okay, so i figured since i wrote about the first day of Icon (this sci-fi & fantasy con i’ve been to the past three days, aka kinda the only thing i’ve been doing the past three days), i should write a bit about the other two...
it got loooooong so... (seriously i can’t believe how long this got WTF)
day 2:
first thing i went to was this talk about the HP fandom, which was very fun even though it was like 98% nothing new to me. yep i’m the kind of elitist nerd who like, knows more than you but listen, i’m also the kind of nerd who knows to sit quietly with her knowledge that she knows more than you and appreciate other fans discovering nee things :) it was fun, especially seeing all these young fans learning about wizard rock for the first time and stuff. yay!!
like, a lot of that talk was about AVPM, and that definitely has a considerable fandom here, and got a lot of loud cheers. and then when a few wrock bands were mentioned i sat there all excited, and i felt like i had to cheer! i had to represent, show love etc.
also, slight indignation when the woman giving the talk said HatP’s music wasn’t good (it’s PUNK, sorry you don’t get it), or that the short film I Ship It wasn’t good at all (it’s FANTASTIC sorry you don’t appreciate nice stories with the HP fandom as the setting). it’s not like she made a big deal out of it and no one carrres, except i care so i made a whole bullet point about it like the huge nerd i am
it’s one of those things, though, when it’s just fun being around fellow HP fans and i really like this fandom and how strong it is and i think it’s very strong right now
next i went to get an autograph from the conference’s guest of honour ted chiang, who i’ve totally fangirled over for the entire con like a LOSER. seriously, if i wasn’t a loser i’d like, tell him i’ve written a dissertation (partly) about two of his stories. but i chickened out, my heart was beating so fast plus, i didn’t really know what to say? like i didn’t know how to explain this paper and i haven’t thought about it in awhile, even though, technically i have because i’ve looked at it a bit and reworked it into an abstract for my proposal for a science fiction conference next year. anyyywayyy HUGE NERD
but the cool thing is, when i got to to get my autograph from ted chiang he asked me if i’ve been to his panel the day before, which i have, and he said he recognized me!!!! which, of course he did, i have bright red hair and i sat right there at the front row (HUGE NERD) so of coursssse but that was cool. so after that, along with feeling weird and loser-y about not really talking to him properly and SAYING THINGS, i also became slightly more aware of how much of a stalkery fan i’m being, cause like, i went to every even he did at this con except for one (a writing workshop), and i sat front and center at each one. but like, whatever lol that’s the limits of my “stalking” it’s not that bad. and i sat second row after that thanks
then i went to a lecture ABOUT ted chiang but not featuring him, so that was nice. it was about science in his stories and by some mad luck the three stories discussed were all ones i’ve happened to have read (it’s actually really lucky that throughout the con everything by him that was discussed or addressed i’ve read or at least started to read. not because he’s written a lot, he’s actually written very little and they’re all short stories, it’s just that i suck and haven’t read everything yet even though i’ve got most of his work on my kindle)
aaaand later i went to another panel with ted chiang. this one was about writing short stories and featured him and two israeli writers who are known in the local SF community, but not known to me (here it was crystallized in my mind what i was thinking about throughout the con and what i’ve already known and thought about before that: i should read more). i do think it was a fun panel and i enjoyed hearing them talk about writing, but the two locals were mostly talking to each other and, it’s not like they didn’t let ted speak, it’s more that the conversation didn’t flow right, and it was mostly them, who know each other very well, talking about each other’s work. so, not ideal but still fine and good and educating
then my head started to hurt, i went to hang out with friends for like an hour and then went home.
day 3:
today started with a talk about the matrix!!! god i love that film and i have such a stupid emotional bond. anyway. it was about the matrix and sexuality, mostly showing the symbolism in the film (just the first): images representing genitalia and penetration, wetness that represents sexuality, neo’s objectification under the gaze, the androgyny of characters inside the matrix, stuff like that. it was good, could have gone farther, but i enjoyed it a lot and, surprising to me, got to speak out during the questions part and say something that was important to me and also i think generally important (about this kind of conflict i see between how the matrix seems to offer freedom from gender roles and restrictions, and from a lot of other human limitations, but at the same time the main characters’ goal and focus is on returning to the real, natural world. the only solution to that, which was suggested to me, is that the real world the humans create in zion is actually free of limitations and restrictions, what with orgy scenes and a lot of openness about sex. i’m still not sure! there’s a lot to say about this so yeah)
next i had like two hours of nothing so i met up with friends and we went to eat. we sat at a nice little japanese restaurant but honestly got too much food and i couldn’t finish it. it was good though
then i went to a lecture about harry potter and psychology which was REALLY GOOD, albeit with a lot of annoying talkative kids in the audience. the guy who gave the talk is a psych prof. who literally gives a whole college class about harry potter and the process of growing up, and he kinda condensed it into an hour and a half talk. he talked about joseph campbell’s hero’s journey, and about important father figures harry had... it was really interesting. really psychoanalysis-heavy, which i know nothing about and have this aversion to.... unfortunately, because i am open to analyze literature with it sometimes, idk. anyway, i think i still understood everything/most of it, so that’s great
LASTLY, ted chiang’s q&a. i came early because every other ted chiang event i went to had a considerable line, but this one was the least amount of people? i think, of any other event i went to during the con? weird. but it was fun. i ended up not asking a question... look, the only thing i could think to ask was about posthuman characters and basically how do you approach writing a narrative for a character whose experience of the world is beyond humanity/what is known to us. which, could be a good question! i just don’t see how he’d answer that, and well it’s too late now. it literally was too late then, the q&a ended before i noticed....
he talked about the upcoming movie adaptation for “A Story of Your Life”, which i for one am really excited about because loooser neeeerd, so i’m glad he did, even though it wasn’t that much info. except for how they approached him (a scriptwriter who liked the story so much he pitched the thing himself and agreed to write it on spec even though he’s an established writer, and a director who has done an interesting non-linear narrative film before. so, cool!!)
i took notes again, and he talked about inspiration/research, religion, free will vs. determinism, the writing process.... it was really interesting!!!
also, someone seemed to have asked him to write down a marriage proposal with his autograph the day before? and is now engaged? that’s. cute. i mean if you gotta do it, proposal via author is pretty cute
aaaand since i got to the q&a early (expecting a line), i got to meet, sit and talk with someone i know from school and only came across fleetingly the day before. and, like a lot of people get while in icon, she got an idea for her own talk for next year - honestly, it’s a popular thing: you get inspired, or more likely, disappointed, by the existing talks, and you think about what you would do - this person has a really interesting idea about buffy and women, i’m actually really glad i got to hear a glimpse of it and really into listening to a whole talk about it...
and then i went home. and i have an Agents of SHIELD episode to catch up on now and a Carmilla finale to die over in an hour!!!! amazing
this morning i felt weird and anxious but then i went to the first day of Icon (the biggest local con for sci fi and fantasy and everything nerdy) and ittt wasss greatttt
i went to 4 different events/lectures/panels which were really fun/interesting
i met like 7 different people i pretty much never meet and talked to them... only one was a really awkward conversation but it was fine too (actually kinda hilarious idk it’s a good story)
i got like 2-3 people complimenting me on my captain america tshirt - including one girl who did it twice, forgetting she already had for a second there :)
and also two annoying boys who were all “i have a shirt like this too i know where you got it from i got it for cheap haha” (i got it on a sale too mister, together with a hawkeye shirt, but that’s besides the point and something i didn’t say) and then, in a glorious moment, one of them said something like “captain america is gay”, and i, hurrying to catch another panel and kinda ignoring them, heard that, turned back and exclaimed “BISEXUAL!”. it was great i’m always down for quick and dirty superhero sexuality discussions
so, the events i went to: the opening ceremony which was cute, a lecture about gender and language in regards to a specific newly-translated book (which was a headache honestly because of too much audience arguing but it was interesting or at least made me think a lot and i really want to read that book), a panel about constructed languages with the con’s guest of honor ted chiang (i love himmmm i sat in the front row and gazed into his eyes and took notes. and wasn’t creepy!!), and a cute lil’ lecture about dr. horrible and the performance of heroes/villains in it, which was fun and good
also i only paid for one of the above events??? well two of them were free anyway, but one was a ticket passed along to me from a friend which was cooool
I’m going to a con tomorrow and I’m going to cosplay, in general I’m really excited! But I’m still trying to figure out which bus gets there…
(Btw, the name of the con is icon festival)
I’m gonna be Vriska :::;)
