Tag: Jared Padalecki

Lucky Season 13 Kicks Off for Supernatural!

Lucky Season 13 Kicks Off for Supernatural!

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Supernatural season premiere days are special. There’s so much anticipation and excitement, I swear it must be visible from space! In the early years of the Show, there was a much smaller group of fans who squeed together on the internet, but even then we were all so passionate that the feeling was incredible. Now the rest of the world has caught up – now there’s a special issue of Entertainment Weekly, there’s Jensen on Live, there’s Jared on Kimmel, there are interviews and videos and even the network tweets about the show coming back! That excitement that has always been there is magnified, but the sense of shared passion that has always been there is just the same.

Not every season premiere has been one of my favorite episodes, but this one I loved. The opening montage was excellent, set to the melancholy ‘Nothing Else Matters’ by Metallica as we remember how desolate and alone the Winchesters are as the season begins. (Also, Metallica!) The new title card is equally awesome – I actually gasped out loud when I saw it. (I watched with two kids and a dog, all with strict instructions to be totally silent, so they all grumbled every time I made involuntary noises. Oh well.)

She’s totally a fan

We open on Dean standing over Cas’ body, and Sam trying to communicate with Jack. In other words, right where we left off. Which made me very happy indeed. The times when the season premiere has started with a time jump have never sat well with me. I want to see EVERYTHING, Show, I don’t want you to cut things out!

This should be a surprise to no one at this point, but the cinematography was gorgeous. An early shot of the boys racing down the road in the Impala is especially beautiful and probably as complex to film – the camera behind then beside then finally in front of the car. I’m sure that wasn’t easy to pull off, but it really really worked. Sometimes Supernatural looks more like a feature film than a television show on the CW, which is a credit to all the talented crew members who make that magic happen. And especially to Serge Ladouceur and director Phil Sgriccia, who I am beyond grateful to still have with the show after all these years.

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Toronto Con 2017!

Toronto Con 2017!

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It’s Supernatural premiere week, so this will be a drive by Toronto con write up. As in, I’m writing this at the con between panels since I’m not a vendor here. That’s my only hope of actually getting a con report posted before the season premiere. Squeeeee!!!

This was reputed to be the last Toronto con, though it looks like Creation might now be considering coming back in 2019. But the chance of it being the last one was enough to make it emotional for me – for anyone who was here the year that Rob Benedict had the stroke here at the con, or for anyone who was here the next year for his triumphant return. When I first read Rob’s intimate first person account of having the stroke that he wrote for Family Don’t End With Blood, I couldn’t make it through without reaching for the tissues – not many other people have told me they could either. All those emotions come up when I’m here in Toronto, but it makes this con a special one.

The other thing that made me emotional was having Rob and Rich back. I loved NJCon (as you know if you read my con report) and I think Jason Manns and company did a fabulous amazing job. But I just miss Rob and Rich when they’re not here. They’re part of the family, and not having them with us just feels wrong. Unfortunately I got here so late that I missed their intro and rushed to my seat just as Julian Richings was starting his panel.

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Because Family Really Don’t End With Blood

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It’s World Mental Health Day. As a psychologist, this day carries an important message – the same message we all tried to convey in Family Don’t End With Blood. The Supernatural actors — Jared, Jensen, Misha, Mark, Kim, Briana, Ruth, Rachel, Gil, Osric, Rob, Matt and Jim — wrote their own chapters, about their own personal experience on the show and in life, in order to NOT be silent about the challenges we all face in life. They wrote courageously, especially as public figures who are often cautioned to be quiet about their struggles and present a perfect persona instead, about battling anxiety, depression, self doubt. About times when it was hard to keep going, and how they did just that. They shared their struggles because too often we all think that we’re the only one. The only one who feels this bad, the only one who’s this terrified, the only one who wants what we want or loves what we love. We all need the validation that comes from knowing that others have felt the same way. When those others are our favorite actors on our favorite show — or our fellow fans who share our passion — that validation carries even more weight. That’s why we all, fans and actors alike, wrote this book.

That picture at the top of the page? That’s Jared and Jensen expressing how they feel about each other’s chapters in FDEWB. Family Don’t End With Blood has been out for five months now, and in that time I’ve been privileged to hear hundreds and hundreds of stories from fellow fans about how reading those personal essays, in an actor’s or fan’s own words, has inspired someone else to keep going. I try to pass those on to Jared, Jensen, Misha and the other actors and fans who wrote chapters so they will know that when someone reads their words, they have an impact. They help someone feel less alone, or less ashamed, or less consumed with doubt or sadness. I can’t tell  you how much that means to all of them. Honestly, it was hard for them to write those chapters. It took a long time because it was important to them all to get it right, and it was very scary to put themselves out there like that.  But when you read their words, you know that they get it. You know there’s a real bond there, between actors and fans, that’s unique and rare and very special.

So on this day, remember that. Remember that You Are Not Alone. Hug someone in our #SPNFamily today, either in person or virtually.

 

Tell someone how you feel, and remember that many of your fellow SPNFamily have felt some of those same things.

Take Jared’s words to heart and Always Keep Fighting.

And remember that in this fandom, for both fans and actors, Family Don’t End With Blood.

–Lynn

A portion of proceeds goes to Random

Acts and Attitudes In Reverse

 

The #WoManns Con – Supernatural New Jersey!

The #WoManns Con – Supernatural New Jersey!

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New Jersey con holds a special place in my heart, simply because it’s the closest con to my hometown of Philly. That means I can actually drive there instead of flying, which makes being a vendor a bit easier. That also meant I could caption this con ‘Adventures in Vending’ because we definitely had some adventures – and some misadventures.

Being a Supernatural con vendor is like joining a tribe of frankly awesome people. For the SPN Creation cons, it’s mostly the same group of friendly, creative, resourceful folks at every convention – and because those cons happen a few times a month on average, the vendors get to know each other very well. They’re like a group of traveling carnies, moving their wares from one city to the next. They have each other’s backs just like the rest of the SPNFamily does, and I would trust any one of them if I was in a tight spot.

That doesn’t mean vending is easy. My friend Karen offered to help me out at NJCon, so we drove up together. The day before, the FedEx guy delivered my many many boxes of books, each of which weighs over 40 pounds. I bolted out the door as soon as he pulled up and asked what the policy was for leaving the books in my car instead of on my doorstep, and luckily the very nice FedEx man agreed. When Karen and I got in the car the next day, I swear it felt sort of like getting into a rocket ship – the boxes of books in the trunk and back seat made the front of the car point dangerously towards the sky.

With apologies to my poor overburdened Honda Civic, we started out, slowly making our way north to scenic Secaucus. The giant convention center had a back loading dock where we could unload the books, so we drove up there and asked where we could park to unload lots of boxes of books. The bored looking man waved us into a spot and said we could park there. Karen and I looked at the very long ramp across the lot where we would have to enter the convention center and exchanged a look of dismay. That was a steep ramp and a long way with forty pound boxes of books!

True to my always-frantically-busy-and-not-quite-prepared state, I hadn’t been able to find an actual hand cart but I’d brought along my green and white striped beach chair on wheels that doubles as a transport cart. You know, for taking your cooler to the beach or whatever. If it can transport a cooler, I thought, why not a box of books? So Karen and I heaved a box out of the trunk and onto the beach chair. The canvas sagged but didn’t break, so we counted that as a win. Then we began the trek up the long steep ramp. After a few minutes of struggling, we finally got up and into the convention center, wheeled the books and the chair down the hall and found our vendor table. One box down, ten to go!

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Lynn and Kim do PittCon – Part 3, Jared and Jensen Sunday!

Lynn and Kim do PittCon – Part 3, Jared and Jensen Sunday!

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Sunday at Pittcon was J2 day, as always. It would have been J3 day, except Jeffrey Dean Morgan wasn’t able to come. Though I guess it was still J3 day, since Jim Beaver filled in for him last minute.

Lynn: I still get nervous on Sundays, even after all these years and even after working with all three of these J’s on writing their chapters of Family Don’t End With Blood. I guess that’s a good thing though – if my tummy is ever totally okay on a con Sunday, that might mean it’s time to hand in my fangirl card. I live tweeted the morning gold panel including some phone pics, but didn’t bother taking out my camera – since Kim was sitting right beside me.

Kim: I don’t usually take a lot of pictures during the gold panel. Partly because it is quiet in the theater, and I suddenly feel self conscious about the clicking of my camera. But mostly I don’t take a lot of pics because Jensen tends to stand right in front of the mic, which is frustrating, and Jared tends to move around a lot… so basically most of the gold panel pictures suck. Unless you stan the mic. Lol

 

Jensen confessed right off the bat that he was tired, since he couldn’t sleep the night before. Even reading something boring didn’t work.

Jensen: Like Jared’s texts…

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Behind the Scenes of Supernatural with Robbie Thompson

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One of the absolute highlights of this year’s Comic Con for me was sitting down to chat with Robbie Thompson, gifted comic writer and screenwriter who wrote some of my very favorite episodes of my very favorite show. That would be Supernatural, in case you didn’t know. Which is pretty much impossible unless you’ve just stumbled over this blog for the first time.

I attended Robbie’s panel on Intersectional Feminism in Comics, which was awesome and entirely inspiring, so we were all in a good mood afterwards. We decided to try to find a room where there weren’t a million people around, and took a bunch of friends with us – Laurena, Candice, Anne and Kamila – who were down with listening in to our epic interview. They will henceforth be referred to as the Peanut Gallery (‘PG’). For the most part, they were PG. The most part. Just sayin.

After several false starts traversing the ginormous convention center, including being barred from using the press room for our interview, we found an empty room with lots of empty round tables. Robbie, ever the intrepid one, shrugged and said, ‘how about this one?’

Occasionally a Comic Con staffer would come in, take a look at our oh-so-professional interview in progress, and quietly back out. Score!

I start the interview by tossing my handwritten notes about what I’m dying to ask and my little vintage audio recorder on the table.

R: (points to Lois Lane like tape recorder) Look at this, so professional..

L: Hey, it’s ancient, it’s done a million Supernatural interviews.

R: Uh oh, look at this, guys…(points to what appears to be a big stack of questions, a la Inside the Actor’s Studio)  There’s going to be some Bernard Pivot in there. There may be some things I say off the record…

L: Of course, you know I’m good with that. (but honestly? There weren’t many!)

R: Okay let’s do this!

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Sunday with Jared and Jensen at Minncon 2017

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Sunday is J2 Day at Creation Supernatural cons, this time joined by another Winchester (Mary, aka Samantha Smith) with the day introduced by Rich and Rob and closed out by Ruth Connell and Louden Swain.

The Sunday morning gold panel saw a rather sleepy looking Jared and Jensen joining us – and of course the very first question asked was about that “this is a bad idea” Instagram video Jensen posted of him and Jared on Friday night.

J2: nope.

As in, they declined to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate them. Or, you know, get them incarcerated.

All kidding aside, Jensen and Jared were worried about their families in Austin as Hurricane Harvey began to takes its incredible toll on Texas. Jensen took a call from Danneel while they were onstage, Jared hovering over his shoulder.

This eventually resulted in shenanigans as Jared tried to grab Jensen’s phone (or something) and Jensen spun around and around to avoid him, then backed up like ‘here ya go’. #boys

 

Glad to report that Danneel and Gen and the kids are fine, and were all having a ‘sleepover’. In the wine cellar.

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Family Don’t End With Blood at #SPNMinn!

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If you’re coming to the Supernatural con in Minneapolis tomorrow, come see me in the vendor’s room if you’d like to grab a copy of Family Don’t End With Blood. The book is unique for being written by the Supernatural actors themselves – Jared, Jensen, Misha, Mark, Kim, Briana, Ruth, Rachel, Rob, Matt, Jim, Gil and Osric all tell their very personal stories of how the fandom and the show have impacted their lives. In their own words. As Gil joked recently, they can now all add “author” to their bios! Most of the actors who wrote chapters will be at the con, and they are always thrilled to sign their chapters – it’s one item almost all of them love to sign since they’re (very justifiably) proud of their chapters. I’d be honored to sign it for you too at the vendor’s table – I’d love to meet you and hear your Supernatural story, to add to the powerful chapters in the book written by fans.

I’m extra excited about this con because the super talented Jodi from Eldwenne’s Fantasy has designed a special necklace inspired by the stories in Family Don’t End With Blood. This piece was commissioned to honor the powerful, courageous, inspiring chapters written by some of the women of Supernatural – Briana Buckmaster, Ruth Connell, Rachel Miner and Kim Rhodes. The blue is from the book’s iconic cover art of the Winchesters, with silver and black wrapped around to symbolize their supportive found family (including black for Baby, of course – she’s family!). And that drop of red? Just the beginning of what family means in Supernatural – and in the entire SPNFamily.

I love the little drop of blood and I love the whole wrap around family feel of the blue with the black and silver hugging it. I love that the necklace stands for the way the characters have each other’s backs, and also for the way the fandom and the cast support each other too. That’s the inspiring message you’ll take away from reading the book.

Jodi is offering $5.00 off at the con to anyone who buys a copy of the book that inspired the necklace, and I’m offering $2.00 off the book at the con if you happen to be wearing the necklace.

Here’s what Gil and Osric had to say about writing their chapters in Family Don’t End With Blood, and what Jared and Matt had to say about writing theirs.

Gil and Osric at Chicon

Jared and Matt JIBCon

Hope to see you tomorrow in Minneapolis or at an upcoming con!

–Lynn
Not coming to the con? You can grab a copy of
Family Don’t End With Blood at the links on this page.
And check out eldwennesfantasy.com for all the
gorgeous custom jewelry!

Supernatural Vancouver Part Two – More SNS, Jared, Jensen, Ruth and Rachel!

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So, where was I? Oh right, the Saturday Night Special…The thing is, it’s not just the way they sing that makes them all such rockstars. It’s the emotion they put into everything they sing – I don’t know if it’s because they’re also actors, or just people who feel things deeply and allow themselves to be emotionally vulnerable, but so many of them reduce me to tears during the SNS. It’s an entirely emotional experience, not just a musical one.

And speaking of…. I knew Jensen Ackles was going to sing, but it seems I’m never entirely prepared for it anyway. He’s performed ‘Whipping Post’ several times, but I swear every time he pours his heart into it even more and it gets to me even more. I was so enthralled with his performance, I completely missed the fact that he was wearing a tee shirt (single layer single layer single layer) that said ‘Skyrockets In Flight’ – once the SNS was over we were all humming ‘Afternoon Delight’. Jensen and Jared are huge Anchorman fans, so it made sense, but….yeah.

In my defense, I may have been a little distracted by all the biceps action too. Hey, it was just right there, what can I say?

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Art in the SPNFamily: Part Two: Focus on Artists

Art in the SPNFamily: Part Two: Focus on Artists

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This is the second in a series of articles in which I am shining the spotlight on some of the talented artists within the SPNFamily. Friendly reminder that, for the purpose of these articles, I am spotlighting some of my favs. And you might agree, my favs might be your favs. But it’s also very possible that your fav might not be spotlighted in this series… and that’s ok. I mean no disrespect to your fav, I mean no disrespect to you, the Artist. Shine a spotlight on your favs by letting them know how much you appreciate what they do!

As I explained in the first article in this series, “art” has a multitude of definitions. If you asked 100 people to give a definition of art, you would probably get 100 different answers. In this article, I am spotlighting artists who use a variety of mediums and materials, each creating their own unique style.

This article was truly a learning experience for me. I don’t know anything about drawing. Trust me, fam, you do not want me to do artwork for you. You’ll get a stick figure sketch worse than anything Sam Winchester could ever draw. Seriously. But the artists featured here, well, how do I even begin to talk about their talent? Are there even words to describe their works? I am so glad I had enough sense to ask the right questions, because they told me about materials and mediums and styles and used words and terminology that I did not know even existed in language. To be honest, I’m a bit scared to write this article, fearing I won’t do justice to these amazing artists.

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