Last weekend I was once again in Barcelona for a convention. When I first started going to conventions I said I’d just do the one and then that would be it, it would be a once in a lifetime experience and then I’d be done. The one that I went to last weekend was convention number three, I have one booked for in just under 2 weeks, and I have two more booked for next year already, and a few more that I’d like to go to if I have enough money. So much for just doing the one….
The one that I was at last weekend was a slightly different one compared to the ones I usually go to. I normally go to ones for The 100, however this one was a multi fandom event aimed at queer women. I was already looking at the event, as a one of my favourite shows and one of my favourite web series were going to be represented there, and then one of the actresses from The 100 announced she was going to the convention and I was sold.
It was also different as it was the first convention that I’ve gone to where I’ve actually known people who were going before I got there. Not that stopped me from making new friends whilst I was there. One of my favourite things about conventions is that you get to make friends with so many people, because everyone there already has similar interests to you. Even with different shows being represented most people were fans of more than one show that was there.
Before I went to this convention I actually bought myself a new camera, supposedly so I could take better quality pictures at conventions. However, despite the fact that I used the camera a load on my trip to Barcelona, whilst I was at the convention it pretty much just stayed in my bag. I think that’s mostly because there was so much going on I didn’t want to miss anything whilst I was faffing with my camera.
I once made a comment about conventions that you can’t really explain them to someone who has never been to one and it’s true. But if I had to sum them up in just one word it would be friendship. I’ve met so many incredible people at conventions every time I’ve gone. And whilst I do go for the celebrities that go there, I also go for the friendships that I make while I’m there and that feeling of acceptance. Being surrounded by so many other queer women is magical and empowering and beautiful, there’s always so much love.
I talk about the friendships I make there and in fact, a lot of my favourite memories from last weekend didn’t even involve the celebrities that I’d gone to see. One of my top memories was of being sat on the floor in the hotel bar, watching the fireworks across the city, and baring my soul with someone I’d only met that weekend. It was something special, and something magical. There’s something about these events where you don’t talk about mundane things such as what you do for a living, or the usual small talk subjects.
Instead we talk about more interesting subjects, like what certain characters mean to you, what the show has meant to you, how going to conventions have changed you as a person (because they really do), and of course, we talk about licking potatoes (Wynonna Earp is a wild show, but I’d highly recommend it, especially if you like girls with guns, demons, and the occasional licked potato).
Sophie x
A Place of Mine 