Geek + Cosplay = Social Acceptance

I have to say, geek and cosplay friends have been a second family to me. The friends I first met at Transformers conventions starting in 2003, expanded with the first Retro Con founded by some of those friends in 2012, got even bigger in 2014 when I joined the cosplay community. And not to mention my friends from video game and anime conventions and toy shows, as well as fan and collectors' groups here on Facebook. These friends made me comfortable sharing more of myself with others. I never dreamed that the things I had from childhood, the things most people I grew up with gave up when they weren't popular or "cool" anymore, would be making me friends 30 years later.