#SwampCon

[chrimsonfoxdon]

Drew these Totodiles for the Swamp Pokémon Stamp Rally I’m going to be part of THIS WEEKEND at SWAMPCON!!! Be sure to come and play with us!

[swampcon]

GET IN LOSERS, WE'RE GOING TO THE CIRCUS

[ghibligrrrl]

🫖 Swampcon 2025 🫖

Ah yes, the long-awaited convention post...

On the first day of SwampCon, I woke up bright and early and got ready for the long day ahead. I walked to the Reitz Union, maid outfit in hand (yes, I worked at the maid cafe), feeling kind of self conscious every time a car passed. I felt comfortable being “cringe” around like minded people, but what about the random people driving around campus at 7:30 AM. What do they think of maid outfits? I tried not to dwell on it and blasted mood-boosting j-pop through my earbuds as I continued to walk. I arrived well before the chaos of the con began, so I was very surprised by the amount of people that showed up later that morning. The maid cafe was busy from open to close, with every shift jam-packed and our menu growing smaller with every session. Even my friends came to visit me at the cafe. I kept my role a secret from most of them, so it was a funny surprise to greet them in my uniform. I felt like Misaki from Maid Sama lol.

No creeps sat at my tables yayy!! Unfortunately the likelihood of a guest hitting on the maids is low but never zero as I heard from some of the maid cafe veterans. Lots of guests were in cosplay, and it was fun to see characters that I recognized. It was often a conversation starter, and it was nice to bond with people over a shared interest in anime or gaming. 

Later on, I volunteered with some of my friends. We checked wristbands at artists alley where I got to see lots more people in cosplay and observe the shadow cultural marketplace up close. I saw many people “geek out” about finding art of their favorite franchise or lament about how much money they spent on prints and posters. I bought a few stickers for myself, and I was considering getting a keychain of a character from one of my favorite animes, but the seller was all out. I was too picky to buy one of a different character which made me think of Sasahara from Genshiken. Like him, I was tuned into the moe elements that appealed to me. Having all of the vendors there did resemble a mini comiket like in Genshiken. However this venue was mostly an all-ages affair, so the merchandise was a lot tamer. I think the raunchiest thing I saw was a censored body pillow of sexy Bowser. 

Day two was a bit slower. It was raining (another Genshiken reference?), but that didn’t stop some die-hard anime enthusiasts from donning their cosplays and exploring the panels. I worked the maid cafe again and then ran around the con taking over volunteer shifts for people and directing lost con-goers. I got some lovely compliments on my maid outfit which I sewed myself, and it made me feel like my blood, sweat, and tears were worth it. It was my first ever sewing project and I'm glad I got to display it at a big event like this.

I supported my roommate who was performing in Cospoi, which is a show involving, well, cosplay and poi (a type of flow dance with light-up props for visual effects). It was loosely themed around Alice in Wonderland, as was the rest of the convention, but most of the audience engagement came from fandom references like Vocaloid or anime opening songs… another peek into the importance of the “database” in fandom culture. 

Overall, I had a great time at my first anime convention, and I hope to attend another in the future. It felt really liberating to openly participate in otaku culture without feeling shamed for it, and events like this are a rare opportunity for that to happen. SwampCon ‘25 in the books!!

[codeswift27]

I went to my first and only anime convention, SwampCon at the Reitz, on March 2nd this spring with my friends! Two of my friends dressed up in cosplays of Alastor and Vox from Hazbin Hotel. Sadly I didn’t have any costumes on hand and was a little self-conscious so I didn’t end up cosplaying, but it was fun to see everyone else’s outfits!

I don’t remember what the event was called, but first we went to a small vocaloid event. There were people cosplaying as Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Len, Kagamine Rin, Kasane Teto, KAITO, and others. They hosted a vocaloid quiz where some of the audience members were picked to put their hand inside of a box and guess what vocaloid-related item they were touching. I don’t know that much about vocaloids so I didn’t volunteer, but it was fun to watch the other audience members to participate. I remember that there was someone who cosplayed as Luffy and kept getting frustrated bc the items were so hard to guess. I think I would be able to relate with them because it seemed really hard!

Then we wandered around for while and decided to check out some of the anime merch that was being sold. Of course I accidentally forgot to register and didn’t have a wristband, so one of my friends went with me to get registered. On the way, we saw a pikachu car filled with little pikachus. It was super cute! Then we went back to the to the rooms where they were selling merch. The items were all way too expensive for me (as to be expected at anime convention of course), but they were pretty to look at! There were lots of stickers, posters, pins, figures, plushies, and more! My friend bought some stickers and gave me two :)

After that we kind of just wandered around for a while trying to figure out what other events there were to check out and said hi to other cosplayers. My friends’ cosplays were really popular and lots of people came up to them to ask to take pictures with them. Meanwhile, I noticed some familiar cosplays, specifically cosplays of characters from Genshin Impact and Bungo Strays Dogs. I was honestly super nervous but my friends encouraged me, and I got to compliment their cosplays and take a picture with someone who was cosplaying as Childe/Tartaglia/Ajax from Genshin Impact.

(A picture I took with someone cosplaying one of my favorite Genshin characters, Childe! Dazai from Bungo Stray Dogs is photobombing in the background lol.)

We got some food, then one of my friends wanted to check out the idol fest so we split up. We managed to ask for a light stick before going in and got to watch some of the singing and dancing. It was pretty fun, but we both thought it would be much cooler if we had the color changing light sticks they sell at vocaloid concerts. Afterwards, we got a little lost trying to look for our other friends. On the way though, we found a room full of manga and comics. A series I had recently been into caught my eye, Inuyasha.

(Inuyasha manga I saw. Of course I had to take a picture and post it on the r/Inuyasha subreddit.)

Finally my friends needed to go home so unfortunately we had to leave before the fan fiction reading or vocaloid convert. It was also pouring so my friends who were cosplaying also had to try to keep their outfits dry while running to their car.

Overall, my experience at SwampCon was really fun and it was great to go to my first ever anime con! Though while it was fun to go to SwampCon, I hope to have the opportunity to visit other anime cons in the future, and maybe even create and sell my own merch, or meet my favorite voice actors. One of my online artist friends got to set up a booth at an anime con and sold Scarameow t-shirts, and Scara’s English voice actor, Patrick Pedraza bought one! I think an experience like that would be super exciting! (Although I was able to talk to the English voice actor of Skirk from Genshin Impact, Cat Protano, during a Q&A she hosted over voice call which was still an incredible experience!!) I also want to cosplay for next SwampCon if I end up going, since it sounds like a lot of fun.

From my experience at SwampCon and with anime fandoms in general, I think that they serve as spaces were fans can unite for their enthusiasm about a fandom and create and share fan-made content, which can make us feel more connected to our anime interests and each other. It’s always exciting to meet other people who share your enthusiasm about something, and in anime cons you can cosplay and go crazy without having to worry about feeling judge. It’s also really fun and valuable to be able to connect with people you admire like voice actors and manga artists, as well as other fan content creators like fan artists and animators.

[electricfrank3n]

im obsessed with him hes my favorite little creature

[nillacosplay]

“Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin, one cannot exist without the other.”

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📸 @aebimages_orlando

Thank you so much!!

I’ve never felt so magical!

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📍 @st_pete_comic_con

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Cosplay made by me @nillacosplay

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3D print raws from 3D from print specialist: @paladinprintworks

(Bow, arrow, crown pieces, jewelry, shoulder armor)

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took 5 months to build.

( Sept 5th 2024 - Jan 15th 2025)

everything is hand sewn and patterned. Painted by hand, airbrush and spray paint by me. All gems and resin work applied by hand by me.

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Checkout this sets matching Link @kingladycosplay

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I always wanted a project to reuse my old wedding dress, and this was the perfect fit.

Reshaping it, sewing it anew and covering up the past with sparkles, lots of painting and topping it all off with a crown, was definetly the fix it needed!

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For more info on how I created this set check out its story highlight! Also, feel free to message me with any questions!

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#twilightprincess #zeldacosplay #twilightprincesszelda #cosplayer #3dprinted #handpaintedcosplay #elfgirl #legendofzelda #supersmashbrothers #ssbmemes #supersmashbroszelda

[creamuni]

Swampcon 2025 was awesome!!! def going again next year <3

[2and2makes5]

Swampcon!!

Swampcon was the first real convention I went to. I had planned on going to a convention prior, but I wasn't able to make it. This convention lasted two days, March 29th and March 30th. I only went for one day, but I was there for a lot of it. In fact, I volunteered! I signed up to volunteer quite a bit ago because I have been meaning to get involved in Swampcon. I was planning on going the day after as well on Sunday to check more stuff out, but it was pouring down rain, and I didn't want to deal with that. The rain did remind me of Genshiken, with that one episode where it was pouring down rain.

I volunteered from 4 to 8 pm on Saturday in Artist Alley. The Artist Alley was an area at the convention where many artists (mostly local, but some traveled quite a bit to get there) came together to sell their art. I spent my time making sure people had wrist bands on and directing people to where they could get one if they did not have one. I was able to walk around and explore the rooms, and I was surprised at the amount of different types of art! There were stickers, prints, keychains, pins, and so much more. There was a variety of art; I even saw one artist making jewelry and blankets! It was very fun to see so many people come together to express their love for the anime, games, and comics that they enjoy. No other place would I be seeing Miku buying a My Little Pony keychain or Mista from Jojo buying prints of characters from a variety of media standing next to two Deadpools. This experience really helped me see the difference between official cultural capital and shadow cultural capital. Seeing so many people dress up and create art helped me realize how meaningful cultural expression really is. Conventions like these allow people to freely express their love for the media they consume, spending hours on end creating art, making cosplays, or just showing up and walking around.

Yet, I've only scratched the surface. Not only was there art all around, but there were also many panels, ranging from panels about dragons, furries, how to speedrun video games, kpop, lore in video games, quizzes related to video games, a panel about yaoi, and so much more. I sadly wasn't able to go to really any panels, but I met up with some friends on Saturday and they told me about what they experienced. There were also events, such as the maid cafe and Vocaloid concert. I was really hoping to go to the Vocaloid concert, but I sadly couldn't :( It was awesome to see some behind the scenes for it as I got a tour of the convention for training purposes for volunteering, and I was able to see everyone practicing their dance moves and see the stage for what it is. It's so awesome to see how dedicated and creative people are to their favorite series, even taking hobbies such as dance and incorporating them with the media they enjoy.

A little before the end of my shift, before I had to help the artists close up shop, I looked more into the individual items the artists were selling. I saw keychains of characters from Evangelion, prints of Makima and Denji from Chainsawman, and even stickers of Meatwad, Frylock, and Master Shake from Aqua Team Hunger Force, which I thought was really awesome. I didn't expect to find something like that; I mostly assumed it was just anime.

One last thing: I find it awesome that they were playing one of the UF basketball games at the same time in the center part of the Reitz, so seeing two different things happen at once was pretty cool, and a lot of people that came for the game didn't know about Swampcon. Anyways, here's a photo of an awesome cosplay I saw of one of my favorite Five Nights at Freddy's characters, Springtrap.

[anime-by-kr]

My First Time at SwampCon

Hey everyone! 🌟

This Saturday morning, I did something completely out of the ordinary: I went to SwampCon 2025 at the Reitz Union with my boyfriend. I had never been to anything like this before, and honestly, I didn’t even know what to expect. I’d heard of anime conventions in passing, but I’d never really paid attention to them. So we walked in, completely clueless... and immediately surrounded by a crowd of people in colorful and incredibly detailed cosplay. It was like stepping into a different world.

There were so many rooms and hallways full of activity. One moment we were passing artists displaying prints of their work, the next we were looking at tables covered in plushies, enamel pins, and anime trinkets. I almost bought something for my little brother, a keychain from a show he’s obsessed with: Pokemon, but held back at the last second (no regrets though, it was close!). Most of the time we just wandered around, taking everything in. It felt like every corner of the space had something new and strange and exciting to offer. I even took a selfie with someone in an orange fox fursuit (definitely not something I expected to do when I woke up that morning).

Even though I went in with zero expectations, I left SwampCon feeling like I’d experienced something way bigger than just an event. It was a peek into a passionate community (a fandom) that was both unfamiliar and fascinating.

Fandom, Fan Labor, and What SwampCon Taught Me

Reflecting on SwampCon through the lens of our class discussions, I realized I had just witnessed a living, breathing example of what fandom is all about. Fandom isn't just about watching shows or playing games: it's about participating in a culture. People weren’t just consuming media; they were transforming it into something new through cosplay, art, merch, and performances.

This ties into the idea of fan productivity. All those vendors and artists? Many of them were fans creating their own interpretations of the media they love. They weren’t “official” creators from big studios, they were just people using their skills to make something personal, and often profitable. That’s a great example of how fandom turns passive watching into active creating.

Also, I saw how shadow cultural capital plays a role. If you didn’t know certain characters or anime references, you were a bit out of the loop (which, to be honest, I often was). That kind of knowledge of knowing who’s cosplaying who or what certain memes mean gives fans social status inside the community. It’s not “official” knowledge, but within fandom spaces, it matters just as much as anything you’d learn in school.

Another concept we talked about: the database model, also came to mind. Think of something like the animal database, where fans collect and categorize characters, traits, or “types.” At SwampCon, I could see that kind of logic everywhere. So many booths grouped characters by series or vibe (e.g. “cute animal sidekicks,” “angsty boys,” “magical girls”), and fans instinctively knew how to navigate it. It’s a way of organizing meaning in a world overflowing with content.

SwampCon 2025 was unexpected, a little overwhelming, but super eye-opening. I went just to check it out but ended up learning more about creativity, community, and culture. It gave me a deeper appreciation for fandom, not just as a personal passion, but as a rich and complex world of meaning-making and connection.

[herbfort]

wakamisu and thistle are gonna have to hold up my mental health for the next week or so im counting on them

[chrimsonfoxdon]

I’m at SwampCon THIS WEEKEND!!! Table A23 in room 20 on the first floor!!! Be sure to come say hi!!

#swampcon #Swampcon2025 #artistalley

[swampcon]

beep beep. get in our circus car. yes it is very little. yes it is full of clowns. yes you will have to squish. have fun!

VISIT US AT SWAMPCON.ORG FOR MORE INFO

[kenjakus-frontal-lobe]

SwampCon Post !

Hello!

So, last weekend, I attended SwampCon on campus. I'm a huge con-goer outside of this class in general (I have been to maybe 8-9? I'm a frequenter to MegaCon and SuperCon), so this was pretty fun for me. I actually attended both days, all day, as a volunteer! I'm also a cosplayer, so I got to engage in that bit of culture as well.

I think one of the most fascinating aspects of fan culture that I love to engage with, that we also discussed a bit in class, is the common-ness of fanworks based on media. I'm the biggest fan ever of artist alleys at conventions! The second you step into one, you're surrounded by fan reproductions of whatever medias you can think of. I believe there was only one stand in the entire con selling official merchandise in the vendor hall; everything else was made by some individual with their own artistic skill. I always have found there's kind of a beauty in that, that fan culture celebrates the abilities of individuals to add their own personal touches to popular media. A lot of these fan works will crossover characters, or dress them up in whatever clothes the artist wants, or, more simply, the characters are depicted in a style much different than their original source. There's a love for individuality and self-expression even amidst a unified culture.

I most certainly engaged in a good level of shadow cultural capital. (1) On Saturday, I believe I bought four pins related to the character I was cosplaying on Sunday, so I could decorate my lanyard with little references that quite a few folks caught. (2) A couple folks asked me the media or the character I was cosplaying from, and I got to explain it. (3) On Saturday, I ran into someone who didn't even seem to be attending the con -- and yet he called out the character I was cosplaying, made a joke about the media (Steel Ball Run anime WILL be announced on April 12th!), and we fist-bumped. (4) A pair of artists from the artist alley chased me down on Sunday to show me one of their t-shirts, which was a reference to the character I was cosplaying. (5) An artist recognized the FMAB pins on my lanyard on Saturday, and showed me her new FMAB print -- which I bought without hesitation. (6) While checking in attendees on Sunday in my volunteering position, multiple people caught onto the character I was cosplaying, and showed me merch they had or made references to my character. In other words, so much of actively engaging in a con is just these small little cultural exchanges, showcases of your knowledge to impress others with similar knowledge. It doesn't do a whole lot sometimes, but it does make you feel pretty good!

There's quite a large variety of folks who attend cons -- I wouldn't exactly call fan culture "youth culture". There were plenty of fellow college students, of course, but also quite a few older adults. I saw parents, and even grandparents, and some were also engaged in cosplay! I was pulled over by a group of highschoolers on Sunday so they could get pictures with my cosplay, and had a nice conversation with an elderly man on Saturday. I think there's an appealing idea of engaging with others based on your interest that appeals to everyone; the only requirement to engage is to simply be passionate about something, and most folks do have a desire to belong to some sort of community.

Overall, I'm really happy I went to SwampCon. I had plans to go regardless of this course's requirement, but I get to talk about it here, so that's an extra bonus. It's nice to feel so connected to a community, with a reminder that there's so many other people like you out there.

I have attached some pics! If you're curious at all, I made the Viktor cosplay, including the staff, myself. And if you ran into me at SwampCon, hello!

[actuallytybee]

Got my nails done today. Immediately got home and started putting the finishing touches on my cosplay for this weekend and trying not to damage my new nails.

Why do I continue to procrastinate. At least I'm only going on one day of the con

[purpldawne]

con im going to happens during narus birthday YIPPEE

[mbecca-art]

these bad boys debuted at swampcon 🐊 THEY ARE SOOO SOFT