My awesome friend was nice enough to take me to the dining hall last weekend. While we were eating, a friend of hers, and an acquaintance of mine, decided to join us.
I had only talked to this kid a few times. We had a couple of classes together, but that was about it. So we proceeded to engage in the typical small talk: How’s your summer been? Oh, you’re taking classes. You found a co-op? Congrats!
As he stood up to leave, he casually commented,
My friend and I both looked down in confusion, since she was wearing a normal pair of boots and I was wearing an ordinary pair of sneakers. We looked at each other. We all laughed. And then my friend excitedly blurts out,
I froze.
Because I was. But it wasn’t obvious. At that moment, I was dressed as a character from the Disney show Gravity Falls:
Since, that weekend, I was attending Anime Boston. I hadn’t bothered changing my outfit because I knew that, unless you watched the show, it would look like I was wearing normal clothes.
My friend didn’t recognize my plea and went on.
AHHHH!! HEY!! WAIT!! STOP! I barely know this kid!
I had no choice but to admit to it.
He gave me an odd look, assured me he didn’t judge about that kind of thing, and walked away.
I was mortified.
Later on I was still beating myself up about it. Darnit, now I’ve been forever branded as the weirdo who dresses up in costumes. And then I realized something even worse:
Which almost seems absurd, considering what I do. I write a blog using comics. I have a tumblr full of nothing but anime gifs and Pokemon fan art. My current Facebook profile picture is me, dressed as Link, next to a Skyward Sword Zelda. I love this stuff so much that I’ll dish out fifty bucks to attend a con with other nerds.
Still, I know that not everyone thinks highly of the dorks. When the Prudential Center was overrun by people with costume this weekend…
The lines for Panda Express and Sarku Japan were loonnnnnnnnnnnng.
…it was hard to miss the looks of pure judgement from the passerby.
Despite what I do online, when I meet people in real life I don’t exactly advertise that I like to draw comics or dress up in costume or spend hours and hours playing Katamari Damacy.
Being a nerd nowadays is less of a stigma than it was, say, 20 years ago. Still, at moments like those, I can’t help but think
Because the fact is, to a lot of people, my interests automatically make me “strange.” Or a “freak.” Or a “loser.” Even some of my friends think it’s weird. If I wasn’t into all of these things, what would my life be like? Would I have more friends? Be more fashionable? Party hard?
Yeah, if I wasn’t a nerd, I definitely wouldn’t have gone to Anime Boston this weekend.
I wouldn’t have gone to see the great performances by Yousei Teikoku, Raj Ramaaya, or Origa.
I wouldn’t have seen this ballin’ One Piece figurine set in the Dealer’s Room…
…or this Heart Container necklace…
…or this orgasmic wall of tapestries.
I wouldn’t have 400+ photos sitting on my hard drive from last weekend, when I accosted tons and tons of people to get a shot of their awesome costumes.
Ariel from The Little Mermaid.
A very good-looking Flynn Rider from Tangled.
Lightning in her Final Fantasy XIII-2 armor.
And most importantly, I wouldn’t have had a blast bonding with fellow Gravity Falls fans
and Legend of Zelda fans
A fellow Link!
Groose!
Skyward Sword Zelda!
…who had traveled miles and miles to Boston last weekend to share our love for these series together.
If I wasn’t into all of this stuff, maybe I could actually be a cool cat. But if I wasn’t into comics and video games and… *sigh* cosplay, then I’d miss out on awesome things like Anime Boston. I wouldn’t get that little bit of happiness every time I see the Kotetsu Kaburagi keychain on my phone. And I most certainly wouldn’t be drawing comics.
Yeah, sometimes I’m embarrassed to be a nerd. But I sure as hell will never stop being one.
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Anyway, I had a lot of fun at Anime Boston this year! Here’s some of my favorite photos from the weekend. Also, I made a video last year if you feel like watching me awkwardly talk to a camera. Enjoy!~