After a whirlwind ~two week tour of Texas, I have finally returned home! Friends (old and new), family, and oh my goodness- so many flowers.
Many highlights of the trip to look back on, but one in particular was attending HavenCon and finally meeting several of my @renegadepublishing folks in person! And just as exciting as the people-- the books! What a joy to hold in my hands the numerous constructions I've seen photos of over these last couple years.
There really is nothing like in person interactions- the many mild mannerisms that are certainly lost via text and even escape audio or video bring me the greatest of joys.
additional mumbling under the cut....
While there were obviously beloved members not in attendance, I was quite pleased to meet some of my "favorites" and discover I greatly enjoyed the company of others who weren't quite as familiar to me.
My fears of social awkwardness were largely unfounded and everyone was great about letting me slink off to sulk for a bit and recharge. I think the larger group gathering (we were ~12?) was actually more ideal than I expected- folks able to pair off, the conversation was varied and easily flowed, and it made for more dynamic listening/eavesdropping.
The only down side was that there wasn't enough time to actually sit down and just craft!! Also, so many beautiful books and absolutely no time to actually read them!
Some highlights for me:
restaurant at next door hotel having a perfect room for us to grab dinner Friday night
not having a dedicated space/room for us early Saturday resulted in us just plunking down in the hallway for an impromptu book show-off. Each reveal of books bringing greater and greater joy. I've some misc macro photos of covers I'll be posting later
Renegade members dominating the Renegade talk and laughing at our own jokes (and our panelists [@robins-egg-bindery, @fanboundbooks, @armoredsuperheavy] & moderator [@celestial-sphere-press] doing an excellent job)
folks joining me on the lobby's quasi chaise lounge to just chit chat- cactuscacti's admonishments about curation (appreciated) are still rattling about my thoughts
meeting some of our lurkers ;)
@fanboundbooks's moderation & the talk on transformative works
watching @clovenhoofbindery use a chisel to trim a mini book on my mini press
one of the con goers asking specifically about my loquat dye book!
watching everyone go ape shit for all the supplies at the Austin Book Arts Center
Bonus: the pins, the stickers, the stamps, and @aetherseer suggesting an excellent signature for me ;)
On the most shallow end, it was my first real con in freaking years, and just being back in a con environment is a little like coming home. And then it’s the first time I’ve spent any significant amount of time in explicitly queer space for over a decade. And then finally, meeting up with a group of online fandom friends (members of the Renegade bindery) was another kind of feeling at home.
Havencon itself is a small but very comfortable con with immaculate vibes. Like honestly from moment one of arriving at the hotel I was like, ah yes, the colored hair and queer outfits, I’m among family. That’s honestly a big deal for me, as a fairly straight-presenting femme-presenting cis female bisexual in a 20 year marriage to a man. I have not always felt welcome in queer spaces in my life, but at the same time those are the spaces I DO feel most comfortable. Those are the spaces I sought out as soon as I turned 18 and where all my closest friends are/belong.
But my normal social life is more mainstream nerd oriented. Occasionally I’m jarringly reminded I’m Among The Straights.
Anyway, just, these are the thoughts this weekend inspired in me, among many.
I went to a handful of panels, mostly writing-oriented ones. Some were more fruitful and interesting than others, and I think there’s something lacking about a panelist interview format for getting into actual writing tips/advice. But I’ve always wanted the nitty gritty workshop style panels myself.
It was cool getting to hear Patrick Weekes and their partner Karen Weekes from Bioware talk, since I’m such a huge Dragon Age nerd. Besides the occasional anecdote about writing past games, there’s nothing really to report other than they certainly sounded optimistic about DA4 with Patrick being lead writer. And knowing we have a nonbinary lead writer for the game is...yeah, it’s a thing that makes me hopeful. Patrick certainly talked about EA as nothing but supportive of diverse inclusion. Though there was also a lot of talk about budget limitations, so, yeah.
But most of my weekend was talking bookbinding and fanbinding with both my fellow bindery peeps and to others who attended our panels. Lots of enthusiasm for the concept and new discord members. And I got to see (and fondle) everyone's gorgeous books and feel inadequate in comparison. I also learned so much just from chatting and have a list of techniques to try out as soon as I can get some more typesetting done. (New tools to play with include hair dryer and electric sander...)
Oh and Saturday night I went to the Rocky Horror showing with everyone and that was such a trip. It’s been over 20 years since my last live show of RHPS and yanno, things have changed (and others haven’t.) It’s also personally bizarre because RHPS was a hyperfixation of mine when I was 16-17 so revisiting it with time and perspective is just...something. A lot of our group hadn’t seen it and when asked to summarize it, I called it “cutting edge queerness for the 1970s.” No, lots of it didn’t age well, but also...there’s still SOMETHING about it. I will say the shadowcast was very gender and size inclusive and quite funny.
And then Sunday night we got to go to the Austin Book Arts Center which is my new favorite place. So many amazing machines and tools and supplies. And the supplies are all so cheap! I’m hoping to be able to take some classes there at some point though probably not for a while.
Anyway, I have needy cats to hold and a bag to unpack and mostly a back to rest, but it was totally worth it.
HEY LOOK, I remembered HavenCon in time to actually go to it this year! (Not in time to apply for a vendor spot, but better than missing it entirely. 🤣)
They had to shut down for 2020-21, and so I’m super happy they managed to rally again -- this year it’s happening April 22-24th, at the Marriot South in Austin, TX.
I had a lot of fun when I went in years previous, it’s a delightfully friendly and welcoming little con, and I’m looking forward to going again. (Say hi if you see me! I expect to be wearing Geralt’s S2 armor or the raven armor from Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla.)
Please observe this asshole’s furiously wagging tail.
Havencon was fun! We did our panel, it was pretty small this year but it was a nice, polite group with a group of kids I remember from last year. If y’all see this hello you precious little baby gays!!!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Kibeth didn’t have her prong and she was good at first but absolutely failed 😂 it was 100% entirely my fault. Several people asked if she was in training and I was like “nope, she just a dickhead”.
But it was good to go back for year 5 and I can’t wait to go back next year!!! Next year I’ll cosplay and be more involved but between my birthday, being incredibly sick and the move it just was awful timing.
Today I met the most lovely and magnificent pair of Lup and Barry cosplayers I have ever seen. And they were just absolutely lovely people to converse with. 😍
