SPEAKER_03 0:02

Welcome back to the Blurred Spectrum podcast. This week we have a larger group of individuals. We have the LARPers and the cosplayers. This is not a versus battle. This is actually an opportunity for us to figure out what it is that these two groups do and how they intersect, how they are different, how they are in this Venn diagram that we call life. Anyway, so today I have a large group with us today, new individuals who've never been to the podcast before. So, you know, feel free to hit them up, hit them in their DMs after the podcast. But let me introduce them. Starting with myself, uh Suchino Shogun, uh, our panelists, non-cosplayer or LARPR, the Doctor, and Kaze. For our LARPers today, we have Kincaid, the Frightener, we have Red Rend, the Prophet of Prophet, and Paranight, LT. For our cosplayers today, we have Saeone as Goddess Heirs, Isis, Ms. Skittles as the lovely, sorceress supreme, Jafarnes, as well as the Black McCoy as one of the Akotsky. So, today what we want to do is we want to give the explanation, help you understand what these two groups do, and then you know give you a little bit more insight into maybe you want to do it as well. So, what I'm gonna allow first is the LARPers. Kin K, Rev, Rend, and Paranite. Why don't you give our listeners and viewers an insight into what LARPing is all about?

SPEAKER_02 1:57

First off, Kincaid, it's been a while since I've seen you. Uh since you last uh uh I think uh scared away half a country. You know? Yeah, it's still ugly and frightening as you are. Oh God, fix yourself.

SPEAKER_10 2:17

But uh so yeah, uh we are the LARP group. Um generally what we do is uh we roleplay. Um, but in our particular roleplay, it's more of a physical activity where we uh brandish handmade weaponry, um, handmade garb, uh and pretty much we go out in the field and we just uh uh beat each other with sticks.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

It is uh it's a it's a fantasy world which you are part of. It's almost like um interactive theater, but it's outdoors where you guys can go camping, you can hang out with friends, and you go through these adventures that you personally go through, and you have to do certain things. Like, example, like if it's an Indiana Jones theme, you're gonna see us try to replicate these events. Like you might have a big boulder that you know rolls down a hill, you have to run down a hill to do it, and you have to use your own wit in order to get past it. Um, what's great about LARVing is it brings out a different look or different side of you that you thought you might have that's not there because it's a lot different, especially for me.

SPEAKER_08 3:41

There's also the aspect of uh you creating your own character, uh making someone that's uh maybe similar to yourself, making someone completely different from yourself. Uh developing the character is very much like uh writing your own story. And taking that from being in your own imagination, your own mind, and putting it into the real world is very euphoric.

SPEAKER_10 4:14

Yes. Um, take for instance my character. I've very much uh tailored it after um actually somebody in Sonic Fantasy. It's uh uh the Dread Pire Robert. Pretty much my character is very similar in style and in appearance um than his. Take the mask, for example. And the weapons which I created, um pretty much I have a rapier and um and uh also I have a crossbow, but that was kind of my own thing. Um, but yes, basically it doesn't necessarily have to be somebody completely new, but you can't tailor it after uh your pretty much your ideal character that you want to make.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

Exactly. Like myself, I don't know if you can see my full garb. I'm in a um I'm in pretty much a uh graduation ceremony role. My character is a pastor who's from the future, came to around the medieval times, and he the only way for him he came he came from a game, and the only way for him to actually live in the new world was to actually find a way to make money, and he found out that gold is the main source, so why not since we since he hid in a church, and you know, a great place to hide money and fake as you're a church is to be a prophet or be a pastor. So my character is a prophet of profit. I started my own, I have my own church of profit, and I go around collecting, of course, convenience, funds, and even to raise for the church of profit. Um, but the one thing about this character I like is in real life I don't like gold. I hate gold. I think gold is a disgusting thing. But my character, Reverend, loves gold. Find gold anywhere. If I can make gold, or if I can help you raise gold, I give me gold. I'll take it. I'll I I will find I'll find a way. I don't really fight unless I have to. I talk, I'm an orator, I don't sing, I don't dance, I don't I don't jig, none of that. I preach. Because everyone needs to understand the world of gold is the way it is. Uh yes, he is a bard. Uh as far as his class is concerned. Yeah, we do have classes. That's important too.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

So the do the classes, are the classes necessary to be able to create your character? Or do you have a class?

SPEAKER_02 6:56

Not really create a character. It gives you it gives you your your essentially your skills in the adventure itself. So I don't know if you might play creation.

SPEAKER_08 7:07

Um you can use the classes as a jump off point to create your character, but it's not necessarily um your character isn't set in stone in those classic stereotypes, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

In in most LARP groups, they will have their own classes that that you could be a part of, or what class you can be to go through the adventure. Because we're not just us doing all this on ourselves. We have skills that we have to use from our classes to help us complete the adventure. I myself, like Pieron I said, I'm a bar. My job is to inspire, is to inspire and encourage into a little bit of a heal. So what I do is as an oritator, one of my still my class skills is as I orotate, I'm able to hand out these uh favors to people and give them certain abilities. Like one ability is to grant them their shield is unbreakable. So if they have a shield, it doesn't break if someone hits them a couple of times or a certain ability says your shield is broken.

SPEAKER_03 8:29

Kincaid, uh if um if Revren is a bard, what what is your class?

SPEAKER_08 8:39

Officially, my class is druid, but like I said, you can use the classes as a jump-off point, but yeah, necromancy character is a little more complex. Um uh druids use nature, magic, um things like that to augment themselves and the people around them and their environment. But my character is a bit more dark. I um use don't forget where you came from.

SPEAKER_02 9:19

Don't forget.

SPEAKER_07 9:20

Yes, and what you've done to everybody.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Don't you don't don't don't you forget what you've done to a lot of people. Because you know you affected my profit. That's your fault. My profit because of you. I am down. My church is down money. Now I have to raise more funds. Can't stand it. You owe me some gold. Wherever you are, owe me gold.

SPEAKER_08 9:46

In any case, yes, um, I use my abilities to manipulate others in certain ways. Um quite recently I've infiltrated um, let's say, the monarchy of the land that I'm in, the system. I um am actually in a system called Antguard. Uh this particular system is all over the nation. Um there's thousands of people inside this um particular LARPing program. Um where I am, the uh monarchy um has been asking for advice, and so I have been freely giving it. And that is my character.

SPEAKER_10 10:41

Yes, um myself and uh the Reverend, we are a system called uh Darkon Crown Land. Uh that's uh a system inside of the East Coast, uh Maryland specifically. Um we uh well myself I am a ranger. Um if I could show you my weaponry. Uh give me one moment. All right.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

It just has to be fancy, huh? All right. You know, you could have passed those funds over to the church that you that you belong to, you know. Whatever you have made off that or whatever slaughter you have done, I need, you know, you gotta come back and you gotta pray and forgive yourself for what you have sinned upon. Because you have been missing yourself. The church has not seen you in late.

SPEAKER_10 11:44

Where have you been? I have given you as much gold as you are gonna get. Wait.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

In fact, the church fund still seems low, Mrs. Uh Paranite. You need to make sure you commune, you you do your communes and you know, drink of the holy book because you haven't come back from what you have done. Don't forget where you came. Book.

SPEAKER_10 12:13

Speaking of drink, you remember that 50 gold?

SPEAKER_02 12:17

You owe me that from the last time in which you um my book says, let me turn to my book and tell you what I have from what I need. Because if I can remember correctly, you want me to give you 50 gold or 50 gold that I hold on a second. I think I might. Oh it's a holy water. What you what do you think you're doing? Don't judge me. Talking about why I owe 50 gold. Matter of fact, you owe me gold for sponsoring you. You forgot about that, didn't you? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, exactly. Pay your pay your pay your dues to your church.

SPEAKER_10 13:01

But uh the ranger essentially uh is in control of um land searches. Pretty much we're able to track down people, you know, we're able to um have a large assortment of weaponry. Uh we're also able to uh find particular quarry, uh, particularly if we see monsters that uh we use in order to um supplement our venture. Uh this uh allows us to gain greater control of territory for our particular countries, and uh it also allows us to get uh gold and experience, well not experience, but gold and uh resources uh that's necessary for us to expand.

SPEAKER_03 13:51

Okay. I know one question that I've heard is you know, how do you get into LARPing? You know, you don't have to go into your life story, but how did you come across uh this region? Um Darkon was what it was called. How did you join?

SPEAKER_10 14:07

Um well, it's a funny story. Um my brother actually got me into the game initially. Um he went to uh his first event by I believe finding it online. Um he went to his uh first game, which uh actually was a pretty exciting story. Uh you mind recounting it.

SPEAKER_08 14:34

Oh man. Um the mud slide. Yeah, that's right. Um I had a friend that was uh that LARP and they said that they were going to a camp out, and um I had nothing to do that weekend. Um so I joined them. I'd never been LARPing before. Um the guys there they were really, really great. Um they loaned me weapons, armor, a shield. Um the thing is, um, they were looking for new people to haze, I guess, into the game. It never really happens that way. Um, nothing like horrible, at least. Um so the new people, there were like five of us that never had been LARPing before. Um, we were sent out on a mission to escort someone uh to the other side of the forest that we were in. Um this was in Maryland, I forget which park. Um so as we were going across this bridge, um, it was this really small bridge that had like uh I guess water would run through it under it every once in a while, but it was pretty dry. It was a little bit of mud, but whatever. So we started going across this bridge, uh, not knowing exactly what we were doing, and there was like screams and yelling, and uh it sounded like people were running towards us, and this guy or these guys inside of these really horrific masks, they were running towards the bridge. Um the the more experienced people that were helping us five, they were saying, Okay, these this is a monster event. These people are going to be coming at you, and if they hit you, you're going to uh be paralyzed. Um the they were explaining that the banshees were coming after us. Um so the banshees, they kind of went through three of the five of us, and there was only two of us left, and we were in the middle of the bridge. Uh, they ran directly at us on the bridge, and not thinking, I took the sword that I had in my hand and the shield, and I jumped off the bridge at the same time uh turning my body, and I hit the guy and landed in the mud, slid for like three feet, and the it was amazing. That was my very first LARP experience.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

Uh yeah. Um, well, I I got in through Darkon through my best friend, um, of course, as well. My best friend, which is his brother, uh Pierre's brother. Um, I was very skeptical. I played DD, you know, there's there are there are levels to my nerdum and geek them. And LARPing was the bot, was the highest of the high. And I was like, there's no way, there's no possible way I can go to that level until he invited me out to one event. And that one event changed my view of LARPing, especially coming from um uh DD, coming from a lot of places where they look at that you outside looking in, you're like, oh, that's stupid, that looks dumb. Why would I do all that for no reason? Why would I even do that? When I got there, they explained the rules, they explained the the area. I got into it and it completely completely changed my view opinion on everything. Um, well, one of them I went to, they were doing this thing called two teams, where it was two teams versus one team versus another team, and it was a big crowd. You're like 20 to 30 people deep, girls is another 20 to 20 to 30 people with these foam weapons hitting each other. And so I'm thinking, all right, you know what? I've watched anime, I've watched, I've been I've been through some martial arts. You know what? Sure, I can go out here, be do some cool moves, do some spins, you know, do some hits. No. Everything I've learned from everything in the movie, how you look, how they fight, how you saw war happens, how those duels happen, it's all bull. It's all a whole it's all a lie. Not survive. It's a all lie. Don't don't think you go in here like, oh, hell, no. If you do not know how to fight with a weapon, like literally, if you don't know how to fight with a weapon, you're gonna get hit. And you're gonna get hit a lot. And it you're gonna get hit a lot. But but you're safe, you're fun, and it literally made me realize holy wow, there's no way what we see on TV or what we see in movies is the way it is, and that brought me to realize I need to go deeper into this, I want to know more because holy crap, that was a lot. Not only was it fun, but it brought out a different side because I was like, wow, I can actually be a little more than I am in the real world, and that's what brought me into LARPing, and I have been LARPing ever since. Um, short story for myself was this character, the non-combat character, was actually created from my um country. Because in Dark Hom, we have countries for different groups of people, yeah. They're just different factions, exactly, and um I I was trying to be the best fighter in the world, like the best fighter. But then as I went along, I wasn't happy. I actually was not happy. I was like, I'm bored, I'm not doing anything, I'm not getting to where I want to get until one day I did this event where I had to sing, but unfortunately, I don't sing, so I decided to preach this song. And so as I kept as I fight, I would preach this song to help uh to help you know help boost morale for the events. And one of my um countrymen was like, You sound like a reverend. Reverend, and you hit people and you kill people, Rev R. Oh and so I donned the name Reverend, and I don't, and I got the class of Bard since I can oritate very well, and from then on, it's it's been a whole different level, again, on top of what I've learned, because I came out of going from uh I want to be a fighter to more of everyone in Darkon knows me as the Prophet of Prophet. They know if they need to advertise, they come to me, or they need to get their word out through some way, they come to me. I walk out, they're like, Oh, hey Rev, and I'm like, hey, because um one short story real fast. I want a barge off or a talent show through a speech. I I Because we had singers, guitarists, uh an Italian opera singer at this talent show, and I went through a speech. I said, Oh, okay, all right, yay! Uh preaching to be the Italian opera singer. I'll take it. That's where I have my golden lines. I won the first place.

SPEAKER_10 22:29

And um, when I first thought about LARPing, uh I kind of got the stereotypical image in my head, like lightning bolt, lightning bolt, lightning bolt. Um, it definitely wasn't anything like that. Um, it was far more physicality than I thought it was um it was gonna be. Um like the weapons that we use, uh they're essentially like hard pillows. So it's it's it's it's reasonably fake. But if if you hit the bottom, you are definitely going to fail. But it's not to the point where you're unsafe. Um me personally, I kind of got into that aspect of the game. Like I enjoy um one learning how to fight with actual weapons, well, fake actual weapons, um, and um pretty much training myself in order to be like the best um swordsman or archer out there. Uh for instance, like there was a tournament in which uh I won uh the category single sword. Um it was a tournament of let's say 24 different people who were going for the same thing. Um this was like in 2018, I believe. Uh so this is before the whole pandemic thing occurred. Like right now, we're not doing anything because it requires a large group of people being close together, essentially breathing all over each other. That's definitely not the same.

SPEAKER_11 24:06

Sad, sad day.

SPEAKER_10 24:08

Uh 2018, uh single sword, uh, I end up winning the whole thing, and it just kind of boosted my my morale as far as like uh what I was learning as far as uh fighting with weaponry, that kind of stuff. Kind of reaffirmed like like I do a lot of training. So the training was definitely helping, and uh it was it was fun. Like just doing the stuff and learning and growing and seeing the uh seeing the results. It's definitely uh very impactful.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

Okay. That's I mean, we definitely have more questions for you guys, but I definitely want to give the cosplayers an opportunity to you know tell a little bit about how they came to be and what they did, and you know, a little bit more about cosplay. So uh Miss Skittles, say One, the Black McCoy. Could you guys give us an insight into what is cosplay, how you got into it, and then you know, how what is it all about?

SPEAKER_04 25:16

Okay, I I'll go first. So cosplay um is costume play. Um if you are you you so you don't always have to make your stuff, you can buy your costumes um and buy your weaponry or make it or props, you know, whatever you want to do. Um I particularly make my cosplay. Um and I mean basically you dress up as uh fictional characters. I have seen people cosplay their original characters, uh similar to you know, you guys creating your characters and LARPing. So um, but for the most part, you um create characters or become the character, you know, whatever fictional character is out there. There's plenty. Um it you know it's not limited to comic books or um anime. So uh I I've seen people cosplay celebrities, um, no shade. I think that's strange. But um yeah, so for me, um for me, cosplay is a way for me to um embody my my favorite characters in my own way, um, not necessarily uh playing that character to a T. As you can see, I am a gender-bent Jafar. Um, and this costume design is my own. Um, but it also accentuates like Jabbar's um what am I looking for? Jabar's signature pieces from that the hat and the shoulder and the the wand. So I just want I I just damn, I lost my whole train of thought. When I cosplay, when I cosplay, it is my is my way of being creative and uh like LARPing sounds it's honestly it sounds pretty dope. It sounds very physical, uh which is which cosplay, I wouldn't say is is so much, you know, like learning movements or anything. Uh you I I would suggest that you learn your character poses or lines or um things of that nature, but uh it the physical part of it is putting putting the costume on and wearing it at a convention for a majority of the day. That's probably the the most physical part of it, and um not to downplay it because sometimes that shit is exhausting. Um so yeah, for me, uh cosplay is is basically my way of embodying character the way I would the way I would be that character. So yeah, I like cosplay.

SPEAKER_05 28:29

Uh the black McCoy. Um, I would say the the uh Miss Killer said a lot. Um what really um does it for me when it comes to cosplay is the the creation process that the creation process and the wearing it around all day and the stopping for pictures all day. Those are the most physical, like really involved aspects of cosplay for me. Um I um like Miss Kills as well. I've seen like people who um like who cosplay their own original characters, but I think the largest difference between like LARPing and cosplaying your own character is that when you LARP, it sounds like you get the opportunity to not only bring that character to to like you know fruition, but you get to bring their story out, you get to bring their motivations, their entire persona that you create on your own. Those things get to come to life as well. And that doesn't always get a chance to really happen in class because it's more so like we just kind of create the art to kind of display and wear and you know be appreciated. And the that process alone can be can be taxing in a lot of different ways just from the creation process itself, just from the not even just the creation process, but the planning process to the creation, then to the we'll say attempts at execution, because even executing has its own challenges when you're at a con and you're moving around all day and you don't have access to your materials and you're you're trying to keep everything together looking as perfect as it did when you imagined it before you even started working on it. Um but I will say, what question am I answering yet? I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_04 30:08

That's that's what happened to me. I was like, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_03 30:14

You're just giving your own account on what cosplay is, what cosplayers do, and I can jump into cosplay. But your answer, your however you answer is fine.

SPEAKER_05 30:23

Okay, but I I will I guess my my answer for cosplay is is not I don't want to say it's something more static when compared to LARPing, but because LARPing involves a lot more, a lot more physical involvement, a lot more imaginative involvement as far as building, taking character building and extending it to world building in a way that it involves a lot more of that, where I would say cosplay is a lot more of building, building, building the character itself and not even just the literal development of the costume or buying the materials you need or buying the pieces that you need, um, but just re-imag reimagining what already is into something more personal or even something that extends beyond its actual genre. And so I guess I I would see cosplays more of a cross-genre kind of costume, which would, I mean, it means costume play. So I mean you you get the chance to play around with something that already exists rather than create something and in doing so create something entirely new instead of starting from scratch in a way.

SPEAKER_10 31:34

Yeah, I kind of see uh you guys as uh more like uh works of art, like different interpretations by different artists. Like you have a character, um, and pretty much you're putting your own flair and your own uh flavor into that character. And pretty much you guys are out for display and cons and that kind of stuff, getting your pictures taken and that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Yeah, so um cosplay and LARPing, there's a lot of similarities and differences. Both you have to embody the character or the personality, you know, kind of to its fullest extent, you know. So you there is research for both, I would say, cosplay and LARPing, so to speak. You want to put in that personality of your character. I would say cosplay is more capturing that character a moment in time, more so than um, you know, than LARPing, whereas LARPing, you really act out that character physically, you have the emotion, you have the personality, and that is being on display in a different way. Uh, with cosplay, I would say you're able to reinvent yourself easier, like in a moment of time in a moment of time, like I can cosplay today a character, tomorrow's a different character, the next day's a different character. I think it's just a little bit different in the sense that you can cosplay multiple characters and then you have to change your personality so quickly. I don't know if it's the same way with LARPing. From what I've seen, you usually have a character that is your personality to extend or your second self and you live that character for a longer period of time than cosplay. Not saying you can't do the same thing with cosplay. You know, I've seen, you know, cosplayers, you have one character and they just over time reinvent that same character just to see the progression. But um I would say that with cosplay, you it's I see more cosplayers choosing different characters in a shorter, short amount of time and kind of changing it more so to take like a snapshot or to go to a convention. And then after that, they either just kind of done with that character or they just change it little by little. So for my cosplay, I think of it as Halloween 24-7 in a way. I love Halloween, and you know, usually when Halloween comes around, everybody has a character that they pick that they want to do for that year, and they try to live in that moment, and then they change the next following year. Uh so with cosplay, it can be anything like Miss Skittle said, it could be anime, it can be uh, you know, somebody seeing the movie, it can be Greek mythology, it can be different oritias and cultures. Uh so for today, I am doing my rendition of the Greek goddess of rainbows, which is Isis. Um, excuse me, ISIS, ISIS, Iris. I always get those two, but I believe, I believe it's Isis. Yes, because Iris is Egyptian. So yeah, yes, we'll we'll stick with that. Um, but uh so with modern dish and of course, no one has seen the Greek goddesses per se, like, ah, that's exactly who that person looks like. I just in my mind, I did some research on, you know, the the goddess and how rainbows kind of trail behind her and she's flying and she has wings, and you know, in my crown, if you can see it has like little light up uh lights in the back, and then I have a little rose that glitters as well. Um, I do body paintings, so that is kind of my niche per se in um cosplay. And it's it's very it's very time consuming. Sometimes I'm like, why am I doing this? But it's really just you know, your work of art, you want to express yourself and you want to embody that character per se for a picture or for a moment, and then next week I'll probably be like a cow for Chick-fil-A. I'll be a Chick-fil-A cow. Like it doesn't make no damn sense, but that's just how it's gonna be. Little cowbelly Chick-fil-A, that's just how it is. But you know, it's just it's just for fun, it's just for good fun, and it's confidence building. Yeah, you know, if you were to see who I look like outside of cosplay, you probably wouldn't recognize me at all, which I love. It's kind of like my Clark Kent. You know, I'm walking around and no one knows who who the hell I am, which is great. So, you know, put on my cosplay and I'm somebody completely different. So um, you know, that's why cosplay and anybody can cosplay. You just look at something, you create it, your own, and no one's cosplay looks the same.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

And I have to say I respect all cosplayers, I respect them. They have the the greatest imagination I have ever seen, people, because to you, cosplayers, your inspirations, your heroes, you are the embodiment of a lot of people who hope to look at in real life and to see. And to see you guys in your costumes, in your characters, it brings so much joy, especially when you put your own flair on it. It's for me, I I I am a huge fan. I I see a character in uh in a convention that I they're they're cosplaying as. I'm like, I need to take a picture of you because you you look exactly what I had hoped in the body. Like Miss Gittle's a a gender-dependent jafar. That is a prime example of something you haven't you would want to see. You see in pictures or you see on the internet, but you don't see in real life, and that is joy to someone like myself because she has she has all the pieces, but she is her own character, Miss Sayone. She is a goddess, and what I also respect about her cosplay is that it takes time. Um, Larburst, we we take time to create our designs, to get everything out here, and do everything else. It is it is it's what the dedication takes from cosplayers. And Mr. Black McCoy, I appreciate your anime cosplay because oh, who doesn't love Naruto? I mean, I mean I understand there's others who might not like, but you I thank you guys for being that inspiration for people. And the biggest, toughest part I know for cosplayers is the public. A lot of people, it it brings out myself. I love the people, I love people, but you know, others who are shy, man, that must be tough to be a cosplayer. But when you get out there in your costumes, you guys are out there to do this all day, and I appreciate it. I have to say thank you for what you guys do. That that is what you guys do is a great thing, and I I really thank you guys for it.

SPEAKER_06 38:43

Thank you. That's so kind.

SPEAKER_03 38:51

I actually answer a question, and all that extra it's a lot of work, Miss CNA.

SPEAKER_02 38:57

I get I I don't know. I'm gonna guess that her the first of all, the crown probably took you a day, maybe a day, maybe a couple of hours to do, maybe a week long to do the face paint, the whole body paint. That's another what eight hours you gotta do.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

I I've learned to uh to kind of body paint parts that people will see. So yeah, look, like y'all see the cleavage and the arms and the hands. I ain't doing body today. I'm not doing my back, I'm not doing my legs. So, you know, for cons, if I'm exposing my back, that's difficult because I'm I'm always the person body painting myself, you know. Hopefully, next con I'll have some help, but it usually doesn't go that way.

SPEAKER_05 39:44

And um we we talked about the importance of a cosplay handler.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

Yeah, it's um but it's a lot of work. And I think today I woke up at what time did I wake up? I woke up at 10, no, 10 50, and I started at uh 10 55. That's why I was running late. So I kind of the moment I woke up, I just started body painting. I didn't even know what the hell I was doing today. I was looking at my closet closet, I'm like, I guess I'm doing this today, and I'm like crap. And then I'm just gonna have to make it look presentable, you know, for camera. And that's another thing. When you're cosplaying, you want to make sure this crap stays on. Sometimes it's a hope and a wish and a prayer that these butterflies don't fly up, fly uh fly off or fall off, and you know, I don't be laughing until I cry, and then my paint, you know, be running looking crazy. So it's kind of like it's very, it's a it's emotionally draining sometimes because when you're at a convention, it's like everything wants to go all to hell. Like the things that you've been working on for months, they left they left a break at a convention for some reason.

SPEAKER_06 40:48

We're that's the perfect timing to do.

SPEAKER_01 40:51

Perfect timing. But you know, for LARPers, I look up to you guys. I didn't even know about LARPing until I watched Supernatural, and there was an episode of LARPing, and I'm like, oh, this is pretty cool. And it's so physical, you know. Cosplayers, we complain about being in cosplay all day. You guys are actually running and hitting, smacking each other.

SPEAKER_02 41:15

It's worse if you actually have armor because in LARP, in some LARP groups, you actually you know how knights they have that full suit of armor you see. Yeah, people wear that in LARPing. Let me tell you, these guys, these guys are power troopers. I I I mean, I'm gonna do it myself one day, but you know, age and weight might get there to me. We'll see who wins first. But it it that that that that's a lot of physical things, and but also in LARPing, we also do have a lot of non-combats, a lot of it, like myself. I I I can combat, but I more take I'm more of the step back type of character, I'm more of a support character, and we have a lot of those in LARPing. And it it's it's great because you don't have to do that physical thing, but you can still be that support system somehow, some way. And that's what's kind of cool about it. But again, cause I still put cosplay, I respect you guys a lot more because what you guys do is is a very, very time-consuming yet very meticulous thing that you need to have perfected, and it it takes time and it's a great object. So go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 42:41

I do have one. Well, I have a couple questions, but one big question I have for both groups is uh, and uh Paranite actually touched on it, and our cosplayers touched it on a previous episode, is coronavirus. Like we all know that you know, we all love going out, we love enjoying the sunshine, we love interacting with people. Um, but because of COVID-19, because of COVID-19, um I'm not gonna say some, most, if not all of our activities have been canceled, postponed. Like as uh um Miss Skittles, the Black McCoy and CNA were saying, you know, one of the main things that they do is when they cosplay, they go to conventions. Conventions for 2020 have all been canceled. And then, of course, for LARPing, like when uh Kaze first mentioned having you guys on, I was like, well, what are they what are they doing this year? Because the main thing is large groups can't form, and you guys mentioned it earlier because you know, you're talking about 30, 40, almost a hundred or more people all in one in environment, even though it's outside some most of the time, but just being all around each other is literally against the law at this point. So, like what we you know, we've talked about it before for what cosplayers are doing since COVID you know occurred, which is you know, pictures on Instagram and Twitter and you know, social. Media has been kind of their outlet. What have you guys been doing? Because I can't imagine I can't.

SPEAKER_02 44:07

Well, if you if you want to look at it, take prepping for war and you're doing that. That's pretty much you're doing. Oh wow. Like all you're doing, like literally all you're doing is sitting back, talking with your group or your country or your faction over Zoom, or you guys might have a meet at someone's house and you discuss what's going to happen for the upcoming year. What's your plans and stuff? It's it's just a it's that's what I would say we're doing. Um I know um Dark Arn our country, the Lost Company, we have a uh practice with another country next week, but it's a small amount of people you know in the space. So we're all gonna we're all gonna distance each other, but we're gonna diss each other hitting each other with long weapons. Lances, I can't. Lances and and spears and and spears and spears and and spears and spears and spears and spears. You know, it's spears and spears and hell, halibirds, and spears and spears, crossbows, long distance.

SPEAKER_08 45:09

Spears.

SPEAKER_10 45:10

Well, I know um the president of uh our uh our country, Darkon uh Crown Land, he's been pretty uh creative in keeping everybody engaged. Uh he does like little things where he has uh different um like text um text events where we essentially play like a game of D D but with Darkon rules. Uh he also has like uh little um giveaways and contests uh like for uh art weaponry and um like just little things like that, just to make sure that the community is still engaged, everybody is uh kind of getting in uh their fix a little bit. Um but yeah, Brady is pretty good as far as like uh creating things that don't require us to be together, but at the same time be together.

SPEAKER_03 46:07

That is a president I can get behind, which is someone who is making sure that his countrymen are together even though they're not together. Someone who's making sure that you're still engaged and still communicating. I because personally, I feel like if I on a weekly or monthly basis was going out LARPing on a continual basis, interacting with these groups of people, friends, countrymen, family members, however I view them, and then it's come to an immediate halt, I probably lose my ish after a couple of weeks. I'm sorry, my shit. You can curse on here. I can lose my oh good. I did not know that. Oh, okay. Great question. I'll drop start dropping all the bombs now.

SPEAKER_02 46:51

Hey, you gave it you gave me the green light. My part of my preaching is me cursing, yellow light.

SPEAKER_03 46:56

Very, very subtle light, amber alert. Okay, all right, all right. But um, I did want to say uh the Dr. Kaze, did you have any uh questions or uh thoughts that you wanted to share about what you've heard so far?

SPEAKER_00 47:13

Uh yeah, definitely. So, first off, I love that we had you know this discussion. And you know, I think between blockers and cosplayers, I really, really love the ability to bring fantasy into reality. You know, and loving is something that I've always been like also really interested in, and just never it's never really kind of gotten off the ground for me. But just you know, seeing what people do and like getting you know, hearing some of your stories, like it's I mean it's really fascinating, it really is. And I'm wondering um for your characters or your personas, have they been mostly the same since you started LARPing, or did they change significantly over time? Or did you like completely change personas at any point for any of the LARPers?

SPEAKER_02 48:01

Yeah, my story is the is a very big time example. I went from a barbarian to a pre to an orientator within almost two to three years. But the thing is those they're two different characters, and I had to decide because I also made a third character who was in between, which is because I I couldn't find my niche. I couldn't find my niche, or I don't wrong to pronounce that right. I I couldn't get that spark to get me to be more to get have to have uh more enjoyable fun or more to enjoy the uh LARPing. So over time you you essentially build multiple characters or work on one or two to develop what that character will become and what and how they fit in your world. Like Reverend is my biggest persona of my of my of Dark. Because everyone knows who he is. So it's kind of hard for me to go to a different character and they're like, oh, oh, it's Rev, but you're not Rev. Oh no, but but what you do is what I what I'm doing now is currently is I'm going to another class, I'm going to be called a cleric. Where it's more about actually a religion and more of the practice. So I'm still reverent, but I'm a different class, I different abilities. So now I do different things to help out different ways. Still the same character, but now I'm different, I'm doing different abilities. Or I could just change personalities and do and have that be different. I, you know, reverence loud and preachy, and as you always see me, I'm interacting with my fellow mates and fellow uh guys here. My other side could be peaceful and nonchalant. All right.

SPEAKER_10 49:53

All right, really good. As far as um uh personal character growth, um, my character initially was a bit timid. Um uh basically, uh, since I had my brother there, uh, we kind of um were um I guess opposite. My brother was a bit more outgoing. Um myself um my character was a bit more timid. Um and as the years progressed, I actually ended up both in and out of game, uh losing my brother. He went across the seas to find his own fortune. So um myself I kind of stayed timid for a little while, but as I interacted more and after the tournament win, I kind of became a little arrogant. Like my character kind of started feeling himself and started taunting my opponents and that kind of stuff. It it just uh it it became almost douchey, but just at that line. Myself personally, I'm not douchey at all. Like all of my friends can attest to me. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_08 51:16

Well, um my character, uh, when I started LARPing, I uh started with this uh system called Cambrian Adventures. Um really didn't have a character of my own. Um just a guy with a sword in the woods fighting other people with swords. Um eventually um I joined Darkon and started developing um a personality to go with my character. Um he was very uh gun-ho as far as fighting, but interacting with others, basically role-playing. Uh not so much. Um and eventually, as time went by, um I started to interact more with others. I started to plot little things to uh to go down. Um I set up a couple assassinations, and um yeah, eventually my uh character started working behind the scenes. Um he'll still get up front and fight with his spear, as you can see. That's right here. Um and yeah, um my yeah, that's how my character developed.

SPEAKER_03 52:35

Wow. It sounds like Reverend was a barbarian that got saved. It sounds like Paranight Robin to Kincaid, but then eventually became uh Red Hood by himself, and then it sounds like Kincaid was Batman but got infected by Rachel Ghoul. I can't explain anything. Um Kaze, do you have a question?

SPEAKER_09 53:02

Uh I have two questions. Uh first question, uh yeah, it's I've always wondered about it, but I never uh uh bothered to ask, and now it's the perfect time. Uh for the uh for the uh LARPers, um where does the training information mainly come from? Like, are there a bunch of YouTube videos? Are there a bunch of on-site people who just pass the knowledge down and it's mostly like a closed system? Do you guys check like actual like ancient fighting styles and modify it to fight with phone? Like uh how how is how is all that uh evolved?

SPEAKER_08 53:47

A little bit of everything, really. Yeah, everything. There are uh particular people there that will teach you how to fight, they have lots of different martial arts backgrounds. Uh, there's actually some of the people that we have learned from that has like um uh what is it called? HEMA. It's um historical martial arts um backgrounds. Um there are a lot of YouTube instructionals on how to fight with various different weaponry. Um and uh yeah, there's lots of different ways to study and learn. Yeah, it's you know go ahead.

SPEAKER_10 54:26

I'm sorry, go ahead. Um there is actually uh boot camps for this kind of stuff. Like um me personally, I attended two uh boot camps called uh Sword Knight Boot Camp. Um pretty much they give you the basics of stances, they give you uh the basics of uh particular weapons. Um like we have a whole assortment of different weapons that we use. As uh mentioned before, there's spears, uh there's swords, there's daggers, uh, there are hammers, uh, there are uh maces, um gavel, gavel. I'm sorry, uh there are um uh crossbows, there are actual bows and arrows. Um like depending on the style that you're going for, there is a particular class that you can take um for those different kinds of weapons. But as I said, there are YouTube, there are actually people who will teach you how to do these things. Um and also just your own experience.

SPEAKER_02 55:32

I learned um I used to fight a lot of great swords, a lot of long swords. I love great sword. I love the big sword, two-handed swords, you swing the power. And as I was a barbarian, I learned from two people, two uh gentlemen, two two both now former kings who mastered the weapon when I was teaching when they were teaching me, I was like, wow, this is a this is a martial art. This is not something you would you would find anywhere, but it it it was an experience because what he's teaching me, I can now teach to someone else. And so those teachings have been passed down for you know years and years and years, so you get a lot of it. And of course, you have YouTube which do have historical fighting stances, but you also create your own style over time. Your style is your style, but you know, of course, start with basics. They once they teach you the basics and you learn the basics, you can go to these boot camps to learn advanced techniques and then create you. Um myself, I went from fighting uh great sword, shield, and sword to now just fighting with a hammer and a dagger because I don't try to fight as much, but if I do, I'm still skilled enough to do with to use those weapons to defend myself. Um and I do myself watch some videos just to see and I I like recently I played a game and I think it was called the Ghost of Uh Shishumi, and um I went to the beach with my family, and I practiced those stances to see if they actually work and see if they can fight it. And now I can say yes, it does, but then no, it doesn't on certain things. But it's something I can try and see if it works.

SPEAKER_03 57:29

Uh and Kazi, what was your second question?

SPEAKER_09 57:33

Uh I I just realized that first question would have been great if Rob could make it, but he couldn't. So that's that's too bad.

SPEAKER_02 57:39

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_09 57:40

Man, that hey Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 57:45

That fighting guy guy, hold on.

SPEAKER_09 57:47

Uh, is now that we've kind of you know cross uh uh cross information and experiences, uh how how likely is everyone to go out and or cosplay?

SPEAKER_03 58:04

Um right now. Right now.

SPEAKER_09 58:10

Wait, wait, wait, when it's uh simple to do so.

SPEAKER_03 58:14

Um after well, for me, after hearing everything I've heard, I'm kind of interested. I personally love learning new fighting styles. I learned a little bit of a couple, but I wanted to learn a lot more. So I think that'd be definitely something to go out and do. Um, the wearing of the armor, I think, will be a problem, but I also don't I enjoy defense, so we'll see what happens. Um you don't have to wear it, it's an option. This is one person to stab me with a foam-tip sword, and then I'll be a fighter real quick. I'm just so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:52

I would love to learn. I wanna have I wanna have like my own kingdom though. Like, can I have like subjects and quick? Yeah, you can take a knee for me. What? Yes, yes, oh what I'm all for it honestly, Santa.

SPEAKER_02 59:13

If you come to a large event like that, I guarantee you'll give you the battle for you automatically.

SPEAKER_03 59:17

I was just about to hear me. I feel like if you show up the way you show up, I think you'll be fine. And then Miss Gibbs comes in as your royal sorceress. Oh and the black boys, you're like in the background Shadow Ninja.

SPEAKER_02 59:29

Yeah, you and that's and that's what's great. Cosplayers, you come into LARPing already set to LARP. It's live action role-playing. You come you already set now, all you gotta do is create that character and go in the adventure and be who you are, and from that point on, you can now do whatever. You don't have to be the sorcerer, you don't have to be known as a sorcerer far. You are a sorcerer from ZA Land, the ZA background, and you do this. That's it. You know, on Black McCoy, you are Ronin. Okay, you're Ronan with a secret organization from a distant land, you know, saying, Hey, you are a goddess that th that came to Earth just to see how humans are and see how they interact with the gods themselves. Yes, I love it. And that's what's so great about both groups. They both can be interacting with each other. The thing is, is you know, you know, you know if you go to Renaissance Fair, how they're at the people are interacting with you and you're interacting with the people, that's LARPing. If you go if anybody went to a Renaissance fair, that is a prime example of cosplay and LARPing interacting together in the same in the at the same time. Because you're you're getting both the visualized the visualization of cosplaying you're seeing medieval, but now the LARPing, you're interacting and role-playing with the medieval. And that is what's great about both groups because we can mesh together and be one cohesive. Because what if I go to a convention, I'm going as this character. Am I from a convention? Am I from uh anime? No, I'm this character, but I'm I'm going to interact with cosplayers as my character, because again, to myself, Miss Skittles, I will go to you and be like, oh my gosh, you are a wizard. Please teach me your ways of magic because I have nothing to understand about magic. All I know is I can talk, I can speak, and money falls from my hands. Please teach me a way to convince people. Or Miss CMA, if you need someone to or to talk to you and present to you in a convention, you can hire me, pay me, and I will be your spokesperson. I will be up there, hey, excuse me. Please make way for part of Miss for Miss.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:47

Y'all see this prophet trying to make profit? Princess of Goddess of ISIS. Please make sure you don't have to do anything.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:52

If you touch her, don't touch her. If you see her, kneel before her because she is your goddess. Don't make sure you're gonna say that's where I shine me personally. I love people, I love interaction with people, I love making people smile, I love making people laugh. And this character does that. He allows me to go into different people in different areas and bring out, not just bring out them, bring out myself, but bring them out and make them like wow and appreciate what they do. Like Black McCoy, I will go to you and be like, look, you can fight. I need you to, you know, be there and be that menacing look that you have that that menacing look, because I need to, you know, collect my my uh my uh communion and my dues from the fellow fellow church that need to that need to um you know pay up because they haven't paid their dues in a while, so they need to uh praise me and the prophet of the prophet.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:57

Amen. Yes. Yes, I love it. I can I argue like how much gold do I need to pay you? You know, I have a couple gold coins, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:07

Look, honestly, my rate is very expensive. I I just became very, very popular. But for you, I can just I can discount, I can discount you for 50 gold, and then because my my normal price for me to order to uh to be your spokesperson is about 500 gold.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:24

Yeah, here's the question since she is a goddess, exactly you like preach her word, and therefore they'd be giving you money anyway.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:32

No, she could, or she could bless me with some type of blessing and make it her avatar, and then I create a church for you, and that way we both profit and create our own way.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:44

Yes, libraries are smooth as hell, like it's the thing right now. Not all libraries, not all with these words, right? Like, we've been getting it wrong for years. We shouldn't have been coming to y'all for jump like this.

unknown 1:04:07

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:09

It's it's but that's that's me personally. I mean, a lot of my people are not like me, but but myself. Oh yeah. I've I got if I find out I'm a profit of profit, I'm gonna make profit somewhere, somehow. It could be profiting off of power, it could be profiting over gold. If gold would be great, but you know what? If I make a profit, I make a profit. That's all I care about.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:30

I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_09 1:04:35

Almost uh thought about going out a few times, but at the time I uh talked about weapon designs with y'all, y'all y'all told me everything I wanted to use was broken and against regulations.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:46

Well, actually, some weapons now have your favorite your favorite villain was Eisen, so broken's kind of a brand. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:56

But the word for growing you up too much of a term the the weapons, uh some weapons are starting in some LARP groups, a lot of weapons are starting to become more open to consideration. Because you have to the biggest thing you have to consider with making weapons is safety. Safety is number one in all in all LARP groups. Safety's number one. You gotta make sure you're the the weapon you're using is is is is uh physically not harmful, it's gonna hurt, but not harmful enough to where it can cause you severe or serious injury. Um and that, like when I said, like, well example, you know, Pira, she has uh Pira has a uh a rapier or a long sword. I carry a hammer myself, but it's just all foam. This is custom made. Now, you don't have to build your own weapon. You don't have to build your own weapon. It it gives your own personal feeling of creating something that you did yourself. But when you don't have to come out and you don't have to come in and jump in, all right. I gotta build my own weapon, that's gonna take time. No, we're gonna give you weapons to see what you like, and you people won't even give you uh weapons they might not use anymore just to see how you like it, and then from there, build you.

SPEAKER_10 1:06:14

Yeah, you can buy weapons online as well. Like there are people who uh specialize in this stuff that you can just if you don't want to take the time to create your own, uh you can buy stuff out there.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:29

And the garb as well. Like my garb is the way I explain my garb is it's more I'm future-esque but still fit in that time zone. Yeah, but because I explained myself of how it works, it it works. And then there's places you can buy garb, you can build your own garb. Then in your in the LARP community, there are people who actually do this as a job. They they do this on a job or a hobby. And we have a there's a guy, um, a good friend of ours who is a leather worker, he builds leather armor, leather pouches, leather stuff, and you can either purchase off him or go to a class to learn how to do it yourself.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:12

I do have a question on finance, like like actual financing. So, how do you get um compensation for these LARPing events as a collective? Like, where does that where does that money come from? Does it come from like you know, everybody within the LARPing group, they just put money in a pot and you just kind of have like a treasurer or like a department of finance who kind of like, all right, well, this is the money that we can allocate to your village, but you guys could actually use it for like buying actual weapons for your your um your uh character, or you know, how I just always was wondering, you know, is it just an individual thing, or does does everybody come together and just kind of put money in a pot and kind of dispense it that way?

SPEAKER_10 1:07:58

Well, uh inside Darkon, uh the events cost uh five dollars uh per event. Um we do also have a charity which if we um if we have it uh if you wish to donate to charity, you can give it an additional five dollars or what have you. And it goes out to the organizations that the uh the president and all them uh they consider uh to be uh most needy. Um but uh as far as the weaponry, uh that's something that's individual. Um but as far as putting on events uh such as uh creating towns or creating NPCs, then that's when they divvy out uh the necessary funds for you to actually create those events. So we do have a treasurer, we have a president, we have a vice president, that kind of stuff. And they're pretty much in control of uh of giving out a bunch of those kind of things.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:58

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:59

We have they go ahead. I'm sorry. They have we have the organization, your president, vice president, treasure, like you know, the the back off what people were saying, we have all that, but then you also have the actual realm. And in the realm you have that, and what the organization does goes back into the realm. So we pay those, we pay those fees, like you said, to help fund the realm. And the organization itself is going to try to find a way to get people or to make to get funds to tell the people, hey, we need we're doing this to get more money to make our or to expand our realm a lot more than what it is today. And in game, yes and no to your answer to your question, because it depends on a different it depends on the LARP group or LARP organization. Um Dark Arm specifically is our our coinage is all coins, and there is it's up to you and your faction, really. It's really up to you and your group. Our faction lost company. We're a bunch of mercenaries. You know, we give whatever we make, we we get 10% goals back into our faction. And then we use that gold to buy uh potions, spells, or anything like that. Um, and you can you can accrue gold anywhere. Whatever you can think of that doesn't involve anything, you know, beyond that point of sexuality or anything like that. That's not encouraged at all. But anything outside of that, you can do it, yeah. Like cheap steel, yeah. It happens. Yeah, I uh trust me. Uh I lost many coins when I was walking down the road, and all of a sudden I get stabbed and my money's gone, yeah? Or they come in actually the skill. So uh well there's a way, there's a system of how to steal, but it can happen any given time. And that's how you create goal. Again, warping again, most of the the biggest thing is you creating the visual of and yourself and interacting with that world is the key, is the biggest key. And once you have that visualization and that character in mind, you just roll with it and let it snowball, get bigger and bigger, and have fun. Enjoy it. Don't stop. Laugh. And then once the event's done, it's a party. We're all here camping, having a good time, laughing. We're in front of the campfire, we're eating food, we're cooking up, you know, burgers, hot dogs, uh, turtle, steak, you know, all this stuff. And it's great because everyone is all it's all it's a big community, is the great thing. Well, is the best way I can explain with Dark On. Because you can go to different camps. You go to when you go to a big event, there's different factions, you can you know say hey, hail camp and say what they're going and what they're doing, and get an experience. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:04

Did anybody else have a question for either side?

SPEAKER_10 1:12:10

Uh, I have a question. All right. Um, I know as far as um cosplay is concerned, that you guys do get a lot of praise as far as what you do. Um, but how do you deal with the negativity?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:26

You missed that episode.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:30

Um, so myself in particular, I like I have I've received uh racist comments, uh especially when the character is not uh POC or black or whatever. Um and I try I just try not to internalize it, like I try not to take it personally, um because any with anything you do in life, there's gonna be you know somebody out there like the fuck is that? So um I for the most part on my social media I tend to delete the comments that way I'm not like going back and looking at it or like going to find this person and fucking their whole life up. So um yeah, the the biggest thing for me is trying not to internalize and take their comments personally because I don't know them, they don't know me, and I and and when I'm cosplaying, I'm doing it for myself, and that that is the most important part of it for me. If you if you start to do, if you're starting to create things for for clout or you know, for other people's approval, then it's it's easier to to take all of that those comments very seriously, very personal. Um and because I cosplay for myself, um it doesn't matter to me what what they think of my character design or the recreation or the androids from DVZ and black, like I I I don't care. Um and it is it's easier said than done, but um because I do it for myself, it's easier to to kind of like let it, you know, whatever.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:24

Yeah, I I second that everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:28

Yeah, it's so I'm my own worst critic. Um I nitpick on everything I do when I'm cosplaying. Everything I do is never good enough. And so there's nothing no one can say to me that's going to get at me. Because, like for me, I in my mind I want to create something, and it's like I can always do it better. So anything that anyone could ever say to me, I almost in a weird way already said it to myself only to make me do better, to push me to do better for myself. Um not the ignorant comments. You're gonna have ignorant racist comments sporadically. Unfortunately, for black, for people of color, you're gonna have haters out there like, oh, well, you can't be this person because this person is white, or this person is Asian, or this person is display. So you have to be white or Asian or so for whatever to be that. Or, you know, you're too dark, or you're too light. You're always gonna have somebody who can't do a damn thing that you're doing, always gonna talk crap. That's just how it is. And you have to do it for yourself. You're not in it to do it for them. If you are in cosplay to do it for other people, you will not survive the internet. The internet is can be a wonderful, beautiful place or a horrible, menacing place. So it's kind of like the energy you put into it, that is how, you know, that's the income, the outcome it's gonna be, so to speak. So if you know that you're in it for your creative value to push yourself further, it's okay to be hard on yourself in a positive way to push yourself for forward. You know, it's okay to ask for constructive criticism if you want it. But if you don't, you know, if you don't need it, ignore them or delete. Like I've had people call me the N-word or the N version of this character or the good version of this character. Oh, you straight from the Bronx or some ignorant crap. And I'm like, delete block. You know, I just what is what sense does that make? But you're a troll because every time I see those people who make those comments, you go on their page and it's all cartoons. So it's just really funny. Like their their profiles are always fake. So they know that they're trolls, and some people just get a love to get a reaction out of you, and you have to see it as it's just ignorance and hatred, and the love and positivity that your fans or your friends are giving you way outshines that one or two whack comments. They don't matter. You're gonna have negative people, you know, that you might see in your daily lives, but they don't, they don't make your value as a person. You see what I'm saying? So you have to go into it with a a confident headspace in a way, knowing your worth. Like you know what you're not going to take, you know, and on an emotional standpoint. You know that you're worth it, you know that you're doing this, and no one can do what you do. It doesn't matter how minuscule it is or how grand or avant-garde, no one can do your work. And that is where that positive feedback comes in from yourself. And then if everybody likes it, that's great. If everybody doesn't like it, that's cool too, because it's for you. So I you just have to kind of go in it with a a positive headspace, and it's all for fun. If you go for it for other reasons than that, you're not gonna like it. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_11 1:17:56

I have I have a question for all the cosplayers. What was your first cosplay and what inspired you that first cosplay?

SPEAKER_05 1:18:06

Honestly, we couldn't tell you what first cosplay was at the point.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:11

Um, my first cosplay, let's see, I guess when it comes to, I don't know, Halloween in a way, is cosplay, so to speak, but I won't go on that. So after my first cosplay at a convention was Poison Ivy. And I love changing myself completely from how I actually am. And uh that was my first body painting experience. Um, and I it was hard because I thought that cosplay was easy, and it wasn't. You know, I I can't tell you how many uh how many times I bought clothes that were too small, that were too big, and I said, Good, fuck it. I'm just gonna change it to fit in my ass. That's just how it's gonna be. And people are just gonna like it or not. And yeah, so um it was interesting. There's cosplay is very challenging in a way. If you're gonna do more, I guess, personalized cosplay, especially when your body type is not the I would say one of the mill you go to the store, you can get your stuff and get out. Like I have boobs, I have size, you know, I'm curvy. So I had to kind of modify outfits to fit my body type and to make it, you know, so that I feel comfortable and confident at the same time. And I just had to, I'm not a seamstress, I'm I'm not as you know, a sewing goddess like Miss Skittles is. I'm gonna be there with me, but I did. You know, I um I learned to buy base outfits and cut it and adorn it. So, like even with this um this crown, it's completely handmade. You know, that I did myself, you know, I bought flowers, I added lights to it. This I didn't buy from the store. Um, the wig was a straight wig and I curled it myself. This dress did not come this way. I cut it and I and I, you know, tied it and manipulated it, you know, my own way, just so that it could fit my body type really how I want it. So you don't have to know how to sew. You know, you can just, if you know how to manipulate things to just fit your style, um, that's just kind of how it was for me with cosplaying as a first experience. But it was great, it was fun, it was exhilarating because I went to a con and people actually knew who I was. I didn't have to hold a sign and say I'm poison ivy. I had, you know, signature red hair, the green skin, I had the leaves, and you know, that feeling of people gassing you up, it's a great experience. Like, damn, you did that? I'm like, oh yeah, I did. So um, but yeah, so that kind of uh paved the way for where I am, and that was almost 10 years ago. So I'm probably gonna be 80 still cosplaying, putting in my dentures. It's gonna be great.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:58

Uh I started cosplaying. Uh, so I've been going to conventions and I've uh always admired cosplayers, um, just the artistry behind it. Uh, before cosplaying, I mean, I would definitely consider myself an artist. I draw, I I paint, I do other things. My full-time job is graphic design. Um, so um in 2017, I went to Dragon Con. It was my first con of that size, uh, and then out of state as well. So I I I was like, if I'm gonna go to Dragon Con, I why not cosplay? Um, so my first cosplay was Storm. Um, I chose Storm because like like it's the Storm, like that, right. So like the I mean the thought of like elemental, you know, magic, lightning, thunder, like long flowing white hair, like um, and then just like contacts. I wanted to do the whole nine yards. Um and I I reached out to another cosplayer who told me where I can get fabric and things like that. And I was like, you know what? I'm about to, I'm about to so I'm about to make this, like make, make this. Um because it it's to me is just another uh another art medium that I haven't ever experienced before. So this is me with fabric and and thread, you know, creating uh something new. Um and the the feedback I got what I was actually really shocked because I I I'm very introverted. So um, so I chose Storm in the in the leotard. So um I'm I'm I'm a bit curvy too, so cheeks, uh everything, everything was out. I was I was out there with like hot like knee high boots. Um and um this big ass cape, and like I I said to myself, I had to push myself as far out of my comfort zone as possible if I wanted to do cosplay because um because if I just went out there, I feel like if I went out there like fully covered, like hiding under, you know, some type of cape with a hood, it it it just wouldn't have it was it's like okay, you could have went in your regular clothes. Like, I mean, not not saying, you know, caves and hoods are bad, but anyways, um, so yeah, I went out there to fully push myself out of my comfort zone and at this huge con thousands of people, and I was like, if I can if I can do that with my first cosplay, I can continue with this craft and and just you know just blossom from there. And um, like I said, the feedback, uh I I actually did not see another storm that day, that that day. Um, and I also met Marcus Williams. Um so the whole the whole experience uh was just phenomenal uh after I got over um being afraid of being out there and exposed. Um and now now I love it.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:41

All right. Anyone else with a question? All right. Then, if no other questions, I will go ahead and wrap up this episode. I would definitely want to thank our cosplayers for you know putting on the layers. I want to thank our LARPers for coming out. Uh, we definitely want to have you back for another episode soon. Honestly, I wouldn't mind doing, you know, post-corona, maybe a live, live action role-playing episode uh where we can, you know, maybe take a couple clips of our uh cosplayers in your elements and uh seeing what you guys do in the field. That'd be pretty dope. Uh when that's potentially happening.

SPEAKER_06 1:25:25

Yeah. ISIS for it.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:27

So you have a you have a small piece here because I did I did joined with all three.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:38

I'll put on black and I'll be a bodyguard. I'll be the I'll be uh ISIS's uh uh uh uh shoot. Actually, I'll carry your chair. You can sit on my show. And then you know the doctor can be the document can be the boob the wind that blows.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:01

You guys would love LARPing. Uh it it's a lot of fun. I I I wish you know the virus didn't take hold of the year because so many things happen and it's so like one story I think I find this funny. Um one uh LARPing adventure was a Greek theme, and we as a we as a company we love to we love to drink, so they had the god of Dionysus uh Dionysus or Dionysus, the god of wine. So we were like, hey, you know, you're the god of wine, god of drinking. Come drink with us. And we so we sat down with the god of drinking, and we drank him on the table. And as a gift to him, we created a chariot. Because he, you know, the god of Dionysus always uh sits in a chair or sits in a chair. So we created this chair that day out of wood sticks and rope, wow, and carried him into the the town where all the gods are, and I enunciated his presence.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:03

Um so yeah, we we need to do this ASAP because I need somebody to carry me on a chair.

SPEAKER_05 1:27:10

So no, you don't need a chair, you need a palantine.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:14

You write whatever I need to carry.

SPEAKER_09 1:27:20

Like whatever you niggas believe.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:28

All right, so I definitely want to close out this episode. Uh again, thank everybody for uh showing up for this one. Definitely want to have another one with these two groups. Uh, if anybody has any uh uh social media handles to talk about both themselves or their organizations, feel free. I'll start. Uh to reach out to us, you can reach us on Twitter, uh, what is it, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitch on Umbral Starcade, or you can contact hit us up on our mailbag, the blurred spectrum at umbralstarcade.com. Anyone else?

SPEAKER_10 1:28:02

Um, to learn more about Darkon Crownland, you can just uh look us up on Facebook, Darkon Crownland. And I believe there is a front-facing webpage. Uh I believe uh darkoncrown land.com, if I'm not mistaken.org.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:22

Darkon.org. Gotcha. Darkon um the webpage darkondar uh.org, and it gives you our event list of where events are, our rules breakdown and everything like that.

SPEAKER_11 1:28:34

There's also other Markwords out there, like again, Antguard, uh Dragon Roc or something. I can't make the name of it, but there are other shows like that out there.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:44

Okay. Cosplayers.

SPEAKER_05 1:28:47

Uh the black McCoy on Instagram and Facebook.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:51

Sion A cosplay on Facebook. Sion A underscore cosplay on Instagram.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:59

Uh Ms. Skittles, uh Skittles with S T R underscore cosplay at uh Instagram and Facebook and TikTok, but I'll be on there.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:15

Anyone else? Right. So that is closing out this episode. Thank you all for coming. Thank you all for listening. Thank you all for watching on YouTube. Uh, stay tuned for our next episode next week. I was about to say sayone. Sayonara. May the goal be with you and always make a profit. Oh lord.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:44

May the gods of gold bless you in your conjourney. Prophet be with you.