Kags' Cosplay Thread



Back piece is done and I molded the front chest piece! May or may not have had an emotional breakdown last night trying to mold that stupid front piece. But it's done now, so yay.

I got my blades painted as well. So all I have left is to paint the pauldrons and the chest piece, which will be the easiest - painting costumes pieces is the easiest thing for me to do.

So, yep! Convention in three days!! AHH! :D
 


Back piece is done and I molded the front chest piece! May or may not have had an emotional breakdown last night trying to mold that stupid front piece. But it's done now, so yay.

I got my blades painted as well. So all I have left is to paint the pauldrons and the chest piece, which will be the easiest - painting costumes pieces is the easiest thing for me to do.

So, yep! Convention in three days!! AHH! :D
Those blades look absolutely wicked, and that back piece looks like it had to take forever.
 
So...I went to a convention.



ALL OF THE UM'S! (Because that's what happens to me when I don't organize my mind before I start spewing words. =^^=)
 
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I'd say you need a hug, but you sound like you had enough lack of personal space over the weekend, so I choose to give you space instead.
 
I feel like...I don't know, I just need a sound board I guess? I'm really debating with how I want to present myself, cosplay wise, in the future. Lately, conventions just aren't fun for me. They're a huge amount of stress, I big expense, and just...I'm sick of them? I haven't had a fun, successful convention in 2 years...

I think what I really want is to focus on photo shoots. I may stop cosplaying at conventions all together? I feel like photoshoots is where its' at for me, it's what I really enjoy doing and collaborating on. I, selfishly, wish I had a photographer friend who would go and do shoots with me. I'm just glad I have my cos-sister when she's around. She's the only one who shoots me in a way that I like.

Boo! I don't know why I feel like such a downer. I'm sad that I don't have cosplay friends near me. :(

Maybe my problem is that I get little to no feedback? Which is...wrong of me I guess, I mean, do you guys realize I put probably 20+ hours into Kratos (8 hours into the chest piece alone) and I got nothing from it. The stress of making it and wearing to to the convention took away any pride I may have had in the costume. And then at the convention I was all but ignored. Which was frustrating and makes me upset at myself that I wanted that, I wanted people to be excited/shocked/happy to see me. And I got no reaction.

Meh.

I'm wondering if things will change when/if Nate and I move in the coming months. Especially if we go to California. :)
 
DAT WALL O TEXT
Basically I think thats really going to be the deal for people who want to be noticed by the public. Now that there are pro cosplayers making a living off being the best in the hobby, there is little reason for anyone to expect to get noticed(dont get me wrong, the little I have seen of the finished
kratos looked AMAZING) people are now desensitized to it is how I look at it. I say photoshoot and just go have fun at cons, if there is no fun to be had when you remove the stress of cosplay, then maybe its time to take a break. I personally dont enjoy cons, its too much for me, I am not very social and I dont drink which makes my local cons a waste of my time and money.
 
I hear tell that someone on this board has a new lens and enjoys pointing it at things.

--Patrick
Yeah, but @Shegokigo is in Mexico.[DOUBLEPOST=1410493261,1410493067][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, Kags, here's a question to ask yourself. Why do you cosplay? Is it to have fun? If it's to have fun, and you're not having fun at cons, then it's not serving its purpose. If you're happiest doing photoshoots, then do those. Get yourself a tumblr (you probably already have one, I don't tumble) and display your pics there. But ultimately, enjoy yourself. A hobby can be stressful at times, but if you're not enjoying it, then why do it?

And there's nothing that says you can't focus on photoshoots and then go back to cons at a later point. You might change your mind, your feelings about it might change, etc etc.
 
I'd echo Poe and Pat. Next time out, just go to a Con for the fun of it - no stress or anything. Do some photo shoots in costume, see if that works better for you.
 
Basically I think thats really going to be the deal for people who want to be noticed by the public. Now that there are pro cosplayers making a living off being the best in the hobby, there is little reason for anyone to expect to get noticed(dont get me wrong, the little I have seen of the finished
kratos looked AMAZING) people are now desensitized to it is how I look at it. I say photoshoot and just go have fun at cons, if there is no fun to be had when you remove the stress of cosplay, then maybe its time to take a break. I personally dont enjoy cons, its too much for me, I am not very social and I dont drink which makes my local cons a waste of my time and money.
You know, that's a good point. And something I didn't think about. There are so many cosplayers in the limelight, that people rarely pay attention to someone they don't know.

I think I struggle because I am like on the cusp of it all. I have some deep connections to some really popular cosplayers, but I don't use the connections because I'd rather just be their friend. Anyway.

Also, Kags, here's a question to ask yourself. Why do you cosplay? Is it to have fun? If it's to have fun, and you're not having fun at cons, then it's not serving its purpose. If you're happiest doing photoshoots, then do those. Get yourself a tumblr (you probably already have one, I don't tumble) and display your pics there. But ultimately, enjoy yourself. A hobby can be stressful at times, but if you're not enjoying it, then why do it?

And there's nothing that says you can't focus on photoshoots and then go back to cons at a later point. You might change your mind, your feelings about it might change, etc etc.
I honestly can't answer that. I wish I knew why I cosplayed. I used to do it for fun, I tell myself constantly that I need to just do it for fun. But it's not making me happy. So simply just doing it for fun doesn't cut it anymore.

And if it was easy to focus on photo shoots, I would. But it's not. I have NO ONE here to do them with me. So I feel like I'm forced to go to conventions because otherwise I won't get to cosplay at all. I don't have any photographers here to shoot with me. So, despite me wanting to have photo shoots be my main focus, it's just not that easy.

I think I want...support and a reaction. So just saying, 'if it's not fun don't do it' isn't the answer - I don't think. When it's not fun, I want to have a group of friends and people around to remind how to relax and enjoy myself. Give me the confidence boost to keep at it.[DOUBLEPOST=1410496441,1410496341][/DOUBLEPOST]
I'd echo Poe and Pat. Next time out, just go to a Con for the fun of it - no stress or anything. Do some photo shoots in costume, see if that works better for you.
Like I said, I've got no one to shoot me, so it's easy to say 'Just go enjoy photo shoots' but the reality is, I can't do that. Maybe some day I can, but for now I'm just caught in limbo.
 
Conventions should be considered like clubbing. (Not seals)

Go there with people you know and have fun. Unless you show t&a odds are most people will leave you alone.

Regarding stress, have sex before going. (Something about Mary)
 
Photo shoots are the fun part for me now. But like I said, I'm stuck in that department and all of the ideas and plans I have cannot move forward because I do not know any photographers here.

If my skills were better, making my costumes would be fun most likely, but I have to learn dozens of new techniques with every costume and it stresses me out.

@Jay that is true, and really makes me sad that people can't just look at what I made, they have to look at what I look like in what I made and if it's not revealing, I get no recognition.

Also, HA, so far sex before going hasn't been an option. Funny, not so funny, TMI :
I have been on my period before and during EVERY convention I've gone to since the year before I got married. Every single one. Even on my Honeymoon. And my wedding day. It's the worst. And is now an inside joke because it freaking happens all of the time. And I personally don't want sex when I'm on my period, that's my personal preference. Also this convention was no exception to the rule.
 
Also, HA, so far sex before going hasn't been an option. Funny, not so funny, TMI :
I have been on my period before and during EVERY convention I've gone to since the year before I got married. Every single one. Even on my Honeymoon. And my wedding day. It's the worst. And is now an inside joke because it freaking happens all of the time. And I personally don't want sex when I'm on my period, that's my personal preference. Also this convention was no exception to the rule.
You poor girl, my condolences.
 
Haha, thanks! :heart:

And silly as it is, that might be a factor in how I feel about conventions since my emotions are heightened and normally strung out from the stress of finishing costumes. Also, it hurts me a great deal, so I have to be careful and remember to take my medicine or I will become insanely sick.

My body hates me, it really does.

@Jay, to what are you referring is bullshit? That my body would do that to me, or you think I should get over it?
 
I find that I tend to burn myself out on my hobbies until they become more job than fun. Then after I step away from them for a bit I am able to ease my way back to them and they are fun again. Not really advice, just a commiseration. ;)
 
When your hobbies, your stress-relief becomes a JOB, then it's no longer fulfilling it's function.

It sounds, from your rant, as though a great deal of your dissatisfaction and upset stems from just how crowded and piss-poor that convention was... it took something that could and SHOULD have been a great deal of fun for EVERYONE and made it a huge, onerous chore.

And when people are doing onerous chores, they're less likely to be friendly or charitable. At least I'm not.... In sardine-can conditions, even the nicest of people turn into ragebeasts... Which is one of the reasons that I've stopped attending conventions in general (there are exceptions).
 
Conventions aren't really a great proposition for people who aren't a name or brand anymore, or at least not to the extent that they used to be. It's very hard to break even in many cases. So I definitely get what you're talking about.

I don't really have any advice for you, because while I like cosplay, I don't really "know" it - as a business or as a hobby. But I do have a friend who is an avid (and I'd say very talented) cosplayer, who is also the artist for a lot of work for 4 Winds Fantasy Gaming. This is her deviantart page KMCGeijyutsuka - maybe talking to her will help? She's a very smart, very nice person at any rate, and I'm sure she's faced some of the same issues as you're facing.
 
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