Post Cosplay Life: One Year Later
Another update on how life is going for me after a decade of cosplay
October 27, 2024: a date that I'll always remember forever. If you're new to Vocal or my page, welcome aboard. After 10 years of doing cosplay, I made the decision to retire from this wonderful craft. I loved meeting so many people on social media and at conventions. Not only that, but I loved showing off my cosplays to everyone. I participated in many cosplay contests, winning two of them. So why did I decide to walk away from the thing that I enjoyed so much, you ask? Three reasons were deciding factors in making this decision: the almost three-year absence of me not attending cons, the tragic passing of my grandfather back in 2022, and experienced signs of burnout. I attended my first con in nearly three years in late September 2022, then attended my final two conventions in 2024 before closing out my decade-long cosplay journey. I didn't see myself cosplaying well into 2025 and beyond, because I wanted to seek and pursue other interests and hobbies. 10 years was a really good run, but I want to explore new things that I always wanted to try. For example, I've always had a huge fascination with photography. My amazing experiences with cosplay photographers at and outside of cons made me curious to try this skill. I had a digital camera over 15 years ago while I was attending college, but I ended up losing it. Now, I'm eager to learn how to be skilled in taking picture perfect photographs. My ultimate goal is to photograph at fan conventions and possibly do cosplay photoshoots somewhere down the road.
As I write this story on the one-year anniversary of my cosplay retirement, I reflect on the fun times I've had with friends at conventions, and I'll be forever grateful of the opportunity to share my talent with everyone. Every now and then, I'll share a throwback cosplay photo. Other times, I'll browse through my old cosplay photos, and it makes me smile every time. During my time as a cosplayer, I've always stayed true to myself. I might not have had 100,000 followers on Instagram was the most handsome cosplayer in the cosplay community but being authentic and original suited me just fine. I didn't need those things in order to seek validation from others. Being different and yourself is good.
Would I ever pull a Tom Brady and unretire from cosplay? That is more than unlikely to happen. I've had such a great time doing it for a decade and I have no regrets of walking away from it. I'll still share some cosplay tips and advice. The two reasons why I started doing cosplay in the first place was because I wanted to make some friends and be an inspiration for others. As someone who's on the autism spectrum, I wanted to show others that anyone can cosplay. Also, as a person of color, I've experienced bouts of racism and also homophobia. However, through it all, I didn't let nasty trolls keep me down. At the time of my cosplay retirement last year, I've done over three dozen cosplays, debuting over half of them at cons.
Finally, the post-cosplay life is going well for me so far. There are so many things I want to try and do. I'll still attend conventions, if I have the time. As I've mentioned earlier, one of the hobbies that I'd love to try my hands at is photography. I've always been so fascinated with it and everything about it. I previously talked about my final cosplay and convention appearance last year. You can read it by clicking the link down below.
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About the Creator
Mark Wesley Pritchard
You can call me Wesley. Former cosplayer, retro gaming fanatic, die-hard Texas Rangers fan, and nostalgic freak. Need I say more?
Threads: @misterwesleysworld
Instagram: @misterwesleysworld
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My Experiences Doing Cosplay Photoshoots
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. As someone who has attended many conventions as a former cosplayer, one of my favorite things to take part of were cosplay photoshoots. They're a great way to be yourself and let your personality loose. I've participated in a few of these and stick around, because I'll hare with you one cosplay photoshoot that was the most enjoyable and memorable. If you're new to Vocal or aren't familiar with my stories, I was a cosplayer for 10 years before retiring last October. Cosplay photoshoots take place either outside of venues where conventions take place or any spot of your choice. While most photoshoots are free, others require a charge in order for the photographer to take amazing shots of you. My very first cosplay photoshoot took place back in 2016 while attending an anime convention, where I went as a genderbent Harley Quinn. I made a mallet to go with my cosplay. Was it the best I've ever made? Probably not, but I had a good time that weekend. I'll share a story about a photoshoot that took place at a local park.
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