KJ

I am at WisCon! Flight was almost entirely uneventful -- there is now one (1) non-stop flight a day from SFO to Madison, and you can bet I was on it. It's on a smaller regional jet, so I was a little nervous about being cramped, but I did a little research and found out that, because of the way the seats are configured, they're actually an inch wider on this plane than on the 737s I'd be taking otherwise. Turns out I was perfectly comfortable (well, for being in an airplane seat, anyway), so I hope they continue doing this run in future years. It was an early-ish flight (8:30am) but not outrageously so. On the plane, I finished one book (Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach, which I enjoyed greatly even if it was just a little too real on the grant application process), started another (The True Queen, which I started with about an hour and a half left in the flight and got so engrossed that I'm already halfway through), and listened to an episode of Larry Wilmore's podcast (who is holding out on me, not letting me know that Larry Wilmore has a podcast???) in which he interviewed Rebecca Traister (highly highly recommended).

Upon arrival, I got the free hotel shuttle, then met up with renay and echthroi for a very late lunch (I hadn't brought any food on the plane because it was a morning flight; this was An Error) at Short Stack Eatery, an all-day breakfast place that's one of my favorite restaurants here. I have dreams about their blackberry thyme lemonade, which I have attempted to recreate at home with only limited success. After that was the annual Guest of Honor readings at A Room of One's Own, the local bookstore downtown. I managed not to buy anything, but I imagine I'll be back. This year, the GoH are Charlie Jane Anders and G. Willow Wilson. Charlie Jane read an excerpt from her most recent book, The City in the Middle of the Night, and a sweet and lovely short story for Bikes in Space, a zine of feminist bicycle science fiction. Wilson read from her new novel The Bird King, a fantasy set in the late days of Islamic Spain, and I am intrigued.

Then it was hooking up with more folks for dinner; they also wanted some Short Stack, so I had breakfast for three meals today. This is not a complaint -- breakfast food should always be anytime food. Some days, you just need to get your Ron Swanson on.

Now I am back in my room, a little early maybe, but it's been a long day, and I want to at least get started on Critical Role (especially since some sweet sweet bonus content dropped today). So for tonight, I bid you all adieu. Con proper starts tomorrow, hooray!

One of the most thought-provoking panels I attended at this year's WisCon was entitled "Geekiness and 'Productivity'." Here's the description:

Capitalism tells us that we are only worthwhile when we produce or when we consume. As a result, many of us end up justifying everything we do, whether for work or pleasure, in terms of "productivity": "I'm useful to society because I make widgets." "My crafting/stargazing/gaming/reading/writing make me work better and consume more." "That person is a better geek than me because they spend more money on their hobbies." These kinds of framing buy into and reinforce capitalism. Are there ways of framing geeky pursuits that don't buy into a capitalist framework? Are there ways of justifying our geeky pursuits that don't commodify them? Are there ways to avoid needing to justify our geeky sides at all?

This is the only panel where I took any sort of notes. I didn't start right away, and my notes are a bit sketchy, certainly not any kind of exact transcript. So this will not be a thorough write-up, and not every thought will be attributed. If I ever find a more detailed post, I'll link it here. (And if you're aware of one, please let me know!) My post will be more a summation of the ideas the panelists shared, and the ideas that they sparked in me while I was listening. For panelist names and links to their bios, see the WisCon website. I also recommend checking out the Twitter hashtag, which does have some more detailed quotes, some attributed.

( Cutting for length. )

Woo 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 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.

[Note: this was written on Saturday morning but I forgot to hit post so it's going up at midnight.]

It is now the next day, and I am typing this in the lobby after having picked up a cinnamon roll and cold-brew iced coffee at the Madison farmer's market, as well as some cheese curds for later. The farmer's market is huge and surrounds the state capitol. I only scratched the surface of it, but I expect to go back for lunch. Now I am sitting in the lobby, drinking the coffee and waiting for the 10am panels to start.

Yesterday was good! I lead the gang to breakfast at Michelangelo's, then met with Jed and Mary Ann to prepare for another opening ceremonies round sing (like the one we did at FogCon) After a quick food truck lunch, I spent a little time wandering around the Gathering and dealer's room, and then went to my first panel, on the 25th anniversary of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. We had a great conversation, which is well captured by the hashtag. (Note, Twitter was twitchy as I typed this, so I hope the link works.) After that was the opening ceremony, which was held in an abbreviated form. We opening with the song, a setting of The Creation of Ea as a round, in honor of Ursula Le Guin; it went well, and was lovely, and I got several thanks afterwards. Oddly for my little bit of stage fright, I wished that a few more people had been there.

Next up was dinner: the new WisCon attendees dinner, which renay asked me to host with her. We got together a group of almost 20 people and went to a local pub (HopCat); one of the brilliant attendees thought to call ahead, so they were ready for us and service was excellent. That was a fun time. When you have dinner with that many people, it's impossible to get to know everyone, but each end of the table had good conversation, and they seemed to have a good time. I really like this tradition and am considering suggesting something similar to FogCon.

I spent the next couple of hours popping in and out of the Vid Party; my favorites were a multi-fandom vid focusing on actors of color, a couple of Wonder Woman vids, and another about the women of Black Panther. Then was my second and final panel of the night, about generational differences. Unfortunately only two of the five assigned panelists were able to be there -- the perils of the 10:30pm panel slot -- and there was no one in the room under 30, so it was all Boomers and Gen X talking, although a few attendees had Millennial children, and another is regularly involved in activism with Millennials and the as-yet-unnamed generation that's coming up after them. Still, I wish it could have been a truly multi-generational conversation, and I wonder if a future con can manage one. Given those conditions, we had a pretty good conversation -- what are the roots of these generational differences, is there any coherence to these cohorts, is it all a marketing ploy, how can we better learn to work together, do these generations have any meaning outside the white middle class?

Between the late panel, and the half hour I spent afterwards chatting with some of the attendees, it was late by the time I got back to the room, and my roomies were already crashed out, so I decided not to keep them up with my typing. Which is why I'm coming to you now, the next morning, breakfast finished and ready to hit the next round of panels. Time for another day!

I can't believe it's less than a week away. And so many people are coming! I'm super excited.

I'm on four panels again this year. Only one of them is in the middle of the night, so that's an improvement. I've also seen no real signs of getting sick again (KNOCK WOOD) so the only way from here is up. I just posted my schedule along with justira and renay at ladybusiness.

Let me know if you'll be there so I can look for you! If you see me, come say hello. :)

I had fully intended to get up for morning panels today, but I guess my body had other ideas because I woke up at 9:55am, and the panel block started at 10am. So instead we bailed on the morning and had a leisurely brunch, followed by a trip to the chocolate shop. (I'm having a delicious fudge snack right now.)

So then came the afternoon panels. First up was a panel about the women of Luke Cage, and it was awesome. Awesome. Probably my favorite panel this year. Five black women, talking about these black female characters who meant so much to them, and the great things and not-so-great things about how the representation. Panelists and audience members discussed issues like respectability politics, colorism, the importance of Eartha Kitt as Catwoman, and also whether Shades is or is not an appropriate Supportive Murder Boyfriend. I highly recommend the hashtag for this one. The panel was recorded, and will be posted on the Nerdgasm Noire Network, and if you get a chance you should totally listen.

Next up was a panel on comics, focusing mostly on recommendations, and featuring "comics matchmaking", where an audience member would ask for a rec based on their specific parameters, and the panelists and audience would make suggestions. There were far too many recs for me to catch them all, but moderator crosberg promised to post up a complete list on their website after the con. (It seems I will have a lot of things that I need to come back and share with you soon.) We closed out the afternoon with perhaps the most entertaining panel of the con: an examination of which superpowers might be the most useful for banging. Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin; the hashtag has more. We laughed, a lot.

After dinner, it was time for dessert salon and the Guest of Honor speeches. Kelly Sue DeConnick and Amal El-Mohtar were both brilliant and moving in their own ways, both of them urging us to stand up and support each other and fight against the terrible and growing injustices in the world. I imagine the full text of both speeches will go up eventually, and I'll make sure to link those too. Unfortunately I had to leave before the presentation of the Tiptree Award, because I had a 10pm panel and the speeches were running over. The late panel was on "how to ship without being a jerk", but the conversation ranged much more widely, into the history of ship wars and fan entitlement (I got to share my favorite story, about Louisa May Alcott getting into a ship war with her own fans), and how and why fandom conversations have gotten to be so toxic. It was more about root causes than solutions, but I still found it an interesting conversation, and we all had fun with it.

Then we hung out in the lobby for a little while, before coming back to the room to wind down and start packing. Tomorrow will be a light day for me -- no panels, probably, just the sign out -- and then we drive back to Chicago to end the weekend.

I typed this up before bed Friday, but wasn't able to post it because I got kicked off the wifi and wasn't able to log back on until this afternoon. Now Saturday is over, but both days have been so full that I wanted to keep it all separate. I'm not going to go through and rewrite the whole thing, so consider this a snapshot of my yesterday. :)

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WisCon proper kicked off this afternoon. We had a very lazy morning, sleeping in and then getting breakfast at Michelangelo's, followed by a trip to A Room of One's Own for some actual book shopping (we decided not to deal with the lines after the reading on Thursday). I got the second volume of Bitch Planet and Rainbow Rowell's Carry On. Then it was time to check out the Gathering, followed by my very first WisCon panel!

The panel was about women who play video games, and it went very well. To get a flavor of the discussion, I suggest checking out the Twitter hashtag, #WomenGameWriters. Of the five panelists, two are professional video game developers, and the moderator, tanyad, is the founder of #INeedDiverseGames; myself and the fifth panelist are gamers with no industry connections. So we brought a nice mix of professional and non-professional, outsider and insider viewpoints to the conversation. We talked about the perception of women gamers -- women don't play shooters, women only play casual games, casual gamers aren't "real" gamers, and so on -- and also about the perception that the people who make and sell games are all cis white dudes (a stereotype with some truth to it, but there have always been women and people of color in the industry, and their numbers are growing all the time, especially in the indie game space). I felt like we had a good conversation and that I made some worthwhile contributions. I was also very glad to have a microphone, because although I'm feeling a little better today, my voice is not in any shape to project.

The next panel block was Mark Oshiro's "Queer Eye for Sci-Fi", which I was very happy to attend for a second year in a row. Similar to last time, the panelists discussed their experiences as queer people of color who are fans of sci-fi and fantasy media, in all its glory and with all its problems. The hashtag for that one is pretty great, too.

Afterwards was dinner; we headed to a local brewpub for some burgers and fried things, where I introduced justira and renay to the wonders of deep fried cheese curds, and then we dropped by the Opening Ceremonies. Just like last year, Katherine Cross gave a stirring speech, this time on the subject of the importance of WisCon and the safer space it provides for marginalized fans, and why it's vital to keep it going in Trump's America. Our next stop was the game tables, to play a long-planned game of Slash hosted by Jed. Slash is a card game in the style of Apples to Apples, except instead of adjectives and nouns, the cards each have the name of a fictional or historical character, and the objective is to make the best pairing. Some of our better results included Gandhi/Hannibal Lecter, Veronica Mars/Marge Simpson, and a whole harem (including Rasputin and Andre the Giant) for the cast of the Golden Girls. Then I dropped by the annual vid party, which was an excellent set list as always. I left after the first half, which ended with a funny and moving tribute to Carrie Fisher that left half the audience literally in tears. I'll post the complete set list when it's available.

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I plan to type up today's con experience now, but it might not go out into the world until tomorrow, depending on how long it takes. It's going well, and I'm having fun with Ira and Renay, but I so wish this cold hadn't decided to come along. It's kind of getting better, but the amount that I'm talking is probably not helping matters. Stupid cold. But it's not getting me down too much. I just have to take it a little easier than I would prefer, which overall is maybe not a bad thing.

Since someone asked about this on Twitter, and I figure it's handy for me to have the info all in one place for myself as well, I figured I'd post up my WisCon schedule here. I'll be arriving with renay and justira sometime on Thursday evening (in time for the evening reading, I hope, but since we're driving from Chicago I don't want to make any promises), and heading out early Monday afternoon. Also, I've gone from being on no panels last year to four (4) panels this year, one each on Friday and Sunday and two on Saturday. One on gaming, one on fanfic, and two on not being a jerk in fandom. Titles, times, and descriptions are as follows:

Friday, 2:30pm
Destroying the Mythos Around Female Gamers and Games for Women. Moderated by the one and only tanyad! Description: There is a continuing false perception that video games are thoroughly dominated by male gamers and male developers. However data disproves this fallacy. This panel will discuss the actual demographics of gaming, and how to buck the idea of "appealing" to women with old stereotypes and tropes. I.E women are all casuals, and games like FFXV with an all male cast supposedly appeal to women for a change. We'll also look at how narrative can drive an audience to or away from a game series such as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc.

Saturday, 1pm
It's OK to Not Like Things (But Don't Be a Jerk About It). Description: It's a wonderful feeling when geeks meet each other and share enthusiasm for the things we enjoy, but what happens when that enthusiasm becomes an obligation? While there are more and more geek and pop culture shows, stories, characters, art, and creators to be fans of and consume, the expectation that fans must like (or at least be aware of) certain things in order to be considered "real" geeks/nerds is still an issue. This panel will discuss what happens when fans are expected to like certain things, what happens when you don't, and how that creates unwelcoming geek communities. The panel will also stress that criticism isn't mutually exclusive with being a fan, as well as elaborate on the difference between criticism and "being a jerk."

Saturday, 9pm
Fanfic, Retcon, and Zombies, Oh My!. Description: Let's talk about what happens in the murky territories where fanfic meets original works. Do writings that use original works in the public domain—modern-day Sherlock Holmes characters, zombies in Jane Austen's worlds—count as fanfic? When a series gets unwieldy or unpopular, it can be rebooted or rewritten with different parameters: maybe a character comes back to life, changes gender, or gets a new backstory. Are there differences between retcon and fix-it fic, other than who owns the copyright?

Sunday, 10pm
How to Ship Without Being a Jerk, and Other Guidelines for Being Good Citizens of Fandom. Description: Everybody hates shipper wars, but nobody trusts the cult of nice, and at some point many of us have been tempted to send a snarky postcard/email/tweet to the Author or Showrunner Who Ruined It All Because They Just Didn't Get It. But just because the Powers that Be are the worst doesn't mean we have to be. How do we have conversations about the fandoms we all love without ruining friendships? Are those even the right goals? If not, what is a better way to look at it?

There will also at some point be an informal ladybusiness BarCon gathering. My best guess right now is Friday evening, since I have panels on Saturday and Sunday night, but stay tuned! (I'm actually pushing for a CoffeeCon at Michelangelo's instead, since the hotel bar is small and gets very loud, so we'll see.) Look for an announcement on the feministponies account.

It's so soon! I'm so excited! I hope to see some of you there. :)

It's late and I have pack a bit before bed (stupid early checkout time means I have to check out BEFORE the 10am panel I want to attend), but I want to jot down a few things about today before I forget.

I started with a reading featuring a RL friend, Kat Beyer, and members of her writing group, which included Naomi Kritzer, and she read "Cat Pictures, Please", which made my day almost before it had even started. Lunch today was with heavenscalyx and her wife, whom I know through auronlu, and then I had an afternoon of panels: a rousing discussion of female characters and the problems that arise when you have only one woman standing in for all women (or any other sort of tokenizing for that matter) (Twitter feed, a check in with year two of the #INeedDiverseGames project (Twitter feed, and a panel on the queer experience of science fiction modded by the one and only Mark Oshiro ("Queer Eye for SciFi" - Twitter feed). I have more notes and thoughts on all of these, which I hope to share at a later time. One aspect I would like to note, though, is that all of these panels consisted of mostly or entirely people of color. I gather that improving racial diversity of attendees is something that WisCon has been actively working on, and it shows. Mark even commented on it, saying that this is the first time he's ever run this panel and had all the participants be people of color.

Then came the guest of honor speeches. I was promised this would be a highlight, and it was true. All three GoH gave rousing speeches featuring a call to action -- Justine Larbalestier on the importance of taking teens and YA fiction seriously, Sofia Samatar on stretching your wings and writing your truth and not worrying about fitting within the boundaries of genre, and Nalo Hopkinson on the importance of supporting one another while still not letting bad behavior stand -- and she announced her intention to found an award for promoting positive change in the community, the Lemonade Award. I hope that the full text of these speeches are posted eventually, and if they are, I'll link to them; if not, I'll see if I can find good write-ups to share.

Also, the Tiptree award was presented to Eugene Fisher. Then next year's Guests of Honor were announced, and they are Amal El-Mahtar and Kelly Sue DeConnick. I gasped audibly when the second name was spoken. I think that means I have to come back.

Because the speeches ran long, I missed the first part of the last panel I wanted to attend, on female friendships in comics. (As it happens, this panel was all white. But I was still pleased to see this as an exception rather than the norm.) Apparently we missed the more positive part of the discussion (I'm not just saying that, the moderator apologized), and the panel mostly discussed why the large stable of characters in most mainstream comics, combined with the focus on the big franchise names which are mostly not women, leads to relationships between female characters not being able to develop over the years in the same way as, say, Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent's friendship. So as characters drop in and out, sometimes disappearing for decades, there's no chance for true friendships to grow. Lots of good recs at the end, though.

Afterwards I made my way to barcon (after a few false starts) and hung out with folks for a little while before deciding it was time to make my exit, and I worked on this entry while also packing and getting ready for bed. And now it's much later than I planned, so I should get to it. Sorry to make these reports all so sketchy -- I took pretty good notes throughout and should be able to share many more details, including recs, later.

Today has mostly been about settling in and having some fun. Although I didn't sleep in as much as I would have liked, I still had a nice relaxing morning -- had breakfast, went to the coffee shop across the street (which might as well be an extension of con space -- there are even some official events there!) for a bit of writing time, and then had lunch with pierceaholic and magnetsorwhatever at a local cheese shop -- all before official con events started in the afternoon.

I went to two panels today. The first, "The Fandom Awakens", was essentially a love letter to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Not to say that there was no deep discussion -- far from it, as panelists spoke about how moved they were by seeing women and people of color in such significant roles, the ethics of droid labor, and why we insist on gendering droids. One good question that provoked conversation, though no definitive conclusions, was whether a droid in the Star Wars universe has any sense of gender identity. Next up was cypheroftyr's panel on the queer gaming experience, with a focus on Dragon Age although several other games were also discussed. Many good thoughts and sharing of experiences about what games do right and the (many more) things they get wrong.

For dinner, I joined the New Attendees dinner gathering. Although it could have been better organized, I ended up with a lively and fun group. We picked up food at a Russian dumplings place, then ate it on the steps of the Capitol Building, chatting all the while about fandom, and we enjoyed the conversation enough to keep it going over coffee until the time came to head to the opening ceremonies. This event was mostly informational, introducing attendees to policies and committee heads, but since this is the 40th WisCon, they also took some time for reminiscences, as long-time WisCon attendees talked about the con community and what it means to them. We also got a stirring speech from Katherine Cross reminding us to treat hotel staff with courtesy and respect, and call from Pat Murphy to make WisCon a "'splaning free zone". Then I wrapped up the night with a panel on Hamilton followed by a singalong, which was a blast. Unfortunately, the timing wasn't organized quite right, and so we didn't have time to sing the whole thing -- just as well, though, because my voice would have likely given out. :) We sang through the entire first act, then hit some highlights from Act 2 ("What Did I Miss?", "Cabinet Battle #1", and "The Room Where It Happens"). About halfway into the first act (I think with "You'll Be Back"), people started getting to the front of the room and acting out the main roles, often to hilarious effect -- maybe my favorite was Hamilton and Burr fighting over the rolled up scarf they were both using in place of their respective newborns in "Dear Theodosia". It was a great high point to end my first full day here.

One thing I've noticed: people often use the Twitter hashtags assigned to events, so it's worthwhile to check them. Good stuff on the Fandom Awakens and Queer Gaming Experience hashtags, specifically.

Fortunately, there's nothing in particular I want to do in the first programming slot tomorrow, so I can have another relatively relaxed morning. But still, I should get to bed. Goodnight, WisCon. I'll see you at 10AM.