First off, it was great to have a familiar face on the flight to Atlanta:
I'll give you a second to process that.
Yeah. No room. Which I booked. And had the CONFIRMATION #, thanks, because I'm a good traveler. Turns out that
We check in, unpack, freshen up, and nervously head down to register.
Margaritas, laughing, and more
I skipped the next series of panels in order to sit and laugh with Lynne (germaine) and Chrislee, and evidently missed out on an AWESOME panel: the Narrative flow, moderated by the STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL
Okay, I know it's supposed to be all positive and wonderful, but: the FUCK? for me, characterization is key, or you aren't writing Fanfic. You're writing ORIGINAL FICTION. With familiar names. And there's nothing wrong with that, just call that spade a spade, and not a pair of pliers, you know? ANYway.
You can't make this stuff up, people. Well, you can, but normally they'd have unicorn horns or fish tails. And they'd sigh and dream together instead of serving us. Brandi is a very, very handsy girl. Niiiiice. I'll just say that. (I tipped the staff a little extra. Hahahaha!) Excellent food, excellent company, Romany, Sal, Brandi and I devoured tons of sashimi and alcohol, and then we all headed back to the hotel for the EROTICA PANEL.
Let's just say that it became quickly apparent that MANY people were coming out of their shells. Lots of folks felt very much at home during this session, and kink was king.
I went to bed a little early this night because the next morning was MY panel (Writing Humor) and I wanted to be bright and perky, since we were supposed to be "bringing the funny." At 10 am. In a room of hungover people. No, no pressure there. I'll say that I thought my group of panelists did a GREAT job:
We left this for the "How To Fix Bad!Fic" panel, which... Okay, I didn't fix them. I made them worse. I'll post mine later. One involves Spike as a kitten in Prince Xander's fairy land, and one with Dawn, like OMG seeeeew in love with Spiek. Hee! That was fun to hear how everyone screwed up bad stories even more.
....and we skipped the rest because I brought tequila. Sal, Brandi, Ladycat, Sue and I (Jess? Yin? Were you there for this part?) headed up to our room for drinks (I had to borrow a VERY LARGE KNIFE for the limes and that was fun - walking around a hotel with a huge carving knife - hee!) before getting gussied up for the cocktail party. It was GREAT seeing a huge group of fans dressed to the nines for dancing and bopping, by the way. All kinds of folks with all kinds of dress:
Now. I was not involved in any kind of naughty shenanigans. I just kept finding myself NS adjacent. Brandi is handsy. Did I mention that? :D She had a good time. Yin_Again also with the having of a good time. And she proved, once again, that real men wear nothing under their kilts. AHEM. Hahaha! (And there was a BDSM "show" somewhere, but by that point, Lynne and I were up in the hospitality suite downing shots of my tequila and meeting more folks.
Sunday morning was the Religion on Jossverse Shows panel, and honestly, one I was REALLY looking forward to. Because I can talk religion for a long time - fascinating. Also, Salieri was on the panel, as was HarmonyFB, representing Catholicism and Wiccan, respectively. And if we're going to talk religion on Buffy and Angel, those are a must. I have some critiques for that panel, however: I thought there were too many panelists (
Last, but not least, was the MEAN GIRLS vs. CULT OF NICE panel. ([eta] uh, that wasn't meant to link anywhere, I meant underline. There are no implications in the linkage, just a whoops on my part. Whoops!) Honestly, it was about concrit, and feelings in fandom re: concrit vs. flames, etc. Which is a fantastic topic of discussion. What's REALLY interesting about all of this, is how many people said they WANT concrit, but don't get it. I'll be flat out with you: give it to me. What's great is I don't have to accept it, but it's THERE. (Example, if someone who doesn't care for Connor, avoids the eps, etc. tells me that they didn't feel I had a good Connor voice in a story, I'm not going to give that any credence. Someone I respect as a writer/pays attention to that character tells me the same thing? Yeah, I'll listen.)
Basically, I got the distinct impression that there are LOTS of people out there who feel very pressured by a group of people to go along with the "everyone is awesome! Everything they produce is awesome!" mentality that is churning out crap fic after crap fic. Yeah, I said it. I'll say more, but I don't want to ruin any confidences. Listen: if you feel pressured to behave a certain way from a group of people/a vocal person, and it's making your online experience not fun anymore, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PLAY IN THOSE CIRCLES. The best thing I learned about fandom, is how many folks there are into things I didn't know about, how many people there are, you know? You can move beyond your flist, your current coms! you can, and you should, if you feel like you are being bullied. I was shocked at how many people talked about that with me. Bless your little hearts... Man, I met some great girls.
Some people I met (and seriously: I was getting nervous about just walking up to people and sticking my hand out, as I didn't want to be a spazz) because I don't want to forget ANYONE!

It was hard to figure out who people were because a) I have bad eyes b) some people had their names, not their handles and c) some people's handles were broken up, so my brain didn't connect to the name I see online, so I got confused. Plus = tequila. :D I would walk past people (after checking out their boobs, I mean, names) and figure out who they were fifteen minutes later. I'm such a dork.
Okay, I am WORN OUT now. I'll be impressed if you made it through this whole thing... In summary: good time was had, panels were illuminating, there was tequila, hotel staff needed to have a few more hands on deck, no one likes Connor - IDIOTS! - and I have new friends, which is awesome. Also, I've made a few adjustments to my reading list - IT'S NOT A BFF LIST. It's what I'm reading today. (I change it all the time, I just don't tell you people - heh) and all it means is what I'm reading today. It is nothing personal, and I'll probably change it back in a day or two - I'm just trying to catch up on stuff/people. (I don't do filters) Ack. And now I go in search of more coffee.
[eta] Um... I forgot to mention the people I hung out with the most! Jess is fantastic. I've known this. But seriously: smart, engaging, and teaching you how to slip lipstick into your bra was a weekend high for me. Hee! I absolutely adore you, and you were a favorite panelist, for me.
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