September 20th, 2017, exterior, Puerto Rico. Around 3:00 AM A hurricane hits the island.
My name is Daniel Patterson. As a gamer, I go by the name of Nightmare-ACTUAL, before I begin I wanted to introduce myself not just a gamer but as a person. The things I am going to talk about are my personal experience throughout the night of Sept 20th.
Having been through a couple previous hurricanes I can say with certainty that this one was unlike any of the others. I could go into detail but I am not going to. It’s not the purpose of this dialogue. The purpose of this dialogue is to talk about video games and geek culture and the impact it has on our lives.
Finding yourself going from playing and having no issue of connectivity being able to watch anything at any given moment and then suddenly having absolutely no power for 3-4 months. Some sectors more than others. To this day there are places on this beautiful island without any power and people make do.
You’d be surprised at the things one can get used to.
Before we go further I want to talk about the Air Assault program here at Stack Up, because it really helps to show how important events of this type can be. The Air Assault program takes deserving veterans to events like Comic-Con and video game conventions, such as PAX, SXSW, E3 and so on and so forth. The idea behind the program is to take these veterans to conventions and show them that they are not alone. That there are like-minded people within the masses thus aiding them to find community. It helps to bring them back from the dark into the light with the help of a common interest making the experience simple for them and for us (civilians) as well as benefitting from the power of video games and the geek culture that surrounds us.
Which now brings us to the topic of this article:
The Puerto Rico Comic Con an event that has been going on through sixteen years, an event that has served as a beacon of light for a lot of individuals living in the island and as well those that come from other countries to participate in this unique event. An event that has brought an array of talented artists in all walks of life.
This year at the Puerto Rico Comic Con, we are going to have actor John Barrowman (Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Torchwood and Dr Who) him being is somewhat special to me. Arrow is one of my favorite series and Mr. Barrowman portrays one of my favorite characters, throughout the series. We are also going to have actress Juliana Harkavy (Arrow, The Walking Dead, Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash), and the actor Casey Scott (Riverdale).
We are going to have not one but two comic book legends Jim Starlin and Gail Simone, and from what I understand there is more to be announced, so the mystery is pretty exciting! A person I would love to have an interaction with and I would love for him to come down here is Stephen Amell. Hopefully one day Mr. Amell and find it in his schedule to add Puerto Rico. Another person would be Jon Bernthal but these are just two of the many people I admire.
Another really cool thing about this event, for any Overwatch fans, the voices of Sombra (Carolina Ravassa), who also did voice-overs in the video game Grand Theft Auto as well as being in the television series Mr. Robot, and Symmetra (Anjali Bhimani), who also has voice-overs in the DLC Nuka World for the video game Fallout 4, as well in the television series Modern Family, will be on hand to greet fans.
It’s definitely going to be something interesting this year!
The Puerto Rico Comic Con has been and will be one of the most important entertainments events the islands has to offer. Year after year for sixteen years and counting, geeks from the US, Caribbean, and Latin America come together to have a good time sharing, socializing, and networking with the many local and international artists that able make it and share in the moment with us the fans.
A big thank you goes out to all people that make these events possible, I am super appreciative of that fact. The future looks very bright for an island that suffered one of the worst natural disasters that one could ever imagine. Nobody expected it, the island was not built for that strength. Although in the end, we came out the other side.
Wiser stronger and geekier!
See you at Comic-Con Puerto Rico. Nightmare, out.
Yo te Quiero, Puerto Rico. ♫
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