Lauren
@laurenthemself.bsky.social
Does stuff to words. Social justice bard. Queer. Aussie, but not a death spider.
Living and working on Wurundjeri traditional land; sovereignty was never ceded.
#OutliersWriters
laurenmitchell.com.au
Home safe from #C16Reboot. Eating tea with @adhdedrn.bsky.social. Cats still snubbing me; they'll change their tune by bedtime.
See you all next year for #C17Horizons! Looking forward to Mazz Lewis and Amie Kaufman.
About to dive in to Alas, Poor Hellsite at #C16Reboot with Adeline, Dee, and Jae. I may be too seething and salty to liveskeet.
If anyone at #C16Reboot is up for either some writing time or playing a card game called 'Trust Me, I'm A Doctor' that's got some amazing card art, I'll be in the game room directly opposite reg desk for the next hour or so. Come hang out!
"Sunny side of SFF... not a phrase one usually hears about a Dick." #C16Reboot out of context.
The SFF Book Covers panel at #C16Reboot is a delightful meander through the ridiculous and the sublime.
I missed the launch itself but got the journal, and the cupcake was magnificent. #C16Reboot
SO there's a draft program on the @continuumcon.bsky.social page which means I can share that I will be having a launch for the journal on the Friday of Continuum! Probably at 7.30pm! I WILL BE BAKING.
Image: the invite that I'll be handing out ON PAPER on the Friday itself...
• not meant for telling outside of their cultural context, even with respectful research. (That reminded me of the discussion in Entitled Fans about people who Just Want Things.) #C16Reboot
• The general consensus was that Blak creators don't want to have to meet criteria to have their work be 'Blak enough'; that it is created by a Blak person should be enough to make it a Blak work.
• Cienan spoke about the importance of non-Blak people respecting some stories are... #C16Reboot
• ...with respect to the specific geographical area/language group.
• Cienan, Molly, and Lay are all working to create space for mob within nerddom, not just themselves but those who will come after them.
• Lay: 'We all resonate so much with stories.' #C16Reboot
Some points that stood out to me:
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is far from a monolith; a Wurundjeri person's language, stories, and culture varies from a Yorta Yorta person's, varies from a Noongar person's and so on.
• As such, story research needs to be conducted... #C16Reboot
I took notes on the Blak Excellence in Nerd Spaces panel rather than trying to liveskeet, and ultimately ended up with five pages, so that was a good call. #C16Reboot
Delighted to report that the #C16Reboot Fan Fund Auction made a solid $300 this year!
(It was $299, but your humble cashier refused to do that maths and threw in an extra $1 to make life easier on themself.)
Alex reiterates that we have to teach other people when it comes to language use because terminology changes (to Chuck's point about the right language for queer people). #C16Reboot
In terms of content warnings, they need to be specific, particularly in the case of fan fiction using the 'dead dove: do not eat' tag, where the specific warning is part of the point of the tag usage. #C16Reboot
Generally speaking, content warnings are considered useful; Tacks' suggestion is that they go in the back of the book to avoid spoilers in the table of contents. #C16Reboot
Tacks says once a piece of media is released that's a finished work, except for director's cuts, and fans shouldn't be allowed to make the demands they do. Prime example: Game of Thrones.
#C16Reboot
Underlying theme: infighting among people who are trying to be what I will call lefter than thou, who pick fights over terminology rather than discussing the underlying issues. We are being trained to be confrontational. #C16Reboot
George posits that YouTubers tend to ramp up their personas for online attention. Chuck adds that this isn't new: consider radio shock jocks (now I'm thinking about Kyle Sandilands, which I didn't react to). #C16Reboot
Tacks raises the point that not all the audience has social media, and of those who do the negative voices are still a noisy minority. Alternatively, shouting in the comments section is still engagement. #C16Reboot
George brings up that the internet has brought people out from dark corners and onto social media to share their opinions/veer into entitlement.
Alex adds that this means it potentially gets back to the creators more readily. #C16Reboot
Tacks mentions the Gaylor conspirators and how there are fans who remind us the word is derived from 'fanatic' taking it into the realm of performers'/writers' personal lives. #C16Reboot
George and Chuck have seen a lot of it in Doctor Who fandom with every new iteration of the Doctor. #C16Reboot
At the Age of Entitled Fans, where George, Tacks, Chuck, and Alex are going to kick off with where mere opinion ends and entitlement begins. #C16Reboot
Audience question: do you create magic systems as a storyteller, economist, physicist, none of the above, or all four?
Panel: Yes. #C16Reboot
Z describes magic system discussions as being like academic discussions, or like cardiologists having varying opinions on heart treatments. #C16Reboot
Lyss (editors) will let you know if you under-researched, or if you did too much research on Madagascan snail hunting and need to remove some snails. 🐌🐌🐌 #C16Reboot
Z encourages people to write outside their culture: do your research, be open-minded, don't compare to dominant culture, be aware no country is a monolith, and get a beta/sensitivity reader. #C16Reboot
Audience comment: Ars Magica and Mage: the Ascension are very solidly organised.
Z says they're very scientific but also very Western in their sensibilities, and cautions against excluding or ignoring more spiritual (Eastern) practices. #C16Reboot
Vanessa and Z both recommend big whiteboards or butcher's paper on the wall and make it big!
Ian adds he writes straight on the wall, usually with a bottle of Scotch involved. #C16Reboot
Lyss recommends Twine for mind maps, history, and interconnected magical systems, both as a writer and as an editor.
Z recommends making a personal wiki as a similar resource.
Vanessa recommends Scrivener due to its capabilities for use of folders and documents and scenes. #C16Reboot
Ian: If you're (just) writing about magic, you're writing D&D.
Lyss: I'll debate that later.
(Me, internally: do it nowwww) #C16Reboot
Z's current work in progress is a murder-mystery where the magic is a tool and incidental rather than the focus. Using Burmese cultural touchstones. #C16Reboot
A.D. likes to start with the cost of magic and building from there due to her economist background.
Vanessa spent three years just on worldbuilding and magic building and kept adding more costs and difficulties to obtaining magic. #C16Reboot
Ian mentions a Harlan Ellison short story. I get distracted and horrified by the idea of Hell as endless psychotherapy. #C16Reboot
A.D. mentions Scholomancer as a magic system with a cost that has a point to it.
Vanessa adds magic needs a cost, even just tiredness. Science has a cost (such as fuel for electricity); magic should as well.
Z says this can lead to interesting interpersonal conflicts. #C16Reboot
Z points to Harry Potter as an example of poorly explained magic; the fannish explanations are more interesting than the textual one.
Ian adds that wave a wand and say a word is 'bullshit'. He's got a good point. #C16Reboot
Ian posits that a lot of rules-based magic systems has its origin in D&D, also that there is a liminality between soft and hard magic. The story is important; the magic system needs to fit the story.
Vanessa finds it difficult to enjoy if the story breaks its own internal magic rules. #C16Reboot
Building Magic panel diving right in discussing 'soft' versus 'hard' magic systems. Example of hard magic: Naomi Novik. Example of soft magic: Heralds of Valdemar. #C16Reboot
Pleased to note that #C16Reboot has gained a lot more traction here than on the hellsite (derogatory). Nobody tell Elon Musk how fun Continuum is because he'll attempt to buy it and ruin it.
Starting day two of #C16Reboot with pain relief and a hot shower as my body vociferously protests day one.
Bad news, body: day two is twice as long, and you're gonna be standing up a LOT for the last two hours of it. So get it together.
It's hard to remember what we watched or read or played during the lockdowns because COVID time was soup. #C16Reboot
A lot of media avoids pandemic references altogether; some, however, gets very specific and into lockdowns and even uses personal bubbles as a plot point. #C16Reboot
People got into cosy stories, fluffy fan fiction, and other comforting media. #C16Reboot
We tended to avoid comfort media to avoid associating it with lockdowns.
I got into Star Trek, as we know.
Other new things people tried: K-dramas, watching people stream horror games, playing horror games themselves. #C16Reboot
Melissa mentions Cookie Clicker.
Angelo played three D&D campaigns online during lockdown.
Someone whose name tag I can't read did virtual escape rooms on Discord.
I shamelessly pimped #AliceIsMissing.
Not many of us played Animal Crossing. Lots of essential workers here! #C16Reboot