#i was at sdcc and went to disneyland

[expelliarmus]

[sersi]

Is it bad that I don’t go to the convention? I don’t have that kind of money but at the same time it doesn’t feel like I’m a valid fan or love these things as much as everyone else who goes to these things and meets the actors which is my dream to meet Evans. Even though I know that’ll never happen. But I do love the marvel fandom more then anything I just feel I’m missing out on a big part that brings everyone together. Cause I can’t go to a con

It’s not a bad thing at all, anon! I don’t really think that being a fan or your worth as a fan should be tied in to your (financial, physical, etc.) resources or even your interest in doing insane and sometimes really expensive things. Further, while cons are something of a community experience, as someone who has gone to a lot of them + been in fandom for a long time, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways of finding or engaging with your particular fan community. To further explain my perspective/because I don’t know how to talk about cons without being a bit long winded, I’ve sort of broken the rest of this answer down in a few parts, which are under the cut.

So, cons in general are not for everyone. When Tumblr was more active/had more people interested in going to San Diego Comic Con around here, I would sometimes get questions about whether or not someone would like SDCC or if SDCC was worth it. My answer to this would usually be some variation of “Can you handle crowds?” and “How much effort are you willing to put in?” If you’ve ever been Disneyland or some other popular theme park during a super busy summer day and had a hard time handling those crowds, SDCC would probably not always be that fun for you. Because the crowds are just as bad, if not worse at times. And if you’re someone who doesn’t like crowds and therefore has no interest or desire to ever go to a con, that doesn’t mean you’re less of a fan!! It just means you want to have a good time with fandom and not do things you hate 🤷🏽‍♀️!

The reason I mentioned effort is that it is another thing that is both incredibly important to your con experience. As someone who followed SDCC for years online before I ever went, it is easy to think that every single day you, as a con attendee, will be doing tons of fun things: seeing all the exclusive footage, doing signings, visiting cool offsites, etc. I love Comic Con, I have tons of fun at Comic Con, and I can tell you that, when attending the con, you will probably miss more things than you actually see. While not every line is long, a lot of them are and, depending on what your priorities are, you may end up having to devote a significant portion of your day (or, if we’re talking certain super high demand panels/activities, multiple days in some cases) to doing that one thing. The years when Marvel Studios attends, I have gone with that being my #1 priority and basically shaped the rest of my con around the time I have to devote to ensure that I will get into their panel. (In addition to missing all the other panels that are also on Saturday, some of which, at any other con, would absolutely be my top priority as well as the ability to try and pull for tickets for the Marvel movie signings, which are usually also on Saturday). 

Now, to me, this is worth it because I really, really, really want to see the exclusive footage and know that Marvel, historically, does not release most of what they show at the con online. (This is in contrast to WB, which tends to release everything or almost everything that is shown during their big Comic Con panel). However, it isn’t worth it to everyone (I have friends who’ve either stopped doing the Marvel panel or even going to SDCC entirely just because they got tired of the lines/time commitment) and that doesn’t mean they’re less of a fan than I am. I personally have the advantage, I guess, of being good at functioning on very little sleep during conventions and have never had any issues with crowds. Not everyone is like this! My younger sister, for example, is terrible at running on limited sleep for multiple days in a row and her ability to do stuff at SDCC is very much dependent on me being the one to wake up super early and go get in line.

For me, SDCC is a community experience–I have friends who I met at cons and only see at cons as well as friends who I became closer to through meeting in person at a con. However, for big cons like SDCC, where a lot of things are being announced and released, I think there is just as active and viable a community experience online. And that experience is one that, as someone at the con, I usually end up missing. Most of the time, when I get home from SDCC, I end up spending a lot of time trying to catch up with all the announcements, interviews, memes, etc. that came out of the con and that I missed because I was busy standing in some line with shitty cell service or slowly dying while eating dinner because it’s 9:45 p.m., I haven’t had real food all day, and I’ve been up since 3:15 a.m.

So, if community is really what you want, I think that just being online, talking about what you’re excited for, what you’re looking forward to, etc. is one of the best ways to find that community. Having been in fandom since 2012, it’s been the weeks right after a new MCU movie drops that have really helped me form new friendships. For example, @captainwondyful and I “met” during the immediate aftermath of The Winter Soldier coming out/through the SamSteve tag and now we basically talk 24/7 and are meeting up to see Endgame together.

And, finally, because I couldn’t really figure out where else to put this, the conventions with exclusive footage and the conventions where people go and pay a lot of money to get autographs from/take pictures with assorted celebrities, are generally not the same conventions. SDCC, which gets, by far, the most big movie panels, is actually terrible for paid photo ops or autographs with celebrities because most of the celebrities who are there are being paid by the studio releasing their movie/tv show and, consequently, spend all of their time doing press. While there are tv/movie signings, pretty much all of them are done via lottery and most will have, at absolute best, 100 tickets (some will have much less than that). So, while some people do get to meet their favorite actor, at a convention with over 100,000 attendees, it is a very, very small group. (And, speaking from experience, the Marvel TV/movie signings are probably the hardest to get at this point). Personally, while I have met/gotten the autographs of some MCU actors, for the most part, I did it via waiting for movie premieres, not SDCC or any con with paid photo ops.

[midnightswithdearkatytspb]

Favourite moment with your favourite person?

I sat on this for a few days because I don't think I have a favorite person if I'm being honest with you. I have people who I love deeply and I cherish our moments together and I have particularly favorite moments with them that I can share with you.

Mum — I lost her on April 21, 2016, and think about her almost every day. She had her struggles with addiction all of my childhood, but when she was sober she was amazing. My favorite moment I can remember being this little girl and I couldn’t sleep, I having this really bad hysterical moment, she had insomnia, took me in her arms out on to the back patio the moon was full and to she told me a story about this little girl who waited every night stayed awake at her bedroom window waiting for her best friend Pegasus, the horse. He would take her on a journey in the stars to far off destination each one never the same, together conquering her fears till she had no more. She held me in her arms for hours going on and on till dawn, I got to skip school. Up until her death she would bring Pegasus up.

Papa — I lost my Papa on August 5th, 2000, just a week after going home from spending the summer with both him and my aunt. He had spent over half my summer in a nursing home it was just an awful place, but I would go visit him there, and I would be sent out of his room so the adult could talk, while they talked the placed just smelled of death. Anyways... The very last summer my Papa was alive and the very last weekend I had with him he asked me if I would attend church with him. I said of course Papa. We got up bright and early we made homemade bread, put in the bread maker, and just me and him went to church together. My Nana stayed behind because it was just too early for her. Church was so beautiful he held my hand and cuddled me into his side, I remember feeling so special because it was just me and him. I had always had to share my Papa with someone, weather it was my Nana, my cousin, an aunt or uncle. It was the best day morning for 9 year old me.

Grandpa — You all know I just lost my to COVID Grandpa back on December 18, 2020, my favorite moment with him was walking in the park my grandparents house with him or playing in the snow for the first time. In November of 2009 we went to Minnesota and they had a blizzard, which they don’t really get in November, we were there for my birthday. I was so excited because this was just the best birthday gift ever, so my Grandpa was patient he bundled me up in leggings, jeans, boots, snow jacket, beanie, and a scarf, took me outside to play in it. At the time my grandparents had their golden retriever Queenie who was the same age as me and it was just so much fun. I got to build a snowman and we went for a walk in the park to see the frozen lake. It was just all so beautiful, when went back this last time I could almost see little me and Grandpa walking the same path. The lake was yet again in parts frozen over but melting away. I miss him deeply.

Grandma — I think every time I spend with my Grandma I leave saying this was my favorite time with Grandma, the only trips I didn’t like was my last trip when I we had to see my Grandpa though the window at his nursing home and the one when were went to have a memorial service for my Mum. My Grandma makes me just feel absolutely loved and adored. She reminds me during every phone call conversation of the things she loves about me tells me how proud she is to have me for a grandchild than talks about how proud she is to have the rest of her grandchildren, but I find that adorable. I just love her so much and I’m just so freaking lucky to have her.

Aunt Lara — My Aunt Lara is like a second mom to me, I spent parts of my summers with her and she always took good care me. What’s hard to decide is either her wedding to my Uncle Mike, who is a pretty cool guy who acts sometimes like a second dad to me. Or the 4th of July party of 2001, when I realized just how “popular” or cool my aunt was. I was a flower girl in my Aunt’s wedding and I should really say that Lara isn’t really my Aunt she is my 3rd cousin, but I call her my Aunt because it’s easier. On her wedding day she managed to make it about me still. Like she made me feel like a princess. My hair was done professionally, my nails were done professionally. She made sure no one made me cry. I felt like a princess on her day. It meant the world to me. At her reception she had the chicken dance played would she knew I was obsessed and Macarena and she made me dance with her. I went back to my parents hotel room with a smile on my face. Now the 4th of July party, there was just so many famous people and I 11 years old just going, I knew my aunt knew them but like why are they here? Like in that moment I understood how important my Aunts job was...though to this day I still get confused by it so please don’t ask, it involves contracts and trial science.

Dad — Dad is one of my best friends, I can tell him anything he wont judge me and he tells me everything and I don’t judge him. I help him understand things when they are changing and he helps me with stuff. My favorite moment probably be when Dad took me to Disneyland for my 26th Birthday, we hadn’t been since I was really little and I didn’t remember going. We rode on Pirates of the Caribbean 3x’s, Haunted Mansion 3x’s, Splash Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (is that what it’s called?) and Peter Pan. We had dinner with my best friend Marissa and the next day we went to Universal Studios Hollywood to Harry Potter area and I just was in Heaven. When he talked to my Uncle about a few months later he said it was hilarious to watch my face light up, over the littlest things. 🤦🏻‍♀️ My favorite moments honestly are watching TV shows with my Dad like we just finished WandaVision and he cried along with me. Baking together in the kitchen, learning from each other, and just talking.

Ally — My best friend of 6 years Ally and I worked our asses off at the 2017 SDCC (San Diego Comic Con). We had such a blast doing that together but man did I get sunburned but it was worth it. We got to see each other and spend time together. She is coming up next week and we are going to be in the city at my Aunt’s (not my aunt Lara’s) and just enjoying our time together, because it’s been way to long since we have seen each other. We FaceTime quite a bit but it’s just not the same. 💗

[astralkatcosplay]

This was the craziest fun-filled weekend. I woke up at 4am central time/2am pacific time on Thursday to fly from Nashville to San Diego. Spent 5 hours at the zoo. On Friday, wandered around the outside of SDCC in cosplay and went to a bar where I was 15 feet away from Elijah Wood. Hung out with TAZ fans before going to the TAZ live show that didn’t start until 10:30pm. Went to sleep at 1:30am. Woke up at 6am to drive 2 hours to Disneyland, was there from basically park open to park close (8am - 11:30pm). Went to sleep at 1:30am, woke up at 7am to go to the airport. I am now waiting at the gate to go back home. It’s been crazy and wonderful.

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

ABCs

I was tagged by @youre-on-a-starship, @kaitymccoy123 and @starshiphufflebadger for this ABC thing. I was totally going to avoid it because of the first question, but since THREE of you tagged me ;)

A - age: Ancient. Life, the Universe and Everything birthday coming up in August.

B - biggest fears: Ducks. Mucus. Puking. I feel like I maybe need to explain. I’m fucking terrified of ducks. They’re called irrational fears for a reason, so don’t ask why. I doubt I’ve ever met a nurse who isn’t completely squicked out my mucus. I found out today my Doctor is too, as he recoiled in anguish from me as I described some of the joy in my son over the last week. And I just... I would rather gnaw my own arm off than puke. I don’t know if that counts as a fear, but there you go.

C - current time: 2254

D - drink you last had: coke zero

E - every day starts with: coffee

F - favorite song: ever? 39 - Queen

G - ghosts, are they real?  I dunno. But I know this much: whenever we have a death at work, there’s a race to open the fucking window and let the spirit out. Superstitious? You betcha.

H - hometown: North Vancouver

I - in love with: my kids. I would seriously fucking murder for them.

J - jealous of: people who don’t have the plagues of egypt visiting their houses.

K - killed someone: No. I vote we pick a new question for K. This one creeps me out because it makes me recall past med errors.

L - last time you cried: I got all verklempt yesterday, but I haven’t had a real cry since before my Mum died. Wait, that’s not true. I lost my shit at some point after Christmas about the mess in the house and became a crying snotfactory.

M - middle name: It’s super rare, so I’m not sharing it. Since I started the riddles up in A though, I’ll give you a clue: It’s Biblical. It’s OT. You can find it in Numbers. In Chapter 3.

N - number of siblings: 1. 

O - one wish:  to see my children make it through this fucked up world okay.

P - pers n you last called/texted: Both: Dad

Q - questions you’re always asked: "You’re HOW old?” and “Is that your natural hair colour?”

R - reasons to smile: The ridiculously expensive anti-emetic that I love to have hidden for when gastro rips through my house is now a) available in generic at 1/4 the price and b) covered by my benefits plan which makes it 1/4 the price of the generic. BOOYA.

S - song last sang: Seriously? God Save the Queen (I was at an activity with my girl. As the flag is recessed, that’s what you sing)

T - time you woke up: This morning? 0630. But then because I’d also been up for an hour with the boy at 0300, I went back to bed until his doctor’s appointment.

U - underwear color: I think they are pink? mauve? I don’t know, it’s dark in here.

V - vacation destination: I always assume this means I have unlimited finances and unlimited vacation time. I’m spending a month in the UK. Then I’m going to Boston again. Then SDCC. Then New Zealand because there are fewer things that will kill me there than there are in Australia. Then I’m coming home and taking the train across Canada. Then I’m taking the whole family back to Disneyland. We’ll probably go to Disneyworld too just for shits and giggles. And do Universal Orlando and see which Harry Potter thing is better.

W - worst habit: eating my feelings. chewing the skin off my lips when I am stressed. 

X - x-rays had: Oh boy. Uh... My entire body has been x-rayed, at least once. I’ve sprained both ankles enough (and twice fractured one) that they’ve both been x-rayed at least 6 times each. Knees like you wouldn’t believe (Osgood-Schlatters, PFS), hips, spine (bus wreck), chest (pneumonia x 2), neck, shoulders, head (same bus wreck), elbows, wrists and hands (tendinitis)

Y - favourite food: Cheese? My Mum made a wicked lasagna. Pumpkin pie.

Z - zodiac sign: Leo/Virgo cusp. (no, really, it’s a thing. And if we’re going to subscribe to zodiacs, let’s at least allow that I am truly super cuspy)

tagging: @medicatemedrmccoy, @from-kitten-to-kitsune, @bkwrm523, @lurkch, @wonders-of-the-enterprise

[brightcopperpenny]

I've seen it asked a few times: "How is that Bellarke couple at EVERY con?" I had some time today after we got back from Unity Days, so here's my answer.

Two reasons: location and budgeting/saving.

Location: Well first, we aren't actually at *every* con. It's just that the cons we go to happen to be the ones where there's a heavy presence for The 100, and that's primarily because we live in southern California. We've gone to San Diego Comic-Con since we moved here in 2003, and WonderCon since it moved to Anaheim in 2012, because they're easy for us to get to. DragonCon in Atlanta is the exception-- we first went in 2007 because it is THE con for cosplay/costuming, and we've kept going because it's so much fun and we've made so many amazing friends who we only see there once a year. (Seriously if you can ever make it to DragonCon, you should. It's so great-- not just for cosplay, but for everything. It's way better than SDCC. Well, except for the vendor floor.) Also Unity Days is obviously an exception, and we got lucky that they picked a weekend that worked with our schedules.

Money: Here again the location comes into play. Because we live fairly close to the San Diego convention center, we don't need a hotel for SDCC, and we bring food from home for lunch, so our only real cost is parking and badges. WonderCon is a quick drive up the 5 freeway and there are tons of terrible cheap hotels around, courtesy of its proximity to Disneyland. DragonCon is a different story; it's hella expensive, even sharing hotel rooms and trying to eat as cheaply as possible. For all of them, the strategy is the same: we budget for it.* We estimate the total cost of attending a year's worth of conventions, then divide that by 24 and automatically transfer that amount into a dedicated savings account twice per month, year-round. Then when it comes time to pay the bills, the funds are already there waiting. Some people vacation by going to the beach or to the mountains or to a theme park; we spend most of our vacation time and money going to conventions, because that's what we enjoy! :)

So that's basically how we do it. We save money year-round, and we live near two major conventions. Hope that answers the questions!

*(I love YNAB for budgeting; while it isn't free, it's the best software/app I've found that helps us see where the money's coming from, where it's going, and what our priorities truly are.)

[mayhugs]

2017 Reflection

This is just a blog post for me to write about my year and things I’ve experienced!! No need to read, just a sort of diary post for me!

TW: mentions of suicide

I feel like so much has happened to me this year, but at the same time, not much??

I guess the biggest change this year is the fact that I finally made the switch over from Biology/Pre-Dental to Accounting.. It was a really hard struggle for me at first, because I told myself I’d probably die before I gave up pre-dental, but somehow I ended up not lol. I was really sad and depressed about giving up my dreams of becoming a dentist, but I’ve been able to get past that and deal with my emotions. I still get sad sometimes, thinking about how I could have been a really good dentist, but I think the stress of the job would have really taken a toll on me in the end. Not to say that accounting won’t! It’s an equally stressful job, but I think I will be able to manage it a little better.

I experienced a lot of external change as well. One of my closest friends moved away for school. Although it’s only for a year, I feel like it’s not so different because she doesn’t go online a lot anyway LOL. We just used to hang out almost every week in person, so I miss having her around to hang out with lol.

Another of my closest friends got into dental school last minute. I was also really happy, but really sad about it at the same time. I’m so, so proud of him, especially because he basically had no back up plan lol, but I was mostly sad and jealous because I didn’t make it after two tries. I feel like my grades were one of the only things to hold me back, since I did get interviews. But again, I’ve dealt with it and have mostly moved past it. It’s a good thing he didn’t move too far away, but I don’t see him as often anymore.

I did feel like I got closer to another friend this year. We’ve only been friends for a few years but since a lot of our friends moved away or were busy with school, we started to hang out more, especially in the later part of the year. We had lots of just regular hang outs, and we also studied together. I’m really glad we got closer this year, and we share a lot of experiences and memories (mobages, otomes, and anime lol).

Some new experiences include my experience going to a filming of America’s Got Talent, a show I’ve been following for a long time! It was so fun getting to experience a taping of the show!! I also got to go to SDCC for the first time! I went as a volunteer, but I didn’t actually get to volunteer lol. There was no job for me to do, so they just let me go to the con lol. I hung out with a friend from high school that day who was working there.

I also got to TA for anatomy lab at GWC, which was something I had really wanted to do for a long time!! I’ve always waned to be a TA because I really like teaching others. I think if accounting didn’t work out, I’d want to try to be a bio professor. 

In the summer, I started my Masters program at UCI for accounting. I went into it really underestimating how difficult the summer intensive courses were... but I really tried my best and ended up doing better than expected, thanks to the curve LOL.

I also went to the Anisong World Matsuri Kawaii Live and got to see so many idols live!! I ended up crying when Walkure finished their live.. I was so emotional lol... and Aquors was so good... it was really one of the best nights of my life lol.

And I went to AX for 3 days this year! Usually, I only go one day a year, but I went with two of my closest friends. Also, they had a screening and panel for Katsugeki TKRB that I could NOT miss... They gave away a signed poster w/ Ryohei Kimura’s autograph and I was so jealous of the girl who won ugh lol... But I’m also so happy Kanesan was basically the main chara for Katsugeki LMAO. That was pretty much the last thing I expected!!!! Too bad the anime’s plot fell through lol...

I also ran my first 5k at Disneyland this year!! I had been training for it since around February. I ended up not being as fast as I wanted, but it didn’t matter in the end because it was more of a “fun” race than an actual timed race lol. I want to sign up for another, but it’s really expensive lol... And I want to actually get faster, but it’s so hard??

Going back to school, I think I’ve made some really good friends during my time here so far. I’ve only finished the summer course and I’m finishing up my first quarter, but I feel like I’ve gotten really close to a few of my classmates. They’re really good people and come from all sorts of different backgrounds. I really love learning about their experiences and culture. The fact that I spend almost 15 hours a week with the same people for our group projects helps. I’m SOOOOO glad my groupmates and I get a long!! Especially since I have the same groupmates for every class lol.. 

I feel like I’ve also changed as a person, hopefully for the better. I stopped caring a lot about trivial things, and my FOMO has gotten better lol. I used to get annoyed or sad when I wasn’t invited to things, but I’ve almost completely stopped caring now lol. 

I don’t know about my mental health, though I feel like once I move out and start taking care of myself away from my parents, I might actually start getting better. So many of my problems stem from pressure from my parents. I think I’m comfortable enough to talk about it now, but I used to be very suicidal from around high school to early college. It stopped when I had a goal to look forward to, that being dental school. However, during the two years after graduation and having to wait on applications and going to work with my dad, the thoughts came back and I was really depressed for the longest time. It continued a little into this year, but I think by learning new things and having a new goal, the thoughts don’t come nearly as often, but I still struggle a lot with depression and anxiety. I attempted to talk to my family doctor about it, and she referred me to the hospital, but I didn’t feel comfortable going to the ER for it at the time, so I tried to find ways to deal with it on my own. I haven’t really managed it, but I keep myself busy so that I don’t think about it. I’m really scared of my parents finding out if I go to a professional for help, so I’ve been putting it off until I am able to get my own place and be more independent.

In lighter notes, I am excited to finally get my first real job, move out, and support my parents. I want to be able to start paying for some of their stuff, like utilities or insurance and other bills so I gotta work hard the rest of this school year so I can get a good job!! I was really worried when I didn’t get hired during the big hiring season, but I ended up landing the internship for next year during Jan-April! I hope the firm I had my eyes on will open up more positions next year, when my grades are higher!!

I hope 2018 will be better!!!!!!

I didnt proofread this so sorry if things are all over the place lol BUT THANKS FOR READING IF U DID!!!!!

[lady-ha-ha]

Should I ding-dong ditch? ♦♣♥♠🃏♦♣♥♠🃏 I'm happily NOT @d23expo this weekend. I went in 2015 and wasn't impressed. I'm saving all my money for SDCC next weekend and NYCC in October. I'm not that big of a Disney fan. I just like Disneyland😜 because I have lots of commissions (I'm still having a sale on cowls to raise money for Oliver's vet bills) I'm staying in tonight sewing and I'll go live at 9pm PST Instagtam to chit chat with you all. If you have any questions for me to answer or just wasn't to hang out, come by! I'll show you Oliver! ♦♣♥♠🃏♦♣♥♠🃏 #harleyquinn #harleyquinncosplay #batman #thejoker #joker #dccomics #dcuniverse #suicidesquad #cosplay #cosplayer #margotrobbie #drquinzel #classicharleyquinn #btas #batmantheanimatedseries #sixflags #magicmountain #sixflagsmagicmountain #themepark #metropolis #superman #dailyplanet #clintonstreetapartments #battleformetropolis #summer #harleyquinncowl

[atthebell-moved]

i think it's also super unfortunate bc for a lot of people this is their first con, and it's hard to convey just how poorly run it was.

they had one of the biggest convention centers in the country at their disposal, that has for the last ~5 years hosted 130,000+ people, and still fucked up space logistics.

they had the stats and feedback from their OWN PRIOR CONVENTION in amsterdam and still railroaded dsmp events and fucked up meet n greets along with fucking up security for huge ccs.

they (should) have enough staff who know how to run a convention of this size, including everything from queue mechanics to accessibility concerns.

they should have the basic pr understanding that it looks bad to have disabled people getting crushed against walls bc of crowding and under-staffed line management.

they should understand how bad it looks to place the one, singular panel about female streamers in a ballroom that max fits 200 people, misgender and use the wrong pronouns for several of the ccs, then mistake one of the streamers for another in an instagram post and only correct that mistake ~4 hours after posting it.

gonna put the rest of this below a cut bc its just rambling and everything i personally saw as an attendee. this post is LONG viewers beware you're in for a scare

huge thing off the bat: they should be poaching staff from vidcon, comic con, etc. i'm confident that in the next 5-10 years sdcc is going to be bleeding attendees and experienced con staff will want to go somewhere new. steal those employees. offer them better pay. get their experience instead of having random twitch employees plan an event for like 40k people (can't find the numbers rn, it's prbably closer to 50k).

another thing: they should be poaching from or at least learning from theme parks. queueing mechanics are no joke-- disneyland has spent decades figuring out the best way to set up lines & maintain a good experience for park attendees. defunctland has some great videos on this, but suffice to say, nothing twitchcon did this time worked.

i think a lot of it's been obfuscated by people who weren't at the con or folks who didn't see each separate meet n greet, but here's how those were set up & why exactly they went horribly.

first thing: all meet n greet lines started as one big line. you walked into the second floor area, you got into a huge line, and then at the start of the actual meet n greet area they directed you to each line. for the first two days this entailed just. letting people through whenever there was space in people's lines. so rather than setting up long queues for each streamer, there was one huge line. this fucking sucked for people trying to see smaller ccs, because they were stuck in this huge line full of people trying to get into already-full lines. at one point we saw michael mcchill's line with like three people in it and there were probably three hundred people in the one huge line. there were probably michael mcchill viewers in there! but they were getting shafted by the giant fucking line.

lumen and i went to the first meet n greet at 9:30 on friday, which worked differently than all the others (and saturday's were spectacularly worse for other reasons). we figured karl, sapnap, gnf, and ranboo would fill up before we got there, so we were ready to hop in smajor's line. i'll note that con staff at this point clearly had no fucking idea what they were getting into, and there was not nearly enough of them.

the way they were doing lines at that session was that they had already filled up the aforementioned four ccs' lines, so they were opening the front of the ropes to just corral people into the other ccs' lines. someone opened it for us to hop in scott's line and that's what we did, but other folks thought they could still get into the other lines and got stuck waiting in front. we found out later that what they did was take a bunch of people into overflow queues to the side of the meet n greet area, where they were left to rot, because staff forgot about them or there wasn't enough time. later they (kind of) fixed this problem, but not the larger problem that the meet n greet lines were not big enough and were set up poorly from the start.

here is the entire second floor; i've circled the meet n greet area

i would estimate that the entire area for the meet n greets took up the size of like. a small soccer field. like max 1500 sq ft. probably smaller honestly but everythings becoming a blur.

this is the meet n greets including the entire room they were in, bc they shared space with the food court and artist alley (which was, btw, way too fucking small also)

meet n greets should have had their entire own floor. even for non-mcyt folks there were enormous lines and probably really frustrated people.

to add to this, for every meet n greet they didnt have enough lines. not joking. they were combining streamers lines. so sneeg & boomer shared one line (insane, bc they were the two biggest mcyt guys at that meet n greet session and it was while everyone who didnt make it to the dsmp panel was gunning for something else to do), hannah & tapl shared a line, and im pretty sure karl, gnf, and sapnap shared a line. i dont remember what their deal actually was, and im positive this was partially by ccs' request (i think karlnap + gnf wanted to be together for meet n greets, and same with hannah & tapl, though i doubt boomer and sneeg have talked enough to have requested that).

to add to this, i have no doubt that part of the accessibility issues with the meet n greets was because of the lack of space. there was no clear exit at the start of the con, and even later it was unclear which direction to go.

the other unfortunate thing (that twitchcon staff should be planning for) is that ccs want to take their time with each person and chat, but if they do so they meet less people. this is how you get ranboo meeting ~1200 people for 4 hours at vidcon. not to say he sucks for that, but its not feasible for anyone to do that, and im sure he was completely dead on his feet from that.

lumen and i also went to hannah's meet n greet on saturday, which went marginally better in general bc we arrived an hour and ten minutes early. we still waited a long time, but we got to see her & tapl and it was cool. however they had the same problem as friday of way too many people and instead of letting people into specific lines they just. kept the huge line. towards the end of the line they started putting people in overflow, which again, is where they waited to rot.

today we went to eret's meet n greet as our final hoo-rah (lmao) of the event. we showed up probably an hour and twenty minutes early. we got to the front of eret's line maybe five minutes before the end of the session. they had put us in overflow, and at this point actually were asking who people were there to see and were keeping count to send people away, but some of those people had already waited in line for probably 30min or more. sunday was by far the best they managed but still not good at all.

other HUGE problem with the lines: they did not anticipate mcyt fans showing up in droves. apparently con staff thought people would disperse to various events rather than congregating at particular events and this is part of why they didn't place dsmp events in larger venues. second part of this issue of anticipation is that they didn't plan for how many people would wait in line, despite how big a space was. well over 2k people waited in line for the dsmp panel. twitchcon did not even account for any kind of line (friday was a complete shitshow, you dont even understand) and were left floundering.

something else to note is all twitch communications said lines were to start 30min before events. on friday people were lined up 3 hours before the dsmp panel. these two things do not compute, and they mean staff were not watching the lines and directing them properly from the start, which helps explain why they lost control entirely.

so yes the mobbing that happened on friday is quite honestly unsurprising.

for sat and sunday, they realized they needed to get their shit together, so first thing is that they made a little area for disabled & priority people to sit to get into the glitch theater before everyone else, and there were way more staff present alongside security. they also had signs and staff throughout the line making sure people understood where things started and ended, how far into the hallway they were allowed to be, and when they had no hope of getting into the event. some level of improvement, but there was also some ridiculous shit they were pulling.

during several events yesterday they had like ten staff members holding pieces of rope together, like kindergartners, and were using them to bodily block line movement and crossing. so for a bit they would open a path into the theater for people waiting in line, then they would stop that line and allow cross traffic, because again, this was a full fucking hallway where people needed to walk. this was by far the stupidest thing ive ever seen and ive worked for colleges where organizers didnt remember students need to eat food.

not about lines anymore, but to address the foam pit, im gonna clarify a few things because people seem confused.

firstly, there were actually two foam pits on the con floor (and a ball pit by the entrance, but its irrelevant here). one was at the wendys booth, where people were hitting each other with foam french toast sticks over a foam pit. this pit was higher than the lenovo one but still a little iffy. they did not shut it down after adriana was injured at the other booth.

the booth that was a genuine problem was the lenovo booth, where they had a foam pit that i would say reached maybe 3/4 up my calf. i would generously call it a foot and a half high including the foam bits. people were similarly handed sticks to hit each other with and loud announcers said a bunch of shit into microphones. anyway. i took a photo of the foam pit today when it was not being used (although the booth was still open! people were still using the lenovo products to play little games three feet from where adriana broke her back!)

it's hard to see but it is not deep at all, and whats underneath is just the con floor, which is concrete and maybe a single layer of carpet. at most some of those foam bits reach a foot and a half, maybe two feet.

according to some folks the safe depth for foam pits without soft landing pads is like 6-8 feet deep (possibly meant to include the soft landing pads, im not a gymnastics person) which means it was a fraction of how safe it should have been. also i cannot get over the fact that they kept the booth open after someone BROKE THEIR FUCKING BACK and that wendys kept their pit running what the fuck is wrong with these people.

anyway the big thing i want to stress is that twitchcon is absolutely liable, at least morally, for this, but lenovo is absolutely on the hook for it as well. im not sure exactly how convention safety works for this, but i would guess its mostly on the exhibitors to provide proper safety. would not be shocked if the convention center is also liable, but again, im not a lawyer. i havent seen many people talking about lenovo being at fault so i want people to know thats part of it as well.

i also wanna address some of the more stupid/baseless rumors i've seen. the stuff about drink spiking seems to be because of advice some folks were giving out about not taking drinks from strangers because of the possibility of having your drink spiked, not the reality, but people took that out of hand and spread it like it had happened, and other folks used tweets from 2019 twitchcon where that did actually happen and it became a huge rumor. i have not heard a single cc or attendee from this year say their drinks were spiked.

second thing: sykkuno was not kicked out of twitchcon, he was asked to leave artist alley bc there was a huge crowd forming around him. this is a small thing but its bugging me that its being spread. it sucks that he couldnt hang out there but he's way too big of a streamer to be wandering the con without security, this is why they're supposed to let ccs on the con floor & into artist alley before/after everyone else is gone. that's what they did at vidcon at least.

third thing that's REALLY been bugging me: there is absolutely no confirmation that that person stole gnf's water bottle. they took a pic touching it on the table and then a pic of them holding an aquafina water bottle, which is the water they were selling throughout the con. if they actually stole it i suspect there would be a video. regardless, even if they did, they definitely did it as a reference to the smplive confession (which is itself a reference to a kpop stan copypasta. no one stole cooper's water bottle.) and not to be creepy, and they doubled down to get twitter clout. the smplive situation is also just entirely different, i know y'all think the serious stream jokes are funny but mcyt stans were just starting to exist and thats why that stream happened. all these streamers now think stans are fine so that would never happen. go watch lumenvale's video essay for the love of g-d.

another thing: most people were wearing their masks. i don't know where the idea came from that people weren't but i guarantee you 99% of mcyt fans were wearing masks the entire time, and most other people were as well. they made you verify your vaccination status or turn in covid tests also; i keep seeing straight up lies that they weren't checking for this but they absolutely were.

"unaccompanied minors" is also a meaningless thing to say; 14+ minors did not need to have an adult, and teenagers are perfectly capable of going to a con by themselves. sometimes they will be annoying or weird but that does not mean they need to be followed everywhere by a parent. i can also guarantee that a solid number of the freaks stalking ccs outside hotels and outside the partner lounge (no one's talking about that but i saw that personally and it was def happening, fucking creepy!) were fully grown adults.

also this is just a little thing but they had an affiliate kiosk with a little gift bag (that included shoelaces lmao) and they also had a pronouns bin at it that had literally like three she/her pins. lumen and i dug through it for several minutes to find a single one and i saw women digging all three days bc they apparently just. didnt buy enough she/her pins. which is a bad look already and then combined with the issues with one block at a time is just heinous.

random note at the end bc i just remembered it but they also had a huge line outside to get into the convention center and then a huge line for badge pickup and a huge line to get onto the floor, which only opened at 9 despite the building opening at 8. anyone who wanted to get to morning meet n greets early got kind of fucked by this and i dont understand why they had so many lines outside and then sucked at the lines inside. fucking nuts.

[cputrbug]

Today was a good day

I have been wanting to take my 14yr old daughter to Disneyland for a few years now. We went when she was 2 but she doesn't remember it. I'm a single mom and don't get child support, so a Disney trip has been way out of my budget. A few days ago I got a letter in the mail from my aunt that said "Happy birthday! I hope you enjoy Disneyland!" She included a check for $1,500.

My birthday is in January. I called my aunt to say "Is this for real and OMG thank you" and she said that she had always felt bad that she missed so many of my birthdays as a kid and now that she had money she wanted to make it up to me. My aunt is an amazing person. 

Today I made the hotel arrangements and bought our 3 day passes. We leave on Monday.

In other news, I logged into the San Diego Comic Con ticket site this morning (as I've done for the last 3 years) in an attempt to get tickets. I didn't expect to get in since SDCC tickets are harder to get than winning Lottery tix, but it was worth a shot. Imagine my surprise to not only get in, but to get tickets for Friday, which is one of the major days! So me and my boys will be heading to San Diego in July. I hope the Outlander, OUAT and/or Originals panels will be that day.