Sunday 26 July 2009

San Diego Comic Con ‘09 – Heroes, geeks, fangirls & ZQ

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Blogging at Comic Con is all but impossible, as I have now discovered.  I have SO much respect for those who are able to do this kind of thing on a regular basis!

I’m very aware that much of what goes on here is lost on me.  I don’t watch any TV shows like Star Trek, Doctor Who or even things like Dexter & Lost.  I don’t like Star Wars, I don’t like games, I don’t read ‘regular’ comics (I’m a manga girl).  So I do have a certain amount of guilt as I know so many would love to be in my position and would probably gain even more from the experience.  That said, there can be absolutely no doubt as to the level of joy I have experienced, especially today!  I came to Comic Con (lets call it SDCC from now on) for 3 things, Heroes, Zachary Quinto and most importantly, to see my friends.  I can now put a big ‘tick’ next to all of those.

 

Let me start with my friends, my wonderful friends.  Kirsty, my little pervy saviour who was able to get me a press pass at the last minute, I wouldn’t even be here without her.  What she lacks in height she more than makes up for with smut, and I love her dearly for that.  She superbly runs the very best ZACHARY QUINTO FANSITE.  If you are a fan, you should really check it out.  Thank you Kirsty, thank you so very much.

DSCF1432Kirsty post-ZQ meeting.

Mabes, my sweet, submissive American twin, my partner in crime.  There are few people who are able to match my ZQ admiration and not fangirl with it, but Mabes is most certainly one of them.  She helped to create and runs the SARMY, a ‘special’ group of individuals most precious to my heart.  She has taken me under her wing during this trip, and stopped me from feeling intimidated by the enormity of it all, a true, true friend.

DSCF1430 Mabes, post-ZQ meeting.

Last but by no means least, is Kat. Mabes’ RP bumchum, and all round saucy, great girl.  We really got a chance to know each other properly on this trip, and I am proud to call her a friend.  An original SArmy member, you can find her and her dirty mind in the pants of various male Heroes cast …probably.

DSCF1431 Kat, post-ZQ meeting.

I’m not such a meany that I would post vulnerable, goofy photos of my friends & their post-ZQ faces.  I looked just as bad, no… worse.  Behold, my biggest grin…

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So I guess I should do a quick round up of the trips events so far.      Thursday was the first proper day of SDCC, it was hell outside.  The reason?  Twilight.  Fucking Twilight, currently the bane of my existence.  Why do fangirls have to exist?  Why?!  How does their behaviour not cause them to implode with shame?!  I feel this should refer to ALL fangirls.  I’m talking about the kind of girls who have no social understanding, no concept of their actions or how what they say and do might make the object of their affections feel uncomfortable or even petrified.  Fangirls make girl fans look bad, really bad.  We all get tarred with the same brush, and I fucking hate them for that.  Since my arrival in San Diego, I have met many ‘real life’ fan girls, the type of people I avoid like the plague in the UK, I can quite honestly say I disliked every one of them.  They are like groupies but worse, at least groupies put out, fangirls just scream en masse and take what they can.  U’gh, disgraceful.  Go away and come back when you are mentally mature and have some style.  Rant over.  Thursday night we went for ice cream with Heroes actor David D H Lawrence XVII and his lovely partner Mia.  A delightful couple, very interesting, very funny, very generous with their time.  They have an abundance of links between them, but THIS is a good place to start.

WE spent a big chunk of Friday morning/afternoon at the FANTASTIC Heroes carnival, having fun and unknowingly being burned by the sun.  It was so lovely to see so many people having fun and coming together in such a way.  I think it was really the kind of positive promo boost that the show needs.  Plus, I had my first ever snow cone!!!  I was lucky enough to meet David and Mia again at the Heroes All Access party later that afternoon, along with my friend and Heroes artist Jason Badower (BLOG), Heroes writer Oliver Grigsby (BLOG), Heroes head prop guy James (TWITTER), and others.  It was a great afternoon, so full of laughter, not too geeky, just a few people with a common interest getting together.  Oh, and I got to wear HRG’s glasses…

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DSCF1389 copy copy Someone finally found a way to shut me up.

Today was the day, I mean THE DAY.  Pretty much the last two years of my life have been building up to today, the day I met Zachary Quinto.  Maybe it shouldn’t be such a big deal, but through this guy I have made some of the very best friends a girl could ask for, friends I’m sure will be with me to the end.  In a funny sort of way, this guy means the world to me mainly because I wouldn’t love the people I love right now if it wasn’t for him.

Myself, Mabes and Kat started queuing at 11am to see the 5:30pm panel featuring ZQ and his production company Before The Door.  I was front row centre for a whole bunch of panels that, though very good, I knew very little about.  I had guilt, big time guilt, like I was a Twilight fan.  If it wasn’t for the god awful fangirls around me I would have thought I was as bad as them, but their terrible behaviour kept me grounded and safe in the knowledge that although I was eager, I was NOT one of them!  The Archaia panel did not disappoint, even without ZQ it would have been interesting.  Jeff Loeb came out as the surprise guest, I think I cheered more for him than I did for Zach, in fact, I know I did.  It was a lovely surprise, he was such a fan favourite, it made me remember how upset I was when he was dropped from Heroes.  Anyway, back on topic, the books Archaia are working on and that are due for release all sound excellent, even I will be straying from my normal manga path to check them out.  You can check out their releases HERE.  I will be uploading my photos from this panel at some point in the very near future, check back for updates.

As soon as the panel ended everyone, including myself, Mabes, Kirsty & Kat were whisked away to avoid the fangirl menace.  I still don’t know how Zach left the room.  Neal (Before The Door) told us to follow him quickly, which we did.  Zach WAS behind us but somehow managed to get to the holding room before we did (powarz?).  Once inside, Zach was, as we had no doubt that he would be, a true gentleman.  Very grateful for the work we have done, very humble and somehow has the ability to stare right into your soul, which while very exciting was also really unsettling!  I actually think he was trying to work out if I wear contact lenses or not, I’ve never had anyone look at me that intently before, it was quite wonderful. *blushes*  He signed my canvas, actually he did a better job with that than I could have hoped, I would have been happy with just his name, but he went the distance and totally personalised it.

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I shot so many photos at the panel, it will take a little while to organise them, but I hope to get them online ASAP, more than likely this will be once I get back to England.  In the mean time, I will leave you with these little teasers…  Hope you have enjoyed reading!

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xXx

12 comments:

  1. :D ...so happy for you!!!!!!!!

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  2. You are fucking amazing!!!

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  3. Awesomesauce! I appreciate you and Mabes and Kat (and the gang) helping the rest of us girl fans balance out the fangirls! You have said everything in this post that I've wanted to say this weekend but couldn't figure out how to do so politely and with the tact that you did :)

    Thanks again! @afreshPOV

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  4. WOW, amazingly written!! and so happy for you, all of you girls deserved this convention..good for you guys!

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  5. NATALIE! You are too dang sweet, honey! The best part of Comic Con was being able to spend time with you, Mabes, and Kirsty. Seriously. I just know the four of us will be great friends for a long long time. :D <3! (PS i love our post-zach pics, priceless. XD)

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  6. Thanks for posting your story :) I agree with you, Zach does have that look about him, he looks you dead in the eye and is such a consummate gentleman, very funny and sweet. I met him a couple months ago and got to hang out with him for a bit and have a drink with him! It was fantastic

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  7. someday this will be me.

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  8. You are very lucky! How on earth did you get to go to the holding room and meet him? I'm a fellow Sarmy member and would love to hang out with you guys at future comic cons!

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  9. Thanks for the post, this was nicely written and great pics :)

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  10. That sounded just amazing :-) I feel so happy for you, to have had such a wonderful experience

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  11. Woohoo!!! I need to go next year :) I'm so super pleased that you got to meet ZQ. xxx

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  12. Gabrielle Jones1 August 2009 at 00:28

    Wow!! You are so lucky!! I'm really Jealous!! I Love SARMY and what they stand for! I also Hate Fan Girls SOOO Much and I strive not to be one!! You are an Insiration and give me much hope!! :D

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