Con!
I'm sitting in the Link lounge at the Sheraton South attending CONvergence, a great fan-run SciFi convention that we attend every year with another couple and a friend. This year, I'm having to work at having fun. I'm still mourning my Mother - not surprising, she just died in April - and I'm having a hard time maintaining enthusiasm for much of anything. Thank god this con has such a variety of things to do and that I'm so deeply immersed in fandom because it gives me a lot of "ins" to the con's goings-on. My tactic is to acknowledge that I'm not going to be as enthused as I have in the past and will be in the future, so I just have to allow myself that and just decide what I actually want to do and do it. I'm determined to remember this as a good con year, and so far am succeeding. \o/
Panels I've enjoyed:
Relationships in Doctor Who:
1. There is a fairly large contingent that liked the asexual nature of Classic Who and found it a refuge from sex-filled TV. They are not happy about the introduction of sex into New Who. There was something of a dust-up in the panel and the moderator had to call it quits on that topic. V. uncomfortable for me as I don't like conflict.
2. Classic Who was always a refuge for homosexuals because it presented an effective protagonist who was not aggressively heterosexual a la James Bond, and Russel T. Davies carried it further by introducing aggressively bisexual/homosexual characters. I had never considered this before but it makes a lot of sense.
Torchwood: Inside the Hub:
Season 4 is confirmed. 10 eps. Worldwide - part in Cardiff, part in US, and other locations. Produced by BBCWales, BBCEngland & Starz. John Barrowman & Eve Myles confirmed. Using one story format of CoE; not sure about the timing of the eps - 10 days vs. 10 weeks.
The Skepchicks are back!:
Learned about Skepchick. Here's what they say about themselves on their blog:
"Skepchick is a group of women (and one deserving guy) who write about science, skepticism, and pseudoscience. With intelligence, curiosity, and occasional snark, the group tackles diverse topics from astronomy to astrology, psychics to psychology."
Also learned about the Women Thinking Free Foundation which is currently focusing on the campaign to educate women about the dangers of not vaccinating their children, and where to find good information about the current controversy.
Very interesting panel.
Slash Fiction:
Learned about Hetalia. "...presents an allegorical interpretation of political and historic events, particularly of the World War II era, in which the various countries are represented by anthropomorphic characters." Who knew?
There was a rather intense discussion about the lack of femslash and strong women on TV/in movies. We also hit on the differences between slash written by women and men, the rise of the OT3, kink, and how writing a good sex scene is just like writing any sort of scene; you follow the rules of good writing. It was concluded that often fanfic sex is better than professionally-written sex for the simple reason that fanfic writiers are doing it out of love, and pro writers are doing it for, well, professional reasons - money or contractual obligations.
Recs:
Kate Douglas - writer for Kensington Press' Aphrodisia line. I know she's professional, but she was highly recommended. Various pairings in various combinations.
Their Finest Hour - Hetalia
Sex Magic by Velvetblood. Harry/Draco
Sleepswithcoyotes - Anything by her.
Panels I've enjoyed:
Relationships in Doctor Who:
1. There is a fairly large contingent that liked the asexual nature of Classic Who and found it a refuge from sex-filled TV. They are not happy about the introduction of sex into New Who. There was something of a dust-up in the panel and the moderator had to call it quits on that topic. V. uncomfortable for me as I don't like conflict.
2. Classic Who was always a refuge for homosexuals because it presented an effective protagonist who was not aggressively heterosexual a la James Bond, and Russel T. Davies carried it further by introducing aggressively bisexual/homosexual characters. I had never considered this before but it makes a lot of sense.
Torchwood: Inside the Hub:
Season 4 is confirmed. 10 eps. Worldwide - part in Cardiff, part in US, and other locations. Produced by BBCWales, BBCEngland & Starz. John Barrowman & Eve Myles confirmed. Using one story format of CoE; not sure about the timing of the eps - 10 days vs. 10 weeks.
The Skepchicks are back!:
Learned about Skepchick. Here's what they say about themselves on their blog:
"Skepchick is a group of women (and one deserving guy) who write about science, skepticism, and pseudoscience. With intelligence, curiosity, and occasional snark, the group tackles diverse topics from astronomy to astrology, psychics to psychology."
Also learned about the Women Thinking Free Foundation which is currently focusing on the campaign to educate women about the dangers of not vaccinating their children, and where to find good information about the current controversy.
Very interesting panel.
Slash Fiction:
Learned about Hetalia. "...presents an allegorical interpretation of political and historic events, particularly of the World War II era, in which the various countries are represented by anthropomorphic characters." Who knew?
There was a rather intense discussion about the lack of femslash and strong women on TV/in movies. We also hit on the differences between slash written by women and men, the rise of the OT3, kink, and how writing a good sex scene is just like writing any sort of scene; you follow the rules of good writing. It was concluded that often fanfic sex is better than professionally-written sex for the simple reason that fanfic writiers are doing it out of love, and pro writers are doing it for, well, professional reasons - money or contractual obligations.
Recs:
Kate Douglas - writer for Kensington Press' Aphrodisia line. I know she's professional, but she was highly recommended. Various pairings in various combinations.
Their Finest Hour - Hetalia
Sex Magic by Velvetblood. Harry/Draco
Sleepswithcoyotes - Anything by her.