/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Oh boy, another one of these.

I think if anything is “ruining” cosplay, it’s people’s obsession with numbers - followers, patrons, their precious reach.

It’s fair if people are professionals who rely on costuming as an income, but so many of my friends (cosplay hobbyists, definitely not going to earn money from this) talk about having ‘content’ instead of having cosplay. “Sorry I don’t have new content at the moment!” The focus is completely on the followers, and if it’s just a hobby, it shouldn’t be that way.

That’s why we have an influx of cosplayers who immediately turn to lewds, it’s why there are people churning out dozens of taobao idol cosplays, it’s why people are more concerned with quantity over quality.

I don’t want to pretend getting online attention doesn’t feel good. It does. I get a sense of gratification when it seems that people like what I do. But a hobby begins to feel dry and stale when followers takes precedence over enjoyment.

Wow sorry 4 essay. I just get so annoyed when this topic always dissolves into people calling each other thots and fatties, which never goes anywhere productive.

>>9778149

sexy cosplay, they are in 99% extremely lazy

>>9778157
I wholeheartedly agree with all of what you said and appreciate the new perspective about “exposure” you gave me.

It’s really sad that it has tainted my own enjoyment of the hobby. It does hurt to see some store-bought cheap idol cosplay get more attention than my cosplays, which I’ve put my heart and soul into to make sure they’re accurate and worthy of a character. I guess I can only hope that it’ll become less mainstream again in a couple of years but I won’t bet my money on it.

The cancer killing cosplay is people not wearing canon costumes.

Fat girls

I honestly think that professional cosplayers are ruining the fun of cosplay for a lot of people.
Amateur cosplayers see professional cosplayers that are able to make several costumes per year, and do shoots with professional photographers, and invent countless hours in social media promotion. They see this and feel inferior, and they feel like they have to match this. So they try making multiple cosplays per year, working with professional photographers, and promoting their social media pages. Unfortunately, amateur cosplayers have limited funds and usually have other obligations, like work (sometimes more than one job) and/or school. So in the end, they get stressed and burnt out.

This has happened to me, and I've seen it happen to friends. I'm currently on hiatus from cosplay due to feeling burnt out after idolizing pro cosplayers and pushing myself too hard.

>in b4 "nobody's forcing you to compete with professional cosplayers"
Peer pressure is real. And cosplay communities have definitely become an environment where it feels like you have to "contribute" a certain amount to feel like you "belong".

Printed bodysuits

>>9778157
You've explained it very well. I used to have way more fun cosplaying before starting an instagram. Which is why I actually plan to delete my social media accounts soon!

I personally think the boudoir trend is the worst thing to happen in the community. When I was younger I felt pressured to do it as well, and I did once, and I regret it so much now. I don't want other people, especially minors, to feel they have to strip for popularity.

overwatch
also the obligatory thots and fatties, but there's a lot of overlap between them and overwatch so it's hard to disentangle them

>>9778408
>When I was younger I felt pressured to do it as well, and I did once, and I regret it so much now.

Same though. I did boudoir a few times because cosplayers I liked were doing it, then felt ashamed and deleted it. The fact that people possibly saved it and it still exists somewhere haunts me.

>>9778149
all the thots and attention seeking females or "normies" in general
on the other side, this all basically started with lonely male nerds/geeks anyway so
sincerely one of those lonely fat nerds

>>9778149
>Patreon? Instagram?
This isn't nearly as big a deal in my country. At most, you get some e-fame, but that's it. I've only seen one latin american cosplayer that has a patreon (hi, lobitah, keep sucking those horny mexican geeks dry) and she's not even in my country.
Sexy cosplays don't happen often because, well, most of the people who go to cons are very young, and events are half rinky dink in some fashion. I've seen very few sexy cosplays, in fact, I could count them in one hand. The closest one I've heard of that involved a popular cosplayer was Jessica Nigri's appearance in Chile, and that didn't go well (she complained about the crowd of horny teens chanting that she has too many clothes on).

It's a problem in your country. Mine still seems to have at least most of the spirit of cosplay still alive (i.e. you're doing it because you're a fan, not because you're looking for fame, cosplay alone barely gets you noticed on my country's online community, and good fucking luck having a succesful patreon here). Granted, yeah, half the events are too small, but if that keeps attention whores from getting too much attention, I'll take it.

I think the crazy amount of photoshop (liquidfy) used to make someone look completely different from what they look like in real life, places this unrealistic expectation on others to look a certain way. Think of all the Asian cosplayers that do this

Stop flooding the board with these threads each one ends the same

>>9778631
Indeed, we need more lolita threads

Momokun(t) is what's cancer right now.

Cringe threads are pretty bad, because they make noobs afraid to get into cosplay/egl.
That being said, threads making fun of shitty behavior and thready shitting on "experienced" cosplayers for making noob mistakes are fine.

>>9778528
And all the praise the people who so obviously overshoop is amazing. I can’t believe people actually look at these “digital paintings” and claim it’s good quality cosplay.

>>9778653

There's a huge difference between digital painting and cosplay. I guess who are we to tell others what you can and can't do lol

dumbfuck gatekeepers who think they can tell people they shouldn't be cosplaying

>>9778149
>What is the cancer that is slowly killing cosplay as it used to be?

Men.
-Most put little to no effort into their own cosplays
-promo and give attention to white girls with big tits with no skill
-make threads asking why all cosplayers they see are whores
-legitimately cant recognize photoshopped images to save their life

>>9778754
Doesn't matter. Choice is still up to them to wear what they want.

>>9778754
Straight men. Gay guys are usually better at wigs and makeup, at least.

>>9778754
Honestly, I’m inclined to agree. It is up to cosplayers to wear what they want, but if >>9778661 is any indication, there wouldn’t be NEARLY as many lewd cosplayers if men weren’t so stupidly easy to exploit.

How every fucking female cosplayer. Literally. Every. Female. Cosplayer. has a patreon and they sell their lewd pics like a bunch of whores.

I follow this one cosplayer who just 2 years ago would never do lewds and now has a patreon to sell herself to sad lonely old men who actually buy that shit.

Sure, every cosplayer can do whatever the hell she wants but the amount of sluttiness has become rampant. I get it. Every girl wants attention. But holy shit.

>>9778776

It's definitely a numbers game. If it's easy to exploit bunch of thirsty thots, why not? Unless, we're talking about morals. Last time I checked, using sex to sell prints wasn't part of what most people would say cosplaying is about.

>>9778793

Can't say it's all females, though it's definitely a trend, and you can draw your own conclusions from it.

Cosplay has become from an innocent hobby about dressing as your favorite character to a competition of who can get the most followers, who can suck the most money out of lonely men, and who can dress the most slutty.

I've totally lost respect for this hobby.

How many female cosplayers DONT have a patreon or similar?

And dont say "me", im talking about famous or good looking girls

>>9778798

And do you think they actually care about these lonely guys? They just want their wallets to open up for them. They'll behave like a saint even to get that money

>>9778413
There always has been dime-a-dozen run of the mill cosplays of a specific character or series and there always will be. Whether it was Yoko, Tharja, Hestia, or Harley Quinn some shit just doesn't go away

>>9778642
I had no issue until she tried to pretend she didn't have liposcution and lied about it or pass off the Milk Party cowgirl as an OC of her own design

>>9778802

Tenleid cares about me
She used to tripfag on /cgl/

>>9778661
I thought Patreon was going to get rid of all NSFW creators?

>>9778631
actually so far this one hasn't had any trolls and is pretty civil.

to keep it on topic, do you gulls think there is a realistic solution to the problem? I personally think having a better platform besides facebook/insta could help. A social media app designed for cosplayers, not beta cucks. Where you could post cosplay pics, ask questions about how it was made, etc

>>9778661
I actually find this really interesting. Despite having thousands of followers from their collective social media outlets, most cosplayers don't even have close to a thousand people paying for their content. I feel like we really shouldn't be beholden to the demand of "those lonely neckbeards" if only a handful of them are actually paying for this shit.

>>9778820

It depends how much they are paying
Momokun makes over $10000 a month

>>9778814
Cosplay amino was definitely supposed to be something like that, but ultimately it still centred around getting likes and followers.

Makes me miss the old days of forums, honestly. Why is this the only one going strong lmao

>>9778661
>$12k per MONTH
Damn, she makes more money than a data architect. Salute to her hustle game.

>>9778821
Yeah, I know that and hence the bitterness around these cosplayers, but they were just fortunate enough to hook people with low standards and tons of money. It's still pretty grounding to see that they don't have these hordes of fans like they want people to think. Despite the money they make, I honestly don't think that these types of "cosplayers" should be the ones dictating the direction of the culture.

>>9778776
This is the key. That list is definitely not the norm, nor is it as widespread as this thread would like you to believe. There's a world outside the US, and there aren't that many desperate loners in other countries.

>>9778836
I was hyped about Cosplay Amino for a while, but I feel like it's starting to pander to teenage sjws

>>9778661
I've never even heard of 95% of these "cosplayers".

>>9778896
Unfortunately money talks, even for young cosplayers. I've seen many a young cosplayer (like 16-18 yo) on instagram start Patreons and have things like sfw photosets, prints, and polaroids as rewards because they want to be paid so they can seem like a "professional cosplayer".

Even the definition of "professional" cosplayer has changed so much. It used to be if you were paid by the company/IP holder to cosplay for them, you were a professional cosplayer. Or if you were flown to 5+ cons every year to talk about costumes and craftsmanship. Now you can be considered a "pro" cosplayer just by getting paid a lot on Patreon.

>>9778799
A lot outside the US. Not everyone can be popular, and not all communities have enough betas for patreons to be active.

>>9778793
When u say a cosplayer 2 years ago who now sells lewds on patreon, were you talking about Ri.care? I've noticed it too, but particularly with that cosplayer

Speaking of, does anyone here actually support anyone on Patreon? I support one cosplayer at the moment, but it’s because she’s actually a costumer and seamstress, rather than a lewd model.

I think if we want to see a shift in cosplay, people need to put their money where their mouth is and support the people they want to see more of.

>>9778810
>tfw close friends and 80% responsible for her doing lewd tiers
I’m proud but at the same time I see her fans comments and am like whoops

>>9778810
She's a cute.

>>9778935
lewd cosplayers make their money off normies not other cosplayers and cosplay lovers

>>9778814
I'm a photographer in the scene and my own answer is to use that power I have to select who I shoot, and in effect, support. You can't stop others from doing what they want with their own money. It sucks to see this amazing hobby being turned into an appeal to the common denominator as a whole. One solution is to reward good behavior instead of bad. In this case, don't support lewd and support what you believe cosplay is.

I hate the people that practically beg people to support them through ko-fi.

>waah you guys if enough people dont buy me ko-fi I'll never be able to give you all the content you want!!! BUY ME A KO-FI please!!

How about u get a job like the rest of us and stop literally begging strangers to support your hobby. It's one thing to merely advertise a patreon or similar, but another to be this desperate. It's as cringy as those crybaby Tumblr posts where ppl boohoo and beg for cash to pay rent or food or bills.

Usually I would say have some self respect but we are talking about these ppl so..

>>9778754
>> Men.-Most put little to no effort into their own cosplays

As a straight male that can sew own costumes, that's a bit harsh. The thing is, even if I put out the most accurate, balls-to-the-walls costume, they all get pushed aside for female cosplayers with half the effort put into. It's not necessarily gender issue, but... how should I put it, meta issue. Ever since the cosplay went more mainstream, the numbers game and overall appearance matters to people more than accuracy and effort. Even some of my friends would put down my cosplays in favor of more revealing cosplays because they have the numbers behind them.

things like that is why I put costume making on hiatus. It's just not worth the effort anymore, not when the whole community is working against you.

>>9778661
>90% basic white girls
it's insane that even with makeup on and wearing cosplays they all look exactly the same

>>9778523
What the fuck kind of name is lobitah anyway.
Seriously, latin countries are the cancer of cosplay. No one will make it big there.

>>9778149
Social media. Not only cosplay, but almost every other hobby.

>>9779125
If it makes you feel any better I always make sure to tell male cosplayers, who genuinely look like they’ve put effort into the costume, that they look awesome.

I remember when cosplaying was predominantly female, it’s nice to see that it’s getting more exposure with males. But then I think of kawaiibro or leonchiro and I’m not so sure anymore.

>>9778935
I support kinpatsu on patreon. She releases tutorials and huh go figure no lewds. Her online personality rubs me the wrong way sometimes, but it's just really refreshing to follow someone not getting naked every other post.

It's kinda the same way with anime that doesn't have fan service, it feels more dignified and doesn't distract from the story/emotion

>>9779170
She changed it, lobitah was her old name.

>No one will make it big there.
Well, if you don't want cosplay thots to be rampant, that's a good thing

>>9778157
I agree with all of this. It has been super depressing seeing my cosplay friends, who I've known since long before Instagram and Patreon even existed, become more and more preoccupied with followers, interaction, reach and producing "content". We all started cosplaying because we were huge nerds who loved certain characters from anime/games so much we wanted to bring them to life, and the most important part was having fun, meeting other fans and doing the characters justice. Doing photoshoots was fun but not a requirement. Nowadays these same friends are buying new generic premade cosplays from AliExpress every week so they can continue to churn out "content" for their cosplay pages. They're all doing multiple cosplays a month and so don't have time to really make anything themselves. We hardly hang out anymore unless it's for a photoshoot, and when we do the conversation is mostly about social media and not about cosplay itself. None of them are professional cosplayers and only one has a(n unsuccessful) Patreon, but the preoccupation with social media followers has completely taken precedent over enjoyment of the hobby itself. Despite not earning any money from it they treat it like it's a job and I wouldn't be surprised if a few of them start getting frustrated and drop the hobby completely because they're not getting whatever they think they should be getting out of all of this.

>>9778157
Damn thanks anon, you finally helped to word what is so irritating about some of the stuff I see in person at cons

>>9778661
>mfw Moomoo is nr 4
I did not expect there to be so mnay fat fetishists

>>9779335

thats an old list she is no 6 at present

https://graphtreon.com/top-patreon-creators/adult-cosplay

The only thing ruining the cosplay community is the catty bitches that are so insecure about themselves, that they choose to pick on people more attractive than them.

>>9778810
>Tenleid cares about me
>She used to tripfag on /cgl/
yeah, if you think so

>>9779354
The ‘only’ thing, really? While they’re certainly not a good contributing factor, catty bitches are present in any hobby and have been part of cosplay for a long time. I remember how catty /cgl/ used to be (and still is to some extent) and how competitive “pretty” girls get at cons.

>>9778814
A cosplay media platform has been tried out multiple times, it always ends up failing. Like >>9778836 said they're always designed to be about followers and likes like any other social media platform so there's no point to them. I miss sites like cosplaylab that was all about showcasing your work and not just whoring out for followers and likes.

>>9779062
This. It's become the norm to beg for money to do whatever you do. People have become so entitled about getting paid because they see all the costhots getting thousands of dollars from porn-hungry normies. They wouldn't pay any other cosplayer themselves yet they expect other people to hand them money for their hobby. Get a fucking job to pay for your hobby. It's not even limited to just cosplayers, a lot of other content creators are abroad this train as well.

>>9779257
Same. I also wished more articles gave Male cosplayers a chance to shine. Especially those who put in real effort. I know many of them and they're kind, awesome and talented.

I don't get why these thots still sub to these photoshopped bitches. You can tell its all fake, down to their personalities. Stop being so damn desperate and just go to pornhub.

>>9778934
I was exactly talking about her. Wow.

Seriously though. Her latest pic is a link to her patreon asking you to pay for an uncensored pic of her vagina.

The cancer that is killing the cosplay community is meme cosplays. Or even worse, people who are trying to be fun to drag as their favorite waifu

>>9779496
I like meme cosplay though. But only if it's done well.

>>9779506
i mean, a significant chunk of many meme cosplays is the FACT that theyre done shitty

>>9779508
I like it when it's well done because it's still effort put in, and it makes the joke/meme a thousand times better in my opinion.

>>9778813
They don’t allow “pornography,” but do allow NSFW. It’s a very subjective distinction. They supposedly don’t allow private cam shows for patrons but afaik that sort of thing (or private messaging/contact of various sorts) is still widely available. They’ll never do anything about it as long as it keeps making them money, a relatively small number of people do it, and the only criticism they get is from small groups. It reminds me of square enix and bots in ffxiv. You have to pay a sub for an account to run a bot, so the company is making money off of botters. Players who are into crafting/gathering can’t compete with bots and complain from time to time, but the company doesn’t give a shit because most people don’t care about bots (makes stuff cheaper, increases supply of things people don’t want to bother gathering) and they’re still making money off of them. They’ll periodically ban the most egregious offenders, like people who run 20 bots at once with gibberish names and teleport around the map and shit, but “real” customers who run 1-3 bot accounts never get touched, even if they get reported for it and RMT shitloads of gil (gold).

>>9779144
and I think that's part of the problem, is that we have same faces with same gimmicks saturating the hobby to the point that it becomes predictably boring.

>>9779490
Why not when it's super easy money?

How will people explain this stuff to their kids when they google their parents and find these pictures? “Well Mommy needed some money so she took those nude pics and sold them to strangers over the internet”? Imagine your kid going to school and having lewd cosplay pics of their mom plastered all over their locker.

>>9779554
That's the whole point of the thread, easy money is making the whole point of cosplay meaningless

>>9779559
You see 16 y/o wearing full on makeup and living that I'm famous on ig life. So in 20 years, it'll all be normalized and it won't look as bad

>>9779554

Because you should have some diginity and not whore your body out to gross beta nerds

>>9779554
Because then uncensored pics of your vagina are out there for the rest of your life and everyone knows you as the chick who exchanged nudes for money. Do these thots ever think of their future?

>>9778149
It's elitism and craving attention.

It's totally natural for some people to want to make a living doing something they enjoy. That's why many flock to patreon and whatnot. If you want to make a living cosplaying, do it.

The problem is the elitism. If someone says they want to make money via cosplay, they're immediately branded as not a real cosplayer. There's also a lot of cattiness in the community because we're so quick to judge a cosplayer for little things or things that have nothing to do with the costume rather than give criticism.

The biggest problem overall is the desire for followers. For those who aren't aiming to make a career, they're not taken seriously because they have a small following.

The end result is everyone hates you if you want to make a career from this hobby, but you're also the butt of the joke if you don't want to. And no one else is ever a real cosplayer.

>>9779645

AFAIK nobody has accused Yaya, Kamui, punished props, etc, the people who are selling their knowledge and skills to other cosplayers, "not real cosplayers"

people who want to make money by selling porn of themselves that they call cosplay, because facing the fact you're a sex worker is tough, are not real cosplayers.

>>9779278
It's interesting cause I follow Kinpatsu on Instagram because i like her stuff, but I hate how you have to pay for her patreon because thats where she uploads all her tutorials. Maybe I am bitter because I remember the time when cosplayers would post their tutorials/progress updates on cosplay.com or deviantart. It seemed more genuine when someone would share how they did a certain thing so that other people could enjoy it too, instead of doing it for only those who can afford to pay.

I'm a little old school, but cosplay was fun when it was also about sharing ideas, tips & tricks with others, not just doing it as an incentive for cash.

In that mind, I like kamuicosplay because she is from that old school cosplay scene and posts tutorials on her Insta. She has a book which someone could buy if they really wanted more details which I find better than exclusively selling tutorials on patreon.

>>9779770
how dare people find a pretty innocuous way to support their hobby amirite

I think what is ruining cosplay is:

>cosplaying memes
>fat people trying to insist they look good cosplaying
>going to an anime con as a non anime character
>going to a comic con as an anime character

On the fat people thing, if you're fat but make great costumes, good on you, you are probably very talented. That does not mean it's a good idea to put yourself in one of your costumes, make a great costume and put it on an actual attractive person who likes the character costume you made instead.

>>9779772
There's nothing wrong with supporting the hobby, it is more with the means of support. Expecting people to pay for tutorials that are only available to those that pay is different than someone who posts the tutorial and then offers the option to buy a more detailed book or sewing pattern. There's a difference.

Besides if I wanted to know how to make a Jessica Nigri™ inspired bra, I shouldnt have to pay someone for "exclusive tutorials"

>>9779789
they're not ''''expecting'''' you to pay. you aren't obligated to buy the tutorial off of them as opposed to just figuring out how to do it your damn self (like they did!)

>>9778149
easily obtainable, reasonably affordable thermoplastics. everyone is using them but is anyone using a respirator? cancer.

>>9779783
Cute image, where's it from?

>>9779783
That kind of thinking is exactly why people whore themselves out.

It shouldn't matter if you're fat or not. You are wearing an outfit from a Japanese cartoon.

>>9779770
I can't side with you on this one, because I don't think it is hurting the community. If she stop making tutorials, it doesn't benefit the community either, unlike other behaviors that are mentioned here.

>>9779918
What does that mean?

>>9779764

I think your second point is right on. Selling sexy is not real cosplay. These thots can deny all they want but in the end, they're just fooling themselves.

Harley Quinn crossovers are ruining cosplay imho

>>9778157
desu I see this happening in other content-creator circles as well. I think people seeing others get rich and popular off of Twitch, YouTube, Patreon, or whatever blinds people of what got them into whatever hobby they're doing. They get hooked on validating their art through likes, subscribes, Twitter followers, etc.

The human mind is weird yo

>>9779490
Isn't Ri.Care like trans anyway?

One of the cancers is the fact that certain cosplayers constantly want you to basically worship them like Gods and give them your money and I'd you don't, they scream, "It's because I'm (Either POC/Some Sexuality) or you're (sexist/racist)".

Heck, one cosplayer started doing Patreon and screamed that calling her a she was offensive to her and to her followers and Patreon suppprters. It was ridiculous!

>>9780073
So it's him to his followers?

>>9778661
Of the top 10 there Hana Bunny is probably the fakest I've ever seen. At least the other girls there look comparable to their photos

>>9779770
I used to think that way, but then I realized it's the only way she is able to make money short of getting naked. So I am happy to support her, plus the tutorials are very in depth and helpful so it's worth it imo

>>9778157
Gosh, I've been complaining about this for months now. I have good friends that have gone down this "I need to be instagram famous for my cosplays! Can i borrow your costume so i have more content for my instagram page?" route and it's caused me to severely distance myself from them, and the app. I can't put into words how much I miss running around my backyard in a poorly made cosplay with friends of mine, not caring about what other people thought of our costumes and just loving it for what it was. I've grown into someone who will spend months delicately constructing a costume until it's something I feel truly proud of--but it's been painful to watch all of these other... cheap, one time cosplays (in some cases photoshopped onto the person's image, not even owning the damn costume) get swarmed with attention and compliments while my hard work is left completely unpraised due to the series it's from not being mainstream enough. Series popularity has complete priority over craftsmanship these days, and all of these instagram cosplayers just flock from one popular thing to the next for their 5 minutes of fame. I hate it.

>>9780076
At this point I don't even know. Ri Care and several other cosplayers sling the Trans label around too much these days ugh

>>9780169
Case in point about photoshopping face onto a character.

This.

>>9779125
>As a straight male that can sew own costumes, that's a bit harsh.
congrats on not being a part of the most and still getting offended

>>9780238
Yeah that's pretty bad imo. There's a lot worse out there tho. You picked a pretty good photo to give an example of

>>9778880
I can't even be mad. Girl's made this wprk for her, god damn.

>>9778754
Funny that you missed the worst offender:
Men don't do makeup.
Unless they're crazy hot, literally every dude I see in cosplay looks like shit because they're trying to ape anime boys without even being able to use foundation or concealer. You can't be a husbando if you don't have even tone, fuckers.

>>9780295
Let’s be real here, most men don’t even wash their damn faces.

>>9778906
>Even the definition of "professional" cosplayer has changed so much. It used to be if you were paid by the company/IP holder to cosplay for them, you were a professional cosplayer. Or if you were flown to 5+ cons every year to talk about costumes and craftsmanship. Now you can be considered a "pro" cosplayer just by getting paid a lot on Patreon.

Pretty sure the definition of a professional [x] has always been to get paid for doing something/making a living out of it mate, regardless of where the money comes from. It's not like "just by getting paid a lot" is easy regardless of a platform or what you do.

>>9779783
Got a fatty character friend who does cosplay and eats a lot all the time.
Anything looks bad in her. Even if she has a pretty face. If only she tried to lose weight.
And she spends a lot of time hand crafting her outfits.
But she enjoys it.

>>9778754
This. Aside from the most committed individuals, I rarely see men do a good-tier cosplay, and even then a good chunk of the one's I've seen are either bought or meme cosplays. My best guess is it's because that requires things like sewing or wearing makeup or wig styling and on top of that the fact that more of the attention getting cosplays are from bishe fujobait scares the majority of them out of doing high effort endeavors for the same reason they don't wash their asses let alone their faces: it's because they don't want to look gay.
>>9780238
God thank you for this throwback

>>9780406
>>9778754
>killing cosplay
How can it be killing it when it was always really like that?
I've been going to cons longer than most of the posters on this board have been alive, I wager, and guys have generally treated cosplay as something for fun and personal kicks.
The kind of cutthroat competition and perfectionist attitude women cosplayers have adopted didn't really come up until the mid '00s, where wig/makeup/pattern absolutely had to be on point and anything less than a 1 to 1 copy of the character was immediately discarded.
And character matters. I looked like a young Geralt before, and look like current Geralt now, an anime/video character made of angles and high cheekbones was never in my cards, and I never attempted it for that reason. I think that's why armor/masks/et al are popular, and a few other reasons aside.

>t. 48 year old guy who probably should quit this nonsense

>>9779559
Pornstars have been a thing for generations. Internet pornstars for around 20 years. Having a pornstar parent is less mortifying than you think.

>>9779789
>I’m entitled to free stuff

>>9778323

this

>>9780406
Do you have an example of a dude doing fujobait cosplays?

>>9780547
Can you explain the logic behind how this would be less mortifying than say, if your parent is in STEM?

>>9780563
probably that the two aren't mutually exclusive? porn is generally a young person's game, pornstars have to get a "real" job after they age out. so you could have a parent in STEM who was a pornstar to pay off student loans or something

>>9780563
It's not the end of the world. First of all the likeliness of the kid or anyone they know seeing it is practically zero because 1)Thousands of hours of new porn is produced every day. 2)Even today almost no one ever look at 20+ year old porn 3)Every year the chance of the porn being lost to time on the internet increases 4)Even today it's difficult to get a hand on a lot of cosplay patreon exclusives unless you pay for it yourself.

And you could always, you know, actually talk to your kid. When you have the sex talk you can just say "I'm not going to go into specifics but when I was younger I did a little bit of porn. It was an interesting experience but that's years behind me and it's nothing to be ashamed about anyway." The kid would be a little bit embarrassed in the moment but as long as you don't raise them as some puritan freak they'll be fine.

>>9780568
True, they aren't mutually exclusive. Though I think though given the choice of going into either, why would you choose one over the other?

>>9779764
>Implying these are mutually exclusive.

>>9779783
Why can't they cosplay? Why shouldn't they wear what they made?

>>9780735
No one isn't saying they can't. The issue is with what is cosplay and what isn't.

>>9780762
so wait, painstakingly crafting an outfit to match the one of a character you love somehow isn't cosplay just because you're fat???

"fat people ruin cosplay" is the most fedora-tipping, nigri-poster-jerking, beta-virgin-male thing to say

Since fat people have always done cosplay would that mean the hobby was ruined from the start?

>>9780763
Yes. If you're fat nobody's it's your responsibility to yourself to lose the weight so you can represent the character as much as possible. Would you say if you're a slob that (barring health issues that prevent such activity) is going to not get comments that you are fat? I'm all for not bullying people, we are talking about the lack of effort in this department

>>9780784
>responsibility
>for a silly dress up game hobby

the cancer killing cosplay is the people supporting cos-thots...

stop donating to them, stiop making excuses for them, stop watching thier youtube videos, stop supporting youtubers like H3H3 interviewing them

just ignore them.. support cosplayers you think are actually skilled, and consistently skilled. support cosplayer who inspire you. not who trigger you.

https://www.patreon.com/Momokun/community

this is fucking abysmal. these poor sad fucks actually save up money, just to give it to her. oh man she should be fucking ashamed.

>>9780939

Why do other girls support costhots?

The cancer is simply the fact that people aren't united, and refuse to enter a consensus. People will want to be divided into their crews and forget they're part of a bigger group, often scaring people away from the scene just because they have a sense they are endangered by new cosplayers and by being united into one group, preferring to curse thsoe who aren't part of their 'secret club'. Quite what was seen on 4chan back in the day.

not even a good photoshop... come on erica

>>9780942
Because girls are inherently catty af. They love to become your friendenemy

>>9780947
Hence why the cos scene or really any scene has a reputation of being elitist

>>9780939
If I was her and I'm making 10k or more a month, I wouldn't give two shits. It's just all perspective.

Not a cosplayer, never posted before and the only reason I lurk here from time to time are the conhorror threads (shits entertaining as fk), but I really find these "why is hobby X turning to shit" threads interesting. I feel like cosplay is just experiencing what's it like when a hobby, medium or whatever becomes big enough to be turned into a commercially viable product, instead of a passion-driven hobby. Happened with movies, music, vidya and basically everything else that became (for a lack of a better term) socially acceptable. Lets take esports as an example: With stuff like league and the LCS, esports grew massively, when compared to the times of wc3, quake, painkiller and a lot of the mainstream media-coverage during the rise of lcs, first few TIs etc was using headlines like: These nerds might be making more money in a month, than YOU in a year! or From living in parent's basement to gaming millionaires!
Money just is the easiest way to make something look legit to people that look at something from the outside and means a bigger potential target audience. Duh, right? But that's not really the point I want to get to.
For a thing to become commercially viable you need to market it towards this big and new audience and that often means diluting something to a point where the original appeal takes a backseat. Look at music, there are so many awesome musicians, that mastered their craft, but who's standing on a huge staged in front of 50000 people? Miley cyrus with a strap-on. What have been some of the highest grossing movies every year? Fast and furious X, Transformers. What vidya sells consistently?
good? Fifa, Cod, the 15thwow addon. Are these things really that amazing? Imho not really, but they sell and sell and keep on selling. So quality isnt the standard anymore, sales are.
I mean if you ask people what the most influential cosplay is, I bet a lot of them will say Jessica Nigri's Pikachu. Is it the best cosplay ever? Lol..
Sry for rambling

>>9778935
I was pledged to kinpatsu for a period of time last year but after a couple of tutorials, I learned all I needed from her. Plus she follows the same method for all her other costumes and it gets repetetive after a while. I prefer her bigger builds anyways, as opposed to all the casual closet outfits and printed bodysuits she's been doing lately.
I unsubbed around the time she was late delivering rewards on her witch mercy tutorial and ended up commissioning the rest of the costume from someone else.

>>9780975
>I mean if you ask people what the most influential cosplay is, I bet a lot of them will say Jessica Nigri's Pikachu

Your whole text is pretty much on point, but in cosplay, the way I experience it as a Star Wars cosplayer, there isn't a "universal" big name or something. It depends much on your area. Nigri might be a big one when it comes to cos-thots/models who do cosplay.

In the Star Wars scene, the 501st Legion (the organization) is pretty famous and well recognized around the world, for example.

>>9780975
>> What vidya sells consistently?
good? Fifa, Cod, the 15thwow addon. Are these things really that amazing? Imho not really, but they sell and sell and keep on selling.

If this was early 2017, I'd agree with you. But between EA's greedy lootboxes and the last CoD failing to meet sales expectation, your logic comes up a bit short this time around.

Same with cosplay. Many people are getting sick and tired of these 'cosplay celebrities', and less and less people are spending money on them. All these sexy cosplays are nothing more than hype bubble that exceeded its expiration date by one year. 2018 should be the decline year for these people, especially with social media changing their algorithm.

>>9781009
I think that the cod and wow reference is pointing to the trend, not an outlier. Both games sold very well and made them very rich. Picking out one fiscal year isn't a good arguement.

You're second point I agree wholeheartedly. You do see fb taking an active step to go back to basics, given the type of news that has been published.

>>9781018
>> Picking out one fiscal year isn't a good arguement.

Fair enough, I will concede to that. Though I have to wonder, is comparing video game industry to cosplay 'business' a fair comparison? There's really no big machine running each cosplayers with mass marketing plans or having a successful even that promotes business-specific items. We don't know if Martin's 'cosplay agency' still works, and most cosplay-specific conventions didn't last more than 3 years and the ones that still run are so low-key that it's a wonder why anyone's even bothering with them.

This particular trend comparison feels like the variables are so lopsided that it's not exactly a correct statement.

>>9781103
ehh i'm not that anon, I just wanted to point that out it's not a good point to use that.

I think that anon was comparing the notion you could compare at a time when vidya games weren't as popular and how the advent of social media, etc, which has made it less about the passion and more about the bottom line. Really, the point of real cosplay is dying is that, as much as we like to deny it, cosplay is becoming into the view of the larger culture (nerd/gaming/etc) and there's a price to pay for that. Most of us probably is thinking it sucks to see such a cool hobby being taken away.

I'll say that there isn't a big machine running the cosplay scene..yet. Nobody ever thought you could make a living off cosplay via patreon say 3-4 years ago. That's living proof that, while there's ways to go until the scene is taken over by big biz, it's just the beginning

>>9781122
This anon summed my ramblings up pretty well. Like I've stated in my original post, I'm not a cosplayer myself, so correct me if I'm wrong here: Originally cosplay was a way for people to express their love for a character or show, but these days it feels like the it's other way around. The costume becomes a tool for the person to expand her/his audience.

Would be really interesting to know how many people these days discover an anime or a game through one of the famous cosplayers instead of seeking it out on their own.

Also a question for some of you Anons that habe been in the scene for a long time: Since when did this whole premade-cosplay thing take off? I imagine that, if you wanted to cosplay a character 15 years ago, chances were high that you had to make your entire costume from scratch. Nowadays it seems if you want to cosplay as something, it's just one amazon-search away.

>>9780073
Wait...Ri Care is MALE? Shit

>>9782743
Thats what you get for fapping to photoshopped cosplayers. F-g the face looks like an alien.

>>9778661
Alison rapp seems the saddest-- charity work my foot.
>>9778767
Too many gay guys keeps everyone else away.
>>9779062
Its like they are begging a boyfriend. They should just offer paid meetups.
>>9779559
Poverty. If english speaking countries where dping better their daughters wouldnt be prostituing.
>>9780073
there are only 2 black cosplayers on the pateron pic. On social media we are easy to filter out. Stop bring black people into everything.
>>9780406
If a man is thought to be gay he loses access to a lot of women. Most guys dont want to chance it.
>>9780563
Karrine steffens said her son faced alk types of harrassment. A lot if porn stars send their kids to live with relatives during the week. there is a stigma.
>>9780987
Cosplay started from star trek. Never forget.

>>9783012
>Cosplay started from comic books from the 30s
Educate yourself. Modern conventions can be traced to Star Trek.

>>9783012
The first example for cosplay can be traced back to one of the first sci-fi cons in the 20's. Literally one guy showed up in costume, and he had assumed that everyone was going to be wearing a costume.

>>9778206

some people just buy it from the store because they don't have the right tools or material to make it

>>9778157

I have to agree with you anon, even when I started cosplaying it was just for fun and making friends but I'm slowly getting put into the pressure that I need to advertise myself. I have so many friends who post sponsored post on their cosplay post and I even have some friends who are thinking of making a patron to sell pics of their sexy cosplay...

>>9778344

I totally agree with you. One of my older friends was telling me and showing me pics of when he used to go to conventions back in 2007, while I was looking at it, it seemed like everyone was amateurs and just doing it for fun and to be the character they like. my friend was saying that cosplaying started to become more competitive and professional around 2012 (this is around the time I started to get into going to conventions)....

I do feel like there's a lot of peer pressure with cosplaying and people wanting to get as much likes and follows as their popular cosplay friends

>>9778408
>>9778417

my friend has been doing lots of boudoir cosplays recently, I felt tempted to join her group just because it was of a character I like but then I reminded myself that I actually have cosplays I really want to do that isn't sexual

>>9778810

Thicker than a bowl of oatmeal.

>>9778157
People are always asking for my instagram, but I don’t have one. Is it worth it?

>>9778754
All of this. Fucking point on. To add to the list, male cosplayers are also rapey as fuck and act extremely entitled with their costumes.
>Ugh I can't wear makeup or wigs for my cosplay, that's fucking GAY!!!
>Men don't even know how to sew or put on make up! Chicks are born with those skills! I'm just gonna stick to shitty aliexpress costumes or ugly ass armor builds because men are automatically better prop makers
>Because I'm a ~RARE MALE COSPLAYER~ girls are magically attracted to me for cosplaying their husbando, give me attention roasties!!
>Because I'm a ~RARE MALE COSPLAYER~ girls must be attracted to me in general, I might as well act super slimy and hit on everyone in my community!

>>9778754
There are hardly any compared to the high amount of cosplay thots, and you have the gall to bitch about men.

>>9778693
>>9778693
Luckily there aren't many where I live, but jfc this thread seems to be full of them.

>>9787228
Who pays the cosplay thots though?

>Men

>>9787242
*in the US
And the ones that are actually successful with just that are rare.

>>9787242
Eh, it's a chicken-egg situation and you know it.

>who throws themselves at horny betas with money? Women
>who pays the cosplay thots? Men

>>9787104
>Men don't even know how to sew or put on make up! Chicks are born with those skills! I'm just gonna stick to shitty aliexpress costumes or ugly ass armor builds because men are automatically better prop makers
This makes me laugh so hard. Working as an actual professional propmaker in the film-industry, the majority of people in the workshop are women.

(1/2)

While I don't think its KILLING cosplay I do think what's holding cosplay back is just how limited the hobby is in expressing the partcipant's creativity.

It seems that making the outfit is where the cosplayer shows their personality as you can see the same character constructed widely different across multiple people. The passion and effort of the craft making the outfits is commendable and the creativity employed is worth praising.

However what people do with the finished product is rather limited. You see the same cutesy poses and blank badass expressions that it feels like people are reading from the same pose book. I swear to god if I see another side lunge stretch being passed off as a fight stance or the ever classic "holds frame of glasses pose" I will just lose it. To ad to the issue we've really downplayed storytelling photos in favor of glamor shots that love to run the formula of pretty cosplay + pretty location = great photo. While these pics do a great job showing off the details of the costume (and who wouldn't want their hard work to be shown off) This trend really waters down the performance potential of cosplay and boils it down to "what looks good" The fact that in cosplay videos has the CAMERA move more than the cosplayers says a lot of how little we care about the performance.

(2/2)

Now I can hear you thinking....

>But anon, of course we care about looks it's cosplay!

And there's nothing wrong with wanting to look good or show off your best work. The issue is that we ONLY care about looks and really ignore the performance and interactive parts of cosplay.

Where's our scene re-creations?
Where's the fan films?

Glamor shots don't interest me as much as they come a dime a dozen. However watching stuff like cosplay chess or watching cosplay be incorporated into dance which shows off different character interactions or the explorations of the character through means of movement shows us a different direction this hobby can go. CWF gets posted here a lot and for good reason. Their outfits are crap and the performers do not look like the characters but the simple fact that they can hype up a room of strangers and instill emotions out of people rarely seen even at WCS or most masquerades is a feat in of itself

TL:DR: We focus too much on the glamor aspects of cosplay and we should look to more ways to express our love of characters and dressing up

>>9787852
>>9787846
I find your points extremely intriguing as they're something I've never really thought about. Do you have an actual example of what you think is good representation of both costume and character?

>>9778754
So what's your solution then, ban all men from cons?

>>9787846
>>9787852
Have you seen Danganronpa photoshoots? Practically everything they do is lifted from the games

It went from a fandom niche to an economy to sell to lonely fags all over otaku land.

>>9788147
what can be changed is telling your homeboy that he has shit taste for liking "white girl with boobjob in cosplay #47"

>>9787400
For every female costhot there are hundreds of men throwing money at them. If the men weren’t paying, women would have no incentive to be costhots. If there were no costhots, men would still be fapping to lewd fanart, pasting cosplayers’s faces onto porn pictures and “X-ray”ing cosplayers’ photos to see their nipples. Comic and manga artists were drawing their female characters half naked before the word cosplay even existed. Chicken or egg, I think it can safely be said that thirsty men are the driving force here.

>>9780077
>Of the top 10 there Hana Bunny is probably the fakest I've ever seen

Yep, it's why her biggest bane are photogs who post her pictures without letting them go through her.

>>9788283
And it will never go away. I spend 500 a month on Patreon and more than half of that is on costhots.

>>9787852
I've personally commented this same thing with my cosplay partner and my friends quite a few times as well.
I personally try to take as many "in character"/storytelling photos as I can but I feel that photographers who understand what I'm trying to achieve are hard to find and most look at western cosplay photogs as inspo/reference, while I tend to see a lot more of that sort of thing from asian cosplayers/photogs. As much as I enjoy a beautiful photo that shows off my work, I find it the performance aspect a lot more interesting. It's also a lot harder, which is what I assume another reason cosers don't do it as much and it doesn't appeal as much to the general public as a beautiful photo does (tho I personally disagree since I've gained interest in specific series by seeing storytelling photoshoots but that's me).

On this note, how to get your photog to understand you want more than glam shots? Having examples at hand? Getting them to take a look at the source material?
I've tried both and still have difficulties getting what I'm after, there aren't many cosplay photogs in my area and trying to get pics from non-cos photogs worked even worse.
I don't like to "guide" or get "bossy" with them because it comes across as rude and like they don't know how to do their job but sometimes I feel like unless I'm drawing them a storyboard and describing every shot they should take to a T, I won't be lucky.

>>9788657
I agree entirely, I think shoots that tell a story tend to carry so much more emotion. It takes the cosplay just that step further from just wearing a costume, to actually embodying the character. I was lucky enough to meet a photog who has the same interest, but outside that, conceptual photographers just seem so rare.

Maybe just straight up tell them you’re more interested in conceptual photography than glamour shots? I think having examples from other photographers would really help. I know you mentioned checking out the source material, but I think coming prepared with specific shots that you feel carry the emotion you want to communicate.

I’m in a similar boat as you haha. I actually started drawing out a storyboard of my dream shoot. Sometimes you gotta to the absolute most to get your point across.

I think all the soyboys and non hetero cosplayers are killing this community. They all act so flamboyant and fabulous that that it distracts con goers from my gf and I in our couples cosplay. Like we put a lot of time and effort into finding the right cosplay and spend tons of money on them just to have some soysucker in a shitty homemade maid outfit steal out thunder. They also attract unwanted attention from Christians. Cosplay and anime would be better received in god's eyes if it weren't for these cancers.

>>9778149
in short: SJWs, femnazis and whales

1. Girls who do sexy cosplay are labelled as whores who have no respect for their gender.
2. Guys who look at sexy cosplay are naturally just stoneage beasts who should be shot.
3. If you're a girl who calls someone's cosplay bad: you're a bulimic slut
4. If you're a guy who calls someone's cosplay bad: you're still a stoneage beast

It's all you haters who turned cosplay into shit.

Thank you.

>>9788718
>2
Literally nobody says this

>>9788283
>If the men weren’t paying, women would have no incentive to be costhots.

women still love to show off their bodies even if no one is paying them

just look at instagram or other social media

or just go outside

>>9789094
This
Even in our rinky dink cons in my country, women are like that. I guess >>9788283 is a thot in denial.

>>9788652

Why do you spend money on coswhores when porn is free?

Serious question

I used to follow a bunch of cosplayers in like 2016 and like maybe three times a month checked on my instagram.

I practically unfollowed all of them a few weeks ago because I was sick of seeing the words Patreon, Content, NSFW, Bikini <Insert character name>, and shitty advertisments for lenses. I only follow Rin_Cosplay and a few other people now.

Worst of all I was sick of seeing the same cosplays, not characters, but just the same exact cosplays bought from stores online.

Also I don't use /cgl/, just saw this post on the front page.

>>9778754
None of those are KILLING cosplay. Men have always sucked at doing cosplay.

What is actually killing it is Patreon unironically, I'm not talking about people who do good work and get paid for it on Patreon, or lewd shit, but the bottom of the barrel retards who buy a shitty cosplay, do their makeup in 30 seconds, snap a selfie and then make 3000 dollars a month on that.

>>9789094
They’ve obviously seen other women get money and positive attention and want to get in on that hustle. If all men suddenly stoped encouraging costhots through compliments and donations then they would die out really fast, but if women stopped providing fap fodder of their own volition then men would find other ways to get cosplay/fictional character porn. It’s supply and demand, and demand comes first.

>>9789282
I hate thots, but I hate men who think with their dick and don’t even realize it even more.

>>9788110
The better question to ask is how else can we express ourselves using the art of cosplay

On the top of my head you have cosplay chess which shows cross over character interaction using improve. It's fun watching captin Falcon losing to Idol Master Characters or Kuzco trying to out fox Tony Stark. CWF melds cosplay with the tropes of pro wrestling to the point where strangers are rallying behind their character of choice in hopes they can win the belt. There's a few cosplay improv panels and there's cosplay burlesque where the good ones let the characters personality inspire the choreography. MAGfest has a costume contest but it stresses character performance and the crowd picks the winner

1/2

>>9790885I believe the reason why the community is so upset with sexy cosplay is that outside of of glamor shots it's all we got.

Think of hentai or comic artists drawing porn. Sure some members don't like it but they are accepted by their communities and that's because there tons of different genres out there that the porn is a small niche.

We as a community should find and support other avenues if cosplay expression as we're currently suffering from our lack of creativity

>>9779257
Whats wrong with kawaiibro and leon?

>>9788657
Now that I think about it, the story/in character shoots I've done are always way more fun, and the pictures come out more interesting too (however I'm still not the best facial actor)

Cosplayers should start doing the 'play' part more!

>>9788657
>>9788693
>>9791605
The problem is that those photos cannot sell prints, and not enough people care for them, so even if photographers are starting to shoot them, no one would see them.

>>9779764
>facing the fact you're a sex worker is tough, are not real cosplayers.


Yup. No one wants to look themselves in the eye and realize they are selling 5 minutes of fun fap fodder. No one aims for their life to go that route.

>>9788277
>what can be changed is telling your homeboy that he has shit taste for liking "white girl with boobjob in cosplay #47"


This. Men need to call their skeevy friends with questionable behavior out. But yall also need to stop policing your friends on what kind of girl they like. Too many men like tit monster blonde girl because that's what he thinks his friends would approve of.

>>9790476
Every guy thinks with their dick, or at least it's input, unless they actively ignore it.
>my dick says GO TALK TO THAT GIRL DRESSED AS SCIV IVY BOYEE
>decide not to, it's something I find beneath me and she has sycophants enough
Your post implies your issue is with men as a whole for having noticeable sex drives.
>>9791802
>Too many men like tit monster blonde girl because that's what he thinks his friends would approve of.
This is a thing?
I think it's rather your tastes change as you get older and discover what you appreciate. What attracted me as a youth is not what attracts me as a man, even if there are similarities.

>>9786955
Practically everyone in the cosplay scene has one. If you want to make friends, you should make an account even if you never post.

>>9787104
>>9787601
>I'm just gonna stick to shitty aliexpress costumes or ugly ass armor builds because men are automatically better prop makers
I absolutely love hearing this shit from dudes who've never done anything beyond shitty EVA bracers.
Bonus points if their paint and finish look fucking awful
Even more bonus points if they're wearing jeans underneath an armored costume.

>>9791772
Who said anything about selling prints? Most cosplayers don't. I'm just doing this for fun man

The thought of not doing something enjoyable cause it isn't profitable is sad. Money is ruining cosplay

I honestly never understood the cancer of Patreon until I recently caved and went on Momokuns and a couple others. There is a description that’s essentially a $500 tier and it’s like “pay me $500 and you can pick what cosplay I make with that money and eventually I’ll make it”. What the hell is going on with cosplay these days holy shit.

Probably an isolated case, but finally a cosplayer got slammed by patreon. I didnt even know you could get refunded 7 months back, she must've done something terrible.

>>9795006

There's hope for Momokun's followers to take note on refunds as she's still behind on her prints for many of them, backing from waaaaay into last year.

>>9795006

She was probably lazy and didnt update

Serves her right

Too many cosplayers are like this

>>9793614
Capitalism Ruins Everything Around Me
C.R.E.A.M.

It is playing dress up as characters you like, people seem to have forgotten it is just a fun activity you do at events. Why does cosplay and cons always have to be surrounded with drama? Just have a good time at the overpriced bootleg merch scam

Fuck this whole only the people I think deserve recognition should get it and everyone must be held to my own standard. It is a fan activity not some super special medium, you aren't a model, you shouldn't give a fuck if no one takes notice of you and some fatty making money out of sad NEETs isn't gonna kill anything.

>>9779814
Underrated post.

The whole "cosplay is for everyone" mentality is killing my community. Originally this phrase meant that having fun while cosplaying is the most important thing when cosplaying, to which I wholeheartedly agree. However nowadays it turned into some safe space bullshit about how all cosplays are equal, no matter their (lack of) quality. Don't have the right body type? Not a problem, because everyone is equally beautiful! Worst of all, any form of criticism is heavily frowned upon and taken personally, even when it's coming from a judge during competitions. So basically if you aren't going to hand out (false) compliments to everyone you're scum evil scum.

Speaking of competitions, a growing number of people are now getting rather vocal on how competitions should be banned as they promote "toxic behaviour". Apparently people looking to get some recognition for their hard work, passion and talent is now considered toxic? Yeah, how dare these people with actual talent get on a stage and win prices while your shitty inaccurate Ali Express cosplay isn't getting any attention on the con floor. Shame on them for taking the time to develop some actual skills! SHAME!

No but really, thanks /cgl/ for allowing to stay sane by providing me with a place to be honest. Without you I probably would had lost it a long time ago.

>>9793509
>This is a thing?
Got called a fag for not liking
>fat tiddies
>butterfaced girls
>jessica nigri
>pamela anderson


There is absolutely pressure in liking big boobed white girls, so much so that if you like anything else its labeled a "fetish"

>>9795006
Holy crap, what's the story behind this? So many Patreon content creators have been getting away with not delivering the rewards and Patreon hasn't done shit. What did she do to make this happen?

>>9778157
I also wish (again due to the competitiveness of cosplay) people were more forthcoming about techniques and cool ways to craft. I'm not asking for cosplayers to hand hold newbies, but I remember literally like 5 or 6 years ago I could find so many tutorials online like on deviantart (and cosplay.com when people used it). So much about cosplay was finding really cool ways to craft, being creative with what you had, and passing on high end techniques broken down for the layman.

Nowadays I feel like everything is a secret, needs to be laser cut or 3d printed, or worbla. Sure those add a professional or finished look, but with some more work and less money, I don't think we need to put down craft store materials.

I just wish this was a free-er hobby. Obviously cosplay is not cheap, and we should always be trying to better our craft because otherwise how is it fun. But there's such an emphasis on high end wigs/professional photog shoots/expensive materials or go broke.

When I first cosplayed in 13 or 14 I didn't give a shit that my Tokyo Mew Mew wig was $10 from ebay. Now I know the different of when I can get away with using a fluffy arda for volume vs a cheapo from Amazon, but my photos from that time were from my friends shitty digital camera. None of it looked great, but it looked like we were having a lot of fun.

I think a lot of people who are new to the hobby don't get the room to start poor. Everything has to be GOOD,GREAT,EXPENSIVE or you literally get shit on. Another reason why people don't sew their own shit anymore, because you have to be BAD at it to get better.

>>9790069
Because I can't pretend the girls actually like me with porn. And I'm too ugly to date anyone slightly attractive.

>>9795579

On the other hand, you can now buy a perfectly decent costume, fully made, for 30$ from china now. In ye olden days you'd spend more than that at the thrift store trying to get "close enough".

Bar for entry to hobby is way lower, but bar for craftsmanship is higher.

>>9788652
Commission art instead you idiot. At least that actually produces something.

>>9795579
What I've learned from this thread:
Accessibility in cosplay is a runaway train that has ensured that anyone, regardless of fitness, physical appearance, or actual skill is entitled to equal recognition and automatically exempt from all criticism forever.
Cosplay is also relentlessly elitist, and if you show up to your local con in a costume that hasn't been hand-crafted by a sequestered commune of Franciscan monks, a cadre of con attendees in immaculate dresses will tar and feather you on sight.

>>9793509
A lot of people, male and female look at relationship and sex partners as validation and status props. Liking the 'right' sort of person is part of it.

I remember a guy on an old forum we were on who had this whole complex over liking fat girls and kept dating skinny chicks so he wouldn't be made fun of. It happens.

>>9780238
What the fuck?!

>>9795861
No I like costhots

>>9779125

Meh I think it's more that men are less likely to have a good skill base in a lot of these areas. Not like girls are inherently more creative, but most girls have some knowledge of make up and hair styling, and more girls than boys are taught to sew and such.

I do see a lot of impressive bigger armor builds from men- but that's more a matter of scale than skills. And obviously most people don't have the time or resources even if there quite talented to do 6 iron Man suits a year- but I can make a lot of more sewing heavy costumes in a few days. So I think it's more a numbers thing.

>>9779814

I don't use worbla but it's fumes aren't toxic (partly cause wood based). It's the new shit like thibra that's a little risky. Honestly though as far as safety, that's not a big change because the fumes from heating Eva foam and the airborne particles from sanding pink foam were always bad for you.

>>9780766

Motherfuckers bitch about how cosplay is all hot girls who aren't talented, or lewds, but then get mad when people who aren't hot cosplay. Sorry other people want to have fun without modelling even though y'all also disapprove of people cosplaying to look good.

>>9795082
A loss of objectivity in a creative environment is automatic drop in quality.
People fail to realize creative expression needs an engine, “what’s my objective here.”
for any one person it may be accuracy, or challenge or simply look better. Loss of objectivity means what your producing and what the world sees are 2 different things. It can work, a good example in film would be something like John waters’ pink flamingos, but this takes tremendous thought and self awareness, which those safe-space types lack completely. It’s like they’re corrupting cosplay to be a vehicle for their own hang ups, while disregarding it’s inherent importance as a visual art form.
So now I have to say to myself “they can look how they want even if it’s not good, but I don’t have to act like i like it.”
When it comes to body image, if you’re not being nice you’re being a jerk apparently.

>>9795575
I agree. Everything is "support me on patreon/ko-if/whatever for a tutorial!"

When was the last time I saw a really nice tutorial on youtube or other social media that wasn't paywalled, I don't know. I rarely see content creators posting cosplay advice for free anymore, which kinda kills my morale when that sort of stuff used to really inspire me. Cosplay has become more personal and selfish wheras before it was all about the community, making friends and helping others.

>>9802356

so why dont YOU start doing stuff for free?

be the change you want to see

>>9795006
Get fucked. Patreon is such a lazy platform full of people who demand handouts and don't deliver.

>>9778157
kys, fat thot

I'd rather fap to cute lolitas then these no imagination "sexy" cosplayers.

>>9779496
I wanted to do a male version of megumin, but she's also my waifu :(

>>9778157
This.

There are a couple of German cosplayers i used to follow. (Im sure someone knows who Im talking about.) but as soon as they made a patreon it turned into an attention whoring business. Every time they post about their cosplay now it reads like an advertisement.

>>9778661
>Rapp
Oh shit, the part-time hooker from Nintendo Treehouse is now just a fulltime cosplay thot. Dunno if I'd consider this a step up for her.

>>9795006
>Someone was pledging this person over 300 dollars a month.

>Didn't deliver

>Wow they refunded it and rightfully so!

>>9795006
*touches ground*
something terrible happened here

>>9790473
>Patreon is the problem
WHO is giving these low quality costhots money on patreon exactly?
Men.

>>9802356
>>9795575
Honestly question, would it bother people to have all my tutorials freely available with a ko-fi link at the end in case people felt it was helpful and worth supporting? I don't want to put my content behind a paywall, I believe in freely sharing things and helping newbies improve, but also cosplay is expensive and if I'm going to spend hours writing tutorials and photographing all my builds it would be nice to get a little bit back.

>>9804561
Nah I think that’s fair. Someone I follow has a Patreon, but all of her tutorials are free, the patrons are just there because they like her cosplays.

>>9804549
Who is selling themselves to them on patreon to sometimes obscene amount of succes?
Women

>>9795354
see
>>9795011

am i the only one who can't stand when people who cosplay characters with pig tails, use these wigs? It looks so fucking stupid seeing a bob hair cut with two clipped on pig tails. it doesn't look like the hair is tied up at all. is it really that difficult to just buy a long wig and tie it up in pig tails??? why do these wigs exist ugh

>>9804600
>is it really that difficult to just buy a long wig and tie it up in pig tails?
try it sometimes, tell me how it works for you.

>>9804600
Yes, it is actually that difficult

>>9804594
Yeah and WHY are they successful? Because thirsty men have nothing fucking better to spend their money on. Come on anon, use your head.

>>9804600
I do agree, this is something that bothers me a lot as well, but wefts on long wigs aren’t made to be split and tied up. You will see all the tracks on the cap of the wig and it’ll look bad.

There are pigtail base wigs people can use, and there are methods to re-stitch the wefts in the base wig to mimic a hair parting, but it’s a lot of time and effort for a small detail that most people don’t notice.

>>9804600
Trust me anon, it looks a whole lot better than most stubbed wigs. Wigs don't work like real hair because they're wefts woven to a fabric net, you can't just pull up hair to ponytails without making it look baggy and awkward.

>>9790473
flynt's law: the longer a hobby populated by both genders exists, the higher chance it primarily becomes porn

>>9804903
It's my pet peeve too. Buy a twintail wig or an updo wig. I'm not gonna attack people for not doing this but if you claim to be really into craftsmanship or accuracy or whatever and then I see that I'm gonna judge.

>>9805007
>I'm not gonna attack people for not doing this but... I'm gonna judge.
Not even real hair would work in some cases, Miku's hair is closer to clip ons than actual bunched up hair. It looks really straight and thin at the top but too fluffy/dense at the bottom, plus there's little to no sign of hair being pulled as a ponytail would show (bottom right is the worst offender)

>>9804710
>>9805007
>>9805098
To be fair, Miku is often portrayed as a robot or otherwise not human, her hair doesn't need to work like a human's would. But yeah, putting ponytails into wigs is not nearly as simple as it seems, the clips are usually the lesser of two evils. For more natural looks there's the tie-on extensions you wrap over an existing ponytail.

>>9805111
Well, most fictional characters don't work under real world physics. Most cosplay shoots don't seem to aim to real world accuracy, like using wigs over their matching hair
To each their own, I saw you two talking with that specific hair and checked pic above. I like wigs over real hair, a plus for unusual angles

>>9805098
>>9805111
Yeah that's why I said buy a wig that's supposed to be put in an updo or that have a back part. Arda and Epic both have bases for that, MatchWigs has some, I'm sure there's even TaoBao wigs figuring it out. How the fuck did you get "use your real hair" out of "buy a more accurate wig"??

>>9802377

It's not that I don't appreciate peoples labor. It's just that the heavy focus on patreon and someone like Kamui selling books and such has made it harder to... Be a community. If people want to charge for tutorials- fine. But it's that you can't ask basic questions like what did you use for x, or post in forums without getting linked to patreon.

>>9805311
I didn't say anything about using real hair? Just that Miku's hair doesn't work like a real person's so making it look totally natural isn't really necessary.

>>9780942
Usually to ride on their coattails. You see someone being successful and figure "if I can ingratiate myself with them, I will also be popular/successful by connection" and use them as stepping stones.

>>9804600

People are poking fun of you for not knowing that you can't just tie a long wig into pigtails, but no one's really explained it to you so here goes-

On your head, your real hair is rooted all over your scalp and can therefore be pulled in any direction. In a typical wig, hair is sewn in one direction in several tracks of elastic. This means the hair is pretty limited to falling in the direction the wefts are sewn (mostly downwards), and that trying to make a part down the back will just reveal the elastic underneath.

There's a lot of ways to go around this. Arda and other companies now make specialty wigs where the skintop or fold over style sewn part continues down the back, but that's expensive. If you're skilled you can cut apart your wig and use wefts and such to create a part line, but this is... advanced. And lastly if you have a thick wig with lots of fiber and lots of tracks, you can artfully zigzag part it to hide the net underneath and pull it up. That too is more complicated than it sounds and will likely involve pulling strands over and under the elastic.

All that considered, screwing around with your wig to do the part will often leave your actual pigtails quite thin. Which is fine for something like Maka Albarn, but less fine for something like Miku so you'd likely still put clips ins over the base pigtails.

>>9778767
Im straight and my cosplays are on point. Is that why girls are always so open to me without me trying? Because they think im gay, or am i just a moron that cant tell when a woman is flirting?

I don’t like patreon because I like free content :)

>>9795006

Odd, cause according to Patreon:

https://patreon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205032045-What-is-Patreon-s-refund-policy-

> Patreon does not grant refunds because transactions are between patrons and creators.*

....

> Since Patreon only provides the venue upon which transactions between users are made, we do not issue refunds on behalf of creators. If a patron would like to request a refund, they will need to contact the creator in order to do so. Creators can issue refunds from their Patron Manager by going to patron list for the paid post or post month a refund is due for and clicking the refund button on the right-hand side of the patron's information.

.....

> *In only extreme and rare circumstances, Patreon may issue a refund to a patron. These refunds are deducted directly from a creator's balance.

So either the guy started a dispute with his credit card and the CC did the chargeback, or this screenshot is a total lie.

>>9806255
This this this. There's a number of cosplayers who support people like Momokun while ignoring how toxic to the community she is. Getting brownie points from someone famous is more important than integrity now, especially if you also make money selling lewds.

>>9806243
It's one thing to expect step by step instructions on how to make something, but plenty of people still answer basic questions. Hell, plenty of people still answer basic questions who also have a Patreon. You aren't looking at the right cosplayers.

>>9807250

Honestly, at this point women just love any man who looks like he put in some effort into his appearance beyond just taking a shower. I don't think all the girls you met were flirting, some of them probably were, because it's so sexy when a dude looks like he takes care of his appearance. The rest ...just really appreciate that you look good and like you for it.

I don't even know how men's standards for themselves have fallen so far that taking care of your own goddamn body is considered gay.

>>9778157
this desu

I've always cosplayed for the fun of it, for my love of cosplaying. I don't want people 'following' me and kissing my ass, I just want to go to conventions and make people smile, seeing one of their favorite cartoon/vidya characters. Maybe get a few pictures taken.

Communists.

>>9790467
But Rin_Cosplay shoops fuckin hard..

They all shoop to look the same too! Sometimes I mistake Saya with Rin.

>>9788657
I feel you on that, here’s what I do when I want to get sequence and recreation shots: I usually have a google doc file that I share with everyone involved in the Photoshoot, and then I bring two full color printouts of it, one for the cosplayer(s) and one for the photographer. Put the key shots from the sequence you are trying to reference in and tell the photographer “I’m trying to get these shots.” Usually they will overjoyed that you have a printout they can work from and be happy to get the pictures you want. Here’s an example from a recent Persona Photoshoot I did where the Joker in the group brought a big stack of printouts for everyone.

>>9804600
i legit wonder how dumb you must be lmaooo ok

>>9808404
as dumb as people that actually say legit out loud before making a statement..

>>9807477
I think the amount of money and time passed made it qualify as extreme circumstances.

>>9778810
What a fatass

>>9778408
>and I did once
congratulations, you are part of the problem

>cosplay

just call it what it is, soft porn

>>9779538
i've been aggressively reporting bots in high traffic areas every time i see them for over a year and i've never received notice that anything happened and there never seems to be any less bots around the same places. but to be honest SE doesn't give a fuck about servers outside of japan.

>>9808993
I hope not, after all i never posted the sexy pictures. but i do think my experience is a good example of why boudoir is a negative force in the community,

>>9779559

>Implying any of these women are going to get married.

Women.

Back then.
>Majority men.
>All about the hobby.
>Cons are small but friendly.
>No attention whores. Just people hanging out, trading and mingeling about their hobbies.

Now.
>Majority women.
>Community now focused on trying to get famous. No fun allowed.
>whores who care little about the hobby and know next to nothing getting free passes because horny preteens and normalfags want their pussy.
>Make shitty cosplay but it's ok because of last point.
>Feminisim and politics being shoved everywhere in order to appease women.
>community no longer welcoming and friendly because talking to anyone makes you a rapist.

>>9815228

>>9815228
yeah! fuckin costhots. we should stay home in protest!

>>9778661

>33

Is that Lobita? She does smut now?

>>9815228
You do realize cosplay was started by a woman

>>9816392

yes (un)fortunatley

goes by Shika Cosplay now

>>9778661
How do you view this list? Is it on Patreon itself or a third party tool?

>What is the cancer that is slowly killing cosplay as it used to be?

"boudoir cosplay" and people who go on long rants to justify it as art instead of just admitting they wanna show their bodies.

>>9780735
If you're fatass and cosplay as Goku you're a joke.

>>9816758
https://graphtreon.com/top-patreon-creators/adult-cosplay

>>9817151
Thanks, it's really interesting to see!

the shit on r/cosplaygirls is the dumbest shit i've seen in awhile

>>9778149
Non-true fans who do it for attention, not even knowing what Laura Craft is about.
All those women who cosplay the 2B bot, I'm sure they don't even know it's a video game, they probably assume it's an anime given its abnormal focus on fanservice

>>9816492
really?
I guess it was started by people general

>>9817560
to be fair, 2B was designed for cosplayers

>>9817560
>women can't possibly know videogames

>>9780981
Yeah, this ties in with other comments about reverting to certain types of cosplay in the name of generating more content. Making tutorials takes a lot of time, that's not exactly a steady income long term.

>>9804710
I've seen back parted wigs. Coscraft discontinued theirs because nobody bought them.

I didn't even know what a cosplaythot was till I read this thread. I'll just go back to my little Facebook corner where I have beginner friendly tutorials that I'll never paywall but I only have 180 followers because I don't get my nonexistent boobs out so nobody ever sees them anyway \o/ At least my Mum likes all my posts. Mum-friendly cosplay, can I promote that as a thing? No? *shuffles out*

>>9817560
Video games are like the most casual hobby you can have

this is the new face of cosplay

all those young females are just progressive and have no problem in providing some fanservice

you, who rant about it, you are the old ones, the conservatives, the prude. get with the time or get over it

>>9817698
More than TV?

Even girls with 200 likes on facebook are starting a patreon a month after starting cosplaying

Like there are only so much betabux to go around build a fanbase first please

>>9818414

how long before thots start turning on each other to thin out the competition?

>>9778149
>What annoys you most in recent developments?
Cosplayers who want to do same-sex relationship cosplay but won't actually kiss or even touch each other for photos? What's even the point?

>>9818851

maybe because they arent really lesbians and find it icky?

>>9779588

they're going to end up dating guys that either don't care about that stuff (good for them more power to them) or lie and pretend they never did this stuff when they were younger and resort to deceit in order to bag a non manwhore

or be a cat lady and live by themselves with their decent amount of money they saved up from stealing neetbux

>>9819137
>maybe because they arent really lesbians and find it icky?
They shouldn't cosplay as a lesbian couple.

>>9817978

Cosplay javs fill in that void. Why blow 5 dollars a month on cheesecake when you can settle for a photoshoot gone wild?

>>9818851
how DARE these girls dress up as a couple and then not make out in front of me? Fucking bitches.

>>9819705
Glad we're on the same page.

>>9819705
I mean it’s one thing to do couple cosplay and not smooch

It’s another when they act fujoshit, “uwu we love each other soooo much so sexy” and then scream indignantly when someone asks them to like hold hands or some fucking shit.

There’s personal boundaries and there’s being a dumbass

>>9819940
Overreacting like idiots is the issue then, not the fact that they don't want to touch.

>>9819161
>>9819940

its mainly only patreon girls who do it for the betabux, why does it really matter

>>9778661
I fucking hate Meg Turney.

>>9820447
why?

>>9819151
None of the Patreon thots I know are saving up, though, they’re blowing all their neetbux on partying and travel.

>>9778149
It's a fetish

>>9778648
Cringe threads are one of the few reasons I still visit this board. And most of them are legit awful, anyone who isn't blind should be safe from ending up in one

>>9778157
I stopped cosplaying in 2009 for this reason. Regret nothing

>>9820779

Why are you still here then?

>>9779588
Checked. And apparently they don't. Most hookers at least have the good sense to obscure their faces in their ads.
>>9820565
They're going to be poor or end up a fuck toy for an old rich guy.

I came here because I missed an Ex who cosplayed...and I'm not sure 1000% years of lurking would work. Feels like /Fa and Tumblr fused but somehow still hate fat ladies....is thre a starting point im missing?

>>9815223

this

>>9820974
what is there to get?
It's a board with mostly females who bicker with each other, and some even look to be the victim when it's convenient for them ITT.

>>9820791
Because you don't need to be a cosplayer to be on this board?

>>9820565
Nigri saved her money, but even then, she wasted it on a big house about 2 years ago. Until then, she was still living with her parents. Think about that.

>>9816492
Irrelevant. Though, to move away from the gender blaming argument, the real problem is how embarrassing anime fandom can be.

>>9804708
>WHY are they successful
Most of them aren't. Follow your own advice, thot, the actually successful ones have hustle and know how to sell themselves.

>>9778149
>Is it “sexy” cosplays?
>Patreon? Instagram?
You answered your own question, but I'd replace instagram with "cancerous people on social media"

>>9825350
I wouldn't say it's a waste, if the house is in good shape it's probably a solid investment. It gives her at least a guarantee that she won't become homeless.

>>9778810

>>9804549
>>9804594
Loose moraled women and beta male orbiters are both part of the problem. You can't just blame one side.

The problem is cunty people who add idiocy to what is essentially dress up. I just want to go out in a fun, good cosplay and have a fun, good time. Not have to dodge crazies, creepers and the like. Someone's probably mentioned the Eternal September problem already, but that definitely plays a part.

So much fucking politics with this shit now too

>>9795082
>>9802014

No better answer than these

I feel like we were getting to the point where cosplay was seen as an art form and a lot of people who did were seen as respectable adults/teens with their shit together

One step forward, six steps back

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9gHFVSNxREsbDM4bnRudTBNUGs

Here's patreon photos of girls like Momokun, Purblind, and Nonon