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PeoriaCon, 2025

In 2024, we only did Sunday. For 2025, we only did Saturday, March 29 (yesterday - yeah, I'm actually doing a timely review for once). I really hope they introduce weekend-rate pricing next year, since it's a bit pricey to buy single-day tickets for 2 adults for both days ($17/person/day this year) when you consider the con is still roughly 85% vendors and artists vs 15% all the rest of con stuff.

Despite that price tag, it's clear there's a demand for the event. When @lechevaliermalfet @pseudospectre , myself, and kiddo arrived at the Peoria Civic Center about half an hour after the con started, there was a decent line to purchase admission.

I love that it shows the event is growing in popularity, because my group got there only like 30 minutes after the con started and there was a steady line for the first couple of hours whenever we looked.

There was a nice, easy-to-understand info table just outside the entry doors, after you got your plain red wristband from the box office. I heard today's were blue and I was relieved to know there were measures in place to prevent people from trying to ghost the con on Day 2.

Once inside, they had an amazing array of vendors. The Civic Center really does have decent space in the exhibit hall for events.

However, any time I've been there for a con, the gaming area sound overpowers everything else. Yesterday was no exception - there were times the audio for the game tournament made it difficult to interact with the vendors next to it as you could hardly hear them.

They did dedicate a decent amount of space to both video gaming and tabletop, which was nice to see - I feel like the two areas were fairly comparable, size-wise.

Also, shoutout to @someoldmemory and another friend of ours, "Bob", who were running a booth for their employer.

We walked away from that booth with a Labyrinth movie poster. Now I need to figure out where to display it!

It was nice to see the Ghostbusters return to the con again, and their vehicle was an obvious photo draw for many attendees. I wouldn't be shocked if Scott Inness' booth also attracted a lot of photo ops, with or without the guest himself. I don't think I've ever been to an event where a guest of honor had such an impressive booth.

Speaking of guests, I did think they had a decent variety within the small handful that they had and I did overhear a group of attendees mention that they'd travelled 3 hours just for one of their members to get a voice actor autograph. PeoriaCon's size means that no celebrity line was ever too long if you wanted an opportunity for a photo or autograph, though I passed on those this year.

The designated panel area was far smaller, maybe with seats for about 25-30ish people? I admit, that's not unreasonable for a con this size, based on my experience. But the curtain walls and microphones for the panelists didn't always do *quite* enough to combat the noise from the gaming tournament. I ended up passing on most of the panels for this reason, only dropping in on the Ghostbusters Peoria one at 2pm. Local author Sylvia Shults was one of the panelists and she has done many local cons over the years. I'll always enjoy hearing her stories on the old state asylum.

But to backtrack before that...kiddo is now 14 months old and she was *not* tolerating the noise-cancelling headphones that she wore at Anime Aki Con in 2024. And she wasn't interested in sleeping through the event, like she did for PeoriaCon 2024. So we had a grumpy baby for the majority of the day. I actually had to take her out of the con floor and into the food vendor / dining area to attempt to quiet her. Our group ended up having an early-ish lunch of overpriced snack / quick food (popcorn, hotdogs, burgers, nachos, you get the gist) as that was what was on hand.

@lechevaliermalfet and I *tried* to get overpriced sodas from the vending machines and that promptly card our cards flagged for fraud.

So that led to a fun 30 minutes on the phone with the credit union in the middle of our con day. In the end, the poor rep couldn't figure out why the machines were flagging as fraud (he had me try using the cards while I was on the phone with him after I verified the transactions). Our debit card was unlocked, the credit card was escalated to the risk team and I was advised to avoid using it and to visit an ATM to get cash out instead.

Well, we tried to find the silver lining that we would absolutely be forced to really consider our con swag for this year and so it was totally fine that we had to keep circulating the vendors to keep the grumpy baby calm. Because it meant we *really* got to consider our options.

Like coffee. Cosplay ducks. Art galore. Local authors. Jewelry makers. And more!

Yeah, it was hard making choices. I did end up with some of that coffee, because the vendors were lovely people and they had free hot samples of many of the flavors. Probably spent a good 10 minutes at their booth talking to them. They're Itasha Coffee and they'll be at Acen 2025 and Anime Magic 2025.

There was a robotics demo in the con hall to observe as well.

Problem is, kiddo wasn't interested in staying still in any area. And at one point, she was cranky enough we again chose to leave the con hall. This time, we decided to attempt an ATM so that I could have some cash on hand. More bad news. The ATM (which was connected to our credit union) was refusing transactions. Cue another phone call to said credit union, and another 15 minutes on the phone with a rep looking into the issue. Turns out, that ATM had lost signal and wasn't processing *any* transactions. I wonder how many attendees ran into that issue...

Well, we had at least one working card. We went back in and finished our shopping. Then, when the cosplay competition came around, @lechevaliermalfet walked our daughter around the con floor in the stroller while I watched the contest.

I'd say the cosplay contest was probably a personal highlight for me. Saturday's was the Craftsmanship contest. Lots of awesome cosplays on display and many contestants really threw themselves into portraying their chosen character. I love that the contest has grown so large over the years that it can be divided as it was, over 2 days and between Craftsmanship (Sat) and Youth (Sun). And that Craftsmanship was further divided into the Novice, Journeyman, and Master categories. I also appreciated that there was a Judges' Choice and a Best in Show option, in addition to the 1st place for each category. (It was hard to get photos of the winners going up, sorry!)

I was surprised that Best in Show and Judges' Choice went to the same contestant - and that's no shade on them! Their cosplay was very well put together and far surpasses anything I've done over my con attending years. I know every contest has its own criteria and people can win multiple awards; I'm just used to Judges' Choice being awarded to those who didn't meet the criteria for any other award but that the judges still felt deserved a shoutout.

With the contest concluded, PeoriaCon was done for the day. And we were done for the weekend.

On the whole, despite a grumpy baby (who left with con swag of her own, getting a couple free stickers over the course of the day) and card issues, it was a fun PeoriaCon. I'm looking forward to next year, though I really hope they introduce weekend passes by then.

And yes, I did break out the PoGo. I barely play anymore, but it feels like the thing to do at cons.

I'm also sharing an abridged version of this review on the Anime Central discord / Peoria subreddit, so if any of the wording / pics seem familiar to you - that's why.

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Anime Aki Con, 2024

This is long overdue. Anime Aki Con held its inaugural event on October 19, 2024 at the Holiday Inn in East Peoria, IL. They had a nice Facebook and local news campaign for a bit beforehand, to spread the word.

And due to the reputations of certain cons in the area, Anime Aki Con actually posted a disclaimer on their FB page that they have no affiliations or ties to any other event in the area. I have a feeling that helped them gain support as well.

But anyway, down to business...

@lechevaliermalfet and I went and took our daughter with us. Originally, @shbumi hoped to attend with us, but was unable to make it. She had won admission in a pre-con contest and the con staff graciously allowed her to transfer the tickets to us.

The registration table and the raffle table were both clearly visible and staff were friendly and helpful. Many were in cosplay for the day, but they weren't hard to find if you needed them.

Once we were in, we decided to bypass the panel and gaming rooms (in fact, we never did end up looking in on gaming - whoops!) and head straight for the artists and dealers.

This was a hotel con, so space was...a tad cramped. @lechevaliermalfet and I took turns walking through and browsing, while the other waited in the hall with our daughter in her stroller, watching the foam fighting going on outside.

Foam fighting was led by a local group, the Peoria Belegarth Realm of Grond. They've done foam fighting at other local events, and it was nice to see them here.

But of course, we didn't just come to spend the whole day shopping!

We did catch both of the sword fighting panels.

The panel room was decently sized for the event. The 12pm Sword Demonstration was more sparsely attended and I suspect that was mainly due to the timing. It was approaching the lunch hour, after all.

There is an Italian steakhouse on-site at the hotel that's open to the general public, but we went home for lunch after the first panel. We wanted to give kiddo a brief break from the noise. She was sporting noise-cancelling headphones for the day, but it's still a lot for a baby who wasn't even a year old at the time.

Coming back for lunch, we were there in plenty of time for the second sword-related panel, which was more well-attended.

Once this panel was done, kiddo was making it clear she was done for the day. @lechevaliermalfet took her outside to look at the bull sculpture outside the hotel's convention center entry.

He then drove her around to keep her calm while I watched the cosplay contest. I really have a great husband, y'all.

The contest was the best-attended event of the day, I suspect. I admit that I didn't go to each and every panel, but I can't recall seeing the room as packed as it was for the contest at any earlier time that I went by it during the day.

They had first, second, and third place trophies available.

After the contest, the con founders gave a brief talk - not so long you could really call it a closing ceremony, but just enough to let attendees know how much they valued the community support.

The con hasn't posted exact numbers, just that attendance was over 250 for the day. Not bad at all for a first year event! They're back again in East Peoria in October of this year (2025) and have already moved to a larger venue (Embassy Suites) and expanded to 2 days.

I'm happy the Peoria area has another anime con and I wish them the best of luck as they grow.

Oh, and as far as Pokemon Go is concerned...I'm sure I opened it up, as I do at every con, but I don't have any screenshots saved that I can find.

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Food for thought

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I really hope they refill this merch design because I want a hoodie with this sooo bad

This podcast has become my new favorite and I've been binging it since I discovered it in October/November of 2024. I still have 79 episodes to go to catch up...

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Hold their feet to the fire

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SHIT.

Please reblog!

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On the subject of Conventions

So Dashcon is in the air again, and a lot of people have been talking about the how and the why and the reasons for its demise. And a lot of people have been talking about the sociological and fandom reasons why it didn't work out, and while I don't think anyone is wrong about their theories, there's something most people just don't understand.

Almost every con you have ever attended has been bare inches from total collapse.

I say this as someone with decades of con work. Of being a vendor. Of being a volunteer. Of talking to other con runners.

Every con I've ever interacted with has been a few bad choices away from not making it through the weekend. Financial choices, PR choices, guest choices, staffing choices. The number of ways that a convention can fail is STAGGERING, and the problem is, cons that have been around for a long time, that seem successful, that seem stable, have gotten very good at hiding their problems.

They still have the problems. They're just good at hiding them. And that's the important part. As long as the attendees do not KNOW that you're in full meltdown mode, you are stable. If you can hold it together, if you can distract people, if you can just make it through Sunday, you're golden.

Otherwise, you will be Dashcon, and a thousand other cons that thought that this would be easy. That they just had to put up a website and book a hotel ballroom and let the money roll in.

Things I have seen/experienced/have first hand knowledge of:

-Workers set off sprinkler system the day before con. -Fire alarm causes entire building to be evacuated. -Masquerade MC gets into a physical fight with a teenager in a restaurant outside of the con mere hours before said masquerade, and has to be replaced. -Con chair redoes the con branding entirely so he has an excuse to fire his ex-girlfriend, who cosplayed the con mascot. -Con goers set off fire extinguishers in hotel elevator, con is charged for this. -Tax agents show up on Friday morning and start going from table to table, demanding tax licenses from every single vendor, including teenagers in Artist Alley, who have no idea they needed such a thing. -Major guest shows up drunk to a major panel and has a screaming meltdown on teenage fans. -Two cosplayers dressed as special forces operatives INCLUDING PROP WEAPONS, are walking home in a major city at night. Cops pull over and demand that they get on the ground. Cosplayers run. Somehow, miraculously, they do not get shot. Police dept then sends a major police presence to the con the following day and attempts to bill the con for the police detail. -Con organizer does not read convention center contract in full; ends up with an unexpected bill of almost 20K more than expected. -Multiple cases of vendors getting into physical fights. -Bomb threats. The worst one involved the local police, the FBI, and an Australian police force. -Sharing convention center space with an Obama speech. -Sharing convention center space with 'Walmart Presents: Bass Pro Fishing Challenge." -The hotel double booking the space with a college Fraternity party. Leading to a physical fight between drunken frat boys and a bunch of cosplayers dressed as ninjas, forever remembered as 'the battle of the bros vs. the Narutos.' -The hotel booking a wedding reception in the same venue. Neither the con goers or the wedding goers were happy. -MASSIVE amounts of counterfeit badges -Hotel flooding. -Freak storm trapping congoers in the hotel. -Freak storm trapping so many congoers in the hotel that the hotel staff locked down all floors, forbidding people from moving between floors or spaces, giving rise to very real fears of structural problems. -Drunks. Seizures. Drug overdoses. Physical altercations. -Con refusing to cross a picket line of striking workers and being nearly bankrupted by the penalty fees -Three separate instances of major violence (mass shooting in another state, a bomb going off within view of the convention center, a person stopped from attending another event in the same facility with a car trunk full of guns and ammunition) happening so close to the convention that major policy changes had to happen with next to no notice.

Conventions are incredibly complex. They are incredibly time intensive. They require a massive amount of man power and a lot of knowledge to do right.

And so very easy to do wrong.

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For all the posts memorializing Donald Sutherland, I haven’t seen any mention of his role as Buffy’s Watcher, Merrick, in the cult classic original “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

So here, have a little tribute to the proto-Giles and remember him fondly with me.

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PeoriaCon 2024

This year, PeoriaCon had a venue change. They took over one of the expo halls at the Peoria Civic Center. And I think that was probably the right idea. It wasn't quite the wall of sound of prior years and it gives a lot more space for walking around and shopping. You're still somewhat limited on food if you want to stay at the Civic Center all day, however.

We went on Sunday - this was Baby's First Convention for our newborn, and Sunday meant (theoretically) fewer people, less time away from home, etc. @lechevaliermalfet and I are first-time parents, so we're still adapting to taking the baby out in public for things that aren't doctor appointments.

I thought I'd gotten a photo of the schedule of events for the day, but it seems I was mistaken. So I downloaded it from Facebook - but we didn't actually attend any panels.

We spent a lot of PeoriaCon wandering around, talking to friends. @someoldmemory was on hand with her wife, our friend Josh and his wife were there, Cody was there, and others. There were also vendors that we were familiar with and stopped to chat with.

We did enter a giveaway for an incredible amount of stuff, but sadly, none of us won.

Entry was free, so even though most of the prizes in the hoard weren't of interest to me specifically, can you blame me for trying for it? Look at all of that loot! I could have gifted so much to friends or traded in for store credit or sold...

Anyway, moving on...

The Ghostbusters were on hand, as was a Batmobile that had been lovingly created by a dedicated fan. Spook Hollow were on hand with their booth and photo op setup, so @someoldmemory took a photo with her wife.

There was tabletop gaming and video gaming. We paid to enter a different drawing for some kickass dice towers, but again, failed to win. But the proceeds from the sweepstakes went to charity, so that's ok. There was also a lot of nice fanmade merchandise for sale.

You gotta have at least one sword vendor at a con - I really feel like that's an unwritten rule at events now.

The Civic Center has always had overpriced snack bars, but now one of them is run by Avanti's, which is a local fast casual Italian restaurant chain. So we were able to grab a tasty lunch from them as the day was starting to draw to a close. It's a good thing we grabbed it when we did, because they closed the booth shortly after we got our food. We saw the crowd around the youth cosplay contest, but not the contest itself.

Overall, it was a good day - an inexpensive outing where we got to have adult interactions and conversation that revolved around more than just dirty diapers and bottles. Oh, and our daughter slept through all of it until lunchtime, at which point, she had a bottle and grumped for a few minutes.

After lunch, the con was starting to shut down. We ate about 1 and went back in about 2 and the con was due to close at 3, so that made sense.

So our final hour was largely spent doing what we'd done already. And playing a little bit of Pokemon Go.

I look forward to next year.

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QuadCon Peoria November 2023

Honestly, this is one that we weren't planning to attend. We sort of forgot it was going on both days at the mall. We were there to meet some friends at the Smo-King Pit for lunch on the Sunday of QuadCon. Once we remembered the con was going on, however, we wandered around and did some shopping. And that's really about all there is to do at the mall QuadCons. I believe the geek store in the mall may have had a Pokemon tournament going, but I couldn't say for sure. And there were very few cosplayers, since the cosplay contest would have been on Saturday.

We did end up with some nice merch and I do like that the vendors are spread throughout the mall and that QuadCon will rent out empty store spaces for the weekend. But I also feel some vendors probably don't get much traffic, depending on where they are assigned - especially anyone who was stuck down by the old Sears location, since Sears hasn't relinquished the lease on that space for anyone else to move in (as I understand it, anyway).

Oh, and yes, there was Pokemon Go. I actually have been playing less of it since my pregnancy, but I definitely still make sure to have it out if we're with friends and doing some event. Because there's likely to be plenty of people, which means more Pokemon spawning. And the mall has some Gyms/Pokestops.

It was a nice way to kill an afternoon. I really don't have as much in paying to attend QuadCon anymore, but it's fine when I can attend for free at the mall.

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Anime Magic 2023: Sunday

So I never got around to writing up Sunday. Pregnancy has a way of making you forget things, and then being a new parent...anyway, it's been actual months. But let's see what I can remember, shall we?

Sunday started with breakfast, packing, and cleaning the room. Spoiler: we did not win. We did a walk around the gaming and exhibit areas again, for those last-minute cosplay photos, seeing if any of the machines had Magical Drop (I can't remember), and of course, last-minute impulse buys. Then it was time to find the panel room that held all of our Sunday panels - the Special Guest Room. Which just felt sort of tucked out-of-the-way in a hallway not far from the Main Events stage, but not super populated or trafficked.

Our first panel of the day was "That Doesn't Work How You Think It Does: Cosplay Supply (Mis)use with Pros & Cons Cosplay"

I remember being very entertained during this panel and finding it highly informative. But since I'm doing this Sunday August 2023 writeup in May of 2024, I can't add more than that. Really, I'm doing this in part to ward off the "missing ACen" blues, as unless there's a last-minute lottery win or something, we won't be attending even a single day of ACen 2024. Being a parent is a big responsibility and has been an incredible joy, but it also means tightening the belt a bit and so it may be some time before @lechevaliermalfet and I do big cons again. We're probably sticking closer to home with the smaller stuff for at least the next 6 months, likely longer.

We followed up this panel with Oriana's Sailor Moon panel. In which Sailor Moon was lovingly roasted. And I do mean lovingly - none of this was done from spite. It was just fans acknowledging the quirks of their chosen thing.

I'm pretty sure there were some technical difficulties during all the panels in this room, whether they were screen issues, mic issues, or whatever. But I could be just inserting that into my memory because of the fact Anime Magic has been known to have tech issues. I'm too lazy to try to search my posts in the ACen discord to verify (the AM one didn't exist yet during the 2023 con, so lots of us were posting about it in the ACen "Other Events" channel in their discord).

And finally, we wrapped with Cosplay Horror Stories, again with Pros & Cons Cosplay.

I do remember sharing the story of accidentally ruining @shbumi ' s cosplay during our first ACen in this panel. I also don't remember if it was this panel or their first panel on Sunday in which my experience as a Security guard came to play, because I can't remember the story that prompted me to share the knowledge that using spray paint indoors can set off a building's fire alarms. But yes, folks, that can happen. Not totally ready to say goodbye as yet - and I'm going to guess because I knew that this was probably going to be my last big con for a while - it seems we wandered a bit more, as I have photos of that empty Sunday feel. It really is a lonesome feeling as a con empties out, especially in this space, when I've seen it so packed before, for so many other cons.

But there is my far too overdue post to wrap up Anime Magic 2023.

All Anime Magic 2023 coverage

Anime Magic 2023 cosplay

Anime Magic 2023: Friday

Anime Magic 2023: Saturday

Anime Magic 2023: Sunday (current post)

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have you ever shipped something so hard that you become irrationally happy and make a sound akin to steam escaping from a kettle everytime they so much as stand next to eachother

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Anime Magic 2023: Saturday

Saturday morning kicked off with breakfast in @shbumi's room, then she and I did some PoGo in the area.

At about 1040, we headed toward the hotel ballroom to join the line for Drag Show.

It seemed odd to be going to a drag event in the morning, but apparently Oriana requested it when scheduling. There were some technical hiccups and delays, so the show proper (which was scheduled at 1100) didn't start until approximately 1115.

And what a show it was! As always, a kickass event. I apologize for any blurriness to the photos, but it definitely was a great time.

After the drag show, we stuck around for an Iaido demonstration and discussion. @lechevaliermalfet got to go onstage for some hands-on work while @shbumi and I remained in the audience, listening as the presenter explained what the groups on stage were doing.

After Iaido, it was time for some lunch. And then for shopping!

We made sure to make a pit stop at @artbyquinton's booth. It's always great to see what new stuff he's rolling out and it's also a good chance to catch up if we haven't seen him for awhile.

After his booth, we checked out the other offerings on display from various artists and dealers.

It may seem a strange thing to say, but in some ways, the artist alley and dealer hall feel too big for a con the size of Anime Magic. Like, I love having so many booths to visit. But I also don't budget for AM the same way I would for say, ACen or Otakon, in terms of money for the exhibit hall. I budget less, since the event is smaller. So then I feel bad when I see the amount of cool stuff on hand. There were plenty of artists where I ended up grabbing business cards to hopefully support them at a later time.

After shopping, it was getting on late afternoon and it was finally time for another panel: The Best of Steampunk Anime.

This was a cool panel, and it was presented by a member of the Chicago Steampunk Exposition team. So you know he knew his stuff. First, we were given a short background on steampunk, then divided into small groups to brainstorm anime we thought *might* be on the list that our presenter intended to talk about. Each group offered up a title, and we ranked what was offered.

And then, we began to review this list by CBR. For each title offered, we had some discussion as to why CBR included it...and why our presenter would or wouldn't include it in his own list.

I think I had more fun and learned more in this panel than I have in almost every other steampunk-themed panel I've attended.

After the panel, we ordered dinner from Giordano's, but knew we would have an hour to kill before it arrived. So @lechevaliermalfet and I checked out the itasha car show while @shbumi chilled in her room.

I loved wandering the cars and looking at the different wrap jobs, even if I didn't always know the show being represented.

I also tried not to pay too much attention to Tattoo Alley, which was right next door. See, I had considered getting a tattoo during AM 2022 but decided against it. And this year, I had planned to get one if the tattoo artist returned - but you aren't supposed to get a tattoo during pregnancy. So I just looked at the increased number of options and hey, we'll see. Maybe if we attend AM 2024, I'll get one. Next year's con schedule is a bit up in the air, since we'll have an infant to consider.

We grabbed some drinks and extra snacks from the Hello Tokyo booth (and got some pocky balloons) and then headed back to the hotel for dinner.

After dinner, we went down to the Anime Singalong Dance Party with Kohei. It was scheduled for 2100, but technical issues meant that it ran late. As on Friday, it was great to just sing and dance along to anime OPs with a bunch of other nerds.

Kohei didn't get to put on as long of a show as Friday night due to the tech issues, as there was a concert scheduled immediately after him.

Crunk Witch are a married couple who go for an electro-pop sound. They did some kickass 80s covers during their show. Annnd they also hit tech issues. Really, this seems to be a recurring thing for AM.

Oh! and on a random note, I got a free glow bracelet from the Atlas cosplayer, who was hanging out just outside of the concert.

I don't expect free stuff from cosplayers, for obvious reasons, so it was cool to get something.

I also grabbed a Crunk Witch CD after the concert. There was a dance scheduled for after Crunk Witch, but for us, it was time to call it a night. We were wiped.

All Anime Magic 2023 coverage

Anime Magic 2023 cosplay

Anime Magic 2023: Friday

Anime Magic 2023: Saturday (current post)

Anime Magic 2023: Sunday

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this is a deeply unpopular opinion but i think in general we need to start holding conventions to higher standards wrt how they treat their indie artists. like when i went to momocon they set up mine and several other tables literally on top of each other and i had to chase down the staff to get us the spaces we paid several hundred dollars for. That sucked! but what REALLY got me is when i mentioned this was unacceptable the other artists involved nobody wanted to "make waves," one even told me i'd better not apply to heroescon because they'd laugh in my face for complaining. that was my first Big show, where i knew other artists even, and that response was so fucking weird i've never forgotten it lmao. then across a bunch of smaller shows:

-someone set off a fire alarm! there was no emergency exit plan in place, the staff disappeared and everyone in the artist alley just sort of had to Figure It Out

-some vendors being trapped in industrial loading zones for nearly /seven hours/ because the load-in info was incorrect and the people directing traffic were city police, who had no idea what the event even was

-me and several other vendors being locked OUT of loading zones and instructed to carry entire tables around the block, in the rain, because venue security "didn't like the look of us" and didn't want us bothering people attending a different event in the same building

-paying for a table, booking a room and traveling three hours and showing up to be told they had no record of me applying; if i didn't compulsively save all my convention correspondence i wouldn't have been allowed in

-"this 2020 season we'll be running our show As Usual but we understand if you want to back out because of personal reasons; we are unable to provide refunds"

also the usual stuff like lack of air conditioning or heat, shoving small artist tables right next to industry behemoths or resellers, or carbon monoxide poisoning caused by poor planning, lmao

anyway it's taboo to call out this shit because people are afraid of being blacklisted but god are we really SO scared of this industry we'll pay hundreds of dollars to get treated like this, do we need the tiny table shoved as far away from the main entrance as possible that badly? if a show blacklists you for asking for THE THING YOU PAID FOR is it really worth walking on eggshells?? we've GOT to respect ourselves more jfc

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Anime Magic 2023: Friday

I'll be honest. I don't have a good reason for why I didn't feel like writing up this weekend. I mean, Anime Magic was in August and it's now early November. Normally, I'm more on top of this stuff, so that I don't forget details. And I had fun at Magic...IDK. Can I blame pregnancy brain? Let's blame pregnancy brain.

Since we had to wait until @lechevaliermalfet got off of work, we didn't do a whole lot at Magic on Friday night. We didn't have to wait in the registration line this year, since we were able to get our badges in the mail. That was a small timesaver, which was great, since we arrived just in time to get settled into our hotel room, meet with @shbumi, and then go downstairs for Oriana's Drag Race. It was supposed to start at 1800, but didn't really get underway until about 15-30 minutes later.

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, mind you - I bumped into someone I knew from the ACen Discord in the lineup outside of the Drag Race area when waiting for the doors to open. So I got to know him a little better. As always, once the show began, Drag Race was a ton of fun, with great performances, lots of courage and creativity from the contestants, and laughter. Onc

Honestly, Drag Show is where most of my Friday night photos came from. In a new twist this year, Oriana granted the winner of Drag Race two performances in the Drag Show on Saturday, and also gave the runner-up a performance in the Drag Show. After Drag Race, it was time for a late dinner at Sugar Factory. I think this might become a new thing for trips to Rosemont. Guess we'll see...

I decided to try something that wasn't a shake this time (though they had a deeply tempting Barbie shake). I couldn't even finish half of it - as always, very good, very rich food.

After dinner, back to the con for a little bit of exploring. We stopped at the manga library for a few minutes.

@lechevaliermalfet and I then said goodnight to @shbumi, who headed back to her room while we stopped in at the Kohei performance.

I think we caught the tiniest bit of Kohei performing at a previous Anime Magic, but this time we were there for pretty much the whole sing along. And there is something nice about sing-shouting your favorite anime tunes with a bunch of other fans that's energizing.

@lechevaliermalfet then called it a night, while I decided to stick it out for the beginning of the Midnight Dance Extravaganza.

There had actually been some technical issues during both Drag Race and Kohei's events and I'm sad to say that continued during the Friday dance. Props to the crowd for not getting super upset and finding ways to still have a good time, but it does sorta suck that AM keeps having these issue every year.

I didn't stay too long into the dance before cutting out to get some shuteye of my own. On the way back to the room, I saw these signs:

Definitely wonder what happened to bring those about! I couldn't tell you if they actually managed to enforce those rules during the weekend - I didn't pay enough attention.

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