The geekiness within
By Vinni Misa
For years now, the cosplay community has become a haven for people who could never give up the geekiness within them. Cosplaying goes beyond just wearing a costume. Most go the extra mile with the wigs, the makeup, the props (and the crafting of them), contact lenses (my least favorite part due to my dry eyes), and characterization, which is my favorite part as a performer.
But more than these, it has become an avenue for like-minded individuals who showcase their love for fandoms and their creators by means of dressing up as their favorite characters. A safe space for an outside world that would normally judge them for wearing such attires, unusual to everyday life. All of these come together in pop culture conventions.
Conventions aren’t just weekend markets for merchandise and fan arts. For cosplayers, it’s a weekend escape where we get to meet friends, both old and new. Conventions get to be those days where we anxiously wait for our costumes to finish or arrive by mail. They are that deadline we stress over with the props we craft and the costumes we sew.
The cosplay community (or coscomm, as we casually refer to it) is what it is—a community. For better or worse, it’s a community of nerds, geeks, enthusiasts, aficionados, whatever word you can think of that describes dedication and love. It is here where I have met the closest friends I have today.
Given conventions fall under social gatherings, it is one of the industries affected by Covid-19. Even before the ban on events, we were already faced with letdowns when a few anticipated conventions were being postponed due to travel bans happening internationally and domestically.
But we understood that it was better to be safe than sorry. After all, we have grown to love our friends in this community that we don’t wish them harm.
Facing a reality where we may not see our friends in conventions or photo shoots for a long time is daunting to most of us, especially to people who have met their closest friends and even their significant others through these events and activities. So we have been spending months, anxiously waiting for the time we can see each other again, when our shelved costumes will once again see the light of day, when we can finally geek out over each other’s costumes and portrayals. And so, we cope and survive, both mentally and physically.
We have been finding creative ways to still enjoy cosplaying amid this lockdown, by means of video challenges like Pass the Brush, Character Selects, or even TikTok videos. Months ago, we even had an #OnlineCosplayConvention, where people dressed up and posted their costumes with the hashtag. Some of my friends have even started coming up with tutorial videos to teach others how to craft, sew, or put on character makeup, or videos on how to improve their skills in these trying times. I, for one, have been improving whatever it is I have here with me. I have been editing unreleased photos from previous photo shoots, and fixing up and improving old costumes. My favorite pastime: continuing to engage in source material, a.k.a binge-watching anime, TV shows, movies, or binge-reading comics and novels, or even playing video games of characters I’ve been intending to cosplay by internalizing them.
We can’t avoid people who have been on a slump, with their emotions low during this quarantine. These are trying times for everyone, after all. So we check up on them from time to time, assuring them we’re still here for them by hearing out their woes, sending them funny memes and videos, and wishing them well to cope with this crisis.
We’re not sure when our conventions are coming back, but we want to make sure we still have one another when we finally get through this difficult time.