Entry tags:
Azka-flail
Okay, this is the first post, but it won't be the last. I am in complete FLAIL-mode, even though I am utterly exhausted and sleep-deprived and jet-lagged. I can't even begin to list the endless keyboard-smash of squee and the names-list of people I met. Here's a run-down of the week, sectioned into relevant bite-sized pieces:
1. The Honeymoon:
Yes, my lovely wife, fiona_fawkes, and I finally had our honeymoon. We spent two wonderful days and two lovely nights to ourselves in San Francisco. We stayed in the most darling bed and breakfast in the Casto District. Our host was a fabulous and sweet gay man from Holland. We had a gorgeous view of the city from our second-floor room. There were rainbows everywhere in the district, even painted on light posts, and an enormous rainbow flag flew over the main square.
We toured the city, saw the Mission district, climbed the hill to Coit tower, walked Chinatown, visited the Golden Gate Bridge (I have a slight obsession with that bridge), walked around the wharves, and took an Alcatraz harbor cruise which was hosted by an enthusiastic and amiable pianist named Michael. The cruise also went directly under the Golden Gate Bridge, which is AMAZING to see from below. Did I mention a slight obsession with the bridge? Oh, well... yes. Slightly obsessed.
But I'll tell you this much - with living in Kansas City, where it's ALWAYS in the back of your mind that someone might throw a tantrum if they see two women holding hands or kissing in public, it was the most amazing relief to walk through the streets in a place where I felt my sexual orientation wouldn't be held against me. In fact, by the standing estimates, the Castro District is 60% gay. For ONCE, I was in the majority. I know it's shallow, perhaps, but that felt really good.
After two days of vacationing and honeymooning, Fi and I finally joined the convention crowd at the Parc 55.
And so we switch into con-mode.
2. Teh Movie: It started with the movie on Thursday night. I had decided NOT to see the movie ahead, even though technically, I COULD have gone to the line party in Kansas City before flying out to San Francisco. But fuck, I had tickets to the Thursday show in San Fran, and I WANTED to share the experience with a theatre full of other obsessed fandom geeks. As for my review of the movie itself... yes, I'm thoroughly pissed about a few specific changes they made in certain key scenes, as well as pointless changes they made that were just stupid, but overall, I thought this was the best movie. I enjoyed it very much.
3. Teh pr0n: I got to read at the Erotic Harry Potter night again this year. Hosted by Ravenna_c_tan (please forgive the lack of username link here - it seems to be causing a bizarre glitch with LJ);the Erotic Harry Potter night is a set of readings by fanfic writers, usuall all rated NC-17. This year's readings had a full range of styles, genres, and emotions. The most unique was![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dacro's fic, "Interpreting Draconis," in which Harry is a sign-language interpreter for a deaf Draco Malfoy (non-magic AU). Dacro actually knows American Sign Language, and not only read the fic, but also SIGNED the parts that were signed in the fic. I have to say, I'm enthralled by sign language. I can't speak it, but I know a little bit, and I'm always thrilled when I recognize a sign in the middle of what's being signed. But it was so amazing to watch and listen to her. It gave the fic a dimension that it didn't have on paper. Additionally, ravenna's fic was hilarious, and the other reader that night, slashpervert, read the raunchiest fic I think I've ever heard. The venue for the readings was absolutely perfect and lovely, if a bit hard to find. Had a blast.
4. Teh Kink: It's San Francisco, so obviously, kinky things needed to happen. On Friday, a bunch of us made it down to Folsom Street and visited Mr. S's. I bought a couple of new toys, but seriously, it's insanely expensive. GORGEOUS merchandise, yes, but a bit out of my price range. On Saturday night, I went to a fetish ball with Fi and some friends (no names for leather-scene privacy reasons, sorry). It was fun, but I was a bit too tired to really enjoy all of it. However, I did get a chance to play in the dungeon room. I brought my whip, and one Mistress had seen my skill with it in a brief whipping that I'd granted to one man, and She asked if I'd be willing to whip her submissive. We had a lovely time of it, and she was very impressed with my skill. She wasn't used to single-tails, and so I taught her a bit of how to use it. It's always nice having a good, positive experience like that when travelling to an unfamiliar club. She was very friendly and cordial, and her submissive was a delight. Nice guy. Overall, a good time was had by all, and I'm very glad that I went.
Also, to note, I went dressed in drag. I looked GOOD, if I do say so myself. Also, I've settled on a drag name, and I'm quite pleased with it. I'm going with "Leo" for a drag name. It works for me on several levels, and I'm very satisfied.
5. Teh Con: I am supremely squeeful that I finally got to meet red_rahl (sorry, another LJ glitch here) in person, despite the fact that we've been friends for ages, and I pester her on the phone regularly. Also, it was lovely to see the London contingent, includinglizardspots , melusinahp , and ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
son_of_darkness. I quite literally fell over myself when I connected femmequixotic 's screen name to the lovely lady sitting in front of me at the Azkatrek meetup. (It took about two hours before my throat stopped hurting from smashing the front of my trachea on the chair.) I was almost overwhelmed by the critical mass of Teh Cute when I saw red_rahl, lizardspots , and glockgal all in the same place at the same time. Seriously. It was great to see pinkfinity again, too. I went to the FictionAlley reunion she hosted, which made me all nostalgic for the fact that I started visiting FA almost 7 years ago, and became an active member over 6 years ago. I saw... well... EVERYONE at the H/D meetup. Seriously, people, you want me to list everyone I saw, tackled, and squee'd over? NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Just know that everyone was there, and that I absolutely love you all.
I didn't go to Wrock Around the Rock. Too expensive, really. I don't drink nearly enough alcohol to make it worth it, and I had no desire to be stuck on a small boat full of screaming teenage girls. Okay, so maybe it wouldn't have been that bad, but really, the price alone was enough deterrant. Still, I got to see some of the Wrock peeps around the convention. Although this was the first HP convention in ages where I didn't see Brian from Draco and the Malfoys, and that was quite sad, it was nice to see some of the other wrockers. Wrock may not be my scene, but some of the people involved are just fantastic, and it's always great to see them.
Overall, the con was a lot of fun. Of course, not everything is perfect. I've gotta say, the ball SUCKED. Sorry guys, but it did. The room was too hot and stuffy, the music was hideous and too loud, and I just couldn't stay in there. I tried, and after five minutes, I swear my eardrum was ready to start bleeding. My right ear was ringing for almost two hours. So, made my way down to the second floor and hung out in the bar with a lovely group of fabulous people, and had a brilliant evening. Sure, it was disappointing to be all dressed up in a fantastic new set of dress robes (made the old piece-of-shit dress robes look like crap - I'm so glad I gave those away) and not really get to dance with the ladies, and I'm very sad that I didn't get to seelizardspots in her sari and pose for Harry/Padma pictures, but really, it's okay. And also, I got a couple of brilliant opportunities that I wouldn't have had if I'd stayed in the ball. First of all, I kept my eardrums intact, which is helpful. Second, I enjoyed a couple of very nice conversations, involving everything from BDSM stuff to fandom overall to boobies. Third, I also got to have the most GORGEOUS woman in the entire city sitting on my lap at one point. (There are some times when not actually having a male anatomy is a good thing.) And finally, I got a chance to bury the hatchet and have a really meaningful conversation with hp_lexicon. There's a big difference between being angry at a person versus being angry at a situation and irritated at stuff a person did. The latter is easier to fix, and to keep it short and simple, I'm glad it's fixed. It's really a huge weight off my shoulders, because to put it bluntly, I don't like being at odds with people, for any reason. It was important to me.
And, of course, there's the actual programming and panels and roundtables. For the first time in a long time, I wasn't supposed to present ANYTHING this year. After the fiasco of presenting SIX THINGS last year, I figured I should take a break. And then, due to fortuituous circumstances, I randomly ended up on two panels! Exciting! I got invited to the panels on "Queers in HP and Real Life" and "Slash vs. Femmeslash." (Forgive me if I botched the titles of either of them.) I had a lot of fun doing that. What can I say? I'm a Leo - I like stages, spotlights, and microphones. :D
Also... *cough* Plot bunnies. Fanfiction. I... er... I'm writing Harry Potter fanfic again. Yes, I am. Plot bunnies. I've promised a femmeslash fic - Dumbledore's Army Girls. This one will be Luna/Ginny. I'm also writing a Harry/Draco fic. And... okay, please reference THIS POST AND THREAD to see why I'm going to be writing Draco/Chekov. And because this is me, I'm going to make it canon-compliant. *sigh* I am so fucked.
Finally... conventions. So... I said this would be my last Harry Potter convention. I'm... er... reconsidering this. I had so many people tell me that a convention just isn't the same without me... and I don't really feel like leaving yet. We'll see. No promises, but... *sigh* I had so much fun this year. I don't think I'm ready to let go yet.
6. Teh Friending! I need to update my friends list with the names of people I met! Please be aware that I am an ADHD-ish Gryffindor, and remembering names isn't always easy for me. Please, if you were at the convention, and if I SHOULD have friended you, but I didn't, please poke me and remind me to do that.
7. Teh Photos: If you've got pictures of me from the convention, can you send them to me, please?
1. The Honeymoon:
Yes, my lovely wife, fiona_fawkes, and I finally had our honeymoon. We spent two wonderful days and two lovely nights to ourselves in San Francisco. We stayed in the most darling bed and breakfast in the Casto District. Our host was a fabulous and sweet gay man from Holland. We had a gorgeous view of the city from our second-floor room. There were rainbows everywhere in the district, even painted on light posts, and an enormous rainbow flag flew over the main square.
We toured the city, saw the Mission district, climbed the hill to Coit tower, walked Chinatown, visited the Golden Gate Bridge (I have a slight obsession with that bridge), walked around the wharves, and took an Alcatraz harbor cruise which was hosted by an enthusiastic and amiable pianist named Michael. The cruise also went directly under the Golden Gate Bridge, which is AMAZING to see from below. Did I mention a slight obsession with the bridge? Oh, well... yes. Slightly obsessed.
But I'll tell you this much - with living in Kansas City, where it's ALWAYS in the back of your mind that someone might throw a tantrum if they see two women holding hands or kissing in public, it was the most amazing relief to walk through the streets in a place where I felt my sexual orientation wouldn't be held against me. In fact, by the standing estimates, the Castro District is 60% gay. For ONCE, I was in the majority. I know it's shallow, perhaps, but that felt really good.
After two days of vacationing and honeymooning, Fi and I finally joined the convention crowd at the Parc 55.
And so we switch into con-mode.
2. Teh Movie: It started with the movie on Thursday night. I had decided NOT to see the movie ahead, even though technically, I COULD have gone to the line party in Kansas City before flying out to San Francisco. But fuck, I had tickets to the Thursday show in San Fran, and I WANTED to share the experience with a theatre full of other obsessed fandom geeks. As for my review of the movie itself... yes, I'm thoroughly pissed about a few specific changes they made in certain key scenes, as well as pointless changes they made that were just stupid, but overall, I thought this was the best movie. I enjoyed it very much.
3. Teh pr0n: I got to read at the Erotic Harry Potter night again this year. Hosted by Ravenna_c_tan (please forgive the lack of username link here - it seems to be causing a bizarre glitch with LJ);the Erotic Harry Potter night is a set of readings by fanfic writers, usuall all rated NC-17. This year's readings had a full range of styles, genres, and emotions. The most unique was
dacro's fic, "Interpreting Draconis," in which Harry is a sign-language interpreter for a deaf Draco Malfoy (non-magic AU). Dacro actually knows American Sign Language, and not only read the fic, but also SIGNED the parts that were signed in the fic. I have to say, I'm enthralled by sign language. I can't speak it, but I know a little bit, and I'm always thrilled when I recognize a sign in the middle of what's being signed. But it was so amazing to watch and listen to her. It gave the fic a dimension that it didn't have on paper. Additionally, ravenna's fic was hilarious, and the other reader that night, slashpervert, read the raunchiest fic I think I've ever heard. The venue for the readings was absolutely perfect and lovely, if a bit hard to find. Had a blast.4. Teh Kink: It's San Francisco, so obviously, kinky things needed to happen. On Friday, a bunch of us made it down to Folsom Street and visited Mr. S's. I bought a couple of new toys, but seriously, it's insanely expensive. GORGEOUS merchandise, yes, but a bit out of my price range. On Saturday night, I went to a fetish ball with Fi and some friends (no names for leather-scene privacy reasons, sorry). It was fun, but I was a bit too tired to really enjoy all of it. However, I did get a chance to play in the dungeon room. I brought my whip, and one Mistress had seen my skill with it in a brief whipping that I'd granted to one man, and She asked if I'd be willing to whip her submissive. We had a lovely time of it, and she was very impressed with my skill. She wasn't used to single-tails, and so I taught her a bit of how to use it. It's always nice having a good, positive experience like that when travelling to an unfamiliar club. She was very friendly and cordial, and her submissive was a delight. Nice guy. Overall, a good time was had by all, and I'm very glad that I went.
Also, to note, I went dressed in drag. I looked GOOD, if I do say so myself. Also, I've settled on a drag name, and I'm quite pleased with it. I'm going with "Leo" for a drag name. It works for me on several levels, and I'm very satisfied.
5. Teh Con: I am supremely squeeful that I finally got to meet red_rahl (sorry, another LJ glitch here) in person, despite the fact that we've been friends for ages, and I pester her on the phone regularly. Also, it was lovely to see the London contingent, including
lizardspots , melusinahp , and son_of_darkness. I quite literally fell over myself when I connected femmequixotic 's screen name to the lovely lady sitting in front of me at the Azkatrek meetup. (It took about two hours before my throat stopped hurting from smashing the front of my trachea on the chair.) I was almost overwhelmed by the critical mass of Teh Cute when I saw red_rahl, lizardspots , and glockgal all in the same place at the same time. Seriously. It was great to see pinkfinity again, too. I went to the FictionAlley reunion she hosted, which made me all nostalgic for the fact that I started visiting FA almost 7 years ago, and became an active member over 6 years ago. I saw... well... EVERYONE at the H/D meetup. Seriously, people, you want me to list everyone I saw, tackled, and squee'd over? NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Just know that everyone was there, and that I absolutely love you all. I didn't go to Wrock Around the Rock. Too expensive, really. I don't drink nearly enough alcohol to make it worth it, and I had no desire to be stuck on a small boat full of screaming teenage girls. Okay, so maybe it wouldn't have been that bad, but really, the price alone was enough deterrant. Still, I got to see some of the Wrock peeps around the convention. Although this was the first HP convention in ages where I didn't see Brian from Draco and the Malfoys, and that was quite sad, it was nice to see some of the other wrockers. Wrock may not be my scene, but some of the people involved are just fantastic, and it's always great to see them.
Overall, the con was a lot of fun. Of course, not everything is perfect. I've gotta say, the ball SUCKED. Sorry guys, but it did. The room was too hot and stuffy, the music was hideous and too loud, and I just couldn't stay in there. I tried, and after five minutes, I swear my eardrum was ready to start bleeding. My right ear was ringing for almost two hours. So, made my way down to the second floor and hung out in the bar with a lovely group of fabulous people, and had a brilliant evening. Sure, it was disappointing to be all dressed up in a fantastic new set of dress robes (made the old piece-of-shit dress robes look like crap - I'm so glad I gave those away) and not really get to dance with the ladies, and I'm very sad that I didn't get to see
lizardspots in her sari and pose for Harry/Padma pictures, but really, it's okay. And also, I got a couple of brilliant opportunities that I wouldn't have had if I'd stayed in the ball. First of all, I kept my eardrums intact, which is helpful. Second, I enjoyed a couple of very nice conversations, involving everything from BDSM stuff to fandom overall to boobies. Third, I also got to have the most GORGEOUS woman in the entire city sitting on my lap at one point. (There are some times when not actually having a male anatomy is a good thing.) And finally, I got a chance to bury the hatchet and have a really meaningful conversation with hp_lexicon. There's a big difference between being angry at a person versus being angry at a situation and irritated at stuff a person did. The latter is easier to fix, and to keep it short and simple, I'm glad it's fixed. It's really a huge weight off my shoulders, because to put it bluntly, I don't like being at odds with people, for any reason. It was important to me.And, of course, there's the actual programming and panels and roundtables. For the first time in a long time, I wasn't supposed to present ANYTHING this year. After the fiasco of presenting SIX THINGS last year, I figured I should take a break. And then, due to fortuituous circumstances, I randomly ended up on two panels! Exciting! I got invited to the panels on "Queers in HP and Real Life" and "Slash vs. Femmeslash." (Forgive me if I botched the titles of either of them.) I had a lot of fun doing that. What can I say? I'm a Leo - I like stages, spotlights, and microphones. :D
Also... *cough* Plot bunnies. Fanfiction. I... er... I'm writing Harry Potter fanfic again. Yes, I am. Plot bunnies. I've promised a femmeslash fic - Dumbledore's Army Girls. This one will be Luna/Ginny. I'm also writing a Harry/Draco fic. And... okay, please reference THIS POST AND THREAD to see why I'm going to be writing Draco/Chekov. And because this is me, I'm going to make it canon-compliant. *sigh* I am so fucked.
Finally... conventions. So... I said this would be my last Harry Potter convention. I'm... er... reconsidering this. I had so many people tell me that a convention just isn't the same without me... and I don't really feel like leaving yet. We'll see. No promises, but... *sigh* I had so much fun this year. I don't think I'm ready to let go yet.
6. Teh Friending! I need to update my friends list with the names of people I met! Please be aware that I am an ADHD-ish Gryffindor, and remembering names isn't always easy for me. Please, if you were at the convention, and if I SHOULD have friended you, but I didn't, please poke me and remind me to do that.
7. Teh Photos: If you've got pictures of me from the convention, can you send them to me, please?
And that's that! Again, it was great to see everyone. Once I've got photos uploaded, I'll post more. Also... expect some fanfic to be posted soon. :D
Also... I went to see Wicked on Tuesday night. I cannot BEGIN to express how amazing and fantastic of a time I had, and that will have its own post a bit later. I'm STILL riding high from that. Just... wow.
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Will you be coming to Infinitus?