thrihyrne | Lumos post-mortem, part one

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Location: Las Vegas airport
Current Music: people chatting

Lumos post-mortem, part one

Well, I'm here at the McCann International Airport in Las Vegas. The last Knight Bus shuttle was at 11:00; my flight is at 5:25. I can't even check in my (waaaaaaay too overpacked) suitcase until 1:25. However, after 4 days of no internet, here at the airport they have free wifi!!! WOOOOOT!! So I'm going to spend some quality time sortof catching up, if I can. Somehow the wait doesn't seem nearly so bad now that I know I can look at LJ and do email.

So— the conference! Well, must admit to being underwhelmed; one of the panels I really wanted to attend was cancelled; a couple that I wanted to get in were in tiny rooms and due to fire codes, I couldn't attend (to be fair, for one I was late). Basically I'd wanted to have more discussions about fanfiction and fandom in general, and this was really education and general fandom (books/movies, etc.). There were some good costumes, and much squeeing, but not about topics that were of great interest to me. I'm so glad to report that my paper presentation went well for the 20 or so people I had in attendance. 25 minutes just isn't enough time to talk about much of *anything*, but we were all given CDs with the papers on them, so hopefully if people were interested in my very hasty overview, they can read it at their own leisure. I did get to see some people I was on the lookout for, and of course met some new folks. As with TWH, it seemed that some people I met on the front end (even on the shuttle) I saw again and again, and even left at the same time. I'm way too overtired to list names, but there will definitely be some new people on my flist. My little Ronslash gathering did happen, and that was great fun!! We talked at/in the pool for a couple of hours, and that was really, for me, what it's all about. I do have some pictures that I'll upload to my website and I'll post to let you guys know the link. Probably the most stunning thing was Friday morning, when I saw someone who looked oddly familiar, then I looked at her tag, and she's been a favorite author of mine for a couple of years. Since I'm not flocking this, I won't mention her name, but she has astonishing wordcraft. And… we both went to college together. The same year, even. I was absolutely floored. I mean, to me (and probably within greater fandom) this person is a BNF slash writer. It was just shocking. Very, very cool. Most people walked around in minimal groups of two; it's interesting attending something like this as a solo person, especially when I tend to be in observation mode most of the time anyway.

So- more soon. Heck, if I can find an electrical outlet (the battery on my laptop is notoriously short-lived), I may have my pictures up and even write a drabble or two for the comms I'm in. I definitely need a long night's sleep, though.

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Yay! Glad you had a good time even if the actual conference part wasn't quite all you hoped. *g* And I am totally curious as to who that slash writer is.

Safe travel home!

Hey there! Yeah, I just think I need to go to a slash writer's conference next; it's really the writing that I care about more than anything else. Granted, I did have fun for the hour of PoA that I watched; if only they hadn't waited until midnight to begin showing GoF I totally would have enjoyed seeing that with a bunch of fans. I couldn't stay awake, though.

The author is Fabula Rasa. I told her I was going to go home and reread all of her stuff and she said, "Oh! Cringe, cringe." Very, very cool. Oh! Yours and

cruisedirector's "Admittance" series was brought up at the Snape/Draco panel. :) Another cool thing; while hanging out with the Ronslash people, someone mentioned a 'really hot Ron and Draco and Harry' she'd read recently. "Was it set while they're out camping in the woods?" I asked. "Yeah." "I wrote that!!" She gave me a high five. That was a great feeling!!

Yep- another long flight, but as long as it's safe, that's all that matters. I tried to get an earlier one, but to no avail. :le sigh:

Woot! Yay for recognition! *g* That really was a fun R/D/H you wrote. I would love to go to a slash writers' conference too. *sighs* Don't know that it's ever going to happen.

I can't remember that I've ever read anything by FR; not that I need any more to read, but I should check her stuff out. ;)

Yay! Free airport wi-fi is a very good thing! Sounds like it was a wonderful time anyway, even if things turned out differently that you'd anticipated. Still good to get out and about, yes? And the evening at the pool discussing Ron sounds like a dream! *sigh* And no, you can't drop a bomb like that ('I met this cool person, but...') without letting us in on it! Hope your flight is bearable! *hugs*

The pool time was fun; one of the people mentioned this hot Ron/Draco/Harry she'd read so I asked her if it was set with them out in the woods, camping. "Yes," she said. "I wrote that!" She thought that was great. I also discovered that

mad_maudlin has a bunch of H/R out there I'll need to investigate.

The author is Fabula Rasa (

fabularasa) and her fic is here (http://fabularasa.arithmancy.net/stories.htm). Her main focus is Sirius/Severus and she's a brilliant writer. Guh. Gorgeous turns of phrase? Angst? Hot sex? Dialogue that makes you cry because you didn't write it? That's her. Can't say enough.

Welcome almost-back! And congrats on a successful presentation.

Sorry the weekend didn't live up to expectation, but it does sound like fun, and that's a great story about having actually known an admired fic writer. Makes you wonder who else is out there...

Thank you, thank you!! One 5-hour flight to go, with a glass of wine before that. I'll probably unplug myself here in not too long as I'm sitting on the floor with my legs out; had to get next to an outlet as I already burned out my battery earlier. :P

It's amazing; I just would never have put this person and her stories together. Then again, I don't imagine much of anyone from my school days to be a fanfic writer!

It's a very weird thing. I met a girl in our final few months at school who, after our initial acquaintance, turned out to be a rabid politician slasher, and we're still very close because of that fic connection.

That's why I like to wear fan t-shirts or pins when traveling. Our people are hiding in plain sight everywhere!

Have a safe flight and talk to you soon.

Sorry for the underwhelmingness of the official discussions that went on.

But it still sounds like you had a fun time! I look forward to seeing pictures!

Yeah, it's okay. I just need to go a slash writer's conference, rather than so fandom-specific. And you could come, too!!! I did have fun, and frankly, it was also my vacation, my room was plush with a nice jacuzzi tub and I enjoyed having quiet time in a nice room or going to the pool, whatever. I resized the pics but haven't figured out how I want to post them, whether as a separate webpage on my site or what. :P

Wow, sounds like you had a cool/interesting time. I'm glad you're on your way home for a much-needed rest--hope you're ready for more heat, though! (ugh) Glad to hear all went well, love. Talk to you more soon!

((((HUGS))))

Yes, 'tis hot, and muggy. And I begin house- petsitting tomorrow, so basically I'm moving my dirty laundry from a suitcase to my laundry basket and trying to plan out a few days' worth of clothes to layer on top so I'm ready to go to work and then out to the people with the somewhat high maintenance pets, but gorgeous view of the mountains.

Have so much to process; fanfic (written in my head on the drive home from Annapolis), the psychological, the 'how am I going to couch my perceptions when I write again in LJ' mode, the emotional (to be put on the uber-filter) and… yeah. well. My inner body clock is disturbingly out of whack considering how not that far away I went.

Love you; sent you a postcard, but I want to write you back a proper letter. Your music helped keep me content on the plane. :)

OMG. I was looking for you!!! I can't believe we never met up! I'm so disappointed. I wanted to fangirl you!!!

OMG. I was looking for you!!! I can't believe we never met up! I'm so disappointed. I wanted to fangirl you!!!

Why didn't you come to the Ronslash gathering?! I must admit to being keenly disappointed that I didn't see you; I'd really thought you'd be there and we could at last meet up. Oh well. I'll be posting some pictures on my flocked list, so you can see what I look like, though it pains me to think I passed you and didn't get to squee on you.

::is desolate::

I'm not a bad Ron!fangirl.. I'm not! I wanted to be there, but... it was the only time that I could go and mutilate my body in the name of our Ron!

(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/kerryblaze/7d914e5a.jpg)

Our black knight!

Darn. The pic didn't show up!

WOWZA!!! Very cool! Well, I'm still so very sad that I didn't get to meet you; I've decided in the future to make definitive plans with people so I don't miss out on the reali-life squeeing.

I'm glad you had a good time. Did you get shocked a lot from all the static electricity, that's the only thing I hate about going to Vegas, everywhere I turned I was getting constantly zapped...it got so bad I was acting like a loon lightly chanting...'Don't touch, don't touch' as I veered my way around the gamblers. That's so cool you got a nod from someone in person, that's awesome, and a high five how cool is that...lol. Well, can't wait to hear more and have a wonderful safe flight home.

Didn't have so many problems with the static; it was surprisingly humid, actually. I'm having to rethink my initial perceptions, and I'll have a longer post in the next day or two now that I've had some time to ruminate. Am back in VA, where it's very humid and I feel totally overwhelmed (mostly because I'm about to go house- and petsit, so I'm living out of a suitcase), plus I wrote several pages on this R/D fic for

mad_maudlin in my head on the drive back and I managed to leave my flash drive at the library before I left and… just pulling a Ron. I do now have an 'I heart Ron' button and bumpersticker. YAY RON!!

So great that your paper got a good response and that you felt satisfied in giving it (even in its truncated form ;) ). Thanks for the txt! Hope you got home safely and look forward to reading more about your Las Vegas adventures. I can see how it would be disappointing to miss out on the content that you had hoped to see/hear, and also about the emphasis of the gathering being on different things than what you'd have preferred. It does sound like these get-togethers are so huge that it's inevitable (?) that smaller events might happen, focused on more specific aspects of fandom (e.g. fanfic, slash...).

Glad to hear you got my text message! I think that really I just need to go to smaller get-togethers; or, frankly, just head off to slash writer conferences. Although, me being me, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out why I've felt the two HP conferences felt more shallow to me than my Tolkien gatherings, and I've realized it's because I feel differently about the canons. I love the Ardaverse: the geography, the centuries of time, the languages, the races of M-E, the costumers and the costumes, and the fans. I don't have that same affinity for HP because it's simply not nearly as dense. If I were to go to another Tolkien-based event, I'd feel much more at home as a fan because I have two costumes and I can actively engage in canon-centric discussions, as well as fanon. With HP, it's really mostly about the fanfiction, and while that's vast, I only just realized how many people are here for the elements that I sought in Tolkien fandom. I've read HBP once. I'm not usually all that into the canon materials; I like the fanfiction and studies thereof. With Tolkien fandom, I'm interested in almost every level.

Hmmm. Maybe I should consider attending a Tolkien-related conference next time. :P

< / ramble based on way too little sleep>

Tolkien's work isn't just the published books, it's the lifetime of thought and scholarship that he put into Middle-earth. So of course there's a lot more to it than there is to Harry Potter. The linguistic element alone is sustaining a lot of professional scholarship. I've been a Tolkien fan most of my life and a sometime Tolkien fanfic writer for about a year; I would continue to be a Tolkien fan even if I never read or wrote another fanfic in my life. As you say, the relationship with the canon is a totally different one. A lot of Tolkien fans fell in love with the world, as much as with the characters, and in my own case, more.

A lot of Tolkien fans fell in love with the world, as much as with the characters, and in my own case, more.

:nods: Yes, I think it boils down to that. As I've said ad nauseum, when I did write a canon-centric Harry Potter story, I kept flipping to the back of the book, looking for the non-existent Appendix!! And swore at myself every time for doing it out of habit. My Tolkien fanfic is *very* canon-centric, while most of what I've written in HP is much more original in that I set it in the future when the characters are older, in universes that I've imagined on my own. But I don't write as much Tolkien fanfic now, while I do love writing HP fanfic. I don't own the HP movies and soundtracks, while I was first in line to get the Tolkien ones. I'm discovering a lot about myself in musing about this conference versus others and how my fandom interests are different. Thank you for chiming in; your perceptions are appreciated.

I'm so glad I got to see you several times at Lumos, hon! I adored your presentation - it was one of the more enjoyable ones because it was interesting and you had some excellent thoughts on the subject. :) I hear you about being underwhelmed - I took your feedback anonymously to the wrap-up session. The response from the programming chair (also someone on my flist) was that they can only program what they get proposals for, etc... Maybe next time we'll just have to stir up some major enthusiasm for what we want to see, and try to get people to put those proposals together.

My only disappointment is that I didn't get to go for a swim... XD
*HUGS*

The response from the programming chair (also someone on my flist) was that they can only program what they get proposals for, etc... Maybe next time we'll just have to stir up some major enthusiasm for what we want to see, and try to get people to put those proposals together.

It is a challange, and I know it's always likely to be a mixed bag. Hence why I think I'll probably go the route of a slash conference, and multi-fandom. But in spending too much time thinking about this (as referenced above in my reply to

fungus_files), it's that my participation in HP has always been in regards to fanfic. With Tolkien, I fell hook, line and sinker straight into the texts, then fans, then discussion, then costuming, then fanfic, then chat rooms, etc. etc. While the Wizarding world is very imaginative, and that's how I was taken in, it simply isn't nearly as dense, and I haven't been taken in on the same level as Tolkien. But I adore the fanfiction and authors, and looking at how fandom works. I just don't have the same emotional response.

Blah, blah. I just need to go focus on fandom studies, or get this next R/D story out of my head and on paper.

I'm so sorry you didn't get to the pool!! Or the outside whirlpool! I did treat myself to both. ;)

[congrats on your panel sponsorship, BTW. I'll have to look into those comics. One thing that I do find fascinating in HP fandom is the sexuality and self-understanding/exploration of that as being actively experienced by fans (usually writers) that I didn't look for or see in Tolkien fandom. Then again, I was far more naive 3 years ago.]

had no idea your flight was so late. mine too, hence why i didn't take the shuttle. did manage to finagle a ride though. wish i'd known the airport had free wifi though. [*grumbles*]

it was great seeing you, and there were more solo's than you think i'll suspect, but most did find a roomie at least.

just got home and haven't slept much for almost 36 hours now. not really coherent anymore.

[*snugs*]

I was very glad about the WiFi; made the afternoon far more bearable. I'm so glad to have gotten to see you, too! I'd been lamenting to J. that I thought our picture hadn't actually been taken, since when I did a download of pics, I didn't see the one of the two of us. Subsequently I see that it did turn out, I'm still figuring out how to post the ones I have.

So glad that you're home safely; me too, and my body is irredeemably uncooperative in regards to the few hours discrepency of time. Thinking very warm thoughts towards you and your finely-boned fingers. ;)

and your're going to email me a copy of said photo, yes?

of course you are. [*nods*]

am more coherant today. at least i appear so. but perhaps not.

Yep! When I get my act together I'll post the pics and I'll email you the photo this evening. If I can; drat. I'm house- and petsitting and they do have internet, but they have dialup and a PC and the pics are on my Mac laptop. Ah. I do have a flash drive. I'll get it to you tonight. :)

*waves*

I thought your presentation was one of the most interesting ones I went to. :D I definitely feel your pain about the small rooms, too - I only got locked out of one but I only just squeaked into a couple others and I know there were people turned away from those as well. I think they didn't quite anticipate how popular some things were going to be on the fanfiction end and put more emphasis on the teaching and general fandom stuff in terms of space.

Thanks again for organizing the Ron meetup - that was so great.

Hi!! :D :waves back:

It can only be a crapshoot in regards to designating space and what's going to be popular, I suspect; reason #1 of several dozen why not to be in charge of an event like this.

If you're bored, look upward again through my thread as to why I wasn't as emotionally involved with this. Thank you so *very* much for coming to the Ron meetup; it was such a pleasure to spend time with you. Of the weekend, it was that time in the pool, talking writing and real life that is one of the most memorable for me. I'll be posting pictures soon, too!! Should've gotten one of me with you guys. My pink floral skirt bikini is rather bright. :P

Hi Thevina! We met at Lumos and you told me about your crossover presentation after not-Umbridge wrote "I must not tell lies" on my hand. And I recced my

tathren's Sirius/Dubya fic from

ithurtsmybrain to you. I hope it's ok if I friend you.

Of course, of course!! I remember you and your thoughtful comments well. :) Friend away! I'm still convinced that I've totally effed up my LJ because I'm not seeing my friends' comments; I need to find a local LJ'er (or simply post about it, lol) to find out what to do. Somehow I seem to have to go to people's individual LJs to see what they've been posting, which pisses me off. But I'll add you to my filter(s).

Hmm, weird! If you friend people back does that help? I don't think you friended me - but maybe that only affects whether I can see your posts. I don't know, I'm confused - I guess I'm not the person to give advice on this point!

Hi there! *waves* I was your programming prefect for your crossover fanfic presentation, and I chatted with you a little afterwards. I hope it's OK that I've friended you.

I take it you stayed at the JW Marriott? I was at Red Rocks, which came fully Internetted (is that a word?) with both Wifi and cable connections available. Of course, I had to shuttle back and forth between my hotel at the Marriott, so maybe it wasn't quite worth it....

As for programming, I was also hoping for more slash-centric programming. What there was seemed to focus on pairings that I'm not really into (Snape/Draco, for example), but I suspect that my OTP (Harry/Draco) is getting to be a bit passe these days. I haven't actually checked, but it seemed to me that compared to Nimbus in 2003, there was a lot less stuff on slash and on fandom studies in general. (I didn't make it to TWH.)

Anyway, hope the flight home treated you well.

No problem! I've friended you back. Thanks for being my prefect! I was indeed at the Marriott, and frankly, it wasn't a bad thing for me to be away from my computer for a little while. I'd really hoped for more slash commentary, or fanfic-oriented things, but as people have said, they can only present what people want to write/present! Your OTP is still by far the largest in the fandom, I can nearly guarantee it. ;) I wrote the puppies originally, but my first large OTP after that (within a particular self-created universe) is George/Remus. Not even a community exists for that! One story that's received many positive comments is Ron/Remus. But I've written Seamus/Draco and even Seamus/Severus. But my heart's far more into Ron/Draco. Anyway... not that you asked. ;)

Flight home was bumpy, and late (got in around 1:45 a.m.) but safe. Now it's back to work and writing, writing, writing!!

George/Remus? Ron/Remus? Seamus/Draco? Seamus/Severus? Ron/Draco?

*head explodes, in a good way* :-)

I've always found Ron/Draco intriguing. The fics I've read in that pairing seem to take the hostility of H/D and multiply it by several thousand, and for some reason, I find that interesting.

I really love writing R/D; then again, almost all of my fics are set post-War and they're at least in their mid-to-late 20s, or 30s. I have an extended series, the Magic Immunity series; Ron's a Healer and Draco got a nasty curse while dueling a cousin over Manor issues, and that's what brings them together initially. It goes on (and on and on) from there. The George/Remus was for a fic exchange, otherwise I don't think I'd ever have thought of it. Took me a good 20 pages to get them together, again, post-War, so George has been profoundly affected while still being himself. But my R/D isn't hate-based, though obviously they had a lot to get through and continue to even though they're now handfasted, have adopted Percy's son (he was killed), and Snape, who has a kind of incurable palsy and is snarky and spiteful as ever— to Ron. He adores Draco and Xavier, Ron's nephew. Yeah, I'm pretty much a geek within my own universes. ;)

Sounds interesting. I'll check out your website.

This comment really does not have anything to do with this post. Just wanted to say I just read your LOTR story "In the Shadow of Hope", it was absolutely lovely.

Also read "Through Dooms of Love" in the Harry Potter community. Wow! I stand in awe of your talent.

Will hopefully be reading your essay on crossover fanfiction today. I glimpsed at it before and I have to say it looks like I am going to enjoy it very much.

Thank you so very much for your comments!! I didn't know that anyone was reading my one Ron/Hermione story anymore; I should dust it off and put it in a couple of other archives. And you like my Tolkien as well?! Marvelous. You've just made my day. :D :D

Enjoy the paper; I've also written a couple to do with Tolkien fandom and fanfiction.

I know what you mean about the subjects. The thing that I most enjoyed about the Witching Hour was the number of writing workshops and writing-related panels. I thought that was sadly lacking at Lumos, and the main reason I didn't bother to buy tickets to any of the keynote luncheons.

Despite that, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really enjoyed all the academic presentations that I attended. I came home with my inner geek recharged and excited about presenting a paper of my own next year at the Prophecy. That's what I love most about these events. They really help to stimulate my creative synapses. :-D

I'll read through your paper in the next couple of days and leave comments here, if you don't mind. I really enjoyed your presentation, and wished I'd taken notes. Darn it!

I'd wished for more fic-oriented panels, too. Feel free to comment here, that's just fine. I'm so glad that you enjoyed my talk! I could've used an hour, though! :P

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Lumos post-mortem, part one

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