AHBL10 (Part Two): Of concerts, photo ops, panels and autographs, and bloody t-shirts.
Still on a high from the day's events (and still pausing periodically to inhale the heady scent of Jared's cologne) I returned to my room at the Novotel to carefully store my treasures, had a quick bite to eat with Kaz and Nirmani, then it was back to the Convention Centre for the next exciting stage of the weekend's events: the Louden Swain concert. I'd never seen them live on stage before and, I have to say, I was absolutely blown away by the talent. Not only were Rob's vocals fantastic, but the musicians were also really talented. And, of course, there were other treats in store: Richard joined the band on guitar, and there were appearances from Matt, Rowena and Jensen. Jensen sang "Son of a Bitch" and Rowena sang "My Baby Shot Me Down". It was a thrilling show and I loved every minute of it!
Even after the show we stayed up for a while, chatting and squeeing about the day's events and we continued our SPN rewatch party for a while. But, after all the excitement, I was a tired little teddy bear, so I soon retired. After all, I had another big day on the morrow!
The day began with a J2 panel. We had VIP tickets for the second day so my seats and, consequently, my photos were better. The picture quality still isn't great, though, compared to others I've seen so, again, apologies. Here are a few of the photos I took at that panel, though.
After the VIP panel they showed SPN reruns in the auditorium while fans were invited to attend photo ops in another room, so I left to join the line with my friends, clutching my Jensen and Jared tokens in my little sweaty palm.
Now, a note on clothing. Prior to the convention I had no SPN apparel apart from my precious brass Samulet (which I naturally brought with me), but my wonderful friend, kazluvsbooks, bought me an official Sam and Dean t-shirt especially for the convention, and I want to officially thank her for that, from the bottom of my heart, because that's what I was wearing when I had my close encounter with Jared and . . er, that other guy.
Oh man, did I feel guilty afterward for barely acknowledging Jensen's presence during my exchange with Jared! I wanted to make up for it during the photo shoot that morning but, yeah, too little too late, I knew. I doubted Jensen would even remember me from the previous evening, out of all the thousands of fans he had photo ops with that weekend. Still, I suited up in my best Dean Winchester for the occasion: jeans and a Metallica t-shirt, the Samulet, of course . . . and a recently acquired plaid shirt . . .
These photo ops typically go by very quickly; there isn't time to say anything very intelligent, but I at least wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything. So while I stood in line waiting for my turn, I made sure I never took my eyes off Jensen. You know what? I've heard people say he's even better looking in real life. It's hard to believe, I know, but I have to attest, he really is!
I was excited and all in a dither, but reasonably restrained. I've never had the impression that Jensen is as comfortable with the touchy-feely stuff as Jared seems to be, so I didn't want to fangirl all over him. I contented myself with giving him a pointed and heartfelt "thank you" before leaving the booth. I tried to put all my years of love for the show into that "thank you". As I say, I don't know if he would even have remembered who I was, so I'm probably imagining he looked touched and a little surprised. (Oh, maybe she does like me a bit after all!) :P
I had no great expectation that Jared would recognize me again, either. Like I said, he does so many of these photo ops. I wasn't sure he'd even remember his own shirt, either, since he wears a new one every day. So, when he greeted me with "great shirt!" I responded, in all innocence, "it's your shirt!" "I know!" said Jared. (Honestly, I seriously am a bit thick). Anyway, so then I had to hug him again for remembering me!
I would have gotten out of his way after the photo, but Jared held up the line to thank me again for my donation and apologize some more for the blood. "I love the blood!" I assured him again. But this time I at least had the grace to add. "That sounds awful," and elaborate. "I love the blood, but not that you had to bleed for it. How is your thumb, by the way?" I remembered to ask, just as I was leaving the booth. "Oh, it's fine," said Jared. "Jensen took care of it for me."
Awwwwwwww!!!!
Oh, and by the way, Jared's even better looking in real life, too!
The afternoon session kicked off with the Hiilywood girls. I didn't think to take photos of that one (sorry) but it was a lot of fun. It began with a screening of Supernatural Parody 2 (which I love to bits!) and then Hilly and Hannah came on stage. They are so little and cute and it was really funny hearing their tiny high-pitched voices, being so used to the deep gruff voice Hilly puts on to play Dean. They talked about the making of the parodies and all the work that goes into them. They take months because there's just the two of them and they do everything themselves! Someone asked if they'd ever appear as guests on the show; they said they'd love to but they haven't been asked yet, so they asked us to all make a wish for them :)
I think my favourite panel of the day was actually Rachel Miner and Ruth Connell. These two are great friends and have such great rapport that it was a joy to see them on stage together. Rachel talked a little about her struggles with MS and how kind and helpful everyone on the show was to her even when they didn't know what the problem was. She said, in retrospect, she wished she'd felt abe to talk about it at the time as she thought it would have been helped others to know what they were dealing with. She was asked whether there was any chance of her returning to the show and she said she'd love to if the writers could come up with a way of having a demon in a wheelchair. She said she's thought about whether that could be possible and thinks it would be great if it could be done.
They were also asked how they thought the show should end. Rachel said she just wanted to be surprised, and Ruth said she didn't mind so long as she was still in there on the last page of the script, and she asked us to all take a moment to concentrate, put that thought out into the universe and make it happen :)
Rob and Julian were also entertaining in their panel. Rob talked a little about how he got into music and how Louden Swain got started, and Julian talked about some of the weird and wonderful roles he's been asked to play. He said he's always wanted to play Hamlet but somehow he keeps getting cast as crazed weirdos instead.
(Julian Richings demonstrating one of his crazed weirdo roles)
He said he loved his introduction to the show, explaining that when he filmed the scene he didn't know what the final cut was going to look like, but when he saw it with the slow-mo and the music he thought it was wonderful and invested the character with so much gravitas that fed into his scene in the restaurant with Dean. So much so that, he said, half the work of making Death impressive was already done for him.
I have to say, I thought Julian was absolutely adorable :)
J2 returned for the final panel of the day. Something must go wrong with my brain when these two appear on the stage because, once again, I don't remember much about this panel, except I seem to recall there was a lot of discussion abour car horns - or hooters, as they insisted on referring to them . . .
The theme of hooters persisted into the t-shirt auction that followed the panel, with the boys drawing boobs on Jensen's t-shirt (which Jared proceeded to grope). Alas, I didn't think to take photos of this event, either, so I refer you instead to jj1564's post, where the shennanagins are documented by Claire D Phtography (hope you don't mind, JJ)
https://jj1564.livejournal.com/1225918.html
In case you're wondering, I stayed quietly in my seat this time, and minded my own beeswax.
But the day still wasn't over! Because now it was time for the autograph signings, where I got to meet all of the panelists in person! There's a little more time at these and, while the cast members are signing your photos, you have an opportunity to present yourself more calmy and perhaps say something more intelligent than "flobbalobbalobbalob" . . . Well, I did my best :S I thanked Matt and Richard for their entertaining panels, and for the energy and drive they bring to the conventions. I enthused to Rob about the talent of Louden Swain and told him that whether he was Good God, Bad God or original Chuck Shurley, I thought his performance was great. I told Julian that I was a big Shakespeare fan, and I'd love to see his Hamlet! When I told Rachel Miner that hers was my favourite panel, she seemed genuinely touched. She took my hand and held it for several moments while she talked about what great friends she and Ruth were, and how they really love each other. "It shows," I said. "That's what made it so special." Ruth, bless her, was so tired by the end of the day that while I was telling her how much I enjoyed her panel with Rachel, she signed herself "love Rich"! When she realized what she'd done, she quickly edited her autograph to read "I'm not Rich, I'm Ruth - just deranged, but with lots of love ♥♥" I think that actually made it much better :)))
Here's the beautiful convention photo that they all signed:
While Jensen was signing his photo op I told him, without going into any details as to why, that Supernatural had changed my life and that it had dated from his performance in "Simon Said", and I thanked him for that. I had meant that to include thanks for all his performances and for helping to create the character of Dean Winchester but, somehow I didn't get that bit out. Jensen probably doesn't even remember the episode, it's so old and, if he thought anything at all about what I said, it was probably to wonder what was so freakin' special about his performance in Simon Said. So, it was that I blew my last chance to win friends and influence Jensen Ackles. I wanted to grab his hand to emphasize my gratitude but I restrained myself, because it was Jensen and . . . you know. Personal space. We've talked about this.
When it got to Jared, though, I actually managed to almost pull myself together and seem like a reasonably sensible person at last. I thanked him for always giving 200%, on set and off, and he thanked me - yet again - for my donation. "Hey, look," I said, "You and the rest of the cast, and the whole of the fandom, have done so much! I was just grateful for the opportunity to make a small contribution." That didn't stop him continuing to thank me, though, profusely. Just before I turned to make way for the next in line, I grabbed his hand one last time (so much for personal space) and quietly thanked him for letting me fangirl all over him. But before I went he still had a couple of last words for me: "great shirt!" he said.
And so it is! It's made by Rag & Bone of New York and it's beautifully soft, and it still smells a little of Jared's cologne, even now!
Yes, you all sigh, we know all about the designer-label, super-soft, heavenly scented, professionally pressed plaid shirt, but what about the bloody t-shirt! What did Jared actually write on that, already?!
Oh, yes, that. Of course!
He signed it with his trademark exhortation "AKF!" and added "All my love". On the back, Jensen drew wings because, as he said, "isn't he an angel?!" Well, and so he is, but only if angels bleed . . .
Kaz, Nirmani and I flew back home the next day, tired but very happy bunnies. My long tale hath endeth, but it remains to thank the lovely kazluvsbooks one more time for so kindly organizing the tickets for me and allowing me to follow her around like a puppy all weekend. I'm a convention newbie and I would have been lost without her. I'm also grateful for having had the opportunity to get to know Nirmani (serendipity_008). She's a sweet and lovely girl. I really enjoyed her company and I'm looking forward to seeing her again at our next SPN rewatch party. Thanks to all the other fans I met in Melbourne and, of course, to the cast members from Supernatural.
Thank you all for helping to make my first J2 convention the most wonderful, fun, and memorable experience!
.
Even after the show we stayed up for a while, chatting and squeeing about the day's events and we continued our SPN rewatch party for a while. But, after all the excitement, I was a tired little teddy bear, so I soon retired. After all, I had another big day on the morrow!
The day began with a J2 panel. We had VIP tickets for the second day so my seats and, consequently, my photos were better. The picture quality still isn't great, though, compared to others I've seen so, again, apologies. Here are a few of the photos I took at that panel, though.
After the VIP panel they showed SPN reruns in the auditorium while fans were invited to attend photo ops in another room, so I left to join the line with my friends, clutching my Jensen and Jared tokens in my little sweaty palm.
Now, a note on clothing. Prior to the convention I had no SPN apparel apart from my precious brass Samulet (which I naturally brought with me), but my wonderful friend, kazluvsbooks, bought me an official Sam and Dean t-shirt especially for the convention, and I want to officially thank her for that, from the bottom of my heart, because that's what I was wearing when I had my close encounter with Jared and . . er, that other guy.
Oh man, did I feel guilty afterward for barely acknowledging Jensen's presence during my exchange with Jared! I wanted to make up for it during the photo shoot that morning but, yeah, too little too late, I knew. I doubted Jensen would even remember me from the previous evening, out of all the thousands of fans he had photo ops with that weekend. Still, I suited up in my best Dean Winchester for the occasion: jeans and a Metallica t-shirt, the Samulet, of course . . . and a recently acquired plaid shirt . . .
These photo ops typically go by very quickly; there isn't time to say anything very intelligent, but I at least wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything. So while I stood in line waiting for my turn, I made sure I never took my eyes off Jensen. You know what? I've heard people say he's even better looking in real life. It's hard to believe, I know, but I have to attest, he really is!
I was excited and all in a dither, but reasonably restrained. I've never had the impression that Jensen is as comfortable with the touchy-feely stuff as Jared seems to be, so I didn't want to fangirl all over him. I contented myself with giving him a pointed and heartfelt "thank you" before leaving the booth. I tried to put all my years of love for the show into that "thank you". As I say, I don't know if he would even have remembered who I was, so I'm probably imagining he looked touched and a little surprised. (Oh, maybe she does like me a bit after all!) :P
I had no great expectation that Jared would recognize me again, either. Like I said, he does so many of these photo ops. I wasn't sure he'd even remember his own shirt, either, since he wears a new one every day. So, when he greeted me with "great shirt!" I responded, in all innocence, "it's your shirt!" "I know!" said Jared. (Honestly, I seriously am a bit thick). Anyway, so then I had to hug him again for remembering me!
I would have gotten out of his way after the photo, but Jared held up the line to thank me again for my donation and apologize some more for the blood. "I love the blood!" I assured him again. But this time I at least had the grace to add. "That sounds awful," and elaborate. "I love the blood, but not that you had to bleed for it. How is your thumb, by the way?" I remembered to ask, just as I was leaving the booth. "Oh, it's fine," said Jared. "Jensen took care of it for me."
Awwwwwwww!!!!
Oh, and by the way, Jared's even better looking in real life, too!
The afternoon session kicked off with the Hiilywood girls. I didn't think to take photos of that one (sorry) but it was a lot of fun. It began with a screening of Supernatural Parody 2 (which I love to bits!) and then Hilly and Hannah came on stage. They are so little and cute and it was really funny hearing their tiny high-pitched voices, being so used to the deep gruff voice Hilly puts on to play Dean. They talked about the making of the parodies and all the work that goes into them. They take months because there's just the two of them and they do everything themselves! Someone asked if they'd ever appear as guests on the show; they said they'd love to but they haven't been asked yet, so they asked us to all make a wish for them :)
I think my favourite panel of the day was actually Rachel Miner and Ruth Connell. These two are great friends and have such great rapport that it was a joy to see them on stage together. Rachel talked a little about her struggles with MS and how kind and helpful everyone on the show was to her even when they didn't know what the problem was. She said, in retrospect, she wished she'd felt abe to talk about it at the time as she thought it would have been helped others to know what they were dealing with. She was asked whether there was any chance of her returning to the show and she said she'd love to if the writers could come up with a way of having a demon in a wheelchair. She said she's thought about whether that could be possible and thinks it would be great if it could be done.
They were also asked how they thought the show should end. Rachel said she just wanted to be surprised, and Ruth said she didn't mind so long as she was still in there on the last page of the script, and she asked us to all take a moment to concentrate, put that thought out into the universe and make it happen :)
Rob and Julian were also entertaining in their panel. Rob talked a little about how he got into music and how Louden Swain got started, and Julian talked about some of the weird and wonderful roles he's been asked to play. He said he's always wanted to play Hamlet but somehow he keeps getting cast as crazed weirdos instead.
(Julian Richings demonstrating one of his crazed weirdo roles)
He said he loved his introduction to the show, explaining that when he filmed the scene he didn't know what the final cut was going to look like, but when he saw it with the slow-mo and the music he thought it was wonderful and invested the character with so much gravitas that fed into his scene in the restaurant with Dean. So much so that, he said, half the work of making Death impressive was already done for him.
I have to say, I thought Julian was absolutely adorable :)
J2 returned for the final panel of the day. Something must go wrong with my brain when these two appear on the stage because, once again, I don't remember much about this panel, except I seem to recall there was a lot of discussion abour car horns - or hooters, as they insisted on referring to them . . .
The theme of hooters persisted into the t-shirt auction that followed the panel, with the boys drawing boobs on Jensen's t-shirt (which Jared proceeded to grope). Alas, I didn't think to take photos of this event, either, so I refer you instead to jj1564's post, where the shennanagins are documented by Claire D Phtography (hope you don't mind, JJ)
https://jj1564.livejournal.com/1225918.html
In case you're wondering, I stayed quietly in my seat this time, and minded my own beeswax.
But the day still wasn't over! Because now it was time for the autograph signings, where I got to meet all of the panelists in person! There's a little more time at these and, while the cast members are signing your photos, you have an opportunity to present yourself more calmy and perhaps say something more intelligent than "flobbalobbalobbalob" . . . Well, I did my best :S I thanked Matt and Richard for their entertaining panels, and for the energy and drive they bring to the conventions. I enthused to Rob about the talent of Louden Swain and told him that whether he was Good God, Bad God or original Chuck Shurley, I thought his performance was great. I told Julian that I was a big Shakespeare fan, and I'd love to see his Hamlet! When I told Rachel Miner that hers was my favourite panel, she seemed genuinely touched. She took my hand and held it for several moments while she talked about what great friends she and Ruth were, and how they really love each other. "It shows," I said. "That's what made it so special." Ruth, bless her, was so tired by the end of the day that while I was telling her how much I enjoyed her panel with Rachel, she signed herself "love Rich"! When she realized what she'd done, she quickly edited her autograph to read "I'm not Rich, I'm Ruth - just deranged, but with lots of love ♥♥" I think that actually made it much better :)))
Here's the beautiful convention photo that they all signed:
While Jensen was signing his photo op I told him, without going into any details as to why, that Supernatural had changed my life and that it had dated from his performance in "Simon Said", and I thanked him for that. I had meant that to include thanks for all his performances and for helping to create the character of Dean Winchester but, somehow I didn't get that bit out. Jensen probably doesn't even remember the episode, it's so old and, if he thought anything at all about what I said, it was probably to wonder what was so freakin' special about his performance in Simon Said. So, it was that I blew my last chance to win friends and influence Jensen Ackles. I wanted to grab his hand to emphasize my gratitude but I restrained myself, because it was Jensen and . . . you know. Personal space. We've talked about this.
When it got to Jared, though, I actually managed to almost pull myself together and seem like a reasonably sensible person at last. I thanked him for always giving 200%, on set and off, and he thanked me - yet again - for my donation. "Hey, look," I said, "You and the rest of the cast, and the whole of the fandom, have done so much! I was just grateful for the opportunity to make a small contribution." That didn't stop him continuing to thank me, though, profusely. Just before I turned to make way for the next in line, I grabbed his hand one last time (so much for personal space) and quietly thanked him for letting me fangirl all over him. But before I went he still had a couple of last words for me: "great shirt!" he said.
And so it is! It's made by Rag & Bone of New York and it's beautifully soft, and it still smells a little of Jared's cologne, even now!
Yes, you all sigh, we know all about the designer-label, super-soft, heavenly scented, professionally pressed plaid shirt, but what about the bloody t-shirt! What did Jared actually write on that, already?!
Oh, yes, that. Of course!
He signed it with his trademark exhortation "AKF!" and added "All my love". On the back, Jensen drew wings because, as he said, "isn't he an angel?!" Well, and so he is, but only if angels bleed . . .
Kaz, Nirmani and I flew back home the next day, tired but very happy bunnies. My long tale hath endeth, but it remains to thank the lovely kazluvsbooks one more time for so kindly organizing the tickets for me and allowing me to follow her around like a puppy all weekend. I'm a convention newbie and I would have been lost without her. I'm also grateful for having had the opportunity to get to know Nirmani (serendipity_008). She's a sweet and lovely girl. I really enjoyed her company and I'm looking forward to seeing her again at our next SPN rewatch party. Thanks to all the other fans I met in Melbourne and, of course, to the cast members from Supernatural.
Thank you all for helping to make my first J2 convention the most wonderful, fun, and memorable experience!
.