Current mood:

enthralled

London MCM Expo May '09: Merlin panel!
SO AWESOME.

I have never been to a convention like this before, and I was totally blown away by the undiluted geekery and incredible costumes and the noise and fun and joyful atmosphere. :D :D :D :D

I went to the Merlin cast panel (omg) and got pretty good seats with other LJ Merlin folk in the second row really near to where Katie and Bradley were sitting (omg omg). And Bradley was pointing his little video cam in our direction and commentating! Video diaries!? *dies*

Shallowness:
God, the boys are SO FREAKING GORGEOUS in real life. Like, you'd think they'd have an "eww" moment now and then when they squint or wipe their nose or something. But nope. 100% 24/7 om nom nom. I confess, I spent a pathetically long amount of time just staring at Bradley with his golden hair and snug black t-shirt ogalbjksdlaks. x__x And Colin has such a beautiful sunny smile, it just lights up the room. Katie just seemed so delighted and excited to be at the con and meet fans, and Angel was the most sweet and sensible.

Fun moments:
The Colin/Bradley banter was rampant. xD! Although they were sitting on opposite ends of their table, Bradley was teasing Colin cheekily the whole time. They would keep glancing towards each other when answering questions, with a little Bradley!smirk and a little Colin!grin and just, aaaahhhhh. *sigh*

Bradley said he gets into character by bullying Colin. Colin said that Bradley and he both have Nintendo DS's that they connect wirelessly and play Super Mario Karts against each other while in different areas of the set when they're on break. OH BOYS! ♥ Katie said that Colin is a dark horse with hidden depths, despite seeming sweet-natured and innocent. Colin said the weirdest thing a fan ever gave him as a present was a squash, and Bradley's weirdest was a courgette.

ARE YOU THINKING WHAT I'M THINKING? xD *dies*

Bradley's favourite Merlin episode to work on was "Labyrinth of Gedref" because of the interesting Arthur!angst and character growth. Angel's favourite was "Moment Of Truth", because the girls got a chance to do some fun physical stunts. Katie's favourite was "The Beginning Of The End". Colin had trouble remembering which episode in particular he liked (because shooting for upto three episodes takes place concurrently on-set) and now I can't remember what his final answer was. xD

Colin denied that he has the ability to wiggle his ears. Angel said she is learning to play the guitar. If they had to choose a magical power they wanted for realz, Angel would want to fly, Bradley would want to heal people (he said that someone he knows is currently ill, awwwww!), Colin would want to be Gambit from X-Men, and Katie would want to be Rogue. xD Colin read lots about the Arthurian legends (geek, hee!) and he also likes Howl's Moving Castle.

Bradley mentioned that one time during his football practices, an opponent brutally crunched him into the ground, and then sneered at him and said "Huh, where's Merlin now?" And Colin said that if he'd been there, he'd pop out and *does a Merlin magic impression* to protect Bradley. <3 <3 <3 And apparently Bradley is playing in a match tomorrow too, but he hadn't told any of the others on the panel so they hadn't known about it (awww) but Johnny Capps (writer) said, "If Colin knew, he'd just be there at the match with a bucket of water and a sponge."

.... xD SO MANY WAYS THIS COULD BE INTERPRETED. *grin*

Sneak snippets of news about Series 2:
Lancelot will be back, as will Mordred and Excalibur, yay! Katie says the costumes will be a lot more beautiful and grand. Apparently, Bradley will be shirtless in the first episode. *glee* There will be more Arthur/Gwen romance development (hrmmm, whatevs). There was mention about creating a Merlin cartoon series in the future, and also novels and dolls and an extended score CD. Morgana's friendship with Gwen (and also Merlin) develops more in S2, with them being her main confidantes, although their friendships will "be tested" (zomg, possible angst!).

There were hardly any questions from the audience about S2 actually. I wanted to ask for hints about how Merlin's magic would be revealed to Arthur (!!!) but I was too shy and scared. D:

Autographs:
Sadly, I couldn't get an autograph ticket (they ran out before I'd even arrived at the con apparently *cries*) However, the autograph place wasn't hidden away sekritly like I thought it would be - it was pretty open, so any fans could watch while the gang were signing photos.

I uhm. I may have stood by the side nearest to Bradley and just stared at him for 15 minutes straight. >__> Srsly cannot get over how adoreable and lolarious and deliciously handsome he is in real life. In addition, seeing Colin and Katie and Angel in real life has made me more enamoured of them now. Especially Colin and Katie, they have such happy smiles and wonderful attitudes to meeting the fans. ♥

Photos:
To my enraged dismay, my camera decided to commit suicide about 5 minutes into the main discussion panel, so I basically got no decent photos at all, despite my ideal location. *scowls* But I am sure there will be some good photos turning up on the internet soon. 8D!

Conclusion:
TOTALLY gonna go to the next London Expo in October. :D It was immense fun, and I'm hoping the Merlin cast will be there again, since it'll be when Series 2 is running! \o/ And maybe next time, I might attempt a costume.... >__>