The Hub 3
Under the cut is my very inarticulate report and few photos from my weekend at The Hub 3 convention in Birmingham this weekend. I'm totally exhausted so please excuse the huge gaps in detail and memory.
After booking in March at The Hub 2, The Hub 3 suddenly crept up and before I knew it I was dithering over suitcase V large bag five minutes before kitty_poker1 was due to pick me up. Kitty and I have a reputation now for being unreliable in the time-keeping department and when we eventually turned up at the Hilton, it was several hours late. But at least we didn't get lost. Thank all the gods for Sat Nav. After a small bit of unpacking, we met up with accioscar and sweet_exile and eventually we all made our way to the opening ceremony where we received some gutting news. James Marsters had had an accident and was unable to fly over for the con (He's fine btw, just a bit concussed). This was a massive disappointment especially when you consider not that long ago John Barrowman had cancelled. So the only main cast member we had was Gareth. Also, no one had arrived so no Gold ticket-holder reception until the Saturday night. Riiiiight, bit shit, eh?
Now, here's where my tired brain has some trouble. I can't remember what happened at which parties. Hmmm. Nope, it's not coming to me. Anyway, the Gold reception was okay and after accioscar poked a member of staff, they shuffled Gareth over to speak to us. He was actually very sweet and in a weird and twisted sort of way (because he so isn't) he seemed quite shy. He stayed and talked with us for quite a while until he was shuffled off to another group. Also, a very bouncy Ben Loyd-Holmes boinged over and said hi. We're all agreed that Ben is awesome and very handsome. Once he realised the existence of the Barrowman Line he was quite happy to cross it and did so right at the signing table earlier in the day. The four of us held up the queue for a long time while he told us some outrageous stories. He was brilliant.
Every year the con puts on a funny skit performed by some of the guests. This year was a problem as the skit had been written for John and James who obviously weren't there. Gareth came on all on his own just before the party (on Sat night?) and we gathered around while he ripped up the useless script. He then told us to close our eyes, which I trustingly did, and when I opened them Kai Owen himself was standing on the stage. To say that the entire room when fucking mad with excitement would be a major understatement. Afterwards, the Showmasters crew said they had never heard anything like it and we sounded a lot like Twilight fans, lol. Kai was staying as a sponsored guest and the next day we paid for photos and autos with him. His photo-shoot hugs make me weak at the knees. I was very happy. I'm not going to tell you what accioscar did to try to make me laugh hysterically during the shot.
Gareth was on good form, too. We had him for photos first thing on the Saturday and he was shower fresh and yummy. He called accioscar and I 'my Blue Gillespie girls' which gave me squee all day. He also called me sweetheart at the signing. Yes, I’m Twelve.
I'm going to sum stuff up now because I'm so very sleepy and I want to watch telly. Katy Wix and Nikki Amuka-Bird were sweet. Tiny little Lara Phillipart was all sorts of cute. Nicholas Farrell was great but I nearly went to sleep a couple of times. Ben was bellylickingawesomesauce. Rik Makarem was strange with his coat and scarf in a hotel that was baking hot, and he grimaced strangely in lots of his photos, but he was funny and he totally had Gareth's number. Liz May Brice was surprisingly humorous and Paul Copely was a cutie. Daniela Denby-Ashe was lovely at the signing, but I'm told at the photo-shoots she didn't want to be touched, which seemed sort of pointless. I didn't have my photo done with her because the queue was huge and I was far too busy riding the Kai High.
Talking of riding, Sunday night I had the single most explicit dream I can ever remember having in my entire life. It involved me, Jensen Ackles and his girlfriend. Don't ask 'cause I ain't telling. I don't even know what his girlfriend looks like! I totally blame kitty_poker1 and her J2 AU obsession. She forced me to read some Sunday evening (KITTY: Wanna read this J2 AU? ME: Yeah!). I loved it and I'm going to read more just as soon as I'm done behaving like an old lettuce.
Anyway, the Hilton was big, smelled of chlorine and all the halls looked the same. The mirrors everywhere were confusing. I liked the bar, though. It was spacious with great sofas and the potato wedges were freaking fantabulous.
Basically, we all had a great time. I admit I was dubious because since Children of Earth I haven't been reading the fic or hanging out in the fandom. I've taken most of the TW comms off my filter and I'm back into HD fic big time. I'm reasonably sure that if CoE had aired before we bought the con tickets, I for one would not have bought one. I said this was my last Hub. But you know what? Despite the circumstances of CoE, despite no John or James, I had a wicked time. I met lots of wonderful new people, met loads from the last Hub who were just has awesome this time (Hello, kerryblaze!, hello, piksa!) and even though we had no Tom or Matt this time, Ben was great, Gareth was lovely and Kai was one of the best surprises I've had all year. Seriously, you really had to be there, but seeing him on the stage and the screams that immediately hit the air was just a phenomenal moment.
Hub 4 has been announced with Tom and Kai and we're all seriously considering going. It's just a great atmosphere and a brilliantly organised event.
To end, here's a few photos of the guest talks. I took hundreds of pics, but this will have to do for now. Also, I just want to say that hanging out with Kitty, Exile and Accio is the best way to spend a weekend.
The question had been what was it like to kiss John Barrowman and Gareth had obviously heard that one way too many times and told her to fuck off out. He was joking, obviously.
The balloon was Gareth. He was late. Hilarious moment.
My knees are going week again.
Liz wanted to be in a period drama. Any period drama. With a bonnet. So did Paul Copely.
After booking in March at The Hub 2, The Hub 3 suddenly crept up and before I knew it I was dithering over suitcase V large bag five minutes before kitty_poker1 was due to pick me up. Kitty and I have a reputation now for being unreliable in the time-keeping department and when we eventually turned up at the Hilton, it was several hours late. But at least we didn't get lost. Thank all the gods for Sat Nav. After a small bit of unpacking, we met up with accioscar and sweet_exile and eventually we all made our way to the opening ceremony where we received some gutting news. James Marsters had had an accident and was unable to fly over for the con (He's fine btw, just a bit concussed). This was a massive disappointment especially when you consider not that long ago John Barrowman had cancelled. So the only main cast member we had was Gareth. Also, no one had arrived so no Gold ticket-holder reception until the Saturday night. Riiiiight, bit shit, eh?
Now, here's where my tired brain has some trouble. I can't remember what happened at which parties. Hmmm. Nope, it's not coming to me. Anyway, the Gold reception was okay and after accioscar poked a member of staff, they shuffled Gareth over to speak to us. He was actually very sweet and in a weird and twisted sort of way (because he so isn't) he seemed quite shy. He stayed and talked with us for quite a while until he was shuffled off to another group. Also, a very bouncy Ben Loyd-Holmes boinged over and said hi. We're all agreed that Ben is awesome and very handsome. Once he realised the existence of the Barrowman Line he was quite happy to cross it and did so right at the signing table earlier in the day. The four of us held up the queue for a long time while he told us some outrageous stories. He was brilliant.
Every year the con puts on a funny skit performed by some of the guests. This year was a problem as the skit had been written for John and James who obviously weren't there. Gareth came on all on his own just before the party (on Sat night?) and we gathered around while he ripped up the useless script. He then told us to close our eyes, which I trustingly did, and when I opened them Kai Owen himself was standing on the stage. To say that the entire room when fucking mad with excitement would be a major understatement. Afterwards, the Showmasters crew said they had never heard anything like it and we sounded a lot like Twilight fans, lol. Kai was staying as a sponsored guest and the next day we paid for photos and autos with him. His photo-shoot hugs make me weak at the knees. I was very happy. I'm not going to tell you what accioscar did to try to make me laugh hysterically during the shot.
Gareth was on good form, too. We had him for photos first thing on the Saturday and he was shower fresh and yummy. He called accioscar and I 'my Blue Gillespie girls' which gave me squee all day. He also called me sweetheart at the signing. Yes, I’m Twelve.
I'm going to sum stuff up now because I'm so very sleepy and I want to watch telly. Katy Wix and Nikki Amuka-Bird were sweet. Tiny little Lara Phillipart was all sorts of cute. Nicholas Farrell was great but I nearly went to sleep a couple of times. Ben was bellylickingawesomesauce. Rik Makarem was strange with his coat and scarf in a hotel that was baking hot, and he grimaced strangely in lots of his photos, but he was funny and he totally had Gareth's number. Liz May Brice was surprisingly humorous and Paul Copely was a cutie. Daniela Denby-Ashe was lovely at the signing, but I'm told at the photo-shoots she didn't want to be touched, which seemed sort of pointless. I didn't have my photo done with her because the queue was huge and I was far too busy riding the Kai High.
Talking of riding, Sunday night I had the single most explicit dream I can ever remember having in my entire life. It involved me, Jensen Ackles and his girlfriend. Don't ask 'cause I ain't telling. I don't even know what his girlfriend looks like! I totally blame kitty_poker1 and her J2 AU obsession. She forced me to read some Sunday evening (KITTY: Wanna read this J2 AU? ME: Yeah!). I loved it and I'm going to read more just as soon as I'm done behaving like an old lettuce.
Anyway, the Hilton was big, smelled of chlorine and all the halls looked the same. The mirrors everywhere were confusing. I liked the bar, though. It was spacious with great sofas and the potato wedges were freaking fantabulous.
Basically, we all had a great time. I admit I was dubious because since Children of Earth I haven't been reading the fic or hanging out in the fandom. I've taken most of the TW comms off my filter and I'm back into HD fic big time. I'm reasonably sure that if CoE had aired before we bought the con tickets, I for one would not have bought one. I said this was my last Hub. But you know what? Despite the circumstances of CoE, despite no John or James, I had a wicked time. I met lots of wonderful new people, met loads from the last Hub who were just has awesome this time (Hello, kerryblaze!, hello, piksa!) and even though we had no Tom or Matt this time, Ben was great, Gareth was lovely and Kai was one of the best surprises I've had all year. Seriously, you really had to be there, but seeing him on the stage and the screams that immediately hit the air was just a phenomenal moment.
Hub 4 has been announced with Tom and Kai and we're all seriously considering going. It's just a great atmosphere and a brilliantly organised event.
To end, here's a few photos of the guest talks. I took hundreds of pics, but this will have to do for now. Also, I just want to say that hanging out with Kitty, Exile and Accio is the best way to spend a weekend.
The question had been what was it like to kiss John Barrowman and Gareth had obviously heard that one way too many times and told her to fuck off out. He was joking, obviously.
The balloon was Gareth. He was late. Hilarious moment.
My knees are going week again.
Liz wanted to be in a period drama. Any period drama. With a bonnet. So did Paul Copely.
