Go alone anyway. You can met people at the cons and quickly make friends if you remember the following:

>Be nice and don't molest, stalk, hit, etc. anyone.

>Start up casual conversation at photo gatherings. Be nice. Talk about your fandom. If they take the bait then work your way up from there.

>Get to know them over the weekend before you exchange information. Try to invite them to panels, ask if you can go to their panels, etc.

>Even if they have friends don't be scared. I ended up hanging out with a lot of APH guys randomly this year just goofing off and having a good time.

Good luck anon!

That sucks, but don't worry, there are tons of people out there who are in the same boat - hell, I had no idea that my old friends from high school were into cosplaying until a year after we graduated, they saw my photos from ACen. I went to a small con about two years ago and although I went alone, not even expecting to meet any lolitas, however, I was proven wrong: I got to hang out with a couple lolitas from out of town and started a relationship with someone there (granted, we've decided to end it a couple months ago because of the distance).

All I'm saying is, you'll never know until you try. Pop-culture conventions are not just there for showing off your costumes, it's a gathering of people with like-minded hobbies and interests. If you don't have any friends that would cosplay with you now, you're bound to make some at the convention you'd want to visit.

I actually have MORE fun at cons if I go by myself.
It's easier to meet people that way, and I can just go to the panels I want to without having to worry about whether or not the friends I'm with are interested in the same ones.

>>4540079
>>4540096
>>4540097
Thanks for all the positive advice, i really appreciate it. It would be nice to have some friends with actual shared interests, and a con seems like a great place to make them. I just wanted to check and see if i should bring someone else along to make the friend making process smoother.

I'm in the same exact boat. Literally, from the just-getting-into-cosplay thing as an actual feasible idea (as opposed to, oh that looks fun for other people) to the having nobody to go with. Where are you at?

>>4540147
Texas. You?

Forever alone here. I've been going to conventions for the last six years and never really with anyone in tow. I might go with people and be with them for a few hours but never glued at the hip. I know some people and will link up with them for certain events that we share interest in but after that it's back to being by myself. It's better that way as not everyone wants to do the same thing.

So one thing that you're probably going to be in a lot at a con is a line. What do you do? Talk to the people around you. You're probably going to be next to them for a good half hour anyway. Might as well talk. Talk about the con so far, things you're looking forward to, things you might have found good in the dealer room, etc. Just talk. Talking makes people comfortable. You'll probably find you share at least one interest.

If you're into cosplay then that helps break the ice too. You can immediately identify people who like a series by what they are wearing. Well, at least if they didn't just cosplay it because they're trying to whore the popular series or "they liked the design." It's a better clue than not having one at all.

>>4540165
I'm a Texas here. If you need a con buddy ever, just find me. I usually travel with a group, but mostly for caravan/rooming purposes. I usually roam around meeting people and hanging out.

At least you're lucky enough to go at all. Arkansas has no cons that I know of. Or good ones at least.

>>4540079
I wish I could do this. I don't know why it's so fucking hard. I'm not OP, but I have the MOST difficult time making friends. I'm not a hambeast, I don't creep on people, I'm not rude, I don't know what's so bad about me, other than I'm shy around new faces. I have a few friends but most of them can't afford cons or are too busy with school, so I've been to a few cons where I spent almost all my time alone. I've been trying to make friends in the local cosplay community; there's a monthly cosplay meet-up and from what i see on facebook, tons of people who go seem to meet and make great friends. Try as I might I haven't been able to do that when I've attended.

I prefer going to conventions alone because my normalfag friends always just want to look at stuff in the dealer's room for an hour and then go home.

I'd meet up with you and cosplay, but I don't do anime cons :( just generic nerd cons.

>>4541259

I dunno, try cosplaying in a photoshoot with a group of people and talk to them?

I am in a similar situation such as you; I go to conventions alone because I have few friends.
I got over my shyness I still have a lot of social awkwardness and can't keep conversations going.
So I don't make any new friends at conventions.

I am not ugly and not that old. I cosplay to try to make friends and people take pictures of me, so I am not too crappy at least, but I can't make new friends.

I got lucky at my last monthly gathering and made a friend but generally I just stand around awkwardly in monthly gatherings.

>>4541302
Next time I go to the monthly meetup, I'm gonna bring some cards and hopefully find some people to play poker or something with, at least I'll be less bored that way.

do any of them play yugioh cards, pokemon, magic, etc. that you do too?
If you saw any of them do that previously, try bringing your own cards and playing with them next time

Make friends at the con! :D
You could also make friends online and meet them at the con. I always figured this was a terrible idea but I met a lot of cool people at the /cgl/ meetup at fanime. MATT IS MY FOREVER BRO <3

>>4541259
If you're having trouble talking to people, think of some conversation topics/ways of approaching people beforehand. I'm socially awkward as anything, but it usually helps my confidence to have memorised a couple lines.

My first con, I was so shy that I hardly talked to anyone. Then I started getting active on message forums and we'd hang out in person. I met some from video gaming. I decided to take a gander in cosplaying some popular characters so I was able to meetup people.

Later on I got bored with cons so I started to volunteer and be on staff. Met a ton of great people as that itself is a sub-culture. A lot of us travel around to other cons to help them out. Friends supporting friends. Plus you get crash space, free food and free booze afterward at the dead dog.