#Epic Con

[bylerworld]

millie feeding mileven shippers today

[finnoahsource]

all the awwws at the end he's so people's prince 🥹👑

[byler-alarmist]

Are they.....y'know.....very special friends?

[zhuzha-flybeelzebub]

[fizzigigsimmer]

So I went to the Upside Down con on Sunday, and got a picture with Joe. I also sat in on a panel with him, Mason & Grace, which resulted in me introducing @robthegoodfellow to the absolute shudder fest that is Flowers In The Attic, later at the hotel. But before we were subjecting ourselves to incest flavored southern gothic horror, there was the con - which was way more chill than I was expecting.

Anyway some reflections, observations and a few pics under the cut. Sorry there aren’t a lot of pictures. My dinosaur phone is full of apps for work and has storage issues.

I’ve been to a few of these types of events in the past and it is always a mixed bag. Overall I thought Epic did a great job of keeping things organized and moving swiftly. It was a younger crowd on Sunday so there was generally speaking a very lighthearted atmosphere to the whole thing and generally less “mania” as some of the larger cons I have been to. But on the other hand, I think a touch of the fan frenzy has its place lol. You love to see the costumes and feel the energy… there’s something about being in a space full of people who all really love something who have come to celebrate hard - the celebratory festival vibes I think is what I missed most from this convention. But that said, it’s super young, it was a great time, and there’s always room to grow.

I will never be over the disappointment of missing Dacre, but meeting Joe was lovely. It was obvious that he was tired and (to me) he seemed a bit awkward and anxious, but it made the experience better because he was so normal about the way he welcomed and spoke to everyone despite these things. He felt real to me in a way that not everyone does. My rose tinted glasses and giddiness aside, I left the interaction feeling not like I had met someone important or been in the presence of ‘SOMEONE’ but rather that I had stood next to a nice guy who’d been told only minutes before where to stand, but who did it with sincerity.

I observed this not just in our blink and you’ll miss it interaction, but with everyone I watched him meet that day. He smiled and engaged with people, making little jokes and comments to make them feel welcome; despite the fact that besides Millie he had the largest crowds, and this was the last day so he must have been drained. He’s very good with kids. I enjoy kids but don’t find them the easiest to immediately connect with/talk to, so I admire folks who can just immediately get on their level and banter with them and that’s what I observed with Joe as he met younger fans. In answer to a question of how he became the babysitter he said it came natural because he grew up with four sisters and he’s used to it. Also, when he initially met the younger cast they were already smarter than him “so it all just came together”.

On the panel, which he could have easily dominated, he was never first to speak unless a fan directly pointed a question at him. This allowed for Grace and Mason to speak just about as often as he was speaking. Which was a relief because the imbalance of the panel was something that I as well as other attendees had noticed. Our group had actually had a discussion about this and whether we should or shouldn’t ask Joe direct questions with a young woman sitting near us as we waited for the panel to start. A few fans did end up directing their questions solely at Joe, but it wasn’t as imbalanced as we feared it could be and I think that’s due in part to the audience’s mindfulness but also to Joe being so laid back and willing to take a back seat. Literally, lol he sat in the furthest chair that was blocked by a big column in the center of the room. When he did speak he was funny and once again came off as very easy going and authentic. The Steve vibes were strong with many of his answers to random questions - particularly the one about what other role they’d take in the industry if they could. His was prop design, because it would be fun to see what he could come up with and what chaos might result. He then made a little joke about bringing some sort of rice when they had asked for knives.

This is no slight to Joe as an actor but more of a critique/observation of the Duffers, but I am even more convinced than I was before that Steve’s core is Joe and that the character we get is pieced from Joe’s acting choices. I think they were being very literal with the fact that they loved him as a person and decided to keep him around. It feels very much like when they ditched their original plan for the character they also tossed most of the character development around it. Now when they find him things to do each season I would put money down on the mindset being 80% “ooh we’d love to see Joe do this thing or say this thing!” and only about 20% who is Steve and what would he do. The end result is Steve/Joe are now only separated by very thin lines. While it’s not how I would do things it’s not a terrible thing across the board - Steve is after all very lovable and we got 5 seasons with him. Anyway, I could be wrong but that’s my honest take.💁🏾‍♀️

I would love to pick Joe’s brain one day and hear more about how he finds Steve in the soup and where he thinks the threads of character are (or were). Maybe one day!

[sixxth]

Ph: https://vk.com/shinophoto

Fd: Dark Souls

Ch: Gwyndolin ☀️

[underthecanyonmoonx]

I mean what. Can I go back? Ugh pinch me. He was so sweet🥹

[makaylahashton]

i just think that joe keery 🥹💖

we bonded over little shop of horrors and he said i can be the audrey to his seymour. i fear i may never shut up about that for as long as i live. (i’m attaching the story time for that below the pictures for context)

also yes, That picture of his hands was from my photo op 🫶🏻

steve harrington my beloved

[mikhalson]

Wander Over Yonder team at Epic Con!!!

[superhoechles]

Photo Ops at Epic Con Chicago.

Orny and Tyler are the best. Always & forever.

[rileyjami]

Forgot to mention… yeah I met Joe keery :) also bonus second photo with him we asked him to pose as Kurt kunkle

[finnoahsource]

Noah Schnapp with Cara Buono at the Upside Down Epic Con 19/10/24

📸: adrisevents

[byler-alarmist]

Hey if anyone gets the chance to ask questions at a panel, could you please ask about the discrepancy between Will's character classes?

He styles himself as a wizard, his character sheet originally said wizard, the comics have Mike originally asking him if he wants to be a wizard, his password for Castle Byers is the name of a wizard, etc.

Why does Mike call him a cleric in S2? Is he double-classed? Was he forced by the gang to change his character type to a cleric instead of a wizard because of El, even though she was presumed dead? Is it a different timeline????

I need to know!!

[kassy-munson]

im not 100% confident in saying this since he will be filming f4 and nycc is at the same time, but imagine if joseph quinn somehow ends up going to the epic con in october with joe keery... we would finally get a steddie reunion for the first time ever at a con! could you imagine!! im freaking out just thinking about this possibility

[theclassymike]

Leo Howard attends Epic Con taken by adrisevents.

[wehatepaparazzi]

candice outside of caroline forbes’ home in covington, ga this weekend for the epic con ‘23!