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Tampa Bay Comic Con: Excitement and Chaos

I attended Tampa Bay Comic Con on a one day pass Saturday, August 1st 2015.  This was my second TBCC, and I had some issues with the way the con was run last year that seem to have been, unfortunately, not resolved this year.  Let me lay out my criticisms, before I get to all the positive things I have to say about the con, which are many – I don’t want you to think this is all complaining, but there are a few things that must be pointed out and I hope corrected for next year.

I’ve been to many conventions, some bigger and some smaller than TBCC.  It’s amazing how the bigger conventions seem to be more orderly, more structured, and have more professional and enthusiastic people on the floor.  I don’t know TBCC’s process in hiring and training their staff, but I have to say the people working the con were confused, sullen, and at times even rude.  It never ceased to amaze me that when I would ask a staff member what a line was for, which panel was currently going on in a room, or where I was supposed to wait for a later panel they simply would not know.  The con attendees were helping each other, passing information down the line and deciphering the schedule and relaying rumors / information about why this celebrity wasn’t at a signing at a designated time, etc.  We did get to our panels on time and we did figure things out, but I couldn’t for the life of me understand what the volunteers were even there for if they weren’t acting as guides for the attendees.  While waiting in a line for Carrie Fischer’s panel, for instance, I asked the volunteer to make sure it was the correct line, and she shrugged her shoulders and smiled, saying simply, “I don’t know.” The people in front of me confirmed that they believed that was what the line was for, and a few others said, yes, this is the line for Carrie Fischer.  The line happened to make itself stretch down to the front of a set of doors for Room D, and when the doors were just opening to let the previous panel out, the volunteer suddenly started, as if she didn’t know that the panel was ending, and then frantically yelled to those of us in line, “Make room please!”  It was very last minute and created a moment of chaos where those of us on the floor – (many of us had sat down and were eating, talking, etc.) had to sweep our stuff up and move to avoid being trampled, and the people leaving the panel were exiting into a mob of people that created a bottleneck situation that lasted about ten minutes as people slowly trickled out / pushed their way through throngs of people confused about where to go and with no guidance or organization to get them moving.

My other complaint was actually how we were allowed to move through the convention center.  There were two floors and the access to the escalators could be a little tricky, depending on which way you exited from the vendor room.  At one point we ended up back at the entrance area of the con, and attempted to get on the escalator from there.  We were stopped very rudely and told we would have to go all the way around, which was literally circling the entire room to end up back where we were, on the other side of the con volunteer.  I said, “We have bracelets, we’ve been here all morning. Is there a reason I can’t walk past you to get to the escalator?”  The man scowled and said, “You can’t come through here.”  I was absolutely frustrated.  “This makes no sense.  Why do I have to go around?  I have a bracelet.”  He turned to me then, making eye contact for the first time and said gruffly, “GO AROUND.”  I was absolutely heated.  It seemed like a pointless security stop, with no legitimate reason behind a barrier to the escalator.  In either case, to be that rude was unnecessary.

Now, on to the positive things about the con.

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The MC for the panels was great.  He was entertaining, funny, and to the point about getting people seated in the auditorium and laying out the ground rules for interacting with the celebrities.  Sometimes people need to be reminded not to ask good looking celebrities to take off their shirts, or ask inappropriate questions, and so I’m always glad when con staff let con newbies know the rules, and re-iterate for those people who might need reinforcement about appropriate behavior.  I went to the Carrie Fischer panel first, and she was really great.  She was entertaining and told some great stories about her time on set on Star Wars, and even mentioned some moments from one of my personal fave movies, The Burbs.  She cleverly avoided giving anything away about The Force Awakens and was very entertaining with self deprecating humor and quips about her sexual conquests.  She brought her dog with her to the panel, which was really cute.  I went to get her autograph at 3:50, however, which is when she was scheduled for her second signing of the day, and she was nowhere to be found.  Again, the staff had no idea what was going on, but I walked up to people in the line and they told me they had been waiting there since 8:30am(!!!), when she was doing her first signing, because she had taken frequent breaks and didn’t get through the first line.  I have short patience for waiting around and didn’t want to miss the other panels that we were excited to go to, so I sacrificed the opportunity to get her autograph and moved on to continue enjoying the con.  I was a bit disappointed that things weren’t flowing on schedule, but I wasn’t going to let it get me down when there was so much other great stuff to see and experience.
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The next panel we went to was a small panel on ghost hunting, because my friend Carol is really into that kind of thing.  It took place in one of the smaller rooms and was somewhat interesting.  It was a perfect time to do some snacking and take a break from walking, shopping, and more walking, which is what we had done for the first few hours of the con, prior and after Carrie Fischer’s panel.  It was great, because after that panel the very next one was one on Welcome to Night Vale, which I am absolutely obsessed with.  If you don’t know what that is, go subscribe to the podcast and listen to it immediately, before the secret police send the helicopters to take you to the dog park.  Anyway, the panel was an interesting history of the podcast, and a general set up for those who might not be familiar with it.  It was a blast and the crowd was really into it.  There was at least one Cecil cos-playerin the crowd and lots of fans, it was a great experience!

After those smaller panels, we went back down towards Room B to get in line for the Sand Snakes panel.  Yes, KEISHA CASTLE-HUGHES and JESSICA HENWICK were there, two actresses whose characters on Game of Thrones are part of the formidable and sexy Sand Snakes, the daughters of Oberyn Martell, grieving and thirsting for vengence.  The girls were super cool, and had a lot of stories about the set, and about their own moments of being star struck and silly on set, which was absolutely adorable to hear – CELEBRITIES, THEY’RE JUST LIKE US!  AMIRITE?  The panel was great and the crowd was great, and again The Force Awakens questions had to be fielded by Jessica Henwick, as she has a role in the film that is as of now, unknown.

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So, there were many other panels we could have attended, including Jena Malone, Billy West, Freema Agyeman, Lea Thompson, Matt Ryan, and the venerable Linda Hamilton – but I was with some con newbies and they were exhausted, and we had been living off of goldfish and trailmix and warm bottled water, so I took pity upon them and agreed to head back to the floor for one last round of shopping and then out to find some real food.  I’ll say here that the selection of vendors and artists was wonderful.  There was variety, competitive pricing, so much to see and so much to BUY!  We went in with backpacks full of snackage and left with backpacks full of merch, and my brother carrying The Keyblade around on his shoulder.

I’ll mention the cosplay here and include a few of the better photos I managed to get:11813479_879494958430_3497485043691607442_n11232710_879494978390_8233488522716306632_n

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Great cosplay, kind people – really, TBCC is a great con.  I think that some common sense changes to the way the staff is prepped and trained for the con could make it a better experience for everyone.  I’m sure when those volunteers are asked about something and they don’t know, it’s not a good feeling for them, either.  They want to do their job well, we want to enjoy the con in an organized way and feel like our needs as fans are being met.  TBCC, you can do better!  Manage lines, give your volunteeers good info about what’s going on in their designated area, and get a clear idea of how people are supposed to be moving around the convention area, but do it in a way that streamlines the traffic, not a way that makes it more confusing and creates more crowding.  With these simple changes this con could go from being good to GREAT.  I know I’ll be attending next year, my third year in a row, and be bringing my friends in tow.  You should bring yours, it’s a great time for everyone, big or small.

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Jumping Back In or “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love D & D”

Well, I obviously did not keep up with this blog like I intended to.  Here’s another start.

So, what’s been going on in my life?pathfinder___mimzy_za_by_yuikami_da-d57gwy0

Well, the most interesting thing has been joining my first Dungeons and Dragons group.  That’s live action role play, with real human people.  It’s me, my husband, my best friend Kelly, her boyfriend Dave and our dungeon master, Evan.  Even though I know these people, it was still a very daunting experience the first time we sat down to play.  I felt myself shrinking into myself, becoming almost paralyzed with stage fright.  I couldn’t really talk as my character, and very rarely said anything at all during the first couple of hours of our game.  I felt like I was letting everyone down, because I was so excited about this and I had worked so hard on my character, and I had told them all about my ideas and the direction I thought my character would go.  But when it came time to role play, all of that excitement and confidence evaporated, and I was utterly unsure of myself.  Luckily, the others in the group started things off and trudged through the awkwardness, and my husband really stepped up and got involved, knowing that I would follow his lead and jump in when I felt comfortable.  He has this uncanny ability to be able to tell when my anxiety levels are up, and he does what he can in those moments to try to ease me out of it.  I really need to be more thankful for him, he is very understanding and it’s amazing how when you’ve been with someone so long, there is a kind of wordless way of communicating that evolves between you.  He knows when I need him just by reading my body language, or making a brief moment of eye contact.

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Anyway, back to the game.  I have to say, having played MMORPG’s I knew some of the basic ideas of the game, how the format was probably going to go, what the world would be like, etc.  However, the experience of playing the game is so much different than I had imagined, or even different from what I had seen on TV.  (I’m looking at you, amazing Community episode about D & D – so far there have been no gratuitous sexual encounters at an inn.)  Once I had shaken off my anxiety, I really got into playing my character, even adopting a sort of Cockney accent to really help differentiate the character from myself, which was a tip I had read on a forum about D & D.  Once you feel comfortable with your group mates and really get to know and enjoy your character, the game opens up for you and you realize there are so many things to do.  Yes, we follow the quests and fight the monsters and loot the dungeons, but on the way there are decisions to make and problems to solve, and it’s so much fun to see what your team mates come up with.  The DM keeps us on track, and provides some great NPC voicing as well as presenting dilemmas that force the group to work together.  To me, it was like playing an MMO with a guild I had grown close with, except we were interacting with each other in real time and getting that social aspect that most gaming seems to lack.  I have to give props to our DM for writing some interesting content, and weaving in pre-made instances with a story line of his own.

We have our third session coming up soon and I’m excited to get my Paladin gnome back into action.

In the meantime, I will be attending Tampa Bay Comic Con on Saturday, and will have a report up on my blog shortly after that.

As usual, thanks for reading.

-Lisa–

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( my) immortal: The Web Series Review

(my) immortal is a fan-fiction of legend, known to many who wander the dark and strange twisted places of the internet.  It clearly sprang from the mind of a preteen girl obsessed with the ideas of passion and romance, with no practical ideas about sex or love from which to draw.  It reeks of the temporary obsessions of youth – dark, Gothic and gloomy outlooks on life, vampires, blood, spikes and heels and lace and eyeliner – so much eyeliner.  It drapes itself in the silly music of alt boy bands and in the preteen girl illusions about popularity, sex and fate.

And it is terrible.

Terrible, terrible drivel.

That fact makes it all the more miraculous that (my) immortal: The Web Series works on as many levels as it does.  It is nothing short of brilliant that the creator takes the vapidness of the plots, the empty shell characters of the Mary Sues, and the awful writing and uses those very things to create something beautiful, meaningful and dare I say – deep.

The term “Mary Sue” has been around, historically, since the first Star Trek fan-fiction made its way into the world.  It refers to a character “usually written by a beginning author. Often, the Mary Sue is a self-insert with a few “improvements” (ex. better body, more popular, etc). The Mary Sue character is almost always beautiful, smart, etc… In short, she is the “perfect” girl. The Mary Sue usually falls in love with the author’s favorite character(s) and winds up upstaging all of the other characters in the book/series/universe.” (Urban Dictionary)

In (my) immortal: The Web Series, the main character is a Mary Sue – Enoby Darkness Dementia Raven Way.  She is a beautiful goth, a brilliant wizard, and presents herself with all the self-importance and self-confidence her author imbued her with.  The joke is that the audience knows that she’s a Mary Sue, and the rest of the people interacting with her exist somewhere between the Hogwarts of the books and the world as we know it – they are often confused by her Mary Sue traits and the strange way that she thinks, not realizing they are the minor characters in her story.  For instance, she insists bands like Simple Plan and My Chemical Romance are “goth” bands, and when other characters mention real goth bands, like Dead Can Dance and Lacuna Coil, she deadpans, “Who?”

Enoby believes that all the people she hangs out with need to be as goth as she is.  She hangs out with Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, and fondly calls him, ‘Vampire’.  Ron is ‘Diablo’, and at the start of the series Enoby is dating a less than interested Malfoy.  She warns Hermione that someone might think she is prep with all that reading and studying she does, and it takes a few episodes for her to wise up to how awesome The Brightest Witch of her Age actually is.

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The great thing that this series does is take the three major characters from the Harry Potter Series (and Malfoy) and really flesh them out as characters who have all the traits you are familiar with, as well as a few more, and who have flaws as well.  For instance, Harry is still the Chosen One, who is a reluctant hero and also a person willing to step up for others.  Here he is also a gay character having feelings for Malfoy, and admits to being a messed up person emotionally due to everything he’s been through, but says he keeps trying, because that’s who he is.  He meshes well with this series’ Malfoy, who is still the rich boy who can be a bit of a selfish jerk, except here we see how he is feeling pressured by his father’s expectations and position in society.  The story line positions a relationship with Harry as his outlet for these confusing and conflicting emotions, and the attraction feels real.  Ron is somewhat bumbling, and shy, but also funny and sarcastic, providing a lot of the series’ jokes and one shot facial expressions, especially reacting to some of the outrageous things that Enoby says throughout.  The ongoing conflict for him is feeling left out as the other characters couple up and hook up, and we know he has feelings for Hermione but trouble working up the courage to express them.  He’s always on hand to assist in the big battles but, like in the books, seems to be delegated to the sidelines.

Hermione is the character that I find most fascinating.  Here she is still the quiet bookworm who can be a know it all, but makes sure to reveal that she has a fiery side when she feels passionate about something.  It’s great to see her emotional turmoil when she feels an inexplicable attraction to Enoby, and tries to reason it out, because reasoning is how she deals with everything.  She is smart and savvy – and apparently, in the many fight scenes, brilliant at wand dueling.  The series really seems to position her as the hero and the strength of the group, binding all the different personalities together and being a kind of matriarchal force of goodness against all the evil plots being hatched against her friends.  It is she who’s story line most closely intersects with Enoby’s, and in fact the story of their friendship is really the story of Season One, culminating in an awesome battle at the end and a cheesy-not-cheesy speech about friendship and love.

What may be the ultimate testament to the writing of the series is Enoby herself.  When we are first introduced to our Mary Sue du jour,  she is almost unbearable in her annoying-ness.  She puts down everyone and everything around her, noting that things aren’t dark or Gothic enough and declaring her hatred of all things “prep.”  The group seems to be dragged around by her will alone, afraid to say no or knowing that if they did she would find a way to make them do what she wanted anyway.  She’s the friend no one really remembers making friends with, but that always seems to be around anyway, and believes she’s the most important person in the room all the time.  She’s oblivious to the frustrations and confusion of those around her, and will often dismiss criticism or corrections – which in itself is half the joke.  She becomes endearing throughout the series, as we realize she will fight the bad guys with a fierce passion, and protect her friends, even if they will never be as cool as her.  Her real humanizing moment comes near the end of the first season after she discovers her boyfriend Malfoy in a compromising position with her friend Harry – and reacts with a real hurt and hopelessness that’s very relate-able.  It’s in the reconciliation of this group of friends that the big bad gets defeated at the end of season one, and it’s these friendships that hook you and make you want to watch more.

Season Two introduces the character of Tom Riddle, who easily seduces Enoby with his Gothic and Vampire ways, along with the fact that he shops at Hot Topic and is in a Goth Band.  It’s hilarious to see the group’s reaction to the casual admission by Enoby that she’s dating Tom, and makes for a great series of jokes and funny moments at the start of the season.  The conflict serves to test Harry and Malfoy’s relationship, pushes Ron to the point where he declares “Ron’s Day” to finally try to give himself some agency, and introduces another Mary Sue to spar a conflict between “The Sue of Light” and “The Sue of Dark.”  If you’re thinking that it sounds ridiculous, that’s kind of the point, and that’s the kind of show this is – a show that pushes the boundaries of over the top fan fiction and uses crazy plots and even crazier characters to evoke moments of real tenderness and camaraderie.  Another of the show’s strengths is the soundtrack, appropriately punk and evocative of college nights with friends back in the days where you were still discovering who you wanted to be.  I suppose that’s another part of the charm of the series, as we can all relate to that time in our lives where we weren’t sure who we were or where we were going, but we knew who we wanted to go there with.

Overall (my) immortal: The Web Series is an impressive project that manages to make something wonderful out of what is widely known as the worst fan-fiction of all time.  And that is no small feat.

 

 

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Introduction

Hello, Internet.

I’m Lisa, a 29 year old social worker and geek / nerd / scifi and fantasy connoisseur.  I used to write for SciFiGuy.ca but took some time off when I got promoted at work, because I have a hard time with time management and fatigue, which is part of my depression and anxiety.  I was starting to feel overwhelmed working the 9-5 and then coming home and reading / writing for my reviews, and being pressed for deadlines there as well as at work.  After a couple of years focusing on my geriatric social work and planning my wedding, I am now a happily married geek and I feel like I have more time to devote to writing and blogging.  You wouldn’t believe the weight that comes off your shoulders after planning and executing a wedding pretty much by yourself.  Well, just imagine a whole year where all of your free time is devoted to crafting, organizing, making phone calls, interviewing and booking vendors, and spending every last dollar of your excess income (which isn’t much, trust me) on all of this stuff.  It was stressful, and a rough year financially – but my husband and I did it together, and we paid for our approximately $8,000 wedding out of pocket with no debt left at the end of the day.  However, we did have to forgo our SciFi conventions for the year, which was hard to do!  Conventions are our mutual hobby, so it was a hard thing to give up for a whole year.  I’m sure we’ll be making up for it , so expect some convention reporting from yours truly!

My goal with this blog is to provide reviews of current Scifi and Fantasy shows airing on TV and Netflix, as well as the occasional film and convention report.  I also want this to be a place I can talk about my life and my struggles, because the more I read blog posts from other female writers on the internet the more I realize that I’m not as alone as I’ve felt my whole life when it comes to my struggles with mental illness, my feelings of being different and my difficulties just dealing with being a woman in our society.  I wish I had known when I was eighteen and in college that there was a community of people out there facing the same fears, the same insecurities and the same doubts.  I went through a lot of hard times in college, and I went through all of it pretty much alone.  My hope is that by making  some small contribution to the blogging community I can help others see that they’re not alone and that no matter what you’re going through, you can survive it and better yourself.  It does get better, and whatever you are experiencing, there’s someone out there experiencing it too.