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Love you, too
I've been around since the beginning and this is the first time I've ever felt compelled to review something. Promise nobody put me up to this. I've been thinking about how best to describe Mad Lovers Cosplay's site on Patreon and I think I've got it. They're the local bookstore to the UMD's Barnes and Noble. The latter has everything you'll ever want or need, provides excellent service, and serves as a great place for people of all tastes to gather and mingle. Mad Lovers is much more niche and caters to a specific crowd, but the experience is personal and interactive and it's enjoyable enough that even people who aren't necessarily into Cosplay (like me) will enjoy it. And they do their thing really really well, too. Very creative skits, very well executed (trained actors), and always produced with input from the fans. They respond to questions, they chat in the forum threads, and are just nice people. And they do personalized videos for certain memberships. Just a fun place. And oh yeah, they happen to produce some excellent WAM material with beautiful, down-to-earth actresses and big mess. Hard to beat the pricing options. You can get some material for as little as $1/month, or everything for as little as $10/month. Most membership sites go for $25-$30 so this is just about unbeatable (for G rated WAM, which I happen to dig still). Can't recommend them enough. If you're on the fence, give them a shot.
That's my wife in the profile pic, not me.
I agree their production and level of detail is 2nd to none. They take the time to make a label for a bucket of pudding. Look at her nails in the Harley Quinn costume, she painted them alternating black and red to match. All the costumes are fantastic. But the $10+ all-access memberships say "sold out." Not sure what the hell is going on as far as what you can and can't see with other memberships.
sploshcouple said: I agree their production and level of detail is 2nd to none. They take the time to make a label for a bucket of pudding. Look at her nails in the Harley Quinn costume, she painted them alternating black and red to match. All the costumes are fantastic. But the $10+ all-access memberships say "sold out." Not sure what the hell is going on as far as what you can and can't see with other memberships.
I quite honestly am confused by all their different membership levels, that's why I have not joined. I would like to have it simplied. Have an all access level where you get to see everything that is published. Otherwise, everyone will be confused, and won't sign up. I found this to be true with there original donation. I thought I was getting all their content based on my donations. Didn't get everything?? I guess I didn't understand??!! There membership is confusing to say the least.
Wear A Pie, Don't Eat One!
Overall I think what they do is great and a lot of people are touching on the things they get right (production values, commitment to jokes, costumes, etc). Great variety in terms of substances, covering pretty much every base but mud (cakes, pies, slime, etc), participants with some acting chops really giving it their all (no wooden reactions which can kill interest).
More neutral comments: While lately they are reaching out to a lot of new faces it seems, the majority of the videos are specific around the Harley actress, who I believe is the significant other of MLJ (him proposing to her on Slime Time Live or something as I recall? Did I make that up?). This is mostly good, because she's beyond a "good sport" and very attractive (especially so in her Mary Jane cosplay, there she is a total knock out in my humble opinion).
Some criticisms: Obviously personal interests are going to weigh heavily here, what some people like does nothing for others, so I will first explain what I like so that it's clear what perspective my critique is coming from.
- (not a criticism, just what I look for): for me you have to cover the eyes, nose and mouth. Even just half of the face can really work against a pieing for me. That's the minimum and it's just extra points if the hit explodes and covers the area to the top of the head to the neckline. With multiple hits, if they can get more head coverage, all the better. However, sometimes (for me) there is too much of a good thing: If there is complete coverage and the target is unrecognizable and just a blob of goo, that's too much. I like to see the hint of features, an open mouth and eyes shown, especially without wiping. A good reaction helps and a really bad one (crying, covering up, running away, to much anger) can really detract. I don't want to see someone legitimately having a panic attack and emotionally scared by being pied but a hint of anger/frustration/shock/humiliation works well.
- Harley tends to go for the engulfed look, which is to say she'll take repeated big pies and quickly ends up completely covered and unrecognizable. If you like that, check them out immediately. As I said, I personally prefer the look where they're hit and covered well but you're able to make out something resembling a human being underneath; especially the post-pied look where they're able to open their mouth and even eyes without wiping. Speaking of wiping, Harley is not the worst wiper in the world (Dani from Conexao Models) but she wipes a lot of mess/goop away, much more than I would like.
- The costumes and cosplay tends to work in their favor, but something that obscures too much face works against it for me, so there are times (again personal opinion only) where a large clown nose takes away from things (note: there are *tons* of scenes without masks, noses or anything obscuring anything - a great "Friends" pie fight parody, Jessica Rabbit, a really great Mary Jane and more)
- There are longer scenes, the Friends scene is something like 10 minutes with tons of time to the action, some build up to it and overall a pretty big production (easily something you might find yourself ordering from a big name SlapStickStuff style producer) -- but I found myself wanting more from some of the scenes, the Joke-of-the-Months come to mind, I'll single one out: #8, with the previously mentioned Mary Jane, had some solid hits, a great over-the-top reaction, Harley (as MJ) was looking really great, but it was over almost as quickly as it began, kind of cutting out real quick right after the best hit with her covered very well. Even without more mess, that moment could have lingered a lot longer for my tastes.
- It's all Family Friendly, and this is a MAJOR plus for me (I don't like to mix my interest here with overly sexualized things like nudity or that) but if that's your bag, you're not getting it here. This might be a big plus for some of you, as it is for me.
- The signing up methodology. Some people find it confusing. Some people may not like signing up for a subscription and getting the scene(s) they produce that month. Although they are very consistent about putting out at least 1 scene a month, you might prefer a pick and pay model that everyone else uses. YMMV.
Overall, like I said, good stuff, great guys behind it, they have a good sense of humor, it's mostly all female, Harley herself is great and they've got friends who are also great sports. Worth checking out, the promos are pretty accurate about giving you a glimpse of what you're going to get, so if you have seen them and are interested, you might want to give it a whirl.
And, for your time/trouble, attached are some pictures of what I consider decent post-pied looks, plus a video with a girl who took a pretty good pieing (keep in mind, I searched for all of 20 seconds to find these, so it's not like these are my personal highlights of pieing perfection).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qygz5BasT38
Still, if they were to ever produce a good 10-minute scene with Harley cosplaying as Mary Jane, taking hit after hit with perfect (in my opinion only) wiping technique, I'd fall over myself re-signing up.
More neutral comments: While lately they are reaching out to a lot of new faces it seems, the majority of the videos are specific around the Harley actress, who I believe is the significant other of MLJ (him proposing to her on Slime Time Live or something as I recall? Did I make that up?). This is mostly good, because she's beyond a "good sport" and very attractive (especially so in her Mary Jane cosplay, there she is a total knock out in my humble opinion).
Some criticisms: Obviously personal interests are going to weigh heavily here, what some people like does nothing for others, so I will first explain what I like so that it's clear what perspective my critique is coming from.
- (not a criticism, just what I look for): for me you have to cover the eyes, nose and mouth. Even just half of the face can really work against a pieing for me. That's the minimum and it's just extra points if the hit explodes and covers the area to the top of the head to the neckline. With multiple hits, if they can get more head coverage, all the better. However, sometimes (for me) there is too much of a good thing: If there is complete coverage and the target is unrecognizable and just a blob of goo, that's too much. I like to see the hint of features, an open mouth and eyes shown, especially without wiping. A good reaction helps and a really bad one (crying, covering up, running away, to much anger) can really detract. I don't want to see someone legitimately having a panic attack and emotionally scared by being pied but a hint of anger/frustration/shock/humiliation works well.
- Harley tends to go for the engulfed look, which is to say she'll take repeated big pies and quickly ends up completely covered and unrecognizable. If you like that, check them out immediately. As I said, I personally prefer the look where they're hit and covered well but you're able to make out something resembling a human being underneath; especially the post-pied look where they're able to open their mouth and even eyes without wiping. Speaking of wiping, Harley is not the worst wiper in the world (Dani from Conexao Models) but she wipes a lot of mess/goop away, much more than I would like.
- The costumes and cosplay tends to work in their favor, but something that obscures too much face works against it for me, so there are times (again personal opinion only) where a large clown nose takes away from things (note: there are *tons* of scenes without masks, noses or anything obscuring anything - a great "Friends" pie fight parody, Jessica Rabbit, a really great Mary Jane and more)
- There are longer scenes, the Friends scene is something like 10 minutes with tons of time to the action, some build up to it and overall a pretty big production (easily something you might find yourself ordering from a big name SlapStickStuff style producer) -- but I found myself wanting more from some of the scenes, the Joke-of-the-Months come to mind, I'll single one out: #8, with the previously mentioned Mary Jane, had some solid hits, a great over-the-top reaction, Harley (as MJ) was looking really great, but it was over almost as quickly as it began, kind of cutting out real quick right after the best hit with her covered very well. Even without more mess, that moment could have lingered a lot longer for my tastes.
- It's all Family Friendly, and this is a MAJOR plus for me (I don't like to mix my interest here with overly sexualized things like nudity or that) but if that's your bag, you're not getting it here. This might be a big plus for some of you, as it is for me.
- The signing up methodology. Some people find it confusing. Some people may not like signing up for a subscription and getting the scene(s) they produce that month. Although they are very consistent about putting out at least 1 scene a month, you might prefer a pick and pay model that everyone else uses. YMMV.
Overall, like I said, good stuff, great guys behind it, they have a good sense of humor, it's mostly all female, Harley herself is great and they've got friends who are also great sports. Worth checking out, the promos are pretty accurate about giving you a glimpse of what you're going to get, so if you have seen them and are interested, you might want to give it a whirl.
And, for your time/trouble, attached are some pictures of what I consider decent post-pied looks, plus a video with a girl who took a pretty good pieing (keep in mind, I searched for all of 20 seconds to find these, so it's not like these are my personal highlights of pieing perfection).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qygz5BasT38
Still, if they were to ever produce a good 10-minute scene with Harley cosplaying as Mary Jane, taking hit after hit with perfect (in my opinion only) wiping technique, I'd fall over myself re-signing up.
[Portion removed that was a reply to another message which was deleted -MM]
I have to say, I beg to differ about your assertion of us "lacking content". As of AUGUST 15th, 2017, our Content Feed features:
It's all very well, but it doesn't work for me.
The patreon model, your pateron model, means:
- I'm paying a fixed amount, and apparently don't get access to earlier videos which I was looking for. You are giving selected parts to higher places, but when I paid for something with the line "All videos", I was expecting all the videos.
- It's streamable. I was expecting a downloadable content. I can understand why you prefer that, I don't like it.
- it's hard to look for videos using tags.
- I don't care about other content.
- You're mostly a couple, and production wise it's better to use the local team, which doesn't work for me. You integrate the guy and most of your content is the same one girl.
- If I joined in the middle of the month, I'm only a part of it until the next 1st, then I need to pay again.
- If you promise some content in June and are too busy to release it until August, I paid for 2-3 waiting for that content.
If there was more focus on different girls, downloadable content and some other things, it would have worked for me. but in the world of specifics, it doesn't.
I'm glad that it works for others.
I have to say, I beg to differ about your assertion of us "lacking content". As of AUGUST 15th, 2017, our Content Feed features:
It's all very well, but it doesn't work for me.
The patreon model, your pateron model, means:
- I'm paying a fixed amount, and apparently don't get access to earlier videos which I was looking for. You are giving selected parts to higher places, but when I paid for something with the line "All videos", I was expecting all the videos.
- It's streamable. I was expecting a downloadable content. I can understand why you prefer that, I don't like it.
- it's hard to look for videos using tags.
- I don't care about other content.
- You're mostly a couple, and production wise it's better to use the local team, which doesn't work for me. You integrate the guy and most of your content is the same one girl.
- If I joined in the middle of the month, I'm only a part of it until the next 1st, then I need to pay again.
- If you promise some content in June and are too busy to release it until August, I paid for 2-3 waiting for that content.
If there was more focus on different girls, downloadable content and some other things, it would have worked for me. but in the world of specifics, it doesn't.
I'm glad that it works for others.
I honestly don't see the problem with Patreon as a platform in this case. It's a blog/timeline based social media style format with restricted access depending on donation level. It's not rotating content - it's cumulative so if you enter at 'video' level (currently $12 plus) you can see everything video wise - ever.
As for MLC, I'm with the OP. It is what it is, does it well, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. I don't think they as hosts could be more attentive.
My review can be found here:
https://umd.net/site/mad-lovers-cosplay
As for MLC, I'm with the OP. It is what it is, does it well, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. I don't think they as hosts could be more attentive.
My review can be found here:
https://umd.net/site/mad-lovers-cosplay
Bringing pleasure to literally tens of people!
Great pictures up there, MLC.
