Ashley, aka @lady_face6, and Christen, aka @saychristenn, went to Momento Con earlier this month and got to hang out with Mark, as you can see in the photo. This was the first convention either has been to, so I asked them a few questions about their experience.
Why did you decide to go to Momento Con?
Ashley: It’s not too far away, and my friend Doug lives in Pittsburgh, so I thought it’d be fun to go to the convention itself and see him. Doug was at the con too. I’ve been friends with him for years. He does boxing history stuff and my great grandfather was a boxer. We met that way. And then, I don’t even know why it came up, he said, “you know Mark and I have been BFFs since day one, right?” Which I didn’t. So I’ve met Mark before through my friend. I have a couple of other friends up there too, so it was the perfect one to go to. And I’d never been to a convention.
Christen: It started when I got back from surgery. I was in a really tough spot, and I’d just lost my dog. Every now and then I’ll see stuff on Twitter, and I saw Mark tweet something about a convention in another country and I quoted it saying it’d be nice to have friends into the same things I’m into, because none of my friends here are into anything I’m into. He said, “get new friends.” It’s a lot harder said than done. Rose found me, Ally found me, and it went from there. I searched for conventions and found Momento Con and the one in San Francisco. I didn’t want to go to California. I don’t like California. Momento was a lot cheaper too. I pulled up the website and was on the phone with my friend. I got talked out of driving because it would’ve been thirteen hours, so I was talked into getting on a plane. I bought the ticket, and after finding out a few people were going, I thought it would be cool. I was a bit anxious thinking I wouldn’t know anyone there, wouldn’t know what to do. After I went, it feels good. It feels like a bucket list achievement. A close friend said he’s really proud of me because I got out of my comfort zone, got out of my bubble. He says, “If you’re living life comfortable you’re not actually living your life. You’ve got to do things you’ve never done before.”
How did you feel ahead of the convention?
Ashley: I was excited. I love Pittsburgh and I know people there.
Christen: I was excited but also a bit anxious because I was going somewhere I hadn’t been before and being around people I didn’t know. I was like, “holy crap — this is really happening!”
What was the con like?
Ashley: It had all the usual things — panels, photo ops, autographs, meet and greets — but it was weird because the guests couldn’t talk about the show because of the strike. There were all these restrictions, so that was weird but they didn’t really have a choice. I thought there would be more people there, and someone said that a lot of people didn’t come because of the strike. The good thing was, we got to hang out with Mark a ton. I thought it was cool. I enjoyed it. It probably would’ve been a little more fun if they were allowed to speak about the show and what they’re doing now, but that was against the rules.
I asked Mark what was it like for him doing a con where he couldn’t talk about work on certain shows because of the strike.
Mark: I LOVED it. It gave me a chance to talk about serious and personal stuff. I really felt like I got to know the fans as people, not fans, and they got to know me as a man, not an actor. I honestly wish we’d do that more often.
Ashley: We went to both of Mark’s panels and maybe one or two other panels. We both had a photo op. I think Christen had a couple of photo ops. We got autographs. We walked around. Just normal stuff. I think it would be difficult to see every single panel. From the time aspect, but that also seems a lot of just sitting there.
Christen: When I first got there, I wasn’t sure because they had these two really big lines and I didn’t know what line to stand in. People around me were saying it was unorganised and the volunteers weren’t telling them where to stand. The line I’d been in before was for if you wanted to purchase photo ops, and I already had those. So I walked around a little bit and figured out which line to be in. I wasn’t sure if this was how it was supposed to be, it didn’t seem as organised as I assumed it would be.
Ashley: It was kind of a hot mess.
Christen: The pre-order line was so long. They had only one person doing it and there were five people at the table.
Ashley: I stood there for about thirty minutes for no reason. Just to get checked in. They seemed like they had no idea what was going on.
Christen: They had a credit and a cash line. You could still purchase VIPs and general admission. If I’d known it would be quicker to do that, I wouldn’t have bought my ticket ahead of time. They weren’t sold out. After I got my stuff, I went out to the one area where they had the vendors and auto tables. I was walking around and kind of frustrated wondering what I was supposed to do. I was expecting people to be dressed up like I’ve seen at other conventions. But there was nobody dressed up, no activities. Rose kept asking me what activities they had there — I wasn’t sure what activities she meant until I went home and looked up the activities on the Creation site. They didn’t have any of that.
Christen: After a while, I stood in line and got my Mark photo. The first photo I didn’t like, I think because I was so anxious that I was about to meet him! And then I walked up to him. At first, he didn’t recognise me, but then said, “Oh you tweeted last night!” I didn’t know what to say. I was like… “yeah.” I walked up and we were about to take my photo and my hand was just there — do I touch him, no don’t touch him, do I touch him, no we’re just going to stand right here. So my hand is awkwardly floating right there. So I don’t like that photo. And my hair, I don’t know if it just wasn’t used to being in a new area, but it felt like it was getting really frizzy and really big. So I said, “hell, no. This isn’t going to be the only photo I get with this guy!” After a while, I walked around. They have a balcony, so I went out there and vaped because I was anxious and didn’t know what was going on. I couldn’t find my friend Carmen and I had no idea what Ashley looked like at the time. How do I find these people if I don’t know what they look like? I went back inside and there was Ashley, so I felt so much better.
Ashley: I think I got there a little bit before Christen, and I was wondering how I was going to find her with all those people, and then I turned around and she was there! I was like, “hi!” and of course she didn’t know who I was because I don’t have my picture on Twitter. So she was just like, “hi…” until I told her who I was.
Christen: I was so glad to see you!
Ashley: I did that to a couple of people, who were like “who are you?” I said, “I’m your friend, you just don’t know.” I’m mysterious that way.
Christen: So we hung out, I got to talk to Mark and developed the nickname fetus. I came back home and was telling people that I’d got a nickname. They were like, “what the hell?”
Ashley: You said you hated the picture and I said, “Let’s talk to him. I know this dude, let’s go.” So I brought her in and said, “I found this little fetus, her name’s Christen!”
Christen: It was very casual. The convention wasn’t busy, but it was casual so we were talking to Mark, and as Ashley already knew him, it was cool. The panels were on the third floor, and half a mile to walk to, so it was hard to get there. We went to Mark’s panels and those were great. I didn’t have to pay money for a VIP thing and could sit anywhere. Tons of people were sitting anywhere.
Ashley: So we did too.
Christen: We did. It was definitely fun. I didn’t go in so early on Sunday after experiencing it on Saturday. They cut the timings short, so I made sure to tell Ashley that Mark’s photo op times had changed.
Ashley: It’s because they added all those other ones, team ones. Mark and Crowley. Mark and his son from the show.
Christen: I decided to get another op. Mark was being a dad because he was on me for vaping. I was so sure he was going to confiscate my vape. It’s like a baby with a pacifier — no! I went and got my second photo op. Before we got the ops, Mark walked up — he is so tall! I didn’t expect him to be so tall! I was looking up at him. He stood in front of me and I was like, uh oh. The girls behind me asked, “what you do?” And I was like, “I don’t know!” I was standing there confused and he was like, “have you been vaping today?” I told him it died, which it did, but I didn’t tell him it could be recharged.
Ashley: Fetus is naughty!
Christen: He had his hand out and I was like, “I’ll take care of it. I’m not giving you my vape, man.” We got the photo. This photo is my favourite. It’s epic.
Christen: The meet and greet room was quite small. Everyone was supposed to sit in a particular seat and, awkwardly, I was on the opposite side in the middle. I was sitting by myself, but the others called me over. Mark came in and he didn’t sit where he was supposed to sit either. He sat on the other side and said we were too far away, so we all scooted in. I was going to tell him to check out a show if he hadn’t already seen it, but my mind went blank. I just listened because I didn’t know what to say. It was good. It was funny. He was goofy. I’m just awkward, I don’t do good in large crowds and around people I don’t know. Eventually, I did meet Carmen, which was funny because she walked up and said I looked like her friend Christen. She was expecting curly hair and I went with straight hair.
Was Momento Con what you expected?
Ashley: I think so.
Christen: Yeah. For a first con, I had a lot of fun. It was definitely depressing after we walked out. I was like, “this is it!”
Ashley: And I had a four-hour drive.
Christen: It was like, “this is where we part ways, and now I’m sad.” I posted twice about how thankful I am to Mark for exposing me to all these people that are really sweet, nice and funny — I don’t think I could’ve done that without being shoved off a cliff. I would have stood there. I’m such an introvert. It’s different at work, I have to interact, I get paid. When I leave, I go home and I’m like,”I’m not going back out.”
What was your favourite part of the con?
Ashley: Hanging out with Marky and little fetus.
Christen: Meeting Ashley. And all the other people, but more so meeting her because we hung out and we got to know each other. We have a lot in common. Meeting Mark, even though I didn’t know exactly what to say to him half the time and stood there awkwardly. Meeting him was nice. He was sweet even though he was being a dad.
What advice would you give to other fans who are thinking about going to a con?
Ashley: Just do it. I wasn’t really sure about it at first, but I was like, “nah let’s just do it.” And I’m glad I did.
Christen: Definitely bring money, lots of money. By the time I left, I knew I should’ve brought more money. Definitely plan ahead. I’m usually good at planning ahead, but as soon as I got there, everything went out of the window. I didn’t do this. I didn’t do that.
Anything to add?
Ashley: Mark is an amazing really cool down to earth human in real life. If people are thinking of going to a con to meet him, I would very much encourage them to do that.
Christen: Flying sucks! That whole trip home was stressful as hell. I was stuck in Pittsburgh another night because there was bad weather. Detroit airport sucks. The flying part wasn’t scary. It was actually calming, in a way, which is weird. But I did not like being packed in like sardines. One of the planes was trying so hard to get in the air like it was too heavy and it was going to fall out of the sky. You could hear the back of the plane … trying to get in the air. I was like,”this is not how I want to die”. I was so certain that the plane was going to give out, but it didn’t. They have no consideration for connecting flights. I was so happy to get home!
Thanks to Ashley and Christen for telling us about their trip — it sounds awesome.
You can connect with them on Twitter: @lady_face6 and @saychristenn. Ashley has an Etsy Store (keep an eye on it… I’m just saying…) and Christen has an awesome blog, which you should definitely check out.
A final Q&A to get to know Ashley and Christen better…
Favourite TV and movies
Ashley: I don’t watch a whole lot of TV, but I like Supernatural, American Rust (I’m excited there’s a second season!), Yellowstone and The Big Lebowski.
Christen: I don’t have a whole lot of favourite shows. I binge. I like Grey’s Anatomy a lot, I don’t know why. Periodically I’ll choose a season and binge-watch. I’m big on documentaries. I like a lot of the documentaries Netflix recommends. Also, I Survived a Crime, which is the show I wanted to mention to Mark. I like a lot of the Alien movies, the originals.
Favourite books
Ashley: Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut. Atlas Shrugged is a close second.
Christen: I don’t have a favourite book, but I’m currently reading The Sleep Experiment by Jeremy Bates. I took it with me to Pittsburgh and was trying to read it on the plane and fell asleep, and then tried to read it at the hotel and fell asleep! Either this book has some weird psychological things going on or it’s boring the hell out of me. A random thing… you know Rose’s clothing line? I bought the one with the Ouija board. I fell asleep then woke up to this really long scratch on my face… and was like, “I’m not wearing that to sleep any more! This is weird. There’s a ghost trying to reach me.” What a coincidence that I scratch myself when I’m wearing that kinda shirt when I go to sleep, because I’ve never done that before.
Starbucks order
Ashley: I don’t know. I just drink coffee — no Starbucks atrocities.
Christen: I don’t drink coffee or anything like that anymore. I drink Red Bull, that’s my breakfast for the morning. I used to go to Starbucks for my dog Vanilla because she used to love the pup cup.
Does pineapple belong on pizza?
Ashley: Yes!
Christen: Yes!
