Hello everyone!
Maybe some of us were hopeful and thought that covid would only plague 2020 and then just disappear. It didn't disappear. It has mutated and now we're dealing with the Decepticon Omicron variant but if there's anything noteworthy about the year 2021 it's that some few physical anime conventions were actually safely arranged. And this was such an invigorating breath of fresh air!
You see, having been completely con deprived for over two years gave me plenty of time to think about this whole hobby and how my feelings towards it has subtly changed over the years. During the pandemic I came to realize that I missed going to cons a lot
more than I thought I would; I had been hovering near a "con burnout"
for quite some time already (which materialized in many ways, for
example that I would more easily opt out of cosplaying and just go
casual) so this forced break gave me ample time to process my thoughts
and feelings. I realized that I don't attend cons as much as an outlet
for cosplaying as I used to do, but more so for the atmosphere and the
feeling of community and belonging. My interests have shifted somewhat
to favoring a private photoshoot at homegrounds over wearing a costume
to a convention to bond with potential fans. It also became even more
clear to me that I feel more comfortable at smaller cons as opposed to
bigger cons and that's just a result from observation over the years
combined with a more keen understanding on how my own body responds to
my surroundings. I've become a lot more self-aware of my needs and limitations, to put it in another way.
And just when this year was coming to a close a tiny miracle happened. Me and my friends found out that Kummacon was being held in November and so we ended up going. This means that I've increased my con attendance 100% from last year lol.
Cons attended in 2021:
Kummacon - Oulu, Finland
And because Kummacon was the only con I visited this year it also means that it was the best con lol. I do genuinely enjoy Kummacon though and I hope it stays for many more years, especially now that it kinda seems like both Kitacon and Skecon are in their respective graves? The north needs more cons, not less!
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I didn't cosplay this year either (I was close though!) so there's no cosplay compilation photo. So here's a dumb meme instead cuz no one reads a text without photos lolol.
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2021 has been an improvement from 2020 and, while much didn't happen on the cosplay front, I've done some big leaps in other fields. I've got a new job at a charity secondhand and last autumn I was a deckhand onboard Ostindiefararen Götheborg (an 18th century "East Indiaman" replica ship) when she sailed from Stockholm to Gothenburg and I had an absolutely magical experience! Now I know a good photoshoot location for my upcoming Edward Kenway cosplay eiku...
Overall 2021 has been a pretty good year (the rescue of tall ship Falls of Clyde is finally coming along too, after struggling against the odds for years!) and I have a rekindled inspiration to work on cosplays again now that it looks likely that Närcon might happen next summer!
And before we leave this year behind (it's gone too fast I tell ya) I want to thank all my readers, lurkers, sponsors and friends who are still here – I hope y'all have a pleasant new year lined up for you.
Oh and yeah, I still have a backlog of circle lens reviews to chew through so expect those to fill a big chunk of next year's blog content as well, although hopefully there will be more variation with some actual cosplay WIP posts thrown into the mix. :)
Bye bye & Happy New Year 2022!
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