San Diego Comic-Con of 2015 has come and gone. Downtown is no longer a bustling throng of people dominating the streets where cars used to roam, the exotic costumes no longer festoon the sidewalks, lines of sleeping bags no longer ring the marina, and the roar of excitement and activity has simmered down to the everyday hum. The festivities may have ended, but for this blogger several memories still linger. Here are my top five favorite moments of San Diego Comic-Con 2015.

1.) Golden Tickets

Considered one of the biggest (if not the biggest) conventions of the year, a SDCC four day badge is a hot commodity (five day if you add in preview night). For a whopping $185 dollars, you are guaranteed four days of long lines, free swag, exclusive convention items, and sneak peeks into all the shows and movies we all love, but most of all it’s a place to wave your nerd flag high. Being a nerd myself, how could I not want tickets to this convention?

Sadly, they are not easy to come by, especially if you have not gone before, or, like me, didn’t go one year, and found it hard to get tickets for over the next six years. Waiting to get into the room to buy the tickets is nerve racking, and everyone who has been through the process knows what I’m talking about. My two cousins and I waited to get in, and, as it turns out, one of my cousins pulled that golden ticket, got into the room, and bought four day passes for my other cousin and I since she already bought her four day badge early due to having gone last year.

Now, this may seem like a strange thing to make the list for my favorite moments of Comic-Con, but after wanting to go for so long, and finally getting the chance to do just that, I was ecstatic. Before the week was out, I’m sure I told everyone I knew. Getting those tickets felt like winning the lottery, and, in an indirect way, I guess I did.

2.) Supernatural Sunday

We all have our favorite shows we would just love to see the actors and actresses for, and get the latest scoops on what is to come next. For one of my cousins it’s Teen Wolf, and for another it’s Sherlock. Comic-Con gives us fans inside looks into these shows. I have my share of favorites including Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, several different animes (Naruto, Attack on Titan, Bleach, and more), The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, The Originals, Walking Dead, and, one of my old time favorites, Supernatural.

Hall h is the home for all the major panels at Comic-Con, and not a particularly easy hall to get into to see the popular panels unless you camp out all night. I managed to get into hall h on the very last day, but I am so glad that I did. The Supernatural panel was hands down one of the funniest panels I have ever seen, and one of the most touching.

But before I jump into how amazing that panel was, I want to give special shout out to Misha Collins a.k.a. Castiel from Supernatural. He gave the fans waiting in line for hall h quite a pleasant surprise when he jogged past the line surrounded by storm troopers. After waiting for so long, to see one of the actors take the time to say hello to the fans waiting in line was such a wonderful treat. I later learned that Misha Collins hand delivered pizza to the fans who camped out for hall h. This shows just how much the actors of Supernatural really love their fans, and that love is greatly reciprocated. I can definitely say that this is an actor that I am proud to be a fan of.

Now as for the panel itself, the entire cast was very charming and down to earth, and this includes the actors moderating the panel, Rob Benedict (Chuck Shurley), and Richard Speight Jr. (Gabriel). It was very clear that this is a tight nit cast. I want to say that I appreciate the fact that, only days before, they were in Vancouver shooting the show, and they still managed to take time out of their busy schedules to make it to Comic-Con.

There were two major highlights of that panel. The first was the talking stuffed hamster which was voiced by Richard Speight Jr. Can I just say that I was laughing so hard at this section, I was crying. The interaction that Mark A. Sheppard had with that hamster was hilarious, and the entire cast were laughing so hard they were crying on stage. Misha actually wiped his tears on the tablecloth.

The second (and in my opinion the best) highlight of that panel was the lighting of the electric candles. While we were waiting in line to get into the hall, we were all given an electric candle with the slogan “Always Keep Fighting” written on the side. At some time during the panel, we would be signaled to turn on and hold up our candle. When the question and answer portion of the panel started, the signal was given, and the crowd turned on their candles, and held them up.

At first, the cast didn’t know what was going on. I think Jared or Mark were the first to notice it. It was an awe inspiring moment to see a thousand candles lighting up the darkness. As someone in the audience, I could tell that Jared was especially moved. He even wiped away a little tear.

The candle lighting was in support of Jared Padalecki’s real issue with depression. He came up with the slogan “Always keep fighting” in his fight against depression, and has made t-shirts with it to sell in support for others with the same issue. In one silent moment, we the fans were able to tell Jared that we support him all the way, and that to always keep fighting. I can definitely say that was one of the most moving moments I was fortunate enough to be a part of. Thank you to all the actors, writers and every person who has made Supernatural the amazing show that it is.

This is the candle that the fans lit up for Jared Padalecki.

3.) Cosplay and more!

One of my favorite activities to do at Comic-Con is to take pictures of all the awesome and inventive costumes that people are wearing. Normally, I myself don’t participate in cosplaying, but this year my cousins and I decided we were going to dress up. Our first group costume was as three anbu black ops agents from Naruto. I love Naruto, and I really wanted to dress up as Anbu, and my cousins were awesome enough to dress up with me. I think a few people were aware of who we were, and we got one really awesome picture taken with two other cosplayers.

Now I think our second group costume was more successful. We dressed up as the ladies of Game of Thrones. I dressed up as Melisandre. One cousin dressed up as Daenerys, and the other as Sansa. We went all out on our costumes. It was so much fun meeting with other fans of the show who recognized our costumes.

Cosplaying Game of Thrones was only part of this favorite moment. The second part was getting to enjoy the Game of Thrones exhibit, Experience the Realm. We waited for over five hours in line in our costumes, but once we got it, it was worth it. We got to take a picture on the iron throne. We got to get turned into a white walker, and participated in this cool simulation where we used a wood sword to destroy these digital paint balls. Once the ball was destroyed on the screen, it splattered images out, which eventually took shape into the picture of our face we took earlier. We got to see some of the real costumes that the actors and actresses wore. And one of the coolest moments was when Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos Seaworth) came into the exhibit, and did a meet and greet with the fans.

4.) Originals Signing

One of the most exciting event a fan can experience is getting autographs from the actors and actresses of their favorite shows, but getting those autographs at Comic-Con can be quite tricky. In order to get an autograph, you have to stand for hours in a line to get a chance to draw a lucky ticket.

In my case, I was able to draw that lucky ticket along with my two cousins, and get a wristband for the Originals cast signing. I have never done anything like getting an autograph, especially not from an entire cast, and the Originals cast could not be more pleasant. Phoebe Tonkin was sweet. Daniel Gillies was hilarious, while Joseph Morgan and Charles Michael Davis were charming, and the rest of the cast were just lovely and cordial. Their pleasant attitudes made all their fans smile, and happy. Thank you!

5.) Ballroom 20

            If you can’t get into Hall H, don’t forget Ballroom 20, which also houses some pretty awesome panels. On our very first day, we sat in Ballroom 20 all day, and, even though, certain panels were not our favorites, for me there were some amazing highlights that day. The first was the absolutely hilarious teen wolf panel. The cast were down to earth, friendly, and you could tell that they got along amazingly well. Dylan O’Brien (Stiles) and Tyler Posey (Scott) were like brothers from other mothers, and they definitely had the crowd rolling. Holland Roden (Lydia) was charming, and had her funny moments as well like telling how she ordered pizza to her car. The entire cast was so delightful to watch on stage.

But Teen Wolf panel was not the only highlight in Ballroom 20. The Sherlock Panel was just as funny. Even though Benedict Cumberbatch was not there in person, he was there in spirit with a special video he made for the fans. Steven Moffat showed just how much his personality and humor comes through in Sherlock as he had the entire crowd rolling. Though it was a small panel of guests, it was definitely a funny one.

The third and last highlight of Ballroom 20 was the Limitless television pilot episode premiere. I have never seen the movie Limitless, but this show pilot definitely piqued my interest. The acting was stellar, the story line in the pilot well done, and the way they put the pieces together was refreshing and just plain good. With Bradley Cooper as an executive producer and star in the show, I see this show doing extraordinarily well, and I’m excited to see where they take it.

And that is the last of my favorite San Diego Comic-Con moments of 2015. Everything may have come to an end, but now I can’t wait for next year. For me, this is an experience I am not going to forget any time soon!