paulisweeabootrash

[paulisweeabootrash]

It has come to my attention that I never set an end date for Retro Matsuri Artists' Alley applications… oops! We've already received more applications than expected -- thank you so much for your interest! -- and in case anyone else wants to apply, I will leave the form open through the end of this month.

[paulisweeabootrash]

In addition to Artists' Alley (thank you, people who have applied so far!), I'm also handling the Vendors' applications for Retro Matsuri. The form is live, and you can get to it via the Artists & Vendors page on our convention's website.

[paulisweeabootrash]

The artist application form has been up for a while (follow the attached link to the convention website!) and the vendor application form is finally coming any day now. Apologies for the delay - the person who was supposed to do vendor stuff had to back out, but we are getting back on track and are excited to see people in July!

I've been sitting on this for a while, but now it's official! Retro Matsuri, a new convention for anime and games at least 20 years old, is scheduled for July 25-26, 2025, in Concord, NH and I am seeking artists and vendors who would be interested in selling there. See link for details.

If you're interested, or know someone who would be, you can reach me at artists@retromatsuri.com

[paulisweeabootrash]

It is a great day for Azumanga.

Ayumu Kasuga (Osaka) has made an appearance in Yotsuba&!'s latest chapter! Confirming the first "official" crossover with Kiyohiko Azuma's works, Azumanga Daioh and Yotsuba&!, as well as the first official new Azumanga Daioh manga in 15 years!

https://twitter.com/niea58/status/1894536572487569732/

[paulisweeabootrash]

Retro Matsuri Artist Alley applications are now open! If you or someone you know is available July 25-26 to come to Concord and sell your retro game or anime related art, we'd love to have you.

[paulisweeabootrash]

Help still wanted.

Retro Matsuri, the brand new anime con about things that are definitely not brand new, is looking for someone to do social media. Are you good at promoting stuff online? Are you out of touch in the very specific way that appeals to people who would go to a convention about anime and video games that are at least 20 years old? Do you want to tell those people to go to that convention? Please let us know.

[paulisweeabootrash]

Happy birthday, Mewtwo!

[paulisweeabootrash]

Excellent summary. (OP unknown, I stole it from a Facebook group)

[paulisweeabootrash]

"Final Lap Twin – Ever wanted to play an 8-bit RPG but instead of battle, you race? Yeah, this is kinda like that."

I am immediately intrigued.

[paulisweeabootrash]

Retro Matsuri, the brand new anime con about things that are definitely not brand new, is looking for someone to do social media. Are you good at promoting stuff online? Are you out of touch in the very specific way that appeals to people who would go to a convention about anime and video games that are at least 20 years old? Do you want to tell those people to go to that convention? Please let us know.

[paulisweeabootrash]

Happy new year!

🗻🦅🍆

[paulisweeabootrash]

CosMom ConShop, which has been operating out of conventions, recently opened a permanent storefront! Please join me in making a small loan to help get it going! Support a small nerd-centric business!

[paulisweeabootrash]

More physical media going out of print, including two that really shock me -- Cardcaptor Sakura and Toradora. We're increasingly at the mercy of whether licensing keeps getting renewed and whether the declining number of streaming services feel like keeping a show online if we ever want to rewatch something.

[paulisweeabootrash]

Oh yeah, I never followed up on this. I was not expecting a majority for my position (create an original character), that's pretty cool.

I got one really good comment, too:

@sarahhellfisc says: "Like a lot of trans people pre-transition, I would make a female char with a bunch of my traits, like hair and eye color, but with features I wanted in my female body. Post transition, it much more depends on whether the character is notionally "me". E.g., in a dating sim, I'm likely going to make the char look mostly like me, though with improvements. Whereas if I'm in some action rpg where I'm going to be eaten my giant space spiders or whatever, I'll go for a char that's just arbitrary mary-sue, rather than anything like myself. (Except eye color. If I can choose eye color, I always choose that to match my own as best as possible, because damnit, I won the eye color lottery.)"

I definitely suspected I would get some "how I wish I looked" answers from trans people, and I appreciate and sympathize with that. But also, I love the comment that "it much more depends on whether the character is notionally "me"." That's a good point, it makes sense, and I think that's a nuance that I haven't personally heard much. I feel like people talk about playing games (and experiencing the POV characters in other media) as self-inserting whether the character is meant to be "the player" or not.

Who do you play video games as?

[paulisweeabootrash]

[paulisweeabootrash]

Last year at AniMaine, I took my first tiny dip into doing convention panels by teaching people how to play Tanto Cuore, and in addition to doing that again this year, I did my first "real" convention panel! I gave a nearly hour-long presentation that incorporated most of my Azumanga retrospective review with less emphasis on my personal anecdotes and a bunch of new material added about the rise of the slice-of-life comedy and its surprising lasting fandom. I'm hoping to do it at larger conventions in the future with a few minor adjustments and a gradually rotating set of examples of recent fanart that stands out to me as the kind of unusual things this particular fandom makes. Gotta make sure people keep watching and reading this!

For this first round, I'd like to specifically note @itswilliamleonard's "we're all outta green" comic and @samantaraiolaser's papercraft Kaorin as two of my favorite things I've seen this year.

[paulisweeabootrash]

Not content to merely make their own bad "art", corporate ghouls are now using AI to make existing human art worse.