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There is no better way to celebrate the culture you love then going to a fan convention for the weekend. Be it Silicon Valley Comic Con or FanimeCon, it’s all about meeting new friends and celebrities while learning from industry professionals.

But as discussed before, there will be moments that could make the weekend uncomfortable. These will be moments of discomfort or annoyance and sometimes it can’t be avoided. Here is a look at more five horrible feelings everyone will have during a con weekend.

5. Loosing Your Stuff

Your having fun wandering through the artist ally when you realize your wallet is missing. The feeling of losing something like a wallet or phone could damper the weekend as it puts you in a very vulnerable position. Thankfully most Con folks are awesome and will be quick to turn in missing items to the Lost & Found. Be warned that not everyone is going to be cool and may runoff with your cash.

4. Con Illness

Being cramped in a convention that reeks of con stank while on your feet for a good 5 – 8 hours each day and having limited eating options is the perfect storm of all kinds of health issues. Con illness is not limited to one type of sickness but a verity that always happens during a fan convention.

First there is the chance of food poisoning that will happen when the only eatery available is inside the convention hall. Anyone who has been to the kitchen of a convention will know better but most people would rather risk it than to eat at the overpriced steak house in the hotel. Next there is foot pain, the result of walking around for 5 to 8 hours non-stop. Making it worse is if one is in cosplay and their outfit requires them to wear heals.  Finally there is Con flu, the result of being packed in a convention hall with other people with bad hinge (who may have some kind of illness) along with a serious lack of sleep.

The best way to avoid most of these health issues requires one to take good care of themselves. That means get a goodnight sleep, take care of ones self, and stock up on cold medicine just to be safe.

3. Cosplay Elitists

Dressing up as your favorite character has been an age old con tradition. Fans take the time to perfectly recreate the outfits worn by their favorite characters. You will encounter fans who have dressed like Eren Jaeger, Darth Vader, Batman, or Tracer. This may look easy to anyone who cosplay professionally but it’s a different feeling if someone is an amateur or for the first time.

Most professional cosplayers will give some great advice on how to improve your outfit or where to find the right material. Then there are those who are total elitists ans will mock others over the quality or accuracy of the outfit. Not everyone could spend $4,000+ on a D.Va Mech outfit but if someone could improvise with some cardboard, then their hard work should be acknowledged.

Most cosplayers will experience a moment of doubt when it comes to their outfit and the biggest reason will be encountering these jerks. Everyone is there to have fun, don’t ruin the weekend over a little inaccuracy.

2. LineCon

Fans pay good money to attend a major convention just to meet their favorite artists and performers while having an unforgettable weekend. However, there is going to be a good chance that one is going to spend a good amount time at at LineCon. LineCon are the hours spent in line as a result of the the event being too big and too popular while sometimes the staff is totally disorganized.

Events like San Diego Comic Con and Anime Expo are notorious for becoming LineCon due to the high volume of attendees. These events attract over 100,000 people each year, and no convention center or amount of planning could prepare any organization to handle such a crowd. LineCon will happen at these major Cons, the best the organizers could do is to streamline the process so people are not waiting for hours.

Then there are mid-sized Cons that are so disorganized that LineCon just happens. Disorganization could either be due to a lack of staffing, the staff not being properly trained, or a lack of streamlining simple tasks. Take for example having to wait three hours for your ticket due to the booths being understaffed. Other contributing factors are the poor venue choice, which can not accommodate the event properly.

1. Harassment

In the state of California, stalking along with threatening or sexually assaulting someone is a felony. Yet, one of the biggest concerns women will have during a Con weekend is having to deal with some creep who doesn’t get the rule of “Cosplay is NOT Consent“. Harassment during a con weekend could be described as unwanted encounters that are either illegal (like stalking) and while not criminal but are also unnecessary.

Everyone is there to have fun and celebrate the culture they love. This is suppose to be a fun weekend to hang out with friends and meet cool people. Nobody wants to have a fun weekend become the worst moment of their life.

Stalking or sexually harassing someone are obviously unacceptable but there other types of harassment that some fail to notice. For example it get annoying when someone repeatably is shouting a line or catchphrase of a character to the same cosplayer (the first time was awesome, second time is meh but then it becomes weird after the third time). Also touching someone (in a non-sexual way) without their consents is also inappropriate. Finally, always ask someone for permission before taking their photo and don’t act like a paparazzi.

A friendly reminder that stalking along with threatening or sexually assaulting someone is a felony in California. Plus, following the incident Phoenix Comicon, do expect a greater police presence at fan conventions.

What are your thoughts on the experience the worst feelings you’ve had during a con weekend? Share your thoughts in the comment section below also check out 5 Horrible Feelings You Will Have During a Con Weekend.

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