Top 5 Things You'd Only Hear at a Science Fiction Convention

Go to enough science fiction/fantasy/comic/anime/whatever conventions and you'll hear some weird things. Not weird when taken in context with the bounty of wonderful weirdness around you at the con, but certainly so far from normal when compared to what you'd hear walking through a crowd at a mall or in your office lunchroom as to make them utterly unique to the nerd scene.

Here now, for your entertainment, are some quotes from conversations I've overheard in the hallways and in panel discussions at various cons in recent years that, let's face it, just wouldn't be heard anywhere else (except maybe in your local genre book/comic/table-top gaming/video game store).



THE TOP 5 THINGS YOU'D ONLY HEAR AT A SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION:


5) "I found a bunch of old machine gears and pipes and moded-out my flight suit to make it steampunk."
     -overheard at VCon


4) "I hate it when these poly[amory] panels turn into pickup joints."
     -overheard at Anticipation/Worldcon Montreal


3) "I dressed like the TARDIS for my high school graduation last year!"
     -overheard at Fan Expo Vancouver


2) "We gave James Cameron his wet dream."
     -from a panel discussion at VCon


1) "Sorry, we're sold-out of the Cthulhu cupcakes."
     -overheard at VCon






If I had to include some honourable mentions, they'd probably be extended conversations involving a 17-year-old boy lecturing a 40-year-old woman about how corsets are supposed to be worn, or the heated discussion between two dudes about whether a cut from a lightsaber would cauterize the wound or if the person would bleed-out because the laser wouldn't be in contact with the flesh long enough. But both of these were too long and involved for me to quote accurately or to work well for a Top 5 list.

So how about you? If you've attended cons, what are some of the things you've overheard that you just wouldn't hear outside of a geeky gathering?