London Comicon Spring 2019

So glad I went.

This weekend was the long awaited Comicon weekend. In my typical fashion it got to the afternoon of the day we were due to leave and I was apprehensive about going. I was tired and I always get anxious when it comes to being away from home. I was also super excited.

Kelly very kindly drove us all (herself, Alex and I) into London Friday evening. Of course we stopped for car snacks and alcohol, no trip is complete without snacks. It didn't take that long to get into London and after a few laps of Westfield Shopping centre we parked the car and made our way to the hotel. For some reason I can't pack for a couple of days, every trip I take enough for a week. So I had a backpack, a small suitcase and then my bag of snacks and heavy (glass bottled) alcohol to maneuver through the shopping centre. It's not a surprise that on several occasions my suitcase decided it wanted to do the flip over on it's wheels thing that they do, in an attempt to break my fingers and dump my heavy shopping bag on the ground. 

I can't walk as fast as Alex and Kelly so I found myself trailing behind as we negotiated crowds of people. I made a London dash across a road with frequent traffic and then we were at our hotel. Keeping in mind that it was nearly 11pm we got checked in and went up to our hotel room. I'd been at work all day, up since 6, I was shattered. The other two though wanted to go out and explore, in hindsight I wish I had gone with them but I defaulted to my usual and opted out. It's never fun being the sober person and they weren't wasted or anything but I couldn't take part in their jokes and I felt a little left out. It was my own fault though so I made a promise to myself that I was going out with them when they made plans to go back to the same bar the next night no matter what. As part of my year of change I'm making an effort to not go with my knee jerk reactions to things, more on this in tomorrow's Mental Health Monday!

We fell asleep at around 2am that night and set an alarm for 7:30 Saturday morning. We were in a room that had 3 single beds and it's the weirdest thing sharing a room with people for the first time. Getting used to their noises and just sleeping in a single when I'm used to a double! The alarm went off after a few hours sleep and it was game time. The three of us went to Con as DC Titans, Kelly was Starfire, Alex as Robin and I was Raven. For those that don't know, Comicon is a convention for those who like all things nerdy, movies, tv series, books, games and comics. As I expected I hated my costume the night before when I left it to last minute to try it on. I made changes to the t-shirt I was wearing and it was a bit better but I felt chubby. I didn't get round to distressing my old jeans and the purple colour Kelly had added to my hair had washed out. Not completely but it looked really good before and after the wash it wasn't the same. The other two looked awesome. Despite the fact that Kelly had put it off until the last minute her costume looked amazing haha and Alex's Robin armour was amazing. I felt inadequate in comparison. This weekend was about having fun though so I didn't fret about it, I put it out of my mind and got my make up done in a way I was happy with. In the end I felt fine about the way I looked. See below!

We all had a nervous giggle as we left the hotel in full costume, doing a walk of shame to where our shocked Uber driver was waiting. We got to the location and we couldn't really see anyone else dressed up which worried us. Soldiering on we walked into the location and started to wander around. 

There were several stalls with t-shirts and pop figures. There were really cool art stands with amazingly drawn prints or accurately modelled busts and statues. There was a lot of talent on offer. There was also a lot of talented cosplayers walking around. It's always fun to spot obscure characters, I saw a Bendy from the Indie game Bendy and the Ink Machine and it made me smile.

What we weren't expecting though is the amount of people that recognised who we were cosplaying as then wanted a photo as well. I know it was probably Alex's cool costume or Kelly's, that caught peoples attention but there were a few of the people who outright asked for the 3 of us and that was really fun. I didn't worry about if the others wanted me in the photo or not I just joined in anyway haha. At some points we were stopped for several minutes as different adults and kids wanted photos with us back to back. It was like we were celebrities! haha As we walked around I could hear people comment on our costumes and how good we looked together. It's really cool to hear that people recognise the character you've chosen. Right or wrong to feel this, it definitely boosted my confidence. We had conversations with other cosplayers about our costumes and how they achieved their looks. I took notes for next time. I even had a chat with another Raven. That was what I most wanted from this, to meet new people and be more social. To do things I wouldn't normally do but I've always wanted to be a part of.

We wrapped up the Con around 3, we were coming back the next day. We were super tired when we got back to the hotel room and crashed for a half hour or so. It was so nice to take my boots of and wipe of the heavy eye make up. Then we booked tickets to go to one of my favourite places in London, the Aquarium. It was just nice to go out and hang out with my friends. As I mentioned before, Kelly and Alex walk much faster than me and I know it must have been frustrating for them to keep stopping so I could catch up. I felt bad about that but also a little left out as they walked ahead chatting while I walked on my own but I chose not to let it get me down. I'm sure they didn't really mind but in my head I felt bad. Once we were at the Aquarium though it was all good. I love all animals and while zoos and aquariums do make me a little sad it is very cool to see animals you wouldn't see day to day. Normally I go to see the sea turtles but this time they weren't there, but I did see an octopus. They're very intelligent so it broke my heart when it rushed over to the glass as I stood there, like it was asking to get out. So conflicted.

I had a good time though. For once I was one of the people who were relaxed, not feeling self-conscious and having fun with their friends. We joked and took silly photos like no one was watching and it was great. Even when I didn't look great in the photos I didn't let it get me down and kept going.

From there we took a walk along the bridge, it was too late to go to the food place we had planned so we just did a few more unplanned laps of Westminster (we learnt that none of us are good with a Sat Nav) and then got the tube back to Westfield. From there we went back to the hotel to swap our shoes and clothes before heading out again to the bar Alex and Kelly had found the night before. Situations where people are drunk / getting drunk cause me a lot of anxiety so I felt super uncomfortable as we took a seat at the bar. I made another conscious decision to just chill out and go with the flow. We ordered drinks ( I chose a raspberry mojito and it was fabulous!) and just hung out. Kelly and Alex had warned me that the drinks were strong, they had had only one drink the night before and it had hit them pretty hard. So I wasn't surprised when I ended up feeling my drink fairly quickly. Not long after our first drinks arrived we were called back outside because our Shisha table was ready. I didn't try it but the other two enjoyed it. It was nice to sit outside, have a couple of drinks and just laugh and chat with my friends. We went home around 11pm and between the alcohol, the lack of sleep from the night before and a day of walking, we crashed as soon as we got back. Alex played parent and ordered pizza which we ate half asleep before getting ready for bed. We were fully asleep soon after haha.

On the Sunday we decided we wouldn't dress up for the return to the Con. It was raining and we were tired. We went a bit later and got a chance to stop and look at every stand. Just taking a relaxed wander around. We chatted to a lady that suggested we go the MCM version in May so that's the next cosplay outing! We went to a restaurant and got more pizza before catching the tube back to where the car was. We got back around 5pm, we were tired and Kelly still needed to drive from London and then Alex and I from Kelly's. 

I had a really great weekend. One where I got a chance to build my confidence and not overthink everything and just have fun with my friends. To join in like a regular person. It was a good first run with Cosplaying and now we're going really big for the MCM in May! I'm excited.

Lxx

P.s as always find me on Twitter @LaurenAilie0, I do mean to tweet more but I'm one of those people that would rather have something to say before posting.