So Katharine (GDGeek on twitter) made David this “I am a Scottish Unicorn” shirt, and since I’m in Chicago to meet him, we thought, let’s print it and give it to him!
I handed it to him, of course folded because it came straight from my suitcase, and sort of fumbled to open it, so he took it (with a “thank you”, precious boy) and opened it and looked at what it says.
(reading what it says) “I am a Scottish Unicorn.” (looks up at me) “That’s true, I am. That describes me.”
IT’S OFFICIAL THE UNICORN HAS CONFIRMED HE’S A UNICORN <3
Wow, I think this is the first Anime North ever where I got a relatively decent night's sleep every night (bearing in mind my benchmark for a good night's sleep is if I manage 3-4 uninterrupted hours at a time). IT'S A MIRACLEEE
Thank you to my amazing roommates @atorier, @zanazac and Rachelle. You guys are the best hotel and con buddies anybody could hope for! And shoutout to my table/comics pals @om-nom-berries, @phaena and @illintentcomics plus seeing more of awesome people like @strengefruits, @sunhawk, @mfukuma, @lindateaa, @yamijay, @ichigorennyu (if only for a split second in some cases... lol) and many many more cool artists and makers I got to see again, to meet, and to chat with! And thank you so much to everyone who came by~
Above photos:
A photo of my table at the start of Sunday
Rude but delicious cookies by @illintentcomics
Some on-site commissions and drawings I did!! The middle two are not actually commissions - it's my hasubando North Bound version of Hokushin, drawn as a quick example for the style and media available, and @atorier's hasubando favourite character Sakuma Rei from Ensemble Stars. I googled some helpful information on tomato juice from the V8 website. Mmmm tomato juice. Almost all my commissions were for repeat customers/awesome people who've supported my work for a long time over years, like @yamijay (whose adorable nephew in a Spiderman hoodie was a delight to get to draw)! Thank you guys so much! It's always an honour getting to draw for you all!
The sucky: Somebody swiped a card from my personal Lenormand deck that was out on the table for demonstration/visual sample :( Kind of a weird thing to steal, but fortunately it wasn't something more valuable (I heard there were artists who actually had cash stolen!! Terrible), and actually if I had to name a single most useless card in the deck to me personally, it probably would've been that one lol. Still kind of sucky that any level of stealing happened, and to not have a complete version of my own deck. I don't wanna break into one of my nicely wrapped ones :/
BUT...
The awesome: Just like at TCAF, I did some super amazing Lenormand readings!! Basically people pulled two cards and I recited card meanings and they went "WOW COOL SO EERIE!!" or "OK sure whatever" lmao. Actually, in all seriousness, I’ve only really had one lukewarm response to a reading so far, which honestly surprises me. I always tell people they don't have to tell me their question unless they want to, and I find it way more interesting when they DON'T tell me before I walk through the cards they pulled. It’s really neat to see how people interpret the symbolism for their own situation. A lot of the card combinations - almost all of the readings I've done where the querent has actually shared their question/interpretation with me - do become startlingly relevant and helpful when you hear people's own insights, even if you recognize it as the human brain's fascinating tendency and ability to find pattern and meaning in everything. Some really good stories came out of doing these!
Also I FINISHED A NEW MY LIFE AS A MAIJI MINIZINE. It shall debut at my next event!! ...whenever that is lmao
And ALSO @mfukuma told me her sister (I don't know if she has a tumblr?) had (not at the con, some other time and place lol) showed my Demon King! Urameshi fanbook to a Japanese artist who had done Comiket, and they flipped through the book going "I WISH I COULD READ ENGLISH". I feel extra honoured since I've felt the same kind of feeling many times while reading Japanese doujinshi hahahha (and hey at least one of the stories requires zero translations... lol)
The thoughtful: I got asked a few times at both TCAF and Anime North about when the next Now Recharging book is coming out. I'm still kind of trying to gauge the interest and how best to approach it, since I'd have to reprint both the first book AND print the next book... which is not cheap for two full colour books averaging well over 100 pages each. But it's really wonderful to know there are people who are following the webcomic and interested in it!
NOW back to reality and catching up with all my other art projects, and reopening my online shop. Please stay tuned!
Hi All, I’m still in a post SDCC coma but I wanted to get this report out before I forgot everything.
Saturday and Sunday were just a comedy of errors coupled with some really wonderful lucky chances. I haven’t been this excited for a panel in forever. So I had to decide if I wanted to sit close to the stage for the Gotham panel or close to the mic to ask a question about Nygmobblepot. I arrived like 6 hrs early for the 1st panel of the day just to score a good seat. I got one and saved one for me sis, but then it was one bad decision after another and rotten luck after that. Ultimately, with an epic ending to the weekend.
@m4dh4ttey Everyone LOVED your shirt! I even had one person take a pic. Sadly, none of these people knew who it was a picture of. The only time I saw another Nygmob was an Edward cosplayer IN THE LADIES ROOM! I totally spazzed and in the quiet ladies room line just blurted out “EDWARD NYGMA!” like a total loon. The cosplayer was nice enough to wave and smile at me. But considering we were just in a panel where the stars talked about embarrassing fan interactions in the restroom I was a little like *face palm*. I’m such a dork. I never found the cosplayer again. If you are on here and reading this, it was fabulous! I wish I‘d gotten a pic.
Onto the Gotham Panel. For whatever dumb reason on this day I decided the quality of my phone recordings just wasn’t good enough. So I borrowed my sister’s. But I can’t seem to remember how her video works. So when I think it’s recording it’s actually not and when I decide to stop recording that’s when it actually starts. So I thought I was recording the Gotham cast entering the hall and yet. Not so much. Add to that, this happened more than once. I was so mad at myself.
I debated asking a question, in fact I’d been thinking of how to word one all weekend on the off chance I’d get up the nerve. But we were sitting up the aisle from the mic. Only a few feet but it was enough. When you guys watch the panel you’ll hear them yell to “DON’T RUN”. Yeah, that’s at me! I was in row 2 and sprinted back to the mic. AND IT STILL WASN’T ENOUGH! I was two people back when they stopped questions. The girl in front of me was cosplayed as Kristen. Her question would have been about Chelsea. Maybe if she was coming back or to stop killing her or something close to that. I told her it was a good question but neither of us got to the mic.
The really sad thing is I had GREAT SEATS! But instead I ended up on my knees watching the panel through people’s backs. So I didn’t even get any good video. I was so bummed! If I don’t really have a burning question again, I’m going to stick to my good seat and the phone I know how to use. UG!
So after that we decided to head to TV Guide’s Fan Favorites panel. They never list who will be there so when Ben McKenzie walks out, I bout die! I finally have my chance to talk to one of the cast. Again, I make a total loon out of myself.
I leapfrog over to a good position to the mic this time. This isn’t as popular of a panel so there were plenty of seats to move to. However, that meant I was also FIRST to the mic. I was not prepared! And I couldn’t ask Ben a Nygmobblepot question so had to come up with something on the spot! Rickie Whittle had just been talking about how awesome fandom culture is and was really passionate about loving fanart and fanvids especially. It really touched me. So I wanted to tie back to that.
I was so nervous I dropped my phone….my sister’s phone. I was a mess. Luckily Ben saved me. I asked some rambling question about how so many people seem to want to “be respectful” of fans from previous canon versions but fans coming from the tv show are just shat upon with impunity. Which I actually take great offense to! It wasn’t really a question. More I just wanted to know his thoughts. Ben was just a dream and really pulled my butt out of the fire. I also told him he was “My Jim Gordon” which got an “Awww” from the audience. Boy was I wiping my brow. I have video of this exchange but I was shaking so much I keep waiting to see if someone uploads the actual panel. If I don’t see anything in the next day or so, I’ll post it here cause Ben’s answer was amazing. I was pretty much walking on cloud 9 for like 4 hrs after that. Even though the Gotham panel went so sideways.
Overall it was an amazing time! I sat next to interesting people from all over the world and professionals in the business. I spent way too long at the Nygmobblepot chair. With as many videos and pics of that thing I have, you’d think it was a celebrity itself. If I could go back in time and tell myself to stay in my seat for the Gotham panel, I would! But it’s Comic Con. You are going to make poor choices and bad decisions. And have an awesome time doing it.
But then Sunday blew everything out of the water. We usually don’t go to Hall H cause it’s just such a clusterfuck. But my sister is a huge fan of Lost Ship, which was after the SPN panel. I haven’t watched SPN all year. I’m a wee bit behind. But I think Jensen and Jared and the fandom is a really awesome community. Those guys know how to treat their fans. And boy did they ever!
Some people had been waiting all night but we learned long ago sleep for us was more important. Plus, Sunday’s Hall H you can usually just walk in with minimum of waiting. We were prepared to miss the SPN panel but, just in case, we decide to get there around 9:45am. Luckily, about 10:15 we get in. Easy peasy. And I am so glad we did.
We sit in the back middle section and get a great view of all the screens. Which was perfect! SPN blew their fans away with a surprise concert performance by Kansas. LIKE A LEGIT, FULL ON, WITH LIGHTS AND SMOKE AND FREAKING WRAP-AROUND-THE-ROOM SCREENS, CONCERT! The only thing they didn’t have was pyro! I have seen some crazy stuff at Comic Con but that was EPIC!
