Katsumiyo

Hey guys, long time no see. I apologize for my absence; I re-injured my knee and have been trying to stay off the computer during my downtime. I don't want to make a habit of browsing the internet during all my free time...though perhaps I should, since I have 12,000 things in my inbox...

I've been wrestling with the decision to delete this page for a few months now. Firstly, it's difficult to keep up with, as I follow so many artists and groups. Secondly, the culture here on dA, at least when it comes to cosplay, is not like other cosplay-based sites. Lots of people here see cosplay for its sex appeal and bringing their fantasies to life, but that's never been what it's about for me. I prefer a culture based around craftsmanship and exploring the myriad methods and materials used to make costumes. It really brings me down when the majority of comments I receive on here are about my body and not the costume I worked hard to make, or the character I chose to portray. I know people mean these comments as compliments, but my body is not nearly as much a priority as my construction and attention to detail. It's also a hassle when I hand someone one of my cards so they can follow my work and they Google me only to find very old costumes that dA associates with others' skimpy costumes and things like swimsuit modeling. It seems to encourage people to misinterpret why it is that I cosplay.

On the other hand, there are things I like more about dA than other websites. For example, you get to see every submission a person makes and not just the most popular ones or the ones they pay to boost. You can also follow groups for series you're interested in, like Nintendo clubs, and find art submitted by people you otherwise never would have met. I also know that I have a core group of watchers here that have followed my work for months, sometimes years, and either don't have Facebook or know that the reach algorithm is so flawed that they might never see my work again. It wouldn't be fair to them if I ducked out of dA as a whole.

I ultimately decided not to remove my entire gallery, but just to downsize it to my favorite costumes and photos. This means that a lot of photos are going to disappear over the next week or so. I know it's not ideal, but then I also know that a lot of those photos are just rotting in favorites folders that aren't looked at for years at a time, so I don't feel too bad. I will continue to upload select photos of new costumes to dA, so everyone will be able to see new work. This just helps me lighten the workload around here and makes things easier to organize. I also do intend sometime to renew my subscription so that I can go back to featuring some of my favorite submissions from others.

I thank everyone here for their patience and support, and I apologize if this news disappoints you. I'll do my best to get this gallery up-to-date in the coming weeks, but it will take some time. I hope you guys don't mind the changes too much and look forward to some awesome new costumes coming your way!

I celebrated my 24th birthday! ...Last Tuesday, ahaha. I'm sorry I haven't been too active on here lately. I 1) started a new full-time job in addition to my college courses and 2) have been trying to get used to this new layout. My computer sure doesn't seem to like it, as it's doubled my loading time for the homepage. Booo. Well, to celebrate my birthday, I'll be abusing my lovely subscription from Celem again by choking your journal feed with more features! Let's see how many I can cram in here before my computer begs for a merciful death.



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Hooray, I managed to make it to 24 before my computer started crying! Yes, Lie-chee is in here twice...I couldn't pick whether I liked her Tetra or her Huntress costume more. I actually had a hard time not chucking her Sailor Mars in here, too!

I logged back in this evening and saw the star next to my name. What a surprise! It turns out Celem bought me a three-month subscription. Thank you so much, Celem! Now I can start putting features in my journal again! And I also just realized I have over 100,000 views...holy frijoles! That's insane! My mind is seriously blown, I might need a nap after this.

I also forgot to mention last time that I've been submitting YouTube videos about staying safe at conventions. There are three videos so far, and a final segment is scheduled to be uploaded this coming Tuesday. If you'd like to check them out, you can find them here: www.youtube.com/channel/UCReK7…

Let's start this round of features with a row of Celem's work. Celem is an extraordinarily talented photographer from New Hampshire that takes photos of some of my favorite subjects: animals and landscapes! He offers many of his photos as stock, so if you like doing photo manipulations, his gallery is a great place to start!







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What up y'all. I haven't uploaded anything in...a long time. And there's a reason for that.

Mostly, it was because I was busy. But when I stopped being busy, it was for another reason. Honesty, I don't like some of the comments I get on here. Comments about sexual fantasies, breasts and buttocks, how attractive or unattractive my friends are...just general inappropriateness. These are comments I don't get in nearly this number on Facebook, ACP, or anywhere else I upload my costume photos. Of all the unnecessarily sexual comments I receive on every website I post on, 90% are from deviantArt. And when I politely ask people to stop, I'm met with hostility and blame. I understand that uploading non-sexual photos to a website that does allow sexual photos comes with some risk, but that doesn't mean users shouldn't treat girls they find attractive like human beings. Maybe one girl responded positively to your comment about her body, or what you wanted to do to her. Super! But I won't, and I don't deserve disrespect and outright aggression when I ask, as kindly as possible, for you to refrain from giving me those same kinds of comments.

I do want to take this time to thank everyone who has been supportive and kind to me here. You guys are the best, and it's because of you that I keep coming back and sharing my work even when I know I'm going to get my share of aggressive, creepy people. I don't think I'll ever shut down my deviantArt account entirely, because I value those of you who never fail to be friendly, sweet, and sincere. But I won't bend to the will of people who feel the need to submit me to their perverse commentary. So if you're making comments that make me feel uncomfortable, and you don't stop when I ask you to, you're getting blocked. You have the right to express your opinions and feelings, just like I have a right to use the block feature as permitted by deviantArt policy.

So yep. Zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment from here on out. And to those of you who continue to leave tasteful and genuine comments, you are so much more appreciated than you realize.

I know I *just* wrote an entry, but I really wanted to spend a minute spouting off about one of my favorite clubs here on dA. Realm-of-Fantasy has tons of amazing and talented artists whose work I just adore. And not only do they host some of the most talented people on dA, but they have weekly polls to select images for the next feature. So if you're like me and you don't have time to look at every upload, you can vote in these polls and see some of the most exemplary work uploaded that week. And if you're even more pressed for time, just read the journals, where they post the images selected in the polls.



Some of this art is so stunningly beautiful and inspiring! Here are some of my favorites that I found either via related deviations or through the club itself.

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