AwesomeCon Recap - BtVS Edition
So I've been a Buffy fan ever since my dad told me that I should come watch this show that turned out to be episode 3 "The Witch" airing live back in 1997. I followed the show as it aired, headbanged to the beginning of every episode, flipped out and blamed my dad when my VCR didn't record "Fool For Love" as it aired the first time, rewatched the final scene of "Intervention" on VHS in my bedroom wayyyy too many times (BUT NEVER ENOUGH), cried like I'd never cried before when Buffy jumped off the tower and spent the next few hours entering fandom for the very first time to make sure SHE WASN'T REALLY DEAD, RIGHT?, watched "Once More With Feeling" in my dark bedroom and gasped as they KISSED for the first time, snarked about Spike's terrible hair in Season 7 with my bestie Leia (who liked Angel better, gross), and finally after the final episode aired, I couldn't handle not having these characters in my life. Thus began the era of reading ALL THE FIC and skipping morning classes in college because I was up until 4am reading a time-travelling/all-human/no-humans/sexsexsex Spuffy fic. (Whoops I also read Buffy/Angelus fic during this time period. Shut up. Don't judge me.)
So my love for this show has always been deeply private and mostly experienced at a distance. In the place between sleep and awake. I didn't talk about how Buffy was my favorite show in school. I kept it a secret for the most part until I found out someone else already liked it. I'd been a fan for 10 years before I even posted anything in fandom online! I was in lurker mode for ages and beyond. So you can imagine how it's been a long time coming for me to go to my VERY FIRST CON where I got to meet actors and bump elbows with fans cosplaying and attend panels about FANFIC and THE STRONG WOMEN CHARACTER TROPE and so basically it was the best thing ever.
Feelin' myself feh-feh-feh feelin' myself as I metro into DC
Of course, I was so excited that I didn't really stop to eat and survived off two Kashi bars for the entire day (and some pretzels I stole off a dude who was too busy falling in love with grynfdor-godess and it all ended in tragedy because he had ALL THE WRONG OPINIONS ABOUT TWD). I can hardly blame him, tho. We're such babes ;-)
So yeah, had an AMAZING time hanging with gryfndor-godess and we got to hang with pennydrdful for a few brief and beautiful minutes (NEVER ENOUGH), and I forgot to eat much at all besides stolen pretzels and donated edamame and by the time I got home I was the one walking around like a zombie but...
WHO CARES JAMES MARSTERS CUDDLED ME!!!
I'm pretty sure the reason James is hamming it up with his pouty lips is because I asked if I could hug him, meaning could I wrap my arm around his back during the pic, and he thought I was asking if I could climb him like a tree. So he had to charmingly explain, "I can't hug pretty girls now that I'm married," which totally WORKED even though I know it's a line. DAMN THOSE CHEEKBONES.
Plus I got to meet the lovely Amber Benson and Emma Caulfield! OMG tho Emma is so tiny that I didn't know how to stand beside her without feeling like I might harm her and that might piss her off and she's kinda intimidating for such a small person. It was difficult to navigate. Like, she's friendly, but in that way where you know she's ready to cut you down to size if you step out of line. Amber is just a big ball of sunshine, rainbows and puppies tho. My feelings can be summed up thus: Amber, you're so sweet! Emma, you're so awesome and I'm a little afraid of you!
gryndor-godess and I agreed that Amber was the absolute sweetest and that Emma was nice too but a bit "prickly" one-on-one. Not that I cared! As I was waiting for Amber to sign my comic, Emma snuck in from behind the curtain, gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek and a "Hello, lovely!" with the most affectionate and loving smile. SO ADORABLE. Meanwhile I was just staring at them with this fawning look all over my face. Which might be why Emma was a little "you're weird" when I came over later. When we took our picture, she was very sweet and ordered me to make sure I was happy with it, to which I replied that "I thought I looked funny but that she looked great!" adding an irreverent "Miss Photogenic" to which she rolled her eyes and IT WAS AMAZING.
Okay, so sorry for the shit quality photos to follow but I was sitting too far away during the Buffy panel and I took photos off the screen. BETTER SHIT THAN NOTHING.
One of my absolute favorite parts of the panel was how ANIMATED James was like every five seconds. I thought I would put my phone down, but he kept making FACES and I had to capture them for posterity. If only to share them with you now and be all LOOK HE STILL MAKES THESE FACES ALL THE TIME.
Below, this is James' response to a very serious question about his doing voice work for the Dresden Files audiobooks. It starts off very serious until the fan notes that one of the characters (can't remember who???) was explicitly described in the book as having a not-cartoonish voice. To which the fan then asked James, "So why did you give him a cartoonish voice?"
James verified, "Not cartoonish?" and basically WHOOPS'D his way out of that one. He explained how he based the voice off of one of his best friends growing up who had a very cartoonish sounding voice. And there's only so many voices a guy can do and give him a break, there were like over 400 voices in those books, dude.
Here have some Emma Caulfield being grinny, faux self-important, and SHUT YOU DOWN awesome, plus Amber being super lovely and charming!
That last pic was another highlight of the panel. One fan came up and asked James, Emma, and Amber, "If you were a kitchen utensil, what would you be?" YEAH. After a few awkward moments and lots of groaning from the audience, Emma jumped in and said, "I'd be a knife so I could cut through all the bullshit." OH YEAH SHE DID. I totally forget what James said he'd be, but Amber said she'd be a pot holder because... helpful. (((: And then later on Emma snarked about how she'd talked to that fan before the panel and they'd agreed that the fan would ask them how to solve the conflict in the Middle East. IT WAS AMAZING.
~~~
LOOK HOW ADORABLE JAMES AND EMMA ARE TOGETHER??? Sorry I don't have more Amber but she was sitting too far away from James to share screen lol except when he was leaning across Emma to pat her on the back. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH. Seriously, Emma might not have been asked any questions directly (which was SO ANNOYING) but she certainly lit up the stage with her personality.
And here have some random pics of JAMES MAKING FACES ~
~look at this stuff ~ isn't it neat ~ wouldn't you think my collection's complete~
And finally when they were passing around post-it notes for us to write down our names and any messages we wanted signed, I was inspired to get this:
NOW MY LIFE IS COMPLETE
So my love for this show has always been deeply private and mostly experienced at a distance. In the place between sleep and awake. I didn't talk about how Buffy was my favorite show in school. I kept it a secret for the most part until I found out someone else already liked it. I'd been a fan for 10 years before I even posted anything in fandom online! I was in lurker mode for ages and beyond. So you can imagine how it's been a long time coming for me to go to my VERY FIRST CON where I got to meet actors and bump elbows with fans cosplaying and attend panels about FANFIC and THE STRONG WOMEN CHARACTER TROPE and so basically it was the best thing ever.
Feelin' myself feh-feh-feh feelin' myself as I metro into DC
Of course, I was so excited that I didn't really stop to eat and survived off two Kashi bars for the entire day (and some pretzels I stole off a dude who was too busy falling in love with grynfdor-godess and it all ended in tragedy because he had ALL THE WRONG OPINIONS ABOUT TWD). I can hardly blame him, tho. We're such babes ;-)
So yeah, had an AMAZING time hanging with gryfndor-godess and we got to hang with pennydrdful for a few brief and beautiful minutes (NEVER ENOUGH), and I forgot to eat much at all besides stolen pretzels and donated edamame and by the time I got home I was the one walking around like a zombie but...
WHO CARES JAMES MARSTERS CUDDLED ME!!!
I'm pretty sure the reason James is hamming it up with his pouty lips is because I asked if I could hug him, meaning could I wrap my arm around his back during the pic, and he thought I was asking if I could climb him like a tree. So he had to charmingly explain, "I can't hug pretty girls now that I'm married," which totally WORKED even though I know it's a line. DAMN THOSE CHEEKBONES.
Plus I got to meet the lovely Amber Benson and Emma Caulfield! OMG tho Emma is so tiny that I didn't know how to stand beside her without feeling like I might harm her and that might piss her off and she's kinda intimidating for such a small person. It was difficult to navigate. Like, she's friendly, but in that way where you know she's ready to cut you down to size if you step out of line. Amber is just a big ball of sunshine, rainbows and puppies tho. My feelings can be summed up thus: Amber, you're so sweet! Emma, you're so awesome and I'm a little afraid of you!
gryndor-godess and I agreed that Amber was the absolute sweetest and that Emma was nice too but a bit "prickly" one-on-one. Not that I cared! As I was waiting for Amber to sign my comic, Emma snuck in from behind the curtain, gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek and a "Hello, lovely!" with the most affectionate and loving smile. SO ADORABLE. Meanwhile I was just staring at them with this fawning look all over my face. Which might be why Emma was a little "you're weird" when I came over later. When we took our picture, she was very sweet and ordered me to make sure I was happy with it, to which I replied that "I thought I looked funny but that she looked great!" adding an irreverent "Miss Photogenic" to which she rolled her eyes and IT WAS AMAZING.
Okay, so sorry for the shit quality photos to follow but I was sitting too far away during the Buffy panel and I took photos off the screen. BETTER SHIT THAN NOTHING.
One of my absolute favorite parts of the panel was how ANIMATED James was like every five seconds. I thought I would put my phone down, but he kept making FACES and I had to capture them for posterity. If only to share them with you now and be all LOOK HE STILL MAKES THESE FACES ALL THE TIME.
Below, this is James' response to a very serious question about his doing voice work for the Dresden Files audiobooks. It starts off very serious until the fan notes that one of the characters (can't remember who???) was explicitly described in the book as having a not-cartoonish voice. To which the fan then asked James, "So why did you give him a cartoonish voice?"
James verified, "Not cartoonish?" and basically WHOOPS'D his way out of that one. He explained how he based the voice off of one of his best friends growing up who had a very cartoonish sounding voice. And there's only so many voices a guy can do and give him a break, there were like over 400 voices in those books, dude.
Here have some Emma Caulfield being grinny, faux self-important, and SHUT YOU DOWN awesome, plus Amber being super lovely and charming!
That last pic was another highlight of the panel. One fan came up and asked James, Emma, and Amber, "If you were a kitchen utensil, what would you be?" YEAH. After a few awkward moments and lots of groaning from the audience, Emma jumped in and said, "I'd be a knife so I could cut through all the bullshit." OH YEAH SHE DID. I totally forget what James said he'd be, but Amber said she'd be a pot holder because... helpful. (((: And then later on Emma snarked about how she'd talked to that fan before the panel and they'd agreed that the fan would ask them how to solve the conflict in the Middle East. IT WAS AMAZING.
~~~
LOOK HOW ADORABLE JAMES AND EMMA ARE TOGETHER??? Sorry I don't have more Amber but she was sitting too far away from James to share screen lol except when he was leaning across Emma to pat her on the back. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH. Seriously, Emma might not have been asked any questions directly (which was SO ANNOYING) but she certainly lit up the stage with her personality.
And here have some random pics of JAMES MAKING FACES ~
~look at this stuff ~ isn't it neat ~ wouldn't you think my collection's complete~
And finally when they were passing around post-it notes for us to write down our names and any messages we wanted signed, I was inspired to get this:
NOW MY LIFE IS COMPLETE