The Collective Cosplay, Current Events, Humor, Travel, TV/Film, Women

Enjoying the Family Business at BurCon 2013

Nov 22-24, the Burbank Marriott hosted a Supernatural Convention that included appearances from cast members, fans in cosplay, and us, the Collective gals.IMAG5409 Armed with an angel at my side, I basked in the electric atmosphere of my first Creation Entertainment Supernatural Convention, taking notes and grinning ear to ear, praising Chuck that The Collectress had the foresight to purchase Sunday passes and cursing end!verse Samifer that we didn’t get to go the entire weekend. I suppose there’s always next year, which is already scheduled with the same venue for November 2014, but for now, let’s look at my top ten moments, shall we?

10) Fellow Fangirls and some boys, too

Oh, the kindred spirit that is an SPN fan. We obsess together on Tumblr, pin on Pinterest and tag on Instagram, but it is the mythical J2 Con that brings us together IRL. And boy, did the fans come out on Sunday. There were at least 2000 people in the auditorium while J2 were on stage, everyone taking pics and squeeing on cue when the boys did something funny and/or adorable. Plus, there were fans of all ages, sizes, ethnicity and not just fangirls, but guys, too. I’d guestimate the ratio was about 20:1 in terms of women versus men, and, while it seemed that many were fathers or boyfriends of said fangirls, it was nice to see dudes showing love to J2 and the cast. After I got home and kicked off my combat boots, I searched #BurCon and easily found some of the friends I made in line on the social media site, making the experience seem all the more familial. I can understand why the cast enjoys doing these cons so much. Supernatural really is a family business.

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9) The Creation Entertainment staff

When The Collectress initially purchased the tickets, instead of getting two seats next to each other, she accidentally bought them one in front of the other. Since it was her mistake, we figured Creation Entertainment wouldn’t help us out, but she emailed them anyway. Wouldn’t you know, the company not only gave us new seats, but they ended up being a few rows closer to the stage than the ones we initially purchased. No hassle, no attitude, just friendly service. This kindness carried over to the gentle way the volunteers dealt with fans at the actual con–kindly pointing me in the right direction more than a couple times. Thank you to kind volunteer in red (I didn’t catch her name) who hadn’t eaten all day and still needed to pack up and travel home to San Francisco that evening. She managed to answer every question I threw at her that day with a patient smile, letting me know that she was still having a great time even if she has worked her butt off all weekend.

8) An overheard conversation in the lobby

As I sat inconspicuously behind a potted plant charging my phone, I observed fans buying goods and chit chatting with each other. One overheard conversation between a girl and her cell phone friend stands out in my mind. This girl, about 18 or 19, sweetly bragged to the person on the other line about how she met every single person from the cast, she had photo ops with Jared, Jensen and Misha and she purchased a large vinyl poster that she also had signed by one or more of the stars. The girl ended the conversation by saying that the J2 con was the most fun she’d ever had in her life. She was almost in tears. This attitude permeated the event. Each person I spoke to had a story to tell about a star she met, an experience she had or a moment that moved her to tears. It was touching to see that all the hard work the cast and Creation Entertainment puts into these conventions means so much to the fans. I think it really must make it all worth while.

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7) J2 talking about themselves in the 3rd person

It must be difficult to differentiate yourself from a character you’ve played for 9 years. I guess that’s why Jared and Jensen speak about themselves in the third person. It was hilarious to listen to Jared say, when asked what he would do if he was faced with the decision Sam had at the end of season eight, that “Jared enjoys breathing and being alive.” As opposed to Sam, who is Jared, playing Sam.

6) Jensen making fun of Felicia’s hair

As the Collectress and I sat in our row H seats enjoying Felicia Day’s panel, the audience was delighted when Jensen Ackles snuck up behind Felicia on stage to give her a quick hug and tease her about the new ‘do. “I like the hair,” he told her, much to her surprise. “Oh, thank you!” She exclaimed..right before Jensen finished by winking at the audience and saying, “We have the same barber.” “I knew you were going to say that!” Felicia laughed. It was an adorable exchange between two friends who have a brother/sister relationship. Come back from Oz, Charlie!!

Jensen and Felicia's hair.

5) Misha Collins and his snark

So, I met Mish-Mish. It was an accident, I assured the Collectress, but when I was walking out of my photo op, I practically ran into him and Cliff, the famous J2 bodyguard. I knew I had to say something, for the sake of MY angel, and so I tried to think of a witty word to keep Misha intellectually stimulated before he started making fun of me, as he does so lovingly, but all I could do was call him angel, point at myself and let him know that my friend was gonna die because she missed seeing him.  I attempted to get a picture, but was threatened with death by Cliff if I even so much as lifted my camera phone to Misha’s face. The actor looked permanently bored sipping on Starbucks in a blue jumper and I walked away a bit sheepishly, not used to interacting with stars, even though I’ve lived in LA my entire life and have encountered my fair share. It is just the native Californian in me. I don’t know how to be a rude fan and get my way. It was hilarious when, Richard Spieght Jr introduced J2 with Misha, he told the Mishaminions in the audiences that we were “in an abusive relationship” with Misha Collins, and all he ever does is make fun of us and put us down. He swore at the next con, it would just be us and a therapist, trying to help us get our lives back on track. I feel ya, Gabe, but he’s just so MISHA!

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4) Felicia Day affirming geek girl culture

Contrary to popular belief, being a girl isn’t all sunshine and vaginas. Felicia Day reminded audiences of that during her panel at BurCon, when a majority of the questions from young female fans focused on the actress, writer, gamer extraordinaire representing geek girls everywhere. Both the Collectress and I are big fans of Felicia and it was nice to see how one of our role models has become a beacon of nerdiness to young fangirls.

3) Ty Olssen hitting on Felicia Day

I am a huge Benny fan, even though I totally and completely ship Destiel. In the secret chambers of my head canon, I imagine the comfort Benny must have brought Dean during their time together in Purgatory (wink wink, nudge nudge). I’m pretty sure there’s a fanfic for that (in fact, I’m positive). So, much to my co-blogger’s chagrin, I have a huge crush on Ty Olssen. He can’t help it if he looks like your ex, Collectress! One of the highlights of this very long day was during Felicia’s autograph session in the main lobby. Ty casually went up to Felicia and held up her line for a good 5 minutes, presumably hitting on her. He then walked right over to the Collectress (who held it together and didn’t punch him in the face like she’d threatened to earlier, simply because he looks like her ex) and told her and the girls around her in line, to tell Felicia to go out with him for a drink. The Collectress had better things to say to Felicia, and didn’t get the task done as she’d promised. The girl in front of us did, though. Felicia simply said, “No way.”

2) The Collectress’ Felicia Day autograph session

I surprised the Collectress with a Felicia Day autograph because I know she is a huge fan, plus my blogger refuses to allow me to buy her birthday and Christmas presents. The look on her face was priceless (she almost cried!), but not as great as when she actually got the chance to talk to Felicia. The Collectress held it together long enough to tell the actress how inspiring her work is to nerd girls everywhere. From buffy to Doctor Horrible; The Guild to Supernatural, Felicia is a pillar of the geek culture and happens to be a woman who loves all the nerdy things that we love. It is nice to see someone who shares similar interests gain mainstream acceptance. It gives us all hope and I was so glad that the Collectress had the chance to tell Felicia how much she appreciated her presence in Nerdom.

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1) Jared Padalecki

My top, number one moment in life, besides having my daughter and getting married and graduating college, was this photo op with Moose. MOOSE!! I am not ashamed to say I felt him up a bit, he called me “honey” and I might’ve blushed, plus, he is tall as all get down and seriously sexy. SWOON! It isn’t only the photo op and his body I love, though. Jared brings a winning sense of humor, an accessible personality and a generous nature to these conventions. I have heard only good things about his attitude and the way he interacts with fans, and I was not disappointed. After taking pictures and signing autographs for at least 5 hours, this Texan stud still had a smile on his face for every single person that he spoke to on Sunday. He donated the shirt off his back to Random Acts for–oh Chuck what was it?–$5000 I think?? Then, he proceeded to walk off the stage into the audience to hug the woman who bought it, twice! Once before he put it on for her and once after. Jared seems to genuinely enjoy these conventions, even though he’s got a pregnant Genevieve and 2-year old Thomas at home. As much as I have been a proud Dean-girl since I first started watching Supernatural, I might just be a Jared-girl now. Even in that ridiculously adorable fedora that covered his luscious locks most of the day, Jared managed to interact with fans on a personal level. The highlight of the night for both the Collectress and I was watching a tearful fan talk with Jared, who held her in a moose-hug for at least 2 minutes straight. He then proceeded to console the crying girl who happened to have quite a lot of merch for him to sign, which he of course did happily. I’m not sure why she was so sad, and continued to be so even 20 minutes later, when I saw her sitting in the lobby with a friend, and I’m not sure Jared understood either. That wasn’t the point, though. What was clearly important to Jared was that the girl feel comforted and loved, an accomplishment he gladly participated in, which is what the family business is all about.

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xoxo

The Collectiva Diva

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