ChiCon, Chicago, Illinois 25-27 October 2013
So when I originally planned this trip to the states I was going to be leaving for Lawrence Kansas to stay with my friend Gaelic a week before Creation’s Supernatural convention. For those who don’t know me all that well, I attend a lot of conventions for various actors and TV shows. It’s kind of a massive hobby of mine. I have attended a lot of Hub Production’s Supernatural Conventions and met the main stars Jared, Jensen and Misha and many of the guest stars and smaller stars. A lot of my friends go to Chicago for Creation’s convention and I knew that my friend Carol would be going. I had considered the timing of it all but decided that I would give it a miss. It was a week out and it would cost a whole heap of extra money that I didn’t know if I would had. Besides, I had met Jared and Jensen once already so I didn’t NEED to go, right? Wrong. After having been at the con all weekend I realise how wrong that was.
I do need to take this moment to thank my amazing friend gaelicspirit for putting the idea of attending the con back on the drawing board again. She suggested I extend my stay, go with Carol to the con and that she’d come up to the con for the Sunday and then we could roadtrip it back to Lawrence, Kansas the following day. I said I liked the idea but I really needed to think about it. Then I decided to check online and see if there were any tickets left. There was more than just tickets left … there were photo ops with Jensen and Jared still available. I was stunned being this late in the game and this fact helped make my mind up very quickly. I bought a silver ticket and a Jensen Photo op and a Sandwich photo op immediately.
So I was suddenly going to the con. I was excited. Not only do my American friends go to Creation cons in but so have some of my friends in Australia. VanCon, DallasCon, ChiCon etc … so many people I know attend all these cons and get the full three day experience. The Superntaural conventions in Australia do one day in one city. The Creation cons do three days. Australia hasn’t had Jensen and Jared attend since 2009, the Creation cons get them at pretty much every con … This was exciting. Especially I think because when the boys came to Aus they were made to sit down in the photos so you didn’t get that height difference and you didn’t really get the fun photos that you can get at Creations cons. I set out to get a more huggy, better photo than my last.
So on Thursday 24th of October, Carol and I left her sons house, stopped by Vacationland to confirm her trailer purchase and then checked into the Westin O’Hare Hotel for the Convention. Wolfpup was meant to be joining us that night but at the last minute told us she’d be flying in the following morning. I am a massive fan of Wolfpup and her Supernatural Music videos and have been speaking to her for a good few years now. She actually helped me to meet my friends Caroline and Emily who live nearby where I live. This is the first time I would be meeting her and what better place than a Supernatural Con considering that the show is how we all met in the first place. So that night we met another Supernatural friend that I have known on Facebook for a while now. We saw her from a distance, she saw us and ran to us. The meeting with Vicki was a whirlwind event and it was cool to finally be with all these people that I speak to online. So together with another girl called Leah we all caught up by eating Giordanos Pizza, which is apparently a tradition. It is a deep dish pizza and it was pretty damn amazing.
I went for a walk with Vicki and Leah down in the Lobby for a bit while we waited for Registration time to start and for Vicki’s friend Jolynn to arrive. While we were down there we ran into Ryver the Service Dog and his owner. I have seen and heard all about Ryver and as silly as it sounds it was so cool to see him in person. For all that don’t know, Ryver is a Golden Retriever service dog owned by a supernatural fan. We stopped by to say hello and have a pat. He is just the sweetest thing ever. So cute.
Registration time finally started sometime after 9pm and we got out Lanyards and our Jensen and Jared Photo Tokens and had the opportunity to buy more photo tokens for the other actors as well. Considering I had travelled all the way to Chicago I was going to make the most of being there. I got a photo with pretty much everyone, was even able to score a photo with Misha for the Sunday which was nice because online they had been sold out. Originally Misha was only supposed to be attending Saturday but he extended his time which allowed me to get the solo photo with him but also allowed them to sell photo ops with all three boys. I was able to buy a J2M photo. I was excited about that despite the extreme cost. Once my tokens were organised and I was done. I went back upstairs for the night. It was going to be a long busy weekend.
Friday morning the first thing I had on my to-do list was my “Meet and Greet” with Osric Chau (Kevin Tran), Samantha Smith (Mary Winchester) and Julie McNiven (Angel Anna). I honestly probably wouldn’t have thought about doing a meet and greet but my friend Katelyn had been at VanCon and August and bought two of them and raved about them and told me I should do one. I am glad I listened to her. Our Meet and Greet was a small one there was maybe five people and then the three actors.
Osric was the first actor I saw to walk through the door into the room and how could you not miss him when he walks in wearing a very bright coloured patchwork hoody with fur on the hood and a tail LOL He was so cute and so small and so … normal. He was so relaxed and casual and just like you and me and I think I fell in love with him just a little bit. He’s so damn cute you just wanna pick him up and put him in your pocket.
We all introduced ourselves and with the help of the three actors conversation was free flowing and enjoyable and fun. Julie got a phone call from her Husband about them buying a house in the middle of the meet and greet, Sam told us various stories and Osric told us about the time before he got on Supernatural that he moved to China and didn’t speak a word of Chinese LOL It was so much fun and I got a hug of Sam and Osric and we all got to have a group photo which was fun. I ended up somehow standing in between Julie and Osric which I was happy about.
After the meet and greet we had Osric’s Panel. That was really enjoyable. I can’t exactly recall what we spoke about but I found him to be very casual and genuine and happy. Richard Speight Jr (Trickster/Gabriel) was the host of the con and was announcing all the guests and sometimes came back into the panels and contributed. He did so with Osric and the both of them ended up into the crowd checking out people’s artwork. It was funny seeing Richard again as I only saw him again earlier this year and now he was in front of me again. I will never get tired of meeting him though. The man is also too adorable for words … and damn funny.
When it came time for my Osric photo, I walked up to him and he said “It’s Tara, right?” Not only did he remember my name but he remembered the proper pronunciation which impressed me. I just keep coming back to the fact that he was so cool and I was so happy to meet him.
Throughout the day I had photos with Samantha Smith and Julie McNiven. I wanted to make sure I got a photo with Julie this time as she has been out to Australia twice now and I have never gotten a photo. They also had their panels and once all that was done we had Osric’s autos which I did get for myself. I thanked him and said “So we’ll see you tonight, right?” and he said that it sounded great. That night was Karaoke night run by Richard and Matt Cohen (Young John Winchester)
During one of the panels, Vicki and Jolynn told me they were going up to buy tickets for the Meet and Greet for Sebastian Roche. I love Sebastian. He’s lude and funny and a naughty boy. But he’s also very sweet and kind and what you see is what you get. I definitely wanted to buy a ticket. But looking down at my schedule, Matt’s photo op was on at the same time. So Jolynn took me down to see the photographer and he said that I should get Matt’s solo photo tonight during the Karaoke Duo photos.
Once I was done with that, Wolfpup, Carol and I went out to TGI Fridays to have dinner. It was so good to sit down and relax and eat. I got to have my pasta which I continue to crave since being here and chat and get to know Wolfpup since I had seen her during the day here and there but hadn’t had a spare moment to really catch up. We got back to the Karaoke Party a bit later than we expected and it was jamming. People were up there singing, people in the audience were dancing and drinking and Matt and Richard were dressed up in their usual cheer leader/sports coach costumes with the added twist of being dressed as Zombies. They had someone come in and do their make-up for them and they looked pretty damn cool. By the time I got there Sebastian Roche (Balthazar) was on stage dressed as Gordon Ramsey and putting on a great show as always. Sam Smith came out dressed as a Gangster, Julie came out dressed as a Vampire and Osric, Gorgeous little Osric came out dressed in a flannel onsie PJ’s LOL The guy is 27 years old and looked all of 12 years old.
Vicki had bought us T-shirts that said Drunk 1 and Drunk 2. I put my T-shirt on and spent some time in there, found Wolfpup, Vicki disappeared at some point and then Matt and Richard Announced that they had to leave the stage for a bit to get their photo ops done. I realised with them dressed as Zombies that I wanted to wear my new Walking Dead Zombie T-shirt that I had bought at Universal Studios. I rushed up to my room, tore into my suitcase, found the T-shirt and then rushed downstairs to line up for the photo. When it was my turn for the photo I walked to stand between them and stretched the t-shirt out for them to read the front of the t-shirt that said “I’m a fighter, not a Biter.” Richard immediately ducked down and pulled at my T-shirt with his teeth. Matt followed suit and I thought awesome!!. I then had to tell Richard that I needed Matt just by himself. I’m pretty sure not a lot of people got a solo photo with Matt in his Halloween costume so that is unique in itself. After I finished down there, I went back up to the main room where Karaoke was still in full swing with Sebastian at the helm and poor Osric looking on awkwardly because Sebastian as much as we love him he is insane LOL it was a good night just being in that atmosphere. Sadly I did leave around 12.30-1am. I am not sure what time it actually ended LOL
The next day the first panel that was up was Matt and Richard. And so starts the panels that make me laugh so hard that I have tears coming out of my eyes. Matt and Richard bounce off each other so well and they came out pretending to be each other. Then came out again pretending they had swapped back to their own bodies … because you know, why not lol. They explained to us the pecks of trust that lead down to Sebastian alley otherwise known as “Don’t go their alley” LOL In fact they spoke a lot about Sebastian and his humping anything that moves … or doesn’t move LOL But one of the funniest stories came from Matt and involved an encounter with a fan the night before during the photos. It was a Halloween Karaoke Party so there were many people dressed up in costume. Matt saw someone dressed up in a full gorilla outfit from head to toe and for some reason this really made him excited. By the time the Gorilla got to it’s photo, Matt was hyped up and ready. He jumped the Gorilla and twisted it’s nipples a few times before he was horrified to realised that it was not a man but a woman in the Gorilla outfit LOL His horror as he reinacted this on stage was hilarious. But to further this poor woman’s embarrassment he found her in the crowd and proceeded to drag her on stage to apologise to her. Which he did. Richard on the other hand wasn’t allowing him to get away with it that easy. Richard tells him that he should really apologise to the offended area to which the woman immediately covered her chest with her arms. Matt of course did proceed to apologise to her chest LOL
Next was my photo-op with Richard. I was out to the front of the line because my Sebastian meet and greet was next and I was running out of time and Richard was running late getting to the photo room. When I finally got to have my photo I was trying to decide what type of photo I wanted. I’ve had normal stand and smile shots with Richard, huggy photo and casual arm slinged over my shoulder type photos … I was considering of getting a different kind of photo but when Richard finally got there and it was my shot. I just kind of walked into his arms and got another huggy photo. He does give great hugs. As I thanked him and was on my way out of the room Richard goes to me “You have a meet and greet with Sebastian?” I told him yes and he wished me goodluck with a smirk LOL I laughed and thought, yep I’ll need it LOL
I literally walked out of that photo op and into the room that the meet and greet. It was again a fairly small group and when Seb walked into the room he sat down across from me. These things always tend to be awkward at the start until people feel more at ease and start talking. He was given a bottle of whiskey or scotch by one fan in the room and the conversations started flowing a little more easily. Politics is something that they always tell you to avoid with people in general and Seb has been known to make his opinion known on public forums. He has strong views as do other people. As soon as Politics undoubtedly came up I thought that this should be interesting. I think everyone behaved themselves fairly well though which was good. I did tell Seb that I thought it was brilliant that he called Tony Abbott (Aus’ current Leader) a dickhead and said Kevin Rudd should win the election. I agree totally with him. He nodded and smiled but turned seriously to the whole table and told them that the Prime Minister that was just voted into office in Australia is a dickhead and will basically be bad for the country. We had a chat about that and then he mentioned something about the fires that are happening in NSW and asked me how they were going. I hadn’t been online or near the news to know but we talked about that for a bit and considering Seb is engaged to an Aussie it was kinda cool to share that knowledge with him in the group. Made me feel connected to him because we had that love for Aus together. Politics kept coming back up and we tried to steer it into other areas of conversation and like I said before, people were all really well behaved. I asked him if he was coming to the next AHBL convention in Aus and he told me that he wasn’t because he was getting married around the same time. He told me that Carissa called him to ask him to come to the con but he had to turn her down this time. We congratulated him of course :) When it came time for the end we all organised ourselves for the group photo. I was standing next to Seb talking to him and just happened to end up snuggled next to him for the photo. Which was really cool but unintentional to end up next to the celebs in both my meet and greet photos. Of course what’s great is they take a photo with everyone’s camera so I’m wedged in there next to him for every photo … not a bad place to be.
I practically went straight from Sebastian’s meet and Greet to his photo op and again I have had a few huggy photos now because that’s what he does. I thought about doing something different in this one too but … well there is nothing wrong with another Sebastian hug photo LOL
Next was Sebastian’s panel and it really made me appreciate attending his meet and greet because we all know that Seb is insane and x-rated and fantastic on stage but what I got to see in the meet and greet was the other side of him. The passionate, serious, kind and fun side of him before going into his panel which had me in tears of laughter due to his lude jokes and jumping around and in and out of the crowd and just being the lunatic that we love. He is great quality and I would pay to see him again and again. He’s just fanastic with the attention span of a puppy … a very naughty puppy LOL
Next up was my photo with Mark Pellegrino (Lucifer) I have met Mark before as well and he cracks me up because he always has the same look on his face in photos. After that there was the Mark Pellegrino and Mark Sheppard (Crowley) combined panel. These two do work well together and I absolutely adore the way Mark Sheppard handles himself on stage. He is smart, no-nonsense and yet fun and charming and gracious all at once. I really just love listening to him react to other people’s questions. And I never get tired of listening to him talk about the time he was offered a role on Doctor Who but it clashed with Supernatural and how he agreed to go and do Doctor Who without clearing it with Supernatural and they worked around him. I don’t blame him. If one of your favourite TV shows offers you a role, it would be heart crushing to have to turn it down. But what I love when he tells this story is he really seems to come alive when telling it. He makes cute mannerisms and excited little boy reactions and you can tell he has a great love for both shows. I love Mark Sheppard. Man does he have sex appeal … That ruggedness and that British accent … yum lol
Next was my photo with Mark Sheppard. Now there is a kinda fun thing that goes along with Mr. Sheppard. He rarely smiles so its become like a mission to see who can the biggest grin or god-forbid smile out of him. My first ever photo with Mark Sheppard back a few years I didn’t like all that much, My second was much better and this one … I love. He is a nice guy, a great guy but he admittedly doesn’t like the photo thing. So it’s cool that he even does it and its cool that he seemed so relaxed about it at this con lol after this photo I had my group photo with Mark Sheppard, Mark Pellegrino and Sebastian Roche. I wanted to include Lisa’s aardvark in this photo and what I was going to do was give the Aardvark to Seb and tell him he could do whatever he wanted with it, knowing that he’s crazy and it could turn out funny. So I walked up to them with this aardvark and explained that my best friend couldn’t make it and the toy was here in her place. Before I could hand it to Seb and say “do whatever you want to it” Mark Sheppard plucked the aardvark out of my hands and plopped it onto his shoulder. I wasn’t going to argue with the King Of Hell LOL Seb didn’t disappoint, he still pulled this cute funny face LOL
Next up was Misha Collins (Castiel). This con would be the 5th time I have met Misha and I would have to say he is probably the biggest repeat guest I have met. I came into the room and he was out there running a Castiel Cosplay Competion. My new friend Leah was up there in the crowd and then I noticed something else. Osric was also up on stage with all the other cosplays in a Castiel costume. How adorable could this guy seriously get? I’ll say it again, I’m a little in love with Osric LOL
So once that was done Misha came back on stage to start his panel. All was going well. Misha tells everyone that questions don’t have to be screened, they can ask whatever they want but he doesn’t guarantee he’ll answer every single question. He was his usual smartarse, crazy self an then someone just had to bring up Destial (For those who don’t know? This is a fabricated sexual pairing between Dean Winchester and Castiel) Some of the crew had copped a lot of flack of the previous episode on Twitter over the fact that Cas had lost his virginity and Dean had sent him away. Misha handled himself very well and practically said that he doesn’t want to alienate anyone for their feelings or opinions on the show and that people could like or think what they want but they didn’t need to attack others that had a difference of opinion. I mean those weren’t his exact words but that was the message and I liked that. He didn’t shit on anyone but also made note that he didn’t like what was going on in the fandom in relation to this bullshit. Most of the audience clearly weren’t happy that it had been brought up and I think there was a collective sigh of releif when someone asked if we could move on and we did. There always has to be one person to bring stupid shit up like that.
My next thing was that Vicki wanted me in her photo with Misha. We stayed in line forever, trying to decide what kind of photo we wanted. We had so many different ideas and then we decided we wanted to include the Aardvark. When it came to our turn, Vicki gave Misha the spiel about who we were, what the Aardvark was about and Misha then put the Aardvark on his head and we just snuggled in next to him. Once the photo was taken, I turned to Misha and said, “Do you remember little Connor from Australia?” He raised his eyebrows and nodded and I said “He’s my Nephew.” His eyes widened further and he seemed to get that little bit of surprised amazement in his face as he said “No way!” I told him the aardvark I had was from Connor’s mother. Then I got dragged out of the room LOL But he remembered Connor which was so awesome. He looked genuinely happily surprised to see me mention it.
As we left the photo area I got a text from Gaelic saying she had arrived and would meet me in the Lobby. Vicki and I waited near the check in area for Gaelic to arrive. I was looking and waiting and waiting and I turned to look in a different direction and all of a sudden I heard my name called and suddenly Gaelic was in front of me. I have known this amazing woman for many years now and I met her once, I think last year when she came to Sydney for work. We spent a day together. I was going to be spending the rest of my stay with her and it was about time after all these years lol So we got her situated in her room with Vicki and then headed downstairs again.
While Vicki and Gaelic caught up I had my Mark, Mark and Misha group photo which was fairly quick, having Misha leaning on my shoulder. I found the girls at the bar/restaurant and decided I was done for the night … only I wasn’t. The Cocktail party for Gold pass people was starting at 11.30pm which just seemed insane to me being that late and Carol and Wolfpup decided they didn’t want to go and offered gaelic and I their passes to go. I wanted to but at the same time I didn’t want to because it was late and I was tired. We decided to go. Well more like I decided to go and dragged poor Gaelic with me.
It wasn’t a completely loss cause. We managed to be able to speak to Osric at our table and he still remembered my name without me even having to prompt him. That surprised me and really did make me happy. Then we had Matt Cohen who re acted out the Nipple twisting and how horrified he was before hugging each and every one of us. I enjoyed that hug. I love Matt. Then we had Mark Pellegrino who was drinking some sort of scotch mixed with beer or something … he let people at our table. Jolynn got to sip it from his actual glass … she was quite proud of herself lol It was getting late though and Gaelic and I decided to head off if we wanted to be at all coherent the following day.
Sunday was the big day. Sunday was the day that I would be meeting Jensen and Jared again … Jensen was my first photo. I left Gaelic sitting with her computer while I went down to the photo area. Out of the whole cast Jensen/Dean is definitely my favourite. In fact I would go as far to say that Jensen Ackles is my favourite actor full stop … scarily tied with Alex O’Loughlin lol But I have met him before and I found myself very calm even after finally making it around the corner into the room and got to watch Jensen take photos with other people. He was wearing grey pants and a red flannel shirt with a white t-shirt underneath and he looked … SO good. Unlike the last time I met him in Australia during their Hiatus, he didn’t have the scruff. He had the stubble and looked like Dean. I enjoyed watching him interact with people. He seemed happy and relaxed and I was having a good chuckle at some of the faces he was pulling when people asked for posed/funny photos and felt myself jolt every time he’d grin or smirk in that way that Dean does all the time but … I was still calm. When it was my turn I walked up to him and he gives me this big happy smile and I have to say people that this man is … well he is even more amazingly good looking in person. He opened his arms to me and we said hi to each other and I asked him for a hug and the photo was taken. I looked up at him and said thank you and then went to leave the room. I heard close to my ear “You’re welcome” and in that moment when that very familiar and very sexy voice was in my ear? That is when I had my moment LOL That was when my brain went “You just hugged Jensen Freaking Ackles!” LOL I walked away with a big smile but by the time I got back to Gaelic, I was very calm like it was no big deal. That was about to change.
Next photo was my sandwich photo with Jensen AND Jared. I had two tickets for this because I wanted to involve Lisa’s aardvark. I was wracking my brain trying to work out what I wanted to do with it. I wasn’t sure if they would let me just get a photo of the boys with the aardvark or if I would have to be in the photos. Getting into the photo room I was watching them and I am a full on Jensen girl always but man … Jared makes me smile. It’s been four years since I have been in the presence of these boys and Jared has not changed at all. He is like a big shaggy puppy, all bouncy and playful and excited. You cant help but smile. When it was my turn I asked one of the girls taking the tickets if I would be allowed to use one of my tickets for JUST the boys. She said that was fine just tell them what I wanted to do. So I’m sent up to the boys and the person before me was showing them his supernatural tattoos as he was being asked to hurry up and leave the room. Jared is practically following him to the door to check out the tattoos and Jensen is watching them. And then there is me standing right in front of Jensen looking up at him but not willing to interrupt. To be honest, I was quite happy to be in front of this man as long as possible. When Jared finally came back the boys looked down at me and I told them that my best friend couldn’t make it and sent this in her place and I wanted the photo of just them, the sign saying we wished she was here and the aardvark. I handed them the items and told them to do what they wanted with them. Jared naturally proceeded to put the paper in his mouth, biting down on it. Jensen held the aardvark up giving it this look and the photo was taken. They handed the items back and I told them that I needed a photo for myself to. I slipped around behind them, Jared hopping out of the way and looking behind him as I moved. I wanted to be fast so I tossed the Aardvark and the paper on the ground behind them. I straighten up and Jared throws his hands in the air and says something like “Oh so now you’re just throwing it now?” Nothing much gets passed Jared if he has a chance to make fun of you or be playful. I laughed as a smile started breaking out on his big face and said was trying to be fast for THEM. I turned around and pretty much turned right into Jensen’s chest. And what does one do when you turn into Jensen’s chest? You wrap your arms around him. Suddenly I had a moose pressed against my back as Jared ducked down and wrapped his arms around me from behind. I was swished between the Winchester brothers and I can safely say that it is a place I would be happy to stay in. These boys are tall and strong and overwhelming. I was released from their arms and ducked around them to pick up the Aardvark and paper. I turned to thank them and then left the room a little shaky. I was buzzing. I couldn’t help thinking I was fine with Jensen who is just my favourite person but having both of them was just too much for me to keep me cool. By the time I got back to Gaelic I was flushed, flustered and my hands were shaking. I honestly thought I had moved past that kind of reaction over the years LOL Jensen and Jared … bastards LOL
My next order of business was my photo with Jared. Watching him do photos as I waited in line I couldn’t help but smile. He is a big guy and he is larger than life. He’s like a little kid in a candy store. The excitement and happiness just washes off him. I have met Jared twice before and I was thinking this guy is a giant. I want a different photo from the normal huggy photo. I walked up to him and I have to say, I’m not always a big Sam fan but I really love Jared. His face his so alive. I said hi and then asked if he could hug me from behind. He said sure in his usual very animated way LOL and then wrapped his arm across my chest from behind. That arm … just like the rest of him is BIG. I have to say this is one of my favourite photos of the day. I am a fan of the behind hug photo lol
When I got back to Gaelic again I was calm though. I seemed to cope one on one with the boys but not so much when the boys were together lol
So next up was their panel. I mean by now a lot of it is a blur but the points I do remember from their panel are below…
- Jensen turned around to show us his arse because Jared had twisted someone’s words around to make it sound like they loved Jensen’s ‘butt’ … hell we all do.
- Jared dived to the floor for some reason that I cant remember now and then complained that the floor was hard.
- Jared broke his microphone and had to get a new one and Jensen commented “That’s why we cant have nice things, Jared.”
- Someone yelled out that Sam needed a haircut and Jensen laughed and replied “And Dean cuts it.” LOL
- Jared pretended to be Sebastian Roche which had Jensen double over in laughter.
There are obviously a lot more that was said but I don’t remember all of it. What I can say is that both boys were funny and happy and looking great. And better yet, I still had a photo and autographs with them to go. At the end of their panel Richard came out and told us that they don’t normally do this but they wanted to award best fan of the con to … Osric Chau who had attended all panels. Osric ran up on stage and launched himself into Jared’s arms, wrapping his legs around Jared’s waste. He then went over to Jensen who slung his arm over his shoulder in a very adorable way. I love this guy LOL
Next was my Trio J2M photo with Jensen, Jared and Misha. I thought I will probably not get much of a chance to get these three together again for a photo so I wanted to do something funny. Of course I am not all that clever or brave thinking up a funny photo. So I watched and watched people get photos, one in which the girls asked Jensen and Jared to pick Misha up and hold him on his side. The first attempt at picking him up didn’t go so well as Misha nervously jumped out of the way. It was highly amusing to watch. When I was my turn. I walked up to them and I can say it is quite surreal standing there with Jensen, Jared and Misha looking down at you with their full attention on you. I said “All I want to do is hug Jensen, you two (Jared and Misha) react how you want.” Jared responds, “We’ll react naturally.” I turn into Jensen’s arms and can see them move out of the corner of my eye and then the whole room bursts out laughing and the photo is taken which is why I almost look like I’m laughing. I pulled away from Jensen and thanked them all and Jared seemed to be hovering looking over Jensen’s shoulder at me like he was about to say something. I can remember the look on his face, his eyes … but then I was practically pulled away and asked to leave the room so they could keep going. I will forever wonder what he was going to say. His face is imprinted in my brain. Once out of the room and I collected my things I was dying to find out what they had been doing in my photo.
Now through all this I just have to say that I have seen a lot of their bodyguard Cliff online and I follow him on Twitter but Cliff didn’t come with them to Australia when they visited so I never got to see him. It was kinda cool while waiting in line for photos to see him there, hanging around.
My next photo was with Nicki Aycox (The Original Meg Masters) Autographs with Jensen and Jared were happening and I still had a solo Misha photo to get. We’re told that the boys are on a tight schedule and need to leave no later than 6.30pm. This started my juggling act which I had avoided having to do most of the weekend. If I chose to get my Nikki and Misha photos I could quite possibly miss getting Jensen and Jared’s autographs and if I stood upstairs and waited for Jensen and Jared’s autographs I could miss Misha’s photo because he had to catch a flight as well. I was downstairs in the Nicki photo line and asked one of the Volunteers if he thought I could manage both Misha and the boys. He sort of cringed, shrugged and said “It comes down to who is more important and what you don’t want to risk missing.” Thanks, Dude. Very helpful … not. I gave my stuff for the autographs to Carol and asked her if it looked like I’d miss it could she get them for me. I desperately didn’t want to miss my last chance to talk to Jensen and Jared but I had paid $80 for Misha’s photo and didn’t want to miss that either. Dammit.
Nicki looked completely different from when she played Meg on Supernatural. She had long dark hair and just … wow. I wouldn’t have realised who she was had I not been told. She was incredibly sweet though. She was wishing me a good day as I was leaving her photo op lol She was kind and Bubbly.
Once in line and in the photo room for Misha it was amusing to watch him interact with fans but as we got up to the back of the room where the printers were we could see that photos of Jared were being printed and me and some of the girls behind me were having a good chuckle over them. I heard Misha behind me and realised, here I am with Misha Collins right there in the flesh and I’m looking at Photos of Jared LOL I turned around and focused on Misha. When it came to my turn I liked the idea of the behind hug photo I had with Jared that I thought I wanted to try it with Misha. This was the fifth time I had met Misha and I’ve had all kinds of photos with him so it was time for something a little different. I got my photo and thanked him and then off I went, dashing upstairs to where Gaelic and Carol were waiting for me at the seats. Luckily they had just called my row so I jumped straight into Jensen’s line. I kept looking at my watch, getting anxious as the hands ticked closer and closer to 6.30pm. By the time I got up close to Jensen I could see Cliff standing behind him looking at HIS watch. I was like come on, guys I’m so close. Jensen was very much all business yet still held an air of playfulness. I was getting my nephew (Lisa’s son) Connor’s letter to the boys signed. I figure there was no point in giving it to them and this way both boys get to see the letter and Connor has a keepsake. I explained who the letter was from and Jensen’s eyes lit up and he smiled and then he signed it. He looked up after signing with a full face smile that really does have the ability to take your damn breath away. I got Gaelic’s picture signed too and then thanked him before rushing over to the other side of the room to Jared’s autograph line. I was feeling a little less pressured at this stage. I still had just under half an hour before 6.30pm and the line was moving. Vicki came and said goodbye while I was waiting and I would just like to take a moment to say thank you to Vicki for her generosity and excitement over meeting me. You know how to make a gal feel welcomed and loved. As I approached Jared’s table I couldn’t help but chuckle as it really doesn’t matter whether he is getting photos done, on stage or signing autographs … Jared is a big ball of energy lol I handed him the letter from Connor and I explained it was a letter from my nephew. Jared stopped and read the letter with this big grin on his face and then asked me his name. I told him it was Connor. I told him that Connor has met Misha quite a few times and really loves him and him and Jensen. Jared laughs and looks at me and says “Well if he loves Misha he cant be too smart.” LOL The playfulness between this cast is just too funny. I thanked him and once all my stuff was done I walked off with a massive smile on my face. I might have had to fly all the way to the states to meet them again but I can say this … it was well worth it.
I caught up with Gaelic and some LiveJournal friends and talked about the show and writing and all types of things and before we knew it? We had missed the new episode of “the walking dead.” But it was time to go and see about picking up my photos. Gaelic went off to meet some more LJ friends and I went downstairs to check out my photos. I ended up meeting Wolfpup down there and we finally got to the front of one of the longest lines I had seen the entire weekend lol. I found my photos and fell in love with each and every one and laughed when I saw that in my trio Misha was licking Jared’s smiling face. No wonder the room burst out laughing LOL
Our last night at the con was spent in our room with Carol, Wolfpup, Gaelic and myself chatting, laughing and playing a game of phase 10. It was the perfect end to the con weekend with some great friends which for me, despite the excitement of meeting the boys, is the most important part about any convention.
The next morning I had to say a very sad goodbye to Carol who had catered to me for the last 3 weeks. It’s gonna feel weird knowing I cant just see her in person whenever I want.
Right now I am chilling in Lawrence, Kansas with Gaelic and her family which to be honest, I think is the perfect end to my trip. Gaelic is one of the first main supernatural friends I made through my fanfiction and I feel like I have known her and her family online for years. It’s nice to meet people in person finally … and really? Ending in Dean and Sam Winchester’s home town? Priceless after the weekend I just had LOL
I do need to take this moment to thank my amazing friend gaelicspirit for putting the idea of attending the con back on the drawing board again. She suggested I extend my stay, go with Carol to the con and that she’d come up to the con for the Sunday and then we could roadtrip it back to Lawrence, Kansas the following day. I said I liked the idea but I really needed to think about it. Then I decided to check online and see if there were any tickets left. There was more than just tickets left … there were photo ops with Jensen and Jared still available. I was stunned being this late in the game and this fact helped make my mind up very quickly. I bought a silver ticket and a Jensen Photo op and a Sandwich photo op immediately.
So I was suddenly going to the con. I was excited. Not only do my American friends go to Creation cons in but so have some of my friends in Australia. VanCon, DallasCon, ChiCon etc … so many people I know attend all these cons and get the full three day experience. The Superntaural conventions in Australia do one day in one city. The Creation cons do three days. Australia hasn’t had Jensen and Jared attend since 2009, the Creation cons get them at pretty much every con … This was exciting. Especially I think because when the boys came to Aus they were made to sit down in the photos so you didn’t get that height difference and you didn’t really get the fun photos that you can get at Creations cons. I set out to get a more huggy, better photo than my last.
So on Thursday 24th of October, Carol and I left her sons house, stopped by Vacationland to confirm her trailer purchase and then checked into the Westin O’Hare Hotel for the Convention. Wolfpup was meant to be joining us that night but at the last minute told us she’d be flying in the following morning. I am a massive fan of Wolfpup and her Supernatural Music videos and have been speaking to her for a good few years now. She actually helped me to meet my friends Caroline and Emily who live nearby where I live. This is the first time I would be meeting her and what better place than a Supernatural Con considering that the show is how we all met in the first place. So that night we met another Supernatural friend that I have known on Facebook for a while now. We saw her from a distance, she saw us and ran to us. The meeting with Vicki was a whirlwind event and it was cool to finally be with all these people that I speak to online. So together with another girl called Leah we all caught up by eating Giordanos Pizza, which is apparently a tradition. It is a deep dish pizza and it was pretty damn amazing.
I went for a walk with Vicki and Leah down in the Lobby for a bit while we waited for Registration time to start and for Vicki’s friend Jolynn to arrive. While we were down there we ran into Ryver the Service Dog and his owner. I have seen and heard all about Ryver and as silly as it sounds it was so cool to see him in person. For all that don’t know, Ryver is a Golden Retriever service dog owned by a supernatural fan. We stopped by to say hello and have a pat. He is just the sweetest thing ever. So cute.
Registration time finally started sometime after 9pm and we got out Lanyards and our Jensen and Jared Photo Tokens and had the opportunity to buy more photo tokens for the other actors as well. Considering I had travelled all the way to Chicago I was going to make the most of being there. I got a photo with pretty much everyone, was even able to score a photo with Misha for the Sunday which was nice because online they had been sold out. Originally Misha was only supposed to be attending Saturday but he extended his time which allowed me to get the solo photo with him but also allowed them to sell photo ops with all three boys. I was able to buy a J2M photo. I was excited about that despite the extreme cost. Once my tokens were organised and I was done. I went back upstairs for the night. It was going to be a long busy weekend.
Friday morning the first thing I had on my to-do list was my “Meet and Greet” with Osric Chau (Kevin Tran), Samantha Smith (Mary Winchester) and Julie McNiven (Angel Anna). I honestly probably wouldn’t have thought about doing a meet and greet but my friend Katelyn had been at VanCon and August and bought two of them and raved about them and told me I should do one. I am glad I listened to her. Our Meet and Greet was a small one there was maybe five people and then the three actors.
Osric was the first actor I saw to walk through the door into the room and how could you not miss him when he walks in wearing a very bright coloured patchwork hoody with fur on the hood and a tail LOL He was so cute and so small and so … normal. He was so relaxed and casual and just like you and me and I think I fell in love with him just a little bit. He’s so damn cute you just wanna pick him up and put him in your pocket.
We all introduced ourselves and with the help of the three actors conversation was free flowing and enjoyable and fun. Julie got a phone call from her Husband about them buying a house in the middle of the meet and greet, Sam told us various stories and Osric told us about the time before he got on Supernatural that he moved to China and didn’t speak a word of Chinese LOL It was so much fun and I got a hug of Sam and Osric and we all got to have a group photo which was fun. I ended up somehow standing in between Julie and Osric which I was happy about.
After the meet and greet we had Osric’s Panel. That was really enjoyable. I can’t exactly recall what we spoke about but I found him to be very casual and genuine and happy. Richard Speight Jr (Trickster/Gabriel) was the host of the con and was announcing all the guests and sometimes came back into the panels and contributed. He did so with Osric and the both of them ended up into the crowd checking out people’s artwork. It was funny seeing Richard again as I only saw him again earlier this year and now he was in front of me again. I will never get tired of meeting him though. The man is also too adorable for words … and damn funny.
When it came time for my Osric photo, I walked up to him and he said “It’s Tara, right?” Not only did he remember my name but he remembered the proper pronunciation which impressed me. I just keep coming back to the fact that he was so cool and I was so happy to meet him.
Throughout the day I had photos with Samantha Smith and Julie McNiven. I wanted to make sure I got a photo with Julie this time as she has been out to Australia twice now and I have never gotten a photo. They also had their panels and once all that was done we had Osric’s autos which I did get for myself. I thanked him and said “So we’ll see you tonight, right?” and he said that it sounded great. That night was Karaoke night run by Richard and Matt Cohen (Young John Winchester)
During one of the panels, Vicki and Jolynn told me they were going up to buy tickets for the Meet and Greet for Sebastian Roche. I love Sebastian. He’s lude and funny and a naughty boy. But he’s also very sweet and kind and what you see is what you get. I definitely wanted to buy a ticket. But looking down at my schedule, Matt’s photo op was on at the same time. So Jolynn took me down to see the photographer and he said that I should get Matt’s solo photo tonight during the Karaoke Duo photos.
Once I was done with that, Wolfpup, Carol and I went out to TGI Fridays to have dinner. It was so good to sit down and relax and eat. I got to have my pasta which I continue to crave since being here and chat and get to know Wolfpup since I had seen her during the day here and there but hadn’t had a spare moment to really catch up. We got back to the Karaoke Party a bit later than we expected and it was jamming. People were up there singing, people in the audience were dancing and drinking and Matt and Richard were dressed up in their usual cheer leader/sports coach costumes with the added twist of being dressed as Zombies. They had someone come in and do their make-up for them and they looked pretty damn cool. By the time I got there Sebastian Roche (Balthazar) was on stage dressed as Gordon Ramsey and putting on a great show as always. Sam Smith came out dressed as a Gangster, Julie came out dressed as a Vampire and Osric, Gorgeous little Osric came out dressed in a flannel onsie PJ’s LOL The guy is 27 years old and looked all of 12 years old.
Vicki had bought us T-shirts that said Drunk 1 and Drunk 2. I put my T-shirt on and spent some time in there, found Wolfpup, Vicki disappeared at some point and then Matt and Richard Announced that they had to leave the stage for a bit to get their photo ops done. I realised with them dressed as Zombies that I wanted to wear my new Walking Dead Zombie T-shirt that I had bought at Universal Studios. I rushed up to my room, tore into my suitcase, found the T-shirt and then rushed downstairs to line up for the photo. When it was my turn for the photo I walked to stand between them and stretched the t-shirt out for them to read the front of the t-shirt that said “I’m a fighter, not a Biter.” Richard immediately ducked down and pulled at my T-shirt with his teeth. Matt followed suit and I thought awesome!!. I then had to tell Richard that I needed Matt just by himself. I’m pretty sure not a lot of people got a solo photo with Matt in his Halloween costume so that is unique in itself. After I finished down there, I went back up to the main room where Karaoke was still in full swing with Sebastian at the helm and poor Osric looking on awkwardly because Sebastian as much as we love him he is insane LOL it was a good night just being in that atmosphere. Sadly I did leave around 12.30-1am. I am not sure what time it actually ended LOL
The next day the first panel that was up was Matt and Richard. And so starts the panels that make me laugh so hard that I have tears coming out of my eyes. Matt and Richard bounce off each other so well and they came out pretending to be each other. Then came out again pretending they had swapped back to their own bodies … because you know, why not lol. They explained to us the pecks of trust that lead down to Sebastian alley otherwise known as “Don’t go their alley” LOL In fact they spoke a lot about Sebastian and his humping anything that moves … or doesn’t move LOL But one of the funniest stories came from Matt and involved an encounter with a fan the night before during the photos. It was a Halloween Karaoke Party so there were many people dressed up in costume. Matt saw someone dressed up in a full gorilla outfit from head to toe and for some reason this really made him excited. By the time the Gorilla got to it’s photo, Matt was hyped up and ready. He jumped the Gorilla and twisted it’s nipples a few times before he was horrified to realised that it was not a man but a woman in the Gorilla outfit LOL His horror as he reinacted this on stage was hilarious. But to further this poor woman’s embarrassment he found her in the crowd and proceeded to drag her on stage to apologise to her. Which he did. Richard on the other hand wasn’t allowing him to get away with it that easy. Richard tells him that he should really apologise to the offended area to which the woman immediately covered her chest with her arms. Matt of course did proceed to apologise to her chest LOL
Next was my photo-op with Richard. I was out to the front of the line because my Sebastian meet and greet was next and I was running out of time and Richard was running late getting to the photo room. When I finally got to have my photo I was trying to decide what type of photo I wanted. I’ve had normal stand and smile shots with Richard, huggy photo and casual arm slinged over my shoulder type photos … I was considering of getting a different kind of photo but when Richard finally got there and it was my shot. I just kind of walked into his arms and got another huggy photo. He does give great hugs. As I thanked him and was on my way out of the room Richard goes to me “You have a meet and greet with Sebastian?” I told him yes and he wished me goodluck with a smirk LOL I laughed and thought, yep I’ll need it LOL
I literally walked out of that photo op and into the room that the meet and greet. It was again a fairly small group and when Seb walked into the room he sat down across from me. These things always tend to be awkward at the start until people feel more at ease and start talking. He was given a bottle of whiskey or scotch by one fan in the room and the conversations started flowing a little more easily. Politics is something that they always tell you to avoid with people in general and Seb has been known to make his opinion known on public forums. He has strong views as do other people. As soon as Politics undoubtedly came up I thought that this should be interesting. I think everyone behaved themselves fairly well though which was good. I did tell Seb that I thought it was brilliant that he called Tony Abbott (Aus’ current Leader) a dickhead and said Kevin Rudd should win the election. I agree totally with him. He nodded and smiled but turned seriously to the whole table and told them that the Prime Minister that was just voted into office in Australia is a dickhead and will basically be bad for the country. We had a chat about that and then he mentioned something about the fires that are happening in NSW and asked me how they were going. I hadn’t been online or near the news to know but we talked about that for a bit and considering Seb is engaged to an Aussie it was kinda cool to share that knowledge with him in the group. Made me feel connected to him because we had that love for Aus together. Politics kept coming back up and we tried to steer it into other areas of conversation and like I said before, people were all really well behaved. I asked him if he was coming to the next AHBL convention in Aus and he told me that he wasn’t because he was getting married around the same time. He told me that Carissa called him to ask him to come to the con but he had to turn her down this time. We congratulated him of course :) When it came time for the end we all organised ourselves for the group photo. I was standing next to Seb talking to him and just happened to end up snuggled next to him for the photo. Which was really cool but unintentional to end up next to the celebs in both my meet and greet photos. Of course what’s great is they take a photo with everyone’s camera so I’m wedged in there next to him for every photo … not a bad place to be.
I practically went straight from Sebastian’s meet and Greet to his photo op and again I have had a few huggy photos now because that’s what he does. I thought about doing something different in this one too but … well there is nothing wrong with another Sebastian hug photo LOL
Next was Sebastian’s panel and it really made me appreciate attending his meet and greet because we all know that Seb is insane and x-rated and fantastic on stage but what I got to see in the meet and greet was the other side of him. The passionate, serious, kind and fun side of him before going into his panel which had me in tears of laughter due to his lude jokes and jumping around and in and out of the crowd and just being the lunatic that we love. He is great quality and I would pay to see him again and again. He’s just fanastic with the attention span of a puppy … a very naughty puppy LOL
Next up was my photo with Mark Pellegrino (Lucifer) I have met Mark before as well and he cracks me up because he always has the same look on his face in photos. After that there was the Mark Pellegrino and Mark Sheppard (Crowley) combined panel. These two do work well together and I absolutely adore the way Mark Sheppard handles himself on stage. He is smart, no-nonsense and yet fun and charming and gracious all at once. I really just love listening to him react to other people’s questions. And I never get tired of listening to him talk about the time he was offered a role on Doctor Who but it clashed with Supernatural and how he agreed to go and do Doctor Who without clearing it with Supernatural and they worked around him. I don’t blame him. If one of your favourite TV shows offers you a role, it would be heart crushing to have to turn it down. But what I love when he tells this story is he really seems to come alive when telling it. He makes cute mannerisms and excited little boy reactions and you can tell he has a great love for both shows. I love Mark Sheppard. Man does he have sex appeal … That ruggedness and that British accent … yum lol
Next was my photo with Mark Sheppard. Now there is a kinda fun thing that goes along with Mr. Sheppard. He rarely smiles so its become like a mission to see who can the biggest grin or god-forbid smile out of him. My first ever photo with Mark Sheppard back a few years I didn’t like all that much, My second was much better and this one … I love. He is a nice guy, a great guy but he admittedly doesn’t like the photo thing. So it’s cool that he even does it and its cool that he seemed so relaxed about it at this con lol after this photo I had my group photo with Mark Sheppard, Mark Pellegrino and Sebastian Roche. I wanted to include Lisa’s aardvark in this photo and what I was going to do was give the Aardvark to Seb and tell him he could do whatever he wanted with it, knowing that he’s crazy and it could turn out funny. So I walked up to them with this aardvark and explained that my best friend couldn’t make it and the toy was here in her place. Before I could hand it to Seb and say “do whatever you want to it” Mark Sheppard plucked the aardvark out of my hands and plopped it onto his shoulder. I wasn’t going to argue with the King Of Hell LOL Seb didn’t disappoint, he still pulled this cute funny face LOL
Next up was Misha Collins (Castiel). This con would be the 5th time I have met Misha and I would have to say he is probably the biggest repeat guest I have met. I came into the room and he was out there running a Castiel Cosplay Competion. My new friend Leah was up there in the crowd and then I noticed something else. Osric was also up on stage with all the other cosplays in a Castiel costume. How adorable could this guy seriously get? I’ll say it again, I’m a little in love with Osric LOL
So once that was done Misha came back on stage to start his panel. All was going well. Misha tells everyone that questions don’t have to be screened, they can ask whatever they want but he doesn’t guarantee he’ll answer every single question. He was his usual smartarse, crazy self an then someone just had to bring up Destial (For those who don’t know? This is a fabricated sexual pairing between Dean Winchester and Castiel) Some of the crew had copped a lot of flack of the previous episode on Twitter over the fact that Cas had lost his virginity and Dean had sent him away. Misha handled himself very well and practically said that he doesn’t want to alienate anyone for their feelings or opinions on the show and that people could like or think what they want but they didn’t need to attack others that had a difference of opinion. I mean those weren’t his exact words but that was the message and I liked that. He didn’t shit on anyone but also made note that he didn’t like what was going on in the fandom in relation to this bullshit. Most of the audience clearly weren’t happy that it had been brought up and I think there was a collective sigh of releif when someone asked if we could move on and we did. There always has to be one person to bring stupid shit up like that.
My next thing was that Vicki wanted me in her photo with Misha. We stayed in line forever, trying to decide what kind of photo we wanted. We had so many different ideas and then we decided we wanted to include the Aardvark. When it came to our turn, Vicki gave Misha the spiel about who we were, what the Aardvark was about and Misha then put the Aardvark on his head and we just snuggled in next to him. Once the photo was taken, I turned to Misha and said, “Do you remember little Connor from Australia?” He raised his eyebrows and nodded and I said “He’s my Nephew.” His eyes widened further and he seemed to get that little bit of surprised amazement in his face as he said “No way!” I told him the aardvark I had was from Connor’s mother. Then I got dragged out of the room LOL But he remembered Connor which was so awesome. He looked genuinely happily surprised to see me mention it.
As we left the photo area I got a text from Gaelic saying she had arrived and would meet me in the Lobby. Vicki and I waited near the check in area for Gaelic to arrive. I was looking and waiting and waiting and I turned to look in a different direction and all of a sudden I heard my name called and suddenly Gaelic was in front of me. I have known this amazing woman for many years now and I met her once, I think last year when she came to Sydney for work. We spent a day together. I was going to be spending the rest of my stay with her and it was about time after all these years lol So we got her situated in her room with Vicki and then headed downstairs again.
While Vicki and Gaelic caught up I had my Mark, Mark and Misha group photo which was fairly quick, having Misha leaning on my shoulder. I found the girls at the bar/restaurant and decided I was done for the night … only I wasn’t. The Cocktail party for Gold pass people was starting at 11.30pm which just seemed insane to me being that late and Carol and Wolfpup decided they didn’t want to go and offered gaelic and I their passes to go. I wanted to but at the same time I didn’t want to because it was late and I was tired. We decided to go. Well more like I decided to go and dragged poor Gaelic with me.
It wasn’t a completely loss cause. We managed to be able to speak to Osric at our table and he still remembered my name without me even having to prompt him. That surprised me and really did make me happy. Then we had Matt Cohen who re acted out the Nipple twisting and how horrified he was before hugging each and every one of us. I enjoyed that hug. I love Matt. Then we had Mark Pellegrino who was drinking some sort of scotch mixed with beer or something … he let people at our table. Jolynn got to sip it from his actual glass … she was quite proud of herself lol It was getting late though and Gaelic and I decided to head off if we wanted to be at all coherent the following day.
Sunday was the big day. Sunday was the day that I would be meeting Jensen and Jared again … Jensen was my first photo. I left Gaelic sitting with her computer while I went down to the photo area. Out of the whole cast Jensen/Dean is definitely my favourite. In fact I would go as far to say that Jensen Ackles is my favourite actor full stop … scarily tied with Alex O’Loughlin lol But I have met him before and I found myself very calm even after finally making it around the corner into the room and got to watch Jensen take photos with other people. He was wearing grey pants and a red flannel shirt with a white t-shirt underneath and he looked … SO good. Unlike the last time I met him in Australia during their Hiatus, he didn’t have the scruff. He had the stubble and looked like Dean. I enjoyed watching him interact with people. He seemed happy and relaxed and I was having a good chuckle at some of the faces he was pulling when people asked for posed/funny photos and felt myself jolt every time he’d grin or smirk in that way that Dean does all the time but … I was still calm. When it was my turn I walked up to him and he gives me this big happy smile and I have to say people that this man is … well he is even more amazingly good looking in person. He opened his arms to me and we said hi to each other and I asked him for a hug and the photo was taken. I looked up at him and said thank you and then went to leave the room. I heard close to my ear “You’re welcome” and in that moment when that very familiar and very sexy voice was in my ear? That is when I had my moment LOL That was when my brain went “You just hugged Jensen Freaking Ackles!” LOL I walked away with a big smile but by the time I got back to Gaelic, I was very calm like it was no big deal. That was about to change.
Next photo was my sandwich photo with Jensen AND Jared. I had two tickets for this because I wanted to involve Lisa’s aardvark. I was wracking my brain trying to work out what I wanted to do with it. I wasn’t sure if they would let me just get a photo of the boys with the aardvark or if I would have to be in the photos. Getting into the photo room I was watching them and I am a full on Jensen girl always but man … Jared makes me smile. It’s been four years since I have been in the presence of these boys and Jared has not changed at all. He is like a big shaggy puppy, all bouncy and playful and excited. You cant help but smile. When it was my turn I asked one of the girls taking the tickets if I would be allowed to use one of my tickets for JUST the boys. She said that was fine just tell them what I wanted to do. So I’m sent up to the boys and the person before me was showing them his supernatural tattoos as he was being asked to hurry up and leave the room. Jared is practically following him to the door to check out the tattoos and Jensen is watching them. And then there is me standing right in front of Jensen looking up at him but not willing to interrupt. To be honest, I was quite happy to be in front of this man as long as possible. When Jared finally came back the boys looked down at me and I told them that my best friend couldn’t make it and sent this in her place and I wanted the photo of just them, the sign saying we wished she was here and the aardvark. I handed them the items and told them to do what they wanted with them. Jared naturally proceeded to put the paper in his mouth, biting down on it. Jensen held the aardvark up giving it this look and the photo was taken. They handed the items back and I told them that I needed a photo for myself to. I slipped around behind them, Jared hopping out of the way and looking behind him as I moved. I wanted to be fast so I tossed the Aardvark and the paper on the ground behind them. I straighten up and Jared throws his hands in the air and says something like “Oh so now you’re just throwing it now?” Nothing much gets passed Jared if he has a chance to make fun of you or be playful. I laughed as a smile started breaking out on his big face and said was trying to be fast for THEM. I turned around and pretty much turned right into Jensen’s chest. And what does one do when you turn into Jensen’s chest? You wrap your arms around him. Suddenly I had a moose pressed against my back as Jared ducked down and wrapped his arms around me from behind. I was swished between the Winchester brothers and I can safely say that it is a place I would be happy to stay in. These boys are tall and strong and overwhelming. I was released from their arms and ducked around them to pick up the Aardvark and paper. I turned to thank them and then left the room a little shaky. I was buzzing. I couldn’t help thinking I was fine with Jensen who is just my favourite person but having both of them was just too much for me to keep me cool. By the time I got back to Gaelic I was flushed, flustered and my hands were shaking. I honestly thought I had moved past that kind of reaction over the years LOL Jensen and Jared … bastards LOL
My next order of business was my photo with Jared. Watching him do photos as I waited in line I couldn’t help but smile. He is a big guy and he is larger than life. He’s like a little kid in a candy store. The excitement and happiness just washes off him. I have met Jared twice before and I was thinking this guy is a giant. I want a different photo from the normal huggy photo. I walked up to him and I have to say, I’m not always a big Sam fan but I really love Jared. His face his so alive. I said hi and then asked if he could hug me from behind. He said sure in his usual very animated way LOL and then wrapped his arm across my chest from behind. That arm … just like the rest of him is BIG. I have to say this is one of my favourite photos of the day. I am a fan of the behind hug photo lol
When I got back to Gaelic again I was calm though. I seemed to cope one on one with the boys but not so much when the boys were together lol
So next up was their panel. I mean by now a lot of it is a blur but the points I do remember from their panel are below…
- Jensen turned around to show us his arse because Jared had twisted someone’s words around to make it sound like they loved Jensen’s ‘butt’ … hell we all do.
- Jared dived to the floor for some reason that I cant remember now and then complained that the floor was hard.
- Jared broke his microphone and had to get a new one and Jensen commented “That’s why we cant have nice things, Jared.”
- Someone yelled out that Sam needed a haircut and Jensen laughed and replied “And Dean cuts it.” LOL
- Jared pretended to be Sebastian Roche which had Jensen double over in laughter.
There are obviously a lot more that was said but I don’t remember all of it. What I can say is that both boys were funny and happy and looking great. And better yet, I still had a photo and autographs with them to go. At the end of their panel Richard came out and told us that they don’t normally do this but they wanted to award best fan of the con to … Osric Chau who had attended all panels. Osric ran up on stage and launched himself into Jared’s arms, wrapping his legs around Jared’s waste. He then went over to Jensen who slung his arm over his shoulder in a very adorable way. I love this guy LOL
Next was my Trio J2M photo with Jensen, Jared and Misha. I thought I will probably not get much of a chance to get these three together again for a photo so I wanted to do something funny. Of course I am not all that clever or brave thinking up a funny photo. So I watched and watched people get photos, one in which the girls asked Jensen and Jared to pick Misha up and hold him on his side. The first attempt at picking him up didn’t go so well as Misha nervously jumped out of the way. It was highly amusing to watch. When I was my turn. I walked up to them and I can say it is quite surreal standing there with Jensen, Jared and Misha looking down at you with their full attention on you. I said “All I want to do is hug Jensen, you two (Jared and Misha) react how you want.” Jared responds, “We’ll react naturally.” I turn into Jensen’s arms and can see them move out of the corner of my eye and then the whole room bursts out laughing and the photo is taken which is why I almost look like I’m laughing. I pulled away from Jensen and thanked them all and Jared seemed to be hovering looking over Jensen’s shoulder at me like he was about to say something. I can remember the look on his face, his eyes … but then I was practically pulled away and asked to leave the room so they could keep going. I will forever wonder what he was going to say. His face is imprinted in my brain. Once out of the room and I collected my things I was dying to find out what they had been doing in my photo.
Now through all this I just have to say that I have seen a lot of their bodyguard Cliff online and I follow him on Twitter but Cliff didn’t come with them to Australia when they visited so I never got to see him. It was kinda cool while waiting in line for photos to see him there, hanging around.
My next photo was with Nicki Aycox (The Original Meg Masters) Autographs with Jensen and Jared were happening and I still had a solo Misha photo to get. We’re told that the boys are on a tight schedule and need to leave no later than 6.30pm. This started my juggling act which I had avoided having to do most of the weekend. If I chose to get my Nikki and Misha photos I could quite possibly miss getting Jensen and Jared’s autographs and if I stood upstairs and waited for Jensen and Jared’s autographs I could miss Misha’s photo because he had to catch a flight as well. I was downstairs in the Nicki photo line and asked one of the Volunteers if he thought I could manage both Misha and the boys. He sort of cringed, shrugged and said “It comes down to who is more important and what you don’t want to risk missing.” Thanks, Dude. Very helpful … not. I gave my stuff for the autographs to Carol and asked her if it looked like I’d miss it could she get them for me. I desperately didn’t want to miss my last chance to talk to Jensen and Jared but I had paid $80 for Misha’s photo and didn’t want to miss that either. Dammit.
Nicki looked completely different from when she played Meg on Supernatural. She had long dark hair and just … wow. I wouldn’t have realised who she was had I not been told. She was incredibly sweet though. She was wishing me a good day as I was leaving her photo op lol She was kind and Bubbly.
Once in line and in the photo room for Misha it was amusing to watch him interact with fans but as we got up to the back of the room where the printers were we could see that photos of Jared were being printed and me and some of the girls behind me were having a good chuckle over them. I heard Misha behind me and realised, here I am with Misha Collins right there in the flesh and I’m looking at Photos of Jared LOL I turned around and focused on Misha. When it came to my turn I liked the idea of the behind hug photo I had with Jared that I thought I wanted to try it with Misha. This was the fifth time I had met Misha and I’ve had all kinds of photos with him so it was time for something a little different. I got my photo and thanked him and then off I went, dashing upstairs to where Gaelic and Carol were waiting for me at the seats. Luckily they had just called my row so I jumped straight into Jensen’s line. I kept looking at my watch, getting anxious as the hands ticked closer and closer to 6.30pm. By the time I got up close to Jensen I could see Cliff standing behind him looking at HIS watch. I was like come on, guys I’m so close. Jensen was very much all business yet still held an air of playfulness. I was getting my nephew (Lisa’s son) Connor’s letter to the boys signed. I figure there was no point in giving it to them and this way both boys get to see the letter and Connor has a keepsake. I explained who the letter was from and Jensen’s eyes lit up and he smiled and then he signed it. He looked up after signing with a full face smile that really does have the ability to take your damn breath away. I got Gaelic’s picture signed too and then thanked him before rushing over to the other side of the room to Jared’s autograph line. I was feeling a little less pressured at this stage. I still had just under half an hour before 6.30pm and the line was moving. Vicki came and said goodbye while I was waiting and I would just like to take a moment to say thank you to Vicki for her generosity and excitement over meeting me. You know how to make a gal feel welcomed and loved. As I approached Jared’s table I couldn’t help but chuckle as it really doesn’t matter whether he is getting photos done, on stage or signing autographs … Jared is a big ball of energy lol I handed him the letter from Connor and I explained it was a letter from my nephew. Jared stopped and read the letter with this big grin on his face and then asked me his name. I told him it was Connor. I told him that Connor has met Misha quite a few times and really loves him and him and Jensen. Jared laughs and looks at me and says “Well if he loves Misha he cant be too smart.” LOL The playfulness between this cast is just too funny. I thanked him and once all my stuff was done I walked off with a massive smile on my face. I might have had to fly all the way to the states to meet them again but I can say this … it was well worth it.
I caught up with Gaelic and some LiveJournal friends and talked about the show and writing and all types of things and before we knew it? We had missed the new episode of “the walking dead.” But it was time to go and see about picking up my photos. Gaelic went off to meet some more LJ friends and I went downstairs to check out my photos. I ended up meeting Wolfpup down there and we finally got to the front of one of the longest lines I had seen the entire weekend lol. I found my photos and fell in love with each and every one and laughed when I saw that in my trio Misha was licking Jared’s smiling face. No wonder the room burst out laughing LOL
Our last night at the con was spent in our room with Carol, Wolfpup, Gaelic and myself chatting, laughing and playing a game of phase 10. It was the perfect end to the con weekend with some great friends which for me, despite the excitement of meeting the boys, is the most important part about any convention.
The next morning I had to say a very sad goodbye to Carol who had catered to me for the last 3 weeks. It’s gonna feel weird knowing I cant just see her in person whenever I want.
Right now I am chilling in Lawrence, Kansas with Gaelic and her family which to be honest, I think is the perfect end to my trip. Gaelic is one of the first main supernatural friends I made through my fanfiction and I feel like I have known her and her family online for years. It’s nice to meet people in person finally … and really? Ending in Dean and Sam Winchester’s home town? Priceless after the weekend I just had LOL