I started off my second day of San Diego Comic-Con on the crowded trolley to the convention center where I met an Elsa (Frozen) cosplayer! The ride wasn’t very long—only a few stops from my hotel. I wanted to spend more time inside the convention on this day, but I quickly learned that it’s easy to tire out from walking back and forth and navigating through all the attendees!
BioWare Photo Booth
I knew that BioWare had a presence at the con, so I went over to their booth inside the Dark Horse Comics section, where they had a photo booth with different props and backgrounds you could choose from!
I wasn’t concerned with which background I wanted, but I was selective on my accessories! I chose a bullet belt and a gun to pose with. I think the picture came out very well, and I had background options of various BioWare titles to choose. However, there was no Star Wars: The Old Republic option. I think it’s odd that wherever BioWare goes, they never acknowledge SWTOR, as if BioWare Austin is separate from the rest of their studios. I chose the Mass Effect background because it fit best with my pose and accessories.
IDW Publishing
The number of comics, publishers, and booths was overwhelming! However, I saw a sign for IDW Publishing that said “free comic if you download the app!” that also had My Little Pony on it, so I stopped to check things out! I downloaded the app, and one of their employees gave me a Star Trek comic! I said, “This is great! I’m a Star Trek fan!” and he recommended that I take a look at a new comic they were publishing with Star Trek and Green Lantern together. Now, if Chris Pine, who is rumored to play the next Green Lantern in the movies, is chosen for the part, that will be a cool comic to have! I purchased it, along with an adorable My Little Pony hardcover comic book.
Katie Cook
My next stop was to meet Katie Cook, an artist who draws My Little Pony comics who has also been “ponified” on the show! My guildie Zissou had recommended meeting her the night before since he knows her personally. Unfortunately, I was very foolish earlier at the IDW booth. I knew I wanted to see Katie Cook, but I didn’t bother picking up one of her comics, despite her writing My Little Pony for IDW (which I didn’t know at that time). Oh well. I waited in a long-ish line (less than an hour for her to do a mini painting commission for me! I had her draw me with my dog Daisy, and I also purchased a mini painting of Derpy Hooves (real name Ditzy Doo) for one of my guildies, Psion, who also likes My Little Pony! She does adorable work, and if I had a lot more money, I would’ve purchased quite a few more prints!
Webtoon
Me and Andreas
At this point, it was around noon, and I was pretty hungry since I hadn’t eaten breakfast! Technically, I ate my leftover chocolate cookie from lunch the day before, but that doesn’t count. I met up with a fellow SWTOR player and Twitter user Andreas and his friend Juan at Lou & Mickey’s, a bar that was hosting the Webtoon Pavilion! Webtoon is a free, digital content service for comics.
I walked right in on accident (which I tend to do frequently), and Andreas took me back to the podium to get my wristband! Free drinks were given in many different ways, including posting a picture on social media with #LongLiveComics or downloading the Webtoon app. My internet was running slowly here though in the middle of the crowded Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego, so I wasn’t able to do either of those things. Fortunately, a girl passed by and handed me a free drink ticket, so I ordered a Red Ale (they didn’t have an Amber on tap) and relaxed for a bit with them!
BASIC Pizza
Since I was hungry and I had eaten burgers and Mexican food the day before (I like to eat different types of food when I can!), Andreas and Juan, San Diego locals, recommended a pizza kitchen called BASIC located in the East Village neighborhood. I’m the worst foodie ever since I didn’t even take a picture of it, but the large Pepper Pizza we ordered was excellent! I thought the toppings were a bit sparse, but I still thought it was a tasty, thin-crust pizza.
Nerdist Conival at Petco Park
The pizza restaurant was very close to Petco Park, so we went to the Nerdist Conival there! None of the speakers or celebrity guests were doing a panel while we were there, and I thought the Conival was going to be much larger, taking up space on the field. It was actually just up in the stands in the area where they normally have food concessions. I picked up a few free goodies, and we left. Some celebrities I would’ve liked to have seen at the Conival but didn’t make time to see were Felicia Day and Daniel Radcliffe.
Tequila Bar at the Marriott
We met up with Will and Marshall (The Usual Podcast) again at the Marriott Tequila Bar, which was in the back next to the pool. It was a quiet oasis away from the crowds and chaos downtown and at the convention center! I didn’t want to be drinking all day since my evening event was open bar, so I ordered a virgin pina colada which was very good! I usually don’t like mixed drinks at all because of the alcohol taste anyway, but I somehow love beer.
501st Legion Dinner Party
Me and Jessie
I took the trolley back to my hotel, dropped off the goodies I accumulated during the day, and changed shoes and purses for a more evening look. Jessie from the Unholy Alliance guild in SWTOR picked me up in her black dress and Princess Leia buns! She drove us to the San Diego Library where the 501st Legion Dinner Party was being hosted!
I was impressed with the library’s building, which was large with interesting metal architecture and a large dome on top. We arrived early, so we walked around downtown for a bit. When we got back, we had to wait in line until the other special event attendees (there was some sort of Sherlock event) started to enter the library, and then they checked us into the party! It was held in an outdoor courtyard with circular tables covered in black tablecloths and red cloth napkins.
One of the reasons I was drawn to the party was because it had an open bar! They had 501st Legion specialty shots, Dark Side and Light Side, but I had none of them. I ordered a hard cider to start, and Jessie and I mingled with our tablemates, including one girl who also played SWTOR and would be attending the cantina the next evening.
Buffet line
A couple at our table had become engaged earlier that day at the convention center, and they were telling the story of how she was captured and her Jedi boyfriend force-pushed her captors away and presented the ring to her. It was done with the help of many Star Wars cosplayers, and it sounded like a wonderful experience! I met a lot of other Star Wars fans, including Brian who listens to It’s a Trap! podcast, and Scott Zambelli, an off-duty Stormtrooper who is also an official Star Wars artist in the Artists’ Alley at the con.
On the buffet line, there was salad, dinner rolls, rice, chicken, broccoli & cauliflower, and pasta. It was pretty good, and one plate filled me up. Dessert was vanilla ice cream with various toppings of your choice (chocolate syrup, nuts, etc.). In the middle of dinner, I noticed a significant amount of Star Trek “red shirts” at the party. I wanted to wear my Uhura outfit that day but decided against it since I was going to a Star Wars party. My curiosity piqued as I became more annoyed with myself for not wearing my red dress also, so I asked one of the red shirts why there were so many of them!
One of the men in the red shirts, John, said that they were doing a “BarTrek” later that night with all of them wearing their red Star Trek shirts and dresses, and they were staying at the 501st party until it ended since it had an open bar! I wanted to go because they seemed like fun people! Jessie and I left the party after dessert, and I returned to participate in BarTrek in my red Uhura costume!
BarTrek
I met everyone wearing red shirts at the party, who turned out to be members of the Golden Gate Garrison of the 501st Legion. I danced the Electric Slide with one of the girls, Tu-Anh, a few minutes after saying I didn’t like to dance, but I had started drinking a little more–albeit weak–shots of alcohol. Because the party was open bar, the amount of alcohol was running low!
Photo credit: BarTrek Facebook Page
As a large group of people wearing red Star Trek outfits, we walked to several bar destinations as people and fans on the street displayed their excitement and Vulcan “Live Long and Prosper” salutes at us. There were a few that scolded that we should not have lightsabers (a couple people in the group went to the free Star Wars concert earlier in the evening), but they made nice beacons for the group to know where we were walking. I was surprised on how many cars almost didn’t stop for a large group of people in red shirts, but then I remembered that red shirts die all the time.
It was a lot of fun stopping at the different bars, and we ended up at the Manchester Hyatt at the end of the night! A different Jon (and Captain Rex cosplayer) ensured that I made it into a taxi, and after 2:00am I arrived safely and soundly back at my hotel.
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