Supernatural New Jersey 2022!

I definitely could not have anticipated how eventful the NJ Supernatural convention a few weeks ago would be! It’s my “home con”, which means I can drive to it. I hate driving by myself so I was happy to be able to drive with a friend, and we headed out early, full of gleeful anticipation. All went well until we got there and drove around the parking garage – and could not find a single spot. I am not a fabulous driver on my best day, and an unfamiliar garage that was nearly impossible to navigate was not helping. My friend was equally nervous, so I couldn’t convince her to take the wheel either – so we gave up and parked at the hotel entrance. She stayed with the car while I went inside and asked what I should do if there were no spots.

Lovely security guy standing nearby: Ma’am, that’s not possible.

Me: I can’t swear that I didn’t just miss them in my panic, but I did not see any.

Lovely security guy (sighing): Okay, come on.

He rode in the back seat as we drove back into the garage, and patiently navigated our way to the entire wing of the garage that was hidden in the back. Oops.

Anyway, I’m a fan of the con hotel for life thanks to that lovely security guy.

In between being in the vendor room, which still feels like a family reunion after we all missed cons for so long. I caught a little of Kim and Briana’s first panel.

They’ve talked before about how much they loved doing some of their own stunts (and would have done more if Wayward Sisters went to series), but Briana also said that she didn’t really know how to move for some stunts. She did an imitation, laughing at herself the whole time.

Kim said she was inspired by the film Wonder Woman, especially how she looked out for her little sister, which was a very Supernatural thing to say. Similarly, they talked about how important it is to “get back on the horse” when you’re had a setback.

Briana: Just make sure you have your people around you. Fandom is a great example.

Kim and Briana together are always magic. There are so many lifelong friendships that were forged from this show and this fandom. They gave us some examples by reading their most recent text conversation aloud. Complete with emojis.

Kim talked a bit about shooting the scene of vamp Dean biting her, which she didn’t mind one bit – except that Jared and Jensen were busy making all kinds of jokes, including yelling for condiments!

I personally would not have wanted the Supernatural finale to end any other way, but I know some people found it really hard to have Dean die so young. Kim had an alternate ending: Sam and Dean turn out to actually be little kids playing, with a little toy Jody and Donna… then we pan up a tree to Cas… and Lucifer… in real life. Waiting.

Dark, Kim! But adorable too.

They gave us the good news that they’re about to record more of the Wayward Podcast, which I really enjoy. Yay!

If you’d like to hear more from Kim and Briana, they wrote very powerful and frank chapters in Family Don’t End With Blood – which are also very inspiring.

Adam Fergus and David Haydn-Jones also had a panel on Friday.

Adam said that David is more like Sam and he’s more like Dean in real life, though I can’t imagine either Sam or Dean in that velour track suit even if they were in New Jersey!

David said that he actually got along really well with Jared on set.

David: Jared and I would be talking between takes about, like, etymology, and Jensen would be like “nerds!”

They had some epic fight scenes too.

David: After the Dean and Ketch fight (and doing some of his own stunts), I was walking funny for a week.

Adam: Like after our weekend in Paris…

Their panels are always delightfully not G rated, and I invariably enjoy them. David and Adam both have chapters in There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done, if you’d like to get to know them both a little better – and be amused in the process.

Someone asked what they’re haunted by and David said “chupacabra”!

(If you haven’t seen that gag reel outtake, please do – it’s hilarious!)

If the actors met their characters in a The French Mistake type episode?

David: If I met Ketch, I’d be terrified!

Adam: Mick would like how much more woke this word is.

Jason Manns was the front man for Friday, keeping the music going with Louden Swain. He also just announced a new Covers With Friends album recorded at Jus in Bello, so don’t forget to check that out!

There was also a wonderful ladies panel, with Ruth Connell, Kim, Briana and Samantha Smith.

We got to celebrate Ruth’s birthday – she wore an adorable little birthday crown.

Someone asked what would their characters say to the boys?

Samantha: In every situation, I’d say to the boys “stop that!”

Ruth: To Fergus, as Rowena, I’d say “hello, boy”.

Awww, my heart. I will forever have such a soft spot for Rowena and Fergus and their….complicated….relationship.

Samantha said she wished we’d had more of Mary and Lucifer in the AU.

Samantha: They were like a bickering old married couple.

Not sure everyone else is on board with even more Lucifer though – sorry, Sam!

I have no idea what the context of this was, but apparently Kim was happy about learning to say “suck my balls” in French.

On a more serious note, Ruth said something that is an important message – one that Jared has often spread too.

Ruth: I don’t regret a penny that I’ve spent on my mental health. Getting professional help should be okay.

Damn right it should! Ruth also wrote a beautiful chapter in Family Don’t End With Blood that is quite inspiring – and lets you get to know her a lot better.

Friday night was dinner with my roommates, which was a lot of catching up and a lot of fun. And then a lot of passing out relatively early and sleeping like a rock – always a good thing at a con!

I miss Richard Speight Jr. and Matt Cohen A LOT at cons, make no mistake – but Rob Benedict did a solo panel on Saturday that was off the charts adorable, so that made everyone feel a lot better.

Rob on finding out about Chuck: I didn’t know I was gonna be bad until I read the script! I was like, why am I an asshole?

Awwww, Rob.

Rob: I realized how badass Chuck was when he made Becky disappear.

Audience: BOO

Rob: I know, I know! I love her!

He did say that it was pretty cool to have a chance to beat up the boys.

Rob: And Jared and Jensen are so good at it, it’s like learning a dance.

He also had an alternate ending that some fans came up with, but he admits he thought it was cool – that the show ended with Chuck closing a book and laughing like haha, just kidding!

Rob: Hey, I could be the good God on The Winchesters prequel, I’m still good then!

It sounds like that might be a possibility…

Rob talked about how everyone started singing together at karaoke at the early conventions, and then organically little by little, began singing at the SNS.  I remember those days! He also credited Jason Manns for all the wonderful music and albums we’ve gotten from the Supernatural cast. We are a lucky fandom.

If you haven’t listened to the new Then and Now Supernatural podcast hosted by Rob and Rich, you don’t know what you’re missing – it’s awesome! Rob is watching the entire show from the start for the podcast and has had some realizations about Supernatural.

Rob: It’s a great show! You were right! I love it!

Seriously, this Rob panel was all kinds of adorable. You can read about one of the most difficult, but ultimately inspiring, times in Rob’s life in the chapter he wrote in Family Don’t End With Blood – taking you moment by moment through the time he had a stroke at a Supernatural convention, and how his costars and fandom helped him through it.

Saturday had another David and Adam panel, this time with David in his Ketch-esque suit instead of his NJ-esque tracksuit (though he insisted he had on blue velour underwear).

A few more on-set tidbits – David and Jared spent half an hour discussing the etymology of the word recapitulation. (Cue Jensen once again exclaiming ‘nerds’ probably…)   Jared and Adam played a lot of cards.

Adam: He’s like a math genius!

David also said that Dean was sort of like Ketch’s therapist in the scene on that rock. And that the fight scenes he tried to do were pretty intense.

David: I hit my head hard enough in the Asmodeus fight that a piece of plaster flew off and the crew thought it was a tooth!

Ouch.

Next up was Misha Collins, who greeted the crowd with his customary curtsey.

Misha was excited about shooting his new show, Gotham Knights, which he said was very different from Supernatural. At the time of the con, we didn’t know yet that it would get picked up to series, but Misha and everyone else were hoping! (He got to celebrate its pickup at the CW Upfronts along with Jared celebrating Walker: Independence and Jensen celebrating The Winchesters!)

Misha: I’m shooting a new show, which hopefully will become a series. It’s an epic show, with like 100 background actors – Supernatural had like four!

He was excited about his new character.

Misha: The cool thing is, we’ll have a lot of time with Harvey Dent in this iteration, I hope

(And if it continues, eventually a lot of time with his alter ego Two Face).

Since Misha joining Gotham Knights means that all three have moved on to other shows, Misha had a burning question.

Misha: The Supernatural actors have all moved on – so will this polyamorous dynamic work out with all of you?

(Well, Misha, if you know the Supernatural fandom at all, let’s just say it’s sometimes contentious…but hoping for the best!)

Still, Misha admitted he misses his former show.

Misha: I don’t miss doing Castiel’s voice, or Jared’s flatulence, but I miss that sense of family and familiarity that we had on Supernatural.

We all do, Misha.

He said his kids say they’re ready to start watching the show.

Misha: It’s daunting though… all 390 episodes…

Audience: 327

Misha: Whatever… it will take a year!

He had dinner recently in Toronto (where he’s filming GK) with a former Supernatural guest star, Robert Wisdom, who played Uriel.

A fan attempted to get Misha to compose a Castiel coffee shop AU fic on the spot, but Misha threw her a curveball.

Misha: Cas would probably become an MMA fighter, knuckles covered in blood…

That might be more in character than some of the more creative fanfic takes out there actually!

Another fan asked for a recommendation for a Castiel tattoo.

Misha: Castiel on your butt, and then you can say you put the ‘ass’ in ‘Cas(s)’….

On a more serious note, Misha said that he realized over the past few years that when he has a hard time, it really helps to call friends.

Misha: I was someone, before, who handled things on my own.

Darius is one of the friends he has been able to lean on, who Misha called his chosen brother.

Misha: We’ve been there for each other in a way that men often aren’t.

Misha has chapters in several of our books, including a long one in Fan Phenomena: Supernatural, and a really lovely one about fandom in Family Don’t End With Blood.

I also caught most of the panel of the politically unlikely panel of Jim Beaver and Mark Pellegrino, who seemed to have a good time together talking SPN. They were reminiscing about working with Jared Padalecki when I joined the panel room.

Jim expressed his appreciation for Jared’s fitness.

Jim: In the scene where Dean came back from hell, I had to grab Sam and pull him off, and I grabbed Jared’s chest and it’s like steel plates!

Mark: I had to shoot this scene once in Jared’s fart cloud.

Jim: It’s like a Chernobyl cloud!

Favorite character line?

Jim: Get the hell off my property or I’ll fill you with so much rocksalt you’ll crap margaritas!

Mark: Great line!

Jim also shared that he was once asked to write a message from Bobby in heaven to a fan’s uncle, who was in hospice.

Jim: I wrote, ‘see you when you get here’.

The power of fandom to console and comfort, seriously.

Mark: I really value the relationships I’ve made in this SPN Family.

Both Jim and Mark talked about how emotional they were when the cast and crew surprised them with a Bobby reel and a Lucifer reel before their last scenes on Supernatural.

Mark: I was so sad, I cried.

Jim wrote an insightful (and amusing) chapter in Family Don’t End With Blood, and Mark wrote the foreword to Supernatural Psychology, in case you want to read more from them.

Saturday was a jam packed day – we also had a panel from Tahmoh Penikett, who I hadn’t seen in a long long time, so was very glad to welcome back.  Tahmoh said he loved the arc that Gadreel had on Supernatural and how it played out. (For lots more of the backstory of his character and working on Supernatural, you can read the chapter Tahmoh wrote in There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done).

Tahmoh: I played Gadreel as very damaged, and trying to make amends in any way he could. My arc might have only been a few episodes, but I kinda fought against what the writers initially wanted for Gadreel and gave them more to work with.

Tahmoh wrote about all that backstory in his chapter, and how wonderful it was to work with Jensen, Jared and Misha, and he said that in his panel too.

Tahmoh: I had an intense scene with Jensen, and I loved doing that dance with him. He and Jared 100% always showed up.

Even before he was cast, Tahmoh recognized that Jared and Jensen were bringing something special to Sam and Dean.

Tahmoh: I watched a few early episodes of Supernatural and thought it was great – largely because of the chemistry between those two boys.

He also said he wished he’d had more scenes with Misha, because they had some great chemistry.

And then, it was Saturday night – which means, of course, time for the Saturday Night Special! My roomies and I had some dinner in our room, being covid cautious, and some great conversation about my favorite topic (yes, Supernatural, what else?) and then we made our way down to the ballroom. I always love SNS, but I will admit that I’ve missed the off the charts level of excitement that happens when we all know Jensen Ackles is gonna join the fun.  I had a clue that he might sing in NJ, and he did not disappoint – and it really had been too long!

Louden Swain rocked the house as always, and they also seemed pretty excited about Ackles joining them for the first time in a long time.  They played some awesome new songs and also some classics, like Poptart Heart. The lights held up all over the ballroom for ‘Amazing’ were gorgeous in the dark room, the Supernatural sign glowing in the background. (The equally gorgeous photos below are courtesy of Liz Madsen @Paleonut if you missed the watermark!)

You know who else joined in for the first time in way too long? Photographer extraordinaire Chris Schmelke on bass for Juliet. It felt like old times!

All the props to Rob’s shirt for hanging in there for the whole concert despite being full of holes. It’s artistic, I know, but it also ain’t gonna hang together forever! Rob’s a rock star, what can I say?

And speaking of rock stars, we got a new one on stage – Adam Fergus!  His bud David Haydn-Jones introduced him, and he was nervous as hell about performing in front of the packed ballroom, but his rendition of “With Or Without You” was spot on – and his joy in working up the courage to do it and having such a warm reception was absolutely heartwarming.

I love watching one of the cast get up the courage to perform at SNS for the first time, buoyed by the encouragement and support of their fellow actors. Ruth Connell and Gil McKinney wrote about it in their chapters in Family Don’t End With Blood, and Osric Chau has talked about how transformative the experience was too. Even Mark Sheppard says that he returned to drumming because of Louden Swain and the SNS. And speaking of…

I can’t even describe how special this SNS was – and we haven’t even gotten to Jensen’s performance yet! It’s just that I have missed the way SNS “used to be” for literally years now, and this SNS felt like going back in time and experiencing all that joy and solidarity all over again. Especially when Mark Sheppard took the stage and climbed behind the drum set.

OMG to say I was jumping up and down would be a literal description of me attempting to stay in my seat. It felt SO good to have Mark back where it so feels like he belongs. I remember the days when he and Stephen Norton would play double drums and it was fucking amazing!

Jim Beaver joined the fun to introduce Kim Rhodes, which AWWWWW.

And Briana Buckmaster knocked it out of the park as always.

Liz can capture Briana’s true rockstar essence like nobody else. Witness…

And last but not least, we got full Rockstar Ackles, channeling his inner Dean Winchester with “Sonofabitch” or whatever it’s called – that’s what it’s called in my head anyway.

DAYUM JENSEN!

He looked a little overwhelmed by being back onstage himself, looking out over the crowd and maybe a little teary eyed. He wasn’t the only one feeling emotional about it, let me tell you.

Also? He totally knows what that song does to us.

The denim, the bandana in the pocket, his hair long right now….did I already say DAYUM?

A little tidbit that I tweeted at the time:

https://twitter.com/FangasmSPN/status/1518065859952095232?s=20&t=ZwXP0A_GbWFfCZNtBqL4DQ

When it was time for the encore, Tahmoh Penikett took the stage to cheerlead as we chanted for Louden Swain – I love that all the actors are as big fans of the band as we are.

Without Jared there to hang out with or hit the Big Apple, Jensen hung around and joined the rest of the cast for some yummy green cup beverages and a spirited rendition of  “Let Love Rule”

Clearly they’re all feeling the lyrics:

https://twitter.com/FangasmSPN/status/1518065349077385218?s=20&t=ZwXP0A_GbWFfCZNtBqL4DQ

They all seemed to have a blast, and Jensen once again seemed emotional to be singing for the SPNFamily again with the band, taking a moment to look out over the cheering crowd.

My roomies and I were too wound up to fall asleep right away, so more Supernatural chatting ensued – and have I mentioned cons are the best? A whole weekend of hanging out with people who get it and enjoying sharing our love of this show we have in common? Therapy. And I’m a therapist, I should know.

Sunday was the J2 gold panel, which of course was just a Jensen solo panel. Jensen started the panel by letting us know why Jared wasn’t there with him – that he was in a very bad car accident and was lucky to be alive.

The collective gasp that was heard in the ballroom was striking – including my own. My fingers were shaking so much I could hardly tweet. (I already knew Jared was okay because I’d reached out when he cancelled, but I hadn’t known the details of what had happened at all – so this was shocking).

Jensen let us know that he’d seen how damaged the car was, and that he’s very grateful that Jared is okay – that Jared truly was lucky to be alive. He also let us know that there were no casualties and that Jared had not been driving. All of which was good to hear, but I think it struck all of us sitting there that life is tenuous, including the lives of these people we feel so attached to. Something could happen at any time and we could lose them. Of course we know this is true for all the people we care about, but somehow we don’t think about it in the same way with celebrities we ‘know’ and admire from a distance. And yet, make no mistake, the loss of one of these actors would be devastating for many of us. We may have a ‘parasocial relationship’ with them, but it’s a genuine attachment. They’re important to us.

I’m so grateful that Jared is okay – and cannot wait to see him again!

Jensen said that Jared was sore but all right, and asked us to send him some love – which the fandom absolutely did!

Jensen clearly missed Jared being there beside him. He did a little imitation of Jared, putting the mic up way high for when he was portraying his very tall friend.

Then made fun of himself for his own impression.

https://twitter.com/FangasmSPN/status/1518237530411438080?s=20&t=ZwXP0A_GbWFfCZNtBqL4DQ

Jensen: I miss my buddy…

Everyone: Awwww

He also shared that Danneel has Covid, so let’s just say that Jensen was really having a week. (Danneel is doing fine, but he had moved into his daughter’s room in the house they’re renting, which I’m sure was a story all in itself)

He also made fun of himself for not being the best at organizing, which he clearly hasn’t been doing to Danneel’s standards.

Jensen: Dishes are in the sink, is that not enough?

Everyone, including Jensen himself: Absolutely not.

He tried to set minds at ease about The Winchesters prequel staying true to canon, since fans are anxious about how John and Mary’s story can be portrayed as an epic love story given what we know about their relationship being manipulated. But I do think that if anyone can do it, it’s Jensen and Robbie Thompson.

Jensen: We’re gonna hit the tent poles of canon in a way that services the lore of Supernatural. I’m not some random dude, this story means a lot to me.

I know it does. I know some people are nervous and I understand why (and that’s leaving aside the other stuff that went down), but I do know that Jensen cares very much about all things Supernatural. So, fingers crossed!

Jensen: I’m excited to eventually share the elevator pitch for The Winchesters.

(Which he now has done – fandom remains both divided and excited and anxious, depending on who you ask, which no one in this fandom is surprised about).

Jensen: Dean is a part of me. I’ve got him.

Me: There’s something in my eye…

Someone asked what he took from the set of Supernatural, which clearly was quite a bit.

Jensen: I gave Props a list of what I wanted. Baby arrived with a full trunk…

As it should be.

Jensen talked a bit about the episode of Walker that he directed, and about how seamless it was to work with Jared again.

Jensen: It was fun to flex that with Jared again.

He went on to describe how quickly they fell back into working together again.

Jensen: Jared and I are gonna have a shorthand for the rest of our lives. I’d give him notes by quoting a movie to him, and people were like, what?? It’s just easy, you know? I’m gonna make a sports reference because that’s what I do. It’s like somebody  who’s played ball with another person for so long, they know where they’re gonna be, they know what they’re gonna do, they know that they know what they’re gonna do. So everything is just, it’s in harmony. And Jared and I are gonna be in harmony for the rest of our lives, that’s just how it is.

https://twitter.com/FangasmSPN/status/1518242128501092354?s=20&t=ZwXP0A_GbWFfCZNtBqL4DQ

Honestly, I could not put it more beautifully if I tried. I think that’s true – not that there won’t be times when that harmony temporarily breaks and one person is an ass or the other person is an ass, but that long-standing harmony can’t be broken for good. They’ve both said that to me, and I believe them.

We got the new pairing of Alex Calvert and Mark Pellegrino in the afternoon, which made sense since Lucifer is Jack’s father. I only caught some of their panel, but they ended up laughing so much they were crying lol

A fan asked Alex how hard it was acting like a three year old?

Mark: All actors are three year olds…

Who do they wish their characters could have interacted with more?

Alex: I never got to interact with Mark Sheppard – I think Crowley and Jack would have been fun.

I so agree!

In fact, I was in a big Mark Sheppard mood all weekend because I was so happy to have him back at a con – he got a huge ovation when he took the stage.

And he looked so pleased to finally hear Louden Swain sing his traditional entrance song again, “Mr. Crowley”.

AWESOME.

He also had to take the time to say hi to a baby, another tradition. Few things are cuter than Mark Sheppard and babies.

I don’t know which shows were being referenced as possible mash ups, but I know that I have missed Mark saying this in answer:

Mark: Stop crossing the streams! Don’t you know what fanfic is for?

OMG I have missed you, Mark!

Mark said that he really loved the end of Season 8 of Supernatural (me too).

Mark: We shot the whole thing in sequence over the course of three days, which is hardly ever done in TV.

I think Mark was feeling as nostalgic and missing Jared as much as we were.

Mark: I wore this shirt in honor of Jared. We have so many memories together.

Awww.

He was also clearly missing good times with Misha.

Mark: There are so many photos of me and Misha when we’re bored at photo shoots.

Everyone would like to see them, Mark, I’m sure…

And of course he had some fond (sort of) memories with Jensen. He said that in the scene where Dean becomes a demon and was lying on the bed with Crowley sitting over him, Jensen suddenly jumped up and scared the crap out of him.

Mark: I needed a new pair of pants!

He had some other fond memories too.

Mark: Jensen is world class with dialogue, but he just couldn’t get that line out about being slapped during sex by a girl in a Zorro mask, and then Jared would NOT let it go.

They all miss that set, it’s clear.

Mark: Someone once asked Jared and Jensen what it was like working with me, and they looked at each other without missing a beat and said ‘short’.

Lol

Mark has a beautiful chapter in Family Don’t End With Blood that’s all about fandom and why we should all be proud to be fans, especially Supernatural fans. He talked about that at his panel too, as is his tradition.

Mark: If something is not made with passion, it doesn’t resonate with us as fans.  On Supernatural, we made a show with nothing but love from top to bottom.

Me: needs tissues

The afternoon panel started out with me getting unexpectedly emotional (and Jensen too) when he went to do the traditional kick off jump and looked over for Jared as he always does – only to see that he wasn’t there.

Awwww

https://twitter.com/FangasmSPN/status/1518297164149149697?s=20&t=ZwXP0A_GbWFfCZNtBqL4DQ

The first thing he did was record a message for Jared on his phone, as we all cheered and tried to send all our love to him.

Jensen (fake grumpy): All right.  (then to Jared) We love you, miss you, get better, bye.

Awwww

Then we got surprise Misha joining Jensen for the rest of his panel!

Both Misha and Jensen immediately said they missed Jared, and that even photo ops were challenging without him.

Misha: Without Jared here, he’s the glue that holds our photo ops together!

Jensen: Thanks for coming out, man, this is a treat.

(Jensen’s choice of words sent speculation out into the world after Misha at first seemed to come out as bisexual at the fan dinner the night before  and then tweeted to clarify that he had not in fact intended to do that and is straight – I just thought Jensen was genuinely thanking Misha for joining him, which is why I tweeted it. Anyway, that whole thing was part of what made this convention one to remember)

Jensen talked a bit more about his upcoming role on The Boys, and said that his opening scene actually isn’t the most “memorable”. Misha, who knew exactly what he was talking about as far as the opening scene, had a priceless reaction.

Misha: Wait, your opening scene on The Boys is NOT the most memorable???

What are we in for with The Boys, fandom? (I cannot wait!!!)

Jensen also talked about playing Miles as the shadowy figure at the end of the episode of Walker that he directed.

Jensen: Yes that’s me on Walker, because that part isn’t cast yet.

Misha: Now they have to find a bowlegged actor!

Misha brought up how much Jensen had bulked up to play Soldier Boy, so much so that when he hugged him, he was like whoa. Jensen explained that when he asked when they were putting the muscles in his super suit, the costumer just laughed and said “oh honey, you’re gonna bring those to me!”

And damned if he didn’t!

I love Supernatural questions and always will. Jensen said that they made Sam and Dean the ages that they were to match his and Jared’s.

That warmed my heart – basically anyone talking about Sam and Dean warms my heart.

Misha was asked what version of Castiel he wishes he’d had more of a chance to portray, and he said he would have liked more human Cas – I so agree.

Jensen said he would have liked more Purgatory!Dean and more Demon!Dean. He also really loved working with Ty Olssen and wanted more of Dean and Benny. Once again, totally agree.

I hear Ty has been on Big Sky – I didn’t see that episode yet, but it’s interesting they’ll be on the same show again. However, since it no longer films in Vancouver, it’s probably doubtful their paths will cross on screen.

Jensen talked about times when it was therapeutic to play Dean, and times it was difficult.

Jensen: I was able to be grumpy through Dean sometimes, and that enabled me not to be grumpy in real life. It was hardest to play Dean when Sam wasn’t Sam – I relied on that relationship with Jared.

Misha said that Cas was originally written as more of a warrior.

Misha: Then he became a dorky weird character  – more like me!

There were silly questions of course – one was a fan saying what kind of dogs Sam, Dean and Cas would be. She said Sam would be a beagle, Dean a German Shepherd, and Cas a poodle.

Misha: I don’t like this question.

There was a priceless moment when Misha talked about that time he as Cas had to punch someone right into the camera, and couldn’t understand when Jensen thought it was a great joke.

Misha: And you were like awwww, what, you weren’t joking? And then I got the playback…

Meanwhile, Jensen acted it out. Repeatedly.

https://twitter.com/FangasmSPN/status/1518310871952510977?s=20&t=ZwXP0A_GbWFfCZNtBqL4DQ

On a more serious note, both Misha and Jensen confided that they had attention challenges as kids – Jensen said he’d been diagnosed with ADHD and reading issues and he struggled with reading.

They also touched a bit on celebrity and how uncomfortable it can be.

Misha: It is weird how much we’ve acclimated to like seeing ourselves on a tee shirt.

Jensen: I walked into Hot Topic and just hid my eyes.

There were some shenanigans too, and at one point they both had to resist the stripper music the band helpfully started playing for them.

Misha finally fake stripped.

Jensen: Way to make it all about you!

At the time of this con, both Misha and Jensen were hoping that their respective pilots (for Gotham Knights and The Winchesters) got picked up. Jensen said he was flying back to the set of The Winchesters in New Orleans that night.

Jensen joined Rob for the last question song, foiled in his attempt to get Misha to sing with them too.

The fan asked about Castiel’s last scene, and Misha answered seriously.

Misha: Castiel’s declaration of love was my last scene ever, so it was his and my goodbye, so it was meaningful to me.

Jensen knew that it was meaningful as Misha’s last scene ever, so he asked for it to be recorded.

Jensen: I asked Maisie to record some of Misha and Cas’s goodbye, and you can hear her whimpering.

Awww Maisie – god, this show was hard to say goodbye to!

Jensen also shared that his last scene as Dean was also incredibly emotional.

Jensen: My last scene [the barn scene™ ] was so emotional because it was me saying goodbye also to Sam. The crew left that day and there were tissues everywhere on set.

Rob was onstage too, and Jensen said that he and Jared were also moved by Chuck/Rob’s last scene.

Jensen: Jared and I got in the car after and were like, ohhhh.

Jensen did manage to get Misha to join in The Last Question song before they wrapped up the panel.

Jensen: That was terrible!

It actually wasn’t – Misha can sing, he just doesn’t do it very often!

https://twitter.com/FangasmSPN/status/1518314485282480128?s=20&t=ZwXP0A_GbWFfCZNtBqL4DQ

Jensen thanked the crowd and that was it for me for NJCon.

Because I was driving, my friend and I headed out on Sunday afternoon instead of my usual Monday morning, which was definitely weird – but I was glad to fall into bed at my own house instead of another night in a (perfectly lovely) hotel room!

A lot has happened in the Supernatural fandom since this convention, with three new pilots announced  and trailers for Walker: Independence and The Winchesters and a J2M reunion at the CW Upfronts and Walker wrapping filming and Jensen premiering his new character of Beau Arlen on Big Sky and The Boys going into high gear promotion for its upcoming Season 3. Whew! I am not used to this much happening in the SPNFamily. I am tired!

But not complaining – so happy for Jared, Jensen and Misha! I can’t wait to hear more about all their projects and to get a chance to talk Supernatural at the next convention in Chicago in two weeks – stay tuned!

– Lynn

You can remember everything that made

Supernatural so special in the books with

Chapters from the show’s actors and fans,

Family Don’t End With Blood and There’ll

Be Peace When You Are Done…