conference babble

[asimplechord]

More about the con.

1. Most enjoyable paper/lecture: ariadne1's Of Horcruxes, Arithmancy, Etymology and Egyptology: A Literary Detective’s Guide to Patterns and Paradigms in Harry Potter. (When/if it's up in OWL's new nonfiction category, I'll link to it.) If you've read A Walking Shadow, its content will not come as a surprise. If you haven't, what are you waiting for? In addition to the impeccable logic and analysis, the manner and style in which the data were presented were stellar. Brava, Ari!

There was also an interesting lecture on Umbridge as (anti)feminist, but I think there were a few overlooked or oversimplified issues there.

2. Scariest costume: the Malfoys and their house-elf.

3. Fangirl moment: asking Henry Jenkins to sign my copy of Textual Poachers.

4. Overall slashiness: high. Phoenix Rising was pretty slash friendly. There was a Snape Slash roundtable, plus a panel on it (Shipping the Velvet). The only part I thought was negative was the Mary Sue paper I mentioned the other day, and I left that one before I had an aneurysm. It might have gotten better if I had stayed. Anybody make it through the whole thing?

5. General Snapiness: Maximal. There was a SnapeCast get-together and a smaller Snarry one (see phoenix_severus or chaeche for pics) in addition to the various organized activities. Lots of Snapes in costume. And I think the Friend side won the Friend or Foe debate, sponsored (surprise, surprise) by BORDERS.

6. A somewhat curious thought. There seems to me to be a significant gap in the common understanding of what constitutes a kink, a fetish, and something that might perhaps need to be warned for, particularly in relative newcomers to fandom. Or perhaps it's just that one particular newcomer is confused and extremely vocal. Dunno. Opinions?

7. It was great to meet ordinary_magic, ariadne1, ttfs and anise_anise and dementordelta and bewarethesmirk and lots of other folks I'd "met" only electronically before. I hope to see y'all again soon. :) There were lots more cool people I met when I was either inebriated or without means to write down LJ names. If you happen to be one of them, drop me a comment! :)


ETA: The text of ariadne1's presentation is up at OWL now.

Comments

[minuet99.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a lot of fun. I wish I'd seen Ari's presentation as well.

There seems to me to be a significant gap in the common understanding of what constitutes a kink, a fetish, and something that might perhaps need to be warned for, particularly in relative newcomers to fandom. It is very possible, I've seen standards change from archive to archive, author to author. But its never particularly bothered me. If I don't want to read about it, I don't read it. *shrug*

Glad to hear that there was variety at the conference, I was wondering if it would be het-weighted. I'm mostly a het- fan, but I'll read good slash now and again.

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

There was LOTS of Ginny/Harry-related stuff, and plenty of general interest, too. And the Granger/Snape stuff. Overall, I'd say this was definitely a conference populated by Snape fans, regardless of 'ship. :)

[dementordelta.livejournal.com]

It was very cool to meet you too! Are you heading for any of the other HP conferences coming up?

[asimplechord.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I'm not going to Prophecy or Sectus. (I'd love to, but I'm saving vacation days to go to Australia this fall.)

But there's something happening in Houston for the book release. And I'll probably go to Portus next year, since it's in Dallas. :) Are you?

[dementordelta.livejournal.com]

Yes! Definitely going to Dallas! I signed up for the con and for one of the teas! See you there! *hugs*

[ariadne1.livejournal.com]

*blush* Thanks, Iris :) The new category at OWL is making for extremely valuable (and fast) feedback... native French speakers, someone in the Archaeology Department at Columbia... (her response was way more valuable than most of those I've gotten in response to submissions to peer-reviewed print journals). Already working on the revisions now.

Hope all's well in the lab!