After 5 months of waiting, we could finally return to Comic Con Liverpool 2023 to witness the reunion of our favorite cast members. Thousands of people gathered to enjoy cosplay masquerades, meet their favorite cast members, or just see the ambience and merchandise around. This convention was, according to Monopoly Events, their biggest event in the UK to date. And it didn’t disappoint!
Comic Con Liverpool 2023 line up looked promising: Twilight star Taylor Lautner, Wednesday guests, The Vampire Diaries & Stranger Things guests…
Saturday morning
After an Odyssey to get to Liverpool, we arrived at the venue and met with other Spanish friends coming, along with other UK and US friends. We had a small issue to get in, because my friend’s dad had brought a bottle of rum as a gift, but luckily we could sort it out.
Our first activity was Ian Somerhalder’s (Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries) photos. It was my friend’s first time meeting Ian, and it was so emotional for her since we got to the queue. For me, it was such a special moment too, because I perfectly understood how she was feeling. And I am sure her dad saw and felt that too. The photo was quite quick, but very sweet. Ian remembered us, and we could have a quick catch up.
Next activity was the autograph with Ian. This was quite quick: the staff lady was a bit rude and not polite to both fans and Ian, but I could tell Ian about the campaign he’d helped me with, and he told me he wanted to participate in the next one! It was also funny, because the other staff lady asked me to write my name on a post it, but Ian didn’t bother to look at anything, just called me by my name and started writing.
Saturday afternoon
My friend had Paul Wesley (Stefan Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries) activities, so my other friend and I went to the other building for our activities with Joseph Morgan (Klaus Mikaelson in The Vampire Diaries) and Persia White (Abby Bennet in The Vampire Diaries). They’d put something in the building that wouldn’t let us have any signal or Wi-Fi, so we’d “lost” our other Spanish buddy until further notice.
We went to Persia’s autograph table first, and her reaction when she saw me was absolutely priceless. She started screaming and stood up to hug me. Everyone was confused, but in awe. We then left to get the photos with Joseph and Persia, and it was the funniest thing. The photographer and staff already knew me and my friends! When Persia and Joseph heard our photo planning, since we had more than one to share, they laughed their asses off.
We got a small break for lunch, and only then did we get a bit of signal to call my friend. She was absolutely excited about her activities with Paul and told us she was coming over -finally-, so we could meet with her before having our next activities. Having this sort of complicity with staff, photographers – and even Joseph and Persia themselves – made the experiences even better.
Saturday evening
After that, we only had the Morgan White panel left. We tried getting an additional photo with Ian for my friend’s dad, but in the end they couldn’t give us one. We went to the auditorium for the panel, and just the entrance of Joseph and Persia was epic! They first talked about their virtual events during the pandemic, how it helped many fans and also them. They explained how that created a small family, their “Stageit” or “Butterfly” family that we were familiar with.
Then they talked about the campaign I’d set up some months ago to raise money for a deaf person. They explained how we helped a little girl hear, and how we planned on doing it again (yes, I was SPEECHLESS). My friends were as excited and surprised as I was, and I almost had a heart attack when they called me and my friends to the stage.
They gave us bags with some gifts and told us how much we mean to them and how grateful they are for everything. I was shaking the whole time and couldn’t say a word, especially considering Joseph told me all that while staring straight in my eyes. In the end, they hugged us and we returned to our seats, where we tried to process everything.
The rest of the panel was so fun and entertaining: we played a small trivia game, and some other fans were called to the stage to receive a gift for their good answer or the dinosaur sticker Joseph randomly gave them when they entered the auditorium. It was truly an unforgettable experience, and we couldn’t be happier!
Comic Con Liverpool 2023 Review
I truly enjoyed this day so much, essentially because of my friends and the people I met. Nevertheless, I saw some things that were different from November, and not all of them were good:
- They changed the ticketing system regarding photos & autos. In November, you could buy extra tickets in the venue, but this year, you could only try that if there was some time left. I think this is a very good change, to be honest. It prevents the guest from being overloaded, and for the delays to be even longer.
- All staff members were in constant communication, so we could get any information we needed quickly. Although there were some miscommunications, it was a good system to not get lost.
- The staff members that worked with Ian and Paul were a bit rude and pushing at their activities. Many people – including us – complained about the way they rushed them out, many times even cutting Ian and Paul from their speech.
- I also didn’t like that this time they didn’t announce Ian and Paul’s m&g went on sale, along with photos and autographs. Last time they were sold separately.
Overall, Liverpool Comic Con 2023 was a great event, and our experiences were unforgettable, even if there are some things to sort out. Can’t wait for the next one!
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Hello! I’m Paula, a Spanish deaf girl who absolutely enjoys and loves watching movies and shows, as well as traveling, reading and writing. I grew up reading adventure books and writing fictional stories, and continued watching cartoons, movies and shows. I soon found myself enjoying that SO much that it became my special place and a way to escape from reality and problems, while it helped me to learn a lot and grow. My friends call me Dori and/or minion, but it's only my distinctive aspects that make me unforgettable. Don’t believe me? Well, consider yourself challenged to prove me wrong.
