f you didn't know already, I'm a huge fan of the band My Chemical Romance. And when frontman Gerard Way broke into comics with The Umbrella Academy, I followed suit. Although he has always been just as of a nerd as the rest of us, now he had a legitimate reason to attend Comic Con every year. And ever since, I have been trying to win the raffle for his signing, and every year, I have lost. Until this year.I spent the entire day in the Exhibit Hall massing as many raffle tickets as I could. This year, I wasn't going to accept defeat. Finally, I won. I lined up at 1pm at the Dark Horse booth for the signing, and once again, got to meet my hero. But instead of having him sign one of my issues of Umbrella Academy or a My Chemical Romance poster, I asked him to sign my arm so I could get it tattooed.
I looked at it and shook my head. "It's perfect. Thank you." I honestly don't remember what he or I said as I walked away. I was just ecstatic that I was finally going to get a tattoo that I have been wanting for a long time. But little did I know, once I turned the corner away from where Gerard was signing, would his little brother Mikey, be waiting for us. Although I had met Gerard before, this was the first time I got to meet his brother. I had him sign my arm right below where Gerard signed. Although it wasn't the plan, apparently it was my lucky day. One half of My Chemical Romance down, one half to go. And just behind Mikey, was yet another idol of mine, Lindsey Way. Artist and member of the rock band Mindless Self Indulgence. This was yet again, the first time I got to meet her.
All in all, it was a great day. I walked a few blocks into the Gaslamp and got both autographs tattooed at a parlor called Nothing Sacred. Here is how she looked the next morning:
Being the awesome person that he is, Gerard proceeded to ask me where, how big, how exactly I wanted him to sign it. All that I asked was that he write "keep it ugly" then sign. Other than that, I wanted him to do his thing. He's the artist, not me. Once he was done, he sat back, critisizing his work. I knew by his face that he really wanted to erase it and start again. "You might want them to clean that up."
All in all, it was a great day. I walked a few blocks into the Gaslamp and got both autographs tattooed at a parlor called Nothing Sacred. Here is how she looked the next morning:
However, the story does not end there. I'm not going to lie, I decided to walk the Exhibit Hall for a while on Saturday with a specific goal of maybe running into Gerard and Mikey again so I could show them my tattoo. But, I never did. I did however get calls and messages from numerous friends about the people that they randomly ran into. Misha Collins from Supernatural. Ray Toro, another member of My Chemical Romance. And yes, at dinner that night, I had to listen to the story of how someone ran into Gerard and Mikey in the Hall. So basically, I hated the world for a little while. Despite all the people that I have met, I have never ran into any of my heroes or idols randomly. That is, until 2:30 sunday morning.
Before deciding to try and get some sleep in line for Hall H, me and one of my new line buddies walked across the street to the Hilton to find a bathroom. In the lobby, I found a girl I had met and kept meeting in line throughout the weekend. We stopped to talk for a minute. The lobby was pretty empty, considering it was 2:30 in the morning. There was only one other group of people lounging on the couches on the other side of the room. After a few minutes, I glanced over to them. It took me a good ten seconds to react before I literally started freaking out.
Who was it sitting in one of those couches? None other than Gerard Way. Despite the fact that I was face to face with him a little over 24 hours before, it didn't matter. I flipped. Here it was, my chance to show off the lovely work on my arm, and I could barely move. It took someone pulling me over to the other side of the room for me to move. Before I knew it, I was once again standing in front of my hero in every way possible with an adorable bemused smile on his face. He knew I was having a hard time with this, and his smile wasn't making it any easier on me.
The guy that pulled me over told him, "she has something to show you." And before Gerard could look at my face again, I pulled up my sleeve and revealed the tattoo that just started to scab over. I'm not sure if he didn't believe me the day before when I told him I was going to do it, or if it was all part of his genuine humility, but the surprise on his face was priceless. He leaned forward to examine it closer and made several comments on how great it looked and how much he loved that it still looked like the texture of a marker, and not a tattoo. He laughed at Mikey's scribble beneath his artsy, loopy handwriting, then proceeded to thank me over and over again. I shook my head and told him that it was all because of the band that I was okay to begin with. This was my thank you to them.
And before I could start tearing up over how grateful he looked that a fan would appreciate what they have done so much to get their autographs tattooed on her arm forever, one of my friends walked over and asked if Gerard could take a picture with me. He was more than willing. Yeah, so much for sleeping that night.
I would totally show you guys the picture, but I'm waiting for it to be emailed to me since it wasn't taken on my camera. I'm pretty sure I can die happily now.
CREDIT: inscaped
LUCKY.
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