That rumble you just felt was the Internet collectively smacking comic writer/artist Tony Harris upside the head. If you’re connected with the world of fandom, you may have seen a lot of tweets and posts about something called Cosplay Appreciation Day, a spur of the moment event championed by comic book writer and all-around awesome human being Gail Simone.
Show your support for cosplayers on #CosplayAppreciationDay! Post your favorite cosplay photos on social networks and spread the word!
— GailSimone (@GailSimone) November 13, 2012
But what does Tony Harris getting smacked upside the head have to do with something cool like an impromptu Cosplay Appreciation Day? Well. He did this. For the readers of this blog, I like to think that I don’t have to go into detail about why what he said isn’t okay. The whole “fake geek girl” and “fake cosplayer” memes need to go away forever. As John Scalzi points out, anyone who wants to be a geek gets to be a geek. But enough about a misogynist, and let’s get into the spirit of what’s suddenly making this a pretty neat Tuesday!
As it is now Cosplay Appreciation Day, I figured it would be appropriate to throw some appreciation at Tosche Station’s resident awesome cosplayer. Staff writer Bria is a long-time cosplayer and runs White Hot Room, a geek fashion and costuming blog that’s pretty shiny.
One of my favorite things that Bria has put together over the years is her Sailor Hawkeye costume, mashing up the Avengers and Sailor Moon.
Cosplayers like Bria are an important and wonderful component of fandom. The sheer amount of dedication it takes to piece something like this together and the courage to wear a costume in front of others to show off just how much you love fandom is worthy of appreciation and respect.
So how about you readers? Do you know a cosplayer deserving of appreciation for their dedication?