But that’s not to say it was all bad. I certainly enjoyed talking to the fans that stopped by, thanks to everyone who bought art, comics or buttons!  Thanks also everyone who visited this site after talking a business card. And I met some awesome artists who I will link to later in this post.

The main problem was none of the artists seemed to make much money this year, and before you cry foul that we’re all money-grubbing sellouts: I only tend to make enough to cover my travel costs and maybe some extra, for me it’s more half vacation, half promotion. Other artists at least want to recoup the cost of their table, perhaps more local travel, and make a bit of a profit. So from a selling point of view, the con was just a tad abysmal. I think it was a number of factors, namely “the economy” and the fact the artist alley was in a room rather than an open area this year.

But even the events sucked. The only event I tend to make it to is Midnight Madness, and one year they had Studio Sokodei’s parody dubs, which can only be seen at cons, and the entire room was on the floor laughing. This year… well, it was painful. There was about 5 minutes of funny in between a whole slew of godawful acting, poor comedic timing, and unfunny jokes. Me and my friends’ half-awake heckling was funnier for crying out loud. I heard secondhand about other events being lackluster.

Well, at least Vic Mignogna was there as usual. He even came by the Artist Alley and then started messing around with the intercom system. You know. Because he can.

As for the aforementioned awesome artists: I got talking to Fevereon, the conversation becoming especially lively when we figured out we’re both native Rhodeys (no matter where you go in the world you will find someone else from Rhode Island, it is a fact.) Not only is her illustrative art great, but she creates mind-blowingly detailed cosplay weapons and costumes. In fact she was wearing a kickass Assassin’s Creed costume she made when I first saw her. Definitely check out her website, even if it’s just to ogle her creations.

I also bought a new pair of horns from Tangible Illusions who had a booth there this year (and judging by the number of her horns I saw people wearing might be one artist that did do well.) These are way better than my old clay horns, they’re hard but made of light-weight resin and are attached to a transparent and very thin but strong elastic. She makes so many different varieties it’s easy to find something you like.

Other than that I picked up a print copy of Strays, a webcomic I’ve been enjoying and I got to meet Blix-it from DA, an awesome artist I gave a Daily Deviation in my Gallery Director days and both of us apparently assumed the other wouldn’t know who we are.

So, that’s that. The con was still fun of course, but it’s beginning to not be worth our time is all (especially mine, with how far I travel.) Either next year or in 2011, I think Angel and I are going to be setting our sights on Otakon. It’s about time we went to a con closer to my neck of the woods.

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1. 5 Anime You’ve Never Heard Of (But Need To See)
2. Comic Making Lesson 2 – Planning
3. Mass Effect – Impression

The Campaign Fail 1
The Campaign Fail 2
The Campaign Fail, Third Times The Harm

Related posts:

1. It’s All Propapanda
2. Propapanda Productions
3. New Art Recap

Related posts:

1. Campaign Fail
2. Propapanda Productions
3. Assassin’s Creed

They’ve also uploaded a music video they made for a Providence, Rhode Island based band called Innocent Uprising

I’ll probably keep updates of their activity on this site seeing as soon my webspace is going to be hosting their seperate domain as well.

Related posts:

1. More On Coloring
2. It’s All Propapanda
3. Campaign Fail

It always amazes me the subcultures that have either developed or are heavily perpetuated because of the internets. Where normally I’d rant about fetishes and slashers and Suethors when it comes to internets dumbfuckery today I’m traversing even more bizarre territories.

If you’ve been on the internets for more than 2 months you probably know what an Otherkin is. You know, people who believe their soul is really that of a lithe and nimble elf, a sleek, muscular and powerful dragon, a spritely and delicate little fairy, and it was just by some cruel cosmic accident they were born into their heavy, sweaty, stinky, pimple-covered greasy shell. Yeah. And where it may sound like classic escapism, the lengths these people go to to insist/defend/believe this are mindblowingly crazy frightening.

But if you think that is crazy, just wait ’til I actually get to my subject of this post: People who think their soul is that of, they are the cross-dimensional reincarnation of, they are linked spiritually to… an anime or video game or otherwise fictional character.

I’ve been on the tubes since the age of ten. I used to forum roleplay (of course it was called “interactive story writing” on AOL at the time), I evovled to chat roleplay, I used to play MUDs (Gemstone 3 to be exact), all around good times. These days I shudderingly look back at myself then, and see times where, had I been influenced by the right people, I could have ended up in one of these crazy subcultures. I mean I used to be into dragons, really into dragons (well I do still like them), I used to roleplay a dragon when I was a kid (insert FYIAD jokes here.) With an adult brain and eyes now long open to all the horrors of the internet, I choke in terror at the thought that I may have just missed being an otherkin only by the skin of my teeth and the grace of your deity of choice. Or even becoming a furry. Ugh. It hurts to even think about. I was also a bit of a weeaboo once, when I was alot younger, but wasn’t everyone at some point?

It’s a wonder I’ve managed to stupidly bumble through the internet unscathed and not fall completely into one of these batshit crazy subcultures (although something like that almost happened not too long ago, but I’m fine now.) That being said, I can see how this happens to these people, but I don’t understand entirely why. Does someone hate themself so much that they have to indulge this fantasy? Does it start out as a bid to prove they’re TEH BIGGEST FAN? Is it the offshoot of some pre-existing mental illness that they already had? And like I said, thinking your soul is a dragon is weird and delusions-of-grandeur-filled enough, but thinking your soul is that of Spike Spiegal, or you were Vincent Valentine in a past life in another dimension, calling yourself Jenova and starting a tiny cult by designating people as Final Fantasy characters, you’re married to Sephiroth, you’re spiritually linked to Edward Elric (who exists in another dimension), or the Ronin Warriors or Sonic characters are “imaginary” friends you can actually see and they hang out with you and are real, or any combination of scenarios and characters thereof… is quite a-goddamn-nother.

The most hilarious part is Otherkin look down their nose at these people, likely while trying to ignore it only does more to show how retarded their own “spiritual” beliefs are. And I’ve seen Otakukin who look down on other Otakukin. Sure, it’s perfectly normal and real for them to have a video game character as their real-life sidekick who is bound to their soul or something and it’s totally not crazy, a hallucination, a lie, a delusion or schizophrenia, but anyone else who claims the same is a weirdo, a liar, or even more laughably: a poser.

And you know, sure, I used to think the concept of  “maybe fictional stories, places and people exist in some other dimension, maybe that dimension is created when an author comes up with it” was neat, like ten years ago, but the way these kinds of people take it bothers me, especially as someone developing original stories and original characters.

First of all is the idea that creators/writers/authors just “tap into” some existing dimension, psychically or something I guess, and that’s where they get their ideas from. It sort of belies all the blood sweat and tears that goes into creating worlds and characters, I mean to come up with quality, interesting or even decent stuff usually takes alot of hard work, research and thought. And not only does it totally negate someone’s hard creative work, but it suggests that people who can come up with unique worlds and characters have some special psychic connection and is probably a reassurance to these idiots because they can’t create anything more original than an Inuyasha fancharacter. And you just know it’s another goddamn dog hanyou, jesus christ. I’d take the “the dimensions come to be after they’re thought up” bullshit theory over that one any day.

And perhaps just as disturbingly, when you think about it: how would you feel if you created a story, and characters, and were met with success and fans, and then here comes some guy saying he was one of your characters in a past life, or really has the soul of one of your characters inside him. Furthermore, what if he’s nothing like that character or has grossly misinterpreted that character (which I believe most Otakukin do.) Well, you’d probably think it was hilarious, but I think I’d be a bit annoyed and weirded out as well. And like with the “tap into another dimension” theory, these people always seem to forget the creator, as if these stories and shows and comics and what have you just willed themselves into being without  hard working individuals behind them.

To me this sort of thing has got to be a mental illness, either a pre-existing one (delusions of grandeur, god complex, schizophrenia, plain old fashioned pathetic self-delusional escapism) or some weird new phenomenon that is the product of our mass-media and highly commercial times. Either way it’s really stupid, and it’s just another example of fandom becoming so large or out of control that it eclipses the work it originally stemmed from. When you get to a point like this, you’re no longer a fan of the work, you’re a fan of yourself, of another person, or whatever way you or a collective have managed to twist that work, usually into something almost completely unrecognizable.

Also “Otakukin” and “Fictionkin” are the stupidest words ever invented.

Related posts:

1. Cyber Bullying
2. Video Games and Kids
3. Second Life

For those of you who don’t know  "Second Life" is a program that is somewhat like a MMORPG, only… without the RPG part. With the name clearly being honest about its escapist intentions, thousands upon thousands of people act out a fantasy life in this virtual reality every day. The denizens of SL have full control over the lands, the structure, and can even open virtual shops and sell virtual items for virtual money… which they can then exchange for real money. It’s web 2.0 to the extreme and you would think it would be alot of fun.

Yeah. You would think that.

I’d been making some pocket change over at IMVU and so when I heard of Second Life I decided to sign up and give it a try. Oh man, don’t let the screenshots on the website fool you. Second Life has some of the ugliest, glitchiest, weirdest graphics I’ve ever experienced. I run The Sims 2 and IMVU fine on this computer, so I can’t understand why every time I go to change my avatar’s look in SL it’s suddenly spotted with a fluxuating cycle of the wrong textures. It’s not just me, is it?

Me and some other mooches at
the Freebie Warehouse

So initially I just went in, got some free shit on N00B ISLAND or whatever the hell and customized my avatar. After that, I promptly got bored. Of course, I tended to just explore deserted areas so that may be my fault. I have an inherent fear of people in online games, because I think anyone I try to talk to is going to be an idiot or ask me if I WAN 2 CYBUR or be some spaz who will try to become my new bestest internet buddy. I really can’t help it, it’s some psychological scarring from having to live through online RPGs getting overrun with retards. I couldn’t even play obscure, text-based MUDs without idiots swarming all over screaming "HOW DO I LEVEL!?!?!" and ruining the god-fucking ambience. Not to mention it became harder and harder to find any that enforced strict roleplaying/staying in character rules. Graphical RPGs have never been my cup ‘o tea neither, because I think graphics limit your imagination, and besides you gotta pay for most of them.

At any rate, back to Second Life. When I found out you actually had to pay the monthly fee to be able to own/operate a store and sell shit I said to hell with it. I highly doubted I’d play it often enough to be worth a monthly payment, and besides which I still can’t figure out how the fuck to build or make anything in there.

Something Awful was right! SL’s economy
is completely supported by virtual penises

So for a while I forgot about it. But over the last few months I’ve been greatly amused by Something Awful’s "Second Life Safari" feature and decided to download it again. Obtaining even more free shit like the goddamn mooch I am I took to customizing my avatar and making it… not so hideous.

Granted it seems impossible to make a Second Life avatar not look hideous but by god I tried. Of course, I am such a goddamn goth on the internets (thankfully not one in real life. I’m too old for that shit and all the clothes are expensive.)

I doubt I’ll be living a second life anytime soon, if I could find a good way to make money that didn’t involve virtual prostitution or paying a monthly fee I may consider it. I also know full well SL is overrun with furries, and that should be enough to make anyone want to stay away. And people are so damn nosey, I was busy changing clothes and some bitch with cat ears and a tail drops out of the sky and lands next to me. She goes "hi!" at me, and because people in online games as I mentioned terrify me I just lifted up and flew away. She seemed pretty pissed about it and tried to follow me. Lulz.

lol gawth

At any rate, I’m reluctant to give my Second Life name. Hell I’m reluctant to even admit I’ve been there. Oh well, just for shits and giggles I’ll tell you readers the first name: In Second Life I go by "Lydia". Don’t ask.

Related posts:

1. Cyber Bullying
2. Video Game Addiction?
3. No More Heroes

You know, if your kid is going to lock themselves in their room and threaten to cut their wrists because someone on Myspace called them fat, your kid needs a sound beating with a cluestick.  Forget ending “Cyber Bullying”, I’d prefer to end “Cyber Pussyism”.

Now people try to claim cyber bullying is actually worse than real life bullying. These so-called “experts” were probably bulimic prom queens and that rich douchebag who had a car and always played his guitar on the school stairs and were subsequently  never bullied a day in their life. Yes I’m sure having some /b/tard spam your Livejournal is faaaar more traumatizing than having your head dunked in a public toilet. I’m sure getting called names on your MySpace Profile, which you can make private and delete comments on, is much more psychologically damaging than having your lunch tray knocked out of your hands as you walk through the cafeteria, getting pushed down in the hallway, or even having a group of kids corner you on your walk home and beat the shit out of you.

Why don’t we worry less about the internet and more about this sort of crap that still goes on every single day?

Oh but the real concern is cyber bullying is regular bullying that continues after the bell rings! Kids think they’re safe at home but the same girl who scratched you with her 3 inch fake nails that morning may now get on MSN and call you a fat cow over and over and tell you everyone hates you. Okay now this is just common sense, if you don’t want people who hate you to message you on the internet, gee wow don’t make your MSN name, your AIM name, your whatever else name public. If you post your messenger name on your MySpace or Livejournal along with all those camwhoring pictures of yourself who knows what sort of weirdos you’ll attract, the bitchy girl at your school may turn out to be the least of your worries.

In reality, cyber bullying is probably more dangerous for the bully than the bullied. I mean look at the incident with that 11 year old girl who came to be known as “Girl A” and “Nevada-tan”. A classmate called her fat on the internet and she went and slit the girl’s throat during school. That’s where the benefit of anonymity of the internet comes in. The so-called “cyber bullies” picking on classmates are retarded, cause who knows just how crazy that kid is. The joke’s on you when he or she comes to school with a gun the next day. So why risk it when there are plenty of crazies from all over the world on the internet just waiting to be laughed at and stirred up?

And that’s the sad part, in the struggle to get stupid teenagers to stop harassing each other online and off (which is never going to happen), now any criticizing, teasing, insulting, or messing with people on the internet is called into question, and falls under this superfluous “cyber bullying” umbrella. The obnoxious new motto to go along with this mentality is “if you wouldn’t say it in real life, don’t say it online”. Bullshit! The hostile and lawless culture of the internet serves a very real and very needed purpose: true freedom of speech.

I’m serious! In the “real world” we’re so oppressed by politese, we’re conditioned to smile politely at people we can’t stand, to agree with people we don’t agree with, to never point out one another’s foibles, mistakes, or idiocies for fear of getting sued, becoming a media spectacle or being forced to give a insincere public apology.

But on the internet none of that matters, you can knock spoiled brats down a few pegs, you can point out a stupid illogical statement, pointless as it all may be it can be cathartic. On the internet people are laughed at for saying “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”, and the phrase “everyone has an opinion” isn’t enough to save you from harsh criticism.

Oh, but some people are relentlessly harassed on the internet, you may say, and its wrong. You know what? Sorry to say, but some of these people really have it coming. I mean if you’re going to flit about the internet talking about how you feel spiritually linked to an anime character, or you’re going to draw nothing but Pokemon wetting diapers, or you’re just a big damn racist holy shit of course you’re going to be targeted. You need to utilize some common sense here, people. You deal with “cyber bullies” in the same way you deal with real bullies: just don’t give them the reaction they want. But, because I’m feeling generous here are some of my own tips to deal with cyber bullying:

• 

  Don't do this.

  Have a fetish? Maybe you like to draw it and nothing but it? Be it inflation, gender swapping, furry, furry transformation, foot, tickling, or whatever your sick ass is into here’s some advice: don’t. Don’t display it anywhere online thats easy to find or is outside your niche. In fact don’t display it online at all, that’s about the only way to assure no one’s going to make fun of you for it. You could also, you know, try drawing something else.

• It’s not a good idea to go around telling people you married Sephiroth on the Astral Plane. Don’t write about it in your LiveJournal either lest you be remembered for it in the annals of time.
• Whatever you do don’t try to defend yourself at length. Going on a long, serious, indignant speech about respect or your personal credentials will just make them laugh harder.
• Don’t allow your friends, even if they have the best of intentions, to make the mistake of going on a long, serious, indignant speech on your behalf.
• Don’t write in your Livejournal, MySpace blog, or anywhere else about how sad and angry about getting insulted you are.
• Don’t know nagas.
• Don’t write self-insert fanfiction where you are the perfect, beautiful, magic-powered heroine who screws all the favorite male characters. Same goes for the fellas: don’t write self-insert fanfiction where you are the perfect, beautiful, magic-powered heroine who screws all the favorite male characters. That’s just creepy.
• Don’t take a perfectly normal children’s character and turn them into a sexualized angsty pile of shit.
• Don’t claim your soul is a dragon, fairy, elf, wolf, fox, monkey or whatever and get back on your damn meds.

I could possibly think of more, but I think those are the biggest issues. Just remember kids, if you don’t want to be cyber bullied: don’t be a spaz.

Related posts:

1. Video Game Addiction?
2. Second Life
3. Propapanda Productions