Escapade 2019 Debrief!
Belated Escapade 2019 post! As always, a fabulous time was to be had at Escapade this year. If you didn't come, you should come next time. :)
Alas, life was complicated and I didn't get a vid together in time for this year's vid show. However, there was an ABUNDANCE of vids this year. They coudn't fit all of them into the main vid show! That was awsoeme.
I was a co-mod on three panels this year. As per usual, I'm on a campaign to get everyone to take panel notes in sharable Google Docs and used my modding powers to make this happen! So, instead of trying to write a con report (which my brain is incapable of), I'm going to list the panel descriptions below and link to the Google Docs with the panel notes in them.
Panel Notes Escapade 2019:*
Fandom Post-Slash?
Mods: Aral & k8
In an era of "ships" and #pairing #tags on Tumblr and AO3, has the "slash" label lost its meaning? Same-gender pairings are as popular as ever and fans still ID pairings with a virgule between the names, but how many fans still call m/m and f/f slash or femslash? How many fans still identify as "slashers?" Traditionally, Het and slash were opposing binaries which few fans crossed. Are these barriers breaking down? What purpose has the term "slash" served? Has fandom moved past it and, if so, what does that mean?
Is the Fannish Gift Economy Passé?
Mods: Aral, k8, & Megan
One component of the recent AO3 wank involved the idea that fanfiction authors should be allowed to solicit financial compensation through their fanwork pages. The idea of fandom as a gift economy has shaped fan activity and fandom communities for decades, and has been used as part of a justification for fanfiction's legality. But fan artists have also routinely sought compensation for their work during that same period of time, and the internet has only made that easier. Will more and more fanfiction writers also begin writing for commission, or setting up financial support subscriptions? Is the idea of the fannish gift economy becoming passé?
Representation Matters But Purity Wank Sucks
Mods: Aral & k8
The months of discussion during Racefail 2009 helped fandom come to a more nuanced understanding of the politics of representation. We know representation matters, we argue continually for better representation of marginalized identities in our tv shows and movies because we know that the images and stories we consume do affect us and do impact society. But calls to ban underage fic and redefining it as "pedophilia" are the worst kind of purity wank. So can we have a more nuanced conversation about underage and age differences and power imbalances that doesn't rely on denying that art can possibly affect us personally or affect society politically?
Feel free to share these notes and/or leave comments on them. (Particularly if something got mangled in translation.)
*Quick note to our valiant notetakers. Some of you worked INCREDIBLY hard to track the names/pseudonyms of all the speakers, but Escapade asks that speakers not be identified on social media. So, to honor that policy, I went in and cleared out any identifying names. Thank you for your noble efforts nonetheless.
This entry was originally posted on Dreamwidth here and has
comments. Feel free to comment in either place.
Alas, life was complicated and I didn't get a vid together in time for this year's vid show. However, there was an ABUNDANCE of vids this year. They coudn't fit all of them into the main vid show! That was awsoeme.
I was a co-mod on three panels this year. As per usual, I'm on a campaign to get everyone to take panel notes in sharable Google Docs and used my modding powers to make this happen! So, instead of trying to write a con report (which my brain is incapable of), I'm going to list the panel descriptions below and link to the Google Docs with the panel notes in them.
Panel Notes Escapade 2019:*
Fandom Post-Slash?
Mods: Aral & k8
In an era of "ships" and #pairing #tags on Tumblr and AO3, has the "slash" label lost its meaning? Same-gender pairings are as popular as ever and fans still ID pairings with a virgule between the names, but how many fans still call m/m and f/f slash or femslash? How many fans still identify as "slashers?" Traditionally, Het and slash were opposing binaries which few fans crossed. Are these barriers breaking down? What purpose has the term "slash" served? Has fandom moved past it and, if so, what does that mean?
Is the Fannish Gift Economy Passé?
Mods: Aral, k8, & Megan
One component of the recent AO3 wank involved the idea that fanfiction authors should be allowed to solicit financial compensation through their fanwork pages. The idea of fandom as a gift economy has shaped fan activity and fandom communities for decades, and has been used as part of a justification for fanfiction's legality. But fan artists have also routinely sought compensation for their work during that same period of time, and the internet has only made that easier. Will more and more fanfiction writers also begin writing for commission, or setting up financial support subscriptions? Is the idea of the fannish gift economy becoming passé?
Representation Matters But Purity Wank Sucks
Mods: Aral & k8
The months of discussion during Racefail 2009 helped fandom come to a more nuanced understanding of the politics of representation. We know representation matters, we argue continually for better representation of marginalized identities in our tv shows and movies because we know that the images and stories we consume do affect us and do impact society. But calls to ban underage fic and redefining it as "pedophilia" are the worst kind of purity wank. So can we have a more nuanced conversation about underage and age differences and power imbalances that doesn't rely on denying that art can possibly affect us personally or affect society politically?
Feel free to share these notes and/or leave comments on them. (Particularly if something got mangled in translation.)
*Quick note to our valiant notetakers. Some of you worked INCREDIBLY hard to track the names/pseudonyms of all the speakers, but Escapade asks that speakers not be identified on social media. So, to honor that policy, I went in and cleared out any identifying names. Thank you for your noble efforts nonetheless.
This entry was originally posted on Dreamwidth here and has
comments. Feel free to comment in either place.