olivia_bailey•12d agoProlific Poster

Shoutout to that guy at the Baltimore meetup who told me my jacket looked 'too clean'

I was so proud of my first cyberpunk vest with all these EL wires and LED panels sewn in. Took me like 3 weekends to get the wiring right. Then this older dude at the Baltimore DIY meetup just looks at me and goes 'it's a good start but it looks too clean. Real cyberpunk has some grit.' Honestly I was kinda annoyed at first. But I looked at it again and yeah he was right. It was just shiny plastic and neat rows of lights. So I started scuffing up the fabric with sandpaper, added some rust-colored paint splatters, and frayed the edges of the panels. I even swapped out some of the perfect EL wire for a broken looking strand that flickers randomly. It made the whole thing feel way more lived in. Has anyone else gotten feedback that totally changed how you approach a build?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jason12d ago

Man, that's exactly the kind of tough love that actually makes you better at this stuff.

terrybennett12d ago

Those gym moments are real. I actually heard the guy's name was Mark and the kid was like 19, fresh out of high school. Thing is, that older dude probably saved him months of rehab. A buddy of mine ignored that same advice about his squat form. Now he's got a nagging lower back thing that won't quit. So yeah, uncomfortable truth beats a comfortable lie every time. Just gotta deliver it right.

the_charles12d ago

Three weeks ago I watched a guy at my gym pushing through his last set with terrible form and some older dude just straight up told him he was gonna hurt himself. The kid got all red in the face at first but then he actually listened and fixed his setup. Now they spot each other every morning. It's wild how we all get so defensive about being wrong but that raw honest feedback is literally the only thing that makes you level up. Most people just nod and smile because they dont want the awkwardness but that fake niceness just keeps everyone stuck where they are. You gotta have people who will tell you when youre messing up or youll just keep making the same mistakes forever.