Before I went to Comic Con, I had an inkling that the best relationships involve shared middle ground, where mutual interests reside between the intersecting spheres of two personalities. After Comic Con, I realize that the best relationships are steeped in a shared obsession. The days of NYCC 2016 have been long and tested my endurance, but as I journeyed through the levels of the temple-like Javits convention center in Manhattan, couples in cosplay materialized amidst the masses, finding love in an, at times, hopeless place.
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One note: By the end of the day on Saturday, the third day of NYCC, some couples seemed to wilt. A stadium of fans had been herded into the basement of Javits; they were corralled down there to wait in line for the cosplay championships. Only a fraction of attendees remained on the main floor, and as I walked through the emptied temple, I saw some people upset. There were Jedi tears here, and X-Men tears there, not to mention despondent glares from Hogwarts students. Some couples apparently had succumbed to exhaustion. But that is actually what cemented their humanity in my mind. After all, though they had embodied the fantastic idols in their favorite comic books and films, these young men and women are not super powered. In that way, their companionship was inspiring; shouldn't we all reach toward herculean heights, together
