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PSA: Cosplayers beware...
3 min read
If you haven't heard anything lately about this issue, then I suggest you read this and take heed.
Recently, a certain photographer has been taking photos at conventions, having clients sign an agreement and then taking those photos and using them on fetish pillows without the permission of the clients...I am sure you can find all sorts of articles about it right now if you google it, but I think the major thing to take away from this is to be careful not to sign anything that may permit people to do this kind of thing to your image without your approval.
In reality, you really should not have to sign anything to let people take your photo. If they are using it because they want to use it simply to promote their photography skills, then you paying and volunteering to let them take your photo is enough to show off their skills. Basically, if someone makes you sign something to take your photo, it's sketchy and you're probably giving them rights to do things that you really don't want to be done to your image.
As a cosplayer, I am absolutely appalled that someone thought it would be okay to deface people's integrity like this. There are both male and female shots, so there is not any kind of gender issue here, but I think it is key to note that if someone is wearing a costume that shows skin, that does not give any person the right to degrade their costume that way. It's within the nature of comics and anime, that costumes/clothing often are somewhat risque, but at any point and time, is it really any different than wearing a bathing suit?
"Sexy cosplays" don't deserve to be sexualized like this and I think the main fall back from things that happen like this is the feeling of not being safe. Cosplayers often get their photos taken, but what kind of world will cosplayers have if we have to worry about every Tom, Dick and Harry taking our photo or looking at our photos online.
Cosplay does not mean consent.
We need to make sure we're helping each other and making sure we promote a safe environment for future cosplayers, or else the entire community could fall to eroticism and an overall uncomfortable environment.
No matter why someone is cosplaying or what their cosplay costume looks like, please have enough respect for the person in the costume.
Thank you; god speed. *Ends Rant*
Recently, a certain photographer has been taking photos at conventions, having clients sign an agreement and then taking those photos and using them on fetish pillows without the permission of the clients...I am sure you can find all sorts of articles about it right now if you google it, but I think the major thing to take away from this is to be careful not to sign anything that may permit people to do this kind of thing to your image without your approval.
In reality, you really should not have to sign anything to let people take your photo. If they are using it because they want to use it simply to promote their photography skills, then you paying and volunteering to let them take your photo is enough to show off their skills. Basically, if someone makes you sign something to take your photo, it's sketchy and you're probably giving them rights to do things that you really don't want to be done to your image.
As a cosplayer, I am absolutely appalled that someone thought it would be okay to deface people's integrity like this. There are both male and female shots, so there is not any kind of gender issue here, but I think it is key to note that if someone is wearing a costume that shows skin, that does not give any person the right to degrade their costume that way. It's within the nature of comics and anime, that costumes/clothing often are somewhat risque, but at any point and time, is it really any different than wearing a bathing suit?
"Sexy cosplays" don't deserve to be sexualized like this and I think the main fall back from things that happen like this is the feeling of not being safe. Cosplayers often get their photos taken, but what kind of world will cosplayers have if we have to worry about every Tom, Dick and Harry taking our photo or looking at our photos online.
Cosplay does not mean consent.
We need to make sure we're helping each other and making sure we promote a safe environment for future cosplayers, or else the entire community could fall to eroticism and an overall uncomfortable environment.
No matter why someone is cosplaying or what their cosplay costume looks like, please have enough respect for the person in the costume.
Thank you; god speed. *Ends Rant*
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Rant on Hellocosplay Website
6 min read
I have been having so many issues with Hellocosplay and I know of many others (from talking to people at conventions) who have had issues too, so I felt I needed to tell the internet body why not to buy from them. (And I just feel like ranting after being treated like crap by a business).
Thesis: Do NOT buy from hellocosplay
Reasons:
1. They cannot make costumes properly.
a. I gave them specific size measurements since their average SML sizes did not fit all of my actual measurements. When I got the item, the bust was 4 inches larger than it should be. When I contacted them, they told me they add inches to account for bra undergarments...Anyone who has sewn items knows you measure yourself with the items you plan to wear underneath. I could have understood an inch, but not 4 inches either.
b. After inspecting the item, I found why the top was larger than it should have been: they rounded the top which added more length to the bust of the item. It made the edges of the dress jut out farther and added a strange shape to the top overall.
c. The costume I got was for Guilty Crown's Inori dress, but when I got the item it was brown. Anyone who knows the anime knows the dress is black. I told them this and they said that the color in the picture is clearly brown....it's not clearly brown at all.
d. They failed to send me a piece of the costume completely and gave me a hard time about it. (It was a piece of red ribbon...)
2. Their professionalism is worse than rotten eggs on a hot summer day.
a. When I tried to contact them about the issues I had with the dress, they told me that the dress was made exactly as I had told them. I copied and pasted the original order and highlighted the specific portions they did incorrectly, which was pretty much everything. They told me that is the way they make it and I either had to keep the item or they would make me another one for 20% off. I told them why would I want them to make me a new one when they couldn't even do the first one correctly. :/
b. When I told them I was never sent the piece of ribbon, they accused me of lying. Quote "If you really did not receive the ribbon, we can resend it to you...." Why on earth would anyone try to swindle someone else out of a piece of ribbon??... That doesn't even make sense...(more on this later too! -___-)
c. After wasting 3 weeks and getting no where with them fast, I just wanted to return the item and not have anything to do with them. They told me I would get a partial refund because they can't reuse the fabric...it was their fault for messing the whole order up and then I couldn't even use the dress myself if I wanted to since it doesn't fit and it was the wrong color and I didn't receive the one piece for it. I returned the item anyways because I refused to advertise for them by wearing the awful monstrosity around. (Instead, I made my own; I got many compliments on the one I made quickly in 2 days because I didn't have much time before I had to actually wear it [see pics in gallery under Guilty Crown]).
3. Their lies linger worse than staring eyes in a sauna.
a. I took a little survey of random people without telling them what color I thought the dress was and they all stated it looked black. They all knew the anime and assumed that someone who makes anime costumes would make a costume based on the anime...Nopers. See for yourself? www.hellocosplay.com/guilty-cr…
b. While I was at the convention I went to, I met a few people who also had issues with Hellocosplay. I actually met a girl who bought the same item I did and was wearing it around. I found out two things by talking to her.
i. Her dress was not made properly either. We had the same problem in fact. She had to take the bust in on hers about 3 inches altogether as well. (apparently they must assume we have giant bras in America or something?)
ii. I was looking at her dress and I noticed that she didn't have a ribbon around the center like it should have and upon asking her about it, I found out that she was never sent one either....go figure....
Also: When we were standing right next to each other talking, people immediately knew my costume, but it took them a second to link hers. (Probably because the color was off and the ribbon was missing [pretty much: just not made correctly]).
c. Now I have returned the item. I sent it with a tracking number and tracked it all the way back so that they couldn't play any games with it. They were supposed to contact me when they received the item. I looked online and it said they had the item for a week. Finally, I contacted them and they told me they had just received it....I bet....
d. Finally, I am waiting for a refund, but instead of putting the money back onto the card I paid with, they decided to try to put it into a random paypal account for my email which doesn't exist...because that's how most businesses do refunds. -____- After contacting them about it, their response was "Well, if this account really does not exist, then we will be refunded the money in a few days. When we get the refund back, we will put it into the account you requested." So now since they messed up, I have to wait even longer for a refund to be done with these people. (By the way, I originally ordered this item June 1, sent it back July 3 and now it is the end of August >[
True facts:
~Two of my friends bought wigs from this company too and the wigs took far longer than they should have to be shipped (according to the shipping time).
~The other girl was not happy with her dress (the one I got and returned).
In closing, I do not recommend buying from Hellocosplay. There are some people who do not have many problems with them, but from looking online, I have found that it is 50/50 with them and as of recently, things have been going downhill. I have bought many things online and I have made many costumes myself (see gallery) and I have never encountered such horrible issues as this. After 5 years of cosplaying, I can say this was my worst cosplay nightmare.
Take heed; god speed.
Thesis: Do NOT buy from hellocosplay
Reasons:
1. They cannot make costumes properly.
a. I gave them specific size measurements since their average SML sizes did not fit all of my actual measurements. When I got the item, the bust was 4 inches larger than it should be. When I contacted them, they told me they add inches to account for bra undergarments...Anyone who has sewn items knows you measure yourself with the items you plan to wear underneath. I could have understood an inch, but not 4 inches either.
b. After inspecting the item, I found why the top was larger than it should have been: they rounded the top which added more length to the bust of the item. It made the edges of the dress jut out farther and added a strange shape to the top overall.
c. The costume I got was for Guilty Crown's Inori dress, but when I got the item it was brown. Anyone who knows the anime knows the dress is black. I told them this and they said that the color in the picture is clearly brown....it's not clearly brown at all.
d. They failed to send me a piece of the costume completely and gave me a hard time about it. (It was a piece of red ribbon...)
2. Their professionalism is worse than rotten eggs on a hot summer day.
a. When I tried to contact them about the issues I had with the dress, they told me that the dress was made exactly as I had told them. I copied and pasted the original order and highlighted the specific portions they did incorrectly, which was pretty much everything. They told me that is the way they make it and I either had to keep the item or they would make me another one for 20% off. I told them why would I want them to make me a new one when they couldn't even do the first one correctly. :/
b. When I told them I was never sent the piece of ribbon, they accused me of lying. Quote "If you really did not receive the ribbon, we can resend it to you...." Why on earth would anyone try to swindle someone else out of a piece of ribbon??... That doesn't even make sense...(more on this later too! -___-)
c. After wasting 3 weeks and getting no where with them fast, I just wanted to return the item and not have anything to do with them. They told me I would get a partial refund because they can't reuse the fabric...it was their fault for messing the whole order up and then I couldn't even use the dress myself if I wanted to since it doesn't fit and it was the wrong color and I didn't receive the one piece for it. I returned the item anyways because I refused to advertise for them by wearing the awful monstrosity around. (Instead, I made my own; I got many compliments on the one I made quickly in 2 days because I didn't have much time before I had to actually wear it [see pics in gallery under Guilty Crown]).
3. Their lies linger worse than staring eyes in a sauna.
a. I took a little survey of random people without telling them what color I thought the dress was and they all stated it looked black. They all knew the anime and assumed that someone who makes anime costumes would make a costume based on the anime...Nopers. See for yourself? www.hellocosplay.com/guilty-cr…
b. While I was at the convention I went to, I met a few people who also had issues with Hellocosplay. I actually met a girl who bought the same item I did and was wearing it around. I found out two things by talking to her.
i. Her dress was not made properly either. We had the same problem in fact. She had to take the bust in on hers about 3 inches altogether as well. (apparently they must assume we have giant bras in America or something?)
ii. I was looking at her dress and I noticed that she didn't have a ribbon around the center like it should have and upon asking her about it, I found out that she was never sent one either....go figure....
Also: When we were standing right next to each other talking, people immediately knew my costume, but it took them a second to link hers. (Probably because the color was off and the ribbon was missing [pretty much: just not made correctly]).
c. Now I have returned the item. I sent it with a tracking number and tracked it all the way back so that they couldn't play any games with it. They were supposed to contact me when they received the item. I looked online and it said they had the item for a week. Finally, I contacted them and they told me they had just received it....I bet....
d. Finally, I am waiting for a refund, but instead of putting the money back onto the card I paid with, they decided to try to put it into a random paypal account for my email which doesn't exist...because that's how most businesses do refunds. -____- After contacting them about it, their response was "Well, if this account really does not exist, then we will be refunded the money in a few days. When we get the refund back, we will put it into the account you requested." So now since they messed up, I have to wait even longer for a refund to be done with these people. (By the way, I originally ordered this item June 1, sent it back July 3 and now it is the end of August >[
True facts:
~Two of my friends bought wigs from this company too and the wigs took far longer than they should have to be shipped (according to the shipping time).
~The other girl was not happy with her dress (the one I got and returned).
In closing, I do not recommend buying from Hellocosplay. There are some people who do not have many problems with them, but from looking online, I have found that it is 50/50 with them and as of recently, things have been going downhill. I have bought many things online and I have made many costumes myself (see gallery) and I have never encountered such horrible issues as this. After 5 years of cosplaying, I can say this was my worst cosplay nightmare.
Take heed; god speed.
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Language Humor
1 min read
"This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done."
The semantics behind this quote is amusing in a grammatical sense and a humanities/cultural sense to me.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done."
The semantics behind this quote is amusing in a grammatical sense and a humanities/cultural sense to me.
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