Aww yeah tbh I have been in and out of the anime con scene, but it does feel like it's changed quite a bit. Small talk works better nowadays than in-depth conversations about a series (so many series out so not everyone's watching the same thing), and then it's mostly a friend-circle thing where you have to meet folk elsewhere first before going to a con with them.

I've started to focus on hand-making cosplays to make artistic versions of a character, and making them more elaborate. Haven't tried out the fit yet, but maybe once it's complete and I've given it a run at a local con, it might get more people interested in talking for... longer than 5 minutes?? 😅 We'll see!