Now Is Your Chance To Get To Know Your Sweetest Bear, Kim Liah
Welcome back to us! As you all know, we had to take a break from writing to keep our best interest and not get burned out. While we were away, we took this time to search interesting cosplayers and public figures to share their thoughts with the community. Then, we found this sweet bear on Instagram as “Kim Liah Bear”. One look, and you already know she’s kind, simple, and most especially enjoying herself in the cosplay community.
Kim Liah started cosplaying at the age of 13, inspired by Alodia, she took inspiration from her with her makeup and costume making skills. If you would notice, this is a common denominator among cosplayers. Having Alodia as the biggest inspiration and mostly known endorser of the hobby in the Philippines, it is no wonder why people jump into cosplaying because of her.
But just like every cosplayer who was once attacked by people, Kim Liah also experienced bullying because of her weight. I just want to stress this out; why is it always the weight? The face value? The fitting?
The more people we invite on the Counterpart to speak up, the more we get to see how many people were being victimized of body shaming. But because of this, we are more thrilled to expose the issue and get it out there to keep our readers informed that they are not alone. Through this method, we hope to raise awareness along with the people we feature in the Mag.
“They don’t know how to think before they speak”, Kim’s take on those who judge people without considering the other person’s feelings.
(GURL, WE DO AGREE.)
She also thinks that it is disgusting to see photographers who use their profession to attack models and cosplayers into sexual acts. As you all know, this is another issue that cosplay community is facing yet barely even resolved. I guess this is something far from being resolved because not only the coscom experience this, but also other industries outside of it. The best thing we can do for the mean time, is to be extra careful when crossing out a deal. Making sure to check their backgrounds and ask other models if they are aware of this specific person before taking another step.
It’s nothing new even for Kim Liah to not get any support from closest family and friends, but for her, what matters most is the people she meet in the community. They became her friends who support her 100%, which makes her confidence boost as well.
Kim suggests a way to lessen the growth of toxicity in the community pertaining to predators, abusers, and scammers, which is to ban them in conventions or any other gathering where they can continue their actions. She also told us that if we do not try to do anything about it, these people will multiply in a way that they will keep encouraging others to be just like them because they will always get away with it.
She wishes to shred some light in the community by being a part of a more positive movement. Most especially to those who keep the notion that cosplaying is a competition. She wants to be able to somehow break this and create a better community for old and new cosplayers. Spreading love, she also wants to normalize cosplaying as a hobby to show her family and friends that cosplay can create a positive impact on people’s lives.
Ending her interview with a simple reminder, Kim wants to send a message to bullies to take a moment to analyze people first before saying anything bad about them. She also insists that the internet is free for everyone to take some time to research about cosplay before speaking hurtful words against cosplayers.
We want to thank Kim Liah Bear for allowing us to feature her on The Counterpart Mag. We hope to bring more people like her in the Mag to serve as an inspiration for others to start opening up regarding their experiences whether it’s a good one or a bad one.
To show support for Kim, check her instagram for more:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kim_liah_bear/
