The Vampire Diary

Tack vare en god vän till mig fick jag tag på en sammanfattning av hennes upplevelse av The Hub Producrions Vampire Diaries convention i Sydney och Australien(den är i engelska). Jag kommer att lägga upp fler bilder snart men tills det har ni detta foto från the eveent som bara var så oemotsåndlig att inte dela med mig av. 

When you first tell your friends and family that you’re going to a fan convention, inevitably there is that first few seconds when some of them look at you as though you’ve just recited the TiVo instruction manual in Klingon.

Thankfully, the day I’d told my mum it’s what I was planning to do, she had been through it all once before with me when Hub Productions (I don’t care if it sounds like I’m sucking up – I think you guys are freaking awesome for what you do) brought the first Supernatural convention out to Oz, and was subsequently very excited for me.

I’d just turned 28 the weekend before, so she knew that there are few birthday presents a girl can give herself that are more gorgeous, more lovely and – let’s face it – more self-indulgent than a meet and greet with two hot vampires, a beautiful girl (or her evil doppelganger – it was hard to tell) and a werewolf.

And so it was, after being ushered in out of the FREEEEZING cold at about 9am, we took our seats inside the Auditorium and were warmed up by viewing the first of the fantastic entries into the video competition. The competition, as a lot of you will know, was to create a short vid of the TVD star guest of your choice that if picked, would be played as that guest entered the auditorium & then later be given to them as a gift.

Well, look around TVD tweeps, cause there are some SERIOUSLY talented people in our little family (or maybe not so little these days, considering it’s apparently one of the most pirated shows in television today, lol).

After the morning mayhem that was photos with the guests (which was FANTASTIC – you are SO lucky America, that we Aussies were *made* to give them back, cause lord knows after that session we weren’t WILLING to) we waited on the best parts of the day to start – the Q & A sessions.

 

First THVD cab off the rank was our beloved resident Werewolf in waiting.

Prior to writing this article, I was trying to think of the best way to describe Michael Trevino, and finally I think I have him figured out. You see, he is the alternative, *happy* ending to the ‘that guy in high school’ story that – let’s face it – we all have. He’s the captain of the football team who’s got more charisma than all the James Bonds put together and a smile you have to measure in watts to fully appreciate it, but – very happily – he’s also a genuinely lovely person too.

He talked about a lot of different things. In regards to the show, he shared his views on what Season 2 will hold for Tyler, and on a potential love interest for the newly wolfed up bad (human) boy of Mystic Falls (I’ll be honest – I almost put my hand up there, and I practically have Team Stefan tattooed on my forehead (there because unfortunately I don’t have the BICEPS to pull it off like SOME people)).

He shared some really great personal stories as well, although I’m a bit worried at how much he was laughing when he talked about accidentally kneeing Zach in that post ‘I kissed your mom and I liked it’ fight scene.

Seriously, Mike.

As if Matt hasn’t had enough emotional traumas this season – you had to go and turn his Chuck Bass into a Tony Soprano as well? Oh, sugar. Lucky for you I have thing for bad boys, even the buwwy, buwwy bad “I’m sorry, I seem to have misplaced my knee in your groin” ones

But in all honesty, anyone who was there – either in Sydney or in Melbourne – will tell you that for whatever money you put on anyone else to be that mystery fourth guest for those couple of lead up months, in the end you were absolutely stoked that it turned out to be him.

Next up was Nina.

Beautiful Nina.

And her beautiful Top Shop heels.

And her beautiful hair.

And her tiny, tiny…tiny-ness.

It’s always a struggle to describe someone famous when you’ve seen them in real life to other people, but here is my take: I think Nina Dobrev is what would happen if you put Tinkerbell, Sandra Bullock and Pocahontas in a blender. She’s little, magic, sassy, warm and other worldly beautiful.

It was very cool indeed to hear how she got into acting, and I for one was impressed that she was so young and yet had such an impressive body of work to her credit. Fans asked her a lot of really good questions, not just about TVD but also about her Degrassi days and things like how she got into acting. When you listen to her speak, you can really understand why they chose her to play Elena Gilbert – she’s got a real grace about her, and you don’t see that as much in actresses her age as you used to I don’t think.

Also, if you’re ever around when she once again displays her ‘secret talent’? Yeah. Have your phone ready – you’re going to want what she does next to be recorded so you can use it as your next ringtone. Trust me.

And then there was Paul.

Lions and tigers and bears OH MY, was he gorgeous.

And I stand by my earlier claim – his voice literally does remind you of butter melting down hot toast. Or banana bread. Or something…either way <insert delicious toasted carbs of choice HERE> and freakin’ slather it with something so delicious it makes your toes curl, and you’ll get what I mean.

More than one little bird has told me that crowds (especially screaming, hysterical ones baying for him to take his clothes off) aren’t exactly his cup of tea. Well can I just say, if that’s the case, you would NEVER have known.

He was the smoothest, coolest guy I think I have ever seen, or met, or hugged, or whose abs I maybe felt up juuuust a little bit, in my entire life. The good thing was though, he remained very genuine and open – I have a lot of time for people like that. He was also very funny, which is quite unfair really because liking him anymore might possibly have caused me to spontaneously combust, and that was a big risk for him to take with my life, you know.

It was strange in one sense hearing him speak about how tedious the audition process had been for him to actually get into The Vampire Diaries. He seems like he would have been a shoe in from the outset. Nina had earlier told a story about how out of all the guys she had screen tested with to play Stefan, Paul was the only one who completely ignored her until they actually stood in front of each other and read for the network execs, and how as such she was more intrigued by him than anyone else. When questioned about it, Paul explained that he wanted the emotion of scene they read – the one where Stefan and Elena first meet in the cemetery – to be organic, and it was there that people first saw the chemistry that would make Paul and Nina the perfect choices for their role. The rest, as they say, is history I guess.

It was later though, when he auctioned the shirt off his back (i.e. one he was given so his own shirt stayed on his own back, thereby negating any hysteria that a half dressed Paul Wesley wandering round would have caused) that was the real highlight.

I’ve never seen a man write I LOVE MY ABS on his own chest before, but in his case he had every right to. I can hereby testify that his abs are so perfect they deserve their own special on the Discovery Channel.

He drew the dorkiest version of his own tattoo on the shoulder – it could have been a rose OR a garden gnome for all we knew, it was hard to tell – and by the time he was done, over $1000 had been earned for charity.

So, once he left, as you can imagine, my senses were a little frayed around the edges.

The object of my affection had just been RIGHT there in front of me. Had HUGGED me. The laws of science said I really should have woken up by now.

Enter, then, The one. The only. Ian Somerhalder.

You want to know what was going through my mind the moment I saw Ian Somerhalder for the first time? Well it went a little something like this.

TeamStefan.

TeamStefan TeamStefanTeamStefanYOUARETEAMSTEFAN!!!

You…are…y-…yo…Oh.

Oh no.

Blue eyes.

Black hair.

More charm than a Cheshire cat.

Yep.

Totally screwed now.

Yep. Totally just cheated on Team Stefan with my eyes.

Right there.

Ohhhhh man.

Seriously. One second in the Ian Somerhalder cooker and I was done like a dinner.

Now if you’ve never met Ian, there’s one thing you should know.

He has that kind of cool about him that if it’s all there was to him, it would be pretty intimidating I think. But it’s not. He’s the kind of guy that I think even if he wasn’t on TV or famous – even if he was just the guy who delivered your mail – you’d want to hang out with him, because he is that rare mix of joyous and sincere, as well very, very funny.

It’s weird, it’s like he sort of…charms the butterflies out of you, then looks at you like you’re the nicest thing that’s happened to him all afternoon, and he’s like that whether you’re at the front of his photo line or at the end. Complete and utter sweetheart.

He spoke at length about the things he loved most about playing Damon (for the record, he hands down freakin’ LOVES being the bad boy), and it was interesting to hear his take on where he thought his character would go next season – whether or not there would be a kind of role reversal between him and Stefan, with him becoming the GOOD –er brother of the two (although even if he does, can you see Damon turning into a smouldering, tortured bunny hugger? Nope, me neither.) He also spoke about a…well, not so fantastic audition that he did for the part of Jason Stackhouse in True Blood, about which he was disappointed to have lucked out on.

But Ian?

If you’re reading this (which if happening may in fact be just incredible enough to trigger the apocalypse, but – bygones), a word to the wise – you are at your absolute, smoking hot, Elvis-is-in-the-building best as an actor when you are playing roles that use your wit and comic timing for all they’re worth.

So, Bon Temps can have Jason Stackhouse.

You were BORN to play Damon Salvatore, and I’m not the only person who’d say no one could pull it off as well as you.

‘Sides. You think Kwanten can wear a fedora? Uhhh, NO.

Again, like Paul however, probably the best part of Ian’s entire session was the shirt auction. I’ve never seen a man trace his own abs on to a t-shirt before, either – seriously: he felt them so he drew them in the right spots, something which quite frankly I would have been *quite* happy to help him with. I’m very good at, ummm…tracing – but it was pretty impressive in the end.

It went for $1500 bucks, and he was so sweet when he came to thank the winning bidder. By the time he left, there was an almost audible and very golden buzz in the room, rounding out what had been a fantastic day for all.

It’s funny.

I try and think back sometimes to when I had only just seen my very first ep of The Vampire Diaries, and I’m wondering if I had any inkling even then that less than a year later I’d be buying tickets to their first Aussie fan convention. It’s amazing to think that a show can come such a long way in popularity in such a short space of time, but I have a feeling that I knew even that first night last September, that if any show was going to do such a thing, this would be the one.

It was an absolutely brilliant day, and I highly recommend that if you ever get the chance to go see them or meet them, DO it. You won’t regret it.

Till next time, boys & girls. May your vampires not be all bite, and your werewolves not be all bark.