Genderswap = When a female character is portrayed as a male character or a male character as a female character. This also includes things like genderneutral characters, though those are less common. Genderswapping is common in fan art and other fan projects of anime or game characters. It gives the creator of the fan project a certain freedom to try out things with a character, but it also lets you play with characters in a different context. Genderswapping can be used poorly, in ways that harm transgender or crossdressing and other gender non-conforming people, but that's not always the case. I've mostly seen it done in ways that aren't meant to harm people. I've not done it myself, I've got enough on my gender plate, but I've got lots of friends who have done it. Including Jason's genderswapped version of Athena from the Destruction of Elysium anime.

Jason lifts my hair up as I clip in another extension, so many of them. Sometimes it would be so much easier if I'd just wear wigs, but they're uncomfortable when it's hot, especially when you have long hair that you have to hide under it. I don't like it. So, instead, I get to do a lot of work with extensions and other things to make my hair look longer and bigger, and to get it to stay in the shape that it has to be. Luckily, cosplaying Sakura from Magical Princess Club means that I can let my hair flow mostly. It just needs to be poofy, a lot of poofy. When you have to do this with pigtails and things like that... Sometimes my head really hurts at the end of the day. But I do it all to make the best cosplay that I can.

I sigh, moving my shoulders and neck. We've been getting changed for the last hour, luckily these are the final steps, just the hair and then touching up on the makeup.

"Already regretting this choice?" Jason laughs, then he sits down on the other bed. "You could have gone for something a little less... extravagant, you know?"

I shake my head, grinning. "You know that at the next convention, there are going to be fifty Sakuras. I just have to make sure I'm the first, or, you know, one of the first."

Jason lets out a short laugh. "Right. Remind me again why I let you do this to me each year? You make the clothes, but I have to do all the makeup and hair and stuff."

"Because you know that it will be awesome?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"True. And you'll win the cosplay contest, easily." He stands up again, grabbing his makeup box. "Okay. Let me just fix the makeup and we can go, right?"

I check the time. "Yeah. The doors opened like... twenty minutes ago."

Jason shrugs. "That's called fashionably late."

"No, that's called late because of fashion." I laugh. We had a small costume problem this morning and I had to fix the hem of Jason's skirt over breakfast. It seems that it had been ripped when he packed or something. I don't know. I never understand how he rips and breaks things so easily.

"Fine." He opens the box. "Sit still, this won't take long."

I close my eyes, taking slow breaths. This is the perfect moment to try and relax a little. To try to not be as overwhelmed as I really feel. This is my third year attending AmAnime, and every year has been more crazy and more amazing in equal amounts. A few weeks ago I was at a friend's birthday and the way they looked at some of my cosplays reminded me that what I see here around me is special, that what we do isn't just something boring, it's magic.

I sometimes forget that. I get so wrapped up in everything, in the competitiveness, in the comparing, that I forget that this isn't about that, this is about getting dressed up, about portraying our favourite characters.

It was a good reminder, one which I really needed at the time.

And today, I get to do exactly that, I get to be here, play Sakura and all the things that come with that.

It's going to be awesome, like always.

***

The first person staring at me started when we were still walking down the hallway from our room to the elevators. The girl got a huge smile on her face and she grinned as she waved at us. I waved back, always happy to greet people who get happy seeing me like this.

We had to wait for a second elevator, as the first one was already full and I wouldn't have fit in with my dress. One of our friends, Kevin, was in it though, and greeted us, giving me a big thumbs up.

The second one wasn't as full, luckily.

Jason keeps his hand on my arm, trying to make sure I don't fall over when the elevator starts or stops. It feels good, safe. I know that he won't drop me, at least not if he can prevent it.

When the doors open, Kevin and Ruby are already waiting for us.

Ruby gasps like he's in a theatre play and has to convince the people in the back of the audience of his surprise. Although, I'm not entirely sure that that isn't what he's trying to do anyway. You never know with him. "I saw the pics you posted. But this..." He shakes his head. Then he makes a twirling motion with his hand. "Show me."

I turn slowly, showing the dress off. Getting all the lace in the right locations and making sure that the dress wouldn't sag or hurt my hips like crazy wasn't easy, but I'm really proud of the results.

"Best one you've done yet?" Ruby comes closer. "Do you think?"

"Probably." I nod. "And not too common yet. I hope." I grin.

"You never know." He smiles.

"You matched with Kevin for the day?" I look between them both.

"That was a total accident." Kevin shrugs. They're both cosplaying the same character, Violet from Violet Evergarden, but Ruby is wearing a cosplay of the original design and Kevin is wearing a genderswapped version. "It wasn't planned, but I guess it works out anyway." He looks out over the group of people waiting to get into the event halls. "I guess we should start getting in line."

I take his arm. "I think I can do that, with a handsome soldier at my arm."

"What about me?" Ruby play-pouts.

"Of course." I grin. "Wouldn't leave you alone." I hook my arm through his too.

"Okay." Jason grins. "Just... stay like that for a moment. This needs a picture." He takes a couple of steps back and digs his phone out of the top of his dress, then he takes a couple of pictures of us.

The next moment, five more people have joined him, taking pictures of us and I keep smiling. This is normal, this is what you get when you cosplay, especially when you stand out like we do.

Kevin lets my arm go, instead sliding his arm around my waist and I lean back against him. There are more people taking pictures now, and a couple of girls grinning like crazy. It has to look cute, my dress is mostly pinks and whites, and Kevin's outfit is mostly a dark green. He looks very handsome and I do feel a little like a princess in his arms.

When this has gone on long enough, I stand back up normally and Kevin lets me go. "I can do more pictures later, but I'd really like to get in line now." I smile at the people around us and then we make our way to the line. And, sure enough, more people start taking pictures of us as we pass. I'm used to it, I keep smiling and waving at people, showing my best smile.

The line takes a while, but that's okay. As we're waiting, more of our friends start joining us and when we reach the entrance of the halls, we've grown to quite a sizable group of people. Most of us are in cosplay, though some are only dressed up, and we have one photographer, Justin, who is in plain black clothes.

This group has been together for years, though I only started going with them to conventions about two years ago. But when it comes to people I trust, people I really care about, they're on top of the list. I don't know what I'd be like, what these last years would have been like, if it wasn't for them. Them, and Jason of course.

I smile. I can't help this happy feeling inside as I look around the convention hall. "I think I need to be at the back of the hall, near the stage, to sign up for the cosplay competition."

"Well, let's go there first, then." Kevin starts walking, pulling me along. "I think more of us need to be there." He grins, his eyes sparkling. "Let's crush this competition. Again. It's tradition." He looks back. "We can't break the streak."

"No. We can't." I grin too. Our group has won most of the spots in the competition four years in a row now, and the last two years we've even taken the number one spot, twice.

Well, I took them, both times. And now I want another one. I want to win this one too. I'm not going to lose.

I worked as hard as I could on this cosplay so I could win, and winning I will.

I quicken my steps, trying to walk next to Kevin, whose longer legs make him walk faster than me in my heels.

There is no way I'm letting him walk in front of me, I'm not going to be dragged like a princess, I'm going to rule like one.

Magical Princess Club go!

***

The line for the sign-up table is long, again. I check out the competition as we wait. There are some really cool cosplays in there. I can see someone cosplaying Elias from The Ancient Magus' Bride and also 2B from NieR: Automata. They look really nice.

I recognise most of the cosplays, I do watch way too many anime, and then there is just the general culture around it, so even if I haven't seen an anime, I'd probably recognise the most common characters from that anime.

Then my eye falls on someone in a light blue dress and I stop moving, my heart beating faster.

No way. You've got to be kidding me. No way.

"Jason?" I pull on his arm. "Please tell me I'm not seeing things."

"What do you see?" He looks in the direction I'm staring in, but when I look again, the person in the dress is gone.

"I think I just saw someone in an Aoi cosplay." I try to remember. I was just too surprised by finding someone cosplaying the same anime, that I sort of zoned out a little. Aoi is the best friend of Sakura in Magical Princess Club, so finding someone cosplaying her too would be really cool.

"Really?" He looks around again, but then shrugs. "Not seeing her anywhere right now. Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. It was just a flash though. But what I saw. Yeah. She looked like Aoi. Though I only saw her back, so it could be another magical girl cosplay, but, you know, it wouldn't be that surprising." I keep looking around, trying to find the girl again.

It would be so cool if there was an Aoi cosplayer walking around. We could take pictures together, especially if her cosplay is as good as it looked from the back.

Great. Now I'm too excited about just meeting a random girl, just because she also cosplays a character from the same anime I'm cosplaying.

Well, it is one of those awesome ways to make friends at conventions like this.

But now the waiting in line is even more annoying.

I want to find Aoi.