#syndicon

[elismor]

A piece of my personal fannish history came back to me today and I want to share the story of it because, to me, it's about the very best part of fandom: friendship.

In 1996, I went to Syndicon in Baltimore, Maryland and met my friend Virginia in person for the first time. We knew one another from HIGHLA-L (that's an email list for all you youngsters wondering wtf a -l is) and spent an evening sitting on the floor in a hotel ballroom talking about fanfic and life and Highlander while everyone around us danced to Jim Byrnes and his band.

In 1998(ish) two other HL friends and I went to Scotland for a con where Peter Wingfield was appearing and took a day to drive a massive loop through the highlands. We stopped at the highlander monument in Glenfinnan (on the shores of Loch Shiel--because no HL fan can say Glenfinnan without adding that) and, on a whim, decided to bring a bottle of water from the loch back to Virginia. So, we scoured the car for a bottle and got to work.

I fell in while scooping the water out. It was February.

This past summer, Virginia passed away from cancer and her niece contacted her closest group of fandom friends to ask us if we wanted anything to remember her by (as she was a collector of fandom things) and, on a whim, I said that if she still had the water, I would love to have it.

It arrived in today's mail. I always figured that V would decant it out of the Cherry Coke bottle we had on hand and put it into something fancier for display...but she did not. So there it is, stashed on my office bookshelf until I figure out where I'm going to put it for real.

Twenty Seven years of friendship and laughter (and tears) and inside jokes and fandom drama (and real life drama) and joy...and now grief.

Everyone does fandom in their own way and mine has always been more about the connections with fellow fans than the source material. Virginia and I ran a fanfic archive together. She met me at Five Points Station in Atlanta in 1996 when I was there for the Olympics. She came out to me on a beach in Florida in 2002(ish). We went to Dragon*Con together and bought lightsabers. And she kept this bottle of lake water I got her...for all these years.

Cherish your fandom friends, folks. For they surely cherish you.

[raygreycosplay]

Dan and I rarely fight but I couldnt pass on trying to take down an assassin lmao #raygreycosplay #windsorcosplay #Syndicon2017 #Syndicon #erzascarlet #erzacosplay #erzascarletcosplay #assassinscreed #assassinscreedcosplay #cosplay #fairytail #anime #animeredhead #redhead #comiccon (at Comic Book SyndiCon)

[batbcomic]

Hello Dear Readers! I’ll be at ACTION! in Windsor Ontario this Sunday! You’ll be able to pick up copies of Beauty and The Beast volumes 1 & 2, Secret Loves of Geek Girls: Redux, and issues of Disney Princess! Come say hello!

[sharemycosplay]

#Cosplayer @miniilay as #FinalFantasy's Fran! #cosplay #ffXII #videogames Regrann from @miniilay - I was so tired at syndicon most of my pictures are sHITTTT but a few nice ones heh 😘 Photographer: Sergio Mazzotta . . . #cosplaygirl #syndicon #francosplay #finalfantasy #finalfantasy12 #fran #francosplay #fb #tb Visit Sharemycosplay.com for more cosplay #regrann https://www.instagram.com/p/BSe98yMDePB/

[b1mb3tte]

Samra Zafar A survival story of a woman forced into marriage,Samra Zafar,survival story,survival story of a woman,forced,marriage,woman forced,real story,faced,love,respect,kindness,syndicon,women react,woman reacts,women forced to pay,woman arrested

Samra Zafar forced marriage at 16

[rdlogo]

Ben Shapiro Intelligently Spews FACTS to California Judge LIVE!

Ben Shapiro Intelligently Spews FACTS to California Judge LIVE! Ben Shapiro NEW 2017 Syndicon **SUBSCRIBE HERE** https://goo.gl/QRU75P What's up guys! Thanks for watching Syndicon! Background by CyberWebFX: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_oG7aB_tQ7WQ0wwXoH2cEQ Outro Music: Peyruis - Smooth FreeBackgroundMusic https://youtu.be/rbCyqZsjR4M ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video may contain copyrighted material; the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available for the purposes of criticism, comment, review and news reporting which constitute the 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Not withstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, review and news reporting is not an infringement of copyright. via YouTube https://youtu.be/Wh9ilTKcOSY

[awkwardlysocial]

Samra Zafar A survival story of a woman forced into marriage,Samra Zafar,survival story,survival story of a woman,forced,marriage,woman forced,real story,faced,love,respect,kindness,syndicon,women react,woman reacts,women forced to pay,woman arrested

Samra Zafar forced marriage at 16

[raygreycosplay]

Oddly this is the only picture I took today lmao. #raygreycosplay #Syndicon #Syndicon2017 #comiccon #windsorcosplay #erza #erzascarlet #erzacosplay #erzascarletcosplay #windsor #stitch #fairytailcosplay #fairytail (at St. Clair College Centre for the Arts)

[lydiajoy]

Ow my hand. Watercolour next! Getting some new work for the upcoming #syndicon at St. Clair College! #inking #ink #princessleia #starwars #carriefisher #art #wip

[backwardsmarathon]

Samra Zafar A survival story of a woman forced into marriage,Samra Zafar,survival story,survival story of a woman,forced,marriage,woman forced,real story,faced,love,respect,kindness,syndicon,women react,woman reacts,women forced to pay,woman arrested

Samra Zafar forced marriage at 16

[diatominous]

RFA Summer Treats Theme

So I was on a maaaajor roll with art this weekend, and worked out an entire RFA theme for y’all :P These will be available as stickers at Syndicon this April 2nd!

(Fun Fact: I had completed this entire set before realizing I only gave Seven ONE water wing. I need sleep.)

[thecanadiancomicbin-blog]

But first we'll be hitting Windsor for the Comic Book Syndicon on April 2nd. #theccb #comicbooks #comicshow #comiccon #windsor #comicbooksyndicon

[rdlogo]

Stunning Blonde Questions Ben Shaprio About Biology (MUST SEE!)

Stunning Blonde Questions Ben Shaprio About Biology (MUST SEE!) Ben Shapiro in America Lecture LIVE 2017 **SUBSCRIBE HERE** https://goo.gl/QRU75P What's up guys! Thanks for watching Syndicon! Background by CyberWebFX: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_oG7aB_tQ7WQ0wwXoH2cEQ Outro Music: Peyruis - Smooth FreeBackgroundMusic https://youtu.be/rbCyqZsjR4M ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video may contain copyrighted material; the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available for the purposes of criticism, comment, review and news reporting which constitute the 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Not withstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, review and news reporting is not an infringement of copyright. via YouTube https://youtu.be/iVA4xyCHLc4

[raygreycosplay]

Armoured babes 💕 #fairytailcosplay #finalfantasycosplay #raygreycosplay #windsorcosplay #syndicon #syndicon2017 #erzascarlet #erzacosplay #worbla #armor #cosplay #cosplayarmor #cuties #fran #windsor #cosplayersofinstagram (at Comic Book SyndiCon)

[lydiajoy]

Late night #cuttlefish before bed. Working on comic con stuff for #syndicon coming up too! #inking #ink #art

[raygreycosplay]

What a fun day @Syndicon was! Got to see so many friends I havent got to in a while and make some new ones :) I love our community 💕 #raygreycosplay #windsorcosplay #Syndicon2017 #Syndicon #windsor #welovewindsor #erzascarlet #fairytailcosplay #erzascarletcosplay #erzacosplay #fairytail #fireempressarmor #worbla #worblaarmor #erza #cosplay #cosplayersofinstagram #redhead #wings (at Comic Book SyndiCon)