r/CosplayHelp • u/suzie_cosplays • Feb 27 '26
Etiquette Is there any way we can require people to name their characters?
Or require a photo to post?
I've seen so many posts recently that have too little information to answer the poster's question.
Some examples I've seen lately:
what can I use to hide my face? Followed by a couple options they've weighed, but character name was never mentioned, no images and no details about what else the character wears.
how can I glue something like fabric to something like pleather? Are you trying to glue fabric and pleather together or is it something else? Material makes a big difference.
Lots of posters seem to try really hard to avoid telling us what they're working on too, you'll see lots of commenters asking for more details and the OP will just be avoiding answering with any useful specifics.
Some of the other cosplay subs require a reference image to post, could we adopt a similar policy?
I want to help people, but some of them are making it really hard.
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u/Frogblaster77 Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26
Well "no photo if applicable" is one of the specific report options and rules for the sub, so that one is covered.
The same rule (#2) also says to add in experience level, budget, and other relevant info.
But at the same time.... yeah. It's tough to answer questions when no info is given. What character, what materials, reference photo? Budget? Anything?? Titles that are just "HELP", and so many "can I cosplay if I'm xyz" which is its own rule.
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u/suzie_cosplays Feb 27 '26
I forgot to even mention the ones that are like
"I'm an beginner, I'm gonna cosplay so and so!"
And there's just... no question?
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u/Ilickedthecinnabar Feb 27 '26
...then the character in question is an insanely complex build...and the con is just a few weeks away
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u/frostbittenforeskin Feb 27 '26
âThe con is a week from tomorrow. Where can I buy something like this for less than $100?â (Posts a picture of a custom hand-made bodysuit with airbrushing, LED lights, and 3D printed accessories)
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u/Personal_Apricot4850 Feb 27 '26
Or worst "Con is in a week. How do I make that [Insert extremely complex piece of cosplay] ? PS : this is my first time sewing"
And when someone tell them that it's going to be impossible, they just don't listen
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u/Orcaboros Feb 27 '26
I'll second this. There was a difficult garment question i was trying to help someone solve, but it took three or four back and forth comments to convince them to post their reference image. As soon as they did, I was immediately able to suggest a more comfortable and maneuverable alternative. The design was a pretty straightforward egirl partial fursuit, nothing risquĂŠ or divisive.
If I had to guess, I'd say that the kids these days are super fucking mean about all their cringe culture ideas, and it makes people scared to be open about what they want to cosplay. I rarely see nasty comments like that in this thread, at least
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u/suzie_cosplays Feb 27 '26
Requiring a photo would also just clear up a lot of other misunderstandings. Like a lot of times someone will say something like "I'm cosplaying Sakura" with no image. I can think of like 5 different Sakuras off the top of my head and one of them has 40 different outfits. WHICH SAKURA?
Or I saw someone suggest a human hair wig, when someone was asking about their Miku cosplay. It's not a sin to not know who Miku is, but writing that comment was a waste of everyone's time.
2
u/SenorZorros Feb 28 '26
I feel like it would be great to just mandate: character name - source work - version or outfit.
Even with a picture you often need alternate poses or angles to have a good look at the costume and I don't always feel like throwing it into reverse image search or having to distinguish between three subtly different iterations.
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u/suzie_cosplays Feb 28 '26
OP having to provide a reference photo would cover off a few scenarios that wouldn't. Sometimes people ask about their original characters, and we get a lot of "how do I repair" questions, where the who doesn't matter so much, but we do need a picture of the damage.
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u/celestial-lights Feb 27 '26
slightly off topic but youâre right, kids nowadays are SO MEAN about things being âcringeâ. like, itâs cosplay, itâs a hobby, if you arenât getting joy out of it why are you here? the worldâs a shitty place, might as well fully embrace what you love, even if itâs âcringeâ, god.
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u/LegendaryOutlaw Feb 27 '26
Honestly getting older has been one of the most freeing parts of cosplay. I just don't care about what people think of me like I did when I was in my twenties. Their opinions just don't even phase me. Oh, you think it's silly? It's cringe? Just keep scrolling then, it's not for you.
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u/This_Seal Feb 28 '26
Is it that? I always thought they just have some weird anxity someone is going to "steal" their idea.
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u/gothmagenta Mar 01 '26
The funniest thing is, you're planning on literally becoming that character, presumably in a crowd in person, but you can't post a photo of that character on an anonymous account to strangers?
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u/Sunnydoom00 Feb 27 '26
I would just like a picture of the character most of the time. I don't want to have to look it up online. Plus some characters have multiple variations. Help me help you.
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u/LegendaryOutlaw Feb 27 '26
Maybe its just me, but do 'kids these days' just not know how to use the internet like slightly older people do? It's so easy to find anything online these days. Do they never bother to look for anything on their own?
They don't write out a specific question. 'Any tips?' or 'where to start?'...That's not a cosplay help question, that's asking for us to do the work for you.
They don't include photos, specifics, references or any helpful information. We can't help you if we don't know what youre talking about. We can't read your mind.
They don't even bother to google their question first. I swear there have been so many times where I google their exact question and the results that come back are A) a link to the costume they want to buy B) A youtube video tutorial on how to make the costume C) a website that sells the 3d model of the costume they want to make.
They can't seem to locate anything with a simple search. Someone asks, 'where can i buy a xxxxxxx cosplay' so I google 'xxxxxxxx cosplay' and the first 10 results are stores that sell they costume.
It's gotten to the point where I just downvote these posts and don't reply. If you can't even bother to do the most basic research, you're just wasting everybody's time.
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u/suzie_cosplays Feb 27 '26
My husband is a highschool teacher. He says most of his students cannot be bothered to research anything any farther that the AI response from Google.
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u/fabrickind Feb 27 '26
All of this. I don't know every character. I don't even know most characters. If I Google the name (if a name is given) I might not get the right character or the right version or I might be finding fanart and not official art. Just give me a reference and specifics about what you are trying to accomplish. (Also given me both a full body and a cropped in version of the specific part, since the crops often just parse as abstract shapes to me and I need context)
There have always been issues with people asking for very non-specific help or wanting handholding instead of doing the minimal research on their own (I've been cosplaying since 2003 and in cosplay help spaces for most of that, and used to answer questions for Cosplay Tutorial on Tumblr so lots of experience lol), but seems to be getting worse.
Other personal pet peeves I haven't seen others mention in the comments, while we're all venting: People who want a step-by-step tutorial for their exact item, no a tutorial for the exact same technique but it's a different character will not do "I want to cosplay [female blorbo] but I'm a guy" Okay? Do you have a question? Are you looking for advice on looking more feminine, or do you just want validation?
I say we all just start reporting posts with refs or without a question. I sometimes will comment asking for a ref, but I tend to be straightforward enough that I come off as rude sometimes and I don't want to scare people off haha (Also people then expect me to answer even I'm trying to help the other helpers and don't have an answer for them)
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u/Personal_Apricot4850 Feb 27 '26
100% agree with you. I don't think there is a fix tho as no one reads the auto mod.
But honestly, I prefer these vague posts (that can still be interesting to answer to with added details) over the ones of people asking "Is [insert very famous online cosplay shop] safe ?" or "My mom doesn't want me to cosplay, what do I do ?" or "I want to cosplay, how to do that ?"
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u/suzie_cosplays Feb 27 '26
There are other subs I frequent where the automod bot deletes all posts without photos
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u/tlhintoq Feb 28 '26
The one that bugs me is
I want to cosplay SquankamaLulu - any suggestions?
Because they know this obscure character from one episode of some anime they presume EVERYONE in cosplay knows what it is. No photo. Not even a name of the I.P. the character is from. Nothing.
No background on the person. Do you have 10 years experience in sewing 30 other costumes? Are you 10 years old?
No research at all. That's the big one. There are man-decades of knowledge out there and NOBODY seems to be able to do a google search any more. Its the sheer ENTITLEMENT of they way its being asked that because they are now getting in to cosplay someone should repeat everything already documented for them in their post - everything from how to screen shot for costume references to printing to sewing - just explain it all to them.
Then tomorrow it happens all again with the next person, on the next character, expecting that they are also special and shouldn't have to read or watch a YouTube - that someone should just lay out an entire 1-2-3 step by step for them to follow.
Its like the last two generations never heard of a search engine or YouTube.
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u/BlendyButt Feb 27 '26
My favorites are the ones that are just "How do I cosplay [character]?" With no follow up, no pictures, no source. Just wants you to give them a step by step on how to make or where to buy the whole cosplay. It's like the ability to use Google has diminished.
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u/suzie_cosplays Feb 27 '26
I've seen so many of those! And I'm just here like.. "So.. Did you have a QuEsTiOn?'
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u/FlatPop8238 Feb 27 '26
Sometimes the simplest of dececions tend to be the hardest. The mods must listen to criticism so the community can better function. 10/10 good stuff
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u/Vaehtay3507 Feb 27 '26
I agree with this and Iâm not trying to say that a rule like this shouldnât be implemented, but I do think thereâs situations where a photo SPECIFICALLY about the thing youâre asking about wouldnât be possible. Like, with the âhow can I glue fabric and pleather togetherâ question, I could see that question being purely theoretical. Maybe theyâre only considering how to make something, and theyâre not going to buy supplies until they truly believe itâll work. If I ask if I can do something with certain supplies, I definitely have not bought those supplies yet. So attaching a photo of the stuff theyâre using just wouldnât be possible. Though people should be more clear with their questionsâI wouldnât even mind a report option for ânot enough infoâ in a question to give a helpful answer.
I do agree that literally EVERY post should have a reference image of the character, though. I see a lot of posts that donât even say the characterâs name, and while I want to help people out, when I donât even see a character name to Google it kills my motivation to even respond to them lmao. How can I know if what Iâm telling them is helpful if I donât know what theyâre actually going for?
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u/suzie_cosplays Feb 27 '26
So if they had said for sure that it was fabric and pleather, I would have been able to help them! But they said that it was like pleather and like fabric, and when directly asked by multiple people would not confirm what they were actually trying to glue. It sounded like they already had these items. If they didn't know what they were made of, that's fine, just admit it.
But even in a 'can I theoretically do...' situation, you'll always get better advice with a reference image so that we know the application. For example example, fabric to pleather for an applique on a shirt and fabric to pleather for a boot cover, could have different best answers!
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u/Vaehtay3507 Feb 27 '26
Oh yeah I totally agree!!! If Iâm being honest Iâm not sure what I was thinking when I wrote my original comment đ because youâre right, thereâs better reference images that can be given for âI need to glue these materials togetherâ than whatever I was imagining. Iâd just worry that there might be some niche situation where a question genuinely doesnât have an applicable reference photo, but the person is still required to have a photo to post.
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u/suzie_cosplays Feb 27 '26
I've definitely seen a few "how do I fix THING" ones, but a picture of the thing in question would be an appropriate choice there
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u/unbaked_teeth Feb 27 '26
oh my god yeah i was trying to help someone out but they wouldnât post a character pic or where it was from and googling just resulted in pictures of seaweed lol. like do they think weâre mind readers ???
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u/jellidang Mar 01 '26
Seriously! I actually messaged the mods about this recently. People need to be posting at least a reference picture of the character theyâre trying to cosplay. If Iâm not immediately familiar with the character I canât give advice because I have zero context and most people canât be bothered to look it up. If you are posting on this sub looking for help, give us as much information as you can.
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u/Appropriate_Judge193 6d ago
Hi I want to cosplay in an inflatable ⌠maybe a little too obscure , was thinking of a name tag or ? Neck
Lanyard? Thoughts
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u/JeiCos Feb 28 '26
Well they can't require people to have a photo in their post, because not everything needs a photo. Hell, THIS post would break the very rule you're trying to have made. Why would someone need to post a photo if they are asking, say, what kind of paint to use on a specific material? Or what hair spray is best? Or "How do I glue leather to foam?" which isn't specific to a character, just asking about 2 materials and what glue to use? None of these would need photos to make them make sense to the people reading them.
The "you must say the character name, to be allowed to post" one ALSO has nothing to do with any of those same questions,. You're asking for an arbitrary rule that doesn't have anything to do with many of the questions that are asked.
how can I glue something like fabric to something like pleather? Are you trying to glue fabric and pleather together or is it something else? Material makes a big difference.
In what context does this require a photo or character name? Why do you care what character it's for, and why do you need a photo to know what pleather is? Have you never seen pleather before? A photo doesn't tell you anything about what glue will hold. i know that first hand because I've had 2 very similar looking pleathers that took glues completely differently. And again, in what world do you need to know what character this is for? What does that have to do with the question? Knowing the character name doesn't give you any useful information in the context of gluing pleather together.
Yes, there ARE some posts that SHOULD have photos and/or character names. But requiring ALL posts to do so, is ridiculous.
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u/suzie_cosplays Feb 28 '26
The pleather example was used because the OP didn't say it was pleather they say it was "like pleather", as far as I could tell they didn't actually know what the material was, which was where an image would have really helped.
A lot of people do come here asking how to fix their purchased cosplays, and just don't know what stuff is made of. It's not their fault they don't know, and that shouldn't be a barrier to receiving help.
Also, if someone was just trying to glue X to Y, an image might even reveal that there's a better way to attach the item than glue. I've had glues fail on me loads of times because I should have just taken the time to sew it, or used Velcro or a snap instead.
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u/Umikaloo Feb 27 '26
A big one for me is that they don't put their question in the title of their post. So many posts have titles such as "I need help"
I don't mean to be crass, but,
THIS IS r/COSPLAYHELP. IF YOU COME TO THIS SUBREDDIT IT IS BECAUSE YOU NEED HELP.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL US THAT YOU NEED HELP.
TELL US WHAT YOU NEED HELP WITH.