I was at a con a few months ago and was heading down into the dealer's hall. There was this Madoka Magical girl who was talking on the phone. An older guy walked up behind her and just blantantly ducked down to get an up-skirt pic. The Madoka turned around at the perfect moment to see the guy get down with his camera and she slapped him so hard I could hear it from the other side of the room.
I was dressed up as Link from Legend of Zelda (breath of the wild) and was carrying a sword. These two little kids came up and started talking to me and my friend (who was dressed up in this mascot like costume) They were both so sweet. One was 6 and the other was 9 or 10. I ended up giving the younger one my sword and let him play with it. He was really gentle with the sword and pretended to fight my friend (who pretended to die). And he was perfectly fine when I asked for it back. To me, kids are so much easier to handle than adults 😂
:D I bet your cosplay was awesome. I just recently got into Legend of Zelda and I really like the style of BotW. One day I want to cosplay as BotW Zelda.
this one girl who was 10 was so happy when she saw me (Amajki) my sister (Nejire) and my boyfriend (Mirio) she was so polite and her dad was Link and her mom Zelda and so we just hung out...She got a little teary eyed when Nejire had to go but she was so sweet. love children
I have been to a few cons and I saw this one dude being a creep to cosplayer (I can't remember what cosplay but it was one with a mask) and after the dude touched them, They stared at him and made a growl/roar noise.....That dude went running....... soo Im pretty sure it works
I was on a convention once doing cosplay as Princess Bubblegum and I was walking and a lot of people took pictures with me. after a couple of hours of me walking on the convention a girl who was cosplaying a character from HunterXHunter (I don’t remember which character she was cosplaying) tapped my shoulder and told me “Hey! Excuse me, but is that guy with you?” And I turned around and saw one of the guys who I took a picture with and as soon as I turned around I saw him hide behind one of the tables who were selling stuff, I turned back to her and I told her “no he is not with me, why you ask?” And then she told me “he has been following you for around 2 hours” I saw her shocked and of course scared and then she told me “follow me to the bathroom to hide, my boyfriend is aware of him and he is going to text me if he leaves or something” I nodded and followed her, we stayed on the bathroom for around 30 minuets, she tried to calm me down and I had some small talk with her but then her boyfriend texted her and told her that the guy was gone, so I came outside with her and I greeted and thank her boyfriend since he helped me (I also thanked her of course) but then he told me “when you and my girlfriend entered to the bathroom he stayed there for around of 15 minuets and then he left to comeback and see if you were outside but then he stayed there for another 15 minuets and then left the convention” I was shocked but then thanked them and waved them goodbye. I was indeed scared because I thought that he would be waiting for me outside but thankfully he was gone and I didn’t saw him again What a day that was
@@aethien4753 My phone was damaged at the time so I couldn't save her number so sadly I couldn't stayed on touched with her, but we talked for a while since we were hidding and she was super nice (her boyfriend was really nice too but I didn't talked with him a lot)
I remember one time i was at a convention (was freshly 18). I saw this 15 year old girl trying to get people to help her and everyone just told her "security can help you" before she could finish what she was saying, but i over heared her saying "this guy is" so i walked over and without hesitation said "hey katherine, im sorry im late. Mom wanted me to make sure i got our room keys." she smiled, hugged me, and whispered "that guy is my ex and is stalking me" we stayed together the whole day even though the guy left after i showed up.
One time I was at my first comic con (I was 13) and I was cosplaying uraraka from BNHA and a guy asked for a photo and I was all like ‘hell yeah!’ And I was all like happy and shit because who doesn’t like having their hard work recognised yknow? Anyway after we took the picture the guy kept following me around and I kept telling him to leave me alone. So basically I had gone to this con alone and I didn’t have any friends to go over to and I was kinda panicking at this point because a like 20 year old man was following me, a 13 year old girl, around this place and I was like completely alone; basically I saw these girls who looked slightly older than me and I went up to them and like whispered to them what was happening and they were all like “walk around with us for a while, we’ll get rid of him” and they were really nice to me Damn lmao
Hey, I happen to be around the age you were at that time, and I was wondering how you were able to go alone? I've wanted to go to a con with my cosplay forever! (Coincidentally it's probably going to be Uraraka Ochaco out of all of them, maybe Todoroki Shoto) And I'm having a hard time finding someone who would go with me or finding a way to go alone. How would you recommend I get around this situation? Or should I just wait around another 5-9 years? It's not a money problem, but my well-being problem. I get where my parents are coming from, yet I can't find anyone to come with. I've waited for a long time ignoring my passion, and I find it quite hard to keep doing it.
I love how kind strangers can be. Like if your in that situation. I've done stuff like that, where I have told them about someone following me, and they told the guy to back off and they let me wander with them for a bit
Nice idea I would've done the same! Although, I was cosplaying as Katsuki around my neighborhood just walking around with my cat in my cat pack and these teenage boys that were probably about 14 to 15 years old came up to me and just stared at me and one of them said "What the heck? Why does your hair look like that? It looks stupid. You should see a hairdresser." And then I was just thinking that since i'm cosplaying as Katsuki... I can act like him! Yessssss! So then I just told him "Oi! What makes you think you can talk to me like that?" And he just said "Geez dude chill!" "How am I supposed to be chill shitty hair?" And after that small *ahem* conversation, my cat started growling in a way that sort of told me that she wanted to go and escape these peoples. So, I pushed through them and flipped them off. And then I just "stormed" off. After that, I felt goooood. And... That's my glorious story. But to tell the truth, I wish that I had someone also cosplaying as Izuku or possibly Uraraka. ☺
last weekend at a con my friend and i were sitting on the floor and i was eating (we were both in cosplay btw) and this girl walked up and took out her camera and said "this might be an awkward picture because you guys are eating..." and then just took our picture without asking...like girl there's a whole chicken tender in my mouth right now and my lipstick is smudging do i look like i'm ready to have my picture taken out of nowhere
Yeah, it’s already pretty rude to interrupt someone’s meal but to go ahead and take a photo anyway? Yikes. Just don’t bother people when they’re eating!
I am a dude and have had creepy things happen to me at a con. I was in a Klingon costume and this dude would not leave me alone. He had been following me around for over an hour, and at this point I began to realize he might be trying to figure out how to get me in his van. He caught up with me again later as I was waiting in line to get a signature and he was just... crazy. I tried being polite at first but he got past my southern hospitality. This beautiful young woman in line next to me came up and put her arm around me and and looked at him and said, "Leave my boyfriend alone." He starred for a minute and she said "GO NOW". He left and she said, "sorry he was being too much." Then she reached out and shook my hand and said "Hi I'm Linda." She was my hero that day. So many creeps out there I am often afraid to ask for photos of cool cosplayers as I don't want to be mistaken for, Mr. Creepy.
Love people like Linda! There’s so many stories out there where people like her save cosplayers from creeps. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for pictures, as long as you’re polite and you ask before you do something, they’d be more than happy to take a picture with you
As someone who tends to cosplay Deadpool, if I ever saw a person pulling any of this creepy shit (thankfully I haven't yet), I'd take a note outta your book from being in character and call them out... As loudly and obnoxiously as possible.
I dress as Harley Quinn and as Female-Deadpool and I have called people out for being creeps a few times both inside and outside the convention building the con is held in.
I cannot stress enough how well stated this is. As someone who works security for conventions, if anyone is bothering you, making you feel uncomfortable, harassing you, etc, please do not feel scared/bad for getting security involved. It is our job to make sure every con goer is safe and has a good time. If there's a creep bothering you, they're probably going to bother someone else. So whether you experience it yourself or see someone else going through these experiences, do not hesitate to get security involved.
Thank you so much! I'm so glad that someone who works security spoke up about this. Seriously. I've had people tell me they don't want to go to security and I just say 'why not'!?! It's not hurting anything and it'll make you feel better and they'll make this creep go away for sure. And stop harassing others after you. That's such a good point!
I've realized after going to a few cons that security isn't supposed to intimidate you, they're there to help you, and honestly all of the security I've met are so sweet to the cosplayers
Me and my bf were cosplaying as danganronpa characters and someone ask for a photo with me (I was cosplaying as a female character named kaede) he lifted my skirt my bf (Shuichi cosplayer) slapped them grabbed my hand and we walked away I was still flustered and after this dude was following us for like five minutes my bf said "look just leave us alone we will call security." I love bf to death and they're always there from me and basically a fraction of adults are perverts
Im starting to cosplay kokichi (im a male with a feminine body) and im so scared that if i dont have a best friend who will pretend to be my gf or bf im going to get talked to by some creep ;-; because my cosplay is a little tight because its not kokichis outfit cause i dont have the money and its like a pastel kokichi
If you're hesitant about going to security because you feel like you're bothering them remember it's literally their job to help you! That is why they are there! Please talk to them even if it seems like a minor problem. It's not minor if you're uncomfortable at all, that shows that its a problem
Since I've been going to cons I got more confident in asking people for help, I realize that if I don't feel okay I need to tell someone. Going to cons has helped me so so much
I actually have to tell people not to touch my costume at home 😂. I leave my cosplay on the dress form and guest try to poke at the embroidery, touch the gems... I threatened to break fingers several times.
For people still worried, seriously don't be afraid to tell someone!! My friends and I were drinking at a con, totally buzzed, and this girl randomly came up to us and started making convo. We were confused at first until she requested to stay with us until her friend arrived, and mentioned quietly that some guy kept trying to touch her and give her drinks. We became hawks and waited an hour and an half just to ensure her friend came, it was her friend, and she was safe!! She apologized so much but we were even willing to walk her to her friend ourselves!! She thanked us so much, but we would do it for anyone in trouble no matter their reasoning. Stay safe, esp during cons! Also I held, one child, with one of my original cons. Never again. Never force your child into a stranger's arms.
I think it's kind of weird to just go like "here ur costume is so good hold my child I'm taking a photo rn smile" and not ask "Hi. My kid really likes your costume and I wanted to know if I could get a photo of you two together?" And wait for an answer. I personally wouldn't want to be asked to hold a child but a photo of us standing together should do just fine if your kids such a big fan. Some parents are kind of weird and need to learn their boundaries.
oh my god the amount of creeps I had at my first con, I was 15, I will admit I looked older than 15 but this creep came up to me and said my cosplay was good ect ect the usual con chatter, and then he looks at my chest and inside i was like 'oh no oh no' alarm bells, cause my boyfriends talking to someone else and my boyfriends little sister (not that she could say anything being 12) was looking at a stall. I hastily end the conversation, but as he passed me he touched my chest and played off the i didn't realise id done it. Later on I saw him talking to a rapunzel cosplayer, and i couldn't hold it in I had to tell her that he was a creep because I was honestly so mortified.
The part about the video interviews though. Once I was approached by a guy who was vlogging while I was in my Ouat Evil Queen Costume. He told me he was going around the convention asking characters what their special powers were. I found the video after the con and my bit of the footage had been used in his intro; my voice was cut off and replaced by a voice over of him making a joke about trying not to stare at my boobs. Luckily I sent him a message about how uncomfortable it made me to have a video of myself used for a crude joke on the internet and he took that part down.
I had a lady who took photos of me when I was facing off against Kylo Ren when I was cosplaying 11 from stranger things without asking because it was a moment she didn't want to miss but she asked politely afterwards if she could keep the photos. The Kylo and I were pretty happy that she asked even though we didn't mind that she took them but it later bothered me that others didn't ask like she did.
your like the mom of cosplay and conventions teaching her children stranger danger lol. I wanted to watch this because it is going to be my first Convention coming this march :D thank you for teaching me how to deal with creeps :D
Con horror stories: I was cosplaying as princess leia (battle of endor) and someone ended up following me to the parking lot where I was going to meet my mom and step dad. I didn't realized he was following me about halfway through the day . At that point I went with my mom to go grab some lunch while my dad when to wait in a line for an autograph. And this creeper followed us to lunch . When be got back we told security ,but I was still scared to go out on my own to find my friends for a little bit after. Apparently that guy was had lots of complaint over the past few days .
On the hold a baby thing: I've heard cosplayers say "I'm... a bit clumsy, hehe." And then put a very apologetic and shy face. Usually parents laugh and nod in an understandting way and hold the baby themselves. XP
Okay so I won’t make this guy who followed me take all the heat for it but here’s a lil story: So back when MeMeMe was still pretty popular, I cosplayed MeMe-Chan at my local convention. I had a lot of interesting run in’s from that weekend. So the hotel had a pretty nice restaurant, and my friends and I were all standing in line, waiting to be seated when this guy comes up to us and begins praising my cosplay. I was actually pretty flattered. We were talking for a bit and I don’t remember what of, but I do recall how often he praised me for looking really good in my cosplay. He leaves after maybe ten minutes because half of my friends were envious of me and the other half were just annoyed that he was with us. So next day, still wearing MeMe-Chan, I’m with just two friends when we run into him again in the hall. We have our happy little reunion and I mention that we’re headed to a café in the convention center and he tags along. It’s worth noting that I never openly invited him with, but I wasn’t against it either. So we’re at the café and I’m having a good time with my friends while he just sits next to me, probably staring at my ass. We leave and we’re all a little surprised that he’s still following us around. It might be partly on me for focusing on my friends, but he stopped talking to us. He was just going with us wherever we went. This went on for maybe two hours and by then, my friends and I were uncomfortable and wanted him to leave us alone. Someone got the idea to go into the bathroom and just wait for him to leave, which would have been a good plan if he had left after ten minutes or so, but no. This man waited outside the bathroom for about 45 minutes, and only finally left because he had a panel. That whole thing just went downhill so fast. Yikes.
These is really terrific advice! Here are some extra things I thought might be good to add: - Never go to a photoshoot alone!! Unless the photographer is a close friend who you trust, always bring someone with you in case the photographer gets creepy. If you can't, make sure the shoot is in a public place with people around who you can ask for help if needed. - If you need to walk up to people you don't know and they're not in costume, ask for directions/about the convention/general talk until you have a chance to tell them you just needed to get away from a creepy person. Some people react really badly to being called creepy, so it's not always a good idea to say that in front of someone who's harassing you. - If I see people taking photos without asking and I'm close enough, I tell them that asking first will get them a better photo.
My brother is a photographer so if I needed professional photos taken of me in cosplay! I could just ask my brother! All of those tips are VERY true though! People need to stay safe
the photographer point is a great idea. my first convention i went to alone, i got photos taken at the end of a convention by a photographer. and then at the next convention i went to, a year later, the same character but a better cosplay, the same photographer asked to take photos at the end of the convention. we were outside, but still in public. he told me that he remembered me from last convention, and asked for my facebook to send me the photos (i never got them btw). we were talking about doing a free photoshoot on another day and he asked for my phone number. i got really uncomfortable and said i don't give it out to people, i think he still persisted and i said that i'm not allowed to and said my mum was calling me and i had to go.
I totally get that the natural instinct is to put your arm around someone for a photo but if it's a complete stranger in any situation you 100% should ask if it's okay to do. I don't understand why that's not something people do at cons.
@@gabrielguzman6018 - "do you mind if i pose with my arm around you?" - "can i put my arm around you for the photo?" - "is it okay if i put my arm on your shoulder?" say stuff like that
about a year ago I was crossplaying as Victor Nikiforov from Yuri on Ice and I had someone ask me if I could kiss their hand. It made me super uncomfortable. I'm not a touchy person and I'm also really introverted so I just stood there and panicked. They caught on that I was uncomfortable and said never mind, but I wish I had seen this video before that happened. at a different con, I was cosplaying Rapunzel and I was being followed so I went up to a Spiderman cosplayer and he immediately helped me out with the situation, so people are definitely willing to help. I feel a whole lot more comfortable and confident in dealing with creeps after seeing this video.
Great tips! I'm a huggy kind of person so someone putting their arm around me doesn't bother me, but I can see how it would bother other people. As for security, it is literally their job to make sure cons and con goers are safe so no one should feel bad about going to them to help with a creeper.
It sucks this video needs to exist, but we'll done for doing it. I come from a sport where everyone is very friendly and hugging everyone so I wouldn't have thought anything of putting my arm round someone I was getting a selfie with. After watching this I won't assume, I'll ask and won't find it odd if they say no. Thanks for pointing it out.
Thank you. And that's completely fine. I understand a lot of times when someone puts their hand around me is not meant to be creepy, it's just natural for a lot of people. I just never want to be touched. Other cosplayers are totally fine with it. So it's always best to ask.
I was with my friends in a group (we were all cosplaying ddlc characters and I was Monika ye) and this one old guy stood behind one of my friends and tried to get a up skirt shot. I turned around and slapped him hard enough that my hand was red, and when she noticed all my friends charged at him lmao. He eventually got kicked out because we told security. Turns out he did this to many other girls and I’m pretty sure he’s in jail now :/. I don’t regret anything.
I'm glad you stood up to yourself and your friends. I am planning on cosplaying Veeva Dash (from Stampy's Lovely World, a minecraft series) and if I see anyone creeps I will threaten to throw posion at them and then I'll kick them in the nuts/breast.
I always get guys hitting on me on cons and even though they're not neccesarily creepy about it, alot of them can't take a hint and I sometimes have a hard time shaking them off. But last time I went with my older brother and NO ONE approached me.....until my brother went to the bathroom and then they suddenly appeared. So sadly, the most effective creep-repeller for me is bringing a guy:/ which is just a shame. Also, I don't like hugging strangers. Alot of people ask for hugs but even i I turn them down nicely, some people get so offended:(
It's good advice but unfortunately even bringing a guy with you doesn't work. I was harrassed when I was with my 6ft athletic dad, and another time when I was with a bunch of my guy friends, who didn't even noticed that I was being harassed until I told those creeps to back the hell off.
I recently just did my first cosplay at Anime Expo this year. I was cosplaying a Genderbent Todoroki and a few guy’s had come up to me wanting a photo. I didn’t really think much of it so I said yes. Since I was completely without experience I didn’t really know what to do when they put their arm around me or pulled me closer. I just kind of awkwardly smiled and posed with my free arm... next time I’ll try some of these great tips xDDDD
I went in my first ever cosplay as Kurome from Akame Ga Kill and a group of dudes approached me. Like you, I didn't know what was going on so I agreed and they made me pose and stuff which made me quite uncomfortable, but I don't think they had any bad intentions. It was really awkward though...
Ooh same here. My first cosplay was Celty from Durarara and I've had a butt load of guys trying to take pictures of me. It was awkward because I wasn't used to attention and being in front of cameras, not to mention the side comments and the poses that they would ask me to do. It was still fun though.
If someone touches you, give them a cold stare and say: ” Do not touch me.” In a deeper voice (if you can) ok I don’t think this will work but just came in mind
I had my first awkward encounter last weekend. I say awkward rather than creepy in this case because I believe this person falls into the lacking social skills category. I had interacted with him somewhat last year while in crossplay at a local cosplayers gathering, and got the sense that he was kind of in his own world, and I don’t think he had an interest in the character I was. Well this past weekend I was on my way to the contest prejudging dressed as a female villain from Sailor Moon that he recognized, as he called me over by my character name. He asked for a photo with me and I said yes and posed. Then he took a minute to pull the hood of his cosplay on. While I was holding my pose, suddenly he threw his arms around me in a full on forceful glomp hug, and squashed his cheek into my cheek. Mind you I spent 3 hours painting my face green and doing my makeup, so 1. I was freaking out because I didn’t want my face paint smeared off right before judging and 2. I don’t want people I don’t know forcefully hugging me! WTF And I’m mostly mad at myself in hindsight because while I tried to pull away from him (and he didn’t get the hint), I was afraid to be rude to someone if they have a social disorder. I froze and didn’t know what to say. Once the picture was taken he let go and all I could say was “hey watch out or you’ll end up with a green costume from touching me!” Then at the very end of the day, he saw me again and made a gesture like he was going to shake my hand, but he ended up kissing my hand instead (which was also painted), and once again all I could manage to say was “Hey you’re going to end up with green lips you know!” 😫 I’m sure I will see him again at other local events, so I’m definitely going to talk to him about it next time.
I was very much like you when i was grabbed for a photo. I didnt want to be rude and kept telling myself its just a picture and its harmless and makes this person happy and even if I dont like it, I can suck it up to give this creepy dude something nice that he probs doesnt get ever.... But.. I ended up,crying about it later. I dont ever want to make myself,uncomfortable for someone else like that again.
Im a guy who has a kinda feminine body and a minor and some people seriously dont care, i would recommend going up to someone and say whats happening quietly, most people will help
At my third con, I was cosplaying for the first time(Lucy Heartfilia) and was asked by so many people to take my picture. I was completely absorbed by all the attention that I didn't realize that there were a couple of dudes that kept letting their hands get really low on my waist. Both of them were wearing those mouth and nose masks and they took turns taking pictures with me - at different times. The first man asked for a picture, then a few minutes later his friend came up and asked for a picture, then a few more minutes Guy 1, then Guy 2, Guy 1, Guy 2, so on and so forth for about five more times. For some reason, I was wearing both stockings and biker shorts to keep people from sticking their hands under my skirt to cope a feel, so I couldn't really feel anything about where their hands were. But my mom was there and noticed it around the 4th time and told them to bring their hand up. I don't remember seeing them at any other day of the con... There was another time when I was at a larger con with my mom(she loves them as much as me), and I left her upstairs to rest while I went through the Dealers Room. I met a guy along the way in a Skull Kid cosplay that wanted to take a picture with me, Fem!Loli!Link. I didn't think anything of it and let him, even getting his friend to take a picture with my phone as well. The friend very conveniently disappeared after giving my phone back... Skull Kid started following me around when I started to go back upstairs, talking with me about how much he loved the con, seemingly harmless stuff. But I needed food and my mom had bought a baked potato in the food court for me, so I didn't really feel like talking. I thought I lost him when he started arguing with the staff member that wouldn't let us up the escalator, but he realized I wasn't there and ran after me. He asked if I had eaten and that he knew a great place up the highway, or that he could get me something in the food court. I politely declined, telling him I already had something. He asked if I was alone and when I told him about my mom, he immediately clammed up. At the third floor, he noticed I had an orcarina(very plastic and cheap) and asked me to play something for him. I love showing off so I did. He then gave me his orcarina, that was at least $50. I tried to decline because there's no way I could accept that... But he wouldn't let me give it back. He then gave me his business card (after previously telling me that he made tons of money but couldn't tell me how because it was Top Secret) and left. He later found me on Instagram and tried talking to me, making my dad concerned he wanted 'something' in exchange for the orcarina, so I never answered him. He pops up at other cons I go to now and then, always after seeing that I'm there. It's gotten to the point I can't post pictures during cons, only after them. Maybe I'm over thinking things, but I kinda got a slight creep/stalker vibe from him....
Karmitara Girl this is nothing for a security guard anymore. Call the police and report him!!! There is no way feeling comfortable if you know he exist and does not stop stalking you! Since it's been a year, I hope you do well nowadays (?)
I think you might need to tell authorities cause this "top secret work" could very well be human trafficking. Hope everything's okay. Please be safe. If you see him again go straight to security please.
I've met so many creeps cosplaying Juvia... She's so much more covered than Lucy so that's a sign that the coverage of the costume doesn't matter. Also I'm so sorry about the stalker situation. Hope it gets better ☹️☹️☹️
"It does not matterr what you are wearing. It does not give people any right to treat you less if you are wearing a swimsuit than if you are wearing a burka. The way you are dressed does not give anyone the right to treat you differently." AMEN
I'm 12 and am going to my first cosplay convention next year and I am really excited!!! I am going as either InuYasha (from InuYasha) or Jiro (from Boku No Hero Academia)!
Oh noice I'm 13 and I'm going to my second convention this August cosplaying as Uraraka form BNHA UwU I hope you'll have fun like I did at my first convention 😊😊
Had someone taking inapproriate photo of me only two weeks ago. I was walking in a crowd at a local "comic" con, and a guy was walking around with a GoPro on a selfie stick obviously taking photos or filming the crowd. The friend I was with noticed that he took a photo/filmed me. Not only did he film/take photo of my face, but he also got a shot of my bum too. I did not consent to having my bum have a photoshoot by a creep in a crowd with a GoPro camera. He did not ask me or anyone to take photos, and if he did, he probably would have gotten better pictures where I actually could have posed and tried my best to be in character.
Great video something not covered enough. As I take a group of young people to anime north this will come in handy when I give them our regular safety talk about what to do and not do at a con. This is something I will add to our safety talk. Thank You. Used this at Anime North and was a great success. Kids had fun and no one bothered them.
my favorite creeper story from a con is when I was 14 (I was cosplaying as Inara Sera and it was a MISTAKE) I was with my big sister and some guy was talking to me, I didn't know that he was trying to flirt because I was 14 and I was an innocent little bean. Well, my sister saw what was happening and said that we had to leave, and the dude said "she can do whatever she wants" and my sister looked him dead in the eye and said "no she can't, she's 14!" and the dude just walked away lol. I'm very lucky in that my friends and my sister are very protective of me haha.
So I have 0 capability of reading social cues and all that stuff, what are red flags (besides following and unwanted touching) that someone is being creepy and not just awkward/overly friendly?
It's honestly just about how you feel. If you don't feel comfortable then take steps to remove your self from that situation (wether the offender is being creepy or just awkward) what matters most is that you feel safe and comfortable.
SmolSleepRoyal it would depend on the situation but if they try to get you to do things like go with them somewhere, try to get you to do a pose you aren't comfortable with or try to get close to you physically when you dont want them to and have made that clear AND especially if the are very persistent I would say that would be a major red flag for me. If they also try to get information out of you very quickly after you've just met that would be a red flag too. Not so much if they just ask for your Instagram because that's fairly normal but if they are asking for your number and personal Facebook profile that could indicate they are being a creeper. I personally am careful with my more personal information in the first place and don't tend to give it to people (even if they don't seem to creepy) as my friends have had bad experiences with giving that stuff out to soon.
This question reminds me of an autistic friend of mine who always worries that she's going to be both sides. Best thing there is direct statements. She won't notice you're uncomfortable unless you tell her and she doesn't know how to broach the subject. In her case, this method works wonderfully. She won't get offended if you directly tell her she's creeping. As far as trying to pick up on when someone is uncomfortable with you, most people will shirk away when they are uncomfortable. They'll avoid eye contact if not physically try to turn away from you.
I remember being a kid and thinking that cosplayers were the cool people and they were like my hero’s. Now when kids and other people my age come up to me, it makes me really happy! ^^
There is always creepy people no matter where you go...but I agree make sure you are vocal about how you are uncomfotable.some people just don't know boundaries!!
I have a thing if I’m getting photos and someone is creepin, find a mom. Generally at the cons I’m at, everyone gets pictures in the same general area and people tend to come out to watch, and there’s usually a kid freaking out cause their favorite characters are living in front of them. My friends tend to go away when I’m getting pictures cause they don’t always cosplay, so I usually end up being alone. Been rescued by moms more than once.
When I went to my first con I was just dressed in normal clothing (but I was wearing a d.va shirt and hoodie) but a guy came up to me and asked if I was a boy or a girl, and then when I say boy they respond with "oh, too bad. I wanted to take a picture" I just stand there in shock and me and my friend who is a girl and was cosplaying (I can't remember the name of the anime) she just stood there is shock too.
Normally, I cosplay male characters and I got used to the feeling at cons as being a "guy" but then I cosplayed a female character for the first time. Sailor Neptune from Sailor Moon. I was in a group cosplay and we had a photoshoot. After the shoot our group split up, many of my friends needing to go change cosplays or go meet with other friends. This left me temporarily alone, and so I started heading to find some other friends of mine to hang with, though I did so slowly as I stopped to ask people for pictures, or was stopped for pics. I stopped to get some pics of some Star Wars cosplayers and that's when I noticed this guy standing off to the side, looking at me. I assumed he was waiting to ask for a pic. So I finish taking the pictures I had asked for and then bent down to put my camera back in my camera bag. This is when he approached. It started off normally enough, him asking about my cosplay, but then it turned creepy as he tried a bad pick-up line to get my phone number, which I declined AND told him I wasn't single. he then admitted that he had seen me hours before with my group of friends and had been following me around waiting for me to be alone so he could "work up the courage" to talk to me. and he started telling me about himself. I finally got away from him and found my nearest friend who had a booth in the venders. I slipped into the booth and helped him out until Venders closed for the evening. On my way out to find my original group of friends again, the dude shows up at my side all "You never actually said no to giving me your number." so I gave him a more direct no rather than the polite one from earlier. He kept trying to get my number and then asked me up to his hotel room where there was a "hot tub" and "No swimsuit needed" and I just really could not shake this guy until a girl approached asking for a pic and I eagerly went with her to do the pic and i lost him in that, so I thanked her and explained to her the situation and she walked with me to find my friends who then took over and we went to the security desk to report him (In the first run-in with the guy he had told me he was working the con in the game room) He was promptly removed from the convention, and I was given a number to call should I see him again.
something I've learned from going at conventions is to always keep my phone out, because if someone was to harass me I can easily record them and show security
The last convention I went to (Ikkicon), my friend was a creepy version of Mabel Pines and I was Bill Cipher. A girl about our age politely asked for a photo, so we moved out of the way of a crowd and took some pictures. Right as that girl finished up, a full grown woman came up and tried to snap a picture without asking. Right as she was taking the picture I leaned over to grab my bag and my friend started to walk away. The woman looked EXTREMELY OFFENDED and CONFUSED that we messed up the picture, but she didn’t ask and didn’t have the right to take the photo! The younger girl was polite and asked for social media and stuff, but the woman wasn’t mature at all!
I am one of the people that doesn't mind we others touch me in photos, mainly because I have not had a bad experience yet. But one bit of advice to keep people if they do touch you and you don't mind on the higher portion of your back is have your arm as a barrier. What I specifically do is if they go for a side hug sort of thing I make sure I do the same but have my arm be the lower one, when that happens you have a bit more control. Also I do have a bit of a "creeper" story, which I will keep short, I had just got to a con on the Saturday of the event and my boyfriend had to go use the bathroom once we got there. I was waiting for him outside the bathroom area and I had someone approach me for a picture, I was in Nocturnal from Skyrim so a very revealing cosplay, I told him yes and he asked if we could wait for his friend to take the picture, once again I said yes and I also gave him the option to have my boyfriend take it for us. He said he didn't want to do that be cause he had an expensive camera with him, which I understood. Yet once another guy came out this being the first red flag, which walked up from the bathroom, I had thought it was his friend, they didn't jump to take a picture. One of the guys asked me if I was even aloud to wear a revealing cosplay like that, in which I said yes cause the come had a bikini coverage rule. This was kinda asked in a weird tone so my answer came off kinda blunt. So, after that off putting question, I asked if we were going to take the picture. The first guy then says "Oh no, this isn't my friend." Which was the final thing that just kinda made me uncomfortable, lucky my boyfriend had just gotten out of the bathroom and was walking towards me. So I had told the guy that wanted the picture, "Sorry, I can't stay any longer. If you find me later in the day I will take one with you." and then proceed to grab my boyfriend and went to the other side of the con for a while, never seeing him again.
If you do interviews be carefull what you say, because even if you say good things they can make you look bad in the editing fase. Dont give them something to pull you down on.
How can I approach a group of people at a con with the intention of making friends without looking like a creep? I feel I have made people uncunfortable in the past but I never had any evil intent, I just want to meet new people who seem to have similar interests to mine. I'm not a bad man, just have poor social skills :(
That's a rough question. I'd say just feel free to be yourself and try socializing and taking with people at cons. If they feel like they have a common interest then they'll be friends with you. If not you'll both go your separate ways. Just be nice and you'll find new friends eventually
Thank you so much for this video. I watched it waaay before i went to my first con, and when i did a dude asked me if i wanted to be his sexslave and followed me everywhere i went. I gave him a harsh "no, youre making me uncomfortable", but that wasnt enough for him. Me and a friend went to security and my friend scolded him like a dissappointed grandparent.
I hate when people think it's okay to "compliment" my body while I'm in cosplay. Mate, is not okay to say those things to someone out of cosplay, why would it be okay to say them to someone in cosplay?
If I'm ever followed around by someone all day when in a Present Mic costume, oh boy I'd have a speaker in the directional speaker, I'd yell at them with a microphone as loud as possible. :)
Asking a group for help is good advice for almost every situation. I have gone up to a group of girls at a bar multiple times and said “this guy is being creepy”, “please pretend you know me”, or “that person is making me uncomfortable”, and I’ve never had anyone being anything but kind, understanding, and immediately pull me into their group. Women, especially, all know how it feels and won’t ever leave someone else hanging in that kind of situation.
I was in my Mikan Tsumiki cosplay, and some guy was clearly being creepy by talking to me and not, well, exactly making eye contact (if you catch my drift). He asked me for a hug, and I simply shrugged and said “sorry, I don’t hug creepy old men.” and walked away. The look on his face? PRICELESS
ONE F MY FIRST CONS, i was cosplaying Monika (ddlc) when I was around 13 i caught a guy taking a picture up my skirt and I had an impulse and I slapped him and then quickly walked back to my group of friends
great video! when i was 11 i was at an anime festival cosplaying as hideri kanzaki from blend-s. This guy who looked about 25-30 y/o hugged me and was taking photos of me without consent and these random people came up and pretended to be my friends and got him to go away :)
Thank you for this video! I had a creepy older man (he was over 6 feet tall and overweight too) grab my hand while I was walking and ask me up to his hotel room when I was 19. (I'm 27 now.) At the time, I just walked away. Getting a picture is a great idea, and I think that would work for any of the situations you mentioned.
everyone says this but it seriously helps. WALK UP TO A COSPLAYER and act like you know them. im 14, and this has helped me multiple times! explain whats happening and they should understand!
I love vids of con safety! A lot of these examples you brought up had happened to either me or a friend at a con. Plus there are some I will be sure to remember next time I go to one. It's so sad that cons have to really stress the "cosplay is not consent" because it should be automatic.
4:19 I don’t understand how saying “it’s just for a photo” even matters. Like, even if you are just putting your arm around her for the photo YOU ARE STILL TOUCHING HER COSTUME!
Honestly, I don't know you as a youtuber, this is the first of your videos I've seen, and it turned out to be really helpful! I'm working on my first ever "serious" cosplay, but I've been to conventions before. Thank you for making this video
I went to a convention as Suzuya Juuzou and this guy came up to me dressed as dark Link. We had a little bit of a conversation and he was very sweet and a great cosplayer. We took our picture and at the very end of it he took an entire handful of my ass and then walked away. It was really upsetting, I spent the rest of the con piggybacking on my large scary male friend. Just because people seem really cool doesn’t mean they always are so be safe.
My best defense against creeps is to just dress as guys and make sure my gender isn't easily identifiable at first XD but it all seriousness this is all good advice. I would also add that from my own experience it is important to know who's just socially awkward and just doesn't know about boundaries vs real creeps who should be reported or even banned from cons. Conventions do have the draw for creeps as well as just nerdy people who are very socially awkward. I know I personally had an experience with this guy for a couple of cons who was a little creepy and didn't really understand boundaries to much. I didn't really think he was dangerous at all and that he was just very socially awkward and didn't know that you maybe shouldn't talk about your love for hentai when you first meet someone... I was always careful around this guy non the less and if he had gotten to a point of being to creepy I would confront him about it before going to security and only would go to them if he didn't leave us alone when asked to do so. I would feel bad if I ever got someone banned from a con if they truly weren't intending to make people uncomfortable and were just never told by the person that they made them feel uncomfortable. From my own experience it's always been these kinds of people I've encountered, I just try to be polite but still keep my distance from them and generally they will leave you alone once they finally get the message that you don't want to talk or hang out with them. There are a lot of people like this at cons who are just trying to make friends and will cling to the first person who was nice enough to talk to them and truly don't mean harm but I still don't feel very comfortable around them so I just try to keep them at arms length if I encounter them. But again if someone won't leave you alone or is taking pervy pics or doing something that makes you extremely uncomfortable they should be reported to the con staff.
Yes I totally understand what you're saying. But I also think most people can telling when someone is just socially awkward vs being a creep. At least I can. And you can always base how you want to deal with people on how uncomfortable they make you feel.
Axceleration yupyup! Luckily I haven't had to deal with extremly creepy people as of yet but I've heard many stories and watch videos like this to hopefully know how to react in the situation ^^
To be honest I think cross dressing works. I dressed as Zelda to my first con and met some weird people, not creepy exactly but just weird. The next con I went to I dressed as Bakugo (a male character from My hero academia,) and zero creeps or uncomfortable people. All the interactions were awesome!! ( a Deku cosplayer ran up to me screaming KACHAN, but wasn't menacing at all. I rather enjoyed that actually.) I like to think it was because Bakugo isn't a very approachable looking person on his own, but the fact I could easily pass as a tall-ish boy may also be the case.
So...your stories are make me feel if I ever enter a con as a girl character I will end up in a van...but if I cosplay "bad boys"(don't know how to say better) no creeps will come for me.
I’m a young cosplayer, and I’m hoping people don’t think I’ll just grab at everything that people have since I’m going to my first convention soon. Also, this was very helpful!
This is such an important topic! Thanks Ax for always making such educational videos! I'm defintley going to take your advice on the whole interview thing cause I just had my first one at the last con I was at and it was so weird.
I just saw this video and as someone who works in the security field. It is our job to deal with creeps,weirdos and aholes. So please get through the nervousness of talking to someone in security and just ask for help. You never know who's following you and how crazy they might be best to be safe. All of your tips are really good
This video is the EXACT reason I make sure to talk to the vendors at my local cons. In my area every con basically has the same vendors. By talking to the vendors, I make myself a bit more memorable to them (I'm already pretty much on a first name basis too because I'm an artist and my studio helped start one of the cons that I go to every year). I do this so that even if I'm attending a convention by myself, I at least know some of the vendors and can go to them for help.
When I was just out of high school and there was this big Halloween party at this local comic book store about an hour away, I dressed up as a female Danny Phantom. And as you can image, the suit I was wearing was skin tight. I actually think it was just a morph suit I repurposed to look like Danny's suit, if I remember correctly. But yeah, it showed everything. At the time I was just starting to get my curves, and it was around that time that I figured out I have a small chest and wide hips (which layer made for an accurate Tinkerbell cosplay). That night I had no less than seven guys either touch my butt or try to touch my butt. I mean, yeah, it was there, and nobody can stop you from looking, but I was so fed up at the end of the night that I almost called the police. But then I'd have no proof that anything had happened. Even the dudes running the store wouldn't do anything to help me, and one of them replied with "You wore that here, you're the one that was looking for attention." I was pissed off. Needless to say, I've found other means to shop for comics and other such things.
whoever said "YoU wOrE tHaT hErE, yOu'Re ThE oNe ThAt wAs LoOkInG fOr AtTeNtIoN" is actually very stupid, like, you were just trying to wear a costume, and if you really wanted attention then you wouldn't wear your costume (sorry if I'm saying costume)
This is giving me confidence to ask for help and even help people who are going through this! You're like a cosplay senpai/mom who gives us advice. Wish I watched this since I've had creeps when I did a Sugar (video game called OFF) and Fem! Dave (Homestuck) cosplay for different conventions. It's mostly them following me until someone like a seller/vendor or other cosplayers (bless them) asks me if I know them until I asked the security about the creeps
this one time i. was at comic con, it was great. it was my first con, my friend and i where dressed as monokuma and junko. we walked around for a while and a guy asked for a pic. me and my friend said yes. we posed and he took it. no biggie. (keep in mind we where like 11) then he proceded to show us nsfw ship art that he got commisned. (toko x makoto) we walked away, weirded out. my friend was also there the day before. she told me "yeah i saw him yesterday he asked me for a picture" we caught him staring at us.
You make a really good point, people have to speak up call others out if they're being made to feel uncomfortable. You shouldn't be afraid to ask people to stop bothering you or feel bad about/apologize for it, that's definitely something I need to work on.
Once, my friend went as Hinata Hyūga and this one guy was cosplaying Naruto, and he kept following us and finding us as we went around the con. It’s was hella creepy and he tried to ask her to marry him. We kinda just ran
I swear cons need a signal for creeps, like an obvious but not obvious one. Like bars have specific orders that get people out of a situation immediately, cons need that.
I have had a not really comfortable experience too(uhh how do I put it, it kinda more of a weird feeling lol) I'm at con one time with my friend, I'm cosplay as ciel from kuroshitsuji. we were taking the escalator from 2nd to 1st floor when I heard someone was filming something (I still don't know to this day) for I don't know what at the bottom of escalator, I didn't care much because it's non of my business, but I heard they said something along a line of "let interview this girl" and then I got pull to the side where they're filming and then they ask me if it's ok to interview me, I was like 14 at that time and was shocked by being pulled to the side where they're still filming (camera is still filming, like they literally filming me being pulled from a crowd) so, I nodded (bad decision, really) it's not bad but it does scare me, it does make me scare when I see someone filming at con. I know that they're probably don't mean no harm, but really, don't do this to anyone especially if you don't know them and just pulled them from a crowd like you picking a fruit. sorry for my eng and I might be a little bit too sensitive because I'm an introvert maybe it's not that scary but it does for an introvert like me lol. edit: my friend were watching but they think it's not harmful to me so they just watch me interviewing from a far(they don't even realize that I got pulled out for a sec cause of a crowd and I walk behind them) I'm not blaming them thou, they don't know what to do too actually lol.
These are awesome tips! I totally understand the part about not wanting to flip off the camera. I’m in college to be a teacher, but I love cosplay. Schools in America can actually look at things you’ve posted, and teachers could get in trouble for things like that.
As a private security guard I have come across as creepy at several events as I am following a individual and keeping my eyes on my client and also scanning the crowd around. I have lost track of the number of times uniformed security have come up to me asking me what I am doing as strangers thought I was out of line with my actions. But I also keep my eye out for cosplayers that are looking uncomfortable with individuals that are confronting them and I will usually step up to them and ask them if they would like an escort to security. It helps that I am 6’2” and 250 and dress in suits not costume.
Thank you. This is good advice in many situations, not just cons. If the answer is "NO", then just say it, politely if possible, and if they don't listen then say it louder and let others hear. The old saying is, "If you can't say no, then you can't say yes." Telling Security isn't going to get someone arrested, just talked to. However, if this has been an ongoing problem with this person, Security needs to know there is another complaint. P.S. I didn't plan on watching the whole thing, but it was so good. Thank you again. :)
I was walking down artist ally and I heard a guy talking to his friends say,”All the people in spandex come here” I gave my friend a weird look because it was my first con and she just looked back and shrugged
re-watching this video because it popped up in my recommended, but I used some of this advice at SDCC this year when a guy stopped me in the exhibit hall (he was wearing the gender bent version of the character I was cosplaying that day), and was like talking AT me instead of actually trying to have a conversation, and he kept stepping closer and closer to me and at one point he grabbed my arm (in what I'm assuming was an attempt to flirt?), and eventually he asked me if I was going to any of the parties and if we could meet up at one (and I'm 17 years old so like I wasn't planning on going to any of these parties, but also I still see myself as a literal child (and legally I am), so I tried turning my badge around to show the little j for junior on it, but he didn't seem to notice). So I'm looking around and clearly uncomfortable and just trying to find a way out of the situation, and I text my brother "call me" and right before my brother calls me the guy goes, "Oh, are you looking for someone?" and I was like "yeah hahah I'm just trying to find my brother" and the timing was perfect because right as I said that my brother called and I played it off as a "speak of the devil" thing. So I answer the phone and my brother is like "hey what's up?" and i just go "Hey! Oh youre over there? Okay, I'll head over there right now," and I'm slowly taking steps away from this guy, and he just goes "okay well it was nice talking to you, maybe I'll come find you later," and just went "haha maybe" and booked it literally halfway across the exhibit hall before exiting. And then my brother was like, "okay well I'm heading back that way so come find me for real this time" and while I was looking for him so that I could avoid any more people trying to talk to me (because I was honestly a little shaken), I saw you and met you and that really calmed my nerves. SO uh thank you for saving my Thursday at SDCC 2018 hahah
I generally walk around with my brother and a friend or two(sometimes the whole family bc why not ) who generally aren't in cosplay so i generally find it better to have a trustworthy older friend/family member around. Personally I've never had a creep encounter but I dont really cosplay over-sexualised characters or characters with revealing outfits or anything
I needed this! Last ECCC I was approached by a lot of men who wanted my photo but didn’t know who my character was and it was honestly scary because I’m a minor.
I was at a con a few months ago and was heading down into the dealer's hall. There was this Madoka Magical girl who was talking on the phone. An older guy walked up behind her and just blantantly ducked down to get an up-skirt pic. The Madoka turned around at the perfect moment to see the guy get down with his camera and she slapped him so hard I could hear it from the other side of the room.
Linzey Koch good for that Madoka!! He deserved to have the shit slapped out of him!!
the fact that she was a magical girl from pmmm makes it 10x better. Good for her! Everyone should defend themselves when necessary
Did security get involved? I swear that’s so gross and weird. Good for her, it’s so brave and wonderful when people stand up for themselves like that
Good for her!! I hope the dipshit got in trouble
Thats the right way to deal with them and report it to the police and force him to delate it
I was dressed up as Link from Legend of Zelda (breath of the wild) and was carrying a sword. These two little kids came up and started talking to me and my friend (who was dressed up in this mascot like costume) They were both so sweet. One was 6 and the other was 9 or 10. I ended up giving the younger one my sword and let him play with it. He was really gentle with the sword and pretended to fight my friend (who pretended to die). And he was perfectly fine when I asked for it back. To me, kids are so much easier to handle than adults 😂
yea
This is generally true for me in regards to my service dog XD Kids tend to have more manners than adults do about approaching strange dogs!
:D I bet your cosplay was awesome. I just recently got into Legend of Zelda and I really like the style of BotW. One day I want to cosplay as BotW Zelda.
this one girl who was 10 was so happy when she saw me (Amajki) my sister (Nejire) and my boyfriend (Mirio) she was so polite and her dad was Link and her mom Zelda and so we just hung out...She got a little teary eyed when Nejire had to go but she was so sweet. love children
ToxicLagoon kids are sweet to strangers but ABUSIVE to me ;-;
I went as a silent hill nurse and couldn't really talk when in the mask so I just growled when they touched me.
I have been to a few cons and I saw this one dude being a creep to cosplayer (I can't remember what cosplay but it was one with a mask) and after the dude touched them, They stared at him and made a growl/roar noise.....That dude went running....... soo Im pretty sure it works
THIS IS BOOTYFULL
Omg thats hilarious I normally cosplay with my wolf ears so I'm totally doing that next time
👏
Y E S QUEEN 👏👏👏👏👏
I was on a convention once doing cosplay as Princess Bubblegum and I was walking and a lot of people took pictures with me. after a couple of hours of me walking on the convention a girl who was cosplaying a character from HunterXHunter (I don’t remember which character she was cosplaying) tapped my shoulder and told me “Hey! Excuse me, but is that guy with you?” And I turned around and saw one of the guys who I took a picture with and as soon as I turned around I saw him hide behind one of the tables who were selling stuff, I turned back to her and I told her “no he is not with me, why you ask?” And then she told me “he has been following you for around 2 hours” I saw her shocked and of course scared and then she told me “follow me to the bathroom to hide, my boyfriend is aware of him and he is going to text me if he leaves or something” I nodded and followed her, we stayed on the bathroom for around 30 minuets, she tried to calm me down and I had some small talk with her but then her boyfriend texted her and told her that the guy was gone, so I came outside with her and I greeted and thank her boyfriend since he helped me (I also thanked her of course) but then he told me “when you and my girlfriend entered to the bathroom he stayed there for around of 15 minuets and then he left to comeback and see if you were outside but then he stayed there for another 15 minuets and then left the convention” I was shocked but then thanked them and waved them goodbye. I was indeed scared because I thought that he would be waiting for me outside but thankfully he was gone and I didn’t saw him again
What a day that was
DID U BECOME FRENDS
Those people were very observant! You're lucky.
Also have someone with ya
Creepy. Thankfully those two were there to help.
@@aethien4753 My phone was damaged at the time so I couldn't save her number so sadly I couldn't stayed on touched with her, but we talked for a while since we were hidding and she was super nice (her boyfriend was really nice too but I didn't talked with him a lot)
I remember one time i was at a convention (was freshly 18). I saw this 15 year old girl trying to get people to help her and everyone just told her "security can help you" before she could finish what she was saying, but i over heared her saying "this guy is" so i walked over and without hesitation said "hey katherine, im sorry im late. Mom wanted me to make sure i got our room keys." she smiled, hugged me, and whispered "that guy is my ex and is stalking me" we stayed together the whole day even though the guy left after i showed up.
john Gardner !!!!! yes good on you
You're one of the good ones.
Aww!
that’s what i love about our community, there will always be someone there to help you. i hope i be that someone someday!
but then he would know her name isn't katherine?
One time I was at my first comic con (I was 13) and I was cosplaying uraraka from BNHA and a guy asked for a photo and I was all like ‘hell yeah!’ And I was all like happy and shit because who doesn’t like having their hard work recognised yknow? Anyway after we took the picture the guy kept following me around and I kept telling him to leave me alone. So basically I had gone to this con alone and I didn’t have any friends to go over to and I was kinda panicking at this point because a like 20 year old man was following me, a 13 year old girl, around this place and I was like completely alone; basically I saw these girls who looked slightly older than me and I went up to them and like whispered to them what was happening and they were all like “walk around with us for a while, we’ll get rid of him” and they were really nice to me Damn lmao
Hey, I happen to be around the age you were at that time, and I was wondering how you were able to go alone? I've wanted to go to a con with my cosplay forever! (Coincidentally it's probably going to be Uraraka Ochaco out of all of them, maybe Todoroki Shoto) And I'm having a hard time finding someone who would go with me or finding a way to go alone. How would you recommend I get around this situation? Or should I just wait around another 5-9 years? It's not a money problem, but my well-being problem. I get where my parents are coming from, yet I can't find anyone to come with. I've waited for a long time ignoring my passion, and I find it quite hard to keep doing it.
I'm 13 and gonna go to my first con this year... now i'm scared LOL.
I love how kind strangers can be. Like if your in that situation. I've done stuff like that, where I have told them about someone following me, and they told the guy to back off and they let me wander with them for a bit
1 love BNHA and MHA 2 good job
Nice idea I would've done the same! Although, I was cosplaying as Katsuki around my neighborhood just walking around with my cat in my cat pack and these teenage boys that were probably about 14 to 15 years old came up to me and just stared at me and one of them said "What the heck? Why does your hair look like that? It looks stupid. You should see a hairdresser." And then I was just thinking that since i'm cosplaying as Katsuki... I can act like him! Yessssss! So then I just told him "Oi! What makes you think you can talk to me like that?" And he just said "Geez dude chill!" "How am I supposed to be chill shitty hair?" And after that small *ahem* conversation, my cat started growling in a way that sort of told me that she wanted to go and escape these peoples. So, I pushed through them and flipped them off. And then I just "stormed" off. After that, I felt goooood.
And... That's my glorious story. But to tell the truth, I wish that I had someone also cosplaying as Izuku or possibly Uraraka. ☺
last weekend at a con my friend and i were sitting on the floor and i was eating (we were both in cosplay btw) and this girl walked up and took out her camera and said "this might be an awkward picture because you guys are eating..." and then just took our picture without asking...like girl there's a whole chicken tender in my mouth right now and my lipstick is smudging do i look like i'm ready to have my picture taken out of nowhere
Yeah, it’s already pretty rude to interrupt someone’s meal but to go ahead and take a photo anyway? Yikes. Just don’t bother people when they’re eating!
Why is this so funny????
Jeebus crispies, I can't understand people like this.
Sarah Cleary the sad thing is this is my dad in a nutshell (he always take pics without telling me and when I realize I just have to awkwardly smile)
I am a dude and have had creepy things happen to me at a con. I was in a Klingon costume and this dude would not leave me alone. He had been following me around for over an hour, and at this point I began to realize he might be trying to figure out how to get me in his van. He caught up with me again later as I was waiting in line to get a signature and he was just... crazy. I tried being polite at first but he got past my southern hospitality. This beautiful young woman in line next to me came up and put her arm around me and and looked at him and said, "Leave my boyfriend alone." He starred for a minute and she said "GO NOW". He left and she said, "sorry he was being too much." Then she reached out and shook my hand and said "Hi I'm Linda." She was my hero that day. So many creeps out there I am often afraid to ask for photos of cool cosplayers as I don't want to be mistaken for, Mr. Creepy.
Go Linda!
Love people like Linda! There’s so many stories out there where people like her save cosplayers from creeps. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for pictures, as long as you’re polite and you ask before you do something, they’d be more than happy to take a picture with you
Awww, that lady was so sweet! So sorry that happened to you
Wait what do you mean get you in his van? Was he trying to kidnap you??
YEA LINDA! Linda just be here break ngl the stereotypes
Don’t do things without consent at a con or I’ll break your nico-nico-nii-caps
Omg yes preach!
This is beautiful
Yessir.
welp...
lol
As someone who tends to cosplay Deadpool, if I ever saw a person pulling any of this creepy shit (thankfully I haven't yet), I'd take a note outta your book from being in character and call them out... As loudly and obnoxiously as possible.
10/10 This is how to be a great in character Deadpool
This is great
I dress as Harley Quinn and as Female-Deadpool and I have called people out for being creeps a few times both inside and outside the convention building the con is held in.
I think you are my new favorite person ever
I can picture that happening
I cannot stress enough how well stated this is. As someone who works security for conventions, if anyone is bothering you, making you feel uncomfortable, harassing you, etc, please do not feel scared/bad for getting security involved. It is our job to make sure every con goer is safe and has a good time. If there's a creep bothering you, they're probably going to bother someone else. So whether you experience it yourself or see someone else going through these experiences, do not hesitate to get security involved.
Thank you so much! I'm so glad that someone who works security spoke up about this. Seriously. I've had people tell me they don't want to go to security and I just say 'why not'!?! It's not hurting anything and it'll make you feel better and they'll make this creep go away for sure. And stop harassing others after you. That's such a good point!
I've realized after going to a few cons that security isn't supposed to intimidate you, they're there to help you, and honestly all of the security I've met are so sweet to the cosplayers
Jovi Brynn Ye! They’re supposed to intimidate the creeps and make you feel safe!
Me and my bf were cosplaying as danganronpa characters and someone ask for a photo with me (I was cosplaying as a female character named kaede) he lifted my skirt my bf (Shuichi cosplayer) slapped them grabbed my hand and we walked away I was still flustered and after this dude was following us for like five minutes my bf said "look just leave us alone we will call security."
I love bf to death and they're always there from me and basically a fraction of adults are perverts
They’re?
@@Kidicaruslover I guess she meant "best friends"
Im starting to cosplay kokichi (im a male with a feminine body) and im so scared that if i dont have a best friend who will pretend to be my gf or bf im going to get talked to by some creep ;-; because my cosplay is a little tight because its not kokichis outfit cause i dont have the money and its like a pastel kokichi
YASSS A FELLOW DANGANRONPA FAN!!!
He's a keeper UwU
If you're hesitant about going to security because you feel like you're bothering them remember it's literally their job to help you! That is why they are there! Please talk to them even if it seems like a minor problem. It's not minor if you're uncomfortable at all, that shows that its a problem
my friend was actually security shot out to Robbie
Since I've been going to cons I got more confident in asking people for help, I realize that if I don't feel okay I need to tell someone. Going to cons has helped me so so much
I actually have to tell people not to touch my costume at home 😂. I leave my cosplay on the dress form and guest try to poke at the embroidery, touch the gems... I threatened to break fingers several times.
Erynur Gwathren not the gems!!!
lol that sounds like something i would do
Good practice for when someone tries to manhandle you at Con. 😋
for me, it's the wigs lol. like I did not spend a good 3 hours straightening, clipping up, and styling that wig for you mess with ittt
Imagine a Junko saying
“EHh, STOP TOUCHING ME YOU CREEPO”
HAHAHAHAHA-
That would be me 100%
YES if i go to a next con im gonna be junko and say everything in her voice if it has to do with creeps lmak
I WAS JUST IMAGINING THAT AHSBNDVGSB
LMAO YESSSSSS
For people still worried, seriously don't be afraid to tell someone!! My friends and I were drinking at a con, totally buzzed, and this girl randomly came up to us and started making convo. We were confused at first until she requested to stay with us until her friend arrived, and mentioned quietly that some guy kept trying to touch her and give her drinks. We became hawks and waited an hour and an half just to ensure her friend came, it was her friend, and she was safe!! She apologized so much but we were even willing to walk her to her friend ourselves!! She thanked us so much, but we would do it for anyone in trouble no matter their reasoning. Stay safe, esp during cons!
Also I held, one child, with one of my original cons. Never again. Never force your child into a stranger's arms.
I think it's kind of weird to just go like "here ur costume is so good hold my child I'm taking a photo rn smile" and not ask "Hi. My kid really likes your costume and I wanted to know if I could get a photo of you two together?" And wait for an answer. I personally wouldn't want to be asked to hold a child but a photo of us standing together should do just fine if your kids such a big fan. Some parents are kind of weird and need to learn their boundaries.
lol i saw hawks and i was like you cosplayed as hawks!? (from MHA\BNHA)
Person: *tries take gross picture of me*
Me: *takes picture of them to assert dominance*
y e s
outstanding move
Danganronpa fandom is here-
Y e s
nagito :D
oh my god the amount of creeps I had at my first con, I was 15, I will admit I looked older than 15 but this creep came up to me and said my cosplay was good ect ect the usual con chatter, and then he looks at my chest and inside i was like 'oh no oh no' alarm bells, cause my boyfriends talking to someone else and my boyfriends little sister (not that she could say anything being 12) was looking at a stall. I hastily end the conversation, but as he passed me he touched my chest and played off the i didn't realise id done it. Later on I saw him talking to a rapunzel cosplayer, and i couldn't hold it in I had to tell her that he was a creep because I was honestly so mortified.
Noctuary I’m so sorry you had to go through that.
oh hun, Im so sorry this happened
The part about the video interviews though. Once I was approached by a guy who was vlogging while I was in my Ouat Evil Queen Costume. He told me he was going around the convention asking characters what their special powers were. I found the video after the con and my bit of the footage had been used in his intro; my voice was cut off and replaced by a voice over of him making a joke about trying not to stare at my boobs.
Luckily I sent him a message about how uncomfortable it made me to have a video of myself used for a crude joke on the internet and he took that part down.
That's very nice of that guy to take your part out!
Yeah, despite him being a self proclaimed convention troll, I'm glad that he was mature and nice enough to handle it like he did
What a nice but also kinda rude guy
I had a lady who took photos of me when I was facing off against Kylo Ren when I was cosplaying 11 from stranger things without asking because it was a moment she didn't want to miss but she asked politely afterwards if she could keep the photos. The Kylo and I were pretty happy that she asked even though we didn't mind that she took them but it later bothered me that others didn't ask like she did.
I hate spycam photos, my friend and I shouted at so many people for it.
El vs kylo Ren?! that sounds like a cool photo....
your like the mom of cosplay and conventions teaching her children stranger danger lol. I wanted to watch this because it is going to be my first Convention coming this march :D thank you for teaching me how to deal with creeps :D
Abby Bell did you enjoy it?
Con horror stories: I was cosplaying as princess leia (battle of endor) and someone ended up following me to the parking lot where I was going to meet my mom and step dad. I didn't realized he was following me about halfway through the day . At that point I went with my mom to go grab some lunch while my dad when to wait in a line for an autograph. And this creeper followed us to lunch . When be got back we told security ,but I was still scared to go out on my own to find my friends for a little bit after. Apparently that guy was had lots of complaint over the past few days .
On the hold a baby thing: I've heard cosplayers say "I'm... a bit clumsy, hehe." And then put a very apologetic and shy face. Usually parents laugh and nod in an understandting way and hold the baby themselves. XP
Imagine if one of the parents replied “that’s okay” and shoved the baby j to your arms anyways. I would have dropped the baby lol 👶
Okay so I won’t make this guy who followed me take all the heat for it but here’s a lil story:
So back when MeMeMe was still pretty popular, I cosplayed MeMe-Chan at my local convention. I had a lot of interesting run in’s from that weekend.
So the hotel had a pretty nice restaurant, and my friends and I were all standing in line, waiting to be seated when this guy comes up to us and begins praising my cosplay. I was actually pretty flattered. We were talking for a bit and I don’t remember what of, but I do recall how often he praised me for looking really good in my cosplay. He leaves after maybe ten minutes because half of my friends were envious of me and the other half were just annoyed that he was with us.
So next day, still wearing MeMe-Chan, I’m with just two friends when we run into him again in the hall. We have our happy little reunion and I mention that we’re headed to a café in the convention center and he tags along. It’s worth noting that I never openly invited him with, but I wasn’t against it either.
So we’re at the café and I’m having a good time with my friends while he just sits next to me, probably staring at my ass. We leave and we’re all a little surprised that he’s still following us around. It might be partly on me for focusing on my friends, but he stopped talking to us. He was just going with us wherever we went.
This went on for maybe two hours and by then, my friends and I were uncomfortable and wanted him to leave us alone. Someone got the idea to go into the bathroom and just wait for him to leave, which would have been a good plan if he had left after ten minutes or so, but no. This man waited outside the bathroom for about 45 minutes, and only finally left because he had a panel.
That whole thing just went downhill so fast. Yikes.
"Y'know, they were insulting but trying to be funny..." That one made me physically cringe
These is really terrific advice! Here are some extra things I thought might be good to add:
- Never go to a photoshoot alone!! Unless the photographer is a close friend who you trust, always bring someone with you in case the photographer gets creepy. If you can't, make sure the shoot is in a public place with people around who you can ask for help if needed.
- If you need to walk up to people you don't know and they're not in costume, ask for directions/about the convention/general talk until you have a chance to tell them you just needed to get away from a creepy person. Some people react really badly to being called creepy, so it's not always a good idea to say that in front of someone who's harassing you.
- If I see people taking photos without asking and I'm close enough, I tell them that asking first will get them a better photo.
All very good points. Thank you
Like Axceleration said, all very good points. Everyone should do this.
My brother is a photographer so if I needed professional photos taken of me in cosplay! I could just ask my brother! All of those tips are VERY true though! People need to stay safe
the photographer point is a great idea. my first convention i went to alone, i got photos taken at the end of a convention by a photographer. and then at the next convention i went to, a year later, the same character but a better cosplay, the same photographer asked to take photos at the end of the convention. we were outside, but still in public. he told me that he remembered me from last convention, and asked for my facebook to send me the photos (i never got them btw). we were talking about doing a free photoshoot on another day and he asked for my phone number. i got really uncomfortable and said i don't give it out to people, i think he still persisted and i said that i'm not allowed to and said my mum was calling me and i had to go.
@@hopper_22 Must be pretty cool to have your own personal photographer!
I totally get that the natural instinct is to put your arm around someone for a photo but if it's a complete stranger in any situation you 100% should ask if it's okay to do. I don't understand why that's not something people do at cons.
to avoid this I just do 2 peace signs
How would you ask?
@@gabrielguzman6018 - "do you mind if i pose with my arm around you?"
- "can i put my arm around you for the photo?"
- "is it okay if i put my arm on your shoulder?"
say stuff like that
I always ask if its ok for them if i wrap my arm around there shoulder
about a year ago I was crossplaying as Victor Nikiforov from Yuri on Ice and I had someone ask me if I could kiss their hand. It made me super uncomfortable. I'm not a touchy person and I'm also really introverted so I just stood there and panicked. They caught on that I was uncomfortable and said never mind, but I wish I had seen this video before that happened. at a different con, I was cosplaying Rapunzel and I was being followed so I went up to a Spiderman cosplayer and he immediately helped me out with the situation, so people are definitely willing to help. I feel a whole lot more comfortable and confident in dealing with creeps after seeing this video.
Great tips! I'm a huggy kind of person so someone putting their arm around me doesn't bother me, but I can see how it would bother other people. As for security, it is literally their job to make sure cons and con goers are safe so no one should feel bad about going to them to help with a creeper.
It sucks this video needs to exist, but we'll done for doing it.
I come from a sport where everyone is very friendly and hugging everyone so I wouldn't have thought anything of putting my arm round someone I was getting a selfie with. After watching this I won't assume, I'll ask and won't find it odd if they say no. Thanks for pointing it out.
Thank you. And that's completely fine. I understand a lot of times when someone puts their hand around me is not meant to be creepy, it's just natural for a lot of people. I just never want to be touched. Other cosplayers are totally fine with it. So it's always best to ask.
I was with my friends in a group (we were all cosplaying ddlc characters and I was Monika ye) and this one old guy stood behind one of my friends and tried to get a up skirt shot. I turned around and slapped him hard enough that my hand was red, and when she noticed all my friends charged at him lmao. He eventually got kicked out because we told security. Turns out he did this to many other girls and I’m pretty sure he’s in jail now :/. I don’t regret anything.
Thank you, it's people like you, who keep the cosplay community safer, but unfortunately, there's so many perverts. You did the right thing.
Buffsukiiiiiiii
He deserves the slap
I'm glad you stood up to yourself and your friends. I am planning on cosplaying Veeva Dash (from Stampy's Lovely World, a minecraft series) and if I see anyone creeps I will threaten to throw posion at them and then I'll kick them in the nuts/breast.
Nothing like a bunch of girls in a literature club beating up perverts!
I always get guys hitting on me on cons and even though they're not neccesarily creepy about it, alot of them can't take a hint and I sometimes have a hard time shaking them off. But last time I went with my older brother and NO ONE approached me.....until my brother went to the bathroom and then they suddenly appeared. So sadly, the most effective creep-repeller for me is bringing a guy:/ which is just a shame.
Also, I don't like hugging strangers. Alot of people ask for hugs but even i I turn them down nicely, some people get so offended:(
It's good advice but unfortunately even bringing a guy with you doesn't work. I was harrassed when I was with my 6ft athletic dad, and another time when I was with a bunch of my guy friends, who didn't even noticed that I was being harassed until I told those creeps to back the hell off.
@@rx500androidHow many creeps are at comic con? It seems like a lot.. :(
I recently just did my first cosplay at Anime Expo this year. I was cosplaying a Genderbent Todoroki and a few guy’s had come up to me wanting a photo. I didn’t really think much of it so I said yes. Since I was completely without experience I didn’t really know what to do when they put their arm around me or pulled me closer. I just kind of awkwardly smiled and posed with my free arm... next time I’ll try some of these great tips xDDDD
I went in my first ever cosplay as Kurome from Akame Ga Kill and a group of dudes approached me. Like you, I didn't know what was going on so I agreed and they made me pose and stuff which made me quite uncomfortable, but I don't think they had any bad intentions. It was really awkward though...
Ooh same here. My first cosplay was Celty from Durarara and I've had a butt load of guys trying to take pictures of me. It was awkward because I wasn't used to attention and being in front of cameras, not to mention the side comments and the poses that they would ask me to do. It was still fun though.
If someone touches you, give them a cold stare and say: ” Do not touch me.” In a deeper voice (if you can) ok I don’t think this will work but just came in mind
Just be like: * coooollldddd sssstttaaarreeee * * in a really deep voice * "DON'T TOUCH MEH"
in deep voice*: don't touch me. seriously don't, I dropped my costume in a public toilet this morning.
I had my first awkward encounter last weekend. I say awkward rather than creepy in this case because I believe this person falls into the lacking social skills category. I had interacted with him somewhat last year while in crossplay at a local cosplayers gathering, and got the sense that he was kind of in his own world, and I don’t think he had an interest in the character I was. Well this past weekend I was on my way to the contest prejudging dressed as a female villain from Sailor Moon that he recognized, as he called me over by my character name. He asked for a photo with me and I said yes and posed. Then he took a minute to pull the hood of his cosplay on. While I was holding my pose, suddenly he threw his arms around me in a full on forceful glomp hug, and squashed his cheek into my cheek. Mind you I spent 3 hours painting my face green and doing my makeup, so 1. I was freaking out because I didn’t want my face paint smeared off right before judging and 2. I don’t want people I don’t know forcefully hugging me! WTF And I’m mostly mad at myself in hindsight because while I tried to pull away from him (and he didn’t get the hint), I was afraid to be rude to someone if they have a social disorder. I froze and didn’t know what to say. Once the picture was taken he let go and all I could say was “hey watch out or you’ll end up with a green costume from touching me!” Then at the very end of the day, he saw me again and made a gesture like he was going to shake my hand, but he ended up kissing my hand instead (which was also painted), and once again all I could manage to say was “Hey you’re going to end up with green lips you know!” 😫 I’m sure I will see him again at other local events, so I’m definitely going to talk to him about it next time.
Were you dressed as An, by chance? If you don't mind me asking.
I was very much like you when i was grabbed for a photo. I didnt want to be rude and kept telling myself its just a picture and its harmless and makes this person happy and even if I dont like it, I can suck it up to give this creepy dude something nice that he probs doesnt get ever.... But.. I ended up,crying about it later. I dont ever want to make myself,uncomfortable for someone else like that again.
@@LaPetiteMorteRisin LOL that sounds sketchy.
You should make a convention horror story video about the worst experiences you've had at cons 😱
Lol. I might make one. But to be totally honest I don't have that many horror stories. I'm very lucky I guess
yass
If anyone tried being a creep, I'd pull the "I'm under 18" card. That should scare them off.
True, but some people don’t care.
Unless they are creepy creep creeps who hit on minors. Be careful of them.
I'd suggest, hitting the road, to security instead. Some creeps don't care about age, they're just- well, creeps
Im a guy who has a kinda feminine body and a minor and some people seriously dont care, i would recommend going up to someone and say whats happening quietly, most people will help
Some people even find the underage thing encouraging. Never say that to a person if you're alone, even if they seem chill.
At my third con, I was cosplaying for the first time(Lucy Heartfilia) and was asked by so many people to take my picture. I was completely absorbed by all the attention that I didn't realize that there were a couple of dudes that kept letting their hands get really low on my waist. Both of them were wearing those mouth and nose masks and they took turns taking pictures with me - at different times. The first man asked for a picture, then a few minutes later his friend came up and asked for a picture, then a few more minutes Guy 1, then Guy 2, Guy 1, Guy 2, so on and so forth for about five more times. For some reason, I was wearing both stockings and biker shorts to keep people from sticking their hands under my skirt to cope a feel, so I couldn't really feel anything about where their hands were. But my mom was there and noticed it around the 4th time and told them to bring their hand up. I don't remember seeing them at any other day of the con...
There was another time when I was at a larger con with my mom(she loves them as much as me), and I left her upstairs to rest while I went through the Dealers Room. I met a guy along the way in a Skull Kid cosplay that wanted to take a picture with me, Fem!Loli!Link. I didn't think anything of it and let him, even getting his friend to take a picture with my phone as well. The friend very conveniently disappeared after giving my phone back... Skull Kid started following me around when I started to go back upstairs, talking with me about how much he loved the con, seemingly harmless stuff. But I needed food and my mom had bought a baked potato in the food court for me, so I didn't really feel like talking. I thought I lost him when he started arguing with the staff member that wouldn't let us up the escalator, but he realized I wasn't there and ran after me. He asked if I had eaten and that he knew a great place up the highway, or that he could get me something in the food court. I politely declined, telling him I already had something. He asked if I was alone and when I told him about my mom, he immediately clammed up. At the third floor, he noticed I had an orcarina(very plastic and cheap) and asked me to play something for him. I love showing off so I did. He then gave me his orcarina, that was at least $50. I tried to decline because there's no way I could accept that... But he wouldn't let me give it back. He then gave me his business card (after previously telling me that he made tons of money but couldn't tell me how because it was Top Secret) and left. He later found me on Instagram and tried talking to me, making my dad concerned he wanted 'something' in exchange for the orcarina, so I never answered him. He pops up at other cons I go to now and then, always after seeing that I'm there. It's gotten to the point I can't post pictures during cons, only after them. Maybe I'm over thinking things, but I kinda got a slight creep/stalker vibe from him....
Do you still have the ocarina?
Karmitara Girl this is nothing for a security guard anymore. Call the police and report him!!! There is no way feeling comfortable if you know he exist and does not stop stalking you! Since it's been a year, I hope you do well nowadays (?)
I think you might need to tell authorities cause this "top secret work" could very well be human trafficking. Hope everything's okay. Please be safe. If you see him again go straight to security please.
I've met so many creeps cosplaying Juvia... She's so much more covered than Lucy so that's a sign that the coverage of the costume doesn't matter.
Also I'm so sorry about the stalker situation. Hope it gets better ☹️☹️☹️
This whole comment section is just story times and I'm living for it.
"It does not matterr what you are wearing. It does not give people any right to treat you less if you are wearing a swimsuit than if you are wearing a burka. The way you are dressed does not give anyone the right to treat you differently." AMEN
I'm 12 and am going to my first cosplay convention next year and I am really excited!!! I am going as either InuYasha (from InuYasha) or Jiro (from Boku No Hero Academia)!
I hope you have fun! My sister’s first con was when she was about your age & she loved it! Be safe!
Have fun!
Oh noice I'm 13 and I'm going to my second convention this August cosplaying as Uraraka form BNHA UwU
I hope you'll have fun like I did at my first convention 😊😊
F
I hope you had fun! I'm also 12 and just started going to cons! They're amazing
Had someone taking inapproriate photo of me only two weeks ago. I was walking in a crowd at a local "comic" con, and a guy was walking around with a GoPro on a selfie stick obviously taking photos or filming the crowd. The friend I was with noticed that he took a photo/filmed me. Not only did he film/take photo of my face, but he also got a shot of my bum too.
I did not consent to having my bum have a photoshoot by a creep in a crowd with a GoPro camera. He did not ask me or anyone to take photos, and if he did, he probably would have gotten better pictures where I actually could have posed and tried my best to be in character.
Great video something not covered enough. As I take a group of young people to anime north this will come in handy when I give them our regular safety talk about what to do and not do at a con. This is something I will add to our safety talk. Thank You. Used this at Anime North and was a great success. Kids had fun and no one bothered them.
Sounds like a cool and fun thing to do
my favorite creeper story from a con is when I was 14 (I was cosplaying as Inara Sera and it was a MISTAKE) I was with my big sister and some guy was talking to me, I didn't know that he was trying to flirt because I was 14 and I was an innocent little bean. Well, my sister saw what was happening and said that we had to leave, and the dude said "she can do whatever she wants" and my sister looked him dead in the eye and said "no she can't, she's 14!" and the dude just walked away lol. I'm very lucky in that my friends and my sister are very protective of me haha.
When she said she had the best experiences with pre-teens made me so happy! I’m 11 and polite!🥺💕
So I have 0 capability of reading social cues and all that stuff, what are red flags (besides following and unwanted touching) that someone is being creepy and not just awkward/overly friendly?
It's honestly just about how you feel. If you don't feel comfortable then take steps to remove your self from that situation (wether the offender is being creepy or just awkward) what matters most is that you feel safe and comfortable.
SmolSleepRoyal it would depend on the situation but if they try to get you to do things like go with them somewhere, try to get you to do a pose you aren't comfortable with or try to get close to you physically when you dont want them to and have made that clear AND especially if the are very persistent I would say that would be a major red flag for me. If they also try to get information out of you very quickly after you've just met that would be a red flag too. Not so much if they just ask for your Instagram because that's fairly normal but if they are asking for your number and personal Facebook profile that could indicate they are being a creeper. I personally am careful with my more personal information in the first place and don't tend to give it to people (even if they don't seem to creepy) as my friends have had bad experiences with giving that stuff out to soon.
This question reminds me of an autistic friend of mine who always worries that she's going to be both sides. Best thing there is direct statements. She won't notice you're uncomfortable unless you tell her and she doesn't know how to broach the subject. In her case, this method works wonderfully. She won't get offended if you directly tell her she's creeping. As far as trying to pick up on when someone is uncomfortable with you, most people will shirk away when they are uncomfortable. They'll avoid eye contact if not physically try to turn away from you.
I remember being a kid and thinking that cosplayers were the cool people and they were like my hero’s. Now when kids and other people my age come up to me, it makes me really happy! ^^
The people that disliked this are the people who do the things she's talking about 👀
98 creeps-
this is not ok
@@miru7223 112 um-
Great video, thank you so much for sharing your experiences ❤️I will share this on my facebook right now! 💙
Thank you so much! Spread the word about safe con practices 💜💜
There is always creepy people no matter where you go...but I agree make sure you are vocal about how you are uncomfotable.some people just don't know boundaries!!
yes
PERIODT
I have a thing if I’m getting photos and someone is creepin, find a mom. Generally at the cons I’m at, everyone gets pictures in the same general area and people tend to come out to watch, and there’s usually a kid freaking out cause their favorite characters are living in front of them. My friends tend to go away when I’m getting pictures cause they don’t always cosplay, so I usually end up being alone. Been rescued by moms more than once.
As a mom, I can say to all. I will rescue you if you need help!
Go moms!😂
When I went to my first con I was just dressed in normal clothing (but I was wearing a d.va shirt and hoodie) but a guy came up to me and asked if I was a boy or a girl, and then when I say boy they respond with "oh, too bad. I wanted to take a picture" I just stand there in shock and me and my friend who is a girl and was cosplaying (I can't remember the name of the anime) she just stood there is shock too.
Normally, I cosplay male characters and I got used to the feeling at cons as being a "guy" but then I cosplayed a female character for the first time. Sailor Neptune from Sailor Moon. I was in a group cosplay and we had a photoshoot. After the shoot our group split up, many of my friends needing to go change cosplays or go meet with other friends. This left me temporarily alone, and so I started heading to find some other friends of mine to hang with, though I did so slowly as I stopped to ask people for pictures, or was stopped for pics.
I stopped to get some pics of some Star Wars cosplayers and that's when I noticed this guy standing off to the side, looking at me. I assumed he was waiting to ask for a pic. So I finish taking the pictures I had asked for and then bent down to put my camera back in my camera bag. This is when he approached. It started off normally enough, him asking about my cosplay, but then it turned creepy as he tried a bad pick-up line to get my phone number, which I declined AND told him I wasn't single. he then admitted that he had seen me hours before with my group of friends and had been following me around waiting for me to be alone so he could "work up the courage" to talk to me. and he started telling me about himself.
I finally got away from him and found my nearest friend who had a booth in the venders. I slipped into the booth and helped him out until Venders closed for the evening. On my way out to find my original group of friends again, the dude shows up at my side all "You never actually said no to giving me your number." so I gave him a more direct no rather than the polite one from earlier. He kept trying to get my number and then asked me up to his hotel room where there was a "hot tub" and "No swimsuit needed" and I just really could not shake this guy until a girl approached asking for a pic and I eagerly went with her to do the pic and i lost him in that, so I thanked her and explained to her the situation and she walked with me to find my friends who then took over and we went to the security desk to report him (In the first run-in with the guy he had told me he was working the con in the game room) He was promptly removed from the convention, and I was given a number to call should I see him again.
something I've learned from going at conventions is to always keep my phone out, because if someone was to harass me I can easily record them and show security
The last convention I went to (Ikkicon), my friend was a creepy version of Mabel Pines and I was Bill Cipher. A girl about our age politely asked for a photo, so we moved out of the way of a crowd and took some pictures. Right as that girl finished up, a full grown woman came up and tried to snap a picture without asking. Right as she was taking the picture I leaned over to grab my bag and my friend started to walk away. The woman looked EXTREMELY OFFENDED and CONFUSED that we messed up the picture, but she didn’t ask and didn’t have the right to take the photo! The younger girl was polite and asked for social media and stuff, but the woman wasn’t mature at all!
"Security. Friends. Make Friends." Would make an excellent tshirt!
I am one of the people that doesn't mind we others touch me in photos, mainly because I have not had a bad experience yet. But one bit of advice to keep people if they do touch you and you don't mind on the higher portion of your back is have your arm as a barrier. What I specifically do is if they go for a side hug sort of thing I make sure I do the same but have my arm be the lower one, when that happens you have a bit more control. Also I do have a bit of a "creeper" story, which I will keep short, I had just got to a con on the Saturday of the event and my boyfriend had to go use the bathroom once we got there. I was waiting for him outside the bathroom area and I had someone approach me for a picture, I was in Nocturnal from Skyrim so a very revealing cosplay, I told him yes and he asked if we could wait for his friend to take the picture, once again I said yes and I also gave him the option to have my boyfriend take it for us. He said he didn't want to do that be cause he had an expensive camera with him, which I understood. Yet once another guy came out this being the first red flag, which walked up from the bathroom, I had thought it was his friend, they didn't jump to take a picture. One of the guys asked me if I was even aloud to wear a revealing cosplay like that, in which I said yes cause the come had a bikini coverage rule. This was kinda asked in a weird tone so my answer came off kinda blunt. So, after that off putting question, I asked if we were going to take the picture. The first guy then says "Oh no, this isn't my friend." Which was the final thing that just kinda made me uncomfortable, lucky my boyfriend had just gotten out of the bathroom and was walking towards me. So I had told the guy that wanted the picture, "Sorry, I can't stay any longer. If you find me later in the day I will take one with you." and then proceed to grab my boyfriend and went to the other side of the con for a while, never seeing him again.
If you do interviews be carefull what you say, because even if you say good things they can make you look bad in the editing fase. Dont give them something to pull you down on.
Yes absolutely! And I could honestly do an entire video on video interviews....
How can I approach a group of people at a con with the intention of making friends without looking like a creep? I feel I have made people uncunfortable in the past but I never had any evil intent, I just want to meet new people who seem to have similar interests to mine. I'm not a bad man, just have poor social skills :(
That's a rough question. I'd say just feel free to be yourself and try socializing and taking with people at cons. If they feel like they have a common interest then they'll be friends with you. If not you'll both go your separate ways. Just be nice and you'll find new friends eventually
Thank you so much for this video. I watched it waaay before i went to my first con, and when i did a dude asked me if i wanted to be his sexslave and followed me everywhere i went. I gave him a harsh "no, youre making me uncomfortable", but that wasnt enough for him. Me and a friend went to security and my friend scolded him like a dissappointed grandparent.
I hate when people think it's okay to "compliment" my body while I'm in cosplay. Mate, is not okay to say those things to someone out of cosplay, why would it be okay to say them to someone in cosplay?
I've never been to a con but I hope to go to one in October! These tips are definitely going to help an introverted Minnesotan like me. Thanks Alex!
When you have you’re own bodyguard called *DAD*
I love this comment.
I always bring my dad with me to cons. It makes we feels much safer. ALWAYS bring a friend, parent, or guardian!
If I'm ever followed around by someone all day when in a Present Mic costume, oh boy I'd have a speaker in the directional speaker, I'd yell at them with a microphone as loud as possible. :)
XD yeah that's a good idea oh and btw I bet ur mic costume is really cool :)
Asking a group for help is good advice for almost every situation. I have gone up to a group of girls at a bar multiple times and said “this guy is being creepy”, “please pretend you know me”, or “that person is making me uncomfortable”, and I’ve never had anyone being anything but kind, understanding, and immediately pull me into their group. Women, especially, all know how it feels and won’t ever leave someone else hanging in that kind of situation.
I was in my Mikan Tsumiki cosplay, and some guy was clearly being creepy by talking to me and not, well, exactly making eye contact (if you catch my drift).
He asked me for a hug, and I simply shrugged and said “sorry, I don’t hug creepy old men.” and walked away. The look on his face? PRICELESS
ONE F MY FIRST CONS, i was cosplaying Monika (ddlc) when I was around 13 i caught a guy taking a picture up my skirt and I had an impulse and I slapped him and then quickly walked back to my group of friends
great video! when i was 11 i was at an anime festival cosplaying as hideri kanzaki from blend-s. This guy who looked about 25-30 y/o hugged me and was taking photos of me without consent and these random people came up and pretended to be my friends and got him to go away :)
Thank you for this video! I had a creepy older man (he was over 6 feet tall and overweight too) grab my hand while I was walking and ask me up to his hotel room when I was 19. (I'm 27 now.) At the time, I just walked away. Getting a picture is a great idea, and I think that would work for any of the situations you mentioned.
everyone says this but it seriously helps. WALK UP TO A COSPLAYER and act like you know them. im 14, and this has helped me multiple times! explain whats happening and they should understand!
I love vids of con safety! A lot of these examples you brought up had happened to either me or a friend at a con. Plus there are some I will be sure to remember next time I go to one. It's so sad that cons have to really stress the "cosplay is not consent" because it should be automatic.
4:19 I don’t understand how saying “it’s just for a photo” even matters. Like, even if you are just putting your arm around her for the photo YOU ARE STILL TOUCHING HER COSTUME!
Honestly, I don't know you as a youtuber, this is the first of your videos I've seen, and it turned out to be really helpful! I'm working on my first ever "serious" cosplay, but I've been to conventions before. Thank you for making this video
I went to a convention as Suzuya Juuzou and this guy came up to me dressed as dark Link. We had a little bit of a conversation and he was very sweet and a great cosplayer. We took our picture and at the very end of it he took an entire handful of my ass and then walked away. It was really upsetting, I spent the rest of the con piggybacking on my large scary male friend. Just because people seem really cool doesn’t mean they always are so be safe.
Could you give me some tips for cosplaying juuzou? Im going as them next month for anine and gaming con.
Sorry if this is bothering you
I've always wanted to cosplay as Juuzou. This kinda scares me though. I really think you should've reported them to security!
My best defense against creeps is to just dress as guys and make sure my gender isn't easily identifiable at first XD but it all seriousness this is all good advice. I would also add that from my own experience it is important to know who's just socially awkward and just doesn't know about boundaries vs real creeps who should be reported or even banned from cons. Conventions do have the draw for creeps as well as just nerdy people who are very socially awkward. I know I personally had an experience with this guy for a couple of cons who was a little creepy and didn't really understand boundaries to much. I didn't really think he was dangerous at all and that he was just very socially awkward and didn't know that you maybe shouldn't talk about your love for hentai when you first meet someone... I was always careful around this guy non the less and if he had gotten to a point of being to creepy I would confront him about it before going to security and only would go to them if he didn't leave us alone when asked to do so. I would feel bad if I ever got someone banned from a con if they truly weren't intending to make people uncomfortable and were just never told by the person that they made them feel uncomfortable. From my own experience it's always been these kinds of people I've encountered, I just try to be polite but still keep my distance from them and generally they will leave you alone once they finally get the message that you don't want to talk or hang out with them. There are a lot of people like this at cons who are just trying to make friends and will cling to the first person who was nice enough to talk to them and truly don't mean harm but I still don't feel very comfortable around them so I just try to keep them at arms length if I encounter them. But again if someone won't leave you alone or is taking pervy pics or doing something that makes you extremely uncomfortable they should be reported to the con staff.
Yes I totally understand what you're saying. But I also think most people can telling when someone is just socially awkward vs being a creep. At least I can. And you can always base how you want to deal with people on how uncomfortable they make you feel.
Axceleration yupyup! Luckily I haven't had to deal with extremly creepy people as of yet but I've heard many stories and watch videos like this to hopefully know how to react in the situation ^^
Put them by the trail by fire
To be honest I think cross dressing works. I dressed as Zelda to my first con and met some weird people, not creepy exactly but just weird. The next con I went to I dressed as Bakugo (a male character from My hero academia,) and zero creeps or uncomfortable people. All the interactions were awesome!! ( a Deku cosplayer ran up to me screaming KACHAN, but wasn't menacing at all. I rather enjoyed that actually.) I like to think it was because Bakugo isn't a very approachable looking person on his own, but the fact I could easily pass as a tall-ish boy may also be the case.
So...your stories are make me feel if I ever enter a con as a girl character I will end up in a van...but if I cosplay "bad boys"(don't know how to say better) no creeps will come for me.
I’m a young cosplayer, and I’m hoping people don’t think I’ll just grab at everything that people have since I’m going to my first convention soon. Also, this was very helpful!
I’ve had so many creeps “secretly” take my picture at cons. Drives me crazy
Also. Appreciated the non biased gender stereotyping :)
This is such an important topic! Thanks Ax for always making such educational videos! I'm defintley going to take your advice on the whole interview thing cause I just had my first one at the last con I was at and it was so weird.
I just saw this video and as someone who works in the security field. It is our job to deal with creeps,weirdos and aholes. So please get through the nervousness of talking to someone in security and just ask for help. You never know who's following you and how crazy they might be best to be safe. All of your tips are really good
"If you're an introvert and don't really like confronting people, slap them. *I mean you're gonna have an issue."*
This video is the EXACT reason I make sure to talk to the vendors at my local cons. In my area every con basically has the same vendors. By talking to the vendors, I make myself a bit more memorable to them (I'm already pretty much on a first name basis too because I'm an artist and my studio helped start one of the cons that I go to every year). I do this so that even if I'm attending a convention by myself, I at least know some of the vendors and can go to them for help.
That's a really good suggestion!
When I was just out of high school and there was this big Halloween party at this local comic book store about an hour away, I dressed up as a female Danny Phantom. And as you can image, the suit I was wearing was skin tight. I actually think it was just a morph suit I repurposed to look like Danny's suit, if I remember correctly. But yeah, it showed everything. At the time I was just starting to get my curves, and it was around that time that I figured out I have a small chest and wide hips (which layer made for an accurate Tinkerbell cosplay).
That night I had no less than seven guys either touch my butt or try to touch my butt. I mean, yeah, it was there, and nobody can stop you from looking, but I was so fed up at the end of the night that I almost called the police. But then I'd have no proof that anything had happened. Even the dudes running the store wouldn't do anything to help me, and one of them replied with "You wore that here, you're the one that was looking for attention."
I was pissed off.
Needless to say, I've found other means to shop for comics and other such things.
Also, I'm pretty sure there were photos taken of me.
whoever said "YoU wOrE tHaT hErE, yOu'Re ThE oNe ThAt wAs LoOkInG fOr AtTeNtIoN" is actually very stupid, like, you were just trying to wear a costume, and if you really wanted attention then you wouldn't wear your costume (sorry if I'm saying costume)
@@Ray-tt1ye Exactly! They were obviously there to have fun and look cool, not attracted creeps!
This is giving me confidence to ask for help and even help people who are going through this! You're like a cosplay senpai/mom who gives us advice.
Wish I watched this since I've had creeps when I did a Sugar (video game called OFF) and Fem! Dave (Homestuck) cosplay for different conventions. It's mostly them following me until someone like a seller/vendor or other cosplayers (bless them) asks me if I know them until I asked the security about the creeps
this one time i. was at comic con, it was great. it was my first con, my friend and i where dressed as monokuma and junko. we walked around for a while and a guy asked for a pic. me and my friend said yes. we posed and he took it. no biggie. (keep in mind we where like 11) then he proceded to show us nsfw ship art that he got commisned. (toko x makoto) we walked away, weirded out. my friend was also there the day before. she told me "yeah i saw him yesterday he asked me for a picture" we caught him staring at us.
You make a really good point, people have to speak up call others out if they're being made to feel uncomfortable. You shouldn't be afraid to ask people to stop bothering you or feel bad about/apologize for it, that's definitely something I need to work on.
Once, my friend went as Hinata Hyūga and this one guy was cosplaying Naruto, and he kept following us and finding us as we went around the con. It’s was hella creepy and he tried to ask her to marry him. We kinda just ran
I swear cons need a signal for creeps, like an obvious but not obvious one. Like bars have specific orders that get people out of a situation immediately, cons need that.
"One two three, a b c" I made up my own version. One two three, a b c, get the creeps away from me XD
Wow! Amazingly well said.
I have had a not really comfortable experience too(uhh how do I put it, it kinda more of a weird feeling lol)
I'm at con one time with my friend, I'm cosplay as ciel from kuroshitsuji. we were taking the escalator from 2nd to 1st floor when I heard someone was filming something (I still don't know to this day) for I don't know what at the bottom of escalator, I didn't care much because it's non of my business, but I heard they said something along a line of "let interview this girl" and then I got pull to the side where they're filming and then they ask me if it's ok to interview me, I was like 14 at that time and was shocked by being pulled to the side where they're still filming (camera is still filming, like they literally filming me being pulled from a crowd) so, I nodded (bad decision, really) it's not bad but it does scare me, it does make me scare when I see someone filming at con. I know that they're probably don't mean no harm, but really, don't do this to anyone especially if you don't know them and just pulled them from a crowd like you picking a fruit.
sorry for my eng and I might be a little bit too sensitive because I'm an introvert maybe it's not that scary but it does for an introvert like me lol.
edit: my friend were watching but they think it's not harmful to me so they just watch me interviewing from a far(they don't even realize that I got pulled out for a sec cause of a crowd and I walk behind them) I'm not blaming them thou, they don't know what to do too actually lol.
These are awesome tips! I totally understand the part about not wanting to flip off the camera. I’m in college to be a teacher, but I love cosplay. Schools in America can actually look at things you’ve posted, and teachers could get in trouble for things like that.
As a private security guard I have come across as creepy at several events as I am following a individual and keeping my eyes on my client and also scanning the crowd around. I have lost track of the number of times uniformed security have come up to me asking me what I am doing as strangers thought I was out of line with my actions. But I also keep my eye out for cosplayers that are looking uncomfortable with individuals that are confronting them and I will usually step up to them and ask them if they would like an escort to security. It helps that I am 6’2” and 250 and dress in suits not costume.
Thank you. This is good advice in many situations, not just cons. If the answer is "NO", then just say it, politely if possible, and if they don't listen then say it louder and let others hear. The old saying is, "If you can't say no, then you can't say yes."
Telling Security isn't going to get someone arrested, just talked to. However, if this has been an ongoing problem with this person, Security needs to know there is another complaint.
P.S. I didn't plan on watching the whole thing, but it was so good.
Thank you again. :)
I was walking down artist ally and I heard a guy talking to his friends say,”All the people in spandex come here” I gave my friend a weird look because it was my first con and she just looked back and shrugged
re-watching this video because it popped up in my recommended, but I used some of this advice at SDCC this year when a guy stopped me in the exhibit hall (he was wearing the gender bent version of the character I was cosplaying that day), and was like talking AT me instead of actually trying to have a conversation, and he kept stepping closer and closer to me and at one point he grabbed my arm (in what I'm assuming was an attempt to flirt?), and eventually he asked me if I was going to any of the parties and if we could meet up at one (and I'm 17 years old so like I wasn't planning on going to any of these parties, but also I still see myself as a literal child (and legally I am), so I tried turning my badge around to show the little j for junior on it, but he didn't seem to notice). So I'm looking around and clearly uncomfortable and just trying to find a way out of the situation, and I text my brother "call me" and right before my brother calls me the guy goes, "Oh, are you looking for someone?" and I was like "yeah hahah I'm just trying to find my brother" and the timing was perfect because right as I said that my brother called and I played it off as a "speak of the devil" thing. So I answer the phone and my brother is like "hey what's up?" and i just go "Hey! Oh youre over there? Okay, I'll head over there right now," and I'm slowly taking steps away from this guy, and he just goes "okay well it was nice talking to you, maybe I'll come find you later," and just went "haha maybe" and booked it literally halfway across the exhibit hall before exiting. And then my brother was like, "okay well I'm heading back that way so come find me for real this time" and while I was looking for him so that I could avoid any more people trying to talk to me (because I was honestly a little shaken), I saw you and met you and that really calmed my nerves. SO uh thank you for saving my Thursday at SDCC 2018 hahah
I generally walk around with my brother and a friend or two(sometimes the whole family bc why not ) who generally aren't in cosplay so i generally find it better to have a trustworthy older friend/family member around. Personally I've never had a creep encounter but I dont really cosplay over-sexualised characters or characters with revealing outfits or anything
Is it weird that I find her personality kind of adorable and refreshing?
I'm supposed to be asleep but then you posted
I needed this! Last ECCC I was approached by a lot of men who wanted my photo but didn’t know who my character was and it was honestly scary because I’m a minor.