The General Consensus - A Pseudo Rant

There comes a time in every cosplayers life when he or she is either verbally harassed or gets very rude stares from passers-by. This negative attention typically comes either from other cosplayers, non-cosplayers at conventions, or the so-called "normal" people you run into outside of the convention space.

For the most part, other cosplayers are more understanding than the other two categories (Although you will probably get judged regardless). However, you will always run into the occasional incredibly stuck-up individual who, sometimes regardless of talent or costuming ability, will take an immediate dislike to you - possibly because you are cosplaying the same character.

But I digress. I have decided to share some experiences that I/we have had at cons. Notnecessarily bad ones, as I don't want this to turn into an angry rant- just things I have heard people say, be they amusing or not so amusing.

This was taken somewhere in the "normal" part of town, right before the extreme social awkwardness of the moment became evident.

While cosplaying as the Witch at Animazement:

• Our group of Left 4 Dead cosplayers accidentally wandered too far away from the convention area and into "normal human territory" while looking for food (actual food, not zombie food). We knew we had gone too far when people in cars were stopping and staring, a cop seemed like he was trying to decide whether to arrest us for something, and people who were clearly not at all affiliated with the convention stopped us and started taking pictures of us in front of a restaurant with their phones. Awkward times.
• At one point some guy came up to me and said something along the lines of "You've got to have balls to wear that." Thanks...I think? Regardless, it was only afterwards that I realized how incredibly naked I looked. Definitely glad I did that cosplay with a group.

We knew what we were getting into.

While in our Panty and Stocking cop outfits at Katsucon:

• Small child comes up to us with his parents in tow, pointing, and says "Look mommy, are those policewomen?" Parents looked very awkwardly at us in our slutty cop outfits. I almost died. Also, I'm pretty sure this happened twice.

• Catcalls. Not unexpected, but I just try to ignore them.
• Male hotel staff members telling us to "Please arrest us, officers, we've been very bad." Temporarily amusing, if also vaguely uncomfortable. Also, like we hadn't heard that one before.
• It was dark by the time we headed back to the hotel, and random people who definitely were not with the convention started taking pictures with us. They may or may not have mistaken us for streetwalkers.
• Also, the looks we got from the hotel staff were somewhat less than friendly. You'd think they would be used to Katsucon by now. We're not eating babies or skinning cats, so please don't look at us like we are scum.

What many people don't seem to understand is that we are cosplaying characters - Characters whose personalities and clothing choices have nothing to do with our own. It doesn't make us crazy, it doesn't make us immature - it's a hobby, just like playing an instrument, or watching football, or crocheting, or base jumping. Okay, maybe not exactly like base jumping. What could be scarier than looking up and seeing cosplayers inexplicably falling from the sky?

I appreciate it when I am dressed up for a con and people on the street ask us where we are going. They're curious, and I'm happy to explain to them. Sometimes they look at you like you're crazy, sometimes they nod and smile nervously, but sometimes they seem genuinely excited. It's the people who scowl and move away that really bother me - but what can you do other than try to be polite?

Cosplay is something we do because we enjoy it. People tend to be wary of or hate things that that they don't understand, and I feel like this is such a shame - and not just in regards to cosplay.

But you know what, in the end...

This.

~Kathryn

The Witch (Left4Dead) - Costume Breakdown and Troubleshooting

At Animazement 2011 I went as the Witch with a group of Left 4 Dead cosplayers. We were looking for something that would be easy and inexpensive to put together, and Left 4 Dead was a good choice in that regard.

It's easy to cosplay when you have so little clothing.

Cosplaying in a group is much more fun than cosplaying alone, so pick a game or anime that matches everyone's ability level. We managed to pull this together almost the night before the con (not advisable), but it worked out in the end.

Parking garages make sweet photo spots for Left 4 Dead. I'm pretty sure there was a cop staring at us off-camera.

The Claws:

First I considered using aluminum foil and just wrapping them around my fingers and painting them black, which a lot of people do, but I worried that it would fall off too easily. Instead I made some origami claws and lengthened them with sections of cut cereal boxes rolled into points and then taped down and painted black and red. This is a good tutorial for the claws themselves.

Yes, I'm afraid the best picture of my claws involves me attacking Hetalia characters.

I feel like the result turned out pretty well. The claws were easy to take off, but they stayed on very well when I needed them to and were very sturdy. Sadly I don't have a good close-up of the claws.

Wig:

Pretty self explanatory, I just got a shoulder length silver wig and dipped the ends in grey paint to make it look kind of nasty and get that gradient that you see in screenshots.

Makeup/Body Paint:

Most of the costuming involved doing full body paint the morning of the con. I used a great makeup tutorial by Audfaced as a template and worked with that I had. Sadly, I don't have any good closeups of my face either (I hadn't anticipated making a tutorial at that point).

Troubleshooting:

Here are some things I learned to do/not to do from this experience.

1-Unless you are very secure about your body, make sure you get a second opinion about how you look before you leave the house. Because I was covered in body paint and it kept me rather warm, I didn't realize that I actually looked very very naked until I saw the pictures afterward.

2-Bring body paint with you to the con if your costume requires it. I didn't take into consideration that I would wash the paint off of my hands every time I used the bathroom.

3-Be prepared to clean up a huge mess afterwards. Body paint is messy on a good day, and when you're rushing to get to the con paint will fly.

Hunting Survivors is hungry work.

- Kathryn