I’m writing again from the row of chairs in the convention auditorium: Row J in front of me and Row L behind. They’re having a science fiction collectible items auction, and since I’ve never been a huge collector, I’m taking the time to write instead. At 2 PM, Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor will be onstage, and it’s going to be nuts in here. So far it’s not too crowded. Everyone must be at lunch.
I am on a Xena high at the moment. LOL, I think I’ve been some form of fangirl all my life, but this is something else.
I slept ‘till about 7:15 this morning, then took my time getting ready for my photo opportunity. I came downstairs at just past 8:00, thinking that the photo ops started at nine. They started at 8 instead, but luckily I was already early, and some fans ran into me in the coffee shop and let me know where to go. My friend Pandora from XOC had advised me to get a photo opportunity. I feel she’s been here with me in spirit all weekend, because everything keeps reminding me of her. Her photo op was one of the photos on the advertisement poster.
I’ve seen Gabrielle onscreen for the past several years…watched her, admired her, enjoyed her story, sometimes cried for her character. And suddenly, there I was in the same room. She said I looked nice! I said that she looked nice, and that was an understatement; she was stunning. We took the picture, and then I said I had a message, that two of my livejournal friends wanted me to say hi. So, Getyourwingss and Amarra Jade, I delivered your message, and used your real names, not your usernames. Renee was wonderful. She gave me this big smile and said, “Thank you very much.” And that was it, and it was over…but I’ll be playing the moment in my head for a long time.
It was too early for the rest of the convention to start, so I went outside and chatted with Xenasgrrl and her daughter for a little bit. It’s so neat to have a face behind all the posts. I already know her, but now I’ll read them differently.
David Taylor, Solan, Xena’s son, was the first convention
guest. He’s twenty five now, married,
and still lives in
David Taylor: If you’re going to die, you might as well do it on Xena, because then you have the afterlife!
They’ve been interspersing fan-created music videos with the convention guests. Today’s first entry was “Anything Ares Can Do, Xena Can Do Better.” It was hysterical. Ares hasn’t gotten enough attention yet this convention. Not only was he a good villain and important to the show in that aspect, his character had one of the most interesting growth arcs, the character created such that he should not have been able to love, but learned to do so. I’m glad he at least had the video mention. We said later that we should make and enter a whole bunch of shipper videos.
Next video…wow. The music was a song from Wicked, the musical, the same one you sent me the lyrics to a month ago, Kyrillandra. So, gorgeous emotional lyrics, about the ways people who are close change each other for the better, footage of all the times Xena and Gabrielle have been especially close as friends, and the refrain over and over, “who’s to say if I’m better/I’m better for having known you.” And the very first clip was the scene of Xena vanishing from beside Gabrielle in AFIN. So all I could think was that although Xena and Gabrielle had changed each other for the better, and it was all so beautiful, the relationship was over. Yeah, I’m over AFIN. Uh-huh. I started crying at the first clip and didn’t stop until the last video.
The last video was, however, very good. A group of Xenites, including Amy and Whitley, who LadyKate and I had eaten dinner with the night before, put together a “Soulmates” video. It wasn’t quite as emotional for me to watch. They called themselves the Syndicate of Excellence in Xenites, or SEX. Yeah, Xenites don’t flirt with each other. LOL.
Next up was another fan video, but not a music video. A bunch of people had taken different roles of “Xena,” “Gabrielle,” “Aphrodite,” and “Callisto,” and set the scene so Gabrielle bet Aphrodite to find a love interest for Callisto. I got to meet the woman who played Callisto later, and tell her how funny she was. Oh, and I’m assuming the video was made by subbers who were also Callisto/Najara shippers. I’ve never considered Callisto and Najara as a couple. Callisto dropped off the radar from season 3 to season 4 (when she was dead for the third time, after all), and Najara only showed up in mid-season 4. We’ve had threads comparing which of the two was crazier, though. Callisto as she was on X:WP was dangerous: psychotic, damaged, unable to maintain or desire any sort of relationship. “Callisto” on the video was funny, sarcastic, the type who’d walk around with an “I hate people” T-shirt, but who did no more eye-rolling at Aphrodite than I would have. And, well, seeing “Najara” tell “Callisto” that the Djinn had told her that it was the Holy Hot Dog not to be disturbed, was one of the funniest things so far today. Now that I’ve seen it acted out in a skit, I think I’d give a lot to see the regular Najara to tell the Djinn, “Shut up, I’m busy,” and go back to kissing someone.
I slipped off for a sandwich and apple. For some reason, I’ve been hungrier than usual all weekend long. At least, until we get to dinner time and I’ve been munching all day, and the hotel restaurant serves the biggest plates ever! LOL. Anyway, I saw two other fans at a table, one dressed in a fantastic Callisto costume, so I went over and asked if I could join them. They were nice. We talked about Charmed and Xena, and compared Julian McMahon and James Marstars.
I was back in my seat by the time Renee O’Connor came onstage. Just like with the photo opportunity, I wasn’t prepared for how much seeing her would affect me. There was Gabrielle on stage, looking just like she did on TV (except for modern dress, and even that was the same as some of the future flash episodes). She told us about her movie jobs, and about her children. Her two year old did a dance with Lucy. I think Lucy’s friendship with Renee has a very different quality than Xena’s with Gabrielle. Xena and Gabrielle is, um, impossible to describe, and incredibly intense and beautiful. Renee and Lucy seems to me like me and Jenna. You just always know the other person is going to be there—there’s no way you can surprise her anymore.
Both Renee and Lucy spent most of their time onstage taking questions. Renee had the question, “What qualities do you have that Gabrielle also has?” She asked the audience to shout out Gabrielle’s qualities. “Bard,” “Courage,” “Determination,” “Love for Life,” and “Loyalty,” all applied. I think Renee is a lot like Gabrielle, or maybe what Gabrielle will become in a few more years with more confidence. Renee isn’t as bubbly, but she’s more sure of herself and what she wants, and she’s even more determined. She said that someone telling her she couldn’t do something was like a challenge.
As Renee described her opening role on Army Wives, she said her character had the chance to be aggressive. She joked, “I haven’t gotten to seduce anyone before. I didn’t seduce Xena. She seduced me!” Everyone laughed and cheered. I still can’t figure out whether Renee is a subber. It’s probably come to the point by now where she won’t tell us, just like TPTB for the show itself. As Renee described the research she was doing for the Army Wives role, someone hollered, “Just read fanfiction!” It was doubly funny because there’s been a lot of discussion of fanfiction this weekend. Come on, there’s so much more to fanfic than smut! *blushing and moving on.*
Lucy Lawless came on next. I think Lucy’s primary focus these past couple of years has been on her concerts, and fans remark how much she’s growing as a performer. Oh, well, that gives me something to look forward to next year. In the interim, it was great fun to see her onstage. I don’t think Lucy is much like Xena at all. Different hair, different accent, different demeanor, different goals. She has such a great stage presence. One of her first comments was that the problem with meeting celebrities was that after you met them, you didn’t come to conventions, because “I’m not that special.” Everyone begged to differ on that one!
I was a little disappointed in the questions for Lucy. I wanted to hear more about her family, her current projects, her career as a musician, her experience inside Xena’s skin. But at this point in the weekend, it’s seemed like people are taking a “been there, nothing more to ask” attitude about Xena-related questions. And in the meantime, I’m having some of the best Xena discussions I’ve had all year while standing in line and talking to fans. I didn’t even take as many pictures, because I was looking away and blushing for the fans who were asking Lucy questions. They just kept on wanting to tell their stories…but come on, ask Lucy stuff!
Lucy and Renee spent the last half hour or so onstage together. Someone asked them how Xena: Warrior Princess should have ended. Lucy gave a nonanswer, about trailer parks! I think what she was getting at was that she thought Xena should have had the chance to grow old…unless she meant that she was in the moment doing what they told her to and just hadn’t thought about it.
Fans: All in line to ask questions.
Fan (turns out to be Ted Raimi, but none of us can see that): Uh, I just like to watch Xena in my socks. Do you all think that’s weird? Because my wife does…
Renee: Ted, you’re an ass and always will be!
Auditorium: Cracks up.
Another question Lucy and Renee both took was, “Describe yourself in six words or less.” Lucy: “Fly by the seat of pants.” Renee: [I’m a bard] I can’t speak in six words [I need six paragraphs].”
Ted Raimi came on next. He was a good sport about the way everyone got up to go stretch and visit the dealer’s room—we thought it was a shame that he had to follow Lucy and Renee. So, instead of taking questions, he did this mini-skit where fans came up to be “actors” and “producers.” XOC’s Meg The Tramp was one of the actresses, and she did a wonderful job with a very corny scene. When it was all over and Ted was asking the “producers” for feedback, I kept waiting for someone to say, “better script, please.”
R. J. Tapert and Liz Friedman came out together. One of my favorite parts of this whole
convention has been hearing from the writers.
Liz Friedman was describing her work, and the growth of the
subtext. I think it might be interesting
to compare scripts by subbers and non-subbers, or by Xena- or Gab-centric
writers. Since R. J. Tapert and Steve
Sears both seem very Gab-centric, that leaves Xena only one main writer on her
own show! I was in the autograph line
afterwards, and I asked if Xena really had left her guilt behind her when she
said she did in Ides of March. R. J. Stewart said only where Callisto was
concerned. LOL, I still disagree with a
writer on an episode he wrote! I think
something changed in Xena’s attitude toward her responsibility with that
episode, that she wasn’t just talking
about Callisto. But, I think R. J.
Tapert’s perspective carries a bit more weight than mine.
Adrienne Wilkinson, Steve Sears, and Ted Raimi came up for the celebrity cabaret. They all did fantastic jobs. Steve Sears rearranged the Alelujah song from Shrek. He said that the symbolism spoke to him as a writer. The symbolism spoke to me as a fan, too—I was sitting there with my eyes shut, letting the song wash over me, and cherishing how completely happy I felt in that moment. So far, Steve Sears has been my favorite presenter, and he’s coming on again tomorrow.
We had dinner with a larger XOC crowd: LadyKate, Lavender Jane, Aurora Goddess and her mom, and Xenarose and her partner. We didn’t talk as much about Xena as we did Friday night, but we did share a lot of stories and just have fun putting faces to online identities. I was just on such a Xena high from the day that I was hyper, and then crashed.
Pretty Woman was on the hotel room TV, which I’d never seen before, so Lavender Jane and I watched it and then went to bed early. It’s not a bad movie.