Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: OldManTom
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?
/u/chromepainteffect: If you can find someone willing to sell their surplus cyber-parts then more power to you, I guess. There's legitimate reasons for wanting them too; Vulpine Fury ended up buying a bunch of the confiscated 'wavetech from Freddy Fazbear's with the intent of reverse-engineering it, including parts that had at one point been attached to all five of the victims. But there's a right way and a wrong way to go about broaching the question, and it really should be a given that parts still attached to the person are most definitely not for sale.
Anyway, since I'm here I guess I should talk a little bit about my own memorable con experiences. I can't talk about the one that got into the papers because my lawyers (or rather OGJ's lawyers; thanks boss!) are still butting heads with Sony's, and in any case that was more Adam and Co's story than mine, so the next best one has to be Collectormania in Milton Keynes two years ago.
Now, if you've never been to it, Collectormania is a pretty mediocre excuse for a con whose main redeeming feature is that there's no entry fee; it actually takes place in the middle of a shopping mall, in the part where they set up special indoor markets or Santa's Grotto. There are loads of trade stands but they're nearly all memorabilia sellers with nobody doing commissions or even prints of their own work, there's no panels and the cosplayers and replica-builders are nowhere to be seen most years. I was only there because the MBC were doing some sort of documentary about the city and needed their cameras shipping, and by the time the organisers were done falling over themselves to get a real spaceship at their con it was cheaper than the landing and parking fees at the nearest proper airport.
So I'm taking up a large chunk of the car park, showing people around the interior and explaining that yes, I really built her myself in a draughty barn in Scotland while having more fun than I thought it was possible to have in central Milton Keynes, when suddenly this large gentleman with a distinct Afghan accent shows up and starts making idle conversation. About my military background, and where I served... He's polite, but very insistent, and I'm starting to think he might have an ulterior motive connected to who I was ferrying around Afghanistan and whose backs my passengers might have put up. (I can't go into specifics, but I used to be in 7 Squadron.) Eventually, and with one hand on the axe handle propped just inside the main hatchway, I just come out and ask him what the hell he's driving at.
Turns out he did have an ulterior motive, kind of. Apparently the farmhouse I nearly clobbered when my helicopter was brought down belonged to his uncle and the Ministry of Defence had been less than helpful when he had demanded recompense for the property damage. The nephew wasn't particularly fussed about it himself, but if I'd consent to being photographed handing him the £80 or so it had actually cost to fix the damage then the old boy would finally shut up about it.
Well, it wasn't a ruinous sum of money or anything and I'd always felt rather bad for the mess I'd made. Apparently the picture got into the Daily Mail, but I've never dared look.
Posted by: OldManTom
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?
/u/chromepainteffect: If you can find someone willing to sell their surplus cyber-parts then more power to you, I guess. There's legitimate reasons for wanting them too; Vulpine Fury ended up buying a bunch of the confiscated 'wavetech from Freddy Fazbear's with the intent of reverse-engineering it, including parts that had at one point been attached to all five of the victims. But there's a right way and a wrong way to go about broaching the question, and it really should be a given that parts still attached to the person are most definitely not for sale.
Anyway, since I'm here I guess I should talk a little bit about my own memorable con experiences. I can't talk about the one that got into the papers because my lawyers (or rather OGJ's lawyers; thanks boss!) are still butting heads with Sony's, and in any case that was more Adam and Co's story than mine, so the next best one has to be Collectormania in Milton Keynes two years ago.
Now, if you've never been to it, Collectormania is a pretty mediocre excuse for a con whose main redeeming feature is that there's no entry fee; it actually takes place in the middle of a shopping mall, in the part where they set up special indoor markets or Santa's Grotto. There are loads of trade stands but they're nearly all memorabilia sellers with nobody doing commissions or even prints of their own work, there's no panels and the cosplayers and replica-builders are nowhere to be seen most years. I was only there because the MBC were doing some sort of documentary about the city and needed their cameras shipping, and by the time the organisers were done falling over themselves to get a real spaceship at their con it was cheaper than the landing and parking fees at the nearest proper airport.
So I'm taking up a large chunk of the car park, showing people around the interior and explaining that yes, I really built her myself in a draughty barn in Scotland while having more fun than I thought it was possible to have in central Milton Keynes, when suddenly this large gentleman with a distinct Afghan accent shows up and starts making idle conversation. About my military background, and where I served... He's polite, but very insistent, and I'm starting to think he might have an ulterior motive connected to who I was ferrying around Afghanistan and whose backs my passengers might have put up. (I can't go into specifics, but I used to be in 7 Squadron.) Eventually, and with one hand on the axe handle propped just inside the main hatchway, I just come out and ask him what the hell he's driving at.
Turns out he did have an ulterior motive, kind of. Apparently the farmhouse I nearly clobbered when my helicopter was brought down belonged to his uncle and the Ministry of Defence had been less than helpful when he had demanded recompense for the property damage. The nephew wasn't particularly fussed about it himself, but if I'd consent to being photographed handing him the £80 or so it had actually cost to fix the damage then the old boy would finally shut up about it.
Well, it wasn't a ruinous sum of money or anything and I'd always felt rather bad for the mess I'd made. Apparently the picture got into the Daily Mail, but I've never dared look.