It’s 10:28 PM and I’m finally unpacking my bag from Thanksgiving break.
I know it’s been three weeks since when I drove back to my dingy college apartment from Dallas, but life has been a lot, okay? I’m doing it now and that’s what counts.
In my bag are two wigs (one brown and one white), two bodysuits, a skirt, a blue top, a prop gun, bunny ears, and a neckpiece.
Now, I know that sounds weird, but I promise I’m not crazy. You see, I just cosplay.
This year, I’ve gotten the chance to cosplay at four conventions with a fifth one coming up at the end of the month. So far, I’ve gone as Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen, Itadori Yuuji from Jujutsu Kaisen, Shinobu from Demon Slayer, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, Jill Valentine from Resident Evil, and Miruko from My Hero Academia.
Cosplay is a lot of fun! It’s liberating for me, and it allows me to dress up as my favorite characters and meet other people who love cosplay at conventions. But conventions aren’t mandatory if you want to cosplay nor is making or buying costumes. You can use the clothes and/or makeup you already have and go from there with a closet cosplay (that’s what I did for my Jill Valentine one)!
I first got into cosplay when I was fifteen. My sister had introduced me to an anime, and I drove headfirst into fandom culture. I learned how to use Tumblr, unfortunately, started using Wattpad and Fanfiction.net heavily ( I wasn’t woke enough to use AO3 yet, but it would come later), and I was introduced to cosplay while scrolling through Pinterest one night. That fundamentally changed me, and I worked up the courage to cosplay after years of watching and following others on social media do it.
I’m not ashamed of my hobby, much to other people’s chagrin, and through cosplay, my confidence has grown. Plus, I look pretty good while doing it.