesperia in a GameStop in 2015 and picking it up because, although she’s loved JRPGs from a young age, at the time she only had an Xbox 360 at home, and she was starved for games of that genre. Meli fell in love with the environments, with the characters, and the game’s overall tone. It was when she downloaded Tales of Link to her phone, though, that she knew she was in this community to stay. Meli can often be found giving love to the more underrated characters and games in the series. She could probably talk for hours about the lore of the Radiant Mythology trilogy, if asked. She probably cares more about Tales of the Tempest than she should.
Meli is also a writer who occasionally writes for the Tales series, and an artist who occasionally draws/designs merch for the Tales series, so she spends quite a bit of time on this series. It’s because of this that she’s so excited to be a part of a convention centered around Tales goodness. It is Meli’s hope that she can help everyone have a convention experience they can fondly look back on when it draws to a close.
Sydney
Position: Legal and Cosplay Judging
Favorite Tales Game: Tales of Zesteria
Hello there. My name is Sydney and I am helping with the legal side of the con as well as cosplay judging.I started playing Tales of games in college and have formed many friendships through shared love of the series. Cosplay has been a part of my life for about 13 years, so unsurprisingly, the two interests lined up well. The in-depth storytelling and diverse characters drew me in just as much as the intricate costume designs. That is something that has remained unchanged to this day.Tales of is just as much of a comfort to me as a stressed-out-working-adult today as it was as a stressed-out-college-student. I am looking forward to seeing where the series will go and hope that this con will allow people to make friendships through the series like I have.
Emily
Position: Volunteer Coordinator
Favorite Tales Game: Tales of the Abyss
Emily is fairly new to the con scene. The only con she regularly attended was Aselia Con and her one and only cosplay is Phoenix. Will there be more cosplays? Probably. Will it be something besides a kigu? Probably not.
Recently, she has been getting more involved with the board game community and can usually be found in the game game of any con.
Like many others, her first introduction to the Tales series was Tales of Symphonia, but her first completed game was Tales of Phantasia.
The only thing she loves as much as Tales is sharks.
