By AYIE LICSI Published Sep 08, 2022 12:00 pm Updated Sep 08, 2022 12:48 pm

Like Lord of the Rings’ Arwen and Aragorn, and Final Fantasy's Squall and Rinoa, the Philippines’ Cosplay Queen Alodia Gosiengfiao has found the one she’s destined to be with.

A huge fan of fantasy movies, Alodia dreams of a larger-than-life wedding. It may not have the dragons and tourneys that her new favorite fantasy series House of the Dragon has, but from what she tells us, it will surely ooze the same grandeur.

Like the geek that she is, Alodia gushed about the GOT prequel after getting in glam for the shoot. “Do Daemon and Rhaenyra get together?” she asked, eager to hear the spoiler on the fantasy TV series. She even thinks fiancé Christopher Quimbo resembles one character on the show, Daemon (played by Matt Smith, a.k.a. the Eleventh Doctor), so she told him “I have a blonde wig at home, maybe we can try it out.”

Dress and cape, Kannah Simbulan

Just like the spirited dragonrider Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Alodia is not afraid to speak her mind—and she surely isn’t afraid to speak about her past. Charming like the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, the cosplay queen is poised for battle and ready to take on the world.

Since the age of 15, Alodia has made waves in the cosplay community and empowered other young women to let their geek flag fly. Since then, she has continued to devote her time to her various passions and interests, may it be gaming, cosplay, technology, or even love.

Picking up the pieces

Before she got smitten with her soon-husband-to-be, Alodia got out of a four-year relationship. She got her heart broken, and since both she and her ex-boyfriend were content creators, their breakup became the topic of discussion amongst fans.

The former couple announced the split on November 2021, but they’ve parted ways already before that. It was pretty hard to move on when people kept bringing up the past.

Dress, Bella Borromeo

“It took time kasi what people knew is we broke up last year but it was like a long process [before] the public announcement. It took me some time to muster the courage to move on,” she said.

As the cosplayer said, it wasn’t meant to be, and she has no ill will towards her past—she even hopes her ex finds “the one” like she did.

Meeting 'The One'

A few months after the public breakup, Alodia started posting about the new man in her life, businessman Christopher Quimbo—owner of Novellino, the market leading wine in the Philippines—or Chris, as she fondly calls him.

In a time when she wasn’t looking for love, it found her. During a Kai Xiao, a Chinese tradition where families arrange for two people to meet, the cosplayer was introduced to Chris by her cousin who said the entrepreneur was interested in her.

“My first impression, sabi ko, ‘Ah, he doesn’t speak Tagalog,’ but no, he can understand naman. He’s smart and super humble, which is quite nice since we connect on a different level,” she gushed. “We’re on the same wavelength, he’s into tech and he’s a geek as well.”

Within the first month of meeting Alodia, Chris asked her to be his girlfriend. And in July, he got on one knee as they visited a picturesque garden in Cavite, the same place they had their first date.

“Actually, he said it was our families meeting each other kasi it was a day before his birthday. I didn’t expect that it would be that day, so it was kind of surreal when it actually happened. I was lutang, like ‘huh?’ I was kind of overwhelmed,” Alodia shares.

Alodia just knew that Chris was the one she was going to spend the rest of her life with—like a queen who found her king. “We always laugh all the time, like every day. And even if you don’t do anything special, like have a big event, we enjoy each other’s company and we like to throw ideas around. We plan a lot about the future, so it’s nice. We’re both futurists.”

“Before, I didn’t actually understand ‘When you know, you know.’ I guess I felt it. I felt 'safe'. I felt I could trust him. There wasn’t an inch or bone in my system that wasn’t unsure. Everything just felt right,” she adds.

And in the near future, the couple will be hearing the wedding bells ring. Alodia says they’re aiming to wed in early 2023. “Hopefully first quarter of next year.”

An ethereal wedding in the making

A fan of everything fantasy, Alodia envisions a wedding like something out of J. R. R. Tolkien’s books with a dash of the traditional wedding—she’s always wanted to have an “ethereal” ceremony.

“It’s probably a mixture of a lot of things. It’s either Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, because I like all the medieval themes, but still kind of traditional. I still want to wear white and make it dainty and bright,” she shares.

In these fantasy worlds, weddings are typically grand in nature with lots of candles and crystal chandeliers lighting up a rustic, castle with greenery and foliage sprawling all over. The bride and groom would welcome a large host of guests with a giant feast and flowing wine to match their merrymaking.

As for her wedding gown, Alodia wants to have a hand in designing the outfit. “I want to somehow help design it. I want it grand. I want it like House of the Dragon-looking—just kidding. Something regal.”

A gown from the medieval period fiction would suit the fantasy wedding theme. The cosplayer would be adorned in the most lavish and intricately detailed gowns fit for a queen, adorned with fine jewelry. Or maybe she’ll be like an elf from Rivendell, sporting a glowing gown and luscious long locks. She’ll certainly be the belle of the ball.

And in attendance, Alodia wants all her friends from the gaming community to be part of the special occasion.

“I want to invite the people who helped [the gaming] industry because we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. I just want to celebrate with them… I’ll try to get all my gaming friends to come, like Blacklist hopefully, if they don’t have a tournament that day.”

Dress, Kannah Simbulan

Disrupting the esports scene

Apart from becoming Mrs. Quimbo, Alodia has her eyes set on continuing to make her mark in the world of gaming with Tier One Entertainment, an esports and gaming entertainment company she co-founded with esports veteran Tryke Gutierrez and entrepreneur Brian Lim. The startup, found in 2017, manages gaming creators, handles in-game advertising, and cultivates talent with their pool of players.

One of their teams, Blacklist International, has broken barriers in the esports scene, raising the Philippine flag as they win tournaments locally and overseas like bagging the Gold medal for Mobile Legends in the recent SEA Games held in Vietnam. Most recently, they are vying to “#reclaim” the crown in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL PH) Season 10.

"People keep on asking what the future is for gaming but I think it’s already happening, which is really cool. More people are supporting the broadcast of tournaments…People [are accepting] the gaming industry and it’s spreading to other games."

And that’s not the only thing on Alodia’s plate. She continues to grow her cosplay career and is celebrating a huge milestone in 2023—her 20th year doing cosplay. 

Cosplay has opened a lot of doors and enabled her to meet with the biggest names in the geeky world. She got featured in a San Diego Comic-Con documentary in 2010 and even got to fulfill every fanboy and fangirls dream when she met the father of Marvel Comics, the late great Stan Lee.

Alodia has also dipped her toes in cosmetics, launching her own makeup brand called Alodia Beauty in 2021. All the liquid lipsticks in her line—with shades ranging from blacks to reds and neutrals—come with gaming-inspired monikers, too.

Dress, Lanz Angelo; pants, Kannah Simbulan

“The secret [is] being open to different ideas and sorting new ideas. Sometimes people are scared to execute something that’s kind of ‘weird’ but I guess you wouldn’t know if you haven’t tried. So just try. If you fail, you learn from it,” she says about her ventures.

And while being a girl boss is what keeps Alodia busy now, she hopes to focus more on her personal life next. With her wedding coming soon, she’s getting asked the inevitable “when are you starting a family?” One day down the line, she says she’ll consider it.

No frontier is too vast to explore for the daring cosplay queen. A kinder soul than the queens and princesses on Game of Thrones, Alodia might not be breaking barriers with fire and blood, but she’s not letting anyone stop her from changing the game.

Dress, Lanz Angelo

Produced by Camille Santiago
Photos by Stephen Capuchino
Art direction by Jobo Nacpil

Makeup by Muriel Vega Perez
Hair by MJ Rone
Styling by Aldrin Ramos
Assisted by RS Simon
Nails by Luz Fortuno of Triple Luck Brow & Nail Salon
LED projection by Always in Motion
Layout by Mina Lampitoc
Shot on location at City of Dreams Manila
Special thanks to Romina Gervacio of City of Dreams Manila