Preparing for My 5 Year Cosplay Anniversary

It's hard to believe that I've been doing cosplay for almost four years. Looking back at my pictures from the different conventions I've attended over the years shows how much I've grown, not only as a cosplayer, but as a human being. I'm thankful to have met some of the most kindest and lovable people at conventions, online, and in person. I have so many cosplays planned for 2019 and they will be amazing. I'm ready to show everyone what I have in store. Next year will be bigger and badder. I'm not trying to outdo my friends at all. I just want to step my cosplay game up even further like everyone else. I know I have been saying that for the last three years, but this time, it's for real.

On August 1st, 2019, I'll be celebrating five awesome years of cosplay fun. Half of my cosplays will be mashups, and not only that, the theme will be the 80s. I was born in the late 80s, so I was thinking about what I can do to pay homage to one of my favorite decades. The answer was obvious: dress up as my favorite 80s tv, movie, and video game characters. Being the nostalgia freak I am, it was clearly a fantastic idea. My five year cosplay anniversary is almost a year way, so I'm going to be putting in so much effort in my cosplays and make them great. Whenever I do my cosplays, it usually takes up to a month to get a costume put together. The reason is because I order a majority of my items on eBay and I receive them days at a time.

Last month, I made a list of cosplay ideas that I wanted to do. Half of them are cosplay mashups. So why did I choose the 80s as my theme for next year? The 80s were a time where life was simpler and easier. It's true and it would be a decade that I would go back in time for a month. We had the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Nintendo Game Boy, VHS tapes, cassettes, floppy disks, and the list goes on. Here's a list of some of the cosplays you might see me in next year:

• Hip Hop Super Mario and/or Luigi
• Punk Rock Ghostbuster
• Obi-Wan Kal-Eli (Obi-Wan Kenobi/Kal-El): basically this will be an Obi-Wan Kenobi/Superman mashup
• Combat Mario and/or Luigi
• Bombshell Riddler
• Boy Riddler (Robin/The Riddler mashup)
• Bombshell Batman
• Bombshell Superman
• Vader McFly (Darth Vader/Marty McFly Mashup)

Every year, I like to do different cosplays, so I wouldn't get into the habit of being the same characters over and over again. I love to come up with random ideas, share them on social media with everyone, and see what they think about them. I believe that having an imagination is never overrated or outdated. Plus, it doesn't have an expiration date. There's nothing wrong with having a fantasy and letting your mind go wild. It's okay to daydream and imagine what you would look like as your favorite characters. I do it every day and I'm not ashamed at all.

I'll be hard at work, starting next year, on the miscellaneous cosplay ideas listed and not listed in this article. Never in my wildest dreams that I would become a cosplayer and been doing this for a few years, but I'm still here. I'm here because of the people who has shown me nothing but love and support. Thank you so much and I can't wait for 2019. If you have any other cosplay ideas that you want to suggest to me, mashup or not, feel free to get a hold of me on my social media pages.