Escapade was great; parts of this morning, not so much; this afternoon should be awesome
I went downstairs to my office after breakfast this morning, and discovered that the cat had barfed all over my desk. Thankfully he did not destroy the legal paperwork for the wedding I'm doing this afternoon (note to self: putting things front and center on your desk so you don't forget them may not actually be the clever life hack you thought it was), but I do have to ask both my employers/freelance clients to reissue my 2016 tax paperwork. UGH.
In happier news, I had a fantastic Escapade! Amusingly, it was almost half a RL-activist Escapade, which is not what I think many people expect or want from a slash con? But I had plenty of fannishness in there too. I always have a terrible case of con brain and remember afterward only that I loved a thing, not what actually happened or why I loved it, which makes my con reports rather fragmentary and perhaps unsatsfying to others. But hey, that's why there are cut tags.
I started out by frontloading most of my art show work on Friday. I don't think I went to any panels that day -- not even the one on AO3 tagging that a printing glitch had allowed to spread over multiple slots :) On Saturday I went to the Slash Book and LGBTQIA+ in Slash Fandom panels, which were very good; and the Slash Book one reassured me on a topic I'd been wary of when the project was discussed last year: that Escapade no longer has the central place in slash fandom that it had in, say, the late nineties, and offering a book on "slash through the eyes of Escapade" might be an arrogation of an inappropriate voice or authority. But the folks organizing the project (largely Constance Penley and Charlotte the con co-chair) convinced me that they know this and that the book won't do so; and the representative of their new publisher Punctom Books made that side of things sound terrific. Seriously, Punctum is a much better publisher for this project than a university press. So yay for that.
After that I had arranged, with con staff's encouragement, to use the TV in the zine reading room to watch the ACLU's livestream launch of its activist arm People Power, at which three friends joined me. It had a reasonably high proportion of let's-whip-up-enthusiasm froth, which I expected, but also some useful information about such things as exactly how much protest is legal in different contexts (can you block sidewalk traffic? vehicular traffic? airport business?) and links to useful know-your-rights bulletins in many languages.
Also it began with a performance of the national anthem. I hate the way that the (white-)nationalist right has coopted patriotism. I genuinely do feel affection for and loyalty to my native country, although saying so aloud later in the weekend caused several Canadian fans to wheel on me with outcries of disbelief; and the more so as it goes further off the rails. It's the prodigal country, you know? I know we've never fully lived up to our ideals, and most of our government and many of our populace are betraying them abominably now. But they're good ideals.
Anyway, it is, after all, the American Civil Liberties Union. There were pairs of American flags on each side of the stage, and as I said the event began with a singer performing the national anthem. I don't know who it was -- she was clearly pretty well known, but I didn't recognize her name and in a quick glance through the People Power website I can't find a link to the event. But it was amazing. She performed it as a dirge. Usually -- if any real meaning is given to it at all -- it's interpreted, in what is after all its original intent in reference to the assault on Fort McHenry in the War of 1812, as asking whether the flag has not been defeated and is still flying. I heard this rendition as asking not whether it still flew, but whether it still flew over anything that could be called "the land of the free and the home of the brave." I wept, and I wasn't the only one.
Then I went to the Fandom vs. Cheeto Voldemort panel, which was a terrific followup. Our ideas basically amounted to variations on "Fans are incredibly networked! Work and use those networks!" plus some suggestions for specific projects, groups, etc. I didn't take notes; perhaps someone else did?
I followed that up with the panel that was evocatively titled You’re Totally Welcome on my Lawn, but I Wish You Wouldn’t Pee on the Grass, on bullying, callout culture, and how to foster inclusiveness when we want to. The best part of that, for me, was probably toward the end, when a fan asked: without denying what's been said about the potential of callout culture to turn toxic, how can we appropriately and effectively call out fan works or behaviors that are genuinely toxic or dangerous in themselves, that should be called out? And she offered, as an example of something that is inarguably toxic and dangerous, stories pairing an adult with an undeage character.
And I was like, "As a longtime Snarry fan, I beg to disagree."
And since the panel was ending, she and I and another fan went up to the con suite to continue our discussion, which we did right up until the vidshow was about to begin. We didn't thrash out that specific issue so much, but we talked a lot about forms of activism, and how what is appropriate depends on what your goal is (to pressure someone to do or not do something? to convince others that the thing should or should not be done? to bear witness and make a statement of disagreement even in a situation that one cannot change? to signal one's own virtue, or one's own fannish status and power?) It was exactly the sort of conversation Escapade wants to foster: passionate, curious, respectful, and vehement disagreement, together with welcoming the places where we found we actually agreed. We discovered that she was nineteen; the third fan who had joined us was thirty, or in her early thirties, I forget; and I'm fifty-two. And the differences in how we experienced our entry into fandom were fascinating, and explained a lot! I mean, I started going to sf cons when I was fifteen, frequently wearing this costume, and the most unpleasantness I ever got was having the well-known creeper sit down beside me at a crowded dead-dog party and plant a kiss on my face, whereupon I wrenched away and he was chased off by my ex-boyfriend; I was no more than annoyed. She, however, had seen very young teens pressured into being photographed in near-naked cosplay. I still disagree with her, but I have a much better sense of where our opinions are grounded...
Then I bailed on the vidshow in favor of hangng out with friends. I do have the DVD, but I haven't managed to watch it yet...
The art auction went better than I'd hoped, since it was small and there weren't a lot of pieces with bids from more than two people on them; but it was fun and funny and lasted long enough that I got a discreet "You don't have to speed it up, but, you know, if you wanted to speed it up..." Then I wrapped up the con with an wonderful panel on The Expanse (I have now bought the first book, whose Kindle price conveniently dropped the other day; do you all know about getting price-drop alerts through eReaderIQ?), and with much conversation with more people than I can namedrop right now because I have to start getting ready for the wedding this afternoon.
And I beat the snowstorm home and Geoff picked me up at the airport and had dinner ready ten minutes after we got home. It was a wonderful weekend.
Okay, I don't even have time to reread this for coherence, because I haven't even rehearsed this afternoon's wedding text yet, so I will hit Post and hope for the best. It was great to see everyone I saw at the con!
read
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In happier news, I had a fantastic Escapade! Amusingly, it was almost half a RL-activist Escapade, which is not what I think many people expect or want from a slash con? But I had plenty of fannishness in there too. I always have a terrible case of con brain and remember afterward only that I loved a thing, not what actually happened or why I loved it, which makes my con reports rather fragmentary and perhaps unsatsfying to others. But hey, that's why there are cut tags.
I started out by frontloading most of my art show work on Friday. I don't think I went to any panels that day -- not even the one on AO3 tagging that a printing glitch had allowed to spread over multiple slots :) On Saturday I went to the Slash Book and LGBTQIA+ in Slash Fandom panels, which were very good; and the Slash Book one reassured me on a topic I'd been wary of when the project was discussed last year: that Escapade no longer has the central place in slash fandom that it had in, say, the late nineties, and offering a book on "slash through the eyes of Escapade" might be an arrogation of an inappropriate voice or authority. But the folks organizing the project (largely Constance Penley and Charlotte the con co-chair) convinced me that they know this and that the book won't do so; and the representative of their new publisher Punctom Books made that side of things sound terrific. Seriously, Punctum is a much better publisher for this project than a university press. So yay for that.
After that I had arranged, with con staff's encouragement, to use the TV in the zine reading room to watch the ACLU's livestream launch of its activist arm People Power, at which three friends joined me. It had a reasonably high proportion of let's-whip-up-enthusiasm froth, which I expected, but also some useful information about such things as exactly how much protest is legal in different contexts (can you block sidewalk traffic? vehicular traffic? airport business?) and links to useful know-your-rights bulletins in many languages.
Also it began with a performance of the national anthem. I hate the way that the (white-)nationalist right has coopted patriotism. I genuinely do feel affection for and loyalty to my native country, although saying so aloud later in the weekend caused several Canadian fans to wheel on me with outcries of disbelief; and the more so as it goes further off the rails. It's the prodigal country, you know? I know we've never fully lived up to our ideals, and most of our government and many of our populace are betraying them abominably now. But they're good ideals.
Anyway, it is, after all, the American Civil Liberties Union. There were pairs of American flags on each side of the stage, and as I said the event began with a singer performing the national anthem. I don't know who it was -- she was clearly pretty well known, but I didn't recognize her name and in a quick glance through the People Power website I can't find a link to the event. But it was amazing. She performed it as a dirge. Usually -- if any real meaning is given to it at all -- it's interpreted, in what is after all its original intent in reference to the assault on Fort McHenry in the War of 1812, as asking whether the flag has not been defeated and is still flying. I heard this rendition as asking not whether it still flew, but whether it still flew over anything that could be called "the land of the free and the home of the brave." I wept, and I wasn't the only one.
Then I went to the Fandom vs. Cheeto Voldemort panel, which was a terrific followup. Our ideas basically amounted to variations on "Fans are incredibly networked! Work and use those networks!" plus some suggestions for specific projects, groups, etc. I didn't take notes; perhaps someone else did?
I followed that up with the panel that was evocatively titled You’re Totally Welcome on my Lawn, but I Wish You Wouldn’t Pee on the Grass, on bullying, callout culture, and how to foster inclusiveness when we want to. The best part of that, for me, was probably toward the end, when a fan asked: without denying what's been said about the potential of callout culture to turn toxic, how can we appropriately and effectively call out fan works or behaviors that are genuinely toxic or dangerous in themselves, that should be called out? And she offered, as an example of something that is inarguably toxic and dangerous, stories pairing an adult with an undeage character.
And I was like, "As a longtime Snarry fan, I beg to disagree."
And since the panel was ending, she and I and another fan went up to the con suite to continue our discussion, which we did right up until the vidshow was about to begin. We didn't thrash out that specific issue so much, but we talked a lot about forms of activism, and how what is appropriate depends on what your goal is (to pressure someone to do or not do something? to convince others that the thing should or should not be done? to bear witness and make a statement of disagreement even in a situation that one cannot change? to signal one's own virtue, or one's own fannish status and power?) It was exactly the sort of conversation Escapade wants to foster: passionate, curious, respectful, and vehement disagreement, together with welcoming the places where we found we actually agreed. We discovered that she was nineteen; the third fan who had joined us was thirty, or in her early thirties, I forget; and I'm fifty-two. And the differences in how we experienced our entry into fandom were fascinating, and explained a lot! I mean, I started going to sf cons when I was fifteen, frequently wearing this costume, and the most unpleasantness I ever got was having the well-known creeper sit down beside me at a crowded dead-dog party and plant a kiss on my face, whereupon I wrenched away and he was chased off by my ex-boyfriend; I was no more than annoyed. She, however, had seen very young teens pressured into being photographed in near-naked cosplay. I still disagree with her, but I have a much better sense of where our opinions are grounded...
Then I bailed on the vidshow in favor of hangng out with friends. I do have the DVD, but I haven't managed to watch it yet...
The art auction went better than I'd hoped, since it was small and there weren't a lot of pieces with bids from more than two people on them; but it was fun and funny and lasted long enough that I got a discreet "You don't have to speed it up, but, you know, if you wanted to speed it up..." Then I wrapped up the con with an wonderful panel on The Expanse (I have now bought the first book, whose Kindle price conveniently dropped the other day; do you all know about getting price-drop alerts through eReaderIQ?), and with much conversation with more people than I can namedrop right now because I have to start getting ready for the wedding this afternoon.
And I beat the snowstorm home and Geoff picked me up at the airport and had dinner ready ten minutes after we got home. It was a wonderful weekend.
Okay, I don't even have time to reread this for coherence, because I haven't even rehearsed this afternoon's wedding text yet, so I will hit Post and hope for the best. It was great to see everyone I saw at the con!
read
comments | post a comment at Dreamwidth
How to use OpenID (optional unless you are commenting on a locked post)