Anime North/Yaoi North 2007 Wrap Up

The Drive Up

I downloaded Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) by Hans Zimmer. It’s all of the orchestra music to the movie and was wonderful to listen to in the car. I passed out for most of the trip.

Thursday Night Pre-Reg or Live Action Frogger

Candie covarla), Teresa (kokoroyume), Chris (gryvon) and I worked the Thursday Night Pre-Reg table for quite a few hours (we’re pretty much used to it by now, after working it last year as well). This year there were over 5,000 pre-registrations. I have no idea how many we processed but we kept having to remind people that if they participated in Live Action Frogger Special Ops would be removing their badges and their convention privileges.

Eventually Chris (gryvon), Candie (covarla) and I made our way to our first panel: Yaoi 101 which was held in the Doubletree. This would mark the first time that Yaoi North would have a panel on a Thursday.

Friday Night

The first event I ran was the Iron Smut (an event of my own creation which has turned out to be wildly popular). Contestants were given the ingredients necessary to create their own Yaoi and then got to LARP it before the judges. This year was no disappointment and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time.

The second event I ran was the Round Robin which is where we go around the room and create a Yaoi Fic. This year was not as big as last year, however that was probably due to the fact that the hotels were much farther apart than people thought they were (we were in the Renaissance this year, not the Doubletree).

The first panel I sat on was one that I wasn’t scheduled to be on (but I’m staff, and it looked like a few people wouldn’t show up, so why not?) so I sat with sailormac – one of the most well known and well read panelists you can find – on Surviving the Yaoi/Non-Yaoi Wars. It was a fun panel and I (and everyone else there) had a good time.

Saturday Morning

My second panel was Fangirls and Gay Boys (“What happens when fangirls meet the real gay boys?”) which was a fun panel and moderated by Alex (naytomorrow) who did a wonderful job.

Saturday Afternoon

Realizing that I then had a few hours to nap (incredibly important to not getting con-croup) I went back up to the room…after a couple of hours I was jostled awake by Josh (parox) who apparently nabbed the key from Chris (gryvon). Best wake up call of my life…I felt bad for housekeeping though since we had to call them after we finished doing what guys do best…in retrospect, a higher tip should have been left for them and I’ll make sure to keep that in mind for next yaer.

My third panel was Crossplay Workshop: Bishounen/Bishoujo 101 however, having been banned by my doctor from wearing six-inch stilettos and anything else of the sort for the next couple of months, mostly it was an information workshop on my end but I think people had a good time (from what I’ve been told).

Saturday Night

My fourth panel was Lightbulbs and Corn: Strange Fetishes in Yaoi (18+) where I shared a table with Chris (gryvon), Teresa (kokoroyume) & Taineyah. We discussed everything from Veela, Tetnacles and MPreg to Lightbulbs and Corn. I wasn’t scheduled to be on this panel either, but I added it to my list.

My fifth panel was Yaoi vs. Reality with Hideto (bishounenhideto), Chris (gryvon), Teresa (kokoroyume) and I. We all came from different perspectives so I think it gave, overall, a nice balanced view of the opinions that are out there.

My sixth panel is the panel that I’m most known for, it is my baby (and has been for the past three years): Gay Sex: 101 (18+). Four hours of sheer fun is really the only way to describe it. The audience was fantastic this year and really got into it, asking questions, participating, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves (before, during, and after). It lasted from 11pm Saturday Night to 3am Sunday Morning.

Early Sunday Morning

Early Sunday morning Josh (parox) and I made our way back up to the hotel room that we were sharing with Candie, Teresa, Teresa’s Boyfriend and Chris…and while I won’t go into great details all I’ll say is that if they’ve made a Hallmark card for it, it’s HAD TO HAPPEN BEFORE…honest mistake…and while it did happen to be me, let’s be truthful to ourselves and each other, it could have happened to ANYONE!

Sunday Morning

After a 10am wakeup, I headed down to share my seventh panel with Chris (gryvon) and Candie (covarla) on Publishing Yaoi (which the three of us have been doing all year with our new pet project- BENT Magazine). It was a fun panel.

Sunday Afternoon

My eighth panel was Yaoi and Feminism which I thought went over well. It’s an interesting topic and may be one that I’ll study from a Sociolinguistic standpoint in the future (through Discourse and Speech Patterns/FSA/FTA). I’ve added it to my potential research list.

My ninth (and final panel) was the World History of Homosexuality. I covered Modern Day Arabia (which I’ve done a fair amount of research on) and I would have loved to have been more eloquent and perhaps gone into more detail, but after the first panelist there was an hour left, which meant a maximum of 30 minutes for both Candie and Myself….plus I was on the verge of passing out.

My last event was the Yaoi Fan Social which (as it is every year) was wonderful and informative and a nice time to chill out with everyone.

Total Convention Hours & Special Thanks

Total hours spent talking at the convention: 22

While special thanks always should go to Chris (gryvon) for managing to put our entire section of the Con together, as well as the other Yaoi North Staff I really would be recalcitrant in my duties if I didn’t thank sirius_dragon for all the help that she provided me with. Thank you!

Sunday Night

After the Yaoi Fan social we got ourselves into the car, I put on my ipod, and promptly fell asleep. Woke up at the border, were essentially waived through by Border Security and after unpacking at the Kaymar Crew’s house I got dropped off at my apartment.

That night Jacqueline and Adira and I went out for a quick bite at The Lake Effect Diner (free hot chocolate when it’s snowing though we think they only put up that sign during the Summer and take it away during the Winter)

Wrap Up

The logo/business card/postcard design that mr_weaselpants did was a huge hit; every time I look at my Camel I smile. Quite a few people took the postcards which I left on the table after each panel I was on (the postcards have his website on them as a courtesy/thank you to him) so hopefully he’ll get some freelance work out of it. A few people asked why I was drawn as a camel and I had to tell them that the camel was more of my Logo than anything else. I’ll see if I can commission some moo sized cards from him later this summer (he does very, very good work).

Interesting Moments/”What’s your point ed?”

Some times people try and convince us that they’re not a minor, our two favorites this year were:

“Well I have a tattoo so obviously I’m 18.” and “I wouldn’t lie to you about anime.”

XTRA Magazine

I made XTRA Magazine

Con Croup

I did catch Con Croup, I’m seeing the doctor in 10 hours for some high powered antibiotics to kill this before I leave for Israel.