[ SECRET POST #4911 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4911 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 25 secrets from Secret Submission Post #703.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

As someone who sells cosplay (commissions), I feel this. I haven't been seeing a downturn in actual cosplayers, but I have seen a massive downturn in people making their own, with the buyers only sort of half-assing a costume by buying just a jacket or just a dress shell from a Chinese bootleg site and not bothering to basically finish the costume. Fanfic has the potential to go the same way, where the people selling it aren't the high-end super talented folks who will agonize over edits and deliver a perfect but expensive product, but rather the quantity-minded quickie writers who can fart out a mostly-OOC-but-hits-all-the-fandom-ID-buttons bunch of fics in a week. It could end up the Chinese bootleg buffet of fic, especially if the fans do the same thing they do with their cosplay: "well, I hate it, but I paid for it, so /shrug."

[(Anonymous)]

Anon, as a cosplayer and (sort of) fic reader/writer (and sort of fanartist and other things) I'll be completely honest and say that factually/aesthetically/etc. I may even acknowledge where you come from, but saying a "bad" work isn't a work at all is sort of ... really lame, IMO?

Honestly I've been doing (even more, appreciating) all of these for ages and I don't feel entitled to say I excel in any of it because, simply put, I am not talented or skilled enough / lack the means or whatever else. But there's love. I don't mind if people bully me for my cosplays or say they suck (as I've had happen) as long as others are overjoyed in seeing their small fandoms represented by people who behave nicely and are up for having fun. As I've had happen, mind you, in the same event/cosplay: in my first big con, I was bullied in queue (things like "I wouldn't leave home like that!") and later praised and made friends with a photographer who was overjoyed - it happens. Sometimes I make great costumes of popular characters and nobody approaches me. Sometimes I sew a cheap uniform from an old mattress cover and am acknowledged by BNFs - yes, it has happened too.

As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. I hope people are never afraid of showing me their treasures because someone like you thinks they're trash.

[(Anonymous)]

NAYRT but I was the anon who started in on cosplay that they were replying to, and while I’m not an expert or fantastic at cosplay or fic (and as for fanart, I can’t fucking draw stick figures) I didn’t get that AYRT was objecting to the existence of amateur, or bad, fanworks, so much as their literal mass production for profit by people who don’t care about what they’re writing/drawing/making so long as it makes them money.

Also I’m glad there are other non-expert cosplayers out there, heh. Sometimes I feel like the only person willing to wear my sometimes shitty homemade costumes to a con anymore.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT
Ahh, I get it. As in "I sell cosplays (but really just poorly stamped Mcoser knockoffs from Aliexpress)"? Yes, that happens too. I try to not judge harshly people who can't sew, for instance, and end up doing their best attempt at customization and makeup while wearing one of these because maybe they really don't know (or can't afford) better, but yes, zero respect for these sellers who basically rip off others.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT—see, I couldn’t actually make costumes for anyone else; I’m not that skilled that I would feel comfortable charging anyone else money for my sometimes slapdash work, but it’s also way too much work to do for free.

And I think it’s cool that there’s people like you out there, doing stunning work that I probably won’t ever be able to do. I’m just not good at precision.

But I’m also sad that most every costume I see these days is, like you mentioned, mass produced and kind of crappy, or jaw-dropping and made by someone like you. I rarely even see closet cosplay anymore, or reworked (dyed, altered, etc) thrifted stuff. It’s fantastic couture quality done by experts like you, made in a factory somewhere and kind of soulless, or... nothing.

I miss seeing other enthusiastic amateurs like myself sharing their love of characters and costumes even if their work isn’t perfect.

And I’m afraid fic-for-pay might end up looking similar.

[(Anonymous)]

Basically this.

Back then I used to run a blog for fun where I tried to share findings and what I learned through trial and error - thrift shops, mod tips, good-looking fabrics, cheap but durable and environment-friendly materials for basic objects and so on - and evetually stopped because of feeling that the hobby had gotten too competitive. I feel kinda awkward attending cons nowadays and it's not something I enjoy sharing as much. So happy seeing likeminded people!