Con.Txt Con Report
I went to Con.txt in Silver Spring MD this weekend. First off, let me say that the con was awesome! I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes on the Con comm and all that, but whatever it is it worked. I had a blast at the first one and a blast at the second one (this last weekend). I can’t wait for Con.Txt 3.0 in 2010!!
For those on my friend’s list who are looking for a fun slash con, I would strongly urge you to try Con.txt in two years.
The first panel of the day was Star Wars. My fear with all the SW panels I attend/moderate is that we will just rehash the same stuff that we have since Phantom Menace came out. Sadly, I must say that my fears are usually realized.
The biggest reason for this, I believe, is that many people in SW slash fandom don’t read the books. So, it’s hard to talk about new stuff about a movie that came out about 10 years ago. Sadly, no one had read the new series which would have been great fodder for discussion.
However, this time that was not true. There was an “ice breaking” period at the beginning that was a parade of the “golden oldies” of topics. But, it was fun for a short period of time and loosened everyone up.
Then it was time for something we haven’t really talked about in such depth in any panel I had been in; Ethics in the Star Wars universe. Mind Tricks, Force Visions, ends justifying the means, ignoring some in plight to save others were all topics and the discussion was very interesting.
It amazed me how different people see the Jedi Order. Some think that the Jedi are designed to see shades of gray. Others think that it is the failing of individuals but the Jedi hold themselves up to high standards as an order. Sanctioned assassination, would they do it? Why not free all the slaves on Tatooine? Qui-Gon cheated in the die roll for Anakin’s freedom, does the ends justify the means?
It was a great discussion. I was really glad we got to have. Now, I think I’d love to see that same discussion about the events of Legacy of the Force. That would be cool (especially now that I am done reading it hehe).
One of the big themes this con was “creating a safe space” for people in fandom. There were some “Hot Topic” panels and this was one of them, though the theme resurfaced many times in other panels. I am so glad that people seemed more keenly aware than ever about this concept. With the influx of new people to fandom, there has been a distinct lack of respect for other people’s boundries and such.
Myself, I am live and let live. Act the way you want with people of like mind and (figuratively) but up a sign outside of yoru little meet up telling people what they are getting into. Let them decide if they want to. Like warnings on a fic. For most people, warnings act as a shopping list. With “warning” for what is going on in your little corner of fandom (cons, comms, lists, journals, etc) you get the people who want to be there and let people who don’t decide not to come in.
This, of course, does not address trolls and people who just want to cause trouble. However, in my opinion, they will always be there as a small and vocal part of fandom. So, you live with that as a crappy aspect of fandom and move on. At least, that’s my opinion on it.
Next was HP Fanon in slash. That panel was damn funny. HP Femslash does not as have much fanon (by far) as the slash fandom does. I don’t think this is a negative reflection on the writers, I just think it is a reflection of the quantity of “source” for it. There are a gazillion HP Slash stories. There are some of epic length that were hugely popular. So, I think that is why you see much more fanon.
People had a good attitude about it. No one made fun of anyone else either present or not present, even if they did pick on the piece of fanon that was brought up. One of the thing I love about his con is people are just pretty cool about letting other people share their space even if it’s not what they are into. (Like Veela Blood Draco).
Ironically, which I almost never hear admitted, there was a lot of fanon that people seemed to genuinely enjoy and were into. Some had even written it and one or two currently wrote some very old fanon into fics once and a while. Which I think is cool. (Especially if they were to twist it just a little to offer a new take on it)
We also talked about my pet peeve, the actors for the MRPP Era people and how they affect the characterizations and descriptions of the characters in fic. Snape looks nothing like Alan Rickman. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Not to mention Rickman is like 30 years too old.
I attended part of the “breaking the fourth wall” panel about when actors, writers, directors and producers acknowledge fandom. It was pretty interesting. Most of the people in the panel seemed to think that “everyone” knows about fandom and intentionally put in all these nods to slash writers and put in slashy things. As usual, I am not completely convinced, but whatever.
RPS (Real Person Slash) came up quite a few times in it. Not really knowing anything about the fandom, or having any insights, I found it interesting that RPS writers/readers seem to think the same thing. However, since they cite interviews I am more inclined to think it is true (at least to some degree).
This was the only RPS “heavy” panel I went to. As many of you who read my journal know, RPS is the one thing I find it hard to be “live and let live” about. But, as usual, I didn’t voice my anti-rps opinions and didn’t want to derail what those fen wanted to talk about.
Friday was the “Disco Duck”. Sadly, I missed it. I need to figure out a way to get on a first shift schedule for cons. I was totally exhausted and laid down for a “3 hour nap”. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I slept from 7pm to 7am. Oh well. Disco Duck in 2010! I guess. *wink*
Saturday, the meat and potatoes of the con, was a good day. Started with the HP panel. It was fun. It amuses me that people genuinely deny that Snape is dead. It is quite clear the intention of the author. I mean, I have no problem and even encourage fics that keep him alive or have him survive the snake attack. But, to say JKR didn’t want him dead? Umm… *shrugs* I have not the words.
There does seem to be an influx of people who are coming to HP now that it is a closed canon and there is a suspicion of even more when the movies truly close the canon. I will be curious to see how many that brings.
Then it was FICATHONS!! I must admit, I have been dying to get involved running one of these for a long time. bethbethbeth and her co-mod had a lot of good tips and advice, so did a lot of participants. I am brain storming now a little with some ideas. I’d love to do a ficathon. I might also twist bethbethbeth’s arm to get in on hers or have her help me with mine! Hehe
Next was the femslash panel. I think it went pretty well. I tried in my outline to skip over points that we had covered in the past (usually quite extensively) because the panel tends to have the same attendants. All in all it was a good discussion. I found one possible new fandom (Hex a BBC show) and will be checking it out soon via Netflix.
I kind of just hung out the rest of the day. It was great to catch up with people.
That night was the vid show. Then fannish board games. Vids… What to say? Vids have never been my thing, to say the least. My first exposure was Media*West. They were neat at first. But, after a while, they got really boring to me. It felt like I was sitting through hours of them for the one or two gems. (The vid show at Media West was like 2+ hours long).
I like the vid format well enough. To be honest though, I wouldn’t mind to see the vid show end at the break point in the middle. That was when I left the vid show to check email. I don’t know why, I just can’t get into vids. ::shrugs::
There was a “quiet room” and a “loud room” which is something they do an Escapade, I think. It’s a good idea. Though, the “loud room” was pretty damn tame. I think there needs to be a bar next year (which the con is going to investigate) and it might be more fun.
The games were low key and fun. It was an interesting change of pace. I tend to find board games/trivia and stuff really fun. It was cool they did it after the vids so people weren’t trapped there watching something they didn’t want to. We had a few spectators, but not a ton.
Sunday…
I drifted in and out of panels Sunday. I didn’t get too heavily involved in the conversations, but heard a few interesting things about Fair Use and copyright law. Also flame wars and that kind of stuff.
The Top and Bottom panel, that ended the con, was AWESOME. I was rolling for most of it and it was a fun conversation. It was fannish and still kinda RL at the same time. We discussed “topping from the bottom”, being penetrated but still being the dominant one. We did “who is the biggest bottom” and “who is the biggest top” of fannish characters. It was fun.
Lastly, I have been told I need to check out the new Dr. Who and Torchwood. I may do that. Depends what I have
I will say again…I had an absolute blast and can’t wait for 2010!! I would recommend this con to anyone who is a slasher. The con committee works hard to make sure that things are organized and that people have fun and succeed!
For those on my friend’s list who are looking for a fun slash con, I would strongly urge you to try Con.txt in two years.
The first panel of the day was Star Wars. My fear with all the SW panels I attend/moderate is that we will just rehash the same stuff that we have since Phantom Menace came out. Sadly, I must say that my fears are usually realized.
The biggest reason for this, I believe, is that many people in SW slash fandom don’t read the books. So, it’s hard to talk about new stuff about a movie that came out about 10 years ago. Sadly, no one had read the new series which would have been great fodder for discussion.
However, this time that was not true. There was an “ice breaking” period at the beginning that was a parade of the “golden oldies” of topics. But, it was fun for a short period of time and loosened everyone up.
Then it was time for something we haven’t really talked about in such depth in any panel I had been in; Ethics in the Star Wars universe. Mind Tricks, Force Visions, ends justifying the means, ignoring some in plight to save others were all topics and the discussion was very interesting.
It amazed me how different people see the Jedi Order. Some think that the Jedi are designed to see shades of gray. Others think that it is the failing of individuals but the Jedi hold themselves up to high standards as an order. Sanctioned assassination, would they do it? Why not free all the slaves on Tatooine? Qui-Gon cheated in the die roll for Anakin’s freedom, does the ends justify the means?
It was a great discussion. I was really glad we got to have. Now, I think I’d love to see that same discussion about the events of Legacy of the Force. That would be cool (especially now that I am done reading it hehe).
One of the big themes this con was “creating a safe space” for people in fandom. There were some “Hot Topic” panels and this was one of them, though the theme resurfaced many times in other panels. I am so glad that people seemed more keenly aware than ever about this concept. With the influx of new people to fandom, there has been a distinct lack of respect for other people’s boundries and such.
Myself, I am live and let live. Act the way you want with people of like mind and (figuratively) but up a sign outside of yoru little meet up telling people what they are getting into. Let them decide if they want to. Like warnings on a fic. For most people, warnings act as a shopping list. With “warning” for what is going on in your little corner of fandom (cons, comms, lists, journals, etc) you get the people who want to be there and let people who don’t decide not to come in.
This, of course, does not address trolls and people who just want to cause trouble. However, in my opinion, they will always be there as a small and vocal part of fandom. So, you live with that as a crappy aspect of fandom and move on. At least, that’s my opinion on it.
Next was HP Fanon in slash. That panel was damn funny. HP Femslash does not as have much fanon (by far) as the slash fandom does. I don’t think this is a negative reflection on the writers, I just think it is a reflection of the quantity of “source” for it. There are a gazillion HP Slash stories. There are some of epic length that were hugely popular. So, I think that is why you see much more fanon.
People had a good attitude about it. No one made fun of anyone else either present or not present, even if they did pick on the piece of fanon that was brought up. One of the thing I love about his con is people are just pretty cool about letting other people share their space even if it’s not what they are into. (Like Veela Blood Draco).
Ironically, which I almost never hear admitted, there was a lot of fanon that people seemed to genuinely enjoy and were into. Some had even written it and one or two currently wrote some very old fanon into fics once and a while. Which I think is cool. (Especially if they were to twist it just a little to offer a new take on it)
We also talked about my pet peeve, the actors for the MRPP Era people and how they affect the characterizations and descriptions of the characters in fic. Snape looks nothing like Alan Rickman. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Not to mention Rickman is like 30 years too old.
I attended part of the “breaking the fourth wall” panel about when actors, writers, directors and producers acknowledge fandom. It was pretty interesting. Most of the people in the panel seemed to think that “everyone” knows about fandom and intentionally put in all these nods to slash writers and put in slashy things. As usual, I am not completely convinced, but whatever.
RPS (Real Person Slash) came up quite a few times in it. Not really knowing anything about the fandom, or having any insights, I found it interesting that RPS writers/readers seem to think the same thing. However, since they cite interviews I am more inclined to think it is true (at least to some degree).
This was the only RPS “heavy” panel I went to. As many of you who read my journal know, RPS is the one thing I find it hard to be “live and let live” about. But, as usual, I didn’t voice my anti-rps opinions and didn’t want to derail what those fen wanted to talk about.
Friday was the “Disco Duck”. Sadly, I missed it. I need to figure out a way to get on a first shift schedule for cons. I was totally exhausted and laid down for a “3 hour nap”. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I slept from 7pm to 7am. Oh well. Disco Duck in 2010! I guess. *wink*
Saturday, the meat and potatoes of the con, was a good day. Started with the HP panel. It was fun. It amuses me that people genuinely deny that Snape is dead. It is quite clear the intention of the author. I mean, I have no problem and even encourage fics that keep him alive or have him survive the snake attack. But, to say JKR didn’t want him dead? Umm… *shrugs* I have not the words.
There does seem to be an influx of people who are coming to HP now that it is a closed canon and there is a suspicion of even more when the movies truly close the canon. I will be curious to see how many that brings.
Then it was FICATHONS!! I must admit, I have been dying to get involved running one of these for a long time. bethbethbeth and her co-mod had a lot of good tips and advice, so did a lot of participants. I am brain storming now a little with some ideas. I’d love to do a ficathon. I might also twist bethbethbeth’s arm to get in on hers or have her help me with mine! Hehe
Next was the femslash panel. I think it went pretty well. I tried in my outline to skip over points that we had covered in the past (usually quite extensively) because the panel tends to have the same attendants. All in all it was a good discussion. I found one possible new fandom (Hex a BBC show) and will be checking it out soon via Netflix.
I kind of just hung out the rest of the day. It was great to catch up with people.
That night was the vid show. Then fannish board games. Vids… What to say? Vids have never been my thing, to say the least. My first exposure was Media*West. They were neat at first. But, after a while, they got really boring to me. It felt like I was sitting through hours of them for the one or two gems. (The vid show at Media West was like 2+ hours long).
I like the vid format well enough. To be honest though, I wouldn’t mind to see the vid show end at the break point in the middle. That was when I left the vid show to check email. I don’t know why, I just can’t get into vids. ::shrugs::
There was a “quiet room” and a “loud room” which is something they do an Escapade, I think. It’s a good idea. Though, the “loud room” was pretty damn tame. I think there needs to be a bar next year (which the con is going to investigate) and it might be more fun.
The games were low key and fun. It was an interesting change of pace. I tend to find board games/trivia and stuff really fun. It was cool they did it after the vids so people weren’t trapped there watching something they didn’t want to. We had a few spectators, but not a ton.
Sunday…
I drifted in and out of panels Sunday. I didn’t get too heavily involved in the conversations, but heard a few interesting things about Fair Use and copyright law. Also flame wars and that kind of stuff.
The Top and Bottom panel, that ended the con, was AWESOME. I was rolling for most of it and it was a fun conversation. It was fannish and still kinda RL at the same time. We discussed “topping from the bottom”, being penetrated but still being the dominant one. We did “who is the biggest bottom” and “who is the biggest top” of fannish characters. It was fun.
Lastly, I have been told I need to check out the new Dr. Who and Torchwood. I may do that. Depends what I have
I will say again…I had an absolute blast and can’t wait for 2010!! I would recommend this con to anyone who is a slasher. The con committee works hard to make sure that things are organized and that people have fun and succeed!