In life, I have low self-esteem. I don't really talk to people. I don't interact with people. In life, I'm what you would say an outsider.

*electronic, dubstep beat plays*

Through cosplay I could become these characters. I could live vicariously with how cool they were. It seems like a lot of people feel the need to become someone else, to strengthen themselves.

People are going to judge me. Probably think I'm a loser or something.

I've been to every flea market, every Goodwill, every craft shop, every fashion district, every corner of the internet to make this costume.

I feel fairly anxious because some times you're really not sure how it's gonna turn out until you all put it together.

And really part of what makes cosplay so beautiful is how people can interpret curves, and strange clothing pieces that wouldn't even exist in our world.

*electronic, dubstep beat plays*

As I walk down the halls of the convention center, I felt very nervous. People looked at me.

But they didn't look at me in a judgmental way

In the cosplay community there is just so much support and love and such abundance that it's really hard not to feel moved.

It's a community where they create a safe space for you to just be who you are.

Cosplay really can be for anybody. If you have passion and a will to bring something you love so dearly that there really is no excuse to not try it out.

You're there to just express what you love. What cosplay does is it gives you that confidence. And it makes it ok to like things that nobody else does.

Opens you up to friendships, to people who love the same stuff you love. And you don't have to be judged. And that's the greatest thing about cosplay.

This is why I cosplay.

*electronic, dubstep beat plays*