When academics go to Hollywood!
This week’s Supernatural episode, Into The Mystic (I love when Show remembers its roots and uses song titles) was one of those episodes that didn’t grab me at the very beginning and not let me catch a breath the entire time. Instead, it was a slow build, culminating in an ending scene that left me grabbing for the tissues and grinning like a fool simultaneously. Just the way I like it, Show.
Post number three from Jaxcon, phew! I’ve got an embarrassment of riches with such beautiful photos to share thanks to Kim and Christina. I’m also in an emotional mood about Show, thinking about the anniversary of Kim Manners’ death, and the impact he had on the Show. Kim had such a profound influence, and in some ways, he set up the tone of the set which continues to today. He helped bond them all together, so in a sense, it was Kim who is partly responsible for that sense of SPNFamily that the cast and crew and fandom all feel.
Yesterday Eric Kripke, who’s responsible for this amazing show, tweeted in support of Sera Gamble’s new show, The Magicians, reminding us all that the SPNFamily supports each other. Add that to the cast’s tweets about Kim, and I’ve been feeling more emotional about Show than usual. In a good way.
That sense of closeness was very evident at Jaxcon. It was the first con of the year, and both fans and guests hadn’t seen each other in far too long. This is a cast that is demonstrative in their affection for each other, which makes the entire con feel warm and fuzzy and just plain good. You can see it in the photo ops, whether it’s Richard, Rob and Matt or Jared or Jensen and Misha or Kim and Katherine or any combination of cast and fans.
We’re currently snowed in with a blizzard blustering all around the house, which makes me even more nostalgic for Jaxcon last weekend – where it was a balmy 65 degrees and I spent most of the weekend either being entertained by the Best.Cast.Ever or hanging out with fangirls. So, to warm me up, here are some memories and photos from Jaxcon.
I was lucky enough to have the super talented Kim Prior there to take pictures, which explains why so many of these are gorgeous (and also makes the ones that were taken on my phone look even more dodgy, but oh well – I love my reliable little Galaxy!) I was doubly lucky to have the pleasure of meeting Christina, who also shot some fabulous photos and generously offered them to Fangasm. Hopefully this will warm all of you up too (apologies to my Aussie friends, who need cooling down instead – alas, this won’t help…)
Wow. Supernatural came back from Hellatus with a vengeance, didn’t it? There’s always a special energy for the season premiere and finale episodes, of course, but the mid season premiere is also hotly anticipated by a fandom who has been starved for Show for months. This episode, by Andrew Dabb, came crashing into my living room like a bulldozer, and didn’t let up throughout the entire 42 minutes. In fact, so much happened that my head was spinning by the time we were halfway through – some of it awesome and some of it gutting.
In other words, Supernatural.
The Road So Far was definitely part of the awesome. Both the appropriate song choice and the montage, which amped my excitement up even further. Good job, Show!
The Supernatural Creation con circuit kicked off 2016 with a first time visit to Jacksonville, which turned out to be an awesome con! The Hyatt Regency won me over almost immediately by a) being right on the river, which was beautiful and b) proving themselves almost as big Supernatural fans as most of their guests were. Not only was Supernatural playing on TNT at the bar and the restaurant, but they had a gif of all the Supernatural title cards projected on the lobby floor! How cool is that??
It was a short walk to restaurants and I spent a lot of time hanging out with fangirls and conjecturing about what the second half of Season 11 will likely bring (with a mix of nervous anticipation, hand wringing trepidation, squeeful joy, and academic musings – as several of us study Supernatural as well as fangirl it). In fact, quite a few students from UNF’s Supernatural course were in attendance, much to the incredulity of all the guests.
Jensen: There’s a COLLEGE COURSE about Supernatural??? Of course there is!
It’s no secret that I loved the recent Supernatural episode, ‘Just My Imagination.’ I loved Jenny Klein’s script, I loved Richard Speight’s directing, I loved the cinematography, I loved the acting. So I was thrilled to have a chance to talk to Carrie Genzel, the actress who played the cluelessly glitter-and-blood-smeared mom so brilliantly. Little did I know that our conversation would end up being so much fun – and so hysterical!
Lynn: Thanks for chatting with me, I was really looking forward to talking to you.
Carrie: Oh me too, I loved your article, the one I commented on about the episode. I was like, wow, Lynn’s really thorough!
Lynn: [laughing] That’s one way of putting it. Kathy would say I just can’t shut up! Grad school makes you very detail oriented…and then you can’t unlearn it!
Carrie: Yeah but that’s a good thing. Everybody thinks they can write and gets on social media, but it’s usually not that in depth, and when you read something that obviously was researched — you went to different sources and took the time to research everything, so I was like wow, this article stands out.
Lynn: Thank you, that’s so nice of you to say. Sometimes I have to shake my head at myself. This isn’t my actual job, but when it comes to Supernatural, I kinda get carried away easily.
[I know, I know. Understatement.]
Carrie: I’m sure people really enjoy them as well because they’re really getting some great little nuggets of information and great little stories or something that isn’t just out there in the public eye or that they can just read anywhere. You’re getting the special little things in your interviews and articles and they just soak everything up. It’s been pretty incredible, the reaction to the episode.
The Supernatural fandom has been enduring Hellatus for a while now, so we thought we’d post some feel-good things to keep us all going until Show returns in two weeks.
We’ve written four books on why people become fans and why that’s a good and healthy thing. When we started out in fandom more than a decade ago, there was still a great deal of shame around being a fan – especially being a fangirl. When we fell head over heels for Supernatural, most of the people in our lives shook their heads in confusion (and perhaps a little dismay). What had happened to us? Our parents, our children, our partners, our colleagues – everybody seemed to be judging us for engaging in something so frivolous. Why write fanfiction when we could be publishing textbooks or novels? Why spend good money to fly across the country to go to a fan convention? What was this Supernatural show anyway??
Things have changed a little – it’s cooler now to be a geek. Everyone is allowed to like Star Wars (even if most of the merchandise is still missing the main character…). It’s probably even okay to spend money you don’t really have going to the Big Apple to see Hamilton the Musical. But going to a Supernatural convention? Hyperventilating a little over Jensen in single layer or Jared’s gorgeous hair or Misha still looking like an adorable teenager? And reading (or god forbid, writing) fanfiction about the Show? Still as likely to garner “grow up, young lady!” as it is to garner either an understanding nod or maybe even a positive comment on your writing.
That’s what makes this show so important. OTP The Show is about many things, not just fandom – but it’s written by a fangirl, from a fangirl point of view. It doesn’t shy away from portraying fans as passionate or talking about fanfic or shipping or Tumblr. It’s witty and funny and sometimes poignant. And it’s different. I mean, it’s called OTP – something most fans recognize from the fannish lexicon.
I had the pleasure of chatting with creator and star Laura Jordan – who also happens to be best friends with Supernatural’s own Kim Rhodes. So, by proxy, SPN Family. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon – chatting with a fellow fangirl!