It’s that time of the year again. The time of year that you start staying up all night to prepare for a weekend spent with 57,000 of your closest friends. It’s the week before Dragon Con, and you are racing to get everything completed in time.

The week before convention normally consists of scrambling to get costumes done on top of being a functional member of society--whether that be a student or working professional. In between coats of paint, you frantically read scholarly articles that contrast performance practice with score notation in hopes of not getting behind in school, but you know it’s bound to happen. You drink a pot of coffee a day so that you can get everything done. Your house-wear drastically changes. You find yourself wearing pajamas and high heels. How else are they going to get broken in?

It seems that everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. You realize that your hotel reservations have fallen through or the people who were allowing you to crash on their floor backed out on their promise. Your stomach drops; there is no way you’ll find a hotel a week before the con starts! But the con gods smiled in your favor today, and you found the perfect hotel room within walking distance of con central.

In the craze of finalizing your cosplay, you completely forgot what you are going to wear when you’re dressed as a normal person, or at least your best attempt at it. You have to have sensible shoes to make up for the damage you have done to your feet while in costume, and you have an existential crisis deciding what graphic-tees you should bring.

The week flies by, and next thing you know, it’s time. With hot-glue guns, super glue, and sewing kits in hand, you head for the big city: it’s time for Dragon Con. You spend the entire trip thinking about everything that can go wrong while simultaneously thinking about all of the things that will go right and all the praises you will get for your badass cosplay. Even the most seasoned veteran will be impressed by your hand-made cross between DC super villain and steampunk.

Despite all of the worrying and stress that you deal with the week leading up to the event, you always have a blast. Dragon Con is a home away from home with 57,000 of your closest friends. And as soon as you get in your car to head back home, you’re already thinking about what to cosplay as next year.