SPN DC Con: Post the First
IDK how much I'll write before losing steam on this, but I'm feeling inspired so:
NB: These posts (if I end up doing more than one) are going to be more like rambling diary entries than actual reports. Sadly, since it has been four months, I don't actually remember a lot of what was said in the panels, and while some of my notes are understandable, some say, "Under the Sea, Gabe, Matt as back-up. Chuck, something w/alcohol. What If God Was One of Us." Which, WTF?? So, yes, these are iddy diary entries with my impressions and flailing, not reports.
The convention was Friday May 2nd - Sunday May 4th, and it was four miles from my house because apparently I won the universe lottery. After scoping out the parking sitch earlier in the day with my enabling, bemused-but-indulgent mother, I went to the Thursday night pre-registration to get my gold ticket wristband and lanyard seat pass and to trade in my printed photo op tickets for official, neon-colored tickets that were way too small and easy to lose (I kept them in my lanyard and must have checked at least five times an hour to make sure they were still there).
I had bought the J2, Misha, and Osric photo ops ahead of time, the first two because they usually sell out way in advance, and the last because I thought he would sell out after he died. I definitely recommend buying J2 and Misha in advance and ponying up the exorbitant $7.75 online fee (PER ITEM), but I definitely did not need to buy Osric ahead of time (although I'm glad I did, because he ended up doing a second round of photo ops on Saturday, but getting to go on Friday meant I got a pic with him LARPing, while on Sat he wore street clothes).
After registering I bought photo ops with Rachel Miner, Mark Sheppard, and Kim Rhodes, and then I wandered around the vendors' room for a bit, where there were not nearly as many cool things as I was expecting (I got a ton of great, cheap SPN earrings and the BEST SKIRT EVER at AwesomeCon in April, and that vendor had told me she was trying to get into the SPN con, but apparently she did not make it). Indie artists were selling posters and some cool but really expensive jewelry, but I only ended up buying official 8x10 headshots/promo shots to get signed. News flash, you can waste SO MUCH TIME in the vendors room because there are SO MANY PHOTOS. Unfortunately the minor characters usually have only 1 or 2 to choose from (e.g., IIRC there was only 1 Rachel Miner option, and it was a headshot, not even a Meg photo), but the Js? OH DEAR GOD, I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MUCH PRETTY IN MY LIFE. I did not end up buying their 8x10s until Sunday after persuing them ever day, and even then I bought multiple pics and did not decide which ones I wanted to get signed until I was LITERALLLY ABOUT TEN FEET AWAY FROM THEM IN THE AUTOGRAPH LINE. The 8x10s are $6 each, which sounds not terrible, but it adds up reallllly quickly if you're buying a lot. Fortunately, they were nice enough to let you exchange, which I did several times when it turned out my photo ops were printed fast enough to get those signed instead.
After finishing in the hotel I spent about 45 minutes in my locked car hyperventilating to my aunt, and then it was back home (TEN MINUTE DRIVE, BWAHAHA). I have absolutely zero clue of what I did that night and how I ever managed to fall asleep because I was so excited, but the next morning I got up bright and early because even though activities didn't start until noon, I was scared that the hotel garage would fill up.
I wore my favorite SPN shirt:
This is my favorite because it has both boys and it wouldn't be fair to wear only one boy (this is seriously how my mind works; I have 8 different SPN shirts, and I brought almost all of them to the convention and would change during the day depending on which photo op I had next, but I never wore my only!Sam or only!Dean shirts because that would be like playing favorites, and I couldn't do that). And I wore this AMAZING skirt I bought at Awesome Con:
It was $45, and I agonized for ages over whether to buy it because that's not cheap for a really short skirt that I will probably not wear anywhere else (I am not saying there's something wrong with short skirts, I just do not personally feel comfortable in them; I wore my Star Trek boxers the entire weekend underneath), but it turned out to be worth every single freaking penny. People LOVED my skirt. I lost count of how many people complimented it. And best of all, I think I was the only person there with it! Since Awesome Con was only two weeks prior and also in DC, I figured there might be other people with the skirt (so many people had the same shirts as me), but no! I did not see it anywhere else that weekend, and people ADORED it.
In addition to changing my shirt all weekend, I also kept changing between these amazing earrings:
The portraits I bought at Awesome Con from the same vendor (along with really cool Walking Dead earrings, Lying Cat earrings, and Maggie and Glenn pendants). The SPN earrings are from Cafe Press and have quotes from "The French Mistake." I had showed that ep to my aunt, and she gave them to me as a surprise gag Christmas gift because she is the actual fax best. Naturally, when I wear the Sam and Dean earrings I wear one of each because how could you wear only one, they belong together.
I carried all my extra clothes/food/reading material around in this fantastic bag, which I got at an ALA convention a few years ago before DH came out:
(sadly, the curious kitty did not accompany me to the con)
Surprisingly, I got about as many compliments on the bag as I did the skirt, including from one family in a minivan at a red light yelling across the street at me when I was walking outside. It was very strange but delightful to be reminded of how strong and universal HP love is even after all these years. I mean, it was a Supernatural convention, but at least a dozen people seemed to think my Harry Potter bag was the best thing since sliced bread. I first brought it to Awesome Con, and it is definitely going to be my go-to bag for cons from now on.
Anyway! Friday morning: I parked in the exorbitantly priced underground hotel lot and went inside probably around 11. If I thought Thursday night registration was crowded, it was nothing compared to the Friday swarms (which just grew bigger and bigger as the weekend progressed). However, as I was Gold and had an assigned seat (G11), I could wander at leisure and show up to the theater at the last minute. I went down to the vendors room because my friend V was volunteering and was assigned to sell posters. V's co-volunteer, a nice woman named Megan, had volunteered at cons many times before, so she very kindly let V slip away to watch most of the panels and (wo)manned the booth alone.
Richard Speight, Jr., AKA Gabriel (IDK why the program called him the Trickster when clearly Gabriel is superior), is the MC at all the cons. Elastic Waste Band, Rob Benedict's band (Chuck) is also a regular fixture at cons now, so they opened with Richard at 12:10. Richard read off the "Rules and Regulations," accompanied by drum rolls, and everyone laughed when he said no photos or vidding, and at 12:20 Osric (Kevin Freaking Solo) came onstage. Osric regularly LARPs at cons, and at ours he was dressed in what was, IMHO, his very best yet (except for maybe Rapunzel; IDK if anything can beat Rapunzel): Braveheart!Dean from "LARP and the Real Girl." So Osric cosplayed Dean cosplaying Braveheart. HOW IS THIS FANDOM A REAL THING.
He was very nice and humble and adorable and basically everything you might expect from reading interviews with him. He talked about LARPing and how he gets his costumes (cosplayers submit ideas, and he chooses his favorite and then pays the person to make it), about Kevin's death (such as having to lie on the floor for hours while blind), and working out in his brother's gym in Vancouver. His talk ended at 1 PM, and photo ops started 10 minutes later. According to my program there was a trivia game going on in the auditorium at the time, but I missed it as I was busy dying getting this:
You guys he's just, like, uhn. He was so sweet and posed in lots of different ways with people. Frex, he had a sword (which you can just see the hilt of it the right), and lots of people wanted him to pretend to be fighting them. I think he asked me "what would you like?", and in a very tiny voice I asked for a hug, and he obliged, as you can see. He later signed this photo ("To Alexandra, signature, AP, smiley face), and when he saw it he said, "That's a really good picture of you" (I took notes on my phone so I would remember). I didn't believe I could have heard correctly, and I said, "Pardon" (which I then felt bad about, like maybe he thought I was trying to get him to compliment me twice), but then he repeated it and I died, and I swear as I was walking away there was some lingering eye action going on, and again, I died and this is actually my ghost writing.
Let me just say, while I think the Js are some of the most attractive men to ever grace this planet, I would never sleep with either of them because, yanno, married, but I went into the con thinking, I would lose my virginity with Osric Chau in a heartbeat, and the entire weekend only confirmed that notion. It also introduced me to the wonder that is Gil McKinney (AKA Henry Winchester), with whom I would also now happily lose my virginity.
(Tragically, I did not lose my virginity with either of them.)
(Clearly I need to go to another con.)
On that note, I think I need to end this post because it has been two hours and I need to be productive on some other things. /o\
NB: These posts (if I end up doing more than one) are going to be more like rambling diary entries than actual reports. Sadly, since it has been four months, I don't actually remember a lot of what was said in the panels, and while some of my notes are understandable, some say, "Under the Sea, Gabe, Matt as back-up. Chuck, something w/alcohol. What If God Was One of Us." Which, WTF?? So, yes, these are iddy diary entries with my impressions and flailing, not reports.
The convention was Friday May 2nd - Sunday May 4th, and it was four miles from my house because apparently I won the universe lottery. After scoping out the parking sitch earlier in the day with my enabling, bemused-but-indulgent mother, I went to the Thursday night pre-registration to get my gold ticket wristband and lanyard seat pass and to trade in my printed photo op tickets for official, neon-colored tickets that were way too small and easy to lose (I kept them in my lanyard and must have checked at least five times an hour to make sure they were still there).
I had bought the J2, Misha, and Osric photo ops ahead of time, the first two because they usually sell out way in advance, and the last because I thought he would sell out after he died. I definitely recommend buying J2 and Misha in advance and ponying up the exorbitant $7.75 online fee (PER ITEM), but I definitely did not need to buy Osric ahead of time (although I'm glad I did, because he ended up doing a second round of photo ops on Saturday, but getting to go on Friday meant I got a pic with him LARPing, while on Sat he wore street clothes).
After registering I bought photo ops with Rachel Miner, Mark Sheppard, and Kim Rhodes, and then I wandered around the vendors' room for a bit, where there were not nearly as many cool things as I was expecting (I got a ton of great, cheap SPN earrings and the BEST SKIRT EVER at AwesomeCon in April, and that vendor had told me she was trying to get into the SPN con, but apparently she did not make it). Indie artists were selling posters and some cool but really expensive jewelry, but I only ended up buying official 8x10 headshots/promo shots to get signed. News flash, you can waste SO MUCH TIME in the vendors room because there are SO MANY PHOTOS. Unfortunately the minor characters usually have only 1 or 2 to choose from (e.g., IIRC there was only 1 Rachel Miner option, and it was a headshot, not even a Meg photo), but the Js? OH DEAR GOD, I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MUCH PRETTY IN MY LIFE. I did not end up buying their 8x10s until Sunday after persuing them ever day, and even then I bought multiple pics and did not decide which ones I wanted to get signed until I was LITERALLLY ABOUT TEN FEET AWAY FROM THEM IN THE AUTOGRAPH LINE. The 8x10s are $6 each, which sounds not terrible, but it adds up reallllly quickly if you're buying a lot. Fortunately, they were nice enough to let you exchange, which I did several times when it turned out my photo ops were printed fast enough to get those signed instead.
After finishing in the hotel I spent about 45 minutes in my locked car hyperventilating to my aunt, and then it was back home (TEN MINUTE DRIVE, BWAHAHA). I have absolutely zero clue of what I did that night and how I ever managed to fall asleep because I was so excited, but the next morning I got up bright and early because even though activities didn't start until noon, I was scared that the hotel garage would fill up.
I wore my favorite SPN shirt:
This is my favorite because it has both boys and it wouldn't be fair to wear only one boy (this is seriously how my mind works; I have 8 different SPN shirts, and I brought almost all of them to the convention and would change during the day depending on which photo op I had next, but I never wore my only!Sam or only!Dean shirts because that would be like playing favorites, and I couldn't do that). And I wore this AMAZING skirt I bought at Awesome Con:
It was $45, and I agonized for ages over whether to buy it because that's not cheap for a really short skirt that I will probably not wear anywhere else (I am not saying there's something wrong with short skirts, I just do not personally feel comfortable in them; I wore my Star Trek boxers the entire weekend underneath), but it turned out to be worth every single freaking penny. People LOVED my skirt. I lost count of how many people complimented it. And best of all, I think I was the only person there with it! Since Awesome Con was only two weeks prior and also in DC, I figured there might be other people with the skirt (so many people had the same shirts as me), but no! I did not see it anywhere else that weekend, and people ADORED it.
In addition to changing my shirt all weekend, I also kept changing between these amazing earrings:
The portraits I bought at Awesome Con from the same vendor (along with really cool Walking Dead earrings, Lying Cat earrings, and Maggie and Glenn pendants). The SPN earrings are from Cafe Press and have quotes from "The French Mistake." I had showed that ep to my aunt, and she gave them to me as a surprise gag Christmas gift because she is the actual fax best. Naturally, when I wear the Sam and Dean earrings I wear one of each because how could you wear only one, they belong together.
I carried all my extra clothes/food/reading material around in this fantastic bag, which I got at an ALA convention a few years ago before DH came out:
(sadly, the curious kitty did not accompany me to the con)
Surprisingly, I got about as many compliments on the bag as I did the skirt, including from one family in a minivan at a red light yelling across the street at me when I was walking outside. It was very strange but delightful to be reminded of how strong and universal HP love is even after all these years. I mean, it was a Supernatural convention, but at least a dozen people seemed to think my Harry Potter bag was the best thing since sliced bread. I first brought it to Awesome Con, and it is definitely going to be my go-to bag for cons from now on.
Anyway! Friday morning: I parked in the exorbitantly priced underground hotel lot and went inside probably around 11. If I thought Thursday night registration was crowded, it was nothing compared to the Friday swarms (which just grew bigger and bigger as the weekend progressed). However, as I was Gold and had an assigned seat (G11), I could wander at leisure and show up to the theater at the last minute. I went down to the vendors room because my friend V was volunteering and was assigned to sell posters. V's co-volunteer, a nice woman named Megan, had volunteered at cons many times before, so she very kindly let V slip away to watch most of the panels and (wo)manned the booth alone.
Richard Speight, Jr., AKA Gabriel (IDK why the program called him the Trickster when clearly Gabriel is superior), is the MC at all the cons. Elastic Waste Band, Rob Benedict's band (Chuck) is also a regular fixture at cons now, so they opened with Richard at 12:10. Richard read off the "Rules and Regulations," accompanied by drum rolls, and everyone laughed when he said no photos or vidding, and at 12:20 Osric (Kevin Freaking Solo) came onstage. Osric regularly LARPs at cons, and at ours he was dressed in what was, IMHO, his very best yet (except for maybe Rapunzel; IDK if anything can beat Rapunzel): Braveheart!Dean from "LARP and the Real Girl." So Osric cosplayed Dean cosplaying Braveheart. HOW IS THIS FANDOM A REAL THING.
He was very nice and humble and adorable and basically everything you might expect from reading interviews with him. He talked about LARPing and how he gets his costumes (cosplayers submit ideas, and he chooses his favorite and then pays the person to make it), about Kevin's death (such as having to lie on the floor for hours while blind), and working out in his brother's gym in Vancouver. His talk ended at 1 PM, and photo ops started 10 minutes later. According to my program there was a trivia game going on in the auditorium at the time, but I missed it as I was busy dying getting this:
You guys he's just, like, uhn. He was so sweet and posed in lots of different ways with people. Frex, he had a sword (which you can just see the hilt of it the right), and lots of people wanted him to pretend to be fighting them. I think he asked me "what would you like?", and in a very tiny voice I asked for a hug, and he obliged, as you can see. He later signed this photo ("To Alexandra, signature, AP, smiley face), and when he saw it he said, "That's a really good picture of you" (I took notes on my phone so I would remember). I didn't believe I could have heard correctly, and I said, "Pardon" (which I then felt bad about, like maybe he thought I was trying to get him to compliment me twice), but then he repeated it and I died, and I swear as I was walking away there was some lingering eye action going on, and again, I died and this is actually my ghost writing.
Let me just say, while I think the Js are some of the most attractive men to ever grace this planet, I would never sleep with either of them because, yanno, married, but I went into the con thinking, I would lose my virginity with Osric Chau in a heartbeat, and the entire weekend only confirmed that notion. It also introduced me to the wonder that is Gil McKinney (AKA Henry Winchester), with whom I would also now happily lose my virginity.
(Tragically, I did not lose my virginity with either of them.)
(Clearly I need to go to another con.)
On that note, I think I need to end this post because it has been two hours and I need to be productive on some other things. /o\