[☆ MV]

double post D:

This post has been edited by ☆ MV: 14 April 2012 - 06:38 PM

[☆ MV]

I don't think that I will be in character. I'm very shy, quiet, and awkward until I'm a little comfortable, and while the characters I'm cosplaying this year aren't generally as shy as I am, they aren't really loud or super crazy outgoing or anything that might scare people off or are difficult for me to give off a proper aura for :S

I like when some people are in character - like saying something from the series(that isn't offensive, lol) and striking a pose like the character. But when people don't break character, or their character is a douche or a pervert and someone tries to be in character, I don't like that.

This post has been edited by ☆ MV: 14 April 2012 - 06:38 PM

[Gabichox]

Dark Spellmaster, on 12 April 2012 - 07:33 PM, said:

Here's an odd question, if say a booth, like Funimation or Sentai, or other dubing company or non dubbing company had a person there dressed in character and acting in character all the time, would people be annoyed with this person?

To me, it's the same as if it were just some random cosplayer. If they know when to stop and answer like a normal human being then I wouldn't get annoyed. Though the plus side is... if they're at the booth, you can just avoid the booth if you're annoyed by them.

Also wow at that Master Roshi. That's just vile.

[Izuhara_Torozu]

I really like the comment about being in character as a steam punk character that's really just created out of one's own imagination.. being "in character" then simply means inventing your own fun kind of personality, speech pattern, vocab.. even accent. Essentially you get to be who you want for the weekend, and you decide who that is.

Now as for being in character for an actual character that's been featured in a show/etc.. I can't imagine trying to do it all the time! Maybe if you can mimic a voice, add an accent, or just be a little more jubilant (if you're a happy character like Luffy or something) while you're in costume.. that's kind of fun. But trying to be in character for a completely non-real character (see: Pikachu girl), that's just ridic!

Half the fun of cosplaying to meeting people.. talking to the people who run up and squee and want pics, or chatting it up with others that you find cosplaying from the same origin as your character. If you're fully in character to the point where you can't hold a convo or let the real you shine through that seems a little silly. Won't make any fun new friends that way

[Red Juliet]

Oh Neko, that's awful! I think that's just downright rude and inappropriate. There is a huge difference to being perverted in anime and in real life. For one, you can get in trouble for being perverted in real life. I thought that was common sense but it seems like a lot of people flip skirts or take perverted pictures. I would have told one of the con staff. I think there are ways to be funny in character without being inappropriate, like the Miroku that asks you to bear his children. He didn't touch or anything, so it didn't bother me.

[manga1]

Are you that one chick in the statue costume that sits along the side of the wall, and one can barely hear if they try to talk to you?

I ran across that person the last 2 acens, and I dont mind if they say in accent of their character if they will talk to me and answer the small talk I ask them, one woman in victorian and her friend or whatever relation she was pretended to be a ghost and would not tell me what character they were or what series, and the elder character told her to just keep walking, and insisted that was how she dressed and it was not a costume, It annoyed the piss out of me, because they did a real good job and I wanted a photo but they would not stop and let me get one, or even tell me which state they were from.

[antisocialist]

Something people should get in mind.

You can be a jerk in character. I can also shut you down and embarrass you in front of your buddies.

This post has been edited by antisocialist: 19 April 2012 - 01:14 AM

[Grimmons]

manga1, on 18 April 2012 - 10:44 PM, said:

Are you that one chick in the statue costume that sits along the side of the wall, and one can barely hear if they try to talk to you?

Whom are you asking?

[tatterpillar]

So, I try...but I suck at it. I was a shy person one year, but I can't always control my inner fangirl. In my defense, I haven't been cosplaying very long. Also, this year I am a vocaloid. I'm not entirely sure how to act/pose yet D: It's like I'm asking for haters.

[Izuhara_Torozu]

Pfff, as long as you're having fun those haters don't mean a darn thing!

[Grimmons]

Izuhara_Torozu, on 21 April 2012 - 09:11 PM, said:

Pfff, as long as you're having fun those haters don't mean a darn thing!

Well, everyone makes a really good point but, I mean, lolcats and all...

[Izuhara_Torozu]

Hush it's the Internet here. Promise I won't go spouting off memes irl.
One of my friends does that.. Lawdy it's all I can do not to give him the talk.

[kiikiithegirl]

This is my first ACen cosplaying, and although I did cosplay for Comicon last year one day, it seems that whatever characters I've picked so far (only 2 haha) just fit my personality. but totally, tone it down a bit, below the obnoxious level please.

[Dark Kanine]

I stayed in character to the best of my abilities, but when I was asked about Keith I blanked and had to make up a story, but people seemed to like it; I couldn't really get that accent down either.

"One time, me and my buddy Keith got stuck on a roller coaster upside down, after getting bored of the blood rushing to our heads we played rock, paper, scissors to pass the time." (and if I stuttered at a point I'd fill in that kiddyland was closed.

[OathThe1st]

I've found I tend to switch back and forth between in-character and myself very fluidly, depending on if I'm being spoken to as me or the character. I also tend to try and stick to in-character or semi-IC responses when it fits the conversation. It probably helps that both of the characters I did this year have distinctly different speech than me, so personality transitions were usually fairly obvious.

A bonus I've found for the characters I tend to go as: most of them are at least assertive enough that, if confronted or attacked or met with inappropriate behavior, they WILL stick up for themselves/others, so I can even stay in-character while calling out other people for being jerks!

[Saikyo_Master]

Most, if not all, of my characters that I have cosplayed or plan to cosplay are downright insane. Take Asylum Joker for instance. Keeping a constant smile and talking in a confusing, morbidly comical manner would get tiresome both to me and to the people speaking to me. Plus, it's a bit asinine to do such all the time. As for Violent Ken that I plan to do next year, well, if you know his disposition, he usually grunts like a wild animal, puts people down and screams at people to fight him. Yeah, not doing that. xD Then I plan to do Adon in the near future and well..he's just a condescending butt. So, I think that in-character should be kept in a consensual zone, meaning if other people are just fine with someone being in character(The Naruto and Sasuke thing earlier in the thread being a good example) then it's fine. But the line comes between when it's time to cosplay and have fun and when it's just time to act like a normal human being with a lick of common sense.

[CrimsonAnime]

I really love watching people that stay in character the whole time. It is really hard because we are there to enjoy the convention as con goers rather than as characters so when we see something we like or whatever, I think of course we're going to act like ourselves. So people that manage to stay in character are pretty awesome!

I try to do it but I end up forgetting a lot of the time. I figure I'm doing okay if I can slip into character when needed like at a photoshoot or when someone approaches my character. lol

[Silverwing013]

I think if you are going to be 'in character' there is always a point of how far you go and knowing where you are. Just because you are dressed up as so and so, does not mean you can ignore common sense. Even if cons seem like a whole 'nother world, you are still in the real world. Snapping inappropriate pictures or other such acts are still severely frowned upon and you can be charged on it. In character is fine, just make sure you are not a complete idiot about it.

Have fun with it though. Cosplay is amazing enough. In character done well is icing on the cake. Mmm...cake.

Personally, I have a ball being in character for some of mine. High time favorite is Kuwabara from YuYu Hakusho because he is such a golden hearted goofball so I'm good to pull off things as him since he is such an honorable guy. Cons are goofy, he is goofy, so it's like goofy squared.

To this convention, here is a favorite in character moment of mine. ACen of 2011, I was running around as Kuwabara for a while. Saw a Yusuke Urameshi in the Dealer's Room. Hahaha. Warning, I saw you. Dressed as Yusuke. I raced up and yelled "Urameshi you're going down!" We spent about a second grinning at each other and then someone asked to take a picture, saying she thought it was awesome we decided to do YuYu Hakusho. Later on, I joined back up with a friend, who had somehow heard of the story of a Kuwabara cosplayer challenging a Yusuke to a fight and immediately told the person telling the story, "Yep, that's totally my friend."

-Silverwing013

[Uchihacest97]

BAHAHA!! I WISH!!!

My favorite thing to do is get drunk AS the character. Drunk 13 year old Aristocrat?! screw yea. lmao i loooove running into those people that can be fun and into their character. Just dont criticize people if they dont feel the same way.

"Omg, Mana doesn't talk, everyone knows that! Ugh, you are terrible."

Really... stfu.

[otakootie]

I like when people are in character at certain times. Like, if someone shouts your character's name excitedly, it's usually pretty fun to reply with a well-known catch phrase. But, if your character is incredible eccentric, it's probably best to drop it there, aside from the occasional remark.
Some characters are ok though. I cosplay Rigby from Regular (with my boyfriend as Mordecai) and we pretty much act like them in everyday life, so when we're in costume we're accidentally in character. People haven't seemed to mind, but they aren't that crazy of characters, typically.

[Valkyrie]

I'm of the mind that it's cool to be in character...but seriously, maintain some common sense. We're in real life, in real society, not a game or anime or other form of media. What may be okay in those, may not be okay in real life.

Also, it's okay to break character in order to carry a conversation with someone or do other normal activities. I've heard of crazy elitists who seem to think that eating should always be done in character, among other things. (I can honestly say I don't want to pass a group of DBZ cosplayers wolfing down food like cavemen just to keep up appearances.) There are limits, and fans and cosplayers alike should observe them.

[Agatha]

I think being in-character is cool as long as it's done reasonably. For example, if you start character-acting with someone and they're clearly not into it, it's politer to drop the act and converse normally, or if the character is incredibly obnoxious, it's better to do it in small doses and/or save it for photoshoots.

The first time I ever cosplayed I had someone cosplaying a "rude" character (whom I didn't recognize!) walk up to me and out of the blue say I was terrible and they hated me. I was so shocked, I just made this face at them: o.O, and after a minute they got really embarrassed and said they'd just being acting like whoever-it-was.

I think what a lot of people don't realize is that there are so many characters out there, it's incredibly likely that you'll encounter someone who's not familiar with yours, even if it's from something popular. And if they don't recognize you, and your character is a jerk, and you act like it, their first thought is going to be that you're the jerk.

[Judas_Michael]

I love staying in character. I can usually work around it to the point where I can have normal conversations if needed for a short period of time, but if people want to get to know me I'll break character to introduce myself ect. most of the time I'm in character though.

For example at AMKE last year I cosplayed as "Thief King Bakura" from Yu-Gi-Oh. Many fans describe him as a smooth criminal so I enjoyed flirting with people. Or when I did Beyond Birthday -of course my very first cosplay ever- from Death Note. I followed Ls around everywhere.

[Dr. Genius]

I really like hearing everyone's opinions on this ^^

I think when people come up to ask for your picture solo staying in character for the shot is a good way to go. Spending extra time working on posing specific to the character beforehand always shows and honestly can really make someone's day to see their favorite character emulated so well (I feel this way a lot!) That being said I always procrastinate on making the costume itself that I just end up winging the posing .___.

However another thing I've found is that it's always fun to see serious characters and or groups of cosplayers be silly, especially during photoshoots! Cosplaying itself should be less stress and critique and more fun and bringing characters to life, even if right now that seems like it's only in a perfect world that is.

Also, Grimmons, not to be a creep but I've definitely seen and taken pictures of your Deku link before (I apologize though if it were ever rushed or awkward, I seem to recall being a little hyper and or weird about it I think ;~ and it is AMAZING. I hope to catch you again this ACen : 3!

[DJ Llij]

I find it rather hard to stay in character... especially if they are a crazy yandere... I do have fun with Yuno Gasai and Princess Trollestia/Molestia though.

[Phalio]

One of my cosplays will be T-elos(Xenosaga III), and I'd really like to try staying in-character because she's so dramatic 100% of the time and she's a high-powered android. It just seems prime for hilarity, but perhaps obnoxious at the same time, lol. She talks in a "Canterlot Voice". XD I could be like "YES, I WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH WITH YOU, SMALL HUMAN CHILD." But I could see that getting old, for me and for others, LOL!

[YoungBirdcall]

Phalio, on 28 January 2013 - 06:15 PM, said:

One of my cosplays will be T-elos(Xenosaga III), and I'd really like to try staying in-character because she's so dramatic 100% of the time and she's a high-powered android. It just seems prime for hilarity, but perhaps obnoxious at the same time, lol. She talks in a "Canterlot Voice". XD I could be like "YES, I WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH WITH YOU, SMALL HUMAN CHILD." But I could see that getting old, for me and for others, LOL!

That sounds hilarious! I wholeheartedly approve of the "Canterlot Voice" and I'm sure that everyone else in the entire world agrees with me. My finger is on the pulse of what's cool, after all.

[Stealthykitten]

I honestly think staying in character is pretty fun... but like all of you said... Limits really is the key to making the con enjoyable for everybody

Like last year... I was France from Hetalia... who is like KNOWN for being like a rapist and whatever but, I was just a total sweetheart to people... and I even did my "J Micheal Tatum French Accent"

...and there's no reason to just continue to be in character when other cosplayers are obviously in need of assistance... like I was asked where a photoshoot location was and I simply just broke character, answered question... nicely... and they hugged me and were on their way.... it is common courtesy and even I... the "rapist" was rewarded with hugs XD

And this year I'm cosplaying Amaimon from Blue Exorcist and he's pretty mello voice wise... and it's true he's kinda a psycho... but Ya can't go around punchin' people.... My plan is to share DumDum Pops with fangirls

[Graphospasm]

I worked at a murder mystery dinner theater for a summer and learned a few tricks that have served me well during my cosplaying efforts. Might I share?

First, there's a difference between preserving character and preserving demeanor. If you're walking around in-character at a con, sometimes it's okay to drop character and keep demeanor when someone engages you in conversation. It's basically picking and choosing which parts of the character you want to display. If your character is super chipper all the time but is super flaky and forgetful and somebody asks where the bathroom is, keeping in perfect character means not knowing where the bathroom is and letting the person wet themselves. Keeping demeanor means keeping the super chipper attitude but dropping the forgetfulness and telling them exactly how to find the damn bathroom, even taking them to it if they're especially lost. If they REALLY need help, dropping the demeanor and character entirely and acting like yourself is just plain logical.

I tend to walk around in character until I observe an indicator that the person speaking to me doesn't want me to be in character. For instance, if someone asks how I sewed my skirt, I'll drop character (maybe keeping demeanor, depending) and tell them what they want to know. Pretending my Sailor Scout uniform is magical even when asked a dozen times if I used a certain fabric is just obnoxious. However, sometimes people will approach and ask me things about other characters in the show or similar, so it's clear that they want an in-character response. At the murder mystery theater, people would often try to ask me how I got my acting job... that was a call for character dropping (so long as my supervisor was out of earshot). But when they asked things only my character would know, all bets were off and I'd burst into random song if I felt it was appropriate. Sometimes people love that. But the SECOND someone looks annoyed when I talk to them in character, I drop everything. Every. Thing. Some people are just more receptive to it than others and you're liable to get punched if you annoy someone who lacks that key sense of adventure and indulgent fun.

I cosplay Velma and I've been asked a dozen times where Daphne is when I walk around solo. I've trained myself to instantly respond with either a frustrated "She's been kidnapped AGAIN!" or an enthusiastic "It's a mystery!"--same when they ask about the boys or Scooby. People like that my reaction is in character and I know that they didn't *really* want to know that Daphne had to work all weekend and couldn't make the con this year. You just have to find that right balance, I suppose, because walking around looking for clues everywhere would be tiresome indeed. Although I did stalk around with magnifying glass to the ground for a good ten minutes last ACen, Daphne tra-la-laing on my heels. Eesh.

The second a camera comes up for photos the character comes back full force. The second it drops, I thank the person even if my character wouldn't do that. It's just courtesy.

Aaaaand... I'm sure there's more but right now I'm blanking. Whoops.

[YoungBirdcall]

Graphospasm, on 20 February 2013 - 01:19 PM, said:

I worked at a murder mystery dinner theater for a summer and learned a few tricks that have served me well during my cosplaying efforts. Might I share?

First, there's a difference between preserving character and preserving demeanor. If you're walking around in-character at a con, sometimes it's okay to drop character and keep demeanor when someone engages you in conversation. It's basically picking and choosing which parts of the character you want to display. If your character is super chipper all the time but is super flaky and forgetful and somebody asks where the bathroom is, keeping in perfect character means not knowing where the bathroom is and letting the person wet themselves. Keeping demeanor means keeping the super chipper attitude but dropping the forgetfulness and telling them exactly how to find the damn bathroom, even taking them to it if they're especially lost. If they REALLY need help, dropping the demeanor and character entirely and acting like yourself is just plain logical.

I tend to walk around in character until I observe an indicator that the person speaking to me doesn't want me to be in character. For instance, if someone asks how I sewed my skirt, I'll drop character (maybe keeping demeanor, depending) and tell them what they want to know. Pretending my Sailor Scout uniform is magical even when asked a dozen times if I used a certain fabric is just obnoxious. However, sometimes people will approach and ask me things about other characters in the show or similar, so it's clear that they want an in-character response. At the murder mystery theater, people would often try to ask me how I got my acting job... that was a call for character dropping (so long as my supervisor was out of earshot). But when they asked things only my character would know, all bets were off and I'd burst into random song if I felt it was appropriate. Sometimes people love that. But the SECOND someone looks annoyed when I talk to them in character, I drop everything. Every. Thing. Some people are just more receptive to it than others and you're liable to get punched if you annoy someone who lacks that key sense of adventure and indulgent fun.

I cosplay Velma and I've been asked a dozen times where Daphne is when I walk around solo. I've trained myself to instantly respond with either a frustrated "She's been kidnapped AGAIN!" or an enthusiastic "It's a mystery!"--same when they ask about the boys or Scooby. People like that my reaction is in character and I know that they didn't *really* want to know that Daphne had to work all weekend and couldn't make the con this year. You just have to find that right balance, I suppose, because walking around looking for clues everywhere would be tiresome indeed. Although I did stalk around with magnifying glass to the ground for a good ten minutes last ACen, Daphne tra-la-laing on my heels. Eesh.

The second a camera comes up for photos the character comes back full force. The second it drops, I thank the person even if my character wouldn't do that. It's just courtesy.

Aaaaand... I'm sure there's more but right now I'm blanking. Whoops.

This is an excellent response.