Possible creeper?

[Anonymous No.6455202]

Hey /cgl/, I'm in a little bit of a strange situation and I'm wondering what you guys will make of it. I'll try to keep it short as possible.

There's a photographer, late 30s ~ early 40s, in my city who attends almost every local cosplay event, not only taking random photos, but also doing full professional shoots for a fee. He's been taking photos of the all-female, mid-teens ~ late 20s, group I'm in for a while now, and he seems to get along well with everyone. He's well-mannered and very kind, but some things about him don't sit right with me.

>Began presenting each of us random, sometimes expensive gifts at every event
>Sometimes says they're from him, other times says they're from his niece, who is bedridden and can't come to events
>Both he and the niece add us all on FB, she doesn't have any photos of herself or any personal info listed
>He never shows us a photo of her
>Over FB she asks for one of our girls' measurements so she can make her a cosplay
>Shortly afterwards we stop hearing from her, he never mentions her again
>He messaged my 16 year old sister (who's in our group) "hey sexy," later apologized and said the message was meant for someone else
>Have noticed that he doesn't seem to do professional shoots of anything except scantily clad female cosplayers
>Most recent event/happening, he came up to me and said he read on my FB that I'm having some financial trouble, asked me if there are any upcoming cons I'd like to go to, says I can room with him and he'll pay for everything

Some of this stuff is sending up creeper flags for me, but maybe I'm reading into the situation wrong. He's never made any other inappropriate comments or gestures towards any of us, he doesn't give off typical "creeper" vibes, and I don't think anyone in the community complains about him. What do you fine seagulls think? Should I be worried about these things or am I just thinking too much?

[Souviet !YbrmcBEMWk No.6455206]

I think that qualifies as a bit creepy, Anon. I wouldn't take him up on the suggestion. He may be well meaning, but from the sound of it, it seems a lot safer to just turn him down and continue as you have. I think to be in a room with him, you might set yourself up for a really bad situation.

[Anonymous No.6455210]

Sound pretty creepy to me. I'd just keep a distance for both you and your sister or anyone else you might be concerned about, and try not to take any "charitable handouts". Stay safe anon and keep on your toes!

[Anonymous No.6455216]

'A bit creepy'?! That is really creepy and I wouldn't trust him in the least. Why would his 'niece' want your measurements for her own cosplay? She should use her own, if she even existed in the first place.

I'd avoid that guy like the plague. If you don't want to come off as rude on FB by deleting him from your contacts, make sure at least that he can't read what you write or gets to see what photos you upload.

[Anonymous No.6455223]

>the man wants some pussy, hang him!
lol

[Anonymous No.6455229]

guy probably just wants to find a gf

I know how you all feel about gfs.

[Anonymous No.6455245]

If the guy was not spending money on people I'm sure people in the community would not like him.

[Anonymous No.6455250]

Definitely a creeper. Both you and your friends should avoid him. Don't let him give you anything which would put you in a position where he could use the ol' "but you owe me" line.

I find it especially creepy that instead of just offering you some money to help you out, he instead offers to personally take you to a con, share a room with him AND take care of all other expenses. That's just... well, inappropriate is the least I could say.

[Anonymous No.6455264]

>>6455206
>>6455210
Thanks for the responses. So it's not just me then? I'll do my best to avoid interaction with him, and I'll talk to my sister and the others about it, too. I should have added - the oldest girl in our group already politely requested that he stop giving us gifts, and he hasn't since then. I told him "I'll think about it" on the con offer thing, but I plan to decline if he asks again.

>>6455216
I should have been more clear about that, sorry. The niece offered to make a cosplay for one of the girls, she accepted and the niece requested her measurements. Shortly afterwards the niece stopped logging on to FB, we haven't heard from her since, the cosplay never materialized, and he never mentioned her again. I think I may be the only one in our group who ever found the "niece" story and FB account fishy, but like I said, I plan to talk to the other girls about the whole thing now.

[Souviet !YbrmcBEMWk No.6455270]

>>6455264
No, it's not just you. It seems very fishy, and I'd talk to the other girls. He may be fine to hang around with on a normal basis, but he seems a bit...weird, and you could get hurt in such a situation. Just play it safe. He could be just fine and is just a bit awkward. He could be a rapist. Hell knows.

[Anonymous No.6455271]

>>6455264
It's good that he stopped giving gifts when asked, because ignoring a request like that would have been a huge red flag. Still, if his actions feel skeezy then listen to your intuition and definitely talk about it to the other girls. Maybe others feel the same but don't want to bring it up because they don't want to be accused of being oversensitive/hysterical/shit-stirring or what have you.

[Yuka-tan No.6455282]

Although a lot of the details are a bit weird together, the only parts I find obviously off are the ones regarding the niece.

Being overly generous and offering to help people financially is a bit awkward but I could see that as just someone with extra cash who doesn't mind using towards others, or even if he's not particularly well-off, maybe he just likes to give. If he ever mentions or alludes to donating I wouldn't find it so difficult to imagine taking it a step further and giving to people he knows.

As for taking pictures of cute/young girls in sexy outfits, well, yeah, cute girls in sexy outfits are nice to look at. Again, it is a bit weird combined with the other details, but on its own I honestly don't see anything wrong with this.

But the niece thing does seem really sketchy to me. I want to give this guy the benefit of the doubt because I can easily see an awkward congoer dude who just wants to be extra generous and kind (and I have a lot of these guy friends-- awkward, who do things that could be considered kind of weird, but they are genuinely good guys) but maybe you should talk to your other friends about what's been bothering you, and also keep tabs on him and his niece. There's the off-chance that this bedridden niece mysteriously died in a freak sewing machine accident and he didn't feel close enough to you guys to mention it but you know that's probably not the case. Either way I hope things get resolved.

[Anonymous No.6455343]

>>6455282
>Being overly generous and offering to help people financially is a bit awkward but I could see that as just someone with extra cash who doesn't mind using towards others, or even if he's not particularly well-off, maybe he just likes to give. If he ever mentions or alludes to donating I wouldn't find it so difficult to imagine taking it a step further and giving to people he knows.

But why didn't he just offer her some money then? It would have been a lot more helpful than spending it on a con, which would actually be taking days away which could be used to work in (though I don't know the OP's job situation).

Still, I wonder if he even asked if any of her friends were going and that he could help pay so she could stay with them instead. Being in a room alone with a guy you don't know that well after he says he'll pay for everything just sets off so many alarm bells in my head. He just seems like the sort that thinks money = sexual favours.

[Anonymous No.6455362]

I think yeah, he's probably snooping about for a girl that's interested in his sort of thang and he's probably in to cosplayer girls.
> But that doesn't make him a bad person.

He must enjoy the scene too to be doing all the photo work and stuff, as long as nobody tries to lead him on or accept anything that might give him the wrong idea (such as sharing a room) I don't think he's a big problem. He's sane enough to realise calling your sister 'sexy' was not okay, so he must have some social awareness and boundaries.

Just be careful in case he's a little sensitive and does get the wrong idea, but don't treat him like a freak, anyone would turn in to a monster if you treated them like one.

[Anonymous No.6455377]

>>6455362
I've had something similar to the "hey sexy" thing before where the guy said it was a mistake. I responded with "wtf?" and he apologised, but later I found out he was trying to gauge my reaction. If I'd said something positive he probably would have run with it.

[Anonymous No.6455751]

sounds like a well intentioned weirdo to me. But its hard to tell from just one side of the story. If he creepin you out though, its usually best to trust your gut. Don't freak out on him but I would keep an eye out

[Anonymous No.6455903]

Sounds like the guy is just awkward and is simply looking for some poon. That's fine and all, but it is weird that he's been trying to get some with people that may be underage.

You may gotta be a little more blunt with him. Say "That's nice of you, but I don't feel comfortable rooming with you. Thank you anyways." Do this when he does other creepy things, you did good with politely asking him to nix the gifts. It may come off a little harsh at times, but it's best to make your intentions clear. This is where the awkward people get separated from the true creeps. If he is just a little disappointed, but understands and backs off, that's just fine. If he keeps doing weird shit even after making sure you clearly declined his advances, then it's crossing over into creep territory.

Remember, there's nothing wrong with a guy trying to court you, and there's no crime against being awkward, but it's when they refuse to stop when asked that it gets creepy.

[Libra !!DJgjz+hvEg4 No.6456014]

>dress provocatively
>letting out private information to the public
>surprised by the invites

Your fault for not following common sense

[Anonymous No.6456031]

Does he ask the cosplayers he does shoots with to dress provocatively? If not, that's the cosplayer's fault for choosing a costume that only covers 30% of their bodies.

If the guy has extra cash and wants to give gifts to people he works with, it's not really an issue. One of my photog student friends does this all the time with his models and they never seem to mind. Just as long as the dude isn't giving them lingerie or something.

The niece thing is questionable, but not too out of the realm of possibility. I have a young nephew with cancer and he's tetchy about people seeing him in such a state, so there aren't any recent photos of him up on FB. If you and a few other friends ask to meet the niece as a surprise visit thing, odds are that he'll get excited and ask her parents if it's okay. She might get a kick out of seeing a bunch of pretty ladies in pretty costumes.


All in all, the guy sounds pretty harmless.

[Anonymous No.6456041]

>>6455202
>only photographs late teens to early twenties
>only photographs women

Gee, it couldn't have anything to do with the fact that the cosplay community is heavily populated by young women or anything!

[Anonymous No.6456103]

Probably just awkward, to me.

Maybe a little sexually obsessive? It's probably not much to worry about.