A "Best Of" recap of my experience with PAX and Comic-Con

This Friday and Saturday, I shall be attending my third Alamo City Comic-Con and, very likely, my third PAX South this coming Janurary as well and it's been very hard salivating my excitement. With the luxuries I have, you'd think it'd be hard to find me bored, but the hype is very real, in my brain, and making little hype babies. It's as wonderful as it is overwhelming.

Comic-Con, in particular, is something I look forward to every year now. It's the perfect time to let my inhibitions run free and become the huge nerd that I really am. I can do this best when I am in costume. 

I'm a far cry from a professional cosplayer, but I like to think I make do with the resources I have (you have no idea how long it took us to find an appropriate jacket for my sans cosplay)! Teddie has likely become a mainstay for me on the occasions I can't think of anything else better to fit my general mood, but it's otherwise great fun thinking up the possibilities for each convention. 

What makes me feel especially cool are the comments I get from people. Whether from organizers, stars, or (of course) fellow cosplayers. I've been stopped for photos to be featured in cosplay Facebook groups, hit on by pretty ladies (hey, duders, I'm, like, super gay so I wouldn't mind your attention every once in a while either!), or have been asked to play around in-character. That sort of attention is attention I rarely get because I'm likely fairly boring in my normal attire, so it's nice to revel in that at least a couple times a year. 

I'm not a complete nihilist, however. Which means I also enjoy seeing other people's cosplays! In fact, that aspect of Comic-Con and PAX is definitely the best part. It seems every convention outdoes itself in terms of quality getups and I can only imagine this year's turnout!

At this past PAX South, I saw quite a lot of Undertale cosplay. Namely, plenty of sans copycats!

It's pretty amazing how well and good Undertale caught on this past year. I'd recommend it to millions more, if I could. Sadly, I just have you ornery sexyfucks as my audience. For now. 

This year, I'm gonna bother anyone I can for a photo op. These events are what memories are made of and I don't wanna waste them on just buying up fancy junk or shooting the shit with characters I most connect with. Though, there is one more thing I love about Comic-Con and PAX...

Franchois Chau - Dr. Chang/Lost; Shredder/90's TMNT films

Talking with celebs!

I never knew I could do it until I tried it, but I'm very lucky to feel as natural as I do around them. Once I'm put in front of someone, no matter who, their fame is merely skin deep and I just go for it. I mean, alright, I choked up around Stan Lee when I could've reached my hand out for a shake as he was passing by, but maybe I just didn't wanna bother him. I'm talking when I'm at their booths, I'm surprisingly calm. 

I'm not gonna lie, though, I'm somewhat shaking every so often whilst waiting for my turn to see them. 

Matt Frank - Lead on the Godzilla comics

Judith Hoag - April O'Neil/90's TMNT films

Sometimes, the celebs will surprise you in being the ones who talk the most. You'd think they'd just want to get you what you came for and spank you on your way, but don't let your guard down!  

Despite my lack of interactivity, I am usually fairly social and can keep a conversation interesting. But, when I meet someone more social than I, it's hard to stand my ground and not fumble every few words. Both Judith Hoag and Troy Baker were especially talkative. Absolutely wonderful people. 

Troy Baker - Joel/The Last Of Us; Booker/Bioshock: Infinite; Jake/Resident Evil 6; Desmond/inFAMOUS: Second Son; Kanji/Persona 4; Sam Drake/Uncharted 4; so many more things

That copy of The Last Of Us: Remastered might be my most prized possession that isn't a family heirloom. He also complimented my Vaas cosplay! *swoon*

Jen Taylor - Cortana/Halo; Zoey/Left 4 Dead; Princess Peach/Various Mario titles; Salem/RWBY

Steve Downes - Master Chief/Halo

To think that I met 3 of the most popular voice actors in the biz on my first visit! Was such a thrill. 

Jeremy Shada - Finn/Adventure Time

This year, it is shaping up to be easily the most exciting line-up yet!

Between Tom Kenny, all 3 GTA V protagonists, James Arnold Taylor, Billy Dee Williams, the majority of the cast of Stranger Things, practically every male character in DBZ, and so much more... WHY AM I NOT HYPED EVEN MORE THAN I ALREADY AM?! If only Nolan North was still coming. Still can't believe I was that close to meeting Nathan-goddamn-Drake and that chance to do so was snatched away from me before I even got to the convention hall!

As anyone would, I wish I was anywhere near one of the bigger Comic-Cons such as San Diego or New York. I'd probably end up meeting a few of you guys, as well as some staff members!  Same for PAX, perhaps even moreso. PAX can have some pretty nice game reveals/demos. The best we get are some of the more higher profile indie titles, though we did get a decent Nintendo and Street Fighter V booth last time. I hope Jesse Cox and Markiplier are back next year, at that!

PAX was much more difficult to get into until I learned to get as much as I could out of playing the demos and talking with developers rather than search for the best cosplay or snap up all the famous faces. They have that stuff, too! But, it is mostly paying to play a bunch of video games earlier than most or talk with the people behind said video games. 

Apparently, I am easily mistaken for a developer myself! Spouting about framerates, camera trickery, level design, and so forth are things I assumed more folk interested in PAX South did. Hrm. 

I don't know of any particularly graceful way to segway out of this whole thing. I've been through all of this once before each event and am planning a recap blog of this year's Comic-Con by Sunday or Monday, so my brain's probably prepping itself for that mostly!

Or I just wanna stay busy being excited rather than finger-punching a bunch of keys. 

Have a nice day, nerds!

LOOK WHO CAME:

Seymour   

vxxy   20

Elsa   17

Matt I Guess   12

DeadMoon   10

Bardley   10

GodEmperor Paige   10

Pizza in a Tangle   6

TheBlondeBass   5

JPF720   4

Funkotrons Finest   2

Drew Stuart    1