WisCon 2018: Day 3
May. 28th, 2018 01:21 amWoo hoo, actually doing my daily writeup before bedtime! And with a drink in me, no less. I feel very accomplished.
Today's adventures included:
- Michelangelo's breakfast, complete with laptop (that's when I was going to write my post for yesterday, but I ran out of time).
- A panel on non-binary pronouns, featuring both![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
justira and Jed as panelists. Good talk about a number of things, like cultural use of language, how language does and does not influence thought, and what the future of singular they and gender neutral neo-pronouns might be. Twitter hashtag.
- Noodles for lunch: quick, reasonably cheap, reasonably tasty.
- My final panel of the con, which was about the tv show The Librarians. I got to talk about why The Library is really an Archive, and the Librarian (well, actually the Archivist) was Jenkins. I wish we'd had a larger and/or more interactive audience, but I enjoyed the conversation with my co-panelists. Only one person seemed to be tweeting this one, and you can see their comments here. (The hashtag for this was "librarians" which is a terrible choice for finding the tweets again later, it's not nearly specific enough.)
- A wonderful and deeply moving Black Panther panel. All of the panelists were black women, and I loved hearing their joy in feeling seen and represented by a Hollywood blockbuster. Definitely check out the tweets on this one. (Unfortunately, it's another poor choice of hashtag, but this should get you the highlights.) There was healthy debate about Killmonger, and the impossibility but also the importance of being able to imagine a better world, and also universal love for the breadth and depth of female characters (so many heart eyes whenever anyone talked about Shuri, in particular), and I could have listened to them talk for another two hours.
- For the last panel slot of the afternoon, I was deeply torn between going to the second "Best Superpowers for Banging" panel, and checking out the Leverage panel. The superpowers panel was a highlights of last year's con, but I missed last year's Leverage panel because it was up against one of mine, and always regretted missing out. I decided my heart was with Leverage, and it was a fine choice, although I have a twinge of sadness about it. But I suspect that the powers for banging panel is likely to become an annual event, so I'm okay with it. The Leverage panel was a good conversation, about the characters and the stories and why it still means so much to us. Twitter thread.
- Next was dinner at a Peruvian restaurant, followed by dessert and guest of honor speeches. Sadly, they were already out of the dessert I most wanted, but the ones I had were still tasty. (I neglected to snap a picture this year, alas.) Saladin Ahmed talked about being a guest, and his great grandmother who was his first feminist influence and who sounds like an amazing, amazing woman; I hope he tells her story someday. Tananive Due also talked about her family: her parents were civil rights activists, and their activism informed much of her work, particularly her Afrofuturism. She also talked about Octavia Butler, and surviving in this world, and referenced the Black Panther panel regarding our duty to imagine a better world even when it seems impossible. There was so much more in both of their words and I hope the full text of each speech is published. After the Tiptree award was presented, and Virgina Burgin gave a brief but charming speech, the GoH for next year were announced: G. Willow Wilson and Charlie Jane Anders!! What an exciting pair; I can't wait. I confess that I was spoiled for this fact a couple of weeks ago, but the collective excitement of the room was a sight to behold, especially when Charlie Jane's name was said because she was there.
- BarCon! We gathered around a table with our delicious and finely crafted beverages and chatted for awhile before it became time to crash. Very soon it will be time for bed, and then it will be time to leave. Sadly. But all cons must end; that is their nature. Maybe I can put it off just a little longer.
Today's adventures included:
- Michelangelo's breakfast, complete with laptop (that's when I was going to write my post for yesterday, but I ran out of time).
- A panel on non-binary pronouns, featuring both
justira and Jed as panelists. Good talk about a number of things, like cultural use of language, how language does and does not influence thought, and what the future of singular they and gender neutral neo-pronouns might be. Twitter hashtag.- Noodles for lunch: quick, reasonably cheap, reasonably tasty.
- My final panel of the con, which was about the tv show The Librarians. I got to talk about why The Library is really an Archive, and the Librarian (well, actually the Archivist) was Jenkins. I wish we'd had a larger and/or more interactive audience, but I enjoyed the conversation with my co-panelists. Only one person seemed to be tweeting this one, and you can see their comments here. (The hashtag for this was "librarians" which is a terrible choice for finding the tweets again later, it's not nearly specific enough.)
- A wonderful and deeply moving Black Panther panel. All of the panelists were black women, and I loved hearing their joy in feeling seen and represented by a Hollywood blockbuster. Definitely check out the tweets on this one. (Unfortunately, it's another poor choice of hashtag, but this should get you the highlights.) There was healthy debate about Killmonger, and the impossibility but also the importance of being able to imagine a better world, and also universal love for the breadth and depth of female characters (so many heart eyes whenever anyone talked about Shuri, in particular), and I could have listened to them talk for another two hours.
- For the last panel slot of the afternoon, I was deeply torn between going to the second "Best Superpowers for Banging" panel, and checking out the Leverage panel. The superpowers panel was a highlights of last year's con, but I missed last year's Leverage panel because it was up against one of mine, and always regretted missing out. I decided my heart was with Leverage, and it was a fine choice, although I have a twinge of sadness about it. But I suspect that the powers for banging panel is likely to become an annual event, so I'm okay with it. The Leverage panel was a good conversation, about the characters and the stories and why it still means so much to us. Twitter thread.
- Next was dinner at a Peruvian restaurant, followed by dessert and guest of honor speeches. Sadly, they were already out of the dessert I most wanted, but the ones I had were still tasty. (I neglected to snap a picture this year, alas.) Saladin Ahmed talked about being a guest, and his great grandmother who was his first feminist influence and who sounds like an amazing, amazing woman; I hope he tells her story someday. Tananive Due also talked about her family: her parents were civil rights activists, and their activism informed much of her work, particularly her Afrofuturism. She also talked about Octavia Butler, and surviving in this world, and referenced the Black Panther panel regarding our duty to imagine a better world even when it seems impossible. There was so much more in both of their words and I hope the full text of each speech is published. After the Tiptree award was presented, and Virgina Burgin gave a brief but charming speech, the GoH for next year were announced: G. Willow Wilson and Charlie Jane Anders!! What an exciting pair; I can't wait. I confess that I was spoiled for this fact a couple of weeks ago, but the collective excitement of the room was a sight to behold, especially when Charlie Jane's name was said because she was there.
- BarCon! We gathered around a table with our delicious and finely crafted beverages and chatted for awhile before it became time to crash. Very soon it will be time for bed, and then it will be time to leave. Sadly. But all cons must end; that is their nature. Maybe I can put it off just a little longer.
