Chinese Special Forces raid the Galle Face Hotel...

Picture credit TheNationalInterest.org
(These are actually Indian special forces)

… In my new book, The Hundred Gram Mission.

It launches at Lanka Comic Con, on Saturday.

TL:DR

If you like spaceships, realistic spaceships that could actually be built one day - you should like this book.

If you like reading about Modern Warfare, and the near-future directions it may go - you should like this book.

If you think laser satellites should snipe at terrorists from orbit, and that Search and Destroy drones should climb down stairs, and check basements, you will definitely like this book.

This pic, plus lots of shooting,
pretty much sums up the book. 
Picture Credit: Blastr.com

The Hundred Gram Mission DRM-free Ebook, is available for pre-order now on Amazon, for just $0.99. The print edition - for Lanka Comic-Con, and only on sale there - will go on sale on Saturday (at 500/= a copy).

If you let me autograph your copy, I will write things like “you better get that rash checked,” or “there's this guy following you everywhere don't you see him?” or “I have told your parents that you never flush, on purpose. They believe me.”

Traveling to Another Star?

Take Elon Musk's goals, but put them in Donald Trump, and you have the book's main villain, Daryl Spektorov.

Many (boring and smelly) people, still find problems with space programs. Most recently, many question why India is sending probes to Mars, when it has plenty of domestic poverty.

There are many answers to that question - In my book, I list some of the popular ones. Neil deGrasse Tyson I think has the best: when a country sets itself difficult engineering or science goals, it moves forward. There are nations that explore, and then there's everyone else. If you want to get ahead, you have to get serious about Science and Exploration.  For our ancestors, that was getting in a ship and coming to Sri Lanka. For our children, that will be getting on a ship, and going to Mars.

The Hundred Gram Mission is set just 35 years from now. Sea levels have risen. Climate refugees are everywhere. Terrorism is on the rise, many Third World countries have become Failed States.

The battle isn’t just against chaos, but also between Western-style democracy, and Chinese-style order. America is tired of military adventures, and ascendant China has troops all over Africa and Asia.  As during the Cold War, between Communism and Capitalism - the contest is for the hearts and minds of the entire world.

““What the hell was that about?” asked the shooter.
Vasanth smiled. “I always wanted to kick a Sri Lankan bus driver, in the ass.””

— The Hundred Gram Mission

In the middle of this, a rich asteroid miner decides that he wants to send a private expedition to the nearest star. Can he do it? Should he do it? And is there anyone he won’t harm, to get what he wants?

If you have actually read this far, thank you for indulging me.

See you at Lanka Comic Con.

Navin
Facebook
Twitter

The founder of Comic Con India, is coming to Lanka Comic Con

Jatin Varma, the founder of Comic Con India, is dropping by to say Ohai! Comic Con India began in 2011, in New Delhi. “We didn't really have any event experience,” Varma said, “But we thought why not experiment? Let's try and put this together.” At that very first event, 15,000 came.

“We had to first explain to people what a Comic Con is,” Varma said. “Everyone comes in with their own meaning. Some think it would be a very artistic event, others think it's more about entertainment. Most just relate to what they see on television.”

Comic Con India has expanded since then into a properly, national event. The main exhibition, is Delhi Comic Con. Comic Con India now also hosts Hyderabad Comic Con, Bangalore Comic Con, and Mumbai Comic Con. These are all part of the Comic Con India. Varma has always identified as a geek. Before Comic Con India then there was no one who understood his passion, there was no one he could talk to. Now, he's surrounded by people who can talk for hours about characters and costumes and storylines. Now it's cool to be a geek.

Jatin will be one of the judges at the cosplay fashion show, on Saturday. This article by Mridu Khullar Relph has been heavily sampled in the above write up.

Lanka Comic Con's Moms

“It’s a different category of people. Not like the usual company - It’s enjoyable.”

— - Karen Bahar, on local Geek culture

Karen Bahar. Navy Lieutenant. Jedi. Geek Mom.

"Is that van following us?"
"No, no. It's just one of the cosplayer's moms."

It is easy to forget that easily half the geeks you meet in Sri Lanka, are under 21. They are the energy behind any event, but that energy was permitted by parents - who more often than not struggle with what it is their children are so excited about.

Moms seem to have one - or all - of three opinions about geek culture:

1 - I'm a Geek too, and always have been.
2 - Seems like a good crowd. 
3 - What are these children doing, men? 

"I'm a Geek Too, And Always Have Been"

“When I was about 3, I tied a red hanky on my doll and called her Superman. After that my parents just gave me action figures.”

— Jessica Kwatick Perera

The Tennekoons (and Barad-dur) 

Whether vindicated or perplexed, Comic Con's moms are quite supportive of their children's efforts. Taking them to meet ups, allowing them to volunteer, or building a 1:1 scale styrofoam statue (you think I'm kidding).  

"I started becoming a geek by reading Herge's 'The Adventures of Tin Tin' Books and also Asterix books," said Visakha Tennekoon, mother of Aishwarya Tennekoon - builder of last year's Barad-dur sculpture.  

Jessica Kwatick Perera and boffer-weapon tester, Aidan

"I was very happy to see him with such a big crowd last year. He got hundreds of likes and comments for his epic creation. And the people who came there were very friendly!"

"I am thrilled that my boys are geeks!" said Jessica Kwatick Perera. "With all the academic pressure on children in this society, I am so glad that they have a creative outlet like this. I think that geekiness is truly a form of creativity, and their geekiness is not the same as my geekiness, or my husband's geekiness, and that is perfectly okay."

"Seems Like a Good Crowd"

Kanchanamala Marage, Chucky, and That Guy.

"Seeing everyone on the day of the LCC promo tour was exciting, especially the ones running around in their costumes," said Kanchanamala Marage, mother of "Chucky" Chakrapani Marage. "Even at the movie shoot, everyone was extremely friendly and it’s actually good to know such geeky, cheerful souls existed!"

“I have always encouraged my sons to do what makes them happy and take on things that interest them.”

— - Aleifia Rozais

Aleifia and Naveed Rozais

"I have always been an open-minded and hands off mother," said Aleifia Rozais, mother of LCC organizer, Naveed Rozais. "I am very happy that he has got involved, and really appreciate how they treat him."

While it's quite self-serving for us to share these "Geeks! They're so friendly!" perspectives, it is what's being said. It also helps remind that outside of these spaces, geeks are not always welcome, to be themselves. 

"What are these children doing, men?" 

Shirani and Thilani Samarasinha

"We would have called them nerds," said Shirani Samarasinha, Mom of Lanka Comic Con's principal organizer, Thilani Samarasinha. "But now, its a more of a fun thing. People dress up, even weirdos like these Twilight Book people."

There are no shortage it seems, of moms who are perplexed. However, they are just as supportive of their children. 

"I was shocked," said Karen Bahar of her son Kashan's cosplaying. "But later, i thought it was cool. Otherwise I wouldn't have gone on the road when he was dressed up." 

Lanka Comic Con would like to thank all the supportive Moms (and Dads), who are helping us along. Thank you for encouraging your kids to be themselves. 

No, you do NOT have to Cosplay to Come to Lanka Comic Con

There's a rumor going around that you HAVE to cosplay to come to Lanka Comic Con. 

This is utter rubbish. 

Cosplay is just a part of any Comic Con. There's so much more to one. There's comics (hence the name!), games, books, geek collectibles, film, Anime and manga, live action role play - and really so much more. 

Here, finally, is the event schedule.

(Sorry it's so late.)

You will find plenty of things to do, see, and buy. Including, something we don't believe anyone else is doing, a Marvel vs. DC duel. 

See you at Comic Con.

ලංකා කොමික්-කොන් ගැන කෙටි ලිපියක්

“කොමික්-කොන්” Comic Con කියන්නේ මොකක්ද කියලා කෙනෙක් හරියටම ඇහුවොත් දෙන්න පුළුවන් අර්ථකථනය වෙන්නේ මේක එක්තරා ආකාරයක සැණකෙලියක්. දැනට ජාත්‍යන්තර මට්ටමින් ලොව පුරා පැවැත්වෙන මෙවැනි සැණකෙළි ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් ඉලක්ක කරන්නේ ලොව පුරා වාර්ෂිකව නිකුත්වෙන චිත්‍ර කථා සහ විද්‍යා ප්‍රබන්ධ ෆැන්ටසිවලට අදාල වෙන පොත්, චිත්‍රපට ඇතුළු එයට අදාල විශාල උපසංස්කෘතික අංග ගණනාවකට අදාලවන නිර්මාණයි. මෙසේ බිහිවු උපසංස්කෘතින් ගණනාවක් උනන්දුවෙන් වැලඳගත් ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයිනුත් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් අද මේ රටේ දකින්න පුළුවන්. ඒ විශාල කොටසකගේ එකමුතුවෙන් තමයි මේ “ලංකා කොමික්-කොන්” කියන උත්සවය බිහිවෙන්නේ.

1960 දශකයේ ඇමරිකාවේ ආරම්භවූ මෙම විචිත්‍රවත් සැණකෙලිය ඉතා වේගයෙන් කාලයත් එක්ක පරිණාමණය වෙමින් ලොව පුරා දස දෙස පැතිරෙන්නට පටන්ගත්තා. එක් දිනක් පුරාවට පැවැත්වෙන මෙම සැණකෙලිය, කාලයත් සමග දින කීපයක් පුරාව ට පැතිරෙන තරමට විකසනය වුනා. වර්තමානයේ වාර්ෂිකව ඇමරිකාවේ සැන් දියේගෝ (San Diego) ඇතුලු නගර  කිහිපයක් සමගින් ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාව, එංගලන්තය,ඉන්දියාව, මැදපෙරදිග, ජපානය මෙන් තවත් රටවල් ගණනාවක මෙම “කොමික්-කොන්” සැණකෙළි ඉතා උත්කර්ෂවත් අයුරින් පැවත්වෙනවා. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුල මුල්වරට මහා පරිමාණයෙන් සංවිධානය “ලංකා කොමික්-කොන්” උළෙල මෙවරත් දෙවන වතාවට අති උත්කර්ෂවත් අයුරින් කොළඹ JDA කලාගාරයේදි අගෝස්තු 20 සහ 21 දිනයන්හීදි දවස පුරා පැවත්වීමට නියමිත වන අතර. ටිකට් පතක මිල රුපියල් 100ක් පමණයි. Geek Club of Sri Lanka Facebook සමූහය විසින් සංවිධානය කරන මෙයට සිත්ගන්නා විශේෂාංග ගණනාවක් ඇතුලත්.

“ලංකා කොමික්-කොන්” උළෙලේ දී ලාංකිකයන් නිර්මාණය කරපු ප්‍රබන්ධ වගේම චිත්‍ර කතා කීපයකුත් එළිදැක්වීමට නියමිතයි.

සචිත්‍ර එදිරීවීර කියන්නෙ දෘශ්‍ය මාධ්‍යයෙන් ඉතා අගනා නිර්මාණ ගණනාවක් බිහි කළ කෙටි චිත්‍රපට අධ්‍යක්ෂවරයෙක් මෙන්ම චිත්‍ර ශිල්පියෙක්. ඔහුගේ ප්‍රථම චිත්‍රකථාව “ලයන්බෝන්” (Lion Born) නමින් ලංකා කොමික්-කොන් උළලේදි නිකුත්වීමට නියමිතයි. ඒ වගේම ඔහුව හමුවී එය පිලිබඳව ඔහු සමග අදහස් බෙදාහදාගැනීමටත්, ඔහුගේ අනෙකුත් නිර්මාණ රසවිඳීමටත් ඔබට පුළුවන්.

“Podi” නමැති තවත්ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයින් කණ්ඩායමක් විසින් නිර්මාණය කළ චිත්‍ර කථාවකුත් මෙහිදී එළි දැක්වෙනවා. “පොඩී” නිර්මාණය කර තිබෙන්නේ ඉසුරි දයාරත්න, නවීන් රත්නායක සහ දේශාන් තෙන්නකෝන් විසින්. පිටු 120ක් පුරාවට දිවෙන “පොඩී” චිත්‍රකථාව Oni Press ලොක ප්‍රකට චිත්‍ර කථා ප්‍රකාශකයින් විසින් ප්‍රකාශණය කරනු ලබනවා. “ලංකා කොමික්-කොන්” හිදී පළමු වරට මෙරටදීම පොඩී රස වින්දින්නත්, නිර්මාණකරුවන් හමුවෙන්නත් ඔබට අවස්ථාව ලැබෙනවා.

ශ්‍රී ලාංකික විද්‍යා ප්‍රබන්ධ රචකයෙක් වන නවීන් වීරරත්නගේ නවතම විද්‍යා ප්‍රබන්ධය, The 100 gram mission. “ලංකා කොමික්-කොන්” හිදී එළිදක්වනවා. ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින් ලියවුනු මේ නව ආරක ප්‍රබන්ධය, ඈත ග්‍රහලෝක වල ජනාවාස බිහි කිරීම කියන කාරණාව වටා ගෙතුණු කතන්දරයක්. ඔබ සංකීර්ණ විද්‍යා ප්‍රබන්ධ වල රසිකයෙක් නම් අනිවාර්යයෙන් කියවල බලන්න වටින කතාවක්.

‘Cosplay’ තරඟය

ගමේ විකට ඇඳුම් තරඟය ගැන අහලා ඇතිනේ. මේක ඊට ටිකක් එහාට ගිය එකක්. “කොමික්-කොන්” උළෙලක තියෙන තවත් එක් විශේෂාංගයක් ලෙස මෙය හඳුන්වන්න පුළුවන්. කිසිඳු වයස් භේදයකින් තොරව ඔබේ කැමතිම සුපිරි වීරයා, වීරවරිය හෝ එදා මෙදාතුර තමන්ට ආසාවෙන් වැළඳගත් කුමන හෝ චරිතයක් ලෙස හැඳ පැළඳගෙන ඉදිරිපත් වීම මූලික වශයෙන් මෙහි  අදහස. මෙහිදී තමන් නිරූපණය කරන මෙම චරිතයට ගොඩාක් ආසන්න ලෙස හෝ ඊටත් වඩා හොඳට නිරූපණය වෙන අවස්ථා දකින්න ලැබෙනවා. ඇතැම් නිරූපණ ශිල්පීන් මුළු උළෙල පුරාම එම චරිතයට අවතීර්ණ වී සිට විනෝද වන අවස්ථාත් දකින්න ලැබෙනවා.

බොහෝ වේලාවට තමන්ට පුලුවන් අයුරින් තමන් කැමති චරිතය නිරූපණය කරන්න ගොඩක් අය තමන්ගේ උපරිම උත්සාහය දෙනවා. කවුරු කෙසේ කීවත් ඒ හැම අය්ගේම උත්සාහය අගය කිරීමකින් නැතුව යන්නේ නෑ කියලා බය නැතුව කියන්න පුලුවන්. ගිය අවුරුදේදි 150කට අධික පිරිසක් මෙසේ නිරූපණය සඳහා ඉදිරිපත් උනා. මෙවර ඊටත් වඩා වැඩි පිරිසක් උනන්දුවෙන් බලාගෙන ඉන්නවා කියන එකනම් රහසක් නෙවේ.  

මෙවරත් හොඳම Cosplay නිර්මාණ සඳහා ත්‍යාග ලබාදීමක් සීද්ධ වෙන අතර එය සඳහා මෙතනින් තම නම සහ චරිතය ඇතුලත් කර නොමිලේම ලියාපදිංචි වෙන්න පුළුවන්.

පසුගිය වසරේ සහභාගී වූ නිරූපණ ශිල්පීන්ගේ ඡායාරූප කීපයක් මෙතනින්

http://www.lankacomiccon.lk/lanka-comic-con-2015/

විනෝදාත්මක ක්‍රීඩා

පෙතක් සහ ඉත්තන් යොදාගෙන වගේම විවිධ කාඩ් වර්ග යොදාගෙන කරන Monopoly වගේ ක්‍රීඩා ඔබ අහලා, ක්‍රීඩා කරලා ඇති. ඊටත් වඩා විනෝදය ගේන, විවිධ විද්‍යා ප්‍රබන්ධ හෝ ෆැන්ටසි ආරක සිද්ධි ඇතුලත්වෙන නොයෙක් ක්‍රීඩා මේ වතාවේ “ලංකා කොමික්-කොන්” උළෙලට එකතු වෙනවා. අද්භූත සිද්ධි වෙන පරණ මන්දිරයක් ගවේෂණය, එහෙමත් නැතිනම් වසර හතලිස්දාහක් අනාගතයේ පිටසක්වල ජීවීන් එක්ක කෙරෙන යුද්ධ වගේ අමුතුම සිත්ගන්නාසුළු සිද්ධි අඩංගු මේ ක්‍රීඩා ඔබට තනිව හෝ මිතුරන් සමග රසවිඳීමට “ලංකා කොමික්-කොන්” අවස්ථාව ලබා දෙනවා.

මේ විශේෂාංග වලට අමතරව තවත් විශේෂාංග ගණනාවක් මෙම උළෙලට ඇතුලත්. ඔබ ආදරය කරන චිත්‍ර කතා ගණනාවකට අදාල වෙන පොත්, චිත්‍ර, ඇඳුම් සහ විවිධාකර උපාංග ගණනාවක් කොමික්-කොන් උළෙලේදි මිලදී ගන්න ඔබට පුළුවන්. ඔබ වගේම චිත්‍රකතා, ප්‍රබන්ධ සහ ඒ වගේ වෙනත් සංස්කෘතික අංගවල ලංකාව පුරා සිටින රසිකයින් හමුවෙන්නත්, කතා බහ කරන්නත් “ලංකා කොමික්-කොන්” අපූරු තැනක් වේවි කියලා අපි හැමෝම විශ්වාස කරනවා.

වැඩි විස්තර සඳහා www.lankacomiccon.lk  වෙබ් අඩවියට සහ අපගේ Facebook Event පිටුව https://www.facebook.com/events/1009003762496470/?active_tab=posts වෙත පිවිසෙන්න.

එහෙනම් JDA පෙරේරා කලාගාරයේදී හමුවෙමු!

written by Rashantha Nanayakkara and Vishva T.K. Herath

Roar Life did this respectful story on Cosplaying

Credits: Ushan Gunesekera, Jehan Seedin

“Lanka Comic Con is just two weeks away, but according to Chathurinda, it’s still not too late to start working on your costumes. “I’m making my new batsuit from scratch and it’s a version that has not been cosplayed anywhere in the world so far… so yes, it’s possible,” he says.”

— Ria Rameez, Roar Life

The problem with most media coverage of the Geek community (and not just in Sri Lanka), is that they all write this one, same, article:

"OMG! Look at what these people did! Isn't it Cute / Awesome / Weird? Come see the show!" 

They fetishize us, treating our culture, as their spectacle. The current fad of adding cosplay to everything, is an example of this.  

This is part of why we partnered with Roar Life. Look at how different the tone is, of this article they just did on cosplaying. It covers: 

- what cosplaying is
- why you should try it
- where to get materials
- what local cosplayers have to say

Roar Life does engaging culture and lifestyle content. They do articles and photo essays on the arts, food, fashion, beauty, health, fitness, travel, and everyday Sri Lankan life. The quality of their writing is great, their topics are well-chosen, and I've already made a case for how respectfully they engage their work - and people. 

Roar Life is the CULTURE AND LIFESTYLE Partner of Lanka Comic Con

IFilm Sri Lanka are Lanka Comic Con's Official Social Media Partner

IFilm's mascot, and IFilm's mascot. 

"Do we have a female cosplayer?"

"Nope. No female cosplayers today."

It was pretty hot outside the JDA Perera Gallery today. The security guards were really nice, and let people walk in and out carrying (and sometimes using) foam swords. We went through all our water by about 11. It was 11:30. We'd been there for an hour, in the sun, and we had no female cosplayer.

"Then we'll have to scrap this and do a whole new video," said Jason Rajasinghe, of IFilm, Sri Lanka. They had planned the video for at least two weeks. "That's fine. Gimme 15 fifteen minutes to think of something."

He took five. 

IFilm joined us a few weeks ago as our Official Social Media Partner. In that time, they put this out, which they shot, edited and uploaded, in two days. 

IFilm Sri Lanka creates dynamic and trend focused, viral video content. They also produce corporate tv commercials and documentaries, with unique filming concepts - that entertain, and impact brand awareness. Just look at how cool they make our city look.

"Alright," says Jake, the IFilmer directing us. "I want you guys to talk about Comic Con. Navin, you need to pop up, when they're done."

How hard could this be?

"Pop up?" I'm already in a top hat. 

"Yeah. Pop up."

I crouch down, but my bad back cooperates. I hold on to Kashan the the Jedi's leg, so I don't fall over. A camera swings low, and captures my (lack of) grace. Behind me, I hear Sunera as Batman (he's saying "I'm Batman," again and again). 

We do the scene. It plays to our strengths, I think I popped out, convincingly. We realize someone could do a pretty good Star Trek science offer for his Day 2 Cosplay. The IFilm team seem pleased.

This scene has already been deleted. 

"Thank you! You can go home now!" says IFilmer, Banu. They're about to go troll Colombo, in the hot sun, for the next three hours. No one seems daunted. No grumbling. They're not even drinking water.

Vasanth and I talk about the cool bike armor one is wearing: great for a Post-Apocalypse,  cosplay. They say little, mount up, and go; that almost-telepathy you see in strong teams.

I'm glad they're on our side. I bet when no one else is looking though, they let loose. 

IFilm Sri Lanka is the Official Social Media Partner of Lanka Comic Con. 

““Navin’s so cute. He doesn’t know how to open our logo file.””

— Banu, IFilm

Make and Sell Marvel, DC, and Pokemon merchandise, fully licensed, through Hype#Hash.

Hype#Hash founder Ravihans B. Wetakepotha with Brian Wong at the AngelHack Finals

Hype#Hash is a startup with an online platform, for crowd-sourcing designs. It gives designers a marketplace, and helps them develop their own brand. 

Hype#Hash is running a T-shirt design competition - you get to submit your designs! There are three categories:

- Marvel or DC
- Pokemon
- Your own, original, superhero character

They have obtained licensing from the required licensing partners so designers can use existing logos and comic images in their creations, this is permitted as“Fan Art”. 

You can sign up for the competition, here.

Winning Matters

You will be shortlisted through fan voting. The Best Geek Designer will be chosen from the shortlist by a special panel of judges, and announced at Lanka Comic Con. 

There's a cash prize of LKR 150,000/- for the winner of the design competition (and other prizes, not yet disclosed).

For more information regarding Hype#Hash and the competition: visit facebook.com/HypeHash and post a question there, or Just email them at shan@pickfi.com.
 

The Hype#Hash Team

We toured Colombo this morning (and made a child cry).

In pouring rain, cosplayers, journalists, and volunteers assembled this morning to tour Colombo.

TL:DR - Full galleries here:
Bus Mob Promo 2016
Deadpool: A Love Story

St Theresa's Church

So we gathered here, which may not have been the wisest thing given that we had a bunch of people cosplaying as the Undead. They didn't seem to mind though - and we left before we could get into trouble. 

This would be a theme throughout the day. 

Anim8

First we dropped by the good folk at Anim8. They seemed pretty excited, especially the guys n the print shop who were like giddy girls at a Boy Band concert (when I beckoned for the them to come out and join everyone else taking pictures though, they ran and hid). 

Amaal Mansour, Anim8's second in command, gave us our lovely banner. 

Savoy Theater - EAP 

Next we visited the Savoy Theater. I'm not sure how the bus managed those turns, but it made it to Wellawatte. The folks at the Savoy were quite jazzed, though the general public's reaction were more mixed. 

"[The cosplayers] wanted to fight her, her words," said Innocent Bystander, Shanil Wannakuwatte, of his traumatized young daughter. In proper Sri Lankan fashion, the aggrieved party was bought off (in this case, with Pringles). 

Speaking of Pringles...

Pringles is the official Snack Partner of Lanka Comic Con 2016.

I have eaten many, many, Pringles today.
Many.
#NoRegrets
 

The Colombo Lighthouse

At the lighthouse, we went up on the steps to take some shots. Directly behind and of little interest (you will notice I have not bothered to feature it in any images below) is a lighthouse no one cares about. Except for one, tiny, guard, who came out with an assault rifle (maybe he was scared the Undead would bite him?), and told us we couldn't take pictures. 

So we send him to go to talk to Thilani, back at the bus. In the meanwhile, we finished taking all our pictures. He came back to shoo us away, but by then, we were already leaving. 

When we left, I waved to Napoleon.
Sadly, he did not wave back. 

Dutch Hospital

This was unpleasant. We went with a Colombo City Tours bus, because they had all the approvals in place so that we could shoot in public areas (let's set aside for now, that approvals are needed to shoot in public areas). 

The security guard who then came out, told us we had to stop. However, he had no issue with all the white people taking pictures around us. The war on Sri Lankan-hating, Sri Lankan security guards was not what we signed up for that day, so we went on about our business. 

This did involve trying to get into the World Trade Center, where they were quite surprised and nervous, but did let us shoot in a corner. 

Independence Square

Things went very well here. We were well received, security gave us no trouble, and Ushan Gunasekera shot the upcoming Lanka Comic Con Calendar. 

Also, there was this. 

Never have I seen such chemistry between a woman who spoke no English, and a man with no face. 

I call this, "Deadpool: A Love Story."

Jason Rajasinghe was (this) Deadpool. You will know him from the amazing Deadpool Valentine's Day video from IFilm Sri Lanka. 

You will be hearing more soon about Jason, Banu, and the rest of the amazing IFilm team. 

Rahal Wijewardene (LCC 2015 volunteer! Hooray!) from Pulse.lk came by, and livestreamed this little video, talking to cosplayers and asking us about the upcoming events for Lanka Comic Con, 2016. 

Interested in Cosplay?

Click here to join the Official Lanka Comic Con Cosplay Network. Find out about events like this, get tips from other cosplayers, and get to know a cool, fun bunch of dedicated, no-nonsense, charming, bright, people. 

Special thanks to Ushan Gunasekera, IFilm Sri Lanka, Roar.lk,  (who you will also be hearing more about, soon), and all the Lanka Comic Con volunteers and cosplayers who came out today. 

Tomorrow (Saturday 30th), Get to Independence Square.

Something will happen there, starting from anywhere between 10:30am and 11:00am (though, some allowance for "Sri Lankan time" is probably necessary).

Bring your cameras. 

That's all I can say.