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Don't Tease the Mundanes
Apr. 8th, 2008 10:56 amI can remember that I first saw that phrase about half way through the list of rules for a science fiction convention. I knew what a Mundane was because I was pretty well versed in sci-fi fan short hand. I found it strange that they put that in the list but found out later that it had to do with something that had happened at a previous convention to a wedding reception group and a group of fans both of which had a bit too much to drink. The hotel almost paid the kill fee on the contract and kicked the convention out.
That phrase came back to me this weekend since school was in session while the convention was going on. Usually the convention is on the spring break weekend of the college and most of the kids are off campus. Now a number of the students participate in the convention either as attendees or as staff and they have a blast. There are also a number of high school students from the area who do that same. It is a good mix of younger and older fans.
Stony Brook has a weapons policy and they do enforce it. Just because one is cosplaying doesn't mean that you can swing your keyblade around with abandonment. It will be confiscated by the campus police. I heard the cops tell you where and when you could get it back too after the convention. Threatening the campus under your breath to your buddies will win you no friends from the local constabulary and believe me they heard you too.
Either this year there was a rule I didn't see about wings or no one was wearing them because of all the problems they caused last year with just trying to move through the dealers' room. Which was a blessing indeed especially for someone like Caroline who is right at the height to get poked in the eye by the tip of a wing. However, I do understand the use of props as part of your costume to complete the look but if you are going to carry around something that extends past you and can be very hazardous to other people who are just trying to walk from point A to point B, think twice and leave the prop at home. I'm talking to the individuals who were carrying either the giant striped hammers or the over sized foam core swords that when you prop it on your shoulder and swing around everyone has to jump back a foot to avoid being hit.
I'm glad that (insert character here) is your favorite character in the universe and you want to dress up like them. May I politely ask if you looked in a mirror after putting on your costume? Dance belts are our friends and I really don't care to see the outline of your dangly bits mashed up into the spandex without support. To another costumer who really needs a mirror, the reason everyone was talking pictures is that none of them thought their friends would believe what they saw standing in front of them. If you wanted to wear that costume, there were ways of doing it that would not make it such a spectacle. I would bet that you have had that costume for a while and have put on a little weight since the first time you put it on.
To the Idiots who were still partying and running up and down the halls after midnight at the hotel. You were not young kids. Some of you were my age and older. People are trying to sleep. The hotel has not rented out the entire hotel to the convention therefore the areas where the guest rooms are is the place where some people are trying to get some sleep. And there are a number of people who are attending the convention who went to bed at a reasonable hour so they could get up early for what they wanted to do at the convention. You are not helping fandom in the least by arguing loudly and probably drunkly about various aspects of a certain scifi TV show.
Maybe I'm getting old or maybe just getting sensitive about how my fandom is perceived from the outside. But these sorts of things I do see and wince about. No, my behavior was not perfect when I was a young fan and I know that. But a majority of the people I am talking about were my age or older. Also complaining about the Mundanes in the bar in a loud voice while the locals are there to drink is really bad form. I'm just saying....
I am grateful to all the fans there who took the time to explain to the Mundanes what was going on and giving them useful information. A couple of people came to the convention who had never been there because of what you said.
That phrase came back to me this weekend since school was in session while the convention was going on. Usually the convention is on the spring break weekend of the college and most of the kids are off campus. Now a number of the students participate in the convention either as attendees or as staff and they have a blast. There are also a number of high school students from the area who do that same. It is a good mix of younger and older fans.
Stony Brook has a weapons policy and they do enforce it. Just because one is cosplaying doesn't mean that you can swing your keyblade around with abandonment. It will be confiscated by the campus police. I heard the cops tell you where and when you could get it back too after the convention. Threatening the campus under your breath to your buddies will win you no friends from the local constabulary and believe me they heard you too.
Either this year there was a rule I didn't see about wings or no one was wearing them because of all the problems they caused last year with just trying to move through the dealers' room. Which was a blessing indeed especially for someone like Caroline who is right at the height to get poked in the eye by the tip of a wing. However, I do understand the use of props as part of your costume to complete the look but if you are going to carry around something that extends past you and can be very hazardous to other people who are just trying to walk from point A to point B, think twice and leave the prop at home. I'm talking to the individuals who were carrying either the giant striped hammers or the over sized foam core swords that when you prop it on your shoulder and swing around everyone has to jump back a foot to avoid being hit.
I'm glad that (insert character here) is your favorite character in the universe and you want to dress up like them. May I politely ask if you looked in a mirror after putting on your costume? Dance belts are our friends and I really don't care to see the outline of your dangly bits mashed up into the spandex without support. To another costumer who really needs a mirror, the reason everyone was talking pictures is that none of them thought their friends would believe what they saw standing in front of them. If you wanted to wear that costume, there were ways of doing it that would not make it such a spectacle. I would bet that you have had that costume for a while and have put on a little weight since the first time you put it on.
To the Idiots who were still partying and running up and down the halls after midnight at the hotel. You were not young kids. Some of you were my age and older. People are trying to sleep. The hotel has not rented out the entire hotel to the convention therefore the areas where the guest rooms are is the place where some people are trying to get some sleep. And there are a number of people who are attending the convention who went to bed at a reasonable hour so they could get up early for what they wanted to do at the convention. You are not helping fandom in the least by arguing loudly and probably drunkly about various aspects of a certain scifi TV show.
Maybe I'm getting old or maybe just getting sensitive about how my fandom is perceived from the outside. But these sorts of things I do see and wince about. No, my behavior was not perfect when I was a young fan and I know that. But a majority of the people I am talking about were my age or older. Also complaining about the Mundanes in the bar in a loud voice while the locals are there to drink is really bad form. I'm just saying....
I am grateful to all the fans there who took the time to explain to the Mundanes what was going on and giving them useful information. A couple of people came to the convention who had never been there because of what you said.
