Otakon 2008!
I WENT TO OTAKON THIS WEEKEND AND HAD A BLAST!
Okay, so. XD Thursday was my flight out. I decided to fly into the Washington/Dulles airport (IAD) because the plane tickets were way cheaper than to the Baltimore (BWI) airport. That proved to be.. well.. XD;; I hit pitfall after pitfall trying to get to the convention, but long story short, I FINALLY arrived Thursday night! X3 Next time I'm definitely flying to BWI, though - I found out that the Light Rail, which has a stop right by the convention center, goes directly to and from the airport.
Once I got there I tried to find Michelle and the group I was rooming with. XD We were convinced that we were in alternate dimensions because we were apparently seeing the same landmarks, just.. not eachother XDD I finally spotted them, but as soon as I did I was attacked by Takalis a.k.a. the Bawls Knight, who had been stalking me from across the street. XD; So it was weird that the two groups of people I was meeting found me at the same time!
I stayed in a hotel with Michelle, and her friends Nikki, Shannon, Chris and Brian. Actually, I think Brian was Nikki's friend? XD But it was six of us total. The two guys slept on the floor. Everybody was so awesome, and it was so cool to meet them! Thank you all for putting up with me! ;o; ♥
Everything about the weekend is so fuzzy. 8D It's hard for me to recall a chronological order for everything, I just know that I had so much fun! I wore my cosplay for most of Friday and Saturday and just wore normal clothes on Sunday. I don't personally have any photos of myself in cosplay but I'm sure that I'll find some on the internet eventually X3;
The first thing I remember doing is going to the Gaia panel. There were so many Gaians there! Lanzer, Jakobo, DJ Helsing and Sukinahito (I think?) were all at the panel. We got those 1k gold cards that come with the MMO ring. XD I haven't redeemed mine yet. It was cool though to see them and be there while they were talking about stuff. I also went to the "Unofficial Gaia Gathering" that was the next day and got another gold card and got it signed by Lanzer and DJ. XD I told Lanzer I was the one who did the Gaia Scouts edit from the Corporate Day thread and he said that some of the staffers still have it in their cubicles, and he did a Sailor Moon pose for me~ XD
I spent almost all of my money in the Dealer's Room on the very first day. D: I got a bunch of stuff, though. Including a totally lame grab bag! XD The thing was $15 and the only thing fitting it had was an anime DVD and a pack of Street Fighter trading cards. Other than that it had the soundtrack for The English Patient, two American comic books, and a few little erasers/toys the likes of which you would expect in a kid's party favor bag. So that kind of burned me on grab bags for the weekend. I decided that if I was willing to blindly spend money at a booth and probably get something lame, I was better off taking that money and definitely getting something I want. ^^;
Other panels and stuff I went to:
A screening of the movie "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time"!! XD It was so cool! I really liked it in English, but I am a pretty hardcore fan of good dubs. X3 It was so awesome to get the "theater" experience from it though, because there are so many cute and funny moments in the movie - and while watching it alone somebody might crack a smile, a whole theater would at least get a giggle out of it. So there were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments. XD It's a brilliant movie, both in English and Japanese; for those of you who haven't heard of it, it's sort of like a smaller-scale version of The Butterfly Effect. (She only goes back a few days at a time, at most.) It's a really cute movie, and there are several edge-of-your-seat moments. I'd recommend it to anybody who is wondering what movie to see next. XD
A Phoenix Wright mock trial! Holy buckets, it was AMAZING. XD They chose volunteers from the audience to go on stage and they had to question the witness, which was either Gumshoe or Phoenix, about who in the audience they had seen MURDER SOMEBODY. XDD Oh god it was priceless. The people chosen were all really good, and the first murderer was just amazing. When it became apparent they were talking about her, she kept ducking and hiding and looking around, and when they pointed her out she RAN! XD They chased her down and pulled her on stage while she was struggling to get away. It was so awesome! And during the second trial they got an EDGEWORTH COSPLAYER. She was AMAZING. This tiny girl was so in-character that I thought she was the best Edgeworth I had ever seen. ;o;
Peter S. Beagle! I didn't go to any panels (he had one with a screening of The Last Unicorn, where he did commentary on it) but I saw his booth in the dealer's room, and got a print of the character designs for Lady Amalthea and had it signed by him. I forgot my book at home. XD;
Other than that the weekend was mostly wandering around in the dealer's room, or being lost in the convention center, or playing txt-tag with my friends - or just hanging out with them in general. XD I commissioned somebody in the Artist's Alley but she hadn't finished it by the time the weekend was up so I gotta PM her friend and make sure they have my contact details right. X3 I got so much cool stuff from the dealer's room. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures! Laaame! But I took some once I got home of all my stuff:
Three bokken (wooden practice swords) at the top, still wrapped in plastic. XD I had to have those mailed to me, they arrived today!
There's quite a few bookmarks and post cards there. X3 You can also see the blue "gold card" I got signed by Lanzer and DJ Helsing!
For artbooks, the one in the top left corner is the Yun Kouga (Loveless, Earthian, etc) artbook, "YOUR EYES ONLY". I don't know why I like her art so much, but I do. ;o; And, of course, no convention would be complete without me blowing my cash on Yoshitaka Amano books! XD The two pictured are "Genmukyu" and "Le Roi De La Lune". I also got a Vampire Hunter D one that was published by Dark Horse. Not the big one, Coffin - it was a smaller one, here it is on Amazon. I paid $20 for it. :3 The list price is $30. I got it on Friday, and the next day when I came back they had a few more copies of it on the shelf, but for $30. XD
I only got two manga. It's hard for me to buy manga unless it's extremely on sale because I can get it for 30% off working at a bookstore. XD; The ones I got were Nephalim 1 & 2, and I HATE THIS SERIES OMG. DX Okay, I don't hate it, I just hate the guy! He's such a jerk! Ugh. I shouldn't be reading shojo/love stories, they always have those frustrating moments that I can't stand. I mean, I get really, seriously pissed off at the characters. It's bad. XD;;
I got several cell phone charms and blind box figures, too! My favorite thing was getting Suu in the "Clamp in 3D Land" series! >w< I ended up with two of them because Michelle got one for me also! ;o; The one in that photo is the one I got. The one she got me is already on top of my monitor. ♥
Of course, I have to mention THE DRESS. ;A; It's so pretty! It was $95 with tax. This seems to be about average for this type of dress. At least, you can find them cheaper online, but after shipping it becomes closer to $80-$100. I really love the gothic & lolita dresses and I just never had the money to get into it. But Laru, who was with me that weekend, has a lot of those dresses, and she helped me go around and pick out a dress. I really liked this one when I saw it and it actually fits me! Sorta. XD Well, it's a little snug right now - I can't lift my arms very high and I don't think I could really put it on without help. But I don't think those types of outfits are meant to be "comfy clothes". XD
Next to it is the petticoat (or whatever they're called) and I have a headband that's not pictured that matches it. It's red plaid with black lace trim. If I can find one of those tiny felt hats at a craft store, I can make a little hat that would match it, too. XD I'm really excited about this dress, it's so cute. ;o;
The gothic lolita lifestyle can be a costly one, though. XD If you don't make them yourself, then the accessories for an outfit can cost about as much as the outfit itself. And shoes! I'll be watching Hot Topic for their insane clearance sales! XD I think the next dress I get will probably be more toward the sweet lolita style.
This is a close-up of the print I got. :3 Sorry for the flash, turning it off just made everything blurry. XD But isn't it gorgeous. ;o; I saw it there and I had to get it. Peter Beagle wasn't the one who drew it, obviously, but he signed it for me~~~. It was so cool to see him!
Peter Fernandez, a.k.a. Speed Racer, was also there. Holy shit he's old. XD I didn't get anything signed from him - there was quite a line every time I walked by, but it was so cool that he was there.
In short, I had an amazing weekend. I'm like 95% sure that I'm gonna come back next year and do it again! I've had two offers for rooms, onoes. XD But I guess I have a little while to think about that. Next year the con is July 17-19. I definitely wanna go, I just gotta figure out first if I can! XD
Okay, so. XD Thursday was my flight out. I decided to fly into the Washington/Dulles airport (IAD) because the plane tickets were way cheaper than to the Baltimore (BWI) airport. That proved to be.. well.. XD;; I hit pitfall after pitfall trying to get to the convention, but long story short, I FINALLY arrived Thursday night! X3 Next time I'm definitely flying to BWI, though - I found out that the Light Rail, which has a stop right by the convention center, goes directly to and from the airport.
Once I got there I tried to find Michelle and the group I was rooming with. XD We were convinced that we were in alternate dimensions because we were apparently seeing the same landmarks, just.. not eachother XDD I finally spotted them, but as soon as I did I was attacked by Takalis a.k.a. the Bawls Knight, who had been stalking me from across the street. XD; So it was weird that the two groups of people I was meeting found me at the same time!
I stayed in a hotel with Michelle, and her friends Nikki, Shannon, Chris and Brian. Actually, I think Brian was Nikki's friend? XD But it was six of us total. The two guys slept on the floor. Everybody was so awesome, and it was so cool to meet them! Thank you all for putting up with me! ;o; ♥
Everything about the weekend is so fuzzy. 8D It's hard for me to recall a chronological order for everything, I just know that I had so much fun! I wore my cosplay for most of Friday and Saturday and just wore normal clothes on Sunday. I don't personally have any photos of myself in cosplay but I'm sure that I'll find some on the internet eventually X3;
The first thing I remember doing is going to the Gaia panel. There were so many Gaians there! Lanzer, Jakobo, DJ Helsing and Sukinahito (I think?) were all at the panel. We got those 1k gold cards that come with the MMO ring. XD I haven't redeemed mine yet. It was cool though to see them and be there while they were talking about stuff. I also went to the "Unofficial Gaia Gathering" that was the next day and got another gold card and got it signed by Lanzer and DJ. XD I told Lanzer I was the one who did the Gaia Scouts edit from the Corporate Day thread and he said that some of the staffers still have it in their cubicles, and he did a Sailor Moon pose for me~ XD
I spent almost all of my money in the Dealer's Room on the very first day. D: I got a bunch of stuff, though. Including a totally lame grab bag! XD The thing was $15 and the only thing fitting it had was an anime DVD and a pack of Street Fighter trading cards. Other than that it had the soundtrack for The English Patient, two American comic books, and a few little erasers/toys the likes of which you would expect in a kid's party favor bag. So that kind of burned me on grab bags for the weekend. I decided that if I was willing to blindly spend money at a booth and probably get something lame, I was better off taking that money and definitely getting something I want. ^^;
Other panels and stuff I went to:
A screening of the movie "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time"!! XD It was so cool! I really liked it in English, but I am a pretty hardcore fan of good dubs. X3 It was so awesome to get the "theater" experience from it though, because there are so many cute and funny moments in the movie - and while watching it alone somebody might crack a smile, a whole theater would at least get a giggle out of it. So there were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments. XD It's a brilliant movie, both in English and Japanese; for those of you who haven't heard of it, it's sort of like a smaller-scale version of The Butterfly Effect. (She only goes back a few days at a time, at most.) It's a really cute movie, and there are several edge-of-your-seat moments. I'd recommend it to anybody who is wondering what movie to see next. XD
A Phoenix Wright mock trial! Holy buckets, it was AMAZING. XD They chose volunteers from the audience to go on stage and they had to question the witness, which was either Gumshoe or Phoenix, about who in the audience they had seen MURDER SOMEBODY. XDD Oh god it was priceless. The people chosen were all really good, and the first murderer was just amazing. When it became apparent they were talking about her, she kept ducking and hiding and looking around, and when they pointed her out she RAN! XD They chased her down and pulled her on stage while she was struggling to get away. It was so awesome! And during the second trial they got an EDGEWORTH COSPLAYER. She was AMAZING. This tiny girl was so in-character that I thought she was the best Edgeworth I had ever seen. ;o;
Peter S. Beagle! I didn't go to any panels (he had one with a screening of The Last Unicorn, where he did commentary on it) but I saw his booth in the dealer's room, and got a print of the character designs for Lady Amalthea and had it signed by him. I forgot my book at home. XD;
Other than that the weekend was mostly wandering around in the dealer's room, or being lost in the convention center, or playing txt-tag with my friends - or just hanging out with them in general. XD I commissioned somebody in the Artist's Alley but she hadn't finished it by the time the weekend was up so I gotta PM her friend and make sure they have my contact details right. X3 I got so much cool stuff from the dealer's room. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures! Laaame! But I took some once I got home of all my stuff:
Three bokken (wooden practice swords) at the top, still wrapped in plastic. XD I had to have those mailed to me, they arrived today!
There's quite a few bookmarks and post cards there. X3 You can also see the blue "gold card" I got signed by Lanzer and DJ Helsing!
For artbooks, the one in the top left corner is the Yun Kouga (Loveless, Earthian, etc) artbook, "YOUR EYES ONLY". I don't know why I like her art so much, but I do. ;o; And, of course, no convention would be complete without me blowing my cash on Yoshitaka Amano books! XD The two pictured are "Genmukyu" and "Le Roi De La Lune". I also got a Vampire Hunter D one that was published by Dark Horse. Not the big one, Coffin - it was a smaller one, here it is on Amazon. I paid $20 for it. :3 The list price is $30. I got it on Friday, and the next day when I came back they had a few more copies of it on the shelf, but for $30. XD
I only got two manga. It's hard for me to buy manga unless it's extremely on sale because I can get it for 30% off working at a bookstore. XD; The ones I got were Nephalim 1 & 2, and I HATE THIS SERIES OMG. DX Okay, I don't hate it, I just hate the guy! He's such a jerk! Ugh. I shouldn't be reading shojo/love stories, they always have those frustrating moments that I can't stand. I mean, I get really, seriously pissed off at the characters. It's bad. XD;;
I got several cell phone charms and blind box figures, too! My favorite thing was getting Suu in the "Clamp in 3D Land" series! >w< I ended up with two of them because Michelle got one for me also! ;o; The one in that photo is the one I got. The one she got me is already on top of my monitor. ♥
Of course, I have to mention THE DRESS. ;A; It's so pretty! It was $95 with tax. This seems to be about average for this type of dress. At least, you can find them cheaper online, but after shipping it becomes closer to $80-$100. I really love the gothic & lolita dresses and I just never had the money to get into it. But Laru, who was with me that weekend, has a lot of those dresses, and she helped me go around and pick out a dress. I really liked this one when I saw it and it actually fits me! Sorta. XD Well, it's a little snug right now - I can't lift my arms very high and I don't think I could really put it on without help. But I don't think those types of outfits are meant to be "comfy clothes". XD
Next to it is the petticoat (or whatever they're called) and I have a headband that's not pictured that matches it. It's red plaid with black lace trim. If I can find one of those tiny felt hats at a craft store, I can make a little hat that would match it, too. XD I'm really excited about this dress, it's so cute. ;o;
The gothic lolita lifestyle can be a costly one, though. XD If you don't make them yourself, then the accessories for an outfit can cost about as much as the outfit itself. And shoes! I'll be watching Hot Topic for their insane clearance sales! XD I think the next dress I get will probably be more toward the sweet lolita style.
This is a close-up of the print I got. :3 Sorry for the flash, turning it off just made everything blurry. XD But isn't it gorgeous. ;o; I saw it there and I had to get it. Peter Beagle wasn't the one who drew it, obviously, but he signed it for me~~~. It was so cool to see him!
Peter Fernandez, a.k.a. Speed Racer, was also there. Holy shit he's old. XD I didn't get anything signed from him - there was quite a line every time I walked by, but it was so cool that he was there.
In short, I had an amazing weekend. I'm like 95% sure that I'm gonna come back next year and do it again! I've had two offers for rooms, onoes. XD But I guess I have a little while to think about that. Next year the con is July 17-19. I definitely wanna go, I just gotta figure out first if I can! XD