).ConnectiCon 2015 ( -or- 'Nerds on Parade') · 7:41pm Jul 13th, 2015
So ConnectiCon 2015 happened. Most people don't notice because it's always the same weekend as SDCC over on the other coast, but for anyone not willing to drop a couple thousand bucks to make the trip from New England to Cali, CTCon is the place to be. The guest list is usually pretty decent (this year is no exception), and last year it packed in just under 20,000 attendees, making it four times the size of last years' Bronycon (we've still got a ways to go, folks, 
)
Anyway, nopony cares what I have to say about it; y'all wanna see the pictures!
We decided not to stay in the hotel attached to the convention center this year (the elevators are a nightmare), and the hotel that we ended up going with happened to be hosting a few events in their conference wing as well, so that was a nifty bonus. We ran into Sailor Jupiter on the short bus ride to the convention center the first morning.
That expression really does say 'I'm going to punish you', doesn't it?
Oh, before I forget: My wife wore some Doctor Who swag the first day and made herself a Cyberman-head purse to carry around. We took pictures of him everywhere.
... EVERYWHERE.
Say hello, Handles.
Between Batman and Nightwing forgetting to put on their masks and Superman forgetting to take OFF his Clark Kent glasses, I'm pretty sure the whole secret identity thing is now boinked for all o' y'all... except Green Lantern. Green Lantern don't care.
Luigi riding Yoshi. 'Nuff said.
Ruby Rose from the online series RWBY. I've gotta give special props to her for the construction of her scythe, Crescent Rose; that thing was super-light and yet you could tell that is was quite durable. +10 Cosplay points.
Hiro, Todashi, and Baymax from Big Hero 6. The director's board was a fantastic touch!
Ariel and Eric (and Flounder) from Disney's Little Mermaid. Funny, you see plenty of Disney cosplay nowadays, but this might be the first time I've seen an Ariel that WASN'T still half fish.
Liz and Patty from Soul Eater. If we had managed to convince my brother-in-law to cosplay as Death the Kid this year, he could have spent the whole con with these two on his arms. Oh well, there's always next year.
We would have made it to a lot more panels than we did, but Handles kept insisting we stop for food so often... I didn't think a cybernetic disembodied head would have that much of an appetite, but whatever.
Also, Handles made a friend!
Obligatory Transexual Transvestite from Transylvania.
BEAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!
CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!
River Song from Doctor Who.
Jareth from Labyrinth. Everyone who brought a baby to the con asked her to take a picture with them.
What was I just saying about fishy Ariel vs non-fishy Ariel? What about 'badass, half-fish Ariel'?
The 'must do' of our first day: get a picture with Nichelle Nichols of Star Trek!
For a guy sewn together less than 24 hours ago, Handles is kind of a big deal. He already has his own line of stickers, or temporary tattoos, or whatever the hell these things were.
Super-good Morrigan cosplay from Dragon Age.
Also, a super-good cosplay of Crona from Soul Eater, as portrayed by one of our pegasister friends that we didn't even realize was going to CTcon until we ran into her in the vendor room.
Spartans from Halo don't impress me as much anymore since a lot of them are bought, but that Iron Man was a custom build job that requires three people (plus the wearer) to put on. I don't want to know what that means for going to the bathroom though...
Stargate LEGOS. I'm going to need more display shelves in my office, aren't I?
Handles gets ready for the show.
And JESUS what a show it was... a bunch of amazing voice actors read the script of the Original Ghostbusters while switching between their many credited roles (as well as some silly ones they just made up on the spot). From left to right, you've got Bill Farmer (every Looney Toon you can imagine), D.C. Douglas (Albert Wesker from Resident Evil and Legion from Mass Effect), Kari Whalgren (more stuff than even I can joke about), the unimportant host of the panel whose name I don't even remember hearing, Phil Lamarr (Samurai Jack, Green Lantern from Justice League, Hermes Conrad from Futurama), Janet Varney (Korra from Legend of Korra), and last but certainly not least, Maurice LaMarche (Brain from Pinkie and the Brain, as well as a billion other voices from every show you can imagine. I haven't laughed so hard in at least a year.
This is Scales. He and Handles really hit it off when we went to get dinner.
Jesus, Link, I know you may not exactly be a super hero on par with Captain America and Black Widow, but you look like you're trying to do a Sad Keanu impression here...
Yang, also from the online series RWBY.
The GRRRREAT AND POWERFUL TRRRRRIXIE!!!
Handles gazes out to the horizon, wondering if one day he will find a body of his own...
Hands-down the best Rose Tyler (from Doctor Who) cosplay I have ever seen. Mostly because godDAMN if she doesn't look just like Billie Piper...
The excitement of Day 1 was too much for Handles... he passed out as soon as his head... I mean, his everything hit the pillow.
Day 2: Weapons Check Guy!
Alphonse Elric from Full Metal Alchemist. The light-up eyes were and awesome touch.
Kamina and Yoko from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Almost best couples' cosplay. Almost...
The Beast will rise from the Pit and slaughter the living... I mean, would you like sauce with that?
Must-do task of Day 2: Picture with Janet Varney, the voice of Korra from the animated series Legend of Korra. We also attended her panel, which is as always a ton of laughs and 'spontaneous' calls to and from other stars of the show.
More Disney princesses (sorta), Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Anna and Elsa from Frozen. Not as many Frozen cosplayers this year as there were the previous. Maybe the craze is finally dying down.
We found Chrysalis and Cadence relaxing together on the front lawn (no sign of Shining Armor). Also not as many pony cosplayers this year... let's hope that particular trend ISN'T dying down...
Pimp Mario and (Ballet dancer? Hooker?) Princess Peach. I'm pretty sure these two dressed like this just so that could have every opportunity to suck face without getting in trouble. Still not QUITE the best couples' cosplay though... who WAS the best couples' cosplay, you ask?
Why t'was these two, of course! Steampunk Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich FTW!
My brother-in-law as Natsu from Fairly Tail (complete with fire-breathing). My wife and I normally trio with him as Erza Scarlet and Jellal Fernandez respectively, but this year we switched things up a bit.
Once again, the Must-do goal of Day 3: Picture with George Takei of Star Trek.
Tony Stark meets Hugh Hefner. Hide your wives and daughters (and your alcohol).
Might wanna hide this awesome Loki someplace too while we're at it...
Doctor Pooh, or Winnie the Who... we never really did decide on a name. 'Think, think... where did I park the TARDIS again? Oh, bother.'
The ever-awesome Uncle Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender. 'I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but... it's just so sad!'
I have the utmost respect for the ConnectiCon on-site Medical Team, but I think this one might be just a LITTLE outside of your area of expertise... just sayin', tho, don't let me stop you from tryin' ta help.
Our friend and yet another pegasister Ayla (far right) is a member of Antipode, a geeky-themed belly dancing troupe that performs at conventions internationally. She and her girls put on a show that ranged from Sailor Moon to Ridley Scott's Alien to Harry Potter to Invader Zim. They also did a segment where they brought the folks who had participated in the belly-dancing class earlier in the Con up onto the stage, where they performed a dance set to Shake Your Tail from Rainbow Rocks. It was pretty sweet!
On our way out of the convention center on the last day, we managed to bump into not only Iroh again, but Varrick, Toph and Lin Bei Fong from Legend of Korra. Toph had that 'old woman hunch' down pat, I tell ya.
Well, that's all the decent pictures! We did a number of other fun things, however. We saw George Takei's panel, which while short was very entertaining, as well as ones with Janet Varney and Phil Lamarr. We also got some cool swag from the vendor hall, watched a bunch of 'adolescent adults' play and 'MST3K' some really, really terrible video games, and found at least three new anime that we're now planning to watch, ranging from D-Frag!, Your Lie in April, Inferno Cop, and more. I've also gotten my brother-in-law interested in seeing the rest of the remastered Evangelion movies, because he saw the first two and was more confused at the end than he was when we watched the TV series.
He's hoping that seeing the third movie will make it easier to understand.
All in all, a very worthwhile trip! I'm already looking forward to next year! 
Dude, we need to hang out at a con sometime. You seem so cool.
I'm smiling so hard right now. This looks so fun! I don't know why, but I'm kind of obsessing over someone cosplaying old Toph. Toph is just amazing at any age.
3234985
What area do you live in; do you go to a lot of cons in the NE United States area? We're all tapped out for this year (we've got some vacations planned for next month and October, but not to any conventions. The next one I'm pretty sure we'll be at is GeneriCon near Albany NY (right in our backyard), but Mel and I are planning on doing BronyCon next year since it'll be our ten-year wedding anniversary.
3234989
We spotted her at one point getting her picture taken while standing with one foot on the chest of a Korra cosplayer who was laying on her back and scrunching up her face in pain; we lol'd,
3235010 I live in Arkansas, so i mainly hit cons out here. But I make a lot of dinero for someone my age, so I've got plenty of room to travel and venture out. I was thinking of going to bronycon next year too.
I regularly get invited to do writing panels at cons across the country though, so if I'm ever in the north east, I'll let you know. I had one set up for Derpycon in NJ last year, but it didn't pan out.
This looks awesome. I especially loved the Soul Eater, RWBY, and MLP cosplay... and that guy in the Captain America suit from Winter Soldier. Did anyone go as him from Age of Ultron? I've wanted to go for one of these, but I need to find date, time, location, and a way to make sure my non-geek friends don't find out.
I'd also need a way to get my costume... and a way to decide who to go as. 
Man, I missed replying to this. ;) Looks like quite a lot of fun. Cosplay craziness. And cool to put a face to the name now.
This has convinced me to shell out the cash for a comic con ticket next month. Looks totally worth every penny if SLC con is anything like that.
3381415
Sweet! Where's SLC? There's so many cons nowadays that I can't keep track of them all anymore,
My personal advice for conventions is to never go alone; if you've got one or two good friends who are also into it you have way more fun than just going by yourself.
Also, arrive super-early for panels that you want to see most; those rooms fill up fast sometimes,
3381753 Salt Lake City, Utah. I've never been, but I hear that it's usually awesome on account of all the nerds in Utah.
3381764
Holy CRAP; I just looked at the guest list for SLC and DAYUM there are a ton of folks on there I'd like to see (and a few that I have, lol).
Chris Evans, Felicia Frickin' Day, JOHN BARROWMAN (Hello Ladies,
), Jenna Coleman, Arthur Darvil.... jeeze the list goes on an on!
If you're a Star Trek fan at all I recommend Marina Sirtis' panel, if she does one. She was at ConnectiCon last year and her talk was probably one of the best events of the convention. Also, Rob Paulsen and Maurice Lamarche will probably have a panel together and they're amazing; they'll just start talking in-character and go on for like twenty minutes answering questions from the audience,
Damn, now I kind of want to go to Utah,