VanCon 2015: Saturday - Part 1

[hells_half_acre]

Saturday started bright and early with Richard and Rob once again being hilarious and absolutely fantastic MC/Band combo. Richard apparently lost a pair of pants at Karaoke, which lead to much hilarity...

Richard went to go through his usual make-fun-of-Saturday people routine, and then discovered that there were only 3 saturday people, so he called them up on stage and went through the Rules and Regulations.

I think I forgot to mention in Friday's report - but I absolutely love the fact that after years of trying to squash filming at Cons, they're now encouraging it as free promotion.

Richard: "What do they expect us to do - promote the show ourselves?! I've got pants to find!"

Ruth Connell

Although Ruth crashed Erica's panel on Friday, this was her first official Creation panel. She was adorable, and my goodness is she ever fit!

[Sidenote: Before people started asking questions, Creation flashed a notice up on the screen telling people to keep the questions relevant to the guest or series and not to tell personal stories, out of respect for the other fans in the audience... It's a fairly noble attempt, but personally, I think that anyone who is likely to tell personal stories when they get up to the mic, are also likely to ignore anything telling them not to.]

Ruth immediately realized that she could run around the audience and did so - claiming that she had missed her morning jog, so this was her chance. Ruth also brought toiletries from her hotel to hand out to people who were asking questions.

What was the highlight of GISHWHES for her?

- William Shatner befriended her on twitter and he would send her DMs to make sure she was okay. She used to watch him on TV as a girl.

- She also got hopscotch banned from Santa Monica Pier.

- She also really loved all the My Little Pony Rowena drawings that people sent her.

Were Jared and Jensen intimidated by her, because DAMN!

- Ruth thinks it's a funny thought that they would be intimidated by someone so tiny.

- Ruth said that on her first day, she was in line for the food truck, and Mark eagerly introduced himself, and that was nice.

- Ruth is a big geek, and the day she was sitting in the backseat of the Impala, she just thought it was the best thing, because it was like she was "with the two cool boys from school."

If one of the boys had to play Rowena? Who would she choose to play Rowena? Also, which character would she play if she got a chance to play Sam, Dean, or Cas?

- She's like to see all three of them try to play Rowena.

Ruth: "I mean, Jared in one of those tiny dresses [...] Misha trying to be intimidating [...] Jensen [and his bowlegs.]"

- She herself would be Cas. Sam has too much anguish - "at least Dean has his burgers and his pies..." then she changed her mind picked Dean.

- She would, however, like to be Jared Padalecki for a day to see what the view is like.

What would Rowena do on a day off?

- She'd get a massage by a hot guy. It would be a nice mirror to the scene we saw of Crowley during his time off.

If Rowena stole the Impala, where would she go?

- Vegas.

- Ruth loves to drive.

- Then she related a story about how she was filming with the boys and the impala and there were fans watching, and Jensen kept revving the engine unnecessarily.

What's the backstage of Karaoke like?

- Richard had promised Whiskey, but there was none, so Ruth made him go get some.

- It was really nice to meet the other cast. Ruth is still trying to piece the night together.

An audience member mentions youtube.

Ruth: "Youtube [...] I'm a serious actress... [...] Will Scorcese still employ me after... after VanCon?"

What's her fancast for Crowley's father?

- Jared Harris. He played Mark's father's son on another project, so it would be a nice circle. Also, he's slightly ginger.

- Or William Shatner

- Or Michael Fassbender - who is also slightly ginger in the beard.

The next questioner mentioned how wonderful Ruth is on twitter.

- Ruth said that she really enjoys interacting with the fans and tries to respond as much as she can.

What would a Family Reunion be like with Gavin?

- Ruth isn't sure Rowena sees herself as a granny.

- She'd most likely use the situation to her advantage. She'd pit Crowley and Gavin against each other for her her own amusement.

If she could turn into an animal, what animal would she be?

- She'd be a black panther... or a rabbit.

- She then talked about the hamster in the show and how Rich and Rob made it into a comedy routine for SDCC. Ruth thinks maybe Olivette should "come back and turn Rowena into a black panther crossed with a rabbit."

Did the boys play any pranks or tricks?

- Ruth knows it's a sign of love when they do.

- Misha, when they were filming the scene where he touches her foreheard, then dragged his fingers down her nose and flicked it.

- In an episode that Jensen directed (I didn't catch if it was last year's or this year), Jared and Jensen did a little prank, but she won't say it, because it was totally rude [said with amusement].

Can she compare working in TV, Movies and Stage?

- She loves all the work, including voice overs, where you can be in your PJs and still be a Princess.

- TV is very fast paced.

- Supernatural was her first North American TV show. She loves it and the crew is amazing. The wages for TV work are also much better than the theatre.

- In terms of craft though, it helps to do them all.

At this point, Erica Carroll joined Ruth on stage. They joked about how sometimes they roleplay as the boys (The other acted mocked scandalized that the secret had been revealed). Then Rowena did an impression (body language only) of Dean and Erica knelt on the highstool and did an impression of Sam (again, body language only.)

How did Ruth prepare for the role?

Ruth: "It's so brilliant, because you just let all your shit out."

Ruth: "Inside we all have everything..." so when you do your best to be nice every day, it's nice to be allowed to be a bitch.

The next questioner couldn't think of a question, so asked what question Ruth would like to be asked.

- Something that she can answer "Michael Fassbender" to.

Who would be her demon lover?

- Michael Fassbender.

If she were a tree what tree would she be?

- Ruth would be Spruce, and thinks Erica would be a maple.

- Erica thinks that she'd be a weeping willow.

The next question got very convoluted, but I think it was what would they as children have thought of them as adults being on Supernatural.

- "Who's that old lady?"

How would you write your character?

- Ruth: "[at the end of last season] I'm totally winning and every one else is stuffed. So, I would just continue that theme."

And with that, Ruth's panel came to a close.

Theo Devaney

Theo absolutely loved Karaoke.

Ruth quickly ran out on the stage again with Erica in order to get a selfie with Theo.

How has Theo's first convention experience been?

- When Theo first talked to Mark about the fans, Mark asked if he was on twitter (he wasn't). Mark told him to get on twitter, but not to go on Tumblr.

- Theo really didn't have any expectations, but he's amazed at the love and positivity.

- No one even invited him to Karaoke, he just invited himself.

Favourite dance song?

- Anything from Rocky Horror.

- He also really likes Macklemore's Can't Hold Us for some reason, he's not sure why.

- He also loves the song "Shut-up and Dance with Me", because it's a song where the man is all like "I want to talk about the relationship and my feelings" and the woman is like "shut-up and dance with me!" and "That's my kind of woman!"

Favourite memory of the Con so far?

- Karaoke, and probably dancing to Shake It Off. Theo hadn't even been expecting to want to dance to that song so badly.

Where's Gavin? How's he doing?

- He's probably dancing to Taylor Swift and doing bad karaoke... no wait, that's more Dean's thing.

- Theo was just in New Orleans on Bourbon St, which is insane. He can't help but picturing Gavin in a New Orleans - it would be amazing.

Theo: "...doing terrible things through no fault of his own."

Filming in the US vs the UK?

- He did mostly theatre in the UK.

- One major difference is that the UK is obsessed with writing, so every word has to be acted right down to the comma, whereas in the US, they encourage more creative freedom for the actors.

- Another major difference is the fact that North America has unions, which means that people get paid properly. In the UK, a lot of "successful" actors can't afford to buy a house, because they aren't paid fairly. The cast and crew of Supernatural are lovely people and in their spare time they fly around the mountains in their own planes.

What was his favourite scene to shoot?

- He liked the final scene between Crowley and Gavin, because it was the first scene they shot and he had only met Mark 5 minutes beforehand, but he thought it came out really well.

- He also shot a scene that they ended up cutting, where Crowley briefly possessed Gavin, and it looked absolutely great.. and did end up online somewhere in one of the VFX department's videos.

Favourite top 5 parts of karaoke?

- Top 5!

- Theo loved singing Never Going to Give You up. "Probably a low point for everyone else but me."

- He loved singing Bon Jovi with Brianna - it was supposed to be just her song, but he couldn't help himself.

- He liked listening to Gil McKenny - "Everything he does makes me warm inside... Just a beautiful man, inside and out - especially out."

- And he loved the audience, he thought we were amazing.

Will we see Gavin again?

- He doesn't know, and if he did, he couldn't tell us.

- He'd love to see him again, he's got a lot of potential.

- It's always wonderful to have an arc and evolve the character.

Who would he play in Rocky Horror?

- Frankenfurter.

Has he ever done the audience participation/live-action show event?

- No! (Rocky Horror fans in the audience demand that he change this, he promised to do so.)

How did he make the character is own after it was originally played by someone else?

- Fortunately, there wasn't a lot established. Also, the other Gavin was Ghost!Gavin, and Theo believes that he had a different personality as a ghost.

- Theo also praises Jim Beaver as an actor in general, just apropos of nothing.

- He didn't feel like he was restricted at all. There was still so much room to play around.

What's the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to him?

[Editors Sidenote here: Uh... really? I mean, I try not to criticize people's questions, but I highly doubt that people actually want to divulge their most embarassing moments. I know you're going for funny embarrasing moments, but yeah...seems a bit... ridiculous to ask this of someone.]

- Theo grew up with a very forceful mother who used to humilate him in order to build his character. She was scarier than Crowley. He's not going to get into that though, because it's "dark and weird."

- So, instead of exploring childhood trauma, Theo told us a story of playing cricket, ("You don't have to be fit. It's a british sport") which he quite likes to play. And a bunch of actors from the theatre were having a game and invited him - just for fun - but Theo bragged that he was actually quite good. Then, when it came time for Theo to bowl, it all went to hell. You're supposed to bowl 6 balls in cricket, and Theo ended up bowling 16. It was like time slowed and every 30 seconds was 30 years. It got so ridiculously embarrasing and disasterous that Theo just started to laugh hysterically and everyone else was like "Oh my god, I am watching a mental collapse."

How does he feel about having Mark Sheppard as a Dad and Ruth Connell as a mother?

- They're the only british actors on the show, so it's lovely.

- Theo's also flattered that people would think he was as attractive as them, even in a genetically similar way.

The questioner said that he WAS attractive. And Theo got all flustered and ran off the stage to hide for a moment.

- Theo likes Ruth because she's so strong, but in a quite way. "There's a boundery here and I'm not sure where it is, but when I cross it things are going to get crazy."

- When it comes to Mark, well, there's a reason that Mark was cast as Crowley. "He's not here, is he?" Theo asks, worried.

Can he explain the story behind him telling Mark to "fuck off" in the gag reel?

- He wasn't talking to Mark. Theo forgot the line and said "Fuck off!" too himself, because he was annoyed. Mark turned it into a joke by saying "Okay" and walking away, which caused Theo to break into laughter.

What's the family dynamics like of the Crowley/MacLeod clan compared to his own family?

- Theo can relate to Gavin. He's from a very combative family. He has two Leos as parents, and he considers himself a rationalist, but when it comes to astrology, he thinks there has to be something to it, because he has two Leos as parents.

- He knows the combativeness comes from a place of love though, "it's a love that can't express itself differently."

- Theo doesn't think you can destory the family bond, you can fight it, but the bond is still there.

Theo: "I mean - I moved to North America! It's great! This whole continent is great." Theo likes having a little space between him and his family (like an ocean, apparently.)

Does he have a favourite theme song?

- From TV?

An audience member yells out "Fresh Prince" so Theo agrees and invites some people up on stage to sing it with him. They forgot a verse, which was hilarious, so they sang the song out of order.

Best and worst advice he was given on Supernatural?

- Trust the boys, Theo said as a joke. He really only ever had one scene with them and so they didn't have a chance to mess with him.

- Mark gave him the best advice with telling him to get on twitter. He also told Theo not to be afraid to show his anger. Theo was trying to keep the anger contained, because he didn't want to go over the top, but Mark encouraged him to show it.

- He really hasn't gotten any bad advice. Maybe if he had been there longer, they would have tried to sabotage him so as to not be upstaged by a Brit.

And with that, Theo's panel came to a close.

Osric Chau and Gil McKenny

Osric spent the morning trying to find a Princess Jasmine costume for Gil, but failed.

Osric asked us how the Con was going and if we were all hungry and sleep deprived. He explained to Gil that Cons do that to people - that Osric will often forget to eat, drink, or sleep while he's at a convention. And then at the end of the Con, "I am dying - and you're like, 'oh yeah, I have to do these things to survive'."

They then got onto the subject of sleeping on planes. Osric is really good at it. He can sit crosslegged on the seat and just fall asleep. He also has an ostrich pillow, where you can stick your head inside it, and it has a hole for the mouth.

Gil: "Just the mouth?"

Osric: "For breathing!"

Gil resently flew on a plane and the guy beside him kept grazing Gil's arm with his hairy arm the whole flight.

Osric: "You didn't find that soothing?"

Gil: "I was very uncomfortable."

Osric flew South-West airlines recently and didn't know that it wasn't assigned seating and you had to try to get on the plane first to get a good seat. So, he ended up at the back next to a child. He fell asleep and only found out when they landed that apparently the child had cried the whole way. Osric hadn't even noticed.

The first official question was about Osric's turn to veganism

- Osric recently watched the documentary Forks over Knives. He was filming something at the time and talking to the producers about it, and the producers didn't think that Osric could follow a whole food diet - so Osric did it for a few weeks to prove them wrong.

- Right now, Osric is drinking/eating "Soylent" which  is some sort of program where you eat a processed grey goop instead of food - it's processed for nuitrients and cost instead of taste and cost, so it's super bland. Osric likes it though. Someone in Germany has made a flavoured version called Joylent, but Osric doesn't want flavour.

- Gil eats healthy for the most part. He has started to notice and get annoyed by how much sugar is in everything though.

The next question was for Osric and whether he got any strange looks when he did his Casplay in the mall (that time he dressed up as Cas and shot a video with his friends at a mall).

- This was before Osric knew what GISHWHES was. His friends just called him and made him do this.

- He didn't get any weird looks... he just looked like a creepy guy in a trench coat.

- Victoria Secret did kick them out quickly.

Osric: "People don't like trench coats"

Is there anything they have to take with them when traveling? Or things they have to do when they arrive to a place?

- Osric takes his ostrich pillow, because it doubles as a laptop sleeve.

- Gil takes wet wipes because he's a germaphobe. He wipes everything down.

Osric: "Really? I'm so dirty then."

Gil: "You're why I wipe everything down."

- Osric doesn't even use his laptop. He just associates it with watching anime and TV. He likes the idea that he'll use it.

- Also, Osric knows sometimes you need to bring along a flat pillow, because hotels have really fat pillows and they're bad for your neck.

Favourite character other than yours?

Osric - Crowley

Gil - Dean

- Osric's close second is Dean.

Gil *to Osric*: "How would you compare Crowley to Mark?"

- Osric admits they're very similar. When Osric first met Mark, he thought he was mean and that he hated Osric, but he's actually nice!

- Gil and Osric then acted out Gil's first meeting with Mark. Osric played the part of Gil. He walked up to Mark, played by Gil, and said, "Hi! I'm Gil!" all excited. Mark sighed and held out his hand to shake without even looking up from his script/phone. Gil awkwardly shook it.

- Osric didn't know who Mark was when they first met, so he asked him. Mark pointed to his chair, which just said "Sheppard" so Osric called him Sheppard. Then Osric figured that Mark hated him. Cut to between S7 and S8, Osric was at Comic-Con, and he had shaved his head for a movie, so he looked completely different. And he was on the showcase floor, so he was in a crowd of people, and then suddenly someone's hand came down on his shoulder, and he looked beind him and it was Mark! And Mark said, "Osric! This just proves that you don't all look alike."

- Osric can't decide if that was racist or not. Gil doesn't think it was, because Gil was the one being racist because he was thinking it was amazing Mark recognized him, given that "you all look alike..."

- Mark's taken over as music director for the Saturday Night Special, and he said something nice to Gil about Gil's singing, and Gil couldn't tell if he was serious. "Are you messing with me?!"

What can fans do to help Osric and Gil's careers?

- Osric thinks fans do so much already. He can't possibly ask for anything more.

Gil: "You can do tons for me!"

- The producers on SPN do listen to fans, or at least claim to... but really, Gil agrees with Osric.

- Osric moved back from China because of Supernatural and it's fans. He had given up on working in North America, but he came back for SPN and it really made him realize that Osric may have chinese heritage, but he's Canadian/North American by culture.

What was Jared's reaction to seeing Osric play Sam in the Hillywood parody?

- Unfortunately, Osric didn't get to see it. Jensen loved it, but Osric didn't get to see Jared's reaction the first time he watched it, and that's the reaction that Osric wanted to see, so he's sad that he didn't get to.

At this point, someone brought up Jared's shoulder. Perhaps because Osric HAD seen Jared's reaction to Osric breaking Jared's shoulder while wrestling.

- He said Jared just went completely pale. Osric felt so bad, but yet everyone in the room was cheering for him. That's why they made the nickname to tease him - because they know he feels absolutely horrible about it.

If they could switch bodies with anyone in the cast?

- Gil would switch with Jensen "just in life for a day." "What would I do? Everything. Everyone."

- Osric would switch with Jared and put boxes on high shelves.

Osric: "Just imagine it!" *mimics putting a box on the shelf*

Gil: "Dream big."

Osric: "Bigger box. Higher shelf." *mimics bigger box and higher shelf*

If they one 5 million dollars, but then had to be chased around by a snail for the rest of their lives, and if it touched them it'd kill them, would they take the money?

- After arguing about whether or not they were allowed to defeat the snail. They decided that they wouldn't take the money, because they wouldn't want to be looking over their shoulder the rest of their lives.

If they could have coffee with someone dead or alive?

- Gil would choose Elvis.

- Osric would choose Albert Einstein, because he likes his views on the relationship between science and religion.

Gil: "You're such a nerd"

- Gil was then flabbergasted to learn that Osric didn't know what Graceland was. Osric sighed and explained that he didn't know some American things that seemingly everyone knows - Mark and Jensen made fun of him before for not knowing who BB King was.

All of a sudden the airconditioning or SOMETHING kicked in on the far side of the room from me (right of the stage). It was so loud that it was hard to hear over, and it was so strong that it blew some of the banners down. Everyone was confused as to what had just happened. Richard and Rob came out immediately to investigate, and I could see some of Creation staff trying to shut it off.

It was kind of fun to see the dynamics of things when something goes wrong. Richard was really on top of the "make sure everyone is still having a good time" aspect of it. Rob was backing Richard up in that respect to.

What are Gil's top three songs to cover?

- That's Alright Mama - by Elvis

- At this Moment

- Man in the Mirror

Richard and Rob then ended the panel and told jokes about how this Con was a "well oiled machine" and this was all part of their air conditioner schtick. And then we took a short break (already scheduled) in which I'm pretty sure people scrambled to turn off the airconditioning unit.

Mark Sheppard

Mark came out before he was introduced and started joking around with Rob and Rich. Then they talked about the concert that evening and how everyone should come. Mark caught sight of a really cool Warrior Cas cosplayer and asked about the costume. When she said "Warrior Cas", Mark balked and said that that was ridiculous and she obviously had misheard because it's "Worrier Cas... he worries."

Then it was time for questions... Mark has a particular style when it comes to questions. Some would call it mean and/or rude... but you can tell that Mark thinks it's hilarious, and not in a mean way, but in "we're all in on this joke" way. The problem, of course, is that there are always members of the audience who AREN'T in on the joke, and that's where the tension lies in Mark's panels. He DOES warm up as the panels progress, and you CAN lull him into actually answering questions...the trick, of course, is to ask good questions and that's also why a lot of fans fail at getting an answer out of him.

If Mark could have a super power...?

- The power to stop people from asking silly questions.

Mark has said before that Crowley's eyes had never flashed, they have now, does he still think Crowley's something other than a demon?

- They have now and they smoked.

- He was just trying to show Sam something special.

Mark: "How do you know anything?!"

Fan: "I know nothing."

Mark: "Exactly. Thank you for your question."

What was the first song he played on drums?

- He was 12 years old, so it would have been 1976. It was probably something from [and here my notes say...] "mc5[?] st[illegible]ges, or Bowie."

- His favourite song he's ever played? Come to the concert tonight!

What time period would he live in?

- Tuesday 3pm

Favourite Character?

- Dunno. Who's yours? Crowley. Good.

Does he know that Crowley is in Good Omens?

Mark: "Never heard of it. Never known it in my life. Never discussed it with Neil Gaiman."

What does the future hold for Rowena and Gavin? What do you want to happen?

- "For her to die!"

If Crowley picked someone to marry, who would it be?

- Sarah [Mark's wife]

Mark: "....or Dean."

Is Crowley on Team Free Will's side or the side of evil?

- Crowley is on Team Crowley.

Mark: "I'm so chatty tonight!"

If he could be a villain on Doctor Who-

Mark: "Now you want me to write fanfic for you?"

- He's already on Doctor Who, so you'd have to reconcile the two characters somehow.

Song he wishes the show would us?

- Loads. Mark asks if anyone has seen Battlestar Gallactica? He considers it the best sci-fi show that's ever existed. They have All Along The Watchtower - and it was easy to get the Bob Dylan version, but that's not the version everyone knows. The version everyone knows is Hendrix's. The costs to getting songs like that in TV are prohibitive.

- He thinks it'd be nice to have more Bad Company though.

Mark then told some Canadian jokes. "How do you get 100 Canadians out of a swimming pool? Ask them to please leave the swimming pool" "How do you get a Canadian to apologize? Step on their foot."

- Mark used to think Canada was the politest place, now he realizes that it's actually the most passive-agressive place.

If Crowley plays a musical instrument?

- The worlds smallest violin.

If he could have tea with Crowley what would he ask him?

Mark: "What is wrong with you people?"

- Mark can ask Crowley anything he wants, whenver he wants. He's having tea with Crowley right now. He's asking him "one lump or two?"

The next question was from someone who congratulated Mark on his 20 years of sobriety and said that she was working on her third year. Her question was either about tattoos, or that's just what they ended up talking about.

- Mark congratulated her on her three years. Then they talked about the tattoo that she had on her leg. Mark liked it.

- Mark told the story of how Jeremy Carver said he understood fandom, but didn't really understand until Mark sent him a picture of someone who had gotten the "Howl at the Moon" tattoo shortly after Crowley had said it on air.

Mark *to Jeremy*: "No pressure, but you better write me some good lines."

If he could be a disney prince?

- Mark gives up.

At this point, a little girl yelled out "Silly Crowley" and Mark went up to her to call her out on it. He was very sweet with her, though she was frightened of him. She was 5.

Mark: "I'm five!"

Girl: "No, you're not."

Mark: "Well, five and a bit."

- Mark would be Prince Charming. He asked the little girl who she thought he would be.

- Prince Hans. Mark is okay with that.

Mark: "What grade are you in?"

Girl: "Kindergarten."

Mark: "Cool."

- He then left her alone, "but thank you for heckling, I appreciate it!"

Demons leave sulpher deposits? How?

- Egg salad sandwiches... BAD egg salad sandwiches.

If he could go on tour with a band...

- Louden Swain would be fun.

Mark: "Have to get rid of that Rich guy who sings in front... oh no, that was Rob."

- He has lots of bands he'd like to tour with. It'd also be fun to tour with some of the old ones he used to tour with, only this time stay in nicer hotels.

What's he expecting for S11

- Mark insists that Crowley is dead and won't let the questioner finish... she keeps trying to say,

"Are you exited to-"

Mark: "Dead"

"Excited to-"

"Dead"

"Excited to-"

"Dead"

"Excited to.... be dead?"

Who would he fancast as Crowley's father? The questioner mentons that Ruth suggested William Shatner.

- Bill would be wonderfully sarcastic. Mark watched him on an old episode of Columbo the other day, and he was fantastic.

- Mark recently got pulled into a twitter war between Bill and the band Kansas, which was one of the more bizarre things to happen to him.

Is he a bad ass in real life?

Mark: "Yes, I've killed millions."

Does he have an embarrasing story from set?

- Mark asked the questioner to use a deeper voice. So she did, repeating the question in a deep voice. It was hilarious.

Mark: "I'm never embarrassed on set." The boys should be though.

- It's a really fun set.

- Mark asked the questioner how old she is - 13

- Who's her favourite character? *subtling indicates himself* - Crowley.

- Mark then started talking about how content delivery system have changed the demographics of the industy, because it used to be that it was really easy to miss a show, and fall behind and not be able to catch up, but now with Netflix and online watching, people can keep up, or find the show years after the fact.

Mark: "We think it's incredible."

Mark's nicknamed the boys (Moose and Squirrel), do they have any nicknames for him?

- It wasn't Mark, it was Crowley, but moose was a really good line, because it really fits Jared. Jared has these long skinny legs and this large torso. And then if you have moose, you of course have "not moose", which eventually leads you to squirrel... and then Boris and Natasha. Mark's not sure if he's Boris or Natasha.

- The boys call him Shep.

The next question came from a 60 year-old man, who has been watching the show from the first episode, and didn't realize what the demographics of fandom were until he came to a convention. He wonders how Mark deals wit all this feminine love and energy directed at him?

Mark: "It's been like that my whole life. It's just the burden I have to bare."

Mark then went on to talk about Fandom and how it's often negatively portrayed, but that's just not the case. "Fans in general are an amazing intelligent group that are very [illegible] now" (sorry, can't read one word in my noted there]

-The power of fandom is great and "you never cease to amaze me in your generousity and kindness"

Would he ever be on SNL and what skit would he do?

- He doesn't desire it, but he liked the NPR skit that Alec Baldwin did.

If Crowley can do anything, what can he do now that he's dead?

- Rest.

- Mark said that we'll just have to get used to not having him around.

The questioner tells Mark he is "dead...gorgeous!"

Mark: "D-E-D Dead."

If he WEREN'T dead, hypothetically, what would he like to see in S11?

- He'd like Crowley to win, properly like he deserves.

Mark asked the questioner what they'd like, and they said that they liked Crowley exploring his human side.

- Crowley doesn't have a human side. There's Crowley and there's Fergus. Fergus is human, and it was Fergus that got into the Rowena and Gavin mess.

What should the questioner ask Jared and Jensen tomorrow?

- Why are you so tall?

- Way aren't you nicer to Mark?

- Mark then told the story of how he used to complain that people came to his panel and asked him what it was like working with Jared and Jensen. So, someone went to one of their panels and asked them what it was like working with Mark Sheppard, and they both stood up and indicated his height and said "short."

The next questioner had a son who was dressing up as Bobby for the costume contest.

Mark: "Do I have to kiss him?"

[Unfortunately, I can't remember the question - my notes say "Bipolar angel demon thing -> romance" and I no longer know what that means.]

Mark's Panel came to a close, but Mark ended by telling us how much he loves everything about conventions and seeing the fans.

Mark: "I love every minute of it... apart from the questions. The questions are crap."

Mark: "The joy and the love you share with us is such a joyous thing."

And then it was lunch time! Yay!

Auction Snippet

When I came back it was auction time. My friend raloria volunteered to help with the auction, because they always give the volunteers some shwag. So, I stayed and watched the auction for a bit, chatting with some of my seat mates.

They had some cool items - stuff Leonard Nimoy had signed, for instance. But yeah, I can't afford groceries at the moment, so there's no way I was buying anything.

I also had to laugh when one of the auction items was a signed photo of "The entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation"

Me: "Except Wil Wheaton"

Gary: "Except Wil Wheaton."

I laughed, because I know for a fact that Wil refuses to do Creation conventions because, in Wil's opinion (and mine), their business model is to shake every last penny out of the fans pockets... basically exploiting their love for shows in order to make ridiculous profits.

And that's true, BUT, I think that's where we see how awesome the Supernatural cast is, because they could boycot, sure... but instead of they've done is essentially taken over the entertainment planning for the Con. The fans might be paying an arm and leg to be there, but the cast really goes above and beyond to try to make sure the fans GET an arm and and a leg worth of entertainment in return.

Anyway, this is all just to say that althought I'm sad that Creation has the monopoly on SPN cons in North America, I'm happy we have the cast we do, and that they're doing their best to... well, make the best of things.

That being said, me and my friends did joke about starting an SPN Con in International Waters. ;)

I had to split this post into two, because it was too large... so, Part 2 will be posted in a minute....

Comments

[khek.livejournal.com]

Thanks! (I'm going backwards, now that I've reached my open tabs.)

It is unfortunate that Creation has the monopoly. Mostly because it's so expensive, but also partly because they rarely do the east coast of the US. :(

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

True, I guess they just have NJ and that's it? Everything else is west, midwest, or south.

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

Great recap. I used to be bored with Mark's non-answer panels, but I am warming up to him. I do agree about Creation. I wish there was another company to do Cons, and put Creation out of business, or give them a run for their money, but oh well, at least we have them, and thank heavens for the great cast that we have.