Art by Glockgal 'n' other TWH stuff

[geoviki]

My definitive TWH post? This ain't it. I'm still scrambling to get back into gear. But I'm teasing you with my nametag, which has a sparkly picture of Draco on it by glockgal, drawn just for me! (The faint bird-like thing is the Ravenclaw symbol of the house I was sorted into. At least pretend to be slightly surprised by that, won't you?)



ellid pointed out this article on the slash at TWH. Pretty decent, although it leaves you with the impression that Henry Jenkins was speaking on slash in fandom, and he really wasn't. I'm glad I popped for that special luncheon, though, because he gave an excellent talk about HP fandom and the cultural wars.

This is such a great example of how cool the people I met really are: there was a minor kerfuffle arising from a comment at pornish_pixies (and it's all gone now so you'll have to take my word for it). On the first evening of TWH, there was a PP meet-up at the Salem Beer Works, and snapetoy posted a partial group photo (hey, there were more of us off to the side). That prompted a comment by someone who self-identified herself as 17 (bad move in any case), who "didn't want to sound rude but we were all so old". On her own journal, she augmented that with "old and fat and gross and ewww". Which then became a running joke for those of us who were, in fact, old and perhaps not as svelte as we once were.

Which leads to this brilliant new community devised by bethbethbeth: porkish_pixies!

You know, this is a great spot to mention how utterly amazed, blown away, thrilled, and humbled I was at meeting so many intelligent, witty, fun-loving women of a certain age who adopted me (bless their Snape-loving hearts). Well, they were still younger than I am, but they are mighty close. I can't even list them all without fear of forgetting someone. And yes, we all wore our "Yes, I'm here for the slash" buttons (thanks, amanuensis1). (Oh, I overheard this quiet aside - 'you know you're an HP slasher when you can type amanuensis without looking').

In a nutshell: I felt validated in my crazy hobby for the first time ever. That's a heady feeling. I couldn't help thinking of those of you who went to Accio not too long ago and had quite a different experience. There was never a moment when I felt as though slash wasn't welcomed as a subject for intelligent discussion. I'm so glad I went, and I plan to be at Lumos in July 2006. See you there?

While I was away, nopejr wrote me a drabble and it's wonderful - Go read!

Comments

[twigged.livejournal.com]

It was so great meeting you. :) Lumos is calling out to me but I think I'm going to be too strapped next year to manage it.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Well, you could always earn your way on the Strip! Bwahahaha....

Hey, cool post about picking out your condo stuff - I didn't realize you were still in the building stage. That's the bestest part!

[twigged.livejournal.com]

It's very, very exciting. My first home!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I've already registered for Lumos! Which probably means the universe will conspire against me and I won't be able to go. ;-)

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy to hear that! I'm ready to sign up myself. I've already warned my husband. And I've even been to Vegas in July before, so I'm fully aware of what I'm doing.

(Note TWH ball music I'm listening to - I'd asked nmalfoy for some George Michael ahead of time, and she rose to it! And I wish I could remember that song we danced to together. Wasn't that fun? Sorry I can't lead - no practice. I'll work on it.)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Ack, what was that song? It was the one dedicated to Kristen and Richard. You know, we should have polka'd. *grins*

[nmalfoy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd love to see you again!

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Oh, me, too. And you can do a reading from the sequel to MPI! *cackles with evil intent*

Hey, I'm like way behind on my LJ reading (having gone to Maine and just getting home) but have you any plans to post the play list from the ball? What great memories. Just hearing everyone squee with every new song, singing "The Banana Boat Song" out loud, shouting, at titti's urging, not "Ghostbusters" but "Harry's Slashers", and hearing the opening chords of Brick House - what a great night!

[nmalfoy.livejournal.com]

I posted it earlier today, as best as I could remember, anyway.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I am so glad I got to meet you! And look--the icon that dien made of that chatroom conversation!

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I am equally glad to have met you as well and apologize for browbeating you into friending me, but am seekritly thrilled you did. You ever have someone on your list you wish would...well, yeah. You were one of the first authors I discovered when I was a newbie, and I credit you with teaching me some literary sophistication right out of the gate. I tried not to slobber over you too much at TWH, but I know a good dry-cleaner can get that out.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

*blushes* Aw, shoot, I don't see any slobber stains, nuthin' to worry about! *hugs you hard*

[meri-oddities.livejournal.com]

It was wonderful to meet you at TWH. I'm only getting settled back into my life, myself. I've been meaning to drop you a note.

I have read two more of your stories, and will be sending separate feedback on them. I enjoyed them tremendously. I love a story with a cool plot. :-)

Speaking of story, I working on finishing up my outline for the H/D I was telling you about.

And, oh... I'm thinking about Lumos, too. Are you going?

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Yay! Is this how a crack dealer feels when he gets a new customer addicted? Mwahahaha.... Draco! Draco! Draco!

Yes, I'm planning to go to Lumos. I am still blown away by my TWH experience - I had no idea I'd connect with so many wonderful women. For the first time in fandom I felt like part of something exceptional and immediate.

[meri-oddities.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Draco. He's eating my brain, fighing with Harry over Snape. I don't get this at all. I think it *is* crack. :-)

As for fandom, yes, exactly. This is what it's supposed to be like. I've been revelling in this kind of thing for years. There is nothing like connecting with people who know exactly where you're coming from and completely understand it.

I"m really thinking about Lumos. I know I'm going to cave and get a membership before the end of the month.

[ravurian]

Lumos? Lumos? What is this Lumos of which you speak?

[smaragdgrun.livejournal.com]

Vegas in July! Thousands of HP fans! No one looking out of place, because, you know, Vegas! And inexpensive flights and hotels and food and drinx, because they think we're spending our money on slot machines vs just sitting around and talking about porn!

You *know* you want to go...

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Oh, you're back! Rumor has it you won the internets again. I'll be around a lot this weekend (well, doing belated shopping and housework, but around).

There's a video of me dancing! Geoviki shakes her groove thing, courtesy of gmth (http://s58.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=29YJXZVGFMQVP2JWM27XWSLKWB)

[ravurian]

<watches and rewatches obsessively> Heh.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

I'm the fetching young thing on the far right. But Viki was the Dancing Queen.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

And you are wearing a dress just like the one in this icon. And you were lookin' good.

[novembersnow.livejournal.com]

It was so nice to meet you!

I'm still trying to decide about Lumos. Before TWH I would have said, "No way, no how." Now I'm on the fence. I'm sure it would be fun, but, dude, it's Vegas, which (a) is a long distance from me and (b) holds no appeal for me at all. *sigh*

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I had such a great time! It was nice meeting you (and squeeing over The Breakfast Club fic, too). I haven't been to Vegas since about 1991 or so, but I have a feeling I won't even bother to leave the hotel. The hotels there are awesome. It'll be nice to be self-contained anyway. Now that I read everyone's report, I see how much I missed in Danvers.

[luci0logy.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you all had a ball. The porkish_pixies comm is a brilliant idea. Obviously the young bimbet has no idea of the appeal of the older, curvaceous woman who is comfortable with herself and has a wealth of experience at her fingertips or tongue or... well, you know what I mean. If we're so repulsive then why oh why have so many artists in the past painted women with a fuller figure? What happened at Accio then?

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

(Icon gets pulled out rarely, and it's in honor of the bimbet).

Accio, from all reports, came down hard on anyone who wanted to discuss slash (see journals of sine_que_non, lexin, and ajhalluk for example. There were no panel discussions whatsoever, and pretty much the slashers were made to stay closeted.

[naadi.livejournal.com]

:D It was great to meet you! It looks like I may be coming to Lumos too.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Ditto! I've been repeating your name aloud in my head now that I learned how to say it. You looked awesome in your dress at the ball, BTW, even though I'm sure it was warm after the can-can! I'm looking forward to seeing you again, too. Because by then, of course, Checkmate will be finished, right? Hahahaha!

[naadi.livejournal.com]

Hee - we were all awesome at the ball, were we not? *g* And yes, lol, it was quite warm during the dancing, but very nice to have on once I got outside to go back to the hotel. ;-)

Hahaha - omg, it had better be done by then. :P I'm actually hoping it will be finished by the end of this month. o_O

[dementordelta.livejournal.com]

It was great meeting you--and I loved the Dancing Queen video! See you in Vegas!

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd had a chance to talk with you more. We could have all happily spent 7 days there, I think, meeting and chatting, and drinking, and dancing....

[dementordelta.livejournal.com]

Lumos is coming up soon! I'm assuming you've already started working on Isis?