After having such a good time at the conventions I attended in 2023 and Ghostbusters Day 2024, I was ready and willing to return to Otakon in August. What I didn't anticipate was that my boyfriend Val, who is incredibly supportive of me doing things but rarely feels the need to do those things as well, would also be willing. I'd like to chalk it up to either how amazing Otakon is, or how amazing I am, but in truth, this is another win that needs to go into Lady Terentia's column. She and Aki Reiniibow had met Val that February and, as I had suspected, he was utterly charmed by them, and as soon as they left, wanted to know when we could hang out with them again. Terentia and her love came back to New York City to spend Easter weekend with us, and well, it would take a harder man than Val to say no to Terentia. All she had to say was that he wasn't coming to Otakon, exactly; he was coming down to D.C. to hang out with his friends. That put everything in perspective for him. I already had everything else in place, so all he had to do was buy a badge, and a few other pieces that will come up later.

Now this may be a shameful confession on my part, but one of the things I was eagerly anticipating was the hotel. Val does an awful lot for me at home, and I was looking forward to showing him and sharing with him the VIP treatment I always seem to get from the Henley. So I was very surprised when we stopped in front of the entrance to the Henley Park lobby, and sat there...and sat there...and sat there. Eventually I got out of the car and went inside, and I could tell the hotel was overwhelmed; there were piles of bags all around the lobby, and no workers besides the two behind the desk in sight. I went up to the desk to check and and they told me they'd be more than happy to park my car, but that all of the valets were currently busy, and that more importantly, my room was not ready yet. In retrospect I was earlier than the 3 PM check in time, but...so had I been every year before. They offered to check my bags until a room was ready and call me as soon as it was available, so Val and I took them up on it and sat for a moment, wondering what to do next.

Fortuitously, right at that moment I saw on my phone that Lady Terentia had sent a message to our group chat, asking if anyone was available as she could use some help getting into costume. I was available! So Val and I walked over to the Embassy Suites to see if we could be of any assistance. And it turned out we could! But just barely. Even though Teren had worn Keqing the year before, for one thing I hadn't helped her into it, and for another...that costume's details are tiny, man. Maybe my eyes are getting older. (My eyes are definitely getting older--and the colored contacts have always compromised my close vision a bit.) Also I believe the buttons were transparent. But with both Val and I searching and Teren feeling her way along, we found what we needed to find, fastened what we needed to fasten, and she was completely dressed and ready to go. I forgot how lovely she looked when she's dressed in head-to-toe purple. She really glows.

We started walking towards the convention center, when Lady Terentia pointed out that we'd have to pass the Henley on the way, so even though they hadn't called me yet, why not pop in and see if they had any updates for me? Normally I hate bothering people, but it *was* on the way, and they were so clearly overwhelmed that it might have slipped their minds. The moral of the story is that Terentia is always right, our room WAS ready, so Val and I asked for our bags and went up to our room to unpack and get dressed.

By the time I had gotten into wig, makeup, and costume (which Lady Terentia came back to help me with--you can read more about how unhappy with the costume I was on its Finished Costumes page, but the strategic placement of safety pins helped a LOT), it was just about time for our tea reservation, so rather than heading to the convention, we just had to go downstairs to the Henley Park's tea room. It was Val's first time meeting so many of the rest of the girls: Reinii he knew, of course, but Alyce, Lady Somairot, Beth, and Vill were new to him, and while gay pirates, magical girls, and a girlfriend dancing for dollars might have intimidated a lesser man, the beatific smile he had on his face while he just sat back and drank it all in made me feel secure including him.

Once tea was over my first mission was to find Fory-san, because he's the entire reason I had chosen to wear this costume, and I was determined to get some pictures together. Sadly, Lauren, who had offered to conduct a photoshoot for us, had to leave before I was ready, but thankfully everyone has a decent digital camera in their phones these days anyway. I hadn't seen Fory-san since...good God, 2012, is that really possible? Sadly I believe it is. We had a ball taking pictures together, and catching up (even though we talk a lot on Facebook--and good God I almost wrote LiveJournal, because that's how far back we go), and I even got to talk to his mom on the phone for a little bit, who is an absolute sweetheart. He was more than ready to get out of costume so we didn't hang out for long, but I'm so glad we finally got to cosplay together.

Otakon was doing another stamp rally this year, but it was different from the Viz sponsored Sailor Moon stamp rallies we'd completed in the past: instead of just being in the Dealers' Room, this event required you to visit multiple locations spread across the entire convention. In a way this was a stroke of brilliance; there were areas of the con I had never been to in my 20 years of attendance, what better way to get people to step outside of their comfort zones? But there wa at least one stamp in the Dealers' Room, so we focused on that one first.

I had one other mission in the Dealers Room: ACQUIRE A CRABBY ITA BAG AT ALL COSTS. Back in July Otakon had announced that there would be an EXCLUSIVE Crabby ita bag being offered at the official Otakon merch booth, but due to being handmade, there would be limited qualities. I can't tell you how many people on how many different social media platforms tagged me to let me know about this bag, because you see, back at Otakon at 2021, I had finally caved and bought my own ita bag, but I decided it would be an Ota Ita bag, filled with the Otakon pins I had been collecting along the way--not pins bought at Otakon, but pins for Otakon, like Hard Rock Cafe pins from Otakon's 20th anniversary. But do you know what's even better than an Ota Ita bag? A Crabby shaped Crabby ita bag!!! Shoot I had a bunch of Crabby pins already, here was an excuse to buy more! ALL OF THE CRABBY PINS!!!

But see here's the problem: I am not Crabby's only fan. Obviously, being the (in my opinion) cutest mascot of Otakon, he has many fans. Oh, Hiroko-chan, Hiroshi-kun, Lyra, and Ace are all wonderful, but I've always had a special fondness for Crabby, and ever since "adopting" a Crabby of my own in 2015, that smiling face has greeted me virtually every time I've come home. He's just so happy to see me! He's happy about everything! And that makes me happy. I've taken holiday pictures of him, I've used him for a pillow when I've napped, he kept me company through many lonely years. I just love him so goshdarn much.

Why am I bringing this up? Crabby, the beloved Otakon mascot, had a...LIMITED EDITION...bag. More than one person had warned me that the line for the Otakon merch booth was over a half hour long, and wrapped around other booths. I was terrified that they would be sold out before I had even gotten down to D.C., so I did something I normally hate doing and only resort to in times of great crisis: I brought out the big guns.

And that's why there are pictures of Doc the Stampede furtively passing me a Crabby ita bag while I hand him cash in the middle of the Dealers' Room like we were doing a drug deal. All kidding aside I don't think Doc pulled any strings or did anything untoward; he just got there sooner and I believe he waited online like everybody else to make sure I'd have something I was so looking forward to. I just bring it up as another example of the incredible support I get from my friends who do so much for me. I don't deserve them but I swear on everything I hold sacred that I do appreciate them.

Eric joined us not long after that, and then my high school friend Lani texted us to say she had just gotten to the Dealers' Room, and almost immediately Lady Terentia spotted her in all of her Fairy Godmother glory. And I can't even remember what we started talking about but I know (partially because there's pictoral evidence, partially because I just *know*) that we started cracking each other up within seconds, and I don't think we stopped laughing for any significant amount of time after that. She was starving, so we decided to get her some food (and I don't know if it was because we were together, but she got French fries and soda, and that makes me wonder, did EVERY Catholic high school girl survive off of French fries and soda from 14 to 18 years of age? Was it just a Christ the King thing? I'm really curious!) and then continue with the stamp rally.

After we found the one in the Dealers' Room, we went up a few floors to the game room, which I had wanted to show Val, whose main hobby is video games, anyway. My friend Nick wasn't working, so we just got our stamp, and Terentia determined that the next closest one was in the maid cafe, and see here this is exactly what I mean: in all the years I have been attending Otakon, I have *never* gone to the maid cafe. And I don't know why! It definitely is the kind of thing Louis would have loved, so why didn't we go? Because you get into a habit of go shopping go to a photoshoot go get something to eat that it's hard to remember to try new things. Granted we didn't really GO to the maid cafe this time anyway, but only because I believe it had closed for the night, but at least it reminded me that it existed! And maybe it was brand new information to some people as well. What a great idea.

It was getting close to the start of the AMVs, which are a highlight of the con for many of our group, so we walked over to the room that would be showing them. There was a panel about Osamu Tezuka in progress, but the people manning the door said that it would make more sense for us to go in right away and find seats, as they wouldn't be clearing the room afterwards, so we did. And even though I don't think I've actually read any of "The Father of Manga"'s actual, you know, manga (and typing that out made me feel such imposter syndrome you have no idea), the panel was so informative and well-presented that it completely drew me in. So here's another piece of advice: if you have free time at a con and you don't know what to do (which I can't personally imagine but it must be true for somebody), pop in on a panel on a subject you know nothing about. You might find your next hyperfixation!

As the Tezuka panel ended, Val and I realized that the AMVs would run until 11 PM, which meant by the time we said goodbye to all of our friends, walked back to the con, and got out of costume, we would probably be getting to bed well past midnight. Previous experience has taught me that I wake up around 7 AM no matter what, and I wanted to be (and more importantly, LOOK) well rested for the next day, so we decided to skip the AMVs and return to our room to get a good night's sleep.