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Post by bakeuntilash on Jul 7, 2010 22:26:08 GMT -8
I like to have problems solved. So I lurked for a while until I formulated a useful question to be solved. Lots of people want to know how to meet or approach a guy or girl and start a conversation. At anime conventions it is easy because we are all know the other person likes anime. But what about in the day to day situation? Its hard enough approaching a complete stranger at a convention, but when you are outside alone, there is no way to tell if someone will react positively or run away from you screaming. What indicators do we have that tell us that the pretty girl over there likes anime and is waiting for a handsome stranger (that’s you stupid!) to sit down and strike up a conversation. I have a few ideas but need your help perfecting a tactic. The first thing I can think of is accessories. Not a beat up t shirt of Gundam, Dragonball Z or Evangelion (all good series, of course) a single faded, cracked T doesn’t show the spirit you have for the art. Grab a small back pack, stuff a bottle of water in it and a snack, decorate it with several of your favorite anime (key chains, stickers and patches) and go for a walk. Loiter for a while out front of places where people meet, buy something and sit. If you are poor, drink your water and eat the sammich you stuffed in your back pack. -Decorate your back pack to the intensity of your obsession. -LOTS of accessories and crazy stuff if you are the hyperactive sugar crazed, adrenaline rush of BO-Bo-Bo or excel saga -Moderate décor if you enjoy anime. Maybe you cant watch because you have a job or you cant watch as much as you would want. -If you like cosplay you can buy one of those wooden figure models and sew a tiny cosplay costume for it. -Maybe if you are too shy to sport a bag. wear earrings of anime characters or a colorful anime pin on your collar. I notice face and neck first on almost all women and if there is something shiny and colorful there (especially anime related) I can spot you a block down the street. To sum it up -have something spiced up with anime gear! Something that you can set out like a bear trap to lure people in. something that you can tuck away if you are tired of talking to people. Something that indicates your involvement in anime to help draw in the kind of person you want to talk to. (lots of accessories or a calculated few) You will have better luck if the stuff you display looks shiny, clean and/or new. It implies you are actively into anime. More to come later Attachments:
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Post by Tsuki on Jul 8, 2010 8:43:54 GMT -8
lol Xd that's actually a pretty good idea, XD I usually just have my lanyard from AX hanging on my keys, but that doesn't really always get noticed. I think I will give this a try sometime.
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Post by binksthecat on Jul 8, 2010 13:13:27 GMT -8
Ill help you out and test this theory around Vegas. I rarely take my bag anywhere but ill do for the survey. Ill also take a random survey asking strangers (what attracts u to go up to someone to start a conversation.) Ill do it this weekend....since I have nothing better to do...
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Post by kikiroll on Jul 8, 2010 17:13:05 GMT -8
Ooooh I like this topic!
Your suggestions are right on the mark ;] One I would like to add is cellphone ring tones. Sure it's kinda cheesy but ring tones get noticed, and from a distance too. Especially if you have something easily recognizable like Tank from Cowboy Bebop.
I was out to lunch with my sister yesterday and a cellphone across the room starting playing Tank. Needless to say I got a little excited. My sister likes to tease me, according to her whenever I encounter someone who might be a fellow anime fan I get a look in my eye (more like maniacal gleam), not unlike an evangelist who's just found a soul needing saving or something hahah.
I understand why you don't endorse the T-shirt method but it does work. A girl at our barn recently gained an interest in anime but didn't know anyone to go to for suggestions or just talk about it with....until I wore my Haruhi shirt out there. She was really excited to find a comrade and seasoned one at that.
My purse (any one at the after panel gathering saw me with it) gets a fair amount of attention too. So I can back you up on the key chain's and pins theory. It works.
OH! I thought of another one! Your laptop! Sticker that shit up! I love stickers! I've been slapping those suckers on everything I can from notebooks to my cellphone and of course my laptop ever since I was just a wee chit. Walk into your local internet cafe and sit down with a laptop smattered with japanese/anime stickers, you'll turn some eyes ;] For sure.
My laptops ----->
  
The first two are my old laptop before I knew there was such a thing as anime stickers. I'm working on my new one hahah.
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Post by Adam on Jul 8, 2010 21:44:46 GMT -8
Something that I don't think i talked about at the panel that I wanted to is the concept of "Letting your Nerd Show." Some people try to hide the fact that they are nerdy until someone gets to know them a bit better, but I think thats a mistake. If someone is going to be weirded out by your nerdy-ness, then they are probably not someone you will want to date. So yeah, let your nerd show! g
But yeah, as a great primer for that, wear something that is a little more obscure. For example, I have a one piece shirt that ann made that just has Zoro's pirate flag on it, but doesn't say One Piece on it anywhere. Only serious One Piece fans recognize it, so one someone sees it and freaks out, then I know they are someone who loves One Piece. This has actually happened to me a few times over the last year, and I have made some new friends because of it.
-Adam
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Post by Alec on Jul 9, 2010 0:49:24 GMT -8
What an excellent idea, bakeuntilash. I know that sometimes I'll be out and about, see someone with something nerdy on, and feel disappointed that I didn't wear something myself. I think I just got too lazy to do it. XD
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Post by Tsuki on Jul 9, 2010 8:40:51 GMT -8
lol omg stickers are too awesome XD I love that laptop
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Post by J. on Jul 9, 2010 15:24:21 GMT -8
A personal tactic of mine is to feel the person out (figuratively speaking -- keep your hands in view at all times!) through geek references. Think of the pool of topics as an inverted pyramid going from general (Cowboy Bebop) to specific (Yoko Kanno soundtracks).
Any of the people who've known me long enough can tell you that at some point when we met each other I made an extremely convoluted geeky reference and then just watched their reaction. Reacting favorably means that I can press on, confusion means I should probably dial the nerd back a bit.
The geek wear that person is sporting or the circumstances you're encountering can also help you tailor your approach. As always, your mileage may vary.
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Post by Ann on Jul 9, 2010 15:32:43 GMT -8
^ J also whistles alot. If it's a song you don't recognize it just kind of becomes background noise, but more often than not he picks one from an old video game or a disney afternoon theme, and then it gets stuck in MY head too, dammit! I suppose this is along the same lines as having a nerdy ring-tone, but I can at least vouch for this strategy. I've gone out of my way to stop a stranger walking down the street when I heard them whistling Dancing Mad from Final Fantasy 6 or Binks Sake from One Piece.
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Post by bakeuntilash on Jul 9, 2010 16:43:21 GMT -8
kikiroll – look at that! you ANIMAL! That laptop is awesome!! I must do that too. TO THE INTERNET! I am going to find me some stickers right away. I defiantly need to get the 1-up mushroom so to match the one on my motorcycle. I was looking for an anime scratch guard for my tank but I can’t seem to find one. Ill take suggestions where to get one….any one? I also have an anime figure hanging out the back. The t-shirt doesn’t encourage people to stop you and talk about your shirt. It might…but its never happened to me. Especially if its beat up. I just figure the person needed a junk t shirt to throw on and they don’t realize they put a Dragonball Z shirt on. …now im just mumbling…. The shirt didn’t work for me, that’s all im trying to say. Adam – ah….it must nice to be young. Back in my day *shaking my cane* we got beat up for being different. Lucky for me, I was a nobody so I was looked at funny and ignored but it was typical for everyone to go along with what was cool. Lucky punks these day can do anything and everything and still be excepted. It is easy to say “just be yourself and people will like you” (this advice is good and im getting use to the idea. It is a truly wonderful feeling.) but we (and by we, I mean me) grew up hidden and it is difficult to change what has already been ingrained in you as a defense mechanism. All the negativity aside. I am much better off now days. I am happy and healthy and I have cultivated an inner joy of anime that is perpetually sustaining and grows when I interact with other anime enthusiasts. J. – you are very funny first of all, second you make a good point and spark a thought. It is good to go out with an arsenal of information starting with general main stream anime and headed up to the more specific. This extends conversation greatly. Now, be warned, no one likes an over talkative know-it-all so if that cute girl starts talking about something you already know just nod your head in encouragement and let her speak. Don’t cut her off and rant! Remember your manners, fool!! Mix some everyday life into your conversation to show you actually have other interests then anime….even if you don’t. Attachments:
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Post by kikiroll on Jul 9, 2010 17:44:25 GMT -8
bakeuntilash: Hahaha if you think that's fierce you should see my apartment. It's a lot like this---->
But more spread out now that I have slightly larger living quarters xD And quite a bit more crap since this photo is about two years old.
No, you make a valid point with the T-shirts. Especially right now. There are a lot of youth's rockin the "anime T's" not having clue what the art represents. They just grabbed it because it looked "kewl". Hah.
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Post by binksthecat on Jul 10, 2010 23:07:52 GMT -8
I want to say that I went to bed Friday night with all intentions on going to vegas town square and doing a survey on how to talk to girls/guys. but due to the military and there infinite stupidity i ended up spending all morning and half the after noon locked down doing a piss test and dorm inspections.
I will hopefully get the chance this coming weekend to go and do it.
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Post by bakeuntilash on Jul 11, 2010 14:20:06 GMT -8
tell your commanding officer that it i will be faster to wait until you are good and drunk to get his piss test and if he is SOOO concerned about a clean dorm he should do it himself  |
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Post by binksthecat on Jul 12, 2010 20:22:15 GMT -8
oh the whole bases commander officers were there doing the inspection themselves along with OSI and plenty of security forces. im 100% sure ill have time this weekend to do get it done. and i might bring girl along so some wont feel like im there to pick them up lol
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Post by bakeuntilash on Jul 13, 2010 15:49:01 GMT -8
i look forward to your report! i hope it goes well! what do you plan on asking? what do you plan on doing?
i REALLY want some curry from Japan town so i think i will be going to San francisco this weekend. other than curry i really have nothing else to do so i think i will linger longer and see what kind of anime nuts are out and about.
EXCITEMENT!!
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