#I used to do cosplay before pandemic and I miss it and going to cons so much. I really want to get back into it again

[vaultlink]

With the Bocchi Recap movie coming to the US in 2 weeks I thought it'd be fun to put together an outfit for it... maybe a simple cosplay.

There's 2 Bocchi characters I've been thinking of doing cosplays for in the future specifically, but I'm waaaaaay too self conscious to be going around in a dress quite yet so Kikuri is off the table for now so I guess I'm going with Bocchi's pink tracksuit and skirt.

(Time to info dump about costume search suffering woooooo)

This week after work I've been staying out to go shopping, seeing if I can possibly get some things locally. I was able to find the prefect shoes almost instantly so I have the price of those stored on the back of my head for later.

I havn't seen any places that have tracksuits let alone pink ones with a stripe down the sleeve. Part of me expected this so I did do some looking online and was able to find that Adidas has some tracksuits that look close enough, 3 sticking out in particular.

What's been a real issue tho, but not for the reason I'd expected, is the skirt. Of the 5 places I've gone browsing threw 3 of them didn't have any skirts for some reason? The 2 that did only had incredibly short denim ones.

2 of them have the tall collar but the colors are either so vibrant that it's basically magenta or so light that it's hard to tell that it's pink (which I just realized doesn't even have a matching set of pants like the others?)

The last one has the closest shade but it's collar is so short, I just don't like it (I want to be able to hide my face in that big dumb jacket collar)

The positive is they're all in my size, I just need to pick which one to go with.

I've periodically been trying to look for stuff online too but I'm so fucking lost, idk what I'm doing! I have never gone shopping for outfits proper.

All I ever wear is blue jeans I replace every 4-5 years, merch tshirts I get online from the media I like, and this cute vest thing I just stumbled upon while looking for thermals 2 winters ago.

And when it comes to costumes I've only ever sewn medieval/fantasy style costumes, I've never tried to put together anything contemporary, I'm so lost.

I don't know how to find fem outfits, all i need is a long navy blue pleated skirt T-T

Honestly, it is just a simple pleated skirt so I could totally just get the materials and a pattern at the local sewing shop and sew it myself, I could even hide pockets in the pleating.

I just don't have the energy to do that right now, I don't even have a proper sewing table in my office. I'd be sewing with my machine on the floor and I just don't want to do that.

If anyone's got advice or wants to hype me up to drag my sewing machine out please help

[absolutebl]

One year ago I had never read or watched anything in the romance genre and I have now hit 150 BLs, so I’ve been thinking about how I got here!

Until I was in my early 20’s I only read litfic, sci-fi and fantasy, never romance…. Then I started reading fanfiction but again, only based on sci-fi or fantasy shows/books - and I always rejected the coffee shop or university AUs - why take characters who can do magic or are vampires and make them normal humans who work in a library? So again, I missed out on all the romance tropes.

Then, during the pandemic I started reading Shameless fanfic and perhaps because the characters are humans who live in our world, I ventured into the AUs for the first time and discovered that I love all the romance tropes! Give me all the enemies to lovers, forced proximity and arranged marriages please…

Finally, this led to BLs and for the first time in my life almost all the media I consume is romance and I love it so much! What a weird journey… I’d love to hear if you’ve always enjoyed romance and how you got here?

Oh my goodness what a fun question, okay let’s hit it...

My Journey to BL via SFF, Yaoi & M/M Romance  

So way back at the dawn of time I was once a hard-core fan, specifically in the science fiction and fantasy realm and specifically around 90s franchises that had to do with bad ass female warrior characters, so think Xena: Warrior Princess, Farscape, Buffy, Firefly. I did cosplay and crossplay (although we didn’t really call it that, then). I went to my first SFF con as a minor actually, as soon as I got my driver’s license and some autonomy I was out and about doing cons, ST:TNG Creatathons (is that what they were called?) and such. 

I was of the right age, but that was also how I found and got involved with queer fandom, ren faires, and kink. First prides, first alliances, first marches, first dungeons, first orgy - ya know, as ya do. I sexually matured super early and ya know what? It was fine, I’m fine. It all worked out. I regret nothing and stayed healthy emotionally, mentally, and physically, probubly as a result of the companion friendship groups I was forming, so... win win! 

And all because I read books like... THIS: 

I’m a FAST AF reader and super advanced, I read Tolkien at like age 8, and came to fandom via books more than TV or film. (Please don’t take this as a brag because I skim and retain NOTHING, so it’s not exactly a life advantage.) By high school I was into primarily fantasy, and always wanted/liked/preferred a romantic arc and some kind of found family element (so friendship groups = a big WIN). I also really gravitated to any authors who dealt with or mentioned queer characters (like Mercedes Lackey). That’s also when I first started noticing the “kill the gays” trope. 

I was always a really voracious reader. I read pretty much all the fantasy that my local library had, and then (partly because of Anne McCaffrey and a few other authors who also wrote romance), with no where else to go I moved into the romance genre. I actually got into romance before I got into science fiction. I was reading bodice rippers at age 10. Again, it was FINE. Some of us mature real early. Also I was living in the UK when Queer as Folk was doing its thing while reading lots of Mills & Boon. 

Then in the early 2000s I started actively looking for consumable queer literary media. By that I mean: anything that had queer characters as the main characters. However, I really don’t like literary fiction (too depressing), and I really wanted that romantic arc. I wanted stories that gave the queer characters happy endings TOGETHER, and also that didn’t gloss over the sexual side of being queer.

This basically led me to Japanese yaoi. I don’t recall exactly how I found my first one, but I do remember the hunting. 

I had to either find them and get them shipped to me via weird black market back channels, or I eventually started ordering them off Amazon. In fact, the first thing I ever bought on Amazon was a yaoi manga in dead tree form - so they might be why I opened the account. Only a few publishers were producing yaoi in translation back then, a name I particularly remember was DramaQueen. I actually even owned some yaoi publisher merchandise, which means I had an account WITH the publisher. I mean, who does that?! I had a T-shirt that said “seme” on one side and “It’s tough at the top” on the other side. I was so proud! I would wear it to sci-fi conventions, but was so obscure then that nobody I ran into ever knew what the shirt meant. I mean us geeks knew anime and even some manga, but yaoi? Not so much. 

Honestly, I still only really enjoy consuming manga in printed form (I struggle with webtoons), which is one of the many reasons I haven’t followed it (or manwha) closely in recent years. 

Meanwhile, at the same time I was being a yaoi fan (without a fandom) I was getting into the Hollywood indie gay romcom phase, so like Latter Days, and Shelter, and some of the other queer indie movies I talk about in this post: 

Old Guard Queer Cinema for BL Lovers 

So now we’re in mid 2000s and there just wasn’t a lot of manga in translation, let alone yaoi, thus I kept hunting for a more queer romance fiction to read. 

Which is how I became a really early adopter of the very first, what was called back then, m/m romance. There were only a few houses producing for the American market, small publishers like Loose ID.  I bought and read a ton of them in physical form, and then was super early on the e-book bandwagon because of this market almost entirely. I mean, we are talking early e-books that I had to go to the publisher’s website to buy and download - this is in the days of Sygil and Calibre. You had to read them on your laptop. I owned a FIRST generation Kindle.

At this point I’m reading mostly romances and no longer any SFF. And then recently (within the last 10 years, the two have started cross pollinating again, although now I only read SFF that has a strong romance thread and a happy ending for the queers. No exceptions will be made. 

Gotta have my standards! 

So I become a romance reader mostly because of yaoi, and now I do read other queer romances (not just gay ones) but before we didn’t have a choice. (Although gay romances still dominate the market.) 

I kind of left mangas behind for a long time.

So when I discovered BL, and I think SOTUS was my first one (?), although it might’ve been Love by Chance or Love Sick, or... (honestly when I jump into an obsession I JUMP TF IN so early 2019 when I discovered BL I tried to watch EVERYTHING I could all at once), I brought all of this baggage and affection (and forgiveness) from my history with yaoi and early mm romance (which get a lot of things WRONG not just about being gay and queer identity but also about sex and relationships and communication) to my interpretation of the BL genre.

(Well, that’s a massive run-on sentence I’m not bothering to fix. nash) 

So there it is. A very long way of saying: 

because of yaoi I got into m/m romance 

because of m/m romance I became an ebook romance reader

because of gay romance I have strong standards for my happy ever afters 

and because of THAT I got into BL and that history still dictates the KIND of BL I prefer

TA DA! 

*insert twirling flourish here* 

And then, because I am an obsessive completest, I have been systematically using all of lock down to try to watch every BL ever made. Some of us don’t, ya know, stay still very well. I needed a QUEST. 

Notice what’s missing? Fanfic. Yeah I have never been into it. It’s all good, I’m not against it or anything like that, just like D&D or Star Wars or electrical play... not my thing. 

(source)

[reidscanehand]

10 Things I’ve Been Enjoying Lately:

(I’m doing this at the suggestion of a therapist because life has been a tad depressing recently, but I don’t want to annoy anyone in my private life by sending them this, so I’m sharing it here. Might Make it a Monthly Thing?)

TW: mentions of food, disordered eating, depression, anxiety, medication, loneliness, and cursing

1. Avocado Toast - As I’ve shared on here a few times before, I have lots of issues with food and disordered eating habits. However, I find this meal inexplicably comforting. I get up, take my meds, wait about an hour and drink my coffee and then make this meal. I get in some fiber, a healthy fat, and some protein (I top it with eggs) and I really love it. I hesitate to call it a safety food because I know those have really bad connotations, but this meal makes me feel full without feeling sick and I never regret eating it.

2. “And She Was” by The Talking Heads and “Come On! Feel the Illonoise!” by Sufjan Stevens - These songs make me feel like that girl. They’ve both been added to my regular playlists and when either of them comes on, I like to roll all my car windows down. It makes me feel like a million bucks.

3. “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” - The news fucking stresses me out, but I like to stay informed. This show makes me laugh (my absolute favorite thing to do ever) while learning and staying updated.

4. The Silent Treatment by Abbie Greaves - I recently read this and it made me cry, but it’s beautifully written and I really enjoyed it.

5. My coworkers - I think I’m actually making friends (?) which is remarkable because I’m absolutely crap at making friends. However, I do believe I’ve conned one or two people into enjoying my presence in the world, which is very nice and I’d absolutely die for the lot of them.

6. Calling my sister - I was living with my sister and then she got an amazing job opportunity and had to move. I miss her loads, but I’ve found that calling her once a week for an hour at a time is really helpful in curing this.

7. Cleaning my apartment - I hate that I love this, but it genuinely makes me feel better to be in a clean space, which I know is really obvious, but when you’re depressed/have ADHD, etc. it’s really hard to focus on that kind of stuff. I have laundry days, I clean up after making meals, and I don’t give myself a time limit. I just try to do it once a day and it really does help.

8. Following comfort accounts - There are magical human beings that make specific comfort Tik Toks and YouTube videos. I used to be a little embarrassed at how genuinely comforting I found them, but I’m trying to be less judgmental of my own self and, honestly? Fuck it! If something is genuinely helping you (and doesn’t hurt you or anyone else) do it. Especially something as simple as following a man who cosplays as a butler calming you down in stressful situations or a guy opening Japanese gashapons and reacting to how cute the content is.

9. Brownie Crisp Espresso Ice Cream Sandwiches - I’m deeply obsessed with Trader Joe’s, to an almost embarrassing extent, but this ice cream sandwich is the greatest thing ever. First of all, I think ice cream sandwiches are the best dessert of all time because it combines my two favorite desserts (ice cream and cookies) into one, but this combo is just stellar. Again, I’ve got a lot of food issues. Until the pandemic, I hadn’t had an ice cream sandwich since 2018. I wouldn’t let myself have them. One night during 2020, I got in my car and drove for a long time. I finally stopped at an all-night truck stop to get gas. Because it was so late, I had to mask up and go inside to pay and I bought an ice cream sandwich because I hadn’t eaten dinner. This particular ice cream sandwich brings me that same amount of comfort. I can’t explain it, but it makes me happy and that’s all that matters, really.

10. My Routine - I have ADHD so routine is really important to me. I’m also a Virgo, so, take that as you will. I have a little routine that I do everyday and, honestly it’s helped loads. I change it every now and then, but I find it really comforting. It really, really helps my anxiety, like, knowing that my workout routine lasts for two Criminal Minds episodes, so I can watch them (listen to them) and zone out at the gym so I don’t get uncomfortable. Or knowing exactly what I need when I go to the grocery store so I don’t get too overwhelmed. I require myself to drink 24oz of water before every meal because it reminds me to drink water (meaning that I’m finally drinking the right amount of water in a day and it reminds to eat all at the same time). They’re not always easy tasks, but doing them fixes small parts of bigger issues.

~~~

I don’t sing as much anymore. I don’t go on walks. I don’t make pancakes every weekend. I still smile less. I don’t take myself on movie dates anymore. And I’m not sure why. What I do know, though, is that little things like all the stuff on this list make me feel better. They don’t fix everything; doing my dishes doesn’t cure my disordered eating or anything like that. But it is helping and I’m still trying and I think that’s all I can hope for right now.

Love you all xx

[therealraeweber]

So, what have I been up to since I took a Tumblr Break?

I used to use Tumblr almost like a journal, and I really miss that. So here's a little entry about what I've got up to since I took a break.

MARCH: March was pretty much as uneventful as January and February. I was still in school and still depressed. This is when my work load started to get kind of crazy so I stopped posting on social media all together. The one exciting (like... super exciting) thing that I did in March was start a club! I started a cosplay club at my university, which currently has almost 70 members. I still find that so absolutely insane. In just under 2 months we've managed to grow such an amazing community of people, and I'm so proud of it. I was really struggling to make friends on campus, so I decided to see if I could find some fellow nerds out there. And I did!

APRIL: This is when my life finally started happening again after the pandemic. I made some new friends, had meetings with the cosplay club, got my full driver's license, and finally, I managed to LARP. I've posted before about how important LARP is to me, so to finally be able to do it was a dream come true. In September I identified my "Big 4", which are the 4 things that I am completely obsessed with, spend countless hours consuming content about on YouTube, and have based my whole personality around, but had not done. The fact that I hadn't had the opportunity to do any of these things yet made me super sad, but also brought me a lot of shame, feeling like a poser for saying I enjoy these things. Anyways, those 4 things were DND, LARP, Comic Con, and Ren Faire. My goal I set out in September was to do at least 2 of them one year from then, and with going larping in April I met that goal (in addition to my DND campaign from my first semester). So that left me with 2/4 to do.

My first LARP experience was absolutely amazing. My character Allora got to meet so many amazing characters, explore a new town, investigate a monster sighting, and play cards with the king. I had such an amazing time and I can not wait to go back. Also in April I had 2 different meetups with the cosplay club, one being a club meeting to discuss where we want the club to go in the future, and the other was a fun photoshoot. Here are some pictures from both of those:

MAY: Here we are in May already! April just flew by because I was finally starting to do things that make me happy after so long. It's only been a week but I've already managed to cross off another bucket list item for me, and I went to my first Comic Con! Now I only have 1/4 of my "Big 4" left, and that brings me so much joy. I took the cosplay club on a group road trip to Curious Comicon in Nanaimo, and we had such a blast. Not only was this my first con, but I also entered my first cosplay contest... AND I WON! I still can't believe it. I don't have any of the professional photos from that yet, but I'm going to go crazy when I do.

Well. That's all for me today. This post was mostly just for me, but if anyone else read the whole thing, thanks for being interested, I guess. I'm so excited for all the stuff I have coming up this summer. I'm so excited that life is finally starting.

[starsbegantofall]

accountability post for my personal reference (too long to post on twt and I’m too lazy to handwrite it out). you can read below the cut if ya nosy.

1. costuming - finished historical costume, got my cosplay in the mail and need to lose like 10 pounds to fit into the pants lol. Got the fabric and materials ready for the other costumes but too lazy to work on them, I’ll work on them on my staycation. Still have a few props to finish for my older ones, too. I’m currently deciding on which costume to wear for work meeting, maybe 3 Musketeers, I don’t want to wear clown lolita since I’m not doing so great lol, don’t want to confirm I’m a fool. My other option is pulling out some patterns I bought for renaissance/medieval costumes but I would have to buy a lot of yardage for them and I’m not in the mood for buying new materials when I have a lot at home. I am tentatively going to a small Halloween lolita meet and maybe a con in December, but that depends on my mood those particular weekends. And of course, I’ll have to make a face mask to match my costume.

2. language learning - missed a few days, which turned into weeks, then months. as you do. I think immersion programs and apps and textbooks don’t work for me, I really do need a class for discipline.

3. videogame studio - I’ve mostly given up on this because I really wanted to work with a team like a real studio, but my friends are sick and/or stressed out due to the pandemic and I don’t want to burden them with more responsibilities. Also, like above, unless I have a hard deadline and someone else grading me, I won’t finish anything or even start things, I’m just historically bad about that. Right now I’m working on learning how to design assets and use creative application of video game technology and just absorbing inspiration from games that I’m already playing, it’s better than nothing.

4. gardening - my main stressor is if these plants will produce fruit before the winter since I planted them in early summer instead of early spring. I know the tomato plants specifically will not survive a frost in the rare instance we have severe frosts in my area, so I have planted (will plant) a few in pots I can take inside by November 3 (expected temps below 50). At least I partially hung up patio lights, but the rest of the garden and garage cleanup hasn’t been done yet. Guess that’s what I’m doing on my days off lol (before November 3!)

5. website - priority is archiving all my blogs even though I trust wordpress and blogspot to not delete my stuff randomly and I’m not sure how many years I’ll be paying for my own domain or if the planet won’t be snuffed out in a heat death in 5 years. I do need to decide if I should keep my blogs separate by subject or not. I blog about a wide variety of things that audiences wouldn’t really have a crossover interest in. But if I’m just using my domain as an archive and don’t expect many visitors, I guess I can just tag it specifically and leave it at that? I’m not doing a great job listening to other people...

6. Etsy shop - this is not a huge priority for me but I do want to list the clothing or accessory items so it can be more fashion focused instead of just listing weeb fanmerch and technically grey-market items. Still not sure what I want to sew since my sewing isn’t flawless (and same for jewelry making skills lol), but I think for clearing out my scraps, I’ll just make masks and bows and headbands/scrunchies like I’ve been making because I think those are fun. Can’t really think of anything else to make that doesn’t require a lot of expensive hardware or setting in zippers.

If I think of more, then I’ll add to this list, but these are my current ongoing projects outside of fanart/fanfic and trying to cook.

[cosplayinamerica]

ARTIST ALLEY : BurntGreenTea

Here at Cosplay in America, I am expanding who I interview to those in the convention scene. Today we will talk to BurntGreenTea who I met in artist alley at Ikkicon, an anime convention in Austin, TX. BurntGreenTea is from Northern California and as stated on his Deviant Art “Hey, my name is Nelson! I like to draw waifus”

EJEN : My first question is why BurntGreenTea? 

BURNTGREENTEA: That’s actually my second handle I came up with, I had an embarrassing name before so I wanted to change into something more ironic and more “me” in a name. so I’ve been going as BurntGreenTea ever since. I do drink matcha alot!

EJEN: Tell us how you got started in artist alley, what was your first one and what was that experience like?

BURNTGREENTEA: I started getting interested in doing artist alley at my first Fanime Con back in 2007 as a one day attendee when I was still in high school.

I went with my best friend at the time and it blew my expectations of what a convention was, especially the artist alley since it completely opened my mind that there’s artists actually selling fan art. But I didn’t commit to it until 2012, just when I was in my 2nd year of college.

By that time, I had enough digital art and felt confident that I could do it. Fanime still had the application process of first come first serve (meaning those who apply the earliest will get a spot), so I was fortunate enough to apply fast enough to get a table!

For a first time experience it was nerve-wracking before, during and after the con. But there was something to it that really sparked my interest; and I think there were people that legitimately liked my work and bought them.

EJEN: Was there a point that you went “yeah, this could work” and you made the jump to traveling out of state for artist alley?

BURNTGREENTEA: It was about one and half years after I graduated from college, between that time I worked in a job that was soul sucking but I had many of my colleagues working at, and then after I was applying to animation studios, gaming companies, etc while I was doing commissions and artist alleys at the same time.

It went on like this for almost a year. By this point I felt like I really hit my lowest and felt a great shame that I couldn’t find “stable” work. My parents didn’t really support me doing artist alley during this time since it’s not legit work and it’s more like a fun hobby I can do on the side, all the while I have colleagues and friends who have jobs in the animation or gaming industries. I felt extremely lost, and wasn’t sure the direction I wanted to go in life, so my parents encouraged me to go back to school to get a “safe” degree or trade.

But there was something I knew in the back of my mind that I couldn’t see until I had a meet up with an old friend. She was confident, happy, found her dream job that paid well and she enjoyed the work, and she was completely honest and blunt. When the topic came up of me being lost in life, she asked me, “what did you want to do then?” and I told her honestly, “I really just want to do artist alley and make that work.” “Then just do it.” So I did.

EJEN: After all the time you spent in artist alley, what’s the most important factor that an artist must understand to do decently in sales

BURNTGREENTEA: Research research research. It’s basically “knowledge is power” but breaking down as knowing your audience, yourself (what you enjoy, your strengths and capabilities) and learning new trades while breaking old habits.

EJEN: Can you go more in detail about research, research, research?

BURNTGREENTEA: So this reflects back on my previous answer, so know the convention you’re going into, what you can offer, what’s your budget, everything that would make your experience at the convention you’re getting into a great experience.

I have heard many stories of artists not breaking even and even I had bad experiences due to inaccurate/outdated information or inexperience. For example, there was a first year event that had a $1000 table price tag and promised to bring in 5000 attendees.

This was going to be my second event/convention to table at, so I had no idea what it was going to be like and decided to go for it. It ended up having less than 100 attendees, and I lost a significant amount of money. So now I have to get as much info as I can get to make the convention viable to go to.

EJEN: How do you describe your style and how has it changed if any over the 14 years you’ve done art? What were some of your earlier influences.

BURNTGREENTEA: Right now I can say it’s pretty much anime style, but I can say there were several phases I went through. Looking through my Deviantart gives a great timeline all the way back to middle school until recently.

When I initially started I was getting into anime thanks to friends, so I was very much influenced by Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, and Gurren Lagann. Then in high school I started to do more digital art, eventually creating artwork bigger and grander just like the artists from Fanime I admired.

When I finally started my education in my art program in college, I started getting the proper training in lighting, form, and composition. This time period my pieces were more western-influenced, like more realistic faces and body proportions, but there was something missing in it that I wouldn’t understand until after I graduated. It’s around the same time when I wanted to do artist alleys full time that I was more true to myself in the style and got more flashy, more colorful and composition.

EJEN : How do you decide what Alley to apply for. What’s your personal criteria for conventions to do artist alley at? 

BURNTGREENTEA: Local cons are usually easy for me to decide to apply for due to the cost being low(transportation, housing, etc). If there’s anything that involves flying out of state, I have to factor in much more information about the con, personal experiences from other artists, and if it is viable for an anime fan artist to break even and also turn a profit. Usually big conventions like Anime Expo and Otakon are the must go to conventions for their huge attendance numbers.

EJEN: Describe to me a typical day in the Alley!

BURNTGREENTEA: Due to the times right now, it seems like almost a dream to be in an artist alley, haha. Here’s a usual day of being in the Alley: Waking up early to get ready, getting breakfast and caffeine before heading inside a convention.

Usually getting there early, either me or some art friends would walk around the Alley and check out other artists before it’s open to the public. There would be some art friends I made along the way that I can catch up with briefly, chatting about the next shows or projects. I would have probably stayed up kinda late working on physical commissions and would need to go back to my table to continue finishing them up.

When the Alley opens up, it’s mostly engaging and talking with familiar customers or friends, while also working on commissions during the down times. Friends would go on food or snack runs, and I would get an hour to go shopping during the day somewhere as a break.

By the time it ends, it would have felt like it had gone in a flash. But with heavy eyes but our hearts full with a day accomplished. If we had the strength, we would check out an event or explore the convention hall abit more to absorb the atmosphere. Getting dinner with friends after a job well done, while we have another day to look forward to spending time with fans alike.

It’s really nostalgic to reflect on a typical day to be in the Alley, and having to have that all stop for almost a year now.

EJEN: Since the pandemic, how are you coping with this change both personally and business-wise?

BURNTGREENTEA: I was honestly hoping conventions would come back around at the end of May, but that never happened so I had to approach things differently. Luckily I had a freelance gig that I was working part time, so I had a semi-regular income on the side while I applied for virtual conventions and commissions.

It was tough since I wanted 2020 to be the year I would do the most conventions ever but that plan derailed. I also focused on my online shop and my social media presence, which so far is paying off!

Like everyone this year took a mental and physical toll, but I also ended up working on more projects and digital work to help keep me distracted.

EJEN: What are your plans for the future, what are you working on?

BURNTGREENTEA: My goal is still to go back to doing conventions, but at the moment I’m going to give that a pause. Currently I have a contract job that’s ending soon, and I have something that’s NDA that might come up, crossing my fingers! That’s the near future, but for the time being I want to refocus on learning new things and refining my art since I’ve gotten rusty.

EJEN: Finally who is your waifu?

BURNTGREENTEA: My waifu is Lucina from Fire Emblem!

Visit BurntGreenTea’s Etsy!

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

I guess I should provide my hottt takes on the new DBS movie.  A few days ago, they did this video for Comic Con announcing the title of the movie and teasing some details about the story.  

I gotta say, this is exactly why I’ve never had any interest in Comic Con.    They put this on YouTube, I guess because of the pandemic, but any other year they would have gathered an enormous crowd and made them stand in line for hours to watch all of this in person.   I live in the Midwest, and when I went to comic book conventions it was for the sole purpose of rummaging through back issue bins.   SDCC was always promoted like the biggest and most important convention in the U.S., but all I ever heard about it were trailers for movies and TV shows.   Or, like, you had to go to Comic Con because that was the only way to get an exclusive Orange Lantern Hal Jordan action figure or something.   They would always hype up all of this useless stuff and I just never heard of anything so important that I was willing to fly out to San Diego and stand in line for three hours for it.   So now SDCC peels back the curtain with this video, about something I’m fairly interested in, but it’s really not that big a deal.  I found out most of the information on Twitter before I even knew to watch this video.

But I’m just not that hyped about trailers or sneak peaks or sneak peaks at trailers.   Which is probably why I waited this long to talk about it.  

I’ll just go through the video.   The first four minutes are Hironobu Kageyama performing “Cha La HEAD Cha La” live on the stage.   That’s a pretty epic way to open this, but I feel like it oversells the importance of this event.  You finish watching him and you think you’re about to see the movie itself, instead of hearing from the people who made it.  

Next we have Sascha, the host of this panel.   He speaks better English than I do, but I’m not sure what the point was in having any of this in English since he has to talk to the guests in Japanese.   Pretty much all of the important information in this video is in Japanese, and I think everyone understood that going in.   I guess it does give an international feel.  If I spoke another language as fluently as Sascha, I’d want to show it off too.

4:56 is where Masako Nozawa comes out, and she’s just a joy to watch.   She looks like this sweet grandmotherly figure, all warm smiles and then she busts out “Ossu! Ora Goku!” and immediately sounds like a badass. 

Guest #2 is Akio Iyoku, Toriyama’s editor.   Not to be confused with the awesome editor who poo-pooed all the androids and Cell’s semiperfect form.    That was Yu Kondo.  Iyoku comes out dressed like Goku, but he can’t talk like him so he’s immediately second-tier. 

Guest #3 is Norohiro Hayashida, Producer from Toei Anaimation.   He is also rocking the Goku cosplay, which would be a faux pas in most fandoms, but he can just say that he’s cosplaying as Krillin or Yamcha, which gives him greater nerd credibility because those are more obscure references.

Around 8:30 we really start getting into this, and they show us a model sheet of Piccolo.  Is Piccolo being in the new movie a big surprise?   He had a dry spell in the mid-90s, but he’s been in every Dragon Ball movie made in this century so far.   And it’s not like they changed his look, like when they put Goku and Vegeta in those adorable coats last time.   I’m not complaining about any of this.  It’s nice to see that a) Piccolo is confirmed for new movie and b) they didn’t tinker with his appearance.  

All I’m saying is that they only brought up this model sheet to show off how they’re using his color scheme from the manga as opposed to the anime.   Hence the red belt and the yellower arm sections.   In the anime, the belt was always blue, and his biceps were hot pink instead of off-yellow.   But it’s such a subtle thing that even Sascha didn’t pick up on it.   It’s like they were hyping up the fact that it’s such a minor change.    I like it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a weird flex.   Also, he looks like he still has his five-fingered anime hands, so I’m not that impressed.   Give us four fingers, Toei!

Sascha asks Masako Nozawa what she thinks about Piccolo and she just starts off with “He was Gohan’s teacher,” and talks about how strong and cool he looks.    She speaks of him like he’s a family member, because she’s awesome.

Next up, we have Pan, and now we’re talking.  The scuttlebutt is that this was the character Toriyama was referring to when he spoke of an “unexpected character”.  And I guess Pan fits the bill, since I don’t think anyone expected her to be this old in the movie.   I understand this is her kindergarten uniform, so she’d have to be about five or six years old.  I love Masako Nozawa’s reaction here.   Throughout this video, you can see that Goku and Gohan aren’t just roles to her.   

I’ll put on my fanboy hat here and point out that Pan’s age may imply that this movie takes place after the final episode of Dragon Ball Z.    She looks older here than she did when she fought Wild Tiger, at any rate.   So far, the entire Dragon Ball Super franchise has been set during the ten-year gap between the Buu crisis and the finale of Z.    So everyone has been wondering if DBS would move beyond End of Z, or whether Akira Toriyama even still recognizes the continuity of those final chapters.   They were supposed to be ten years of peace, but all the battles in DBS say otherwise.   Also, I’m pretty sure Pan and Bulla’s ages in the DBZ finale don’t line up well with their appearances in Super, but I’ve never studied it very closely.  

So this might be set post End of Z, or this might be Toriyama retconning End of Z altogether.  I’m interested to see which way this goes. 

Here’s Krillin, still working for the police, although his uniform looks more like Bronze Age Lex Luthor than anything else. Like Piccolo, the “big” story here is that he’s been tweaked to resemble the coloring in the manga, so his sclera are now white instead of fleshtoned.  

Never mind that, here’s Piccolo’s house.  This is probably the breakout star of this video, because I think everybody is excited to see Piccolo’s house.   Because it’s new lore!  No one even knew if he had one or not.   It was a running gag in DBZ Abridged that he was homeless.   I mean, congratulations to Krillin for getting his eyes colored in right, but that doesn’t tell me anything new about the character.  But Piccolo’s house is a big friggin’ deal.   What’s inside of there?  What’s on the second floor?   Check out his mailbox.   What kind of mail does he get?  It’s exciting.  

Nozawa even points out that she and her co-workers would talk about this sort of thing in the recording studio.    That’s a big deal to me, that the voice actors think about the same kind of stuff that I do as a fan.   

Around 15:30, they start talking about Toriyama’s commitment to the making of this movie, which seems like a weird thing to focus on, because he wrote the screenplay to the last two movies.   Did anyone think he was stepping back? I get the impression that there’s still some hard feelings about the failure of Dragon Ball Evolution, in the sense that they want to reassure everyone that we’re still in good hands.   I suppose one of these days, Toriyama won’t be as heavily involved in a project like this, so maybe it makes sense for Toei and Shueisha to make it clear that today is not that day.

On the other hand, Toriyama was just as involved with Broly as he was with Resurrection F, and Broly was a much better film.  The Dragon Ball Super manga seems to have revived the old argument over who’s to blame when the story is a letdown, and I think that misses the point.  Look, the Zamasu arc sucked, and I don’t care who wrote what parts, or whether Toriyama had a bad idea or whether he handed a good idea off that was badly executed.   They can hash that out behind the scenes if they want to.  

About 19 minutes in, they show us this model sheet, and refuse to explain who these guys are or what they’re doing in the movie.   Are they villains?  Who knows?  I’d like to think they’re important characters to the story, but I have my doubts that Krillin will have a big part to play.  

At 20 minutes, they announce the title of the movie, and I’m not very thrilled with “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.” They can talk it up as much as they want, and maybe the title is relevant to the plot, but it’s just too many uses of the word “super”.   Especially when they’ve got another series called “Super Dragon Ball Heroes” on YouTube. 

Then we get this teaser trailer, or whatever you want to call it, with a CG Goku hopping around and doing his classic fighting pose.  Now, for some reason, lots of people concluded that this means the entire movie will be done in this CG style, which has led to a debate over whether or not that’s a good thing.  If they can make the whole movie look this slick, then I’m fine with it.  Hell, I’m not picky.   They could animate the whole thing in Yukio Ebisawa style, and I’d be thrilled. 

But I’m not understanding where people got the idea that it’s definitely going to be a 100% CGI movie.   They never spell that out in this video, and they even go out of their way to admit that this shot of Goku isn’t actually from the movie.   So is there some other source people are referring to, or did everyone just jump to conclusions?  

And that’s pretty much it.   I don’t mean to sound negative on this panel, but I don’t feel like they revealed very much, unless this is actually going to turn out to be Piccolo and Pan having an adventure by themselves.    I think Toei could make a movie like that and it would be a success, but I have my doubts that they’d go in that direction.  If this is going to turn out to be another big slugfest with Vegeta, then I’m down for that too, but don’t show me Piccolo’s house if the movie’s going to be about Vegeta punching a guy. 

Bottom line: I’m still looking forward to this, but I don’t feel like I know much more about the movie than I did before.   Well, except for the part about Piccolo’s house.  I’m looking forward to seeing the inside of it.

[planisphaere]

Get To Know The Writer!

———  BASICS! ♡

(PEN)NAME: momo

PRONOUNS: She/Her but tbh I don’t care what you call me.

ZODIAC SIGN: Gemini

TAKEN OR SINGLE: happy single snake caretaker

———  THREE  FACTS! ♡

I’m a twin, like my zodiac sign lol. God said, nah not only will we make them Geminis we will also make them twins and bam, I got the coolest older brother in the entire world. I also got another five brothers. You, see Jin Ling got his uncles, I got the brothers lol. But you see, my twin is my dearest brother. I’m terribly biased, I adore this fucker, he’s the better version of me and my bullshit.

Before all the pandemic stuff happened I used to go on all the cosplay conventions, having the time of my life. I’m lazy as fuck but I do enjoy sewing cosplays and meeting people. And I really, really miss going out and talking with others about all the cool stuff. But I’m still sewing once in a while, so when cons are finally happening again, I’m ready to wear all the layers again haha.

uh shit I have to come up -- OH! I’m your local fanfic expert. If you ever need a recommendation I can probably give you two or three. kanan and sharr are the ones who suffer the most from this XD I say suffer because curiosity is a very bad thing and I read everything, no matter how bad the tags are. And then I give them the links, they already had to endure lots and we also got some of the funniest inside jokes like there was this whole uncle fucker Jingyi agenda and we started joking about it. We have tons of junior jokes just from fanfics and it’s a experience XD

———  EXPERIENCE! ♡

I can’t remember when but I think it was back when everyone in school had their One Piece time and we started writing the crew in a empty book. It was pretty fun. Idk if any german peeps here remember Animexx but that’s when the first rp stuff happened online for me XD It was funny and actually well organized with layout but 2011 I moved to tumblr and here we are.

———  MUSE  PREFERENCE! ♡

My type is sad and alone, likes to pick fights I guess, with a glowing arrow pointing at Jin Ling (and Zixuan but shhh) No tbh I have no idea what kind of type I have. I see and I like, that’s it.

———  FLUFF / ANGST / SMUT! ♡    

FLUFF: Fluff is my bread and butter. I love fluff with my being. It’s nice to see how characters would be around each other, especially if the relationship is akin to an opposite attracts one. How some characters become softer around the one(s) they adore, while are cold to others. That sort of thing. I’ll never turn fluff down.

ANGST: I have a tendency of dragging all nice things into angst. That stuff kind of rubbed off on me from kanan. But I keep it in moderation. We cannot constantly throw the children into angst xD

SMUT:  I’m picky with smut, as you can see. I’ll only write it with people I’m comfortable with but I’m not very experienced at it. Haha, it rarely gets down to that point, though it never means I’m not willing. It just never clicked enough between muses to go down that route.

PLOT / MEMES: I’m stupid by default. I always want to send memes and then I fall asleep and forget about it and I’m fairly bad at plotting too. I try and I never say no but please don’t be angry with me if I forget and can’t come up with anything.

tagged by: @dcpraved​ a very very long time ago xD

tagging: Your cute face. <3

[shinjiapologist]

get to know me more 🍓

tagged by @trufflesmushroom and i love & appreciate the excuse to talk abt myself

🍓 what do you prefer to be called name wise?

Mari (like mario w out the o)

🍓 when is your birthday?

august 18th : ) im a leo and proud (duh)

🍓 where do you live?

just outside of minneapolis

🍓 three things you are doing right now?

drinking chai latte. feeling a little lightheaded but I ate a mango so I’m waiting for that to stop. Sulking bc I had a bad work meeting. 

🍓 four f*ndoms that have piqued your interest right now?

ive been into. iz*one. got into kpop years late but im having fun. actually thats a lie i was watching ranking videos on youtube and it made me mad i was like why must we pit these girls against each other. ive also been searching the bna tag, my fav trigger anime i think. once my good friend betsy told me that, god i cant remember the phrasing, ive bottled off a part of my brain and developed my own ecosystem. i like to think thats where i consume media. in my self indulgent brainrot space where I can enjoy it in peace and no one can shoot down my outrageous headcanons.

🍓 how is the pandemic treating you?

i was workin from home before and im workin from home still. but god i miss talking to people. im trying to become good at video games. its so hard. i tried to play animal crossing but it gave me anxiety like... wtf...

🍓 song you can’t stop listening right now?

megs new song.... my sister (commands a room with her presence and doesnt consume fiction in such a self indulgent way) was like mari did you hear the new megan song its so good and i was like YES sasuke was in it. we took our niece to a con once and i cosplayed sasuke so he’s literally one of the only anime characters she knows.

🍓 recommend a movie.

God. God. I don’t know. I liked Knives Out. I liked the Jumanji movie with Dwayne the Rock Johnson. The movie I probably watch the most and consistently go back to is The Grand Budapest Hotel 

🍓 how old are you?

22

🍓 school, university, occupation, other?

im a freelancer..... i work for a mental health company and a restaurant and do whatever side gigs pop up. 

🍓 do you prefer hot or cold?

why cant i just be comfortable??

🍓 name one fact others may not know about you.

I dont have a bellybutton. ask others for the story and you will discover there are many versions of my legend

🍓 are you shy?

yeah a little... im just quiet and private. sometimes i have moments of bravery where im like fuck it though. tumblr as a fairly anonymous platform, where im free to be gay, so. 

🍓 do you have any preferred pronouns?

i go by she/her bc im a coward and lazy but i also respond to they/them and he/him

🍓 any pet peeves?

Passively asking for someone to do something instead of just asking, like saying “this would go well with some milk” instead of just asking me to bring you a cup of milk (this is vagueblogging at my grandma) 

🍓 what’s your favorite “dere” type?

uhhhhhhhhhhh............. mood is irrelevant. be the sasuke of the show. 

🍓 rate your life 1-10. 1 being really crappy and 10 being the best you could ever be.

this is such a mean question. i refuse to reflect on the negatives of my situation during this tumblr meme. we all have issues in our current lives and history and we all have things we would look to see happen. All we can ask is that we are working towards them.

🍓 what’s your main blog?

this one : )

🍓 list your side blogs and what they are used for.

this question is the whole reason i was excited to fill this out @karlshaun - this is like background refs. photography @stormandfriends - this is like my oc blog so my college friends could get familiar w my high school ocs @nicogenos - this is where i post nicogenos content @stansunwukong - this is my rwby sideblog bc i like. cant put rwby on main ethically @paintinghq - this is where i post classical paintings by old white men @shinjiapologistinspblog - design inspiration @shinjiapologistfashionblog - take a guess

🍓 is there anything you think people need to know about you before becoming friends with you?

i like listening a lot even if it seems like i dont have anything to say.... sometimes i take awhile to articulate what i’m thinking and might have to try a few times... 

I don’t know who to tag : ( i dont talk to people on this platform as much. @jutopa . keep the flame going. or dont. i’ll love you anwyay

[laetro]

Sheeba Maya: Art with Magical Realism

Sheeba Maya, the artist who has creativity filled within her. Her process of creating art involves getting inspired, developing and creating iridescent artworks that showcase profound stories! The wunderkind individual has achieved a name in the industry and uses her platform to stand against racism. Sheeba also wishes to establish herself as public speaker and lecturer in the near future.

A prominent artist of the Afrofuturism movement specializing in portraiture, fantasy art, and realism, Sheeba Maya has been working as a freelance illustrator, fine artist, graphic designer, curator, and educator in New York, since 2009. She has been featured on popular blogs including Medium.com, Wacom.com, and Shondaland.com. Maya has participated in panels on everything from gender & race to ideation and concept development and also worked for the Nigerian film industry!

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Q. Your work has been featured in galleries across the USA, including scholarly works. What is your ethos behind each illustration?

Sheeba Maya: I’ve been making art my entire life. My parents were also artists so art as a lifestyle and an interest in cultural exposure is written in my DNA.

It’s definitely woven into my psyche. It’s so ingrained into how I process information and express thoughts. Filtering my life through art really sharpens my senses as a visionary with an undying drive to actualize what my mind can conceive. I am and always have been seriously self-motivated to learn and grow.

Along with the passion to develop creativity came a desire to share my process and final work. This started a conversation between myself and whoever was looking. I reflect often on this overwhelming amount of feedback and put that together with what I learn about people and the world around me.

So now I’m also developing empathy for humanity through art and art-making. This is especially useful when making art for clients and I have to reach into someone else’s mind and spirit to translate and create THEIR vision that will have an impact and meet a goal.

Q. Which treats of the first sally the ingenious Don Quixote made from home

Sheeba: These preliminaries settled, he did not care to put off any longer the execution of his design, urged on to it by the thought of all the world was losing by his delay, seeing what wrongs he intended to right, grievances to redress, injustices to repair, abuses to remove, and duties to discharge.

Q. Your work has been featured on Shondaland as well. What did that feel like?

Sheeba: Amazing! Anytime my art is featured on a large platform like that it’s a proud moment. Getting into ImagineFX was also a big-time goal that felt great. I like getting notes from other artists saying that they were inspired to push themselves creatively or professionally because they saw my work featured somewhere. It all reminds and affirms me that my work is purposeful.

Q. What would you describe your style as?

Sheeba: Generally I specialize in portraits, people, and characters. Thematically I would call it Fantasy Realism. My work is considered part of the Afrofuturism/Black Speculative Arts Movement.

“..When I read a story, I start to imagine it playing out in my mind. Like a daydream or a mind movie. The moment that best describes the story is the *jump off* concept. From there I can develop that concept or create alternative ideas by asking myself questions and exploring the “what if ?”. These are jotted down as thumbnail sketches.”

Q. Do you think we still have a long way to go before black women artists do not have to work twice as hard to get the recognition they deserve?

Sheeba: If this question is still being asked, then, yes! It is 2021 and we’re still celebrating the first Black female ‘this or ‘that’. The real question is who do we allow to validate that recognition.

Q. What kind of difficulties have you faced as a black woman in order to become a successful artist and reach where you are today?

Sheeba: One problem is this overall ever-present assumption that you lack anything of value or quality. With white men, it’s the opposite. So Black women have to devote more energy into proving otherwise.

Q. What has your experience with Wacom been like?

Sheeba: Simply amazing! I had my eyes set on them as a client for years. Seeing my art on their platform for the first time was a true thrill. I’m always excited for opportunities to create artwork featuring Black people being powerful and fantastical and designed to be enjoyed by anyone regardless of gender, race, or sexual identity.

Q. What software do you use to create your illustrations?

Sheeba: I switch between Procreate and Photoshop as my programs of expertise.

Q. What was your experience while visiting countless Comic Cons and creating art for the Nigerian film industry?

Sheeba: I am very eager for comic conventions of all kinds to return. I seriously miss meeting fans, creators, and other industry pros to exchange ideas, inspiration, and support. It wasn’t just the opportunity to sell my art. I participated in panels on everything from gender & race to ideation and concept development. I also hosted workshops on fantasy portraits, color theory, ethnicity and anatomy. and digital painting techniques.

Q. What is the first thing you do when you receive a brief? Describe your process.

Sheeba: The brief is like a little story. And when I read a story, I start to imagine it playing out in my mind. Like a daydream or a mind movie. The moment that best describes the story is the ‘jump off’ concept. From there I can develop that concept or create alternative ideas by asking myself questions and exploring the ‘what if’.

These are jotted down as thumbnail sketches. Thumbnails and related notes/questions are presented for feedback until the concept is worked out and confirmed. From there research for references or related info is performed and the artwork can be fully drawn and then painted to full detail.

Q. What are some of the most interesting pieces you have worked on so far? And who has been your best client to work with?

Sheeba: One experience that stands out is working with actress Erica Alexander (Living Single, Queen Sugar, Black Lightning). She reached out to me to create illustrative portraits of Michelle Obama and Maxine Waters. The illustrations appeared alongside articles written by Joy Reid (MSNBC) and Alexander herself in a series called MoonRakers featured on medium.com. When Joy Reid mentioned my art, her article and mentioned Michelle Obama in the same tweet!

Another great experience was being hired by comic company Sorghum and Spear to paint collaborating actress Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek OTS) as one of their characters. When they shared a pic of her holding my artwork of her it was a seriously proud moment.

All of the women mentioned are personal heroes and have inspired me to discover, develop, and deliver my greatest potential. These were big-time honours!

Q. What are your plans for the future?

Sheeba: I am very eager for comic conventions of all kinds to return. I seriously miss meeting fans, creators, and other pros. My life and work were like a playland full of visionary and imaginative people that created and sustained it. Since the pandemic, I’ve been indulging in a lot of personal art that explores new aspects of familiar themes like magic, witchcraft and voodoo, Erotica, and cosplay. I’ve been enjoying all this in isolation but now I’m itching to share with the public all these new expressions.

I’ll also be offering art talks, lectures, and classes virtually in the coming year. It’s funny how social distancing actually pushed me towards becoming more accessible. Now that virtual learning and events are becoming the norm, I’m better able to offer these things to people who would like to work together but are not local to NY.

These preliminaries settled, he did not care to put off any longer the execution of his design, urged on to it by the thought of all the world was losing by his delay, seeing what wrongs he intended to right, grievances to redress, injustices to repair, abuses to remove, and duties to discharge.

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[recentanimenews]

Life Under State of Emergency: Tokyo and Rural Areas

Shibuya Crossing (Photo: Daryl Harding)

  Previously, we looked at how the state of emergency was affecting the lives of anime fans in Japan, focusing on the areas of Kyoto and Sendai. Today in part two, we speak with two people who live in Tokyo and a rural area outside of the main cities to get their perspective and feelings on how the “lockdown” is affecting them. We asked them all the same questions to get their differing points of view.

  (Note: all answers have been edited down for clarity.)

  Inside The Capital of Japan

  An empty and close Tokyu Plaza in Harajuku, one of the most Instagram'd places in Japan (Photo: Daryl Harding)

  I spoke to cosplayer, writer, and Tokyo native, Kaho Shibuya, who in her past has been a newspaper reporter, a TV, radio and YouTube channel host, and a teacher among a vast array of other colorful professions. She lives in the heart of Tokyo.

  Firstly, how are you doing in the “lockdown,” even though it’s not technically a lockdown?

  Under our current law, the Japanese government can’t force us to stay at home, so there are some people not behaving the way we’re advised to. Yet things have definitely changed when the prime minister declared a state of emergency: In major cities like Tokyo and Osaka, a great number of shops have closed, so you don’t have destinations for just hanging out anymore.

  The transportation system, however, hasn’t been affected so people can still commute. With how punctual and on-time our train system is, people are still heading to school/work. The extremely crowded train ride in Persona 5 isn’t exaggerated at all and is still happening.

  This means unless you can work at home or you work for a company where they care about your health your job puts you at a higher risk of infection.

  How has the quarantine affected you personally?

  Actually, I hardly go out to socialize other than work. As a non-drinker, I would be happy only going out to attend business meetings or networking gatherings. All my friends are business-related so when we naturally come together, we work together.

  My hobbies are reading manga and watching anime, evidentially, alone. My favorite genre is RPGs, which doesn’t require another player. I live very close to my parents. Quarantine thus far hasn’t affected my personal life at all.

  My work gives me an excuse to talk to people and be an extrovert, so I cherish it very much. Otherwise, I’m an indoor otaku detached from society.

  What about professionally?

  I have many deadlines to meet: weekly, biweekly, and monthly columns, plus my upcoming book. There is still a lot on my plate, though I usually visit a café or somewhere not my room to work. Staying at home makes it absolutely difficult to concentrate.

  Usually, my favorite workplaces have been the worst locations to go to due to during the coronavirus crisis because of their confined spaces, like karaoke and manga cafés to name a few. Japanese people often use karaoke places for business talks because you don’t have to worry about others listening to your conversations and waiters won’t bother you. Manga cafés give you access to almost every popular show and magazines in print. You appreciate the sanctuary if you’re a classic physical book lover like myself.

  Was there anything you were looking forward to that has now been canceled?

  I’ve had the luxury of visiting quite a few conventions overseas as a guest and was looking forward to going more this year before you-know-what happened. My last con was Anime Los Angeles back in January, and I miss the geeky energy there.

  I was going to voice the main role in a new anime show and was really looking forward to it, then the production was delayed due to COVID-19. In fact, a lot of TV series and movies I’ve been waiting for have been postponed such as Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- and Case Closed.

    Is there anything you’ve started to do because of the lockdown?

  I’ve actually joined Twitch and started streaming in April. With everyone experiencing isolation, I thought it’s important now more than ever to stay connected and share the same moments together live.

  I don’t show much of my private side on social media, almost always posting pictures from professional photo shoots plus simple puns and messages, so streaming for hours from my room is definitely something new. It’s not only a good way to tell people how I’m doing through webcam, but what kind of person I really am beneath all those smug model pictures. Some might want nothing other than sexy from me, for sure, while others might relate more because I relate a lot to the topics Twitch users talk about.

  Streaming on Twitch, I can practice speaking English since there are way more English-speakers on the platform than Japanese, and I get to talk passionately about manga/anime/light novels/games in the chat room with people who are really into those things and want to genuinely know about Japan. Especially with cons getting canceled where I get to weeb out together with my international fans whom I cannot see often because of the obvious long-distance in between, interacting with them and staying passionate about our favorite things is what I crave. Like talking about the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba stamp-rally I went to in Kyoto, or other Japanese-related anime events.

  Although, if it weren’t for lockdown, I wouldn’t consider making my own account since I’m so not a tech nerd (just a nerd, period). But my friends offered to help out and I’m truly lucky that I have them. I’m in good hands and now thinking of setting up for game streaming and more!

  What are you using to cope with being forced to stay inside?

  Now that new episodes of seasonal anime have been suspended, I take this time to go back to older shows, like Bleach, Gintama, Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Angel Beats, and Steins;Gate, all from 2004 to 2011 when I only have a vague memory of following every single episode because we didn’t have anime streaming sites to catch up. While the first two are very long to binge-watch, the middle two series have only 12 episodes, then the last one is somewhere in between plus its extra season Steins;Gate 0.

  Currently, I’m watching Mob Psycho 100 in English, all thanks to Crunchyroll by the way! I want to digest amazing shows in English too so that I get to talk with more people about them.

  Kaho actually put the A Certain Scientific Railgun puzzle together during the “lockdown.”

  How has your neighborhood/town changed?

  Considering it’s central Tokyo, the number of people I see on the street is now surprisingly low, especially on weekends and late at night. Some shops and offices have either closed or shorten their business hours, so it’s very quiet in the evening.

  What are you looking forward to once everything is over?

  Once this pandemic is subdued, I’m planning to have my first gig as an Anisong DJ! I’ve been practicing and was going to debut in April, so now I have to make my performance worth the wait!

  I’d been to some clubs that played mainly anime songs in Japan, but when I attended Kawaii Kon in Hawaii, I made friends with AniParty members from NY at the LUMICA booth, and their energy and audiences were great. I wanted to be a part of that, bringing smiles and music to dance to, letting everyone know about stunning OPs and EDs.

  In addition to signing, paneling, cosplaying, and emceeing, I’ve been eager to contribute more to events. Some other projects are going on too which I can reveal at my next con, whenever that is. This stay-at-home time is for me to grow, and after that, it’s time to show!

  How do you feel about Japan’s response to the pandemic?

  It was quite a long time before our government took things seriously. I mean, they should’ve regulated if not banned traveling, they were very reluctant to make that decision.

  If such action was made earlier, I believe we could’ve been in a much better situation. Given that we have a bigger personal space in social interaction; we rarely hug or even handshake, and we’re used to wearing masks because of hay fever in the spring. And more than everything, our biggest city, Tokyo, is incredibly clean and safe compared to other big cities in the world. I hope you all get to visit when this international fear is gone …

  Any other stories you’d like to tell?

  A lot of my friends from overseas reached out to me to make sure I was okay, which was incredibly nice. In these hard times, you realize the importance of people around you, you discover who is really precious to you and who feels the same way about you in return. Without the quarantine, we are usually too busy living our own lives every day to ever think about things like that.

  The Rounds in Rural Japan

    Finally, I spoke to Ernest Lin, an American who has lived in Japan for the last three years and currently quite a way out of Tokyo — outside of the four main prefectures. He’s a senior editor at the video game website PlayStation Universe and works as a consultant in Japan in various fields.

  Firstly, how are you doing in the “lockdown,” even though it’s not technically a lockdown?

  Surviving so far — things for me could be worse but could be better.

  How has the quarantine affected you personally?

  There's an overall sense of anxiety that I feel has been cast over everyday life. There are days where my mood has been pretty gloomy. Obviously, not going out as much and being separated from friends and others has played a part in that. I follow the news of the COVID-19 situation in Japan and America a lot, so I'm especially worried about my friends and family around the world.

  What about professionally?

  Ah, unfortunately, it has affected me in that regard. I missed out on some work — there are a few of my on-going projects on indefinite hold until the situation quells. Additionally, it's been hard to get some other things off the ground.

  Was there anything you were looking forward to that has now been canceled?

  Oh, at this point it feels like countless things — anime and gaming industry events, other festivals here in Japan, various movies, and series releases. With everything else going on bringing perspective, the cancellations and delays are only slightly disappointments. I completely understand and support them if it means keeping more people out of harm.

  Is there anything you’ve started to do because of the lockdown?

  I started cooking more. The situation has given me time to work on bigger personal projects. Also, I've been able to catch up with loved ones, especially back in America, via voice and video calls.

  What are you using to cope with being forced to stay inside?

  I use some of the time to study more Japanese and organize my living space. Games have been a nice temporary escape (Final Fantasy VII Remake has been perfect for that!) and multiplayer ones like Fortnite have served as digital hang-out spaces to replace meeting up in real life.

  Ernest traveling to Midgar in Final Fantasy VII Remake

  Before the "lockdown," I hadn't binged many shows in a while since my job and other life stuff usually kept me really busy. Like everyone and their mom, I watched through Netflix's Tiger King. I've tried catching up on some anime shows I missed in the past. I recently finished Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai plus its sequel film and was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved them.

  How has your neighborhood/town changed?

  Places, in general, are a little less crowded and various public spaces and businesses are temporarily closed or at reduced hours. Almost everyone is wearing masks.

  What are you looking forward to once everything is over?

  Karaoke for sure.

  How do you feel about Japan’s response to the pandemic?

  Frankly, I do not believe the measures that have been taken have not been swift or adequate enough. It's one of the reasons I'm constantly concerned about the situation spiraling into something worse ... I hope it doesn't, but I'm always afraid it will.

  Any other stories you’d like to tell?

  A month or so ago, I was attending a meeting to check out a property for a project. I showed up at the entrance without a mask, and before we could proceed with the meeting, one of the staff made a remark about how I didn't have a mask. Embarrassed, I realized I had forgotten to wear one (I was born and raised in America, so I sometimes forget). Fortunately, I had extras in the car, so I ran back and came back with one on.

  Around that time, I had a dinner meeting where the food was self-serve, buffet-style, but we were given gloves to wear while using the tongs and such. That was a first for me.

    Thank you so much to both Kaho and Ernest for sharing their stories of isolation with us. Kaho Shibuya can be found in multiple places all over the web with most of her social media found on her website (NSFW warning), or you can find her streaming on Twitch. Ernest can be found on Twitter @erniichan.

  If you have your own story about life in Japan you’d like to share, feel free to share it with me at any of the links in my bio below.

  If you or someone who know is living in Japan, coronavirus-based English resources are available at NHK World Japan. 

  Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs the YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram. 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[cosplayinamerica]

COSPLAY THEME PAGE : ShareMyCosplay.com

Tell us about ShareMyCosplay, what was the genesis of the ShareMyCosplay? 

Share My Cosplay has gone through quite the journey to get to what you see today. I can still remember the day that I came up with the idea that would eventually lead to Share My Cosplay. I was eating lunch with a few friends at my day job. A friend of mine showed me a cosplay of Jessica Nigri as Pikachu, and because I worked in IT,  for some reason had an idea of doing a website related to cosplay. The actual website took a while to set up, but I started off slowly, with an initial launch on social media. We launched with Tumblr and Twitter, slowly building an audience. Then eventually a little bit later adding Facebook, and eventually much later introducing Instagram into the “family’. Eventually we added the website and have been going strong since then. We’ve of course made tons of adjustments over the years, and most recently started adding content on YouTube. It’s been a great ride so far, and hopefully it will continue.

What was your first experience with cosplay as well as the convention scene?

Like a lot of people who are into gaming and comic books, I was aware of cosplay, but didn’t really know much about it. It was only after looking into the idea of starting a site that I really got to know what goes on behind the scenes. It was meeting and talking to people in the scene that made me realize what an amazing community of people are involved. That is why I have continued the site for so long. As our social media following grew, I got to know more and more of the cosplayers, and was so happy I was able to use what I had created to help them gain more exposure. Share My Cosplay exists as a place where all cosplayers can have their work properly showcased.

As for conventions. While I live in the capital city of Canada, Ottawa is a relatively small city of one million people. Conventions have only really made it big in the last 5 years or so and before that were never a really big thing. I had travelled to other cities within Canada for some conventions, but those were mainly toy based conventions, so there would just be a handful of devoted cosplayers hanging out. It wasn’t until much later, when conventions started to take off, that our city got it’s own “Comic-con”. Then things exploded quickly. When our first Ottawa Comic-con launched, I was there day one, and the lineup was out of the building and wrapped around the whole building. I think it took a couple of hours to actually get into the convention floor. I could only assume it was similar to something like entering SDCC, but on a much smaller scale.

So while that has been a staple in our city for the last 10 years, I’ve also been traveling to Montreal Comic-con, which is a little bigger. Since there are maybe fewer conventions in Canada, people seem to come from great distances to show off the cosplays they had worked out. The dream has always been to try and get to SDCC, but that hasn’t happened yet. Travel is so expensive from Canada.

So for the short term I had set my sights on visiting NYCC, which is a “quick” drive from my area of Canada. However like all plans, they fell through. I had plans to go to NYCC and E3 in 2020, but of course those fell through because of what happened around the world. I miss conventions. One because they are such a great way to meet and interact with the cosplayers, and two, it’s one of the primary places we get content to share on our site and pages. So that has been lacking for us recently. Fingers crossed things will get back to normal soon.

How has cosplay changed over the years in your perspective?

Like everything you get to know, it evolves and grows over time. Being knee deep in cosplay all the time (my inbox once had 100+gb of cosplay submissions), I have certainly seen it change over the years. Obviously cosplays have become more elaborate in construction. Things like LEDs are so cheap now, I always find it amazing when people incorporate them into a costume. So the cosplay builds just get bigger and better every year. Also I find the resources on the internet have gotten better. Cosplayers are now able to find more detailed pictures of what they want to create, giving them a way better idea of what and how they will do it for a certain character.

Another thing that has changed, are the absolutely stunning Cosplay edits you’ll see on social media. So why the cosplay photographers have always been an integral part of the equation (we try hard to tag them when people include their details on submissions), the level that the editing on pictures has changed over the years is dramatic. You’ll often see the time-lapsed photo creations on Social, and they are just mesmerizing to watch. People put so much time into creating these worlds to help elevate the cosplay to the next level. That has certainly changed over the years. That being said, we still love regular shots of cosplay too, the amount of photographers that specialize in cosplay has jumped a lot too.

In general, it seems cosplay has evolved from a simple hobby where you could throw something together to wear to a weekend convention, to a full time gig where people spend months on at a time for each one of their creations.

How has ShareMyCosplay changed over the years?

In my eyes SMC has evolved greatly over the years. As the editor there have been two major changes, and I think it has improved the way we do things. The first thing would be, when we first started I used to go “collect” the cosplay that we shared. So I had to either go find it, or reach out to people. I spent a lot of time tracking down cosplay to share, that I personally thought was cool or very creative. As you can imagine this took a lot of time. So this has changed dramatically over the past 3 -  5 years. Now I’m happy to say that we are 99.9% based on submissions from users. So while there is less than 1% of content that we do go out and ask for, it is basically all based on what people send us to share. So that is why you see such a great variety of cosplay content on our pages. There is a downside to this in a way, as compared to some other pages out there that only feature certain types of cosplayers, some people enjoy that a bit more and those pages can have more of a following then we do. However we are really happy with the content we put out. 

Then the second big change, that has certainly led to better content for our pages, is the introduction of automation. When SMC first started, I had to do everything manually. Like I would be on Twitter or my phone doing everything live, and sharing items. It took up a lot of my time, and greatly affected my personal life. At times I think I must have been crazy, as this is a free service that we provide, and I was putting hours into each day. Now of course things have changed and the Social Media aspect of SMC is way easier to manage. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all have official tools available that allow you to schedule your posts. So you can easily take an hour or 2 and work on several days of a week at the same time, or if you were really organized, schedule the whole week. So I’ve learned to embrace this a bit more and learn the ins and outs of it. This leads to a more constant stream of content that our followers seem to enjoy. Which seems to lead to more engagement from our followers.

What’s the best part / worst part of running a cosplay theme page? 

The best part has obviously been meeting & interacting with the community throughout the years. We do our best to present a positive place where everyone can share their cosplay creations. We’ve been invited to some really cool events over the years, and our team has been able to go to a lot of conventions all over the world. It’s been a fun ride.

The worst part for me personally, is that while our team has grown and shrank over the years, I do most of the work by myself. Sharemycosplay.com is run by a single person, me. Also for the most part there is a single person doing all of the social media. So I do my best to have content up all of the time, but sometimes life gets in the way. We’ve put a few calls out for people that might want to help with content creation for the site, but sometimes it’s hard to attract people interested in helping. Right now I’d love a few writers that could write articles that I could wrap around cosplay posts for the page. We will have to see how that turns out.

What future plans do you have for ShareMyCosplay?

I’m always looking to expand Sharemycosplay.com with new content. During the pandemic I’ve been off my normal schedule so unfortunately updates have been a bit slow, but hoping to get back to things. With conventions off the table for now for the most part, I’m trying to move in different directions. I’ve recently tried to put more effort into YouTube, but even that has been impacted by the Pandemic, so I’ve leaned more on gaming content. That is going to change as I’ve started a new initiative that I just launched on our page a few days ago called “CosplaySELF''. Basically we are looking to have cosplayers interview themselves, and us edit the footage into the “episodes' ' featuring 3 cosplayers. Hopefully those will start to be live very soon. We are already into the editing phase and hope to have the first episode live soon, over on our YouTube page. Keep your eyes peeled. Hopefully, as long as people show interest, this is something we will continue to create and upload on a regular schedule.

Is there anything that wasn’t covered you like to talk about?

 Lastly I want to thank you for taking the time to include Share My Cosplay in this interview. It really means a lot when someone else in the community that you respect, takes a moment out of their busy life to recognize the work you’ve done. There have been times in the past where I have considered possibly giving up doing SMC, but getting some recognition really helps put things in perspective and allows me to continue on. Hopefully Share My Cosplay will continue to grow over the coming years, and continue as a great tool for all cosplayers to use.

https://www.sharemycosplay.com/