How Not to Take a Selfie with a Cosplayer | Cosplay Storytime | AnyaPanda 

I recently did a cosplay of Honey-Senpai (Ouran Highschool Host Club) at a convention and someone literally ran at me screaming "OMG you're so cute!" so hard that we both fell over and my blazer ended up with a tear in it and my wig almost fell off. Guys, even if you see your favourite character, keep in mind that they're actual people who have actual feelings

"Tracer's gay so good luck with that" I laughed really hard at this

I was just at Glass City Con a week ago and like there was a huge sign that said "cosplay is not consent" and it explained it all and whatnot. I thought that was cool

One time, while I was cosplaying Link, I was clearly in a corner crying while talking on the phone and a random guy just puts his arm around me and THEN asks for a photo. I told him that at that moment I was busy and asked him to talk to me again in a while... He said "I either take the selfie NOW or I will NOT take ANY selfie with you EVER AGAIN! " while pointing his finger at me... Was that supposed to be a threat? Did this guy think that cosplayers in a convention are like Disney Princesses in Disney World that are actually paid and you can complain about them if they are "rude"? I was clearly crying and talking on the phone!

Alright here's my convention horror story. So it was my first convention alone (no friends or family with me) and I was cosplaying Hanayo Koizumi from Love Live School Idol Project (a rather popular "waifu" anime). I'm chilling out in line, relaxing and waiting for a panel to start, when some older guy comes up to me and asks for a picture. Now take note, I was 15 at the time. I say sure, and the minute I do, he rips out his phone and immediately wraps his arm around me and GRABS MY ASS. I was so shocked I just kinda stood there unsure of what to say to this guy, as he was very clearly in his mid to late 20s. I really wanted to stay for the panel, so I just kinda stood there and didn't say anything, but this guy wasn't gonna let up on his "waifu" that easily. He kept trying to stay close to me, his breath smelt AWFUL and he kept trying to talk to me. Fortunately, someone in the line noticed how uncomfortable I was and told him to back off, and after some rude words to that person he left in a huff. "Unfortunately" (for him at least) I remembered what he looked like and told staff about the incident and he was actually arrested for sexually assaulting a minor (the creep literally admitted to what he did!) and claimed I "led him on" by looking and acting "so old and mature". It was probably one of (not the worst) worst experiences of my life, next to being sexually assaulted at 7 (which honestly made the situation worse as I was having vivid flashbacks to that). Moral of the story? COSPLAYERS ARE NOT YOUR HUSBANDO/WAIFU. THEY ARE NOT THE CHARACTER THEY'RE COSPLAYING AS. ON TOP OF THIS, NOT ALL COSPLAYERS ARE 18+ AND EVEN ON TOP OF THAT SEXUAL ASSAULT IS A CRIME. DO NOT TOUCH A N Y O N E WITHOUT THEIR EXPRESS CONSENT FIRST.

I was Ciel Phantomhive at comic con and I got slam hugged by two girls, they were sweet and super excited but MAN WAS IT AWKWARD

I was cosplaying cloud from ff7 once and someone took my buster sword without permission and wouldn't give it back. They kept saying "just another minute" and they kept swinging it around and almost hit soneone. Eventually a miku cosplayer got it back. Ask before you take someones prop and please give it back when they ask

What u hate more than anything is when someone asks to take your picture and you say no but they take it anyway. I was at a convention the other day and walking back to the train station someone asked to take my picture. I said no and apologised and explained that I'm not in my heels or my accessories anymore and didn't look good or feel comfortable with that but as soon as I started to walk away he took a picture of me and his camera click was so loud that I immediately knew

"Axe, sweat, and desperation" aka what every guy at my high school smelled like.

Man I'm too nervous to even ask a cosplayer for a photo, let alone touch them 😅

Storytime: I was attending one of my first conventions. I was only 13 or 14 at the time and was cosplaying Yurippe from Angel Beats. We were making one last trip around the vendor hall on the last day of the con, right before everyone started packing up. We almost made it out alive, except the man at the last table tried to convince me to buy an Angel figure by saying "YOU NEED THIS." After explaining to him that I was broke bc it was a literally the last hour of the con, he says in a lower voice " you're wearing cosplay~ I'm sure you could figure something out👀." (Trying to convince me to sell my body) He said this as (what I assume to be) his wife was standing at the opposite end of the table, and as I was clearly underage. My badge had MINOR written right across the front for all to see. My friend grabbed my arm and told the guy to shut up, but he had the audacity to say to me "you're friend is really rude." EXCUSE ME?! She's the rude one, after he told me to sell my underage weeb body for money to buy his knockoff figures. To this day I still have not worn that cosplay again. I should have gone to security, but I wasn't thinking at the time. Moral of the story kids; always have a friend with you at cons, especially if you are underage. There are some creepy people in this world.

You shouldn't touch someone without their consent, especially not at a con,in general but that touch could trigger some kind of flashback or freak out if said person is autistic,has aspergers,or is an aspy(someone who suffers from borderline aspergers)and they could have an attack of some sort

Do not touch anyone without permission unless you are literally saving their life while they are unconscious.

Once a guy at SDCC 2013 asked for a selfie when I was Black Widow. I was the comic version so I was in a black cat suit with the front zipper zipped down pretty far showing off my cleavage. This fool asked for a photo and then after taking one regular selfie he aimed the camera down at my boobs, snapped a quick pic, and then bolted. Being SDCC it was wall to wall people and he just disappeared into the crowed. I'm still pretty salty about the whole thing. Hopefully with the Cosplay is NOT Consent initiative around people will begin to smarten up more. Sorry that happened to you and I hope it never happens again

"Tracer is gay, anyway.." This made me laugh so much. I just found your channel, but I'm already loving it so much

One time I cosplayed as a genderbent Joker and there was this creepy dude staring at me. So me being in character said this "*does joker laugh* oh why don't you take a picture" then my face had an annoyed expression and my tone went lower but still a joker sounding voice "It will last longer." This dude thankfully took the hint and left.

Ugghh. I've experienced this on an almost weekly basis, not cosplay wise but working as a zombie scare actor. At the end of a 3hour+ immersive experience consisting of running around, shooting guns and being chased it's unbelievable how many stinky arms are around me during the photo op. As I'm still in character my leg will conveniently 'give way' so I can duck out, or I bat their arms off me while making angry undead noises. I've since learnt to strategically position myself in cages for the photo ops so they can't touch me :/

I was dressed as eros costume viktor for a con and I was having a good time, it was my first proper homemade costume and it looked great and I was super confident in it, most people were super super respectful and I got featured on one of my favourite cosplayer's instagram accounts because he loved my costume, but I also had this one girl who followed me around for ages, she was younger and a lot shorter than me so I would've felt awful telling her to get off me in case it hurt her feelings, but she wouldn't let go of my arm. like honestly I couldn't shake her, she followed me and my friend around for ages and it was really awkward because she was saying stuff that wasn't really appropriate to say to someone you've just met, and she was about 12 so it just wasn't stuff she should have been saying anyway. the whole debacle just made me super uncomfortable, she was trying to seem a lot older than she was and was really grabby (I have aspergers so I don't like unwanted physical contact, I'm usually fine at conventions because my aspergers is super mild but this girl was setting me off). so the moral of the story is don't be creepy to cosplayers, we're not your waifu body pillow

I was cosplaying Eren Jeager from Attack On Titan and I saw someone cosplaying Levi Ackerman from the same show and I asked for a picture and He/she put their arm around me and my sister(who was also cosplaying) I didn't have a problem with it but I can see why someone would. Love your cosplaying stories and advice!💕💕

Hey I'm 12 years old and I cosplayed as Sans from Undertale over at SDCC last year. I'm short and when I was walking out of the convention to go eat but another cosplayer, (she cosplayed as Frisk) ran up behind me and JUMPED ON MY BACK. I WAS DRINKING A STARBUCKS DRINK. I ALMOST FELL

ohhhh man once i was in my rose quartz cosplay and this GIRL IN THE STARBUCKS WENT AND PICKED UP SOME OF MY SKIRTS TO SEE HOW I GOT IT SO PUFFY

While I definitely understand wanting personal space and stuff, I find some sense of (probably morbid) humor in the fact one of my favorite cosplay stories has to do with someone being up in my space- I was cosplaying as Zero from Vampire Knight and this kid booked it from one side of room to me, glomp hugged me and was just super excited to see Zero, and it really made.. basically my life. This was in 2010 and it still brings a smile to my face. Just a little positivity since I'm seeing a lot of horror stories =]

It can definitely be scary. You never know how someone is going to react to calling them out on the inappropriate touching. Hopefully it doesn't happen again.

I cosplayed Yukine from noragami at a con last year and you know I was just walking around with my dad and I suddenly here someone scream "YUKINEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and before I could turn around someone bear hugs me from behind and my dad immediately was like 'wait... THIS ISN'T ONE OF JOYS FRIENDS!' (he didn't actually say that but his face said it for him) and ripped the person off of me and I see it's a person in a cosplay of Kaneki Kun. and let me just say NEVER run at a cosplayer and bear hug him/her it's scary, and especially not when your cosplaying a ghoul. please. but all in all it was still a good con and we met with my friends later who where also cosplaying from noragami. now with a complete group we all walked the vender hall when we see Kaneki again and at first she was really happy to see a group of noragami cosplayers but then she recognized my dad and I it was immediately awkward for us but she asked for a picture of our group and ran away after getting the picture.

I had someone grope me in costume once. And I was 13

This is such a huge problem on cons. Cosplay isnt Consent! My scariest experience so far was a guy who found me on social media after seeing me at con, and then messaged me saying he wanted to do a "private photoshoot" for free and he'd even give me free prints of it, all I had to do was "be his friend". Needless to say, I blocked him but it still sends shivers down my spine. I was 16.

It's annoying when people touch your costume especially if you're a furry/scaly then they touch your wings fur and tail and makes them more gross and sweaty -_-.

It's so so weird to randomly find cosplayers that you saw in passing on RU-vid lol I'm pretty sure I saw you in Tracer at Sak, you looked great! Also HOT DAMN once i had this woman who wanted to take a picture of me and this random stranger who were both cosplaying from the same series, and this stranger guy and i posed for the picture, but apparently we weren't close enough for her, because then she asked him to PUT HIS ARM AROUND ME, super demandingly. like she knew we were strangers, and we were both super awkward about it, but she was not having it.

I cosplayed Yamuraiha (Magi) for Dokomi (Germany) and I was on the train on my way there and there were a few people staring at me. At one stop a group of guys get's on the train and they're really loud. One of them goes to the bathroom and on his ways back he sees me and tells his friends loudly about it. Didn't mind as long as they didn't bother me. So I'm minding my own buisness eat some breakfast and listen to music when I notice someone is standing in the centre aisle and I look up and one of the guys is taking a selfie with me. He didn't ask, didn't even look at me just went back to his freinds and showed off the picture. So I got up an followed him and chewed him out infront of his friends. Said that I usually don't have a problem taking a picture with someone but they should have at least the decency to ask and told him how rude and shameless it was and that he wouldn't want someone else do that to him. He (and even his friends) apologised asked me where I was going and where a lot nicer after that :) Funny thing after we got off the train some girls aproached me asking for a pic and he walked by and was super embarrassed

First things first, YOUR TRACER COSPLAY SLAYED MY ENTIRE LIFE!!! Two, I'm liking this cosplay storyline, keep it up! 😄

My main thing is don't tackle hug people unless they say you can. Now, I usually don't have pieces of my cosplay that could break if you do, but at 4'9 (I'm sixteen, before you ask) and if I'm not expecting a tackle hug, I will fall over, probably hurting myself and you.

i was doing a ”cosplay in public” challenge with a few friends, these two guys walk up to us and ask for a picture, i nod and one pulls out his phone, we pose for the photo and everything is going normal until the other guy RIPS OFF MY FRIENDS WIG and we just kinda stand there for a bit as the guys take the photo and laugh. now i am PISSED and ask them to delete it and they RUN AWAY, me and 3 out of 5 friends start chasing them (the on that got her wig ripped off and one stayed to comfort her, also keep in mind they’re running away with THE WIG IN THEIR HANDS) and i’m not as fit as most of my friends so they catch up with the guys and hold them down, i catch up. i struggle a bit but then get the wig back, they start running again but we already have the wig so we run back to our friend, she was crying because she struggled alot with bullying a few years ago and started having slight flashbacks, luckily, i’m in the same swedish class as the guys and timeskip to the next thursday, i went to tell the swedish teacher and she told the principal about it, we are gonna have a talk with my friends, me, the guys and the principal next week (i’ll update next week’s friday) EDIT: lol i forgot to update SORRY ABOUT THAT! but basically what happened was everyone’s parents showed up and we talked about it, me ’n my friends told the whole story of what happened and ofc the guys tried to deny it and their parents believed the guys but the principal believed us so the guys got detention for the next week and never bothered my friends again, one of them tried to push me into a bush but it didn’t work so i shoved him away and after that they haven’t bothered us, and i’m moving schools so i’m pretty sure they won’t bother me again lol anyway if someone read all of this then thanks for reading i guess!

When I'm in an convention (Here in the Philippines). I noticed how we all have the same habits when it comes to taking a picture with a cosplayer. We tap their shoulders, when the cosplayer look back at us, we ask if we could take a picture, when they agree we bow to the cosplayer as a thank you and take pictures. People who take pictures with me in cosplay does it too.

God I can’t stand when people treat cosplayers (or anyone) like this! It’s sad to see that this is even a little bit common (even when it’s not to the extremes, people not being fully respectful of others at cons and treating them badly, unintentionally or not really sucks.) it really should be common sense to treat a cosplayer or a person at a con like you would someone in your everyday life! (Though perhaps that’s the problem with some people, they treat anyone like that. Mm. Whatever the case, just treat people kindly everyone!) I don’t have a real horror story like this luckily, but I have a good story to hopefully show there are respectful people and also show what you should do if you are taking pictures with cosplayers! At my most recent convention, I was cosplaying Past Pearl from Steven universe. I was going down the escalator and made eye contact with a woman seemingly around my age who was dressed as Rose. She waved at me and carefully approached me and asked if we could get selfies together. Of course I was excited and said yes. The selfies went well, and she asked at one point if I was comfortable with her pretending to kiss my cheek for a photo (which I was, I just really appreciated that she asked bc as many of the horror stories show, lots of people wouldn’t.) And yeah that’s basically it, not much of a story really but proof that some people are amazing and respectful, and I really wish more people (everyone preferably) were like her, she absolutely made my day!

Hello. I want to do cosplay, but I don't know much about the cosplay etiquette... Is it ok to cosplay a reimagined/ AU version of a character? Like different clothes etc?

Also, can we talk about how there's an unspoken agreement that when you are eating at a con that you don't wanna be bothered bc you are literally taking a break??? Bc this person at a con I went to apparently didn't get the fucking message. I had literally just taken a big bite of pizza and this person tapped my shoulder and asked for a picture. I was so flustered that I forgot to put on pieces of my cosplay that I took off to eat and I probably generally looked uncomfortable. What's worse, she asked my friend who was ALSO EATING to take the photo. They then acted like I should know who they were cosplaying and proceeded to NOT LEAVE US ALONE and stood next to our table talking to us while we were trying to eat. We just wanna eat.. my friend and I even have an unspoken agreement that we use eating as time to ourselves to collect our thoughts and rest our voices. I don't really wanna talk to a super fan for like a half hour. Let me enjoy my shitty $3 slice of con pizza plz

I'm HERE for some HECKIN NICE CON STORIES

Last year I was enjoying my time as Female Ciel Phantomhive at Napoli Comicon. It was my first cosplay ever, and considering my age, just 13 years old, I guess it was about time I'd give it a try. Everyone is stunned by the beauty of the gown, and a lot of people ask me to take pictures with them. I'll have to say, I'm really shy and anxious, so my sister used to tell me that I looked really bitchy when someone tried to be kind with me and I didn't say a word. Anyway, a lot of these people who wanted to take pictures with me didn't really know what my cosplay was but hey, why not share it all over social medias and make people see how cool I am with this cosplayer? And one of these people was a middle-aged dude who didn't even ask kindly for a picture and with sudden approach he grasped around my body and held me, almost touching *those* parts, and sticking to me like a creep. He said I was beautiful and immediately took a selfie with me. My mom was near and when he was done, she told me "What a pedophile!". I guess I'll pass it, but I was really scared...

I just got back from a con today after cosplaying a Team Skull Grunt.. I took a lot of awkward selfies, if only this were posted yesterday lol

I had a guy put his arm around my waist and pull me into a weird dude-bro death-grip. QQ I totally understand that moment of panic and discomfort, you freeze up, and you can't say anything because you're trying to process. When it happened to me, two of my male friends were standing RIGHT THERE. They didn't do anything because they thought I knew him. ;____; I'm so sorry that happened to you. That sucks when that happens.

I grew up in a slavic family with slavic friends and from the get-go threw all my personal boundaries to the wind, what with all the kissing each other twice to greet one another and regularly wrapping our arms around each other for pictures and such. I'm so used to that kind of stuff that when people arm hug me for cosplay pictures and stuff I just roll with it, and I understand how that kind of physical interaction is normal for some people. I also understand though that it can be an invasion of one's comfort zone, namely after a time when I was posing with my piano teacher, put my arm around her hip, and she then gently removed it. Also, that death grip was pretty sketchy, no non-creepy explanation for that, haha.

My horror story: I was at my first convention (comic con) and I was with a friend and I was Mineta (the pervert from mha) and I was walking around having a great time but a Bakugou cosplayer x3 my size and he starts attacking me. I got a bruise on my stomach and a black eye. Yes I reported him.

I’m a 13 year old cosplayer and the last convention that I went to was really awesome except for the fact that both me and the friend I was with ended up having panic attacks because we got lost. I was cosplaying Touka Kirishima from Tokyo Ghoul and my friend was cosplaying a gender bent version of Steven from Steven Universe and R E A L L Y luckily there was a group of Tokyo Ghoul cosplayers that had been trying to find me to ask if I could join them for photos and they were really really friendly and kind and help us to get back to where we were supposed to be going. We ended up getting photos and a few videos and I’ve still kept in touch with all of them and we’re planning to meet up at the next convention in my area This had a surprisingly good ending after all

Oh man I had this same experience at Oz Comic Con in Melbourne last weekend. A guy asked for a photo with a friend and I cosplaying Velvet and Glynda from RWBY and we said yes and he stepped between us and his friend had their phone up. We both posed with our weapons up (I have two delicate swords made of wire that light up) and this guy slings his arms over both of us jerking us towards him so both of us drop out of our poses just smushed up awkwardly against him. Also he had grabbed my shoulder armour while doing so which I had luckily reinforced after someone knocked me while walking around last con and loosened, so they held up but yeah SUPER uncomfortable and shitty poses cause we were crushed up against him likely looking awkward. He let us go after the photo and we both kinda looked at each other like uh ok. Other people had stopped and asked for photos as he stepped away so we kinda just let it go and resumed posing. When we were done taking photos and started walking on I turned to her and went "that guy..." and she had this look like exactly and said "yeah so weird" So yeah 100% agree with you some people have no clue. If he had broken my armour I would have fucking lost it at him though. I think I made a concerned "uhhh" noise when he pulled us in and if he checks my expression in the photo it is probably a smile with an undertone of what the hell? Help me. But that was the only really awkward experience I had. Except for watching a friend get super creeped out by a guy saying her Officer Jenny cosplay was the cutest thing he had ever seen while breathing heavily and leaning in towards her. She got away from him as fast as possible hah then texted her boyfriend to come over and act as a buffer.

I've never been to a con, but hearing all these stories kind of freaks me out. I know that if I go to one I'd be with either a group of friends or my parents (most likely parents), but it's still scary. I have anxiety and I would be so terrified of something happening to me at a con. There's so much that can happen! You can have a bad experience with a person, get lost, get hurt, and so many other things! The only time I've cosplayed in public was when I did Hermione Granger for Halloween, and I had a panic attack that night because I was with my friends and we were lost in a neighborhood I'd never walked around in.

I thought I was the only one who had a problem with people putting an arm around my waist so I never said anything... Thanks for clearing up that it really isn't okay ^^

I'd love to hear more con stories!! Also, from the looks of it your room seems cool. Dare I say room tour?

Actually at my second year of Sakura Con, I was dressed as Taiga Aisaka from Toradora and had been hanging around the courtyard hug circle (if you don’t know what that is look it up) right before it broke up. In cosplay, contrary to who I am as myself, I get really confident and friendly, so the entire time I was talking to people and being really upbeat and stuff. One of the people I had been talking to was a fully grown man bearing down on my 14 year old self. He asked for a selfie, ok, sure, that’s normal, and then suddenly he throws his arm over my shoulders. Alright, that’s ok, he’s not reaching around, he’s not groping me, it’s all good, but after he takes the picture, he doesn’t let go. I try to untangle myself without making it a big deal, but he won’t let go. Next thing I know, he starts WALKING AWAY and PULLING ME WITH HIM. oh HELL NO. I ended up yelling for my brother (who even though he’s younger than me is significantly taller) to come rescue me, which he did. That guy melted away into the crowd after that. He didn’t look like a perv, or someone who would try to do something like that, but lo and behold, he tried to run away with a significantly younger girl. Cosplay is NOT consent, I am NOT your waifu, you need to WATCH THAT PERSONAL BUBBLE, and NEVER try to fricken KIDNAP a MINOR. I regret not reporting him in.

If you ladies go to these things please dont wander around alone and just be aware of creeps. Thats literally why theyre there doesnt matter your age or what not. Their objective is to violate you because they get off on it. Good video tho for others to learn these things. Im sure first timers and people who havent experienced this might think just because its a con theyre safe from it.

I can't forget one time (I even made video about it) when I was cosplaying Levi from SnK and there was one girl who wanted to be friend with me but she was always like: "I saw better Levi at this con" You should make Eren cosplay or something" etc. just because on the first day I didn't have full outfit (I was after long ride so I had shorts xD). Long story short, I yelled at her after a few hours and next day she acted like nothing happened and asked me: "Could you wear full outfit today? I want to see it and take a photo with you". Yup, I dressed up. She was waiting so I wanted to do it quickly, even if straps were pain in the... and I didn't planned to dress up yet. And you know what? After all her begging she just took a selfie that didn't even show half of my outfit and ran away. It was... something.

once when i was cosplaying frisk from undertale an underfell sans who was obviously a few years younger than me came up to me and said i "was pretty busty for a genderless child" i was fucking mortified. *where are your parents??*

That actually happened to me but the other way around, I was taking a photo with a kick-ass cosplayer and he put his arm around me, I was kind like what are you doing

How to ACTUALLY take a picture with a cosplayer: 1. Find a cosplayer that you really like. Your favorite character or something like that. 2. If they're in the middle of doing something (ex. talking to someone or playing a game), wait for them to finish. 3. Ask nicely if you can take a picture with them. 4. If they say yes, just take the selfie regularly if you're going to take a selfie. 5. If you want the cosplayer to pose for the picture ask something like, "Hey, is it okay if we pose like this?". DO NOT TOUCH THE COSPLAYER WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT! THAT'S DISRESPECTFUL! Just ask if you can put your arm around them. 6. After the picture, thank them.

Con horror story time :). Some backstory: I have absolute shit balance. Like, I am constantly dizzy/falling over/passing out, and because of this, I walk with a cane. Anyways, This was my first con where I was actually cosplaying, and I decided to cosplay Bill Cipher because y’know, why not. I have this really cool cane that i painted yellow and had partially because it fit in the cosplay and partially because i wanted to walk a lot, which would’ve been hard without a cane. It’s like, halfway through the day at this point and i’m taking a break, kinda just sitting around with my cane sitting next to me when some dumbshit teen just like, walks up to me?? and grabs my cane???? and then doesn’t give it back??? I asked him to give it back and explained that I actually needed it to function but I was already tired at this point so I was in no state or mood to chase this dumbass around or even stand up, so I was kinda just forced to shit there while he swung it around, almost hit like three people, and then wacked it against a wall, almost breaking it. After I finally got it back, he tried to play it off like I never said anything about actually needing it, which 1. was a blatant lie because I told him multiple times, and 2. still not an excuse because you should never take anything from anyone without their permission. I remember he even had the audacity to say, and i quote, “If you actually need it, you shouldn’t make it look like it’s part of the cosplay.” What????

My first cosplay experience was both good and bad. Good because I met so many amazing people some of them I even stay in contact with and we are playing to go to more cons together. Bad because so many people feel the need to act 100% like their character. I was cosplaying France from Hetalia and I had abuse shouted at me because the character doesn't exactly have the "best reputation" if that's the way to put it, like people call him a rapist which is actually what they were calling me because I was cosplaying him which made me pissed because I hate it when people call him that. I also had a couple of girls squeal when they saw me, ran up and hugged me which didn't really piss me off I mean they could of asked but whatever they were actually really nice and I took a few selfies with them. Overall my first cosplay experience was okay and it definitely didn't put me off cosplay. What happened to me certainly isn't as bad as what happens to other people.

The last time when I was cosplaying Toga Himiko with one of my good friends as Dabi we though that it will be cute if I had a leash on. But there was this person who was cosplaying Bakugou and he took me by the leash and actually kissed me.... Moral of the story: I'm never wearing a leash again.

I cosplayed as Russia from Hetalia at anime NYC 2019 and a girl dressed up as Belarus, also from Hetalia, ran up to me and gave me a hug. I felt really uncomfortable, but then we talked and she and I are friends now. :) But, please, don’t hug or touch someone without their consent because you don’t know how they’ll react.

when i went to galaxycon, i was todoroki and i was so scared to put my arm around someone for the sake of a group picture. i met a ochako cosplayer and she asked if she put her arm around me and of course i allowed her. i was also younger than most cosplayers and it was great that they asked before they put their hands on me (like on my shoulder, around my waist, etc.) and i usually have anxiety over allowing people to touch me. always ask before you touch them. also never tell them that your character is your waifu (yes, it happened and i was playing a male character so-) so yeah.

I was cosplaying Dabi from My Hero Academia at a local con and the first day walking around two Togas (character from the same show) just decided it would be fine to try to jump on me for pictures. Not exactly the most pleasant experience as my sense of balance is nonexistent lol

I have a *good* selfie story haha. I was at Megacon Orlando a few weeks ago, cosplaying as Uraraka. I was looking around for some cat ears to buy for a pastel Todoroki cosplay, and a girl dressed as Kris from deltarune came up to me. (She looked 21 or so) which is a few years older than me, and was SO EXCITED to take a photo with me. I accepted of course, especially since that was my first cosplay and I was happy somebody wanted to take a picture. *remember chirren consent is important* and yeah. We took a normal selfie, no need to call security. I’m really glad it was normal, I’ve read comments on this video that have really bad stories.

I had a girl walk up to me and ask for a photo and I was weird out but only cause it was my first time cosplaying and I was like "um... uhhh.....um... sure?"

Story time! I was at my very first convention when I was 12(i'm now 15 so this was in 2017) and I was just chilling in a corner with my mum having a wee break until I got back into action cosplaying (I was cosplaying genji from overwatch) then this group of guys there was like 3 f them came over and was like: "I really like your cosplzy, I'm a huge overwatch fan" so it was pretty much a normal conversation. Then one of the guys said: ''sorry if we're disturbing you we see you're having a break, but can we get a quick selfie?'' I said yes since the group of guys were really nice, so we kinda ''huddled'' together, the taller person of their small group was at the back while me and the other had our arms placed on eachothers shouldress (Don't worry, i said it was fine and so did my mum) The guy behind me started like, poking the ass and whispering in my ear, but he stopped when one of the guys said ''CHEESE!''. So we said farewell and they left. I didn't tell anyone at first but i saw the same group of guys again the next day, thats when i spoke out. He got kicked from the convention and i haven't seen or heard from him since. Please, dn't go touching cosplayers or people in general if it makes them uncomfortable.

I wish I could actually BLINK out of situations. It would be amazing. Blink and teleport are two abilities I which I had in real life.

When I was 13 and very interested in hetalia, I cosplayed as Poland. There weren't any weird situations, except for one. I was just casually walking with my friends, talking about the things we bought and anime related stuff. Then I saw a guy in his 20s right in front of me. He started walking in my direction and screamed "Finally a patriot" then lifted me up. He probably didn't watch hetalia, and his reaction was only based on the flag i was carrying. That doesn't mean that he could just lift me up in the air like that. Cosplayers are people too...

Oh my heartu! I never saw this coming. I need more!

going to cosplay roadhog and basicly wearing a bikini top and some militairy trousers, and normally i am fine with someone putting an arm around me, but when i am just wearing that.... no thx XD

Personally when I'm at a con I tend to sort of send a signal to the person who wants a selfie and they're usually pretty respectful when it comes to boundries, and usually I'm not too picky when it comes to little things like an arm on my shoulder. The only time I've ever been in more "personal" positions with a stranger at a convention is if they're around my age, I feel comfortable around them, and only if it's a ship or sibling thing. Yes, I have strange rules, but it's what I see fit. I totally understand wanting someone to respect your boundries as well, like I might be fine with a hand on my shoulder but It sends chills through my body when someone out of the blue wraps their arm around my wait for a photo.

Im new at cosplaying and my first con was the friday, fortunately everything was alright! :3

Yup! It’s so uncomfortable when someone wraps their arm around you. I was Cosplaying D.Va at Tampa Bay Comic Con this year, and this guy asked for pic, and he wrap his arm around my waist and like held me so close to him it was so uncomfortable.

Thank you so much for this storytime! I'm going to Sakura-con this year and it's helpful to know about the message thing :)

*long comment* Back when I cosplayed Summer rose from RWBY this guy and his friend came up and asked if I was Ruby, I told them no, I was her mom and they said "Oh cool." and started to walk off. so I turned back to my friends to talk and the next thing I know one of the guys is sitting next to me with his arm around me, pulling me into his side while his buddy took a picture. there was no asking for a picture, no asking to put his arm around me, nothing. I'm freaked, I do NOT like randomly being touched, so I'm frozen as his friend takes the picture and after, thankfully, my friend called the guys out for me. they said something like "oh sorry, whatever." and left. I don't really cosplay anymore (not because of this, just don't anymore), only sometimes if I feel like it or if a friend needs me for a group, I now work as a Handler/bag holder/photographer so I'm always making sure things like this don't happen to my cosplayer friends

So this kinda happened to me when I was at a Comic-Con (this was like my 3rd big con in cosplay) so I went with some friends but they went to get food and I wasnt hungry so I just looked at some shit waiting till they were done then so this dude (like 20/30) came up to me and asked for a photo (a lot of people ask cosplayers so I wasn’t surprised) and so he got out his phone and when he was bout to take the picture her grabbed my waist and tried to pull me closer to him and like it startled me and I legit jumped and fell over (I get ptsd when people touch without warning) and when I fell since I was cosplaying Uraraka(in hero uniform) I was holding the helmet I dropped it and it fell and the pink screen thingy cracked and the guy just looked so shocked cause he didn’t expect me to fall over he just walked away and I was left there with my broken helmet like b r u h you could at least have said sorry

It was the last day of my first con (I was 13 and it was cincinnati comic expo) and my friend went to go fix her wig so I waited for her outside the bathroom for her and there were 4 men about 25 I would say and we started talking about cool cosplay we saw than I asked what other cool cons they have been to and one of them said “if your old enough to drink...” than my friend came out and grabbed me away from them.

Same con. I was in cosplay (Kokichi Oma) And another cosplayer asked to take a pic! (They looked about 16-17, I was 13). I agree and as we take the pic, he *grabbed* my waist... which led to his hand slowly moving down. I literally bolted afterwards. Other guy was like, 20-something, and I asked for a pic. He had an amazing shigaraki cosplay, and he was super respectful! We talked about meeting Deku (his english va was at the con) and it was a good time. So yeah. weird.

I remember when I went to my first convention, I was so excited. I saw cosplays in person. I wanted to take pictures with some, and I did. I was also shy too. I tried to give cosplayers there space, and I was shy to ask if i can hug them or get any closer to them. I was shy because I was takeing pictures with people i dont know, of course. I love the cosplays that i saw, but I look so awkward in the pictures. But now I know most cosplayers are nice, and i can just ask them for good pictures , and poses,(i kept making the same pose in all pictures 😓), with them. Cosplays are beuatiful!

First con i ever went to (i was cosplaying) i met this other cosplayer and we were talking in a small group, first day i ever met them and they sat on my lap the Entire time, talk about awkward, even though i wasn't comfortable with it i didn't say anything cuz I didn't know how they would react plus i can't speak up for myself at all so there's that ;-; still an okay con tho

I remember once that, I saw one of my old teachers at a con! And like, me and my sister were Riddler and Katana and while I was talking to my teacher a random dude pops up between me and my sister and puts his head on our shoulders and said "HEy Katana...." like, he whispered that into our ears and stayed there for over a minute and I was just there awkwardly still talkin with my teacher and he wouldnt move until a little while later and I thought he was just a friend of mines (He left before I could turn around and talk to him) but I didnt recognize him and I saw him later at the con and found out he was a complete stranger xD

i mean if he put his arm on my shoulder I'd be fine with it ig but if it were lower than shoulder than I'd probably be terrified I feel really bad for cosplayer that are realllly great like you becasue to other people ur more vulnerable to creeps like that and its seems very very scary!! but ur cosplay was awesome so ig that was the good part in the bad/scary story!

Lol am I that one person that doesn't mind if someone hugs me lol idk in just a very loving person but I don't do that if I like just met them and don't know there comfort zone

oh my gosh I hate when people touch you without permission. I was at Animenext a.c. in June and I was cosplaying Sollux from Homestuck. I had rubbed off most of the gray face paint because it was bugging me, but I still had some on my face. And I was sitting with my group of friends and there's this BIG group of Homestucks across the way. I keep looking over my shoulder because I /know/ someone will approach us. (You know one Homestuck will always do it). Anyway, I took my Sollux glasses off because they kept sliding (again, I didn't get all of the paint). This Homestuck Cosplayer runs at me FULL SPEED and says "Sollux! Have you ever met a human?" and they grab me by the face, like, whoa. Chill. Im not talking lightly either, like, they really squeezed my face. I'm like "Uhh... No." And they yank me over to their group while I look at my friends like uh, save me? They took a picture with me without asking and it was really awkward. I just slipped out of the group like bye. Not to mention they stepped on my Sollux glasses without saying sorry. : / I don't know if they realized, but everything else was kinda rude. It bothers me that con goers don't ever really say sorry. I should have corrected this person as you said, but I was too nervous. They were really loud and extroverted. They were probably just really excited.

I agree with you so much. I'm 15 and planning to go to a con if parents/transport/money stuff works out, so I'm binging all your con videos so I don't embarrass myself or another cosplayer. 😅

My first con I was with my friend and we found some Oraun Host Club cosplayers. (A gender bend of Honey and Kyoya) I grab my friend we rush over and I say “I love your cosplays! Could I have a picture?” The girls lets me hold Usa-Chan and my friend takes a picture. That was my first interaction with a cosplayer. I just thought I’d sprinkle in some good photo stories

axe body spray dude-bro death grip 😂

You often freeze up because you just can't belive that someone would have the audacity to do something like this.

A con horror story (not really horror but just uncomfortable?? And it’s not really cosplay related?) from me! Basically, I went to a con with a friend. I was Nott the Brave from Critical Role and she didn’t go in cosplay. We were just hanging out and wandering around until someone we knew from school walked up. Before this I was friends, but as I gradually learned how controlling and manipulative they were, I was attempting to distance myself from them. That worked as well as you would expect that to work out for a socially awkward person. Anyway, they greeted us and asked if we wanted to walk around. Since both my friend and I are hella awkward, we said yes and wandered around with them. Except, the thing was, it wasn’t wandering. They were essentially dragging us EVERYWHERE. They were constantly off doing their own thing while we had to stand there. Now that’s usually totally fine when you’re meeting someone your other friends aren’t interested in, but dragging them and rushing them around the con repeatedly? Not cool. Especially considering the con was nowhere NEAR being over for the day. ALSO, we saw someone cosplaying Frisk from Undertale walking around and guess what that “friend” said? “As if Undertale is still relevant.” THEY WERE COSPLAYING H O M E S T U C K I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY EARS Eventually my friend and I escaped when they were talking to their parent, but GOD that was an awful hour or so. I still have to talk to this person at school :)))))) TL;DR : “Friend” dragged another friend and i around a con. Called an Undertale cosplay irrelevant despite the fact they were cosplaying HOMESTUCK.

One time at a convention, cosplaying fem!Castiel from Supernatural, I was just about to leave when a girl comes up to me with her mom and asks for a selfie. I say yes and she immediately pulls me into this big bear hug with both her arms around my waist without even asking. I was suprised but went with it. I'm really not an anxious or self-conscious person and I don't mind hugging people or or doing weird or risky poses during photoshoots, but I know people who whouldn't have been okay with someone doing that without asking first. You sould ALWAYS ask before touching someone and PLEASE do not assume that because they are okay with having your arm around their shoulders that it means you can then hug them or do whatever. Some people are okay with an arm but not with a hug, so please ask!

this exact thing has happened to me at my last con. this guy wanted a picture with me and he put his arm around me and squeezed me rrreeeaaaallllyyyy tightly. like, my body was tilted into his. but to make it worse, he started whispering into my ear. he was pretty old too so he had this really deep scratchy voice as he whispered ‘yes my child’ and things along that line into my ear. my friends mum (who took us to the con) was also getting on edge about this whole situation because she saw exactly what was happening and kept an eye on the guy for a while. nothing happened, luckily, but i got a pretty uncomfortable looking photo out of it.

I recently went to a con where I cosplayed Markiplier with Tiny Box Tim. I was in a vintage hat booth in the dealers room trying to avoid someone annoying I went to high school with and this guy asks for a photo. I said sure after scoping the area and asked if he jokingly wanted me to put on a hat. He said sure so I picked up this gorgeous red steampunk hat and got into a nice pose. At the last possible second he fucking bull rushes me and throws his arm around my waist while his friend takes a photo. I don't care if this is the closest thing your gonna get to meeting the real Markiplier, that made me hella uncomfortable & my friend could tell as well..

Thank u for these amazing vids soon I'm gonna be part of the cosplayer community and I need all the info I can get tysm for the informational vids

This is definitley not as horrible as most stories here - but I once cosplayed as Gladio from Final Fantasy XV and some other Gladio cosplayer literally took my sword to take photos. Took the credit by people asking him for pictures and compliments on the weapon too. Would've been fine if he actually asked. Also I wish people would refrain from just ripping the prop outta your hand to test if it's "actually as heavy as it looks like".

you know you're a Cosplay fan when she mentions Eren and the AOT theme plays in your head for the rest of the vid

People think its chill to just touch me when I'm in my sailor mars cosplay and I've called out several people who try to reach for my ass

I know I'm really late to this video but I found your channel and I'm loving it sooo much. 💕

I was at a con wearing a steam punk gown I made myself. I was so proud and wore it all night for the con. It was about 10-11 at night and I passed by a man in the hallway that I thought was cosplaying a certain voice actor. Turned out to be the real guy. Turned out to be a real d-bag. I was busty for my age at the time and hadn’t realized that the scarf I added for modesty had begun to reveal clevage. Nothing censor worthy but it was obvious I was buxom. He made no attempt to warn me and instead oogled me the whole time. I was a fan of his work and was asking him something when some people passed by and took a photo of us. They obvious recognized him and must have thought me a pro cosplayer or somthing. (I worked my butt off on the dress so I’m still flattered in a weird way.) They barely spoke English but asked for a photo and before I could respond, he said sure and pulled me by my waist to him. I could feel IT and was shocked. The people didn’t think anything of it I guess because they ran off quickly after the photo. That was the time I pulled away and told him my age (not old enough for sure!) and he didn’t care. He looked me over again and took out a copy of his room key and stuck it in my cleavage and told me to meet him in his room. He smacked my Butt then left. I was in shock for a long time. He was my idol until that moment and I panicked and threw the card into a trash can and went to my hotel room to wash myself off. It’s taken me years to come out about it. Especially because he was and still is such a HUGE celebrity. Who would beilive one girl that a famous voice actor had creeped on her? Especially who he was celebrating a huge success in his career? His name is close with Dick and he was in FMA.

Hmm I never really thought about it much. I don't personally touch people much because I just prefer not too but if people put their arm around me in pictures I never have been bothered by it. I can see why it would bother someone though. Especially in a delicate cosplay.

I've had this happen to me a good pic someone took with me: they politely asked and complimented my outfit and we did peace sings smiling. Bad pic:he did ask if he could take a pic with me I said yes and he put hit arm around my waist with out my okay. It may not seem major but it was very akward but I am thankful that I didn't see him for the rest of the con

I feel like this goes the other way around too. I sent to a small event (it wasn’t even an anime convention) but there were twins cosplaying Hikaru and Kaoru. My friend and I asked for a photo and before the photo was taken one of them put their arm around my shoulder. I tend to really reallyyyyy hate people touching me so I think that both between cosplayer and the person asking for a photo always ask consent to touch no matter what

While I'm watching this, I am just straight up staring at your hair. I can't tell if it's a wig or not, maybe I just suck with hair... I am just so very confused

I've experienced something similar a good amount of times in cosplay. I've had some wrap an arm around my shoulders or waist, andddd sometimes have been hugged, or practically tackled Another thing I find pretty awkward is sometimes someone will want a picture with me or my group, and they'll stand so close that my arm or shoulder will brush against their chest?? Most of the time they're female too eeehhhnnn

Lol I was at anime expo 2019 (2020) and I was dressed as ochako from mha and this deku cosplayer asks if she could take a photo with me! Of course I said sure and she holds her phone down and takes the picture on a downward angle. Long story short she got my double chin in the photo 😂😂