I Cross Stitched A Crossbow

Whedon Con - Day 2

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Marriott - Woodland Hills

I had a bowl of Lucky Charms this morning and was disturbed by the fact that I was eating marshmallow unicorn heads.  Yet I was getting ready to go to a con wherein the major draw is a TV show about vampires.  I'm an enigma.

I met Dodie in the lobby and we went to room C for our first panel, the very long-titled "Top 10 buffy or angel episodes (that inspire us to be strong)", hosted by Ian of The Passion of the Nerd podcast. They started late because there were issues with the sound system, so Ian had to rush through the last few episodes on his list, but we really enjoyed it.  I shed a few tears remembering the emotional punches of some of the episodes, and hearing Ian talk about their effect on his own life, and probably on many of others in the room.  I am now looking forward to hearing his podcast.  We got a chance to talk to him later and tell him how much meaning the talk made for us.  I didn't know when I was getting ready this morning that I'd be in tears before noon.

Dodie had not eaten anything yet, so we went to Starbucks for brunch, and fellow con attendees talked to us as they passed our table.  People at this con are very friendly!  

We walked back to Room C for the "Squee! Buffy Fan & Alumni Documentary".  They were still having sound issues, but we were eventually able to see a rough cut of the work in progress.  I'm interested in seeing the finished product, mostly because I'm a fan of Buffy.

We stayed in the room for the "Once More With Feeling" singalong.  Yes, in the room with the sound issues.  But add to that the wi-fi issues, and it was crazy-making.  They eventually just had someone play it on their phone and we sang along if we knew the lyrics.  A gal dressed as Anya with a very shiny gold skirt did a great job with her bunnies solo.  They finally got the video to work, but we needed to leave because we had a schedule to follow.  We also knew that we wouldn't get to see the whole thing since they started from the beginning despite our having sung about half of the episode already.

Buffy and friend leading the singalong
The gal working on the laptop reminds me of Angela.

We went up to the craft room for Geeky Cross Stitch by Geek Girls Forever/Geek Girls Society.  I had already decided on the Bless This Crossbow pattern the day before, but then had trouble again when I saw other ones.  They were so cute!  I went back to my first instinct and later bought a Star Wars themed one to make some other time.  My goal was to at least finish the crossbow during the crafting session.  I have done cross stitch before, but it sure didn't seem like it when I proceeded to break my hoop before I even started stitching.  The lady helping us (also the pattern maker) was very kind and gave me another hoop because it happens so often that she brings a bunch of extras.  Dodie's pattern was a T.A.R.D.I.S., which had a lot of blue floss.  We were there for a while with our craft faces on.  My love for crafting was renewed this day, and  I would join the club if the meetings were closer to my home or job.

Bless This Crossbow

The Gather App never sent me notifications of our different panels, so I forgot that we were supposed to go to the Sean Maher Q&A.  Instead, we got in a long line for James Marsters.  Camden Toy walked by.  Twice.  From the same direction.  The second time, I asked him if he was twins.  We later realized that we were in the line to take photos with James Marsters. Oops.  We wanted to go to the Q&A.  So we left the line and went to Room G, where we heard the last portion of the "Wonder Women of Whedon" panel with Dagney Kerr (Buffy's roommate, Kathy), Mercedes McNab (Harmony), Julia Lee (various Buffy characters, including Anne), and Miracle Laurie (November on Dollhouse).  

• Mercedes McNab's most memorable scene: when she first becomes a vampire
• Harmony's fight with Xander - "We didn't know that they were filming in slow motion, and we thought we looked so stupid fighting like that.   Then we saw it later and we liked it."
• To Julia: who, in all of the characters you portrayed on Buffy, was your favorite?
• Anne, because she was able to grow and get better.
• What character in the Whedonverse, not on your show, would you want to be?
• Miracle Laurie didn't even let the person finish the question before saying, "Xander.  That's what we're talking about right now, right? A character on another show?  Definitely Xander.  He's so funny."
• Dagney never watched the show either before or after she was on it, because she feels like she would never be able to move beyond it if she had.  So she couldn't comment on what character she would like to play.  "I watch 'The Bachelor'.  I'd want to be the girl that's a mess, and gets drunk in the pool, and everybody's, like, 'She has GOT to go.'"

Moderator; Dagney; Mercedes; Julia; Miracle

We moved up a couple of rows once the panel was over, and I was glad we were there early because the room was packed for the James Marsters Q&A.  He was introduced by the guy cosplaying as Lorne, whom we saw the day before, getting his makeup applied.  He hosted Karaoke at Caritas the night before, too.

James Marsters arrived, cheekbones at the ready.

Spike has arrived!

James said, "Oh, don't make me the bad guy!" when he was asked if he wanted to call on the people with their hands raised.  So "Lorne" called on folks instead.

• Great question (and answer) about the difference between stage acting and film acting, and what it was like to play Spike for TV.  
• I was very theatrical, and when I first worked with Giles, I thought, "I'm gonna wipe the floor with him."  Then he stood there with his coffee, delivering his lines, and he was so good that I started to take the Tony Head Acting Class.  Every chance I got, I was sitting on an apple box just watching him and learning from him.
• Favorite place he's ever traveled to: has traveled all over the Western World, but most of the time doesn't get to explore.  But he does love the Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudi.
• James' favorite part outside of the Whedonverse: Buzz Aldrin in "Moonshot".  He got the part by coming in with a hangover and being surly and they said, "That's so Buzz!"  Then James proceeded to talk science to our audience.  So he's cool, gorgeous, AND smart!  Love him.
• How JM found out that Spike would be failing in love with Buffy:
•   I was watching Riley, and I said to Joss, "If you ever want me to be shirtless on camera, you need to tell me, because we need to work hard to look like that!"  Joss told him, OK, you've got the whole summer.  JM: What?  JW:  Yeah, Spike is going to fall in love with Buffy.  JM:  Oh, just for a couple of episodes or something, like a spell.  JW:  No, you're going to be having sex with her all year.  JM:  So that's how I found out that Spike was going to fall in love with Buffy.  I love SMG, but as a kid sister.  So I had to try to fall in love with her romantically, and I couldn't do it.  It wasn't until I saw her working the drive through and being an adult, basically a single mother, having to take care of her family, and she had to be nice to people.  And I was, like, <makes a dreamy face>.  SMG turns around and sees me like that, and says, "WHAT?  It's the chicken hat, right?  Everybody's been making fun of me all day and I hate it!"  And I was like, "No, no!" but I couldn't actually tell her what I was thinking.
• First kiss with Buffy: took 14 takes because it was so technical.
•   Sarah told me, "James, stop ACTING!  I want to go home!"
• Who was your favorite kill?
• I don't know.  After working 12-20 hour days, my short-term memory is gone.  We would play a game in the afternoon, and ask, "What scene did we do this morning?" and nobody could answer.  I do remember that the make-up guy loved me because I would sit for anything.  If you look at the other actors, you'll see a little bit of blood along the hairline.  But I was willing to have blood all over me.  The make-up artist would say, "The vampires would go for the carotid artery and the blood would spray all over the place."  So sometimes he would just have a bucket of blood and take a handful and throw it on me.  I was like, <open arms> "Yeaaahhhhh!"
• Would you rather play the hero or the...
• <interrupts question> "Villain, villain, villain, villain.  When you're the hero, you have to run around and save the day all the time and suffer guilt.  But if you're the bad guy, you just lurk in the shadows, and when the good guy comes along, you just clock him.  Bad guys don't have feelings, they don't care."
• Great last question of the day:  It's 2018, the world is on fire.  Where is Spike?  
• "Spike would be taking a flight to DC.  And he'll have been dieting so that he'll be hungry.  Yup.  He's hunting."

He's awesome.  I love how much he enjoyed playing Spike, and enjoys talking about it with the fans.  

That was it for us for the day, so I went to Bro's house and we went to The Boiling Crab for dinner with their friends, followed by dessert at Creamistry.  What a great day!

Next up:  Day 3 - Talking to the Talent