to all cosplayers who keep telling me “foam is just like leather! but easier! and cheaper! and it’s just as durable! and even more versatile! and so light and comfy!
Am I missing something here??? is there some magic incantation that makes foam mystically strong and powerful? and not…a rubber sponge that falls apart and refuses to hold its shape and tears at the slightest touch and reacts to everything and hates all glues and does not breathe and must be cut Just So or it looks like a kindergarten craft project? And how do paint???
FOR REAL, I JUST WATCHED A VIDEO OF A GIRL DRESSING UP AS ANNA AND SHE WENT TO HER LOCAL MALL
SHE WENT INTO THE DISNEY STORE
WHEN A LITTLE GIRL CAME UP TO HER AND TRIED TO TALK TO HER
THE COSPLAYER WALKED AWAY
AND LOOKED AT THE LITTLE GIRL LIKE SHE WAS NUTS
THAT IS HORRIBLE
I USED TO DRESS UP AS SNOW WHITE FOR CHARITY EVENTS WITH CHILDREN
I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW AWKWARD IT WAS WHEN OUR ELSA DID NOT TALK TO CHILDREN
SHE WAS NOT INTERESTED IN TALKING OR BEING AROUND THE KIDS AND THAT MAKES THE KIDS UNCOMFORTABLE!!!
IF YOU ARE COSPLAYING A CHARACTER THAT IS POPULAR AMONG CHILDREN, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE NICE TO KIDS
TO THEM, THEY ARE ACTUALLY MEETING THIS CHARACTER THAT THEY LOVE OR KNOW
IT IS UP TO YOU TO NOT BE A DICK
You also gotta know that if you’re going somewhere where there will be children and you’re in a costume even slightly similar to a Disney character they will think you are that character.
My hair is dyed white and at last year’s Ren Fest I was dressed as a water nymph. So i was in all blue, with glittery blue heeled boots on. Personally, I would have never thought that I looked like Elsa. I had leggings on, not a dress. And no ice themed anything. But that didn’t stop the sweetest little princess from asking me if I was Elsa.
I’ll admit that I was thrown for a loop, since I thought I was a pretty convincing mermaid on land with my scale print leggings. But I’m not a dick so I quickly recovered and said I was her cousin. Kids are more than happy to accept that and she smiled then shyly ran back to her mom to tell her she met Elsa’s cousin.
If you’re in a glittery costume of any sort, in a place where children will be, be prepared to be nice to them. Otherwise you’re just a jerk. No one likes jerks.
Don’t be a dick.
Seriously. If I go anywhere in ANY costume, no matter if I’m a princess, hero, or villain, I’m nice to the kids. They just wanna play!
I don’t even like kids, but one of the most rewarding cosplay moments I’ve had was interacting with littluns as Rose Quartz. Every kid got a hug if their parents said it was okay. Every kid got told that they were very special because they’re a human being. I’m looking forward to doing it again this year, because giving a kid a moment of genuine magic really is something else. It doesn’t hurt you to smile at a child.
When I cosplay Pearl I have precious little ones come up to me and you better bet I goof with them about how gross eating is or how loud amethyst is (and pretend to get a sooooo offended when they say someone else is their favorite gem)
You are making magic real for those kids in that moment and if you aren’t prepared for that, maybe think twice before cosplaying that character. I had a child completely frozen in disbelief and joy over seeing me, a character from a show they love, that’s power you have to wield responsibly.
It’s not just with popular lady characters. My best little-kid-cosplay-moment was when I was cosplaying Thor (not lady Thor from the comics, my own version of genderbent MCU Thor). I was walking through the dealer’s hall and suddenly saw a gaggle of Tiny Avengers in those Walmart costumes barrelling towards me. They crowded me in excitement and asked where Loki was because they wanted to find him and beat him up (I told them to give him an extra punch from me when they found him), then all six tried to crawl into my lap when I said yes to a photo. Cutest thing ever.
BE NICE TO KIDS WHEN YOU’RE IN COSTUME.
//If you’re going to be cosplaying -any- character that children will recognize, BE NICE TO KIDS!! To them, you -are- that character. And you have no right, what so ever, to destroy the illusion of what, to them, is a magical moment.
When I cosplay Batman, to little kids, I am Batman. And it is such an amazing experience to have kids run up to me and want a hug, and tell me about how when they grow up they want to fight bad guys too. I can’t fathom someone being so rude as to ignore them.
I have a friend who cosplays Han Solo, and a little girl was so excited to see him that when he knelt down to talk to her, she hugged onto him and didn’t want to let go for ten minutes.
Also, remember IF THERE IS A LOST CHILD AT A CONVENTION, AND YOU ARE COSPLAYING A PRINCESS OR A SUPER HERO, THE CHILD WILL GO TO YOU FOR HELP LONG BEFORE THEY THINK TO APPROACH A SECURITY OFFICER!!! You have a duty to help that child! Help them calm down, escort them to the nearest safe zone, and inform a security officer that the child has misplaced their parents/guardians. -Never- use the term ‘lost child’ in front of the kid, it’s the parents who wandered off and got lost, not the child.
Read this, then read it again.
this is why, no matter who I cosplay, I’m in character to everyone I’ll meet, whether they’re adults, kids, or teens like me. super important, honestly
I cosplay as villains most of the time. Sometimes really obscure ones, sometimes popular ones, but always I attract the little kids like sticky giggling magnets. They follow Loki around (actually adults do too), I’ve danced with them as GLaDOS, and even CLU from TRON Legacy got hugs from a flock of sparkly little princesses who insisted that he was their favorite character. No matter how scary or messed up your character is in canon, no matter how creepy your costume is, no matter how shy you are at conventions (hi, it is me, the most silent GLaDOS ever) or how much you like to stay in character, you ALWAYS BE NICE TO THE KIDS.
I just realized this will be my 5th consecutive year cosplaying at cons as of this August. I should do some kind of progression/commemorative photo collage or something.
I tried to do this and all my photos suck. Most of them are selfies or WIP. Why do I not have good photos of 90% of my cosplays. Including my MOST RECENT ONE. *soft crying* at least Loki is photogenic.
Rose City Comic Con was SO MUCH FUN I got tons of pictures. unfortunately they pretty much all look like this. also why do random people always walk into frame and turn to look when I try to take selfies. get your own selfies, people.
Infinity stone grab/dance off makeup attempt #1. All done with powder eyeshadow, eyeliner pencils, and…lipstick for the blood.
I can’t not make faces at the camera.
Okay, awesome! I have no idea how many other tiny Star-Lords there may be since the movies are pretty popular right now, but I’ll probably be one of the few (if not the only) with a floor-length, bright red leather coat. Hope I see you there!
NO FREAKING WAY 😀 That’s awesome! I’m gonna be there all three days if I can swing it (I mean, I’m flying thousands of miles to be there, I may as well). And I’ll be rocking a red leather trench coat as Star-Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy.
this is a completely solid plan, I’m in I mean, I’m bringing my walkman, anyway!
who needs to eat when you’ve got TWO COMIC-CONs in one month???
ohhh yeahhhhh it’s gonna rock
I am just way too excited about the progress happening with my cosplay right now! The belt buckles are interchangeable, so I can eventually do a Vol. 1 cosplay (and tbh I prefer the grungy, space-worn Vol. 1 buckle!)
The gloves are made from some gardening gloves I got for $2.50, chopped the fingers off, painted, and glued some painted pieces of leather to.
I still have some other details to figure out and finish, but I’m getting so close!
Captain Koril 