MangaNEXT was fun. I managed to get a second to chat with Jason Thompson, editor of The Manga Encyclopedia to which I contributed a very small amount of writing. And I hung out with friends, got my RDA of hugs. I definitely need to offer special super thanks to Adam, who minioned like a champ and was lovely and socially functional the entire time. Thanks Adam. It was really wonderful having you there. :-)

Because of the nature of such things, I was scheduled for a 10AM Fanfic Panel, so basically Adam and I blathered about fanfic while I ate my breakfast and some people watched. (What do people hope to learn in FF panels? Questions always seem to come in two kinds: 1) Externally validate my method/format/concepts/self-worth and; 2) How can I learn to deal with negative stuff? Neither has anything to do with writing. Here’s my advice to young writers – pay attention in English class and read alot. Then learn to not take yourself or your work seriously. That’s all I got for you, really.)

We hung out the bulk of the day in the Artist’s Alley with the cool, hip kids. Wish I could draw too. I always think how useful it would be when I feel too tired to deal with people to be able to semi-ignore them by drawing, like everyone else does. Because I’m a writer I’d have to have my computer to do that, and then I’d look like the two creepy guys across the aisle who *never* looked up once. Instead I just have to pretend to like people and, in this case, kids. The audience for MangaNEXT is significantly younger than I will sell to, so I get a lot of kids who want to touch and I have to shoo them away. Also, we had a bowl full of candy and if you bought something you got a piece or two. It seems to appeal to people. Dear guy who stood there whining about how you wanted candy but had no money. That was absolutely *pathetic.* For the buck you scrounged up, you could have gone to the Krauzer’s across the road and bought a bag of mints. I mean, really.

Here was an interesting thing that occurred: I was in the DR talking to a dealer, who shall remain nameless for the moment. He was all over me to invite him to the next Yuricon, because the guys from Media Blasters had been going on and on about how much fun they had and how not annoying the attendees were. And then he asked how we managed to have such a not-irritating crowd, when another con, which also runs and 18+ event, has such screaming mimis everywhere. Okay, so we keep talking and etc, etc. At the end, I point out that if he did come to our event, he couldn’t bring Yaoi paddles. Which confused and annoyed him, since they are a popular item. I told him what I feel they represent, which I think insulted him, too. Oh well.

The point of this story is, I was thinking about it and it occurred to me that that was the answer to his question.

We don’t have paddles at Yuricon and we don’t have the kind of people who want paddles. The reason, I think, the Yuricon crowd is a good one is that sexual and emotional immaturity is not only not encouraged – it’s pretty much against the rules. Sure, we’ll always have a smaller group because of that – but a much, much higher quality one. I feel pretty happy with that policy. (And it pleased the vendors who were glad to have less of the usual crap that goes along with selling at an event.)

The Yuri Panel had a nice crowd, but doing stand up comedy for 90 minutes is HARD. Next time you come to a panel – come with questions! It’s bloody exhausting for me to entertain you for so long. :-)

Thanks to Mari, James and Amber, Cindy, Jeanne, Brian, Chet(!) and, as I mentioned, Adam. You made the day great fun. Also to Rene, Shelley and Tom for giving me a chance to descend like the harpy I am and fly away again. :-) See you next year at MangaNEXT.

Next up: Some of the posts here are being translated into Spanish. If you are interested in either reading them or helping with the translation, please visit the CoYuHi. Many, many thanks to Laura-sama and the others for this humoungous undertaking! Para Okazu en Espanol visite por favor CoYuHi.

Final note: You may notice a work slowdown at Okazu over the next few weeks. If you look at the right-hand sidebar, you’ll see that I have already posted more this year on Okazu than I have for any other year *total.* I have been very, very busy with Yurisai and Yuri Monogatari and Okazu, and I need a rest. I’ll still be reviewing and posting, but not 4-5 times a week. Not at least for a little while.

Feel free to read back posts from the last 5+ years and see how my irrational and inconsistent opinions have moved as the whimsy has taken me – and remember, it’s just cartoons and comics, don’t take it so damn seriously! LOL