0:09

Welcome to The True Tales

0:11

by Disability Advocates. Authentic

0:14

voices of people thriving with disabilities.

0:17

Were individuals use the art

0:19

of storytelling to change the world.

0:22

True Tales by Disability Advocates

0:24

podcast is produced by

0:26

Art Spark Texas Speaking

0:28

Advocates Program. Keep

0:30

listening to hear how lives challenges

0:33

can spark a desire to speak out

0:35

and advocate for ourselves

0:37

and others.

0:48

You're listening to The Power of Dressing

0:50

Up, episode Six of True Tales

0:53

by Disability Advocates. The

0:55

podcast where advocates harness

0:57

the power of storytelling to build

1:00

community with their peers and hope to

1:02

develop empathy in others. A

1:04

team of disability advocates creates True Tales

1:06

to give voice to the personal stories and

1:08

lived experience of disabled storytellers.

1:11

We offer our unique and often underrepresented

1:14

perspective to the growing community

1:16

of podcast listeners worldwide.

1:19

According to the CDC. One in four Americans

1:22

live with some kind of disability that 61

1:24

million adults with 61

1:26

million experiences and points

1:29

of view about what it means to

1:31

live with a disability. Everyone's

1:34

life is enriched by the inclusion

1:36

of multiple voices. So Art

1:38

Spark Texas has been training disability,

1:40

advocates as storytellers for over

1:42

20 years. In this

1:44

episode, our storytellers share

1:47

two very different experiences of dressing

1:49

up and playing different characters while

1:51

using a wheelchair. Some

1:53

people love costumes, dressing

1:56

up, fancy dress parties, and Halloween,

1:59

Halloween is their favorite holiday. Dressing

2:02

up, allows us to shift out of our every

2:04

day and become someone else. As

2:07

kids playing dress up and

2:09

becoming different characters allows

2:12

us to express our imaginations and

2:14

and have the experience of being a hero

2:17

or even the bad guy. For most

2:19

kids, Halloween and trick-or-treating is

2:21

the ultimate expression of this form

2:23

of play. They really believe

2:25

in the power their costume has

2:28

to turn them into someone else

2:30

and they go out into the night secure

2:33

in the magic of their fantasy.

2:35

But what if ableism extinguishes

2:38

the glamor and the rest

2:40

of the world sees only your wheelchair

2:43

and not the magic of the character

2:46

you're playing? What if all

2:48

the houses on your street have steps up to the

2:50

porch? The porch that holds the

2:52

kingdom of free candy.

2:55

In her story, "Witchy Woman" Renee

2:57

Lopez tells us how ableism

2:59

took the shine out of her childhood Halloweens,

3:02

despite her father's best efforts to

3:04

give her a magical experience.

3:07

And then as adults dressing up

3:09

allows us to get out of our selves,

3:11

you know, try on hidden aspects

3:14

of our personality, uh, safely

3:16

challenge, other people's perceptions of who

3:18

we are. For a few

3:20

wonderful, magical hours we could

3:22

become our heroes or be

3:24

freed from being nice and become

3:26

someone evil. Being

3:28

someone else can allow shy folks

3:31

to experience being outgoing,

3:33

loud, outrageous behind the protection

3:35

of their costume and the personality of the

3:37

character they're playing. Our

3:39

second storyteller, Jessica

3:41

Ferraro has found acceptance

3:44

and inclusion in the Cosplay community,

3:46

where the focus is on her costume

3:49

and her wheelchair is just part of an unknown

3:51

plot twist. After

3:53

hearing Jessica's story and her obvious

3:56

enthusiasm for Cosplay, I wanted

3:58

to know more. So I asked

4:00

her some bonus questions when

4:02

Kamand had finished her interview. Ultimately,

4:05

this episode is about being allowed

4:07

to play and have fun and allowing

4:10

yourself to be willing to do whatever

4:12

it takes to welcome everyone

4:15

into your playground.

4:23

Welcome to The True Tales by Disability

4:25

Advocates, the podcast

4:27

where we change the world one story

4:29

at a time. I'm Kamand Alaghehband,

4:32

and I'm your host. Our first

4:34

storyteller today is Renee Lopez.

4:38

So welcome Renee, before

4:40

you share your story, can

4:42

you tell our listeners a little bit about

4:45

yourself? And how you got involved

4:47

with Opening Minds, Opening Doors?

4:50

Yes, good afternoon Kamand. As

4:52

you said, my name is Renee Lopez and

4:55

I've been with OMOD for about six

4:57

years now. I first became aware

4:59

of Art Spark when I saw Actual

5:02

Lives put on by people with disabilities

5:04

and I was so enthralled

5:06

that I,I wanted to be a part

5:09

of it, except that I was working at the time

5:11

and didn't have the time to do it. But

5:13

when I retired, I noticed that OMOD

5:15

was having a class and

5:18

I signed up and took about two

5:20

classes, I guess, which is where I wrote my stories.

5:23

I'm so glad you could join us today.

5:26

I can't wait to hear your story.

5:58

Again, my name is Renee Lopez, and

6:01

I wrote this story when I was

6:03

in Opening Minds, Opening

6:06

Doors, class. I wrote

6:08

this around Halloween. I

6:10

wrote it on October 11th of 2017.

6:13

So I'm here to share it with you. And

6:15

I have titled this Witchy Woman.

6:19

Halloween has always been one of my favorite

6:21

holidays, even more than Christmas.

6:24

I think it's because we get to dress up

6:26

as characters and we get candy.

6:29

One of my favorite characters to be on Halloween

6:32

was a witch. I think

6:34

it all started when I was little and I was watching

6:36

the TV show Bewitched. When

6:39

I was about six years old, I got a witch

6:41

costume. I was so excited,

6:44

as was my brother who was going to be

6:46

a pirate. We headed

6:48

out at dusk to Trick-or-Treat in our neighborhood.

6:51

All the houses in our neighborhood had four to five

6:53

steps to get to the front door. My

6:56

dad would lift me up onto the porch

6:59

and for, I don't know how many houses

7:02

for at least two blocks. I

7:04

never realized what an act of love that was

7:06

from him, to have to carry me

7:09

up every single house, up four or five

7:11

steps, and take me back down again. We

7:14

arrived at one house with a bunch of other kids

7:16

and we line up at the door yelling, "Trick-or-Treat!"

7:18

in unison. One

7:20

by one each kid gets candy

7:23

while the server commented on the costumes.

7:26

Like, "What a scary ghost."

7:29

Or "Ooh, a scary pirate!" Or

7:31

"What a beautiful princess." And

7:34

then I get to the door and what

7:36

does she say? But, "Oh, hi

7:38

Renee." My heart sank.

7:41

She didn't recognize me as a witch.

7:44

I am not Renee." I wanted to yell,

7:47

I am a scary witch," but

7:49

I didn't. It would have been disrespectful.

7:52

I felt something change in me, but

7:55

I didn't know what it was at the time. I

7:58

continued to enjoy Halloween, but eventually

8:00

Trick-or-Treating lost its luster and I stopped

8:02

going out to Trick-or-Treat soon afterwards.

8:05

I came to realize my body was

8:07

the costume, as was my

8:09

wheelchair. I could never hide

8:12

it or cover it up. I was always

8:14

going to be just a, "Hi Renee."

8:17

Fast-forward to present day. I

8:19

say, forget it! I'm

8:22

a Witch, even if I

8:24

do look more like Brunhilda than

8:26

Elizabeth Montgomery. Thank

8:28

you.

8:48

Welcome back. I'm here with Renee.

8:51

Thank you for sharing your story with us.

8:54

Renee, it seems like

8:56

you have a very nice and supportive

8:58

dad. Do you have any other

9:00

good memories with him you would like

9:02

to share with us?

9:05

Yeah, you know, my dad was really, really

9:07

was a very kind and supportive man. He

9:10

was always very fair. And

9:12

he wasn't judgemental at all. Um,

9:15

he was also a musician so

9:17

I grew up listening to a lot of music

9:20

in the home so you know

9:22

I have some really fun memories of my dad, uh

9:25

one of my fondest memories is that he

9:27

had an old Chevy truck and

9:29

he would take our family all the kids

9:31

There were four of us in the family and

9:34

some of the neighborhood kids and throw us all into

9:36

the back of his old Chevy truck and take

9:38

us to the drive-in we would go and either

9:40

see a scary movie or a

9:42

Kung Fu movie because back

9:44

then in the seventies kung-fu was really

9:46

popular and we liked seeing Bruce

9:48

Lee You know all those uh

9:51

martial arts guys. And we really

9:53

had a lot of fun doing that he would

9:55

buy popcorn and Cokes for everybody. So

9:58

that was one of my fondest memories.

10:00

Renee Halloween is my favorite

10:02

holiday as well. On behalf of all

10:05

of us do you have any special

10:07

advice for giving out candy

10:09

This Halloween

10:10

Well, what I would advise people who are

10:12

giving out candy is

10:14

if a child shows up and they're

10:17

in a wheelchair Or an adult

10:19

uh and you have steps

10:21

heading to your heading up into your house

10:24

I recommend that you come down the

10:26

steps and go over

10:28

to the person in the wheelchair or

10:30

the person with a disability so

10:32

that they don't have to climb the steps or have

10:34

to be carried up the steps I

10:37

think that would be a good way of accommodating the

10:40

second thing is um always

10:43

try to recognize the costume that person

10:45

has on Even if you don't know what

10:47

it is exactly Just say something

10:49

like,"Well that's a very interesting costume,"

10:52

or "You look wonderful." Or "You look scary,"

10:54

you know, because it's all about the

10:56

costume and who you're trying to be, and

10:58

not that you're just a wheelchair. So

11:01

that would be my advice to, ah, people.

11:04

What special advice do you have to our

11:06

fellow disabled kids or adults

11:08

around Halloween Renee?

11:11

Well, I say that if you have a disability

11:14

and you want to participate in Halloween

11:16

by wearing costumes, just

11:18

go ahead and do it, have fun with it.

11:20

It's, it's really about you having fun

11:23

more than it is trying to convince

11:25

others of what your costume is about.

11:28

Um, unfortunately,

11:30

people are always going to see our disability

11:32

first and if you're in a wheelchair,

11:34

then they're going to see the wheelchair first before they look

11:37

at your costume. I say, well,

11:39

go ahead and let them, and

11:41

don't get a chip on your shoulder about it,

11:43

just let it be and enjoy

11:45

who you are. And if they don't know who you are just say,

11:48

I mean, they don't know what costume you have

11:50

got on to say, oh, "I'm playing

11:52

a hobo!" Or "I'm, I'm, uh, I'm

11:54

a pirate," you know, let them know.

11:57

But Halloween to me is about

11:59

having fun and wearing

12:01

costumes and being somebody

12:03

else. And just go ahead and do it. They

12:06

may not realize it right away. But people

12:08

will either accept it or not,

12:10

it doesn't really matter. It's about you having fun.

12:13

That is so true. What a gift that

12:15

would be.

12:17

I enjoy Halloween, but because I'm

12:19

much older now, I don't, and don't

12:21

like being around big crowds, like on Sixth Street.

12:24

I usually don't do anything. I've become the kind

12:26

of person who goes outside to give out candy

12:28

now. But back in the day,

12:30

we would dress up in costumes. I

12:32

know I was a rabbit once

12:34

and a clown another time and we

12:37

would go down to Sixth Street and

12:39

party, [laughs] but

12:41

I don't need that anymore. Now

12:43

I give out candy [laughs].

12:46

That's great! Great

12:48

chatting with you, Renee. Thank you

12:50

for being willing to share your story

12:52

and insights with us. I

12:54

hope you have fun giving out candy

12:56

this Halloween. Stay with us

12:58

for a second story. Jessica Ferraro

13:01

shares her story about Cosplay.

13:16

Welcome back, our second guest

13:19

Jessica Ferraro shares her story

13:21

about Cosplay. She

13:23

has lived independently in Austin

13:25

for around 10 years and

13:27

has been with The Speaking Advocates

13:29

Program from its very first

13:31

class. She told us,"

13:34

I have a mild case of Cerebral Palsy,

13:37

but my wheelchair has opened the door

13:39

to Cosplay, martial arts,

13:41

traveling adaptive sports in

13:43

so many other adventures." She

13:46

also really enjoys helping out in the

13:48

community. Welcome Jessica,

13:51

before you share your story, can

13:53

you tell our listeners how you

13:55

got started with Opening Minds,

13:57

Opening Doors?

13:59

Sure I think I learned about about

14:02

Opening Minds, Opening Doors after

14:05

a little Summer volunteer work

14:07

that I did with Art Spark. I've

14:09

always loved storytellers

14:11

and their, and their powers to

14:13

teach and entertain. That said,

14:16

Public Speaking wasn't my strong

14:19

point in school, so OMOD

14:21

looked like a fun opportunity to learn

14:23

how to handle my nerves

14:25

and share my perspective.

14:27

Let's hear your story.

14:44

Note to listeners here. Jessica

14:46

starts her story in the voice

14:48

of Ichigo, one of her Cosplay

14:51

characters, who is the protagonist of

14:53

the manga and anime series Bleach.

14:56

And she even recorded

14:58

it dressed up as her character.

15:05

My name is Jessica Guerrero and

15:08

here's my story. Yo!

15:12

Name’s Ichigo Kurosaki substitute

15:15

soul reaper..., high school student,

15:18

how's it going? What are you staring

15:21

at, this ginger hair of mine? sighs)

15:24

Hey! It's natural! Where

15:26

I come from, I stand out

15:28

in a crowd like it or not.

15:31

Bleached hair labels ya a

15:33

punk. Well, I ain't no punk.

15:36

My schoolwork is top-notch still,

15:39

let's just say I'm a magnet for weird

15:41

attention." My real name

15:43

is Jessica Guerrero. Mild-mannered

15:46

gentle woman. I'm also a

15:48

Cosplayer. That means I dress

15:50

in costume to play my favorite characters

15:53

from TV shows, video

15:55

games and movies. Take

15:57

Ichigo, the hero of the Japanese

16:00

animated series called Bleach.

16:03

I've loved costuming and acting since I was

16:05

a little kid, but by the time

16:07

I got to college, let's just

16:09

say I was a little too shy and

16:11

quiet for my acting coach. "Come

16:14

on Jessica, just say

16:16

something!" She would heckle

16:18

me in every class.

16:21

Until one day I was finally like, "Okay!

16:25

I said something, SHISH!." But

16:27

the satisfaction that I've got from snapping

16:29

back at her that day ignited a spark

16:31

that brought me out of my shell. That

16:33

brought me to life. With

16:36

encouragement from another professor,

16:38

I did my first Cosplay as

16:40

Goku, a well-known fighter

16:43

from a TV show called Dragon

16:45

Ball Z. I

16:47

wore this bright orange gi

16:49

top and pants with these blue

16:51

accents like this blue,

16:53

t-shirt under the top, blue wristbands,

16:57

blue belt, blue boots. And

16:59

to top it all off this black

17:01

wig, of unruly spikes, one

17:03

side sticking up the other

17:06

kind of out flat, basically

17:08

a serious case of bedhead. (laughs).

17:12

Pulling up to my first Anime convention,

17:15

which is a gathering for fans of

17:17

Japanese comics, animation

17:19

and pop culture. I saw all

17:21

these other characters with equally colorful

17:24

clothing and wild hair, but

17:26

suddenly my stomach was in knots.

17:29

How would they see me? Could I

17:31

really pull off the flamboyant

17:33

awesome fighter that was Goku? Well,

17:37

it was too late to turn back now! So

17:39

I unloaded and went in. And

17:42

as I was sitting in a line waiting to get my

17:44

badge, three Ninja

17:46

came up to me and one of them asked,

17:49

Goku, what happened to you, man?" And

17:51

a second piped up, "Come on,

17:54

just tell us who did this to you. We'll

17:57

take care of them!" Oh guys,

18:00

Vegeta and I and I and got into a fight because I think

18:02

I, the last piece of his favorite sushi,

18:04

that's all." I laughed. They

18:07

thought my wheelchair was a prop, but

18:09

as soon as it became a part of my story,

18:12

I owned it. It isn't

18:14

like I'm just acting, being in costume

18:16

makes me someone else, but

18:18

still myself. For example,

18:21

back to Ichigo here, his hair

18:23

renders him different at first glance.

18:26

Well, my chair often has the same

18:28

effect on me in the crowd. His hair

18:30

labels him and the appearance of

18:32

disability can label me. Ichigo

18:35

keeps his grades up in order to challenge

18:38

those labels and expectations.

18:41

Well ditto me when it came to

18:43

school. As for the weird

18:45

attention there's nothing

18:47

like difference to bring that on. But

18:49

you see Ichigo and I we're

18:51

both fighters, whatever challenges

18:54

our lives throw at us, we

18:56

don't back down. At

18:59

university commencement the speaker

19:01

instructed us to "Shake the gates

19:03

of Hell. To make a difference."

19:07

Well, showing up in the mainstream

19:09

on a regular basis to demonstrate

19:11

my ability and significance

19:13

is how I shake those gates.

19:16

Cosplaying my favorite fighters

19:18

sparks up my own laughter courage

19:21

and vitality, as I go forth on

19:23

my own. In the words

19:25

of Howard Thurman, "Don't

19:28

ask what the world needs, ask

19:30

what makes you come alive and

19:32

go do it. Because what the

19:34

world needs is people who

19:36

have come alive." Thank

19:39

you.

19:56

Okay. Welcome back. I'm

19:58

here with Jessica. Thanks for

20:01

sharing your fascinating story. I

20:03

really believe all of us

20:06

with different disabilities are fighters.

20:09

I can see your boldness and bravery.

20:12

You have a talent for

20:15

turning any negative attitude

20:17

into a positive one? What

20:20

message would you like your audience

20:22

to get from this story?

20:25

Well, hmmm! You say? I have

20:27

a gift for turning in a negative

20:29

situation, into a positive one. Well,

20:32

I'd say, that

20:34

love is always been a factor in that.

20:36

Whether it's a, whether it's a love for learning

20:39

or a challenge or

20:41

the joy that Cosplay brings myself

20:44

and others. Another big

20:46

thing is that,

20:48

I probably wouldn't have gotten where I am

20:51

today without the love

20:53

and support in my family has always been,

20:55

I mean, I mean a a big factor that really

20:58

has helped me stay in the game

21:00

when times get tough (laughs). Um,

21:03

But again, this has also been very

21:05

much about doing what I love and being accepted

21:07

for it, (laughs). Yeah, I

21:09

would say. Do what you love, (laughs) yeah!

21:12

Okay. Cool, thank you. I

21:14

also noticed you've been traveling a

21:16

lot and you spend some time

21:18

in Japan, am I right?.

21:22

You're right. I did travel to Japan.

21:24

It had been a dream of mine. I

21:27

did so as part of a delegation sent

21:29

to share our perspectives on disability,

21:31

rights and culture. I remember

21:33

being amazed by the level of accommodation

21:36

we were given as we explored Tokyo

21:38

and the surrounding area, only

21:40

to learn that it was mostly because

21:43

we were guests. Guests are a big

21:45

deal in Japan. Our

21:48

mixed ability group of delegates and volunteers

21:51

drew quite a few weird looks as we explored

21:54

Tokyo, because I

21:56

don't think they were used to seeing such a

21:58

big group of people with, ah,

22:00

disabilities out and about just

22:02

enjoying things, back then. Disability

22:05

seemed a bit more behind

22:08

closed doors then, but

22:10

this cultural exchange

22:12

seemed aimed at changing that. Challenging

22:16

it by, you know, sometimes just,

22:19

just going about exploring the city and hanging

22:21

out (laughs) together. As well

22:23

as discussing, as well as discussing

22:25

what could be done. Yeah! Mmm!

22:28

It was a real

22:30

delight, exploring, seeing the

22:32

sites, exploring the parks, um,

22:36

actually getting to see

22:38

Taiko drum performances. Every

22:41

day was a new discovery, yeah. I

22:44

was exploring different

22:46

parts of the city, as we were again,

22:48

taking in, um,

22:51

cultural performances,

22:53

or as we were helping out, as

22:55

we actually were just

22:57

helping out with our volunteer work

23:00

at a local bird park. Just,

23:02

just to, just as a bit of an

23:04

act of goodwill and things like that. I mean,

23:07

there's so much, it was such an exciting place,

23:09

it was a real delight, and people were

23:11

definitely very, um,

23:13

we're definitely happy to try and practice

23:16

their English with you, I noticed (laughs),

23:19

when we were in Japan.

23:22

Would you go there again?

23:23

Ah, I've been dreaming about going back

23:26

for years (laughs). Of

23:28

course, traveling is a little bit more

23:31

difficult these days. But

23:33

I would definitely go back, and,

23:35

and check it out again. There were just so many beautiful

23:38

places that I wanted to take

23:40

my mom back there someday and

23:42

show her a lot of the beautiful scenery. Um,

23:45

the beautiful temples and gardens

23:48

and things like that or

23:51

of course, places like Akihabara where someone

23:53

like me who's into anime and cosplay

23:56

is just in hog heaven, because they have so

23:58

many shops and arcades and things there,

24:01

yeah.

24:02

Did you see many other people with disabilities?

24:04

Japanese, folks with disabilities?

24:07

No, I, I can't say

24:09

that we really did. That's the thing, that's

24:11

why sometimes it seemed a little shocking

24:14

to most of the people or to some of the people

24:16

around us to see us out and about like, that.

24:19

As I said before, it's kind of, I

24:21

got the feeling that maybe disability was a

24:23

little bit more behind closed doors.

24:25

I don't know, I haven't been back there, so

24:27

I don't know how it's changed. They

24:30

certainly seem to be showing more people

24:32

with disabilities in their media. Um,

24:34

um, and even their Manga and stuff

24:36

like that. That's something that I've noticed

24:39

in recent years, but when I went in 2005,

24:42

I don't think they had anything like ADA

24:44

or anything like that, yeah..

24:47

Jessica, what I loved about your

24:49

story was how

24:51

you really showed how

24:54

the Cosplay community is

24:56

really inclusive and that's been

24:58

your experience?

25:00

It is very warm, because you

25:02

have to understand that these conventions,

25:04

these people are very passionate about the shows

25:07

and the comics and

25:10

the movies and they just want to be

25:12

with other people who love things the

25:14

way they love them.

25:15

Right, I love that!

25:17

Yeah, as, as I pointed out

25:19

in the piece, I was nervous when

25:21

I got to the convention, because I didn't know

25:24

how I would be seen, but they

25:26

just welcomed me right in...

25:28

mm-hhh!

25:28

...without skipping a beat.

25:30

And even though, um, up

25:33

until more recently, there haven't been

25:35

many characters in

25:37

manga or anime that

25:40

were disabled, right? Or their journey

25:42

is about becoming undisabled, or getting

25:44

fixed in some way.

25:45

Although there are, there are Manga

25:47

that do now, cover topics

25:49

like, yeah, I know that one that I came

25:52

across as something called "Real", that was all

25:54

about wheelchair basketball.

25:56

Oh,? Cool!

25:57

It's been a few years since I've saw it, but

26:01

it was beautifully done. I mean, the artist

26:03

really captured the, the

26:05

speed and the motion of the, of the game play, ball.

26:07

Also, but also having

26:10

someone who was, able-bodied

26:12

kind of, um, learning

26:14

about this, er whole new

26:17

world that kind of opened up to him.

26:19

Right!

26:21

Or even there was another person in this,

26:23

in that same Manga who sustained

26:25

an injury, a spinal cord injury

26:27

at the beginning of the Manga and they were

26:30

a star player, but they had to learn to adapt.

26:33

Mm-hmm.

26:33

Yeah.

26:35

So you, would you encourage other people with

26:37

disabilities to go be a part of,

26:39

uh, to investigate joining that community

26:41

if they're into that kind of thing?

26:43

Oh, definitely!

26:44

Okay.

26:45

Because, I mean, yeah,

26:48

part of, um, what I love doing what

26:50

I did because I've always

26:52

liked, as I said, I've loved costuming

26:54

and acting since I was little.

26:57

Mm-hmm.

26:57

But the other part of it is I,

26:59

I get out there and do it, not just because I love

27:01

it because, but because if there's anyone

27:04

on the fence, that's like,

27:06

Maybe I'd like to try and do that?". Well,

27:08

maybe I figured that if I, that if

27:10

I show up to these conventions,

27:13

if someone sees a picture of me or maybe

27:16

they see me when they they're at

27:18

the convention, but they're not

27:20

in cosplay or something like that,

27:23

Hey, maybe I can, maybe I can do this

27:25

too?".

27:25

Right!

27:26

"Maybe I can do this too?" And it's not just

27:29

people with disabilities, I'm around, I've seen

27:31

other people that were shy about... I've met

27:34

other people that were shy about cosplay, but

27:36

seeing me get out there and jump in

27:38

and do it, helped them get up.

27:41

Is there something about Cosplay that

27:43

because you're playing a different character and this relates

27:45

to the other question, the second question I really wanted

27:48

to ask you, when you're playing another character,

27:50

your real self doesn't

27:52

have to be as vulnerable, you know?

27:54

That's why shy people can do it. And I, what

27:57

I'm interested in is

28:00

most of the characters, I see pictures of you playing,

28:02

are, male, what's that experience

28:04

like, um, and why

28:06

is that?

28:07

Why Cross Play? Well,

28:09

initially, one

28:12

of the reasons why I wasn't playing a

28:14

lot of the female roles is sometimes

28:17

the outfits. I don't

28:19

like the style of clothing. (They laugh) They can be they

28:21

can feel skimpy and things like that

28:23

sometimes. Um, I

28:25

guess I haven't found the right character yet

28:27

in that respect. That

28:30

doesn't mean I'm not looking. It's also fun

28:32

to just get out there and play.

28:34

I don't know. I have a lot of fun playing these

28:36

roles and somehow I can pull them off rather well.

28:39

(laughs).

28:39

It is yeah, yeah!.

28:41

And just, I guess also just

28:43

exploring those energies and things like that

28:45

too. And the thing about cosplay

28:48

is, yeah, it, it does

28:50

put you in a position where you can kind of get out

28:52

of your shell, but it also helps

28:54

you to find parts of yourself that maybe

28:56

you didn't even know, you had.

28:59

Right.

28:59

Like, in taking on other roles that

29:01

you can then pull out in other circumstances

29:03

outside of Cosplay.

29:05

Yeah. Yeah. I see that. Have

29:08

you noticed that you feel different

29:10

in the world when you play, uh,

29:13

when you're being a boy, you know, like just,

29:15

I'm going to take this on and I, do I talk

29:17

to people differently? Do I engage more?

29:20

Well, I do. I do

29:22

well in general I tend to engage more. The

29:24

other thing is I've never really come up against

29:27

it ,now, I've never really come up against any

29:29

criticisms or anything like that.

29:31

Or if anyone thinks, if anyone has any

29:33

problems with my Cosplay, they've never been able to,

29:35

they've never come up and said anything.

29:37

Right.

29:39

But that's probably because when I'm sitting around

29:41

in these Cosplays, if anyone has any criticisms,

29:44

they probably think, "If I say anything

29:46

to this person, they're going to kick my ass." (They

29:48

both laugh)

29:51

Yeah, that character in a wheelchair

29:53

is gonna probably kick my ass!

29:55

Yeah, really? As an actor, I've played roles

29:58

that were written for men and, and I just

30:00

got cast in them and, and it's,

30:02

it's a different way of inhabiting your body.

30:05

And, and when you're trying to get into that

30:07

character, you have, like you said, the different

30:09

energies of yourself that you get to find.

30:12

Yes. And

30:14

it's also been interesting that, that when I first

30:17

started doing Cosplay, it

30:19

was very common that no matter what, the

30:21

character that I was playing, I would get

30:23

that question, "What happened?"

30:26

When I first started going to conventions, which

30:28

I think I've been going since about 2007.

30:31

Mm-hmm!

30:32

Um, there weren't as many people

30:34

with disabilities, not many, as many people

30:37

in chairs at the conventions when I first

30:39

started going, but I've seen the numbers

30:41

steadily increase, more with

30:43

more people being in cosplay.

30:46

Right, that's cool.

30:47

And some of us incorporate the chairs

30:49

and will find roles that incorp...that

30:51

have chairs or incorporate the chairs into

30:53

the costumes that they make, the props

30:55

that they make. I guess the chair's

30:57

just the way I get around (laughs).

30:59

Right! Yeah. The episode

31:01

is called dressing up so, is there

31:03

any last thing you want to say?

31:05

I don't know where this fits in, but I was just

31:07

thinking about the other reason why

31:09

I do it is I just love the

31:12

reactions that it gets from people

31:14

of all ages. All the way from, from little kids,

31:17

all the way their parents. I'm seeing

31:19

little kids just run

31:22

up, ask for my, ask for a picture

31:24

or ask for a hug or something like that. But

31:26

I've also seen their parents turn into little

31:28

kids at the sight of my characters too

31:30

and, and that's one

31:33

of the major reasons why I do it. It's just

31:35

how much joy it brings to

31:37

so many people of all ages.

31:39

Perfect!

31:41

Well, great chatting with you, Jessica. I'm

31:43

so glad you were able to come and share

31:45

your experience and enthusiasm

31:48

with our audience.

31:49

Thank you so much, Jessica. Bye!

31:52

Bye!

31:52

Bye!

31:54

You've been listening to The True Tales

31:56

by Disability Advocates.

31:59

Our show was hosted by me

32:01

Kamand Alaghehband. This

32:03

episode is produced by Kaye

32:05

Love and is edited

32:07

and mixed by Ms.Boye and Brittany

32:09

Sessum. Special thanks

32:12

to our guests, Jessica Guerrero

32:15

and Renee Lopez. And

32:17

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