Creeper

[Dartz]

In every subculture, there're darker elements...

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Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: Gunbunny_Chicago92
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?
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Cyber Freaks.

Creepers happen, I get it. Everytime I've gone to a con, there's always been someone who hasn't learned the concept of personal space. It comes with the territory I know how to deal with them.

But this one takes the biscuit.

So, to set the scene, I'm there selling on my stand and I have a good business going for the day. I've sold a few plasma guns and taken a few orders for custom work. Minnie's just finished off another pleased customer and I'm trying to get the books in order for the Patrol while the rest of the hall bustles by, when he appears.

I think the first warning is that knockoff t-shirt he had on. There's only one reason members of that fan-club want anything to do with me and most of 'em are fairly decent like, but he just gives me the wrong impression, straight off the bat.

This one doesn't even look at my eyes, he just zooms in on my arm – like, completely.

“Oh wow, that's one of Peter's earliest, isn't it?”

And I'm thinking, now that's a goddamn first. I'm more amused than annoyed, so I just say 'well yeah', then ask him if he's interested in getting any custom work done.

What happened next just caught me completely offguard. He reaches over the table and grabs my arm, almost like he's trying to pull it off?

“How much for the this?”

The next thing I know, he's on the floor with blood trailing from his nose while I'm standing with a pain in my knuckles. He just gets this painful look in his face like a scalded brat who's been told he can't play with his toys for being naughty and just goes off on a screamer.

“That thing's a collectable! One of our Lady's works from before she was even a Lady. Why would anyone even want to live with something that old?”

No shit, there I was, he actually said that.

I've been groped and grabbed and you-name it, but this is the first time someone's actually tried to buy me. Not a piece of hardware, but a piece of me. I probably shouldn't have drawn my Gunzerker on him on the Convention floor, but I had no idea what he'd do to get what he wanted and he already had a hand in his pocket.

I shot him straight in the head before he could stand up, then called for Con-Sec.

This isn't come goddamned fashion accessory, like so many chrome-fiends these days. I mean, fuck. I had a car-lift drop on me years ago. I remember what it felt like to have my arm and pelvis crushed and pinched off by three tons of metal. I remember lying there for hours trying to reach for the phone in my pocket and how much that hurt. I remember feeling pathetic in a wheelchair, and taking the offer on a long-shot of being able to walk and work again, back when such things really were a longshot. I remember the pain of surgery and healing, and learning to walk again with a leg that felt completely empty and alien. And then he comes along and tries to buy that off me like it's some kind of object, a collectable.

I get it, you can't fire off a gun on the Convention floor without getting asked to leave, but maybe someone could understand. Shooting that asshole cost me my biggest weekend of the year.

Of course, my partner knew him as a collector of old cyberware – and as one of the people who'd bought some of her wreckage that'd been stolen from the tunnel after the Motorcon accident. It's just the dark side of the cyber subculture, she tells me, without too much concern. Of course, they only really bother the people who actually need prosthetics, rather than the full conversions because, hey, why bother antagonising someone who can actually rip your arms off.

Look, I'm not into the cyberculture stuff, even if my partner is. I don't really want to be either, but I really don't know how often stuff like that happens to others. But how can anyone sane be a collector of people parts?

That's just fucked up. And of all the things that've happened to me at cons, that's the only one that's ever made me actually draw a gun on someone.

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________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[JakeGrey]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: OldManTom
Subj: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

Jesus fucking *Christ*...

My son sent me a link to this thread because he wanted to take up Panzer Kunst and I was baulking a bit at the cost of lessons. He has won the argument and then some!

[Cobalt Greywalker]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: RockDoc
Subj: RE: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?
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If anyone's wondering (and not trying to excise the thought from their head), yes I've heard of the guy.

He's Perma-banned. Not just by me, hell The Professor (or rather Catty) had banned him before I'd got round to even thinking about it, but pretty much all the big names. Can't stop him from collecting, but I prefer my stuff to be recycled PROPERLY.

I've had bad experiences in cons myself, and you've probably heard of them anyway (Senshi gossip network...), but I've not yet needed to get so *forceful*. Probably -BECAUSE- I *can* rip their arms out of their sockets and beat them to Death with the soggy end...

[DeputyJones]

Posted in: /r/askfens Posted by: CyberCEO Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?----------
Got pointed in this direction by Lycoris.
Ah, yes. Him. He's been seen essentially stalking the areas around the Cyberdyne sales shop in Sheffield, taking advantage of the dim lighting in town. Was actually arrested once for trying to go through our dumpster - as though we'd just toss 'waved products in with the regular trash. We've got a restraining order against him being within a hundred yards again.

[DeputyJones]

Posted in: /r/askfens Posted by: MishiMama Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?----------
Got pointed here, too.
Yeah, creeps at the con' are a naturally-occurring unnatural hazard. On the disgusting side of creepy, in 2022 several punks who looked like extras from an '80s spring break film (spray tans, greased hair, and wearing swim trunks while shirtless for no apparent reason) asked if a foxy (srsly?) Jap like me would like to star in a 'video.'
Unlike the ringleader's unmentionables, I was ever so thankful my kendoka outfit came complete with bokken.

[Dartz]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: Gunbunny_Chicago92
Subj: RE: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

|I *can* rip their arms out of their sockets and beat them to Death with the soggy end...

Jackasses must've learned only to bother the ones who can't tear them apart limb from limb. But what can you really do about 'em aside from banning them? Answers on a postcard please. I mean, until they actually commit a crime....

|My son sent me a link to this thread because he wanted to take up Panzer Kunst and I was baulking a bit at the cost of lessons. He has won the argument and then some!

/OldTom I know someone who'll be able to help with that. I'll let her know to PM. She's still banned from this sub so won't see the post.

Also. To the one person who asked... no, I didn't just execute him on the Convention floor. I didn't have live ammo in the Gunzerker so it only knocked him out for an hour. If I'd done that, I'd be on my way to Azkhaban by now.

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Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: chromeeffectpaint
Subj: RE: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

Jesus Christ, talk about overreactions. We're only hearing one side of the story here. She pointed a gun at someone! You don't point guns at people you don't want to kill and really, this isn't the sort of thing that warrants a death sentence?

Y'know there's a whole load of people who're just interested in these things from a purely technological standpoint. It's all part of our history and some of these pieces are complete works of art. You can't just throw that on the scrapheap, any more than you can throw out an old rolex. Technology is beautiful.

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________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Matrix Dragon]

Dartz wrote:

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Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: chromeeffectpaint
Subj: RE: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

Jesus Christ, talk about overreactions. We're only hearing one side of the story here. She pointed a gun at someone! You don't point guns at people you don't want to kill and really, this isn't the sort of thing that warrants a death sentence?

Y'know there's a whole load of people who're just interested in these things from a purely technological standpoint. It's all part of our history and some of these pieces are complete works of art. You can't just throw that on the scrapheap, any more than you can throw out an old rolex. Technology is beautiful.

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Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: TomboyOrion
Subj: RE: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?
Seriously? She's talking about parts of her body, not scrap in a bin. Metal or Flesh, there's a line, and this asshole crossed it at barely sub-light. Trying to claim it's artistic appreciation does not justify 'so how much for your arm?' ESPECIALLY when you get grabby. I considered that the first rule of Cons before my run-in with the Goo, and I've gotten a bit more militant about it since then. I wouldn't have shot the asshole, but that's only because I'm a firm believer in mace.

[LynnInDenver]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: JMCSidehacker
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

OK, Ford, you win on this one. And I thought the guy, unsolicited, asking me to pose in the hardsuit latex innersuit for photos was bad.

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: JMCLordandMaster
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

We've had some dealings with these sorts asking to ship "no questions asked" sorts of packages. This is part of why we do try to keep up on the stolen cybernetics mailing lists. This guy in particular was already in our "don't do business" lists, but that's because both AC and The Professor stopped by our offices personally to let us know about what was going on.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[Matrix Dragon]

JFerio wrote:

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Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: JMCLordandMaster
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

We've had some dealings with these sorts asking to ship "no questions asked" sorts of packages. This is part of why we do try to keep up on the stolen cybernetics mailing lists. This guy in particular was already in our "don't do business" lists, but that's because both AC and The Professor stopped by our offices personally to let us know about what was going on.

Posted in: /r/askfensPosted by: TomboyOrionSubj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?
The part that always fascinates me there is the people that get offended when I demand to know what I'm shipping. I mean, I put it right there on my website that I don't ship questionable material, and I had one asshole actually threaten me for reporting him to the Australian Federal Police when I found out it was stolen goods. Amusingly, it never seems to be the Browncoats that I have trouble with there. For a group built of the exploits of a smuggling ship, they understand legalities and paperwork in a way a lot of people in space don't.

[Foxboy]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: OldManVF
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

I "like" the ironic twists of the con scene myself... in that they make great "Are you KIDDING me?!" stories. I've had encounters with the "gentleman" in question myself, both while piloting my Kusanagi telepresence, and au naturel as I've been since the Gryphon incident.

In the first instance, I was simultaneously flattered, insulted and squicked. Flattered that he thought Kusanagi was a real person with cybermods, squicked at a similar incident to Ford's that led to the insult when he found out my "shell" was a telepresence... and not one of the Cyber-faction Mads' work.

The incident "au naturel" was when I was helping with a "Squeaky Clean Magical Girls" event at SDCC last year and one of the first time cosplayers was this sweet kid with some of the first FDA-approved cyberlimbs cadged from the Catalog. (Mad props to the Geisel School of Medicine and the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth back in my old stomping grounds!)

Guess who shows up and starts hassling "Cyber Nurse Angel Ririka?" Bingo. In fact, you can find a video of my response here. I thought the 60's Batman splash and the shout from the 70's Shazam shout from its opening were a nice touch. Though I also like the one that used Jim Nabors instead.

I got into so much trouble for that punch... but oddly enough, not from Con security, but from some of the folks who weren't aware of my recent history who'd invited me to a feminism panel along with some of the "I'm only a big name on the Moon" Supers, like Linda Marston (JLI's "Wonder Woman" of the moment). I went, never having been to one, and thinking maybe now that I have some idea of how things work with matching X chromosomes and having a viewpoint of both sides, I might be able to contribute meaningfully to the conversation... Yeah. No.
Apparently some of the great centers of the Social Media experiment metastasized while we weren't looking/relevant to them. I wish I hadn't had to have "the progressive stack" explained to me so... viscerally. Fortunately, the prickly egoes "up" let me understand how to deal with that much rage at my bare existence. If I recall correctly, Linda and I storming out in high dudgeon actually shook some things up... until I found Lime gleefully using our store Website's  Interface for Intrusion Countermeasures as an insanely quick Space Invaders level from all the vicious comments and hacking attempts in retaliation from how one of the "persons" (xyr choice for self-description) that was on the panel spun things afterwards.
The fandoms that didn't inspire Capital-F-"Fen" are a scary place. Though Linda tells me a lot of Senshi have the same problem at earth-side Cons. I shudder to think of the crap involuntary catgirls have to go through.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Matrix Dragon]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: TomboyOrion
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

"The fandoms that didn't inspire Capital-F-"Fen" are a scary place."

I'd include some of the Capital-F fandoms in that as well. More than a few of us that came out of their biomod with green skins tend to avoid the Trekkies these days, for instance. It's not the majority of them (Hell, I know a few guys at Starfleet that would love to start swinging a banhammer over this behaviour) but you can only have people go 'well, you wanted to be an Orion, so you have to take the bad with the good' for so long before you start really feeling the call of the Dark Side, y'know? *Sigh* Remember when space was supposed to be a fresh start, away from the old prejudices? I guess it doesn't matter if you're pink, green or furry, we're still human, for good or ill.

[JakeGrey]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: OldManTom
Subj: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

> /OldTom I know someone who'll be able to help with that. I'll let her know to PM. She's still banned from this sub so won't see the post.

Thanks.

> Apparently some of the great centers of the Social Media experiment metastasized while we weren't looking/relevant to them.

Oh, this is nothing new. Ever heard of something called the SCUM Manifesto? I read a copy of that once and it was as ugly as anything those Red Pill troglodytes put out. And you'll always find someone dumb enough to play Fanaticism Top Trumps in any ideological movement; just ask the Labour Party circa 1980.

I can definitely empathise with your con experience, though. Maybe I'm too heavily desensitised from my long exposure to squaddie humour, but it seems like some people actively go looking for things to be offended by. And the next person who suggests my partner is somehow "cheating" by dating a straight guy, even in jest, is getting pepper-sprayed!

[Dartz]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: Gunbunny_Chicago92
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

>In fact, you can find a video of my response here.

Guilded for Great Justice. (Ugh, I hate myself for even saying that) You think after one punch like that, somebody'd get the idea. And if anybody's making you not feel welcome at all, you're welcome out here for a break. We can set up some custom paper targets down the range and I can offer a fine selection of weapons which need thorough testing....

|The fandoms that didn't inspire Capital-F-"Fen" are a scary place.

I don't want to turn this into 'my fucked up con experience is worse than yours', but I'll say that the majority of my experiences at Fen conventions have paled in comparison to the trips I've taken to gunshows back on Earth. Both as a guest, and worse, as a dealer. Imagine your worst fennish toxic culture, armed to the teeth, and convinced it has the right to be that way... No, I am not just 'minding the booth until the owner gets back', thanks for the DTR by the way.

| but it seems like some people actively go looking for things to be offended by

The asshole is universal to all peoples. It doesn't matter where they're from or what you believe, when you actually start harming people or asking for people to be harmed, you're an asshole and not worth my time. Believe what you want to believe and don't be an jackass to anyone about it, that's my opinion. Once you start justifying why your special belief allows you to be a jackass to people, or bothering anyone who doesn't agree 120% with everything you say, you've crossed the line. Most of these people just aren't worth my time bothering with, and thankfully, they don't seem to bother me.

And at least, unlike some of my fellow countrymen, I can understand the concept of black humour enough to ask if it's supposed to be a Joke.

|Australian Federal Police when I found out it was stolen goods

The Stupid. It Burns! I think. I think I might actually have picked up this guy as a Bounty once.

| 'well, you wanted to be an Orion, so you have to take the bad with the good'

Yeah. This whole line of reasoning falls apart the moment you remember how many biomods didn't ask to be biomodded.

| Remember when space was supposed to be a fresh start, away from the old prejudices? I guess it doesn't matter if you're pink, green or furry, we're still human, for good or ill.

Out with the old. In with the new!. But most people up are still decent. If the response to this thread is anything to go by. there's just a lot more dark spaces in the universe for the sinister to hide.

| And I thought the guy, unsolicited, asking me to pose in the hardsuit latex innersuit for photos was bad.

And these people seem to assume that, if they've paid in to an event, everyone else there is part of the show, except for them, and they have the god-given right to do what they want.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Matrix Dragon]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: TomboyOrion
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

"The Stupid. It Burns! I think. I think I might actually have picked up this guy as a Bounty once. "

No, this genius never made it up here. He was back in Melbourne, so the AFP never even needed to ask Haruhi's Angels to pick him up for them. Lots of places in space might be accepting of odd stuff (Or at least they'll let you do stupid things in a place where the only person you'll kill is yourself), but even the nations that've been accepting of us goofballs have their limits.

"Yeah. This whole line of reasoning falls apart the moment you remember how many biomods didn't ask to be biomodded."

It's weird how many people can forget that. I'd like to think I wasn't that dumb before my accident, but I can admit I probably had a moment or two. Still, at least most people up here do at least remember that, even if sometimes they need to be politely reminded. 

"Out with the old. In with the new!. But most people up are still decent. If the response to this thread is anything to go by. there's just a lot more dark spaces in the universe for the sinister to hide. "

And bitterness aside, there's a lot of light to drive back the shadows. For every asshole-at-a-con story, I've got at least two about good people in the same setting. I need to find a copy of that Deadpool Con video I was in. That was fun. And he's such a good sport about it. Explains what he wants to do, asks permission... He's a real sweetheart.

[HRogge]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: Cathy@Jenga

Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

> The fandoms that didn't inspire Capital-F-"Fen" are a scary place. Though Linda tells me a lot of Senshi have the same problem at earth-side Cons. I shudder to think of the crap involuntary catgirls have to go through.

It is not that bad... I have been on a few Cons and most people I met there were really nice.

Of course its funny to wake up from a short nap only to find someone sitting near you with a sign "don't disturb sleeping catgirls". *grin*

[Dartz]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: Mirai_Yutaki
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

>Of course its funny to wake up from a short nap only to find someone sitting near you with a sign "don't disturb sleeping catgirls". *grin*

This is not for your benefit. I have friends who still have scars after waking a sleeping catgirl. Next time, just leave them dozing when the fire alarm sounds.

But nobody wants an angry razor-clawed furball of death incident. Again.

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Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: chromeeffectpaint
Subj: RE: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

I'm pretty sure I'm getting downvoted to hell, but TomboyOrion Have you seen some of these people? If you treat yourself as an object, don't be surprised when some people objectify you. That's all I have to say to them. Unlike biomods, they do have a choice in how their perceived.

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Meta: Wow. It's hard writing intelligent moron arguments.....
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[HRogge]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: Cathy@Jenga
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

> > Of course its funny to wake up from a short nap only to find someone sitting near you with a sign "don't disturb sleeping catgirls". *grin*

> This is not for your benefit. I have friends who still have scars after waking a sleeping catgirl. Next time, just leave them dozing when the fire alarm sounds.

> But nobody wants an angry razor-clawed furball of death incident. Again.

Hey, I am not that bad...

I think the only times I clawed at someone was when someone pulled my tail just for fun... that hurt as hell!

But I admit some of the less fortunate catgirls are a bit jumpy.

Cathy

[Matrix Dragon]

Meta: The sad thing Dartz? I've dealt with people I could see making that kind of argument and seeing themselves as being right. On the plus side, an old character design I never got anywhere with seems to be coming together... Now if that writers block would kindly go away...

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: TomboyOrion
Subj: RE: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

"If you treat yourself as an object, don't be surprised when some people objectify you. That's all I have to say to them. Unlike biomods, they do have a choice in how their perceived."

Really? You want to try trotting out that old line? Maybe you should add the always-successful 'she brought it on herself, dressing like that.' Establish yourself as a gentleman of class and taste.

It doesn't matter if they had it brought on them by unfortunate circumstances, or if they decided the way of total conversion was best for them. That doesn't remove their rights to be treated as a human being, and it never gives people the right to act like an asshole to them.

[robkelk]

Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: Karamitei
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

I was goin' to stay out of this one - my kind of con has a different set of problems, and nothin' I've seen is worse than what I almost - almost - did at the first Cosmic Party. But I gotta reply to chromeeffectpaint.

> If you treat yourself as an object, don't be surprised when some people objectify you.

You got no idea what you're sayin' there. I had no choice how I was built, and I had no say in what I was forced to do at Cosmic Party. I was treated as an object, and you don't know ANYTHING about what that's like.

So shut your mouth about what you don't know about.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Dakota]

Posted in: /r/askfensPosted by: HoloDogSubj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace Convention. What's your creepiest con experience? I've thankfully not had a major run in with any, yet. Despite being a major and highly visible biomod of the furry/shifter type. That often is running my own booth in a fixed findable location. Only thing remotely close was the guy wanting me to draw nude pictures of his characters for free and wouldn't quite take no for a answer until security hauled him off. Yea, he walked up to a booth full of electronics and demanded free porn art. Turned out he'd already been chased out of artist row and had noticed my sketch pad. A pad I keep only for when things get slow on the selling omni-tools, holo tablets and stand alone holo projectors systems front.
On the more annoying front.
I've had people that try to jump on my back while I'm in Chatro form. Usually when drunk, which leads to it's own sort of hilarity. Had a bigger issue with people trying to steal from my booth, supplies, and saddlebags. Along with the sort that think it's funny to mess with the guy in the "costume" no matter which form I'm in, but you get those at a lot of Cons. Security is more then willing to run them out the doors when caught.
_______________________________________________________________
Characters
Sabre Fang
Dakota

[Rajvik]

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Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: WolfboyFSOG
Subj: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?
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Furry cons can be irritating, and non-furry cons can be doubly so. Now granted the following story happened pre-wavium, but it still holds and I still hold myself responsible for being a jerk for imposing on the two young ladies in question.

My first Convention was Anime-fest in Dallas, something I would love to get back to one day soon, that said i did it on a major shoestring and last minute. By shoestring i mean sleeping in the viewing room my first and last night there and barely having anything to eat while i was there. The thing is though i enjoyed myself and i'm sure that's one of the things that counts the most. That said, my second night there i could hear the minions chasing this young cosplayer through the main concourse to shouts of, "You're Goku, You're Goku." I could hear the frustration in her voice as she told the repeatedly that no she was not and to leave her alone, so i intervened. Even before my mod i was not a small person, not overly tall but i guess you could use the phrase imposing to describe me, especially when i was wearing my shadowrunner gear. So i rounded the pillar i had been leaning against to screen the lady from the horde of unattended minors and growled. This stopped their pestering and sent them packing. This was not my mistake, that would come later.

Quite frankly a second night in the stench of the viewing room was not appealing so i asked for the use of the lady and her roommates floor and of their shower to which they agreed in thanks for my intervention, and the conversation that followed kept us up quite late that night. The next day however i overstayed my welcome and after i left i got the feeling that they looked on me as a bit of a creeper. I definately pushed the boundaries to far and overstayed my welcome, that i cannot deny. On the other hand i hope that the young ladies were not offended to much by this. as i haven't been back since then i haven't seen them. 

Ah but i meander off topic and grow maudlin. Maybe being male helps with some of the situation, maybe its that i'm a combat vet both up here and groundside and carry myself as such but thankfully i haven't had to deal with any problems besides the random unattended small.
 

[Dartz]

Meta: Since I'm not sure about A), what happened at Cosmic Party, or B) What's publicly known about it, we're going with 'not much'

And my head hurts.

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Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: chromeeffectpaint
Subj: RE: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

The first Cosmic Party? I heard someone almost blew that thing sky high or something.... That was YOU?

Look, all you people are missing the point entirely. You're all so happy to brigade in on your high horses without actually listening to what I'm saying. I've bought parts of cybers who don't want them anymore. Y'know, just parts, not parts of them. That was their own words. I know cybers who don't even see their bodies as part of themselves. I mean, have you even read some of the stuff that they teach themselves?

What about the one with that hot puppet, who's happily parading the thing around in skintight flightsuits and cosplays solely to attract attention. She even admits to doing it. Gunbunny knows exactly who I'm talking about and she's

Look, that old ' she was asking for it' chestnut gets trotted out far to easy as an excuse for anything. Let me just say this..... if you park your car in detroit and leave it unlocked, who's fault is it if the stereo get's stolen. Sure it'd be nice to leave your front door unlocked, but none of us do, I gurantee it There's a point where personal responsibility for your own safety has to take over on some level.

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Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: KidOfSpeed77
Subj: RE: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

Too anyone who thinks I'm bad.... I point to this thread.

Besides, I kind of learned the 'look, but dont touch' rule the hard way. I really wanted to go to that panel, and I didn't have my own body at the time...

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In hindsight, I should probably stop.... this might be cutting a bit too close to the bone.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Matrix Dragon]

Posted In: /r/askfens
Posted by: TomboyOrion
Subj: RE: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

... Right. That's it. I'm bowing out of this part of the conversation before my disgusted muttering turns into loud 'ranting at my empty ship to calm down.' That would make the upcoming atmospheric entry troublesome.

(It would also get my ships AI giving me pitying looks over the holocom, as if I haven't come home to find her doing the exact same thing.)

[robkelk]

META: Still haven't completely told that story. For now, let's just say Agatha left a booby-trap in Yuu.

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Posted in: /r/askfens
Posted by: Karamitei
Subj: RE: RE: RE: Congoers of the Fenspace convention. What's your creepiest con experience?

> The first Cosmic Party? I heard someone almost blew that thing sky high or something.... That was YOU?

That was me - or, rather, that was somethin' left in my systems by the baka who built me and treated me like an object. And it would have been a lot worse if somebody else hadn't taken steps to minimize the damage.

No, I ain't sayin' who, or how. We might have to do that again.

> Look, all you people are missing the point entirely.

Topic drift has been part of the net since Usenet days. (Or so I'm told by my grandfather.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[JakeGrey]

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.