Otakon: The hell was IN that coffee?
My Otakon weekend was full of lulz and fun and love and joy and I made SO MANY new friends. :>
THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY
Okay, let me start on a negative note. Beeks' costume did not get finished. A ton of things went wrong and I had a teeny tiny meltdown before attempting to soldier on. Eventually, I decided "fuck you, I'm going to Otakon" was the best attitude to take, packed up everything I'd need to finish the costume on the road or in the hotel and crashed at around 4 AM. Woke up at 7 AM, had the last mouthful or cold coffee from the pot, poked at the unfinished jacket just a little more, and then Chuckles came to pick me up in his tiny-ass car.
We went and chilled at Beeks' for a bit and waited for everyone else, and the guys all got to talking about their D&D-knockoff game called 'The Depths.' They talked about this for almost two fucking hours. I ended up throwing something and reminding them that we had gathered to go to FUCKING OTAKON and not talk about their game. Normally, I am all for roleplaying strategy games, but I was running on very little coffee and even less sleep. We ended up leaving about 40 minutes late.
Chuckles' tiny ass car seats four people comfortably. Not four people and all their shit, though. So we were cramped and uncomfortable in the Eggmobile, later renamed the "Aperture Science Vehicular Transport Pod," with a GPS that we were pretty sure was trying to kill us. We named her GlaDOS. We started the trip by playing "Sorairo Days," and everything got kind of epic from there. We made jokes about cocaine, which would become a running joke over the weekend.
A few hours and a couple near-death experiences later, we were hunting for parking in the city. After that lengthy trial, we hauled our shit up to the hotel, met with a few more members of our group, and settled into our rooms. I wish I'd taken a picture of the room, that place was amaze. Stuff successfully stashed, we left to eat at California Tortilla and get registered. I had had some travel funk I wanted to shower off, plus the smell of the three sweaty dudes I was stuck in a car with, but we needed to get a move on. Registration went mercifully fast, and then we wandered. Actually, a more accurate term would be "we got horribly lost and kind of scared." I was with one of my roommates, Michi, and we soon realized that neither of us has a good sense of direction. After getting the lay of the place, Michi left to go pick up Beeks' girlfriend and I ended up with Chuckles and Seth in artist's alley.
Seth is fucking annoying--he talks more than I do and babbles endlessly about his webcomic characters to anyone that stands still long enough--but he let me use his camera to take pictures of cosplayers because I forgot mine. Actually, it's more like he was too much of a chicken shit to ask cosplayers for pictures, so he left it to me. He was commissioning a bunch of pins of his original characters (I pity that artist so much. SO MUCH.), so I took his camera and dicked off to take pictures. At this time, I decided to buy some coffee to perk me up.
Holy fuck, convention center coffee.
That shit is laced with COCAAAAAAAAAAINE.
Coffee does not give me the shakes anymore. Rather, it actually helps steady my already shaky hands. This shit, though...I don't know what was with it. It made my hands shake uncontrollably, affected my attention span, and made me zip around like a spaz. Basically, it gave me a caffeine buzz like I'd never been on before. I think that's why I ended up buying a lot of shit and doing stupid things like accidentally pouring hot coffee all over myself while trying to take a picture. Like most of my possessions, my convention badge is also stained with coffee.
Things get kind of fuzzy here, a combination of the cocaine coffee and the mind-numbing boredom that made up the wait time for Seth's commissions to get finished. I know I bought some stuff, saw a Kingdom Hearts-style Naruto, and got a text from Beeks saying that they had picked up Usa-chi, gone back to the hotel, and were coming back so we could all get something to eat for dinner. Usa-chi and I hit it off once we had all gathered outside(something mom was really worried about), and I basically attached myself to her and Michi for the rest of the convention. I think we were going to go back after that, but out bellies were full of Slurpees and Subway and we were sleepy. I finally got to take a shower, and we watched the first episode of Baccano! and contemplated our Harry Potter house assignments before crashing.
Around 1:00, we woke up to one of our roommates' "Motteke! Sailor Fuku" ringtone, had a good laugh, and decided that this embodied the true spirit of Otakon.
Then at 1:30, I felt someone poking me to scoot over and I did without question. I'm pretty sure I was teetering on the edge of the bed at some point, but eh. The bed was comfortable either way, so I slept like a log.
IMPORTANT THINGS I LEARNED ON FRIDAY:
Fat Sailor Moon eating a burrito at California Tortilla is the most horrifying sight ever.
I apparently do not care who I am sharing a bed with so long as I get some sleep.
Convention center coffee is the best thing since coffee was invented.
SATURDAY
Woke up around 6:45 feeling good, everyone was chatty and friendly and we talked about fun stuff. Then I introduced myself the girl who had slipped into bed at 1:30 AM. It was p funny, though we felt bad for waking her up after she'd been working so late in the gofer pool. Usa-chi and I raided the guys' room for food, and Usa-chi and Michi headed out. I bought my bedmate some medical tape in exchange for a $9 meal voucher and left for her gofer duties. I got tackled by almost a whole Kuroshitsuji group to Pokewalker and copped a feel on their Grell in the process. Oh yeah, that was a dude. >]
Then I used that meal voucher to get more cocaine coffee. I think that coffee made the whole experience better for me.
By the way. Pokewalkers: Fucking EVERYWHERE. Photograph the Raikou made a bunch of new friends and everybody liked him. :>
After I hooked up with Usa-chi and Michi again, we hit the dealer's room, where I met Pocky Guy. XD After that creepy/hilarious event, waited in line at the Hetalia premier. The cosplayers working that event were a lot of fun to watch. Unfortunately, that's when the fire alarm went off and we were all evacuated. The guy walking next to me on the way out started up a "CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES" and good tiems were had by all. We saw a really fucking awesome MGS4 cyborg!Raiden that we had to take a picture of, even in the rush to get the hell away from the BCC. We also spotted a Sazh that we wanted pictures of, but the area was too crowded. He later spotted Usa-chi, who was cosplaying Tewi from Tohou Project, and pictures were taken by both.
We got lost in the city, but managed to merge with our group and got back to the hotel room to chill. I was following Otakon's twitter feed, which was a little behind the actual events of what was happening. Man up, Otakon. Get with the times. Because of this, we ended up missing the rescheduled Hetalia premier. =[ We did go back to accompany Elyse to the Hetalia English cast signing, took some pictures, and Usa-chi and I abandoned our purses to sprint after a Kairi and Namine. Derp. Everything was still there when we got back, thankfully. XD
Met some nice people, talked about stuff, had good times. Went back to the hotel to watch Ragnarok the Animation (Michi and I split a grab bag) and listen to Beeks, Usa-chi, and Michi's running commentary. XD
IMPORTANT THINGS I LEARNED ON SATURDAY:
Toilet paper does not exist in artist alley. o_o
Crossplayers often look better in womens' clothing than I do.
Otakon's twitter feed sucks acorns.
I was wearing a watch, much to my surprise.
Handing out pocky is now a valid method of flirting, though the ladies you are hitting on might be wary if you look as sketchy at Pocky Guy did. XD
SUNDAY
Woke up, packed, and crammed all out shit into the Aperture Science Vehicular Transport Pod until we were ready to go out separate ways. Michi went to a Baccano! shoot as Chane and Beeks went with Usa-chi to a Tohou shoot. I got some cocaine coffee, bought a few things in the dealer's room, got some free Pokemans, then met up with Seth in artist alley (since we were supposed to stay in groups and he was the only person nearby), where he was trying to commission MORE pins. But that artist had closed her commissions since it was the last day, so he went to another booth. He was telling the artists of SGVY about his yet unborn webcomic in high detail by the time I found him, and all I could do was shoot them pitying looks. :|
Around this time, I got a text from Michi saying that the Baccano! shoot had been pushed back and she was alone in the fountain area and kinda freaked out. I punched Seth in the arm and told him that we needed to go stay with her, and I think I saw the artists in the booth breathe a little sigh of relief. He gave me a blank look and said "Do really you need me to go? I was going to ask these nice people for a commission."
Asspunk. For starters, don't waste an artist's time. If they've got a booth at a con, they're probably trying to spread their comic and make money. It's doubtful that they want to hear about someone else's characters in the in-depth way that Seth talked about his. Request a commission, pay, and be on your merry way.
Two, MEMBER OF OUR GROUP. ALONE. NERVOUS. WEIGH THIS AGAINST GETTING A COMMISSION THAT YOU COULD PROBABLY REQUEST ONLINE AT ANY TIME.
I resisted the urge to punch him again, snarled something like "FINE. Chivalry is dead. Get your commission, I'll go." and then stormed away. Seriously, what a dick move.
On the way there, I got creeped on by a Pedobear. I shouted "SORRY, I'M 19!" and he backed off. XD The guy behind me lost his shit and started cracking up laughing, and walked with me for a little bit when I asked if I was heading the right way to get to the indoor fountain area.
Found Michi, hung out with her for a bit, met her dad, and then we gathered to leave. BOOOOOOOO!!! Everyone got their stuff, hugged, piled into the appropriate cars and/or trains, and promised to meet up again soon. We are all facebook friends and we share special memories of each other and all out silly antics and adventures. <3
IMPORTANT THINGS I LEARNED ON SUNDAY:
The world is awesome.
I still look underage.
I get along amazingly well with my ex's current girlfriend.
We are doing this shit again next year FOR SURE.
To conclude, I'd like to say that almost everyone I met at Otakon was really nice, had a good sense of humor, and there was a real vibe of community from most of the people there. I generally hide my love for anime, gaming, and all things Japan under layers and layers of irony and screened t-shirts so as not to appear the stereotypical otaku. It's not that I'm ashamed, just that some people don't take kindly to it and I'd rather not have people think I'm a freak based on my interests.
At Otakon, I didn't have to pretend to be ambivalent on anime, and it was very liberating that I could express my likes and dislikes clearly. I think I made some of the best friends I'll ever meet in that group, and I'm almost wishing I went to CNU or UMW with them. :>
I'm looking to meet up with Usa-chi and Michi at Nekocon in early November, which is really close to CNU. We shall see...Otakon next year is definitely a yes, though! 8D
EDIT: Hah...Looking back, I feel like I didn't even cover HALF of what happened. If I threw in every awesome joke and amazing story, I'd have to make multiple posts, though. XD
THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY
Okay, let me start on a negative note. Beeks' costume did not get finished. A ton of things went wrong and I had a teeny tiny meltdown before attempting to soldier on. Eventually, I decided "fuck you, I'm going to Otakon" was the best attitude to take, packed up everything I'd need to finish the costume on the road or in the hotel and crashed at around 4 AM. Woke up at 7 AM, had the last mouthful or cold coffee from the pot, poked at the unfinished jacket just a little more, and then Chuckles came to pick me up in his tiny-ass car.
We went and chilled at Beeks' for a bit and waited for everyone else, and the guys all got to talking about their D&D-knockoff game called 'The Depths.' They talked about this for almost two fucking hours. I ended up throwing something and reminding them that we had gathered to go to FUCKING OTAKON and not talk about their game. Normally, I am all for roleplaying strategy games, but I was running on very little coffee and even less sleep. We ended up leaving about 40 minutes late.
Chuckles' tiny ass car seats four people comfortably. Not four people and all their shit, though. So we were cramped and uncomfortable in the Eggmobile, later renamed the "Aperture Science Vehicular Transport Pod," with a GPS that we were pretty sure was trying to kill us. We named her GlaDOS. We started the trip by playing "Sorairo Days," and everything got kind of epic from there. We made jokes about cocaine, which would become a running joke over the weekend.
A few hours and a couple near-death experiences later, we were hunting for parking in the city. After that lengthy trial, we hauled our shit up to the hotel, met with a few more members of our group, and settled into our rooms. I wish I'd taken a picture of the room, that place was amaze. Stuff successfully stashed, we left to eat at California Tortilla and get registered. I had had some travel funk I wanted to shower off, plus the smell of the three sweaty dudes I was stuck in a car with, but we needed to get a move on. Registration went mercifully fast, and then we wandered. Actually, a more accurate term would be "we got horribly lost and kind of scared." I was with one of my roommates, Michi, and we soon realized that neither of us has a good sense of direction. After getting the lay of the place, Michi left to go pick up Beeks' girlfriend and I ended up with Chuckles and Seth in artist's alley.
Seth is fucking annoying--he talks more than I do and babbles endlessly about his webcomic characters to anyone that stands still long enough--but he let me use his camera to take pictures of cosplayers because I forgot mine. Actually, it's more like he was too much of a chicken shit to ask cosplayers for pictures, so he left it to me. He was commissioning a bunch of pins of his original characters (I pity that artist so much. SO MUCH.), so I took his camera and dicked off to take pictures. At this time, I decided to buy some coffee to perk me up.
Holy fuck, convention center coffee.
That shit is laced with COCAAAAAAAAAAINE.
Coffee does not give me the shakes anymore. Rather, it actually helps steady my already shaky hands. This shit, though...I don't know what was with it. It made my hands shake uncontrollably, affected my attention span, and made me zip around like a spaz. Basically, it gave me a caffeine buzz like I'd never been on before. I think that's why I ended up buying a lot of shit and doing stupid things like accidentally pouring hot coffee all over myself while trying to take a picture. Like most of my possessions, my convention badge is also stained with coffee.
Things get kind of fuzzy here, a combination of the cocaine coffee and the mind-numbing boredom that made up the wait time for Seth's commissions to get finished. I know I bought some stuff, saw a Kingdom Hearts-style Naruto, and got a text from Beeks saying that they had picked up Usa-chi, gone back to the hotel, and were coming back so we could all get something to eat for dinner. Usa-chi and I hit it off once we had all gathered outside(something mom was really worried about), and I basically attached myself to her and Michi for the rest of the convention. I think we were going to go back after that, but out bellies were full of Slurpees and Subway and we were sleepy. I finally got to take a shower, and we watched the first episode of Baccano! and contemplated our Harry Potter house assignments before crashing.
Around 1:00, we woke up to one of our roommates' "Motteke! Sailor Fuku" ringtone, had a good laugh, and decided that this embodied the true spirit of Otakon.
Then at 1:30, I felt someone poking me to scoot over and I did without question. I'm pretty sure I was teetering on the edge of the bed at some point, but eh. The bed was comfortable either way, so I slept like a log.
IMPORTANT THINGS I LEARNED ON FRIDAY:
Fat Sailor Moon eating a burrito at California Tortilla is the most horrifying sight ever.
I apparently do not care who I am sharing a bed with so long as I get some sleep.
Convention center coffee is the best thing since coffee was invented.
SATURDAY
Woke up around 6:45 feeling good, everyone was chatty and friendly and we talked about fun stuff. Then I introduced myself the girl who had slipped into bed at 1:30 AM. It was p funny, though we felt bad for waking her up after she'd been working so late in the gofer pool. Usa-chi and I raided the guys' room for food, and Usa-chi and Michi headed out. I bought my bedmate some medical tape in exchange for a $9 meal voucher and left for her gofer duties. I got tackled by almost a whole Kuroshitsuji group to Pokewalker and copped a feel on their Grell in the process. Oh yeah, that was a dude. >]
Then I used that meal voucher to get more cocaine coffee. I think that coffee made the whole experience better for me.
By the way. Pokewalkers: Fucking EVERYWHERE. Photograph the Raikou made a bunch of new friends and everybody liked him. :>
After I hooked up with Usa-chi and Michi again, we hit the dealer's room, where I met Pocky Guy. XD After that creepy/hilarious event, waited in line at the Hetalia premier. The cosplayers working that event were a lot of fun to watch. Unfortunately, that's when the fire alarm went off and we were all evacuated. The guy walking next to me on the way out started up a "CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES" and good tiems were had by all. We saw a really fucking awesome MGS4 cyborg!Raiden that we had to take a picture of, even in the rush to get the hell away from the BCC. We also spotted a Sazh that we wanted pictures of, but the area was too crowded. He later spotted Usa-chi, who was cosplaying Tewi from Tohou Project, and pictures were taken by both.
We got lost in the city, but managed to merge with our group and got back to the hotel room to chill. I was following Otakon's twitter feed, which was a little behind the actual events of what was happening. Man up, Otakon. Get with the times. Because of this, we ended up missing the rescheduled Hetalia premier. =[ We did go back to accompany Elyse to the Hetalia English cast signing, took some pictures, and Usa-chi and I abandoned our purses to sprint after a Kairi and Namine. Derp. Everything was still there when we got back, thankfully. XD
Met some nice people, talked about stuff, had good times. Went back to the hotel to watch Ragnarok the Animation (Michi and I split a grab bag) and listen to Beeks, Usa-chi, and Michi's running commentary. XD
IMPORTANT THINGS I LEARNED ON SATURDAY:
Toilet paper does not exist in artist alley. o_o
Crossplayers often look better in womens' clothing than I do.
Otakon's twitter feed sucks acorns.
I was wearing a watch, much to my surprise.
Handing out pocky is now a valid method of flirting, though the ladies you are hitting on might be wary if you look as sketchy at Pocky Guy did. XD
SUNDAY
Woke up, packed, and crammed all out shit into the Aperture Science Vehicular Transport Pod until we were ready to go out separate ways. Michi went to a Baccano! shoot as Chane and Beeks went with Usa-chi to a Tohou shoot. I got some cocaine coffee, bought a few things in the dealer's room, got some free Pokemans, then met up with Seth in artist alley (since we were supposed to stay in groups and he was the only person nearby), where he was trying to commission MORE pins. But that artist had closed her commissions since it was the last day, so he went to another booth. He was telling the artists of SGVY about his yet unborn webcomic in high detail by the time I found him, and all I could do was shoot them pitying looks. :|
Around this time, I got a text from Michi saying that the Baccano! shoot had been pushed back and she was alone in the fountain area and kinda freaked out. I punched Seth in the arm and told him that we needed to go stay with her, and I think I saw the artists in the booth breathe a little sigh of relief. He gave me a blank look and said "Do really you need me to go? I was going to ask these nice people for a commission."
Asspunk. For starters, don't waste an artist's time. If they've got a booth at a con, they're probably trying to spread their comic and make money. It's doubtful that they want to hear about someone else's characters in the in-depth way that Seth talked about his. Request a commission, pay, and be on your merry way.
Two, MEMBER OF OUR GROUP. ALONE. NERVOUS. WEIGH THIS AGAINST GETTING A COMMISSION THAT YOU COULD PROBABLY REQUEST ONLINE AT ANY TIME.
I resisted the urge to punch him again, snarled something like "FINE. Chivalry is dead. Get your commission, I'll go." and then stormed away. Seriously, what a dick move.
On the way there, I got creeped on by a Pedobear. I shouted "SORRY, I'M 19!" and he backed off. XD The guy behind me lost his shit and started cracking up laughing, and walked with me for a little bit when I asked if I was heading the right way to get to the indoor fountain area.
Found Michi, hung out with her for a bit, met her dad, and then we gathered to leave. BOOOOOOOO!!! Everyone got their stuff, hugged, piled into the appropriate cars and/or trains, and promised to meet up again soon. We are all facebook friends and we share special memories of each other and all out silly antics and adventures. <3
IMPORTANT THINGS I LEARNED ON SUNDAY:
The world is awesome.
I still look underage.
I get along amazingly well with my ex's current girlfriend.
We are doing this shit again next year FOR SURE.
To conclude, I'd like to say that almost everyone I met at Otakon was really nice, had a good sense of humor, and there was a real vibe of community from most of the people there. I generally hide my love for anime, gaming, and all things Japan under layers and layers of irony and screened t-shirts so as not to appear the stereotypical otaku. It's not that I'm ashamed, just that some people don't take kindly to it and I'd rather not have people think I'm a freak based on my interests.
At Otakon, I didn't have to pretend to be ambivalent on anime, and it was very liberating that I could express my likes and dislikes clearly. I think I made some of the best friends I'll ever meet in that group, and I'm almost wishing I went to CNU or UMW with them. :>
I'm looking to meet up with Usa-chi and Michi at Nekocon in early November, which is really close to CNU. We shall see...Otakon next year is definitely a yes, though! 8D
EDIT: Hah...Looking back, I feel like I didn't even cover HALF of what happened. If I threw in every awesome joke and amazing story, I'd have to make multiple posts, though. XD