white people, if you're cosplaying non-white characters, even if you are being 100% respectful and not race facing, you still need to be held accountable for how people interact w/ your cosplay. if someone "compliments" you by calling you "canon" you NEED to correct them.

you need to tell them "thank you for liking my cosplay but I am not a canon representation of them because I AM NOT THEIR RACE"

& to those who give these compliments... please don't. I know you may not realize & many people make this mistake, but it is hurtful to all cosplayers.

comments like this were the main reason why I stopped cosplaying sombra, which was a fairly popular cosplay of mine that I did when I was really into overwatch. comments like that eventually domino effect into poc cosplayers not getting the same opportunities - I got featured

on blizzard's ig for my sombra a few years back. back then I didn't think of anything of it besides that it was really cool! but as time went on I noticed they never featured any poc sombras. white sombras got more attention overall. I asked them to take mine down bc of that.

while yes totally anyone can cosplay anyone so long as they are being respectful, there are times when you need to step back & assess whether it is the appropriate thing for you to cosplay some characters & if you ARE taking attention & representation away from others. those

features & awards ur getting while poc are underrepresented can in the long term make it harder for them to get those opportunities. one white person cosplaying sombra or beau or sokka won't change anything ofc, but when white ppl get more recognition than them, it is a problem.

this may not make a huge difference, but: white cosplayers, if any big brand/page specifically asks to ft a cos of yours that is a nonwhite character, direct them to a cos of yours that is a white character, or direct them to a poc cosplayer who did the same character instead!

I dont know how all pages or brands would react, but I guess it shows how much they care depending on what they do. it might not be a huge help, but, stepping back and opening the door for more poc cosplayers to get the same kind of opportunities as u is really, really important.