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Whoops.  Sorry about that.  Fixed!

Haha, maybe it's because I do a lot of armor costuming.  But Iron Man has definitely skyrocketed in popularity since the movies came out. =)

Characters...I'd say about 25 or so notable characters?  And then a whole host of supporting characters.  "Main character" wise I'd say it tends to focus on about 6-8 characters, which is still quite a lot.  Most of them are pretty well fleshed out and interesting, though it is one area of weakness of the story.  Though to be fair, other books of this length tend to have a dearth of characters also (looking at you Aeneid.)  But overall everything is well written enough that I shed some tears at points where I had to say goodbye to some of my favorites.

But yeah.  It's got interactive segments as well as animated points that can be pretty interesting. A lot of the music has actually grown on me as well.  I can't count how many times I've watched the Cascade animation and listened to the soundtrack.

The fandom can definitely be intimidating.  When I got into reading homestuck it was mostly because a few of my friends recommended it more than anything.  But aside from the younger, more energetic crowd that gets a lot of attention there's a lot of other people out there that are part of the homestuck fandom as well.  Artists are one obvious aspect.  But there's also a great little "Can Town charity" which take a concept from the comic and generates a really cute gathering/food drive.  Also, a lot of voice actors seem to love homestuck, much of which can be thanked to Dante Basco (aka Rufio) sharing it around.

We had talked about discussing wonderflex/worbla but, ironically, these are actually items that we don't have much experience with!  Joe Knolls has had some experience with worbla but he was out sick.

It's definitely on the "to-do" list of panels for next year as it is definitely a very beginner-friendly material.  We'll likely just create a blanket panel focusing on low-heat thermoplastics such as worbla, wonderflex, and that magic plastic stuff. =)  I'll be doing a lot of research on it over the next year and hopefully have something together!

If you create a lot of cool stuff I may have to bug you to be on the panel as well. ~_0

Another thing I'd like to do for next year is have more opportunities to touch/play with objects.  The Cosplay hangout expressed interest in having us do some panels there that would be smaller in size but allow more opportunities for interaction so that's something I'll be looking into.

Thank you for the feedback!

its basically a boring "webcomic" that bored me throught the first few pages, people will urge you to wait till the third or later chapter and say it will get better. -__-

You have a whole subforum to say stuff like this.  Shoo.

As for the best part about it:

It's a bit messy to read through, I'll say that.  It's especially messy when you note how the plot is semi-crowdsourced at the beginning.  But there are a few key things about it that make me recommend it to people to read through.

Most notably: It's a very interesting and unique way to tell a story.  It combines video games, webcomics, animation, and a unique chat-transcript method of narrative.  The closest analogue might be reading a movie script, but even that differs extensively.  It's a form of story telling that can only exist in a certain medium, and you won't find anything else like it.

I also love the creativity of the fandom.  A lot of the artwork is very styilized and leaves a lot of room for interpretation and imagination.  People have taken very simple basic designs and created some amazing pieces of art.

Going in the opposite direction, at times the art in Homestuck is amazing when you consider it's all done in MSPaint.  There's some really neat panels that can be truly amazing to turn to.

The characters.  It does suffer a bit from having too many characters and not all of them are fleshed out terribly well. (looking at you Tavros...no idea what's going on with you).  But there are many interesting characters to latch onto as well.

Is it just a 'trend'?  I don't know.  Was sailor moon just a trend?  How about Iron Man?  There's more to homestuck than simply being popular at conventions, similar to how even Naruto had something that garnered so much popularity for it at the outset.  It may quiet down as people move on, but I doubt the fandom will die down moreso than other popular works of fiction, especially considering the sheer range of creativity that Homestuck can inspire.

Thank you for coming out!  There are definitely a dozen ways to build a prop and seeing how other people tackle projects can be very helpful in inspiring ideas.  I know I'm still learning new things every day. =)

I do apologize about the slides.  I ended up biting off more than I could chew between staffing, personal costumes, commissions, and then panels on top of that.  I'm glad that things still ended up being informative.

I'll be redoing the slides this week with more detail in them and uploading them for people to reference.  This will also hopefully mean 2014 will have a more polished set and we'll also be able to put up some more advanced panels as well!

(For some reason my post isn't showing up)

Long post, my apologies.

I already submitted my feedback on the google link earlier, but decided to post my experience here as well. Overall, this Fanime felt very disorganized than in previous years. While I was already expecting a long line based on last year's "server is down / crashed" incident, I was not expecting the constant snaking outdoors and then again indoors, especially for Pre-Reg. The line didn't bother me too much, but the snaking did. It felt really unnecessary, and it felt like it added time to waiting for a badge rather than helping it. The con was fun for a while, but I do agree with many of you there was a bit too much Homestuck for my taste. It seemed like for every other cosplayer or con-goer, there was a hoard of Homestuck. But that is ultimately a fan decision and not my concern about why I was disappointed with Fanime this year.

My worst con experience happened on Sunday. I was in Artist's Alley dressed in lolita looking for water (believe me I was dehydrated). I finally found the water area, only to discover it was empty. So, I head on over to the Rover table that just happened to be across from it and asked if there would be any more water. The rover glares at me like I asked a stupid question and shrugs. Then I asked if there was anyone he could call to get more water. He proceeds to open the fridge, pull out a cold water bottle, drinks it, and tells me it's "my problem". Excuse me? I understand there may be some asshole people at the con treating you like an idiot, but for someone asking politely about water only to be given attitude? That is very rude. Extremely. Rude.

Later that evening, I dressed up a bit more with one of my friends and ventured over to Black and White Ball. It was my friend's first Fanime, and she was looking forward to the Ball. Supposedly, new rules were added to the rules already established, and we were not notified until we were AT THE DOOR. We get to the door, and they stop my friend, claiming her heels were too short. As she explained to the rover that she had been wearing these shoes for moths and that these were her only pair, the Rover just gives her attitude and claims that heels like hers "have been driven through people's legs before in years past".

Excuse me? Were people DRUNK in previous years? Who STABS heels through legs? What kind of dancing is that?

I managed to get past the first checkpoint but at the second, I was given both attitude, disrespect, and rude comments. First, the guy was giving me flack about my shoes. I was wearing a pair of Mary Jane shoes with no heel and calmly explained to the guy I cannot wear heels due to problems with my feet. I was given more attitude and flack about shoes then moved to the girl rover who preceded to tell me my dress was too short. My dress was directly at my knee, no higher than that, and I was wearing a petticoat beneath it. I pulled my dress down and showed that it was longer than it seemed, but the petticoat was giving it a more rounded shape. I was given attitude and flack once more. That's when I decided that it wasn't even WORTH the effort to attempt to enjoy the ball, let alone go.

Found out later that night, shoes skinnier and taller than my friend's heels and dresses that were shorter than mine were allowed into the ball. Also, the demos were given by people in short shorts and stiletto like heels. So demos are allowed to not follow dress code? Who let the shorter ones in? Seriously?

Also found out later that the leg stabbing thing was a lie - they were concerned about the floors getting scraped. Why not tell us this in the first place, instead of lying straight to our faces??

If this is supposed to be a con "by fans, for fans" I don't think the attitudes, lies, and overall disorganized scramble is necessary. And that is my two cents.

Do you have information/descriptions for the rovers? Specifically interested in the one with the water bottle.  When you say 'rover table' do you mean the one on the 3rd floor of the marriot or the peace bonding table by the lost and found?  We don't have any tables aside from those so I want to confirm it was in fact a Rover with a yellow armband.  If we do have rovers behaving that way, please give us as best a description you can and I'll forward it to our division heads/seconds.

A huge thank you for people who came out to the panels! Some great questions and info from the audience and it was wonderful meeting everyone. I'm going to clean up the slides a bit (They were all done rather last second) but for the time being here are our personal sites as well as links to other people that we recommended/mentioned:

Dani: http://www.dagger-6.com/
Zander: http://www.zprops.net/
Eric: http://www.impactcustoms.com/index.html

Andrew Cook: http://www.youtube.com/user/DaFrontlineTrooper
Mike Iverson: http://blindsquirrelprops.com/
Harrison Krix: http://www.volpinprops.com/
Bill Doran: http://props.punishedpixels.com/
David Carpenter: http://bioweapons.wordpress.com/

Hello there, this is going to be my first year cosplaying and I plan on going as something along the lines of an Engineer from Battlefield 3, a PMC, and an OGA character model from MoH Warfighter. Seeing that as an airsofter, my kit is tailored in such fashion that I think it's fitting. I do not plan (nor will I ever plan on) bring my airsoft guns along as props to the convention (I read the rules down to the letter, twice  ;) ). However, my main question arises from one of your policies.

No costumes may be realistic depictions of American Law Enforcement or current American Military uniforms, or have the words POLICE, POLICIA, SWAT, FBI, DEA, CIA or any other official Government Agency names or initials on them.

In MoH Warfighter, Task Force Blackbird is said to be a fictional representation of the CIA's division of special/paramilitary operatives. And in Battlefield 3, the Engineer wears an EOD patch, which signifies Explosives Ordnance Disposal, a specialized unit in almost every LEO or Military whose specilization is stated in its name. There are links to the two patches below, and I was wondering if patches fall under that category, and if the two patches are OK to wear. I know I might seem silly for asking a question about patches, but I just want to be sure. Tahnk you for your time!
EOD Patch: http://www.evike.com/product_info.php?products_id=38835
TF Blackbird Patch: http://lbxtactical.com/collections/patches/products/blackbird

I'm not sure if Aelia responded to this question yet and I'm interested to see what the answer is.

I'm happy to announce we'll have two more members on the panels!

Joe Knoll of CosProps (no website)


and

Eric Newgard of Impact Props

I'm in Fremont near San Jose.  I'm usually pretty busy but if anyone needs help on a project or just wants a space to work, our group has workspaces in Fremont and Milpitas and people are welcome to join us.

https://www.facebook.com/UnitDagger6

http://dagger6.tumblr.com/

You are not allowed to solicit cash on convention grounds.  Music played at a reasonable level may be allowed, but loud music, disruptive crowds, or any solicitation of cash will result in action by the convention staff.

We are officially approved.  Be sure to follow us on our facebook event pages to stay updated!

I'll also be posting weekly tips and videos talking about the subjects we'll be discussing.

Plus, the more people who congregate there, the more staff we have to dedicate to managing that area.  The counter protesters are as much as an issue as the actual protesters.

We can't force either group to leave, but I hope every year that our attendees will be the bigger man and disperse.  'counter protesting' as in those videos or as seen at Fanime is hardly something I would call satisfying or progressive.  Few people agree with the protesters (same goes for the WBC) so pointing out their silliness is not really anything novel.  Shouting and yelling obscenities at them just makes you as much of a public nuisance.

If you want to do something really progrssive, instead of forming a group to yell back at them, form a group to make a calm human wall. And instead of yelling at the protesters, when the protester insults a congoer, say something nice to the congoer and tell them to just ignore the crazy people on the street.

If people did that, if people helped us keep crowds away instead of encouraging it, THEN that might be a satisfying and progressive way to deal with them. (remember when Logistics just came up with an excuse to park a supply truck in front of their spot?)

Going to have to scrap Sachi.  Waaay too much on my plate leading up to Fanime. ^_^;;; soooorrry. D=  Wish I could join you guys!

[Costuming and Film]

I could probably host some sort of Q&D Session or Workshop.

I have 3 official panels:
http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,18135.0.html

I can touch on similar topics again, though it seems like you already have a props-oriented session.  Here are some other possible ideas for discussions.

Costuming and Film - Talking about the difference between approaching costuming for conventions vs film.  I can discuss my experiences in filming in costume, putting actors in costumes, what happens when a costume designed for costumers to wear is tossed onto an unprepared actor, differences in priorities when approaching costume construction, etc. as well as some ways to get started in the industry for those interested.

That Armor/Costume Makes No Sense! - Where we critique how uncomfortable and nonsensical some costume designs are, no matter how cool they may look.  (e.g. how deceptively simple looking the Madoka costumes look to non-costumers; armor where if it was made like it actually appears you wouldn't be able to move)

I can probably think of some more later as well if those don't sound appealing.

[Status]

Status: Approved!  See you at Fanime.

Current Panelists:
Zander Brandt
Z-Props

Danielle Yuan
Dagger-6

Cosplay Armor: EVA Foam
Facebook Event Page
Saturday, 11am-12Noon in Panels 2

Panel Description: Craft foam, EVA foam, L-200 foam. A versatile, lightweight, cheap medium that is friendly for beginners yet able to create amazingly complex items. Learn the steps to create your very own cosplay-friendly armor, from patterning to sealing, in this introductory-level panel.

Panel Overview:   In this panel I will be going over the process of how to create armor using EVA-foam mats and craft foam. It will be an informal lecture, utilizing slideshows and live demonstrations/examples. The technical level will be geared toward beginning cosplayers who have never played with armor making before.

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Cosplay Armor: Pepakura
Facebook Event Page
Sunday, 10am-11am in Panels 2

Panel Description: Pepakura is a method of using papercraft to create physical objects from 3d models. It's an excellent way for cosplayers to rapidly craft complex, detailed props. Learn about the exciting possibilities of this program as well as tip and tricks to help you get started.

Panel Overview: This is an introductory level cosplay tutorial panel. We will be going over the use of the Pepakura 3d-papercraft program and how to create props with it. We will cover the software, printing/assembly, use of resin/hardening the prop, and finishing/detailing. It will be an informal lecture using slideshows accompanied by hands on examples/demonstrations

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Cosplay: Prop Construction
Facebook Event Page
Monday, 10am-11am in Panels 2

Panel Description: Want to make that sword or gun from your favorite show or game? Learn several beginner-friendly approaches to get you started, including foam and wood work, as well as an introduction to sculpting and casting.

Panel Overview: This cosplay tutorial panel will be focusing more on techniques geared toward non-worn prop items such as guns, swords, and jewelry. Techniques introduced will include layering MDF wood and basic woodworking, sculpting styrofoam, bondo/pink insulation foam, epoxy sculpt, and molding/casting small items.

Working on a Kanaya cosplay now, so should be readdy by fanime. =D

Labrys here!  (Or shadow Labrys if the other Labrys I'm following on Tumblr finishes her costume! )



I have some improvements I need to make for Fanime, and hopefully I'll figure out something for the axe by then. =3

I would recommend MDF.  It's cheap, easy to sand and shape.  And it has very little wood grain/texture.  You can find boards of it in various thicknesses at Home Depot or any other similar store.

I'm looking to sell my Nightmare Armor Studios (NAS) "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" Deepeyes costume.

These are images of ANOTHER copy of the same costume by NAS.  I will post of photos of my actual suit when I can pull it out of storage.  Aside from some minor differences (The shoulders are red on my suit and I had to do some light repair work on mine), this is exactly what you'll be getting, including the rifle.





Nightmare Armor Studios no longer produces this suit.  They valued it at $5000 (overpriced, as admitted by one NAS member).

I'm looking to sell it for $3000.  Or make an offer.  Trades are acceptable.

You must be within the SF Bay Area or LA so I can deliver it to you.  The shipping on this thing is ridiculous.