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Wiscon, thoughts, etc
So, last week was Wiscon, and I attended and generally enjoyed myself despite the heat attempting to kill me. It's the first year I haven't managed to eat at Ian's! While I did still get Noodles twice, and Hopcat, and the dumpling place once (I discovered that I prefer the dumplings with just the hot powder and not the rest of the works, so, who knew).
I also discovered I still have an Eat Street account (last used in 2014 when NYPD Pizza stopped being good).
There were shiny things purchased, and I filled in some of the holes in my ancient DW book collection. (I didn't buy the Lawrence Miles book they had, though. I seem to recall having some sort of grudge against him, not that I remember why).
I spent large amounts of time babbling about comics to poor Megan.
And I went to a couple of panels, most of which I don't remember a lot about.
1. Villainesses and anti-heroines. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it... was all right? I didn't dislike it, I just felt like I was there for something different. Also, the definitions were... really black and white. Either a female character is a Good Girl, an Anti-Heroine, or a Villainess. And there's no middle ground. And you have the have a redemption arc to become an Anti-Heroine. And you can't ever be a Good Girl because you had sex.
I... yeah. Mostly, I spent the panel wondering how to classify Laura Roslin, Servalan, River Song, Amy Pond, Soolin, Cally, Clara Oswald, etc. Because I wouldn't call Clara an Anti-Heroine, but she's not some non-sexual Good Girl type, either.
(I guess by default this means she's a villainess. hrm. I can work with that).
I also discovered I have a hard "OH HELL NO" reaction to Hela getting a redemption arc. What is wrong with wanting a female character who happily murders everything and destroys the galaxy? :/
(that was one of the reasons I loved her, that we didn't get any wishy-washy bullshit about how she was driven to it/just following orders/misguided. She truly enjoyed what she was doing and saw nothing wrong with it)
Unfortunately, the more I think about the panel, the less satisfying it was. (also, they brought up Thirteen, and worrying about if they would limit her arrogance/etc, and I was like, "Well, they didn't with Clara" and I should have also remembered River, too, but. Eh)
2. Vid Party! As always a good mix of things I enjoyed and things I gave zero fucks about. Surprise crying was done over the ER vid, which, I had no idea how many feelings I still had over ER (I think it really is that I used to watch it with my mother, but also, Lucy. And everything that happened).
There was also an excellent BSG vid pointing out all of the gross sexual violence and death of the women. It was the vid I've been wanting forever. The Body Electric. Now I just need one more where they highlight all of the dead women and the end is that shot of All The Men Talking bout raping the natives...
ahem.
There was a Legends of Tomorrow vid which makes me now want to watch that show, and a Timeless vid which looked interesting.
And a Thor universe vid that was entertaining and had Hela and Valkyrie in it (which, let's be honest, are the two I really care about these days, although Jane and Darcy still have a place in my heart).
Most of the rest were fandoms I have zero interest in. Steven Universe, for instance? Not something I will ever give a fuck about.
In addition to Vid Party, I went to the VP panel critique re: the premieres. It was all right, I even managed to articulate things a few times (go me)
3. Batty Old Ladies. I don't have a lot of memory for this panel outside of that one of the panelists was the person who made me feel like an idiot in the Found Families panel a few years ago for daring to suggest Leverage as a good example.
Mostly, it talked about Real Life things, and didn't really touch on fandom old ladies much. Granny, for instance, never got a single mention (and she's the touchstone for the entire trope).
4. Leverage.
I should have known in the first few minutes, this was Not The Panel For Me.
I reallly should have.
But, see, last year, I wanted to go to the Leverage panel and it was in the room that seats, like, ten people, so I couldn't get in (it spilled out into the hall and I'm noooot a fan of standing for an hour, thanks). So I was determined to go this year.
What a mistake.
I can't even remember what the first thing it was that made me want to nope out.
Perhaps it was the bit about Leverage and the kyriarchy? Which, um. No. Please get that shit away from my show about silly thieves and tricksters and revenge narratives.
(I didn't actually realize how long I was in the panel before I left, but I was actually there for MOST of it. I think it was sheer irritation that it Had To Get Better or something)
I know what pushed me from "this is sort of dull" to full-on raging "these people are fucking idiots", though.
One of the panelists said, "Nate is like Mal from Firefly."
Oh you fucking did not just fucking go there. Fucking Joss Whedon stans and their shitty space western which is just not very good and their inability to let it fucking die. Firefly did not invent 'found family'/'misfits in space'/'rebelling against a Space Power'.
Seriously, if you want to compare a Space Show to Leverage, you'd be better going after Blake's 7. Now there was a show that intentionally embraced its Robin Hood roots. Which, y'know, is what Leverage is, after all.
I hadn't really recovered from that when they started talking about how awful the last two episodes of season three were, and how they were the worst episodes in existence, and that the idea of using the system to steal an election from a corrupt and totalitarian government was just bad bad bad...
They didn't even really explain why outside of some vague "because real world America" thing.
And I'm just. I'm... ok, here's the thing. I loooove the end of the Damien Moreau storyline. I fucking LOVE that they stole a damn election, and that they broke the corrupt government regime and installed someone far more honest and in touch with the people. And Damien got his ass locked in prison like he should have! (and also that time Sophie and Nate woke up in bed together, ok)
So anyone who doesn't like it is automatically an idiot.
They also mentioned White Rabbit (which is an example of a shit-tastic episode and pretty much the only one Leverage has had).
Anyway. After steaming and being more and more annoyed, I finally stalked out of the panel. Because I was not there for their wrong opinions.
Which was when I discovered I'd stuck around a lot longer than I'd thought. I'm apparently a masochist?
I didn't go to:
Found Families - last time I went to this panel, one of the panelists made me feel like an idiot, and I have zero interest in feeling like that again.
F/F and Lesbians in SFF panels - because they were scheduled opposite each other. Good job, Wiscon scheduling geniuses.
ArchAndroids! - Because it was in the tiny tiny room which seats ten people. And of course Janelle Monae fans are legion (yay).
Probably others I'm not remembering.
I did go to the earring haiku party, where I wrote a haiku to Coco Chanel and got some shiny earrings.
I also went to the art show (and bought a print, for once!). Did a lot of conversing with people and generally had a blast.
I also discovered I still have an Eat Street account (last used in 2014 when NYPD Pizza stopped being good).
There were shiny things purchased, and I filled in some of the holes in my ancient DW book collection. (I didn't buy the Lawrence Miles book they had, though. I seem to recall having some sort of grudge against him, not that I remember why).
I spent large amounts of time babbling about comics to poor Megan.
And I went to a couple of panels, most of which I don't remember a lot about.
1. Villainesses and anti-heroines. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it... was all right? I didn't dislike it, I just felt like I was there for something different. Also, the definitions were... really black and white. Either a female character is a Good Girl, an Anti-Heroine, or a Villainess. And there's no middle ground. And you have the have a redemption arc to become an Anti-Heroine. And you can't ever be a Good Girl because you had sex.
I... yeah. Mostly, I spent the panel wondering how to classify Laura Roslin, Servalan, River Song, Amy Pond, Soolin, Cally, Clara Oswald, etc. Because I wouldn't call Clara an Anti-Heroine, but she's not some non-sexual Good Girl type, either.
(I guess by default this means she's a villainess. hrm. I can work with that).
I also discovered I have a hard "OH HELL NO" reaction to Hela getting a redemption arc. What is wrong with wanting a female character who happily murders everything and destroys the galaxy? :/
(that was one of the reasons I loved her, that we didn't get any wishy-washy bullshit about how she was driven to it/just following orders/misguided. She truly enjoyed what she was doing and saw nothing wrong with it)
Unfortunately, the more I think about the panel, the less satisfying it was. (also, they brought up Thirteen, and worrying about if they would limit her arrogance/etc, and I was like, "Well, they didn't with Clara" and I should have also remembered River, too, but. Eh)
2. Vid Party! As always a good mix of things I enjoyed and things I gave zero fucks about. Surprise crying was done over the ER vid, which, I had no idea how many feelings I still had over ER (I think it really is that I used to watch it with my mother, but also, Lucy. And everything that happened).
There was also an excellent BSG vid pointing out all of the gross sexual violence and death of the women. It was the vid I've been wanting forever. The Body Electric. Now I just need one more where they highlight all of the dead women and the end is that shot of All The Men Talking bout raping the natives...
ahem.
There was a Legends of Tomorrow vid which makes me now want to watch that show, and a Timeless vid which looked interesting.
And a Thor universe vid that was entertaining and had Hela and Valkyrie in it (which, let's be honest, are the two I really care about these days, although Jane and Darcy still have a place in my heart).
Most of the rest were fandoms I have zero interest in. Steven Universe, for instance? Not something I will ever give a fuck about.
In addition to Vid Party, I went to the VP panel critique re: the premieres. It was all right, I even managed to articulate things a few times (go me)
3. Batty Old Ladies. I don't have a lot of memory for this panel outside of that one of the panelists was the person who made me feel like an idiot in the Found Families panel a few years ago for daring to suggest Leverage as a good example.
Mostly, it talked about Real Life things, and didn't really touch on fandom old ladies much. Granny, for instance, never got a single mention (and she's the touchstone for the entire trope).
4. Leverage.
I should have known in the first few minutes, this was Not The Panel For Me.
I reallly should have.
But, see, last year, I wanted to go to the Leverage panel and it was in the room that seats, like, ten people, so I couldn't get in (it spilled out into the hall and I'm noooot a fan of standing for an hour, thanks). So I was determined to go this year.
What a mistake.
I can't even remember what the first thing it was that made me want to nope out.
Perhaps it was the bit about Leverage and the kyriarchy? Which, um. No. Please get that shit away from my show about silly thieves and tricksters and revenge narratives.
(I didn't actually realize how long I was in the panel before I left, but I was actually there for MOST of it. I think it was sheer irritation that it Had To Get Better or something)
I know what pushed me from "this is sort of dull" to full-on raging "these people are fucking idiots", though.
One of the panelists said, "Nate is like Mal from Firefly."
Oh you fucking did not just fucking go there. Fucking Joss Whedon stans and their shitty space western which is just not very good and their inability to let it fucking die. Firefly did not invent 'found family'/'misfits in space'/'rebelling against a Space Power'.
Seriously, if you want to compare a Space Show to Leverage, you'd be better going after Blake's 7. Now there was a show that intentionally embraced its Robin Hood roots. Which, y'know, is what Leverage is, after all.
I hadn't really recovered from that when they started talking about how awful the last two episodes of season three were, and how they were the worst episodes in existence, and that the idea of using the system to steal an election from a corrupt and totalitarian government was just bad bad bad...
They didn't even really explain why outside of some vague "because real world America" thing.
And I'm just. I'm... ok, here's the thing. I loooove the end of the Damien Moreau storyline. I fucking LOVE that they stole a damn election, and that they broke the corrupt government regime and installed someone far more honest and in touch with the people. And Damien got his ass locked in prison like he should have! (and also that time Sophie and Nate woke up in bed together, ok)
So anyone who doesn't like it is automatically an idiot.
They also mentioned White Rabbit (which is an example of a shit-tastic episode and pretty much the only one Leverage has had).
Anyway. After steaming and being more and more annoyed, I finally stalked out of the panel. Because I was not there for their wrong opinions.
Which was when I discovered I'd stuck around a lot longer than I'd thought. I'm apparently a masochist?
I didn't go to:
Found Families - last time I went to this panel, one of the panelists made me feel like an idiot, and I have zero interest in feeling like that again.
F/F and Lesbians in SFF panels - because they were scheduled opposite each other. Good job, Wiscon scheduling geniuses.
ArchAndroids! - Because it was in the tiny tiny room which seats ten people. And of course Janelle Monae fans are legion (yay).
Probably others I'm not remembering.
I did go to the earring haiku party, where I wrote a haiku to Coco Chanel and got some shiny earrings.
I also went to the art show (and bought a print, for once!). Did a lot of conversing with people and generally had a blast.