2018-May-20, Sunday

ACEN 2018

2018-May-20, Sunday 13:24
dorchadas: (Enter the Samurai)
This is the first con I've ever gone to alone.

I mean, I'm not really alone. I was considering not going at all, but ACEN is the one time a year that I see a big chunk of my friends. Skipping it would mean not seeing them, and I think that's a pretty high price to pay. So I stuck with it, didn't cancel the hotel room, packed everything up, wrote down all the events I wanted to see, took the day off, and otherwise made all the preparations.

ExpandFriday )

ExpandSaturday )

ExpandSunday )

So ends ACEN 2018.

I just realized that this is the tenth ACEN I've been to. 05, 06, 07, 08, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, and this year. From 2009 to 2011 I was in Japan, and in 2013 we didn't have the money. Those gaps are why I didn't realize it previously.

People kept asking me if I had a good time, and I really did. It was enough to convince me that whatever, happens, I should come back next year. ACEN is the one time a year that I see some of my friends, which has value that's definitely worth more than the cost of going. And even if I don't watch that much anime anymore and have no idea what series most of the people cosplaying were from, there's still plenty for me to see and do. I was telling [personal profile] klenkers that there are whole sections of the con I don't go to, and that I could spend the weekend in the board games and tabletop section and have a fantastic time. I haven't gone to a con masquerade in a decade now, or to any of the dances in almost as long.

And I'm glad I could get the full con experience of staying up late and waking up early. Even at 35, I haven't lost my edge when it counts!

See you next year, ACEN.