Terminus! Fanfic Readings and Round Tables... HELP!

[mijan]

Okay, so I finally registered for Terminus, and I've got only a couple of days to come up with any proposals and submissions.

I think I want to do a fanfic reading.  I've had a few people ask me, in the past, why I didn't do a reading at other events, and it sounds like fun.  So, if you've read my fanfics, what should I submit as a selection for a fanfic reading?  A chapter or scene from Eclipse?  Or maybe Only Your Shadow?  Or something else altogether?  If I do a chapter or scene from Eclipse, which one?  How long of a reading?  If you could be there for a reading (or if you WILL be there for a reading), what would you like to hear me read?   Or do you think that if I did a reading, nobody would show up, and it would be better to avoid the embarrassment by not submitting a selection of fanfic to read?

Also, I really really want to do a round table discussion.  Maybe two.  I have several ideas (and no, these are not the refined versions of the summaries), and I need to refine them and narrow down my choices before I submit one or two.  Here are some if my ideas for round-table type things:

Sadistic Authors and the Characters We Love (to Torment).  This would be a roundtable discussion about the horrible, nasty, cruel, painful, torturous things we do to our favourite characters in the fanfics we write.  We'd be examining WHY we do such horrible things to the characters we love so much.  We'd go into the author psychology, the reader psychology, and even examine the cruel things JKR did to the characters in the canon books.  We'd examine some of the common (and not-so-common) ways that we torment our characters, including (but not limited to) the Unforgivable Curses, classic torture, major illness, injury-causing accidents (broken bones, blood loss, head trauma, etc.), handicap-causing accidents (paralysis, loss of limbs, blindness, etc.), self-inflicted injury (the classic cutting cliche), attacks by vampires and werewolves and hippogriffs (oh my!), and even a tasty little bit of BDSM.  This one is not strictly slash, but I'd hope we'd have a heavy slasher turnout.

Using Fanfic for Sexual Exploration.  We'd look at why fanfic authors often write about sexual experiences they've never had, or would never dare to have.  For example, how many kink-curious but functionally-vanilla people write kink-fic?  How many people have fic-fantasies about various things, but wouldn't dare explore those kinks in real life?  And what do the characters we use indicate something about our own psychologies?  What's different about using Harry versus Draco, or Snape, or Remus?  What do our kinks and characters in fanfic say about us?  Again, not strictly slash, but aren't slash writers the kinkiest wenches in the fandom?

Slashers: The Next Generation:  This is actually not meant to refer to the kids of the Albus Severus Potter generation.  It's just the most clever temporary label I could think of at the moment.  (I'll think of something better later.)  This is actually about the next era of slash for our corner of fandom.  In keeping with the theme of Terminus, this would be about where we stand as a slash fanfic/fanart community one year after the close of canon, and where we'll go next.  Consider it to be like a "Slashers' Summit" meeting, where we can simply convene together to discuss our corner of fandom.  This could include everything from post-canon characterizations and plots that are already cliche, to fests and exchanges, to the bullshit on Livejournal and what this might mean for our necessary level of vigilance and a backup plan.  I would just be there to pass the microphone and keep things organized, so that it could be a participant-generated discussion with a very vague outline of topics for consideration. 

Sandbox Mine.  Another Terminus-themed idea, except that this would focus solely on the fanfiction itself..  Given the fact that we've had a year to digest the end of canon, this is the prime time to discuss how we've developed the characters, in a slashy slant, since then.  Given what we know about the characters in full, and how the "sandbox" is "ours", how have we chosen to draw these characters from that point onwards?  How have we continued to develop this universe?  How have we since gone back to read between the lines of earlier books, and how have we used that to project into the future.  From both Epilogue-compliant and Epilogue, What Epilogue? points of view, how have we kept our characters delightfully queer in our minds?  And, of course, that's to say nothing of the fact that JKR has handed us a real canonically gay character.  ;)

The Missing Years: What could have happened in the three or four years between the Battle of Hogwarts and the time when Harry and Ginny must have consummated their relationship in order to begin producing children?  Did Harry go on a three year vacation in Hawaii or New Zealand to forget about everything?  Did he dive into Auror training?  Did he mope and angst and see a therapist for an obvious case of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome?  Did he have a steamy fling with Draco?  Did the fling continue into an affair that continues for at least nineteen years?  What do we think happened?  What do we WISH happened?  This one could be as slashy as we want it to be.  :D

What do you think?  What sounds good?  What seems promising, but needs modifications?  Do you have any better title ideas?  Any other ideas that you'd like to see presented?  Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Comments

[kinderjedi.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you're attending! These topics all sound fabulous, but I think my two favorites are Slashers: The Next Generation and The Missing Years.

[scarlet-malfoy.livejournal.com]

OMG you absolutely must read Eclipse!!! *grins devilish fangirl grin*

Scene suggestions:
* The end of chapter 8 (Draco keeping Harry warm under the cloak)
* The fairy ring scene
* The moments before the actual Eclipse
* Harry saving Draco in his mind
* The end (room of requirement and the note)


For roundtable suggestions, I absolutely LOVE Slashers: NexGen. I like them all, though, and would most likely be at any roundtable you were hosting!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

LOL... I think the fairy ring scene would have to be it. I'll entertain other ideas, but that seems to be a big one.

The Slashers Next Generation thing would really be less of a roundtable and more of a "meeting" sort of thing where we discuss All Teh Shit going on, the directions of fandom, and the fic itself. I'll have to refine it. What do you think people would want to discuss? And yes, I'll come up with another title. I dunno. I've just got to do this all SOON. Help?

[scarlet-malfoy.livejournal.com]

I think everything you already listed in your summary for NexGen!Slashers is a really great start... and depending on how long the roundtable goes for, those few topics could go on for a very long time.

Perhaps you could post a poll and ask your flist to submit (anonymously?) discussion questions, and you can put them all in a hat at the roundtable and you can pull them out and whoever would like to can have a go at it.

I like the idea of it being a 'slasher's meeting' SO MUCH... there are so many of us out there who never get to discuss slash in real life, who have never in their lives sat in a room with ONE other slasher, let alone an entire room full of them. An interesting idea you could discuss is how we address slash when we are discussing slash with people who have never heard of slash. Do we sugar-coat it? What are good ways to go about explaining it so that people will understand/accept/respect it? Do we as slashers think it's important to tell people outright about our hobbies, or is it a don't ask/don't tell kind of policy? How have we influenced our friends who are not slashers? Do they actually try to understand it, or do they poke fun at it, and how does that make us feel? Is being a slasher a 'phase'? Do any of us think we will have forgotten about slash in five years time? Or is it a lifelong hobby that we hope will stand the test of time and not fall apart in a few years because of the end of canon? What can we possibly do to ensure that that NEVER EVER happens??

<-- some ideas! I hope some of them were useful :D

[aubergineautumn.livejournal.com]

The fairy ring for sure, with Harry swooping around! I can't wait for your recap of the roundtable discussions.

[gmonkey42.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that sexual exploration one sounds awesome, I'd definitely go to that.

[bicrim.livejournal.com]

The fairy ring scene, for sure.

[stitchesandlace.livejournal.com]

All of these ideas sound awesome, and I would absolutely go to anything you're hosting, including a reading! My faves of the roundtable suggestions are Sadistic Authors and the Characters We Love (to Torment), Using Fanfic for Sexual Exploration (that's something I've thought about a lot and would make for fantastic discussion), and Slashers: The Next Generation.

Yay I'm so glad you're coming! *bounces*

[kawaiililme.livejournal.com]

I think Using Fanfic for Sexual Exploration sounds AMAZING. It's such a typical trend that people read/write about kinks they might never experience...look how much of the slash pop is hetero females! Not to mention dubcon, rape, chan, etc.

[siriuslydlucius.livejournal.com]

I don't really know about the round-table, but I do know what I would want to hear, if I could be there. I love the section in Eclipse when Harry is in the prison and is explaining all his reasons for choosing the"light" side... That really made an impression on me.

[kuiskata]

All the topics sound interesting. :) My favourites are, however, are the first three. :)

As for a reading...this is telling me that I should go and re-read Eclipse! XD

Have fun at Terminus!

[belluthien.livejournal.com]

Oh, nice! It will take going out of town to see you again, my dear. ;p (Seems that is when I come out of my hermitage...) I look forward to it. ;)

For the roundtable discussions, I find the Sadistic Authors and Using Fanfic for Sexual Exploration both to be... quite intriguing.
y

[slash-a-holic.livejournal.com]

I loved your impromptu fic reading in the lobby corner at Prophecy, and I'd definitely come to any reading you did. :)

I really like the Using Fanfic for Sexual Exploration idea. I would suggest also having a bit of discussion about the many people who have no sexual experience at all (or are even asexual) but still read or write sex in fic, and if this works as a way of learning what to do/what not to do/how things work for future RL sexual experiences.

And of course, I love Slashers: The Next Generation. More reminiscing from Prophecy, here, but I really liked how the slash panel last year sort of turned into a Slashers' Summit on the LJ situation, and I think it'd be great to have a full time slot devoted to discussing our bit of fandom.

So excited now...and I'd better get on that beta booth application before Friday! :D

[stitchesandlace.livejournal.com]

OMGICON> SO GOOD. icanhas?

[slash-a-holic.livejournal.com]

XD of course! Just credit mortenavida and enjoy.

[tsuj.livejournal.com]

*sniff*
Can't go to Terminu$ or Portu$.
But the Faerie Ring scene from Eclipse would undoubtably be well-received. Sherant's art for it was lovely. Maybe you could include it somehow?