I love my German con family so much – we always have such a great time volunteering together. (This isn’t to say that things like Ethan Peck shaking my hand and thanking us for our work don’t give me a thrill. *g*) Since there’s almost a year between cons, we try to see each other between that – cake break with two of the bunch on the way back from the Netherlands in September, a visit by three in October (which will be great, as I love playing guide – and it’s good for my wallet, too. *g*).
The Doctor and her TARDIS 
Check-in team last year (because we forgot this year, oops)
And then there’s my Jalec squad. I met them through Tumblr and then on our Discord, where we can squee safely away from all the unfortunate fandom drama. Nowadays we mostly hang out on Whatsapp, after meeting each other at Shadowhunters cons.
Last weekend four of us roomed together in Brussels, which meant lots of chocolate (as Belgium is the only other country with acceptable chocolate culture *g*) and lots of fun together. Oh yeah, and representing Jalec/parabatai fans at the con, of course. 😉
The con was very well organised, but the programming was rather thin – they basically just threw whoever wasn’t busy up on stage, no matter if the grouping made sense (except for a Clace and a Malec panel), and you weren’t allowed to ask any single-person questions. That didn’t stop us from queuing at the mike in every single panel, of course, leading to some spontaneous dance party in line and some fun interactions with other guests and con staff. (In our parabatai t-shirts we were rather visible – but we encountered no negativity, which was lovely, and the cast undoubtedly recognized us after a while. *g*)
Most of all, of course, it was so much fun to see Matt and Dom in action again, as well as the rest of the cast. Nicola (who I can’t believe is 6 months younger than me) in particular once again proved to be one amazing lady, so I got a photo with her, too. I also got a single photo with Dom, which might be my favourite con photo ever, because we bear-hugged and I’m literally beaming. Danae and myself also gave up our two parabatai photos in exchange for one photo with all four of us – aren’t we a bunch of pretty people? 😉
Jalec Squad 
mom Nicola 
hugging Dom
Whenever this fandom throws another hissyfit about anyone daring not to exclusively ship The Big One, I remember these awesome ladies, Matt and Dom’s luminous friendship, and their amusement at our presence. (And I’ll get it all again in only 2 weeks at ItaCon in Milan!!! Seriously, 5 cons in 3 months is too much. I regret it, but also. Not. *g*)
I’ve literally never been part of a group of friends before (unless one counts school friends, but that’s different), and now I belong to two, and it feels pretty damn amazing. As I told my shrink today, I don’t need to see people every day to have them in my heart (it’s the same with my “normal” friends, most of whom I’ve known for 20-30 years now), and here I’m getting so much casual affection, it warms little introvert, aro-ace me all the way through. <3