Revelations of a Fan

I often don’t write about my adventures in fandom here. More often than not, I tend to post that to my other blog about writing. It makes some sense as my fanfiction has kinda taken over all my other writing but I think I should try to focus more fandom stuff here.

After all, that fits into what this blog is about!

So, at the end of October I went to Creation Entertainment’s Once Upon a Time convention in New Jersey. It was my third time going to it and I had a lot of fun. Almost all my friends were able to get to New Jersey and though it didn’t sell as many tickets as they had hoped, we all enjoyed the smaller numbers. It was more intimate and definitely more chill.

I had vowed after my trip to Milan that the next convention that Sean Maguire (Robin Hood) went to, I would do everything of his. And I was true to my word at this one. I did his photo ops both days, got autographs both days and did his meet and greet on Sunday. I was practically his shadow.
The main reason I wanted to do that was to become more known to him, to kinda stand out in the crowd so that he would recognize that yes, I am one of his fans.

So did it work?

Pretty much. I definitely can tell he’s starting to recognize me. And I know this probably sounds crazy to others, but I can see a difference in his smile from the first photo we ever took together to the ones from this con. And at the meet and greet, my friend noted that he included me when motioning to the people he had met before.

That’s pretty good, if you ask me.

I did worry that I would lose my momentum with him as the next con I’m definitely going to see him at is Paris, which is several months away. But my friends assured me otherwise.

I also had an experience earlier that day to prove they might be right. I went to get a picture with Karen David (Princess Jasmine) and Emilie de Ravin (Belle). When I was next, Karen’s face lit up and I realized she remembered me from last year—I had a photo, auto and meet and greet with her then. It was so nice to realize she remembered me and I went in for a hug, even if it was a bit awkward.

(Sorry, Emilie)

But if Karen could remember me a year later, then it’s possible Sean will recognize me several months later.

I had one more experience at the end of the day (and the con). Lana Parrilla (Regina Mills/The Evil Queen) signed autographs at the very end. I had decided to get her autograph as well as Sean’s for a friend I was seeing in Florida, so I approached her with two items to sign—each with a different name.

She signed the one for my friend and then looked at mine, which was a manip for our Outlaw Queen calendar. Lana praised it and I talked to her a bit about the person who made it. She then asked if it was okay if she didn’t write my name on it because Sean already had and I said I didn’t care. She squeezed it into the corner and gave it back to me, thanking me for coming by name. I thanked her as well and walked away.

I showed off the calendar to a few people and told them to check out this year’s Advent calendar for more goodies. I then headed back to my friends when a thought hit me—how did Lana know my name was Allie and not the other name I had also asked her to sign?

First, I wondered if it was because my name was attached to the calendar and my friend’s to a promotional picture but easily dismissed that—we get lots of things signed, it’s not indicative of anything.

Second, I wondered if it was because I said I didn’t care if she put my name on the art. But then I realized that since Sean had already signed it, I could’ve thought that was fine for whoever else I could’ve been getting it signed for.

With those arguments pushed aside, I returned to my friends and told them that I think Lana recognizes me now. My friend Erica’s response was pretty much “duh, of course she does.” When I think about it, I’ve seen her about seven times now and that was my third time that year! She may not be able to call me by my name unprompted, but Lana probably saw “Allie” and connected with me from previous cons, so she knew it was safe to assume it was my name.

So, yes, cast members from one of my favorite shows are starting to recognize me. And that’s pretty thrilling! It’s nice to know that they realize I’m their fan and are happy to see me.

And hopefully, I can keep up the momentum in 2020!