A Brief Vacation 2012

So we’ve been away for a while working on a few things, and all that busywork has left us with less time to post than we’d like. Here’s what we’ve been up to so far this Fall.

1) Kickstarter – 1st and foremost, we’re running a Kickstarter to raise funds for art and distribution for the 2nd book. We’ve only got a few more weeks left to run this campaign; please consider donating to it.(Kickstarter)

2) E-book – After several months of fighting with designers and formats, we’ve finally found a way to produce a decent e-book. We’re looking to release this before Christmas.

3) New Cons – A few of us have had to move for work in the last few months, making coordination for something like this almost difficult. Given the group’s new geoarrangements, we’ll be looking at changing the types of con we normally go to, and diversifying our selection of picks for the circuit [2013].

4) New Editors – In the same vein, we’ve unfortunately had to say goodbye to 2 really cool editors. And even though we’ve filled our staff with fresh new talent, those guys will never truly be forgotten. The rookies have some very big shoes to fill.

5) Book 2 Progress – The 2nd book, “How To Avoid Hara-Kiri: The Otaku Variable”, is currently sitting at about 60% completion. With another 30% left to write, and the final 10% being art & aesthetics. While our Kickstarter will certainly knock all artistic concerns out of the park, now we’re just bracing for the ‘holiday hump’. That extended period of candy, and gifts, and holiday itis, time spent with loved ones, as well as time away from school and work, where it can be kinda difficult to not procrastinate. So as long as we stay focused, we’ll have something pretty exciting to show you guys in a few months. Maybe even sooner.

6) Website Updates – We’ve had a lot of fun putting out articles about anime conventions this past year, and we really want to keep the site simple, but we also want to increase its efficiency & usefulness. We’re toying around with some ideas and will be updating the site to reflect more of its potential in the next few months. So expect a few changes. :)

7) Holiday Sale – We had an ironic Halloween sale, and decided to try a Holiday sale because the first one went better than expected. So if you’re looking for a gift for the serial con-goer, or the parent who’s never been to a con, you might wanna check out our holiday sale.

Holiday Sale 2012!

Since our Halloween sale went better than expected, we’re extending it a winter holiday sale! Same rules apply, we’re still selling copies of How To Avoid Hara-Kiri: A Guide To Surviving Anime Conventions.(CreateSpace)

Just use the code ‘26Z4KT7B‘ and get 40% off the book, when you order it from CreateSpace.com.

So grab a copy today & superhappyfun holidays con goers!

Operation ‘Trick or Treat’!

What’s scarier than Halloween? A convention horror story! So in celebration of all things creepy, crazy & crappy at a con, we’re having a Halloween sale on our book, How To Avoid Hara-Kiri: A Guide To Surviving Anime Conventions.(CreateSpace)

Just use the code ‘26Z4KT7B‘and get 40% off the book, when you order it from CreateSpace.com.

So grab a copy today & happy hunting, cosplayers!

L.A.R.P.-Knowing the Line

“Live Action Role Playing” (pg 70, How To Avoid Hara-Kiri)

L.A.R.P., short for Live Action Role-Playing, is a form of acting where people cosplay and act like their favorite characters from a story, game, or anime series. In most conventions, there will be an area dedicated to this, where people can meet and act out their favorite scenes from a show or a game, or it may be something original that the convention offers. Either way, the concept still centers around acting out, and my advice today is on what to do when you need to act in a certain role.

Whether it’s at a convention, or in a big-budgeted motion-picture, acting is an art; one takes serious effort in getting into their respective role, portraying the proper emotions, body-language, and most of all knowing the correct lines for a particular scene. As such, you have to take the role with a certain seriousness when you are portraying that certain mood or posture. At the same time, it doesn’t mean that they can’t have fun with it either, and in most cases, L.A.R.P. [events] at cons tend to be very comedic and easy-going, nothing like a Broadway musical. Have fun with your role, but make sure that you portray the role that you’re playing correctly, whether its comic relief, or being the serious badass.

However, I cannot stress enough when saying, please do not take role-playing too seriously. Remember, it is just acting. Most of the time people don’t actually/always mean the things they say when acting out a persona. And while there are those who understand this, there are also cases where people take to role-playing as if it’s a part of their life, in every aspect. I unfortunately have experienced this firsthand; interacting with people who claimed identities aside from their own, I formed relationships despite never meeting them, and almost got into some serious trouble for it. Even though I was still young, I realized that the blurring line between what is real and what is not is extremely dangerous.

With L.A.R.P., have fun with the experience, as it is a chance to meet people and interact in a different way from the norm, but also be serious when portraying the right character to your audience, because they won’t show interest in your character if your emotions are all over the place. Try not to take to heart any [potentially] rude comments or lines people may say, as it is not in their intention to hurt you. Not every character’s a good guy. Most importantly, do not mix the line between your acting and your actual lifestyle. Trust me, it’s not always pretty.