Randominity

Van wanted me to write up a detailed description of what it was like meeting Alan, Adam and Nathan at the Flanvention, and I'm not sure I can add much to what I've already written, unless I start writing it like fanfiction, haha. But there are a few things I guess I could say, in all seriousness. ETA: Now with lj-cut action!



The thing about Alan is that I feared he would be really huge and he's not. It's not that I get the impression from Firefly that he's an especially large man, but just knowing he's on the 6-foot side of things, I expected he'd seem bigger than he was. You know what I think it was? He was just so unassuming, so modest. Despite the fact that he was so pretty I kind of lost my breath for a moment when I first saw him, he was so genuinely kind and almost... almost seemed surprised that we all liked him so much and wanted to have our moments with him. When Van and I met him I was trying to take in as many details as I could, and one detail that stuck out was how deep and husky his voice was. Maybe it was an early morning thing, maybe that's just the way it is, but in person it sounded way different than it did even at the panels later in the day.

Upon receiving Van's card he was incredibly gracious and appreciative and asked if he should hold up the card for our photo or keep it until later. Fortunately it fit right into the pocket of his very shiny leather jacket :).

Alan, I regret not getting closer to for our photo op. He was our first, and it was early and we still weren't quite sure how the whole photo op thing was going to work (it was actually very efficient without being too assembly-line like), and Alan was just so polite and sweet, I dunno. I remember putting my arm around him and being almost afraid to touch him. I had my hand on his jacket but not his body. It was weird, sort of formal and it shouldn't have been that way considering how sweet he was. Gah, I heart that man. Anyway, after the picture, he turned to me and shook my hand again, and I said, "It was really nice meeting you," and he said, "thank you," and his eyes were so, so blue, and I don't remember much after that. We got our stuff and left. Van reminded me that we'd walked past Summer and Sean but I only remember that part in retrospect.



The thing about Adam is that he's such a large man but so gentle that you can almost forget that he makes Nathan Fillion look short. I remember the least of this photo op because I think I was overwhelmed by his largeness, was high from our photo op with Alan, and already anticipating our photo op with Nathan. Sorry, Adam! We laughed at the lunges that Adam made to take photos with the women, but appreciated that he seemed to take it for granted that he'd have to do that. I guess when you're that tall, it's just a fact of life :).

Honestly, I'm trying to remember actually meeting Adam, and it all comes down to his enormous hands. They were just so fucking big. I don't even remember if I made eye contact, I don't rememeber what was said, though I know I gave him my name. I don't remember Van giving him a card, and I don't remember the way we posed, though I do remember the lunge, haha. I wasn't as shy or nervous around Adam but I don't remember how close we got. His back was really broad, though, I totally couldn't reach around him with my arm. Afterwards I made sure to tell him it was nice to meet him, too, and I don't remember if he said anything in return, or if he did, what it was. Huh. I wonder why Adam is such a blank. He was just so HUGE, lol, but so low-key that nothing really stands out for me. He was very, very kind and polite, though, like the anti-Jayne. It made all his Jayne-like comments from the panels later stand out all the more.



The thing about Nathan is that his charisma can fill a ballroom. On the face of things he's such an average guy, but you watch him and he's mesmerizing, so comfortable with himself and so good at putting people at ease. While we were in line we watched him take a picture with two girls who had him hold up a sign for a friend; then when everything didn't fit in the frame, they had to take the picture again (lucky bitches, haha), and this time Nathan lunged a little bit like Adam so they'd all fit. After the pic he turned to the girls and stage-whispered, "tell your friend I'm not that little in real life!" I was still laughing when it was our turn to meet him.

Nathan actually introduced himself to everybody - "Hi, I'm Nathan" - like someone was gonna be like "awww, man, I thought I was here for the Sean photo op!" He also made a point of getting our names and remembering them to address us later, and I love him for that alone, even if I didn't already. I think he asked Van twice, because we introduced ourselves on one side of him, then Van crossed over to his other side for the photo, and Nathan turned around and was like, "and you are?" all disoriented. This was beyond adorable.

I don't remember the handshake, and I don't remember the eye-contact. I remember the smile I gave him when he looked at me and said, "Marie?" and then pulled me close. I remember the feel of his hand on my arm and how warm and soft his body was. I remember that I definitely put my hand on his back. I do remember how great he looked after the photo, when he shook our hands again and thanked us very much. I remember that I didn't have time to tell him it was nice to meet him, but I kept hearing his voice in my head saying my name over and over and nothing else really mattered at that moment.

We met up with queenbitter and her friend outside and took a few deep breaths, and then Van was like "I need some air" and we all agreed that that would be best. There was skipping, I'll admit it. But meeting Nathan Fillion will make you want to skip, dammit. :)

All in all it was an incredible experience. I'm so glad that I actually decided to go ahead and buy a photo op. I'm so very glad that I got to horn in on vandonovan's photo ops, am glad that I didn't have to do them alone. I'm so past the point where I put my favorite celebrities on pedestals. I know these guys aren't gods, are just lucky and good at what they do, but are they ever fucking good at what they do. It was definitely the highlight of my entire fannish existence.