Last week, I achieved a major milestone in a nerd's life: I finally attended San Diego Comic-Con.
And y'all, it was just as bananas as I had hoped. Like, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
Today, I'd like to share with you some important lessons I learned from this most dorkalicious of festivals.
1. Rumors of people in costume have not been greatly exaggerated.
FYA contributor and Gilmore Girls expert Meredith handled this encounter with the utmost bravery.
Okay, so I'd heard about all of the elaborate costumes, and I'd seen plenty of photos, but this shizz truly is UNREAL YOU GUYS. It's both insanely impressive and straight up insane.
2. People in costume love having their photo taken.
Even Gandalf.
3. The most impressive costumes are also, not surprisingly, the most uncomfortable.
If you actually want to enjoy yourself at Comic-Con, don't wear something like this...
or this...
I mean, that lady better have a pee cup under her dress, is what I'm saying.
4. The average layperson will not recognize 85% of the costumes.
Feel free to identify this duo in the comments and feel way more savvy than me. Because unlike in the real world, knowing obscure anime characters makes you incredibly cool at Comic-Con.
5. Consequently, when the average layperson is actually able to identify a costume, the average layperson feels very excited and takes lots of photos.
Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
(Extra points for comfort)
Exhibit C:
6. The best costumes are always worn by pets. Always.
See this doggie biker in action here.
7. Hall H is just not worth it, you guys.
So, Hall H is where all of the big time, superstar panels take place. People wait hours, even DAYS, to get into Hall H, which is a huge cavernous room with big screens so that people who are far away from the panel (read: the vast majority) can see what is happening.
Having attended the Catching Fire panel, I can see the allure of Hall H. After all, you get to see your screen idols in person (projected on a big screen) and hear them dish out scoops exclusive to the panel (until they're all over the internet two minutes later). It was definitely fun to see Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson (so tiny!) crack each other up, and I'm glad I can now say from personal experience that Lenny Kravitz is a sexy mothercusser, but I can't tell you anything about Catching Fire that you haven't already read on Twitter. And if I had waited 12+ hours for the pleasure of watching the new trailer approximately one minute earlier than the rest of the world, I would have grabbed an arrow from the Katniss-wannabe next to me and STABBED MYSELF.
8. If you get invited to a party, say yes.
This is an obvious rule but its importance should not be underestimated. On Thursday night, I was lucky enough to get invited to the Summit party, which featured most of the Divergent cast, Veronica Roth (who looked GORGEOUS, btw), Brian and Alek from Chloe King (Megan, I will grudgingly admit that Alek is hot in person) and, most importantly, an open bar.
9. Keep your eyes peeled for celebrities, because they are EVERYWHERE!
Although I use the term "celebrities" loosely.
I was actually the most excited about this guy.
No, it's not President Obama. It's Louis Ortiz, the President Obama impersonator from This American Life!
I also saw most of the Veronica Mars movie cast, plus Wil Wheaton! (Of course I saw Wil Wheaton at Comic-Con.)
10. Comic-Con isn't about comics or movies or television. It's about marketing.
Every time you stop and think, "Dang, that's cool," it means that you're now a victim of marketing.
This was a for a web show!
This was for Adult Swim!
This was for Legos!
And this was for Assassin's Creed IV. Well, at least they're blatant about it.
11. If you go with zero expectations and a tolerance for overpriced hotel cocktails, you'll have a freaking blast.
I'm really glad I finally made it to Comic-Con, and I can't wait to apply my newly gained wisdom next year.
Were any of y'all there? Do you have pro-tips to share? Let's debrief in the comments!
And to close this post, I'll leave you with a few more photographic gems.
