feb8/25 - cosplay, role play, and moving out

there were two things that magnetised me in my earlier years on the internet: cosplay and role play

like most people on social medias or social games, i did my fair share of role playing. private and public, i used to get a real kick out of doing it. back when i was really into role play, i was ashamed of it and was nervous every time i sent a message. i think that stress is partially what pushed me away from it over time

admittedly, i probably won't get back into role playing. i enjoy writing a lot, and having a collaborative narrative is very fun, but the older role players get, the less interesting they are. 18+ role plays are all freakin cyberpunk dystopia neon laser hellscape or hardcore norse death valley viking world. lame as hell

i liked fantastical role plays, but the less sophisticated rp is what i enjoyed the most. making a simple one that appeals to everything you've ever wanted or role playing pre-existing universes

in fact, most of my time spent role playing has been based on fictions that already exist. i started with undertale role plays on whatsapp with school friends, and in 2020 i spent entire days throughout most of the year with this small roblox danganronpa rp community

that is probably the only approach i'd take if i returned to role play, when i develop fictional universes now it's for my games, and it'd be a waste of my time to create a perfect role play world when there are plenty of great ones that already exist

as for cosplay, i never truly got into it. i was introduced to cosplay through aianimecosplay's undertale videos in 2016 (prime undertale fandom fr), and i would watch every new video since i discovered them. sadly, aianimecosplay is no more, as a large amount of people in the group were problematic, causing them to gradually decrease in size, resulting in a rebrand (square one cosplay)

thankfully they seem to remain a successful cosplay group, and their cosplays have increased in quality

aianimecosplay didn't just introduce me to cosplay, they also acted as my main inspiration for my dream cosplay sitch: i always wanted to be a part of a cosplay group, and i wanted to make amateur cosplay videos in-character like they used to

for this reason i have a big soft spot for closet cosplayers making silly home videos. a favourite of mine was a chara and frisk (undertale) sleepover video, which is unfortunately privated now. (all that remains is an odd reaction video, check it out for full immersion in my blog)

i also really love cosplay groups in general, and outdoor cosplay videos/amateur photography. if cosplayers have belonged anywhere, it's definitely a little patch of woods in the corner of a convention. xcept homestuck cosplayers, they belong outside the front or back of a convention centre in the shade. that's their home.

while i never 'got into' cosplay, i have been an avid supporter of it ever since i first discovered it had a name and a community. i also did partake in one closet cosplay with a school friend. you'll notice a theme in most things i mention about 2015-2019: undertale. my closet cosplay was chara, and my friend was mostly asriel, but she would also cosplay frisk at times.

i have her to thank solely, as she made the sweaters for all three characters. they were just oversized single-colour sweaters with some fabric paint across the front for the stripes. they actually looked great for how simple they were, and they were super comfortable. though, besides the sweaters, we didn't wear anything else other than our regular clothes.

i would do this closet cosplay for LARPING LOL but i also took it to a local comic-con with this friend, where she went in full asriel cosplay. i probably looked like a grumpy boyfriend lumped into a duo cosplay or something, but i had a great time

chara has remained my only real cosplay, however i did plan one more which i am very thankful i didn't go through with:

izuku midoriya

there was a brief period which i believed i was a my hero academia fan, thanks to aianimecosplay videos introducing me to the franchise. i watched the first two seasons of the show, and i read the first issue of the manga. i quickly lost interest as i realised the wasted potential and how lame the franchise actually is

i still like a bunch of mha characters, my faves being uravity, all might, and midnight. many others are cool, mainly for their designs. honourable mentions are def froppy and nejire. i wish all might had his own show where he was a badass and deku never existed!

anyways, i was going to cosplay midoriya because i already had his casual outfit, so it would've been another closet cosplay. i was too embarrassed to arrange buying the wig however, as i still didn't have a card to buy my own stuff and would need to ask my parents to help me

now i don't care, embarrassment doesn't exist if you don't let it

i'm not exactly planning on becoming a 'cosplayer', i'm not going to actively cosplay or make cosplays, but i'm definitely going to allow it to become one of my small-time hobbies! i always wanted to be a cosplayer and to go to cons and have fun with other cosplayers, and now i have the means to do so.

i will never cosplay mha, of course. i'd hate the attention i'd attract even if i chose a character i really like, so don't get the idea that i'm reviving the midoriya thing. instead, i'm starting with karkat! i'm interested in eventually making some larger, more detailed cosplays, but i had some inspiration recently that made me really wanna cosplay some simple homestuck stuff

i got a print of his shirt, which i made myself, i also got one for nepeta, but... no solid plans yet ;) i'm planning on having my own twist on the cosplay, but not exactly a redesign. i personally don't enjoy cosplays that completely change how the character looks, besides closet cosplays of course, they get my personal exception.

my twists will be exactly that, just twists, not really any changes. i made a little drawing when i was thinking about it

there's a UK-based wig company that seem pretty good. my only concern with the wig is that it's soft, i'm sure styling it won't be too difficult for me to learn! i'm considering some other small things that i won't bother mentioning, but i will say that it will probably end up a little different to my initial imagination.

all that remains to be considered are the horns and face paint. i will not be wearing contacts, as eye stuff makes me very uncomfortable, and i will not do fake teeth because that also makes me uncomfortable. the makeup will probably be the steepest learning curve, i've never applied it before and have no idea how to do it, but i'll figure it out like a big boy

as for where i'll be cosplaying, or who i'll be cosplaying for... well, i'd love to go to a con this year or at least soon, however i think for now i will keep to myself while i find my footing. when i'm happy with my capabilities (idc what other ppl think!) i'll cosplay more and more often... achieving my dream finally

a key decider in how soon i do this stuff is the final topic of this blog: i'm moving out! i've been living in a hellhole with two giant babies for way too long, and i am finally escaping to my own place with two pretty huge rooms and decent kitchen/bathroom. it even came with free appliances!

i'll be out there fully most likely this month, as of typing there's only a small amount of things i need to do before i can consider the place mine, and of course the moving process will be lengthy. mostly the unpacking part, i haven't even started that yet

i'll show my new bedroom when i'm there, mainly because my collections aren't appealingly displayed at the moment, and a lot of it is in storage, so i will hold off on talking about those until then. i will also start pursuing stuff like cosplay once i'm settled, because i won't have two demons to please every day

that's my life as it stands right now, things that have been on my mind and where i'm headed in the near future. i have game dev stuff to talk about, i will likely post all the current work i have done for it, maybe i'll save that for a business social media, not sure.

journaling is definitely healthy for me, this was a good spending of my time

:D