A Fujoshi Attends A Yaoi Convention
(NOTE: Citrus Con is an 18+ Event. This post is for 18+ Only! 🔞)
What is Citrus Con?
On the weekend of August 23, 2024, fujin, a gender-neutral term for Boys' Love enjoyers, converged online at Citrus Con. Citrus Con is an online-only adult convention dedicated to Boys' Love and queer media where old and new fans can mingle in a safe space. Admission has been free since the first con ran in 2023. In 2023, the con ran for two days, just Saturday and Sunday. In 2024, the con ran for three days: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. All on eastern time with programming running well into the night and early morning.
In regards to the con's moniker, older fans will recognize the name as a nod to the citrus scale "spice" rating system, and true to its name, Citrus Con has a rating scale for its programming. The scale is below:
ORANGE - pretty mild content, zero overly sexual themes.
LIME - explicit, but no below the belt nudity & no sexual acts visible on screen.
LEMON - explicit content containing below the belt nudity &/or sexual acts visible on screen.
GRAPEFRUIT - EXTREMELY explicit material. Examples: Monsterfuckers, Dead Dove, Gore, etc.
Citrus Con is truly a con for all fujin, and Citrus Con 2024 was the con's second year. The theme was food. (First year's theme was upscale bar.) Programming included watch parties, games, industry panels, fan panels, academic panels, group meetups, shopping sprees (courtesy of a virtual artist alley), and cosplay contests. General topics included BL/queer video games and their creation, BL/queer representation in media and fandom, BL/queer media recommendations, writing and creation, and community. Specific topics and panels included representation in the ADR industry, marriage in BL, omegaverse, boys love media in Thailand, black witches in media, and analyzing BL scanlation using MangaUpdates. There were over 40 panels. The entire con was powered virtually via Discord, Zoom, and Twitch.
Citrus Con is run by a group of passionate fujin, and for 2025, they hope to be a thriving non-profit. Citrus Con 2025 will be summer festival themed, and it will run the weekend of June 20. Tickets are live now. General admission is still free. However, there are special tickets for pre-con events on Thursday if you pay a small fee. More details about the con can be found via the website here (NSFW).
Panels from past cons have been recorded and uploaded to YouTube. As of this post, you can view the panels from Citrus Con 2023 and Citrus Con 2024. From Citrus Con 2023, I highly recommend watching Sam Aburime's panel on antis, anti-shippers, and anti-fujoshi, Dr. James Welker's panel on BL studies, and this panel on a quantitative study conducted about Brazilian fans titled Who is the Brazilian Fujoshi? I attended these panels last year, learned a lot, and had a great time. Some panels from Citrus Con 2024 have been uploaded, and I recommend watching Black Girl Magic: A Discussion of Black Witches in Media. With that said, time to decompress.
My Citrus Con 2024 Experience
First off, I had fun.
I know. I know.
Virtual cons pale in comparison to in person cons, but there are lots of pros like saving money and time on travel, lodge, food, and con tickets or not worrying about getting sick. I do miss running around in-person cons and seeing all the cosplay and just being there soaking up the energy like a vampire or something, but I still won't be attending in-person cons anytime soon. So, I just have to make do.
At any rate, I had fun.
I attended several panels over the August 23 weekend. I didn't do any watch parties or games this year. I mostly stuck to the talk and discussion panels. A lot of the programming, games included, was done via Discord this year. Discord also had all of the chats, artist alley, meet ups, goodie bags, and other con stuff. Most of the industry panels, guest panels, and academic panels were held on Zoom. Few panels were held on Twitch, and considering that last year's closing ceremony got booted off Twitch midstream, gotta say that it's for the best. As far as other con stuff goes, I didn't do the stamp rally as I made the rounds in artist alley this year. I also didn't play with the badges. I don't need them. However, I enjoyed seeing everyone else's creations in the chat.
So, the panels. Overall, the panels were solid. There were a few tech issues here and there but nothing catastrophics. Also, none of the panels I planned to go to were canceled either. (Point one goes to virtual cons.) My favorite panels included Paint and Sip with Yaoi Bob Ross, Desert of Ash, BL:Taboo Culturally Relevant, & Hot!, Dicking Around with Dead Dove, and the Ascendent Animation panel.
Paint & Sip with Yaoi Bob Ross
Paint and Sip with Yaoi Bob Ross (rated lemon) went exactly as it sounds. Inspired by the PBS show The Joy of Painting, the panel host Genesis plays the titular Bob Ross. As you may recall, Bob Ross, the host of Joy of Painting, was a soft-spoken and chill host who instructed viewers on how to paint. He mostly painted natural and pastoral scenes filled with "happy trees." Much like the real Bob Ross, the Yaoi Bob Ross led us through an hour and a half of painting. While Yaoi Bob Ross free hand painted on camera, con goers followed along or colored the handout. Yaoi Bob Ross painted a pastoral scene using watercolors* complete with a "happy tree" bearing ripe dicks. It was a chill panel, just vibes. I just watched them paint while sipping coke. *(I think it was watercolors? If not, then it was acrylic. Definitely not oil like real Bob Ross.)
Desert of Ash
Desert of Ash: a post-apocalyptic gay simulator (rated lemon) was a panel about the original indie visual novel game of the same name hosted by David G. See. David is the writer and programmer of the game. As of this post, the game is still under development. However, a playable demo is available via Itchio, and we went through one of the demo's routes. (There was a fork in the road, and we went left.) Described as a "hookup simulator" and inspired by climate change, the game follows a nameless character (you name them) as they survive and wander around in the desert wasteland.
In the panel, we named the character "Shane." So, Shane is a fuck boy, and we see him get with a variety of partners like nerdy Lucas, majestic Haru, and big burly Abbott. The sex acts were different with each character but very vanilla. Images were static but did show the goods, lol. According to David, the rest of the game is vanilla with no kinks or squicks. So far, the game is fun and inclusive. The game is diverse in skin tones, body types, sexualities, and genders. (The game is written in a way that "Shane" could be nonbinary.) This panel was my favorite, and I look forward to playing the full game. You can play the demo and learn more about the game via David's Itchio page here (NSFW).
Grapefruit panels
BL: Taboo, Culturally Relevant, & Hot! (rated grapefruit) was a chill late-night discussion panel hosted by Alex/AMF and Peachie. No powerpoint or outline. They were just talking about anything BL-related, from manga to webcomics to antis. The chat was active too. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday night. XD I just wish the panel was scheduled to end before the other grapefruit panel Dicking Around With Dead Dove.
Dicking Around with Dead Dove was a structured general queer recommendations panel. Not everything was straight-up BL as the panelists recommended manga, anime, and games like Merman in My Bathtub, Obey Me!, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and the Persona franchise. The panel was scheduled for an hour and a half. I only got to attend the last hour.
Get to know Ascendent Animation
Get to Know Ascendent Animation (rated lime) was an industry panel hosted by four representatives of the company. Overall, the panel was standard fare. An overview of the company and its achievements along with a discography and a sneak peek into what's coming next. However, two things made this panel special. The first thing is the people delivering the message. They seemed like a genuinely fun group of people similar to the Diskotek crew when they do their infamous Diskotek Day events. I just love the crew's energy. It was fun hanging with them for the hour.
The second thing that made this panel special were the upcoming licenses and projects. I'm interested in the show Seduced by My Best Friend. The show will be released as an uncensored blu-ray but without a dub. Unfortunately, the dub was ruined. On a happier note, Ascendent Animation will continue dubbing smut josei and slapping them on blu-rays with its next two projects Offering My Virginity to a Gangster and XL Boss. I'm here for it. I'm also here for the BL fare, but Ascendent Animation didn't have any new BL dub projects yet. They promise to keep us updated when they do.
Ascendent Animation's projects can be found via the website, Amazon, Prime Video, and Crunchyroll's store.
Conclusion
Citrus Con 2024 was fun. I have reserved my ticket for 2025 so I will be there, and if I feel inspired, maybe I'll submit a panel. As of right now, I am just happy being a con goer, and I hope to see you there too!
Citrus Con 2025 will be held on June 20-22. Tickets are available now and will be available leading up to the event. You can learn more via the website https://www.citruscon.com/ and follow Citrus Con across social media for updates.
(Con artwork and logo by FrostyShark.)
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