Moonlight Masquerade Ball by Li Li
The Moonlight Masquerade Ball was a lovely event held by AAC on Friday night. Even when I was waiting in line for the event to begin, it was lovely seeing all of the people attending the ball in gorgeous gowns, spiffy suits, and fancy masks. I was impressed by the variety of formal cosplays; there were many cosplayers who created and coordinated unique formal outfits for their characters. Once the doors to the ball opened up, I was delighted to see the classy space. It was simply decorated, but the simplicity was part of the beauty. There was dim lighting; most of the ball was shrouded in semi-darkness with an exciting mysterious air. There were cute fake candles and flashy globes of multi-colored lights (and by pressing a button, the colors could change to various colors, or play through all of the colors automatically). I was not the only one amused by this seemingly magical light! There was also a professional photographer who had a space set up for classy photos. The DJ at the ball played a variety of geeky music, and I heard songs from anime OSTs to songs from Disney movies. There was even a mask contest for the best handmade mask at this ball!

Swap Meet by Jared
One event that seems to be catching on at more conventions is the Swap Meet. Featuring several tables made up of things that other attendees want to sell to clear their collection or to finance their next convention adventure. While the room was not very big there was a good selection of manga, DVDs, figures, and tchotchkes. While we did not pick up anything there, we did find a few tempting deals and it looked like the tables were doing some good business.

Ponies After Dark by Staff
No matter what panel NerdFit is running, it exceeds all expectations. Ponies After Dark focused on My Little Pony adult fan art. If it exists, there must be porn of it, so says the rules of the Internet. The highlight of this panel was seeing people leave and NerdFit counting down how many people were fleeing the panel. By the end of the night, we had 18 people leave the pony porn panel. While the panelists were poking fun at ponies poking (and a Pokey cosplayer crashing the panel), we also had people read through some poorly written My Little Pony smutfic. The key was to keep a straight face as possible while reading through the down trotten clopper fest.

Detention Hall by Jared
It is always nice to see a nerdy 21+ lounge at a convention and the lounge at Another Anime Convention was setup to match the school theme of the convention. When people entered they were given a slip of paper to write why they are in detention. Our staff came up with some joke reasons and even got to hear them read one of ours. They also had some trivia and few silly games like madlibs. The bartender was pretty cool and had mixes for mixed drinks and bottled beers were decently priced. Finally, the music was mostly a throwback to 80s and 90s, which led to several sing-a-longs amongst the people in the lounge. This is easily one of the best 21+ convention lounges we have ever hit over the years.

Late Night Waffle Off by Scarlet
Having missed last year’s waffle off, I decided to check out this Another Anime Con staple. This was one of your late night panels that focused on mindless fun. This panel was very interactive as there were physical challenges and waffle trivia. Physical challenges had people carve decorations on waffles to finishing a waffle while twirling on a hula hoop. I really did not know what to expect – I was under the impression this would be a generic waffle eating contest. However, it was really fun seeing people do silly things for free late night breakfast food. Veterans of the late night waffle off had a free sample of whipped cream to the mouth.

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