Current Events > Did anyone else here go to Otakon?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I went. My friend had some Saturday passes but the person she was originally going with couldn't go because he wasn't vaxxed, I think. So we got to talking and she invited me to go. I basically got to go for free, though I paid for lunch to repay her for the invite.

It was fun, but BOY was it hectic. Just to get in, you have to jump through a million hoops, and that's not even factoring in all the checks they were doing because of the 'rona! I got there about an hour before she did, and got my COVID wristband but couldn't actually go any further because I didn't have my badge because my friend had both of them. Then when she got in we had to wait through the whole line AGAIN because she needed a wristband too. Well, at least they were on top of things there, between that and having to wear your mask at all times. Though I'll probably still get it because there was one point where we were trying to get through a "traffic jam", as I call it, and were basically packed like sardines.

Anyway, at one point my friend had a photoshoot in... I think it was the lobby of the Mariott? So that was cool. But what they DON'T tell you is if you go there, you have to get back in line near the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to get back in. So we had to wait in a line wrapped halfway around the building in the summer heat. Fortunately, it was only about 15-20 minutes, and it wasn't as hot as it has been here, but it was still to the point where my friend thought she was gonna pass out.

We didn't actually get the chance to do too much, but I saw the Kingdom Hearts and Touhou photoshoots, and got to check out the impressive stuff in the Dealer's Hall. Sadly, I did not find a single fumo or keyblade, but... eh. At least it saved me money, I guess. There was some cosplay event or tutorial or something she wanted to go to, but either that must've been canceled or she had the wrong day, because we couldn't find it ANYWHERE on the schedule.

I didn't cosplay because I don't really have the money to get an outfit, nor the motivation to find the right stuff for it, nor the creative skills to just make it myself, and this was also kind of last minute anyway. My friend wore something, I'm not sure I'd call it "cosplay" since it wasn't actually of any specific character, but it was a pretty neat looking ninja. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of... well, anything, because I wasn't really sure what to take pics of besides the photoshoots I went to, and even then if you wanna see that you can probably find them elsewhere if you look hard enough. Also no selfies because the only thing I hate more than myself is myself in pictures.

It was a lot of fun though. Even though we didn't actually DO too much, I still had a good time. Not sure I'd do it again anytime soon though, with how crazy it was in there. I got home and went to bed at 8 PM. I had been up since 2 AM because my sleep schedule got all fucked up and, since this was very last minute, I couldn't fix it before the con, so I wound up sleeping for 17 hours. I woke up at 1 PM today! But all in all, really fun time, and I got to see some VERY impressive cosplays. Mostly of characters I didn't know, but quite a few I did know as well. It was great.

If anyone has any questions about my experience that I didn't already answer, feel free to ask! Or if you went, I'd like to hear your experience too!