December is Upon us! But unfortunately, this will not be one of those posts where I tell you all about my day of decorating and struggling with tangled fairly lights whilst fighting the cat off the tree. Nope, this is a post of what happened this weekend when I attended the Wales Comic Con!
So grab a Panad , maybe a little snack and settle down... It's going to be a long read!
I only found out about Wales Comic Con around April last year after scrolling through Facebook and seeing pictures on my newsfeed from someone who had attended. I was instantly intrigued and looked up the website. There were so many faces I recognised from shows I used to watch! James Marsters who plays Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for one! I was awestruck! Spike had been in Wales and how did I not know of this?! I assumed it was an annual convention and started making plans to go the next year. To my surprise they were hosting another convention in the November! I learnt that it was actually a bi-annual convention that took place in April and November. So I turned up that November and the following April and got to experience an amazing day out with Jodie and a couple of friends, meeting some of my favourite TV people!
This time however, the convention was held in early December as it was the only free space the organisers could fit it in with the University. I don't think the date was an issue at all in all honesty and it kind of conveniently worked out on my behalf. As an early Christmas gift I had bought entry tickets for my mum and stepdad and also a photo opportunity with a guest of their choice. By the end of the day, they both loved the experience as it was their first time at a convention.
The day began as any other day, I wasn't cosplaying so I just got myself dressed, did my hair and make up whilst Jodie got herself ready. My friend Daniel arrived at mine for 8:30am which was handy as he kept Jodie company whilst I finished getting myself ready! Time for the mental check list. Money? Tickets? Will it be cold? I need to stop off for petrol before we go.... better check the air in my tyres too.... Have I remembered everything?!
The answer to that was no... I hadn't remembered to prepare a "sickness kit" for Jodie. She has a tendency for getting motion sickness, but in the rush of the morning and the fact she hadn't shown any motion sickness in a few months, I hadn't considered it. I usually pack a bag she can be sick in, some baby wipes, kitchen roll and some anti-bacterial wipes. I'll pack an extra set of clothes too. Unfortunately and what's considered to be sod's law, I had none of the above and she had thrown up in the back of the car within 25 minutes of the journey! I couldn't believe it! Luckily I knew we weren't to far from a slip way that exited next to a super market! Once I pulled up, I checked Jodie over, and to my surprise she had completely missed herself! It had all gone on the floor of the car! Jodie, Daniel and I made a dash into the supermarket and looked for all the items we needed to clean up the mess like it was an episode of Supermarket Sweep! Kitchen Roll... baby wipes... Apple scented anti-bacterial wipes and spray. I was so glad there wasn't a rush to get to the convention early as the photo opportunities I had paid for were later in the day!
Once the car was cleaned up to the best that we could achieve, we were on our way again, keeping a cautious eye on Jodie of course. We got to the University of Wrexham just before midday, and I have to admit, I hate driving around Wrexham. the amount of times I've almost ran a red light on the round abouts is rather shameful, but I didn't! But I found it dangerous to try and cross over to the lane I needed to get into. But I managed it! I found my way into the car park of the University but this posed the next problem for me. Parking. Everywhere was so full! Cars were parking on the green and some area's were coned off which I found baffling. Luckily I'd spotted a car leaving and made a b-line to the spot he had left.
Finally we had arrived! I could breathe and enjoy the rest of my day. I was wrong again. Although it was just after midday at this point, I went up to one of the guard at the door asking if it was ok to go in as my ticket said the doors opened at 11am. He told me to go to the back of the queue as everyone with the same ticket as we had were still making their way in. The queue was full of people in cosplay of characters from TV shows, Films and Games, was wrapping around the back of the building! I'd honestly thought the queue would have gone down by this point in the day, but there were thousands of attendants. We managed to find the back of the queue and we waited a further 20 minutes before we managed to get in and to get our wrist bands.
Another dilemma... where was my mum and step-dad? I phoned my mom to see if they managed to get in before we did, but it turned out they were confused as to where they had to go as there were no sign posts to tell them where to go for the entrance. They had arrived and managed to find a parking space, but they were queueing in the area where the photo op's were being taken. I don't know how, but I managed to run across the campus in heels over muddy grass, and I didn't fall! Can I consider this as a skill? But once there, could I find them? Nope! Turned out we had passed each other without realising and she was in the middle of the campus waiting for me. back we run again. Finally I found them, but the rush wasn't over! by this point it was 12:35pm and I still had to get them round to the front to get their entrance band and get them all the way back to where they originally were as my step dad had a Photo Op with Sean Pertwee at 12:50! The queue was still going down! I managed to get them both in though as my mom has mobility issues and they were sympathetic towards her.
We got there save, managed to park, managed to get in, eventually managed to get my mum and stepdad in, now could I finally breathe?! Yes, whilst we went to get food. I was starving at this point! 1pm and we hadn't been able to check anything out yet. I had unfortunately missed the panel talk with the cast members of Bones which had started at 12:30pm and with everything going on, it was all shambles. My concern for others was they had a ticket for 11am, people were still in the queue at 12:30pm, the photo ops had begun at 11:30am. I know quite a few people will have missed out as they had paid for those photo ops and as far as I'm aware, they're non-refundable. Hopefully this will be something the organisers will look over their next event in April.
By the time we had finished with food, we pretty much had the day to roam around everywhere as the photo op I had wasn't until 4:45pm. Unfortunately from the morning, Jodie wasn't feeling great so I was on edge in case she was sick again. There were 2 signing areas, one dedicated to the cast of The Walking Dead and the queue of people waiting to get in was pretty long! Daniel had wanted to have a look but decided against it as it was too cold to wait outside and he had no intention of actually buying anything. The second signing area however, was the place to be! This is where you found the rest of the attending guests! Posters adorned the walls to show who was sitting where, but it was almost a fight to get through the crowd as it was hard to tell who was in a queue for a guest or who was just waiting to get past!
John Noble... Laura Vandervoot... then I spotted the trio I had come to see! Eric Milligan, Tamara Taylor and TJ Thyne from the US crime show Bones! I had Met TJ Thyne back in April, so I was excited to meet him again. I saw Eric Milligan (also known as Zack Addy in his role on Bones) first and we had a chat where he was telling me about his new album coming out in January. Turns out he's a Broadway singer too! I gave him my e-mail to let me know when it was released, whilst he signed a picture for me. Next I waited in line to see Tamara Taylor (Cam Saroyian). She was such a lovely person and so happy and excited to meet everyone! When it came to our turn her assistant was trying to cheer Jodie up as she still wasn't feeling well. Tamara was loving Jodie's jumper though as it had a heart of double sided sequins that were gold, but when brushed up turned silver. Again, we had another little chat about city life verses country life and how she loved what she saw of Wales so far!
After saying our goodbyes, I had to take Jodie out of the building as it was too hot and she wasn't feeling right. We exited through the fire escape doors that were open and Daniel and I were deciding amongst ourselfs what we were going to do next. As we stood there, a guy walks buy and almost bumps into Jodie, he stops and apologises and to my surprise it was Nicholas Brendon (Xander from Buffy the Vampire Slayer)! He tried making a little joke to Jodie about being in his way but by the look Jodie gave him, she wasn't amused and he apologised again. I told him not to worry as she hadn't been feeling well all day at which he gave his sympathies and we chatted for a little while (I was fan girling so hard on the inside though, it was hard to keep a cool face on). His assistant Tee was so lovely, she said she had some travel sickness pills in her bag and gave me what she had left to help Jodie for the ride back home. I was so touched by her generosity! They were both so amazing to talk to, I even tweeted Nicholas Brendon later that night to send my regards to his assistant for being so kind.
We wandered round the campus for a while, guessing who everyone was dressed as. I think I'd seen about 7 different Harley Quinns, plenty of people dressed as the cast from the walking dead (zombies included), storm troopers, Thor, Jareth from Labyrinth, and a couple of couples dressed as Wanda and Cosmo from the Fairly Odd Parents. One couple even had a baby they dressed up as baby Poof. It's amazing to see the effort people put into their costumes when they attend these conventions!
After a sit down and a Panad we decided to give the signing hall another go as it seemed to have gone quieter later in the day. We went to see TJ Thyne as we missed him the previous time. I spoke to his assistant for a bit whilst he was finishing up with the other fans, asking about the photo ops as I'd heard they were running behind schedual. She tried reassuring me they might make up time as I didn't fancy waiting too long with how Jodie was feeling. TJ Thyne welcomed us by giving us all a hug, and again I had to keep my cool and not fan girl too much. I told him it was great seeing him again and he said the same and that it had been months! Does he actually remember me from April or is he just saying it? I'm taking the first choice haha! He was so lovely to talk to, he had a play of Jodies awesome jumper too and Tamara piped in saying she loves the jumper. He then asked Jodie to choose a pen, and to draw over one of his pictures, to give him a beard, a funny hat or big ears, basically do whatever to his face, whilst he signed the photo of my choosing. I thought this was such a thoughtful way to interact with her and to lift her spirits. He even signed it to her once she was done saying "Jodie! what have you done to me!". He truly is a genuinely nice guy and I love seeing him at the convention!
I bumped into my mom and stepdad and we chatted about what we'd done and who we saw during the day. They thanked me again for getting them the tickets for the day because they were enjoying themselves a lot more than what they'd expected. It felt good to know they were enjoying it and that no materialistic gift would compare to the joy they were experiencing. Might make a mental note of giving gifts of experiences over items in the future!
Really, towards the end of the day all we were waiting for was for my Photo Op with the cast of Bones. Turns out the Photo Ops were now running an hour behind. Daniel had gone to see the Buffy Panel so Jodie and I were left to wander the same campus over again and we ended up sitting on the floor in the signing hall, just waiting for time to pass by. We people watched, watching all the interactions between fans and guests and saw how the fans faces glow when they meet their idol and people posing with Storm troopers as though they've been captured.
After a long wait and managing to squeeze into the photo op hall where I could get Jodie somewhat comfortable, It was finally my time to pose with Eric, Tamara and TJ! Daniel had stayed with Jodie as she decided she didn't want to be a part of the picture. Waiting in line, I can honestly say my heart hasn't raced so much in my life! I don't know why my heart was racing so much as Ii had already seen them all previously in the day. When it was my turn I was all smiles at the warm and exciting welcomed by all three! As I was getting into position I remember TJ saying he was going to hold round me, at which I was beaming, and then I could feel Tamara Holding me too which sent me in to a mentally happy chaos. Over all I was just bursting with happiness! I reluctantly said my goodbyes as the next person took her place. I was almost skipping out the room!
The next task was to get my printed picture and to get Jodie back to the car. She'd had enough bless her, but did well through the day. On the way to the car, I'd spotted Nicholas Brendon out on the balcony talking to some people and I pointed him out to Daniel. Still in my state of overwhelming happiness, I was feeling mischievous. Should I say something? should I not? "Goodbye!" I blurted, but caught his attention! He yelled good bye back at which I responded with "I love you!" and he said he loves me too! Who doesn't love a bit of banter eh? It's even better when Its someone you admire and respect! We finally made it to the car and I don't think I'd left the gates of the campus before Jodie was flat out in the back. She slept the entire way home.
Overall, I had really enjoyed my day, despite the rough start. I do applaud the organisers for all the hard work they put into bringing these events to fruition. In a perfect world everything would go smoothly and everyone would be happy. But the world isn't perfect and there's bound to be some times where things go wrong, but the way the crew handle the situations is admirable. There's no other way I would have been able to meet the people I love from the shows that mean the most to me if it wasn't for those who put everything into putting a convention together. Thank You to Jaime Milner and his team for all the effort given into these convention through the years. You've made so many people incredibly happy!
The next convention will be held on April 21-22 2018. If you're interested in the event, you can follow Wales Comic Con on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date on when tickets go on sale and also which guests will be attending! I'm definitely going as my Birthday happens to be the 21st, so I know it will be an epic way to spend my birthday!
