Volume 13 - ComicMon, Chapter 96 - All Access
Day two of ComicMon started very differently from day one. Instead of a handful of dedicated fans waiting patiently in line, there were hundreds of new visitors pouring in all morning long. The fact that a liminal-centric convention was going on had hit the local news, prompting curious people from all over Tokyo to come and check it out.
The free-access area on the plaza was particularly swarmed with visitors. There were men and women who wanted to know more about the exchange program, children that were wide-eyed with excitement at seeing so many liminals up close, and several reporters interviewing staff and attendees alike.
The visitors weren't all freeloading, however. ComicMon sold nearly twice as many badges as they had on Saturday thanks to all the new arrivals. The convention staff even had to order additional badges from a printer when they ran out. Thankfully, the massive venue meant they weren't even close to hitting maximum capacity.
The increased attendance was a wonderful surprise, but the attention wasn't all positive. A group of protesters had gathered just across the street from the convention center, waving signs and shouting. They were mostly elderly or middle-age Japanese people, with a few younger protesters as well.
It wasn't hard to see that they were protesting the Interspecies Exchange Act and all the liminal accommodations that came with it. They had banners and signs covered in slogans like 'Monsters Go Home!', 'No Special Treatment for Monsters', and 'Japan is for the Japanese'. They were also eager to tell anyone willing to listen all about their cause.
One of the few people that had stopped to talk to them didn't support their side, at least judging by his 'I <3 Liminals' t-shirt. The man was tall and skinny, with light brown hair and a bit of scruffy facial hair. More importantly, he had a high quality microphone and he was interviewing one of the protesters.
He gestured at the fans filing past toward the Tokyo Big Sight tower and said, "So as you can see, pop culture's reaction to liminals seems to be quite positive. What do you think those industries have gotten wrong?"
The woman he was interviewing wore a stuffy formal dress and had her black hair perfectly hair-sprayed into a stern, no-nonsense style. "First and foremost, they are downplaying the danger to a worrisome degree!" she passionately proclaimed. "These are literal monsters, the ones that fables and legends have warned us about for generations. As much as supposed authors may have tried to redefine creatures like vampires into sparkly, harmless eye candy, the real monsters do exist and they are a threat!"
As the interview continued, a familiar group of liminals and their host walked by, heading for the convention center and holding a conversation of their own. Yuisu, Haru, and Mara had ran back to their hotel for Yuisu's manga, and Iormu, Quess, and Pwess had tagged along to get some fresh air and warm sunshine.
"Ugh! I hate them," Mara grumbled with a sideways glance at the protesters and their rude signs.
"Hmm?" Yuisu said, looking up from the canvas bag holding her precious set of Cat and Mouse Game manga.
"They're ruining my convention," Mara continued. "Why are they even bothering to protest? They aren't going to change anything."
Haru nodded firmly. "Yeah. The government is in favor of liminal integration, as are most people, so it isn't going to change. All it does is make good liminals feel hated and unwelcome…"
Yuisu thought for a second on how best to phrase things, then said, "Those people are just worried that their normal way of life is going away, which is actually kind of true. Change is always scary, and they're afraid that the new world could be worse than what they're used to."
Haru and Mara both grumbled in begrudging agreement. It was hard to argue with Yuisu's point.
Quess spoke up, her echoey voice cheerful and bright, "Then it's our duty to make sure this new world is better. And not just for those old, worried people, but for the next generation, too." With that, she grabbed Pwess under the arms and lifted her into a hug.
"Wah! Mommy!" Pwess wiggled and tried to escape for a moment, until Iormu joined the loving hug as well. Reluctantly, she accepted her moms' annoying huggy-ness and hugged them back.
The other women all smiled at the cuteness and at Quess's hopeful message, at least until Yuisu interrupted the moment by yelling, "Oh crap! I gotta get back to the con for the signing. Seeya, girls!" She took off running, cradling her bag of manga against her chest.
Haru flew along after, happy for an occasion to use her wings, at least until they got to the hall entrance and she had to land. Despite the spacious halls, the convention had asked all walking-capable liminals to avoid flying indoors. Given the hyperactive and easily distracted nature of most harpies, that was probably for the best.
The two women kept a fast pace until they got to the manga area, then Yuisu slowed to a walk. I can't be out of breath when I meet Katrina-chan. I need to stay calm and collected, so I can show my utmost respect for her and her work, Yuisu thought as she strode up to the autograph area.
A volunteer there recognized Yuisu and waved her over. She said, "You're just in time. You've got five minutes to chat with her and get your stuff signed, then we've gotta start the normal attendees." The girl looked over the massive line of people that zigzagged back and forth and practically filled the room, then added, "You're lucky Mara set this up for you, you know. Some of these people lined up two hours ago."
Yuisu blushed and bowed her head. "Thank you," she said, then started toward the back of the room where a werecat was sitting conspicuously alone at a large table covered in a white tablecloth.
Haru looked unsure whether she was allowed to go as well, but the volunteer waved her along. "Go on back. Mara mentioned you too."
Yuisu had planned to keep calm and dignified, but when the Katrina-chan was in front of her, she couldn't contain herself. She got as far as setting her manga bag down on the table before she erupted into excited rambling. "Katrina-chan, I still can't believe it's really you, since I've been a fan for years but you were always so mysterious and I had given up on ever meeting you but now I am meeting you and you're a liminal which is so cool since I'm an Exchange Program host for six liminals, well seven now because of the baby but that's a long story and there's no time for that because I only have five minutes to meet you!"
When Yuisu's run-on sentence finally ran out, she was beet red from both embarrassment and being out of breath. Then she smiled shyly and quietly added, "My name's Yuisu, by the way…"
Fuzzy ears twitching, Katrina-chan smiled a shy smile of her own and said, "It's great to meet such a passionate fan of my work." Then she glanced at Yuisu's canvas bag and saw the manga inside. "Ah, you're a real fan if you've got that collector's set. Even I had a hard time getting ahold of that one."
By then, Haru had approached the table and she was cringing a little at Yuisu's embarrassing yet heartfelt rant. Suddenly she was pulled by the wing up to the table and Yuisu brandished her at Katrina-chan.
Yuisu grinned wide, her green eyes sparkling, and said, "Haru got it for me for Christmas. She's the best!"
Haru blushed at the praise and at the way it hinted at their relationship. Haru assumed that as an author of yuri manga, Katrina-chan would be adept at identifying lesbian couples.
Yuisu had a similar thought, but she went in a different direction with it. She writes yuri, so she's probably lesbian. I wonder if she's in a relationship… Yuisu's eyes scanned Katrina-chan's adorable face, cute cat ears, and significant bust, then the Yuri-su part of her mind added, If she is single, I wonder if she'd be up for a three—
Yuisu was pulled from her thoughts by the sharp pressure of a talon pressing down on her foot. Haru had grown adept at identifying when Yuri-su was about to cause trouble…
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
A little more clear-headed now, Yuisu said, "Um, I was hoping you would sign those for me?"
"Of course." Katrina-chan smiled and she had a very curious gleam in her eye as she said, "Now, while I sign all these books, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself and your household? Mara made it sound so exciting, and I might get some story inspiration from it!"
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The second-floor plaza area was open to the entire public, and it featured booths from several different topics. One type was government outreach, with booths advertising initiatives like the homestay program and the liminal ambassador program. There were also booths for the businesses that sponsored ComicMon, which gave them a bit of public advertisement in addition to the full offerings they had within the convention tower.
The final section was all about liminal accessibility. Modern infrastructure was built with only humans in mind and that could cause problems for liminals. From narrow hallways and low ceilings to doors with hard-to-grasp handles, liminals could have difficulty in both obvious and unexpected ways.
Mara, Chione, and the rest of the ComicMon staff hoped to improve life for liminals by educating people and advocating for better accessibility. Tsuen was large enough to have experienced accessibility issues of her own, so she was happy to volunteer in that part of the convention. Her work at Sports Club Kobold as a fitness instructor had put her in direct contact with a wide variety of other liminals, giving her some perspective on their plights as well.
Tsuen was manning a booth dedicated to information about large liminals and how to accommodate them. Most of the visitors were other liminals looking for ways to advocate for better accessibility in their hometowns, but some curious humans stopped by as well.
"Excuse me, miss," started an older man with a shock of grey hair.
"Hello!" Tsuen smiled and did a little curtsey as a way to lower her eye level. Due to her height, people usually had to crane their necks to make eye contact, so she tried to make that easier for them.
The man continued, "I was just passing through, since I came to check out where all my cabs were being dispatched to all the sudden."
Tsuen nodded politely, not entirely sure where the man was taking the conversation.
He raised his eyebrows and smiled shyly. "And I have found myself to be totally ignorant. Just what is this event?"
"Oh!" Tsuen said with a grin. She was always happy to help people, and this was a topic she had experience explaining. "This is a pop culture convention called ComicMon. It focuses on the ways that pop culture and liminals interact, such as the way anime and manga have portrayed liminals and other legendary creatures."
The man nodded slowly, like comprehension was a slowly sinking in. "And what is this area? It seems like it's an outreach program or something?"
"Exactly. Liminals come in so many shapes and sizes that they can have a hard time navigating a human-sized world. My booth is sharing information on how to lobby for improved accessibility." She grabbed a pamphlet from the booth and handed it to the man.
He took it but only barely glanced at it. He was already on a different train of thought. "Navigating? Surely you can use the roads just fine." He glanced at Tsuen's hooves and found them very similar to any horse's.
"Roads, yes. Cars are another matter entirely. I require a large truck or SUV to be a passenger and I've yet to find a vehicle that I would be able to drive on my own."
The concept finally clicked. He seemed a little slow with age, but by no means stupid. "Ahh, I understand. Much like someone in a wheelchair, you must have quite a challenge with small vehicles and places."
Tsuen nodded. "Yep, and I'm not even that large compared to some liminals. My friend Iormu is forty feet long. Even coiled up, she's larger than me."
"Hmm." The man squinted his eyes and his forehead wrinkled in thought. "I see the issue. It is a harsh plight, to be unable to drive a vehicle, and to be unable to fit in a normal taxi either…" He looked around the plaza area, counting the larger liminals he saw. Once again, his mind seemed to be on a track to somewhere, puzzling out a solution to something.
After a long pause, just before Tsuen could ask if he needed anything else, the old man said, "Well, that settles it. I need to add some liminal-accessible vehicles to my fleet. It would be quite helpful to these liminals, and it's just good business, since this seems to be a growing market."
"That sounds wonderful, sir," Tsuen said. She hadn't expected to so easily convince someone that was in charge of big decisions.
Suddenly, the man's eyes went wide. "Oh, I never properly introduced myself!" He pulled out a business card from his pocket, bowed deeply, and presented it to Tsuen with both hands. After she took it, he looked back up and said, "I'm Toshiro Oshizu, and I've recently found myself in charge of a taxi company, after the previous owner was arrested for kidnapping. Such a disgrace, that was."
Tsuen raised an eyebrow when she saw the name of said taxi company on his business card. "Tokai Taxi and Limo? I've used your service in Okayado several times for errands. Well, specifically the Hummer limo since the taxis won't fit me."
"Ah, I've heard our limos were in high demand out there, but I didn't know why." He shook his head and said, "That just won't do. Limousines are for luxury and special occasions. Can't have them being used for simple errands. I definitely need to get more liminal accessible cabs out there."
"Oh, that would be great!" Tsuen cheered. Her cyan eyes gleamed and her long brown ears wiggled happily.
Suddenly the man bowed again. "Well I must be going, but thank you for your time, miss." He waved the pamphlet in his hand as he turned and left abruptly.
"Goodbye!" Tsuen waved back at the man until he disappeared into the crowd. Huh. What an unusual yet friendly man. Next time I see Flare, I'll have to mention that I met her boss. Or boss's boss? It sounded like he was pretty high up in the company…
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A bit later during Tsuen's volunteer shift, an unusual pair of visitors arrived at her booth and presented a topic she wasn't prepared for.
First was a lamia girl with pink scales and striking white hair. She wore a cute white summery skirt and a blue spaghetti-strap shirt. Behind her, looking nervous and shy, was a man with long black hair and bright green scales over his entire body, which was a long tail from the waist down, like a lamia.
Tsuen didn't recognize his species. She knew enough about lamias to know they were always female and had a fair amount of scale-free skin. This man had to be something else.
"We're here, Nagin. That wasn't so bad, was it?" the pink lamia said with a smile.
She was a cute one, and Tsuen felt a little tug at her heartstrings and another tug on her libido. After all, as Iormu had discovered when Tsuen got drunk, she had a thing for prehensile tails. In another lifetime, Tsuen could have fallen for a girl like this Lamia. In this life, however, Tsuen had Mara and she liked it that way.
Shifting gears, Tsuen wondered, Are these two a couple? They're certainly adorable together. Her question was soon answered when the snake-like man spoke.
Well, speaking wasn't quite the right term. The man hissed and sighed and flicked his forked tongue, but never said a word in Japanese or any other verbal language.
Then the girl said, "Oh right. I keep forgetting…" Then she hissed back at him in the same unusual language, apparently repeating her previous line in a way he could understand. It seemed like she had only met him recently, and she was helping out as his translator.
The man hissed something back, and then the girl turned back to Tsuen.
"Nagin here is looking for information on accessibility," the lamia said.
Tsuen was about to say, 'Then you two came to the right place', when the girl continued.
"But specific to overcoming language barriers. Nagas don't have vocal chords, you see."
"Oh." That threw Tsuen off. Her booth was dedicated to issues around physical size and shape, not communication. But, it was still related to accessibility and Tsuen wasn't going to give up on helping someone. She steeled herself and said, "I don't have any pamphlets or formal resources on that, but I can give some pointers." After all, I did have to learn Japanese before I got into Japan's Exchange Program. I'll just have to adjust for him not being able to speak…
Wearing the bright smile that came automatically when instructing, Tsuen turned to Nagin and said, "First, you'll want to learn to read and write the language. Writing back and forth can be slow compared to speech, but it will get you there."
The lamia girl started translating, but she stopped herself when Nagin grabbed a small notepad out of a pocket on the tan skirt-like piece of clothing he wore. He seemed uncomfortable in it, as if he was used to being naked.
Slowly and carefully, he wrote a couple simple sentences on the notepad in Japanese, then held it out for Tsuen to read. It said, "I can write a little. I can hear a little too."
Tsuen interpreted that as Nagin being able to write Japanese at a basic level, and being able to understand some spoken language. She positively beamed and said, “Wonderful! In that case, you’re well on your way. Understanding the spoken language is huge, since it means the person you’re talking to can communicate in the way they’re most comfortable and you can write your responses. Just keep working on that and you’ll be fine. After all, the world already accommodates mute humans to some degree of success.”
Nagin looked lost. It seemed Tsuen's speech was a bit too fast and wordy for him to follow. The lamia, who later introduced herself as Salina, translated it for him.
The trio 'spoke' for a few more minutes, with Salina translating when Nagin's writing skills weren't sufficient for what he wanted to say, until Nagin seemed satisfied with the information and advice he'd received. He nodded in a very reserved way and gave the tiniest wave of his hand.
Salina waved and cheered, "Thanks!" Then the two serpentine liminals slithered off through the crowd, their long, brightly colored tails trailing.
As they left, Tsuen made a note to mention the naga's situation to Mara and Chione. They'll probably want to add a communication-related booth next year. Might want to support more languages anyway, if the number of foreign visitors keeps up.
She very specifically decided not to mention how that cute lamia had made her feel. The thought of a prehensile tail and a long flexible tongue may have got Tsuen a little hot, but she doubted that it could beat Mara's raw skill and enthusiasm in bed.
Tsuen blushed and shook her head to clear her thoughts. I have work to do. Important work that will help other liminals. With that, the perky centauress buckled down and stayed focused on the rest of her volunteer shift.