#ACen2023

[allshewhispers]

Somehow ended up on THE Twitter of all Twitters with two other Wolfwoods. What a time to be alive. If you know, you know 👀 (I'm on the right) lol

[aerialsquid]

The most wholesome-yet-cursed thing I found at ACEN.

[thefishhasanswers]

Met Robbie Daymond and Ray chase at acen this year! I missed them at astl my very first con and I've been kicking myself about it since - its been near 5 years. Very sad I missed the l.a.v.a panel but they were both so kind and just so fun to meet! I got promptos gun signed!

With a matching

"You with me?"

And

"Ever at your side"

That was their idea and Anyways I almost cried it was great.

[pieroscit]

Part 3 of ACEN 2023! Let me know if you can figure out which one I am! Let me know if any of these are you so I can tag you!

Hooty - @nintendostar64

[polyamzeal]

“Polyamory In Anime” panel at ACen 2023

Over the weekend at my favorite anime convention, Anime Central (ACen), I attended a panel called, “Polyamory In Anime” by @hiriajuu-suffering​ . So I wanted to give them a signal boost and talk about my experience at the panel.

Anyone that knows my backstory will know that I was actually introduced to polyamory during a panel at an anime convention, Geek Kon 2015. “Non-monogamy in Pop Culture” is a panel that changed my life. So I toyed with the idea of doing a polyamory panel at an anime con as well. But I was skeptical about how much that would pull people in. Even though that panel at that small con was really full. I think I just figured that the world was very different in 2015 compared to now. So I ran a panel twice in the past year that has a section talking about non-monogamy in anime but focuses more on sexual orientations and gender identities portrayed. And in it I pretty much just assume by this day and age that all weebs know what polyamory is unlike me in 2015.

Hiriiajuu-suffering made a very different assumption about the anime community and I think he made the right call! He focused a lot more on the basics of polyamory and especially defining various different terms. Maybe I just have a good brain for memorizing vocabulary words because I never found polyam terms confusing but it is quite a meme that they are overwhelming. And from what I could tell, the audience was very interested in this and eager to learn. I realized that the mistaken assumption I made is that while yes a lot more people in 2023 have heard of polyamory than in 2015, most people are still newbies that just starting off and learning! I have been in my own bubble of non-monogamous weebs for so long that I kind of forgotten that most people have only heard lots of these terms in passing.

To back up these terms and different styles of polyamory, several anime titles were listed off and briefly talked about. Unsurprisingly there are a lot more negative examples of non-monogamy in anime than positive examples. But I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing since we touch upon where some of these shows went wrong and how they could have fixed themselves into more positive polyamory.

And then the shows that do show positive polyamory (which for me are Girlfriend Girlfriend and My Next Life As A Villainess) felt like so much of a triumph. I really enjoyed when we got to cite these examples. 

There were a ton of shows listed that i had heard of but never really thought of through a polyamous lens (check out my series) so that gave me ideas for future anime reviews on this blog. I never thought the list would be so long. 

If I had one gripe it would be that some of the definitions of those pesky terms and labels I personally disagreed with. So I guess I do see why people say they are so confusing after all. But they were explained well enough that I got the point being conveyed.

I think the more important part was the concepts and ideals. There was a lot of “why someone might want to be polyamorous” weaved throughout the whole panel and I think it was so good that even fully monogamous people could learn a lot of lesions from those ideals. It was really beautiful!

I wish there was more time at the end for discussion. I had a lot to say but I mostly tried to patiently wait until the end as I didn’t want to constantly be interrupting during it. And then even at the end I wanted to make sure that other people got their input in first since again I didn’t want to steal the show and already felt like I did say a decent amount during it. I was in the front row with part of my polycule so that alone felt like I was contributing to the visibility of polyamory people. Although I honestly wish my entire polycule could be at a polyamory panel at an anime convention together. New goals!

I had decided a few weeks ago that I want to take a break from running panels at all cons but this one really inspired me and got me thinking that maybe I would run a polyamory panel at a small Midwestern anime con and stay away from running at the big ones for a little bit. I don’t know, we’ll see. I am really happy that Hiriiajuu-suffering did this panel and put so much hard work into it. The community, both anime and polyamory, really need content like this.

[kirakuweeen]

Nanamo from Final Fantasy XIV at ACEN 2023

[mastafran]

Final round of cosplay at Anime Central for the year!

[femmefaeryboi]

hey y’all!!

i’ll be at anime central all weekend!!

if you see me, feel free to say hi!! 🥰🥰

friday: taako - the adventure zone

saturday: dian/original character - twisted wonderland

sunday: ponyo - ponyo

[itskam-chill]

bark for me

[parentsatcons]

Holly with Olive and Rory

2nd time at Acen

Likes to watch: Ghibli, MHA, AOT, Demon Slayer

Likes the cosplays and all the people

Cosplay: Dabi from MHA, Mushroom Witch, and Con Mom

[chicagoconartists]

2023 baybeeee

[aerialsquid]

This week is being real rough so here's some photos of my mostly Urianger cosplay from ACEN. I say mostly because bits ketp falling off the skirt at certain intervals and I really need to rework the way the jewelry hangs...ah well...

Also if anyone got photos at the Saturday Final Fantasy meetup please let me know, we had so many good outfits!!

[raedazineofficial]

🎻Wild Witch Hunt! 🎻

Greetings Hags! Our very own Mod Cider is representing as Raine today at Acen ! Come say hi to us at The Owl House Meet Up at 6PM CST! We'd love to get a photo with y'all! 🎻❤️🦉 #acen2023

[pieroscit]

ACEN 2023 baby! I had an amazing time as always and I wanted to share all the cool cosplays I found! Let me know if you are any of these so I can properly tag you!

[mastafran]

Dawn of the Final Day at Anime Central!

Once more you can find me at Table G38! Where you can buy my comic, prints, commissions and one of the LAST FOUR Pastry Cat Playmats!

That's right, there's FOUR TABLE MATS LEFT! Once they're gone, it'll be a while before I make another batch of mats, so meet me at ACEN to get yours today!

[pieroscit]

Last one for now! Here was the hilariously terrible Bambi and other evil hunters cosplay and Mickey Mouse being super disappointed in them both. I laughed so hard when they came out.