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Avatards, Browncoats and WonderCon - Page 3

post #101 of 146
4/7/10 at 10:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Love Machine View Post
Steampunk by itself, the books, the comics etc can be good fun. The problem is, in my experience, many who cosplay as Steampunk are insufferable pricks.
That's the bit. As a Terry G fan , I really do enjoy the "Steampunk" aesthetic. But so many Steampunk folks carry themselves with an air of aloofness that it makes you wish you could go back to high school and steal their juice money.

Steampunk is lasting because it bleeding in to the "punk cabaret" thing that was made big with bands like Dresden Dolls. They two genres are kind-of morphing/crossing over in to something new. But maybe that's only a Boston thing. With Harvard, MIT, and Berklee college of music, it can be difficult to tell when people are "playing" 19th century dress up, or if that's just the way they dress (how fucked up is that? Between that and Red Sox/Celtics/Bruins jerseys, it's a very bipolar city in which to live.)

Drinking/cocktail culture is adding to that as well. Try going to a high end bar in New York or San Francisco (aside from Alembic) where the bartenders AREN'T wearing old timey vests and there isn't at least one handle-bar mustache behind the counter.

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post #102 of 146
4/7/10 at 10:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelM View Post
I'm not overly familiar with steampunk lit (I might have read one or two sci-fi/fantasy novels that qualify), but I like the aesthetic, too. Frankly, it seems like the least annoying geeks subculture, and I've found a lot of the art and costumes I've seen pix of online pretty inventive and cool-looking.
I like the look as well, while i've seen a lot of amazing costumes, I enjoy the illustrated works even more. I find it more creative due to the fact that there is no carbon copy to work from, it's all pretty much original stuff.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
Do Browncoats love their shit so much they fold it into taxidermy? Yeah, didn't think so.
Looks more like it was assimilated by the Borg.
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post #103 of 146
4/7/10 at 11:26am
I think the aggro you're getting from this article must come from people who don't read your stuff a lot Dev (or are predisposed to be pissed at it). Your writing style can be very curmudgeonly which isn't bad but does get under people's skin. Mix in some defensive fan-bases and BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE.

I like firefly, think steampunk costumes can look cool but don't know a damned thing about the subculture or fiction or anything and haven't dressed up as anything I'll admit to outside of Halloween since I was a teenager.

So this article amused me tremendously.
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post #104 of 146
4/7/10 at 11:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse The Mind View Post
Anthrocon
What is this I'm afraid to Google it
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post #105 of 146
4/7/10 at 11:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
What is this I'm afraid to Google it
Exactly what you think it is.
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post #106 of 146
4/7/10 at 11:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
What is this I'm afraid to Google it
Don't google. Just go to it.
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post #107 of 146
4/7/10 at 11:55am
Anthrocon is the biggest furcon in the world, and unless you want to see a bunch of pics of ppl in embarrassingly stupid-looking animal costumes I wouldn't bother looking it up.
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post #108 of 146
4/7/10 at 12:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
What is this I'm afraid to Google it
Something that makes downtown traffic worse for me once a year.
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post #109 of 146
4/7/10 at 12:16pm
Anthrocon: The Transformer that all the other Transformers make fun of for dressing up like an aardvark.
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post #110 of 146
4/7/10 at 12:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Right_Bastard View Post
That's the bit. As a Terry G fan , I really do enjoy the "Steampunk" aesthetic. But so many Steampunk folks carry themselves with an air of aloofness that it makes you wish you could go back to high school and steal their juice money.

Steampunk is lasting because it bleeding in to the "punk cabaret" thing that was made big with bands like Dresden Dolls. They two genres are kind-of morphing/crossing over in to something new. But maybe that's only a Boston thing. With Harvard, MIT, and Berklee college of music, it can be difficult to tell when people are "playing" 19th century dress up, or if that's just the way they dress (how fucked up is that? Between that and Red Sox/Celtics/Bruins jerseys, it's a very bipolar city in which to live.)

Drinking/cocktail culture is adding to that as well. Try going to a high end bar in New York or San Francisco (aside from Alembic) where the bartenders AREN'T wearing old timey vests and there isn't at least one handle-bar mustache behind the counter.
I'd love to know what Steampunk fans think about social class, if they ever give it any consideration. When I think of the Victorian era, the first thing that comes to mind are working conditions.
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post #111 of 146
4/7/10 at 12:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf View Post
I guess some commenters think I'm fan bashing. That certainly isn't the intention. [...] Apparently the only acceptable way to discuss these subcultures is to simply celebrate them.
There's probably a happy medium between celebrating them and calling them "weird" because "they're really into something that just isn't that good," don't you think? You've been doing this too long to not know when you're baiting, and it's a bit silly to pretend otherwise.

Otherwise, I found this article fascinating. I've never understood hardcore fanaticism. I'm not judging them, but why someone would dress up as a fictional character and walk around in public is beyond me. Firefly is the only franchise I've ever really been obsessed with, but I don't read fanfic or go to conventions or buy toys. What is it that drives creative people to expend their time, energy, and money on derivative endeavors?
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post #112 of 146
4/7/10 at 12:53pm
Speaking of the working class, do chimney sweeps get any representation? I wouldn't mind seeing someone dressed up like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins with a sooty brush in one hand and a grappling gun in the other.
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post #113 of 146
4/7/10 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse The Mind View Post
Anthrocon is the biggest furcon in the world, and unless you want to see a bunch of pics of ppl in embarrassingly stupid-looking animal costumes I wouldn't bother looking it up.
It cant be possibly worse than the "Gargoyles" convention, can it?
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post #114 of 146
4/7/10 at 1:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ryoken View Post
It cant be possibly worse than the "Gargoyles" convention, can it?
As in people dressing like gargoyles? Cosplaying as a gargoyle has to be boring as hell.
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post #115 of 146
4/7/10 at 1:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean Blackwell View Post
As in people dressing like gargoyles? Cosplaying as a gargoyle has to be boring as hell.
Its about that disney cartoon about Gargoyles, actually.
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post #116 of 146
4/7/10 at 1:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ryoken View Post
It cant be possibly worse than the "Gargoyles" convention, can it?
Debatable, although I'd put something like that more on the level of a Dark Shadows Convention.
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post #117 of 146
4/7/10 at 1:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Mal View Post
Otherwise, I found this article fascinating. I've never understood hardcore fanaticism. I'm not judging them, but why someone would dress up as a fictional character and walk around in public is beyond me.
Do you feel the same way about people getting dressed up for Halloween? I don't buy the assumption that it's only the most hardcore and obsessive fans who are driven to do it - a lot of people just find dressing up fun. Not my thing personally, but it all seems pretty harmless to me.

I admit I'm finding it hard to reconcile my live-and-let-live attitude here with my gut feeling that 'furries' are a bunch of weirdo freaks.
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post #118 of 146
4/7/10 at 2:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reasor View Post
I'd love to know what Steampunk fans think about social class, if they ever give it any consideration. When I think of the Victorian era, the first thing that comes to mind are working conditions.
I don't consider myself a steampunk "fan" - probably more of a casual admirer - but I'd hazard a guess that they take a very romanticized view of the Victorian era, much as early teens and stunted adults have taken a romantic view of the Middle Ages. An idealized Victorian era world offers both expanding technology but still a lot of "here be dragons" spots on the map. I'm not saying that accurately reflects what actually happened during that time, mind you. Just what a remote, removed view of the time can give.
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post #119 of 146
4/7/10 at 2:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul C View Post
I admit I'm finding it hard to reconcile my live-and-let-live attitude here with my gut feeling that 'furries' are a bunch of weirdo freaks.

That's because they are.
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post #120 of 146
4/7/10 at 2:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Mal View Post
[...]but why someone would dress up as a fictional character and walk around in public is beyond me.
As someone who's been in a few Zombie Marches, I'm not one to judge either.

I'm glad these people exist because they make the world a less boring place to live. Whether you look at them with appreciation, confusion, or ridicule; at least they're there to create that amusement. I'm happy to live in a world where a movie like "Trekkies" was able to be made.

One of my favorite things still is that there are Trekkies who "beam down" to Renaissance Fairs and piss off the community theater nerds by their mere anachronistic presence. That take a certain lack of self awareness that I envy at times.
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post #121 of 146
4/7/10 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Right_Bastard View Post
One of my favorite things still is that there are Trekkies who "beam down" to Renaissance Fairs and piss off the community theater nerds by their mere anachronistic presence. That take a certain lack of self awareness that I envy at times.

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post #122 of 146
4/7/10 at 3:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse The Mind View Post
Speaking of the working class, do chimney sweeps get any representation? I wouldn't mind seeing someone dressed up like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins with a sooty brush in one hand and a grappling gun in the other.
Especially if it's an adorable little kid. Or give him a pirate hook hand and he can be a li'l assembly line worker.

I get that it's as idealized as what the Society For Creative Anachronism does with their parties, but I wonder if it doesn't take a certain kind of sheltered middle class upbringing to be into this kind of thing. To expand my hand waving and stereotyping further, I wouldn't expect to meet a lot of actual veterans among the fat guys who dress up as Klingons so they can feel like warriors.

I'm not condemning. Like Right-Bastard, I find these guys delightfully benign.
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post #123 of 146
4/7/10 at 3:58pm
I think I hate Civil War re-enactors. They're basically fetishizing one of the the most awful chapters of American history.
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post #124 of 146
4/7/10 at 4:02pm
A few of my parents' friends were Civil War re-enactors/cowboy action shooters (sounds pretty gay but it actually involves revolvers/rifles/shotguns and whatnot, went shooting with them a few times), and they were also REALLY FUCKING WEIRD PEOPLE.
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post #125 of 146
4/7/10 at 4:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zak chase View Post
We need a support group: Whedon Fans Who Don't Like Whedon Fans.
They already have that, but no one ever shows up to the meetings.
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post #126 of 146
4/7/10 at 4:24pm
I always thought the Steampunkers were a niche part of the entire Otaku movement. Anime definitely seems to be where you get the most Steampunky sort of stuff nowadays.
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post #127 of 146
4/7/10 at 4:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Vivisector View Post
They already have that, but no one ever shows up to the meetings.
That's only because the meetings keep getting moved around and nobody knows where to go.
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post #128 of 146
4/7/10 at 4:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martianman View Post
Also seen last year--a Lane Meyer "Pig Burger" costume.
Too awesome.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Troy Nixey View Post
I of course am only speaking for myself, I've never met anyone who is deeply into the movement...genre...lifestyle.
Me neither. Guess that's why I was never "annoyed" by the "movement". I've only taken in what I liked (usually via the internet or film-makers and artists and authors I previously admired). It was never forced on me and I rarely have time for cons or RPGs.

I like the idea of Sci-Fi through older industrial limitations. Adds an interesting angle to an era of discovery and exploration.

EDIT: After thought, I think it's part of the reason why I like Firefly so much. The juxtaposition of aesthetics. Past meets future.
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post #129 of 146
4/7/10 at 4:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf View Post
The Dickens Fair sounds pretty fucking stupid too, though.
Yeah, the food court is always clogged with children in Dickens drag with wooden bowls begging for more gruel. That shit gets old real fast, trust me.
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post #130 of 146
4/7/10 at 4:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
Do Browncoats love their shit so much they fold it into taxidermy? Yeah, didn't think so.
"I am Bambi of Borg. Prepare to be assimilat....."

<sound of screeching tires followed by meaty thump against metal mixed with the crinkle of broken glass>

"Goddam deer get offa the road!"
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post #131 of 146
4/8/10 at 8:12am
Chalk me up as another who doesn't get the whole fanaticism thing either, not just with genre properties but with everything, like why would someone camp out to get an iPad, or queue for five hours at a music festival to get the autograph of a Blink 182 member.

That said I think this comment in the revised article is dumb:

Quote:
'neither does most of the world, judging by the numbers. That's just the way it is.'
We all know that numbers don't always reflect quality, so that was just a pointless thing to say. I could use the same logic to snidely attack Un Prophete or to laud Burton's Alice.
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post #132 of 146
4/8/10 at 11:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimoald View Post
We all know that numbers don't always reflect quality, so that was just a pointless thing to say. I could use the same logic to snidely attack Un Prophete or to laud Burton's Alice.
Yeah. Uncool.
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post #133 of 146
4/8/10 at 11:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul C View Post
Do you feel the same way about people getting dressed up for Halloween? I don't buy the assumption that it's only the most hardcore and obsessive fans who are driven to do it - a lot of people just find dressing up fun.
Good question. I guess I tend to think of Halloween costumes as a kids' thing. I know some adults do it every year, but, yeah, I guess I tend to raise an eyebrow when someone comes into the office wearing a pirate outfit.

I suppose I do give Halloween costumes more of a pass because for most people, that costume isn't an extension of a lifestyle.
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post #134 of 146
4/8/10 at 12:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Mal View Post
I guess I tend to raise an eyebrow when someone comes into the office wearing a pirate outfit.
Hey, my daughter talked me into it.
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post #135 of 146
4/8/10 at 12:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reasor View Post
Especially if it's an adorable little kid. Or give him a pirate hook hand and he can be a li'l assembly line worker.

I get that it's as idealized as what the Society For Creative Anachronism does with their parties, but I wonder if it doesn't take a certain kind of sheltered middle class upbringing to be into this kind of thing. To expand my hand waving and stereotyping further, I wouldn't expect to meet a lot of actual veterans among the fat guys who dress up as Klingons so they can feel like warriors.

I'm not condemning. Like Right-Bastard, I find these guys delightfully benign.
Yeah I'm guessing SCA people don't take too kindly to people that come as "31 year old peasant who's dieing from a horrible preventable disease and living on maggot-bread"
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post #136 of 146
4/8/10 at 12:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan Bean View Post
Yeah I'm guessing SCA people don't take too kindly to people that come as "31 year old peasant who's dieing from a horrible preventable disease and living on maggot-bread"
Unless they quote Monty Python's HOLY GRAIL.
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post #137 of 146
4/8/10 at 10:03pm
In case anyone's still reading this thread...this speaks for itself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBGlvVPGFlQ
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post #138 of 146
4/16/10 at 9:47am
Apparently there was some representation at Anime Boston:



And to cleanse your palate:
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post #139 of 146
4/16/10 at 10:00am
I hope someone went as a mech and stabbed them.
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post #140 of 146
4/16/10 at 10:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan Bean View Post
And to cleanse your palate:
I wouldn't mind her climbing my trellis, if you know what I mean.
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post #141 of 146
4/16/10 at 12:25pm
It means you want to root around in her hedges, right? Or something.
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post #142 of 146
4/16/10 at 12:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan Bean View Post
Apparently there was some representation at Anime Boston:
fffffffffffffffff hahahahahaha
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post #143 of 146
4/16/10 at 12:31pm
I like the sandals. He looks like a tiger fucked a Magic Eye picture.

Hey, he missed a spot! Nerd sweat: the enemy of bodypaint everywhere.
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post #144 of 146
4/16/10 at 12:49pm
also great: background asscrack
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post #145 of 146
4/16/10 at 3:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan Bean View Post
also great: background asscrack
Can't unsee!
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post #146 of 146
3/17/12 at 2:25pm

Anyone attend this year? I hear they are some Amazing Race contestants in autograph (skid) row.

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