LGBTAitP #31: Cuddles Are On Back Order. Have Some Snuggles!

[TaiLiu]

Hey guys. I know I've been absent a lot lately. I've had a lot on my plate.

So, past week a bunch of my buttons got pushed, including the "men who have had sex with men can't give blood" button. So yeah. I don't have any real commentary on spectrums and identity.

Huh. That's certainly an odd restriction. Why does it exist?

[SiuiS]

So, I may or may not be engaged?
I am unsure as to whether I need to look into this being a, or becoming a, gay marriage and how that effects my future prospects for moving and such. >_<

[Axinian]

Huh. That's certainly an odd restriction. Why does it exist?

Because AIDS only happens to gay people apparently.

[Coidzor]

So, I may or may not be engaged?
I am unsure as to whether I need to look into this being a, or becoming a, gay marriage and how that effects my future prospects for moving and such. >_<

There's a story here.

[Lissou]

Huh. That's certainly an odd restriction. Why does it exist?

There are lots of stupid restrictions. I've been unable to donate blood for years, including for things like having been in Europe in the past 6 months when I'm in the US, and having been to North America in the past 6 months when I'm in France.

I believe this specific one came from unprotected anal sex being the most "spreadable" sexual act for HIV, and the fact that a male can both receive and give anal sex (which is one of the reason gay people were affected so much when HIV started spreading), and it being taken to weird, unrealistic proportions

In contrast, someone who makes a living as a prostitute, having many many partners, can still donate after she stops her work (or he/his, if he happened to only have female clients) for a specified amount of time and gets tested.

Oh, and if you have two long term partners, have been tested years ago and have been exclusive with these two (as have they) the whole time, and have been re-tested recently to show you're clean, it's not enough. More than one partner and you're not allowed to give.

A lot of it comes down to the fact that they'd rather be extremely restrictive and reject lots of good blood than waste a lot of time and effort getting blood that they'll have to get rid of anyways because it turns out to be a carrier for something.

[Lentrax]

So, I may or may not be engaged?

I may or may not be happy for you.

Congratulations.

[TaiLiu]

...which is one of the reason gay people were affected so much when HIV started spreading...

Huh. I didn't know this, nor many of the things you stated. Thanks for the free education!

[SiuiS]

There are lots of stupid restrictions. I've been unable to donate blood for years, including for things like having been in Europe in the past 6 months when I'm in the US, and having been to North America in the past 6 months when I'm in France.

I believe this specific one came from unprotected anal sex being the most "spreadable" sexual act for HIV, and the fact that a male can both receive and give anal sex (which is one of the reason gay people were affected so much when HIV started spreading), and it being taken to weird, unrealistic proportions

In contrast, someone who makes a living as a prostitute, having many many partners, can still donate after she stops her work (or he/his, if he happened to only have female clients) for a specified amount of time and gets tested.

Oh, and if you have two long term partners, have been tested years ago and have been exclusive with these two (as have they) the whole time, and have been re-tested recently to show you're clean, it's not enough. More than one partner and you're not allowed to give.

A lot of it comes down to the fact that they'd rather be extremely restrictive and reject lots of good blood than waste a lot of time and effort getting blood that they'll have to get rid of anyways because it turns out to be a carrier for something.

That people still manage to get diseases from transfusions is probably seen as reinforcing the need for the restrictions, too.


Thanks, Lentrax. I'll be more specific when I figure out what is actually going on >_<

[Lissou]

I should probably have specified gay males. Lesbians are actually at the lowest risk of spreading it.

This being stats, it also doesn't really take trans people into account.

Actually, I'm curious... If you're a trans female who's had sex with at least one man, are you also banned from donating? What if you're a trans guy? I honestly don't know.

[Astrella]

I should probably have specified gay males. Lesbians are actually at the lowest risk of spreading it.

This being stats, it also doesn't really take trans people into account.

Actually, I'm curious... If you're a trans female who's had sex with at least one man, are you also banned from donating? What if you're a trans guy? I honestly don't know.

I wouldn't hope that they'd treat trans people as anything other than their assigned gender....

-----

Tentative congratulations, Siuis?

[SiuiS]

I should probably have specified gay males. Lesbians are actually at the lowest risk of spreading it.

This being stats, it also doesn't really take trans people into account.

Actually, I'm curious... If you're a trans female who's had sex with at least one man, are you also banned from donating? What if you're a trans guy? I honestly don't know.

I would hazard that the association which imposes these distinctions would not draw a line between Cis man and Trans woman, and would instead focus on the sex with men part.

[Mono Vertigo]

So, this week, I was at a convention.
[Summary in the spoiler. Warning: a wild dumbass appears. Wait, no, 2.]

Spoiler

Show

I'd said months ago BF and I were planning to go as Persona characters, with me cosplaying Naoto. Long story short, we lacked time to prepare the costumes, so we went as ourselves.
It was a brand new con. Though it was the first edition, the staff was very nice, and so were most visitors.
We unexpectedly recruited a guy. Turns out he's a furry, and he can make plushies. THAT IS AWESOME.

Now, the incident.
I wanted to have some colored art ready to sell, so that people have an idea of my style if they ask for a commission (or buy what I've already done, of course). I took up watercolor again, after years of not using them. I made a fanart series based on Persona girls disguised as their Persona, one for each element. In all honesty, it didn't turn out very good, but I got to play with watercolor again.
On the second day of the con, we find what must be the biggest Persona fan in the country. He gushes over us knowing Persona. He, however, says he doesn't have the money to buy any of my piece, even if I lower the price. That's okay. Then he starts talking about his game, where he raised Jack Frost and a few others to level 99. That's also okay.
Then he draws out his PSP from his pocket with an on-going P3 game to show us his personas directly. We took that as an alarm, but it was too late already. He kept talking to us about his achievements for a while, then said he was going to get his brother, "he has to see that!".
Once he's gone, we laugh a bit. We've never met such an enthusiastic fan before.
Later, he comes back with his brother. (For the sake of clarity, my thoughts will, from now, be written between brackets.)
He's worse than he is. He doesn't have any money, either. Once they actually start talking about the art, they actually only nitpick. "You chose Chie as the ice user? Ahahah, what a joke, Mitsuru's a much better choice!" [Well, I like Chie better as a character, but you're free to commission... oh, right, no money.] "Oh, that's Aigis? Her hair's too light! What is she using? What's that? Arrow Shower? God Hand is better, it destroys EVERYTHING!" [Oh, come on, I'm not painting the best attack of each element, just ONE attack. Again, commission.] "Elizabeth as Pixie, using thunder? It doesn't... oh, yeah, you're right, Pixie does learn Zio naturally. Her disguised a Thor would be much funnier though, ahah! With the horns and everything! Why didn't you do that?" [Again, artistic choice, and again, if you want Elizabeth as Thor, COMMISSION PLEASE]. He was nitpicking and giving his very own opinion on EVERYTHING. He did not even criticize the quality, which would have been understandable, but what amounts to very simple and innocent artistic choices. If he had been willing to buy a series with his preference, I'd have done it in a heartbeat, even at a reduced price.
And then he noticed there was no Almighty element in my series. (From then on, my speech is bolded.) Please note that, sitting right next to me, was my FtM BF.

"Elizabeth should have symbolized Almighty, with Megidolaon."
"I chose to have her represent electricity, because there was no other girl with thunder."
"Fair enough. How about Naoto for Almighty then?"
"Ah, but he's not a girl." [I think I know where this is going.]
"Yes, she is. She dresses like a boy, but she's a girl."
"No, he's not." [He says he's not a girl, so he's not a girl, perhaps I should just call you "ma'am" and kindly ask you to go away.] (I might have been twitching at this point.)
"Yes, she is. She... hm... I guess this is open to... interpretation." ]
"..."[Well, yeah, I mean, we shouldn't believe what characters keep claiming throughout the whole game. Kanji does not actually like plushies, for example, everybody knows that. And I say I'm a girl, but I'm so unfeminine my gender is open to interpretation, right?
"... she's very flat-chested for a girl, isn't she? Huhuh. :D"
"..." [OH YEAH POOR NAOTO IS SO INCOMPETENT AT BEING A BOY AND A GIRL AND IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE A BIG CHEST AHAH no seriously go away before I stab you.]
"... sooo anyway they're crazy isn't it? I mean LOOK AT MARA WHAT WERE THEY SMOKING IT'S LITERALLY A PE-" *parent with children walking behind them right at that moment. We've irremediably lost their interest. I, once again, want to stab people.*
They kept at it for way too long. When I was about to snap, a friend fortunately managed to find an excuse to have my BF walk away somewhere else with her, and with half their forced audience gone, they lost all interest and went somewhere else, presumably to scare away other customers and drive other artists mad. Seriously, they were blocking the whole stand and were the only one to actually participate in their own discussion.
Also, they insisted no one in the game was gay. Which is open to interpretation, but a strange thing to insist on considering this is one of the most gay* RPG I've ever played, and one of the character's whole arc revolves around being comfortable with his sexuality. So I might have shouted "THEY'RE ALL GAY IN THAT GAME ANYWAY"** out of spite once they were out of earshot.
Once they were gone, we realized how much worse things would have gone if we had gone with our original cosplay idea.
Our association's first unspoken rule is now that if you feel the need to get out your portable console to point out how much of a munchkin you are at a game that has an actual plot, you're out.

TL;DR: We meet Awkward Annoying Fanboy. He has brother, No-Life Annoying Fanboy. Everybody loses.




*as in rainbowy and happy and gay. Not as in sucky. Gay as in gay.
** I would have clarified what my actual opinion on the characters is, but I realize that if I have to clarify that point, or anyone actually wants to launch a debate over a harmless joke, then I need more freakin' holidays. NO. I DON'T WANT TO ARGUE WHOSE HEADCANON IS CANON-ER. I JUST WANTED TO DRAW CHARACTERS AND GET USED TO WATERCOLORS AGAIN. AAAAAAAARGH

[noparlpf]

So, this week, I was at a convention.
[Summary in the spoiler. Warning: a wild dumbass appears. Wait, no, 2.]

Spoiler

Show

I'd said months ago BF and I were planning to go as Persona characters, with me cosplaying Naoto. Long story short, we lacked time to prepare the costumes, so we went as ourselves.
It was a brand new con. Though it was the first edition, the staff was very nice, and so were most visitors.
We unexpectedly recruited a guy. Turns out he's a furry, and he can make plushies. THAT IS AWESOME.

Now, the incident.
I wanted to have some colored art ready to sell, so that people have an idea of my style if they ask for a commission (or buy what I've already done, of course). I took up watercolor again, after years of not using them. I made a fanart series based on Persona girls disguised as their Persona, one for each element. In all honesty, it didn't turn out very good, but I got to play with watercolor again.
On the second day of the con, we find what must be the biggest Persona fan in the country. He gushes over us knowing Persona. He, however, says he doesn't have the money to buy any of my piece, even if I lower the price. That's okay. Then he starts talking about his game, where he raised Jack Frost and a few others to level 99. That's also okay.
Then he draws out his PSP from his pocket with an on-going P3 game to show us his personas directly. We took that as an alarm, but it was too late already. He kept talking to us about his achievements for a while, then said he was going to get his brother, "he has to see that!".
Once he's gone, we laugh a bit. We've never met such an enthusiastic fan before.
Later, he comes back with his brother. (For the sake of clarity, my thoughts will, from now, be written between brackets.)
He's worse than he is. He doesn't have any money, either. Once they actually start talking about the art, they actually only nitpick. "You chose Chie as the ice user? Ahahah, what a joke, Mitsuru's a much better choice!" [Well, I like Chie better as a character, but you're free to commission... oh, right, no money.] "Oh, that's Aigis? Her hair's too light! What is she using? What's that? Arrow Shower? God Hand is better, it destroys EVERYTHING!" [Oh, come on, I'm not painting the best attack of each element, just ONE attack. Again, commission.] "Elizabeth as Pixie, using thunder? It doesn't... oh, yeah, you're right, Pixie does learn Zio naturally. Her disguised a Thor would be much funnier though, ahah! With the horns and everything! Why didn't you do that?" [Again, artistic choice, and again, if you want Elizabeth as Thor, COMMISSION PLEASE]. He was nitpicking and giving his very own opinion on EVERYTHING. He did not even criticize the quality, which would have been understandable, but what amounts to very simple and innocent artistic choices. If he had been willing to buy a series with his preference, I'd have done it in a heartbeat, even at a reduced price.
And then he noticed there was no Almighty element in my series. (From then on, my speech is bolded.) Please note that, sitting right next to me, was my FtM BF.

"Elizabeth should have symbolized Almighty, with Megidolaon."
"I chose to have her represent electricity, because there was no other girl with thunder."
"Fair enough. How about Naoto for Almighty then?"
"Ah, but he's not a girl." [I think I know where this is going.]
"Yes, she is. She dresses like a boy, but she's a girl."
"No, he's not." [He says he's not a girl, so he's not a girl, perhaps I should just call you "ma'am" and kindly ask you to go away.] (I might have been twitching at this point.)
"Yes, she is. She... hm... I guess this is open to... interpretation." ]
"..."[Well, yeah, I mean, we shouldn't believe what characters keep claiming throughout the whole game. Kanji does not actually like plushies, for example, everybody knows that. And I say I'm a girl, but I'm so unfeminine my gender is open to interpretation, right?
"... she's very flat-chested for a girl, isn't she? Huhuh. :D"
"..." [OH YEAH POOR NAOTO IS SO INCOMPETENT AT BEING A BOY AND A GIRL AND IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE A BIG CHEST AHAH no seriously go away before I stab you.]
"... sooo anyway they're crazy isn't it? I mean LOOK AT MARA WHAT WERE THEY SMOKING IT'S LITERALLY A PE-" *parent with children walking behind them right at that moment. We've irremediably lost their interest. I, once again, want to stab people.*
They kept at it for way too long. When I was about to snap, a friend fortunately managed to find an excuse to have my BF walk away somewhere else with her, and with half their forced audience gone, they lost all interest and went somewhere else, presumably to scare away other customers and drive other artists mad. Seriously, they were blocking the whole stand and were the only one to actually participate in their own discussion.
Also, they insisted no one in the game was gay. Which is open to interpretation, but a strange thing to insist on considering this is one of the most gay* RPG I've ever played, and one of the character's whole arc revolves around being comfortable with his sexuality. So I might have shouted "THEY'RE ALL GAY IN THAT GAME ANYWAY"** out of spite once they were out of earshot.
Once they were gone, we realized how much worse things would have gone if we had gone with our original cosplay idea.
Our association's first unspoken rule is now that if you feel the need to get out your portable console to point out how much of a munchkin you are at a game that has an actual plot, you're out.

TL;DR: We meet Awkward Annoying Fanboy. He has brother, No-Life Annoying Fanboy. Everybody loses.




*as in rainbowy and happy and gay. Not as in sucky. Gay as in gay.
** I would have clarified what my actual opinion on the characters is, but I realize that if I have to clarify that point, or anyone actually wants to launch a debate over a harmless joke, then I need more freakin' holidays. NO. I DON'T WANT TO ARGUE WHOSE HEADCANON IS CANON-ER. I JUST WANTED TO DRAW CHARACTERS AND GET USED TO WATERCOLORS AGAIN. AAAAAAAARGH

Geez. Couldn't you like, ask them to leave? Or call security and say they were harassing you? They kind of were.

[The Succubus]

So, this week, I was at a convention.
[Summary in the spoiler. Warning: a wild dumbass appears. Wait, no, 2.]

Spoiler

Show

I'd said months ago BF and I were planning to go as Persona characters, with me cosplaying Naoto. Long story short, we lacked time to prepare the costumes, so we went as ourselves.
It was a brand new con. Though it was the first edition, the staff was very nice, and so were most visitors.
We unexpectedly recruited a guy. Turns out he's a furry, and he can make plushies. THAT IS AWESOME.

Now, the incident.
I wanted to have some colored art ready to sell, so that people have an idea of my style if they ask for a commission (or buy what I've already done, of course). I took up watercolor again, after years of not using them. I made a fanart series based on Persona girls disguised as their Persona, one for each element. In all honesty, it didn't turn out very good, but I got to play with watercolor again.
On the second day of the con, we find what must be the biggest Persona fan in the country. He gushes over us knowing Persona. He, however, says he doesn't have the money to buy any of my piece, even if I lower the price. That's okay. Then he starts talking about his game, where he raised Jack Frost and a few others to level 99. That's also okay.
Then he draws out his PSP from his pocket with an on-going P3 game to show us his personas directly. We took that as an alarm, but it was too late already. He kept talking to us about his achievements for a while, then said he was going to get his brother, "he has to see that!".
Once he's gone, we laugh a bit. We've never met such an enthusiastic fan before.
Later, he comes back with his brother. (For the sake of clarity, my thoughts will, from now, be written between brackets.)
He's worse than he is. He doesn't have any money, either. Once they actually start talking about the art, they actually only nitpick. "You chose Chie as the ice user? Ahahah, what a joke, Mitsuru's a much better choice!" [Well, I like Chie better as a character, but you're free to commission... oh, right, no money.] "Oh, that's Aigis? Her hair's too light! What is she using? What's that? Arrow Shower? God Hand is better, it destroys EVERYTHING!" [Oh, come on, I'm not painting the best attack of each element, just ONE attack. Again, commission.] "Elizabeth as Pixie, using thunder? It doesn't... oh, yeah, you're right, Pixie does learn Zio naturally. Her disguised a Thor would be much funnier though, ahah! With the horns and everything! Why didn't you do that?" [Again, artistic choice, and again, if you want Elizabeth as Thor, COMMISSION PLEASE]. He was nitpicking and giving his very own opinion on EVERYTHING. He did not even criticize the quality, which would have been understandable, but what amounts to very simple and innocent artistic choices. If he had been willing to buy a series with his preference, I'd have done it in a heartbeat, even at a reduced price.
And then he noticed there was no Almighty element in my series. (From then on, my speech is bolded.) Please note that, sitting right next to me, was my FtM BF.

"Elizabeth should have symbolized Almighty, with Megidolaon."
"I chose to have her represent electricity, because there was no other girl with thunder."
"Fair enough. How about Naoto for Almighty then?"
"Ah, but he's not a girl." [I think I know where this is going.]
"Yes, she is. She dresses like a boy, but she's a girl."
"No, he's not." [He says he's not a girl, so he's not a girl, perhaps I should just call you "ma'am" and kindly ask you to go away.] (I might have been twitching at this point.)
"Yes, she is. She... hm... I guess this is open to... interpretation." ]
"..."[Well, yeah, I mean, we shouldn't believe what characters keep claiming throughout the whole game. Kanji does not actually like plushies, for example, everybody knows that. And I say I'm a girl, but I'm so unfeminine my gender is open to interpretation, right?
"... she's very flat-chested for a girl, isn't she? Huhuh. :D"
"..." [OH YEAH POOR NAOTO IS SO INCOMPETENT AT BEING A BOY AND A GIRL AND IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE A BIG CHEST AHAH no seriously go away before I stab you.]
"... sooo anyway they're crazy isn't it? I mean LOOK AT MARA WHAT WERE THEY SMOKING IT'S LITERALLY A PE-" *parent with children walking behind them right at that moment. We've irremediably lost their interest. I, once again, want to stab people.*
They kept at it for way too long. When I was about to snap, a friend fortunately managed to find an excuse to have my BF walk away somewhere else with her, and with half their forced audience gone, they lost all interest and went somewhere else, presumably to scare away other customers and drive other artists mad. Seriously, they were blocking the whole stand and were the only one to actually participate in their own discussion.
Also, they insisted no one in the game was gay. Which is open to interpretation, but a strange thing to insist on considering this is one of the most gay* RPG I've ever played, and one of the character's whole arc revolves around being comfortable with his sexuality. So I might have shouted "THEY'RE ALL GAY IN THAT GAME ANYWAY"** out of spite once they were out of earshot.
Once they were gone, we realized how much worse things would have gone if we had gone with our original cosplay idea.
Our association's first unspoken rule is now that if you feel the need to get out your portable console to point out how much of a munchkin you are at a game that has an actual plot, you're out.

TL;DR: We meet Awkward Annoying Fanboy. He has brother, No-Life Annoying Fanboy. Everybody loses.




*as in rainbowy and happy and gay. Not as in sucky. Gay as in gay.
** I would have clarified what my actual opinion on the characters is, but I realize that if I have to clarify that point, or anyone actually wants to launch a debate over a harmless joke, then I need more freakin' holidays. NO. I DON'T WANT TO ARGUE WHOSE HEADCANON IS CANON-ER. I JUST WANTED TO DRAW CHARACTERS AND GET USED TO WATERCOLORS AGAIN. AAAAAAAARGH

It's highly fortunate you brought along your watercolours rather than, say, your knitting...

[Astrella]

Ugh, that guy sounds like a complete jackass. :c

Did you have a good time at the convention outside of that?

[Mono Vertigo]

@Succubus:
I do have a shiny knife, BF gave it to me for my birthday! But I wasn't allowed to bring it at the con. Guess we all know why. If you didn't want to be tempted to use a knife you shouldn't have bought me one. ;_;

@Astrella: yep! I was extremely tired the first day because of insomnia, and we had another self-centered idiot when we were still setting up, but everything was fine. We even found the only other Persona fan of the con. This one could not buy anything either, but he was very friendly, and didn't scare away other visitors. Good time overall.

@noparlpf: I wouldn't exactly call it harassment. I'm pretty sure they were not doing it on purpose, they were just very VERY socially awkward, and the situation solved itself before I had a chance to stop being subtle and outright ask them to leave. I guess I would have asked the staff for help if outright telling them to leave hadn't worked.
That's the problem with anime and video games conventions. The limit between "overly enthusiastic fan of a semi-obscure work" and "harasser" is very hard to define.
... admittedly, we should have kicked him out when he started looking for pictures of Mara on his phone. (Note to those who don't play games from the Shin Megami Tensei series: Mara is a demon. It's shaped like genitals. Don't google that if you're under 18. Please, don't.)

[The Succubus]

Well, you could always sharpen the ends of your paintbrushes....

It does sound kinda fun overall. I've never been to a Con before. Went to a Renfaire in America though, was very fun. =3

[noparlpf]

@Succubus:
I do have a shiny knife, BF gave it to me for my birthday! But I wasn't allowed to bring it at the con. Guess we all know why. If you didn't want to be tempted to use a knife you shouldn't have bought me one. ;_;

@Astrella: yep! I was extremely tired the first day because of insomnia, and we had another self-centered idiot when we were still setting up, but everything was fine. We even found the only other Persona fan of the con. This one could not buy anything either, but he was very friendly, and didn't scare away other visitors. Good time overall.

@noparlpf: I wouldn't exactly call it harassment. I'm pretty sure they were not doing it on purpose, they were just very VERY socially awkward, and the situation solved itself before I had a chance to stop being subtle and outright ask them to leave. I guess I would have asked the staff for help if outright telling them to leave hadn't worked.
That's the problem with anime and video games conventions. The limit between "overly enthusiastic fan of a semi-obscure work" and "harasser" is very hard to define.
... admittedly, we should have kicked him out when he started looking for pictures of Mara on his phone. (Note to those who don't play games from the Shin Megami Tensei series: Mara is a demon. It's shaped like genitals. Don't google that if you're under 18. Please, don't.)

Mm, true. But they were moving into some touchy stuff and scaring away some other people, so...
*Googles because seriously I don't ever not Google anything even when I know better, a couple days ago it was "nun fetish" because I didn't believe it*
*snrk* Haha. That thing looks ridiculous. I wouldn't even be afraid of that kind of demon, I'd just make fun of it.

[Mono Vertigo]

@Succubus: But I need a knife to sharpen paintbrushes.
And if I do it before the con, I'm not going to be allowed to bring them, either. I was already making threatening gestures with the pencil, after all. And muttering "stab stab STAB".
... after they were gone.
I'm still a font of wisdom, right?

@noparlpf: there is also a demon sitting on a toilet, I think it's Belphegor. Most of P4's unique Personas are FABULOUS and not very threatening-looking either. In the Raidou Kuzunoha games, if it's not the demon's appearance that will make you chuckle, it's their personality. I love these games so much!
Still... when you're near the entrance of a con full of children, I don't think it's a good idea to talk loudly about that one demon.

[Rain Dragon]

I'm still a font of wisdom, right?

Wisdom doesn't mean not having the urge to stab someone.

Spoilered belated reaction to above post on video game convention thing.

Spoiler

Show

In fact, reading the last bit (I would've told them to clear off a lot earlier than you, but I'm not known for putting up with any social situations so you're also patient in my eyes) if I were there I would've wanted to punch people. The issue is, they probably didn't see past fandom to realise they're being quite rude. Alas, I suppose this is the way of the world.

PS. Google showed me Mara on a cart. Ahhh, I suppose I'm a bit juvenile but I had a bit of a chuckle at it. (Worry not, for I am over 18)

-Giovanni

[SiuiS]

I wouldn't hope that they'd treat trans people as anything other than their assigned gender....

-----

Tentative congratulations, Siuis?

Reminds me, from your links; do you have a blog saved what is really pink, and the girl in it talks about her past and how she raved and did shuffling? I lost it >_<

And thanks, but I'm more after, does anyone have any idea where to begin with how that even works? I mean, at what point does a gender shift cause legal problems? And at what point do generalities app bein board safe?

Sigh. I guess I'll spend my weekend on google *^*

So, this week, I was at a convention.
[Summary in the spoiler. Warning: a wild dumbass appears. Wait, no, 2.]

Spoiler

Show

I'd said months ago BF and I were planning to go as Persona characters, with me cosplaying Naoto. Long story short, we lacked time to prepare the costumes, so we went as ourselves.
It was a brand new con. Though it was the first edition, the staff was very nice, and so were most visitors.
We unexpectedly recruited a guy. Turns out he's a furry, and he can make plushies. THAT IS AWESOME.

Now, the incident.
I wanted to have some colored art ready to sell, so that people have an idea of my style if they ask for a commission (or buy what I've already done, of course). I took up watercolor again, after years of not using them. I made a fanart series based on Persona girls disguised as their Persona, one for each element. In all honesty, it didn't turn out very good, but I got to play with watercolor again.
On the second day of the con, we find what must be the biggest Persona fan in the country. He gushes over us knowing Persona. He, however, says he doesn't have the money to buy any of my piece, even if I lower the price. That's okay. Then he starts talking about his game, where he raised Jack Frost and a few others to level 99. That's also okay.
Then he draws out his PSP from his pocket with an on-going P3 game to show us his personas directly. We took that as an alarm, but it was too late already. He kept talking to us about his achievements for a while, then said he was going to get his brother, "he has to see that!".
Once he's gone, we laugh a bit. We've never met such an enthusiastic fan before.
Later, he comes back with his brother. (For the sake of clarity, my thoughts will, from now, be written between brackets.)
He's worse than he is. He doesn't have any money, either. Once they actually start talking about the art, they actually only nitpick. "You chose Chie as the ice user? Ahahah, what a joke, Mitsuru's a much better choice!" [Well, I like Chie better as a character, but you're free to commission... oh, right, no money.] "Oh, that's Aigis? Her hair's too light! What is she using? What's that? Arrow Shower? God Hand is better, it destroys EVERYTHING!" [Oh, come on, I'm not painting the best attack of each element, just ONE attack. Again, commission.] "Elizabeth as Pixie, using thunder? It doesn't... oh, yeah, you're right, Pixie does learn Zio naturally. Her disguised a Thor would be much funnier though, ahah! With the horns and everything! Why didn't you do that?" [Again, artistic choice, and again, if you want Elizabeth as Thor, COMMISSION PLEASE]. He was nitpicking and giving his very own opinion on EVERYTHING. He did not even criticize the quality, which would have been understandable, but what amounts to very simple and innocent artistic choices. If he had been willing to buy a series with his preference, I'd have done it in a heartbeat, even at a reduced price.
And then he noticed there was no Almighty element in my series. (From then on, my speech is bolded.) Please note that, sitting right next to me, was my FtM BF.

"Elizabeth should have symbolized Almighty, with Megidolaon."
"I chose to have her represent electricity, because there was no other girl with thunder."
"Fair enough. How about Naoto for Almighty then?"
"Ah, but he's not a girl." [I think I know where this is going.]
"Yes, she is. She dresses like a boy, but she's a girl."
"No, he's not." [He says he's not a girl, so he's not a girl, perhaps I should just call you "ma'am" and kindly ask you to go away.] (I might have been twitching at this point.)
"Yes, she is. She... hm... I guess this is open to... interpretation." ]
"..."[Well, yeah, I mean, we shouldn't believe what characters keep claiming throughout the whole game. Kanji does not actually like plushies, for example, everybody knows that. And I say I'm a girl, but I'm so unfeminine my gender is open to interpretation, right?
"... she's very flat-chested for a girl, isn't she? Huhuh. :D"
"..." [OH YEAH POOR NAOTO IS SO INCOMPETENT AT BEING A BOY AND A GIRL AND IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE A BIG CHEST AHAH no seriously go away before I stab you.]
"... sooo anyway they're crazy isn't it? I mean LOOK AT MARA WHAT WERE THEY SMOKING IT'S LITERALLY A PE-" *parent with children walking behind them right at that moment. We've irremediably lost their interest. I, once again, want to stab people.*
They kept at it for way too long. When I was about to snap, a friend fortunately managed to find an excuse to have my BF walk away somewhere else with her, and with half their forced audience gone, they lost all interest and went somewhere else, presumably to scare away other customers and drive other artists mad. Seriously, they were blocking the whole stand and were the only one to actually participate in their own discussion.
Also, they insisted no one in the game was gay. Which is open to interpretation, but a strange thing to insist on considering this is one of the most gay* RPG I've ever played, and one of the character's whole arc revolves around being comfortable with his sexuality. So I might have shouted "THEY'RE ALL GAY IN THAT GAME ANYWAY"** out of spite once they were out of earshot.
Once they were gone, we realized how much worse things would have gone if we had gone with our original cosplay idea.
Our association's first unspoken rule is now that if you feel the need to get out your portable console to point out how much of a munchkin you are at a game that has an actual plot, you're out.

TL;DR: We meet Awkward Annoying Fanboy. He has brother, No-Life Annoying Fanboy. Everybody loses.




*as in rainbowy and happy and gay. Not as in sucky. Gay as in gay.
** I would have clarified what my actual opinion on the characters is, but I realize that if I have to clarify that point, or anyone actually wants to launch a debate over a harmless joke, then I need more freakin' holidays. NO. I DON'T WANT TO ARGUE WHOSE HEADCANON IS CANON-ER. I JUST WANTED TO DRAW CHARACTERS AND GET USED TO WATERCOLORS AGAIN. AAAAAAAARGH

I think as soon as you are operating as a business, and they cost you money, you have the right to have then shuffle off. As soon a they break out the sexual harassment ("here, let me pull out my phone and show you pictyures of a penis") security can get involved. As soon as they start being all oppressive gender-wise, firm language is appropriate.

Next time, you should be able to get a knitting needle in if you wear knew high socks.

Mm, true. But they were moving into some touchy stuff and scaring away some other people, so...
*Googles because seriously I don't ever not Google anything even when I know better, a couple days ago it was "nun fetish" because I didn't believe it*
*snrk* Haha. That thing looks ridiculous. I wouldn't even be afraid of that kind of demon, I'd just make fun of it.

I would personally be concerned over the cart but yes. That thing. What the hell.
Dracula's final form in Harmony of Despair is basically a three headed vagina, too. Video games are weird man.

[Astrella]

Reminds me, from your links; do you have a blog saved what is really pink, and the girl in it talks about her past and how she raved and did shuffling? I lost it >_<

And thanks, but I'm more after, does anyone have any idea where to begin with how that even works? I mean, at what point does a gender shift cause legal problems? And at what point do generalities app bein board safe?

Sigh. I guess I'll spend my weekend on google *^*

This one?

I...I'm really not sure, I've heard a lot of conflicting things and it depends a ton on what you are and who's dealing with the specific instance...

[Kindablue]

Everything I know about Persona 4 I learned from this video.

Oh and I guess congratulations, SiuiS!

[SiuiS]

This one?

That's the one! Thanks!
Maybe this time I'll actually remember 'tumbling up the light cone'...

I...I'm really not sure, I've heard a lot of conflicting things and it depends a ton on what you are and who's dealing with the specific instance...

Ahh, butts. Okay. I'll have to dig around for laws and legislation then. Man, California, you were alway so cool. What happened? You used to be cool.

[Karen Lynn]

Ahh, butts. Okay. I'll have to dig around for laws and legislation then. Man, California, you were alway so cool. What happened? You used to be cool.

They started to get too progressive and communistic. Now they don't care about your rights, just their money, and how to make more of your money theirs.

[noparlpf]

@noparlpf: there is also a demon sitting on a toilet, I think it's Belphegor. Most of P4's unique Personas are FABULOUS and not very threatening-looking either. In the Raidou Kuzunoha games, if it's not the demon's appearance that will make you chuckle, it's their personality. I love these games so much!
Still... when you're near the entrance of a con full of children, I don't think it's a good idea to talk loudly about that one demon.

This game sounds weird.

I would personally be concerned over the cart but yes. That thing. What the hell.
Dracula's final form in Harmony of Despair is basically a three headed vagina, too. Video games are weird man.

*Googles*
This one? I'm not really seeing it.

[KenderWizard]

@Musashi: I would have asked them to leave as soon as I lost patience with what they were saying. If they were blocking the stand, you can always be like "Oh, I'm really sorry and it's always nice to meet other fans of X, but I have to try to sell enough to cover my trade space cost, so if you can't buy anything, can you head off?"

It's highly fortunate you brought along your watercolours rather than, say, your knitting...

I laughed!


So, this weekend, I directed a con. And it went really well! I was in charge and we got over 200 bodies and the biggest thing that went wrong was the pub quiz started late but that wasn't a big deal at all! I'm so happy! ... And REALLY tired.

[Lentrax]

Grats, lender! Glad the con went well.

[Asta Kask]

Coolest. Dad. Ever.

[SiuiS]

This game sounds weird.
*Googles*
This one? I'm not really seeing it.

It's probably a combination of being zooms out and being animated, but his bight red lapels flex outward and inward, and there's teeth. Vagina dentata, man. And those three heads extend on long, tubelike muscular necks and sort of wave at you. Plus he's got a hooker for a shoulder, and really he's just all the wrong of Hellsing's Alucard with none of the perverse interest from it.

It's even more awkward because my usual character's victory taunt is "she loved you... Not."

@Musashi: I would have asked them to leave as soon as I lost patience with what they were saying. If they were blocking the stand, you can always be like "Oh, I'm really sorry and it's always nice to meet other fans of X, but I have to try to sell enough to cover my trade space cost, so if you can't buy anything, can you head off?"

Yep.

So, this weekend, I directed a con. And it went really well! I was in charge and we got over 200 bodies and the biggest thing that went wrong was the pub quiz started late but that wasn't a big deal at all! I'm so happy! ... And REALLY tired.

Cool! Get some rest, hon. Thn come back with DEAILS. Juicy ones.