my awesome epic washington DC birthday adventure ~!!!
im sooo excited to get into the details of my trip to otakon this year!!! it's probably the most fun i have ever had ~
leading up to the con
one thing about otakon is.... i'm gonna go. my first otakon was actually only last year but i decided it's me and ota FOR LIFE. it's one of the biggest anime cons on the east coast but kinda has the feeling of a small con. the programming is stellar, the entertainment is out of this world, the food is terrible, DC weather is disgusting. i literally love everything about it.
this year it happened to fall on my FUCKING BIRTHDAY. im a leo so i take it extremely serious. the weekend dates were august 8, 9, and 10. my birthday is on the 9th. obviously this is the most important matter in the world.
i started planning for the con since january this year, just by planting small seeds in the minds of my family and friends. i was very set on going with my lovely friends (future edit: fell out with two of them but that's what happens on girls trips to miami anime conventions)
let it be known that im neurotic so i had to consider every detail down to the cost of gas across cities (though ultimately, i didn't drive). i budgeted and budgeted for my life!!!
the only cosplay i had in mind was junko enoshima because i finished playing trigger happy havoc that winter break and she really shook me to my core ~~ i just really wanted to look like her XD
after an entire spring semester had passed.....summer started so i could work some more hours at my internship. we celebrate birthdays at my job, and as the intern and only august birthday, my coworkers spoiled me with cash because they knew how crazy i was going saving up and planning for my trip -^_^- im so grateful for them!
thursday, august 7
...so the con starts on the 8th, right? that won't stop me from the pre-con..!
otakon actually holds a matsuri on the day before the con, so there were plenty of things to do before the big day. however............. we didn't make it to that LOL.
that morning, my friend and i boarded a bus to take us to DC so we were in there for quite a while. i was concerned that when we got to DC our hotel room wouldn't be ready so I was thinking of things for us to do once we got off the bus, but apparently i checked in from my phone the day before so we got in immediately (technology huh? o_O)
u know we had to stim TF out in our room - it was literally HUGE and so neat, i felt so rich and we had an awesome view of the city!
soon, moni came to join us (even though he wasnt staying with me TT_TT) and we all walked to get dinner at Nando's because apparently that's just what you do when you go to otakon.
we hadn't eaten all day so we were ravenous. i got a chicken "burger" bc it had pineapple and a side of coleslaw. the chicken was great as i was hoping bc they're a chicken place, but the coleslaw............... no. that wasn't coleslaw. to compensate for my side order i took many fries from moni who was smart enough to get a side that made sense.
we stopped by the matsuri afterward, but since it was later they didn't have anything happening except giving out some helpful stuff (like a much needed hand fan) but we still got to enjoy the energy of all the con-goers :3
friday, august 8
FIRST DAY OF THE CON! i couldn't be more excited!! i think i got up at 7 or 8am.. i don't even remember. today i was cosplaying a fem version of light yagami, but honestly since it was so hot i had to omit the coat and i didn't want to wear uncomfortable shoes so i took other ones... i kinda felt like spongebob lol. i also knew if i tried to do his justin bieber bangs it wouldn't last thru the day so i just kept my hair normal.
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| dykemint had a cute mirror ~ |
i looked really normal, but either way, moni was doing L and i brought us handcuffs so hopefully it'd make sense. i had a itabag that was shaped like a school bag so i put an apple and a really shitty death note i made out of garbage last minute, as well as an L nendoroid in the window.
the energy of the con was just amazing, i know conventions are the most overstimulating concept ever but when im there i just feel so calm and i love the feeling of taking everything in and seeing so many people!!
our plans today were to scope out the con, try and hit some panels and check out the artist's alley and dealer's hall. our ultimate goal by the end of the night..... last fujoshi standing.
we attended a visual kei panel first, then hit the gaming hall to get our fill of rhythm games (the only place i can play this many games o.o) before the vendor halls opened.
once we entered the vendors........it was wraps. i think we shopped for 4 hours. in the end i still dont know how much i spent.....
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| my haul! these artists are amazing!! |
just being dramatic ~ we attended a metamorphose temps de fille q&a to cool down and my friend helped me calculate the total. the number will not be revealed to the public.
later on, we were desperate for any food at all so we found this place that only had vegetarian tacos...? they were so weird but we needed any kind of sustenance.
we had to crash at the hotel after to decompress after so much shopping, but moni and i were on a mission.... to go to last fujoshi standing, a gameshow hosted by ProdigalFujoshi. despite our tiredness we were on our way at a dangerous 10:30pm .
....only to get there and find the line wrapped around 3 corners! and we thought we were on time..?
we asked the line attendant at the front and they said ppl got here 2 hours ago! WHAT!? we were disappointed but too sleepy to fuss so we left lol. now i know better........
saturday, august 9
MY BIRTHDAY! DAY TWO OF THE CON COMMENCES!
today, i think we got up at 7 am..? i wanted to be up early so i could have enough time to get into my junko cosplay! i started practicing makeup a lot this summer and i think i could nail her make in less than an hour, but i still wanted enough time in case eyeliner was especially hard to put on or something.
one of my roommates and i got ready and ate our breakfast - which by the way, was cup noodles every. single. morning. the others stayed back, so we left for the con together.
we met with moni again and lined up for the hunter exam because there really wasn't anything to do at 9am (why would they do this to me)
somehow, 9am was "late" and the line exceeded capacity but my roommate wanted this so bad, we just stuck it out despite being told to shoo every 5 minutes lol. we overheard ppl behind us talking about the same thing happening at last fujoshi standing the night before, but they still made it in! UGH!
moni and i stayed back bc we were so sleepy and were not going to do physical activity this early. we got some overpriced iced coffee and tried to hold out until the FASHION SHOW ~~! my favorite part!
after being in line for some time, the staff allowed us to be seated and i was literally buzzing with excitement bc i love the fashion show!! it is mostly lolita, but there is always some jfashion and indie designers with really cool pieces too!
meta was the star of the show but all the designers and models looked stunning. i especially loved nightwhisper, plushii kawaii, and sweet mildred!
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| all my pix looked so bad but this was alright! |
i got a yuzu green tea drink which i liked although i hate citrus peels of which there were sooo many inside. to eat i got sichuan cold noodles bc i needed something super refreshing. the junko wig is huge and the outfit isn't very thin either so i needed as much cooling as i could get XP it was spicyyyyy
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| i was dangerously close to eating my wig |
we also attended a panel hosted by ProdigalFujoshi (yay we finally saw her) called Do You Remember BL? It was about the timeline of BL as well as yaoi culture on the internet. it was so insightful and we got to hear from a japanese woman who was around for the height of BL, becoming a fujoshi in the 1970s when she was a student!!! so amazing ^_^
moni and i left to go to the game room and once we were in there.... we could not leave. i missed all the panels i wanted to go to...........we were there for like, 2 hours bc we got hooked on WACCA...
during this time i also met with another uni friend who also had gifts for me! yippee!
at this point the cosplay was just so exhausting to wear so i wanted to go back to the hotel to change. moni and i ended up staying in for longer ~ hehe ~ but i missed like everything else i wanted to go to again. we had to call it a night.............
sunday, august 10
last day of the con i was sooo sad. it was kinda stressful bc we had to maneuver checking out but also securing our stuff somewhere -_-
we made it to the con early enough to get a close spot in the line to enter the vendors halls. all the panels i wanted to see were later and i had to catch the bus at that time so i wouldn't be able to go TT_TT my roommate and i just decided one last look thru the dealers.
(when we shopped on friday, we didn't even make it to the dealer's hall. we spent 4 hours just in the artists.......)
i saw metamorphose's booth and got a ribbon from the lolitas there! they were so cute and i talked to them about their weekend...
i got out of dealers with a cigarette hairclip bc last year i saw it and i really wanted it, so finally my dream came true hehe.
i rounded up moni and my stuff and we were on our way homeeeeeee
as soon as i got home i was already planning otakon 2026 thanks to the hotel block opening up! i cannot wait ~~~~~~~
if u made it this far, thanks for reading! here is my video recommendation:
if only i had an ounce of this guy's coolness.....
BYE~
Heheheehe it was soooo fun!!!!!!!!!!! So happy to relive the best 4 days ever thru your awesome blog post~~~~~ I can't wait for otakon 2026 I've become a loyal patron too now ┗|⌒O⌒|┛
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