In this storytime, I’m talking about the absolute “how is this my life” moment of hosting my very first panel. I’m used to being in my little gremlin art cave—drawing characters, yapping about OCs, and turning weird prompts into something that somehow ends up cool—so stepping into a real panel setting felt like leveling up into a boss fight I didn’t train for. I walk you through what it was like going from “haha wouldn’t it be funny if—” to actually being the person with a mic, a schedule, and people looking at me like I’m supposed to be an adult. I also get into the behind-the-scenes stuff that nobody warns you about: the nerves, the logistics, and the mental whiplash of trying to be confident while your brain is doing parkour. If you’re an artist who’s ever thought about doing a panel, a meetup, or literally any public-facing thing where you’re not allowed to hide behind your sketchbook, this is me being super real about what helped, what stressed me out, and what I’d do differently next time. Also, huge thanks again to Artwod for sponsoring and helping make the whole “I’m a functional creator person” era possible.