A weird and expensive thing. Let me explain.
No. There is too much. Let me sum up.
I’ve always wanted to go to a big fandom conference, just once. I know it’s too much (not to mention too expensive) to ever go again, but I always wanted to go the once. Experience all the things. ComicCon San Diego was my dream con, but I knew that one was out of reach. And all the local ones (I live in the middle, where there’s practically nothing) are small-time and not worth the money unless you’re just REALLY into the thing you’re going to see. Like Pacific Rim, which had no cons anywhere even remotely near here.
So I figured it was a bucket list tick that might never get checked off. No big, right?
Fast forward to Season 14 of Supernatural. I heard they were finally ending the series in the 15th season and thought, “Hey, they’re actually getting to wrap it up right instead of being cancelled. Maybe I should finally watch it.”
Yes. I didn’t start watching Supernatural until the last season was in the works. Sue me. Those TV bastards have burned me too many times on too many cut-off series, okay?
So I started watching and then... COVID hit. They stopped filming. The bastards got me anyway, dammit.
And then, after they started filming again, I found out how the show actually ended and balked. HARD. I’d already watched enough to know who was my favorite lead character, and I was not pleased. What was even the point? Why did I start this, anyway?
So I struggled through Season 7 (my least favorite except for all the Dick jokes and the introduction of Charlie), enjoyed the Mark of Cain and Demon!Dean and, of course, Rowena, etc. etc. But by about Season 13 or so, it started being so unrelentingly grim that I eventually stopped watching about halfway through 14. Especially knowing how it ended, I was just burnt out. Couldn’t do it.
Fast forward again to earlier this year. I’ve had a lot of big changes this year, as I mentioned a while ago. New job, new house, new insurance (which meant running out of my meds because it didn’t kick in fast enough to cover the gap, which meant me having a very bad month in there somewhere). In all the hubbub, I got to wondering about that last season of Supernatural.
I’m not a completionist. I’m really not. But I hate leaving something I’ve invested so much time in unfinished. I wasn’t a superfan or anything, but I do like the characters and the monster-of-the-week format and most of the overarching storylines, etc. It’s solid entertainment, and one hell of an accomplishment to have lasted that long and still have such a huge fandom.
So I went back to the beginning and started over. And this time, I got all the way through.
I won’t talk about the ending. It is what it is.
But because I just watched it again, my Instagram feed has been filled with Supernatural ads and posts, and I saw that there’s a Supernatural con in Austin, TX in August 2024.
Austin isn’t THAT far away. It’s the closest one all year, anyway. Driving distance, even.
And there was a sale on all ticket purchases before the weekend.
And I’ve always wanted to go to a con.
So I slept on it, then did the thing. I bought a ticket to go to a Supernatural con in 2024. I’M GOING TO A CON. FINALLY.
I’m trying not to be too excited too fast. It’s a long way off. Over a year. And I’ll have to miss the July writer’s con next year because I don’t want to take off too much time at the new job, even though I’ll have been there over a year by then.
But I’m still pretty stoked. I’m going to a con.
It’s not Pacific Rim, but it’ll do.
