#Supernatural con 2017

[runawaydr3amerao3]

"Sam and Dean love each other as much as two human beings can love each other. Truly." — Jared Padalecki, San Diego Comic Con 2017

[X - 0:20]

❤️ Jensen's version

[spn-fanfic-reblog-writes]

The full video.

Jensen Ackles - SDCC 2017 Confessional: Supernatural (x)

[lol-jackles]

Did you ever been to a SPN convention? And how was it?

Yes, twice. IMO, boring except for Jared, Jensen, Mark Sheppard, and Timothy Omundson. It’s an one-show convention so there’s less variety in the crowd and costumes, and the vendor room is small.

Fan-videos don't get across on how well Jared and Jensen work with each other during their panel; they're totally in sync and can basically read each other’s mind, it’s something you have to see live.

Me and my girlfriend went to our first SPN con in 2016. We’re the type of people that only need to experience something once, then we’re done.   Or so I thought. I end up going to a SPN con a second time in 2017 for the Sunday panel.  Readers, if you saw five biker-looking old farts at your convention, I was the good looking one.  They enjoyed the J2 panel very much and even shouted “Supernatural forever!” when a fan asked when they thought SPN would end.

Now that I write this, in retrospect this was around the timeline that I've speculated was when CBS approached Jared with an offer of a holding deal (X) and why Jensen pitched his Dean-led Supernatural at Comic Con (X). Remember kids, the official story that Jared and Jensen put out was they decided in 2017/18 during season 13 to give SPN "two more seasons". 

R.E.M song: that’s me in the corner yelling bullshit

Anyways, it was always crazy to me that SPN has its own convention over 3-day weekend.  Even crazier that they attempted a “spin off” SPN convention featuring just their supporting and one-off guest actors.  But that goes to show what a merchandise goldmine SPN was.

In all conventions I go to, I like to hang out in vendor rooms to chat up the vendors and get good stories out of them.  Occasionally actors will pop in and out unexpectedly and it was the same at SPN cons; Jensen looked like an athletic jock and Jared looked like a bean pole hipster.  IMO Jared looks better IRL than on screen because he’s less photogenic than Jensen whose face is more light friendly. 

[the-bar-sinister]

Fanfiction | Self Ship | Whump

Frequent tags:

Selfship

Villain f/o

whump prompts

blog updates

friend mail

villain posting

drabble

fanfiction

Archive of our Own account

👉 he/they | queer | married | adult | elder millennial

👉 plural | fictionkin (serious/spiritual) 

👉 Muti shipper | Poly shipper

No DNI we block at will 🫡

Please do not send us asks about babies, pregnancy, or raising children.

Source fandoms: Resident Evil, One Piece, Metal Gear, Marvel Comics, Persona games, Slayers anime, GTA V, Great/Ace Attorney, Homestuck, Danganronpa, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Urusei Yatsura, Digimon, Girls Frontline, Steven Universe, Pathologic, Jem & The Holograms, Peter Pan, Welcome to Demon School, Disgaea, Sherlock Holmes media

non-source fandoms: Invader Zim, ABC’s Lost, Twin Peaks, Silent Hill, Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Vampire Chronicles (books), Doctor Who Labyrinth, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Final Fantasy (4-9), Pokemon, Black Lagoon, Miami Vice, Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite, Prey 2017, Dishonored, Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption, Frankenstein, the Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Gargoyles, Fallout New Vegas

Favorite genres: horror, mystery, thriller, noir, crime fiction, psychological thriller, supernatural horror, sci fi horror, gothic lit

Shipping, plurality and squick explanations under the cut.

Our ships: We are a polyshipper and a multishipper. We ship multiple characters together in the same context, in the same relationship, in the same fics etc.

A "ship" for us does not equal in OTP or an ideal relationship. We use the word "ship" to denote any romantic or sexual relationship between two characters, even when that relationship is unhealthy, toxic, twisted, and bad for one or both participants. Ships are a narrative tool, not something aspirational. 

Plurality: We are a plural system– many people living together in one body. We have been plural since we were children, and we have been blogging about our plurality for 15+ years.

Please do  not use psychiatric or pathologizing terminology for our plurality. We do not refer to ourselves with terms like DID, alter, or introject, and our system members do not have defined roles.

Our preferred terminology is: plural, system member, and fictive.

System members tend to sign or tag posts and refer to one another with a two emoji 'signature' rather than a name. Unsigned posts are understood to be a product of multiple members or a joint consensus. 

squicks / tropes we prefer to avoid

non-con of any kind (but especially underage non-con and non-con incest) 

pregnancy & babies (especially as the joyful and expected result of a romantic hetero-presenting relationship)

nonbinary or trans characters deciding it's better for them to perform their assigned gender at birth

Characters submitting to the will of a lawful aligned god.

Parental control and discipline being shown as narratively positive and correct 

characters giving up their careers and aspirations and 'settling down' when they fall in love

prophecies that are unavoidable and/or narratively depicted as inherently good and just

characters following the life-path set out for them by their parents/following in their parents footsteps

filial duty and filial piety in general

pretty much anything to do with traditional family structures, gender roles, and lawful aligned religion, honestly

wing whump / characters having their monstrous or inhuman traits harmed

monstrous or inhuman characters becoming human (especially when presented as positive)

soul destruction / soul death

characters being metaphysically kept apart for all time

any kind of 'conversion therapy' or metaphorical conversion therapy (especially being portrayed as positive)

We are: 

non-christian | magical practitioner | chaotic neutral

polyamorous  | largely aplatonic

trauma survivor | abuse survivor

Weird | Freakish | Monstrous

[j2spntranscripts]

Welcome!👋

Transcripts aren't always readily available for Supernatural cons and interviews, especially for the older ones.

So I've been slowly but surely, off and on, making J2 SPN transcripts and I wanted to share the ones I've finished transcribing and the sources I've found with those who might be interested.

•If anyone notices a mistake in my transcripts feel free to point it out.

•If anyone can better make out the audio in videos please share your take on it.

•If you know where to find more spn convention and interview footage available online, please share where they can be found.

•If you have old spn convention and interview video files that have been since lost from the internet, please think about re-uploading them to a free video sharing website.

•If anyone has old spn con videos uploaded to YouTube before 2017 that were previously set to unlisted until YouTube's update in 2021 force-changed them to private, please think about making them public or unlisted again.

Thank you! 🫶

•Con Question Index

•Con Transcript archive

YouTube Playlists: • 2006-2010 J2 SPN Con • 2011-2015 J2 SPN Con • J2 Interview/Media/Etc.

[aborddelimpala]

I haven’t been into supernatural since it ended but I was wondering if J2 changed at cons. Like are they still the same together?

Jared and Jensen have been doing cons for a very long time and they have their panels dynamic well oiled. It hasn't changed much since the show ended IMO. To me, they still seem happy to be together on stage. They still have their shorthand communication, they still tease each other.

2013

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2023

[wangxianficfinder]

Mythical / Supernatural WangXian

~*~

The Beast of Gusu series by Netrixie (T&M, 212k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Wolf WWX, Slow Burn, Fluff and Angst, Eventual Happy Ending)

impossible to stay away, impossible to stay by dragongirlG, Sixlayerhouse (sixlayerhouse) (E, 34k, WangXian, Inspired by The Shape of Water (2017), Modern China, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Fairy Tale Elements, Jiaoren LWJ, Mercreature LWJ, Hurt/Comfort, Captivity, LWJ Whump, Chronic Pain, Blood and Injury, Classism, Ableism, Depression, Interspecies Relationship(s), Good Sibling JC, Angst with a Happy Ending, Embedded Images, Footnotes) 

💖 The Way You Tremble by themunchking (E, 6k, wangxian, murder husbands, vampires, blood, violence, supernatural elements) 

you’re a bird in the water / i’m a fish on the ground by plonk (Not Rated, 8k, WangXian, Merpeople, Canon Era) 

one good thing by Yuu_chi (T, 26k, wangian, modern, ghost wwx, fluff & angst, happy ending, alarming number of rabbits, Podfic available)   

medium blues by darkterrible (E, 193k, WangXian, Modern AU, Horror, Spooky, Opposites Attract, Fluff and Angst, Gore, Ghosts, Necromancy, Mojo’s post)

never love an anchor by tardigradeschool (T, 31k, WangXian, Selkies, No Powers, Historical, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, Pining, Angst, Happy Ending, The Inherent Eroticism of the Sea, PTSD, Presumed Dead, Drowning)

The Shape of Your Love (is Horny) by Vamillepudding (T, 25k, WangXian, Urban Fantasy, Getting Together, Romantic Comedy, WWX is Bad at Being a Demon, LWJ is definitely a Monsterfucker) 

Howling by MimiSpearmint (E, 40k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, Mortal Instruments Fusion, Horror, Eldritch, Domestic Fluff, Single Parent WWX,   Witchcraft, Getting Together, shifter!lwj, yllz!wwx, Intercrural Sex, Hand Jobs, Angst with a Happy Ending, Switch WangXian, a bit of a degradation kink, anti-STI sex talismans, Anal Sex, Oral Sex)

this moonlit heart is home by Selenay (M, 10k, wangxian, modern, werecat WWX, crack treated seriously, happy ending, feelings realization, friends to lovers, podfic available)

sink your teeth by ariskamalt (E, 6k, wangxian, modern, fantasy au, werewolf LWJ, fluff & smut, werewolf sex, established relationship, blood, offscreen werewolf monstering aka eating people)

誰謂河廣、一葦杭之 | who says the river is wide (or, Lan Fangji) series by astronicht (E, 18k, wangxian, vampire au, human/vampire relationship, meet-cute, blood drinking, wangxian’s ming dynasty/italian renaissance travel log, frottage, consensual somnophilia, vampire LWJ, kidnapping, historical geometry, hurt/comfort)

the cow says moo, the chicken says squawk, and the demon beast of yiling says by Dragonskye (T, 57k, wangxian, animal transformation, angst w/ happy ending, beauty and the beast fusion, falling in love, hurt/comfort, secret identity, pining)

The Sun Will Rise Series by vespertineflora (E, 129k, WangXian, Fantasy, Fairy Tale Elements, Human/Monster Romance, Tentacle Sex, vine sex, Monster LWJ, Human WWX, Mildly Dubious Consent, Consensual Non-Consent, Slow Romance, Happy Ending, Edgeplay, Hand Jobs, Anal Sex, First Time, Multiple Orgasms, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, WWX Has a Rape/Non-Con Kink, Light Bondage, Light Masochism, Overstimulation, BAMF WWX, Stabbing, Near Death, Poisoning, Protective LWJ, Aphrodisiacs, Falling In Love, Drunken Kissing, Sex Pollen, Subspace, Multiple Penetration, Love Confessions, full body restraint, Emotional Sex, Reincarnation)

a thousand hills, no birds in flight | 千山鳥飛絕 by defractum (nyargles) (E, 26k, WangXian, Mythology, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon adjacent setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort)

[parf-fan]

Masterlist of recent PARF videographers

Inspired by a comment on my update of sorts in which the commenter stated that it had never occurred to them to see if anyone had filmed PARF, I present to you a post I have been intending to make literally since starting this blog.

● Michael Ulrich – PARF footage as far back as 2004, hitting stride around 2015, stopping at the end of 2022. Most of the older stuff is scattered in amongst the 2018 footage and again between 2020 and 2021. An excellent source for a one-off example of most in-house shows each year. Quite important for reviewing the Megan-Zach-Mary 'verse. Some of the highest-quality footage. ● Renaissance Road Trips (formerly known as maddog015) – PARF footage as far back as 2007. More out-of-house stuff than in-house, though they've been expanding to include a little more in-house in recent years. Contains footage from many different Faires, so sifting will be required if you are exclusively interested in PARF. Divides shows up into many pieces, which is handy if you want to reference a specific moment, but cumbersome if you want to just watch a whole show. Footage quality is perfectly reasonable, though not professional-level. Home of THE Halloween Finale of 2017.

● PARF Performers (formerly known as wavking) – PARF footage from 2011 through 2021, excepting 2014 and 2020. Filming is somewhat scattered and not systematic until around 2016. Occasional videos from NJRF and from non-Faire events taking place on PARF grounds. Overall the best source for Finales and an even selection of everything else for 2016-2018, petering off in 2019. Indispensable for reviewing the Megan-Zach-Mary 'verse, though less so the Mary part. Footage quality is perfectly reasonable, though not professional-level.

● Steve Kossor – PARF footage as far back as 2013. Very little in-house stuff; mostly focused on the artists who fall under the heading of “musicians of the shire”, both individually and as a whole. Plenty of stuff from other Faires, too. Most videos are clearly labeled. If you never got to witness the actual Pub Sing from the Before Times, this is where to look, particularly 2019. Very fancy filming, often including multiple cameras at different angles on the same day (goals tbh). Occasional interviews and such. Scattered throughout are videos completely unrelated to Faire, 'cause he's gotta put 'em somewhere.

● MerlinWinchestr – PARF footage as far back as 2013. Hits stride in 2016 (I think), at which point she carefully archives one example of each main-season plotline show, and sometimes Halloween, as well as scattered highlights. Literally the only person besides me to actually bother with non-Halloween plot before 2018, for which I owe her a small portion of my soul. Indispensable for reviewing the Megan-Zach part of the Megan-Zach-Mary 'verse. Nothing from PARF in 2018 or 2019 due to moving to a different state, but filmed stuff from other Faires in the interim. Picked up again in 2020, and expanded the number of shows filmed. Recent videos are carefully labeled. Footage quality is perfectly reasonable, though not professional-level. Scattered throughout are many clips from various unrelated concerts and cons and sometimes reenactment, as well as quite a lot of fandom edits of (predictably) both Merlin and Supernatural.

● Joseph Germano – PARF footage as far back as 2015. Almost entirely in-house; largely storyline, combat, improv. Initially filmed things exclusively for himself and his family, not listing the videos publicly for years. As such, the quality of camerawork can occasionally leave something to be desired (though much less, in my opinion, than he claims), hence his playlist called “MeadVision”. Filled the void left by PARF Performers's petering off, and is owed a small portion of my soul for archiving so much Disasterpiece in 2019. Footage quality is perfectly reasonable, though not professional-level. Chronology is a mere suggestion until 2021.

● PARF fan – If you're interested in 2017 plotline and combat, I've got everything I filmed up on the YouTube except for Halloween Joust and Halloween Finale. I've also got loads of raw footage of in-house stuff from the first half the 2020 season over on the Facebook. Effort is made with cinematography, though it sometimes backfires. Videos are carefully labeled, but only in the titles, not the thumbnails. Footage quality is perfectly tolerable, though far from professional-level, and the sound is sometimes bad (didn't have a fancy camera until the 2022 season). Indispensable for reviewing 2017, frankly.

● PA Renaissance Faire – PARF footage from 2018 only. One each Court, Melee, Bloody Best, some of the main-season individual Chess fights, Halloween Court, Halloween Chess, and a whole bunch of in-house songs from sundry Finales, many of which were not archived in any other form elsewhere (that I know of).

● Ren Faire with Rose – PARF footage as far back as 2018. Nigh-on exclusively in-house. Mostly highlights rather than entire shows. Features occasional streetwork, particularly from 2019, which is beyond value. Mostly chronological, but 2022 and 2023 and 2024 are intermittently jumbled. Tbh, I haven't gotten around to watching enough of their footage to comment on the quality of camera or camerawork.

● Dan Gualtieri – The newest member of this “team” (none of us actually coordinate or otherwise work together, though we should). Videos from 2022, 2023, and 2024. Mixture of highlights and full shows. Has already filled several gaps. I haven't actually watched any of his videos yet, so I cannot provide comment on camera or camerawork.

[watchmenanon]

THE ‘STRANGER THINGS’ BOYS ARE OUR ‘NYLON GUYS’ SEPTEMBER 2017 COVER STARS

If anyone understands the sudden shift from “not fitting in” to “one-million-plus followers,” it’s these guys.

The following feature appears in the September 2017 issue of NYLON Guys.

Finn Wolfhard just couldn’t resist. Despite needing to be camera-ready for his NYLON photo shoot, the 14-year-old star of Stranger Things decided to suck on a blue Warhead anyway, and now he’s paying the price. “All these sets have candy on them, and I can’t help myself. It was a mistake,” he admits, sheepishly trying to scrub the cerulean stain from his tongue with a miniature toothbrush. To his right, Gaten Matarazzo wears a gray T-shirt that reads, uh oh! did my sarcasm hurt your feelings?, a slogan worthy of Dustin Henderson, the lovable wisecracker he plays opposite Wolfhard on the hit Netflix show. Matarazzo, also 14, is getting his trademark tangle of curls straightened, much to the delight of Noah Schnapp, who, at 12, is the youngest in this group of breakout stars that has helped make Stranger Things the most obsessed-over show in Netflix’s boundless roster of original series. Missing is Caleb McLaughlin, the energetic 15-year-old who plays Lucas Sinclair, but he’s on his way over in a black car, having just arrived from Los Angeles, fresh off an appearance at the BET Awards.

It’s the first time the boys have been together in several weeks, and none of them can pinpoint exactly when they were last in the same room. Ever since Stranger Things became a cultural phenomenon last summer, they’ve been swept up in a whirlwind of red carpets, talk shows, and fan conventions. And as the premiere of the sci-fi and horror fantasia’s top-secret second season nears, this summer has been overtaken by a flurry of promotional duties. Next week, while most kids their age are cooling off in pools or testing out the latest in roller coaster technology, Matarazzo and McLaughlin will be at Denver Comic Con, signing autographs and posing for selfies with wide-eyed fans. A few weeks after that, all four will find themselves inside the hallowed Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, where they’ll premiere the thrilling trailer for Season 2 to rapturous applause.

But on this day, even though they’re technically at work, the boys still find time to goof off. They are, after all, best friends—like brothers, even, they say—and there’s a lot of catching up to do, memes to be shared, and jokes to be cracked. “We used to call Noah ‘Señor Biebs,’” Matarazzo offers at one point, due to Schnapp’s Season 1 bowl cut and its resemblance to the former haircut of a certain Canadian pop star. “He hates it!” he says, just before he sticks his finger into Schnapp’s ear (playfully, of course).

Inside the bright and breezy photo studio on Manhattan’s West Side, publicists abound, but because these budding stars are still minors, there are also parents. It’s an unusual sight, and a reminder that despite having very grown-up jobs, they’re still not old enough to drive. Wolfhard, the Vancouver native who plays Mike Wheeler, is here with his father, as is Matarazzo, who hails from Little Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. Schnapp and his parents came in from Westchester County, north of the city. When McLaughlin, who grew up in Carmel, New York, finally arrives lugging a suitcase that’s almost as big as he is, he’s accompanied by his father, a burly man in an Atlanta Braves cap who goes around the room with his son hugging the other parents, a reminder of how tight the makeshift family has become since this odyssey began more than two years ago.

Stranger Things premiered as an underdog. Its creators, the twin brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, were unproven talents who had previously written for the Fox sci-fi series Wayward Pines. Except for Winona Ryder’s comeback as a grieving mother searching for her missing son, the cast was composed largely of unknowns and newcomers. But thanks to its double dose of supernatural intrigue and a nostalgic ’80s-tinged glow, along with a miraculous performance by a young British actress with a shaved head, Stranger Things quickly commandeered the pop-culture conversation in a way that few shows have done. In July, the show received a staggering 18 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series.

Created by the Duffers in the spirit of the Amblin-era entertainments they were raised on, the eight-episode first season is set in 1983 in Hawkins, Indiana, and unravels the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Will Byers, played by Schnapp, who vanishes in the first episode after an encounter with the show’s resident boogeyman, the otherworldly creature known as the Demogorgon. As Will’s three misfit best friends—Mike, Lucas, and Dustin—embark on a quest to find him, they uncover an alternate dimension they dub The Upside Down, and a sinister government conspiracy that may be responsible for opening it. They also befriend Eleven, the feral girl with telekinetic powers embodied iconically by 13-year-old Millie Bobby Brown.

Stranger Things began filming its second season under very different circumstances than the first. What once felt like a scrappy production free of scrutiny from outside sources suddenly had the mood and atmosphere of a major Hollywood blockbuster. “Netflix knew it would be a good show,” McLaughlin says, “but they didn’t realize how big it would be and that the whole world was going to freak out about it.” Because of that intense interest from both the network and the public, the set suddenly had a noticeable security presence shielding it from nosy onlookers and paparazzi, while network executives showed up to make sure their prized racehorse was galloping along. Suddenly, there were expectations. “We raised the bar pretty high with the first season,” says Matarazzo. “There was a lot more tension on set, in that we really needed to make sure it was good.”

When Season 2 premieres on October 27, a year will have passed since Eleven sacrificed herself to defeat the faceless Demogorgon and save the boys, in the Season 1 finale. Trying to squeeze spoilers out of Wolfhard, McLaughlin, Schnapp, and Matarazzo is useless. Extensive media training, including detailed notes on what they can and can’t discuss, have transformed them into a rare breed: teenagers who can keep a secret. What they can say: Season 2 is bigger, darker, and scarier. There’s also a new character in town, played by Sadie Sink. (According to the Duffers, Millie Bobby Brown was “relieved” to have another girl on set.) “She’s a skater, sort of a punk girl, and she slowly becomes part of the group,” says Wolfhard, who also says his character will be depressed and “a loner” in the wake of Eleven’s disappearance. What they can’t say: pretty much everything else. But it’s not just scoop-hungry journalists who harass them for info. “Whenever you get recognized by fans, most of the time they ask you if you’ve got any spoilers for Season 2, and I’m like, ‘No, none, not at all,’” says Matarazzo. “It’s definitely kind of stressful.”

One of the biggest changes for the new season is the expansion of Schnapp’s screen time. Because his character spends much of the first season trapped in an alternate dimension, Schnapp spent a good deal of time at home in New York while everyone else filmed in Atlanta. “Last year I would drive up to the studio and everyone would be like, ‘Hey, Noah, we’ve missed you! How’ve you been?’” says Schnapp. “This year was a lot easier because last year, I’d have to go in and out of school, and that was hard. This year I could focus.”

Although he’s rescued from The Upside Down, we last saw Schnapp removing a slithery creature from his mouth, a telltale sign that not all is well with Will Byers. For Schnapp, whose character mostly communicated through Christmas lights in Season 1, the new episodes meant new challenges as an actor. “Shawn Levy, one of our directors, was telling me, ‘Noah, you have something really big this season. We have a lot in store for you, and you should get really excited,’” he says. Schnapp felt the added pressure, and would sometimes text his TV mom, Ryder, for extra help with particularly emotional scenes. “We knew we needed a strong actor in case the series moved forward into a second season, because we knew he was going to be a centerpiece,” says Matt Duffer. “We needed not just a good actor, but a really, really good actor.” Schnapp rose to the occasion, according to the Duffers. “Shawn [Levy] was like, ‘We’ve had a Ferrari sitting in the garage all of Season 1, and now the fucking garage doors are open.’”

The Duffers knew that casting child actors, who have a tendency to favor exaggerated performances over naturalistic ones, would make or break their show. “There’s really nothing worse than a bad child performance,” Ross Duffer says. “You couldn’t have any weaknesses, or the eight hours would be excruciating.” Along with their casting director, the Duffers saw what they estimate to be 900 kids, an undertaking they say was easier than it sounds because they could tell within the first few minutes if the actor had what they needed. “You’re looking for something authentic, and most kids don’t have it,” says Ross. “There are the ones that are obviously well-trained, but they feel too Disney, like they’re winking at the camera.” What the Duffers found with their four young male stars were kids who seemed like actual kids.

Matarazzo was the first one cast, his audition so impressive that he found out he got the part on the way back from the airport. “We didn’t really even know who the Dustin character was until we found Gaten,” says Matt Duffer. “He was sort of a generic nerd with glasses. He was a stereotype.” Matarazzo, whose sense of humor inspired the Duffers to transform Dustin into the show’s primary source of comic relief, has grown up with a condition known as cleidocranial dysplasia, which stunts the development of bones and teeth. “We wanted to make a show about outsiders, about kids who didn’t fit in and who were bullied and made fun of,” says Matt. “Gaten was really able to tap into all of that.”

McLaughlin and Matarazzo had known each other from their days as stars in two of Broadway’s biggest shows. Matarazzo portrayed Gavroche in Les Misérables, and McLaughlin played Simba in The Lion King. They’d often see each other in a park frequented by “Broadway kids,” as Matarazzo calls them. “When I found out Caleb had gotten Lucas I was like, ‘Caleb? Where do I know that name from?’” he recalls. Wolfhard and Schnapp established an early connection, too—sort of. “He doesn’t remember me, but I remember him,” Wolfhard says. “Because I asked him what other projects he had done, and he said, ‘I was the voice of Charlie Brown in The Peanuts Movie.’ I was like, ‘What?! You’re Charlie Brown?’ I was so pysched about that.”

Although they had all crossed paths during the audition process, usually around the hotel pool or at chemistry reads, it wasn’t until they arrived in Atlanta to begin production that all four boys, along with Millie Bobby Brown, found themselves together in the same room for the first time. If there was a first-day-of-school feel, it made sense: They met in a classroom, which is where the young cast of Stranger Things still spend most of their time when they’re not filming. That grueling schedule means the only opportunities they get to really mess around are between takes, and sometimes during them. “We have laughing problems,” says McLaughlin. Matt Duffer elaborates: “We definitely have an issue, where we can’t get through a take without someone busting up. They’re always making each other crack up—the number of takes ruined by laughter is in the hundreds.”

Schnapp was at summer camp when Stranger Things dropped on Netflix. He wasn’t allowed to have his phone, but shortly after the series premiered, one of his counselors happened to check his Instagram account—80,000 followers. The next day it was 85,000. “I was like, ‘Wait, what’s going on?’ I think I was at one follower before that,” Schnapp says. Wolfhard also remembers that odd rush of watching his followers skyrocket and realizing his life was changing right in front of his eyes. McLaughlin felt his anonymity evaporate the first time he was recognized. “In L.A., this kid came up to me and was like, ‘Hey, are you Caleb Reginald McLaughlin?’” he says. “And I’m like, ‘What? You know my middle name? That’s nuts.’” 

The connection between the boys is strengthened by the surreal turn their lives have taken, circumstances that most kids their age can’t relate to. When Matarazzo, McLaughlin, and Wolfhard met Barack Obama last October, as guests of the White House’s South by South Lawn festival, the former president, who’s a fan of the show, told them he especially enjoyed their on-screen camaraderie. That bond exists offscreen, too, and has only gotten stronger with every award show and panel. “They really are my best friends,” Matarazzo says. “We can relate to each other a lot more than other people can. People try to understand everything that goes on, but they can’t unless they’ve been there.”

“I don’t think any of the kids would say that our friendship is similar to the friendships they have back home, because it’s not,” says Wolfhard. “No kid has ever really had an experience that I’m experiencing right now—it’s a unique sort of friendship.”

Wolfhard is careful not to bring his work home with him. “If you go home and all you talk about is acting, then you’re a douchebag,” he says. “Your friends don’t want to hear about your professional life, they just want to mess around.” Plus, when you’re 14 years old, talking about work is never cool, even if it involves facing off against a faceless interdimensional demon. The boys are also learning that with a great number of Instagram followers comes great responsibility. “We have to be more cautious with what we say on social media and in public,” says McLaughlin, who was shocked to lose followers after he openly rooted for the Golden State Warriors during the NBA playoffs.

While Netflix has yet to make an official announcement, a third season of Stranger Things is a given, meaning the boys are all but guaranteed to live out their teenage years on one of the most popular shows on television. The Duffers, then, will have to follow in the footsteps of long-running properties like Game of Thrones and the Harry Potter franchise in making sure their child actors don’t grow up faster than their characters. “It’s terrifying,” Matt Duffer says. “I shouldn’t even be highlighting this, but if you watch Season 2, they’ve grown from Episode 1 to Episode 9. I’m terrified one of them is going to have a major growth spurt basically in the middle of shooting. But as long as they’re growing outside of the course of our shooting, I’m not too worried about it, because we just have to build it into our story. As much as you would like to keep some of it more continuous, every time we take a break between seasons, we have to make a year time jump at least.”

All four actors say that they want to remain in show business into adulthood. Wolfhard, who obsessively studies the filmmaking process while on set—he’ll star in the remake of Stephen King’s It, in theaters this month—is eyeing a multihyphenate career as a director, actor, and musician. Back at the photo shoot, Matarazzo and Schnapp gather around his iPhone to watch a video Wolfhard co-directed for a friend’s band, Spendtime Palace. Earlier this year, McLaughlin, who is a trained dancer, played a young Ricky Bell on the BET miniseries The New Edition Story, an experience he describes as “historic.” Matarazzo wants to continue acting, but not forever, and is keeping an open mind about other aspects of the industry. Schnapp, who took his first acting class at the age of six, describes winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series as one of the greatest moments of his life, and is doing exactly what he wants. (The boys, who describe the awards as “very heavy,” keep them in their bedrooms, except for Matarazzo, who has been meaning to retrieve his from his grandparents’ house. )

“They all love what they’re doing,” says Matt Duffer. “They love coming to set, they love working, they love acting. In terms of the fame thing, it’s a side effect that I think some of them are more into than others. You’re worried about, ‘What if they realize this isn’t their true passion?’ They’re so young. But this year those fears went away. They’re all very committed to this. That’s the important thing, that they enjoy what they’re doing. And that they’re passionate about it.”

[unloneliest]

jam i have a question. who is eliot spencer... where is he from. what makes him ur number one blorbo and what do u understand abt him that no one else does <3

partridge thank you so much for this ask i need you to know you made my entire morning. eliot spencer is. my specialest guy my blorbo of all time i love him so so so so much. he's from the tv show leverage, which aired from 2008-2012* and isn't immune to the downfalls of that era of tv in general but that. honestly does a comparatively outstanding job to ME. it holds up and also the premise is "what if these extremely competent hot thieves ruined shitty rich people's lives and helped the people who'd been victimized by the rich people and created a found family together after all having various levels of sad backstory? and there was an ot3 made as canon as the showrunners could possibly make it in 2012?" i'm getting ahead of myself though.

*there's a sequel currently airing but i have yet to watch it & there's certain aspects about it that i refuse to accept as canon (this is a part of me being the most right about eliot)

i am putting this under the cut because. well. this got long

to start with context. having my brain rewired by supernatural and captain america: the winter soldier when i was a teenager is a huge factor in like. *waves hands vaguely* everything. when it comes to how i came to love leverage and eliot specifically. i got driven away from spn because (to simplify things) the showrunners hated the fans so bad and the characters were fighting the narrative but unable to escape it, and i loved the version of the characters that was actively being opposed by the show. and that was just plain not enjoyable for me. and marvel is marvel and continuity of emotional and interpersonal arcs doesn't matter at all to them.

and the thing is i took a sociology class in 2017 and it was making me so upset learning about white collar crime. and @canis-la-trans was like. we are watching leverage now. to remedy this. and i'd tried watching it with him before but this time around it just clicked. and the biggest part of what clicked is eliot. because listen. eliot is in somewhat of the same category as my earlier favorite characters but the thing about eliot spencer is that all of his best qualities are canon, not fanon. he redefines the category. he's incomprable. to me.

the thing about eliot spencer is he's the punchboy. he's the hitter. it's his job to get in the fights and protect the team. and he does his best to come across as grumpy, as not caring about people, does his best to fly under the radar as just another unintelligent lackey with a short temper who's particularly talented at violence.

but that's a performance. canonically that's a performance. and he has the best work/life separation of the whole team. he's not his job - he's very good at his job, and it's what he does and that is a part of him, but where some of the other characters view their job as an extension of their selfhood, eliot doesn't.

he cooks. he cooks so well that he could do that professionally. he grows all his own produce (allegedly). he's one of if not the best person on the team with kids. he loves so wholly so fast. he's the first person to call the team a we. within team dynamics he & sophie, the grifter, protect the other 2 from the worst of the team leader's dysfunction.

eliot's done bad things in the past. and he views himself completely past saving. like. from commentary on the show: he knows he's going to hell. like. his self worth is completely abysmal. i know he would die for the team. in s2e2 there's an episode where the team isn't succeeding at the con, and he takes the fall on purpose. and in a conversation about that he says "i'm not diving on a grenade. i'll be all right" but he says that so readily that i Know he's thought about it. and he would. for the team he would. for parker and hardison he would. he's in love with them. and they're in love with him too and i have to cut myself off or i'll go an entire separate rant about them!!!!

he has long hair. which he straightens. and he looks great with blood on his face. he doesn't use guns. he never throws the con for personal reasons - only ever does to protect kids. he grew up in rural oklahoma and he enlisted to get the hell out of dodge and he got in such a bad argument with his dad the night before he shipped out that he got disowned. and he can't even talk about it until nearly the end of the final season of the show. he never once mentions his mom. and i just know he got disowned for coming out, intentionally or not. he's never had an environment he could be his full self in without fear until the team.

parker, the thief of the team, is intentionally written as autistic; the hacker, hardison, is so likely written to have adhd. and eliot is autistic too, to me. it makes the level of performing masculinity to closet himself so much more insane to me. bc it's also masking. and adding that context to eliot and parker's relationship makes me unWELL.

the thing is is that eliot is a character who's hiding, who's actively doing his best to be unnoticed. and so many people who watch the show fall for the act, even if they don't fall for the whole act they fall for parts of it, and like. They Are Wrong About Him. i have an entire complex backstory thought up for eliot, because i think the only thing sadder than him missing out on the kind of connection he finds with the team is him knowing what he's missing because he had a queer best friend as a kid, & the two of them were closeted together, but he lost contact with her over the years.

the thing is that eliot spencer has SO MUCH GENDER and i know if he and parker and hardison adopted a kid eliot would be ma. never dad. and i don't think he'd even be able to start exploring that for himself until the end of the series.

the thing is eliot spencer would listen to the mountain goats. and there's a couple other people out there who are right about that and it makes me so insane 100% of the time.

and i love him and this is just a list of facts about him and the most important thing about eliot spencer to me is that. he exists in motion. trying to capture a still image or static description in words never works. but he's my wife and i love him so much. and i always will. and i'm writing a fic where i'm going to blow him up. just a little bit. for his own good. this is my "eliot made himself a mountain goats mix tape about knowing he's willing to jump on a bomb for parker and hardison & never telling them that in advance" playlist from that universe.

all of leverage is availible for free streaming on imdb tv & here are thee best leverage fanvids of all time:

& this last vid is abt the show in general, not just the ot3:

i would add all my fave eliot pics i have screenshotted but this is already so long . i still might rb and do that anyways he is Everything to me

[sebpfmpp2]

Idea 2 relevant research - Nioh (2017)

Nioh, developed by Team Ninja, is an action RPG set in a dark fantasy version of the Sengoku period. Players take on the role of William, a Western samurai, battling supernatural forces in a visually stunning and challenging world.

Nioh's blend of historical accuracy with supernatural elements can offer inspiration for the Edo period concept. The game's focus on weapon-based combat and strategic encounters may provide insights into designing engaging and challenging combat scenarios.

Examining Nioh can help in understanding the integration of historical settings with fantastical elements. The game's approach to enemy variety and combat mechanics may contribute to designing diverse and compelling gameplay experiences.

Pros:

Detailed depiction of the Sengoku period.

Strategic combat with various weapon types.

Rich lore and enemy design.

Cons:

Supernatural elements may need adaptation for a more grounded setting.

[blindmagdalena]

are you part of any other fandoms? or have in the past? :D

yeah absolutely! i was a HUGE anime nerd as a kid (mainly YYH/Inuyasha) and wrote/collected all kinds of stuff for that. it's also the reason i got into cosplay and started going to anime cons. that was a huge part of my teen years.

after that I got reeeeally into phantom of the opera, and that remains as sort of an ever-present "sleeper fandom" that I'm always peripherally enjoying and ready to throw down about. the one that hit big for me was definitely supernatural back in 2011ish. the chokehold that series/fandom had on me was unreal. that lasted until maybe 2015ish, i fell off really hard towards the end of s8/beginning of s9.

in early 2017 i got really into the adventure zone, and then in 2018 i starting running games of dungeons and dragons. not exactly a fandom per se, but there's definitely a very big ttrpg community, and i've been deep in that ever since.

i really did not expect to get back into tumblr/fandom the way i have, but homelander did a number on me. i've been thoroughly possessed. i live here now.

[hologramcowboy]

I think anon got a little confused re: J2’s social media. They don’t have someone else running their accounts, they just now have social media contractual obligations. So they have to do X amount of promo posts and are most likely barred from posting anything super inappropriate or following inappropriate/adult content accounts. You can tell by looking at their instagrams.

Jared’s instagram has changed the least because he’s always more or less followed the same format. Log on every once and a while to promote work or charity, and his family posts typically line up with birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and vacations. When he logs on to post he usually reposts content from Gen or Towwn, something social justice related, and something funny on his stories. His Twitter hasn’t been personal in a long time and is used for live tweeting, interacting with fans and occasional updates.

Jensen’s instagram has undergone the most noticeable change. This ended up being super long, so I’ll separate it by year so that it’s easier to follow along. I also won’t include stories/livestreams to simplify things.

From 2015 when he first joined to the first half of 2016 it was very impersonal. Mostly behind the scenes SPN and con content, a couple pictures of JJ, a couple of pictures of Danneel with no sickeningly sweet, over dramatic captions. Then in the summer of 2016 things start to change. Still mostly SPN related, but he starts to post Danneel a little more and announces that they’re expecting twins.

2017 is when he starts promoting himself as a family man and starts pushing Danneel/inserting her in his branding. This is when those over the top captions start appearing in association with Danneel related content. He posts his private life and promotes SPN in equal measure, and slowly the shameless self promotion begins (which he jokingly admits to in a post on July 12, 2017 on a post of J2’s TV Guide cover). This is also when he kind of jumps on Danneel’s slacktivist band wagon and starts promoting charitable causes, all in association with FBBC (which hasn’t opened yet) or his family of course.

In 2018 FBBC opens, and the focus is all on the brewery, his family/Danneel, and himself. The little SPN promo he does is all centered around Dean (it used to be brother focused), and con content turns into photos of him performing (setting the stage for Radio Co). Continues to take a page out of Danneel’s book/special brand of slacktivism where he makes everything about himself or his family. This is also when he starts with the costumes and setting himself up for the superhero roles he wants post-SPN.

In 2019 the Danneel content really ramps ups, plus she starts really getting in on it and commenting on everything like they’re teenagers and he’s her first boyfriend. It’s incredibly cringey. He also continues to promote himself and try and set himself apart from Jared/Sam. If I didn’t know SPN, I would assume he was the lead. Radio Co. is announced. In May 2019, they announce that s15 will be the final season. What’s interesting is his caption– “Though nothing ever really ends in Supernatural…does it? 😉” so some evidence that he’s been planning the prequel/SPN takeover since 2019.

2020 is interesting, because the pandemic clearly put a dent in his networking/self promotion. The start of the year is promotion for both of the Ackles. Very much “look at us! We’re apart of Hollywood but we’re cool and different from those other guys!” When the lockdown happens, he leans even more into the family man and dedicated husband image. A little bit of SPN promo, but not much. Gets really into activism (specifically BLM and voting), just like every other celebrity at the time despite never having cared about it before. He announces his role as Soldier Boy on August 17. Chaos Machine Productions is announced on October 8, he uses a picture of him and Danneel at the GG afterparty (a picture he’s overused, don’t you have other pictures with your wife?). In late 2020, the family and wife content starts to slow down.

In 2021, Jensen starts off the year pretty strong and posts regularly. He posts for the Walker premiere, he posts Danneel a few times, he congratulates himself for his critics choice award, a makes few slacktivism posts, promotes Radio Co. and FBBC, and goes back to promoting himself. Spring of 2021 is when he starts to get really selective about social media, the Jensen we associate with SM today. It’s all work and self-promo. No more Danneel content (though she continues to comment on almost every post), the only family content in the latter half of 2021 are his birthday posts for the kids and the Christmas photo dump. He posts his announces prequel announcement on June 24, does not tag Danneel is the picture or caption.

In 2022, Jensen hires a publicist. This is important to note because this ties directly into how he now uses instagram. Out of the 37 posts in 2022, 15 are promo for The Boys, 3 are promo for Big Sky, 4 are promo for The Winchesters, 1 is promo for Radio Co. Volume III, 1 is promo for the episode of Walker he directed, 11 are self-promo*, 1 post to celebrate the twins birthday, and 1 post to celebrate Danneel’s birthday. No promo for FBBC, no more activism/political posts. So 24/37 were work related because he has to meet a certain promo quota. That’s also why he’s live tweeted for TW and did that awful instagram live, he’s contractually obligated to promote TW. And while a lot of people have speculated that he has someone else running his Twitter, he doesn’t. All of the tweets have his voice (if that makes sense) he just made those mistakes with TW because he doesn’t care about the show and would ignore it completely if he could. He doesn’t have the money to justify the expense of having a social media team, and while he could have an assistant post for him, I don’t think Jensen has an assistant. They’re another expense he’s not busy enough to justify, he’s never told any stories that suggests he has one, and based on his stories seems to handle most assistant things by himself (flights, scheduling, making phone calls, etc).

*Self Promo Posts: Outside of You podcast with MR, HBD post for Dean, Mardi Gras photo dump/HBD to him (no Danneel in pictures despite the fact that they were together), SXSW w/ Batmobile, Man About Town editorial got two posts, CW upfronts (no mention of TW, the cast, or Danneel. Photos are of him in the car leaving for TB promo), Zombies 3 carpet with JJ, Men’s Health diet interview, him outside the Pie shipping container labeled Pie (he tagged BS and TW in this pic), and the Adam Rose sweater thirst trap video.

Yet since he never developed his actor's logline, none of his content is in line with his branding and his branding is unclear so casting will have no idea what Jensen is going for.

I think the anon got confused as well, possibly english is their second language.

[leseigneurdufeu]

ok so controversial? question what is your opinion on the anastaisa broadway musical made in like 2017?

Lol not controversial at all, I didn't see it.

That being said I do know that the supernatural element is taken out in favor of a more down-to-earth, communist evil (thank you author's note on that one Zuko is the lost princess fic). Bare in mind that's all I know about it and here it goes

Pros: it makes the story more believable. Like, had Anastasia really survived, somehow, the execution, the people who would have tried to prevent her from claiming her heritage would have been the communists, not some kind of zombie warlock. It's probably also a bit easier to stage in a theater.

Cons: it makes the story more believable. I'm not watching Anastasia because I want a historical drama about real-Anastasia having escaped and being chased after by the bolcheviks. I'm watching Anastasia knowing full well she died, and my suspension of disbelief is made easier by the fact there are fantastic/supernatural elements in there, too.

So really it's all about what you're expecting from the story. Maybe there is something that makes the musical a complete heresy or a marvelous gem, but since I didn't watch it...

Now though the fact that the Grandmother is voiced by Angela Lansbury and Rasputin by Christopher Lloyd make the movie the best version anyway. I don't make the rules.

[teamfreewill2pointo]

You say TW wasn't Jensen's passion project and all things considered I'm inclined to think it's pretty likely. He did the bare minimum of promo, for instance. Anyway do you have an idea why he went through with it at all?

Eh, Jensen's not a fan of promo. I think he really loves music and Radio Company, but he doesn't do much promo for that, especially compared to other people. He hates social media and the pressure to perform on it.

I think I've told this story before, but Jensen gave a little speech to Jared at the end of Supernatural after they finished filming, and it was the J2 equivalent of the barn scene. Jensen grabbed Jared's face and talked about how proud he was of the work they did together and Jensen specifically mentioned press, interviews, and comic cons as part of the struggles they face together. Not working long hours in the rain, but interviews and comic cons lmao.

At SDCC 2017, J2M do a Q&A where they have to guess answers to questions and they are asked what's Jensen's favorite part of comic con. Jensen struggles to think of something because he's not a fan and Jared immediately knows the answer: time off from filming.

So I don't think promo is any indication of Jensen's enthusiasm. I think he wanted to do more in the world of Supernatural and wanted to try out producing. He seems like someone who enjoys trying out a variety of things. You don't know how you feel about something until you try it.

[theultimatefan]

Tomei, Tudyk, Trejo, Swallow Among Additions to FAN EXPO Philadelphia In Next Wave of Celebrities

Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny, The Wrestler) and fan favorites Alan Tudyk (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, “Firefly”), Danny Trejo (Machete, The Book of Boba Fett), Emily Swallow (“The Mandalorian,” “Supernatural”) and Jeff Ward (“One Piece,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) are among the additions to the growing celebrity lineup at FAN EXPO Philadelphia, set for May 3-5 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Joonas Suotamo (Star Wars) and Diana Lee Inosanto (“Ahsoka”) round out the newcomers to the roster.

Marisa Tomei blasted onto the scene with her Academy Award winning performance as “Mona Lisa Vito” opposite Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny. After the Best Supporting Actress win, she went on to roles in Chaplin, Untamed Heart and the Paper, later appearing on Broadway before earning two more Oscar nominations, the third for The Wrestler. She also had a recurring role in the hit series “Empire” and appeared as “Aunt May” in three Spider-Man blockbusters.

Alan Tudyk gained fans’ attention when he starred as wise-cracking "Hoban 'Wash' Washburne" in "Firefly" and Serenity, and later grabbed the “Star Wars” fandom with his portrayal of “K-2SO” in Rogue One. He also appeared in Wreck it Ralph and 42 and has lent his voice to characters in hits like “American Dad,” “Harley Quinn,” “Transformers: Earthspeak” and “Star vs. the Forces of Evil.”

Danny Trejo has developed a prolific career in the entertainment industry with a hard-earned and atypical road to success. From years of imprisonment to helping troubled youth battle drug addictions, from acting to producing, and now on to restaurant ventures, Trejo’s name, face, and achievements are well recognized in Hollywood and beyond. He has starred in dozens of films including Desperado, Heat, the From Dusk Till Dawn series, Con Air, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, the Spy Kids movies, Machete and many more.

With her portrayal of “The Armorer” in “The Mandalorian” in the hit Netflix series “The Mandalorian,” Emily Swallow added another role to her growing resume. She also appeared as “Kim Fischer,” a regular on “The Mentalist” and as “Amara / The Darkness” in the 11th season of “Supernatural.” She also voiced the role of “Lisa Tepes” in the animated Netflix fantasy action series “Castlevania.”

Jeff Ward played “Deke Shaw” as a regular on “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” from 2017-2020, and most recently appeared in the first season of the Netflix adventure/comedy “One Piece.” Fans will also recognize him from his work in “Brand New Cherry Flavor” and the TV movie Manson’s Lost Girls, where he gave an appropriately creepy performance as the cult leader.

Joonas Suotamo has assumed the mantle of the iconic role of “Chewbacca” in numerous iterations of the Star Wars saga since first appearing as the Wookiee in Episode VII – The Force Awakens in 2015. The Finnish actor also stepped out of the familiar character to appear in four episodes of the Disney series “Willow.”

Diana Lee Inosanto appears as “Morgan Elsbeth” in the Star Wars “Ahsoka” production on Disney+, opposite Rosario Dawson, David Tennant and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. She originated that role in an episode of “Mandalorian” in 2020 after appearing in dozens of movies and shows as a stunt person and a variety of other entertainment jobs.

They join a lineup that already includes headliners Mario Lopez (“Saved by the Bell,” “Access Hollywood”), Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, “Gilmore Girls”), Felicia Day (“The Guild,” “Dragon Age: Redemption”), Ben McKenzie (“Gotham,” “The O.C.”), Holly Marie Combs (“Charmed,” “Picket Fences”), Adam Savage (“MythBusters,” “Unchained Reaction”), Michelle Hurd (“Star Trek: Picard,” “Law & Order: SVU”), Sofia Boutella (Rebel Moon, The Mummy) and Jason Lee (“My Name is Earl,” The Incredibles).

Single-Day Tickets, Three-Day Passes, Ultimate Fan and VIP Packages for FAN EXPO Philadelphia are available now. Advance pricing is available until April 18. More guest news will be released in the following weeks, including line-up reveals for additional headline celebrities, comic creator guests, voice actors and cosplayers.

Philadelphia is the eighth event on the 2024 FAN EXPO HQ calendar; the full schedule is available at fanexpohq.com/home/events/.