PAX South 2015

Photo by Liz Locksley

I don't self-identify as a gamer. I play games, but I tend to play "casual" games like Animal Crossing and The Sims, and I don't like a lot of the associations that come along with being a gamer.
So when PAX South came to town, I wasn't sure if I would attend. PAX was the first convention expo aimed at gamers, and it has a totally different vibe than an anime, comic, or pop culture convention. I was also nervous because Penny Arcade has left a bad taste in my mouth a few times -- did I really want to go to a convention with Penny Arcade supporters in the wake of not-so-great gaming happenings?
Between several internet friends attending the convention, being invited to be on a panel, and learning how much the convention itself embraces diversity, I decided to give it a shot. Long story short, I'm so glad I went and gave the convention a fair shot. I'm pretty sure I'll be a regular attendee!

PAX South 2015

Photo by Liz Locksley

The expo itself was mostly based around industry-related events, game demos, and more. Compared to the average convention I attend, there was far less fan-run content and far more industry guests and professionals. It was sort of unreal to be in the same room as companies like Twitch and Nintendo.
Because of the different vibe, I didn't cosplay myself. It was a relief not to have to worry about costumes! There were some cosplayers present, but the large majority of people were in street clothes.
PAX South was the smallest PAX so far, but it has plenty of room to grow. I think the timing was a little off -- some big players in the industry didn't announce that they were attending until a week prior. Even though it was small, it was still one of the most organized events I've been to.
The only strange part was the gender disparity -- there were definitely more men than women present. Even though PAX itself was very accepting -- the diversity lounge was AWESOME! -- it was a little weird to be so far in the minority. I know gaming is kind of a boy's club still, but I expected a more even split at the expo itself.

Photo by Liz Locksley

Women in Geek Girl Media Panel

I was so happy to be a part of this panel and meet these lovely ladies in person. The panel went really well -- we had a totally full room! We even had people talk to us after the panel to ask questions on how to get started creating content and how to be inclusive of others. It was a fantastic experience and I hope to do more panels soon.
You can watch the panel in its entirety below, and be sure to check out my fellow panelists!

Panelists:

• Katey Lee (@ohkatey) from Bitch Team Alpha 
• Asia al-Massari (@twittysuch) from Set Phasers to Blog and The Rainbow Hub 
• Melissa Kay (@THEquadskater) from Can't Talk Media 
• Brittney Bombacher (@BlondeNerd) from The Blonde Nerd 
• Danni Danger (@DanniDanger) from Weird Girls 

Game Demos

  Like I said, I'm not a big gamer, especially not with the more popular games, like first-person shooters. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of games at PAX South. I love creative indie games, but there were also bigger companies like Nintendo, tabletop classics and newcomers, and more. Here are some of my favorites that I recommend and you should definitely check out!

Photo by Liz Locksley

• Capsule Force. I'm a little biased because my friend Jelfish is on the dev team, but Capsule Force is chaotic fun with retro, anime-inspired graphics. Fight against your friends to get to your side of the map and win. It's available now on Steam and PS4.
• Just Shapes and Beats. This is a co-op rhythm-based game with awesome music. You are a shape fighting against music... or something? It's awesome and I definitely want to play through the game when it's out.
• Gigantic. Gigantic reminded me of Team Fortress 2, but more robust. You pick a character from a variety of classes and play against another team. It's only in alpha testing for now, but I can't wait to play the full version.
• Fibbage. Fibbage is like Cards Against Humanity, but everyone fills in the blank of a given sentence and tries to trick other people into thinking their answer is the correct one. It's great for literal people, so Liz and I really enjoyed it.

Convention Swag

All my convention purchases were painfully practical this time around. I guess that's how you know you're getting older! Oh well.

• A companion cube sweater. I love We Love Fine and Valve, so when I saw this, I knew I had to have it! This counts as a practical purchase because I own very few sweaters.
• Gunnar Optiks glasses. I can't pretend they don't look dorky on me, but I'm hoping that these computer/gaming glasses will help protect my vision. I spend so many hours on the computer every day; it seems unreasonable not to try and protect my vision! Liz and I bought matching pairs because we're total nerds.
• Disney tsum tsums. Okay, this doesn't count as a convention purchase or a practical purchase. After the convention on Sunday, we visited the mall right next door specifically to buy tsum tsums. The cuteness is unavoidable. I got a medium Marie and a small Minnie and Daisy.

Overall, I was impressed by the quality of PAX South! I will more than likely become a regular attendee. If you are into gaming or gaming culture in any respect, I definitely recommend that you check out a PAX near you! 

Finally, Liz made an awesome video that really captures the scale and fun of PAX -- check it out!

Do you consider yourself a gamer?

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Convention Wish List

This is my first time participating in 5 Fandom Fridays! This is a weekly link-up started by The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick. Each week brings a different prompt. I'll be participating here and there.

This week's prompt was "Conventions I've Been to or Wish to Attend." Since I always blog about conventions I attend, I thought I'd share my convention wish list! This list would have looked different just a few years ago -- SDCC and DragonCon are two conventions that I've always wanted to attend, and now I have!

1. New York Comic Con (NYCC)
From my understanding, NYCC is like SDCC's northern counterpart. It's huge, full of amazing guests and vendors, and my friends who have been all love it!

2. Anime Expo
Even though I'm not into anime as much as I used to be, it still feels like Anime Expo is the otaku pilgrimage I have to make!

3. Toronto Comic Arts Festival
I didn't think I'd be interested in a Canadian convention, but apparently I like a lot of artists and internet personalities who are Canadian or live north enough in the United States to trek to TCAF each year. I am always filled with envy whenever I see posts from TCAF!

4. ColossalCon
ColossalCon is located at a resort that has the largest indoor water park in the country. You know what that means -- plenty of beach/water-themed photoshoots! This seems like such an amazing convention to cosplay at.

5. GeekGirlCon
I feel like GeekGirlCon would be such an inspiring, enriching experience. I have visions of presenting a panel or two and celebrating the wonder of geek girls everywhere.

What's on your convention wish list?

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Dragon Con 2014

The iconic carpet inside the Marriott Marquis!

Because my usual Birthday Con didn't fall on my birthday this year, I decided to go to a convention I've heard so much about - Dragon Con!

Dragon Con is unlike any other convention I've been to. It's often compared to San Diego Comic Con because of its size, but it's a totally different beast. SDCC is a giant celebration of consumerism - there's a bigger focus on celebrities and swag. Dragon Con feels more genuine and fan-run. Both are massive in scale, but have totally different focuses. I also noticed that overall, Dragon Con has more elaborate costuming - probably because there is far less walking involved - as well as just really obscure costumes.

At the airport - Dragon Con, I'm coming for you!

Dragon Con runs literally 24/7. I'm not one to stay up too late at conventions - usually, I want to wake up pretty early to get into costume so that I don't waste the day. It's so disappointing to get into costume late in the day and wind up changing out before you get to do anything! At most cons, programming ends pretty early. At Dragon Con, though, most of the events I wanted to go to were late at night. I got back to the hotel room around 4 AM every day, still in costume, and was shocked to see how many people were still hanging out, still in costume! It's just a totally different vibe, but I loved it.

I also think Dragon Con differs from other cons because while there are multiple host hotels, they are mostly connected by easily accessible sky bridges. For the most part, I used these instead of heading outside - they were more convenient and I didn't have to deal with the threat of street harassment for being in costume. This makes it feel like Dragon Con is its own world. It's amazing.

I can't begin to list everything I did at the convention, because most of it was spontaneous, but my weekend definitely included rum buckets, kigurumis, nerdy burlesque, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, photoshoots, and, as always, lots of cosplay.

Costume-wise, I wore Ramona Flowers, Luna Lovegood, and a new costume - Butters from South Park: The Stick of Truth! My beautiful friend Mary has an amazing Princess Kenny costume, and when she asked me to join a giant South Park: The Stick of Truth group at Dragon Con, I couldn't say no! This was my first time cosplaying a male character and my first time in a group so large. It was so much fun to get to meet everyone in the group and chat with other fans.

Photos by Agent Topanga Lawrence Cosplay!

You may remember Mary as the Roxy to my Ramona from SDCC last year - we reprised the roles again this year! I always love having other Scott Pilgrim cosplayers with me, especially my favorite evil ex-girlfriend. I also cut and styled Mary's wig for her to make it more fluffy and voluminous, and it was surprisingly fun! I want to take on more wig projects in the future.

Photos by Agent Topanga Lawrence Cosplay!

Have you ever been to Dragon Con?

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Anime Fest 2014

Anime Fest is a four-day con because it usually falls on Labor Day weekend (my birthday!). This year, it was in mid-August, but I managed to stay for all four days anyway.

For the first time ever, I organized a panel! The Superheroesque team (myself and Liz) invited a few of our friends, Starman from My Geeky Geeky Ways and Camille from Samurai Pizza Kitten Cosplay, to talk about confidence in cosplay! You can watch the full panel (minus Q&A) below.

Putting the panel together was a learning experience. I had never tried to organize people in multiple cities for something like this before. Everyone was super flexible, but there was definitely a learning curve. It can be a little difficult to make sure everyone knows what's happening.

With Anime Fest, you have to submit your panel, badge holders can vote for it, then it may or may not get approved. While voting can help your panel, it doesn't mean that the panel will get approved. I was definitely surprised when we got way more votes than expected and then we were approved!

Camille always has the cutest cosplays!

I was nervous that nobody would come to the panel... and I was nervous that lots of people would come to the panel. We noticed a line forming before we set up, and I was totally shocked. We ended up mostly filling up the room we were in -- which wasn't huge, but still totally unexpected! I feel like we had a really good reception to the panel, too. We had lots of people come up to us after to ask questions and get more information. I definitely want to do another panel in the future!

Liz and I wore our Archer costumes for the panel and did a shoot with Aperture Ashley too. That was easily one of the most fun photoshoots I've ever done! The absurdity of Archer lends itself to a lot of silliness, like arm wrestling, choking, fighting, and dolphin shenanigans. I can't wait to share the photos with you all - I'll probably post them on my Facebook page first!

Making ugly faces with Kat and Matt!

With the panel over, I didn't have any other big commitments (besides cosplay). I brought my Luna Lovegood costume to wear with Kat's Ginny Weasley! We did a shoot with Cosplay With Me and met up with Matt later, who basically looks exactly like Ron Weasley. It's always surprisingly fun to bring Harry Potter costumes to conventions, everyone always gets a kick out of it!

We hung out in the hotel room a lot and made friends with our neighbors. Through a series of coincidences, one of our neighbors knew someone working at the hotel, but they hadn't seen each other in years. They ended up taking us up to see the rooftop of the hotel, which was awesome! Photos couldn't really capture how high up we were and how much of Dallas you could see. 

Wearing kigurumis with Liz!

Hangin' out with Leia and Kimmie from Sub Cultured!

One thing we do almost every year at A-Fest is the art auction! I love seeing anime characters re-imagined in different art styles, and there's always lots of creative work at A-Fest. If you get the chance, you should definitely check it out.

I also brought Ramona, as usual, and took a few photos with Liz as my photographer. The last day of the convention was rainy - combined with the skywalk, it made the perfect Toronto-esque background.

Overall, the convention itself was great this year! Last year, the con moved to a new hotel, resulting in a lot of growing pains. This year, a lot of those issues were fixed. I wish that a few things had been different - the cosplay contest was Sunday night, for example, making it difficult for most people to participate, and the hall cosplay contest was way too early in the con - but I still had a great time.

Have you ever been to a four-day con?

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