[kiss the wind]

I feel like that's so unfair to people who just haven't had the opportunity to go in previous years. Economics dictates that you can increase the supply, and people are still going to pay those high prices. Or if you lower prices with higher supply, then enough people will buy to balance out the lowered price, hence, you'll still profit.

Like, damn, save some for us poor people who were busy and broke the previous years.

[destroyer of worlds]

I agree, Amelia. Particularly for fans who haven't had the chance to go even once due to ticket and travel costs, it just doesn't seem fair at all.

Sorry, April. I can't agree with that at all because that way, some fans who may not have that much money to spend will lose out.

[a little chaos]

Yeah, I’m so nervous that they’ll go on sale before I’ve saved up to buy them and I really would like Bob VIP and I’m worried I won’t get it

If not there is always Tasya, but I have my heart set on Bob. I’m literally risking so much for this con. Like I’m putting my life on hold for it.

[April7739]

I get that perspective, too, of course. But I’m going to be just devastated if I don’t get a Bob VIP after two years of having it. My whole Conageddon experience would be totally different. (This sounds totally greedy and selfish, and I’m aware that it is.)

It’s really just Bob and Eliza that I feel like we have to worry about selling out right away. Becks, Tasya’s will sell out (if she attends again), but it won’t be right away.

I have heard of some Bellarkers considering Eliza’s next year because they want to put more Bellarke representation in her group.

[a little chaos]

April, if you get word of the sales beforehand then I hope you alert Amelia and I because we both want this desperately.

[April7739]

I have no idea how they’ll do it this year. It could just be a free for all. Which is a scary thought. But it’s possible we’d end up in a situation where I’m purchasing passes for you two.

Amelia, whose VIP would you want, Bob’s or Eliza’s?

[kiss the wind]

I don’t know, really! I really love both of them, it’s tough to choose.

[April7739]

I have so much anxiety thinking of not getting Bob’s VIP again.

[destroyer of worlds]

Hope that you both also get a chance at the VIP tickets next year, Amelia and Becks. But if it doesn't happen, even with the GA tickets and other stuff like photo ops, that'll be nice for you girls to have that interaction with Bob as well. But that's just me, I'd be happy with that actually but of course, everyone has their different POVs on this.

[April7739]

It’d be sweet if they offered a Beliza VIP. Can you even imagine?

[kiss the wind]

That would be amazing. Then everyone would want it, though.

[April7739]

It’d be sooooo expensive, but I’d buy it!

[destroyer of worlds]

That would be prime VIP material.

[a little chaos]

Originally Posted by April7739 (View Post) I have no idea how they’ll do it this year. It could just be a free for all. Which is a scary thought. But it’s possible we’d end up in a situation where I’m purchasing passes for you two. Amelia, whose VIP would you want, Bob’s or Eliza’s?

For me, Bob or Tasya tbh. But my heart is set on Bob.

[April7739]

My Conageddon 2 Experience

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to see my personal pictures from this convention, including professional photo ops, selfies, etc., then please let me know! I am willing to send them out via email, like I did last year, or via Twitter DM.


The first Conageddon was amazing. It came out of nowhere and seemed so sketchy at first that nobody knew for sure whether it was real or not, but those of us who took a chance on it were rewarded with the most intimate fan experience ever. Thus, it’s no surprise that so many people returned this year and that so many people opted to come for the first time. Of course, this year would be different for me. For the first time ever, I was set to attend a convention without my best friend. It was just too expensive, and she had some rough circumstances to overcome this past year. But at least I did have my other best friend in the whole world, my mom, coming with me. That woman has only seen season 5, but she somehow makes sense of it. She says Bellamy and Clarke are her favorite characters, and Bellarke is her favorite ship, so the woman has good taste.

I looked forward to this convention from the day it ended last year. I just knew that Conageddon 2 was going to be an amazing experience. And it was. It really was.


Thursday:
So I had a very early flight, the same flight path I took last year. I realized very early on that transporting the infamous Bob Morley pumpkin was going to be easier said than done. I carried it in a backpack, but being so odd in shape, it sort of looked like I was transporting either a bowling ball or a human head. The pumpkin is quite fragile, so I had to be very careful with it, and I was worried about it the whole time.

Of course, I travelled in style in my “What’s wrong with a little chaos?” sweatshirt and purple Blake hat from last year. A girl on the plane assumed my name was Blake, as did a flight attendant on the way home.

Arriving at the hotel made me feel like I’d never left. The year really did go so fast. And what was nice was that, the moment I walked in, I saw fans in the lobby. Jaclyn and Marcella were the first two I spotted, and we hugged and were happy to see each other again. There were lots of other people there from the Conageddon group chat I’m part of on Twitter, too, so it was great to put some faces with names. I saw Yana, for example, and my goodness, that girl is beautiful!

My mom and I ventured down to Faneuil Hall Marketplace shortly after checking into the hotel, because we’d seen some stores and food options there we wanted to check out. Plus, I needed some props for some of the photo ops I had in mind! It was a really cool place, and I did find some props for my group photo there. We ate at a delicious place called Mmm Mac n Cheese and listened to a live musician. We also had a great cab driver on the way back. One of my favorite parts of traveling is just meeting and interacting with other “normal” people, to be honest.

When we got back to the lobby, my mom left for a while because I saw some other people from the group chat in the lobby. Em, who is known for her Blake beanie, Tyler, the only guy in Bob’s VIP group, and Rosie, known for her Clarke cosplay, were all there, all having traveled from England. Last year, I believe only one European risked it and showed up. There was a much heavier international presence this year. Many of these people had just recently been to Spacewalkers 4 or Unity Days, but it always seems like Conageddon is the convention people enjoy the most.

Everyone told me they’d seen Bob and Eliza walking around in the lobby, so of course I had to plant myself there in case they showed up again. First, my con buddy from last year, Grace, showed up, so we hugged and started chatting and catching up. Then we did see Bob and Eliza and Zach! Even though I didn’t really have fears about Bob cancelling this time since Conageddon is his convention, it was still a relief to see him there with my own two eyes. None of us really went up to them or said anything, though, because it was clear that they were working and making sure everything was ready to go with the venue.

Randomly, I discovered who on the Conageddon account tweeted about my fic Eventually, but I’ll keep that person’s identity a secret. But speaking of that fic . . . that is definitely what I’m known for in the fandom. Since I don’t post pictures, when people are introducing me, they just say, “She wrote Eventually.” It was quite flattering to hear people say they were “in the presence of a legend” (yeah, right) and would continually refresh AO3 just to see if I had updated.

At some point, I do recall seeing Richard walk in. That was awesome, because I’ve never seen him before. He looks exactly like he does on the show. No difference whatsoever. I feel like the girls always look smaller, but Richard looks like Murphy. Then, in the midst of meeting some new friends (Kayla and Julianna) and catching up with Zach’s crew, who are an absolute hilarious delight, I saw Chelsey and Luisa come in! CHELSEY! Oh my god, they’re both so beautiful, and I waved at them and just said hi. Then I said, “Thank you for being here,” and Chelsey was like, “Thank you for being here!” Such a sweetheart even in that brief interaction.

I don’t think anything else super notable happened that day, so let’s just skip ahead!



Friday (Daytime):
Well, the day started out with a taxi fiasco at Target (what can I say? I’m from a small town, so I’ve never used Uber), but at least I did get some good props for my photos and found a dress for the VIP party. It wasn’t, like, the most extravagant dress ever, but I wanted to look classy and cute, and I think I did. My mom and I had planned to go to the wax museum, but since the taxi was so delayed, we didn’t have time and just opted to stay and hang out in the hotel instead. I showed her a lot of Bellarke scenes that afternoon, and some Roan scenes so she’d know who Zach was.

At 4:00, I headed down to get my tickets. While waiting in line, I met my buddy Logan! In case anyone doesn’t know, Logan is an episode reactor who goes by SimpleReactions. He started watching the show under a year ago, and it’s one of the things that has grown his YouTube channel the most. I was lucky enough to catch his reactions right from the start, so I feel like I’ve kind of been with him on his show journey the entire time, and now I’m a moderator for his channel, too. During one of his livestreams, I worked pretty hard to convince him to come to Conageddon, and he went for it! (I happen to know for a fact that he wasn’t disappointed.) Logan came with his friend Colum, who was also a joy to meet!

While we were standing in line waiting for the tickets, Tom (one of the organizers/in-charge guys) filmed a video and asked us what we were most excited about, and there were definitely a few “BOB MORLEY!” shouts, including my own. Tom recognized me from Twitter and was so nice and gave me a big hug just like the cast members do, and he informed me that I had definitely spent the most money out of everyone. Which was . . . not really all that surprising.

Once again, different-colored hats were on sale, but I decided to stick with my OG Blake one from last year. (Side note: Apparently the Blake hats sold out, just like they did last year. Not sure if the others did, but the Blake ones were gone by some point on Saturday, I believe.) I really would have loved a Harper hat, too, but at $40.00, they are kind of pricey.

After I got my tickets, I talked to Jo, which was nice. She’s a really nice woman and does a lot of great things for charity, so she deserves all the credit in the world for that. She also reached out to Bellarke fans to gather questions for panels, and I noticed the convention in general doing a lot of reaching out to Bellarke fans to make things run smoothly. They were responsible for checking off people’s ticket sales, live-streaming, etc.

I hung out for a while, just to interact with my fellow fans, and at some point Jaclyn and Marcella started talking to me about fan fiction. They said they would sometimes just start talking about Eventually on their livestreams, which I had no idea they were doing. They got me to give them very minor spoilers about the next fic I have in the works.

Speaking of fandom friends, one of the most positive Bellarkers on Twitter, Ashley, is someone I’ve been talking to for a while, and she was so nice, because she literally just gave me her Eliza photo op! Wouldn’t even let me pay her for it because she’s just that generous. I swear, I love fandom friends and how supportive and kind we can be to one another. (I feel like fandom relations at this con are really exceptional.) After that, my mom came down, and we talked to my friend Grace and her mom a lot and took some pictures in front of the massive banner. Then I ended up seeing Elyse, a friend from last year, on the escalator (she was heading down and I was heading up), so I quickly had to head back down the escalator to hug her and talk to her. I also ended up meeting up with a newer fandom friend named Katie, whom I convinced to upgrade to a Bob VIP instead of just general admission. (She said she definitely didn’t regret it!)



VIP Party:
And now we come to the event that a lot of people said they were most excited about, the event that was enough all on its own last year to convince people that this was the best con ever. I was pretty stoked for this. I got the same table as last year and hung out with Grace, Katie, Elyse, Gracie (who goes by Gracieon on YT and makes awesome videos), etc. and welcomed a girl named Emma from Ireland to our table. Turns out I’d corresponded with her on Twitter before and didn’t even realize it. (Conageddon should hire me for PR, seriously. I promote the hell out of them.)

While waiting for the cast to show up, I chatted some more with Tom, who is so high energy and said that he’d never even watched the show until a couple months before the con. He said he loves going to things like this because he loves interacting with people. He talked to me about how Bob, Eliza, and Zach actually own the con. It wasn’t just their idea; they quite literally own it, so they’re very involved with it. I said I think it’s such a great con because you can tell how much heart they put into it, and it’s also a con for all fans. We got to talking about the Spacewalkers 4 fiasco on Twitter and how they were so rude to Bellarke fans, and . . . well, Tom had something kind of amusing and very pro-Bellarke to say. I’m not going to post it here, but PM me about it if you’d like to know. I also thanked him for speaking up in support of Bob when he was dealing with all that crap a couple weeks ago.

The cast showed up around 9:30, which was about a half an hour earlier than last year. (Maybe a full hour, even.) Fittingly, Zach was the one to introduce everyone. They came in really close to where I was standing, so that meant that I got to hug Bob almost right away. I said, “I don’t know if you remember me from last year, but I’m your Pumpkin Queen.” He did remember, and we got a picture right away. (I actually like this picture of me, too.) And Bob looked so good! I loved the shirt he was wearing. Nice color on him.

I met Chelsey next, and oh my god, I swear, every interaction I had with her just made me love her even more! I laughed throughout my selfies with her and wasn’t ready for them. At first, I had my glasses on, but then I took them off, and she grabbed them for me and put them on! So I’ve got a couple pics of Chelsey wearing my glasses, and she looks a lot better in them than I do.

My friends and I found Bob again, and I think I misunderstood him at first. I thought he had said that we had 19 of last year’s 25 VIPs returning. But we didn’t have 25 VIPs last year. So now I believe what he said was that we had 19 VIPS total last year and 25 this year. During that interaction, Tom came up to him and told him I was the big spender. I told Tom I didn’t want to know how much I’d spent and ignorance was bliss.

A couple of first time VIPs asked me to introduce them to Bob, so I did. If you’re not really socially outgoing at conventions like I tend to be, then it can be a little daunting just approaching someone and saying hi. So I did my part to make sure that Bob’s VIPs were able to strike up a conversation with him. And there were a lot of people in other VIP groups, too, who loved Bob the most, so yeah, as expected, he was in high demand.

I managed to hug Eliza, but that was it. There was something I really wanted to say to her, but I didn’t get the chance, and I left one of the newbies there to chat with her instead.

Zach was roaming around in a huge inflatable green hat, which Bob later donned for a hot second, and which I later put on. (Someone has a picture of me in this big green hat. Not sure who.) I did get to hug Zach and thank him for being one of the driving forces behind this convention. I said, “Well, Tom already told Bob, so you might as well know, too. I’m apparently the person who’s spent the most.” He knew right away who I was! I would later learn that the cast members actually help package everyone’s ticket envelopes themselves. Or at least Bob and Zach and Eliza do. Bob said they got there a day earlier so they could get things like that taken care of. So I do wonder, did Bob put multiple photo ops for himself in my envelope and think to himself, “Oh, what have I gotten myself into here?” Hahaha, probably not. I wasn’t the only one who went Bob-heavy on the weekend. In fact, I noticed that his VIPs almost all tended to get more than one selfie, autograph, and photo op with him.

Somehow, as the party kicked up a notch, I ended up getting to dance with both Zach and Chelsey! If anyone knows me, they know that something I’ve wanted to do for a while now is get to dance with Chelsey. And oh my god, she is SO GOOD! I mean, I knew she was, because I know about her dance background and have seen her moving and grooving in other vids before, but seeing it in person was just a whole different story. The girl has a body that won’t stop and knows how to work it!

Richard and Luisa had already planted themselves at the beer pong table at this point. They took pictures with people while playing. They were really good about it. If Tom or one of the other organizers came up to them and said, “Hey, this person wants to meet you” or “Hey, this person wants a picture,” they’d just pause their game and take one. It’s just amazing that this convention is so willing to let people take free pictures with the stars. I remember last year when they said, “No taking photos with the cast,” and then Zach was like, “Screw that! They’re paying for this,” and then the VIP party turned into a selfie party. Everyone, cast and fans and organizers alike, just kind of went into it this year knowing and embracing the fact that it would happen. Well, anyway, I ended up getting a free Memori photo. I also talked to Luisa oh so briefly and told her she was so tiny! She said her grandma only weighed about 90 pounds. I think she’s even smaller than Rhiannon, and that’s saying something. For some reason, I also told Richard that I’d only gotten a smart phone this past summer (maybe I was explaining that I was bad at selfies), and he said, “Now you got the gold case on it and everything. Now you’s a fancy girl!”

I’m not exactly sure when the Beliza beer pong started happening, but unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, you’ve seen videos and photos of it. Um, where to even begin with the awesomeness? First of all, just seeing them having so much fun together was great. Second, this was Bellarke versus Memori come to life. #CollegeAU. Like, everyone was living for it. I ended up getting a pretty good vantage point, which I have to do because I’m short and can’t see over anyone. It was really fun to watch and actually got really competitive towards the end. Richard was just really good, and it was clear that Luisa had picked up some skills by playing a number of times against fans. Eliza kept saying she was rubbish, and Bob wasn’t horrible. Poor Bob was just getting drenched in sweat, and at one point he said, “Everyone needs to be fanning!” The livestream smartly fixated on the two of them at this point, giving the fans what they wanted, including the hugs. Bob and Eliza’s friendship is so endearing and amazing. They just light up around each other. And good on Eliza for really getting a bit of a hot streak at the end, but alas, they lost. (Side note: Richard claimed to hardly ever play, but Bob told us the next day that Richard was lying and plays all the time.)

Bob and Eliza left after that, understandably. They get swarmed at those things more than anyone else. I’m not sure when Chelsey left, but I know she’d been over there at the beer pong table watching them and filming her own stuff. Zach and Tasya danced around with a lot of people at the end. Really my only interaction with Tasya this weekend was on behalf of Becks, who has just had the most unfortunate luck ever with cons. I went up to Tasya on the dance floor and told her that Becks wanted to meet her so badly, and Tasya said she wants to go to London and felt bad about having to cancel. Fingers crossed Becks gets to meet all her favorites one day!

Richard and Luisa stayed about twenty minutes past midnight to finish their beer pong game with two competitive fans. During the game, Richard was like, “That’s my lady! That’s my fictional lady! The easiest person to work with in scenes, and she’s got my back in beer pong. What more could I ask for?” Aww! They did end up winning that last game, making it a streak of 6-0 that night. They took a few more pictures with fans and then left, and with that, the VIP party was over. But the convention was still just beginning!



Saturday (Breakfast):
So I showed up a little bit early and got to meet a few more people, including the number one Chelsey Reist stan, Ashley. What an absolute sweetheart! We gushed about Chelsey, and she said that Chelsey even called her to wish her happy birthday. I then the met the girl who went to Thailand with Eliza. Seems like another sweetheart.

As soon as the rooms opened up, we headed back. Grace and I got good seats (mine was the same as last year’s), and we used my pumpkin to reserve Bob’s seat at the head of the table. More guests began showing up, and we chatted during the hour while we waited, getting to know each other. I learned everyone’s names, and everyone was impressed. It’s a teacher talent! We have a great sense of community in Bob’s VIP group. Some of us were there last year, and some of us weren’t, but it’s just a great, upbeat, friendly vibe in there.

When Bob came in for breakfast, he took out his VIP group photo from last year! So cute how he still had it, though he was frustrated with himself for losing his list of nicknames. I just love that he held onto this photo (which we asked him for spontaneously and he agreed to take out of the goodness of his heart) and remembered to bring it with him this year.

A very nice girl named Mary had brought St. Patrick’s day beads, I assume for the whole group, but Bob kind of just kept putting them all on as he was talking, and we just let him. He started to do nicknames, but there were a lot of us, so he didn’t get to everyone. He did look at me and say, “Well, of course that’s my Pumpkin Queen!” I’m so thankful that my nickname is iconic. That pumpkin was one of the weirdest yet greatest purchases I ever made, because it makes me memorable. In fact, I had brought the pumpkin to breakfast, so I told him to close his eyes, and he did. Everyone joked, “You’re doing that in this room? You’re brave!” And he was like, “When I open them, are you all gonna have your clothes off?” Well, when he opened them, our clothes were all still on, and my pumpkin was lit up like the Fourth of July! He got up, laughed, and hugged me and asked me where I’d gotten that. I told him “The Pumpkin Geek! He was a vendor out at a Sacramento con you had to cancel. He sold me on it with little effort.” I also told him that transporting the pumpkin in a backpack on an airplane was like transporting a human head, and I got some very strange looks from people in the airport and on the plane.

I think I may have asked the first question (I’m such a chatterbox at these things, I swear, and am just not shy around Bob at all), and I asked him how Conageddon came to be. He explained that he and Mike (a coordinator/organizer/not sure of the actual title) had been sitting at SDCC (not sure which year), and he started telling Mike how there are no conventions in the states like the smaller, more intimate European conventions. By now, most people know that Bob is not a particularly big fan of SDCC. He likes more personalized interaction with fans. So he and Mike were kind of joking around and saying, “Hey, we should just make our own convention.” And then it evolved from there! Mike was like, “I know a guy, I know a guy!” And as the wheels continued to turn, Bob decided, “We gotta get Eliza involved in this. Because at that point, we’d only ever done one convention together, and she’s like my best friend.”

Bob also revealed that the cast learned a few things from last year and decided to fly in a day earlier this year to make sure things were ready to go and package all the ticket envelopes. That’s why we all saw them roaming the hotel on Thursday. They definitely had more of a plan and procedure in place this time, not that any of us were complaining about last time.

Bot talked a LOT about directing during this breakfast. He so clearly fell in love with it. It’s where he sees his future, as he has a real passion for the craft. He’s been shadowing directors and taking classes for a couple of years now. Ideally, he would love to direct something he gets to act in. He says that’s a challenge, but he enjoys it. He also revealed that he is heavily featured in the episode he directed. He thought things went smoothly, though HIC had warned him, “It’s hard. Be prepared for it.” Then he smiled to us and said, ”But you know what? I smashed it!” He’s proud of what he did. He said Jason had been trying to get him to direct since season 1, and that he said no for years. But Jason and the other higher-ups on the show thought he would be good because he always questions why things are written or filmed the way they are. Later in the con, he would confess to us that he is actually the cast member who questions Jason the most. He says it’s not antagonistic, but more of a healthy and respectful dialogue, and if he feels like something doesn’t make sense, he’ll let Jason know. He has seen his final cut of the episode, and although he is his own harshest critic, he still loves it. Jason will get the final cut, though. He was using some directing terminology that I was confused on, so he explained stuff to me, and my friend Grace is planning on going into film studies, so she drew me out a diagram. He just loves, loves, LOVES directing now, and it was so nice to see him that happy and excited about something.

Oh, he also said that he had to cast a lot of people for his episode (could just be some extras or minor roles, I’m not sure), and an Australian guy came in to audition. Bob was automatically rooting for him because he was an Aussie, but he was so bad, and after he left, Bob got up and yelled, “Dammit! He was awful! I can’t do this!” Or something to that effect.

Once again, he confirmed that it was supposed to be two slaps from Clarke in 5x09. They were supposed to have the first slap, then he was going to try to say something to her, and she would slap him again. I mumbled, “One was enough.”

After breakfast, we went to take the VIP group photo. This is where he popped into Eliza’s room and said, “It’s Eliza Taylah!” And she wanted some of his beads, but then he said she’d have to give him something later. He ended up giving beads to Richard, who said something to the effect of, “Do you want to see my boobs?” and kind of flashed him, I think. It was really cute to see each cast member leading their VIP group to the photo op area. Bob and Eliza joked around about a fight breaking out between the two groups (but of course it wouldn’t, because this is Conageddon!)

We got in close for that group photo. One girl was completely hidden, though, so I told her the next day to ask Bob if she could get a free photo op with him or something in exchange. She did end up getting something. Not sure what it was, but she said she got something. Anyway, I basically had my same spot in the photo as last year, so I was happy. Although my hat pretty much obscures my face. We weren’t sure if we were just going to get digital copies of the photo emailed to us, but they actually made prints for everyone, which was awesome!


Opening Panel:
After the VIP photo, we went to the panel room, and as promised, each group had their own reserved seating. Bob and Eliza VIPs had GREAT seating (the first two rows in the middle section), which makes sense, because we paid the most. Tom said he thought Bob’s VIPs had the best seats, and I’m inclined to agree, because we were on the microphone side. Since the ballroom was arranged differently, it’s clear that they thought about this a little more than last year.

The opening panel was live-streamed, I’m sure. There was no time for audience questions, which was fine, because I didn’t have one prepared! Bob and Eliza had planned to sit next to each other, but Eliza came out the wrong door or something. This left Bob and Richard on the end, and . . . oh, boy. They are such naughty schoolboys together, I swear! There were multiple points where they genuinely did not hear the questions being asked of them because they were too busy talking. I did notice Bob pointing out his VIP section to Richard, and Richard pointed his out to Bob. I waved at Richard like a dork, and he joking did a “cut it out” motion.

The praise heaped on Eliza for her season 6 performance was so heartfelt, as was the praise heaped on Bob for directing. I know Eliza even kind of teared up when her castmates were complimenting her.

After the group panel, it was time for group photos. I used my St. Patrick’s day props and did a photo with my mom. It’s an absolutely horrendous picture of me, but I got to sit next to Bob and Eliza, so I was happy. I had a beer mug necklace, and I said, “Zach, you need to take this one,” and he was like, “Oh, yeah!” Eliza is distracted in my photo by a flag she’s holding, because she wasn’t sure if she was holding it the right way. So she looks cute and confused.


Bob Combo + More:
I was really worried that Bob would try to stand in front of his autograph table like he usually does, but luckily he was taking care of himself and was sitting behind his table. This was the VIP-only autograph session, but it was still pretty packed in there. When I got up to the table, he signed a Bellameme print with “My queen! Lots of love.” Then he asked me where I’m from, and I mentioned the flooding going on in my area and that I was happy to be here in Boston this weekend. As I knelt down beside him for our selfie, I took a moment to make sure he knew how much he’d inspired me when it came to mental health and dealing with anxiety in my life. He said he has been having a bit of a rough time lately, so he probably needs to go to his therapist. I told him my therapist was going to want to hear all about this con! I also told him I was trying to pass on the courage that he’d given me to my students, and that I feel like my classroom has completely transformed this year because of it. After that, he ended up taking the selfies for me, and he took multiple ones (they all do). I took off my glasses for it, which I refer to as my “spectacles,” and he told me he’d lost his glasses. At this point, he had his hair up in a weird but cute little ponytail, so he looks adorable and goofy in these selfies.

I ended up missing the Eliza photo op today because someone wanted a Bellarke print for both of them to sign, and I just happened to have one upstairs in my autograph book, so I ran up and got it for her. There was a Bellarke print on Eliza’s autograph table, but this girl was in Bob’s line at the time. So I was happy to help her out!

Bob went straight to photos after signing, and I opted for one normal photo (which is now the background on my phone), and one in this purple jacket he was wearing. I figured that, since he’d lost his glasses and I couldn’t do the photo of me wearing his glasses that I’d been hoping for, the next best thing was to ask him to wear his jacket. So he took it off and let me put it on, and when I gave it back to him, he joked, “That’s just what happens when you come around. My clothes come off!” LOL! I was probably so red when he said that.

I think afterward is when I ran into Zach in the hall. I asked him how he had such endless energy, and he said it helps that he runs every day. I heard he ended up hanging out in his green room with his group, and then Richard came in there, too, and hung out, because no one was in his. They had pizza and beer for lunch.

My friends and I went and hung out in Bob’s room to relax for a moment during the girls panel. He popped in briefly but had to go get his sister. Not long after that, Grace and I were walking towards the panel room and actually met his sister! She was so petite and sweet and looks a lot like Bob. He introduced us (and knew our names without hesitation by that point), and he explained how we were part of his group for the weekend. I told his sister that her brother was amazing and that he made this a special weekend for a lot of people.

I caught some of the girls panel at the end, and it had a much more subdued vibe than the boys panel would have. Not boring at all, just . . . less insane.

Turns out, my mom talked to Bob during this panel. He had poked his head in the room, and she saw him and decided to follow him out into the hall in hopes of saying something to him. And she did! This is big for her because she’s a little more shy around people than I am. She said that she was his Pumpkin Queen’s mom and that he’s really helped me out with a lot of things in life. She even got a hug from him!


Guys Panel and Photo:
Oh my god. Okay. Everyone knows the Beliza panel is, like, the crown jewel of this convention. But in many ways, this one was just as good. I mean, this was LIT! Absolutely hysterical, as we all expected it would be. Jo (who was lovely all weekend and a great moderator) dubbed this the "Boys, Bubbles, and Beer" panel because somebody brought them in beers while they were up there.

I’ve already re-watched the panel for this one. If you haven’t watched it, I totally recommend it. It will just put a major smile on your face. What an iconic trio for this one! Richard and his bubble gun set the tone, and Bob and Zach transformed into children playing with them and trying to eat them. Someone asked a question about creating some kind of super animal, and the boys totally submerged into their answers. Richard, in particular, kept referring back to his, as he came up with an answer involving a hippo. A lot of the questions were more lighthearted, including my own, which was, “If you were a boy band, which member would you be?” Richard said he’d be the misunderstood one, Zach said he’d be the one with his shirt off, and Bob said he’d be, “The sensitive one. The one who really listens to you.” I believe this was also the panel where Bob ended up with two microphones in his hand, because a fan came at him about the “family” line in 5x09, but it ended up being funny when Richard was like, “No, do me next!” after she was done. Bob also fielded a Becho question (which I feel would have been more appropriately asked during his own panel than during a panel for all three guys, but whatever) very diplomatically.

In this panel, Bob said he thinks he’s the funniest, but it’s hard to say! They’re all hilarious and crack me up so much! I think they have different styles of humor, though. Richard’s is so weird and out there, Zach’s is so on point, and Bob’s is so warm and infectious.

After the panel, I went to the photo op with the boys, and I love my pose for this one! It’s one of the ones I had planned out well in advance, probably the first idea I came up with. I said, “We’re gonna do something that never happens in real life: have 3 men fighting over me.” So they tried to steal me away from Bob. (Didn’t work.) Zach is grabbing at my arm, Richard is putting Bob in a headlock, and Bob is just holding onto me. That was a shorter line for that one, and I was the last one to go through it, so Richard was like, “Nobody likes the guys, huh?” And I said, “Oh, I do!”


More Combos (Eliza, Bob, Chelsey, Richard):
I upgraded from what was originally just an Eliza autograph to an Eliza combo, and I just had her sign a Bellarke print from season 5. Then I showed her an envelope I had full of stuff from students (and two cards from me). I told her I’d give it to Bob when I went through his line, but that it was for both of them. She said, “Oh, well, we’re on the same flight, so we can look at it.” I got a cute selfie with her, much better than the horrendous one I took last year!

Chelsey came up to Bob’s table at this point and swiped one of his SDCC backpack photos and said she was taking it back to her booth. And she did. She had some stuff on display behind her booth, and that photo of Bob was, for some reason, one of them.

I think I was pretty smart by spacing out all of my Bob combos for every time he was signing (and I don’t think I was the only one to do that). When I got up to the front of his line again, he told me he’d met my mom and that she was very sweet. (My mom loved hearing that!) I then gave him the envelope from my students, and he was able to look through a few things in there. He asked what grade I teach. The man just takes a genuine interest. He ended up claiming that he’d been a good student, so I said I was going to put him to the test . . . literally. I gave him a pop quiz I had made a couple days before!



For #1, he was like, “It’s me, right?” Then for #2, he didn’t even hesitate or have to ask. (Even if I hadn’t been in a Bellarke shirt, he would have known. His VIP group is . . . pretty much all Bellarkers, I think.) For #3, he was trying to write “All of the above” but wrote “Ass” for some reason, so we laughed about that. Then he had to think about #4 for a moment, but he looked at me, then correctly deduced that it was season 4! Not even a hint required. So I put a 100% on it, and we took a selfie of him holding it up. I’m happy that I did that. It’s a slightly more unique autograph than just a photo print.

Okay, so after this, I was able to fit in both my Chelsey and Richard combos. I think I got my Richard combo first, but I’m not sure. Well, anyway, right as I approached his autograph table, he went ahead and took his shirt off, and I didn’t complain! Of course he put another back on, but hey, I was there when it came off! This was shortly before his panel with Luisa, so I was the only one there. I asked him to write something weird on my autograph, so he knelt down in front of his table and thought about it for a good two minutes or so. He asked me to give him a random word. I blurted out, “Pineapple,” which, fun fact, is actually a word that was recently used in a chapter of my fic Lost Is Where I’m Found, so that’s why it came to mind. Anyway, he ended up gaving me a very weird autograph that references both Spongebob and the hippo he’d brought up in the guys panel. It says, "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? A hippo, and it will ****ing destroy you!" It’s just so Richard that I love it. Then I got a surprisingly normal selfie with him. He can actually be normal if he tries!

Then Chelsey . . . GOOD LORD. The beauty of this woman is absolutely mind-blowing! And it’s not just the outer beauty. She has such a vibrant spunk about her that it just radiates. She has such amazing inner beauty, too. No wonder all the fans love her. I could hardly choose a print to have her sign because I loved them all! While she was signing, I mentioned NarcoLeap, and she said they film season 2 in October. We also talked about dancing, and I asked her how she was so good at so many things. She said she’s not, but that what she’s really good at is eating. I said, “I wish I could eat a lot and look like you!” She was like, “You do!” HA! Yeah, right. But it’s nice of her to say that. So then . . . oh, then I thanked her for being so kind to Bellarke fans, and . . . well, some of you have already PMed me to find out her response to that. I’m not going to post it here, because it’s clearly something she’s trying not to publicly take sides on, even now. But if you want to hear how Chelsey Reist thinks of Bellarke, let me know and I’ll message you about it. We took some cute selfies after that, and I have to say, my Chelsey selfies (or Chelfies, if you will), are some of the best selfies I’ve ever taken!

After meeting her, I decided that I just had to get more than one Chelsey photo op. So I purchased another and now have two, one with just a normal hug, and one where we’re hitting a dance pose. She was so high energy even in these photo ops! She’s, like, the female equivalent of Zach when it comes to her energy level.


Chelsey Panel:
I caught the tail end of Richard and Luisa’s panel before this, but I don’t remember much of what was said. I wish I could have seen more of it, but Chelsey ended up dominating that time for me. For good reason. She’s incredible, just as I suspected she would be.

They showed my video at the start of Chelsey’s panel, which was so flattering! It’s set to a song called “Crawl” and is something I made a couple months ago. To know that Chelsey herself has seen it now is kind of surreal!



During her panel, Chelsey was so hilarious and lively. God, I love her. I had a great seat and got a nice video of one of her answers. Clearly she loves Harper and is sad to be gone, but she’s appreciative of the response she gets from fans.

Side note: My mom loves Chelsey now, too. She even got a Harper bracelet from one of the vendors, which is so pretty. She got me a Bellamy one, but I think the Harper one is the prettiest.

Here is the other merch I purchased over the weekend:




Bob/Richard:
Poor Bob. His leg was definitely hurting him at this point, but he powered through for us. This photo op resulted in some great photos from fans, as it often does. I had two, one which was just normal, where Bob was resting his head against mine. My funny one is kind of epic, as it involved my pumpkin. I had Richard hold it up like Simba on The Lion King, and Bob and I stared at it in awe. Bob sort of proudly told Richard that his face was on my pumpkin, and Richard was like, “Hell, yeah, I see it.” It is harder to see when it’s not plugged in and lit up, but the lighting at the photo op made it visible, so that’s good. Bob liked this pumpkin pose.


Night 2 Party:
This party wasn’t quite as good as last year, just because only one cast member showed up this time. But kudos to Zach for being there for the majority of the 4 hours and taking hundreds of free selfies with people. He danced a lot to end the party, too, and showed no signs of slowing down for the night. As was evident in the livestream Jaclyn and Marcella and Logan were doing, he planned to go out to a bar afterward! Not shocking, right?



I danced a majority of the time. I was there with Logan and his friend Colum and then hung out with Jaclyn and Marcella a lot, too. By the end, as they went off to film, I found a crew of girls I danced with last year. We all said we had to hold out until the end of the party this year, too, even though we were exhausted! And we did.

Note: I think Bob had intended to come to this again this year, but someone saw him at dinner with a cane, and Richard had helped him upstairs. Poor guy was definitely hurting, and I heard that Eliza was with Bob. I think they were going together or not at all. Probably a wise thing they didn’t go at all. They would have been swamped, and Bob could have gotten injured. And if Eliza had gone on her own, without Bob there to split the crowd, that would have been a lot for her. Plus, I heard that she was “being good this year” after getting really drunk on Saturday night last year. She didn’t want a repeat. I was a little surprised the other cast members didn’t show, but they’re under no obligation to, and it’s totally understandable that they’d be very tired and need a break. I still had a fun time anyway with my friends!



Sunday (More Combos and Photos):
This is the day where we all got to sleep in a little bit, but this was also BELIZA DAY! So there was excitement in the air. I ended up missing Richard’s panel because I had tickets for other things. I was bummed to miss his panel but happy with what I got to do.

I started out my day with Bob, of course! Another combo. That autograph line, though . . . holy ****. It always went quickly for me because I was in the VIP line, but even his VIP line was longer than most. And his general autograph line wrapped around in a U-shape. He was in high demand last year, but this was at a different level. That general autograph line just never got short today. At all.

Bob had shaved, so this marked the first time I’ve interacted with him and gotten pics with him without his facial hair. He looks so cute either way! I had him sign one of Rayna’s Bellarke posters and asked him to write a Bellarke quote on it. He wrote, “I got you for that,” and told me that he was really pleased with how that line turned out. (He later would reiterate this in his panel.) I said, “You know what other line really worked? She is.” And this is where the video that has made the rounds of him saying, “Everybody stop! I have a mug!” originated from. I joked that he was armed with nothing but a mug and his dramatics there, and he was like, “Yeah, he’s such a drama queen.” We took another cute selfie, and I told him that, even though I really love all the cast members, he’s the one who really makes this experience what it is for me. I’m sure he already knew.



As my friend Grace and I were leaving, he was like, “There’s more people this year. I haven’t even gotten around to giving everyone nicknames. I feel bad.” But we assured him he was doing fine!



After that, I went to my Eliza photo op, the one that had been so generously given to me by my friend Ashley. I seriously can’t thank her enough for that, because Eliza photo ops aren’t cheap! We just did a simple Bellarke hug, but it’s a cute, nice picture, and it’s eerily similar to one I got with Bob last year.

I had the Richard photo op right after this, and I told him that someone last year had asked Bob to do his best Richard Harmon impersonation. So I asked him to impersonate Bob. He just made his eyes really wide for some reason and said, “When you see it, that’s my Bob.” Okay! I probably should have just gone for a hug for this one, because it’s my least favorite photo because of how awkward I look stading next to him. But oh, well, it’s still fun!

There was another Bob photo op after this, and his autograph line had gotten so long at that point that they had to cut it off. Well, I’m pretty sure everyone from the autograph line just came to the photo op line, because that was long, too. I kind of talked two girls at the front of the line down from their idea to ask him to stand up for their photo. I just didn’t really feel that was appropriate since there was a chair there for him for a reason. And they did change their minds about it and got a cute photo anyway, so that’s good.

He had on an awesome jacket (the same one he was wearing when he came out for his and Eliza’s panel), and it worked out really well for one of my photo ops! The first one was just normal, a hug-ish type of one where I’m leaning against him like Clarke leaned against Bellamy in 5x13. The other one involved pom poms and was the photo I dedicated to my dance team since they purchased it for me! It might actually be my favorite photo. It turned out really good.


Bob Panel and Lunch:
They played a video before this panel that I suggested. Bob watched it. I think all the cast, at this point, was watching the videos that were playing before their panels. Bob is so good at doing solo panels, and you can tell he’s done a lot of them. Unsurprisingly, this panel was live-streamed. I definitely have to re-watch this one, as I don’t remember everything that was asked. I had no questions in mind, for some reason, so I just did some rapid-fire quick-answer questions. Through these questions, I found out that he wasn’t near-sighted or far-sighted, but rather had an astigmatism. I found out that he prefers 80s music to 90s music (that’s okay, Bob, I can look past that), that he likes spicy food over sweet food, and that he thinks Bellamy would be eliminated first if he was on a cooking competition like Top Chef.

I have to say that I really appreciated how he elaborated on the “family” line, which had been brought up at the guys panel yesterday. He said that he felt the connection between Bellamy and Echo “wasn’t playing” to the audience and acknowledged that he knew viewers were going to have a hard time understanding why they were together. It was an honest but respectful answer that vocalized what a lot of people in this fandom felt while watching. He also explained that the family line wasn’t meant to exclude Clarke, but rather it was meant to let her know that, much like she needed to protect Madi, he needed to protect the people he cared about, too. Which was exactly how I interpreted it, so I wish people would stop dwelling on it so much.

We learned that he has two more months of recovery on his knee but that he doesn’t have to have surgery again! Yay!

Then . . . oh, buddy. THEN he made a surprise announcement. We VIPs had known that he wanted us he to go back to his green room after his panel, but we assumed it was just going to be for a couple minutes to raffle off the photo of him (as every guest had a big framed poster to be won by one member of their group). But he ended up telling us to go back to the VIP room because he was going to have lunch with us!



Holy crap! Unexpected, but not surprising. This is Bob Morley we’re talking about here, the man with a heart of gold who is 100% committed to making this con an amazing experience for fans. Obviously he felt bad about not making the party last night, but this lunch ended up being 45 minutes of just the 25 of us with Bob. So this was actually a lot better! Grace and I bolted back to the room to get our good seats again. Bob came in with food and was surprised no one else had gotten lunch. Ha! He literally thought we were all going to stop and get food rather than getting a good seat at the table with him? Silly Bob! He had a salad and said he felt like an animal in the zoo being watched while it was eating, so the girls dug into their purses and found snack bars and gummy things, and that was all the lunch we needed.

I was so happy when he said that he doesn’t really like how they release the scripts for certain scenes, because I’ve been vocal about not liking it, either! He feels it’s his job as an actor to portray it in a way that makes sense, and then when viewers see a script, they might question why it doesn’t match up. But he does his own thing sometimes, as long as it feels like what Bellamy would do or how Bellamy would act.

He said “Good luck” to us in Season 6. I’m not sure if it was a Bellarke thing or not, because we were talking about how the characters never talk and how everything is so fast-paced. So I think (and hope) it was just about how fast-paced the season is going to be. He did tell us who wrote his episode, but I’m not allowed to say who it is. He asked who our favorite writer is, and I blurted out, “I like Aaron.” And everyone agreed. It was pretty much unanimous. He said Aaron is one of his closest friends.

I asked him about writing an episode and phrased my questions as, “Would it be good or crazy?” Got a laugh out of everyone. He says he doesn’t write sci-fi, but I can’t quite remember what he said he does like to write. (Let’s just hope he doesn’t ever find out what I like to write!)

He said he just recently watched Richard in Icetastrophe again and that he tries to watch everything Richard and Eliza have been in. He brought up indie films, so I segued into Lost in the White City, of course. He said shooting in Tel-Aviv was neat but so hot. I brought up a student finding out about LITWC and suggesting we watch it, since we’d been talking about Israel/Palestine in class. And I was like, “NO! No, we definitely can’t watch that!” Bob got a laugh out of that and mentioned the scene where he’s lying there completely naked, and how he saw that scene and said, “That’s my ***hole!” He also talked about the scene where the other actor, Tom had to grope his package, and Tom asked him how explicit to be, and Bob told him to just go for it. During that scene, the director was like, “Hey, Tom! Don’t squeeze his balls so much! They’re coming out the sides!” He said it was the weirdest direction he’d ever heard.

So basically, this was yet another VIP meal. And he was the only cast member to do this. #spoiledBobVIPs


BELIZA PANEL:
And this brings us into the big one, the Bob and Eliza panel, which must have been an amazing time to go get autographs with the other guests, because let’s be honest here, the room was pretty much full for Bob and Eliza. They played this really amazing video before it, one that came out after 5x13 and that I placed on my Bellarke playlist.



Last year, they just played the 2x16 scene and not a video, so I was really stoked to see a vid this time. There weren’t many woos during it, because it was just so emotional and touching. Bob and Eliza both came out and watched it intently, too. Some people, including myself, were tearful at the end of it, because it’s just so well done.

I absolutely LOVED their matching jackets! It’s so cool that Bob had that made for Eliza for her birthday.

So many good moments in this panel, honestly. Too many to count. Bob and Eliza just have such an amazing friendship and an undeniable (friendly) chemistry with each other even off screen. The panel was live-streamed, of course, and I look forward to re-watching it. One of my favorite moments was the girl who got him to do the cut line from Day Trip. (She’s a sweetheart, too!) Even though I don’t particularly care for the cut scripts, it was cool to hear him say it in the Bellamy voice, and I love the TeamHodgins video that resulted from it. Gotta love the fact that Bob knew it was going to end up in a video, too!

I was going to ask about either the 3x05 scene or the “She is” scene, but my Weird Americanisms question segued a lot better with the one that came before it, and I think the cast appreciates lighthearted questions like that. When I asked them what things Americans do that they think are weird, Eliza said she didn’t understand why everyone seems to like Hershey’s chocolate, and Bob said he can’t stand that we don’t use the metric system. (I have no idea how to use the metric system, to be honest).

Bob and Eliza are like politicians in that they know how to swerve around questions, and I got a kick out of Bob’s constant reiteration of, “I was there, she was there, words were said,” when trying to describe Bellarke scenes in season 6 without giving away any spoilers. Look, I know a lot of fans were bummed that the cast couldn’t talk about season 6, but it works for me! I feel like we still got a few hints, and that’s enough for someone like me who wants to be as spoiler-free as possible.


Beliza photo ops:
Holy mother of god, this line was endless. Both the VIP and general lines were huge. These two ended up doing a straight hour of photo ops. Can you imagine? I wonder if they will do something different with the schedule next year, maybe do photos on both Saturday and Sunday for them. Because it was a lot.

I did one normal photo, one silly face photo, one “cold sweat” photo with Grace where we kind of all look like we’re saluting, but oh, well. And probably my favorite photo is the one I did with Logan. Since he’s such an Eliza stan and I’m such a Bob stan, we decided to do a proposal photo, so when we got to them, I said, “Okay, we love you two so much that we’re ready to make it official; we’re ready to commit,” and we both got down on one knee and held their hands. It took the photographer a moment to get this photo because he was trying to get us all in it, so that meant that Logan got to stare into Eliza’s eyes for 8 seconds, which he loved. I told Bob to look surprised, and I love his face in this photo! Logan also paid for the digital copy of this print and for my copy of it, so that was super nice of him!


More Photos and Combos:
The last photo ops I got were my Skaikru photos (I refuse to call them Spacekru). I loved doing these! I got a photo with the 4 cast members I was most excited to see! I showed up with props, and Bob told them that my birthday was coming up soon. (I don’t even know how he knew that, to be honest. I don’t remember telling him this time, but I know I told him last time.) My happy birthday photo to myself is so cute! And I ended up getting a second one so that we could do the happy belated birthday to Bob since he told us last year that everyone always forgets about December birthdays. He looks like an absolute spaz in both photos, as he had the birthday hats over his mouth!

After this, I returned to the autograph room to get one more Eliza autograph. I got her to sign the Bellarke poster I had Bob sign earlier, and she wrote “She is” and drew an arrow to herself. While I was in this line, I noticed that someone in Bob’s line had him sign a print of the scene from LITWC where he is lying naked and face down on the bed, and Bob shouted, “That’s my ***hole!” just like he did in the lunch with us.

I also had randomly purchased a Zach combo the day before, because I really like Zach and hadn’t gone through his autograph line since my first con back in 2016. So I asked him to write something Bellarke-related since he’d anointed himself “Bellarke president” last year, and he just wrote “Bellarke!” with a smiley face. He checked with me to make sure he’d spelled it correctly. I said, “Roan was a massive shipper,” and he was like, “Yeah, I think Roan was always just wondering, ‘Why the hell haven’t these two gotten together yet?’” Oh, Zach, I love you!


That last Bob combo (super emotional):
Okay, so Bob’s autograph line was still MASSIVE. It was still wrapped around in a U shape even at the very end of the convention. Richard, Tasya, Zach all cleared out. Eliza finished up so she could get to her panel. Chelsey ended up coming back just to take a video of Bob’s line. It got to the point where people were telling me that he’d been instructed to just write his name and nothing more on the autographs to keep things moving. But of course he didn’t do that. It’s his con; he can do whatever the hell he wants! He was in there long after everyone else. I’ve never seen anything quite like the demand for him this year. It was nuts. The guy had virtually no break from 10:00 until the end of the convention that evening, since he decided to eat lunch with us instead of on his own. He was even standing by the table at this point, I think to help make it go faster so people didn’t have to come behind the table for selfies.

And now for the emotional part: I had a birthday card for my friend. I don’t even think I was able to tell him that her birthday was coming up on the same day as mine, because something just hit me. I started to cry. Not super hard or anything, but enough that I couldn’t hold the tears in. I kind of just realized that I missed my friend being there with me this year, as I’ve never gone to a convention without her. And she wanted to be there, but she’s just had a rough year. I’ve gone through rough years myself, and I want hers to get easier for her. He wrote an encouraging note to her, and I told him I couldn’t take a selfie at that moment, and he said, “No, just take a moment to yourself. I’ll make sure I find you.” So I hung around, and after he was done, he called me back over. (There’s video of this somewhere.) I was still a little choked up, though I was doing better, so he said, “Do you want me to just do a video for her instead?” Well, this was exactly what I had wanted anyway, but given how late his autographs had run, I was a bit hesitant to ask for it, even though I’d known he would say yes. But since he volunteered, I ended up getting an encouraging video for her where he tells her to stay strong and that she’s got a great friend in me. I cannot watch that video without tearing up, and she’s going to get it on her birthday (which is just a couple of days away), so I’m so excited to see her reaction to it.

I was pretty much the last one in there at this point, so he said it was so good to see me again this year and thanked me for always being so sweet. I said, “If there is a Conageddon 3, I really have to get your VIP again, Bob.” Prayer circle for this. Everyone wants his VIP because everyone knows how well he treats his VIPs.


Eliza Panel:
I caught most of this one this time. I came in as they were auctioning off the Eliza/Alycia selfies. (Some people must be rich!) But good on them for donating so much to charity. It’s great that this CGL auction was so tremendously successful!

I didn’t get to ask a question for this one because we ran out of time, but I would have asked about filming the “She is” scene, because that had to be hard to convey so much feeling without a word of dialogue. This panel was also live-streamed, so that makes the opening panel, Beliza panel, Bob panel, and Eliza panel the ones that were live-streamed, but all were filmed, so that's great!

In regards to questions during this con (and advice to anyone thinking about asking a question at a con): Most questions here were good and not so repetitive. I do think that a couple people need to learn not to ramble so much before they ask. A question should allow the cast member to talk more than you do. And a couple people need to realize that certain questions just . . . aren’t interesting. Also, it’s more polite to ask questions that all the guests at the panel can answer. I’m often told that my questions are really good, so I take pride in that! I even had a couple people asking me how they should phrase their questions. Might be the teacher in me coming through again.


Closing:
This is so bittersweet. On the one hand, it was an amazing experience, one that I was lucky to have for the second year in a row, but on the other hand, it’s so sad that it’s over!

They raffled off posters of each cast member to one of their VIP group. Bob had already chosen his at lunch earlier since a couple people in his group had to leave before closing, so he said, “Act surprised, guys!” That was kind of cool that they did that this year. Although if I had won, I do wonder, how the hell would I have gotten it home? It wasn’t a small poster.

Chelsey and Richard (and then Zach and Bob) did shots with a fan. And of course, after an onstage “team meeting” between Bob, Eliza, and Zach, Bob announced, “There WILL be a Conageddon 3 next year!”

And the fandom rejoices.

The cast left, and I said goodbye to my fandom friends. I’ve got many of their numbers now, so that’s nice that I don’t just have to communicate with them through Twitter. One nice girl named Casey in the VIP group hugged me and thanked me for “helping make the VIP group such a community.” I said, “Oh, I don’t do that. Bob does,” and she was like, “You play a big part in it, too.” That’s so sweet of her to say! It kind of melted my heart, because I do always try my best to make everyone feel included and welcomed.

Randomly, my mom stole a laminated “Bob VIP” paper that was hanging from the back of one of his VIP seats. I don’t know why. She’s an odd one, but I love her anyway.

It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone, but I loved my time with the fans here. These are my people, and I’m very in my element at cons. I am so outgoing and social with them, much more so than I am with people in my so-called real life. They’re truly friends. And the cast is so warm and generous and down to earth that, after a weekend like this, they feel like friends, too.

Check out Jaclyn and Marcella’s vlogs if you want to feel like you were there! And I believe Logan will be doing a recap video about it, too. Also, be sure to watch the panels! Most have been uploaded to YouTube, but I believe they were all on the Conageddon Facebook, too. I’m sorry I couldn’t go to all of them to tell you about them.

A massive thanks to everyone who put this convention on for a second year in a row! Tom, Mike, and all the other organizers and volunteers were outstanding. The vendors had incredible products. (I got 4 necklaces from Erin, and she gave me a free Bellarke pen.) The fans really are “cream of the crop,” as Bob put it, and the cast once again went out of their way to make sure we had a good time, and by doing so, I think they had a good time, too. Bob, Eliza, and Zach really pour a lot of love into this, and that makes it a very special con. Once again, Bob in particular made this a truly incredible weekend for me, one that I will never forget. I am so ****ing proud to be such a big fan of him.


REMINDER: If you want to see my personal pictures from this convention, including professional photo ops, selfies, etc., then please let me know! I am willing to send them out via email, like I did last year, or via Twitter DM.

HOPE TO SEE SOME OF YOU THERE, NEXT YEAR!