lacon2010!

[alovething]

Let me preface this by saying that I have literally never been more tired in my entire life. I’ve taken what can only be called little naps since last Wednesday. I’ve gotten to that point of exhaustion where I can’t even SLEEP, I’m so tired. But anyway.

LA CON 2010!
Baby’s First Convention

Beneath the cut I will talk about road trips and spit takes and getting gay married and not-sleeping in shitty hotel room beds. And oh yeah, meeting those dudes from that show I like.

It’s a way too fucking detailed account, but my memory sucks and I’d like to look back on this later in life. BEWARE: This took me four days to finish and it's almost 10k words. I don't know.



The plan was to take a nap Thursday before and after show and then leave in the dead of night. The leaving in the dead of night part happened, but the naps did not. (I may reference sleeping or a lack there of a lot in this report, because at this point sleeping feels like a fairytale I was once told long ago. It’s nice to think about, but it’ll never actually happen.)

I left my house a little after two in the morning and stole away to woodstarling’s house. We left our area around three and on the way to pick up rogueslayer452, the girl we were giving a ride down there, I remember laughing really hard about something, but fuck if I remember what that was.

The drive was fairly uneventful, as the drive from Sacramento to Los Angeles always is. California is awesome, but most of it is just dull, golden farmland. Boring as hell. There were your pitstops and horrifying restrooms and all that, but nothing of interest happened until Bakersfield until we decided to stop and eat breakfast. We settled on Marie Callendar’s because, well, Dean Winchester loves pie.

So we’re sitting there at eight in the morning waiting for our pancakes when lo and behold, who should tweet but Misha Collins, telling us to pick up some yellow carnations. I did not realize until that moment how much power Misha fucking Collins had over me, because I ignored my pancakes in favor of getting on my iPhone and calling nearby florists at eight in the morning to ask for yellow carnations.

I found one about a half a mile away after calling about three places, so we paid our bill and headed on over. We walked in the door to the florist and there was an angel statue pointing at us. Pretty sure it was fate.

And that’s how we went from reading Misha’s tweet to having yellow carnations in hand in half an hour. Damn you, Collins.

We drove over the Grapevine, which is something I’m used to but never fond of doing, and then sat on the parking lot that is the 405 for a bit before finally getting to our hotel. There was a bit of a room blunder but it all worked out in the end, and they even let us check in four hours early. You could see the Hollywood sign from our room. That was pretty cool.

We headed over to the Marriot to register and got our special wristbands and then made our way into the auditorium. Richard Speight, Jr. opened the show and wow, that guy is funny. He was an excellent opening act. He told the pumpkin underwear story again and was just a cool guy all around.

Now, I can’t remember exactly when this happened, but I want to say it was between Richard and Rob’s panels. The MC guy was like, a total dick. He legit said, and I quote, “Who saw the episode last night? No spoilers, but ZOMBIES!” Um, okay. The MotW is sort of a spoiler but whateverrrrr. He was just an ass all around.

Then they had this yes/no trivia game and I went up to play in round two and it got down to me and this other girl, and the question was something like ‘the goblet of blood is what Meg used to communicate with the yellow-eyed demon’ and I held up yes, but then I doubted myself because I thought of Shadow and got confused, so I put my paper down and got disqualified. I AM SO STUPID. T_T

Oh well. So close!

After that came Rob Benedict and shit, that guy is adorable. I mean, I’ve loved him since Waiting and knew he was awesome but damn, he charmed the pants off of me. He’s just adorable and funny and nice as all hell.

They were projecting pictures from the show and of the actors on the walls off to the side of the stage, and the actors kept commenting on them. When this one of Jared came up, Rob started talking about it.

Rob: Why can’t I look like that? If I tried to stand like that people would be like “What’s wrong with you? Do you have a spinal problem?”

Oh man, it was so awesome.

We loved his panel so much that woodstarling and I went and bought photo ops with him, and he’s even nicer and more adorable up close.

That was it for panels for the day, but Joolz had an auto ticket for Rob so there was a lot of waiting around because we were in the cheap seats and hence, had to go last. While waiting I met up with takemejustasiam, who fucking rocks, and oh_whimsical, who I’m fucking in love with.

After autos, we went with oh_whimsical and her friend Jill to grab some grub. Carl’s Jr. by the airport. Classy shit. We split up to go to our respective hotels (I found it hilarious that no one seemed to actually be staying in the Marriott) to get ready for the Louden Swain concert.

Now, I’ll admit that while I liked what I had heard of Louden Swain, I hadn’t heard enough to feel comfortable with calling myself a fan. All that soon changed. We got the best seats possible in GA (which, come to think of it, we did all weekend). And by the way, Creation, CHAIRS AT A CONCERT SUCKS. Just saying.

Anway, long story short. I now fucking love Louden Swain. The voice that comes out of that adorable little man is fucking astounding. The band kicked ass and Rob damn near took his shirt off. He seemed sort of baffled that we wanted him to. WE LOVE YOU, CHUCK, YOU SEXY PROPHET.

They played Jesse’s Girl and a mash up of all these awesome songs including Sympathy for the Devil and it was just fantastic. After the show the band came out and I bought their CD and they all signed it. Rob’s marker was crapping out and he was all sweaty and I was sort of baffled his hand still worked. He signed autos for hours and then played guitar and then signed more autos and the poor guy looked like he just really wanted a drink of the beer in front of him but he was still so damn happy to be talking with fans. I don’t know what else to say to reiterate that he’s amazing.

After the concert we ran upstairs to the bar for the karaoke party and because I needed booze like WHOA. We commandeered a booth near the back and then Joolz and I went to go get booze. I’m a baller on a budget so I got a Tokyo Tea and a Purple Nurple. Tokyo Teas are awesome if you want to get drunk quick and somewhat cheaply. Six shots of booze in one drink, cut with a splash of 7-Up. NOM. The purple nurples were awesome. They turned our tongues blue.

So yeah, this part might get fuzzy. I met the wonderful wendy and the darling diner joined us for a bit. I know at one point I was sitting up on the back of the booth with my feet on the seat and we were all singing the songs louder than the people who actually had microphones. Basically, we were being fucking obnoxious and it was awesome.

Richard wandered into the bar and we joined the crowd that bombarded him for pictures. Over an hour and a few drinks (for me) later, a cooler booth opened up and we ducked into it. Shortly after I realized that I was photobombing pretty much every picture Richard was taking with fans because I was right behind him. If a dorky blonde making a weird face is in the background of your Richard picture, please accept my apology.

Richard was taking pictures and talking to people FOREVER and in my drunken state I decided I just had to go tell him how AWESOME he was like, RIGHT NOW. I know oh_whimsical was standing beside me, probably laughing at me. I was probably obnoxious but he didn’t seem to mind. He seemed quite amused actually.

I put my hand on his shoulder and was like “Hey. Hey Richard. I already got a picture but I wanted to tell you something.” And he smirked and sort of quirked a brow and I pulled a drunk!Dean. I pointed at him and said “Know what? You’re awesome!” and he laughed. I just told him it was super cool of him to put up with us for so long and that he was super sweet. He said thanks and that it was his pleasure and he loved us and then gave me a hug. I was like TRICKSTER HUG! COOL! And then this guy with a camera was like GROUP PICTURE! And he Richard pulled me and Erika (oh_whimsical) and a few other people into the picture and Joolz was in my seat so she probably photobombed it.

I have no idea who took the picture or whose camera it even was, but damn, I’d like to see it.

OH. And I totally made a love connection, you guys. I introduced takemejustasiam to diner because I know they live near each other and they talked for awhile AND YOU GUYS BETTER BE FRIENDS NOW! Invite me to the wedding.

We hung out in the bar until last call even though we were set to meet some angel dudes in the morning, and then we serenaded the remaining stragglers with a beautiful rendition of Bad Romance (with dancing) and then oh_whimsical fell down.

We left the hotel around two in the morning and I remember screaming Misha’s name in the parking lot hoping he had arrived and would look out his window and yell WHAT? Yeah, I don’t know either. Toyko Teas are a hell of a thing.

We got back to our hotel and drunkenly poked around the gift shop and giggled over the ‘sensual pleasure’ kit they had. It even came with wipes and breath mints for afterward! I made a joke about wanting to get it and give it to Misha during autos. Still sort of sad that I didn’t.

Then we poked around the sauna and steam room and I remember Joolz going IT IS SUPER HOT IN HERE OMG. And then some negligent member of the housekeeping staff left a cart of towels out and we stole a bunch. I just remember having a bunch of towels under each arm and going all Mission Impossible down the hallway to the elevators. Humming the theme and everything.

And wow, you know what? I don’t remember getting back to the room. But we must have, because the rest of the weekend was even better.





Saturday I woke up HANGOVER FREE, BITCHES! Keeping hydrated is key.

We showered and primped and I curled my hair which turned out to be a horrible idea because I had hair!fail all day but whatever IT WAS MISHA DAY! We headed over to the hotel with our yellow carnations in our hair and wandered in for Kurt Fuller’s panel.

And then I almost got into a fight.

I spent time on this really cleverly worded question about working on SPN and Psych at the same time and walked up to ask my question. I was apparently first in line so I was waiting off to the side while he came out and warmed us up and this girl walked past me and right up to the microphone. An employee tapped her and told her to get behind me but the girl didn’t, and when Kurt asked for questions, she just started asking hers.

I was annoyed but wasn’t that angry until I realized it was JUST A SHITTIER VERSION OF MY AWESOME, WELL THOUGHT OUT QUESTION. I had a mini little hissy hit to myself before I realized I was in front of hundreds of people, and then I had like two minutes to think of another question. I was proud of the way I didn’t punch the girl in the face when she walked by. I CANNOT BELIEVE SHE PULLED CUTSIES.

I reminded him of the movie Repli-Kate that he did with James Roday ten years ago (because it’s so bad I wouldn’t have been surprised if he forgot) and asked him what it was like working with James again now in Psych, and how he’s changed and grown as an actor. Or something like that, I don’t remember exactly how I phrased it.

KF: You’ve seen Repli-Kate?
Me: I OWN Repli-Kate.
KF: No way. I’ll sign it right now!
Me: … Well, I don’t carry it around with me.

Then he told a story about how even though that shitty movie was one of James’s first ever acting roles he knew he could do better and that he was very professional and talented. And apparently they remained friends and Kurt is neighbors with Maggie Lawson, and James called Kurt personally to ask him to play the role of the coroner on Psych. Then he went on to talk about how amazing James Roday is while I was just standing there like ♥_♥ and it was awkward because he kept eye contact with me the whole time and I felt like I couldn’t look away.

When he was done he said something like “Wow, Repli-Kate.” or something along those lines. Basically reiterating how BAD that movie was. So I said “Well, I love how bad that movie is.” and went back to my seat.

I think that was when I accidentally walked into the wrong row because it was DARK AS FUCK and Joolz yelled out HEY RETARD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? and it was awkward for everyone. But mainly me. Okay, just me.

He told some funny stories about Ghostbusters II and Wayne’s World and he’s just a super awesome dude. Very humble and funny.

After his panel, Joolz and I went to get our photo op with him. I didn’t realize he was so goddamn tall. The picture turned out awesome just because he looks like a total creeper and I was going to do a thumbs up but I aborted that plan so I’m just sort of doing a DERPDERP hand. It’s pretty cool.

The charger for my phone had fallen out of the wall the night before (or I was too drunk to plug it in correctly) so it was almost dead. We kept hanging out in the hallway so I could creep on random outlets and plug it in a few minutes at a time. takemejustasiam saved the day with some bobby pins so I could fix my hair!fail, and then it was time for the GHOSTFACERS.

Talk about two of the coolest dudes on the planet. AJ and Travis are seriously amazing. So hilarious, gracious, kind, humble, and thankful. They’re incredible guys and being their friend would pretty much be the best thing in the world.

Ummmm highlights. They told a story about how on their first day doing Ghostfacers Jared ran up and threw AJ over his shoulder and was carrying him around while Jensen followed and went JARED, PUT HIM DOWN!

And Travis told a story about how he and Jensen worked together back in the nineties and when Jensen saw him on the SPN set he made this face. He did an impression of Jensen that was so spot on it was freaky.

Then they told a story about how they filmed a Ghostfacers spot where the facers are supposed to meet Castiel because Misha said he wanted to be on their show. Castiel was supposed to walk out a door and disappear, and Misha actually did. They were so confused. Turns out Misha was hiding in a little nook behind a vacuum cleaner. God, they’re awesome. I can’t imagine what hanging around AJ, Travis, and Misha at the same time would be like.

The showed a clip from the first webisode (PREMIERING APRIL 15TH ON CWTV.COM RIGHT AFTER THE 100TH EPISIODE WATCH IT OR I’LL SMACK YOU) and it was fantastic. I was almost crying laughing.

After their panel, me and Joolz scampered off to get our photo op with them. Watching them interact with fans is just great. They’re such nice guys. Also, I don’t fucking understand how everyone on this stupid show is MORE attractive in person. You’d think it would be the other way around but NO. AJ Buckley is so hot up close that I sort of wanted to cream my jeans.

I stood near Travis and woodstarling stood by AJ, so after the picture I stepped over to AJ to say thanks. I went out to touch his arm at the same moment he raised his arm to presumably touch my shoulder, so I ended up like, grabbing his chest on accident. My hand like, slid across his chest and down his abs and he sort of looked at me and I looked back in horror and he just laughed and patted my shoulder and I just sort of walked away.

CARLY: THE EPITOME OF COOL.

After that it was almost MISHA TIME. We were sitting in the hallway so I could charge my stupid phone some more (okay, I’m the stupid one, not the phone) and all of a sudden a question came to me. I had spent like, over a week trying to think of a question that might not get me heckled by the overlord and one finally came to me five minutes before his panel.

So we go into the auditorium and I’m nervous so I go up to get in line to try and get it over with. And I’m first again. The moderator lady asked me what my question was and she was like “ooh, that’s a good one”. So she tells me I’ll be first and I’m like, oh crap.

Misha comes out and he’s awesome and he forgot his flower so he picked a weed from the parking lot. He’s right there and I’m just like, :O. I’m super nervous about going first, but then Misha says he’s starting on the left. And I had this moment where in my head I’m like “… which left?” but he turned to the other side so I thought I had a few moments to psych myself up. But then the girl said she didn’t know what left he meant, so he said “oh, your left” and turned towards me all purposefully and those fucking blue eyes locked on mine and I think I actually gasped into the microphone.

Me: You make everybody laugh and now I’m nervous. Anyway, it sounds like you do a lot of travelling.
MC: Judging by what I’ve said here so far today?
Me: No! Just like, in general. Like, in your life. … Forever.

(No seriously, I hate myself so much.)

Me: So I was just wondering what your favorite place that you’ve ever visited was. In the world.
MC: Favorite place. In the wooorld? Ooh, spooky.
Me: It’s a deep question, I know.

I know there was talk about how I probably have all his flight records and I nervously said “yeah, I keep it all in a special folder” and I literally pantomimed a goddamn folder to Misha Collins. I said it because of our super hilarious inside joke with the zefron folder that holds all our special documents, but no one else would know that, so I sounded like a creepy stalker.

I was actually listening to the audio and a lot of people laughed at that and some girl went “… oh wow”. IT WAS A JOKE. I DON’T ACTUALLY STALK MISHA COLLINS. He joked about me working for the FAA and I was hoping he would ask what I actually did so I could tell him I work in property taxes and I could sound like more of a stalker, but alas, he did not. (And no, I don’t know where Misha Collins lives. We don’t have Los Angeles county on our system. NOT THAT I WOULD STALK HIM IF WE DID. .. Hopefully.)

ANYWAY. He started this whole story about this field he used to hang out in as a kid in Massachusetts and how he used to break this beaver’s dam just to watch him fix it. Then he seemed displeased with that answer even though it was a cute story and switched over to talking about Nepal.

He asked me if I knew what these mill things were. I can’t remember the word right now, but he asked me, and I said no.

MC: I bet you do know.
Me: I doooon’t.
MC: I bet you doooooo.
Me: I don’t!
MC: I bet you do know what they are and you’re just saying you don’t because you don’t want to seem like a nerd!

Then he started to explain what they were and just stopped like “Wow. I’LL BORE YOU YET!” and said that Nepal was a more worldly answer than a field in Massachusetts.

Me: I like them both. One has the nice family memory.
MC: Yep.
Me: A childhood memory.
MC: Yep. Yep. … Yep.

The way he kept saying yep made me laugh and I finally scampered off and he said something like “thanks for coming up and facing this… fear.”

I was just really proud of the way he actually seemed to think about the question and gave me a serious(ish) answer. I didn’t get heckled! And he actually thought of a real answer instead of making a joke! GO ME!

I mean, I made a complete ass out of myself but he was making THIS FACE at me so I could have like, you know, passed out. BUT I DIDN’T. (Pic credit goes to wolfpup2000.)

Little did I know that it was merely the first of many times I would be making an ass out of myself in front of people I adore, but more on that later. Oh no, wait. I forgot about the AJ thing. SHIT.

So I went back to my seat and enjoyed the rest of the panel. Misha was a complete bitch to everyone – totally snarky and totally AWESOME. I laughed so hard. There were such gems like “the season five gag reel is just going to be ten minutes of Misha fucking up and laughing” and “that’s how I act – Jared fondles my balls and I try not to laugh.”

GOOD TIMES. It’s funny how you always think of such funny, clever things to say way after the fact. I’m sure I could have made him laugh but he was staring at me with those eyes and talking and me with that mouth and I was pretty much reduced to O____o.

Jim’s panel was right after Misha’s and shit, that guy’s awesome. He warned us that he hadn’t really slept and you could tell. He was very tired, but also very charming and very kind. He called Misha a motherfucker and then Misha crashed his panel and they hugged. Misha nuzzled Jim’s cheek and Jim kissed Misha’s ear. It was pretty adorable.

Jim is just a great man. He loves what he does and he loves us. I can’t say enough good things about him.

When Jim’s panel was over we scampered off for Misha’s photo op. Waiting for photo ops kind of sucked. It just gave you a lot of time to be nervous. But anyway, we got into the room and Misha was SO PRETTY. And also adorable. He was like, so dazed. He was looking all around and he kept licking his lips all the time (THAT’S WHY THEY’RE CHAPPED, MISHA) and basically spazzing out. But every time someone went up to him for a picture he turned his complete attention to them, and then they would walk off and he would space out again.

Anna went first, I believe. Oh shit. I can’t remember if oh_whimsical was there with us for Misha ops or not. Oh no, she wasn’t. Because she got that AWESOME picture with Misha in the glasses. Anyway, Anna gave him a flower and he stuck it behind his ear. And then woodstarling went, and then it was my turn. I walked up to him and he put his hand on my shoulder and said “flower or no flower?” and I was like all like K and thought he was asking about MY flower because if we took the picture with me on the side I was standing on, you wouldn’t have been able to see mine. So I nodded and jumped over to his other side. He chuckled and said “flower!” and that’s when I realized he was asking me if I wanted him to wear HIS flower. I’m lame.

Anyway, he put his arm around me and I turned in a little to put my hand on his chest like I always seem to do in pictures with guys. And he was like “oh, hug!” and grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. I was super shocked and like, his awesome stubbly jaw scraped across my forehead and I tried to smile and not freak out. But I was sure I was making a face.

After that I said thanks and walked off. I think he forgot about the flower for the next girl but he must have taken it off right after her, because when I went to pick up the op, he wasn’t wearing a flower with anyone else. (And I wasn’t making a weird face, thank god.)

After photo ops we went up to the sports bar to grab some food. We were riding a pretty good Misha-high. I totally plugged my phone into the wall at our booth and let it charge. It was good times. We basically just rehashed Misha being AWESOME.

At one point Joolz was like I NEED MORE DAMN WATER! and slammed her glass down without realizing the waiter was right there and he had this look on his face like WOW, WHAT A BITCH! Hahaha that was awesome.

After dinner we went back down to the auditorium to wait for our Misha autos. oh_whimsical is better than me at everything in life so she got hers early AND had a funny story. Which I’m not going to tell here. Why do I need to tell Erika’s story and make her seem even cooler? Fuck that girl. (BRB!)

So we hung out waiting for autos and tiredness was really settling in. woodstarling was drawing awesome things in her sketchbook and I drooled over sleuth!Jared a little before getting up and going to pick up our Ghostfacers op. AJ is doing an awesome pose and Travis sort of looks like he has no idea what’s going on but he’s adorable.

I had heard all the stories about how awesome Jim is at autos and wow, they’re all fact. I didn’t get an auto with him myself, but I watched him doing them. He even had a little block of time early in the morning to get a head start on them just because he wants more time with his fans. And he did. He really spent a good amount of time with every person that went up to him, and he is just amazing. I LOVE YOU JIM BEAVER.

We were legit LAST for autos with Misha. I walked up to him and wow, that boy ain’t playing with those eyes. They’re really THAT blue. He looked pretty tired and who can blame him, really? But he was very nice and he commented on my flower.

MC: I like your flower. Thanks so much for wearing it.
Me: Thank you for giving us the adventure of trying to find a florist open at 8 AM in Bakersfield. That was fun.

And he did his little crinkle-nose grin and I swooned and he smiled at me. AHH MISHA YOU RUIN MY LIFE.

It was sort of weird walking around the hotel because the host dude announced that Jared and Jensen had arrived and I was just like … they’re in this building. I’m such a tool. I’m sure they were up in their rooms hiding from fangirls but I was like, looking over my shoulder. I felt like a creeper.

After that we wandered back over to our hotel, went up to the room, put our shit down, and then woodstarling and I went back to the steam room and stole a shitload more towels. Just because. We’re super cool.

We were sort of in that state where we were super exhausted but we didn’t actually want to sleep. Also, I was sitting in bed eating a donut from downstairs crying real tears of jealousy because oh_whimsical was in that private meet and greet with Misha fucking Collins. GOD WHAT A BITCH.

She texted us afterwards saying that Misha was amazing (duh) and that she stole his Starbucks cup (creeper) and that it had been filled with beer, not coffee. OH MISHA ILU AND YOUR SNEAKY WAYS.

Erika invited us out for drinks but like, I was literally sprawled across the floor half-dead. I really wanted to go because hanging out with Erika and Jill is good times, but I needed to save my strength for Winchester Day.





On Sunday morning I woke up around six and my stomach was in knots. It was horrible. I was like, there is no fucking way I am THIS nervous. I felt sick and weird just ugh, horrible. I got up and snuck into the bathroom to take a shower and while in there it hit me that I had eaten like, one meal in three days. I wasn’t nervous (well, not that nervous), I was fucking ravenous.

When I’m out and running around and doing exciting things I sort of forget to eat. It’s a problem.

So around eight I wandered down to the hotel lobby in my jammies to pick something up from the café. I was standing in line and all I wanted was a scone and a latte, but they only had one person working. At 8 AM. In a hotel by the airport. On a Sunday. I had forgotten my phone upstairs and I’m sort of shit at judging time, so I thought maybe I hadn’t actually been standing there that long. But then the mild-mannered looking dude behind me exclaimed FUCK THIS! and walked off, so I thought maybe it actually had been awhile.

So I left even though my tumbly was rumbly because I had to make myself look acceptable for the Winchesters. I get back to the room and realized I had been downstairs for over half an hour. I had the hunger rage and knew I didn’t have time to try to get any food and wouldn’t have the chance until the afternoon, so I called the manager to complain. I never do that, but I had the HUNGAR RAGEEE!

The manager brought me some scones and a triple-shot latte on the house and my anger dissipated. :3 So we get ready and head over to the Marriott. The way they were doing J2 photo ops was weird. If you had a ticket you had to go into the auditorium and wait and then they called you by rows.

So finally me and woodstarling get in line and we’re like omgomgomgomg because we’re lame, and when we got close enough to the door to the room I peeked my head around and saw Jensen. Like, in the flesh. And nearly swooned. His hair was longer and he looked happy and pretty and smiley and UGH. JENSEN ACKLES. So we get in the room and we have to loop around and watch while they take pictures. They were being so good to all of us.

There was a tiny little girl that went up for a picture and I’m pretty sure she like, came up to Jared’s belly button. So Jared ducks down but Jensen like, jumped up and landed in the splits. And it was adorable. But it made his jeans super tight and I was done for.

It was our turn and I walked up and stood between them. Jared and Jensen were saying something to each other and they both were laughing really hard so I just sort of stared up at them, looking back and forth, and they turned to me at the same time and went HI! I nearly died.

The following is me having tunnel vision. Like, I know I was in the room with all these people and a photographer and woodstarling was right next to me with Jared fucking Padalecki but I cannot for the life of me tell you anything hat happened in that room outside of me and Jensen. My brain shut off.

So anyway, Jensen puts his arm around me and I literally, out loud, exclaim “Oh crap!” No, really. I said OH CRAP when Jensen Ackles touched me. Smooth. Suave. Carly. So Jensen like, tossed his head back and laughed and then squeezed me tighter.

Me: OH CRAP!
JA: *laughs* Oh crap? Oh no! What’d I do?

And he like, tilted his head and turned to look down at me and I looked up at him and his breath was minty. I blinked a few times and looked into his eyes. MISTAKE. woodstarling fucking warned me not to look right into THOSE GODDAMN GREEN EYES but I did anyway.

Me: Uh, nothing. Just nervous.
JA: Aww, no. Let’s do this! It’ll be great!

So we snapped the picture and I go to step away, but Jensen’s grip on me tightened a little so I couldn’t and then he sort of like, turned me in towards him, and I looked into his stupid eyes again and he gave me this little smirk and stared at my face for a second. And then he winked. HE WINKED. AT ME. WHILE I WAS LITERALLY THREE INCHES FROM HIS FACE. He winked and then gave me that stupid grin that is BRIGHT LIKE THE SUN. I mean, I’ve gone on diatribes about that stupid grin. I LOVE THAT STUPID GRIN. And then he did it. After winking. At me. And then he rubbed my back a little and said “thanks” and let me go. And I mumbled thanks back and sort of stumbled out of the photo op room.

Then Joolz looks over at me and I look at her and go “FUCK! I DIDN’T EVEN LOOK AT JARED!” Like, I had planned on turning to him afterwards and saying thanks but his fucking co-star reduced me to an idiotic puddle of goo. But then I remembered that I was getting a Jared solo op with takemejustasiam BECAUSE SHE IS AMAZING and I would get another chance (to make a fool of myself).

Basically, the moral of this story is, if you make an ass out of yourself in front of Jensen Ackles, he may take pity on you and wink at you.

I bet he did it on purpose. Like “Hey, this chick is obviously gaga over me. What can I do to ruin her life forever? Oh, I know! Wink!” Bah Jensen Ackles WHY?

Anyway, we walk back to the auditorium in a stupor. I had to find Bridget for the Jared op but they wouldn’t let me in the room without the ticket, which she had, so someone finally chaperoned me in and let me find her.

The line that time seemed to a little faster and I was breathing a little easier, maybe because I had seen them in the flesh and I survived Jensen Ackles squeezing me and winking so I could probably survive anything now.

So we get into the photo op room and Jared is just like, super smiley. He seemed really happy. Also, couldn’t help but notice his wedding ring. I’m really critical of jewelry but his wedding ring was stunning. If I remember correctly, it was silver with a band of black through the middle. It wasn’t really like any other wedding band I’ve ever seen, and it was very pretty. And he obviously is very happy, so kudos to the both of them!

Anyway, we’re next in line and this girl getting the picture goes to leave but Jared like, grabs her wrist. Not in like, a creeper way. He just sort of touched her arm and said “what’s that?” I couldn’t see it, but she replied that it was some sort of fake tattoo.

JP: What’s that? Does that say Misha’s Minions?
Girl: Uh, yeah.

Then she walked away and Jared made this face and exclaimed “DAMN HIM!” all loud and adorable. The Jared & Misha rivalry is fucking hilarious.

Anyway, we walk up to Jared and he’s like “Oh cool! A twofer!” and then he like, shook his hair out. I remember that very clearly. Because I love that stupid mop of hair and I was pleased to see it so long. I thought it looked very pretty.

So me and Bridget go up to him and he puts his arm around us and I put my hand on his stomach and like, whoa. WHOA. That boy was rocking two shirts and wasn’t flexing, just standing there, and his abs were popping. Like, that boy is DEFINED. I sort of pressed my hand into his stomach because, well, I’m a fucking creeper. BUT HEY. takemejustasiam was like, clutching his shirt! So WHATEVER!

Anway, yeah. The picture ended and I was super cool. I like, craned my head back to look up (up up up) at him and he smiled down at me.

Me: God, you’re tall.
JP: *laughs* I KNOW, RIGHT? WHAT HAPPENED?

(I put that in caps because Jared is very loud. Not in an obnoxious way. Just, big guy. Big voice.)

He clapped his hands together after I said it and laughed while I felt like a dork. He could have made me feel like an ass because duh. The sky is blue and rain is wet and Jared Padalecki is tall. But he made me feel better about it and I left not really feeling all that lame.

… But still pretty lame. I TOLD JARED PADALECKI THAT HE WAS TALL. LIKE HE WAS UNAWARE. Ugh, whatever. I’m super cool.

After the photo op we were walking back to the auditorium and me and Bridget just sort of looked at each other.

Bridget: Did you feel his back?
Me: Fuck that. Did you feel his ABS?

I apparently ignored his back in favor of his stupid stomach, while she ignored his stomach in favor of his back. So at least his body was creeped upon equally.

So after that we all stood in line to wait to get into the auditorium, and like, we were the first people in and we got the best possible seats for GA and buzzed with excitement while we waited for the panel to start. I wanted to ask Jensen about Batman, but when I walked up to get in line I found a clusterfuck I just wasn’t prepared to deal with, so I went back to my seat to just sit and enjoy.

They played this adorable vid set to “You’ve Got a Friend In Me” from Toy Story to introduce them and it made me grin so very hard. It had all these moments from the gag reels that just reminded us that these two are BEST FRIENDS. And then they came out smiling and looking like BFFF (best fucking friends forever) and it made me so happy in my heart. They love each other, you guys. Not being slashy here at all. They’re two best friends that care a great deal for each other, and that shines in everything they do.

I won’t go into the panel too much because by now I’m sure you’ve all seen it. They were funny and adorable and Jared and Misha fuck with each other’s cars and Jensen acted gay. OH. That was actually great. I squealed out loud when Jensen came out with that rainbow lei on his head, because it’s the one that oh_whimsical gave Misha the day before. It was just making its way through the cast.

And the thing with Jared being really interested in what everyone names their cars was hilarious. And Jensen got a little catty, as he is known to do. One of my biggest fantasies is hanging out like, at a mall with woodstarling, oh_whimsical, Jensen, and Misha and just like, people watching and talking shit. That sounds like the best day ever. Jared would be like, c’mon guys, be nice. And we’d be like STFU JARED AND GO GET US SOME WETZEL BITS! We’re such bitches. All of us.

But really, despite the boys being in the middle of filming the finale and flying in just for the con and being exhausted, I’m sure, they seemed really happy. They were relaxed and laidback and smiley and I just got the impression that they really love us. They really do care about their fans, and it’s obvious.

Sigh. You guys. They make me so happy. ♥♥♥

Hmm, let’s see. After the J2 panel we were all hungry but like, didn’t want to eat. We ended up meeting up with oh_whimsical and her friend Jill (who I am sad I didn’t get to spend more time with, as she was awesome but wasn’t actually attending the convention) and walking over to our hotel. We walked into the restaurant all like “oooh, this is nice!” and sat down and picked up the menus. It was like a movie. We all opened the menus at the same time, our eyes widened, and we got up and walked out.

We ended up ordering a pizza and commandeering some couches in the lobby. It was great. We had a lot of fun with the zefron folder, as we do. Erika and Jill skipped out a little early because Erika had J2 autos, and we hung out for a bit before making our way back over to the Marriott.

We got good seats for Marksha’s panel and damn, the guy is hilarious. It was like markshaland come to life. He was funny and weird and when someone told him Misha was cursing more than him, he starting peppering in the word ‘fuck’ in everything he said.

Someone asked him a question about Mulholland Drive, and he asked if we all understood it. I have a major fucking hate-on for that movie, so I screamed “NOO!” without even really meaning to. He whipped his head around and looked at me and I shrunk down in my seat.

Then oh_whimsical got up to ask him a question and started it with “Hi Marksha!” Everyone in the crowd gasped like she shot a puppy on stage, but he didn’t even notice. woodstarling and I laughed our gleeful asses off, however.

She asked him how he felt about the fact that Kripke said that it was between him and Misha Collins and him for the role of Castiel, but Misha got it. Marksha had apparently never heard this news.

MP: I had no FUCKING idea that I was up for that FUCKING part! So FUCK IT! FUUUCK!

I was rolling. I laughed so damn hard. Oh man, he was hilarious.

They ushered Marksha offstage after a somewhat short panel. It could be because J2 autos ran long, or it could be because he was trying to set a world record for most f-bombs ever dropped onstage at a TV show convention.

Marksha’s panel like, unleashed something in us. We were crazy. We were leaving the auditorium to go get our Marksha photo ops and this glorious exchange happened.

Joolz: I’m gonna say ‘I fucking love you, Marksha!’ to him.
Employee: Don’t say that to him.
Joolz: Oh, I fucking WILL!

He brought out the devil in us. We were busting up in the photo op line and I was the only one who didn’t have a Marksha autograph ticket so I scrounged in my pockets for cash and took donations to make up what I was missing so I could get one.

Marksha ops were… awkward. If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I had a somewhat scarring experience. Basically, I got to third base with the devil and I think he kinda liked it. I walked up to him and he put his arm around me and gripped my elbow in his other hand and like, slid his fingers down my entire arm and wrapped his hand around my wrist and squeezed it.

Once I was free I scurried off only to have Chris, the photographer, call me back.

Chris: *laughing* We have to retake that.
Me: *horrified* Why? What’d I do?
Chris: No, just – just go back with Mark.
MP: Oooh yeah.

And then the second experience was even weirder than the first. I don’t really want to get into it. Everyone thinks he totally wanted my bod. Basically, the devil and I shared a moment and now he won’t stop. leaving. me. v-gifts!

It’s awkward.

Anyway, after the photo ops we had to go back to the auditorium to wait for autos. They were doing a costume contest. There was a Castiel that was like, perfect! ONLY HE DIDN’T HAVE A TIE! How are you going to put together a spot-on Castiel costume and not have the crumpled, loosened blue tie? BLASPHEMY! TIE!FAIL!

And then there was a Jo and I swear I went gay for like an hour. She was super hot. And SPOT ON. So we decided to cheer for her. I’m pretty sure we screamed louder than anyone else in the auditorium even though oh_whimsical kept cheering for the wrong damn person on accident. I still love her, though. I think the Castiel and Jo ended up tying for first place.

JO WAS ROBBED!

We were sitting around waiting for Marksha autos and looking at the pictures on Erika’s camera and I’m pretty sure that time is just lost in a giggle haze. We laughed and laughed and laughed and ended up being dead last in line for autos. Again.

So we get up to Marksha and oh_whimsical had her last lei for the devil himself.

Erika: Can I give you a lei?
MP: *looks up* Ooooh yeah.
Erika: … Cool.

So he leaned forward so she could put it on him and he went to sign her picture.

MP: Erika, thanks for the lay. That’s l-a-y, right?
Erika: It’s whatever you want it to be.

So I’m laughing because I thought he was making a creepy joke and finally one of his handlers was like “uh no, l-e-i.” And we all stopped laughing like, whoops.

So then he signed Joolz’s and I was trying to read it and I couldn’t. His handwriting sucks. So then he took mine and smirked and signed it and slid it back to me all slowly. I look at it and we all look at him and walk out of the room.

Me: … Dude. The devil signed my auto with ‘hugs & kisses’.

After that we all had a pretty big craving for booze, so we went back up to the bar that the karaoke party was held at. We commandeered one side of the bar and instantly made friends with the bartender, Ryan.

And yeah, we ordered another round of Tokyo Teas. I felt like a total alcoholic because I was drinking mine and then he was like WHOA! I FORGOT THE 7-UP! and I hadn’t even noticed.

After our first round of drinks, oh_whimsical and I went back downstairs so I could pick up me and woodstarling’s J2 op. There was a huge line and at the end of it I was pleased to find takemejustasiam. Our drinks were kicking in and so when we got in the room I sort of looked at like, everyone’s pictures. THEY’RE ALL REALLY CUTE.

Misha Collins makes my life better.

I found ours and I was super pleased with how it turned out, and then we found me and Bridget’s and laughed over how much we groped Jared. I wanted to buy jpegs, but the line was line and we were buzzed, so we went back up to the bar to drink more. Ryan made us these awesome pineapple drinks and they were super tasty. I remember not liking the name of the drink and renaming them Lucky Charms.

We were going to order a pizza and have it delivered to the bar because we’re that awesome, but the bar closed at nine. WTF NINE? We tried to get Ryan to come out with us and ~show us the town but he was busy. So we exchanged contact info and headed downstairs to try and get my jpegs. The line was still super long and we were drunk and I know at one point me and Jill were in line and everyone else was on the other side of the hall and we started playing catch with my shoe. Then we finally got into the room and I was talking to Chris, the photographer, who is like the coolest guy ever.

Me: Chris, what do I have to do to get my Marksha, er, Mark photo?
Chris: Wait until you can claim it online?
Me: But I'm Amish. I don't have a computer.
Chris: *laughs* You don't look Amish.
Me: Okay, well, I'm homeless. I had to sell my house to come to this convention.
Chris: *laughs, and then stares* WAIT. You're that girl. Oh my god.

And then he starts busting up laughing and I'm like, I'm WHAT girl? Apparently he found my awkwardness during the Mark ops so hilarious that he remembered exactly where I fell and pulled my pics up and made me come around just so I could see them. And I'm like OH GOD. And he's like THAT WAS AWESOME! And then he handed me my disc and leaned in and told me he put my Mark ops (including awkward re-takes) on my disc for freesies. CHRIS IS AWESOME!

After that I put my shoes back on and we headed over to Erika and Jill’s hotel and had a pizza delivered there. We hung out in their room and watched Titanic because why the hell not? After awhile I started to crash so we said our long, long goodbyes… and then hung out some more. And then said goodbye again and left.

We went back to our hotel and went to go steal some towels for old time’s sake, but there were none on the cart! Probably because we had stolen them all.

I don’t really remember what we did back in the room. Probably just tried to sleep. I was really sad about it being all over. I didn’t want to go.





We woke up and packed and I just had this dread about going home. I had met so many awesome people and laughed so hard that I just didn’t want to go. So even though we had already said our goodbyes, I invited Erika and Jill to come to Venice Beach with us for a little bit.

I was having super bad cramps because Marksha made me start my period, but that’s okay because we got surprise!JDM’d all the way to the beach. They are promoting The Losers hardcore down there.

We parked at the beach and kicked around in the waves for a bit, and then got some food to eat. We walked up and down the Venice Boardwalk, and wow, I love that place. So many different types of people. And mmm, funnel cake. AND PUPPIES!

woodstarling and oh_whimsical got matching Misha/Marksha henna tattoos and that was pretty epic.

Then I dropped Erika and Jill off at their hotel so they could catch their flights and I was sad. I liked having everyone in my car driving around the coast. I’m really happy when I have a group of people in my car and I’m behind the wheel and we’re going somewhere awesome.

Oh god. I have a Dean-like fixation on driving.

Anyway, after we dropped them off we hopped on the 405 and headed home. The drive was fairly uneventful. I was PMSing and tired and in a lot of pain but then once we were out on the open road it got better.

oh_whimsical and I got gay married over text message and we stayed in contact until she had to turn off her phone for take-off. ILY WIFEY.

I was on a mission to find a bottle of Pellegrino to deface, and somewhere in the middle of the state when the golden hills were bathed blue with twilight, I found some at a random gas station. Armed with a Sharpie, things got interesting.

We got caught in a windstorm going over Pacheco Pass and it was super scary. Like, the wind was blowing the car all over the road. I handled it pretty well but there were a few Shawn Spencer screams all around.

We stopped in Lathrop at this roadside tourist trap gas station. Basically, it’s like a regular gas station, but made to look like aliens crashed into it. There’s a big UFO going through it and aliens running around inside. Good times.

We got Lunchables and pineapple because we’re grown-ups. We were on the last leg of driving and we were absolutely delirious. We were making jokes about the Pellegrino and I ended up laughing really hard mid-drink and spitting water everywhere. And then kept trying to drink, even though I couldn’t stop laughing. It was pretty great, and I got pretty wet. From Pellegrino.

We dropped rogueslayer452 off around 11 and then went to a random Walgreen’s off the freeway so I could get prints of the jpegs I bought. So we ran around a Walgreen’s for about half an hour. We saw that they had Sherlock Holmes out, but they wouldn’t sell it to us because it wasn’t technically Tuesday yet. DICKS.

So we went to the Wal-Mart near our house and sat there until midnight and got our own copies of Sherlock Holmes. .. Which I still haven’t opened.

I dropped off woodstarling and was very sad about it, and then it started to rain as soon as I was all by myself. What the hell, weather? WAY TO REFLECT MY SADNESS.

Then I got home and played with my puppy OMG I MISSED MY CHASE and then passed out for four hours until I had to get up for work.

AND IT’S ALL OVER OMG I’M SAD.

But seriously. I need to take a minute here.

I love woodstarling so much. I am so glad I found her. Having someone here, just a few miles away that I can connect to on so many levels is just amazing. She’s truly in my top five favorite people in the word and I love her. ILU JOOLZY.

I am so incredibly happy to have met oh_whimsical. I’ve known her for less than a week and I already can’t imagine her not being in my life. She is so sweet, gorgeous and funny as hell and SHE BETTER BE MY FRIEND FOREVER. ILU ERIKA.

Oh look, there’s something in my eye.

I MISS YOU LACON2010! NEVER LEAVE ME!

In conclusion: Jensen Ackles.