cough *bump* cough (it won't appear otherwise)

OK, I'm loving the details, but you have to make the installments longer! Or at least post the next one soon. Pretty please. But I do feel like I'm there, so continue with the minutiae. Although some hoopla in the next installment would not be unwelcome.

Ok on to Friday and the panels

Friday

Friday morning we go outside for a walk because it was 7 degrees and February in Vermont and in Texas it was 75 degrees and breezy sunshine (woo-hoo). We are in our AKF gear but really not that far-out clothingwise. We pass two lady security guards who seem to think that wandering around outside the hotel is strange behaviour …

What’s going on there? says one.
Oh they are here for that Supernatural TV show convention says the other ... Those people are cray-zeeeee.

Ah the glow of fame ….



Richard and Rob

On Friday the show starts at midday. Richard Speight and Rob Benedict (and Loudon Swain) do the opening ceremony which is lots of Rob running around and telling jokes and doing giant leaps, and then Richard comes out and …. abuses us all royally for doing all the con things “he’s coach, the sort of coach who shows his love by getting angry”

It started with “how fired up are you to be here right now?” *cheers* “That was shit!” Then we got a 5 minute riff on “doing the stage show naked” (if they were allowed)

This was followed up with selling J2 …

nothing makes you question yourself more than being near them … all the things you hold dear …it will shatter your entire belief system, laid at your feet by your parents, your church, and your peers… because that was about family and here we are powered by Satan. And the devil is what will result in you standing beside them and saying … we have a connection! (no you don’t)

Rob: we’re engaged
Rich: no you’re not
Rob: We’re getting married
Rich: Never gonna happen
Rob: we’re just waiting for the right time, looking at churches, got a dress!
Rich:

No he will not be marrying Jared and Jensen, and neither will you but that will not stop you from believing you will! That will not stop you from thinking you have a genuine connection with them when you get to the top of the line and they say *mutters something in a deep voice .. sweetheart* and you melt

I think it was like what Americans refer to as a ‘roast’ except in this case it was the compere dissing the crowd! And it went on (and on) from there. It appears that he actually got on more of a roll than usual – even Rob seemed (from how hard he was laughing) to think that he might be overdoing it a little .

The monologue/rant/whatever started with:

so you spent most of a grand to come here, and you spent all this money on photographs and hotels and food and you think that by the end of the weekend you will have made a SPECIAL connection with ‘the boys’ and they will remember you and you will be the chosen one …
He looked at me! He saw the back of my skull through my eyes! He’ll remember me! When I get to the front of the autograph line I’ll say ‘Remember me? I’m the one who got that picture with you!’

something like that … it went on to a long stream-of-consciousness about dad holding your bag and saying ‘do you know how much money that moment cost me? 350 bucks! so make it last! That’s your college money! You’re going to a state school.

Then we get 5 minutes about ‘the musk’ (if you don’t know what that’s about, it’s probably better that way)

Then a 3 way conversation (Richard playing each part) which was an entire John Hughes movie condensed into a rant about dad and mom arguing while daughter/son feels misunderstood … moving on to J2 being unicorns and you having addiction to ‘the musk ’and then Dad left alone with the university money all spent while the rest of the family heads off following cons around like they were Greatful Dead concerts.
I cannot do this whole thing justice, it is available on line (probably slightly to Creation’s dismay) and I will try to find a link. Anyway along with the whole ‘Friday people are the best people’ shtick it took a considerable while and the audience enjoyed it hugely.

Kim and Brianna

Then we had the first panel which was Kim and Brianna. They looked amazing – Kim had dyed her hair black and it looked fabulous and Brianna had her hair down all blond and curly so they contrasted really well. They appear to be great buddies. Brianna is irrepressible (and if that woman is ‘overweight’ then there is literally no hope for the rest of humanity …) and Kim is so honest about herself and her life. If you have seen her blog you know she is very, very honest about stuff – and if you have ever seen her twitter feed you know she swears like a sailor and both things were in full view here. They answered all questions with so much enthusiasm and in some cases while hanging at an angle grinning ridiculously in order to put the questioner off.

They LOVE the idea of getting their own spin-off: ‘that wouldn’t suck.’ They know that it is very unlikely to happen as the result of fan enthusiasm alone BUT it doesn’t matter because fans can invent anything they want and it doesn’t need to be a TV show to be real (this was one of many, many oblique (and not so oblique) references to fandom having its own realm and not trying to impose fan fantasies onto a TV show that isn’t actually capable of being all things to all (wo)men ...

Things are changing for women guests at cons - when Brianna first heard about cons she was like ‘ooh maybe we could be on stage together and Kim was like ‘No. Never gonna happen’ (Because the cons were sausage-fests for a long while.)

Kim and the girls in the last episode were christened K3 which they loved and Kim told a story about having to say, to Sam, the line

‘You don’t seem too upset about the graphic scene you came upon;
(“never in the history of the English language have a U and a P been more important. Ever. Ever.”)

She couldn’t say the line in front of Jared (she would forget the up-). She told him ahead of time about the line to try and get the pain and suffering over with and his response on reading it was ‘huh (laugh) that’s going to suck for you’.

Yeah Jared’s the worst ….’
‘Actually Jensen boned me last time … not that way!’

(my take home about J2 is that they are both 'the worst' but Jensen is better at getting away with it )

First con prank question (15 minutes into the first panel) What pranks have they played on the boys? There is a prank that the girls played (apparently just) on Jensen which will be on the gag reel.
‘It’s their house, you’ve been invited, pranks are too dangerious’

They have done all their own stunts, or nearly all.

Jody’s catchphrase is ‘Don’t make me use my Mom voice’ (though now it’s ‘as long as everyone wears a condom we’ll be fine’) and Donna’s is ‘oh, ya, you betcha’ (Freaky Friday versions of those were great).

Then there was a shipping question ‘out of the whole supernatural fandom what ship is you’s guy’s favorite?’ I suspect this fan did not get the answer she was angling for (nobody did, all weekend, even as the question got less general and more ‘What do you think of Destiel?’(yes, that was its final form)) All of these guests have learned what a minefield that question is and will not answer it …

(Kim indicating herself and Brianna: Ours!) Brianna was all for the importance of Donna being her own independent woman and not being obliged to be in a relationship (you go girl!), Kim on the other hand ships Jody with everyone (including the camera crew).

And of course (I assume you will have heard about this):

‘what prop would you want from the show’
Kim (instantly) The Impala!
You can’t have the impala it’s a character!
F-you I’m having the impala.
Well then I’m having Jared and Jensen.
*Kim cracks up*
*high five*
Huge energy, hugely entertaining, you get your money’s worth with those two

Then there was all this stuff which I didn't do:

I'm waiting what happens next am I supposed to leave the room and move onto the next venue you havn't told me ---- its very lonely and dark in here LOL
Oh just waiting for you to write the next bit and get on with the tit bits you keep teasing us about

Ooh eilf, this is great so far. Whenever I ask people for details they usually don't understand that I mean every last freaking detail! But you do understand and I'm loving it. Like Jen, I will be waiting breathlessly for the next installment. And maybe this will be in your wrap-up installment (there will be one of those, right? ) but I'd love to know about the attendees as well. Were they all nice, weird, openly and/or obnoxiously partisan about a character? The online fandom seems to have more than its share of ugliness, nastiness and downright hate, but was any of that evident at the Con? Or are we truly all one big happy SPN family?

Also, I meant to tell you that your lanyard cracked me up. Were a lot of fans wearing indications of their favorite character?

eilf, I wouldn't expect you to give a verbatim account of the panels that are online (unless you want to - sometimes the audio sucks) but I would love to hear your opinions about them and about anything else at the Con. also, any details or general observations that stand out about the panels other than the Js panel would be great because I only ever watch the vids of theirs. Too many vids, not enough time to watch! I really liked your description of the Rs intro and Kim and Donna's panel. Thanks for taking the time to satisfy our extreme curiosity!

Eilf, I echo Samandean and Jen - thank you so much for taking the time to post. I'm waiting with anticipation for the next chapter of your con adventure.

Great report Eilf! Please, tell us everything >=) If you do I'll share my con experience from October. No one's put up what happened in Mark Pellegrino coffee lounge (you call it meet and greet).

I want to tell you the M&G story! I can’t wait until I get there by going through all the days and the panels and stuff, this writing lark is hard! So first of all let me tell you I have great friends, especially in the ‘I wish someone would ask X question, you are going to a con will you ask about it?’ stakes. Leah was at a con a while since and when I heard her ask the question I said I wanted the answer to I just KNEW it was her! And she was so excellent, husky sexy voice and all And she got a great answer too! Leah is awesome, people!

And now ST50 was also casting around for a question for Jared for his M&G (I am perfectly sure she could have come up with one herself mind you, she always asks great questions), so I suggested she ask him one of the big, philosophical questions of life and brotherhood – many of you will understand how important the answer would be when you read it, some will not ... I didn’t really expect her to ask it but it happened!

Sunday is the big day – J2 day. We had the gold panel first (I will come back to that eventually) and then ST heads into the M&G. When she gets a chance she asks (I am paraphrasing here slightly as this is the question I had and I assume it is approximately how she asked it but I don’t know for sure) :

So out of the entire show this is the bit of it that my friend is having trouble with. Sam and Dean have been travelling together for a long time, and they know they are both into pranks, so we don’t really believe that Sam would leave his ACTUAL tootbrush where Dean could get it and mess with it – is the one in his room a decoy and does he have the one he uses hidden somewhere else? (or a shorter version ‘Is Sam’s box of memories where he hides his real toothbrush?)’

Apparently Jared looked at her blankly for a moment and ST followed up with ‘just nod and say ‘yes’, she will be happy’.

Which he did (and I am, but wait, it gets better)

However once he got his head around the question, and apparently there were a good few nods of agreement about the ‘eeew’ of what Dean did to the toothbrush in … whichever episode it was … he laughed and said that of all the stuff that had happened on the show that was the thing that had squicked out Genevieve the most as well. He couldn’t see her problem at all (I think the world is divided into these two types of people) and this apparently led into a toothbrush sharing conversation, with her going ‘Nope, not happening’ and him going ‘but we’re MARRIED!?’

So after the M&G she told me all this story and I was very entertained. I LOVE this story and I love that Genevieve is with me on this!

Immediately after the M&G finished we had J2 duo photo ops, which had been worrying me a little ‘cause I am not at all photogenic and I don’t like having my photo taken, especially when I have the chance to get nervous … like standing in line for instance …

ST50 was having one alone and then we both were being photo-ed with both of them. I was going to get a Jared hug *blush* (yay!!) *blush*. So after she got her photo and before I could join them – and while I was politely saying hello to Jensen who politely (and somberly) said hello to me (my strongest impression is that he is not that much taller than me – even though he is - and he looks in real life exactly as he looks on TV (that is a very good looking man)) – she told Jared that I was ‘toothbrush girl’ LOL.

But you don’t have time for chitchat in the photos so I immediately find myself in VERY close proximity to Jared (ie wrapped around each other) looking up at him while he looks down into my eyes (and yeah my brain had vanished so he probably DID see the back of my skull) and says with a huge smile and ABSOLUTE sincerity:
‘It’s a decoy’.
….
…
..
.
Um … yeah … sorry, what? I was distracted. You know, thinkin' about things, reevaluating my life, etc. Back now.
So you know all those Facebook videos he does where he is really close to the camera? (and looks f*king gorgeous?) Yeah it was like that proximity except without the computer … talking to me ...

ST asked me afterwards how the photo went, and I said I didn’t remember but there was a fair possibility that the photo had Jared, ST and Jensen all smiling for the camera and me just looking straight up (luckily I seem to have not done that, though I DO look like a dork )

I sort of bounced out of the photo-op room.

That was the first photo op, the second one was ST doing a hilarious pose with an ‘I lost my shoe’ pout while I got ANOTHER Jared hug. I am smiling in this one. And cause ST mentioned my name while explaining to Jared that I needed one of Jared’s legendary ‘squishy hugs’ (it was a very gentle squishy hug) it got used when he said goodbye to me!! My NAME! I instantly forget people’s names! He really had no reason to keep mine in his head for even an instant, but he did. (Mantra: *I am a grownup,I have a job, I … oh, to hell with it, … *squee*) …

I mean we are talking about Beatlemania levels of sheer starstruckness I had by the time we left the photo-op room and I thought I was being so cool! I am pure fangirl all the way through. #noshamewhatsoeverwellmaybealittle.

I would not ever have done the photo-ops without ST. She bought the pictures and really wanted me to join her in them, I thought they would be terrifying and they were basically the highlight of the weekend, no matter how brief. And I wouldn’t have gotten such a fun interaction without her involvement even at that. So it is all thanks to her!

And that is ST50’s (and my) M&G tidbit and photo-op

Just trying to keep Eilf's thread about her con experiences on the list

eilf, I am so damn jealous! An honest to God moose squishy hug! You had better send ST50 the biggest effing fruit basket ever, because she gave you the gift of a lifetime. I don't suppose you would care to post the picture? Don't worry that you might look bad, I'll mostly be looking at the Js. And please tell the heart story.

PS. I loved when Jared made fun of Leah's sexy voice when she asked her question. I've decided if I ever get to a Con and get to ask a question, I will use a funny voice so he can mock me too!

Your update about the M&G was so entertaining I wanted to bump up your post. I think some people don't realize you are sharing on the discussion threads and that you are adding updates.

All of this section is stuff as I remember it, so it is possible that I am mis-remembering some of it, but with that disclaimer:

Kim / Jim Beaver

Kim was on stage with Jim Beaver as well. Poor Jim was having a tough weekend, as it turns out, as his mother was very ill (she is much better now apparently) but you would never have known from his stage performance. He was wearing an absolutely entertaining t-shirt which took a while to sink in. It was a Led Zeppelin t-shirt in the incredibly familiar font that that has … with the band underneath … except that the band was the Beatles circa 1964 – again a totally iconic picture. It gave you cognitive dissonance while you tried to work it out. I complimented him on it during autographs (it was my 4th and I had gotten brave by that point) and he said with a perfectly straight face ‘A lot of people have commented on my t-shirt, I don’t know why, it’s just a t-shirt!’

Image credit: @Tw1nsm0m

They were very sweet together too. Kim told a story about how Jim had helped her when she was having a bad day thinking she was a bad mother and he was really good to her. Kim has a daughter (who she clearly adores so she is doing something right ) who has autism and sometimes she has rough days. It is nice that she feels comfortable enough to talk about it with these groups of people.

Tahmoh Penikett

Tahmoh Penikett (I have 67 different spellings of his last name I am going to guess that is the correct one) was there to replace Mark Sheppard (whose poor wife has STILL not had her baby despite going into labor 15 days ago). He is an interesting character. He has so much going on in other shows that his questions don’t have to be all about SPN. But he got questions about Zeke/Gadreel and the fact that he had about 5 minutes notice that Jared had already played him so any ideas he had were completely out the window. He really seems to take pride in his characters so I imagine that was a disappointing thing for him – plus he had to change his character very fast
Director: ‘So Jared has already filmed an episode as Zeke would you like to watch it, you have *checks watch* 4 minutes and 40 seconds now?’
Tahmoh; deadpan: ‘That might be a good idea.’
He also praised Jared’s version of Gadreel .

He talked about Battlestar Galactica and how that role was initially probably not a keeper but they wrote him in to the full series. He enjoyed working with Joss Whedon: “What? why on earth would I want to work with that guy again, one of the most successful TV show creators and with two huge franchises under his belt, come on!’ or something to that effect.

Travis Aaron Wade

Travis Aaron Wade … tries too hard … he has had a good deal of issues with getting too involved with fans and it has bitten him in the ass. He seems to be his own worst enemy though. I don’t know the truth of some of it (though I do believe the truth of other bits). However I don't want to influence how other people feel ab out him one way or the other. It seems clear (to me anyway) that he believes that the fan/actor divide can be ignored by just being buddies, and it REALLY can’t. He has had to hire a PR group (which he was totally open about on Twitter so I feel I can mention it) to get him out of the mess he was in but he would be way better off taking a leaf out of other actors' book and keeping his distance from the fans.
In his panel he was giving out gifts - to people he called out by name from the crowd - for reasons that weren’t absolutely clear In some cases there was a story attached – which I hope he got permission from each person to tell beforehand (which was honestly doubtful - this is the sort of thing he has done in the past that could get him in trouble). It all took too long and was confusing and we got bored and slightly uncomfortable with it after a while.

When he started talking, though, he does a good job. He gets the show in a way that the writers don’t seem to. When he was first on the show he talked up the idea of Sam being afraid of Cole because Cole tortured him and his having Stockholm syndrome and that lead to a deal of bad feeling. I suspect not knowing anything about the show he assumed Sam was just Dean’s sidekick – which considering the way the writing treated Sam in the Cole storylines is not surprising. As we know he also used Sam’s nickname that only Dean uses (and the writers LET him, which was actually worse). I think he has gone back and actually found out the motivation not only of Cole but also of Dean and Sam, and gets the importance of the name for example. He also, when asked whether he would be / would like to be back on the show, said that FIRST Sam owes Cole a beat-down for the torture. And that got an enormous cheer – and not in a way that was being mean to either Travis OR Cole it was a ‘you just haven’t earned it yet, baby’ moment about the show’s writing. There are a lot of people who don’t appreciate Cole going from enemy to bro, and with Dean being fine with it (Though they want Sam to be allowed sort out his own battles). Pity the writers will never get to hear the cheer!

He said that it could then be followed by an essential requirement for Cole to actually do something definitively heroic for the benefit of the brothers before he can be actively accepted as an ally. Seriously, like the guy personally or not, but he gets the motif of THIS TV show - and what is satisfying for the viewers - better than the current writers. He also explained how funny it was him (at about 5’9’ish) supposedly getting the upper hand with Sam so easily, and how Jared sitting down is practically the same height as Travis standing.

Jim Beaver

Jim did a session on his own and came out wearing an ‘Ally’ t-shirt which came in very useful when someone asked him a Destiel question, and another one about representation. He said that his t-shirt answered both questions but that he wasn’t going to comment on the Destiel point as ‘that is your thing that you have out in fandom and not ours’ or words to that effect, I actually wish I could remember what he said exactly because it was the best ‘please stop asking us about shipping’ answer I have ever heard.

He was so uncomfortable with the stage lights (which everyone found to be blinding) when he was on his own that he came down and stood on the floor instead. He is sweet because you get the impression he honestly still doesn’t understand conventions, like: "why are you here? Why do you want to know which pokemon I would be if I were a pokemon?" (nobody asks 'which Pokemon?' style questions any more since Mark Sheppard started mocking people unmercifully about it (go Mark!) ) . Jim gives sort of bashful answers and is basically the only cast member who will say ‘you know there really isn’t anything like the amount of pranks on set that you all may have been led to believe and the stories have likely grown in the telling’. I love that about him.

Speaking of repetitive questions. Everyone was asked a ‘what is your favorite ship’ question by this same person who was in each lineup. There was a ‘what is your favorite dance move’ and one about waffles and pancakes that were asked in EVERY SINGLE PANEL. Sigh.

So let me tell you now, definitively, that EVERYONE who has EVER been on SPN likes waffles because the maple syrup stays in the little pockets (yes they all had the same reasoning) … with the single exception of Jensen who likes pancakes because he likes it when the maple syrup gets on the bacon (ick) but I know you already saw the video of that (Bacon wasn’t part of the equation, Jensen)

Misha

My main memory of Misha's panel was that he seemed wrecked tired and still did his best to entertain in the inimitable Misha way. The new system for deciding who gets to ask a question is deeply idiotic - which wasn't quite as obvious in Misha's panel as it ended up being in J2's. Honestly I don’t remember much of the panel. Oddly (since he is a principle instigator of shipping stuff) it was one of the few panels where nobody bothered to ask a shipping question (I might be wrong about that) . One girl in line to ask a question gave the impression that she was actively trying to be rude to him – he certainly took it that way and he gave her a fairly enthusiastic hazing - which she really deserved. *shrug*. She didn’t even try to retract any of what she said so … sometimes even stage people are allowed be rude back, seems fair.

Misha does a lot of good works with RA which he discussed and he is right to be proud of them - especially the Haiti work.

He told the Jared-and-a-broom-and-Jensen-blowing-a kiss-betrayal story It is a good story!

Ruth

Ruth is a sweetheart. She had bracelets and candies for everyone who asked a question – and a lot got hugs as well. She likes to talk about boobs a lot (she has a charity to help women get reconstructive surgery) and made us all dance which … yeah … not really. The first panel she did a live feed of the dance onto Facebook and then apparently left the video running while she put her phone back in her bag – this was pointed out to her by someone in the audience about 5 minutes later because they had the live feed of the inside of Ruth’s bag on their phone…that was a fast scatter back to the stage!

One thing that happened in her panel that was pretty funny was probably not caught on camera. So she hikes up and down the aisles a good deal. Did I mention she is tiny? She realized after a while that there was a woman minder following her at a short distance (about 10-15 feet) she thought this was funny. ‘Do you have to follow me around?’ ‘Yes’ ‘ Reet (right) I can make use of this’ But she behaved for a while longer. I think it was in her second panel she got naughty and when she caught this same (poor) security following her she nipped into the audience along a row where there were a good few empty seats, laughing that she couldn’t follow. However – and this was NOT noticeable before, this lady guard wasn’t the only one keeping an eye out (this is the sort of thing I find fascinating I have to admit) and half way along the row Ruth realized there was ANOTHER security guard at the other end of the row waiting until she got out again. So she just sat down in a free seat beside a guy (like there are 15 guys in the entire room and she finds one to sit beside), and she started chatting with him. The guard hesitated for about 6 seconds and then started in after her. At which point Ruth realized that she needed to behave. I am pretty sure the guard would have physically pulled her out of the crowd. She whipped herself out of the end of the row quick-smart and didn’t mess with the security any more.

On one level it was really funny – especially when she realized she was corralled, on the other level it was probably a total freakout for the security people. It was their job to protect her and they intended to do it.

Honestly the crowd was incredibly well behaved and you might say what is the need to have all these guards around? But I did hear one story (from a pretty good source) of a Misha fan spotting Misha on Saturday morning when he arrived and making a run at him while a security guard verbally tried to stop her and when she didn’t stop he stuck his arm out to block her passage – and she just kept coming and basically clothes-lined herself. And she didn’t get anywhere near Misha with all that. I wonder do people get thrown out of the cons for doing these things?

Osric

Osric discovered the swivel chairs and he was very happy. (as were J2 – they should always get swivel chairs even if it does put Jared in danger of instant on-stage disaster). I can’t really remember any of his panel either (sorry ). He isn’t wearing cosplay any more – apparently by request of his spoilsport manger – though he did answer a question about which one was his favorite He said that pranks were sort of wasted since he got the ultimate one on Jared already (he is NOT proud of that) .

Rob, Richard, Matt

R2M – Matt couldn’t hear anything Richard was saying when he spoke into the mike. Matt tells terrible dad jokes, They told the story of the radio station – which was actually as satisfying from their point of view as it was from ours. I highly recommend you find it and watch The DJ really didn’t know how much trouble he was in and they got a lobster dinner out of it! Also Richard had an amazing story about Band of Brothers that is worth a watch!

My panels are all mixed up in my head at this stage but they were all hugely entertaining and everyone gives 100% to making sure the audience enjoys the experience. I haven't written anything about J2s yet! Bear with me!

Eilf, that was a great thumbnail sketch of the panels. I think I would have loved Jim Beaver's panel, and his polite forthrightness. But I have a couple of follow up questions. (I know, SHOCKER!) First, what is the new system for deciding who gets to ask questions? And why is it that it allows for the same people to ask questions in panel after panel? Also did others in the audience seem impatient with the same people asking the same questions? (it probably would have annoyed me). Finally, what was the rude person saying to Misha, and did the audience display any hostility or annoyance towards her for that crap? Oops, one more question: did the actors give a serious answer to the shipping question, and if so, what did they say? Thanks so much for doing this. I'm really looking forward to the next installment.

Speaking of repetitive questions. Everyone was asked a ‘what is your favorite ship’ question by this same

person who was in each lineup..

*take a deep breath*

Why can they not just ban these shipping questions for other panels? (As I recall they banned them from J2 panel) I'm sick of these shippers, especially Destiel ones trying to worm their fantasy into the show any way possible.

This show is what is it BECAUSE of its plot, character relationships and story. Leave the show I love alone! There is NO romance between between Castiel and Dean. These people are so deluded they see anything they do together as awkward romance. I have no problem with gay people, but these "shippers" need to stop these questions because its wasting time and can make actors feel awkward. Misha really should stop encouraging them.

On a side note let me remind everyone I have no problems with shippers. But only the tame ones.

Back on topic.. How did this one person get to ask the same question at every panel? I assume the lottery system is for J2 and Misha panel only? If it isn't something needs to be done.

There was a ‘what is your favorite dance move’ and one about waffles and pancakes that were asked in EVERY

SINGLE PANEL. Sigh.

The last J2 panel I watched left me frustrated and annoyed. So many useless questions like Waffles and pancakes.. Are these people even watching the show? Are they only there so they can get those precious seconds of J2 paying attention to them. Move the fuck over and let the real fans ask questions about the show. Whilst we're on the subject I am utterly sick of the infamous "What advice to an aspiring actor?". I've lost count how many times that question has been asked last year. I assume these people have the internet, so why not go watch the countless times ppl have asked that at J2 panels?

I pray, PRAY I get to ask my question for our next convention.

(I am putting this in a new reply because I want to add a picture)

Hi SamanDean. Thank you! I am having fun writing them Jim Beaver is a great guy!

Shipping
Ok so your last question is about the shipping (I am going to answer it first so as not to end on a downer note). *sigh* It was pretty low key all weekend. Nobody on stage brought up ships unless the audience did (Rob and his wedding dress notwithstanding), Kim and Brianna talked about all the potential ships that they liked and Kim said she 'keeps them mostly inside her head and doesn't tell everyone' and Brianna said she would like to see Donna an independent woman free of shipping, they did not acknowledge that the question was probably about Destiel (shipping questions are always about Destiel). Jim Beaver said that shipping was the fan's domain and wouldn't comment (in fact he was afraid there were shipping connotations to the pancake/waffle question and didn't want to answer). I think a few other panels included shipping questions but I can't remember now.

But that was then. Since then Creation have gone all out apparently to make Destiel or Cockles a core part of the whole experience, I assume to try to sell more Saturday tickets. Jensen and Misha are apparently willing to play along - or are even instigating it, I don't know. The online fandom is convinced that they are now all for it anyway. The Link:'Jensen and Misha Hawaii Hook-up Giveaway' title of the competition is not exactly subtle (with the added question of is Jared even going to be AT the Hawaii con?) and the videos Jensen and Misha made, as a result, look like they are saying 'if you stalk someone no matter how much they appear not to like it you will eventually get to hook up with them'. I guess the other panelists will get the new memo and their attitude to it all will change.

Questions
So the new system only applies to Misha and J2. In the other panels as far as I could tell we get the questions we deserve because not enough people go up to ask them. I wasn't really paying attention to how long the lines were but I know for someone (Tahmoh I think) the line was short enough that someone got 2 questions in - though she may have done some line shenannigans or something - I don't know. With J2 and Misha there are enough people who want to ask questions and more importantly are willing to line up HOURS in advance to ask whether they prefer pancakes or waffles and what do they think of shippers (ahem, sorry, shipping)? These are very often the same people as either have asked all weekend or who have been to several conventions.

So over the weekend Creation had this idea where you could put your name in a box to ask a question and it would be drawn as a lottery system. I thought that the application would at least include a GENERAL idea of what your question was. Apparently J2 and Misha ask that their questions not be screened but it seems to me that the panels would be a lot more fun when people DON'T get the opportunity to ask questions which actively upset the people on stage (almost invariably some nastiness aimed at Jared, though in this case Misha got a taste of it as I will describe below) or ask the same questions over and over again.

It seemed like a good idea to me and might have led to some interesting conversation, in fact the people who were prepared with a question had pretty good questions in some cases. BUT ... they didn't put the names up on screen until just before the panel, the people were told to line up in order as their name appeared and ... as it turned out the people in the line had put NO thought into what they might ask should they get picked. Hence we got 'I don't have a question' and (unsympathetic as I know this sounds) crying. The first girl who didn't have a question I could have a little sympathy for, she had no notice, the second one .... no, that was just grandstanding, if you can't come up with a question in 10 minutes then give up your place in line to someone who can.

Basically it was mostly Creation's fault, they should have made more effort to impress upon people to have a question prepared. And given them more notice! 2 hours standing in line gives you a lot of time to really polish your 'If you were a llama which country would you like to live in?' question (heh I am not really as anti people's questions as I sound, I could never see myself going and asking a question so my complaining about those who do is a little unfair - I just wish there were fewer 'This could be a Tumblr meme!' ones). The guys can make entertainment out of nearly anything but they could do with different launching points to keep it fresh for everyone.

So it would have been more interesting to filter the questions since there has gotten to be little variety and almost no show-related content.

The girl with the rude question was pretty confusing. I don't know if she started off on the wrong foot and was sparring with Misha or if she was just determined to be rude (reading the transcript seems to me it is the latter). Plus what she was talking about didn't really make a lot of sense. Either way Misha had jetlag and really can't be expected to understand immediately the personality of someone, he can't see, offstage. I saw someone had transcribed the interaction (I can't vouch that it is word for word accurate but it fits with my recollection):



As for what the audience thought I honestly don't know, I was pissed that she couldn't be polite and I don't remember if anyone else around me had a response (sorry )

eilf, I share your thoughts about the Hawaii contest and the way they're publicizing the YANA charity. I know they mean well, but they are most likely upsetting some of the very people they're trying to help by joking about and minimizing the feelings of isolation some of these folks feel. AND by joking about it in a stalker context. I also was pretty shocked that Jensen presumably is OK with Creation marketing the contest as a love letter to Destielers. That "Hook Up" tag actually made my jaw drop. What the hell?!!! Misha has always been tolerant of the Destielers and of shipping in general, and even seems to instigate it a lot,but Jensen has made it quite plain for the most part that he wants nothing to do with it and doesn't like answering questions about it. That's why he was leery of the Fan Fiction ep. So I am honestly puzzled that he is OK with this. I have nothing against the shippers shipping in the privacy of their own home, or in forums with like-minded people, but like YES I am offended by the entitled shippers who demand that their ship be recognized on the show. I think it's fine that Jared and Misha are tolerant of that nonsense, but I have always admired the way that Jensen was forthright about HIS feelings on this issue, and has been willing to take flack for it from those fans who are outraged by his attitude. So why the change? I'm truly mystified by this, and very disappointed in how the contest and the Con are being marketed. that being said, I may enter so I have the chance for a free trip to Hawaii where I can relay my feelings to Jensen and Misha in person. Although if Jared is not going to be at the Con, that might make me reconsider.

Let me tell you something. I've been to anime cons and yes there are people who ship gay/lesbian characters but they are more shall we say well behaved? Not as crazy? The difference is big. I come to this fandom (having never been a fan of a TV show since 15 years ago?) and some of these obsessed and abusive if offended fans remind me of Celebrity fans. i.e the Justin Bieber ones >.>

and the videos Jensen and Misha made, as a result, look like they are saying 'if you stalk someone no matter how much they appear not to like it you will eventually get to hook up with them'. I guess the other panelists will get the new memo and their attitude to it all will change.

Yeah as much as I thought them funny I couldn't help begin to think they seemed a tad stalker'ish.

Creation, Jensen and Misha need to tone this down. It upsets and infuriates me. I'm pretty sure our cons have a screening for questions. I say this because the infamous "dad" question for Misha at Asylum 14 was denied at first (I couldnt go, but its on Youtube). I bet they do this for J2 and their single panels here too.

Apparently J2 and Misha ask that their questions not be screened but it seems to me that the panels would be a lot more fun when people DON'T get the opportunity to ask questions which actively upset the people on stage (almost invariably some nastiness aimed at Jared, though in this case Misha got a taste of it as I will describe below) or ask the same questions over and over again.

Well I'm sorry but they SHOULD screen questions. Houscon J2 panels were awful and boring, filled with stupid and repetitive questions. The only saving grace were the boys comedic antics. Where there good ones? I forgot. Too many bad questions.

Screening questions would seperate the Jensen and Jared people with the Sam and Dean ones. What I mean is the former ask about for example, what their favourite dessert their wife makes them. The latter a question about the show. I love the boys but at the end of the day the convention is about a show, now the lives of the J's. I don't mind a few questions about the boys themselves but its getting to the point there's more of those than about the actual show!

Hence we got 'I don't have a question' and (unsympathetic as I know this sounds) crying. The first girl who didn't have a question I could have a little sympathy for, she had no notice, the second one .... no, that was just grandstanding, if you can't come up with a question in 10 minutes then give up your place in line to someone who can.

I have no sympathy for the 1st girl. She put her name down and I'm pretty sure she said "I put my name down because I didn't think I'd get picked?" Something like that I think. Bit of a stupid thing to do isn't it? There really are no words to describe that girl. She wasted time and likely someone's good question because she left her brain at home.

And that second girl. *long sigh* I cannot think of a nice way to express my feelings about her. Moving on.

One thing I dislike immensely is the sheer amount of girls screeching and screaming things at the boys. Do we have that here? I don't think so from what little panels I've seen. I sure hope not, I'm going D:

Ok Last segment!

Autographs

The Saturday night concert is a big event and there was some mayhem ahead of the start of it partly because, rumor had it, Osric’s EPIC autograph line was interfering with setup for the show. I think they needed Osric to practice or something. In the meantime Osric is chatting with every gamer in his line and hugging every second person and his line snaked back and forwards all over the foyer. I made a lot of friends and acquaintances in that line, there was laughter, tears, weddings, wakes, the whole gamut of a lifetime while standing for eternity in a line that would not have been all that surprising if Crowley had been responsible for it ….

So let me tell you about autographs. Square dancing ain’t got nothing on being in one of 6 different lines – when you need to do all six of them before you are finished – and having a human wrangler tell you what to do! Connie (isn’t that the best name for someone with her job you ever came across?) is the master-guru-lady of Creation cons it seems. She stood on stage and tried her best with this. Apparently they don’t usually try 6 different lines. It went something like this:

Gold row A get in line for Jim Beaver who is going to be at this table in the top left of the hall, when you are done move over to Tamoh’s line which will be in the middle here and then go to the right to Richard’s line

….1/2 hour later

‘If you are in Jim’s line (Jim’s was a slow line) and you need Brianna’s signature, join her line and then come back as she will be finishing soon’ …

½ hour after that ‘

if you have paper tickets that you printed from home and you were born on a Tuesday in February and your mother’s name is Beryl and you have everyone’s autograph but Kim’s then you are probably currently standing in Kim’s line so not sure why I am talking to you …’

etc. etc.
Poor Connie she did a fantastic job in a nearly impossible situation, but if standing in line for hours is not really your thing then just be aware that there is a considerable amount of it! Also people were not actually doing what she was telling them to do … At one point I was trapped in the room for about 20 minutes as the only remaining person from line J – i.e. the only one actually following the instructions for line J. Making friends with the volunteers (who are all lovely people) is a must in these situations and I eventually got to skip to the head of a queue of mere ‘holders of paper printouts’ mortals, at least 5 of whom tried to hex me as I walked past (true fact (not actually true fact)).

On the positive side the best way to meet people, as everyone knows, is to end up standing in line with them. I got to meet some really fun people. One pair – who were from a Latin American country the name of which escapes me right now - got to talking to me and as soon as I had said a few words he said to me, in a VERY strong accent, ‘hey! do I hear an accent there?’ well … he did (my Irish accent was apparently somewhat more notable in Texas than it is Vermont), but that wasn’t the point! I don’t often get to do complete unstudied sass but coming from him this was somewhat outrageous - so he got a ‘Excuse me? YOU are asking ME that???’ with snappy hand gestures … he looked astonished for a second and then just cracked up laughing … They were telling me about their planned photo op which sounded great so I hope to get to see it at some point (he was going to be Sam, I think, keeping Dean away from her, as Amara). He also danced with Ruth in one of her panels so he might be on a clip somewhere!

Another person - whose story I won’t give away - told me about the unlikely (to me) thing they were going to tell to / ask the person whose line we were in. Honestly I thought they were joking. When they got to the top of the line it turned out that they were basically entirely serious O.O I met them again later, totally thrilled with the interaction ‘he told me I need therapy!’ (he did but he was joking) ‘Which is what I wanted him to say!!!’

I was in another line where the person in front of me was crouched down at eye level with the guest crying their eyes out and telling him their story. I got the guest immediately after that … I felt really quite sorry for him, he looked stricken. I didn’t get ANY interaction with him as a result, he didn’t even speak, which was ok with me because I understood what was going on, but it would have been hard on someone who might really have been looking forward to their OWN moment of contact. If all the actors get a few of these interactions every hour that they are available to communicate directly with the audience it is no wonder they have come to feel that intervention is needed. For that reason I get that the basic idea for YANA is meant with the best of intentions and something like it has actually become really necessary not only to help people but also to protect the actors, who really can’t be expected to deal with a lot of that, and allow them to do what they get paid for which is to entertain!

I had a bunch of little chibi (baby cartoon) playing cards for each of them to sign and a picture for J2. The cards were a much more successful decision than the picture really. They are very cute and the autographers liked and commented on them Also I was pleased that I even had one for Tahmoh though we didn’t know he was going to be there until the con started. I had bought the cards 2 or 3 years ago (and they are now out of print) so I had to swap them around a bit to get one for everyone – a 'Cole' for Travis was by far the most difficult - but they look good signed! Kim was the nicest person I dealt with (though everyone was nice) – I started to tell her how much I liked her hair just at the exact moment she gave an enthusiastic comment about the card and so we had to stop and not interrupt each other.

The way the autograph lines work is that people whose tickets you have to buy at the con have the least amount to do and therefore have more time to interact with you. There are complimentary signatures for the gold and silver tickets (possibly copper too) so the nearer the front of the gold line you are the more interaction you are going to get with the signers because they are not too tired at that stage. Also they know if you are in the first few rows it is very likely you have been to a few cons (people at a con have preferential chances to buy seats for the next con, so by the time they go on sale there will not be much availability in the first several rows) so they are likely going to take more time with you. The front row pays a good deal more than the second row for their ticket and then on top of that there are VIP people, who I THINK get backstage access – they certainly get priority over everyone else.

When J2 were signing the lines initially were epic as they were interacting a lot with the first few rows. By the time they got to the back of the gold section (me) things had speeded up considerably and you don’t get nearly as much interaction with them as even you do with the other guests. DO NOT bring something for J2 that involves a change of pen color – it ain’t going to happen! They also don’t personalize (the others will if you give your name to the helpers in line – they will stick it on a little post-it for you so that the guests spell your name correctly).

I wish I could have explained my picture to J2 them (particularly Jared because it is about Sam) but since I have trouble defining it to MYSELF in a few sentences, and there really wasn’t the remotest opportunity to say more than ‘hi’ and ‘thank you’, it didn’t happen. The picture I had was drawn for me by the artist who draws the ‘Ask Sam Stuff’ cartoon and I am very pleased with it!

Thanks for encouraging me to write about my experiences - as you can see my memory is pretty bad so I appreciate that you encouraged me to do it before the details escaped me completely. I hope it comes over how fun it was, dissecting things to see how they tick is part of how I enjoy stuff so I hope it doesn't come over as all critical - I really had a lot of fun!

And it was a fascinating experience for me! And the stuff about the length of times standing in line is supposed to be funny It is the time you get to really interact with other fans - make the most of it!
(I suppose I should mention *grin* that there isn't a lot of point having an online username if you then post pictures with personalized autographs ... I didn't realize for quite a while that I had done that. So, without further ado, I would like to say 'Hi, my name is Helen and in 2016 I (finally) got to go to a Supernatural convention!')

eilf, that was terrific and I'm very grateful you took the time to share it all, and in such great detail. I don't think it came across as critical at all. More analytical, which is exactly what I was looking for.
Just one last question. Well, OK, a couple. Was the J2 panel the best part of the Con (other than that photo op, of course)? When the boys walked on stage was it really as electric as the vids make it seem? And what exactly was Jared doing while Jensen was showing the pic of Jared's finger? was he really lying on the floor laughing? the only vid I've seen was trained on Jensen the whole time. Thanks again eilf!

Hi eilf, I saw your unedited comments and thought they were great. I laughed at loud at your standing in line stories. This was actually my favorite part so far. We all have different experiences and impressions of the cons and I loved hearing yours. We all wanted to hear your take. It sounded like you had a great time.

As for the autograph part it was one of y favorite things. I got to sat a few words to everyone. They were all nice. Jensen and Mark S were definitely the most focused on getting the autos done as fast as they could. But I did thank them and they both made eye contact and smiled warmly and said you're welcome. Meanwhile chatty Jared's line was VERY long. He is so sweet and I think if the people in charge of moving things along didn't do that Jared would've chatted all evening. I did get to say a few words to him and we exchanged a few sentences about how much he loved Seattle and how it was his second home.

Thanks again eilf for taking time to share your experiences.

For those who don't know: 'The Finger Incident'
(cropped) version of photo Jensen took:


What it looked like from the audience POV:

(with bonus of Jensen's 'put-upon by the universe' expression, normally reserved for when he finds himself alone on stage minding a baby pig...)

And what was the reason for this? The shape of the scar on Jared's finger.

I think it went like this:

You have to love the idea that there was a period of time on set when Jared was soooooo bored that he is literally contemplating his fingertips … for long enough to realise that the cut on the end of one of them was the same shape as the Mark of Cain.

And that he might as well point it out to some other bored person.

And that Jensen was also bored enough to pay enough attention to this fascinating scar.

And as a result ….

They decide to not only mention it on stage during a con but also try to take a photograph to show it to the rest of us…..