#i was thinking about who i would cosplay if i went to an anime con

[toddfrom]

Last night in a sleepy daze i decided im gonna cosplay eugene. Not sure where, not sure when, but i think i have a chance of pulling it off and it would probably be the most fun experience ever

[pedgito]

Things we learned about Joseph Quinn from today's panel (Day Two):

Joe can count to five in German

Would cosplay as Steve Harrington

Recommends the Artic Monkeys but was going to say a techno song lmao

His favorite movie The Big Lebowski

Gaten crashes Joe’s panel for a question, asked who he’d save (him or keery) Joe said “You, obviously” waited for him to leave then said “Totally Joe.”

He wears Gris Dior

Favorite moment for S4, the max sequence in Dear Billy

How his day with Eddie in Hawkins go: He’d go see him play at the hideout then hang out.

He’d stay in a haunted house with Murray

What makes him happy at the moment: Family

What it was like to meet Metallica: Mad.

His favorite part about playing Eddie was all of it.

Eddie’s favorite musical is Hair, according to Joe. Joes not a big musical fan but is a big abba fan and has seen mamma Mia.

He’s a night owl

Christmas traditions: Family, Resolutions: None…yet.

SOMEONE ASKED ABOUT JOMIE BYE “it’s hard to get rid of that guy”

Joe met Dacre, thinks Billy & Eddie would get on well…then adds a maybe lmao

Someone repeated a question about what perfume he wears and he turned to the crowd and went “anyone remember?” pls i can’t

think it’s funny people ask about wesley, wesley got a j tattoo on his knee

did two self tapes and got his role for eddie

His core memory: time with friends between 15/18, skate boarding when he was a little boy

in low moments, he usually calls friends to talk

His favorite dish to cook for family/friends is a beef stew or a pasta dish or a lamb shoulder

he did at a play at 17 and realized he wanted to do acting

He would dress up as Gandalf if he was going to Comic Con as a visitor

Philip Seymour Hoffman is his fave actor

he thinks Eddie looks the way he was meant to look and wouldn’t change anything

when he has a bad day, he calls someone, has a bath, or goes for a run to calm down

him and Eddie are both chaotic in nature

the most memorable thing from this weekend for him is all of it

he enjoys Body Paint on the new Arctic Monkeys album

he hasn’t listened to Decide by Djo yet

his favorite color is burgundy

if he could be any singer for a day he’d be David Bowie

if he could be any dog he’d be an Old English Sheep dog

he said the filming for season 5 thing he asked in Tokyo was a joke

Glastonbury was a memorable concert experience for him

he thinks Eddie’s top artist would be Dua Lipa

he wouldn’t eat really weird foods like animal organs or something

his favorite techno artist is Mr. G

his favorite ABBA song is Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)

he would time travel to 60s London, 80s Manchester, or Renaissance Italy

he likes the song Blush by Wolf Alice

he had fun with Jamie in Brazil and Japan

if he had a superpower, it would be flight

he finds it crazy that people have Eddie tattoos

it only took him a few takes to sling the guitar over his shoulder as Eddie

he thinks Eddie would love Eleven and be impressed by her powers

This panel was a mess and people were either repeating questions multiple times or asking really odd, invasive, uncomfortable things or kinda trauma dumping on him so this is a lot shorter so I’m sorry if this is super all over the place. Lots of people asking for shoutouts and a bunch of other bullshit. It was ridiculous lol.

[cosplayinamerica]

Milly from TriGun : Emma

My first con was in Baltimore for Otakon 2001. Pre 9/11! I originally wanted to attend a con either out in Colorado or Texas, but I was the only one in my circle of friends in New Mexico who had a part time job, so there was no one I could travel with. 

I cosplayed as Milly from Trigun and you can actually find photos of me from old internet archive pages because Trigun was at the high of popularity. I originally made Milly for a Halloween costume, so when I showed it to my online friend  in the Trigun mIRC chat a photo of me in cosplay, she insisted I come to Otakon the following year and join her Trigun group.

Unlike a lot of early 90’s/00’s cosplayers, I didn’t have anyone who’d taught me how to sew. So Milly was entirely bought from a trip to the Goodwill. I bought brown pants, a duster, a red tie and yellow suspenders. I remember feeling so proud to find yellow suspenders because in the anime her suspenders are yellow. I was like “wow! I’m so canon compliant. I’m a cosplay pro!”. She has a little green cap and I went to Joanns, bought some fabric and just cut it out and hand stitched it and safety pinned it to the duster. Current me would have been shocked at a lack of surging or a mockup or putting snaps in to make sure the cape stayed on, but it was the wild west back then for when it came to cosplaying. 

At Otakon I had my half-assed Goodwill costume, but everyone loved it, I got so many photos and so many hugs. It was a rush of validation I’d never felt, I was this weird 17 year old living in New Mexico where I had very few friends who liked anime, so going to a con with so many people who knew Trigun and loved my costume was incredible. It made me want to keep cosplaying, 

The Trigun fandom at the time was pretty big. There wasn’t social media the way there is now, but there was a decent community. I think the anime sensibilities mixed with a very western setting was a huge draw to the western ‘otaku’ culture at the time. Vash also had such an iconic look.

A lot of Otakon 2001 was just people being excited to see other members of the Trigun community and get to connect and talk about the show, it’s one of the things I really enjoyed about cosplay back then. It felt easy to strike up a conversation with someone about the character you or they were dressed as and make a new friend. I’m actually still friends with a Wolfwood cosplayer from back then! 

You probably hear this a lot when you talk to older cosplayers, but while I’m happy cosplay has become more popular, it makes me sad there’s less of a focus on learning to sew and learn skills and more of a focus on buying a costume online and posting a photo of it on social media for as many clicks possible. I made Milly from pieces at The Goodwill with so few photos remaining of her and she was probably the most attention I’ve gotten from a cosplay. For young people reading this, don’t be afraid to learn to sew. Don’t be afraid to not have a perfect costume, there’s skills even I’m still learning and I find the building of the costume just as rewarding as wearing it or any attention I get on it.

Over 20 years later I’m still cosplaying. I literally have half of a Genshin impact cosplay in my lap I’m working on as I type this. I’m actually waiting for the next season of Trigun Stampede because I’d love to come full circle and make Milly again with my now 20 years of skills as a cosplayer.

[centrally-unplanned]

Going to try to do some Japan trip blogging about relevant things. First up: I went to Comiket!

['Tokyo Big Sigh' indeed, to quote the discord friend ^^]

There was this tweet going around before the event, which to paraphrase the translation went something like "If you are hoping to have fun this weekend, get off the metro at Odaiba Beach instead. Comiket is a struggle for survival; be prepared to fight or get ready to die". And I laughed at that tweet, but my dudes it was absolutely true. Comiket's combination of scale, intensity, and sprinkle of heat stroke on the wait to get in is unlike anything I have ever seen. Over 250,000 people attended this summer's Comiket; vendor booths numbered in the thousands. Many of them are marked as 'hot commodities' - like the animation director for Bocchi the Rock, Kerorira, tabled there selling a booklet containing production docs from the show, and the line for that booth alone rounded a city block:

These people had priority lists and backup targets; I abandoned this entire idea from the get-go, arriving later and accepting that some things would be sold out. Absolutely the right call, but even then it was still just dizzying to try to take it all in; you can't possibly cover everything, I saw maybe half of the booths at most, and everyone's frenetic energy drags you along too into feeling like you are missing out. Its fun as well as intense though; everything being sold is unique to the event, a deeply precious work from the group that made it, and you find some extremely niche products. It was a bit surreal running into over a dozen artists & writers who I follow on Twitter from across a language barrier, in person, selling their work. It is not a convergence that happens anywhere else.

What I found interesting was that Comiket has this sort of reputation in the west as Japan's "Anime Con", despite them not being similar at all, actually! Comiket is a marketplace, not a con, as the "Comic Market" name implies - the similar starting letters are just a coincidence. While American cons do have large merch halls, and one can argue that they are merch-first affairs for many, that merch is very much not the 'point' of an anime con; the community-focused events that bring attendees together, and connect attendees to panelists, is the core focus. Meanwhile at Comiket the vendor is the focus; as an attendee you are customer, and interface with the event that way almost exclusively.

This is trivial in a certain sense ofc, but I think has knock-on effects; the idea of me, as a customer, "making friends" at Comiket seems like a non-starter. It happens the way it always can of course, but the design of the event generally mitigates against it, including making even the logistics of 'hanging out' difficult with absolutely no seating around. People can't even cosplay in the main hall! Cosplay is in its own hall, where you stand alone and have strangers take photos of you - then you change to go to vendors if you want. Western anime cons meanwhile were (initially) built to promote this directly, with events built around that. However, vendors at Comiket have an intensely different story; sharing tables, helping cover each other's booths for breaks, organizing stock together, etc. You can see how this event builds a sense of community for doujin authors; given their limited financial returns that community is imo a vital source of the longevity of Comiket as a successful event and cultural lodestone for the otaku community.

I think I sort of have a question of "why Comiket" in the back of my mind for this - why is Comiket the symbol of otakudom? Japan does have other events, more con-like ones, of course - but also Japan's fandom is just so much more focused on fanworks, and has been for way longer, with fanwork consumption as a primary mode of expression. It is a bit of a chicken vs the egg issue here; is that focus the reason Comiket is the center, or did having well-organized events like Comiket promote fanworks in a way other communities didn't have? Of course its gonna be a some of each and many more reasons besides, but attending it definitely highlighted that distinction. Comiket is a symbol of cultural difference.

Anyway will post about some of the things I got soon, gotta wax sociological for the brand first ^_^

[whispers-of-lilith]

Lilith, who're your top 8 One Piece loves?

Star! Hi & thank you for popping in 🥺 Honestly, I had to think about this for a hot minute bc my brain has been hard focused on JJK lol.

Buckle up, bc this is going to be a long ass ride.

Liliths Top 8 One Piece Loves

Silvers "Dark King" Rayleigh

While I do love young Rayleigh when he was in his "prime", I will always choose older Rayleigh. It's no secret that this man definitely slept around at some point in his life. Not only does he have experience, but he knows exactly how to utilize all the skills he's learned over the years.

Rayleigh has stamina for days [ie. when his ship sank & he casually swam to Amazon Lily], he knows how to please, how to edge, etc. He could fuck me for days, to where I couldn't walk, but he wouldn't even have broken a sweat.

He seems like a fun person to be around & honestly I could see myself spending nights sitting in his lap while he drinks & tells stories of all the crazy shit he's done.

Dracule Mihawk

Ah, the dark, broody man who lives alone on an island. Literally my ideal type, bc dealing with people is hard & I'd rather spend my days on a rainy island in a massive castle.

I've probably said this one too many times, but whenever it rains I always have the urge to get railed by Mihawk next to the fireplace in his library. You just know he has a plush rug in front of it & if you bother him enough while he's reading? Best be prepared because he's going to teach you a lesson & you sure as shit can't finish until he finishes the chapter he's reading.

We could just enjoy the quiet together, I'm okay with spending time with someone even if we're doing our own thing.

Shanks

Shanks is like the golden retriever to my black cat. He doesn't take life too seriously [unless the situation calls for it & fuck if he isn't sexy when he's serious]. He knows how to have fun & would probably have the easiest time relaxing me simply by just cuddling with me.

Another man who clearly sleeps around, but knows exactly what he's got & how to please. I'm easily embarrassed & Shanks loves to embarrass, it's just in his nature.

I will always be a blushing, stuttering mess when it comes to this man's charms & I wouldn't have it any other way.

Benn "Big Dick" Beckman

You can't really have Shanks without Benn, or Benn without Shanks for that matter. Where Shanks throws caution to the wind, Benn is there to keep his ass in line.

He's gruff, stoic at times, doesn't seem to talk much, but will go feral when it comes to protecting something or someone he loves. Also, if you couldn't tell by the title I gave him, I just know this man is HUGE.

I'd melt if he called me "princess", "kitten", "pet" or anything along those lines and it's always a bonus when he follows it with a smirk. I'm down for a good railing sesh whenever he gets frustrated with Shanks [which is often].

[I just need to be eifle towered by Shanks & Benn, it'd probably solve 90% of my problems]

Charlotte Katakuri

Clearly I like the quiet / strong type if this list is any indication. Let's get the obvious out of the way first, Katakuri can & will split me in half with that dick & if that's how I go– then so be it.

I love a man with tattoos & have you seen his body?? Absolute perfection. Don't mess with the people he loves unless you have a death wish, he can & will obliterate you on sight if you do.

When he's not going feral in battle, his quiet & calculating personality is precious. He seems like the type to be easily flustered & I'd love to push him a bit so I could see his little blush. Idk he's just precious & adorable & needs to be protected at all costs.

[Ps. Would climb him like a koala]

Trafalgar Law

I loved him before I even met him in the anime. Fell for the scrungly, tired, lanky man seated on a box in Saboady. I even went as far as to cosplay a fem!Law for one of my first cons.

Again, another broody, quiet, tired man to add to my list. We're literally one in the same, we hyperfixate on things & neither of us sleep. So I know he'll always be awake at 3am to listen to me ramble about all the stupid facts I know.

Also, tbh, the tattoos do something for me. I mean, watching as his death tattoos disappear inside with each stroke? Fuck. Jsjdjajsbbxjsj. He is another one that flusters easy, but if you push him too far he 100% lets his dom side out.

Sir Crocodile

Sir Crocodile, hng. Money laundering? My man would never [yes he would & we live well bc of it, so no I'm not snitching]. I could sit in his lap like a perfect little kitten, whether he's sitting in on meetings or just enjoying a cigar, just lemme me on the big mans lap.

Lo said it best earlier, the rings. THE RINGS AND MAKING YOU CLEAN THEM JAHDUSJHAJAI. To be dominated by him would be a dream, he's so smug & cocky & ugh.

I would be his little princess, my self respect would go out the window. He 100% showers you with gifts just bc he can & he loves when you wear things he's bought you.

King [Alber]

Oh, what do you know, another quiet, strong, stoic man... see a theme here? Another man who would split me in half & I'd say thank you for doing so.

Just. His hair. His wings. His face tattoo. Everything about him was perfectly sculpted from the heavens & simply looking at him makes my day better.

On days when it's cold he could wrap us both in his wings & I'd fucking melt into a puddle. He's the type of man to be cold towards others, except for the person he loves & I'm all here for it.

[jpt1311summerbnixautumn]

Convention Blog Post

On August 1st, 2021, I went to Tampa Comic Con with my dad. This was the first and only convention I've ever been to, but I'm planning on going again with my dad this year at the end of August. At the time I was 15 and a very anxious teen so i was SO stressed about going and being judged. I had planned to cosplay as Nobara from Jujutsu Kaisen, but I decided last minute not to wear it because I didn't want to be embarrassed if I saw someone I knew while walking into the convention center (for context I lived an hour away from Tampa and there was no way I would see anyone I knew but you know when you're nervous you don't think clearly). I was very into manga and anime back then, and I was going with my dad because he's HUGE on Marvel and DC Comics, which I am also still interested in. I didn't have any big expectations going in, or really any sort of plan. I was hoping to buy some Chainsaw Man merch but that was really all I thought of ahead of time.

The convention was 3 days long: a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We decided to go on Sunday, when tickets were reduced and the convention closed earlier than it had the previous days. We also got there as soon as it opened, and I was praying that both of these conditions would make for it to be not nearly as busy as I was anticipating, but I never could've imagined how insanely packed it was. From the short walk to the parking lot to the center, we passed numerous people decked out in cosplays of all kinds. Some just wearing shirts with their favorite characters, others wearing an outfit that they bought from Amazon most likely, and a few people adorned in completely homemade cosplays that they had clearly spent days, if not weeks, completing. I didn't wear a cosplay because I thought I would be one of the only ones, but it turned out that my normal clothes were actually in the minority. After going through the long process of entering, getting our wristbands, and traversing the center to make it to the convention space, I was amazed at how many people I had already passed. And my shock only grew as we stepped inside the large room. The space was like a labyrinth, a maze with walls of tables and booths, filled with all kinds of merchandise. I had thought that fanmade anime merch like keychains and art prints would be the main thing being sold, but I was very wrong. There was a GIANT section right next to the entrance that was just at least 10 long tables of boxes filled with vintage comics. There were multiple woodworking booths that sold beautifully intricate sculptures and wall art that were all well over $300 (which seemed a very appropriate price for the amount of detail that was hand carved). It's easy to say that I was very overwhelmed by all this.

I have always LOVED people watching, and I've never been to a better place to do so than this convention. After walking around for about an hour just taking all of the information in, my dad and I went to a little snack stand and each got a cheeseburger and a drink. The few tables they had were full, so we sat against a wall and surveyed the crowd. People of all ages were cosplaying and interacting. I saw one middle aged man dressed as Batman go up to a kid dressed as the Joker who couldn't have been older than 12 and start pretending to have a rivalry with him. There were so many group costumes for things I couldn't have even imagined cosplaying. Another teenage girl was sat on the floor a few feet away from me with her group of friends, wearing her interpretation of Bill Cipher from the show Gravity Falls. It genuinely filled me with so much joy to be able to watch all of these diverse groups come together to just celebrate what they like. I was so nervous going in, but everyone there seemed so friendly and at ease, I couldn't help but feel a lot less embarrassed.

My dad and I sat on the floor for about an hour and finished our food, and we went to explore the rest of the convention. We stopped at almost every booth, and I had bought 2 things along the way, a Gojo Satoru poster for my friend's birthday, and a Neon Genesis Evangelion shirt for my other friend's birthday (all of our birthdays are within a week from each other so it was nice to be able to get their gifts all in one spot). The event didn't really seem like my dad's cup of tea, and I was getting worried that he wasn't having fun, but he reassured me that he was just enjoying walking around and hanging out. After 3 hours of being under bright fluorescent lights and surrounded by people and bright colors, we were both starting to get a headache and decided it was time for us to head out. I know lots of people stay at conventions from open to close every day that they run, and I have to give MAJOR props to them because I am not nearly strong enough for that. On the way out, my dad and I passed a booth that we missed before that was selling $5 vintage tees. I dragged him over to look and was SO excited because all of the shirts they had were actually really cool. He bought 2 Marvel shirts, and I was very happy that he wan't leaving empty handed. I also got 2 shirts, an oversized graphic tee of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show that my dad made me watch as a kid, and a Def Leppard shirt that I still wear to this day (shown below in a picture way too big for this post but it won't let me make it smaller).

3 years later, as a much more confident college student, I can't wait to return to Tampa Comic Con. I'm planning on wearing a Sailor Moon cosplay that I wore for halloween last year (added below in case anyone wanted to see), and after my previous experience, I'm no longer nervous about being judged. Comic Con is a place where the only requirement to be accepted is to be kind <3

(So so sorry this is over 1k words I just got really into writing about my experience and reminiscing. Please don't dock any points I'm just overly passionate)

[tobyfoxfacts]

SHOULD TOBY FOX BE PRESIDENT??

Heres the pros and cons

Pros

1. He made a game all about befriending your enemies.

He's a natural at building bridges so he may be able to repair any hard feelings between countries that the US cut off in the past.

2. He's a business man

Toby is self employed and has people who works under him. He started from the bottom. He worked on his first game in someone's basement. He earned his success.

3. He's great at money management and project planning

He made undertale pretty much on his own and organized any assistance he needed. He's great working on teams and had done many collaborations.

4. He likes the girls and the gays!!

Toby would let us all be trans and queer. He has 2 lesbian couples in his games, a non binary main protagonist, and is a total mommas boy. He wouldn't wanna take away her rights.

5. He doesn't hate drag queens

Toby has been seen wearing skirts and dresses as costumes or cosplays. He's worn makeup and dresses for costumes.... so he wouldn't hate someone for doing the same.

6. He supports the environment

Toby has a degree in environmental science. Why would he get a degree in that if he didn't believe in global warming? He would help repair the environment and make our country more echo friendly. As a science major he knows vaccines aren't fake and would be a great role model.

7. He slips under the discrimination radar

This is cynical, but based on Toby's appearance, he has advantages in the political world. "Straight looking," pale skinned, rich, Christian, cisgender man who went to a prestigious college. So, heck... he'd get a chance even if he genuinely sucked because politics are rigged. Even if he thought Hulu was part of Hawaii and they made a streaming service... he would still make it to the finals.

Don't let anyone find out he's a dress wearing autistic furry that makes songs about mpreg.

8. He has a great education

Toby went to a college that focuses on law and business. There's a chance that he took some classes on the side about those subjects.

9. He's a level headed guy and stays out of drama

Toby's never gotten caught up in drama and he's not a trouble starter. He'd never initiate a war.

10. G-n outlaws

We already know that Toby isn't enthusiastic about violence and believes in thinking before hurting. He would totally make more anti g-n proposals

11. He loves animals

He'd totally help prevent animal cruelty and k1ll shelters. Toby literally thinks he's a dog...

12. He hates taxes

He grew up in New Hampshire so moving to Boston must have been a shocker. He might be able to make taxes more reasonable, or do something useful with the money.

13. Japan loves him

His buddies in Japan (zun, sakurai, etc) have said Toby blends right in with the people in Japan. He's very polite. SUPER important.

14. He's young

He's level headed and isn't fucked on dementia medication while making life altering decisions for the next generation. He's involved and up to date with modern culture, and knows what people want.

15. He's a cutie

Must I say more?

16. He's a cultural icon

Gen z would vote for him cause they already know Toby's great. Plus everyone who doesn't care about politics would find it hilarious to see toby in the white house.

Why toby shouldn't be president

1. He's too short to see over the podium

2. He's stage fright

3. He'd eat the declaration of independence

4. He doesn't want to be

5. No more delrarune :(

[nomsfaultau]

Fault crew.

Cosplay convention.

Getting compliments on their 'costumes', asks for photographs, comments like "wow I love that character outfit" and them getting confused like ??? This is what I wear everyday?

Accidentally winning a cosplay contest lol

I did actually do a bit on a discord where they went to comic con. The Blade’s frame of society came fully from English major nerds, and so he has the knowledge to fully double down on it, insisting he’s a mech that sent him into deep debt to make. If he wins the costume contest he just flips his mane and is like ‘naturally, these losers didn’t stand a CHANCE’

Philza also immediately rolling with, giving the name of the fake fursona artist who he commissioned. Pretty familiar with humans making sick monster costumes. Philza is also very comfortable in his skin and with not fitting into humanity, so I don’t think he’s necessarily come up with the lie himself, but if someone comes to that conclusion themself sure why not. And like yeah it kinda is a costume. He IS living full time as his humansona. Thank you, he did spend a lot of time on the wings, but the trophy will be going to one of his kids. Probably Tommy, cause he’s a twit about stuff like that.

Tommy would be OUTRAGED that his ‘costume’ wasn’t immediately recognized, the Instigator is only the COOLEST AND HOTTEST HERO EVER, unfairly under rated, you aren’t a true comic fan if you don’t recognize him. At which point his friends take the moment to invent stupid things the Instigator did that are reference to things Tommy has done, utterly clowning on him. No body ever hears the end of it if he wins the contest.

In middle school Tubbo fully faked being a fake instagram photoshop account, purposefully editing photos of themselves to look less realistic/amature work, picking fights and poorly arguing that they were too totally a fairy you just don’t believe in magic. I think that dearth of experience means they can perfectly replicate like those goth kids who put in fake fangs and avoid the sunlight to convince people they’re vampires. Completely nails being too insistent and cringe and unconvincing. Therefor is the best at selling the lie that it’s a costume.

Wilbur. Oh poor Wilbur. Just blinking at the person who addressed it. Not a single useful thought behind that eye. He can’t bs it like the others at all, like zero knowledge of shows or comics or movies or animes osmosised. Okay like yah it’s read a few books but no context for fandoms in the slightest. Like vaguely aware of Halloween at the very closest but isn’t that for tiny brats?? It would just stare for like fifteen seconds and then chirp ‘thanks!’ as a safe (?) answer, panicking more and more as he’s asked about the costume. Comes across as a socially anxious mess, and when they try to award Wilbur with the best costume prize he sees the stage and the crowd and just bolts because attention is very dangerous in his eyes. Eye. Crap. It is presumed he is shy.

[thelastblackmoon]

Anime Japan 2024 Review!

My Sailor Star Fighter Cosplay at Anime Japan 2024

I went to both days of Anime Japan 2024!

The con saw about 133,000 attendees this year, but despite the huge turnout Tokyo Big Sight had plenty of space to handle it. I arrived at around 9am and bought tickets at the door for about $18 USD / 1-day pass. I also picked up my tickets for the next day, so I spent a total of $36 for the whole weekend. I lined up when the doors opened and it took about 45 minutes to enter the con/building which is honestly amazing considering everyone went through a bag check. The weather was ideal, but I imagine if it was too sunny or raining then the wait would be miserable.

Inside I received a detailed floor map that also had English, so it’s convenient for overseas fans who don’t know Japanese but have English skills. The map was incredibly detailed and accurate and helped me find the booths I was looking for easily.

On the subject of booths, the industry presence was INCREDIBLY strong. All the big name Animation Studios had extensive setups. “Booths” is a complete understatement. Some companies had full on sets built with hallways to walk through/view exhibits. Others had complete stage setups with light scaffolding and multiple professional grade cameras & audio recording for live streaming.

I didn’t get tickets for the special stage events, and because my focus was cosplay I didn’t bother getting livestream tickets. The programming seemed extensive from what I saw in the pamphlet I was given as well as the gigantic wall dedicated to posting the schedule. I took a walk around on Sunday when I wasn’t in cosplay and it was honestly breathtaking. There were so many freebies, merch for sale, screens everywhere showing trailers for new releases or showcasing work that has been popular, and speakers playing anime themes. I think if you’re not prepared for an insane amount of stimulation it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

Photographers lining up to photograph my Sailor Star Fighter Cosplay

One the subject of Cosplay, I would have liked to have a little more space for the cosplay area. Cosplay tickets cost an additional $6 USD to participate/use the changing rooms. The rest of the con was so huge, so in comparison it felt cramped when trying to take photos/line up for a shoot. That said, the changing rooms were easy to find and spacious inside. I went as Sailor Star Fighter from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos and it was very well received. The dress code is more strict at this convention so while I was moving about (especially on the con floor) I was required to wear something to cover my costume. This didn’t bother me at all though since most cosplayers don’t venture out onto the con floor but stay in the cosplay areas and change if they’d like to walk around. There were a lot of really great cosplays, and I was able to see most of them since nearly all the cosplayers chose to participate in the cosplay parade that went around the con!!

All in all it was an extremely positive experience, and out of all the cons I’ve been to in Japan (which is only about 8 but I’ve been to some multiple times) I’ve enjoyed this one the most in terms of feeling fully immersed in anime/pop culture and really being WOW’d by the setups at every turn. I highly recommend anyone who enjoys anime/animation industries to visit Anime Japan.

A photo of my Sailor Star Fighter Cosplay taken by @ kokensns [Twitter / X]

[maelstromdeparture]

i have a rant because something happened recently that was a lil funny but mostly has been bugging me just a smidge

okay so i was recently in texas for several reasons (mostly Ateez but that is not what this is about) one of those reasons was my bf and i went to animefest together

several things that should be known: i live in a very small state the kind that considers what many states would call a town a big city. it's a very red state. i tend to be very feminine presenting and have been seriously told i look like a disney princess. i have spent a lot of my life in either fully female dominated or fully male dominated spaces (ballet, sorority, computer science, physics, law school) and am not unused to sexism as a result

but most of my interactions with sexism (that isn't like little things) is family member interactions or customer service (when i still worked coffee shops) because while i was the only girl in my physics classes in just shy of a rural part of the state, those boys had it figured out and i never had problems.

i haven't been to a lot of fan events so most of my fan activity is online, this isn't the first year i've gone to anime conventions (first one this big tho) but it is the first year i've gone with my boyfriend. no one bat an eye when we went to the local one this year. but texas? it's funny because it wasn't a big thing, it was just little things but it still surprised me

when bf and i decided we were going he was like "do you want to cosplay?" and im like "i mean if you're down absolutely let's do it" and he told me to pick the cosplay so we did demon slayer. which is not an anime he watches but he knows about it because i talk about it.

9/10 vendors and people we talked to would comment on the cosplays to him. ask him something about the show. and then the look of shock on their faces when they realize that he knows nothing about the anime. that no he didn't convince his girlfriend to cosplay at the anime con with him. he cosplayed for me. so many people looked like the idea that was something someone could do had never occurred to them.

not a single person we talked to considered for a second that i was who liked demon slayer, i think only two people even considered that we both liked demon slayer. almost everyone we talked to immediately assumed i was there for him.

it was funny the first couple times and then i was quickly like "right sexism because i'm a girl love that for us" at least watching these idiots go through five stages of grief when they realized not only did they screw up embarrassingly they did it in front of a real life girl that actually likes the same anime was hilarious.

i had so much fun being there that it didn't bother me too much in the moment just brief irritation the fifth time it happened but since then i keep thinking about it and i just find it frustrating

[riddlerosehearts]

OKAY SO i said yesterday that i would make a post about how anime weekend atlanta went, so... basically it was a bit of a mixed bag because while i got to see tons of cool cosplays and merch and go to some neat panels, we (as in me and my dad who was traveling with me) ended up not only having car troubles the entire weekend but also had some absolutely ridiculous problems with ordering food. just as an example, one night we ordered a pizza and it took 3 hours to arrive and we never got told there would be any kind of delay 😭 BUT i will go ahead and share my cosplays and then list off some good things that happened! i'm slightly embarrassed about posting my face on here since i've never done that before but here goes:

i was edward elric on thursday and friday at AWA and lilia vanrouge (pop music club version) on saturday and sunday! i did a bunch of thrifting and DIYing (and pulling things i already owned out of my closet for lillia lmao) for both of these and i am especially proud of that automail glove. i also went to two twisted wonderland cosplay photoshoots on both saturday and sunday which was definitely fun, and i met todd haberkorn while in my ed cosplay and got him to autograph the same fullmetal alchemist artbook that i've previously had signed by caitlin glass! i also bought a handful of silly little trinkets and i will put photos of all this other stuff under a cut so people who don't care don't have it clogging their dash too badly.

^ full group photo + some diasomnia photos of the saturday twst photoshoot. shoutout to the summer lilia who offered to princess carry malleus and the person who showed up as meleanor--two things which are both seriously impressive to me in different ways.

^ the photo i took with todd haberkorn + the artbook cover he signed. you can see where he signed his name right over ling and where, when i met caitlin last year, she signed her name right over winry. i met him once before but it was literally 10 years ago and it was great to be able to meet him again. he told me he thinks ling deserves his own FMA spinoff, and i very much agree with him.

^ some of the silly merch i bought. i also wanted to buy the official castle in the sky artbook as well as these kingdom hearts plushies so badly and still might buy them online later:

and uhhh i think that's all i feel like sharing on here?? i wish i had gotten to go to more panels but the various unexpected issues i had throughout the con kept me from having the time to go to many, although the ones i did get to see were great. there was one where a nuclear propulsion plant operator and NASA software engineer graded various sciencey anime on how good or bad their science was and did a very thorough examination of whether or not the premise of planetes--a screw hitting a spaceship, putting a hole in it, and taking out an intercontinental suborbital flight--was plausible. he concluded that it is and gave the overall series an A+ for scientific accuracy, and i've never seen this show but now i want to.

okay actually NOW that's all! if you cared enough to read this post then you deserve this bonus photo from when i got home yesterday, decided to put my ed cosplay back on and take extra photos of it, and subsequently got attacked by my cat:

[thus-spoke-lo]

hi!!! so you posted the other day about mr. lo wearing a law costume and it reminded me about how my brother went to a con with his friend (who’s tall, cute, a huge anime nerd, and seems unbelievably sweet and friendly)… but he only Just showed me pics of said friend cosplaying as law 😵‍💫 he has this kind of scruffy look, earrings, dark eyes and nice hands that made him pull it off soooo well 😭 i already had a mild crush on him before, but now i think i look like sanji within 100 miles of any woman LMAO

omgggg T_T I would lose my mind lol

[cosplayinamerica]

Emma (Atlanta, GA)

My first con was in Baltimore for Otakon 2001. Pre 9/11! I originally wanted to attend a con either out in Colorado or Texas, but I was the only one in my circle of friends in New Mexico who had a part time job, so there was no one I could travel with. 

I cosplayed as Milly from Trigun and you can actually find photos of me from old internet archive pages because Trigun was at the high of popularity. I originally made Milly for a Halloween costume, so when I showed it to my online friend  in the Trigun mIRC chat a photo of me in cosplay, she insisted I come to Otakon the following year and join her Trigun group.

Unlike a lot of early 90’s/00’s cosplayers, I didn’t have anyone who’d taught me how to sew. So Milly was entirely bought from a trip to the Goodwill. I bought brown pants, a duster, a red tie and yellow suspenders. I remember feeling so proud to find yellow suspenders because in the anime her suspenders are yellow. I was like “wow! I’m so canon compliant. I’m a cosplay pro!”. She has a little green cap and I went to Joanns, bought some fabric and just cut it out and hand stitched it and safety pinned it to the duster. Current me would have been shocked at a lack of surging or a mockup or putting snaps in to make sure the cape stayed on, but it was the wild west back then for when it came to cosplaying. 

At Otakon I had my half-assed Goodwill costume, but everyone loved it, I got so many photos and so many hugs. It was a rush of validation I’d never felt, I was this weird 17 year old living in New Mexico where I had very few friends who liked anime, so going to a con with so many people who knew Trigun and loved my costume was incredible. It made me want to keep cosplaying, 

The Trigun fandom at the time was pretty big. There wasn’t social media the way there is now, but there was a decent community. I think the anime sensibilities mixed with a very western setting was a huge draw to the western ‘otaku’ culture at the time. Vash also had such an iconic look.

A lot of Otakon 2001 was just people being excited to see other members of the Trigun community and get to connect and talk about the show, it’s one of the things I really enjoyed about cosplay back then. It felt easy to strike up a conversation with someone about the character you or they were dressed as and make a new friend. I’m actually still friends with a Wolfwood cosplayer from back then! 

You probably hear this a lot when you talk to older cosplayers, but while I’m happy cosplay has become more popular, it makes me sad there’s less of a focus on learning to sew and learn skills and more of a focus on buying a costume online and posting a photo of it on social media for as many clicks possible. I made Milly from pieces at The Goodwill with so few photos remaining of her and she was probably the most attention I’ve gotten from a cosplay. For young people reading this, don’t be afraid to learn to sew. Don’t be afraid to not have a perfect costume, there’s skills even I’m still learning and I find the building of the costume just as rewarding as wearing it or any attention I get on it.

Over 20 years later I’m still cosplaying. I literally have half of a Genshin impact cosplay in my lap I’m working on as I type this. I’m actually waiting for the next season of Trigun Stampede because I’d love to come full circle and make Milly again with my now 20 years of skills as a cosplayer.

_______________________________________

If you are a cosplayer who started cosplaying between 1990 and 2005 and would like to share your story, contact me at ejen@cosplayinamerica.com. Thank you.

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

we love supporting small streamers ;) so here’s a highlight of katy’s stream with nick as a guest! 

nick might cosplay as re4r leon, he’s too busy right now

he loves doing emotional scenes

nick got to write a lot of his lines in re4r (this kind of tracks that some of the lines may have been different from what was originally written in the script, but he implies that the lines he was allowed to write were more of the one liners)

two of his favourite lines were (that he wrote), “you wanna get ugly, let’s get ugly,” and “tell someone who gives a shit.”

he was in japan recently for 8 days (just for fun)

he does a lot of travelling for fixers tv (to help with villages or towns, there are 30 episodes or so)

he(Nick) was not approached to reprise the role of Leon for Death Island (he thinks it makes sense to get Matt Mercer for Death Island since it’s a sequel to Vendetta and Matt played the role then)

he’s into metal

he is trying to get into a convention in ireland (but it is not confirmed)

he is trying to get into conventions, they (the cast) are not getting invited as much as he thought they would. he thinks that he will be in more cons in 2024 as most of the guests for 2023 were asked back in 2022.

he has a con in a sacramento and maryland coming soon (most cons that are inviting him are anime related so far)

he loves doing motion capture and he gets to see a version of leon when he’s working

nick likes oreos and will eat an oreo whenever he or the person playing dies lol (44 minutes in ish)

he did the hot ones challenge (it was for charity) it took him about a day to recover (he almost went to the hospital that night)

he googled “can you burn a hole into your stomach with hot sauce” “can i die from hot sauce”

he does not want to do another hot wings challenge

he gifts some subs at 51 mins

ronnie shows up and asks a question at around 58 min (the cosplayer) to ask about fine arts

1hr02 while they’re having a nice speech about being true to yourself

nick is not a dancer

nick thinks if leon was a gamer, he would be good at survival horror games lol (he said maybe he would play fortnite but he’s not into it)

(yes they save the dog)

he has slowed down with his art and hasn’t felt inspired in a while. he’s not sure if he would do an art stream because he feels like he draws so slowly

he does struggle with streaming and talking to chat, so that’s why he also has mods and other guests to keep the stream more lively

he might be interested in doing streams with wood work

he likes peanut butter and mint oreos right now

1hr14 he talks about durian lol he says it tastes like a creamy garlic spread

(he really sounds like a foodie which is nice, yes he will try almost everything with food)

nick is a big coffee drinker and he likes dirty martinis and negronis (slightly bitter)

he lives with two cats and he pets them, he would call himself a dog person though

he says for his one year on twitch he will maybe do a 24 hour stream

[comiccrusadermom]

"It is just that simple."

No.

Me: Ranting about the lack of cosplay costumes for wheelchair users and other such things.

Random person: "just get a normal costume and wear it."

[Image: animated gif of wheelchair with rainbow spikes turning around. Would love to credit person, gif credit reads cryptid-stimming]

Then it occurred to me, people think it's just that simple.

That's why there are so few options out there. If you've never been the person who's skirt went from just above the knees to way WAY to short by simply sitting down, it's not something you consider when designing them. If you've never cussed yourself out for being defeated by a button or snap then the concept of velcro or a zipper with a pull tag seems extra or maybe even cheap. If you've never loved the knee high books but know in no world you can get them on, extra space or two piecing then just seems like extra work.

It doesn't stop with mobility struggles either. I have tubi friends or friends with colostomy bags that struggle with spacing and access in their costumes and often opt not to enjoy the fun day at con because of the difficulties it provides.

The problem is, all too often people don't think about it until they are the ones who need it. By the time they are there the options to address that are limited by their own physical abilities.

I have never learned to sew but maybe I should and...maybe you should too. There is a gap in the market and it needs to be filled.

[Image: animated gif showing an antique sewing machine stitching. Credit to helium-stims]

#you don't need a cape to be a hero

[genericpuff]

Hi! I love your comic Lore Rekindled, it's pretty entertaining! (definetely planning on reading Time Gate when I finally have some time lol). I'm currently very early in the process of making a comic myself, and while I have the main idea down, and the planning sorta done (I'm busy with uni, so I've been working on it bit by bit), I can't seem to figure out how to grow an audience. I was wondering how you did it and how long it took?

oh god oh no y'all are asking me how to grow an audience UH-

so like, here's the thing, I can try and give you pointers, but I also like... don't consider myself as someone with an audience ?? Like obviously there's an audience for Lore Rekindled but up until that point, Time Gate's been running for like 10+ years and I think it only has 5-10 regular readers nowadays, it peaked in its audience numbers years ago when it was still on Tapas before their platform went downhill and I bailed and since then the industry has only become more and more saturated making it even harder to get seen. Rekindled, on the other hand, has been super refreshing to work on because of how much people have flocked to it (which was surprising af but I couldn't be happier about it ngl it's been great ;o; <3) but that's really because Rekindled had the advantage of a pre-existing audience to tap into (specifically the communities of ULO/antiLO/etc. who were looking for something to rejuvenate their love for what once was in LO). So that made it a bit easier to build an audience, but that's something that goes for a lot of fandoms.

Original stuff is definitely a bit of a harder sell because you have to go out and find the people who might like your stuff and then convince them to give it a try. Building an audience in an original market is just not something I've ever been good at, I can't stand social media, I don't like "playing the algorithm", I just want to tell a story with my own characters and because of that, it often feels like I'm posting to the void with only a couple cheerleaders rooting me on. Which like, don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the readers I DO have, but it can make creating comics feel like an uphill slog when you're not seeing any growth at all every time you update and try your best to advertise. Original projects are my own personal boulder if y'know what I'm saying (￣y▽,￣)╭

At the very least, working on Rekindled has definitely helped open up the doors for Time Gate a couple more inches, because a lot of stuff in Rekindled is also in Time Gate so when people enjoy Rekindled, I can point them towards Time Gate and go "Oh, you like Persephone's hot and cold characterization? You like Charon's aloofness? You like the banter between Hades and Persephone? Go read Time Gate." (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ

That said, I think the best experience I've had with marketing Time Gate so far actually happened this year - when I went to the Island Entertainment Expo, a gaming and media convention (similar to Comic Con but on a waaaaay smaller scale lmao). There I was actually able to talk to people face to face and draw them in with physical proof of my work, it was less posting and hoping and more connecting with others and showing them my work and giving them an elevator pitch. And considering it was a convention full of like-minded people cosplaying as video game and anime characters, Time Gate fit right in because that's the niche it was written for. I'm due to go to another convention in June and possibly one in October (if I get in) and I'm hoping they're just as successful as IEX was because it was so refreshing to actually get to market my comic on a playing ground catered to my work; rather than one that would bury it after 30 seconds just for not posting at the right time of day or using the exact right combination of hashtags or not using reels.

Of course, doing tables and stuff is something that you're likely not going to jump right into especially when you're starting out. So considering you're just starting, focus less on growing an audience and more on just making your comic. It's a lot better of a sell to an audience when you have proof of your work existing and your biggest struggle in the beginning isn't going to be building an audience, but building good habits. A lot of webcomics don't even make it past a year of regular publication because of how difficult it is in practice to maintain a regular schedule. Often times the people who don't make it past that year either get bored, overwhelmed, or burnt out from the work it requires, especially when they're drawing the same characters over and over and over again - and even more so when they're doing it by themselves, with next to no audience, and no return investment. No exaggeration, drawing comics is hard, but like going to the gym, it gets easier as you get into your groove and learn what works and doesn't work for you as a creator.

Most of all, while I do hope that anyone going into webcomics can build themselves an audience they can be proud of having, please please please don't go into making webcomics purely for building an audience, because it's hard and not guaranteed. As I had said above, I still don't even consider myself as someone with an audience in the traditional sense because when it comes to Time Gate, it's still a VERY small thing, and with Rekindled, I consider the people who read it less of "my audience" and more just the community that I came into who engages with my work because it's made specifically for the community. So please, for the love of god, do it for yourself first and foremost, don't get trapped in the grind of chasing an audience when you're still just getting your work off the ground <3

I hope that helps a little, sorry I don't have a more direct "do xyz and that'll do the trick!" answer (and it turned into another essay post) but to be perfectly honest, that straightforward answer just sorta doesn't exist in this industry. Sometimes you get an audience from catering to a niche, sometimes you get one from going viral on IG, sometimes you get one from climbing the ladder within the industry, it all depends. But the good news is, there's no surefire 100% way that you have to be obligated to stick to. It's okay if you try some things and they don't work, just as it's okay if you don't feel like doing things the way everyone else is telling you to. Just have fun, learn lots, and be open to putting yourself out there and trying new things! \(￣︶￣*\))