Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from everyone at Animology!

The Other Side of Cosplay

Back at the beginning of story month, I gave the following bit of advice for any first time congoer: If you’re going to hit on a girl, make sure it is an actual girl. This may come across as quite funny, but as I am about to demonstrate, it is an extremely necessary rule of thumb for any neophyte congoer.

Crossplay is essentially the art of cosplaying a character of the opposite gender. It is found often among fans of wildly popular shows and games like Kingdom Hearts, Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist, where the cast is made up predominantly males. (It could also be said, as in he case of Kingdom Hearts, that the cast of males is rather bishounen, and thus makes crossplay easier, but you can form your own opinion on that.) In these cases, female fans show their devotion by dressing up as one of the male characters. All psychological comments aside, crossplay of this nature is often seen as normal for a con, and indeed encouraged. Devotion is frequently rewarded, often in the form of photographs and gifts of Pocky, and many of the girls who choose to crossplay say they enjoy it.

But that is only half of the crossplay experience.

A few years ago, at Anime Boston, I was sitting in the anime parliament, enjoying a rousing case involving Sakura Haruno, a ninja headband, and Hot Topic. Someone behind me shouted out something ridiculous, I turned around, and came face to face with...well, you can see for yourself:

My jaw dropped. Literally. I stared at this guy until we both started laughing and I snapped his picture. It’s been sitting on my hard drive ever since, brought out only when I need to illustrate the lengths some people go for a satisfying cosplay experience.

Noticing some things...

When I started this site, it was always my intention to update three times a week. I have no shortage of material, I keep a list of topics written down in a journal and add to it each time I come up with something I want to write about. I am always discovering new things and receiving new "epiphanies" about my work and love of anime. And yet, I find it very hard to make more than a post or two a week. Take this week, for example. I like updating on Mondays. This week it was Wednesday. I fully intended to add the next post on Friday. It's Sunday and I just sent it off to Aleks for proofreading and formatting. Why is it that it takes me so long to put my thoughts to paper, as it were?

Also, I've been rereading a lot of my older posts and noticing how my writing style has changed a lot. Less on rote academic writing and a whole lot more of journalism. The language is far more relaxed now, I feel more comfortable with my choice of words and subject matter. I'm looking forward to better posts in the coming months, no longer afraid that what I write will not be good enough. Does this mean that I am finally transforming from awkward blogger to serious writer?

These are just two of the thoughts flitting about in my head.

Also, a preview. My next article will be up tomorrow, and it's a doozy on crossplay, the "black sheep" of congoing.

Expect a special, Christmas column later in the week, written exclusively for Animology by Santa Claus himself, who I met at Otakon.

And next week, with the dawn of a new year fast approaching, I plan to reminisce on the past year, complete with photographs, memories and musings by congoers I've met.

And then on to 2010. And the future.

PS: How poetic, as I write this, I'm listening to the opening for Great Teacher Onizuka live action, "Poison." I have no idea what it's about, but the music suits the mood I'm in.

Site Tech

Welcome to our new layout. We'll be making some tweaks here and there over the next few days. Just a heads up.

Devotion or madness?

I'm sure you've all either seen, or been in, this position before: You have just spent weeks (or months even) designing and creating the most amazing costume EVARRR! Black leather, chains, giant weapon, you are now ready to hit up the con with a vengeance, ready for your "debut," get your cameras out people, because here I come. You slug the entire behemoth of a costume across state lines in the back of your car (or drag it on a bus, you devoted fan, you), make last second adjustments and fixes, and now it's time! Time to show the con world your skills. You throw on the five pounds of costume glory and head outside...into a blistering summer sun with enough humidity to drain you of all your body fluids in less than ten minutes.

Of course, anyone with common sense would think it is insanity to want to overload yourself in pounds of unbreathable fabric during the hottest months of the year, and yet it happens. A lot. Every con in fact. Heat advisory be damned, it's vacation time, so let's kick it into gear! What could possibly go wrong?

Full story after the jump.

Acceptance

Today's story is a bit different than the one I shared with you on Monday. Rather than give you another urban legend or tale of frivolity and irresponsibility, I thought today I would like to share with you a tale about what the con means to one particular, special girl. You see, not every convention story contains crazy experiences, culture shock or wacky cosplay. Sometimes people like to tell tales that revolve around love, friendship and acceptance. This is one of those stories.

First and foremost, I do not know who this girl is. Animology did not exist back when I gathered this story, and I am fairly certain we did not trade contact info. I met her only twice in my life, once at Anime Mid-Atlantic and once again at Nekocon this year. She was an outgoing girl, very friendly, and she filled out one of my surveys after the writing and character development panel at AMA. Then, over the course of our conversation, she told me this story:

I live in a very bible belt like area, out in the middle of the country, where things are very conservative. I'm a lesbian, I was raised by hippies and come from a very mixed religion family (everything from baptist to hindu to atheist). Cons are places I can go to and not be a freak- I kiss my girlfriend and people applaud me instead of quote scripture at me. It's amazing, I can be the freak I am.

This is a sentiment that frequently comes up when I ask people about why they attend cons, or what they get from them. Acceptance by other people, shared interests, the ability to "freak out" ad not be judged by it, these are all major factors that contribute to convention attendance. Oftentimes fans have to keep their interests hidden or subdued because the places they live and the people they are surrounded by will not approve of it. I met another girl in Pittsburgh last year who attends each Tekkoshocon because it is the only place where she is not called a "devil worshipper" because she likes anime. The ability to "cut loose and be yourself" is a hallmark of anime conventions, and it gives the attendees something to look forward to and relish in, at least for the weekend.

Despite the occasional bouts of "justification" and "elitism," otaku tend to mingle well. I've been told that, unlike any other subculture, anime (and by extension, anime cons) accepts everybody, even fans of other mediums and fandoms. Gamers, Trekkers, Jedi, TARDIS passengers, geeks, dicechuckers, professional fans, comic fans and even furries can all find a place at the con. And while there will always be those who seek to "knock down" those they meet, the same is true for any type of fandom, period. The fact remains that if you are a fan of something, you will find others like you at a con.

Case in point. At this year's Otakon there were two Doctor Who photoshoots. The larger of the two, which was on Saturday, contained over 20 participants ranging from the various Doctors 4-10, Jack Harkness, female companions and other associated fans. The photoshoot itself lasted for more than two hours, as every few minutes a new crowd of fans would assemble to take pictures. There was even a blowup TARDIS, which attracted even more exposure as it, and it's three accompanying Doctors wheeled it around the con. I was a part of that photoshoot, and have been cosplaying the 9th Doctor since Anime Boston, and hardly a con has gone by where I am not stopped for pictures or bump into another Doctor making an appearance. Doctor Who is most certainly not anime related, but he has a huge following at cons. Same holds true for Star Trek, Star Wars and many other large fandoms.

But I might be getting a tad off-track here. The point I wanted to make today was that anime cons are an open, accepting and friendly place to be ones self, free from the judgements and predispositions of the "real world." Can it be shocking, then, when attendees profess how much they love attending cons and how they want to attend more? If the con is the one place you can truly be yourself, why would you not want to be there more often?

Spock, the Doctor, Kirk and Sulu

Doctor Who Photoshoot, Friday Night

Both images from Otakon 2009, Baltimore Convention Center

The Best Con Story Ever...

Or at least that's what the sign said when I first met the storyteller. The year was 2003 and the con in question was AnimeNext, at the Rye Hilton in Rye NY. I forget now what he was wearing, or if he was even cosplaying. No, what I remember about him was his giant sign, suspended over the main hallway in front of the dealer's room: "Best Morbid Con Story Ever: $1." And the crowd of people around him, all holding single dollar bills and looking expectantly towards the man, hoping that the story was not only as promised, but indeed worth the full dollar.

Now I am not one to spend my money on such things. I also have rather good hearing. So, perching myself close by, with my back to the crowd, I waited for him to gather everyone's money and closed my eyes, focusing on the sound of his voice.

"So there was this anime convention, and this guy was there, and he was a first time attendee, and as a lot of noobs do, he wanted to cosplay."

There was a murmur of assent from the assembled crowd. Yes, a lot of first timers do like to cosplay, I myself was decked out in the garb of one Tommy Vercetti from GTA: Vic City. And the storyteller went on.

"But he didn't want to half-ass it, he wanted to go all out, so he decided to go...as Devilman."

A laugh this time from the crowd. Yes, Devilman WOULD be a challenging costume to pull off. I know I've only seen it once.

"So he buys a professional makeup kit, spends months working on the costume, so it's totally perfect in every way. Horns, fangs, contacts, body paint, extra hair, the works. it takes him over and hour to apply it all, and he's riding down to the con floor, feeling very proud of himself and looking forward to all the attention he was surely gonna get."

Ah, personal recognition, the hallmark of the first time cosplayer. Choose something big, something flashy, so you stand out like a sore thumb and smile as they snap your picture. It's easily one of the most gratifying things you could ever do, and indeed it is part of the allure of cosplay itself. And how can you go wrong with Devilman? Done right, that one will make you a legend.

"Well, at the same time this con was going on, the hotel had rented out one of the upper floors for a church convention."

The crowd, including myself, all groan in unison. Now, a lot of us see where this one is going...

"Well, the elevator stops on the fifth floor and this little old lady is standing outside, holding her bible and dressed in her Sunday best. She sees him standing there all by himself. Her mouth open a little."

Wait for it...the anticipation is building, we all know what is about to happen. Or at least, we think we do.

"In a moment of brilliance, the guy looks at her and says, with a totally straight face, 'Going Down?'"

The tension is broken by a near universal exclamation, be it "oh no" or "oh my god" or the ever popular "oh snap."

"The lady just stands there, mouth open, as the doors close. He finishes his ride down alone, laughing at what he had just done. He meets up with his friends, gets a few pictures taken of him, and they all head out for breakfast."

We think it's over.

"Maybe an hour later they all are back at the hotel, and they see this huge crowd surrounding an ambulance."

So quiet you could hear a pin drop. I'm positive most of us already know what the guy is going to say, but we wait patiently for him to say it anyway.

"One of the guy's friends goes over and talk to a guy in the crowd and comes back. When they ask him what happened, he says 'Well, they found this old lady up on the fifth floor, she had a heart attack and died waiting for the elevator.'"

The crowd explodes with laughs and more exclamations of shock. As for the storyteller, he just grins, folds his hands and waits for this crowd to leave and the next to return.

New con starting up

Recently I've been chatting with the organizer of Inochicon, a new startup con in the Philadelphia area scheduled for the end of next August. Right now they are doing a lot of exploring with potential attendees, gathering information and replies to present to venues and hotels. If anybody has the time/interest, please head over to this link and fill out a survey. Their organizer is into this for the right reasons and I would love to see the con succeed.

More Site Stuff...

We'll once again be trying out some new layouts, html, etc. Please excuse our appearance. Thanks for visiting!

Con-Ventional Wisdom

Welcome to Day 3 of "Story Month." On Monday, I presented you with a list of tips for surviving your first convention. Well, today I give you...another list. This list, which was titled in my Death Note as Con-ventional Wisdom, was supplied to me at Otakon, whilst sitting in a Chicago Uno Grill with my friends Abby, David and Ace. This was Abby's first convention since I met her at BAAF 2003, while I had previously met David at Katsucon, while he was walking the halls in his 5th Doctor outfit. I was reading from the previous list of tips, when David decided to chip in with his own advice from years of congoing. So, I present to you: Con-ventional Wisdom.

Do the cosplay you want, don't worry if it is too obscure. There are people worse than you.

Fitting advice, seeing as how he cosplays a little known Doctor. But this advice is sound. If you have a costume idea, run with it, no matter how obscure. Often, you may be surprised to find that someone actually will get the reference. And for a lot of people, having one person "in on the joke" can often mean more than having your picture taken a thousand times because you're Kenpachi Zaraki. (Personal note: I actually assembled a cosplay for Castiel from Supernatural that I plan to use at Katsucon. It's obscure, yes, but nowhere near as obscure as the Oscar Wilde I saw at Otakon.)

If you're at a con and something smells bad, it's not you—it’s everyone.

One of the biggest in-jokes of cons is that attendees seem to dislike taking showers. Sometimes this revolves around too many people in one room, sometimes people don't even have rooms, sometimes they like to maximize their con time (especially if they only attend 1 per year) and sometimes they're just plain lazy. But this has lead to a lovely stereotype that congoers are unwashed. Yes, some truly are. But no, not everybody is. Just remember, if you do forget to shower, you're not alone. Just make sure that it's not at one of those cons that enforces a cleanliness rule. They do exist.

Don't be afraid of heavy costumes. Everyone else is equally as uncomfortable as you are.

Truth. I met a guy in a Warhammer Space Marine outfit at Anime Boston. He couldn't move all that well. But he was having fun. And when it comes to cosplay, fun is what matters.

Feel free to scare the locals. You'll find some of them quite accommodating.

This is a mixed bag. It is a given that you will always find people who will smirk at your outfit and then talk to you. This holds especially true in cities where strange things aren't always seen as strange (New York and Boston come to mind). But this is not always the case. At Nekocon, I was told a tale about a man dressed in full Umbrella soldier garb who went into a Denny's for food and everyone in the place couldn't stop looking and laughing at him. I have also witnessed people in full cosplay being harassed by ignorant locals. But this is not universal. For every jerk, there will always be a few people who will come up to you and admire your costume.

At a con, you can live off $10 a day. Fast food is your friend.

This is a universal sentiment. One of the first things many congoers do upon arriving for a con is seek out the closest McDonald's or pizza place, and then spend the entire weekend eating there. For many attendees, cons are about spending money...but not on food. So how do they maximize their shopping while keeping themselves from going hungry? Fast food. $3 for breakfast, $3 for lunch and $4 for dinner, and they're set. While this is not exactly the healthiest option, the main argument is that while at a con, health goes out the window. (Side note: some people forego eating entirely. This is definitely not a healthy option, but I will devote more to this later.)

It's good to be accurate, but make sure your props are not bigger than you are.

This one's for you, Cloud. And don't you go anywhere either, Gattsu and Sanosuke! Indeed, at any con you will always find the diehard cosplayer with the 6 foot long sword walking the halls. And yes, the skill required to make one is challenging. But when your 6 foot buster sword causes you to off balance and fall down the escalator, well then it's time to get a smaller prop.

Bring. Spare. Pants.

This cannot be said enough.

For last second cosplay, or quick fix needs, find the nearest Target.

Or Walmart, Kmart, etc. These stores should not be ignored, especially at cons. As an experiment, I actually attempted to piece together an outfit for the 9th Doctor from Doctor Who, a very simple cosplay outfit. The nearest Target to my hotel had the right color shirt, right style pants, right shoes and even a faux leather jacket, all for less than $50. If you're willing to scour the store looking for exactly what you need, you will find it.

First time cosplayer with no idea what to dress as? Get a white button shirt, black vest and black Dockers. You are now 30% of every anime character ever.

Or 100% Ianto Jones. But yes, this is a very basic outfit that is very open to interpretation. A good second tip would be white long sleeve shirt, jeans, eyeliner and black Chuck Taylor's. You are now L.

Conventions are where you meet your best friends.

I could go into great detail over this, but for now, it speaks for itself.

So there you have it. Two lists of tips that will make your congoing experience more memorable and pleasurable. Now go out there and enjoy the con.

Note: As you can see, I am overhauling the site to make it more professional and pleasing to the eye. I am also looking for correspondents. So if anyone is interested in submitting their own musings or anime based stories, please let me know.