Masks Off: Stories of Midwest Cosplayers

[Now With Photos!]

Who are you? No, I don't mean your character. Who are you?

I wonder this question every time I go to a con. I try to find a quiet spot and people watch. And my eyes are always drawn to the cosplayers: the young, the old, the experienced, the store-bought newbies, everybody.

But even as I pose and smile, as the flash goes off, I wonder, who is this person? This person standing next to me, who has devoted so much time and so much more money to becoming this character? What is it about you, yes you, that compels you to travel, sometimes very far distances, to a con and give up an entire weekend to pretend to be someone you are not?
It took me a couple of years to get the guts to start actually asking these questions. When I did, I wasn't disappointed.

And that's where Masks Off came from.

Photos (except for the Azymth chapter) are by @theromarin

Book Center Summer Awards: Third place for Nonfiction