#convention speculation

[laf-outloud]

As your EU anon considered, if they are legit, that all of this is not some conspiracy that “J2 is a lie” but simply Jared wanting to do conventions with his wife? If Jensen is there the focus becomes on them, so if he wants to do a con with gen yes I totally see him requesting Jensen not be part of it. I just think your European anon isn’t lying, they’re just creating a conspiracy to explain it that does not exist.

I don't think they're trying to create a conspiracy. They did say it's likely a business move, which makes sense. If Jensen's there, it becomes an back-looking SPN-focused con and not a a forward-looking Jared (and Gen) as hireable-entities con. Conventions primary purpose may be meeting the fans, but they're also a way for actors to market themselves, and if Jared and Gen want to move more into the producing arena as a couple, having both of them at conventions is a display of unity.

[eisforeidolon]

If anything I'd say MC brings down ticket sales. I saw many people excited about going to a con with decreased heller presence, and express interest in future cons that might not invite MC and other D list leeches. On the other hand, hellers have only been talking about how MC is profitable/the real star and busy trying to move goalposts about why a Hawaii con is suddenly not bad (when only J2 were announced they were crying about tourism being bad for Hawaii), but not about actually attending.

Were they specifically saying that they would buy tickets then when they haven't previously (or would resume after a break), or were they just generally excited at the idea? I mean, I think we'd all be happy if every con weekend didn't come with a certain amount of dread from what that lot might do, but that doesn't necessarily mean significantly more of us would buy tickets that aren't already.

I could be wrong, but I feel like the J2/general SPN fans who are eager enough to attend an SPN con to pay Creation prices are probably not going to opt out just to avoid Misha and his ilk. The comparison that came to mind for me was this: my favorite band habitually plays a particular song at nearly every single show, tour after tour, that I'm pretty sick of. I'm still going to buy tickets if they tour near me, though, because I otherwise love seeing them live and that one song is such a minor fraction of the overall experience. I feel like that's what Misha and the minions are probably like to con goers, except even easier to avoid. Again, someone can correct me if I'm wrong? But I suspect barring incredibly bad luck, the minions are far more annoying to those of us watching from home than for people actually at the cons, since they're enjoying the experience and not wading through the falsehood sprinkled word vomit of multiple hellers on SM while trying to find legitimate updates.

I don't think we can say Misha has any measurable effect one way or the other, positive or negative. The minions' claims that he's the real star/moneymaker, however, have been repeatedly proven to be bullshit - through their misunderstanding of how M&G auctions work, through merch sales and discontinuations, through op sales, through the attempt at Misha-lead cons, through the most recent lack of a massive sales jump at his inclusion.

The hilariously transparent ~*concern*~ about Hawaii that they're now desperately trying to backtrack is all new comedy gold, though.

[laf-outloud]

Both Kim and Briana interact with fans and they told fans as early as the summer in more private spaces that CE was trying to pay them less to line up what CE has determined they are worth. CE told them many people were getting pay cuts. And they were even speaking about this even at CE events so I am not surprised they havnt been asked back. I don’t think that’s at all the situation with Jared, but that’s the situation with Kim. The same thing happened to Sam smith a few years ago

That's weird. Why would you discuss your salary issues with fans? That would be like me telling my clients the company was downsizing and taking away benefits. Talk about crossing the line. Weird.

Also, I know pay cuts aren't enjoyable for anyone, but Kim and Briana have been to all of these cons. They know exactly how many people are attending and how well (or not) their photos and autos are selling. If they couldn't see this coming, they only have themselves to blame.

Frankly, I think a number of con extras have gotten too big for their britches. They were lucky to be on the Creation con circuit for as long as they have, especially compared to their relatively small parts in Supernatural. (Kim was only on screen for 6h and 22m of the entire show. Briana even less.)

It will be interesting to see which previous con guests swallow their pride and take the pay cuts (if the invitation is there... CE may just want to change the lineup regardless to keep it from being stale).

Oh, and stop talking to the fans about your pay. That's just crass.

[laf-outloud]

https://www.tumblr.com/laf-outloud/743807030266036224/did-you-get-the-ce-email-jensen-is-now-already

Okay, so I’m going to move past me knee-jerk annoyance over CE being passive aggressive about Jared by calling Jensen THE Headliner in a few emails now. I mean, jared is only at half, or less of the cons this year, and maybe he even stipulated that this is the last year with them. Eithe way, Jared distancing himself is clearly his decision, seeing how many other cons he’s signing up for.

So, moving on from that … I find it absolutely insane that CE is doubling down on the Jensen only cons (as headliner) for 2025 when it’s barely 2024. CE hasn’t even done a single con yet this year, and the ones without Jared are largely not selling well as it is. Why do they think this is enticing to anyone but AAs? I’m not sure how late in the year J2 cons are comparing because they are so far off, but the ones up until August are selling out, or pretty well. At least they seemed to learn their lesson on trying to make Misha a headliner, or banking on cockles panels to appeal to the majority of fans. But, not having J2 takes away almost all the appeal of a CE con, because if your only getting one, you might as well go to a comic con or something, where it’s considerably cheaper.

Anyway, I looked at the 2025 con, and the Gold Pass prices are still similar to the ones this year, include J2 cons, and Jensen' Photo Op prices have gone up. This is wild to me in what will be 5 years after the last season of the show. I get that they must be getting desperate, but that just doesn’t even make sense to me. People are still trying to scrape money together for cons later this year, never mind 2025. There can only be so many rich women with free time to go to the ever-more-extensive CE cons, and who need to get close to Jensen that badly. Even if Jensen has a significant part on Season 5 of the Boys, I still don’t see him selling out cons with him alone as headliner. I don’t see him doing anything to bring in new fans, especially the type to want to pay big money to go to cons.

I’ve already seen friends on SM talking about being glad they already have cons booked for this year, because they were already unhappy with changes CE is making in cons, their greed, and now this development. Lots of people look like they will be opting out of CE cons after this year, and that’s from people who go fairly regularly.

I want to go to one last con this year, but I’m debating if I want to give CE my money any more at all. But, this might be among the last chances to see J2 together (which I enjoy), so I’m still considering it.

I think we have reached the end of an era in the SPN fandom, or we are at least in the final gasp.

You're laying down facts, anon!

It appears that Burbank is the weakest of the non-Jared cons this year, so I suppose the others could pull out better numbers, but you are definitely right that this feels like the last desperate gasp of a dying tradition, especially if, as you say, even regular con-goers are giving up.

I still think Jared will attend some CE cons (possibly one a quarter), especially if they do another in Austin, but mainly to maintain his SPN legacy.

This will be a very telling year for Creation and I suspect that as the year progresses, we'll see more discounted tickets (MinnCon 2025 tickets are already on sale), and likely a reduction in the number of cons for 2025 (no matter how much certain actors rely on them... CE can't keep paying the actors' attendance fees if the ticket sales won't cover them.)

[laf-outloud]

Thank you for sharing, anon. I too find some of the excuses (particularly from Will) pretty ridiculous. I think some of the excuses from other fans come about because they know that if Jared really is breaking away from CE cons, then it won't be long before CE SPN cons are over (or at least, drastically reduced).

What they don't seem to understand is that if CE cons are reduced, it opens up the opportunity for Jensen and Misha to visit other cons in places not normally frequented by CE (much like Jared has done with RICC, FanX, and the other European cons). And who knows, if Jensen and Misha both attend the same multi-fandom con, the organizers might request they do an SPN panel together (and include other SPN guests). I see people panicking, but this really can be a good thing for all involved. Jared gets his autonomy, and the rest of the cast can cling to SPN as much as they want (without CE prices). It's a win-win! (Well, except for CE, lol!)

And I agree about J2 being mostly work friends now, and that's okay. Friendships change with circumstances, time, and location. It can happen even if there's no conflict, I mean, how many people are still friends with the people they spent the majority of time with in school? (Speaking as someone who just ignored their 25th school anniversary.) Whether Jared is closer friends with Jensen than we see, or whether he's not, whatever it is, it's working well for him. Jared looks healthy and happy, and that's all I really want for him.

As for your request, anon, you're welcome to send me more info. and I won't publish, but please don't feel like you have to, especially if doing so might violate NDA's or get you in trouble. You don't need to prove yourself to me, or anyone else on the internet. You know who you are and what you know, that should be enough. People are always going to have their opinions, but it's important to remember that it's the opinions of the people closest to you that really matter, not those of online strangers.

Again, thank you for sharing. I know it may have been hard for you after having been maligned, but I appreciate you reaching out. I wish you the very best and hope all goes well with your work!

[laf-outloud]

I don't think Jared is refusing to do Cons with Jensen but I do think he's fine with doing Cons without Jensen.

Jared is known to give two years of continued support to associates from former projects. Jensen's years are up. And after that backstab he's lucky he got anything at all but Jared has the integrity of his work and the character to protect so he's got to maintain that connection with Sam's brother. He's not going to do anything that would mar his SPN legacy.

I don't know if he actually wants to do a limited revival or if he just goes along with the idea in front of crowds but I wouldn't be sad if they never did a revival.

The story ended. There's no reason for a revival other than the network looking for another quick payoff.

I'd be more than glad if they never do a revival especially because it would deny jensen the return to Dean that he wanted so badly. He doesn't deserve it.

Yeah, I don't think Jared's planning on cutting off SPN or Jensen at all, and I do think he'd be up for a reboot if everything lined up perfectly (including a great story), but he also needs to think about his future prospects, particularly if he wants to work with Gen on producing. It makes sense for him to help bolster their couple profile by including her in cons, and also break away a bit from SPN by doing cons without Jensen.

[laf-outloud]

Given how many cons Jared has dipped out of, this could be a real problem. Jensen doesn't seem to know how to lead cons and when he tries, ends up looking like a dick. I don't know how long many fans are gonna be interested in these. If I'm going to a con I'm definitely picking the one with the cheerful charismatic guy that wants to give a good time over the one throwing out disses who is just using the stage to brag about himself.

Well, we see it that way, I'm sure Jensen fans don't, and who knows, maybe there's a subset of general SPN fans who won't notice Jensen bragging about ghosting a racing crew.

That's why I'm really interested to see how next year plays out. Does Creation find someone else to headline and do panels with Jensen? Do they leave him on his own? Do they add a rotation to the panels from guests that already attend (Rob, Rich, etc.)? And if it's just Jensen on stage, how will the casual con-goers react?

I'm with you in that I'd much prefer to see Jared on stage, but I also know that Jared and Jensen together are the SPN brand. If you only have one at multiple SPN-specific cons, will it still work? I guess we'll find out.

[laf-outloud]

https://twitter.com/CreationEnt/status/1773104237808918622

WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY in NEW JERSEY We’ve been getting a ton of requests to do a special convention saluting this great show. We would tentatively do this event in New Jersey, let us know if you are interested so we can pursue!

Are they going to give JDM his own convention, now?

Huh... I guess his SPN-con sales must be good enough for CE to consider giving him his own convention. I wonder if that was the plan all along... either by CE or JDM. Could this mean JDM won't be doing SPN cons in 2025? Or would he do both? If he doesn't do SPN, Jensen and CE will have to find some other headliner for those cons, otherwise he's stuck with Misha, and we saw how well that sold (or didn't, lol).

I do applaud CE for finally thinking outside the box this year and reaching out to other fandoms. They finally saw the writing on the SPN wall (a year too late) and realized they would need other income streams.