I Am A Cosplayer and I'm Not Sorry

Firstly, I apologize if this comes out in a terrible format because I have never really "blogged" before, so I hope the technical aspects take care of themselves.

As per the title of this post, I can confirm that the area of pop culture that interests me the most is Cosplay. For those who have never heard this term before, it is the combined concept of "costume" and "roleplay," meaning that you not only dress as a character that you like, but you act like them, and while dressed you do your best to fully become them. Now, there are definitely many different levels to this act, as any beginner or casual fan could tell you but that shall remain a topic for another time. I will simply state that I would consider myself at the upper echelon of cosplay, in that I try to make my costume as accurate as I can and do try to speak or act as that character would most of the time.

Myself as Maya the Siren from the "Borderlands" video game series at Boston Comic Con 2015.

Cosplay is important to me for more intrinsic reasons than I could probably count, but the most major reason is that it is very social by nature, there are thousands and millions of others who like to wear costumes to conventions and I just plain love making friends! Secondly, it speaks volumes to my artistic nature; not everyone endeavors or is capable of making their own costumes, but it is an artistic challenge that I thoroughly enjoy testing myself on.

Myself, my husband Nick, and friend Sammy as characters from "Metro 2033" and "Fallout" at PAX East 2016.

As to what I expect to learn - conversely I intend to include the things I know in order to contribute to the amazing discussions we are about to share and I expect to learn more about the things I have likely been avoiding. For instance, I have never been particularly fond of zombies. The original idea of roaming deceased humans is wildly entertaining, but I feel it has become very overrated. The market has been completely saturated with zombie-themed things and frankly, I quickly tired of it. However, I promise to give it another chance as perhaps one of my classmates enjoys that part of pop culture and would be willing to elaborate in order to convert me :)

Myself at Boston Comic Con as Ezio from the "Assassin's Creed" video game series at Boston Comic Con 2015.

The Life of a Fangirl

What popular culture are you drawn to and why?  
 
The type of pop culture that I am most drawn to is the one that I have been living for around ten years, and that is fandom life, or the life of a fangirl. When I first started reading Harry Potter I started to live life dedicated to the Harry Potter fandom without even realizing it. I would go to events, I would read books about the books, go to websites, and start reading all about different ideas and thoughts online, and it started to become an obsession of mine. Around middle school I started to realize that there are so many other people out there that also dedicate a large portion of their lives to the series, and I inadvertently became a Harry Potter fangirl. Then I learned about other fandoms. And more and more fandoms as time went on. I started a couple of blogs about my interests, and I suddenly could communicate with fans from around the world that love the shows, books, and movies just as much as I do. In my junior year of high school (2010) I traveled to London by myself to go to the World Premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1", and the experience was one of the best times of my life even though I stood outside for 18 hours in the cold and rain, because the feeling of togetherness that happened between the almost 1000 people standing around was amazing. There were random bursts of sing-alongs, lots of discussing about who is going to show up and what is going to happen and all sorts of Harry Potter discussions. To be a part of a fandom is to be a part of something bigger than yourself, and the feeling of togetherness between strangers is a feeling that can't really be described. 
 Why is it important to you and what value do you get from engaging in it?  

Fandoms are important to me because as someone that has dealt with a lot of personal problems, being a fan has always been something I can rely on, and no matter how alone I felt, there are always other fans to talk to about different aspects of fandom. I use fiction as a form of escapism in order to cope, and having places to go and people to talk to so that the magic doesn't have to end when the book or episode does has been a life-saver. I actually have a few fandom tattoos!
Fangirls get such a bad reputation, and I am determined to help improve that throughout this semester, because being a fangirl and part of a fandom is not just about loving a person or piece of fiction to the point of obsession, though that does play a part, but it is so much more than that.
What do you anticipate you will learn about that particular form of popular culture in this course?

I am excited to look at Fangirls and Fandom from an outsiders perspective! I have never not been a Fangirl, and it will be interesting to try and see things from the point of view of someone that psychoanalyzes every episode of a tv show and cosplaying at conventions!