MegaTokyo, 17 years later

this is set at PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo, which the webcomic author owns and runs

they were at Sakuracon (GIRUGAMESH!!) https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/04/23/a-matter-of-life-and-death

The Sakuracon provides an ego regulation service that has become increasingly necessary as the site has grown. I will admit to you that I sometimes feel like a bad-butt, which is patently insane. What do I do, really. I ramble to people I don't know with a familiarity I haven't earned. I need events like this one, ones where we are absolutely incidental to the culture, to take me down a couple pegs. Yesterday I sat in the foyer, hunched forward, musing about how presumptive it is for me to bring merchandise to something like this. When my blood began to feel viscous I knew that the Sakuracon was engaged in its holy work.

These events are about Fred Gallagher, also known as Piro. He writes and draws Megatokyo, which is a phenomenal success and tuned with precision to the cravings of the Japanese culture enthusiast. I'm not saying that he has invented a machine to snare those people, anymore than we are able to attract those who play games. I think he likes this stuff and it comes out. I used to maintain a fire in my heart about the split between him and Largo, his old partner on the site, and I had manufactured a Piro persona I could loathe readily. When you meet the guy, it's really, really hard to hate him. Believe me, I'm good at hating. I've got a degree in that shit. But he seems to detest himself in actuality.

For a long time I thought of this as a construct, emblematic of a deep cynicism and cleverness. This may have been projection. At any rate, I can tell you that it's quite genuine. Please do not stop your forum threads about how his site has gone downhill - those will always provide me succor as his erstwhile competitor - but do not doubt for a moment that his artistic paralysis represents a genuine malady. His body language communicates an encyclopedia of vicious self-assessments. He can't maintain eye contact. He looks away, as though the faces of other people somehow constitute a bright light.

So, I'm going over where he is today to receive my adjustment. Perhaps I will see you there.

https://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2004/04/26/here-he-goes-again-on-his-own

"Monday's comic might be kind of mean, Fred - I'm just letting you know," I said. He laughed and told me that was fine. He hadn't seen it, though.

What a change in that guy. What I said on Friday hasn't ceased being true, but it's true such a small percentage of the time that it's worth making a point of it. What the painfully shy or socially awkward among our number would be comforted to know is that interpersonal skills can improve through use to a startling degree. I know it's no comfort right away - there's fear associated with managing the variables in any conversation. It is as though I told you that the more you tame lions, the less likely you are to be devoured. But there is a type of "muscle" involved whose function can be improved through use, and I think that Piro's backbreaking con schedule has shaped him into a person quite capable of the work that comes with this strange territory.

A fair number of people came by expressly to soothe us, which was appreciated - but I think we're over the hump as far as Anime Con discomfort goes. Last year, I believe I said I felt like an invading force, a splinter or somesuch. There were some this year that went out of their way to make me feel like that. I felt more like an Ambassador this time around, from some imaginary place concerned primarily with gaming, like our booth was a kind of embassy for expatriates to confess their sins against the motherland.

I'm often asked to come to this room or that room at the conventions I attend, but I usually don't have the opportunity. This year, I made it my focus. It turns out that one can construct quite the efficacious Tycho trap with only a few cups and some Parrot Bay rum.