While driving home from Milwaukee, my husband pointed out a billboard. The billboard was an advertisement for Boards & Bricks, a board game and hobby store in Osseo, Wisconsin. Osseo is outside of Eau Claire on the west side of the state. My husband agreed we should stop there and check it out. When we walked in, the store was massive! There were lots of Magic: The Gathering, Disney Lorcana, and Dungeons & Dragons products each in their specific section. There was a LEGO section and a shelf for puzzles. I bought a few things and I wanted to share what I purchased.

On the counter, there were several stacks of dice. I picked up each set and examined them as some sets had items or animals in the dice. I chose to purchase the coffee bean set. The dice are a pretty brown color with gold specs. Inside the dice are actual coffee beans! I thought these were too cute and I couldn’t resist purchasing them.

LEGO came out with these Dungeons & Dragons surprise sets where you open it and you’re not sure what you will get. I talked about how much I wanted the Strahd one. The store associate helped scan the boxes and chose the box containing Strahd. I’m going to put Strahd on my TTRPG shelf in our bedroom next to Levenia, as she got the final killing blow on Strahd in our game. Next to Strahd, I have four d10s. Vampire: The Masquerade uses d10s and I wanted extra dice in case I need to put some dice in dice jail. I picked out any that looked red or would fit the darker vibe of the game. I will set them aside in a separate dice bag for when I play Vampire.

The final purchase I made was stickers. I like to decorate my TTRPG notebooks with stickers because it personalizes my notes. The two stickers I bought were Sorcerer and Paladin. Those are classes I have played, so I felt a personal connection to them. I’m going to stick them in my notebook before our next session.

Boards & Bricks is a store I would stop in again. It’s nice to have these local spots because it makes the five-hour trip from Minneapolis to Milwaukee much more enjoyable.

Last weekend was Twin Cities Con at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I look forward to Twin Cities Con every year, as it always feels like a last hurrah to end convention season. I like how Twin Cities Con is in November and right before the holidays. I volunteered at the Twin Cities Geek booth like I usually do, which I always enjoy. It’s great to talk to local geeks, and many of the people I talked to said Twin Cities Con was their first con. I wanted to summarize my thoughts about this year’s convention as a whole. This will be broken up into two parts: the first will be my experience at the con, and the second part will discuss the logistics of the event.

I had a blast at Twin Cities Con. I was there both Friday and Saturday. On Friday, I was there for two hours, and Saturday, I was there for 4 1/2 hours. Saturday was the busier day by far. I was shocked at the number of people waiting in line! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s clear Twin Cities Con has grown in the years since they started putting on the convention. After volunteering at the Twin Cities Geek booth, I wandered the vendor hall. The crowds were there! It felt like I was at C2E2 or Planet Comicon. As far as the vendors, I saw quite a few artists and a lot of vendors selling TTRPG stuff. There were a few dice vendors, and I had to refrain from spending too much money. There seemed to be a good mix of vendors selling a variety of different products.

One of the highlights of my day on Saturday was attending a panel. I went to the “Women in Cosplay” panel on Saturday at 3 PM. The panelists did a phenomenal job at making the panel light-hearted. It was equal parts talking and engaging the audience. They took questions on social media, so if anyone felt shy to ask a question directly, they could submit it instead. I liked this a lot. It made the panel more personal than other panels I have been to in the past. I would love to tell you who was on the panel, but on Twin Cities Con’s website, it doesn’t list who the panelists are, which is a bummer. I believe the cosplayers were from South Carolina, but that’s about all I can tell you.

I can’t recap Twin Cities Con without talking about the logistics of the event. I have been following several social media posts made on both the Twin Cities Con Fans and the Twin Cities Geek Facebook groups. There were several people who expressed frustration with how Twin Cities Con was organized, and I feel it’s necessary to summarize some of this if I’m going to talk about Twin Cities Con effectively. One of the major complaints was with the security line. This year, Twin Cities Con had a security line with metal detectors outside of the Exhibit Hall. Once you pass through the line, you can find the photo ops area, celebrities doing autographs, and vendors tabling there. However, once you leave the Exhibit Hall (let’s say to go to a panel or to play a TTRPG game with Badwolf Adventure Studios), you would have to wait in the security line again.

Why does waiting in a line matter? Depending on what time of day and who you ask, I have heard of people waiting in line for forty-five minutes or over an hour. This matters if you were someone who bought an autograph or a photo op with a designated time slot. For a security line, I would expect to wait twenty or thirty minutes. I feel that would be reasonable. It seems that the lines for Twin Cities Con were much longer than that. As a side note, since I was an exhibitor/volunteer, I could go through a separate line versus the longer security line, so I didn’t have to wait long. I think this is important to mention because this probably plays into why I had a good time at Twin Cities Con since I didn’t have to wait as long as others.

I want to take a step back and compare Twin Cities Con with C2E2. C2E2 does have security, but the way C2E2 does it, you go through a separate area that’s right across the aisle from the exhibit hall. Once you’re through security, you have access to everything. The exhibit hall, the food area, alcohol, and the panel rooms. The only reason you would have to leave is if you were done for the day or you wanted to go out to eat at a sit-down restaurant. When I have gone to C2E2, I have never had to wait longer than ten minutes to get through the security line. Seeing how other conventions handle this, I think Twin Cities Con has room for improvement in creating a seamless experience for con-goers.

What’s the solution for something like this? I am not an event planner, so I can’t say how much of this is on Twin Cities Con or how much of this is on the Minneapolis Convention Center. I saw someone suggest moving the entrance to the security line to the front door of the Convention Center. While this isn’t a bad suggestion, it would also have people waiting outside to get in. The weather this year was mild, but November in Minnesota can be a hit or a miss. For cosplayers, it sucks to have to bring cold-weather clothing and then carry it around for the entire convention. Another suggestion I saw was putting stickers on badges for those who had already gone through security, so they could come and go as they please. There is a safety risk for this. Let’s say someone goes through security, then decides to bring in something they shouldn’t. With big guests like Hayden Christensen, there needs to be some way to make sure guests feel safe attending a larger event like this. I am not sure what the solution is for this. I hope Twin Cities Con listens to fans and offers an alternative for next year.

With all that said, I have a few minor critiques for Twin Cities Con. The first is to list who the panelists are on the panels. I’d love to shout out the panelists for the “Women in Cosplay” panel. Another critique is that when you go to Twin Cities Con’s website, it lists vertically all the panels and events for each of the days. It’s difficult to read because when you scroll down, it’s not clear which day you’re reading from. I think it would be cool to see a virtual convention book online or even print a few convention books to have on hand. It would make it a lot easier to plan out my days and what I want to do on what day. These are all pretty minor tweaks versus the security line being called out by many people.

I was not expecting to go into this level of detail over Twin Cities Con, but here we are. As mentioned, I like Twin Cities Con, and I will be back next year. I didn’t experience as many of the pain points that other people experienced. I think it’s important to mention that everyone’s opinions and thoughts are valid, even if you disagree with them. I think Twin Cities Con could improve on a lot of things; however, I’m glad Twin Cities Con is here. It’s nice not to always have to travel several states away when I want to attend a bigger convention.

By the time this post is live, I may or may not have secured tickets to one of Critical Role’s live shows. I was at work when I heard about Critical Role’s live show announcement and could not be more excited. I told my husband repeatedly that if Critical Role were in the Chicago area or a city nearby, I would make the time to see them. My husband is so sweet and offered to go with me, so I wouldn’t have to go alone. Since I’m a Beacon subscriber, I get early access to purchase tickets. I’m trying not to get overly excited in case I can’t get tickets for their live show.

Another exciting portion of this announcement is their live show in Indianapolis. I quickly confirmed that Critical Role will be in Indianapolis the same weekend as Gen Con. This makes me hopeful that Darrington Press will also be at Gen Con promoting Candela Obscura and Daggerheart. It’s too early to tell if that will be the case, but I missed seeing Darrington Press at Gen Con this year.

No matter what happens, I’m happy to see Critical Role hosting live shows. I went to NADDPOD’s live show a few years ago, and it was great to be around fans. TTRPG live shows are a unique experience, and I’d love to be a part of the audience at one of these live shows.

Before the pandemic, I used to go to these comic conventions called SpringCon and FallCon. Hosted at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, they focused heavily on comics and featured local comic creators. I’m not exactly sure why, but this event went through a hiatus in which this convention didn’t happen. I’m not aware of the exact reason, but I’m sure the pandemic had something to do with it. I’m happy to say the convention has returned and is trying to gain traction in the Minnesota convention scene. I tabled at FallCon with Twin Cities Geek and hope to see this convention back at the Fairgrounds.

FallCon is a different type of convention than other conventions I have been to. With the heavy focus on comics, this event doesn’t have gaming or a ton of panels. Instead, it’s like an indoor market where vendors are set up. Vendors range from local comic book stores to independent artists, and booths like Twin Cities Geek are handing out free stuff. Since that’s the case, I would highly recommend bringing cash to spend. I like walking down the aisles and seeing what I find. I stop and flip through comics in bins, or I listen as someone tells me about their comic and why they created it.

I wouldn’t say FallCon has a big cosplay scene, but that doesn’t stop me from cosplaying. I was mulling around what cosplay I wanted to wear and settled on Jessica Jones. I cosplayed as Jessica Jones at Twin Cities Con one year and it’s nice that I have everything in my closet to pull from. I wore a black body suit, a faux leather jacket, black gloves, light blue jeans, and black combat boots. I like this cosplay because it’s subtle. For those who aren’t familiar with Jessica Jones, you would think I’m wearing my normal clothes. As I was leaving the convention, someone stopped to take my photo. I wasn’t expecting it, as this is a pretty normal cosplay.

Part of the reason I love tabling at conventions is talking with people. All it takes is for someone to walk by our booth, make eye contact, and by me saying hello, they come over to talk to me. I tell them about Twin Cities Geek and what we do. It’s entertaining, and it makes the day go by fast. With FallCon, there were fewer people there than I had anticipated there would be. Having fewer people attend means less money is spent on vendors who are paying for a table to be there. I wasn’t there on Saturday, so I hope Saturday was busier. It felt oddly desolate for a convention when, in years past, there would be several groups of people walking up and down the aisles.

With that said, I was glad I made it to the convention. It reminds me why I love reading comics and why I am glad to be a part of this part of the geek community.

I don’t go shopping often; however, when I do, I try to thrift or go to a Marshall’s or TJ Maxx. I like saving money, and I find enjoyment in finding something on sale. For my birthday, my mom bought me a Marshall’s gift card, and it is spooky season, so it was a great time to go shopping. I found a lot of Halloween decorations to add to my growing collection, and I figured I’d share them.

Besides the Halloween decorations, I bought normal things. I bought a new work blouse. It’s a plain black long sleeve except the sleeves are floral and fluttery. I’m doing a terrible job describing it, but it’s flattering and professional. I also bought a long-sleeved black sweater. I wear a lot of black, but I can’t help it; black is a flattering color. I don’t think it’s possible to have too many black sweaters.

Now for the Halloween decorations. The first thing I bought was a decorative throw blanket for our white chair upstairs. Upon first glance, I thought it was a Frankenstein holding a Halloween basket, but oh no. It was the avocados that made the blanket ten times better. I’m a stereotypical millennial who loves avocado toast. This blanket was made for me. I bought two new decorations upstairs. The first one is a snow globe with a skeleton astronaut with a raven on its left shoulder. When you shake the globe, black glitter falls around it. I didn’t realize Halloween snow globes existed, but here we are. I bought another decorative item for the upstairs nightstand. It’s a stack of books labeled potions and curses with a gold spider resting on them. Finally, I bought a new water bottle. It’s a black thermos with a gold snake in the center and gold moons and flowers surrounding it. Having a new water bottle to drink from makes me want to drink more water, and I like rotating out my water bottles. It’s the little things that sometimes bring me the most joy.

One of the running jokes I have with our friend group is whether or not I can convince my husband to buy the 12-foot-tall skeleton from Home Depot. I don’t think this will be the year for that, but I am hoping that with time, this skeleton will eventually become a haunting presence in our yard.

My husband and I have been having many serious conversations about having kids. Choosing to become a parent is a big decision and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. In these ongoing conversations, my husband and I decided to undergo genetic testing. One of the main reasons I wanted to write about this is that I haven’t seen other people discuss this. I know genetic testing exists, but most of the time when I hear couples announcing their pregnancy, they skip over the decisions they made prior. If one person reads this and finds it helps them, or even if someone does not want kids at all, but finds this interesting, then I think making this well-known is worth it.

My husband is the main reason why we chose to get our genes tested. My husband’s aunt on his dad’s side died of Cystic Fibrosis before he was born. For those unfamiliar, Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetically inherited disease, meaning it’s not a disease that can be spread like the flu. CF impacts the amount of mucus the body generates. The mucus is thicker, blocking various passages, and can damage organs. There is no cure for CF, and while treatments have steadily gotten better over time, some individuals with CF can have mild symptoms while others have severe symptoms.

My husband wanted a formal confirmation through gene testing if he was a carrier for CF. The first step was to contact a genetic counselor. They asked my husband a series of questions to determine the risk level and if genetic testing was needed. Based on little information my husband had about his family history, they ordered a genetic test to be delivered. To get genetic testing, you can either go into a medical facility and get blood drawn or you can use an at-home testing kit. My husband chose the latter. His results took about 2 – 4 weeks. We found out my husband was indeed a carrier for CF.

It’s not surprising that my husband was a carrier for CF. However, it meant I now had to undergo genetic testing as well. I contacted the same genetic counselor who walked me through the process. She said they would test 613 of my genes. With my genetic test, they would be testing more of my genes than my husband’s because if we were to have a boy, I would pass everything on my X chromosome to my son. I was sent the same test and repeated the process. Now all we could do was wait.

Before I reveal my results, I wanted to share what would happen if I were or were not a carrier. If I were a carrier, this would mean that we would have a 25% chance of passing CF to our children. If I were not a carrier, we would have no chance. For someone to be positively diagnosed with CF, they need the carrier gene from mom and the carrier gene from dad. If I don’t have the gene, then our kid may be a carrier, like my husband, but would not have CF. I received my results shortly after Labor Day and am NOT a CF carrier. I let out a sigh of relief. There is nothing wrong with being a carrier; my husband is, and he is a healthy person. CF will not be a reality for our kids, and it’s one less thing for us to worry about.

There is a cost associated with getting genetic testing done. I hate it when people discuss medical care and don’t share the cost. Each test (before insurance) costs $19,000. $19,000!?!?!?!?!?!?? That’s wild. After insurance, my husband (who has way better health insurance than I do) would pay $200, while I would be looking at anywhere between $500 – $600. I can use my HSA (Health Savings Account) to pay for the cost of genetic testing, which helps make it more affordable.

I wish more people would be more open about genetic testing and the decisions that they make before having kids. Having kids is a big decision, and with the power of the internet, having more resources available makes it easier to make the best decision for you. I want to be clear, not having kids is valid, and I will defend anyone’s right to choose not to have children. Getting genetic testing is something I’m so glad I was able to do, and it provides more reassurance if and when we decide to have kids.

The last post in my Gen Con post series is my haul! This is everything I bought throughout my time roaming the exhibit hall. I want to make one thing clear: everything in this picture is everything I paid for. I did not receive anything in this picture for free in exchange for an honest review. These were all things that stood out to me or something I wanted to have for myself. In no particular order, I will detail everything I bought at Gen Con.

As a side note, I did receive a press badge from Gen Con. This means that I did attend the convention for free. When I applied for my press badge, I applied under Twin Cities Geek versus Bizarre Brunette. While I did receive a press badge, all my thoughts are my own.

Final Girl Core Box + Hans Box – Van Ryder Games

Final Girl is a game designed by Van Ryder Games where players play as a Final Girl. For those who aren’t familiar, Final Girl is a term for a girl in a horror film who is the only one left and has to take on a killer by herself. The one thing that I find fascinating about the Final Girl games is that they are solo games. I can play this game by myself at any point in time. I love that honestly. One of the biggest barriers of playing board games for me is finding the time and the group to play the game I want to play. I have heard nothing but good things about Final Girl, so I decided to give it a shot. I will post my thoughts once I have had time to play it.

Candela Obscura Core Rulebook – Darrington Press

It’s too bad that Darrington Press didn’t have a booth at Gen Con this year. This might be for the best because if they did, I would not have stuck to my budget. With that said, I ended up finding a copy of Candela Obscura at Miniature Market. I liked paging through the book as the art is stunning. I wasn’t planning on buying Candela Obscura, so it was a nice surprise to see a copy of the book was available to purchase.

Call of Cthulhu Keeper Rulebook + Keeper Tips – Chaosium Inc.

This is the purchase I am the most excited for. I’m writing this to hold myself accountable. I want to be a keeper for Call of Cthulhu. I want to page through the rules, read the Keeper Tips, and write my own Call of Cthulhu one-shot. I have seriously thought about being a DM, but not for Dungeons & Dragons. I want to commit and as a future goal, I would love to work myself up to running a game at CONvergence next year. Will it happen? I have no idea, but I really want to dedicate myself to do this. Call of Cthulhu holds a special place in my heart since this is the system that got me into TTRPGs to begin with, so it seems fitting that it would be the system I try to learn.

I will say that my haul for Gen Con is smaller than prior years. I was much more intentional with what I wanted to purchase and if that particular game or rule book would be something I would use in the future. I’m so excited to dive into Call of Cthulhu and Candela as I’d love to write a few one-shots to run my friends through.

I went into this year’s Gen Con differently than I have in the past. Usually, I would purchase event tickets ahead of time, so I had an exact idea of what I was doing every day. This year, I didn’t pre-purchase any event tickets. This allowed me to stumble upon things that I wouldn’t have discovered had I been busy. I wanted to share all the new things I tried at Gen Con and what I would do again in the future.

As a side note, I did receive a press badge from Gen Con. This means that I did attend the convention for free. When I applied for my press badge, I applied under Twin Cities Geek versus Bizarre Brunette. While I did receive a press badge, all my thoughts are my own.

Paint Minis

I saw one of my friends painting a miniature at this rectangular table near the exhibit hall. I asked him if he had to sign up for this or if he could sit down and paint at any time. One of the booth attendees approached me and asked if I was interested in painting a mini for free. I couldn’t say no to that. I have never painted a mini, nor would I consider myself a crafty person. They quickly had me set up with a few paintbrushes, a mat to blot the brushes, and a pedestal to put the mini on. I was surprised at how relaxed I felt while painting. This was a speed painting event, so I only had thirty minutes to paint. As such, my mini has paint blotches in different areas. However, I was impressed with what I accomplished, having never painted before. On Sunday, I found another painting booth on the second floor that had different minis to paint. I chose an Eldritch Foundry mini with a jet pack.

This was such a great event to stumble upon. I have Malifaux minis I bought last year that I still haven’t painted yet, and now I feel inspired to do so. This will be something that I will aim to do every year at Gen Con.

Attended a TTRPG Live Show

One of my friends alerted me to the fact that BlackwaterDnD would be at Gen Con this year. I have never heard of BlackwaterDnD before this, but my friend raved about them. I checked my schedule, and I could make their live show. It was hilarious! They didn’t play Dungeons and Dragons; instead, they played a role-playing game where they flipped coins instead of rolling dice. Several of the players kept dropping the coins or losing them. Their live show was only an hour, and I felt that it went by quickly.

I’m always looking for new TTRPG content to dive into. I plan on listening to BlackwaterDnD within the next few days. I want to be on the lookout for any other TTRPG groups or live shows in the future.

Lined Up for a Signing

AHHHH!!! I got to meet the cast of The Command Zone!!!! Can you tell that I’m still not over it? I have been listening to The Command Zone, specifically their Game Knights episodes, where they play Commander with members of the cast and with special guests. While I consider myself a casual Magic: The Gathering fan, The Command Zone has inspired me to do more deck building and to play at more pre-release events.

I was walking towards the Wizards of the Coast panel room and saw that the cast of The Command Zone was doing a signing. I wasn’t sure what to expect since I didn’t see that I needed to purchase event tickets ahead of time. I arrived at the room forty-five minutes early because I wasn’t sure how early I had to be there. While I waited, I talked to a variety of fans who were also in line. Many fans brought Magic cards for the cast to sign, which I did not do. If anything, my plan was to talk with them briefly and say that I was a fan of the show.

As the panel doors opened, I saw that they had someone from their team willing to take photos. I grew more excited because I’d much rather have a photo of the experience than their signatures. When it was my turn, Josh (the man on the left in the photo) shook my hand and asked me my name. He also said that my staff was cool. Everyone else was lovely to speak with. It all happened so fast, and they even had a box of free stuff that fans could take. It might be embarrassing to admit, but my hands and legs were shaking. I didn’t think I would be that nervous, but here I am. I took a few of their token cards, which I gave to a friend since they couldn’t make the signing.

This was such a cool opportunity, and I have started re-listening to The Command Zone podcast, which I fell behind on. It’s cool to be able to say that I met them in real life.

There were so many cool opportunities I discovered this year. I want to have at least one event per day to do, but I’m glad I left my schedule fairly open at the same time.

I made it back from Gen Con, and it was so much fun. I wouldn’t expect anything less; this is my third time attending Gen Con, and it’s become one of my all-time favorite conventions. For Gen Con, I devote a few posts as there’s so much I want to write about. This post will be a generic recap of the convention. The second post in this series will be about new experiences I had at Gen Con, and finally, the last post will focus on my haul, or everything I purchased this year.

As a side note, I did receive a press badge from Gen Con. This means that I did attend the convention for free. When I applied for my press badge, I applied under Twin Cities Geek versus Bizarre Brunette. While I did receive a press badge, all my thoughts are my own.

Gen Con is a four-day convention, and our group stays all four days. On Thursday, it has become a ritual for our group to get to the convention center early and camp out near the exhibit hall. I’m always the one to take a selfie of our group while we wait. This year, I didn’t have anything specific I was trying to purchase, which was nice. I could walk through the exhibit hall and try to take in everything.

Since I have been to Gen Con a few times, there are a few things I have to do. The first would be to try the Gen Con pizza from Hot Box Pizza. Hot Box Pizza is a pizza chain in the Indianapolis area, and every year, there’s an official pizza. This year, the pizza was Critical Chip, which had salsa verde, corn, beans, jalapenos, ranch drizzle, and crushed Doritos. It was pretty good. Another thing that I usually do is try Sun King’s Gen Con official beer. Sun King Brewery will partner with Gen Con to have an official beer of Gen Con. This year, the beer was a cereal-inspired beer, and that did not sound good to me. My brother ended up ordering it, and I had a sip. It was okay, but not something I would have ordered myself.

The final thing I wanted to touch on at Gen Con was cosplay! I learned last year that having three cosplays was too much. On top of that, our hotel was thirty minutes outside of downtown, so there wasn’t a way I could take a break like I could last year. I didn’t plan any new cosplays; instead, I brought my BioShock Splicer cosplay and Keyleth with me. I love re-wearing cosplays because it’s quick for me to change into them. I took many pictures with other cosplayers, which is always a compliment. My BioShock splicer cosplay is always a hit, and it’s great to see so many people recognize my cosplay since it’s more niche. I’d love to bring a new cosplay to Gen Con next year.

Gen Con was busy, and I’m looking forward to decompressing this week.