Hi I love your blog, please tell me more about how you met shipwrecked!!
Hi, thank you so much! I’m not sure how much more you want, but here goes:
I live near Seattle, and last year the Seattle Web Fest screened the first episode of Poe Party, so the Shipwrecked people came here for that. They got there early so fans could meet them and take pictures before the screening, which was wonderful, even though I was SUPER nervous about meeting them. I had interacted with them quite a bit online, which helped, but I feel like I’m better at talking to people online than in person, and I had this nagging fear that I was going to say or do something phenomenally stupid. But once I met them, they made me feel so at ease that I’m pretty sure I didn’t.
I don’t remember all the details anymore, but I remember when they walked in it took a couple seconds for me to adjust to seeing them in 3-D (I know that sounds bizarre, but apparently when I’m super used to seeing people on a screen, my brain automatically assumes that’s how they exist? I don’t really know how to describe it, but I remember it because it felt weird). I remember Sarah yelling my name excitedly and giving me a big hug and telling me I’m a really strong writer. I remember them all being very excited about the fans who were there and repeatedly thanking us for coming. I remember chatting with Sinéad about their merch. I remember thinking I shouldn’t intrude on their red carpet pictures, but then they asked me to join them (which I’m very glad they did, because I would be kicking myself for the rest of my life if I hadn’t gotten pictures from that night). Then it was time for the screening, and I hadn’t gotten to talk to them as much as I wanted (I’d barely said more than “hi” to Sean), but I decided I could be satisfied with the time I’d gotten.
The way the festival is set up, there are different screening blocks, in which several different webseries get an episode shown. Poe Party was in the last screening block. According to the schedule, afterwards there was going to be a creators-only reception, and then the awards ceremony. I wanted to see if Poe Party won any awards, but I’m a pretty big rule follower and I was sure I’d be kicked out during the reception part. So after the screening, I thought I should leave, but Sarah stopped me so they could all say goodbye to me, and then I kind of got pulled into their group conversation. We were ushered out of the screening room to the lobby where the reception was, but nobody was being kicked out, so I got to talk to them quite a lot more, and I actually had a pretty long conversation with Sean, who is super tall (although I’m short, so that’s not saying much), and also very fun to talk to. I think the Shipwrecked person I talked to the least that night was Mary Kate, but that was okay because I support her on Patreon so I talk to her quite a bit anyway. After a while they got pulled into a different room for interviews, but I stayed and chatted with other fans until the awards ceremony. For the record, I must point out that there was free food at this supposedly creators-only reception, but I didn’t take any because I didn’t think I was supposed to be there. (See? Rule follower)
I was SO GLAD I got to watch the awards part because Poe Party won 3: Best Editing, Best Writing, and Audience Choice. (Side note: I did not cheat on my audience choice ballot by inflating my Poe Party score, because honestly I didn’t even need to; Poe Party’s was unquestionably the best episode that I saw. I know I was biased but I’m pretty sure I would have still felt that way if I had stumbled upon the festival knowing nothing about Shipwrecked.) I felt so proud and vindicated watching them win more awards than any other series, since I had spent the past several months telling anyone who would listen that Poe Party was the best thing ever. Also I was sitting in front of the Shipwrecked people during the awards ceremony, and it was beautiful to hear their excitement, and things like, “I’ll text Joe that he won if you tweet it.” Then after the ceremony I congratulated them and told them how much they deserved it, and then finally went home because it was getting late and we were losing an hour that night, but then I couldn’t sleep because I was too overcome by feels about how freaking awesome they are.
Sorry, this is probably WAY more than you wanted to know, and I probably should have gone to bed like an hour ago, but I don’t think I will ever get over how wonderful it was to meet people I admire so much and to not be even a little disappointed with how it went.