Last week, I got to head up to New York for my friend's wedding. It was the first time I'd traveled "alone". Once I was off my flight, I had my partner with me the whole time. That's not really completely alone. Still, I went through airport security and boarded a flight with no one else I knew. That was a fun, new experience for me.
It doesn't actually take THAT long to get through airport security. Did you know they don't even make you take off your shoes anymore? They just make you stand in a weird scanner. I can tell that shit's gonna be a pain in the ass once I start hrt, though. They have a "male" setting and a "female" setting to detect if there's any "strange bumps or shapes". It's really not built to handle "What if you have tits AND a dick?" My cards didn't get flagged in security either! Probably because I used the plastic deckboxes instead of the fake-leather ones with the magnets.
This trip actually served a dual purpose for me. While I was attending my friend's wedding, I also got to spend almost an entire week with my partner, Ky, at their house! It's wild how relaxing it is to be in a house that doesn't have my mom in it. I was literally allowed to be kinda faggy about it! I wore a dress this weekend and everything! I can't even imagine having the freedom to wear something like that out of the house back home.
Among other things, we went to a Long Island mall. Because this was a mall in the tri-state area, it had more than one of those big anime shops where they just sell a bunch of stuff from Japan. I scoured every inch of them looking for Fate/ series merch. Specifically, I wanted to find Saber. You'd think this would be pretty easy considering Fate/Grand Order is one of the biggest things EVER and Fate/ is like, a building block of anime culture to this day. You would think that, wouldn't you? But no, two hours and two stores later, I found ZERO Sabers! Everything was all Jiujitsu Kaisen all the time! If you want Shonen Slop merch, that's what the anime stores are for now. I couldn't really find merch of ANYTHING that wasn't currently airing beyond like. Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Gundam. And we all know that doesn't count because there's ALWAYS Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Gundam.
Because of the lack of Saber, I ended up spending my money at Barnes & Noble instead. I got a couple volumes of Destroy All Humans, They Cannot Be Regenerated. It's a manga about some teens in Japan at the advent of Magic the Gathering. I'm enjoying it a lot. It's a really nice blend of the typical Hobby Anime-type tropes and cutesy, will-they-won't-they romance. I could write a post about it when I finish it! Spoiler alert, it was so good I read all the volumes I bought before I even got on the plane home.
The wedding itself was POGGERS. We went to an aquarium. It was loud as hell, but the music choices were good. Also, I kinda stumbled my way into being in Ethan's wedding party because my partner was already in it. I had to be at the venue at the same time they did, so why not? I basically just did my best to help everyone keep their heads on and find missing people (Ethan, it was usually Ethan). Also, going to the Gay Trans People wedding means you make new Gay Trans Friends. Shout out to Keila and Chloe, who were HUGE HELPS getting us back to Ky's house after the wedding. We all went out for breakfast the day after too. Ever been to Qdoba? I hadn't before that day! It's like if Chipotle was like. Good. I love places where, yeah you did pay $10 for your meal, but they give you SO MUCH FOOD, man. I got a big-ass quesadilla and it came with sour cream to dunk it in.
This past week was a delightful time. I'd love to do it again sometime. I wonder how long after a vacation you're supposed to still be thinking about the vacation. Will I still be all giddy about it in a week? How about two? Honestly, I hope so! It feels nice!