livstevi21

Liv's story next post below:

livstevi21

Wow, wow, wow, where do I even begin?

I guess I'll start on the morning of Friday the 6th of December, as my mum and I were flying back into the UK at 8am after a long day/night before. We had a packed and exhausting week in New York and did a LOT of walking, but I'll get into more details of the that trip in the off topic thread. The flight wasn't as long as on the way, it only took 5 and a half hours from JFK which was great. I managed to get some well needed sleep on the flight except from when our meals came. Our brilliant taxi driver picked us up from Heathrow and drove me to Reading train Station, where I started my journey to Telford. I didn't really know Reading Station that well, so it was new territory for me, as it is a big station, but I managed to find my way and get on the right train to Birmingham New Street (which is an even bigger station). I was getting worried about the train from Birmingham to Telford as one of them had been cancelled earlier in the morning, but as I got off the train and literally only had minutes to get on to the right platform (which luckily wasn't far) another train to Telford was there and on time.

As I arrived into Telford, it was pouring with rain but fortunately it was only a short walk to the main shopping centre where I had to get some essentials before finding the hotel, Travelodge. Then I walked the short distance to the hotel. It was a basic no frills hotel, but the location could not have been more ideal - directly opposite the Telford International Centre where the con is being held! To my dismay though, I discovered later that evening that there was a bar right next door playing extremely loud live music until after 11pm which drove me round the bend because I wanted to be asleep at the latest by 10pm. It was unbearable and I did not know about this before booking the hotel. If I hadn't just come back from a trip to New York, it wouldn't have been so bad, but it made staying at the Holiday Inn Times Square in New York at the time seem peaceful. And even that was noisy even on the 32nd floor with the non stop traffic, sirens and stuff, you know, the city that never sleeps.

Anyways. Fortunately, I didn't have to get up early as I only had general entry tickets to get me in at 11am on the Saturday. But I did start queuing at about 9:30am (which was lining up right outside the hotel, ideal ) and I'm glad I didn't get there any later as the queue was getting longer and longer, though fortunately was moving pretty quickly. I got chatting to some of the people next to me in the queue which was nice, including one girl who was cosplaying as the Joker, and she had also been at the London Film & Comic Con earlier this year and met Lana Parrilla, as she was a big OUAT fan like me, so we shared our photos which was nice. It made waiting that 90 minutes in the queue go that much quicker and we're now following each other on instagram. When we got in, we parted ways as she wanted to get something to eat and I wanted to find the auto tables straight away. The building is in no way as big as the Olympia in London, but was just as crowded, in fact I'd say it was a little too overcrowded, possibly oversold the tickets a bit. However, despite the crowds, it was nice to go around a convention and not absolutely melt in the heat as it's December and not July. I eventually found the tables in which Tom, Erica, Michael and Laura were at. Tried to play it cool. Even though I had pre-ordered an autograph for Tom, I still had to get a VQ (virtual queue) ticket as his lines were pretty busy. So I had to wait a little bit in order for his queues to go down, though I was conscious of the time my photo op with him and Erica was due at 11:40am (though Erica was running slightly late for hers as she had her own ones first). But I managed to squeeze in seeing Tom first before that photo op, and this time, it wasn't a case of omg omg omg heart racing a mile a minute (well it was kinda, but having already met him once before helped calm the nerves ) I mentioned who I was and if he remembered me from last year and he did I congratulated him on his wedding to Jessica and he showed me his ring. And then I mentioned about Thomson, as he wasn't born when we last met and Tom said that he misses him. Lastly, I asked if he still has the pin I gave him last year and he said he does! He signed my Daily Planet paper (that comes from the Smallville box set - I'll post a pic of that later) and we shook hands and said see you later and I went off to get ready for the first photo op. I would have liked to have met Erica before the photo shoot but there wasn't time, but there was plenty of time after so I wasn't too worried. Plus, with Erica (and Michael and Laura) you didn't have to get VQ tickets, you could just see how long the line is and queue up at an opportune time.

The queuing for the photo ops was an absolute mess. It was chaos. You couldn't see who was queuing for who and at what studio they were queuing up for. I kept having to ask people which one they were waiting for to know if I was in the right queue. It stressed me out big time. Once we were in the room with the studio itself it wasn't so bad. They scan your QR code, then tell you where to queue. Because I had general entry I was in the general entry queue. I got to chatting to some more people in that queue which was nice and one of the girls met up with me later. And then it was finally my turn with Tom and Erica! Those of you who follow me on instagram have already seen these photos, but this is the digital version (I was surprised they were already available but expensive at £5.50 a photo). Anyway, I'm really pleased with how it came out. Though I think I prefer the blue background of the London one just a little more...



The photo op happening after Tom & Erica was the group one before Tom and Michael (as you know I had the group one on Sunday), so I decided to go pick up my photo first before heading back to queue for Tom and Michael. The photo collection was in another room opposite the studios (which I didn't like) as you had to fight your way past the queues to get to it. It was ridiculous. And then I had to fight my way back to the right queue for the Tom & Michael op. It was pretty dangerous, but thankfully everyone there was patient and accommodating to let me through. When I got up to Tom & Michael for my shoot, I think I accidentally stepped on Tom's foot thank goodness I'm only tiny In my defence, my brain was mushed thanks to the stress of the queues. Thankfully, I don't think Tom really noticed. After that, I fought my way back to the photo collection. The digital version of the Tom & Michael photo isn't out yet, so I'll post it when it does.

editing it in here now



After the photo ops, it was time for a bit of a rest, so I went upstairs to where the cafe was, but the queues there was stupid long too, and I wasn't going to waste my time waiting to get food that didn't really much appeal to me anyway, looking at the menu. Back downstairs, I went back to the auto tables and pretty soon I was queuing up to meet Erica. She's so nice, she told me she liked my jumper! I couldn't think of anything else to say after that but she signed my Daily Planet paper that Tom had already signed for me. Then, I went to queue to Michael's table. One of the girls who I briefly talked to at the first photo op queue came up to me as she recognised me from earlier and asked if she could come along with me as she was also on her own so I said of course! She was so sweet, she liked the Daily Planet paper I had and thought it was cool that I was getting it signed. And then she offered to take pics/videos of me meeting Michael, which was so, so so sweet of her because I never had anyone to do this for me before as I've always been on my own. She took them on her phone and later sent them through instagram message. I loved chatting to Michael, he asked if I was subscribed to his podcast and I said of course and he said "promise?" I said I promise. After Michael, we went straight to Laura's table, as bless her, she didn't have anywhere near the queues the others did. She was lovely and I loved her auto style! My new friend also took pics and videos of me meeting Laura, which again was such a nice thing for her to do. Here's an image of all four autos, as promised.



So after that, we had a little walk around, before heading upstairs at 4pm to get early in the queue for the Smallville talk (which wasn't until 5pm, the last talk of the day) which I'm glad we did or we'd never have gotten the seats we did. So we had a nice chat and and talked everything about Smallville and other shows we love. It was just so nice to be able to enjoy the convention with someone else for a change as being on your own to these things can get surprisingly lonely. When we went in, which was after the VIP holders, I was about to head to the plenty of empty seats available near the front as the VIPs already had sat down, only to be told to go further back. I mean, we weren't that far back, the VIPs had the first 5 rows, then there was a gap before the next row of seats and we sat in the second row of that section. But as it got closer to 5pm there were still loads of seats left in the VIP section which did rather irate me for a bit because how stupid is that? Surely they could have let some of the general entrees get a bit closer to the stage. but all that was forgotten when we saw Michael walk in and then behind the doors to the left we could hear him doing an hilarious improv intro (classic Michael) - the full panel is on youtube, including that part, which I will post here soon. I'm so pleased someone filmed the whole thing, as it means I can relive it forever. And get to see parts I couldn't quite get to see behind 6/7 rows of heads.

After the panel, my new friend and I left the con, it was dark and I was absolutely exhausted. She had a fairly long train journey home and I had to go to the shops to get something to eat. So we parted ways and I thanked her for everything she did for me and she thanked me for giving her the company.

Suffice to say the loud live music was also playing on that Saturday night. It wasn't quite as bad as Friday's but it was enough to make me stay up until it almost ended. The worst part is I think my room backed onto it.

Sunday. Sunday was a longer day, but a more relaxed affair. I didn't have so much going on that day. I had the VIP access for Sunday, so I was in the con before even 10am, which meant cruising along the stalls at a more leisurely pace before the crowds rushed in. When I first walked into the main hall, to my surprise there was a tent with live owls! Which seemed a little odd to me at a comic convention inside a noisy building. I would like to presume they went home before it got too busy and noisy, as it didn't seem quite right to me that they were there at all. Not a suitable event to have live wild animals in. There was security with dogs too, I noticed that on the Saturday, but they're trained animals, these were wild birds. Anyways, I went to the auto tables to see when they would be arriving and then went upstairs to the cafe where it was much quieter, to get myself a sandwich and a drink at the cafe and sat down for a bit.

Later, I went back to the auto table and went to Tom's first, where I went to get another auto. Everyone, including Tom said how nice it was I was getting an auto for a friend. Then I went to see Erica again. Fatima, I'm not spoiling more still I scan and send it to you. And then it was time to use up my £60 photo voucher with my VIP pass to use for a photo op with just Tom. The queues were much better organised this time and less chaotic. Tom high five'd me as I came up to him but the camera guy didn't count us in like the others did, which meant I was just about to go in for the hug and suddenly it was 'click' all done. I was initially disappointed with how I came out looking like a blur with my arms reached out, but I guess it is kinda funny and isn't that bad. I'm going in for the hug but didn't quite get there in time. This is the digital version of the photo.



After that, I went back to the auto tables one last time to get a couple more autos for a another friend, from Michael and Tom. At this point I was thinking maybe Tom had seen enough of me, but no, every time I went to see him he always had a smile on his face and said how nice it was to see me again. And this time, I also tried for a selfie with Tom, which I wish I asked him to take it 'cause I suck at taking them properly. It wasn't until I went away and checked it that I realised I looked awful. But he's so sweet. I'm determined to see if I can touch it up so I look halfway normal. I'm not sharing it until I do.

After that, it was a lot of hanging around as the final photo op of the weekend, the Smallville group op, wasn't until 4:05pm and by this point I was beyond exhausted. But I managed to get myself composed as I very gladly went in the VIP fast track queue to get my photo op with the group and it came out way better than I ever imagined, it's easily my favourite photo op of the lot. The print version is amazing, however, the digital version is very disappointing as it shows the background and the stands which makes it look ugly and unprofessional. I wrote a message about this to the company who does the photos facebook page and they said that they have to make the shots wider for the digital photos to fit everyone in (though I compared this to big group ops from showmasters/London photo ops and they managed this without any background showing whatsoever, plus they were cheaper at £4.99). They said that I can crop it how I see fit but I still think that's a rip off, if I'm paying £5.50 for a digital download copy I expect the same quality as in the print itself. I don't want to have to crop it, but here it is.



Anyways, I think that about wraps it up. Pretty much, I've been typing this all morning. I need to get other posting done. All in all, it has been an amazing dream come true to meet more of the Smallville cast, let alone meeting Tom Welling for the second year in a row. I am so lucky. There's many more amazing stories from other fans that I've read on instagram that we should share here. I have come away from the experience loving Tom again more than ever, as always he's gorgeous, humble, sweet, friendly, down to earth, he is everything. Erica, Michael and Laura are also amazing people, I've come away loving them more too.

And I'm done.

TomsEnough

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your whole experience in detail, Liv! Glad you got to meet Tom again as well as Erica, Laura & Michael! You are truly very lucky, and I hope you get to meet more Smallville cast members soon!

Looking ahead to your photo with Michael & Tom! It's so cool that Tom showed you the ring because it's a real beauty! The panel is a GREAT one, and we can all truly relive it forever! I like your shirts too!!!!

livstevi21

You're welcome! I am very blessed and lucky, which is why I always like to give something back to the fans who still have yet to meet them. I will be getting your surprise ready to scan on my laptop soon, and then will send it to you.

I know, it's a beautiful ring. The panel is awesome, and I'm so glad it was filmed and shared on youtube so not only I get to relive it but others can see it too.

TomsEnough

^ Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, I am so glad that you got to meet Tom again!

livstevi21

You're very welcome. Me too! I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would get lucky enough to meet him twice now.

TomsEnough

^ I hope you get to meet Tom again soon!

livstevi21

I don't know if I will be able to afford another con in 2020, but we'll see. He's already got so many lined up for 2020!

scooty

yeh i doubt he'll be back in Oz anything soon ..

All these conventions costs load of cash , hotels, tix , food , more food .. again food oh and good shoes for standing longggggg periods of time ..

TomsEnough

^ You never know what the future will hold.

Can I post your photos, Liv, on the Tom Welling Fan Forum Instagram?

livstevi21

Exactly. It costs a lot of money!

You can, Fatima, but please could you just post the photos in a collage rather than in full photos? I'd be grateful. I haven't posted my photo with Tom and Michael cause the digital version isn't available yet, but this is the pic of my photo taken from my phone, if you want to use that one.

TomsEnough

^ Okay. I will see what I can do. Thank you for sharing. Waiting for the digital version too. Thanks a lot for sharing your photos with us here!

livstevi21

Thank you, I appreciate that. I am going to contact the company who does the digital photos soon and ask them when they will be uploading the rest of the photos, as there's still quite a few missing and Tom and Erica's is mislabeled as Tom and Michael (for the Saturday) which has been like that for a few weeks now.

TomsEnough

^ Please do contact them and keep us posted on the status here.

Do you have access to photos other than your own?

livstevi21

I have contacted them and let them know all the photos that are missing. I'm only missing my Tom & Michael digital photo, but I mentioned the rest for everyone else missing theirs. I am awaiting a reply. You can look at the other photos! You can actually view them quite clearly without having to buy/download them. Here's the website https://photos.thephotoco.co.uk click on the Saturday or Sunday of the Wales Comic Con. I'll message you on instagram the pass code.

Edit: They got back to me to say that all the photos were on there, just that they had put Tom and Michael's photos in the same folder as Tom and Erica's. Very misleading. Nowhere did it say that, I thought it was just a mix up with the names. I could have downloaded this days ago, had I known.

Anyways, finally here's my digital photo with Tom and Michael.