Crazy Con Goers: A Rant and Discussion

[animeobsessed7]

i was at the starlight ball at anime boston and there was a guy who me and my friend dubbed the awkward top hat guy. (i learned his name later but i forget)
so he passed in front of us about 6-10 times, and my friend goes "theres that guy again." and i didnt notice him till she pointed him out so i said "what guy?" but once she pointed him out i noticed that every time he would walk in front of us his head would be down and his top hat was sort of hiding his face. at one point he stopped and pretended to pick something up and keep going. and at another point there were people in front of us so he walked behind us.
finally at the last song he asked me to dance. i think he was just really shy though. he was actually pretty cute.  

[egoxromantic]

LiL Moon

I've had a few instances with cosplayers being rude to me, but one impaticular scarred me.

I was watching this very popular cosplayer on Deviantart and she said that she was going to a particular con and openly welcomed people to come say hi if they had the chance. I was so excited and actually ran into her the day before the start of the con. I shouted hi to her from across the street and said I was one of her fans online. She only stared at me and asked how I recognized her and so I just told her she is very unique looking so I recognized her face right off. She didn't say anything after that and just turned away from me. confused

I was kinda like...okaaay maybe I embarassed her or something? That was the only excuse I could come up with. The next day I saw her in her cosplay and asked her for a picture. I figured she didn't recognize me since I was cosplaying as well so I told her that I was the one who she saw the day before. I apologized for embarassing her, but she just nodded, yeah okay, and then turned away and ignored me again. mad

I was sooo mad . After the con she posted about how "happy" she was about the people who said hi to her at the con. So then why was she so rude to me? After that, I stopped watching her on Deviantart. Now, I too embarassed to meet anyone I know on there. crying That mainly applies to cosplayers though. I have found that actual "artists" on Deviantart are much more polite when it comes to fans meeting them at conventions then cosplayers.

Aww, that's sad. D:
Who was it?

I've recognized people off youtube before. When I see them I get all over excited like some little kid.. but they didn't seem to mind... which is good, because I was terribly embarassed. xD

And now I suppose it's my turn to rant.

Tards- bother me. v.v;; There are a lot of this type at my school- the dorks who only know the mainstream animes, and think it's cool to use the two or three japanese words they know in every other sentance. STFU.

Elitests- I haven't run in to any cosplay elitests, but the anime elitests make me really mad. They think everything's better in the original japanese, and because you haven't watched all the animes they have you aren't as dedicated a fan as them. Shut up. I have a life.

Yaoi Fangirls- DON'T BOTHER ME. I'm not hardcore with it, and I'm too afraid to ask people for yaoi poses, and I don't own a giant paddle.... but I do like yaoi. xD So it's not going to affect me as much. Or at all.

Creepers- GTFO ME. I don't get it. I run into sooooo many.. Dx  

[Tsuki Nushi]

La Ahna

People like that that think they can totally ignore the rules the con has set down because they're somehow "different" or "special" SERIOUSLY annoy me.

Me too. I don't get it very often, but when it does happen it pisses me off. Like I was helping out at a fundraiser/festival for my local con and these guys were running around like morons. It was outside in the grass, but there was still a no-running rule. I think I told them like 3 times throughout the day before the Head or Security finally threatened to throw them out. stressed  

[SakuraRico]

On the subject on people who are "different" or "special", we have autistic people go to cons here, just like everywhere else. There's this pair of twins, (as in, just one set) and they are both autistic adults. One of them was "stalking" one of our cosplay gals, and she told him to back off several times. When he didn't, she complained, and some guy (Unfortunately speaking in the name of the Paquines Crew, which is the one that organizes most cons) told him in quite a nasty way to F off, don't remember if he actually punched him though....

Thing is the parents file a complaint and go into a legal battle. In the end they lost it, because they left their Autistic sons at the con, unsupervised, to just pick them up later in the day. As many of you know, an Autistic person should not be left unsupervised, specially in such events, even if they are already over 18/21.  

[Tsuki Nushi]

^ There's another thing that bugs me; people who should be supervised but aren't. I haven't run into any autistic/special needs people who've been unsupervised, but there are LOADS of like 7-14 year-olds running around without parents or even older siblings/friends/cousins at our local con.

Just because cons are a reasonably safe place doesn't mean that you should just let your kid run around wild. Sooner or later someone's going t get hurt, and we're going to have to pay the price for it. Seriously, there need to be like permission slips or something.  

[User_1017918]

Tsuki Nushi

^ There's another thing that bugs me; people who should be supervised but aren't. I haven't run into any autistic/special needs people who've been unsupervised, but there are LOADS of like 7-14 year-olds running around without parents or even older siblings/friends/cousins at our local con.

Just because cons are a reasonably safe place doesn't mean that you should just let your kid run around wild. Sooner or later someone's going t get hurt, and we're going to have to pay the price for it. Seriously, there need to be like permission slips or something.

Conventions can be just as dangerous as any other event including sporting ones. Any place that has volunteer staffing tends to hav gaps in their security cordons big enough to drive a truck through. Not that they don't do their jobs because I bet they do it to the best of their abilities but since they aren't paid in a monetary fashion or employed as a guard then they tend to have the 'I'm not a guard, not my problem' mentality.

Most parents tend to think that a place where the kids friends are around would either a) have other parents escorting them or b) have a notion that the people that run the place are somehow responsible for monitoring their kids. I used to work at a hotel that sponsored all types of teen sporting events. The kids would be running around wild tearing up the place and all the parents were in the pub getting wasted. When you finally found the parents they were typically hostile because you're making them act responsible for their kid and they'd always be like " Gawd! I just got here to get a few drinks and relax away from them!" like it's YOUR fault that their kid is going psycho.  

[The Lone Wolf Jedi]

I thought I'd weigh in on this, I have been going to cons and other non con related things for a few years and I've cosplayed and I have come across some of the most annoying people I have ever seen, the hardcore fans of certain anime, STFU and go to your own circle of friends, don't shove whatever anime down my throat, elitists, cosplay elitists are annoying, especially the "pro cos", they think they are better than everyone else cuz they are treated like celebrities, YOU DRESS UP IN A FRICKIN COSTUME, ANYONE CAN DO THAT!!! And finally, my least favorite is the soccer mom types, "Oh that outfit is inappopriate", and the stuff kids wear in scholls isn't or what about the prostitutes, seriously, if you are here with your kids then shut up and let them have a good time, that's all I gotta say for now  

[SakuraRico]

About the Unsupervised people that should be supervised: Normally, if something happens, the parents want to blame the convention. Like even if it's something that is not the con's fault, like the person overheating and fainting from heat stroke because they never had a drink during the day. I attended one such case on Kaisen in september. The girl was a minor, if anything 15 years old, and she was "chaperoned" by an 18 year old friend. Technically, the friend would be the one responsible for her. Thankfully, as far as I'm aware, nothing happened regarding that situation.

About the soccer moms who think you're way too naked: Right now there's an issue in our forum, of a girl complaining about a Litchi cosplayer from Blazblue, who in the last mini-con two weeks ago, went as the character is. Bouncing Boobage exposed on an open shirt. She was complaining that there was no warning of such exposures, and that the con was rated family friendly, not 18+. We're talking about a minor here, NOT an adult, who is complaining.

Regarding this, I told her that if she knows the most basic aspects of anime and videogames, she should know that most females in such mediums are either super-endowed or almost naked, and sometimes, both. Litchi was cosplaying as how the character is in the game. There was nothing wrong. She has bouncing boobage, and so does the character.

Second, I also told her that if she's complaining of such exposure at a family friendly environment, she can just go to the beach, where she will see women that you can swear are naked, until you take a close look and see that they are wearing what looks to be dental floss. And if she doesn't wanna leave the comfort of her home, she can just turn on the TV at the local music video channel and wait for a reggaeton video, and then complain about what she sees there at any time during the day. (For those who don't know what's Reggaeton, it's a ripoff "music" style from Puerto Rico, that in EVERY track is the exact same beat, and the singers mostly talk about sex, drugs, violence, and how good they are. The videos show almost naked females, of all ages[I've actually seen little KIDS in such] shaking their butt right on the camera, wearing skirts that are higher than their crotch and almost no panties. Think a more explicit hip hop video).

Third, this troll is new to the cosplay world it seems... She hasn't put a single picture of her in cosplay or anything, and nobody knows who she is. I told her that she can start complaining about cosplays when she does one herself, and if she says the Litchi sucked so bad, to make it herself and then say how it's done.  

[User_1017918]

Actually that brings up several points I'd like to touch on:

Some costumes 'are' a bit to explict for conventions. Yes I am aware that the character wears it but the character is fictional and thus not in the same position as a person. The hypersexualized characters have been around forever and there is a movement to start making more practical looking women in games and other media. (not that I want to segue into that) Some outfits should not be worn by a girl or guy under the legal age of 18. It's just that simple and I personally would take an issue with any parent that allows their kid to dress in an incredibly slutty OC or IC character. Recently I saw a girl dressed as a Gijinka pikachu which was just her in a bikini with ears and a tail. (not jessica) She was at least 16 and that was a way too revealing outfit. Yes, you could argue that the beach and Reggeton videos show people in the same amount or even less clothing but people in music videos have to sign a release form that makes them aware of their legal rights concerning it and they agree to it. The beach is public domain so federal law and state laws apply to it and thats it.

Now to use your example, Litchi costume is not revealing at all. Yes it does have the bouncy boobs and such so I agree with what you said concerning it. It's the more revealing costumes that end up being an issue and most of the time it takes a 'case by case' approach to defining what is too much. My friend Madison cosplayed Harley Quinn at AB10 and she's over 20 but looks like she's 16 and is petite. Boy did we have alot of perv-o's around here. (I did scare them off being Bane after all)

On another note, yes a cosplay idol is someone in a costume but it's not that they just where the costume but they wear it 'better'. Anyone can wear a costume but not everyone looks good doing it. That being said the 'pros' tend to get too detached and start believing their own hype. They forget they are a person playing a character and not the character itself. I've been in the cosplay scene for a long while and I've met some of those 'pros' and alot of them are douches who forget that it's people who like their costumes that make them popular. If you run into someone who's elitist and a snob then the best thing you can do is ignore them. Word of mouth gets around eventually and backlashes always happen to people like that.

( Being spainish and born/raised in the US made me laugh really hard at the Reggeton comment.Especially cause someone just drove by blasting some. sweatdrop )  

[SakuraRico]

Regarding what Genma Said, firstly, glad I could make you laugh XD

I actually think it would be good to place a rule of "18+ to wear super extra revealing outfits", just for a bit of safety's sake. Whenever I or my girlfriend are planning a cosplay that may be controversial, I talk to the boss (Kaisen's organizer) to see if he believe's it's ok or if something should be modified.

Good example, in Kaisen 6, my girlfriend dressed up as Irma from Queen's Blade, which, if you see her images, you'll see she pretty much wears nothing but an overly detailed bikini. He suggested she wear a skin colored leotard or something, I told him she was gonna wear a cape she uses in one of the episodes. But he did it for her, not for him. He's aware of the creepers, and he said for her safety, it's better off if she doesn't show skin. When she evaluated herself for the cosplay contest, we pretty much made a human curtain to prevent perverts a good look at her when she took off the cape.

Another example, Kaisen 7 on september, we both cosplayed from the Hentai Nightshift Nurses. Being a hentai, the characters were even more dressed than most regular non-ecchi anime! But there were some worries about how the behaviour of the characters. The boss knows us, he knows I wouldn't jeopardize the convention, and when the judges and volunteers at the meeting found it was us, the worries dissipated. I told him what we were gonna do for our evaluation and what we were gonna do for the cosplay parade, and also how we'd pose for pictures. No problem. The bigger thing was at the parade, I was supposed supposed to lift up her skirt, but he just told me "As long as you don't lift it all the way, we're good".

We're both 22, just in case.

If the building where the con is held has no rules regarding "how naked is naked", and the law of the place you're at determine "how naked is indecent", as long as you follow those parameters, you're good.

I'm aware the "dancers" in reggaeton videos sign the release form, but it's not about them, it's about anyone being able to see them any time with just a push of a button. Same with the beach.

Remember, the same way Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder, so is nakedness. Hell, I actually can see a woman in the nude and think nothing of it, if I see there's some art to it. But if I see that the picture is of her in the bathroom on all fours taking the pic with her cellphone, yeah, that is vulgar and indecent. But such is my view.  

[User_1017918]

To me that is a reasonable compromise mainly because a flesh tone outfit is added underneath to imply nudity without there being any. It's like someone I saw cosplaying LeeLoo from the Fifth Element. The version with the orange straps and see through pants. The pants were designed to have a flesh tone under the see through plastic to give the illusion of bare skin. That's acceptable I think and maintains the look without showing anything needlessly. Maybe I'm a bit of an oldfag since I've been around the scene long enough but those blatantly sexually fueled costumes tend to pull away from the idea of wholesome fun and all brings the pervs out of the woodwork.

I think most people seem to not grasp that many of the things that are banned from conventions tend to do with legality issues and preventing the convention staff from being held fully responsible. I've attempted to explain it to some people using the DuckDuckGoose example. People used to play DDG at conventions all the time especially at AB. It was banned about 1-3 yrs later and people through a huge fit over it. What they never bothered to understand is that if one of the were injuried (especially at AB where the floor is made of marble) then the insurance premiums would go up for the event. It'd almost make it more harder the center to be rented annd allow the people who own the center to jack the price up in the interests of 'more security'. I have experience in these matters since it's my career field and have seen it first hand.

On a different note to keep with the rant direction, I hate the fact that a bunch of people go to a convention to get stupidly wasted and dance at the rave. Chances are good you paid for a hotel room in some percentage plus a ticket and then paid for gas to go to and from. Factor some gas and food money and you've spent quite a bit. So lets say all together you dropped about 200 bucks just to go to a convention. What is the F-ning point of getting drunk and smuggling booze and maybe drugs into the rave? Like the potential for getting arrested is bigger now and on the bare minimum you're gonna get kicked out of the convention and maybe the hotel proper. If drinking and dancing is so important then why not just go to a club and save yourself like 150 bucks? I got to a rave around here and it's 10 bucks to get in and 5/each for the booze. 200 bucks would net me a shite ton of booze.  

[Veretix]

At my last anime convention before school started, there was this boy who was running around with some of his friends. The boy had a pikachu plushie and would shove into people's faces screaming "Derp!", which he and his friends found hilarious. He decided that throwing his pikachu into my back basket would be funny. He missed on his first attempt. I was in the Merchant's Room looking at a table when he sneaked up behind me, threw his stupid plushie in and screamed "Derp!" at me. It was incredibly rude. If he had done it again, I would have taken the pikachu and give it to the head of security. He disappeared after the encounter with me.  

[Tsuki Nushi]

^ Well I hope security had a nice long talk with him.  

[Mira Moon Darling]

The last Con I was at was at a hotel and the cosplayers were allowed into the lobby.
I was cosplaying with a Hetalia group and we were all supposed to meet in the lobby to stay together. Unfortunately, some idiotic Hetalia cosplayed managed to break a glass table, which resulted in all of the Hetalia cosplayers being kicked out >_<
And I hadn't even gotten there, yet T crying T  

[TigerLilyChick]

Chibi Chibi Sami

The last Con I was at was at a hotel and the cosplayers were allowed into the lobby.
I was cosplaying with a Hetalia group and we were all supposed to meet in the lobby to stay together. Unfortunately, some idiotic Hetalia cosplayed managed to break a glass table, which resulted in all of the Hetalia cosplayers being kicked out >_<
And I hadn't even gotten there, yet T crying T

Wow, that's just ridiculous how every person cosplaying an anime series had to be kicked out.