The 2012 MSPA TCAF Meetup

[Liza]

The current state of affairs for me re:TCAF, for those who are interested.

[Jit]

something to note:



and liza, if you can't make it out that would suck, but it seems like that's the case doesn't it

You just need to like

Start your own con

And then have Hussie

You and Hussie

???????

[para-Normally]

Awwww, Liza... :( You were one of the people I was looking forward to meeting most, too!

I am actually not sure how I feel about TCAF's Official Stance on cosplaying. I will be abiding by that rule(? guideline? caution?), to be sure, since I would like to act in accordance with their requests, whatever I think of them.

However - it does not seem particularly well reasoned to me.

Their and others' arguments seem to be able to be summed up as follows - a) TCAF "isn't the place to cosplay"; b) "it takes place in a library"; c) "it's a comics festival, not an anime convention"; d) "it would disturb the public".

a) Why is cosplaying there necessarily such a bad thing? This has never been explained in any of the discussions that I have seen or been part of concerning the issue. Most Homestuck costumes are not much more than a tee shirt and basic bottom (shorts, skirt, jeans, etc.). I will likely have black hair by the time TCAF rolls around, I sometimes wear glasses, and am bucktoothed; if I wore a Green Slime Ghost tee shirt there, I could easily be mistaken for a John cosplayer. If they were worried about troll make-up getting on artists' wares, or props getting in festival-goers' way - which are both more than understandable concerns, certainly - they could forbid those things rather than frowning upon cosplaying in itself.

When I bring this up, I tend to receive a reply along the lines of that "there were Homestuck cosplayers misbehaving last year".

But again - why conflate cosplaying and "misbehaviour", or assume that anybody who cosplays there will definitely cause a scene? If someone is prone to acting ridiculous at events like these, they are going to do so whether or not they are wearing candy corn coloured horns and a zodiac symbol shirt. This is not to mention that I was right there most of the time last TCAF, and absolutely nothing happened besides maybe two or three slightly embarrassing incidents that I am sure Mr. Hussie, other exhibitors, and other festival-goers were able to brush off... and I may be wrong, but I do not recall the cosplayers there having been the ones orchestrating said embarrassing stunts, or at least not having been the principal perpetrators.

I am not desperate to cosplay, and I would honestly be a little worried about someone if they felt that they NEEDED to cosplay there. Like I said, I will be showing up in casual clothing after all. But there are some great things to be said in favour of cosplaying to events like TCAF: It's fun. It's a fun, if silly, way to show fan appreciation, and I'm sure that most artists are happy and flattered to see people dressed as their characters. It's convenient shorthand for MSPA fans to quickly identify other fans. It adds a little colour, metaphorical and literal, to the proceedings. It causes absolutely no harm in and of itself.

b) Lots of conventions, cosplay meet-ups, and the like take place in libraries (and are very crowded, and yes, sometimes Normal People come through it or even have unrelated events at the same time, and so forth).

c) I don't believe I've been successful in identifying a precise semantic difference between a "festival" versus a "convention", but more to the point, I don't think anyone is trying to insist that TCAF is an anime convention, as an attempt to justify cosplay or for any other reason.

d) This is the biggest sticking point to me. I find that this argument - which is not something that I think TCAF is necessarily saying, but that I have seen time and time again from other fans - carries something of an aroma of paranoid nerd-terror at the thought of ostracism from a vicious, judgmental Public whose members will panic and clutch their pearls and shout abuse at the sight of something or someone that is slightly (more) out of the ordinary. It seems to assume either great stupidity, great delicacy of constitution, great preoccupation with the affairs of random strangers, or two or all of those things on the part of the Normal Folks - that a student (for instance) will be getting on just fine alongside the sea of black tee shirts and comic books and other quite obviously nerdy things at a quite obviously nerdy event, and then suddenly, holy shit, there's a person with a black wig and a knock-off Slimer on his shirt, and their psyche and sense of personal safety shatter like an egg at the hands of a dame who is stoked as BALLS to get them off that horse before their metaphorical kitchen gets massacred.

...Or perhaps it isn't quite that so much as the fear that cosplayers will make comic nerds "look bad" somehow, which... ...which... I'm not even sure how to approach that, honestly, if only because I can't quite decide what to say first.

EDIT: I should clarify that I do not think that it wouldn't be disrespectful to cosplay at TCAF. It would be - but because they are now "officially" asking people not to, and those are their wishes, however I feel about them. Cosplaying there anyway WOULD be blatantly disregarding those wishes. I completely acknowledge that it's a small concession to make and that there are other ways to make oneself known to other MSPA fans. I'm really just saying that I think it's a little silly.

[Liza]

Michael Bowman is reconsidering going to TCAF because he thinks there wouldn't be an interest from people there. Hopefully enough notes on this will change his mind.

[ghyt wembpang]

Liza, I can't really give anything now but if I have a couple dollars extra(i'll probably have at least a buck or two to spare) I can give you some money for food or whatever, if you need it. if you end up being able to come PM me here or message me on tumblr or something to remind me and we can make sure to meet up at some point.

regarding cosplay: that's kind of lame, I was thinking of wearing karkat horns again this year... although last year they were a little bit of a pain because the spirit gum wouldn't hold too well. but I don't see what the problem with cosplay as far as clothing, props and stuff I can see disallowing, or things like crazy dresses with huge skirts or wings or something like that. but like you say pN, some characters look basically normal... like the homestuck kids for example. :V I doubt they're really be on anyone's case for that kinds stuff, only really elaborate stuff.

And... really, TCAF is more like a convention than anything. A festival is more of a party type thing, in celebration of something, and usually more... well, festive, with music and food and parties... A convention is a gathering of people who share a common interest gathering to convene with like-minded individuals, sell their shit, buy shit from other people, and meet fans. that sounds a lot more like TCAF to me; there are certainly parties and stuff that happen at cons but there's also that distinct element of business that a typically defined festival lacks.

But whatever, their event, their rules...

[Stroodlemuffin]

How much is it for this shin dig? Fucking great that I have to get my wisdom teeth out on the friday but w/e. I might go but I really wanted to bring my sword to, you know, trade for Hussie's soul or something.

[Jit]

It's free, actually. Library and all.

[Stroodlemuffin]

mmmmm don't know if I can afford 'free'. Who's down for a transit party? Fuck driving in Toronto (unless there is parking, might be able to give people rides????).

[Frost]

RE cosplay: Pretty sure the TCAF folks are just aiming to be an "art appreciation festival" rather than "grand orgy of all things nerdy", for better or worse. Wanting to be (or be seen as) high-brow usually comes with a dress code. Think opera, expensive restaurants, CEOs, balldancing, ubiquitous uniforms in private schools, etc. No practical effect, but it helps to put people in a specific frame of mind.

I mean the fact they're running it in a library is a pretty strong hint w/r/t what atmosphere they want to encourage, right?

[ghyt wembpang]

THAT IS AN IMPRESSIVE CALEDSCRATCH.

I'll be using transit, let's transit PAR-TAY. It'll be like Weekend At Bernie's TWO all up in that bitch.

[Stroodlemuffin]

THAT IS AN IMPRESSIVE CALEDSCRATCH.

I'll be using transit, let's transit PAR-TAY. It'll be like Weekend At Bernie's TWO all up in that bitch.

Totes my goats dawg. LOL, Barrie. I'm in sauga city btw. I'm thinking everyone meets at Kipling station or something (even though that is kind of out of the way for anyone north of Toronto?).

[cinereousSynesthete]

I will be attending TCAF in completely casual wear because I can't cosplay for shit.

[soft owl]

How much is it for this shin dig? Fucking great that I have to get my wisdom teeth out on the friday but w/e. I might go but I really wanted to bring my sword to, you know, trade for Hussie's soul or something.

Hey, I'm betting you've already read the thread and understand what's expected at TCAF, but I would advise against bringing that sword into the library itself. It's not a huge space and you could potentially cause problems with something that large. Even if you won't be cosplaying--it's cool if you want to get it signed or something--it would be respectful to not bring the sword into the library itself. Andrew probably won't be in the building 100% of the time anyway, and if it's possible for you to leave the sword in the car to be signed and showed off later, that's probably your best course of action.

[Stroodlemuffin]

Hey, I'm betting you've already read the thread and understand what's expected at TCAF, but I would advise against bringing that sword into the library itself. It's not a huge space and you could potentially cause problems with something that large. Even if you won't be cosplaying--it's cool if you want to get it signed or something--it would be respectful to not bring the sword into the library itself. Andrew probably won't be in the building 100% of the time anyway, and if it's possible for you to leave the sword in the car to be signed and showed off later, that's probably your best course of action.

Naw I was just kidding anyway. And the only signature going on this bad boy is my own because I can't say that, theoretically speaking, Van Gogh would let Einstein sign his master piece just because he respected the man even if it was based off of something done by Einstein. Not that this has any relation to the two that is :\

[User 18]

I may or may not be attending - Depends on whether or not my friend can get permission to go.

[ComfyJohn]

(I literally just made an account to reply to this thread)

I think my chances of going are pretty high and I'd really love to meet up with some of you guys if I get to go ^^

[Liza]

Arvec, is that crash space sill open? Because I may need it after all...

[Jit]

Man, I wish TCAF released the schedule of events so we could get this whole meetup thing figured out.

I'm getting antsy and it isn't even May yet.

[Avrec]

Yeah. I was hoping they'd get that up sooner so we could plan this out well in advance... ah well...

There is one thing we might want to plan around: I see that at 1:00 on Saturday some people are organizing a Homestuck Draw Party at the library. Not sure if anyone here was planning on attending, but it'd probably be best to avoid conflicting with that if at all possible.

And yes Liza, the offer for a crash space is still very much open! I'm glad things worked out for you (what'd I say, MiRaClEs!).
Now all that's left is to get Michael Bowman here... I assume he's still undecided on the matter huh Liza? If so, then perhaps you could bring the following to his attention:
1) You'll be there! Seriously, when else is he going to have a chance to hang out with you in the near future?
2) He's got a place to stay, and a place to park if he drives up
3) If possible, I will trade in my as of yet unused SxSW music commission for a video suggestion. The idea: Bowman at TCAF!
4) If he comes, I'll make him some really spiffy Ithaca-related fan art! (and uhh... we'll just pretend that I wasn't planning on doing that anyway...)

[para-Normally]

//has a list of restaurants near Yonge/Bloor open at the moment.

What would everybody be into as far as dinnerfoods are concerned? There are a ton of decent-looking Japanese restaurants that do not seem to be horribly expensive, but a) whether or not any of them would be large enough to house however many weird nerd people; b) whether there would be something for everyone there are matters worth considering. It also would not be very prudent to make a big reservation and then have only a few people turn up...

[Liza]

I've heard nothing more from Bowman or Tavia either way, and have been too shy to ask...

...also me being there might be more of a deterrent! XD

Right now I'm just trying to make up the last (roughly) 60$ I need to cover it, while also trying to get a schedule that makes sense out of greyhound since I mis-estimated how long the trip would take and I'll have to leave on the third and since I don't know WHEN the meetup is...

[bdelygmiac]

Hey guys! I thought I'd drop by the forums to see if there was another meet up this year, and I'm terribly glad there is!

You may or may not remember me from last year (girl with short hair and black frames, deeply approved of that lovely Guinness with the Sambuca shot one person ordered), but I would definitely love to meet up again.

I live on Wellesley and Church, which is only a few blocks away from the Reference Library. If anyone needs a floor to sleep on for the night or some help with transit, just let me know.

How many people are planning on going to the Topatoco welcome party?

[i300]

So I'll be at this thing too. Really exited!

Is there a formal plan yet or are we gonna have to wait until TCAF posts a schedule or something?

[i300]

Looks like the TCAF schedule for panels and stuff is up.
http://torontocomics.com/news/tcaf-2...d-programming/

-- edit --

So I made one big schedule for myself. If anyone wants it, you can grab it here. (or grab the .numbers file and edit it for yourself)

I'll be at that Homestuck draw party just to hang out, I can't draw for shit. Maybe I'll bring my laptop along and make something??? I'll also be at the Topatoco Kick-Off party from 7 to 12 pm. This sure sounds like it's gonna be a blast! I hope bowman shows up!!

[Liza]

I'm going to make it.