You wake up in the morning, practically vibrating in excitement, with the thought in your head: Today is the day.

What day is it? Why, the day of your first convention of course!

As you approach the front of the convention center, wearing your favourite superhero’s logo proudly across your chest, you suddenly are struck with a strange sense… because standing before you in the long line waiting for passes, is the living embodiment of the superhero you so love. For a moment you pause, unsure if you actually woke up that morning, so striking is this person before you. But after a swift pinch on the inside of your arm, you realize you are not dreaming and that very much is a flesh and blood rendition of your hero.

This phenomenon is called “Cosplay deja vu”, a term I just coined about five seconds ago. But if you are not familiar with the sensation that has been sweeping the Western geek world for the last ten years, you are soon going to find out more than you ever thought you needed to know. Cosplay is short for costume play, and as with most ridiculous things, it originated in Japan. The name is a pretty good indication of what is consists of: basically, a person attempts to replicate a character from some form of fandom, be it comic books, anime, live action TV, etc. At first it was not very big here in America, but as anime conventions became more popular more and more cosplayers began to pop up. Now the culture of it is huge, and it is uncommon to NOT experience cosplayers at a convention.

Read More via So YOU want to cosplay: An introduction.