Basingstoke Comic Con

“Join us for an UNFORGETTABLE WEEKEND” - they were right

Basingstoke Comic Con took place At The Hampshire Court Hotel from 19th-21st May.

I was on Twitter when I saw that Mark was announced to this con in Basingstoke (literally no one heard about this before). I said… “I can't do two cons in one month… that’s impossible”. But then I applied for the Press Pass and got it after my b-day in March (thanks for the gift, universe) and planned everything after my Creation con in Atlanta.

This was the reason why this blog exists.

So this article is important for me.

Not only it opened doors, I finally had the experienced to work with my friend Mark Pellegrino at the con, where I interviewed him and did a quick photoshoot with him.

I covered for ONLY Supernatural. I love Sandman, but the schedule conflict is real, I couldn’t attend their panels or even if I had photos, it wasn’t possible.

The Supernatural guests that attended were:

Mark Pellegrino, Ruth Connel, Rob Benedict, Jake Abel, Kim Rhodes, Julian Richings, and JDM (Who I met for the first time).

At this con, I photographed, filmed, and interviewed.

Let's drive to Basingstoke…

I arrived at the airport around 11 am and met a friend (Sheri), and we caught two trains to Basingstoke from London Heathrow.

We did our registration and I bought extras that I wanted to do. Quick lunch before relaxing at the hotel. We stayed at Village, which was a 5m drive from the hotel con.

I enjoyed myself at the jacuzzi my hotel provided and swam a bit in the pool.

Then we scheduled a dinner together at the hotel, everyone was there! If you’re reading this… I love you Emi (my twin) that always travels with me for cons, Regina (whom I first met) who is always there, Judith (whom I met last year and also is a con partner), Lu (she is the owner of Planet Pellegrino and manages Mark YT channel) she rocks, and Sheri that has been to a few cons and I recently met in person, you are all wonderful. These girls were part of this con, and the best part of this is to be reunited with my friends!

After the dinner, everyone was dead tired, me and Emi had a girl's talk and some… magic until 1 am… we regretted that on a Saturday morning.

Saturday was here. I wasn’t nervous. I was curious about what this con would be like, and I felt a nice pressure about all the content I needed to create.

Also, it’s been months since I saw Mark. I couldn’t wait to see him.

My friends did the registration and next it was going in line for the JDM photo op. We waited more than one hour in the sun, I NEVER SAW A LINE LIKE THIS BEFORE! In Creation, they call by numbers and lines, but here you just go.

Since I had Mark’s M&G I had to leave in the middle of my queue to do it.

I went and meet some friends there, and we went to the room.

And there the devil arrived… I could sense the room getting chilly with time. Ha!

It was a lovely M&G, he said Hi to me and Lu, Regina, and Rosie (we were the familiar faces) we interacted with everyone and people were wonderful. Frankie sadly wasn’t at the event. UK and dog policies aren’t friendly.

Mark came to me and our friends hugged us. I felt super squeezed and happy. Gave him the gifts, and was ready for my next show.

After that I went to my line, but for Rob Benedict. He remembered me from Paris!! He is so sweet.

The JDM line was so short I could access it instantly. He is sooooo AMAZING! “What's up girl” and I showed him the pose and he wrapped his arms around me and even smashed my ring…ha but super sweet. I was meaning to meet him since 2017.

Mark photo ops were next. I had 2. I showed him my ideas…he gave me this intense gaze I became jelly. With him is always intense and easy. I just know how to guide him. Well…

I kept changing from photo op – to photo op, I never felt so tired, because I wasn’t stopping for a second.

God & Devil photo op duo was next… hum hum a dream I can scratch. Thanks, Basingstoke, for making this possible. “Can you do a Chuck face and you do a Luci smirk?”

The panels were next after lunch.

Rob, Mark & Kim's panel was now. “I just realized I’m between God and Satan” – Kim's words broke the room. It was one of the best panels ever.

In the end, Mark gave me and Lu, and Regina the horns. I melted. He is simply kind and always compliments us.

Having a connection with Mark was something I never thought possible. I still thank him for a lot of things that he made possible.

Jake’s panel was next. I asked him a question: “What’s your dream trip”, said SPACE but he also added he wants to visit Paris. We talked a bit about experiences and gastronomy. Jake is an absolute jewel.

Supposedly JDM panel was next, but they wanted him to finish autos before the panel. So, we had to leave the auditorium. I didn’t purchase any autos this time, so I stayed chilling and went to talk to Mark when he was alone, about the interview and shoot I was going to do the next day. We scheduled the time and everything. I was so happy about working with the Devil! I stayed talking to Mark for a bit and then I went to sit in the middle of the room. The queue for JDM was the craziest I ever saw! I bet his hands hurt a lot after these autos…This line lasted 3 hours. My friend Regina was there, and I went to her because she needed to get an auto from Mark, so I stayed at her place while she went to get her auto. Mark looked at me and I waived when she told me I was holding her place.

After this I came to Mark again, we stayed there talking to each other for a while, and Emi joined us. Then I spotted PAUL CARELLA in the middle of the room. “Emi isn’t that Captain?” we had to look a few times before realizing the fact that he blessed us with his presence. We took photos with him, I love his music so much, and we talked a few times, it’s such a comforting feeling to know people in person after interacting on social media.

Hello, Mark again. I was done with the panels, so we continued talking until he had to leave so we hugged and we take this selfie.

The JDM panel was next, and it was…an epic one. He called another actor from TWD on stage after messaging him – Norman Reedus! My favorite characters from the show/actors, I was so thrilled this was all happening.

Saturday was tiring, epic, thrilling, and amazing…and the next part was the Louden Swain concert.

Ruth introduced the concert, and I lost count of the number of pictures I was taking, plus singing, dancing, and jumping! It became my favorite concert of this band. Rob has a special energy on stage. He was beyond happy to do this. For us. More importantly for them, because I can understand how the band matters to each one of them. Paul Carella sang in the last song, finally I saw him on stage!

I managed to grab the setlist at the end.

Time to sleep.

Oh trust me, we were happy but super dead.

When the alarm rang it was Sunday. It took me one hour to get outta bed. I was not only tired but sad and broken, I hate the last days. But this one was going to be special.

When we arrived the Dalek Q&A was happening, I never watched “Doctor Who” sorry, I love David Tenant tho, though It was fun although I didn’t get a few or all jokes, oops.

But the panel after was my thing alright…Lucifer and Michael together.

Mark was wearing one of the new shirts I gave him from my clothing brand – Dusk Riders – Damn I chose that one as well. We were matching! I was matching with Satan! I was so excited!

I can’t choose if I enjoyed this panel more or the one from yesterday. They were both perfect and hilarious. My cheeks hurt from laughing so hard every second.

There was an epic moment when a girl asked if Mark watched the Lucifer show on Netflix starring Tom Ellis, and he said that he didn’t yet but he wanted to. He also told about the experience he had with Tom back in 2019 – They did photo ops together – NOW THAT’S MY DREAM PHOTO OP – And Mark finished by saying he was a good-looking guy.

Pause.

There was someone in the audience that screamed “I would do him”, and everyone broke laughing.

I asked a question at the end of both of them, but it was more of a…challenge. I wanted Michael to apologize to Lucifer. I said something like “Michael I think it’s time to apologize to your brother because well, your Dad was a dick (everyone laughed) and he was right all along”. They did the acting perfectly, and the truth is…MICHAEL STILL DIDN’T ahhhh! But I love you, Jake.

I had Mark’s M&G again with my friends.

It was so damn good, sorry I can’t speak about it!

I had one more photo op with Mark, the cowboy photo op.

“Is that my hat?”, well…the photo says all y’all.

I had Ruth's photo op next and it was my final photo. She is absolutely adorable and beautiful. I wanna take pictures with her someday.

I was done.

But I still had…a few things to do 😉

I went to Mark in his autos after my friends did, and we could do the interview sooner. He came to me a few minutes after he was done (there were two parts of the autos with a break in between). I showed him our photo op, and he loved it, and said it was awesome!

After that Satan kidnapped me and took me to the depths of hell.

Just kidding.

Truth is we didn’t stop for a second talking, they were taking us to this private room because I had to record the interview, the sound was really important.

It was overwhelming, and exciting to interview the man that plays my favorite character in my favorite tv show. A man that I got to know almost 4 years from now, and is a friend.

It went on for one hour and a few minutes. He gave me the feedback two days after saying he loved the interview, it was “fun times”. This was highly valuable feedback.

Next, we did a quick photoshoot in the Impala, before he had to go back to the last autos before leaving. I wanted to explore more light and go to more places, but I felt so grateful about this part, I really didn’t care about that. For those you read and don’t know me, I’m a very perfectionist person, I look to the infamous small detail. But facing the truth, being there with Mark, and enjoying that moment was everything.

Photo by Tess Jones

I remember some funny parts like…I was fixing his jacket saying “You need…” he interrupted me saying “A shower”? Or when I told him his hand wasn’t relaxed and he started to play (acting like Luci) and I exclaimed “Mark is that you relaxing your hand?” and he says “Isn’t relaxed?”

Photo by Tess Jones

Or when at the end he started to snap his fingers wishing he could do that and work because there were people he wanted to snap…

Photo by Tess Jones

There is a story behind this. When we reached the Impala, people told us someone sat with their butt in the car, even Mark said he could see the mark of his butt in the hood (and the owner just…did the painting) I met her and she was lovely. She named her car for him with the 666 “Dark Huntress”.

Regina and Lu appeared and laughed a few times, Mark asked what was so funny. I think I managed to get Satan intimidated…:D

We hugged at the end and dismissed. The f****** con blues started to hit.

I confess that I cried hard in my hotel room. I was where I wanted to be. That was a part of my world, one world I have in my life, that is unfortunately not in my country. And these people that I love, aren’t near me. It is heartbreaking to think it’s over, and it’s gonna take months or years to see them again.

So I cherish every second of it.

Basingstoke brought me new opportunities, challenges, friends, and dreams.

Everyone working there was kind, helpful, awesome…amazing. I need to thank this organization for everything they did because I honestly don’t know how they pulled this con, but it was simply memorable.

It’s AMAZING-Stoke con now.

Until next year.