When you see your friend’s name pop up in Facebook messenger, nine times out of ten you’d expect them to be checking in to see how you’re doing, or they’ve sent you a funny video or meme, right?
Now imagine that you’re a HUGE Marvel fan, and your favourite character is Loki, and you have a little *coughs* MAHOOSIVE *coughs* obsession with Tom Hiddleston… and your friend lets you know he’s going to be at MCM Comic Con in London in roughly six weeks time…
So many thoughts were racing through my head, ‘Oh my goodness, Tom Hiddleston!’ ‘Can I meet him?’ ‘Oh my goodness’ ‘What will he be like?’ ‘Oh my goodness’ ‘WHAT?!’ ‘Oh my goodness‘… you get the idea.
However, as cases of Covid were still fluctuating, this was a big factor in holding me back from going as I’m classed as high risk/clinically extremely vulnerable. My head was telling me that it was too much of a risk, but my heart was telling me to go.
To many people, I’m a huge fan, but in truth, it runs so much deeper than that which I will explain a bit more later in this post.
After calming down and having a nap (too much excitement got the better of me), I did some research to find out what, when, where, and all the W’s. I won’t lie, when I got to the page to purchase a photo op/autograph with Tom Hiddleston, I couldn’t divert my gaze from the photo of him, it was perfect – he is a very beautiful man.
Anyway, after dragging my attention away from the photo, I started looking at the times and the prices… the prices were a little, out of budget? It wasn’t really a price I could justify paying in one go and I spent an entire week trying to talk myself out of it because I’d never bought anything that had cost that much before.
But would this be my only chance? I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t go for it (yes, that’s how much I love Tom!)
MCM Comic Con London Saturday 23rd October 2021 – My Experience
Buying Tickets, Photo Ops & Autographs
I emailed the company that sells the tickets for MCM Comic Con to find out if I could buy a photo op before buying the actual tickets to the event – looking back, I can’t remember why I did it this way around, clearly I wasn’t thinking straight. But they did confirm that this was absolutely fine.
I did it. I bought a photo op with Tom Hiddleston. £225 whooshed its way out of my bank account and I felt sick, excited, giddy, guilty – and everything in between.
I was going to meet Tom Hiddleston on Saturday 23rd October 2021 at MCM Comic Con in London!
Oh my goodness, I shit you not, I was SO excited that I didn’t sleep properly leading up to the day… as soon as I’d try to take my mind off things and go to sleep, I’d get butterflies and feel like a giddy little kid on Christmas morning.
How on earth I kept my mouth shut about this and didn’t shout it from the rooftops, I shall never know!
I set my Twitter account to get notifications whenever MCM Comic Con tweeted so that I could find out who else was going to be there. The suspense was intense!
Sophia Di Martino was announced sometime after and she would only be doing autographs as she was heavily pregnant at the time. Sophia plays Sylvie in the Disney+ series, Loki. I told Ewan and we both wanted to meet her and I was all set to pay to get her autograph… I think this was either £60 or £65 which I think is very reasonable, but then another guest was announced.
Charlie Cox.
I’m very ashamed to say that I had absolutely no idea who he was. When I asked Ewan who he was, I’m pretty sure he squealed. “That’s Charlie Cox. How do you not know who Charlie Cox is?”
I looked at him waiting for him to tell me who this person worth squealing over was. Daredevil. I knew of the character but I’d never watched the Netflix series. Side note: Ewan has tried his hardest to get me to watch Daredevil ever since it was released on Netflix. I can officially say that as of April 2022, I have watched seasons 1 and 2 of Daredevil (on Disney+). Bloody loved it!
Both the autograph and photo op were £60 or £70 each.
Oh by the way, if you wondered how much an autograph would be from Tom Hiddleston, it would have been £225 also. I love him, but I cannot justify spending £450. There were more guests, like Jonathon Majors who plays Kang in the Disney+ series, Loki. I think Deborah Ann Woll, who plays Karen Page in the Netflix series, Daredevil, was there too.
So, the plan of action was to have a photo with Charlie Cox, then meet Sophia Di Martino and get her autograph, then my date… ahem, get a photo with Tom Hiddleston, and I threw in an extra surprise for Ewan and we would be getting Charlie Cox’s autograph too!
A few days later, I got another notification. Saturday’s tickets were almost sold out! I was flapping like a chicken – old Ami, why were you such an idiot to wait until the last minute?! It’s all good… I got them… just.
On The Day
Do you think I could get to sleep the night before?! Thankfully I fell asleep on the way there, I think it took over 2 hours to get to Excel. Then it took longer to find a parking space because stewards kept pointing us in the wrong direction, eventually we got a space.
We then had to go to this little booth to show proof that we had been vaccinated and were given a wristband before we entered the building. Once in the building, we had to show security our tickets (which were digital at this point) and they let us through.
We are in the building people! I am in the same building as Tom Hiddleston. Oh My Goodness!
Our first port of call was to find the area to get our lanyards/passes… which ended up taking what felt like an hour! So many stewards were telling us to go here, there and everywhere, we must have walked (I wheeled) in circles 2 or 3 times… it is a very large building. But we found it in the end thanks to a lovely man.
We got our passes and Ewan got his carer’s pass too, I then spotted the stall to get the official MCM Comic Con merch, which I had already pre-ordered a couple of things when I bought the tickets online. I got a Loki t-shirt, and a Loki lanyard – nobody wouldn’t guess that I really like Loki, honestly…
Now the real conundrum, finding the bloody disabled toilet! On the website, it did state they had a Changing Places toilet but we couldn’t find it anywhere, so we all had to cram in a small disabled toilet. I needed both Mum and Ewan to help me transfer, and I wasn’t letting anyone leave Daisy outside the door. It was a very small space but we managed.
I changed into my new Loki t-shirt and then we set off for our first photo op!
Meeting Charlie Cox
Bear in mind that before Ewan and I entered the area to line up, I had been talking to Daisy and at the time, she kept trying to say “Hiya” so we kept saying it to her, and obviously in a babyish tone too, this then got stuck in my head. We had to show proof that we purchased a photo op with Charlie before we entered a small area to leave bags or anything we didn’t want in the photos.
You’ll notice what we forgot to take off my powerchair…
Anyway, initially, it was just going to be Ewan having a photo with Charlie but he wanted me to be in it too. Ewan had a few seconds with Charlie before I followed. You could see how much Ewan was in his element, bless him. He and Charlie did a fist bump even though there was plexi-glass between them.
I then wheel up, Ewan says to Charlie that I’m deaf and he waves to me and says “You alright?” – he mouthed this at the same time as doing a thumbs up, which is how I knew what he said, and I really appreciated that because I realised that situations like that are so fast-paced and there was no time to explain.
Anyway, remember I said I had been speaking to Daisy before we lined up… when Charlie waved at me, I did say “Hiya!” to him… but in a babyish tone. Oh my days, I wanted to reverse out of there so quick, and to make matters worse, the backdrop got caught in my wheel and I started taking it with me… very slowly but bloody hell. Ewan got to meet Charlie Cox, that was the main thing!
… notice the umbrella?
Autograph with Sophia Di Martino
We then went over to where Sophia’s autographs would be taking place, and I’m not sure what happened but it did feel like we waited a really long time – I remember schedules getting mixed up and delayed so it was most likely that.
Anyway, again we had to show proof that we purchased to get an autograph with Sophia (all these confirmations were on my phone so I had to show them the receipt and QR code). Before we went into the booth, I was allowed to pick a photo for Sophia to sign (we didn’t know we could bring stuff for guests to sign) and then waited our turn.
Sophia looked beautiful and she was so lovely. She was wearing a mask, so Ewan relayed what she said. Sophia asked if I was okay, I replied “I’m good thank you, how are you?” and she did two thumbs up, and then started fanning herself with her hands. It was a bit warm and with everything happening so fast, you barely had time to catch your breath – plus she was carrying a little human. But yes, Sophia was very lovely”
After meeting Sophia, we quickly went over to Mum and Daisy to see if they were alright. Which they were, thanks for asking.
Meeting Tom Hiddleston
Come on now, this is the part you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it? Brace yourself…
While we were waiting in line, Ewan checked my phone to either check the time or to see what time slot we were given to get Charlie’s autograph – there’s a lesson here… when you’re about to meet someone you’ve been wanting to meet for over a decade, and you need to show proof that you purchased a photo op with said someone and the proof is in your emails…
Do not, I repeat DO NOT let your husband borrow your phone moments before needing to show proof.
As we moved up the queue, Ewan gave me my phone back. Hold on, where’s the email? The quicker I was scrolling through my emails, more people went ahead of us. No, no, no, this can’t be happening! I’m literally on the other side of a black screen and Tom is on the other side. No, please, no.
Tears were starting to fill my eyes, and as a last resort I checked the bin in my inbox, thank fuck it was there – but how, I didn’t delete it? Ewan. Ewan bloody deleted it. My blood was boiling, I can tell you that now! I refused to waste any more time, so once I retrieved the email, I showed it to the steward and we were in!
We waited in the area to leave our things, then we waited behind a couple of people who were waiting to go into the photo booth.
Oh my goodness, was this really about to happen?! Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god!
When I wheeled into the booth, someone was standing in front of me so I couldn’t see Tom at this point, and I was like, “Ohhhhh, Tom Hiddleston is going to appear in my field of vision any second and I can’t contain myself (I still can’t contain myself while writing this!) Then the person in front went to meet him… and there he was.
Tom Hiddleston. Loki. The God of Mischief.
I think this was the part when I started to lose function because everything from that point seemed like a whirlwind. I was well and truly star-struck! Ewan asked if he could be in the photo with me and Tom, and I said, “No you bloody can’t!” I’m glad Ewan found it funny but I was being serious. But to be honest, I wished I had let him come with me so I would know what Tom said – bad mistake.
Tom looked so handsome, so tall, and wow. He really is a beautiful man.
I wheeled up to the plexiglass and I honestly can’t remember saying anything (Ewan told me after what I’d said… and did) Tom said “Hello, what’s your name?” and I must have hoped for the best and guessed what he said so I replied, “Hi, I’m Ami” then Tom said, “Hello Ami, it’s lovely to meet you” but Ewan shouted “She’s deaf” – Cheers Ewan.
I was so caught up in the moment that I just planted my hand on the plexiglass and hoped Tom would mirror my hand, but I wasn’t expecting him to kneel too… I didn’t even ask. I was squealing inside. Loki, the God of Mischief who orders people to kneel before him, willingly kneeled for me. Without asking. I… I have no words.
After the photo was taken, Tom started to get up, and I thanked him and waved. He waved back but I so wish I had blown him a kiss!
As soon as I turned around to wheel out of the booth, I couldn’t stop giggling. I was proper giddy and at that point, nothing could wipe the massive grin off my face. I was over the glorious moon!
But…
On the way home, I realised the one thing I really regretted was not having anything on me for others to know I’m hard of hearing. I can’t help but feel like I let Tom down… he always makes a connection with his fans, and with whatever time he has, he likes to get to know them. Obviously, with me, it was difficult, it’s my fault, I should have been open about needing assistance but this was the one thing I’ve been waiting for and I was stubborn and wanted to do it myself.
I messed up one of the best moments in my life and I can only hope that if I’m lucky to ever meet Tom again, we could have minutes together rather than seconds. I feel selfish for saying and feeling this because I was able to meet him.
Hopefully, there’ll be another nexus point in the near future.
Autograph with Charlie Cox
After driving around in circles, giggling, and bouncing, we went over to Mum, and Daisy and I squealed, “Daisy, look! Look who mummy met!” She just turned her head away… rude. Daisy was mesmerised by all the people in cosplay – Mum, on the other hand, felt like she was at a children’s party! It’s safe to say that Comic Con’s aren’t really her thing!
Ewan and I then headed off to line up to get Charlie’s autograph, which was a long wait, but it gave me plenty of time to come back down to Earth. Ewan kept teasing me about meeting Tom, and I was quite quick with a comeback, “Well, at least I can say the God of Mischief knelt for me and I didn’t even ask!” He chuckled and snapped his fingers (he does that when he means touché).
For the last time of the day, I had to show confirmation that we purchased to get an autograph, and Ewan got to choose a photo for Charlie to sign. What happened next, I really wasn’t expecting and clearly neither did Ewan.
When Charlie looked up to see who he was signing an autograph for, he said, “Hello again, Ewan”.
I have never seen Ewan’s face light up so much, he was beaming from ear to ear. Charlie remembered him and that moment right there was priceless.
Charlie Cox is hands down, the loveliest bloke. He asked us if we were okay and how our day was going. So chatty and quite handsome too! Yes, I have a major soft spot for him now…
The whole experience was incredible, a huge adrenaline rush and it really felt like somewhere we belong, we felt at home. It was so fast-paced and you barely get a chance to catch your breath!
At one point, I was so caught up in everything that I realised I’d forgotten what it was like to have fun and it bought tears to my eyes. After everything, I didn’t think I’d be able to enjoy the present as I’m always so fearful of the future. But there is more to this.
Why Meeting Tom Hiddleston Meant So Much To Me
It’s funny, when I first watched Avengers in 2012, I hated Loki. Plus, I’d never heard of this Tom Hiddleston before. But… I was watching This Morning one day in 2013, and saw that Tom Hiddleston was going to be on the show for an interview. I thought, “Okay, I’ll watch it to see if he’s interesting” – thought no more of it while watching the other segments.
Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby introduced Tom, and when the three of them started chatting, it was like I was in a trance, I couldn’t take my eyes away from the screen. His voice, his eyes, that smile, his humble and polite manner… I was smitten. The thing that made me fall in love with him even more was how devoted he is to charity work.
After that interview, I binge-watched every YouTube video I could find of Tom, to hear his calming voice, to see what he was like when meeting fans, or off-camera. Yeah, I did become obsessed and from the outside, people would see me as just a massive fan.
When I started suffering from panic attacks and anxiety, watching videos of Tom and hearing his voice helped me so much – more than words could ever say. Especially when Ewan or Mum weren’t around to help calm me down.
But when I lost my hearing and central vision, obviously I was beyond devastated for so many reasons. And, yeah, one of them was that I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to hear Tom’s voice again or make out his facial features. That really hurt me.
Then 2018 happened.
If you don’t know what happened, I was rushed to hospital in March 2018 due to being unconscious. They found I had an infection but, at the time, had no idea what it was. I was deteriorating and they thought it was best, to give my body a chance to fight whatever this infection was, to place me in an induced coma. Doctors told my family that I might not wake up. It turned out that I was dying from double pneumonia.
I don’t have a lot of memories from before my coma, but there were a couple of nights that I remember very clearly. One night when Ewan and Mum came to visit me, they bought something of mine with them to see if they could get a ‘normal’ response from me. It was my Tom Hiddleston calendar.
One of the nurses was flicking through the calendar, comparing his looks to Tom. It made me smile and I started drifting in and out of sleep. With whatever energy I could find, I tried my hardest to stay awake and focus on the photo of Tom… and that was the last thing I saw before I went into my coma.
Now you know the reason why Tom Hiddleston means everything to me, and to have that moment where my hand was against his… sorry, I’m struggling to put it into words.
I’ll leave you with a note – when you come across a potential once-in-a-lifetime chance… take it, take it by your hands, and don’t let go of it. Enjoy it. Marvel in it.
