You are one of the joys of any convention. Geekdom gathers to celebrate their infinitely diverse interests, and nobody does it more openly and more sincerely than the cosplayers.
I appreciate that.
I truly admire the costumes, your efforts to emulate characters from various media, or your imaginative wit in mashing up two or three genres into one outfit.
It’s always a delight to see cosplayers on the floor, and you brighten up every show you attend.
And while I offer my open admiration for your costumes, I also know it’s cosplay; i.e., costumes + playing.
If you’re dressed like a vampire, I don’t believe you’re going to lunge for my neck.
If you’re dressed like a superhero, I don’t expect you to fly.
And if you’re dressed in a sexy cat girl outfit, I don’t expect you to be a bundle of hair-trigger hormones.
You’re playing.
In a costume.
And while you want people to look and you want them to admire, I know you want us to look at the costume and to admire how well you pull it off.
Anything else is at best unwanted. And at worse…
Recently there have been more and more reports of cosplayers harassed at shows and on the InterWebs.
The sad thing is that the number of reports have gone up.
The good thing is that this reflects a willingness by the cosplayers and by their fans not to continue putting up with swinish behavior.
I know at times it seems like there’s no one who understands what it is you’re trying to do, that there are nothing but boorish trolls out there who think you put in all that hard work on your costume just so they could say something ugly to you and / or grab a cheap feel.
Rest assured you have more friends than you realize. Never hesitate to speak up if some creep crosses the line; you will not be alone.
Don’t let their shriveled ugliness dampen your joy.
Sincerely, Buzz
