Halloween 2004
October 30-31, 2004

York Hall - Bethnal Green - London

Guests
James Marsters: Spike (BtVS/AtS)
David Boreanaz: Angel (BtVS/AtS)
Juliet Landau: Drusilla (BtVS/AtS)
Amy Acker: Winifred "Fred" Burkle (AtS)
Jane Espenson: Writer (BtVS/AtS)
Luke Perry: Pike (BtVStM)

I arrived Wednesday and spent the night at my in-laws, catching up and the like. I’d slept well on the flight and managed to stay up until 11pm, but woke up at 1am completely wide awake, meaning I was a little tired the next morning. My coughing was getting worse, but I still felt somewhat OK, so ventured into London to meet up with rockgoddes and psubrat to go see Highgate Cemetery. I was surprised to see drinkthepoisonx, 10zlaine, and vampgaia joining us, which was a treat. Highgate was fun, but the walking around seriously depleted my reserves, and by the time psubrat and I got around to checking into our hotel, I’d lost most of my voice and was running a fever. Unfortunately, I had to cancel the dinner arrangements with i_digress_uk because I was just so out of it.

Friday morning, I woke up to learn that psubrat had managed to throw her back out. She was in incredible pain and my fever hadn’t really gone away so after an aborted attempt to get her some painkillers and the like, we ended up back at the hotel where she rested for the afternoon and I slept, trying to get rid of my fever. I woke up in time for us to go register for the con, though I was lagging in serious ways. We ran into the wonderful denny_dc who wanted to go out to dinner. This somehow stretched into being at the Italian restaurant down the street from our hotel until almost midnight, and then in her hotel room (she was staying at the same place we were) until 1:30. When I got back to my room, I discovered a note from i_digress_uk and the_royal_anna saying that they’d waited for me in the bar, hoping to catch up. I was supposed to call i_digress_uk that day but with the fever and the like, I’d not gotten the chance. I was horribly upset and felt so guilty that they’d come all the way out to see me. Then, 5 minutes later, there was a knock at the door and there they were!

After much crying and explanation, we settled in for a wonderful visit. The girls stayed until after 4am, and by the time I fell asleep it was 5am. Guess what time I got up to get ready for the Saturday convention? 6am. So I went into the first day of the con after been laid up with fever for a day and a half on an hour’s sleep. Go me. Still, the visit I had with them was more than worth it.


Saturday:

Since I’d registered Friday night, I just had to go in and find a seat. There was already a long queue for merchandise (James’ line was at least 4 to 5 times longer than David’s when I arrived, and there were many times when David didn’t have one and James did. Of course, James’ table was also selling the pics for the other guests and ticket opps for autographs/photos, so that contributed a little bit. I hope.). I decided to go ahead and queue because I didn’t want to risk not getting the pictures I’d promised people, and was still queueing when Jane started her Q&A. One of my questions had been selected to ask her on Sunday, but they announced that they were combining them all in one day so that she could do a commentary to Pangs on Sunday instead. I didn’t want to leave my place in the queue so I ended up not asking her a question. Some highlights from her Q&A:

  1. She’s currently working on a pilot for Fox, called “Utopia.” She joked during her commentary on Pangs on Sunday that she has a thing for naming young innocent guys Jamie, because that was the name of one of the characters in the pilot as well as the guy in the Pangs teaser.
  2. She was asked how much of James’ personality is in Spike, and she said none. She said that James is just too much of a nice guy and a goofball, and has a completely different energy than Spike.
  3. She was so supportive of fanfic writers every time she spoke. She has great admiration for the love and hard work writers pour into it.
  4. When asked if she preferred writing standalone episodes or ones that are part of the bigger arc, she said standalones, and cited “The Trouble with Tribbles” from the original Star Trek as an example of how standalones are often so well remembered where arc episodes tend to get swallowed into the whole storyline.
  5. Someone asked about the Oedipal nature of Angel/Darla, and she talked about how she felt that Darla was really the love of Angel’s life. Of course, she had to add that this freed Buffy up for Spike. Gotta love this woman.
  6. Her favorite season of Buffy is Season 5.

There was a small break, and I was talking to denny_dc when we noticed they were leading the guests in along the side to take them backstage for the welcome that was to follow. We immediately spotted James and just followed him with our eyes until they disappeared in the front. Then, a man stepped out onstage with his back to us. He was only there for a few seconds, but I turned to denny_dc and commented, "I think that was David." We were horribly amused because we hadn’t even noticed he was part of the entourage, since we were so fixated on James.

Then came the welcome, where all the guests came out and said a few words in greeting. Everyone was wonderfully gracious, and for being as pregnant as she is, Amy Acker’s bump was tiny! I’ll say it here, David is *much* better looking in person than he is in photos or on TV. He’s lost a bit of weight and looked *fantastic*. And this comes from someone who has never thought he was in the slightest bit attractive before.

They switched around David and James’ Q&A’s so that David went first. He was nervous at first, but soon relaxed into it. Some highlights:

  1. After a bit of coaxing from the audience, David sang “Mandy,” and no, he really *can’t* sing. He also did a small bit of Angel’s dancing, which was absolutely hysterical.
  2. Someone asked what project he and his wife were currently doing in their home as it was mentioned in InStyle that they liked doing that kind of thing. They’re currently trying to work on their back yard, as Jaden is getting older and they want to some day have more kids, so the room is necessary. He also related how they hadn’t had a kitchen for a long time because of DIY stuff and they ate a lot of takeaway as a result. He was eating Pizza Hut twice a week during that time period.
  3. David had a bit of a problem understanding accents. There were multiple times he had to ask people to repeat their question. The first time it happened, he finally just looked at the woman quizzically and asked, “You want to see Angelus in the Netherlands?” She’d been asking about Angelus’ malevolence. Later on, when the audience tried to help him understand another word he wasn’t getting, he kind of jumped back in his seat, held his hands up and said with a huge grin, “Whoa! Little aggressive there, don’t you think?” And then proceeded to ask the woman to repeat the question yet again, ignoring the help he got from the audience.
  4. When asked about the Dido video, he admitted to not recognizing her when he met her the first time. He’d gone in for the costume fitting and looked right at her and asked her what she did. He enjoyed the shoot, but he said it was a very long two days and he probably wouldn’t do another.
  5. Throughout the Q&A, he was very heartfelt about his son and his father, mentioning both several times. He said his father was his hero.
  6. When asked about what he thought would be the most romantic weekend away, he mentioned the Maldives as he’d just seen some ads for it. He then went off on a tangent about his wife and slathering her with ice cream, which started his whole food/ice cream jokes for the rest of the weekend.
  7. The man can’t sit still in a chair. He was constantly tipping it back on its back two legs and rocking it. I’ll admit, at one point, I was watching the screen behind him where they were projecting it for people in the back to see, and I was completely fixated on the way his hips kept rocking in these movements, back and forth and back and forth. He’s gotta be aware of what that looks like. And no, I’m not perving on the man. It’s merely an observation. Even if he is hot.

James Q&A came after the lunch break. The question I’d submitted for evenstar_estel had been selected, so I spent most of my time in the queue waiting for it to be answered. I have to admit, I wasn’t thrilled about it; I’d lost my voice on Friday and was incredibly hoarse, but I did it anyway. However, by the time I got up to the front of the queue, I was shaking like a leaf and probably came across as a huge fool. Anyway, here are some of the highlights:

  1. He was asked if he could travel around the world with anyone (I think that was the context), who would it be. He immediately said the name of a friend who works for the Sierra Club, and launched into a story about going climbing with him. James had worn the wrong kind of shoes and they were going down a fissure, and he just wanted to get down to a certain spot. Well, he slipped, and got himself stuck. When his friend came down to help him, he got stuck there, and they just held themselves there, trying to keep each other’s spirits up that they were going to get out of it and taking their time to get out.
  2. A mother asked her very shy daughter’s question about Eeyore, and he did this adorable Eeyore impression for her. It was darling.
  3. He was incredibly diplomatic about “The Mountain.” A 2-day shoot stretched into four days, but he was very positive about Penn Badgley who plays his son on the show, saying that they both liked jazz and talked a bit while they were there. The WB wanted him to do more publicity for it, but he thought it was bad that a guest star did something like that.
  4. He spent a fortune on CD’s at Virgin while he was in London, but he was excited about getting a lot of the titles off his list.
  5. He was asked about kissing another man, told about the kiss with Nicholas Brendon, but he told other stories about pretending to kiss with a buddy in high school because he lived in such a homophobic area (they did it to push buttons and get into fights, pretty much) and about a play he did where he played a gay man.
  6. In response to evenstar_estel’s question, he said that he doesn’t paint any more and that when he did, he did still lifes. He was fascinated by shape and shadows and once spent a whole afternoon trying to get a sunflower against a brick background to look right. It’s entirely different from his needing to play the guitar, though. Playing music for him is about being more mature, whatever that means.
  7. He talked briefly about how he always wanted Spike to give Buffy a garden because it was something that was alive that could be just for her. I’m not sure what prompted this, though.
  8. They were giving out raffle prizes in 10-lot increments over the weekend at the end of each of the Q&A’s. When someone in the balcony won, James crawled around the speakers at the side of the stage and seriously looked like he was contemplating how to get up there and give it to her. Silly, silly man.
  9. In that same vein, when told there was “12 inches of Spike” to be won (meaning a figure), he commented that we’d be disappointed because he was only 10½”. Naughty boy. ;)

I missed the Q&A’s in the afternoon because of having to queue for my autographs with Juliet and Jane, and my picture with David and James. I delivered evenstar’s painting of Juliet that she’d done, and she was incredibly pleased with it, saying how lovely it was and that she loved the shadows in it.

With Jane, I babbled for 5 minutes about how much I loved her. I’m sure none of it came out coherent, and I don’t remember what she said back to me.

And my picture. I knew what it was going to look like because they already had some of the pictures out for people to collect, so I knew I’d be standing between the two guys. I was so busy talking to soulmate815 (who was working the photo room) that I had to be prompted to go up to the guys. James greeted me first with a wide smile and the like, and I immediately apologized again for being so hard to understand during my question (I’d apologized when I asked it because I started it and he couldn’t understand, asking me to repeat the first part over again). He said it was absolutely not a problem and that my voice actually had this great rock star quality to it which made it incredibly sexy. Silly man.

David was smiling and friendly when I greeted him, as well, but it was all over way too quickly. However, I *love* my picture with them. Yes, James looks like a goofball and David’s giving the same smirk he gave in most of the other pics, but for some reason, this one just gets to me. Love it, love it, love it. I'll scan it in tonight and post it in the second part of my report.

There was a break until the evening events so we went and got something to eat. They were also showing videos and episodes, as well as other things David, James, and Luke had done (like the Millennium episode and David’s Married with Children episode), so we were well entertained during the in-between bits. sdwolfpup? Your vids were an absolute hit. "A Little Fall of Rain" got huge applause and the "United States of Spike" was a weekend favorite, specifically requested to be one of the final two vids they showed on Sunday (the other was the "West Hollywood Lifestyle" one for Angel which bookended yours wonderfully).

The evening’s entertainment started with David and James’ commentary of "The Girl in Question." There were some technical things at first because David had no clue what was going on and wanted to hear the audio, but then you couldn’t hear the guys so they turned the audio back off. It ended up just being David and James riffing along with the show, making mock dialogue and poking fun at most of the stuff. All silly. Highlights include David pointing out that James kept staring at the Italian CEO’s breasts (which turned into hysteria every time the audience caught Spike glancing down during their scenes with her), James doing the Burkles’ voices in an absolutely ridiculous rendition of what was going on in that part of the episode, and the sound effects David did during the scooter scene. James commented he got hurt when the Vespa wiped out, too.

They gave away the breakfast raffle then, and of the 10 people who got selected, 4 were men. This wasn’t actually indicative of the ratio of the con, but I was rather pleased that so many got to go. I’m sure it made it more comfortable for the guys.

David didn’t do the Halloween reading. Instead, he spent his time giving out prizes to memorable people at the con, including aunty_char, the woman who sat in seat 666, and others. He was incredibly warm and genuine during this, and I think I probably enjoyed this more than if he’d done the reading.

James was last, wearing the shirt that so many seemed to hate in his MTV appearance and ripped jeans. Personally, I thought it worked. It was a performance and from my seat, he looked damn good. He was admittedly very nervous as it was his first solo performance in 2 years, but after a shaky start, he seemed to settle in to it. He told us that the CD should be out next spring (April, I think).

His left hand was hurting halfway through the set, so he took a break to rest it and told a story about one of his theater experiences. It was a play he was producing, directing, and starring in, and they were rehearsing in a church basement. The reverend showed up during their final dress just a few minutes from the end at a very emotional moment, and completely through everything out of whack, simply because it was "my church and I want to see the play." James fought the urge to deck him there, and instead punched the floor, which, being a church basement, meant that it was concrete underneath. He broke his hand and went to emergency, but because he was poor and didn’t have insurance, they couldn’t do much. The doctor basically broke his hand every couple weeks after that because it was the only way to get it to heal properly without the splint that was necessary. Kind of explains why his left hand knuckles look the way they do now, huh?

The set was really good, but it’s the usual ballad/love song stuff that James excels at. Songs about the women he’s wanted, the women he couldn’t get, the women he wants to go away…that kind of thing. Are we sensing a theme here? Still, he poured his heart into it, and it’s hard not to be affected by how much of himself he gave to it.


Sunday

Thank god for the extra hour of sleep Saturday night because otherwise, I would’ve been much worse off than I was. After a bit of a rough start, I finally arrived at the con in time to see Juliet’s Q&A in the morning. I’d missed hearing her on Saturday so was relieved I got the chance. She was incredibly articulate and well-spoken, much like I expected. Some of the highlights:

  1. Her parents never tried to discourage her from acting, though they didn’t want her doing it as a child as they felt it wasn’t something a child can comprehend. For a long time, she was adamant about not wanting to be an actress and pursued dance instead, but then started taking acting classes and fell in love with it.
  2. She was asked what happened to Miss Edith and she has absolutely no idea.
  3. When asked about some of her favorite episodes, she mentioned the one on Angel where she and Darla got to be all badasses (her words) and the Buffy episode when she gets her strength back. She liked being the strong one for a change.
  4. She did a lot of research and preparation for her role as Drusilla, including researching drug addicts since that was the original analogy that was made for the character. She saw weak Dru as a heroin addict and strong Dru as a crack addict.
  5. Her dad amused her because one time he called her after watching the episode and asked, "How did they get you to look like that?" Considering he was shooting Ed Wood at the time and using prosthetics himself, she thought it was just hysterical that he could get so into the show and not make the connection.

Probably the funniest thing in the whole Q&A was when James returned from the breakfast. He was being led down the side of the hall when all of a sudden he shouted out, "Juliet Landau rocks the house!" They waved to each other and blew kisses. It was *very* obvious that they have strong affection and respect for each other.

After Juliet, I went and got my autograph from Amy. She was absolutely adorable, so very much like Fred except minus the techno-brains and the accent. She even does that wrinkly nose thing that Fred does. It’s too cute.

I then had my photo op with Luke Perry. He was incredibly gracious all weekend, and very good looking in person. And whippet thin, much more so than I’d thought.

I hurried back then to hear Jane do a commentary on Pangs. She was literate, and funny, and absolutely a joy to listen to. Some of the things she talked about were:

  1. She always likes getting characters that aren’t gender specific because it means they can cast a woman (like the curator).
  2. She thought the fact that Buffy was wearing a cowboy hat was just a little much, even though it was supposed to be all about cowboys and Indians.
  3. She talked about "hanging a lantern." This is when they put a line in to remind the audience about something, in this case, that the church the master was trapped in had been buried intact by an earthquake just like the Mission.
  4. She still loves her yam sham line.
  5. Every time Spike showed up shivering and looking miserable, she said, "Poor Spike." It got to be really funny.
  6. She loved how good Nick could act being sick.
  7. She loves how Angel, when he runs into Willow, says he’s only there about protecting Buffy, that he doesn’t have time for person stuff, and then the first question out of his mouth is, "Who’s that guy?", meaning Riley who is outside talking to Buffy.
  8. Riley came from Iowa because that’s where Jane is from and because she didn’t have a ton of time to write the script, she didn’t want to have to do research on a new state and town and such.
  9. She loves the Spike/Harmony interaction, especially how he uses the sex to try and get something to eat and his line about her open…arms. ;)
  10. Hus is Chumash for bear so if anyone still spoke the language, they would’ve figured out he’d turn into a bear.
  11. Syphilis is always funny.
  12. There was always argument about how long Spike could stand outside in the daytime with the blanket over his head. They never could decide on anything.
  13. Originally, she had a scene where Spike went into the kitchen and started sucking on the turkey baster, trying to get the blood out from inside it, but it was cut for just being too icky.
  14. Xander, Anya, and Willow racing back to Giles’ house on bicycles was supposed to be the cavalry riding to the rescue.
  15. The bear was actually the gentlest creature. It was kept in a pen of yarn that it never tried to escape from; it had been trained at an early age when the yarn had been electrified. It wasn’t any more, but the bear had learned its lesson. They were warned to still be careful around it, but Marti Noxon was completely unafraid of it and just hugged it to death.
  16. She loves the final shot when Buffy learns that Angel had been there, especially the smirk on Spike’s face.

David and James’ Q&A followed the lunch break. I had a question that had been selected, so I queued early so that I’d be near the front of the line, but then, the woman two people before me, asked a question almost identical, so I stepped from the line. I was told I could ask another question but I couldn’t think of anything anyway, though I was really miffed that I didn’t get to ask the one I had. I only heard about half the Q&A, though, as this was when I started feeling really poorly and stepped out partway through. However, some of the highlights are:

  1. The very first question was about the slash subtext, which prompted James to explode good-naturedly to David, "I *told* you it would come up." They both agreed Joss only did it to mess with them.
  2. When asked what food makes them moan in ecstasy, David went back to his ice cream response. James replied, "Prosciutto and melon," to which David quipped, "Salty goodness." That didn’t help with all the slashy stuff, and elicited a huge laugh.
  3. When asked what they would do if they only had 24 hours to live, David responded that he’d get back to his wife and slather her with Haagen Dazs, and James said that he’d spend it with his son and niece.
  4. Someone asked if it was true that David suggested to Joss that they do "The Girl in Question" in drag. The look on James’ face was priceless as this was obviously the first time he’d ever heard such a suggestion.
  5. They were asked who they whose parts they would’ve liked. David answered Harrison Ford and the Indiana Jones movies, and James answered John Savage in The Deerhunter.
  6. One woman was nervous when she walked up to the mic and David went down and pulled her onstage, taking her place at the mic. He acted out being all shy and nervous, which was hysterical, and the woman quickly warmed up to the playacting, saying, "What’s your name, ducks?" which had been asked by the guys to some of the more nervous questioners prior in an attempt to make it easier for them. The interplay was hysterical, and James demanded she get a spot prize for what she did.
  7. The final question was about how could vampires have erections if their blood didn’t flow. James replied first, jumping to his feet, throwing his arms and pelvis out, and saying loudly, "Rigor mortis!" David just stayed in his chair, shrugged nonchalantly, and said, "Hey, I’m just a walking hard-on." It was absolutely hysterical and the best way for them to finish their appearances.

This was where things starting downhill for me. I was completely out of it for the bulk of the rest of the day, only catching snippets of Amy’s and Luke’s Q&A’s. I missed the fanfic panel completely. I did manage to get through my autographs with James and David, but those are a blur. I don’t even remember what I said to James, and I’m pretty sure all I said to David was hi and thank you. The few bits I remember:

  1. Amy is having a boy. They haven’t picked a name yet.
  2. Amy giggles a *lot*.
  3. Luke is a pro, through and through.

The farewell was split between David and James. David came out first and gave the most wonderful, heartfelt thank you to the fans. Then, James came out with an armful of flowers for the organizers and stewards that had been purchased by the audience (a woman had gone around collecting donations). Everyone exited the stage, with Lisa (the MC and one of the primary con organizers) and James pulling a GrArg Monster behind them. It was an amazingly warm way of ending the con, and completely encompassed the mood of the entire weekend.

So, my impressions:

JANE: Love her, love her, love her. She’s accessible, loves what she does, and is intelligent and articulate beyond belief. Plus, she loves Spuffy. How could you not love that?

JULIET: Elegant. Intelligent. A little aloof, but still very nice. I really enjoyed her Q&A on Sunday; I just wish I could’ve seen more.

AMY: Too damn cute for words. She’s such a giggler and wrinkles her nose in the cutest ways. And it’s thoroughly unfair that she’s 7 months pregnant and has this tiny little bump to show for it.

LUKE: I never watched 90210 and really had no opinion on Luke before seeing him this past weekend. I wouldn’t say I’m a raving fan of his now, but I certainly appreciate him more. He’s so warm upon meeting people, and good-looking to boot.

DAVID: OK, I’ll admit, I was never an Angel fan. I never thought of him as good looking. And I still don’t. David, however, is a gorgeous man. Photos and media just don’t do him justice. He’s a bit shy in one-on-one contact, but he got quite bright on stage. However, the man isn’t exactly on the bright side. And he’s a trifle obsessed with sex. Still, he has a charm that’s hard to ignore when he’s on, and I’m more willing to give him a bit of credit in some things than I was before.

JAMES: Ah, James. Our darling James. Sometimes I wonder if this is the same man I saw at Moonlight Rising. Whatever it is he’s done in the last 4 months, whatever it is that’s been said to him to get him to this place, he is more relaxed, more contemplative, more…serene than I’ve ever seen him. It’s as if he’s realized he doesn’t have to pretend any more, or something like that. He *definitely* is looking more his age, but I see this as a good thing (and all those new pictures where you can’t see the lines under his eyes? Airbrushed, most definitely.). He’s still sexy as hell, and charming, and always has a smile that reaches his eyes when he looks at you.

I didn’t see his MTV appearance, so I only have what I saw at the con to base my opinions on. I know there’s a certain dislike around for some of his behavior, but I saw absolutely nothing this weekend that I’d constitute inappropriate. Occasionally, he’d do or say something that would make me raise my eyebrows, but so did everybody else. (David’s comments about being more than 12” when they were raffling the 12” of Angelus figure were certainly ew-worthy.) But, he was also incredibly giving, stepping back on the occasions when it wasn’t about him and letting others have their spotlight. He’s a professional, and it’s obvious he truly cares for these people he’s surrounded with. More than ever before, I’m proud to be one of his supporters. He’s proven to me time and time again that he deserves it.

Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures because I left the camera at home so that Craig could get pictures of the kids at Halloween. I do, however, have the pictures I had taken at the con, as well as scanned the 3 new James shots, though many of you may have seen them already.

David, James, and Me: Like I said in my previous post, I *love* my picture with David and James. Don’t ask me why; I can’t quite put my finger on it.

Luke and Me: I opted to get a picture with Luke, only because I didn’t have anything for him to sign and thought this might be more fun anyway as I often get so tongue-tied in trying to find something to say to the guests.

James' new headshot

James' other new shot

James and his guitar

In spite of being ill, it was a fabulous weekend. Thank you so much to the incomparable psubrat and rockgoddes, all of Julie's angels who were in attendance, Jill and aunty_char, the magnificent denny_dc, and Valeria from Mexico (if you're on LJ, hon, I don't know your nick, sorry) who approached me and was so incredibly sweet and wonderful about my fic. I got to talk to quite a few people this weekend, and all of you are a big part of the reason why this con was just so worth it. (If I've forgotten anyone specifically, I'm sorry but my brain is just so darn mushy right now.)