My partners in crime were Kathy, Kurt and his friend Will and we all had a blast. But the best thing was that I handled the day carefully and got some unfinished business sorted and did my best to meet up with almost everyone for a short period of time, each.
Here's what happened in my cram-packed end of May Saturday at the best Nerdy event in the Capital.
Somehow it never gets old going every May and October to this place. I mean with being me, I do over think/ overplay a lot to the point where I get worried about if things will happen on time or happen at all since it's all unpredictable. But then again, it's actually good for me to learn to endure and overcome this habit of mine since life isn't always planned out like a schedule (no matter how I want it to be).
But when we got to Three Bridges, my main man Kurt and his mate Will joined us and the journey continued.
We were all in normal clothing (if you consider nerdy clothing to be classed as normal haha), we we weren't cosplaying since we had nothing new yet and I had a planned photoshoot with a celeb during the day so I wanted to not be in character.
Anyway, we were chatting to these soon to be over thrilled newbies about our past cons and what it's like, what you can do, what you can buy and who you might see. They were pretty ecstatic from our overwhelming knowledge but I bet they still had an unforgettable first time.
We made our usual route London Bridge > Underground to Canning Town > Cannington DLR > Custom House for Excel. And we bumped into Liam and Tammy briefly (one of Kurt's oldest friends).
Once we made it there and were surrounded in a sea of cosplayers and nerds alike, I explained to the gang about my intentions for today and what I needed to get done.
First thing on mine and Kurt's list was *sigh* queueing up to pay for tickets to get an autograph from the celebrity we bot wanted to see. Why doesn't MCM choose to sell the tickets online like they do for the photoshoot tickets? It would cut so much time and make things so much more easier instead of having a conga-line queue taking forever to pay for a ticket, during he same time that the actors/ celebrities are already doing autographs. So our queueing time took from 9:30 till 11:20 (the time the actors were doing the morning sessions). So once we paid for ours, we knew we had to try again near 3.00 till 5.00 as that was our last chance.
But straight after, I went for my photo with Elizabeth, which was a lot quicker than the queueing up to buy tickets. Kathy wondered off for a bit and Kurt showed Will around the centre so I was on my own briefly as the queue escalated slowly but surely.
When it was my turn, I said "Hi, it's wonderful to meet you!" and my response with that gorgeous smile was "Aww thank you, same to you too". And as my picture was taken, I was told to hurry along by the staff but I said to her "See you later for the autographs!"
And I got my print within 10 minutes round the corner from the curtain booth. last year's difficult disaster and unbearable time it took for me and Kurt to get our pictures taken and then wait for the prints.
This was all so so so much more organised and time efficient than last years one.
*The Links on the names are to their Cosplay Facebook Pages*
Now that that was ticked off my checklist in my head, I decided to go and find 2 familiar faces outside who made the cutest Final Fantasy X couple, I've ever seen. As I went outside in the warm and humid sunshine surrounded by cosplayers, I found Ash and Ben who were cosplaying Tidus and Yuna from Final Fantasy X.
I was happy to see them both again and I got a picture of them both and one with them ^^.
I felt a little sad that I missed my chance of seeing Panos, Charlie and Alexandra again since they were somewhere else plus I missed Paige, Chris and Rivers, but I hope they all had a wonderful weekend. Last year was amazing meeting them all. And I'm bound to see them again in the Summer or next MCM when I'll be there for more than one day.
But my catchup was short as Ash and Ben's contact lenses were playing up and they had to dash off to get them sorted but not before a pleasant catch up for 2 minutes and a hug for goodbye till next time!
After saying bye, I did see a few awesome cosplays including Jonny with Plank from Ed Edd n' Eddy and also met Sonya who was cosplaying Super Sonic.
Seeing as I was outside and Kathy, Kurt and Will found me after I saw Ash and Ben, I decided next on my list of cosplayers to find would be Katie (whom I missed finding last year). But I knew she was cosplaying Ariel from The Little Mermaid so I found her shortly after directions from Facebook messenger.
It felt really worth it to meet Katie at last who looked gorgeous as Ariel, plus I got to meet her bf Matt who made an awesome Spidey! I asked to have a picture with her and her friend who was Cinderella plus there was a cute little Belle with them as well. I know we live 4 hours away from each other but I'm glad this time around, we finally met and had a small chat before I had to head off on my quest to find the others. I'll see her and Matt again and I may even visit them someday or again somewhere.
We all decided to head back inside as it was quite hot but we were starving. So Kurt and Will went to the 12:00 photoshoot with one of the ladies from Arrow whilst Kathy and me went off to grab some grub.
We both got a great Chicken Burger meal (£11.70, would you believe haha) and we both sat on the hard floor since it's a rare chance to garb a seat in the Excel centre, especially with the thousands of people shuffling around everywhere all day. We talked about future cosplay plans and stuff whilst chowing down.
By chance, I happened to spot her lustrous shining red hair and spotted Ellice who was the perfect Jessica Rabbit with her friend Lannie doing Roger Rabbit. Those 2 were spot on and must have had every guy's attention within 20 metres away haha. It was lucky to find my Star Wars buddy and catch up for a bit whilst also sharing a group picture with the beautiful ladies. I look forward to next time, plus I aim to actually visit her someday since she lives near Sherwood Forest (one of my bucket list forests to explore and photograph)!
By 1:30, we got up to move about and explore the stalls since it was coming up towards the 3:00 autograph session for me and Kurt.
Whilst exploring the stands, I bought myself an awesome looking S.H.I.E.L.D Baseball Jacket with fake leather sleeves and Kathy dragged me over to a place selling cute and sarcastic pyjamas.
I won't upload pictures as I bought a few things for people and I don't want them to see haha.
But after that, I remembered right away that my oldest friend Ellie was here so I set out to find her within the next 5 minutes (after our phone call). I haven't seen her since we went to see the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular right after MCM last year because she's been at Uni. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but she's really special to me because funny enough, our Mum's have been best friends since they were 11 years old. It's like we are continuing the friendship cycle and she's a wonderful lady to talk nerdy with and knows a heavy lot on Doctor Who and The Legend Of Zelda (both huge series that I adore).
I explained all that Kathy whilst getting a pic with Ellie who was cosplaying as Poison Ivy from the Batman series. We caught up on our lives since our last encounter and asked how our families were. We aim to all catch up again in the Summer and I aim to go and visit Ellie when she's in Hamburg next year studying, what an adventure that'll be!
After shuffling through the endless crowds at a slow pace, we found Kurt and Will queueing up back in the spot from this morning to get a second chance on our autographs from Elizabeth. The queue didn't move for an hour or so (why the hell, not?) So I sat on the floor doing Streetpass on my 3DS. Soon we started to move ever so slowly (Kathy was chilling by the wall watching Harry Potter, as you do) and it took from 2:00 till 4:35 till we finally saw her.
I bought 2 tickets (£40 in total) for her to sign my Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D Poster that Iain De Caestecker and Nick Blood signed last year (thanks to Kurt for going up the next day whilst I was in Manchester). And I wanted her to sign the Uncanny X-Men Comic with her on it. She was so polite (that's why it was worth it) and I said to her "I think you and "Fitz" are adorable in the series" and she replied with "Aww thank you, I know he's so cute and is like my best friend outside the series". And after she was done, I said "Thank you so much, have a good weekend. And keep up the great work!" and she "Said thank you for coming and it was lovely to meet you, Josh".
Kurt got his comic signed too and we were all done and exhausted from studying still for hours haha. Least we got a couple pictures of awesome cosplayers and whispered shit to each other pointing out hot cosplayers and recognising awesome characters haha.
Shame we couldn't get our stuff signed or get to meet Luke Mitchell who appeared in Season 2 of S.H.I.E.L.D and was also one of the main characters from the cancelled Sci-Fi series, The Tomorrow People which was alright if I'm honest.
Now that all that malarkey was finished at last *collapses from exhaustion and stressful planning*, everyone was just about finished a 4:45 and was ready to head off. However, I still had a few faces to find so I parted ways with them and thanked my companions for the day as I continued my search for friends.
I was walking around outside through 3 phone calls to try and find her but after like 15 minutes, I finally found Beki. Think I've known her since College at a friend's party and we've been spamming Fairy Tail and Code Geass pictures on each others walls and messenger ever since haha. She cosplayed Cana Alberona (good thing she wasn't drinking like her character does in the hit Anime series). I always enjoy talking Anime with her and we've met up a few times at every MCM.
The best cosplay I'd seen this time had to be that Charizard Knight worn by a stunning lady. I asked for to take her picture like the right photographer. Only later on that day after posting on Facebook and Instagram, did Ellen notify me that it was actually her haha. Either I need glasses or she was just too stunning and too awesome for me to recognise thanks to her cosplay's awesomeness! Amazing work there, I hope to start working on my first Cosplay made by myself hopefully after October's one: a Mewtwo Gijinka.
That Skull Kid from The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask was freaky and brought chills back from that dark, tough game. I'd love to cosplay him someday if possible.
Whilst waiting for Ricky and Vicky to show up for the first time, the Fringe Stage was having a metal rave and the crowd got serious and jumpy to the incredible song BMTH - Throne (can't wait till I see em in November with Kathy).
They both looked great cosplaying the famous Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII.
Once I found em and got introductions done, we asked how our days went before joining in and rocking out to the Metalcore music playing from the stage. I saw so many people around the Centre actually looking in disgust or shock at the music being played, I myself was surprised at this turn out but I still enjoyed myself and with new friends.
We've been talking about fitness and gym work over the last month and all three of us have been sharing updates and progress with our work, shame they live far away in Ireland (not really that far). So we were all looking forward to this meet up all day and it was worth it.
My last couple people on my list of heads to find sadly couldn't make it. I'll have to catch Summer, Ash and the others again next time since they'd actually already gone back to their hotels ha. The 3G was awful since everyone must have been on it causing it to meltdown and lag all day, that's why it was tough trying to send or receive messages and calls all day. Still, I'm pretty proud of myself for the amount I got done and people I managed to see and all within a single day *applause*.
So as I was prepared for my solo journey home, I did however grab a cheeky picture with 2 jaw-dropping ladies (one was Princess Leia and the other was Black Widow). I don't know if I'm mischievous or may seem perverted for wanting pictures with hot ladies, but then again, if every other guy does it (even those in couple) then surely I'm not in the wrong. I always ask people for a picture with them (they never say no, honestly) and I always thank them and praise them on their work (guys too) and I think deep down it helps improve my confidence and social skills in talking to strangers and asking for that one moment of their time for a picture of/ with them. *I gotta stop over thinking things and sometimes take risks and just do things*.
So I made my way home fine thanks to my phone and 3DS comforting me on my journey. I'm pleased that it all worked out that day and I got almost everything done and I went home with a smile and felt completely stress free now that all my anxious planing and pounding was finally over.
I do wonder if someday in my future of coming here, that me and some others will get to stay in a hotel like hundreds of cosplayers since it makes their time more memorable and outstanding plus it would help with coming to Con in cosplay at the same time as others instead of travelling up for an hour and a half to even get there. I'm sure we'll book one in time someday.
I'd like to book one when I have managed to make one of my future cosplays (I couldn't this year since I'm saving up for Africa in September).
I mentioned last year on wanting to do dream cosplays including Dark Link, Eren Jaeger (Titan Form when I'm a lot more stronger) and now I wish to do a Mewtwo Gijinka (I'd better not be mistaken for Freiza from DragonBall Z haha).
Who knows what's in store? Or which cosplays I'll actually get round to making, I need a whole heaping load of confidence, time, patience, money and materials and some decent walkthroughs (I think the Mewtwo Tail, I'll have to base it off how people make Ahri's tail or something).
 |
| Spyro The Dragon... Wow! |
 |
| I want an Inflatable Stormtrooper! |
When it was my turn, I said "Hi, it's wonderful to meet you!" and my response with that gorgeous smile was "Aww thank you, same to you too". And as my picture was taken, I was told to hurry along by the staff but I said to her "See you later for the autographs!"And I got my print within 10 minutes round the corner from the curtain booth. last year's difficult disaster and unbearable time it took for me and Kurt to get our pictures taken and then wait for the prints.
This was all so so so much more organised and time efficient than last years one.
*The Links on the names are to their Cosplay Facebook Pages*
Now that that was ticked off my checklist in my head, I decided to go and find 2 familiar faces outside who made the cutest Final Fantasy X couple, I've ever seen. As I went outside in the warm and humid sunshine surrounded by cosplayers, I found Ash and Ben who were cosplaying Tidus and Yuna from Final Fantasy X.I was happy to see them both again and I got a picture of them both and one with them ^^.
I felt a little sad that I missed my chance of seeing Panos, Charlie and Alexandra again since they were somewhere else plus I missed Paige, Chris and Rivers, but I hope they all had a wonderful weekend. Last year was amazing meeting them all. And I'm bound to see them again in the Summer or next MCM when I'll be there for more than one day.But my catchup was short as Ash and Ben's contact lenses were playing up and they had to dash off to get them sorted but not before a pleasant catch up for 2 minutes and a hug for goodbye till next time!
After saying bye, I did see a few awesome cosplays including Jonny with Plank from Ed Edd n' Eddy and also met Sonya who was cosplaying Super Sonic.
Seeing as I was outside and Kathy, Kurt and Will found me after I saw Ash and Ben, I decided next on my list of cosplayers to find would be Katie (whom I missed finding last year). But I knew she was cosplaying Ariel from The Little Mermaid so I found her shortly after directions from Facebook messenger.It felt really worth it to meet Katie at last who looked gorgeous as Ariel, plus I got to meet her bf Matt who made an awesome Spidey! I asked to have a picture with her and her friend who was Cinderella plus there was a cute little Belle with them as well. I know we live 4 hours away from each other but I'm glad this time around, we finally met and had a small chat before I had to head off on my quest to find the others. I'll see her and Matt again and I may even visit them someday or again somewhere.
 |
| Spider-Gwen & Captain Spider-Man |
We both got a great Chicken Burger meal (£11.70, would you believe haha) and we both sat on the hard floor since it's a rare chance to garb a seat in the Excel centre, especially with the thousands of people shuffling around everywhere all day. We talked about future cosplay plans and stuff whilst chowing down.
By chance, I happened to spot her lustrous shining red hair and spotted Ellice who was the perfect Jessica Rabbit with her friend Lannie doing Roger Rabbit. Those 2 were spot on and must have had every guy's attention within 20 metres away haha. It was lucky to find my Star Wars buddy and catch up for a bit whilst also sharing a group picture with the beautiful ladies. I look forward to next time, plus I aim to actually visit her someday since she lives near Sherwood Forest (one of my bucket list forests to explore and photograph)!By 1:30, we got up to move about and explore the stalls since it was coming up towards the 3:00 autograph session for me and Kurt.
 |
| Hail Hyrda! I kid... Or do I? |
I won't upload pictures as I bought a few things for people and I don't want them to see haha.
But after that, I remembered right away that my oldest friend Ellie was here so I set out to find her within the next 5 minutes (after our phone call). I haven't seen her since we went to see the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular right after MCM last year because she's been at Uni. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but she's really special to me because funny enough, our Mum's have been best friends since they were 11 years old. It's like we are continuing the friendship cycle and she's a wonderful lady to talk nerdy with and knows a heavy lot on Doctor Who and The Legend Of Zelda (both huge series that I adore).I explained all that Kathy whilst getting a pic with Ellie who was cosplaying as Poison Ivy from the Batman series. We caught up on our lives since our last encounter and asked how our families were. We aim to all catch up again in the Summer and I aim to go and visit Ellie when she's in Hamburg next year studying, what an adventure that'll be!
After shuffling through the endless crowds at a slow pace, we found Kurt and Will queueing up back in the spot from this morning to get a second chance on our autographs from Elizabeth. The queue didn't move for an hour or so (why the hell, not?) So I sat on the floor doing Streetpass on my 3DS. Soon we started to move ever so slowly (Kathy was chilling by the wall watching Harry Potter, as you do) and it took from 2:00 till 4:35 till we finally saw her.
I bought 2 tickets (£40 in total) for her to sign my Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D Poster that Iain De Caestecker and Nick Blood signed last year (thanks to Kurt for going up the next day whilst I was in Manchester). And I wanted her to sign the Uncanny X-Men Comic with her on it. She was so polite (that's why it was worth it) and I said to her "I think you and "Fitz" are adorable in the series" and she replied with "Aww thank you, I know he's so cute and is like my best friend outside the series". And after she was done, I said "Thank you so much, have a good weekend. And keep up the great work!" and she "Said thank you for coming and it was lovely to meet you, Josh". |
| Darth Vader "Chaos Space Marine" |
Kurt got his comic signed too and we were all done and exhausted from studying still for hours haha. Least we got a couple pictures of awesome cosplayers and whispered shit to each other pointing out hot cosplayers and recognising awesome characters haha.Shame we couldn't get our stuff signed or get to meet Luke Mitchell who appeared in Season 2 of S.H.I.E.L.D and was also one of the main characters from the cancelled Sci-Fi series, The Tomorrow People which was alright if I'm honest.
Now that all that malarkey was finished at last *collapses from exhaustion and stressful planning*, everyone was just about finished a 4:45 and was ready to head off. However, I still had a few faces to find so I parted ways with them and thanked my companions for the day as I continued my search for friends.
I was walking around outside through 3 phone calls to try and find her but after like 15 minutes, I finally found Beki. Think I've known her since College at a friend's party and we've been spamming Fairy Tail and Code Geass pictures on each others walls and messenger ever since haha. She cosplayed Cana Alberona (good thing she wasn't drinking like her character does in the hit Anime series). I always enjoy talking Anime with her and we've met up a few times at every MCM.
That Skull Kid from The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask was freaky and brought chills back from that dark, tough game. I'd love to cosplay him someday if possible.They both looked great cosplaying the famous Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII.
Once I found em and got introductions done, we asked how our days went before joining in and rocking out to the Metalcore music playing from the stage. I saw so many people around the Centre actually looking in disgust or shock at the music being played, I myself was surprised at this turn out but I still enjoyed myself and with new friends.We've been talking about fitness and gym work over the last month and all three of us have been sharing updates and progress with our work, shame they live far away in Ireland (not really that far). So we were all looking forward to this meet up all day and it was worth it.
My last couple people on my list of heads to find sadly couldn't make it. I'll have to catch Summer, Ash and the others again next time since they'd actually already gone back to their hotels ha. The 3G was awful since everyone must have been on it causing it to meltdown and lag all day, that's why it was tough trying to send or receive messages and calls all day. Still, I'm pretty proud of myself for the amount I got done and people I managed to see and all within a single day *applause*.
So as I was prepared for my solo journey home, I did however grab a cheeky picture with 2 jaw-dropping ladies (one was Princess Leia and the other was Black Widow). I don't know if I'm mischievous or may seem perverted for wanting pictures with hot ladies, but then again, if every other guy does it (even those in couple) then surely I'm not in the wrong. I always ask people for a picture with them (they never say no, honestly) and I always thank them and praise them on their work (guys too) and I think deep down it helps improve my confidence and social skills in talking to strangers and asking for that one moment of their time for a picture of/ with them. *I gotta stop over thinking things and sometimes take risks and just do things*.
So I made my way home fine thanks to my phone and 3DS comforting me on my journey. I'm pleased that it all worked out that day and I got almost everything done and I went home with a smile and felt completely stress free now that all my anxious planing and pounding was finally over.
I do wonder if someday in my future of coming here, that me and some others will get to stay in a hotel like hundreds of cosplayers since it makes their time more memorable and outstanding plus it would help with coming to Con in cosplay at the same time as others instead of travelling up for an hour and a half to even get there. I'm sure we'll book one in time someday.I'd like to book one when I have managed to make one of my future cosplays (I couldn't this year since I'm saving up for Africa in September).
I mentioned last year on wanting to do dream cosplays including Dark Link, Eren Jaeger (Titan Form when I'm a lot more stronger) and now I wish to do a Mewtwo Gijinka (I'd better not be mistaken for Freiza from DragonBall Z haha).
Who knows what's in store? Or which cosplays I'll actually get round to making, I need a whole heaping load of confidence, time, patience, money and materials and some decent walkthroughs (I think the Mewtwo Tail, I'll have to base it off how people make Ahri's tail or something).
Did you know that the Comic-Con had a record breaking 133k people attend over the three day weekend! Mother Of Cosplay! No wonder it's getting more and more packed haha.
Oh and before I finish, Happy Birthday Kurt for tomorrow, bro!
And I'll be turning 23 on Monday *Level Up*, chuckles* I still don't look my age haha.
I look like someone who's still in College or even School to some which is offensive lol.
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