Offline meetings @ FanBBS

I do this all the time. Then I got bored one day and made up a fake barcode to add to each cover. And a printing company that I made up (I actually had to make a company up for one of my final print production classes during my last year in college).

I started doing it for the purpose of printing and binding a finished copy of a fanfic or collection.

Honestly, I was going to do this, but I figured that it'd be way too much with seventeen stories. D=
I now consider doing this when I finish Sen No Yoru Wo Koete. (:<

I was actually messing around with this yesterday xD
I'd probably only do it for longer fanfictions, but I must say that for an offline meeting, it would be great, making it almost like a little novella-book.
I wouldn't print my fanfictions out regularly (mainly, I don't want my parents finding one and deciding to look through it) but for the purpose of offline meetings I might consider.

This sounds like a really nice idea. I like doing fan art for my stories from time to time, so drawing up an official cover sounds like good fun. For longer stories I might like to split them into several books covering different arcs, like a series.

(Wow, spamarific replies up there...)

>>15 Sounds awesome lol, and nah, that's not cheating :P And I wish I had Japanese lessons in my school, I learn all of mine from animes and the occasional manga :D

Haha, thats how I got into Japanese. Apparently if enough people are interested I might be able to do a Japanese A Level. fingers crossed

I think languages are important :3

>>13 Seriously, they do.

The same person asked me how to say 'then' five times. In as many minutes. I don't know what the heck they were writing but it must have been damn boring.

I'm doing my GCSE too. I was supposed to be fast-tracked, but now nobody is from my year, so it's kind of horrid. And nobody can decide what my joyless aspirational target is, which is kind of interesting.

Argh. Speaking tests. Must revise...

>>14 I don't find 'the' that annoying in French to be honest. Most everything that ends in the letter e is feminine, and some stuff just sounds right or wrong.

Or maybe I'm just being a complete freak. I don't know :S

>>18 Yeah...I find the gender of something kinda confusing...As well as irregular verbs (such as Etre or Aller)...I guess I just need to revise more... :)

French is easy, but the teaching in our school at GCSE was horrendous. My friend and I taught each other for the duration of the year, and I was the only person in my class to get an A-star. Bear in mind that my class was the top set, and nobody should have received a mark below a B- several people got Ds. Could this have possibly been the fault of the teacher who would just play us 'The Incredibles' with French (or sometimes English) subtitles on the smartboard every lesson? Who can say...?

I love languages; at GCSE level I'm studying Spanish and German (and Latin) and for A-Level I'm going to continue Spanish. I'd like to learn:

• Esperanto
• Italian

:D

I wanna learn Polish :)

If any one speaks it, feel free to offer to teach me, I'm picking bits and pieces up but I'd love to learn it properly :P

I am so drunk right now,...seriouisly.

Well, just incase, I can set up threads in French, as I'm a native speaker... I'll do it now, in this area so...^^

R$e: Previous post was me and thread is set up... I didn't have accents on that stupid keyboard though...

And honestly... learning French can be a hassle - believe me, there are people my age (22) who can't even properly in their own language. Though I really starting to lose it because I barely spoke french this year...

Learned Italian and Spanish too but I sucked... I can understand some of it but not enough to speak.

@20: Could be... I never learned a language with movies... well, we had some but still.

BTW, in France we have to study stuff like... Julian Barnes and all for English classes... do those who take French have similarly annoying French stuff to read?

Русские здесь есть? Ау!

No russians? lol okay...
il n'ya pas assez de ... uh threads... en francais.... y tambien pienso que tenemos que tener unos ...uh threads... en espanol.

>.> whats the franch and spanish for 'thread'?

Come on people! We can do better than this!

I'm bringing some friends, ones a former fanfictioner and the others are cool. This is their first expo and I plan to corrupt them with expo-awesomeness. Hehehe.

How can you be a former fanficcer? Once you start getting into the mindset of new plot for some characters, it's hard to stop.

The whole meeting people thing turned into a bit of a disaster for me. The only remotely fanficcy person I saw was Scourge's drinking buddy that gets tetchy if he spends too long in Starbucks. And that was after I left.

Am I crap or what?

Hmmm, well since this thread is still linked at the top of the Offline Meetings board and it's sort of coming up to May again... Who wants to try and meet up this year? Maybe we can make something actually happen :3

PUTS HAND IN THE AIR AND PROCEEDS TO JUMP UP AND DOWN TRYING TO GET PEOPLES ATTENTION

ME ME! I WANT TO GO! PICK ME!

settles down

Yes, I would be interested in attempting to meet up at the MCM Expo this May. I have a feeling I might have to get tickets on the door again, but I can probably live with it.

So, that's two. Anyone else?

Crap, there were supposed to be asterix thingies around those descriptions of activity.

I fail. Again.

Yeah, I keep forgetting that this board doesn't like asterisks.

Good news, my wonderful internet friend Lho has expressed an interest in coming to Expo after she finishes her exams :D She's studying film; you're obsessed with films = you two should get along pretty well. X3

Sweet! Seconds after reading that I can think of many questions to ask about her, but then I realised that there is a good chance you won't understand them. #sigh#

Other than the weather, this is turning out to be a great time of year!

Save them for May, I guess? x3

For manga, I can't read yaoi or yuri, but for fanfiction, I can stand minimal amounts of yuri (so not the main pairing, but I won't close the window if it's on the side).
As for yaoi fanfiction... Only for certain fanfictions. (Prince of Tennis, for example - you can't have all that guys and not start to think of them being something more! XD haha)

Overall, though, plain shoujo will suit me just find. ^.^

>>11
That's an interesting thought. It's unfortunate that not many people are aware of sexualities outside of your standard yaoi/yuri/het/bi.

I love yaoi and yuri though yaoi is my favorite. I'm actually more of a hard yaoi fan though the cute stuff is amazing as well ;3

Hm, I'm actually curious about what makes people like yaoi and yuri so much. I'm not much of a fan myself, but I don't really care if it pops up randomly in something I'm reading, as long as it's not the main, like >>20 said.
I guess it's just preferences. -shrug-

~Chika

I like Yuri. The cuteness and everything is just adorable. I even actively look up yuri in manga and fanfics. ><

I like Yuri. The cuteness and everything is just adorable. I even actively look up yuri in manga and fanfics. ><

I like Yuri. The cuteness and everything is just adorable. I even actively look up yuri in manga and fanfics. ><

I am definitely a yaoi fangirl. Actively searching for fanfiction and manga with said pairings. I also like het, though yuri doesn't interest me quite as much, I'll still read it.

I love yaoi! I don't hate yuri but I don't read it either. Strange how that works. Most people like one more than the other. Don't know why. I originally didn't like yaoi. Well, more like I hadn't really know about the world of Homosexual anime but then I accidentally stumbled apon animus like Loveless and Gravitation and fell in love. I think that all the haters of yaoi and yuri would be okay with it if they gave it a chance but maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

I love yaoi! I don't hate yuri but I don't read it either. Strange how that works. Most people like one more than the other. Don't know why. I originally didn't like yaoi. Well, more like I hadn't really know about the world of Homosexual anime but then I accidentally stumbled apon animus like Loveless and Gravitation and fell in love. I think that all the haters of yaoi and yuri would be okay with it if they gave it a chance but maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

i think that the meetings are a great idea. and if we meet somewhere public we should be alright. as long as there are a lot of people around. and that there aren't just one or two people from fanfic going

while i agree with most of what is being said, no 1 to 1's or giving private details and stuff, i think if your going to meet someone, you should let your family know where your going, time your going for, who your meeting. get a name for the person your meeting and record any details and give it to some one you trust so that if something goes wrong, there are people who know where you are and who your with. but the main thing is safety in numbers.

I am a parent who also writes fan fiction, and have a daughter who cosplays. As a parent I am more than willing to go with my daughter (to MCN for example). I am also thinking about organising a meet. Perhaps its worth asking other parents/trusted adults to help out?
Also my daughter's school has allowed them to start a lunchtime club for people interested in Manga/Anime/cosplay. I reckon it is worth approaching a teacher you like to see if you can do the same. Also good for your rep at school (well with the teachers anyway!)Hope this doesn't sound too boring - we parents really worry but still want you to enjoy yourselves. It's a delicate balance.

On another forum I'm on, where the demographic is age 13-20ish, the general thing they do is arrange to meet in a public place, ie defined area of busy train station, etc.
It's a book forum, so there's always meets at signings as well...

I think safety at meetings is WAY important.

I don't think limiting the age range is going to be any good, because if someone wants to show up, they're going to show up. I would, however, suggest that anyone under the age of 15 bring a friend or family member with them. The friend doesnt have to be a writer or reader themselves, just someone who'd make things safer and more comfortable.

I've seen others say it previously aswell, but i'd automatically keep an eye on the younger people coming to the meetings anyway. Especially those that showed up alone.

Best way to stay safe is just use your common sence.
If somethings sounds even remotely suspicious, leave well alone.

Kitty.x.

I was wondering about this. I'm 15, and keen to talk to people who are interested in the same things as me.
Sadly none of my friends share this interest, and my parents work a lot, so they would not be able to accompany me.
Meaning I'd have to go on my own, which I totally don't mind if it's like a lot of people in a safe place or whatever.

>>42 like Kitty said, your friend doesn't have to be interested to accompany you :) so I could bring one of my friends (even though NONE of them are actually into or write fanfiction) with me ^.^

I agree that safty is a big deal when it comes to offline meetings.

I'm 14 and have a mother and father that are WAY overprotective...
and offline meetings would be difficult for me to explain who I'm going to meet.

So I stick with online meetings for now. But I'd love to meet up with some people who are around my age and in my area.

Well, believe me, protective parents will be even when you are like... 22 (as myself). Like, I had my car and everything but when I had to go and see a friend, I had to give them both names and numbers and so on.

What I do is to ask people from the meet for their numbers and so on - my mom asks for it. Normally, they accept. I went to the Japan Expo in Paris without knowing anyone - except one person but I didn't know when I'll get to see him.

But Kitty is right - a girl did it for Nano's meets. (And her mother started one herself, if I remember correctly.)

Or maybe arrange something before the actual meet up - if parents are concerned, maybe you can arrange for finding people in the same situations so parents can meet and talk together? (I don't know if it makes sense... my brain is turning to jelly)

>>1 It's the same for me. When Yoshino In The Moonlight first suggested meetings on ff.net, I was wary b.c of all this internet safety stuff going on..

But it would be pretty cool =]