Wil Wheaton's Blog, page 97

Photos from MegaCon, Day Three … and some memories from the weekend.

I started this post yesterday, and couldn’t finish it until today. So turn yesterday into the day before yesterday and tomorrow into today and then ask yourself why you even bothered because it really isn’t all that important.

I woke up this morning because my dog was fussing to go outside.

“I didn’t know this was a pet-friendly hotel,” I thought as my brain got off the train from Dreamland. “I have to move to part of the hotel that doesn’t have pets in it today.”

Then I opened my eyes, and experienced the glorious moment when, after being away from home for a week, I realized that I was back in my own house, in my own bed. I got up, let her out, and made myself a cup of coffee … then I enjoyed that glorious moment when, after drinking hotel “coffee” for a week, I get to make it myself, just the way I like it.

The flight home last night was pretty rough until we got over Texas. It was so turbulent over the Gulf of Mexico the flight attendants didn’t even get out of their seats for close to an hour after take off. A few years ago, I would have been an absolute mess during the whole thing, but I’ve been flying so much, I just ride it out and try not to spill my water all over myself. I’m about halfway through book three of A Song of Ice And Fire, and I want to finish it before the new season premieres, so while my body was bouncing around on an airplane, my mind was in Westeros. It was pretty great.

So I promised I’d share a couple of memorable moments from MegaCon. Before I get to  the pictures I took yesterday, I’ll do that now.

Appearing as a guest at a big convention like this is a lot of fun, but it’s also exhausting. People always ask me if my arm or hand or wrist is tired near the end of a long day of signing, and I always tell them the truth: my body never gets tired; it’s my brain that is exhausted. Signing is so much more than, well, signing. It’s listening and engaging and sharing moments and meeting hundreds of people in a relatively short amount of time, doing my best to not rush people while understanding that the person in front of me and the person still waiting behind them may have been in that line for over an hour. It’s drawing out shy kids who are excited to meet me, but don’t know what to say. It’s handling people who can be a little strange — if harmless — who may not know when it’s really time for them to move on. It’s telling someone that I’m sorry, but I can’t sign that thing, or I can’t pose for that picture, or I’m really not going to go have beers with you because I don’t know you at all even though you think you know me.

I suppose I could make it less mentally taxing if I just sat there and didn’t make an effort to engage people or treat them like human beings (and there are some folks who do exactly that), but that’s not how I roll, and I will stop attending conventions before I become That Guy. That Guy has no perspective, no humility, no gratitude, and while I’ve met him a few times (there are a few people who act like fans at conventions are simply meatbags attached to wallets) I won’t ever be him.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Because I was a fan at conventions long before I was a special guest, I know what it’s like to be on that side of the table, and it’s important to me to treat people the way I want to be treated. It’s also wonderful, because I get to meet remarkable and inspiring people, and share in the mutual joy we have for Doctor Who, Tabletop gaming, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Star Trek, beer, hockey, and silly Internet memes.

This weekend, I met dozens of people who told me that they were scientists, engineers, doctors, or programmers because they were inspired by Wesley Crusher. I met tons of women and a few men who told me that I was their first teenage crush. I met a lot of people, men and women, my age and younger, who thanked me for speaking out about depression and anxiety. I held a young woman’s hands while she cried because her anxiety was so intense and scary, and I promised her that she would be okay. I was moved by her bravery, and inspired by her courage. I met some families who were all geeking out about different things at the convention, from Star Trek to My Little Pony to LEGO to Star Wars, and happily sharing in each other’s joy. I was honored to be part of all of these experiences, and grateful to have them.

But there is one meeting that stands out, that moved me so much, I’ve been struggling to find the right words to recount it. On Saturday, a young woman walked up to my table with her husband and her two children. She handed me a typed letter and told me that she knew she wouldn’t be able to get through what she wanted to say to me, and would I please read it.

I unfolded it, and read her story. When she was a young girl, she had a serious complication due to her Lupus, and her doctors told her that she would never walk again. She had a photo of me, though, that she took with her to physical therapy every day, and the therapists would hold it up for her and encourage her to walk toward it — toward me — while she recovered. She made a promise to herself, she said, that she would walk again some day, and if I was ever in her town, she would walk up to meet me. At the end of her letter, she thanked me for being there, so she could *walk* to meet me.

I looked up at her through tears, and she looked back at me through her own. I stood up, walked around my table, and put about fifteen feet between us. I held my arms open, and asked her to walk over to me. She began to cry, and slowly, confidently closed the distance between us. I embraced her, and we stood there for a minute, surrounded by thousands of people who had no idea what was going on, and cried together.

“I’m so proud of you,” I said, quietly, “and I am so honored.”

We wiped the tears away, and I sat back down to sign a photo for her. I looked at her young children. “Your mom is remarkable,” I said, “and I know you don’t get it, because she’s, like your mom? But you have to trust me: she is.”

The kids nodded, and I could tell that they were a little freaked out by the emotion of the thing, even if they didn’t understand it. They looked at their father, who said, “Mommy’s okay. Mommy’s okay.” That made me tear up again. Mommy was okay, and she is a remarkable woman who defied the odds and her doctors, and *walked* up to meet me. I’m still overwhelmed when I think about what that means, and how I was part of it.

Okay. While I compose myself, here are some pictures from the final day of MegaCon 2013:

I was pretty geeked out by this awesome AWESOME-O cosplay.

 

I’ve forgotten this young woman’s name, but she drew an incredible Wilthulu for me.

Another remarkable artist who’s name has gone out of my head (my brain rotates those logs pretty quickly). She drew this fantastic picture of the TNG cast with Q, and gave me a copy of it. I really, really love it when people get excited and make things, and I love that Star Trek is something that inspires that so frequently.

Chris Hamer drew this commission for a couple, who asked me to sign it for them.

How incredibly cute is this Borderlands 2 Cosplay?! I just love the little muscles his mom drew on his shirt.

Fix-It Felix and Vanellope Von Schweetz cosplay! How adorable are they together?

Last one: it’s me and my space mom, Gates McFadden!

Gates has a wonderful theatre here in Los Angeles (Atwater Village, to be precise). Her theatre’s tumblr is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen: Gates has a Doctor Crusher action figure that she takes all over the place and puts into darkly comic situations which are photographed and captioned. The individual images are hilarious, but when they are taken as a whole, they tell a story that … well, I don’t want to spoil it for you.

Seriously, check it out, and tell your friends.

MegaCon was really great. I had a good time on my panel Saturday morning, where I told some jokes and did a Q&A with about 3500 or so people in the room. The TNG panel Saturday night suffered from appallingly bad moderation (Patrick was interrupted during a wonderful story about working on the show when the moderator decided to make it all about him with an inappropriate  unprofessional, and disrespectful Harlem Shake bit)  but I think the group of us overcame it as best as we could.

I’m really glad I went to the convention. I got to visit with my TNG family again, knowing that the entire group of us probably won’t be in the same place like this for at least a year, and I got to share in some of the most wonderful and inspiring moments I’ve experienced in years. If you were there, thanks for making it a great weekend for me.

One Million Views!!

Ho.

Lee.

SHIT.

Congratulations to everyone at Geek and Sundry, and especially to our Tabletop team, for making it possible to reach this milestone.

And thank you to everyone who has subscribed, liked, commented, shared, and been part of the last year of Tabletop with us. I’m doing everything I can to make season two happen, and to make it even more awesome than season one.

Until next time … play more games!

Photos from MegaCon, Day Two

The best stories from yesterday at MegaCon will have to wait until later, because I have to be at the show in 30 minutes, and I just woke up. (Check out my rock and roll lifestyle, man.)

Here are a few memorable pictures from yesterday:

I get to make lots of Cards Against Humanity cards at conventions. I play a game when I do this, to amuse myself: when I write a question card, every answer card I do after it is for that question, until the question changes. The first question at this con was “What is Shatner’s secret fetish?” The answers can’t be printed in a family publication. Luckily, this isn’t a family publication. The two really gross ones that I remember are: Juggling the placenta, and cum on a moustache. If you’re bothered by that, don’t play Cards Against Humanity.

Lil’ Wil is all ready for Easter in this snazzy sweater! The whole reason Joel and I made this silly little plushie toy was so people would get excited and make things for him to wear. It’s been slow to take off, but I’m starting to see lots of great sweaters and other costumes for him at shows, and I love that.

My shitty camera doesn’t do this couple justice, at all. She made her costume, including the really, really awesome shoes, and used Felicia’s Flog to build the staff. His Fawkes cosplay is perfect, down to the belt and the sporrin. They were really nice people.

This is a picture from 1988 or 1989, when I went to Universal Orlando with a bunch of Nickelodeon people. It was so much fun, I don’t even care that I was wearing a neon green fanny pack.

How awesome is this NERDIST COSPLAY?! This guy was hilarious, and he did a great Hardwick impression. He really fucked the snake out of the cage with this one.

Near the end of the day, the volunteers were having some fun. The volunteers at this show that I have interacted with have been fantastic.

And here’s the most recent answer card for Cards Against Humanity. It’s a little on the nose, but it made me laugh.

I had a really great panel yesterday morning, and the TNG panel last night had some truly memorable moments. I’ll write more about them later.

Photos from MegaCon, Day One

A real quick post before I head over to the second day at MegaCon, with some  of the cool things I saw yesterday.

Darkstar Cosplay!! For those of you who are wondering why I love this so much: Darkstar is a character I play on Ben Ten: Alien Force. The Ben Ten Wiki says:

Michael Morningstar, also known as Darkstar, is one of the Plumber kids that appear throughout the course ofBen 10: Alien Force. He appeared in the episode All That Glitters and since became one of the most notable regular villains in the series. He has the ability to drain life force from living beings, he gained a grudge against Ben and his team after they accidentally caused him to turn into an awful zombie-like being who has to wear a helmet to hide his face. His plans usually involve gaining back his original face and feeding himself, though he seems to still be interested in feeding from Gwen’s vast stores of Anodite energy.

He’s a great character who I love performing, and sort of the Doctor Doom of the Ben Ten-i-verse. The young woman who is in this costume made it herself, and came all the way from the Philippines to be at this convention! I’m kicking myself for not getting a photo of her friend, who was cosplaying as Michael Morningstar.

We had a cab driver last night who didn’t know we were with the convention. He was starting to make fun of all the people walking around the streets in cosplay. I stopped him and said, “I really love the people in cosplay. Making a costume and then wearing it at a convention is the purest, most unselfconscious celebration of love for a movie or character or TV show, or whatever a person is excited about. Cosplay is really cool, man, and it takes time and effort and money to do it right.” He had no response. [Success Kid.jpg]

A mashup of two of my favourite things: Star Wars, and Iron Maiden. Up the irons!

I was on a pillow once. It was awful.

This hand-painted Grumpy Cat pillow is grumpy, and amazing.

Finally: remember that time Wesley Crusher was on a stamp?

Well, okay, he isn’t technically on a stamp. He’s more like on a piece of paper that you throw away when you use the stamps … but it’s the closest he’ll ever come to being the 24th century version of the Elvis stamp, so let’s just let him have this one thing, okay?

Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Imagination

Yesterday was our last day at Walt Disney World. A few hours ago, we said goodbye to our hotel and the resort, and I am writing this from our new room at the Megacon hotel.

We spent most of yesterday in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I didn’t know what to expect from the park, but I do know that it blew my expectations out of the water. The theming, design, and attention to detail in that park was just spectacular. I thought it was a little weird to not know where real animals ended and Disney Imagineering began, but I just accepted it, relaxed, and had a good time experiencing the results.

Sure, I’ll have a beer in Africa!

It was a lot of fun to have beers from different countries. Here I am drinking a Hakim Stout in Africa. It was tasty, and more like a brown ale than what we consider a stout in the West.

Expedition Everest was the most fun I’ve ever had on any roller coaster, anywhere in my entire life.

I like this picture. I put something in the foreground, so the forced perspective of the mountain would make it look even farther away and bigger than it is.

I want to go back to Animal Kingdom at a less busy time of year, so I can really take my time and explore the whole place, even though the crowding made the Asia and Africa lands feel more like I’ve seen them in movies, and in a way added to the illusion.

At the end of the day, we went back to EPCOT, so we could see the movie in Canada, and have one last beer around the world. When we got there, though, our feet were killing us and we were both verging on the cranky side of hungry and tired, so we just got a beer in America (Anchor Liberty Ale), enjoyed the view of the lake and all the people having fun, and skipped the movie in favor of walking back to the monorail for our final stop: The Carousel of Progress in the Magic Kingdom.

On the way out, I asked Anne if she would mind very much if we stopped by Journey Into Imagination.

“I loved this ride so much when I first came here in 1987,” I said, “and I’ve been told by countless people that it’s better for me to let the memory live on, rather than ride it again.”

“Does it not hold up?” Anne asked.

“I guess not, but I didn’t ask why. I think it’s better not to know.”

We made a left turn and walked past a small child, who had clearly had enough of the day.

“It’s Meltdown O’Clock,” I said.

“I can’t blame him,” she said. “This is a lot to take in for a kid.”

“Hell, it’s a lot to take in for an adult!” I said.

We arrived at the fountains in front of the pavilion. “I know this seems silly, but when I first saw these fountains, I was just enchanted. I’d never seen anything like this reverse waterfall, and the little tubes of water leaping from place to place was just magical.”

We walked around the fountains, and I remembered, like looking at a faded photograph or VHS tape with the white balance just off a bit, what it was like to stand in that spot when I was 14, with my parents, brother and sister, sort of in disbelief that I was really there, in a place I had only heard about and didn’t think I’d ever get to visit.

“It’s crazy, when I think about it, that water fountains made 14 year-old me so happy, especially at an age where most kids — myself included — work so hard to be too cool for everything. These fountains just brought me joy.”

Anne said nothing, and I quietly watched the tubes of water leap from pot to pot all around the pavilion.

“Okay,” I said, after a minute or so, “I’m ready to go.”

We held hands and walked to the entrance. A few minutes later, we rode the monorail back to the transportation and ticket center, and then took the ferry across the lagoon to the Magic Kingdom. We watched a beautiful sunset over the lake, and then made our way to the Carousel of Progress in Tomorrowland.

It was exactly what I wanted it to be: a frozen moment in time when a Powerbook 170 could control the entire House of The Future, and animatronics were as magical as anything. I’m really glad that it exists, and that it exists in this very specific and particular way. I hope they don’t mess with it at all, so kids (and parents who are looking for a place to sit down for a few minutes) can be inspired to create that Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow they sing about in there.

EPCOT Panorama (Click to Enpanoramanate)

 

EPCOT is my favorite

We went to EPCOT yesterday. I went into space — TWICE — and had beers all over the world. Well, mostly all over the world. I mean, I love you, Canada, but I’m not drinking Labatt’s. And whatever they call “beer” in France is actually “anger and shame in a bottle.”

We had so much fun, in fact, we slept for 13 hours (I guess three days of nonstop fun will do that to old folks like us) so we’re just getting started today. Here are a few memorable moments from yesterday:

Oh the huge manatee!

The Living Seas is still one of the best places in EPCOT. I could have watched these manatees for an hour.

It’s an oversized hat. It’s funny.

Anne kept saying she wanted a hat to keep the rain off her hair. I want a hat that I can fill with water and take a bath in. For some reason, even though this hat fits both criteria, we didn’t get it.

Thanks for watching Tabletop!

This is the best thing, ever. I’ve seen people wearing Tabletop T-shirts at cons, but never out in the wild. When I saw this guy, and he saw me, we both sort of freaked out and simultaneously asked if we could take a picture together.

happy husband is happy

So then there was that time I woke up in Disney World, went online while Anne got ready to go to the parks, and saw that a picture my wife took of me and my friend was on the front page of a website I’ve read every day for a decade.

I get to see Patrick and the rest of my family from Next Generation this weekend at MegaCon, and I can’t wait.

taking a ride on spaceship earth

Tomorrow morning, I’m getting on an airplane with Anne, and we’re flying across the country to Orlando. MegaCon starts a week from yesterday, and we’re going to Florida a few days early to goof off at Disney World before the con gets started.

I’m not going to lie to you, Marge: I’m ALL CAPS EXCITED to go spend four days at Disney World. I haven’t been there since December of 1997 when we took the kids right after Flubber came out.

Boy, that trip was something. At the time, we were really struggling financially, and never would have been able to afford it. But because I’d finished shooting Flubber and done a ton of press for the movie, Disney did the whole trip for us as a special gift. They even gave us a guide — Hi Jeff! We miss you! — to take care of us the whole time we were there. I still can’t believe someone at Disney agreed to do that for the four of us, but to this day I am grateful for that kindness.

When we got to Florida, it was unseasonably cold, and the kids had forgotten their jackets in California. We had to spend way too much money — which we didn’t have at the time — on some pretty ridiculous Mickey Mouse sweatshirts for them. It made me think, at the time, of when the referee’s baggage doesn’t make a flight, so they wear silly souvenir gear from the home team’s gift shop during the game.

I think we were there for five days or so, and it was just fantastic. I remember taking the kids on Space Mountain, and Anne insisted on sitting behind them, holding onto their sweatshirts, the way a guy moving a mattress on the freeway puts one hand on it to stop it from flying away. You know at some level that it’s ridiculous and pointless, but you do it anyway. I remember offering to do this thing at the studio called “Star of the Day,” where I’d ride in a car down the main street of the Disney MGM studio and then do a ceremony in front of their Chinese Theatre, sort of a way to say thank you for the trip, and to help publicize Flubber. I’d done this right around the beginning of Star Trek, and the street was lined with people three or four bodies deep, cheering teenagers, the whole thing. When I did that in 1997, a few dozen people looked up from their ice creams and wondered who the hell that was in the car, and why they should care. Boy was that humiliating.

When we last went to Disney World over a decade ago, our lives were profoundly different than they are now. What I remember most clearly is how much fun the kids had, and how a major part of my fun was just being close to that. Anne and I keep talking about how we’re doing things in reverse: we spent the first part of our lives together with kids, being parents, and now we’re getting to do the things that young couples do, like travel and stay up late and sleep in on weekdays every now and then. I’m really looking forward to taking a few days with my wife to just goof off and have fun before I spend three days getting my geek on at the convention.

Since we haven’t been there in so long, I’d love it if you’d share your must-not-miss thing at Walt Disney World with us.

your argument is invalid

see you in your nightmares.

A whole bunch of pictures from Emerald City Comicon 2013

Our flight home from Seattle was delayed because they couldn’t find the pilot. I guess this would freak out some people, but I thought it was pretty funny and ordered another beer.

Anne and I sat at a table with Felicia and Misha Collins, and shared stories from the convention while we waited to get on our planes. Misha, Anne and I were on a flight to Burbank, and Felicia was on a flight to LAX.

“You’re a dummy for flying into LAX,” I told her.

“It’s closer to my house!” Felicia replied.

“I don’t know why anyone would fly into LAX on purpose. It’s the worst airport in the world. It’s like people got together, put all the bad ideas for airport design onto a chalkboard, and used them to design it. I bet if you looked at it from the air, it spells out HA HA YOU STUPID SUCKERS COME HERE ON PURPOSE.”

“Why would I drive all the way from Burbank to my house when LAX is closer?”

“Because Burbank isn’t LAX.”

“Well, you’re delayed, so there.”

“I bet you we get home before you do, even though our flight is delayed.”

It’s not uncommon for us to talk to each other like we’re 8 years-old.

About twenty minutes later, Felicia told us all goodbye. A minute or so later, she texted me that she was on her plane and gloated a little bit about how comfortable it was.

This year’s Emerald City wasn’t as awesome as it’s been in years gone by. They were trying out some new things, I guess, and not all of them worked. The layout of the show was really strange, and it didn’t feel cohesive to me. Felicia and I were in a gaming area instead of the usual media guest area, which just didn’t work for us. It was very small, so it got ridiculously congested when people got into lines to meet us, and it was so far away from everything else, we sort of felt like we were at the kids’ table. The photo-ops were really tough for me this year. I’m adjusting my brain meds, and though I felt back to normal by the end of the day on Sunday, Friday and Saturday weren’t that great. I know it’s not a big deal to most people to put your arm around a person, but it really freaks me out (and knowing this makes me feel totally crazy, so if you’re thinking that you’re not alone) to have hundreds of people I don’t know grab me and hold on to me. I always ask the photo-op people to ask the attendees to respect my personal space, and for whatever reason this didn’t happen this year. Without meaning to be weird or uncool, people were super grabby and hands-y and I felt super anxious more than once.

That said, there were some truly wonderful and memorable moments. Here are a few pictures I took:

When Joel and I made the Lil’ Wils, we hoped that people would get excited and make things for him to wear and play with. I have some really great clown sweaters and a cape of dicks for him, but this is the first actual fez I’ve seen.

“You have to sign this,” a young woman said to me.

“I do?” I said.

“Yes. You said ‘when someone puts a picture of Nathan Fillion in front of you and asks you to sign it, you say yes!’”

She spoke the truth, so I signed it. It’s pretty great that he had already written that he loves me because I didn’t write that myself as far as you know.

Last year, she asked me to sign her arm so it could be made into a tattoo. I was kind of freaked out by the responsibility, but then I thought about it for a second, and realized I could maybe inspire her and anyone who reads her arm to be awesome.

I have met a few derby girls who have named themselves after me in some way. I love that.

This was my view of the 3000 seat main theatre during the Wil Wheaton vs. Paul and Storm show on Saturday morning. I was very concerned about the early morning show time. I didn’t think the audience would be ready for what we do while they were still waking up, and I have never been so happy to be so wrong. We filled it up (and added some SRO at the back) and the audience was on board from the beginning. We had so much fun, I went ahead and did a little bit of stand-up jokes that I think they liked. When we asked if the audience wanted to hear a 20 minute song about pirates or do a Q&A, the ARRRRRRRRRRR! of 3000 people was all the answer we needed. This show was one of the highlights of the convention for me.

How great is this cosplay?! Last year, she was a Gameboy, and this year she was Tetris. She sewed each Tetris square onto her dress by hand. I’m not sure you can see it, but she has them on her fingernails, as well.

This guy, Paul, couldn’t make it, so his friend asked me to hold his picture up for a photo-op. I asked her to hold it so I could pretend to put my arm around him. Then when she brought it to my table to be autographed, I filled in the rest of him. I am easily amused.

I mean, honestly. How great is this?

I have no idea how this happened. #Vandaleyes

I forget what this is called. Bead Art, maybe? A young woman built this from my avatar, using little plastic beads. The windows on that TARDIS glow in the dark.

I love this picture. Felicia photobombed my picture of the Tabletop Day sign while we were playing Zombie Dice at the Geek and Sundry table. You’re playing on Tabletop Day, right?

My space mom has pretty awesome business cards.

Cutest 11th Doctor EVER.

Hipster Slenderman. I KNOW RIGHT.

Some other great things happened during the con, but they’re going to get their own posts because I have to get to my real work now.

I fell asleep in my seat before the plane took off. I woke up somewhere over Northern California and reached over to hold my wife’s hand.

“I just love you the most,” I said.

“I love you too.”

“Did you have fun this weekend?” I asked her.

“I did,” she said. “It was great to see friends. And your show was great.”

“Thanks, dude,” I said. I leaned back in my chair and dozed for most of the remaining flight. When we landed, I turned my phone on and got a text from Felicia:

DAMMIT! We landed early so we've been sitting on the tarmac for fifteen minutes!

I laughed out loud and sent back:

We're at our gate. I'll be home before you get your bags.

She sent:

I hate you and your stupid airport.

I replied:

Boy, it sure is peaceful and quiet at the Burbank Airport tonight.

She said:

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccckkkk yyyooooouuuuuuu

A few minutes later, I sent her this picture:

Then:

Walking to my car!

She sent:

Ugh. At baggage claim.

A little while later, the best text I’ve ever sent:

MY HOUSE I AM IN YOU.

The reply was so very very sweet:

In car but not halfway home. You win ... THIS TIME.

I took a victory lap, and my dogs joined me.