Local artists, vendors and collectors gathered together at Savannah River Brewery Co. for an afternoon of panel discussions and shopping on Saturday, Nov. 19.
Toys, comics, prints, collectibles and jewelry lined the inside of the brewery’s vendor alley and welcomed those of all ages to enjoy anime, art and comics together.
Manager Jim Christian said the brewery has wanted to host a Comic-Con for a while because it coincides with the desire to bring various customers and communities together. Anything the business can do to bring new groups of people in, they like to encourage with several events and gatherings.
Christian said the con’s success was evident by newcomers visiting the taproom for the first time, despite the fact that they live nearby.
“We try to reach everyone here. We have this slogan ‘beer for everyone, everyone for beer,’ and we try to plug into every community,” he said. “It’s a different crowd, but it still plays into our aesthetic … it’s exactly why we do things like this.”
Similar to Comic-Con, some attendees came in everyday clothes, but many chose to wear intricately themed costumes complete with artful accessories. Christian and his employees even joined in on the fun with an elf and a Mario Brother costume.
Panels discussed different topics such as live action role-playing 101, local craft businesses and how to successfully collaborate on projects.
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For panelist and vendor Don Winters, who enjoys dressing in different clothing, the community of “nerds” helped him find acceptance and even love. He recalled how he was invited into the community after some members saw him walking on the streets and assumed he was wearing a costume of some sorts.
“They asked what [group] I was with and I said, ‘This is just my normal clothes,’” he said. “Then they were like, ‘Well, come hang out with us.’ I’ve been a part of the community ever since.”
He also said the con allowed locals to get together and enjoy a smaller type of Comic-Con for free, which gave more representation for the local businesses.
Fellow vendor and panelist, Lex O’Flinn, said he loved the live action role-playing aspect of the community because of its inclusivity, and wanted to recruit others into the group.
O’Flinn said it changed his life by allowing him to find a second family, who ended up adopting him, after his biological parents died.
“I really wanted to be a part of it to get the awareness out, because it’s a great community and it’s very fun. It’s a great way to relieve a lot of stress, and it’s a great way to make friends,” he said. “It lets you open up if you’re very socially anxious or shy; it really lets people open up their social butterfly.”
O’Flinn, who helps lead a local live action role-playing group from Pendleton King Park, said the group is made up from a wide variety of members who have all different kinds of backgrounds.
“We have people who are rich and people who are poor that come out to play. It’s for everyone. There is no ‘You have to be a specific type of person to play,’” he said. “A lot of the time we have team building exercises where you have to communicate with people … it helps people cope with that anxiety of talking to other people.”
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He also claimed battleground games help develop people’s strategy and cooperation skills, which can help them in their day-to-day lives. But, in doing this, O’Flinn said they also have to fight against societal stigmas – especially with those who don’t understand the goal of the community.
“The stigmatism is that we’re a bunch of sweaty nerds that don’t have a life, but that’s not true,” he said. “There’s a bunch of people here who have served in the military. It’s not the typical ‘tape on the glasses, snarky nerd thing.’”
O’Flinn added how his adoptive dad, who used to serve in the Marines, and athletic participants love live action role-play because it simulates battle and fighting. With different levels of role-playing, O’Flinn said members who identify as “high-level combat” are known to fight hard during the battleground simulations, while “non-combat” players typically focus on the more creative sides such as sewing.
“We call them ‘stick jocks’ in our game because they’re the ones who just like to fight,” he said. “But there are a ton of different personalities within the game, and you meet so many cool people.”
He said the Comic-con community allows people to explore a deeper side to themselves, and live action role-playing emphasizes that aspect. To him, it allows his attention-deficit disorder to be channeled into a rambunctious and playful goblin character, which encourages him to accept that part of himself.
“I get to exhaust a lot of that energy into [live action role-playing], and it’s the same way with a lot of people, too,” he said. “It also helps those with other neurodivergent problems such as autism or other issues; it kind of helps them find their people and helps them to grow to become better people. There’s a lot of mentors within our game; so it’s certainly beneficial to a lot of people within our community, because you also get to learn something new every day.”
Attendee Ronnica Golson said she came to the con because she has always had an interest in superheroes and anime, and the storytelling behind creating those projects. As an artist, she wanted to see and study different art styles in order to broaden her viewpoints.
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“I like events like this because you’re around other people who have similar interests, and can appreciate the things you also appreciate,” she said. “I have made friends through things like this.”
Instead of traveling to San Diego or Atlanta and paying hundreds of dollars for a ticket, Golson said she enjoyed the idea of a local one because it allowed low-budget fans to also celebrate and enjoy each other’s costumes and art.
“This is a subculture, so to speak, that exists on the underbelly of society – not in a necessarily negative way,” she said. “But it’s so specific that it’s hard for people to find spaces for those with this common interest to come together.”
While Golson admits that some people may label the interest as childish or odd, she believes that the happiness and enjoyment it brings members overshadows possible criticism from others.
“We need more of this. We need more community for these different subcultures that aren’t necessarily being represented, but I know they exist nonetheless,” she said. “And I’m happy to be here, and I’m happy to see more things like this emerging locally.”
For more information on local live action role-playing, visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SylvanGlade
For more information on the Savannah River Brewing Co., visit: https://www.savannahriverbrew.com
Liz Wright is a staff writer covering education and general assignments for The Augusta Press. Reach her at liz@theaugustapress.com
