 On today's episode, what is cosplay? Tiffany explains the fundamentals, why she cosplays, and why it's relevant. This episode is brought to you by DXRacer, the ultimate seat of choice to heighten your gaming experience. Hello fellow freedom partners, it's Tiffany, and with the whole revamp here at Impulse, the guys decided that I get my own show. In lieu of this, the guys asked me what it was that I could talk about here on the show. So kind of went over all the things I love. Chocolate, chai, acting, cosplay, chocolate. And we decided that a little bit more nerd culture is always a good thing. So my topic is going to be over the wonderful world of cosplay. And you guys may be thinking, why is this even relevant to Impulse? But I'm going to go over that a little later in the show. Every Sunday, I'm going to be here to give you tips, tricks, advice, answer questions, give a little bit of my personal cosplay progress on different costumes. And once in a while, I'll sprinkle in some convention footage or some photo shoot footage. So we'll see what all I got. But I have a bag of tricks. So I'm going to dig into my bag of tricks. Bag of tricks. I'm going to show you the good, the bad, and the ugly of cosplay. And trust me, not all the cosplay is pretty. We try. It's just not. Let's start with the basics. What is cosplay? Cosplay can be broken down into two words, costume, play. I should switch that so it's costume and then play. So it reads like if you guys wanted to put it on the screen. So basically, cosplay is dressing up and having fun while in costume. So what kind of costumes? Cosplay originated in all of nerd culture. So it kind of refers to anime, gaming, comics, sci-fi, and general multimedia platforms. However, over time, it's expanded to include all sorts of things. Disney princesses, cosplay, time lords, cosplay, large unidentifiable animatronics, cosplay, self-created or obscure characters, cosplay, cardboard held together with duct tape, cosplay, and girls being dressed up in body paint, cosplay. Pretty much anything goes. And why shouldn't it? Again, it's costume play. So anything should go in my opinion. So as long as you're dressed up and having fun, you're cosplay. It can be for any number of reasons. Maybe a photo shoot, a YouTube video, or maybe you want to just go to a movie premiere as your favorite Avenger or an elf. Or maybe you just want to show up your family at Halloween with the best, most awesome costume, even if they don't know what it is. But the main reason I feel is for conventions. What else says that you are dedicated to some show rather than giving hours, days, weeks, months of your life to making a costume? It's pretty cool. So I'm going to give you my five reasons why I cosplay. Number five, outsider's reactions. I truly love seeing other people's reactions when I'm in cosplay. When I'm in costume, I don't care what the reason is. I will go to the gas station and pump gas. Even when it's full, I don't care. I just want to see what people think. Or better yet, when a convention just descends upon a downtown area and you get to watch all the normal people reactions to what we're wearing, what we're not wearing. Number four, photo shoots and videos. I've been an actor since I was like 15, so getting to do something where I get to cosplay and act and model all at the same time, it's like a win-win for me all the way around. But that's a mean thing. Number three, learning a skill. And you destroy your surroundings in the process, but that's not the point. You're learning a skill. In the beginning, it's not going to be pretty. And you are going to mess up more times than you succeed, but that's the amazing part about it. My skills in sewing, but I still try to do prop making. And you know what? Every little bit that you do, you're going to learn more and more. And who knows? Maybe you can start making stuff for your friends. It's great like that. Number two, gaining self-confidence. Okay, this is a little personal for me. I began cosplaying actually in the beginning of college. I went to a convention for my very first time with my boyfriend at the time, and I was mesmerized by what I saw. And maybe it was the actor in me a little. Seeing all these people dressed up, it was amazing. At the time, I didn't have many friends. And I'm a girl, so self-conscious about the way I looked in my body and all that stuff. But the second convention I went to, I was wearing a costume. And yeah, you know what? It was held together with hot glue and my hair was a wreck because it was an awful dye job. But you know what? It didn't matter. And it didn't matter because I was in a costume and I felt like a completely different person. And I got to meet all these cool people. Number one, meeting people. Cosplay, the best part about it by far, is meeting people. Some of my best friends, I've met through cosplays. Some of my boyfriends, I've met through cosplay. I don't have the boyfriends now, that's not the point. Some of my many boyfriends, I have a list. And as long as you don't completely nerd out on the guests there, they are flattered that you have even showed up in costume and are the character that they are in the show. And most of all, if you show up to a convention in costume, you already have talking points with someone, like a common ground. Whether it's a show, a character, or just a technique that someone used in a costume, it's all a way to start a conversation with new people. Why is cosplay relevant enough to merit a show? Well, conventions have become all the rage in the last five years due to the nerd culture popularity growing. You might be a YouTuber who's considered going to some large con, like Comic Con or PAX, Dragon Con, or maybe even a smaller convention in your town. Cosplay opens an opportunity for you to expand your circle that you might not have considered before. I mean, we're all nerds, we all get along. Either way, here on Impulse, we embrace nerd culture. Whether you come for the tips, tricks, advice, or just the basics on making a battering, it's all meant to be fun. And that's what it's meant to be after all, isn't it? Lots of you have been asking about me starting my own channel, so that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna start one on this exact topic. So you can find a link to my channel in the description below. So, guys, I'm Tiffany, and I'll see you next Sunday. Give me tips and advice and questions, any questions. I'll try to answer a question. Go in. Go ask me a question.