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Kevin Smith is gone.
Feb. 15th, 2002 09:33 pmJust got back on line after eating dinner, and saw this. Kevin Smith died today.
I was reading a couple of journals after I first heard that he was hurt, from people I knew in the Xena fandom, my first. In one, the owner wrote that Kevin Smith was the reason she got into fandom in the first place, and it was the same for me.
My dad loved Xena, but didn't like Hercules. Sometimes when I would visit my parents, I'd watch the show with him. I thought it was funny, but it didn't really capture my imagination. The tail end of Hercules, though (it came on before Xena) looked interesting - particularly Kevin Sorbo's biceps! Before I knew it, I was watching Hercules and thoroughly enjoying it. It was a short hop from Herc to Xena, and I became a semi-regular viewer. And then I saw Kevin Smith. Holy cow! The next thing I knew, I was surfing around looking for information on Ares and the man behind him, and I was a fangirl.
I knew I was a total fangeek when I hopped a Greyhound bus to go to NY for a Xena convention; I had a ton of fun, got to see a lot of people that I'd talked to online, and it was four days I'll always remember.
Kevin Smith was amazing. Just absolutely breathtaking.
You read fic where the hero is described as golden-skinned, but in his case it was true. He was tall, 6'3", and was incredibly buff, had a gorgeous body. He came out onstage in a red shirt, and I can't even describe how he looked. I swear, you could sense a change in the atmosphere when he stepped in the room!
He was quick-witted, funny and sharp, and he had everyone in the room wrapped around his finger. I had a major teeny moment in the autograph line:
Fans were lined up to get autographs from Kevin Smith and Joel Tobeck, who was first at the table. I stepped up to Tobeck and handed him a program, and he looked up and smiled. A little ways down the table, the fanchick who'd been in front of Smith walked away, and he sat there waiting for the next fan. Me.
I zoned.
I completely forgot that Joel Tobeck was sitting there smiling at me, signing my program. The only thing I could see was Kevin Smith, smiling politely, waiting patiently to sign whatever I put in front of him. I walked down to him, handed him the Ares picture I'd purchased for the occasion, and asked him if he was feeling better (they'd flown in from LA, and he was recovering from a cold on top of that). He smiled and said that he was indeed feeling a little better. And looked up. And smiled right at me, while looking into my eyes.
His eyes! Brown and long-lashed and gorgeous. My brain shorted out, I swear to God. Floating in a happy cloud, I took the picture he signed, said goodbye and drifted away. About an hour later I remembered my Joel Tobeck autograph, and realized that I'd walked away from the guy, right in the middle of him smiling at me and giving me an autograph! I felt just a little embarrassed, as you can imagine, but when I went back to the autograph area, they'd saved it for me. :-)
Oddly enough, Kevin Smith changed my life. Sounds weird, but it's true. I discovered life online, fandom in general and slash specifically, because of an actor from New Zealand. I didn't know him, but he touched me.
I was reading a couple of journals after I first heard that he was hurt, from people I knew in the Xena fandom, my first. In one, the owner wrote that Kevin Smith was the reason she got into fandom in the first place, and it was the same for me.
My dad loved Xena, but didn't like Hercules. Sometimes when I would visit my parents, I'd watch the show with him. I thought it was funny, but it didn't really capture my imagination. The tail end of Hercules, though (it came on before Xena) looked interesting - particularly Kevin Sorbo's biceps! Before I knew it, I was watching Hercules and thoroughly enjoying it. It was a short hop from Herc to Xena, and I became a semi-regular viewer. And then I saw Kevin Smith. Holy cow! The next thing I knew, I was surfing around looking for information on Ares and the man behind him, and I was a fangirl.
I knew I was a total fangeek when I hopped a Greyhound bus to go to NY for a Xena convention; I had a ton of fun, got to see a lot of people that I'd talked to online, and it was four days I'll always remember.
Kevin Smith was amazing. Just absolutely breathtaking.
You read fic where the hero is described as golden-skinned, but in his case it was true. He was tall, 6'3", and was incredibly buff, had a gorgeous body. He came out onstage in a red shirt, and I can't even describe how he looked. I swear, you could sense a change in the atmosphere when he stepped in the room!
He was quick-witted, funny and sharp, and he had everyone in the room wrapped around his finger. I had a major teeny moment in the autograph line:
Fans were lined up to get autographs from Kevin Smith and Joel Tobeck, who was first at the table. I stepped up to Tobeck and handed him a program, and he looked up and smiled. A little ways down the table, the fanchick who'd been in front of Smith walked away, and he sat there waiting for the next fan. Me.
I zoned.
I completely forgot that Joel Tobeck was sitting there smiling at me, signing my program. The only thing I could see was Kevin Smith, smiling politely, waiting patiently to sign whatever I put in front of him. I walked down to him, handed him the Ares picture I'd purchased for the occasion, and asked him if he was feeling better (they'd flown in from LA, and he was recovering from a cold on top of that). He smiled and said that he was indeed feeling a little better. And looked up. And smiled right at me, while looking into my eyes.
His eyes! Brown and long-lashed and gorgeous. My brain shorted out, I swear to God. Floating in a happy cloud, I took the picture he signed, said goodbye and drifted away. About an hour later I remembered my Joel Tobeck autograph, and realized that I'd walked away from the guy, right in the middle of him smiling at me and giving me an autograph! I felt just a little embarrassed, as you can imagine, but when I went back to the autograph area, they'd saved it for me. :-)
Oddly enough, Kevin Smith changed my life. Sounds weird, but it's true. I discovered life online, fandom in general and slash specifically, because of an actor from New Zealand. I didn't know him, but he touched me.
