shel
@shel
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nex3
@nex3

I think Star Wars falls under the spirit of this rubric, so I'm going to rank Princess Leia's costume from Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back extremely high, with an added boost if the hairstyle isn't just a wig. Here's my reasoning:

  • An older cohort of cosplayers are likely to still be repping the original trilogy. Probably not too Disneybrained, probably been around the block enough to have a lot of experience with good consent practices.

  • If you're cosplaying the original trilogy, Leia is by far the most has-her-shit together of the lot. I think this attracts a certain type of person, especially now that she's no longer the only real option for someone who wants to cosplay a female Star Wars character.

  • I know at least one person personally who cosplays Leia and who I would absolutely trust to top.


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in reply to @shel's post:

Doctors 3, 5, 6, 9, 13 — yes, all others no (including para-doctors such as the War Doctor, the Valeyard, etc)

Captain Jack Harkness — in a hot minute
Captain Jack Sparrow — absolutely not
Captain America — yeeees?
Captain Marvel — yesssss?
The Hulk — no
She-Hulk — yes

From the video game Hades: Zagreus yes, Megaera or Thanatos no.

I think I would trust a Ten cosplayer to know how to tie rope safely but that's because I've met a Ten cosplayer who knew how to tie rope safely.

Jack Harkness cosplay?? I don't actually think I'd trust them to be that safe. I think they'd be hot headed and maybe forget the importance of aftercare.

Jack Sparrow cosplayer absolutely has no fucking clue what they're doing.

Captain America and Captain Marvel cosplayers..... I think I'm imagining them as like a really awkward mid-40s straight couple that attends cons together and learns their stuff together so when they're looking for a third like they know their stuff skills-wise but they're not used to negotiating with someone they don't already have rapport with cuz they usually just play with each other.

Zagreus cosplayer does know where it's safe to do impact play and does good after care, does not know ropes at all but says "I think I could try it if you want" and you should say no because they don't know what they're doing and you could get hurt.

My one nitpick with this is that I think a Harkness in and of itself is ambiguous, but I think Harknesses would be fairly easily sortable into "yep you're all good" and "oh noooooo" (where most other characters would be more ambiguous). I realize that's not what your question asked, but it was an interesting realization I had. In much the same vein, I could see Ianto Jones cosplay also falling either side of this binary.

I think that in general people who pick Zagreus for cosplay are likely to be respectful, mindful of consent, concerned about aftercare, and attracted to the fact that he’s the most wholesome of badasses. Zagreus himself is definitely a pure and eager n00b, but you said not to confuse the character with the person playing them. (Also, when I think “Zagreus cosplayer” the first person who comes to mind is my husband, who has a two decades of experience as a pretty versatile dom, but he’s a special case.)

People who pick Doctor 10 (and also 4, 7, 11, and 12) for cosplay are probably attracted to the aspects of the character’s personality that makes him super-cool and super-flashy and also would be utter disasters in a Dom.

Otherwise, yeah, and you put my tentativeness with Captain Marvel/America into words really well.

i haven't been to a con in so long idk if there's still oodles of homestuck cosplayers but idk what is big these days, so, i think i'm gonna go with a well-executed default outfit aradia

  • difficult horns require a little engineering with attention to comfort
  • good body paint requires patiently following a multi-step process every time
  • simple tee-and-skirt outfit means they're comfortable with reliable basics instead of always going for the hardest flashiest option, and particularly in contrast to the horns and paint they know how to balance the two
  • aradia isn't the most popular default choice so they've got to be a bit dedicated, but she's also not a character people get all fanatical and blindly defensive about
  • if you like aradia then you appreciate enthusiasm about weird shit
  • homestuck fandom in general is super weird and kinky it just comes down to which subset whether they'd actually know what they're doing irl, and bc aradia is a rather less-loved minor character i trust this subset to be the kind of people who know what they're doing

for a moment i was like "idk, if they're still cosplaying homestuck in 2022 then maybe not..." but a. glass houses and b. i trust an aradia fan to have nuanced takes abt the media they're into