Towards the end of my marriage last year, I realised that for a number of reasons, I didn't have any interests. Sure, I enjoyed playing videogames and watching TV, but nothing that really set me aside from everyone else. I had lost my identity, and while everyone else had hobbies and interests that were clearly for them, I was just a shadow in the background. I wanted desperately to have interests of my own but could think of nothing that I wanted to do.
That was until I discovered Cosplay. I saw a YouTube video of people dressed up in the most amazing outfits I'd ever seen. Characters from movies, TV shows, video games, cartoons...every genre was represented by someone who wanted to show their love for that character by becoming them for a day.
I wanted in.
So at the end of last year, a newly single man with nobody to critisize or doubt me for this, I went to my first Comic Con in Birmingham. For my first Cosplay I had chosen a character called Reno, from the videogame Final Fantasy 7.
Not bad for a first attempt I thought! So with a red wig, steampunk goggles, my one and only suit and half a Poundland broom handle with black electrical tape on it - I went to MCM Birmingham in November 2015.
It was fantastic! I got asked for photos from about 7 people, and although it was a simple costume, I really loved being Reno for the day. I went to another Con in February as him too.
Then I got ambitious and thought, "I wonder if I could be Jareth The Goblin King from the movie Labyrinth?"
Obviously played by the recently departed David Bowie, this outfit was going to be tricky. Also I wondered if people would be upset and offended by me dressing up as him so soon after his untimely demise. But I gave it a shot anyway and...wow.
I got mobbed for selfies and photos before I even got into the show! Everyone was so lovely, people told me that I had "made their day" and really made a fuss of me. I must have posed for 100 photos. Especially when I met somebody who had come as Sarah from the movie. I even met Danny John Jules who was actually in Labyrinth and he showed me photos of him and Bowie on set. I never felt like that before and it really shows what good things can happen when you push yourself out of your comfort zone.
I went as him again to Staffordshire Comic Con and I even got in the top 6 in the competition; I hadn't even considered entering before.
So now I have my thing, my obsession. The wonders of Cosplay, where anyone regardless of their age, size, gender, disability can leave all that behind and become their chosen hero. If just for one day. And it's wonderful.
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