Meet WesTheDragon | Plus Size Cosplayer

We had the good fortune of connecting with WesTheDragon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Wes, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I grew up in a small town in Heard County, Georgia called Franklin. When my parents divorced, I threw myself into the arts. Music, art, and creating were all I ever wanted to do. When I moved in with my mom before middle school started, I was so scared of having to start over and make new friends but the arts helped me get through it. This was when the whole “Bullying isn’t tolerated” spread around my school. I have always been overweight but no one bullied me about it until middle school; one time I told my choir teacher I was being bullied for my weight and he transferred me out of my chorus class and into gym class instead of addressing the issue that I was being bullied. I became broken, I didn’t want to do anything anymore, didn’t want to live anymore, but so many people my friends, my family, my loving partner of eleven years that I had just met, my mom, and the arts saved me. I learned to stand up for myself and knew I didn’t want anyone else to feel the way I did ever again. I wanted to create again, becoming a fashion designer seemed like too much of a stretch for me at the time until my partner asked me if I wanted to go to my first anime convention, Momo Con 2016. I fell in love the instant I walked through those doors and I haven’t looked back since. Now I use my platforms to keep speaking up for plus-size people in general because no one deserves to feel how I felt.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What I am most proud of is how many plus-size cosplayers have come to me and told me that I inspired them in many ways whether it was to start cosplaying, to start posting their cosplays online, and above to start loving themselves and their bodies. It was not an easy road to get to where I am today not just because of the hate plus-size cosplayers receive for not being “canon enough” or conventionally attractive but cosplay companies rarely cater to plus-size cosplayers so we have to either pay way more for custom sizing, make it ourselves which takes a lot of time and money some people don’t have to spare or do our best with clothes that look similar to the character aka closet cosplaying. I’m grateful enough to have been able to custom order a few cosplays and learn to start making my own, but not everyone has so I host panels at conventions now talking about cosplaying on a budget and being plus size in the cosplay community. Some lessons I learned and what I want the world to know is that if there is something you want to do no one can stop you from it, the only person stopping you from doing what you love is yourself, and don’t get in your own head about it just be a free spirit.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my friend had never visited Georgia before I would first invite them to my favorite local places. I would take them to Admanson Square, and show them Georgia’s oldest bookstore, Hortons, and all the great small businesses to eat such as; Brown Dog Eatery, Corner Cafe, Highlands, Irish Bread Pub, and Loco Mex. There are so many great places in Carrollton I would love to show any of my friends.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Other than my mother, my family, and my best friends, what motivates me to push forward is seeing the injustices in the cosplay community. After coming back from Covid and getting back on the scene in person I realized how toxic things had become. There were so many people, so many bullies, that had just come out of the woodwork. Seeing what these people were doing lit a fire under me to push myself forward and take what I do seriously. Since then, I have used my platform to grow and uplift others in the community and give those struggling a post to lean on.

Website: https://www.linktr.ee/westhedragon

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/westhedragon

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/westhedragon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westhedragoncosplays

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/westhedragon

Image Credits
MidnightMayhemX(SB78)