APE IN A CAPE: Questions for Cosplayers

APE IN A CAPE: Questions for Cosplayers:

owlman-chronicles:

gailsimone:

I have a question.

Okay, I just saw a Batwoman cosplay where HOLY COW it really looked like Kate in costume. A lot of people know I’m a big fan of some Batgirl, Misfit, Black Alice and other cosplayers who somehow manage to look EXACTLY like their comics counterparts.

I love those cosplays, I…

I’m an overweight hispanic security guard  that works the night shift, has a shitty boss and shitty pay. I cosplay because I want to step out of my life and into someone else’s. I stop being the overworked guard who has to decide what bills to pay this month and how much he’s paying into that overpriced house and instead I get to be Secret Six Bane, Killer Croc, The Nemesis, Azrael and KillBane. It’s like the most perfect kind of freedom to be able to shed all those negative feelings about yourself and really, really be the person deep down we all want to be and I feel cosplay brings that person out of me. When I walk the convention floor and I see the most amazing people in costumes laughing, high fiving people they have never met, hugging children and genuinely fooling around then you get to feel like this is what life should be like. 

Sometimes when the day turns into night, I like to sit down someplace and watch those same people in costume walking by. I like to think that the Sub Zero, Gene Starwind, Huntress, Gambit and all the others are people cosplaying are not just wearing costumes but also enjoying that bit of happiness they so richly deserve while cradling that little bit of hope left at the bottom of the box. I’m a worn out, beat up guard that drags his ass back and forth to work every night but every so often I like to stop in front of my costume closet and touch one of my costumes and feel that good person woven into that fabric. 

That good person inside is you.

Also, this almost made me cry unexpectedly. Thank you.

AND, your boss is a dick if he doesn’t realize your value. I hope things are better for you soon and I’m glad that there is a community that knows your worth a little more.

If I ever meet your boss, I’m telling him to fuck right off for not treating BANE the way he should be treated!