What it is, from my own experience, is that if you're the right type of extroverted nerd, you can really enjoy the con atmosphere. Once your brain gets used to the overstimulation of being around a few thousand people (especially if those people are social or doing cool stuff - cosplay in particular seems to overload the brain, which is why anime cons and renaissance festivals seem to give me especially bad post-con depression) and doing stuff every single minute, going back to real life feels so slow that your brain craves the excesses of con life again. It can be exacerbated by the inevitable hangover, physical exhaustion, and sleep deprivation, plus con crud/flu (sickness spreading in the cramped spaces of a con happens sometimes) especially magnifies it. You get used to the PCD after a while but it never quite goes away. Conventions are psychologically addictive for people who enjoy the atmosphere. Especially anime cons.
"depression" is probably putting it too strongly but going from a weekend of fun escapism back to the grind is definitely a bummer
Oh, definitely. Especially when you have a crap job like working retail or live in the middle of nowhere and don't get to actually participate in events like that regularly.
The year is 5 days of joy, 360 days of suck to try to pay off credit cards bills from those five days.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
I also think anime cons get me particularly PCD'd because the atmosphere is so social compared to most other kinds of cons I've been to. Helps that anime cons in my area of the east coast are a majority women, incredibly diverse at both racial and LGBT levels, and home to an excellent cosplay scene. Those factors mean that a lot of people are totally worth talking to.
A lot of other cons don't have that atmosphere, besides maybe the indie press cons like SPX I've been to. Gaming cons are most definitely still a majority straight white dudes, but the ones I've been to are much better than they even were four or five years ago. Even then, it seems like people go there for the games moreso than the social life, at least during the day. I don't know about the larger comic conventions at all in that regard.
something always comes up, moving, sickness, whatever
at least this year it was another convention in the way rather than catastrophe
I couldn't have really afforded SPX this year (last year I got conspicuously consumerist there woops) but then I also decided to staff at the mini MAGFest on the other side of DC and I enjoyed that decision. They're a good con to work for, if not the best. Super organized staff and good people.
8.5 was a fun little event and I hope they keep the fall event thing going because it's a good season for conventions. Plus it was a surprising number of people's first MAGFest event, which is crazy considering it was a tenth the size of MAGFest Prime and planned at the last minute without any real advertising
I imagine a part of the convention burnout is due to the nature of excitement. A good chunk of the enjoyment we get out of something is the anticipation of it, so the weeks leading up to a special event gives us a little joy high every time we remind ourselves of its approach. It becomes a presence that isn't there after the event finishes.
I also think anime cons get me particularly PCD'd because the atmosphere is so social compared to most other kinds of cons I've been to. Helps that anime cons in my area of the east coast are a majority women, incredibly diverse at both racial and LGBT levels, and home to an excellent cosplay scene. Those factors mean that a lot of people are totally worth talking to.
A lot of other cons don't have that atmosphere, besides maybe the indie press cons like SPX I've been to. Gaming cons are most definitely still a majority straight white dudes, but the ones I've been to are much better than they even were four or five years ago. Even then, it seems like people go there for the games moreso than the social life, at least during the day. I don't know about the larger comic conventions at all in that regard.
Especially when you're in a town or wherever where there's not many people with your interests and you feel like an outsider, it can be a hell of a social high to head to a convention where there's like, a thousand people who all get the same in-jokes and share the same interests.
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
Okay so... Here's a REALLY weird (NSFW!) comic.
Trying Human.
It contains so much freaky stuff (human/alien procreation, gay lizard/jew couples, a prostitute special agent with a heart of gold etc.)
The comic was started a long time ago, and is being reworked - so somewhere in the middle you get to see the old crappy art (and some of the writing is... blatantly teenaged in those parts) but the new art is gorgeous. I have mixed feelings about it but I'm definitely going to continue reading as it updates.
Once again, it contains some NSFW pages http://tryinghuman.com/comic.php?id=1
The problem with Kelly is that his comics in a vacuum can be pretty offensive even if taken as parody. It's when you read them serially that you see Kelly as a sad, petty old man who is an underachiever in a dying medium but manages to have an inflated sense of self-worth.
On the other hand, many Kelly cartoons have been done sincerely by other political cartoonists, so maybe satire is dead.
Sterica on
+2
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BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
This comic idea probably started out on some drunken escapade kc was having, when the idea of Garfield being miserable over good food tickled his simian sense of humour. Why must you torment Garfield so, Green? Can a man cat not suffer his melancholy in dignity? Must you offer up his misery for all the world to see and laugh at? You present us with the grotesqueries of a degenerate spirit without providing us with either hope or satisfaction. Do you expect us to enjoy this, Green? Do you expect us to be better people for the picture you have shown us? Or is this mental feces, an act necessary to your mental process but otherwise lacking in utility? Because to me it looks like poop from a butt, hugsown. Poop from a literal butt.
tldr; this comic didn't really resonate with me. I didn't like it very much.
Children's rights are human rights.
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
It seems like KC was trying to do a Whomp comic, but instead of funny depressing, he just went to depressing-depressing.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
edited September 2014
I think this is a good time to repost history's greatest Garfield comic
Cambiata on
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
+20
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
0
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BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
Paracetamol (/ˌpærəˈsiːtəmɒl/ or /ˌpærəˈsɛtəmɒl/), also known as acetaminophen Listeni/əˌsiːtəˈmɪnəfɨn/, or APAP, chemically named N-acetyl-p-aminophenol, is a widely used over-the-counter analgesic (pain reliever) and antipyretic (fever reducer).[7][8] Acetaminophen is the name adopted for this pharmacologic agent in the U.S. (USAN) and Japan; paracetamol is approved in a variety of international venues (INN, AAN, BAN, etc.).[9][10][11] Common trade names in English-speaking markets are Tylenol and Panadol.
Posts
What it is, from my own experience, is that if you're the right type of extroverted nerd, you can really enjoy the con atmosphere. Once your brain gets used to the overstimulation of being around a few thousand people (especially if those people are social or doing cool stuff - cosplay in particular seems to overload the brain, which is why anime cons and renaissance festivals seem to give me especially bad post-con depression) and doing stuff every single minute, going back to real life feels so slow that your brain craves the excesses of con life again. It can be exacerbated by the inevitable hangover, physical exhaustion, and sleep deprivation, plus con crud/flu (sickness spreading in the cramped spaces of a con happens sometimes) especially magnifies it. You get used to the PCD after a while but it never quite goes away. Conventions are psychologically addictive for people who enjoy the atmosphere. Especially anime cons.
Oh, definitely. Especially when you have a crap job like working retail or live in the middle of nowhere and don't get to actually participate in events like that regularly.
The year is 5 days of joy, 360 days of suck to try to pay off credit cards bills from those five days.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
A lot of other cons don't have that atmosphere, besides maybe the indie press cons like SPX I've been to. Gaming cons are most definitely still a majority straight white dudes, but the ones I've been to are much better than they even were four or five years ago. Even then, it seems like people go there for the games moreso than the social life, at least during the day. I don't know about the larger comic conventions at all in that regard.
something always comes up, moving, sickness, whatever
at least this year it was another convention in the way rather than catastrophe
steam | xbox live: IGNORANT HARLOT | psn: MadRoll | nintendo network: spinach
3ds: 1504-5717-8252
I couldn't have really afforded SPX this year (last year I got conspicuously consumerist there woops) but then I also decided to staff at the mini MAGFest on the other side of DC and I enjoyed that decision. They're a good con to work for, if not the best. Super organized staff and good people.
i'd honestly forgotten about spx until i saw a blurb about it in the post
i'll make it someday
steam | xbox live: IGNORANT HARLOT | psn: MadRoll | nintendo network: spinach
3ds: 1504-5717-8252
tcj.com/this-week-in-comics-82113-for-great-justice/
The Adventures of Dr. McNinja
Recognizing something as satire doesn't mean you can't be offended by it or somehow feel negatively towards it.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Especially when you're in a town or wherever where there's not many people with your interests and you feel like an outsider, it can be a hell of a social high to head to a convention where there's like, a thousand people who all get the same in-jokes and share the same interests.
I like to make Forge sing Bohemian Rhapsody.
I gave him one of mine!
it is deffo a thing
you get to have a weekend full of booze and food and hanging out and having fun with your rad internet friends
and then you have to go back to your regular life with work and responsibilities and fewer party busses
Trying Human.
It contains so much freaky stuff (human/alien procreation, gay lizard/jew couples, a prostitute special agent with a heart of gold etc.)
The comic was started a long time ago, and is being reworked - so somewhere in the middle you get to see the old crappy art (and some of the writing is... blatantly teenaged in those parts) but the new art is gorgeous. I have mixed feelings about it but I'm definitely going to continue reading as it updates.
Once again, it contains some NSFW pages http://tryinghuman.com/comic.php?id=1
On the other hand, many Kelly cartoons have been done sincerely by other political cartoonists, so maybe satire is dead.
Really lets you get to know Kelly.
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16534
How do I Homestuck?
anyways spx was a lot of fun and I'll probably post more about it but I gotta get back to the grind as it were
Trying Human is pretty neat.
eeriecuties.com
I think Tia is a bit overconfident in thinking Lamia won't turn her attention to her.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
You guys act like Chris Hastings can't draw guns. ha ha that's crazy I don't know what you're talking about
Hugsown, the racy comic that it is, now comes out on tuesdays.
Steam // Secret Satan
tldr; this comic didn't really resonate with me. I didn't like it very much.
Paracetamol (/ˌpærəˈsiːtəmɒl/ or /ˌpærəˈsɛtəmɒl/), also known as acetaminophen Listeni/əˌsiːtəˈmɪnəfɨn/, or APAP, chemically named N-acetyl-p-aminophenol, is a widely used over-the-counter analgesic (pain reliever) and antipyretic (fever reducer).[7][8] Acetaminophen is the name adopted for this pharmacologic agent in the U.S. (USAN) and Japan; paracetamol is approved in a variety of international venues (INN, AAN, BAN, etc.).[9][10][11] Common trade names in English-speaking markets are Tylenol and Panadol.
http://www.scarygoround.com/