It drives me crazy when people who ship pairings with literally ZERO basis in canon go off on me about how what I ship is gross or invalid or impossible.
It’s like…brah, you’re shipping two characters who share less than ten minutes of screentime in a game series that takes 150+ hours to complete. One of these two characters is entirely motivated by their affection for another character. The other one shows mild interest in two other characters through the course of the series, and neither of those go anywhere because they don’t have time.
But oh, am I getting on your case for shipping something counter to what I ship in that fandom? Even though it has no basis? Of course not, it’s A PAIRING. It’s FICTIONAL PEOPLE IN A FICTIONAL RELATIONSHIP.
So then why in the WORLD do these people always feel it necessary to get on my case for shipping ANYTHING?
It’s like OGC Tseng/Rufus shippers all over again. (For anyone who doesn’t understand this reference, Tseng and Rufus share no screentime whatsoever in OGC. Period. They aren’t seen in the same frame until the latter portion of AC, and Tseng has no speaking lines in the two short segments where he’s shown in Rufus’ presence. In OGC Tseng shows no interest in anyone except for Aerith—who is notably younger than him and he kidnapped and beat because orders are orders—and Elena—who is even MORE notably younger than him, like uncomfortably so. Tseng/Rufus remains one of the biggest pairings in the FF7 fandom, and to a lot of people for a very long time it was a very big no-no to ship Tseng with anyone else, on the basis of “characterization.” Even though they didn’t actually talk to each other in a canon source until almost ten years after the original game was released.)
This reminds me of Gundam Wing and people shipping Duo and Zechs because they look good together (all that gorgeous hair you know, but I don’t think they talk at all in the series). And I’m not saying you can’t ship them, ship who you want who cares, but then to turn around and be like, “But how can you ship Heero and Duo, Duo and Zechs is pure and holy and God him/herself told me this pairing is canon,” is just crazy. Let people ship whoever the heck they want :)
You know what? With our books coming out and whatnot I dream of the day when they become so popular there are fandoms, and people shipping characters, and I’m waiting for the ships to be created that I never thought of, or even if in the book I have Character A with Character B fics spring up for Character A with Character 21. And that will be cool with me, that’ll be amazing, I’m not going to be like, “NOW HOLD ON WAIT A MINUTE!” Because it’s fandom, and fun, and I can’t wait to see what people come up with :) Like please ship my characters, please do the thing <3
FRANCE IS VOICED BY THE SAME PERSON WHO VOICED THESE PEOPLE:
THOSE PEOPLE ARE ALL VOICED BY THIS BITCH:
CAN WE ALL JUST SIT BACK AND APPRECIATE HOW AWESOME J. MICHEAL TATUM IS?? PETITION TO START A J. MICHEAL TATUM FANDOM
I’d hate to add to this (not really) but he is one of the sweetest men in the world. I’ve met him twice and he is a complete sweetheart, always really nice to his fans, and just a great person to meet. The best part? He actually was on the “It Gets Better” panel the year I met him and talked about his own personal experiences and was just so open and supportive.
Anonymous asked: You are seriously my new hero. You are SUCH a great cosplayer not only because you can pull anything off perfectly but because you are such a good sport about it. I love how you said that cosplay is to represent love for the character and shouldn't be defined by race/sexuality/size. You are so cool.
Thank you, anon :) And yes, cosplay is supposed to be about fun and love for the character of your choice, I’m not sure when it got so serious business that people feel like they’re an authority on the subject and, “No, you can’t cosplay this because of that.”
And by serious business I don’t mean things like, “The people who do this for a living need to chill,” no that’s fine do what you want, hell I’m trying to use my cosplay for our business too with possible commissions and things like that and I certainly do sit at my table in these huge dresses and get people who walk past like, “Wow pretty!” And then I’m like, “Thank you, have you seen our table?”
What I mean is people who waste time harping on someone’s race/sexuality/gender/size/whatever when it comes to cosplay, like there’s some sort of handbook that states that only people of a certain background can cosplay certain characters. I’m going to say something that my mom told me when I told her about there being bullies out there in regards to cosplay. "But you’re all geeks.“ And she’s right! We’re geeks! Do you think cosplay is normal? No, it’s not. But from Friday - Sunday (or Thursday - Sunday or Friday - Monday) at that convention center it’s the norm, and you’re surrounded by people who are into the same things you are. I don’t know about you but I enjoy those days where my geekery is not only normal, but appreciated. Who wants to waste time poking fun at someone when you could be enjoying the convention and meeting people who like the same things you do. I mean hell I use to work at GameStop and even in that nerd filled place I was too nerdy because, "Wait anime conventions and cosplay what?” Or I was a fake nerd. "Do you even play games?“ But you get my point.
And to be honest I’m pretty sure the creators of these characters are just in awe over people loving their work so much that they’re dressing up as their creations, hell the voice actors of characters are just beside themselves when someone dressed as their character approaches them, so I’m pretty sure the creators themselves are like, "Whoa. I did not expect all of this. This is awesome.” I don’t think they sit at home like, “Man I wish my show wasn’t so popular that the black folks want to join in on the fun now. Ugh I’m so tired of plus sized people trying to do my characters.”
Apr 19
Anonymous asked: I was wondering do you support white people cosplaying as POC characters?
Sure. I mean, to me cosplay is about cosplaying characters you love and having fun. And if I want people to accept me cosplaying white characters, I should give the same respect. I don’t like this idea of characters belonging to a certain group, like back when I cosplayed Chouji from Naruto someone was like, “Ugh I hate it when skinny people cosplay him he’s ours.” These characters don’t belong to us. Cosplay is our way of showing our love for these characters that someone else created. If we’re going to be like, “this character can only be cosplayed by this group,” then we’re going to have to do that with EVERYTHING, which means:
Girls can’t cosplay boys.
Black people can’t cosplay white people.
Gay people can’t cosplay straight people.
Plus sized people can’t cosplay skinny people.
And vice versa, and at that point it would just be way too nitpicky and it wouldn’t be fun, I mean what’s to stop someone from being like, “Well in the manga this character is very religious and you said you don’t believe in God so YOU CAN’T COSPLAY THEM THAT BELONGS TO THE CHRISTIANS!” Just… can we not?
Anonymous asked: She's a magical character, so her whole body is a light African American shade, much darker than the pale baby that is my mess of skin, with differently coloured accents. I'll be painting elaborate designs on my tummy, different coloured feet and hands, and I'm going to go watch that video!
Anonymous asked: What are your views on using bodypaint like the second picture to paint myself a tad darker? It's just that, I'm painting my legs pink and my arms blue for this, and I'm wondering if I just shouldn't cosplay her, because it will look incomplete or racist... You always look so marvellous, grinning so wide and beautifully, and I'm scared that no matter what I do, I would show up in costume huddled with my shoulders up and back curled, anxious.
Hmmmm, I would say check out the video link, because he makes some good points. There’s also a difference between that second picture I posted versus body paint for characters who are like, green and blue and whatnot, and you’re in an interesting situation because it sounds like your character is different colors? (I’m not familiar with the character). Is the character herself African American with different skin tones (the pink and blue and whatnot)?
