lettered: (Default)
It's Lion Turtles all the way down ([personal profile] lettered) wrote2012-06-21 03:44 pm

con.txt!

This past weekend I went to Con.txt in Maryland. Some highlights:

-I met [personal profile] stultiloquentia! She was on a short list of "people I must meet before I die". I don't mean now I'm ok to die or anything, but it was cool.
-Friday you could comicbook cosplay? I didn't see many people doing it, but [personal profile] my_daroga was Tintin and [personal profile] sarah was Captain America and they were amazing. Plus, the next day I was Bruce Banner and [personal profile] my_daroga was pre-serum Steve Rogers, which you can see here. That's my, "I'm always angry" face.
-My favorite panel was probably [personal profile] viklikesfic's "dealing with social justice" panel. That's not what it was called. Anyway, in it, the group came up with a list of how to deal with fanfic that is offensive to one group or another due to treatment of a minority or handling of a subject. It was a very open, honest, and helpful discussion about a topic that can often be difficult to talk about. I was doing final edits on this fic about Steve Rogers at the time, and I'd been having so many thoughts about what is appropriate to address in fanfic, the place of fanfic, why we write it and what we do with it, in conjunction with writing this fic that this panel was really, really enlightening and helpful.
-[personal profile] ravenna_c_tan had an HP party and fed us butterbeer! And I met [personal profile] incapricious, who is awesome. Hello!
-[personal profile] holli's love of Steve Rogers was also a highlight. Also, her dresses.
-[personal profile] jjhunter recited Pablo Neruda to us. No one wrote a Sherlock Holmes/Pablo Neruda crossover, though.
-[personal profile] viklikesfic is awesome and knowledgeable on many issues, and also a great lunch date ;o)
-[personal profile] synecdochic is as open and amazingly precocious in person as she is online.
-[personal profile] cesy gave us lots of info about AO3, and about legality of fanfic. She's so articulate and willing to answer questions; she put a human face on the OTW for me that is both beautiful and eminently worthy of respect.
-One of my favorite parts was Disco Duck, which was a dance. I'm not keen on dances, but eventually a contingent wandered over to The Quiet Room where I sat on a smooshy couch and we talked about fanfic and literature and sci fi and Avengers and sundry.
-Ahhhh I met so many other people, some just in passing, all of whom were amazing.
-On Sunday, lots of people were headed out, and a lot of the panels I went to were small. I found this delightful, as topics tended to wander, and a lot of the panels just turned into big fannish discussions about Whatever. I love fannish discussions about Whatever; they are some of the best kind.
-We found Star Trek fans, even though there was no dedicated ST panel. There was even a Kirk/Spock vid at the vid show.
-Speaking of the vid show we saw a White Collar vid and then we had to watch the show. Our lives are so hard.
-[personal profile] my_daroga got bit by a squirrel. This wasn't part of the con, but it's worth mentioning.
-For a long time leading up to this con, I didn't know it was a slash con. I thought it was a . . . context con. You know, where you talk about fannishness and the treatment of issues and groups, and how to interpret and why we interpret and also cock. I really liked this con because it was all of those things, and it was full of really interesting people saying really interesting things. This was the first fannish con I've been to--the others have all been a bit more commercial. I have to say I prefer this kind, although the biggest disappointment is that there just isn't more time to talk about all the things that delight and interest me, and meet all the people who have so many intelligent and relevant things to say. It does make me hope to go to the next one.
lynnenne: (Default)

[personal profile] lynnenne 2012-06-22 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
You make an awesome Bruce Banner! With the glasses and the hair and the always-angry face!
lynnenne: (Default)

[personal profile] lynnenne 2012-06-22 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
We so did! I completely geeked out over meeting Jimbo, so I was very happy that Kita was there to share my squee.
staranise: A star anise floating in a cup of mint tea (Default)

[personal profile] staranise 2012-06-22 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
It was absolutely awesome to meet you and talk shop! You have so many awesome ideas and I'm still at a level of incoherent flail at your latest Avengers fic.

I love how Con.Txt is all about thinky squee, and totally didn't get enough this time. (I slept a lot more, which I suppose is better in the long run.)
staranise: A star anise floating in a cup of mint tea (Default)

[personal profile] staranise 2012-06-22 05:20 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, PLEASE let me know when you're close enough that I can swoop in and pick your brain over lunch!
viklikesfic: Icon of my hands forming a heart on a black background with a pink "<3s" in the corner. (<3s)

[personal profile] viklikesfic 2012-06-22 12:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Aww, yays to all of this! And I'm glad you got so much out of that panel. I was particularly pleased by how that one went as well--and I did bring home the giant sheets of paper and plan to type up all the suggestions this weekend.

But I am very bummed that I missed JJ reciting Neruda! Ah, Neruda. *happy sigh*
my_daroga: Mucha's "Dance" (Default)

[personal profile] my_daroga 2012-06-22 02:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Poking in here to say I loved that panel--both your panels--too and I do want that list!
my_daroga: (oh my)

[personal profile] my_daroga 2012-06-22 02:19 pm (UTC)(link)
I can't believe you're exploiting my pain for ... um...

Yeah I have no idea what you're exploiting it for, actually.