Wizard World STL in 2014 was several times larger and definitely more badass than 2013. For starters the vendors and artist alley was held inside Edward Jones Dome instead of on the convention center floor which served as the entry to the con this year. From the moment I stepped onto the floor, I could feel the con energy. There's something about a nerd dressed in cosplay surrounded by her people. And while I was bouncing off the walls for at least a month prior to the con, when the day finally came I was calm cool and collected because I was finally in my element, finally home. It’s the best feeling in the world
to be in the place where you know you belong.
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| Stargate Sg-1 |
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| Ghostbusters cosplay |
Day 2
When we arrived we waited in line
to get in. Then we wandered the vendor floor again and I got my picture taken
for the online cosplay contest. After that we headed over to the theater to
wait for the awesome panels. As much as waiting in line sucks, I always ALWAYS
meet the most awesome people. And day 2 was no exception. We met fellow
whovians and other sci fi fans, and honestly when you put a bunch of nerds in a
room together they will never fail to find something to talk about. We talked
everything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Doctor Who while we waited to get into
the theater.
And then once again the line
finally moved! We found our seats on the first balcony and waited for the first
panel, Eliza Dushku. I loved her in Dollhouse and Bring it On but I honestly
had no idea what to expect from her. She was surprisingly very funny. She
talked about Buffy, Dollhouse, even Bring it On as well as the difference
between working for James Cameron and Joss Whedon. She joked about how her hair
was her superpower and her comfort zone (which call me crazy but I can totally
relate too) and how Joss Whedon loved to take her out of her comfort zone by
frequently putting her hair up in Dollhouse. She later got a tattoo on the back
of her neck so that every time they’d want to do that they’d have to put her
through 30 minutes of makeup. Check out a brief clip from her panel below.
Next up was the Sean Astin panel.
He mostly talked Lord or the Rings but there was a a couple questions about
Goonies, which was fun because someone asked about what he thought about the
possibility of Goonies two and if he’d want to be involved. He responded “It’ll
be sooner rather than later.” And sure enough 4 or so questions later, someone
said they had announced online that Goonies two would happen. Astin’s response “What
did I say before? Sooner rather than later.” In general Sean seemed very down
to Earth and loved interacting with the fans. Check out a clip from his panel
below.
And then it was time for the main
event! Matt Smith’s panel. The theater filled to capacity and after a sonic
salute, Matt took the stage. There was a lot of I love you’s and some awesome
questions from the fans during this panel. Matt was a lot of fun and a great
sport about all the crazy fan love. I recorded his whole panel so check it out
below.
And then it was time to rush out of
the theater and stand in line again. This time to meet Matt Smith. We tagged up
with some friends and did a lot of people watching while we waited in line for
his autograph. And finally FINALLY it was my turn.
Matt looked up at me and the first
thing out of his mouth was “Are you an expendable?”
I laughed and said “No I'm an
incredible”
He said, “Oh right, the Disney
thing. Is expendable even a thing?”
I said “Yes.”
Although very different, close
enough Matt I’ll give it to you. I said nice meeting you and we were off and
back to wandering the vendors.
After another panel that shall remain nameless because it was badly organized and rather insulting, it was time for me to line up for the costume contest. Now let me pause here for a minute to explain a few things.
1) I hate HATE being the center of
attention
2) I hate HATE being on stage
3) I’m a huge HUGE introvert
4) I could go on and on with reasons why this is out of my wheelhouse but I think you get the point.
So why I subjected myself to the
costume contest I’ll never know. Maybe it was because I was super excited about
my Violet Parr costume or because I felt like I was in my element. I’m not
really sure, but when it came time to line up in my spot Lucky Number 2 (no not
daunting at all!) I started to freak out. Especially since the people I was
with filed into the theater and I was alone. Okay not really alone, I was
surrounded by a couple hundred awesome cosplayers but not gonna lie I felt kind
of alone. AND NERVOUS. But I quickly made friends with those around me. A girl
dressed as Poison Ivy and a fantastic family dressed as Firefly. If it wasn’t
for them I might have walked away in a ball of tears. Not only did they calm my
nerves without even knowing it but they made the whole experience fun, no not
just fun AWESOME. We had a mini dance party back stage while we waited to be
announced and then I strutted my confident Incredible (pun intended) self onto
the stage and struck my pose!
Then I exited stage right and
joined my fellow cosplayers in the upper balcony. I sat next to the firefly
clan and we had a massive dance party in the penthouse of the theater as we
cheered on the rest of the cosplay contestants. It was a complete blast! I didn’t
win anything but I’m so SO unbelievably glad I stepped out of my comfort zone
and did this. It was 100% worth it.
After the contest we jetted off for
some food at Pi and ran into none other than Sean Patrick Flannery. I eyed him
from across the room but gave the guy his space. He didn’t need some crazy fans
interrupting his dinner. But as luck would have it, his group was exiting at
the same time we were. I looked at him said I’m a huge fan and he said thank
you and walked off back to the convention center. We followed and hung out with
other con attendees at the after party in on of the boxes at the dome, then
headed home thoroughly exhausted.
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| Me as Violet Parr in the Cosplay Contest |
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| The Firefly cosplayers |
Day 3
Before we knew it we were back in
line to get into the con. I met some other lovely con goers who just so
happened to be big Arrow fans. So we talked about how awesome the series is and
how worthless the Lance girls are (okay not worthless, but if you watch the show
you can understand the dislike). And then it was time to enter the con for the final day.
We headed back to the autograph
area and I jumped in line to meet Nathan Fillion. We weren’t sure if there
would be time to meet him after all the VIPs but before his photo ops but we
got really lucky and squeezed in at the end. The poor guy was nursing a cold
but despite that he was really nice and appreciative of the fans.
Two people in front of us he
stopped and said “Snot break.” Then ducked under the table with a tissue and
proceeded to take care of his nose blowing. His manager/agent whoever she was
stood waiting with the hand sanitizer. And then he went on to shake the next
person’s hand in line and wiped a ton of the excess all over the guy shaking
his hand and saying “Nice to meet you!” Definitely a really surreal moment. I
know actors are people too, but this was proof that he’s just a regular guy.
Then it was my turn, I shook his hand, said I was a big fan and that is was
nice to meet him and we were on our way.
And it was back to the theater to
wait in line again for more awesome panels! First up was another Doctor Who
panel led by St. Louis’s Doctor Who fan club the CIA. No not that CIA, but the Celestial Intervention Agency. It’s
a classic Who reference for those unfamiliar. I also learned that St. Louis has
the longest continuous Doctor Who fan club in North America. Which is pretty
cool. The answered questions from the crowd about classic and new who and what
they thought about the newest doctor, Peter Capaldi.
After that Karen Gillan took the
stage to talk about Doctor Who, Occulus, and Guardians of the Galaxy. She also
seemed really down to Earth. She talked about working with Matt and their final
filming and her appearance on Matt’s last episode. She said she really just
wanted to be there for him. Cue the Awwww’s. Check out some clips from her
Q&A below.
And then it was time for the panel
I’d been waiting for all weekend. The Firefly panel. I knew it was going to be
amazing! And it truly was! Unfortunately Summer Glau had to fly out early, so
we were treated to a boys night with Adam Baldwin, Nathan Fillion, and Alan
Tudyk. You can tell these three are friends and they were having a lot of fun
up there. They mostly answered questions about Firefly and talked about working
on set. And Alan gave away free signed “shit” including butt wipes, which
apparently are good for removing the bags under your eyes. Oh and Nathan
Fillion may have dropped a hint about Guardians of the Galaxy… just maybe. But
I could go on and on about how awesome this panel was. And in fact you can see
how awesome it was in the video below!
And after the Firefly panel, it was sadly time to go home. Well not too sad because it was an amazing AMAZING weekend. Utterly exhausting, but full of so much awesome! And after all the excitement I went home and slept for a million years. Oh and I also blew up the internet… but that’s a story for another time ;).
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