Anime USA 2016 – page 4
(Historical Notes: This is another place where I’m curious what Past Me said about the comic, though not for the usual reasons. Actually, I think the comic is exaggerating just how out of it I actually was that night. Obviously, people told me about all the interactions I missed out on after the fact, and that’s where the narrative here comes from. However, I vaguely recall totally hearing people come in and deliberately deciding to just fake being asleep because I didn’t want to deal with other people, and feeling kind of bad about it later. At least, I THINK I remember that. I actually have a history of my brain hearing things while I’m asleep and incorporating it into my dreams, so I actually MIGHT have really been asleep at the time and just can’t properly remember it now. Then again, if my subconscious mind still said “Ehh, screw it, I’m not getting up” all on its own, that says a lot.)
Honestly I have to admit I let things get a bit out of hand that year with the room and I feel bad about that. My own life was in a very weird place at the moment and sadly would only stay there for the next two years mostly. Lot of thoughts and feelings around AUSA2016 are coming back to me as I look over the comics. I feel like a lot of that year was just trying to make due of something I’d gotten a bit too accustomed to as being a “routine” and i’m not sure even I was fully enjoying it by that point.
I think even if AUSA 2017 hadn’t been in mid-December, making it impossible to be able to attend with my terrible job I had at the time, I probably would have still sat it out regardless. There was a lot I did enjoy about that con, but I realize so much more of it was just, “well, it’s a con I guess.” and that’s probably the time to realize when you should probably move on from it.
I think it also doesn’t help that the demographics/focus of most cons was well and truly changing by this point anyway, leaving crusty old farts like us on the sidelines a lot of the time.