November 14, 2015 was definitely a long awaited date. Back in May, my mom purchased tickets for us to go to the Supernatural Convention in Pasadena. My friend purchased her ticket as well, and moments later we bought a ticket to take a picture with Mark Sheppard and Misha Collins. Needless to say, we were very excited.
I began counting down the days when October hit, and November seemed to get here in no time. Before I knew it, it was the 14th. I was so excited I could hardly stand it.
Of course, we got to the venue about a half an hour before things were going to get started. This convention was held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, so it was pretty small. I was expecting a much larger crowd for something so popular. I'm used to going to conventions held at Convention Centers, so this was already a new experience. Since the characters of Supernatural don't wear anything "fancy," it was sort of difficult to tell if people were in cosplay or not. I knew I was, but I was probably not easy to pick out either. The panels were all inside of the auditorium, and the vendors were in the entrance and the foyer area. There were not very many vendors, and again, I am used to huge conventions with a whole showroom floor of vendors.
The only item I purchased from a vendor was a journal. The company is called Con-Quest Journals, and it is such a neat concept. The journals were either Doctor Who, Supernatural, or The Walking Dead themed, and inside of them were places for autographs, panel notes, cosplay pictures, and page protectors for photo ops. I purchased a Doctor Who themed journal, and I plan on taking it to all of my conventions. The lovely lady and gentlemen selling these journals were the sweetest people, and I enjoyed chatting with them on and off throughout the day.
Now, the panels were more of a Q and A session with the actors of the show. An actor would be introduced by the MC (Richard Speight, Jr.) along with Louden Swain (Rob Benedict's band), and he or she would take the stage. If you wanted to ask them a question, then you had to put your name in a box and hope you would be chosen. The chosen ones would line up on either side of the stage and ask their questions. It was pretty cool. The first ones to go were Richard Speight, Jr., Rob Benedict, and Matt Cohen (R2M for my typing purposes). After them, it was Osric Chau and Ruth Connell (OR). I could seriously listen to Ruth Connell talk all day long with her Scottish accent...but I digress. Next, it was Mark Sheppard. After that was Misha Collins. They were not one right after the other as there were other things going on, but that was the order of the panels.
R2M stayed on stage to answer questions, as did OR and Misha. Mark Sheppard, on the other hand, got off of the stage and walked through the audience while speaking. It was a great way to actually get some good pictures, and I felt like he was connecting with us more so than the others. Whenever he saw a baby or very small child, he would stop and say hello. He is, after all, expecting a baby. (Congrats, Mark!) People asked him great questions, and I learned that he has been sober 26 years, he loves the term "Supernatural Family," and he is extremely sarcastic with the British, dry humor. His accent is wonderful, and it was a joy listening to him talk. Now, when it came to Misha Collins' time, he was hysterical. He did his Russian accent for us, he talked about how his GISHWES campaign started and the most dangerous things people have submitted. However, we was asked a few questions that made him and I'm sure most people in the audience quite uncomfortable. For example, he got asked, "Would you Netflix and chill with Castiel?" First off, he didn't know the actual meaning of "Netflix and chill," which was actually pretty funny. Once he figured that out, you could tell he was uncomfortable. Why would anyone basically ask someone if they would have sex with themselves? People these days. Personally, I felt like we got to know more about everyone else than Misha during the panels.
The photo op area was actually in the building across the street, and everyone lined up inside that had pre-purchased tickets. We got in line for our Misha Collins/Mark Sheppard photo op about 10 minutes before the scheduled time, and we were probably 100th+ in line. This line was really long, but it went really fast. Once we got up to take our picture, we literally only had time to say, "Awkward Prom," which was our pose idea, pose and walk away. I'm pretty sure it was about 2 seconds. I had been waiting for 6 months for this moment, and it all happened faster than I could process it. To be honest, I was a tad disappointed. I had this grand idea in my mind that we would be able to say hello, shake hands, and at least say one full sentence. That didn't happen. I also thought for sure the picture wasn't going to look that great since I did not feel prepared at all. I will now always go into photo ops knowing that I get literally no time to do anything but pose and walk away. With that knowledge, I was more prepared for the photo op with Ruth Connell. However, the line for her photo op wasn't nearly as long, and we did actually get to say hello and thank you. She was very sweet and it was quick, but not nearly as quick as the M2 photo.
After we had finished our photo ops, it was time to sit around in the auditorium and wait for the next panel. I was a little bummed out about the M2 photo op, and my friend was trying to cheer me up. I felt silly for being sad since I was blessed with the opportunity to even take a picture. As I was playing with my phone, I hear a voice ask us, "Hey ladies, do you mind if I interview you?" It was Osric Chau! I'm pretty sure God knew I needed a pick-me-up, because this was the coolest thing that happened during my whole convention experience. He asked us our names, how many conventions we have been to, how long we have been watching Supernatural, and how our experience was at this convention. It was really cool. I'm pretty sure we will be in the YouTube video once it's posted.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. Sure, the photo op time was a little crazy, but the pictures did come out great! I had a lot of fun, as did my mom, sister, and friend. Next time, I think I may be more interested in autographs since I heard people got a minute or two with the actors. I will definitely be going next year!
If you would like to see my live tweets from the panels, check out the hashtag #PasCon on my Twitter @mad_whovian! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment