schneefink | Entries tagged with worldcon

Prologue: On the day before I left for Scotland I had my usual pre-travel packing anxiety problems, so I decided to go for a walk, enjoy the sunshine and oxygen and clear my head. Five minutes after I sat down on a bench near the top of the hill sudden very heavy rain started, and by the time I had run down the hill to find some shelter under some trees my thin beach dress was completely soaked through. I hid from the rain together with three other people who had also been surprised and I joked about the rain preparing me for my Scotland trip, so they told me about their wonderful Scotland trip a few years ago until the rain had finally let off.
I think it's funny that that was worse rain than I experienced during my entire vacation in Scotland xD

The first thing I saw at Glasgow airport was a big Worldcon banner, that was nice and immediately made me feel welcome. Then I found out my luggage was left behind at my layover stop in Germany and had to figure that out, that was less fun.
I didn't trust the delivery service so late in the evening I made my way back to the airport when my luggage was supposed to arrive, and that was late too so by the time I made it back to the city with my luggage it was 1am and no buses were going anymore. I could have called a taxi but it was only a half-hour walk. Odd (almost) first impression to have of a city though.

( Glasgow )

And then: Worldcon! \o/
I had such a fantastic time. ( Worldcon overview )
I'll write the notes about the panels later, for now some notes about the games. I played three games this time and all of them were a lot of fun, with great GMs and good groups. ( Blood on the Clocktower, Victorian Mars, Fallout )

That was Worldcon! LB arrived on Monday night and we met up on Tuesday morning to start our Scotland travel, but that will go in a separate post.
Sadly it looks like it might not be until 2029 that Worldcon is in Europe again (Dublin plans to apply, according to the website.) But in the meantime there will be other conventions in Europe, maybe I will check those out one day.

Worldcon is over! It was great. So many things. So many words. And people. And things. I look forward to some time to do a proper write-up.

First though, tomorrow I'm meeting up with my brother and we're traveling through Scotland for the rest of the week :)

Only two more weeks until Worldcon! I'm really looking forward to it. A bit anxious because a lot of my travel planning has been very late (I definitely paid stupidity tax for not booking my flights earlier) and a lot of it is still very vague, but I'm sure it'll be fine. Afterwards I'll meet up with LB and we'll travel for a few days, I look forward to that too.

I'm sad I completely forgot about the ribbons I wanted to make, but I hope I can still collect some fun ones. I'm also still considering if it's worth taking my Hermitcraft TCG cards in the hopes of finding someone to play/trade with - probably not because nobody replied on the Discord when I asked, but it would be super cool if it did happen. (I still need to decide how many of the new series I want to buy. They're so pretty! And I can afford a treat! Unfortunately I have to decide before I'll know how much I'll spend on vacation...)

The Magnus Protocol up to ep 23 "A New You": still not many stories of the week I enjoyed, but some more intriguing bigger picture things. ( spoilers )

Dungeon Meshi: LB, F, and I finally finally managed to find some time to sit down together and finish the first season! After a break of several weeks. We all enjoyed it, but not as much as previous episodes, and I suspect a lot of that is a pacing issue: compared to some other places we'd left off, the actual season finale felt sorta lukewarm in comparison, though there were some intriguing developments. Sadly I'd seen spoilers for ( Spoilers ), otherwise I'm sure it would have been an even bigger o.o moment.

I already have a ticket for Worldcon 2024 in Glasgow, I'm very excited. The last and only time I went to Worldcon before, in 2019, was a last-minute decision, but this time I know in advance, which means I'll be able to nominate and vote for the Hugo awards. And since I haven't been reading that many books recently I thought I'd pay more attention and pick SFF novels published in 2023. So far I've read the following: Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao, Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty, Witch King by Martha Wells, A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon, and Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Hopefully I'll manage to write some actual reviews later (lmk if there's any you want to hear my thoughts about) but I enjoyed all of them, most of them very much, and I loved Lords of Uncreation.

Next I'm most likely going to read Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini because I just got that from the library, but I don't know what I should read after that. I'd love some recommendations! For books that already came out especially, but also for books that will come out later this year that you are looking forward to.

Concert: The Library Bards
The Library Bards are a nerd parody band consisting of Bonnie Gordon (ABC’s The Quest; Cartoon Network; Street Fighter V; Mega Man 11; Geek & Sundry) and Xander Jeanneret (TBS’s King of the Nerds; announcer in Divekick, Sagas of Sundry, etc.). They take Top 40 hits and transform them into the nerdy versions they should have been in the first place. With their catchy tunes and nerdy lyrics, the LibraryBards will be bringing you into the #BardLife in no time!
Bonnie Gordon, Xander Jeanneret

( review )

Dragons, wyrms, and serpents: why the myth endures
There are a lot of mythical beasts that can and do feature in fantasy, but the dragon/wyrm/serpent seems to be one of the most popular. What are the reasons for this enduring popularity? What roles does it perform? What mythic properties does it embody and why do these continue to resonate (if they do)?
Karen Simpson Nikakis(M), Marie Brennan, Aliette de Bodard, Naomi Novik, Joey Yu

( notes )

So, those were all the panel write-ups now! (Only took me about a month and a half.) Next, organizing my pictures - "fortunately" not too many because I was mostly too busy to think of photographs.

The lack of technological progress in fantasy
From the cotton gin to the printing press, technology doesn’t seem to advance in many fantasy worlds –despite hundreds of years of history in which an industrial revolution could happen. Why doesn’t it? Does magic replace the need for technology? What about the growth of magic-powered technology within a fantasy world? What does it take to get a little scientific progress?
Renee Sieber(M), Juliet E McKenna, J.S. Meresmaa, Ian R MacLeod

( notes )

What writers need to know: physics and space travel
This is the second of a two-part series of panels designed to help authors on science topics. Join our panel of experts who share the ins and outs about physics and space because, in the words of Han Solo, ...‘travelling through hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops.’ Our panellists will cover writing tips and resources available for ensuring that you get the science right even if you don’t have a PhD in astrophysics.
Brother Guy Consolmagno(M), Mr Joe Haldeman, Cliona Shakespeare, Marc Stiegler

( notes )

Wands at the ready! Magical worldbuilding in SFF
When worldbuilding with magic, is it enough to add magic to our existing social structures, or does some magic alter the way the world works? There are soft magic systems with few rules and hard magic systems with lots of rules; does this affect the ways magic shapes the narrative? Arthur C. Clarke said: ‘Magic is just science we don’t understand yet.’ At what point does magic become science?
Christopher Husberg(M), Zen Cho, Diane Duane, Justin Call

( notes )

Invented mythologies in SF
Whether it’s creation myths for sentient AIs or a pantheon of alien gods, invented mythologies can add depth and weight to SF storytelling. How have myths from our own past informed the creation of fictitious mythologies in SF? Where do you start when inventing mythology? What makes a mythos convincing, and how do you subtly weave your mythology into the narrative?
Fonda Lee(M), Marina J. Lostetter, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Marie Brennan

( notes )

I wasn't a big ribbon collector at Dublin Worldcon, I only had five; still, my main takeaway from the AO3-Hugo-"discussion" is that I'll be very disappointed if at future Worldcons there won't be "Contributor to a Hugo-Award-Winning Project" ribbons. Ideally with the AO3 kudos symbol on it.

I'm starting to run out of steam with these, so they take longer/are getting a bit shorter from now on. Fortunately I'm almost done.

Full contact medieval combat demonstration
Fighters from the Irish full contact medieval combat team will be on hand to demonstrate their high intensity, exciting sport, and to talk about the realities of using weapons and armour.

( notes )

Nonhuman and interspecies communication
There is much to be learned by terrestrial, yet nonhuman, lifeforms that communicate within and between species. We have already learned a lot from language experiments with great apes, parrots, and dolphins. What more do these animals and others have to teach us about communicating with lifeforms beyond the Earth, should we ever meet?
Manny Frishberg(M), Dr Claire McCague, Dr Bob, Christianne Wakeham

( notes )

What fanfiction can teach genre writers
Fanfiction’s popularity continues to grow, tapping into the special creative connection between authors and fans. What is it about this literary nexus that is so fascinating and stimulating for fans? And what might authors have to learn from fans who write it?
Sara-Jayne Slack(M), Naomi Novik, Jeremy Szal, Kate Sheehy

( notes )

Next I originally wanted to go to a panel about writing feudal systems, which dolorosa_12 thankfully collected notes for here, but the room was full. The panel we went to instead was also fun:

Children's books: the gateway drug
For most of us, exposure to sci-fi and fantasy starts as children. At what point does imaginative children’s book illustration start being labelled ‘fantasy’? What creators influenced you? How aware are these two industries of each other? We talk to people who’ve had experience of both.
Oisin McGann(M), Gili Bar-Hillel, Holly Black, Lee Moyer, Ben Hennessy

( notes )

Future financial systems and transactions
The recent global financial crisis revealed major flaws in the system. What were some of these flaws? Were they fixed and what impact will they have on the legacy of our financial systems? Investors are looking for stability and security in the systems. Where should they place their trust? What do we need to know, and what red flags should we be watching for in the future?
Jo Lindsay Walton(M), Shmulik Shelach, Dr Stewart Hotston, Nile Heffernan, Ms Maria Farrell

( notes )

Friday was a busy day!

Space opera: boldly going where no genre has gone before!
Space opera, science fiction’s beloved subgenre, has changed a lot since the Golden Age. Some predicted it wouldn’t survive long into the 21st century, but space opera has not only survived: it’s thriving, with a new generation of writers boldly taking it in new directions. The panel will discuss current trends in space opera and how they see it evolving in the future.
Mr Adam Whitehead(M), Rivers Solomon, Martha Wells, Bo Balder

( notes )

Bridging the language barrier: translated SFF
How has the landscape of translated SFF changed in the last decade or so, both into English and from English into other languages? We’ve seen translated pieces triumph in the genre’s prime awards and gain dedicated magazines, the attention of more readers, and many specialised anthologies. The panel will discuss trends in translated genre fiction as well as possible future directions.
Cheryl Morgan(M), Julie Novakova, Neil Clarke, Francesco Verso, Emily Xueni Jin

( notes )

Is epic fantasy conservative?
Back in 2013, Gollancz’s Twitter account made the claim that: ‘Epic Fantasy is, by and large, crushingly conservative in its delivery, its politics and its morality’. The question sparked a discussion that is still relevant and ongoing. Is epic fantasy politically conservative and, if so, what does this tell us about the genre?
Joseph Malik(M), Juliet E McKenna, P C Hodgell, Mary Soon Lee

( notes )

Cultural appropriation: a product of a shrinking world?
White SFF authors have historically appropriated other cultures to add depth and excitement to their characters: The Wheel of Time takes the culture of POC and gives it to the Aiel, and Frank Herbert appropriates Islam and applies it to the Fremen. With relatively easy access to travel and digital information these days, how can we make use of a range of influences while avoiding cultural appropriation?
Dr Wanda Kurtçu(M), Michi Trota, Fulvio Gatti, Jeanette Ng, PRK

( notes )

Using SFF as sandboxes for ideas on politics and society
Speculative fiction can offer readers and writers a space, removed from ‘real’ life, to explore and criticise society and politics and offer possible solutions. From the economy of your galactic empire to the status of dwarves in your epic fantasy, it is impossible to separate the political from the fantastical, and SFF is a great place to imagine other ways of existing.
Nicholas Whyte(M), Sam Hawke, Eyal Kless, Taiyo Fujii

( notes )

Let's do the time loop again
From GroundhogDayto Star Trek: Discovery’s ‘Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad’ and this year’s Russian Doll, the time loop is a tried and true fan favourite. Why does it work? What does it do? What are our favourite examples?
E. Lily Yu(M), Shivaun Hoad, Laura Antoniou, Eliza Bentley, Ira Alexandre

( notes )

Part one of my panel notes, of various length.

Crime and punishment in the age of superheroes
Superhero TV shows repeatedly borrow the structures and tropes of cop shows, with many superheroes being ‘Cowboy Cops’ –operating according to the Rule of Cool with a sketchy adherence to notions of due process and civil rights. Can these hybrid narratives really acknowledge the ways in which real law enforcement is tangled up with race, class, and so on, and what do they reveal about attitudes to contemporary policing?
Panelists: Chris M. Barkley(M), Rachel Coleman, Dan Moren, Aliette de Bodard ( notes )

How to build an evil empire
So you want to build an Evil Empire? Using examples from film and literature, our panel of evil geniuses will help you avoid the pitfalls of previous empires with handy hints and tips, such as: don’t build an exhaust port that can set off a chain reaction leading to the reactor, which will destroy your brand new Death Star.
Lee Harris(M), Diane Duane, Verity Allan, Steve Jackson ( notes )

A portable kind of magic: Why we love books-about-books
Whether it’s a library of every book ever written, a compendium of magical creatures, or a hitchhiker’s guide to the universe, we’ve always loved a good story-about-a-story. What is behind our fascination with books and libraries, and why does it translate so well to SFF? How does the history of book-making connect to our myths and legends, and what shape will our meta-stories take in the future?
Genevieve Cogman(M), A.J. Hackwith, Tasha Suri, Miriam Weinberg ( notes )

How to manage finite natural resources
The world has finite natural resources, yet we appear to be consuming them as if they were infinite. Political and economic inertia has led us to expend minimal effort in the effective use of our resources, to the detriment of the environment and our species. Our panel will explore what we can do to manage the resources that we have, and whether we can do so to the benefit of all species on this planet.
Vincent Docherty(M), Sazib Bhuiyan, Nigel Quinlan, Annalee Newitz, Cliona Shakespeare

( notes )

Talking animal characters in SFF
Science fiction and fantasy have a long history of anthropomorphic animals in both children’s and adult novels. What is the attraction of talking animals? Can they be seen as a commentary on the human condition? What are the pitfalls and opportunities offered by this anthropomorphism?
Lise Andreasen(M), Robert V. S. Redick, RJ Barker, Virginia, Adrian Tchaikovsky
( notes )

And after this I played a game of the TinyD6 game "Guardians," where I played a stuffed bear toy who was also a wizard, and together with other stuffed toys we had to defend a child and defeat evil toys in a store. ( notes )

I'm home! I had an amazing vacation, but now I'm also very glad to be back again. Which is how it should be.

I finally have time to write about my fantastic time at Worldcon! It was so great, I'm so glad that I went, and I'm already looking forward to going again one day. Aaaah I don't even know where to begin. So many great panels, and games and concerts etc., and it was so wonderful to just look around and see all these people in nerdy t-shirts (and some in cosplay!) and know that we're all here because of similar interests. So many brief meetings and conversations with interesting strangers, and great authors - and, most importantly, friends! I met up with dhampyresa and dolorosa_12 and extrapenguin and naye and doctorskuld, it was wonderful. And I even kept unexpectedly running into them despite the size of the convention, which was very nice.

I brought back some souvenirs – a d20 necklace, and an "I don't believe in humans" unicorn coaster for DD, and a print of Finding Fantasy by the very nice Rob Carlos which is now hanging in our kitchen, and the Myriad Lands anthologies which I have not had time to read yet but am already happy about because the covers are gorgeous (illustrations by Likhain). I also got some books signed, and I'll keep my name badge with the ribbons. Unlike some people, who collected dozens of them, I "only" have five: "My First Worldcon", "Volunteer" (though I only volunteered for two hours on Sunday), "Endor Scout" (from the TinyD6 Guardian RPG game I played one evening, as a stuffed toy bear wizard), "Murderbot doesn't love you, it just wants to watch its shows" from a panel with Martha Wells, and "Complete & Total Wordo" from someone I happened to share a hostel room with.

The hostel was only a 10-15 minutes' walk away from the convention center btw, which was very convenient. Apart from one short walk through Trinity College and the science gallery on Wednesday after I arrived, and walking between the locations and looking for food, I saw pretty much nothing of Dublin, but that's fine, I wasn't there as a city tourist. (That came later, in England.)

I made very detailed notes on all panels I visited. I'll probably (more realistic: maybe) type them all up eventually, but in the meantime, I'll post a list of panels/activities here (you can look up more detailed descriptions in the program) and if you're interested in hearing more about particular panels and/or want the notes, tell me. (extrapenguin also posted very detailed notes for the panels she visited, and naye and dolorosa_12 also posted reviews.)

( Panels etc. )

And that was it :) There were plenty of other panels that I wanted to go to but couldn't, either because they overlapped with other things or because the queue was too long and I didn't get in. To my own surprise, I even got enough sleep throughout, because when I came back to the hostels in the evening my head was too full to do what I usually do in the evenings, i.e. read and/or procrastinate. Maybe I should do that more often…

Another very nice thing at the con: I was often asked "are you a writer?" The first time I replied "No, I just write fanfic," but every.time. I was then told that that counts, so by the end of the con I said "yes, I write fanfic" and it felt very good. In general, even though I haven't written anything in weeks, after the convention I felt really encouraged about my writing, and motivated too - let's hope that it lasts!
The acceptance of fanfic in general is changing, as also demonstrated by the AO3 winning, but for me the most surprising proof of that was when two authors separately told me that yes, they read fic for their work and they love it. Which is cool! (And I've been meaning to write something for those books anyway…)
(Odd moments: when people talked about "fandom" and meant all kinds of fans gathered at the con - I'm so used to using "fandom" for transformative fandom! Probably also why, at first glance, I was so surprised to see so many men there ^^ )

Overall it was a fantastic experience, A+ :D And I got so many book recs - so many books, so little time...

Coming soon: posts about the second part of my vacation in Oxford&London, "The Untamed", and "oh no I left my D&D party alone for two weeks and Things happened."

It's the third day of Worldcon and I'm having a great time. Very busy! Five panels each the past two days, plus other stuff like gaming and a concert etc. Fortunately so far I'm getting enough sleep (to my own surprise), and almost enough food (so little time...) I've met up with friends, which has been great. No time to keep up with anything online, much less type up my detailed panel notes, I'll do that afterwards. Not sure yet what my plans are for today - more accurately, I know what my plans are, I just doubt I'll get into some of the rooms, even though I've been lucky so far, but I'll see.

Accommodation and flight booked for Dublin! Eeee I'm actually going. I'm flying via Munich (unfortunately it was cheaper from there) and I'll arrive on Wednesday afternoon, and I don't have a flight back yet because I'll probably make a short side trip to London&surroundings afterwards (as long as I'm in the area and it's still easy...), but one thing at a time.
Before Dublin, I'm going on a short trip to Hamburg with my family this weekend, that'll be fun too. (Huh, this is my first international travel since 2016, little wonder I feel out of practice and anxious. At least it's in the EU.)

And before my travels, fortunately DD and I managed to catch up with the released&subbed episodes of The Untamed! We are up to episode 38, it's still good and very pretty. I really like that I don't know any spoilers because it turns out the more surprising it is when something terrible happens the more effective it is, not necessarily in general but definitely for me while watching this drama. ( For example )

Soo it looks like I'm going to Worldcon! Which is in two weeks, aaaaah. It's not that much to organize really, flight tickets are easy and then I just need to find a place to stay (probably a hostel and maybe a bit further away from the convention center but whatever, there are probably bikes to rent) but still. I don't often go on vacations...

I've only briefly looked at the program so far and there's lots of cool stuff! I need to make a plan. I've never been to a convention before, I think I need to be careful to schedule enough breaks.

Speaking of plans, I'd also love to meet up with people! Let me know if you'll be there and would like to meet :)

Current Mood: anxious

Soo I was sad about not going to WorldCon this year -
(Me today: I'm sad I'm not going to Worldcon.
DD: Why aren't you?
Me: …because I wasn't sure if I could go months ago, and now short-term it'd be a hassle with the tickets and the flights and the accommodation and stuff.
DD: All of that can be fixed/organized, you have the time and you could afford it, if you want to go then you should.
Me: …um.
Me: You're not wrong, but it would be a lot of work to organize and I hate organizing and it's late so who knows if it'll work out... and it'd be a LOT and what if it's too tiring... and what if...)
- and I would probably talk myself into it in a few days but I just saw that they only sell membership passes for the next hour and a half and that's way too fast to make a decision!! And the hotels nearby are already full! And it's a lot of money! And DD is already asleep and LB not responding!
Whyy couldn't I have thought of this tomorrow then it would have been too late anyway and no longer an issue, or otherwise yesterday. Why am I so indecisive and have bad timing. Someone talk me in or out of this please.

ETA: Tickets bought! I'm going to Worldcon! ...probably. I could still change my mind and resell them. But probably not. Guess I'll see. Aaah my nerves.