When the panel was over the guy who ran the the con announced that Jhonen didn’t drink his Pepsi, but he had touched the can. He was going to give away, but some ass knocked it out of his hand and tried to run with it. The dumbass did give it back, but the guy couldn’t give it away because it was shaken. Oh well.
The staff had been cleaning up after the rave, but when they were done the guy that was running the con came up to me and said “Hey. You’re not dressed like a Invader Zim character. You must be a really big Jhonen fan.” I nodded and tried to say something but my words were stopped when he gave me Jhonen’s Pepsi can from the DOOM panel and said I deserved it. I was just… so shocked and I started having a fangirl melt down and I felt like I was going to cry but I was so happy and keyboard smashes. That really made my night. ;w;
-- Chu's ZIMCON Experience
THIS IS NO ORDINARY PEPSI CAN. THIS IS THE PEPSI CAN GUYS. BUT I HAD TO OPEN AND DRAIN IT FOR THE GOD DAMN PLANE RIDE HOME. :|
I suppose it has more sentimental value than anything, but I'm gunna give it a god damn trophy case.
I finally woke up. My legs are still stiff as hell, but I will sit here and tell you my wonderful experience at InvaderCon yaaaaaay~ \owo/
Let's start with the Preregister night, which was on Friday. Early people could preregister and there was a pre-welcoming panel. SQUEALS.
Anyways, when I first stumbled into the hotel, I checked in and went to the elevators. There I met the leaders of Operation Head Pigeons. I didn't recognize them until they told me who they were. I was still half dead from the plane ride. xD They told me about the pre-welcoming panel and stuff. Honestly, I debated whether to go or not. I'm antisocial and all. But when I got to my room I called my sister and asked if I should, and she told yes, most definitely, and what really got me to go was hope that Jhonen would be there.
I decided to go to the pre-register in my cosplay for two reasons: practice doing my hair and make up, and see if anyone would recognize the cosplay. Of course, being INVADERCON, it was likely someone would, but I always have doubts. It took me about an hour to get into my cosplay, I think. Either way, I was back downstairs, in the hotel lobby, four hours early for pre-registration... like a boss. Just about as soon as I started walking around the hotel lobby, two girls were staring at me. Yes. Me. And not the person behind me. And it wasn't a bad stare, they looked more amazed. Instead of screaming and running and hiding, which is what I usually do, I walked up to them and showed off my cosplay and stuff. This is where I met my first new friend, Katt! I couldn't catch the other girl's name because she left for some reason. But anyways, we chatted for a little while, but I really couldn't hold still so I started to pace around the lobby and the big hallway where registration was going to be. There was this boy, who knew who Johnny was, but hadn't read the comic. He also wanted to know what my boots were based off of. And me being me, I had my Director's Cut in my bag so I decided to show him. He probably didn't mean it, but he sort of insulted Johnny and me, making some dumb comment about how he looked like a deformed Dib or whatever. I decided to let it slide and plead him innocent due to ignorance. I also decided to go somewhere else before I choked him.
After that I met with rest of OHP and chatted with them some. They seemed to know who Johnny was, and there was a guy, also named Johnny that really appreciated my cosplay. But they were more focused on their group business and I was too shy to talk to them for too long. Somewhere around this time I met my con buddy. I didn't know it at the time, but she was going to be the best and first con buddy I ever had! She kept saying how great it was that I showed up in my Nny cosplay, and really loved how my shirt can change and stuff. She kept wanting to go to her room and get into her own cosplay. It was about an hour before registration opened. I didn't want her to be late, but I told her to go ahead. She showed up in her Dib cosplay, which I thought was the best thing ever! I know her real name, but she wanted me to call her Dib, so I'll call her Dib. What I loved the most about my Dib-friend was that she had blue hair, so it was easy to pick her out from all the other Dibs later on. We talked and chatted some, but we separated to get in line for pre-registration since the line was starting early. I was near the front, but there was like seven people in front of me. When registration finally did open the line went painfully slow. It was hard standing still with my Nny boots. They hurt my feet if I wasn't sitting or walking. Standing still was the worse. Eventually I got my weekend pass and my JVP and I went right into the main events room where the pre-welcoming panel would be. I got a pretty good seat, but it was in the second row and due to my height I wasn't able to see too tell with the people in front of me. Dib sat near me, but she stayed closer to her parents. It was understandable.
At the pre-welcoming Richard, Rikki, Rodger and one of the guys who wrote for Invader Zim showed up (sorry his name slipped my mind). It was great. They asked us questions, and let us ask some, and joked around a lot. I never laughed so much in one night. Although, it seemed like none of them noticed my cosplay or knew who I was cosplaying as. But Richard did notice my Dib-friend! When he was walking through the rows and passed her he said 'Hello, DIB-MONSTER'! Hehehehe it was great! My favorite joke was the joke that was said several times during the pre-welcoming and repeated throughout the con:
INVADERCON III IN PONIAC, MICHIGAN!!1
(Although, if we really want InvaderCon III to happen, the guy who ran the con said it would happen if Zim ever got back on TV... with new episodes.)
After the voice actors and the writer left, the guy who was running the con gave out free stuff. It was sort of like a ticket raffle, since we all got a ticket during pre-registration. I only got a Gir pin for saying what I was looking forward to at the con (which was giving Jhonen a drawing of BEEMOOSE), but it was better than nothing!
When pre-welcoming was over, I wanted to go back to my room, change out of my cosplay, get a shower, and get some dinner. But as I was going to the elevators about four or five people stopped me because they wanted a picture. SQUEAK. OKAY. Some of them said I was the best Nny cosplayer. I have never been so flattered in my life. ;w; I think one girl wanted a picture with me, and I held my plush knife to her neck. It was really fun. A couple people asked for my tumblr and stuff because they were really interested in my cosplay and JtHM. It was really fun talking to them in the elevator. Also a girl in a Jake English shirt was in love with my Nailbunny. x3 I did let people touch Nailbunny by the way, as long as they where gentle and didn't pull on him.
Anyways, I finally got to my room, bathed and went down stairs to eat dinner AT MIDNIGHT (which was like 3am my time) ... like a boss. Surprisingly, my Dib-Friend was down there as well. She already had dinner, but I invited her to sit with me. While I waited for my food I explained how I drew Johnny and showed her by doodling him in her sketchbook. It was a bad doodle, since I was really tired, but she seemed to like it. xP I didn't really like my dinner. My burger fell apart. D: But I was too hungry to really care. I just stuffed my face. Also ALSO Richard came down and sat at the bar that was infront of my table! I didn't bother him but me and my Dib-Friend did enjoy seeing him so close and just chatting with his friends. I went back to my room around the time my Dib-friend had to go, so we could ride the elevator together and chat some more. I think I finally went to bed at 1am.
On Saturday I woke up at 6am. I set my alarm so I would get up early to eat. I got some Starbucks and went where breakfast was served in my hotel. I sat where I could see people walk in, hoping my Dib-Friend would show up. But it was much too early for her, I supposed, since normal people did sleep in. I was back in my room at 7 and back downstairs at 8 in my cosplay.
I met up with my Dib-Friend and Katt and we sat down in the Main Event room for the Opening Ceremonies. We got front row seats because we were at least an hour early, and all there were a lot of suckers people who still had to register. Also here is where I met another Johnny cosplayer. We compared cosplays. She seemed to like mine, and I was just happy to see another Johnny. We didn't talk much since I had to go back to my seat. I took a lot of pictures since I had a good view. All the voice actors were there, including Melissa, and the writer, sound/music guy, and story board artist were there too. I can't really remember a lot of details, but it was really fun just like the pre-opening panel and INVADERCON III IN PONIAC, MICHIGAN!!1 I was too shy to ask any questions, and I was so excited I couldn't think of any.
After that I really wanted to get Richard's autograph. I was separated from my Dib-Friend for the moment. I gotten my print from the JVP and needed to put it up in my room for safe keeping. But anyways, when I showed up on the second floor, the line to see Richard had already looped around and the hallway was like 100 degrees. So I was like "NOPE" and I turned on my heels to go to the Ham Demon and Other Questions We Don't Have Answers For panel in the panels room. It was much cooler and spacious than the hallway. I got to meet the writer, music/sound guy, and storyboard artist of Invader Zim there. I even got some tips from them on how to get into the animation industry. They were really nice! After that panel they were selling and signing IZ scripts. I got the three scripts that had Jhonen's name on them and had those signed. I also showed them my sketch book and got some critiques on my sketches. I wish I had brought a better one, but it was good enough.
I got Rodger's autograph as well. His line wasn't long at all. He didn't have any prints to buy and sign, so I just had him sign my sketchbook. I'll be drawing Prof. Membrane on the page later. :3 I think Rodger is a little under appreciated because he was a side character, but I'm absolutely in love with his voice. Also TOAST!!
I was late for Richard's Q&A so instead of going there and getting a bad seat I went to the vendors room to blow all my money. There I bought the JtHM comics and a JtHM poster and I commissioned an really nice artist to draw Johnny. They gave me tips and stuff and critiqued my sketchbook as well. I had to go to my room after that so I could put my JtHM poster down. I didn't want it getting ruined while I was running around.
My Dib-Friend invited me over to the Invader Zim and Cosplay fan panel, since we didn't have much to do that hour. Around this time my right boot was already coming apart. What a shame. D: But someone nice gave me tape to fix it. It was only the bottom part that was coming off, thankfully. It was a really stable fix. I was able to talk about my cosplay which everyone seemed to love. They really liked how I thought how to make Nny's shirt change. One of them was wondering how I was doing that around the con. xD Anyways, me and my Dib-Friend left early to get good seats for the Panel of Ultimate DOOM. But before we went there I went to check on my commission and had a fangirl meltdown panic attack because it was drawn so well. My Dib-Friend finally understood just how much of a JtHM fan I was after that. I told her that she might have to help me off the floor when we go to see Jhonen.
After I heard Jhonen was going to be in the DOOM panel, I ran like crazy to get a front row seat, and I did! SQUEEEEEEEEE. I was having one of my fangirl meltdowns again. The guy next to me asked me to not die. I did breathing exercises to calm myself down while waiting for the panel to start. Everyone was there to answer questions. Seeing Jhonen for the first time hindered my ability to raise my hand to ask a question. I couldn't raise my hand for the first ten minutes and then after that I could only muster up the courage to raise it about half way. I didn't get to ask Jhonen my questions. I was a little disappointed, but there was so much more to look forward after the panel. When the panel was over the guy who ran the the con announced that Jhonen didn't drink his Pepsi, but he had touched the can. He was going to give away, but some ass knocked it out of his hand and tried to run with it. The dumbass did give it back, but the guy couldn't give it away because it was shaken. Oh well.
I went to pick up my commission after that, and squeed some more because it was SO PERFECT. UGH THIS ARTIST IS AMAZING. So amazing that I commissioned her again to draw the Doughboys. Though she couldn't draw them with out a reference, so I'll be getting that in the mail later.
I skipped the script reading to get in line to see Jhonen early. I was third in line. Dib was forth. While waiting I fixed up the BEEMOOSE drawing I was going to give him. I got rid of any smudges and such, since the picture was shaded and stuff. I was trembling with excitement, and I begged my friend to take my picture with Jhonen, but she wouldn't do it since two other people were asking her. Damnit. Photography wasn't allowed in the signing anyways, but I really wanted to bend the rules a little, but I didn't get a picture after all. Sigh. Anyways, I was trembling with excitement to see Jhonen. And I was nervous. I'm not a loud person, so I didn't scream or squee (outloud). The worse I did was mumble, I think. There were two prints at the table, the Johnny headshot print and the Doughboy print! I immediately bought both. When it was my turn, the first thing I did was give him the BEEMOOSE drawing. He said "Wow, this looks awesome!" ;w; I was really happy to hear that. I asked him if I could email him a better picture later and he said sure. The first thing I had him sign was my JtHM Director's Cut. I opened to the first black page for him to sign, since I was worried that if he signed the cover the ink would wash off. I tried handing him my silver marker to sign, but he said "Oh I have my own silver pen. I'm a professional signer!" Omfg, I was smiling like a dumbass. But after that I wasn't sure what to have him sign next. We were only allowed to have two things signed. This was when I started mumbling about how unsure I was. I couldn't decide whether to have him sign my cosplay or my sketchbook. He asked if he wanted me to sign the prints I bought. The guy handling the money told him about how we were only allowed to have two things signed. Jhonen then understood why I was mumbling and such. He said something like "Well that's stupid! I think I should sign the prints if they buy them." I was stunned, and watched him sign both of the prints I bought. I finally decided for my second item for him to sign my sketchbook. I asked him to just doodle something in it. I wanted a drawing of D-Boy, but I honestly didn't care as long as Jhonen drew something. He drew me a Happy Noodle Boy and I was so star stricken. My idol just DREW IN MY SKETCHBOOK. I moved to the side to organize my things and let the other person go. I didn't want to hold the line for too long and make someone angry.
I went to sign up for the costume contest, since my Dib-Friend insisted I should. She even thought I would win. Who wouldn't sign up after that confidence boost? So I did.
Moments after I filled out the form for the costume contest I realized that I had forgotten to ask Jhonen my questions and his opinion on my cosplay. I went back and honestly, I cried and begged the staff to let me back in to ask him these things. There was no one else in line after all. But they couldn't let me back in. I was heartbroken. I still am heartbroken. I wouldn't be able to go to Jhonen's panel on Sunday because I was stupid and agreed on a getting a plane ticket for a flight that left at 4:30 on Sunday. But I gave them my questions, which I had written down during my plane ride, since they offered to ask for me and email me a recording.
I had to go back to my room, since I didn't like crying in public, and all this crying was making my eye makeup sting my eyes. I called my sister and vented to her. I was sobbing and crying and I asked her to talk to me to get my mind off of my stupid mistake so I could stop crying and fix my eye makeup. I calmed down, and rushed doing my make up because I was going to be late for the costume contest. Thankfully they were also running late. So I got there before they started and realized that I LEFT MY KNIFE IN MY ROOM. I CAN'T BE JOHNNY WITHOUT MY KNIFE. I AM SUCH A PERFECTIONIST. So I left my bag with my Dib-Friend and ran to get my knife. About half way to my floor I realized I forgot my room key. So I had to GO BACK to my Dib-Friend, grab my wallet, which had my room key and GO BACK UP THE ELEVATOR TO MY ROOM. But while I was running back, MY LEFT BOOT FELL APART. My Dib-Friend was nice enough to hold onto the part that fell off. Some staff that saw me running around took pity on me. That's how pitiful my situation was. It was horrible. When I got back to my room I grabbed my knife and some sewing glue, since I didn't have time to fight with my super glue. I just needed to fix my boot for the stage. I somehow managed to get back before it was my turn to go on even though the elevator was TORTURE and almost stopped on every floor. I was dizzy and out of breath, but I glued my boot back together and tried to compose myself before I had to go on. I was the ONLY Johnny in the contest and the ONLY non-IZ character. The people clapped and cheered when I was announced. That made me really confident. It was funny because I heard one of the judges say 'please stay there' nervously when I got on stage. I made sure that they saw my back as well as my front, and I even kissed Nailbunny before going off stage because that's how much I loved the rabbit. I collasped next to my Dib-Friend after that, watching the rest of the contest. I didn't win anything, but what I lost to was AMAZING. There was a SIZZLOR that looked like he came RIGHT OUT THE CARTOON. Congrats to them~
I was glad that the contest was finally over. I was so tired, I just sat in the Main Events room and chatted with the people who were sitting in the front row as well. We were waiting for Melissa's Tick Tock Clap Boom Special Screening. My Dib-Friend had to go to dinner with her family, so I was talking to the Dib that ran the cosplay panel I went to earlier. We talked about JtHM headcanon's until the screening started. After running around it was wonderful to sit for two hours. But it was cold, and I was a little hungry. Other than that the movie was great, and sad. I almost cried at least five times, but I tried not to because I didn't want my eyes stinging like earlier.
My legs were SO STIFF after that though. God I could barely stand. My Dib-Friend requested I went to the rave that was going to happen later that night in my cosplay. Of course I agreed, BUT I HAD TO CHANGE OUT OF THESE boots. They were falling apart and killing my feet. On the way to the elevator though the most cutest thing happened! Now I have had many people ask for a picture and such, but this little boy was something to remember. He was dressed like a bee and asked for a hug. How could I not hug him? ;w; Of course, when people did ask for a hug from me, I would always give them a little stab in the back. Hehe. I gave the boy a hug and a gentle stab AND HE FAKED HIS DEATH. The whole spinning around and falling over cute death of CUTENESS AHHHHHH. My heart melted. Also I remembered one of Johnny's tweets 'I stabbed a bee.' It made me laugh later on.
Finally I got out of my boots. It would be awhile for the rave so I decided to reglue them a little and call the airport before I REALLY wanted to stay for Sunday so I could ask my questions. But if I changed my ticket it would cost me 200 dollars, and I couldn't afford that. Fucking damnit. I tried not to cry about it, but I was really worked up that I wasn't able to stay for the rest of Sunday. I had to keep my chin up and enjoy the rest of my time here though!
I changed back into my normal shoes, which felt like wearing damn pillows on my feet after being in my boots for so long, and finally went downstairs, still about ten minutes early for the rave... like a boss. I left my bag in my room, but kept my phone and wallet in my pockets. While waiting for the staff to open the main event room for the rave a REALLY CREEPY girl came up to me all like 'My brother!' Basically, she had some horrible self insert OC that was Johnny's sisters and Dib's cousin or some shit. Our conversation went something like this: "My brother!" "....What?" "My brother!" "What?" "*shows me a drawing her OC* See! I'm your sister, and here your are brother!" "Uh... I don't have a sister..." "Oh. But you look so much like my brother!" "You seem to be under the delusion that I'm related to you. Please leave me alone." I noticed that she had a JVP pass for Sunday. I wish I could have warned Jhonen about this creeper girl. She had long colorful nails and some binder that had a bunch of drawings, and at the time her lips and teeth were coated with something blue, like she had blue candy or something. How... attractive? Uh. Anyways, I felt bad because she also bothered my Dib-Friend and the other Johnny cosplayer who was also in line for the rave. We had to keep shooing her off a lot.
I didn't really dance at the rave. One, I can't dance. Two I was tired. Three my feet hurt. But I did watch my Dib-Friend dance. She's an amazing dancer! It was a ton of fun watching her dance. And her mom gave me a purple glow stick. She was really nice too. The staff even danced with everyone. It was great! About an hour before the rave ended Dib was tired so we went out of the room and sat down where we could watch the rest of the rave go on and chatted a little. Sometime around the end a Justin Beiber song came on and 80% of the rave left the room screaming and never came back. That was hilarious to watch! The other Johnny came out of the rave too, and she had a friend. They were sitting and talking and I overheard them talking about roleplaying. Now I am a shy person, but when something catches my interest I'm a god damn social butterfly. So I politely butted in with an excuse me and asked them if they roleplayed JtHM. They said yes. And a beautiful friendship was born. I hugged the other Johnny, even though she was sweaty and asked her friend to take my picture with her with my phone, since I left my camera in my room. We talked about rp plots and headcanons after the rave was over. Dib even had to go to bed while I was talking to my new friends. The staff had been cleaning up after the rave, but when they were done the guy that was running the con came up to me and said "Hey. You're not dressed like a Invader Zim character. You must be a really big Jhonen fan." I nodded and tried to say something but my words were stopped when he gave me Jhonen's Pepsi can from the DOOM panel and said I deserved it. I was just... so shocked and I started having a fangirl melt down and I felt like I was going to cry but I was so happy and keyboard smashes. That really made my night. ;w;
My new friends and I exchanged contact info and they had to leave. So I went upstairs changed out of my cosplay and bathed and went to bed at 2am. I tried to pack a little since I knew I was going to leave tomorrow. Sigh.
I originally woke up at 6 on Sunday because of my alarm, but I was all 'fuck it' and went back to sleep and finally got up at 7. I brushed my teeth, ate breakfast, finished packing and blah blah. I checked out at 8 and went to sit in line for Rikki's autograph. It was my last day here so I HAD to get the autographs I missed NOW or else I would never get them. I was second in line. Go me! I got a print of Bloody GIR signed, because that is the best GIR. Then I went to get in line for Richard's autograph, I was seventh in line. EARLY LIKE A BOSSSSS. I got a Zim print signed and wished him a happy birthday. Then I got Melissa's autograph. Her line wasn't long at all. I got a Gaz print signed and I asked her to do her Rika voice, since Rika was my favorite Digimon Tamer! She sung some of the song form the movie and did the 'Digimodify' line for me. She's so great. x3 I managed to catch Rodger after his Q&A and get a picture with him.
The last panel I went to was Richard's Q&A. My new JtHM rper friends saved me a seat in the front row. They're so nice. ;w; I wanted to draw Richard a picture for his birthday, but I was so tired I was unable to. So at his Q&A I gave him a hug and wished him happy birthday again.
After that I had to go to the air port. InvaderCon was the best thing I have had ever experienced and I was so glad I pushed myself to go even thought it was SO EXPENSIVE.
And I just want to say this: Jhonen is NOT mean at all! He's nice and funny and generous. My friend even said he gave out FREE autographs and everything! I wish I was able to stay. Sigh...
OMG, this might be old news to some of you guys but...
Doomcon (the 2nd Invadercon) is actually going to be held this July! I can't believe it! Awesome!
Everyone from the first one is going to be there again, and Jhonen Vasquez is coming as well! I'm surprised! [...and a bit disgruntled considering I don't exactly like hearing the guy talk, but y'know, whatevs.]
It will take place in Los Angeles, California. FINALLY. I MIGHT ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO GO TO THIS ONE. It could be too expensive though...
All my ZIM friends and I should bring together our money and all go as a group.
