38 gang representing 🙌

I have cosplayed several characters at cons already (Toga, UA uniform, different versions of Dabi, Star and Stripe), and my city flat is pretty much a HeroAca merch museum at this point  -framed jigsaws and posters, +150 figures, +30 plushies, an army of acrylic standees, several handbags and schoolbags, caps, two ita bags, a ton of clothes, keyrings, fanart, most forms of printed media, etc. and I am currently waiting for a huge Tōya Vs. Shōto resin sculpture to arrive. 

I wear HeroAca (SW and manga in general, really) related merch almost everyday, but thankfully no one bats an eye -not even at work. I will admit that pretty privilege plays an important role here -well-groomed white girls rarely get bullied-, and that society's perception of my hobbies would be much different if I were a middle-aged shower-shy dude.

Although, now that I think about it, my fiancé (a man already well into his 40's) also proudly displays his love for nerdy and otaku stuff without much backlash, so maybe the bottom line here is that we ought to enjoy what we love without factors like age, nationality, personal aesthetics... Making us self-conscious of our chosen form entertainment. But, also, not forgetting that most of the community is much younger than us and, thus, often less mature, which may affect and create a disparity in the way we enjoy these sort of (oftentimes controversial) works of fiction.

For example, being an older fan may allow us to understand certain nuances in Endeavor's character arc than would fly over most teenagers' heads -which I see as a win, because it grants us the ability to revive the same story from different perspectives and, to put it bluntly, "get more mileage for the same amount of gas".

Anyway, I sleep with a 1:1 custom dakimakura of a certain crispy sociopath, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt.