It seems obvious, but...

I’m not very good at starting long posts, so I’m just going to jump right in to it. 

So, I've had a few 'concerned' messages since I started posting cosplay photos from ALA, asking about how I look like I’ve gained weight, and whether everything is ok, and whether I’m going to continue cosplaying. 

Some of those messages have been pretty fucking rude, suggesting I lay low on doing photoshoots until I’ve worked off my ‘winter weight.’ 

There’s a lot of points that I want to hit, but I’m going to start off with telling you all a little something about myself. 
I’m a fat kid.
I’m 164cm tall, and weigh anywhere from 150~160 pounds.

I might not be particularly proud of this, but neither am I ashamed.

I’m not one of those cosplaying ladies who work hard at maintaining an anime shaped body. I have much respect for those ladies, but I recognize that I’m probably not going to be one of them, and I’m ok with that.

I’m a fat kid who likes to sew things and has photographer friends who can make me look anime on occasion.

You know what else I am?

I’m a person who has a fun hobby that they get to play in with a bunch of cool friends who share the same interests as I do.

I’m a person who goes to con, has responsible amounts of fun, and talks about nerdy shit with their nerdy friends while attending nerdy parties.

I’m a person who has an adult job, juggles adult responsibilities, and has a wide range of hobbies, only one of which is dressing up like anime and video game characters.

While it’s true that if I worked out and lost weight, I could be a shape the internet approves of, but to me, that’s pretty low on my list of priorities on what kind of person I want to be.

I want to be an adult that is moderately intelligent. I want to be an adult that can cook reasonably well, and take care of themselves. I want to be an adult that manages to record at least 12 albums before they permanently retire. I want to be an adult that has a successful career, and well versed in a variety of subjects, and has friends who are cuties not because of their physical appearance, but because of my fondness of them as people.

All of those things are more important to me that being an ideal weight and shape.

And all of those things are definitely more important to me than satisfying someone else’s desires to see cosplay that’s attractive to them.

Frankly, I’d be lying if I said I don’t give any shits to what I look like. Why would I bother to get in to cosplay all made up if I didn’t?

But the fact is, I post pictures on the internet if I like them.

I might post them because I look good, or have friends that make me happy, or particularly thought the photographer did a good job.

I don't post them because I'm trying to win someone's approval on how I look. 

I post them because it's one of the ways I enjoy this hobby.

When I post something, I’m not saying hey, internet, approve of me, I’m saying,

“I made a thing, with friends, and I hope you like it too.

But if you don’t, there’s the whole rest of the internet for you to look at.”

Everyone I’ve gotten messages from being ‘concerned’ for me about my appearance? You’re not people I know.

You’re not friends or family concerned for my well being, you’re strangers on the internet. You could think you’re well meaning, or you could be trolls trying to get a rise out of me.

Either way, your opinion matters less to me than my own enjoyment of my hobby.

Most of you who sent me messages sound like people who don't cosplay, so you might ot understand that people cosplay for different reasons.

Some people want to hang out and party, some want nice pictures with complete cast members. Some people want to make crazy costumes with a billion details, and some just threw on a school girl outfit and a cute wig. Some people want to just show up and take selfies with friends, some people want to do amazing photoshoots, and some people want to become cosplay famous. 

And all of those are great reasons to cosplay. 

Everyone has their own mix of feelings and opinions to why they cosplay and what they’re ok with. And their motivations or feels may change over the course of the hobby. 

Because it's not up for anyone else to decide why you cosplay, or whether you should, all of that decision making is up to the cosplayer.

It's never right for someone to tell a cosplayer what they need to feel about themselves. 

That's just fucking rude.