/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Male gull from 2010-era here (sea hawk?) I never post here anymore, and rarely visit, but here’s a story that may answer your question.

Back in 2010, anyone that was not in peak physical shape, or whom did not also possess top-tier cosplay ability, was viciously shamed off the board. This behavior may sound fanatical by today’s standards, but consider the times: The board was being beset by an absolute ONSLAUGHT of shitty Homestuck trolls, fat Haruhis, Neo-Nigiris, and Hot Topic ita girls. It was like the perfect storm. As a result, almost every serious cosplayer organically became a tripfag, and all of the major tripfags would regularly have laggy-ass video calls and get to know each other. It was like a very exclusive, very elite club of /fit/izens. Despite this, very few were openly snobbish. Most importantly, everyone was held accountable for everything they ever posted. It even got to the point where anonymous shitposters were regularly accused of being tripfags in disguise; either posting their own pictures under anonymous for clout, or talking shit on other trips. That’s just how many trips there were— almost everybody was one, and the weak ones were always bullied off the board. But of course, everybody hates tripfags, and it was only natural that there would be some kind of pushback to this level of elitism.

I stopped visiting the board around 2013-14 or so, so I can’t tell you what happened here during the time I was gone... but I can tell you what happened in real life. People became allergic to the concept of benevolent gatekeeping/ taking your hobbies seriously. Shaming others, for any reason, became taboo as a result of simultaneous and intersecting social movements. As cosplay became casualized, it also became an increasingly obvious way for girls to market themselves to guys, while the bar for quality was simultaneously lowered. Everyone back then knew this would happened and warned against it.

Nobody listened.

Male gull from 2010-era here (sea hawk?) I never post here anymore, and rarely visit, but here’s a story that may answer your question.

Back in 2010, anyone that was not in peak physical shape, or whom did not also possess top-tier cosplay ability, was viciously shamed off the board. This behavior may sound fanatical by today’s standards, but consider the times: The board was being beset by an absolute ONSLAUGHT of shitty Homestuck trolls, fat Haruhis, Neo-Nigiris, and Hot Topic ita girls. It was like the perfect storm. As a result, almost every serious cosplayer organically became a tripfag, and all of the major tripfags would regularly have laggy-ass video calls and get to know each other. It was like a very exclusive, very elite club of /fit/izens. Despite this, very few were openly snobbish. Most importantly, everyone was held accountable for everything they ever posted. It even got to the point where anonymous shitposters were regularly accused of being tripfags in disguise; either posting their own pictures under anonymous for clout, or talking shit on other trips. That’s just how many trips there were— almost everybody was one, and the weak ones were always bullied off the board. But of course, everybody hates tripfags, and it was only natural that there would be some kind of pushback to this level of elitism.

I stopped visiting the board around 2013-14 or so, so I can’t tell you what happened here during the time I was gone... but I can tell you what happened in real life. People became allergic to the concept of benevolent gatekeeping/ taking your hobbies seriously. Shaming others, for any reason, became taboo as a result of simultaneous and intersecting social movements. As cosplay became casual used, it also became an increasingly obvious way for girls to market themselves to guys, while the bar for quality was simultaneously lowered. Everyone back then knew this would happened and warned against it.

Nobody listened.

Male gull from 2010-era here (sea hawk?) I never post here anymore, and rarely visit, but here’s a story about the old days to answer your question.

Back in 2010, anyone that was not in peak physical shape, or whom did not also possess top-tier cosplay ability, was viciously shamed of the board. This behavior may sound somewhat ridiculous/ fanatical by today’s standards, but consider the times: The board was beset by an absolute ONSLAUGHT of shitty Homestuck trolls, fat Haruhis, Neo-Nigiris, and Hot Topic ita girls. It was like the perfect storm. As a result, almost every serious cosplayer inevitably became a tripfag, and all of the major tripfags would regularly have laggy-ass video calls and get to know each other. It was like a very exclusive, very elite club of /fit/izens, yet very few were openly snobbish. Most importantly, everyone was held accountable for everything they ever posted. It even got to the point where anonymous shit posters were regularly accused of being tripfags in disguise, either posting their own pictures under anonymous for clout, or talking shit on other trips. That’s just how many trips there were— almost everybody was one, and the weak ones were weeded out. But of course, everybody hates tripfags, and it was only natural that there would be some kind of push back to this level of elitism.

I stopped visiting the board around 2013-14 or so, so I can’t tell you what happened here during the time I was gone, but I can’t tell you what happened in real life. People became allergic to the concepts of benevolent gatekeeping and taking your hobbies seriously. Shaming others, for any reason, became socially taboo as a result of the body positivity and sex positive feminist movements. As a result of that, cosplay became an increasingly obvious way for girls to market themselves to guys, while the bar for quality was simultaneously lowered. Everyone back then knew this would happened and warned against it.

Nobody listened.