#clexacon diaries

[captainwhogotthecanary]

My cosplays (and awkward selfies) for the three days of ClexaCon

[jobethdalloway]

CLEXACON RECAP omfg

bc this needs to go somewhere & @mnhooch was kind enough to ask. tried to bold some highlights bc this is basically a long-ass diary entry ramble haha

-the first thing I went to was a panel called “Gaysian: Queer Asian Representation in the Media” with 4 incredibly rad/funny/super smart folks. Really enlightening convo on finding bits and pieces of characters who don’t look like/sound like you to relate to. A highlight: the first question was asking them if there are any queer Asian characters in the media they related to growing up and the last one said “Well, of course, Mulan” and there was like this loud “MMMMMM yeahhhh” that like rippled through the audience. Pressed to clarify which Mulan: “THE CARTOON one, come on”

-the moderator for the LGBTQ Actress panel was hilarious and the women on it were all wonderful so it was great to get to hear from them/learn about them but for me it was ALL ABOUT STEPHANIE BEATRIZ OMMMMMMGGG. Seeing how bubbly she is irl is a good reminder of how solid her performance is as Rosa like dang. Highlight: Stephanie tearing up talking about how much it meant to her to read the dialogue “I’m bisexual,” laid clearly and deliberately, in the script where Rosa come out 

-SO MANY STUNNING BUTCHES EVERYWHERE??? omg. also it was just really cool to be in a space with so many women and nb folks. Pretty much every other gay-anything I’ve tried to go to has been 98% cis gay guys so this was like huge in a way I wasn’t anticipating

-OLDER WOMEN WHO’VE BEEN WAITING DECADES FOR GOOD REPRESENTATION, and they were there, and they love the shows we love and it warmed my heart. Also people came from around the globe for this and that was so cool

-AMAZING COSPLAYERS!!! Faves: 2 people dressed as Valkyries, Xena & Gabrielle, and too many gorgeous Alex Danvers(...es) to count

-saw a group of short documentaries, some of which were like ok but there were 2 great ones - butch coyolxauhqui (x) (about a butch learning to love her body with the help of her mother & an Aztec goddess) and a place in the middle (x) (about a Hawaiian child reclaiming traditional notions about gender from an awesome teacher)

-an awesome panel on butch representation in the media! Wish more people could’ve made it to that one. Such an important reminder that there is soooo far to go. Good introspection about internalized lesbophobia (”cured” tomboys in kid movies; butches being the lesbian equivalent of effeminate men where the stereotype is what our internalized phobia wants to get away from instead of embracing as we should)/the fact that it’s a stereotype but still like never seen?? and if it is seen, is usually negative. sigh.

-a panel on sapphic fanfic! Which was actually really inspiring and makes me want to get back into writing. Because I love it. I love writing, you guys.

DAY 2? ALREADY OMG

-started off the day in the way, way back of the auditorium for the Wayhaught panel which was so much fun! Kat & Dom are too adorable for words. Highlight: Kat’s response when asked about her thoughts on things like fanart/fanfic. idk, it was really heartwearming/inspiring. Something along the lines of, “this character may look like me but it’s the spirit of Nicole that matters, and the spirit belongs to all of us, not just me” ergo she sees fanart and sees Nicole, not herself. No single person/entity owns the character. idk that was just a really awesome thing to hear an actor say 

-short comedies!! Sadly I had to duck out of this one early, but I loved 2 of the ones I saw here - a USC thesis (trailer) and a hilarious/touching one by a Philippine filmmaker called “salamagan” that unfortunately I can’t find online anywhere

-CHYLER LEIGH. CHYLER LEIGH, HOLY SHIT. This was like. The most moving Q&A I think I’ve ever been able to experience. As I was sitting there, it really registered with me how shitty it felt to have to put up with actresses (not just a certain 2) for years who were ashamed - vocally and specifically - of fans like us. Not for being over-zealous, but being queer and having queer feelings and seeking validation. How shitty it felt to have those actresses make fun of us on talk shows; make us feel gross/stupid/deluded/embarrassing for feeling the way we did & thus perpetuating internalized fears and shame in abundance. I know there are plenty of actresses who are truly great allies and who care about their LGBTQ fans, but Chyler like ... is so engaged?? She was so emotional and you can see that she gets it, she does not take her responsibility lightly and she is wonderful. I was also reminded of the distinction between seeing ourselves/hearing ourselves in media. bc i’m white, I do get to see queer characters who look like me more and more on TV/the movies (certainly more than I was a kid), but Alex is the first(/only?) one who I’ve really heard myself in and that feels significant Highlight: I got to ask her a question! And I was the last one they had time for so phew. Here’s a link to the whole panel, set to start at my question *^^ (but I definitely recommend watching the whole thing the next time you have an hour to spare) (I MADE HER LAUGH. Kinda hard to make out what I said at the beginning, which is, “oh wow, lesbians are short” bc I’m almost 6′ tall and the mic stand was very very low) (I WAS TREMBLING THE WHOLE TIME Y’ALL) 

-highlight: a DELIGHTFUL/wonderful feature called “Signature Move” (trailer). You want a good lesbian movie? HERE’S A GOOD LESBIAN MOVIE!!! Nobody dies, no lesbians have to date men, one of the leads is a butch Pakistani-American and the other is Mexican-American and we see their complicated/beautiful relationships with their mothers and it’s FUNNY AS HELL and the leads are HANDSOME AND BEAUTIFUL AS HELL and it needs all the viewers

-highlight: I got to meet @thefootlightclub and @missmaclay after years of being tumblr buddies!! They are both delightful/amazing people and it was so fun to like, fangirl irl with people. And since I went to this con alone, it was really cool to get to talk to other people about it, haha. They introduced me to some awesome peeps including the lovely @amyroot! Thanks y’all for being so friendly and welcoming me in. Also @thefootlightclub and I talked about how June Allyson should totally have a massive lesbian following bc Jo March and that voice, amirite #imright

DAY 3 OH NO THE WEEKEND IS ENDING

-really sad short films today!! Most of them not great, but there was one that wove in Mrs Dalloway and that was pretty cool/I was stunned to see that the cinematographer was a childhood friend of mine! Who is Mormon! And apparently worked on a film about lesbians! He’s a cool guy and that was a fun surprise. One of the films was pretty powerful and gave me AYLT feels (if my epilogue had been depressing AF) (trailer)

-there was a panel called “empowerment through fandom,” which was nice but pretty much wound up being for Earpers. Validating to know one of the panelists was a reporter and it’s like aha okay this stuff is for people in all walks of life/professions/ages. Validating all around. 

-I wandered around the vendor booths and picked up a couple of pins/postcards. So many talented people! Probably just as well that I didn’t look too hard at this stuff until the last day bc stuff was sold out and I probably would’ve spent $$ I didn’t have on some of these rad shirts/posters haha

-went to a panel on Queer Films, which I kind of thought would be more of like a presentation/discussion on the history of films but it was more about how to get them made/how hard it is to do that. The panelists and moderator were great, though, and had some great insights. Specifically, the producer of “Elena Undone” (which I admit I could not finish but deeply wanted to like) talked about how you have to do the best with what you have bc sometimes you just can’t raise the money you want/need to get the film you’d really like bc people don’t like to finance lesbian films and that was kind of humbling to keep in mind

-rounded it all out by watching DEBS, obviously one of the greatest films of all time. Highlight: there were a lot of older women at the con, which was really wonderful to see, and 2 of them were sitting behind me. One said to the other, “I wasn’t sure I was going to come to this but these kids downstairs said ‘oh you totally have to go.’ Well, one said, ‘you “totes” have to,’ which I took to mean ‘totally.’” It was great to hear them laughing behind me the whole time! WHAT AN ICONIC MOVIE. 

-I got to eat at Cafe Rio which is always ALWAYS A PLUS

Anyway, wow, what a fantastic weekend. I feel so, so lucky that I was able to go and meet so many amazing people and hear so many amazing people and be surrounded by the love. I never ever thought I’d go to a con - not for any condescending reason, just bc I never thought there was enough I’d ever be interested in to make it worth attending. But this? Wow. Tailor-made for me - for so many of us. If I had a wish then it would be that we could all go to Clexacon next year!

/is it next year yet 

[amyackxrs]

I was tagged by @elleluthor :) Thanks dude!

Rules: answer questions then tag any blogs you would like to know better.

Tagging:  @wildkaleidoscope @downriversandroads @violets @pheonixhp @thegayestluthor @iskananana @nerdywordybirdy13 @princess-batman and anyone else who wants to do it!

1. name: fiona

2. nickname: no one calls me by nicknames anymore!

3. star sign: cancer

4. height: i just looked it up in ft/in and 5’3” is a slight exaggeration but we’re gonna go with that ok

5. time: 8:41pm

6. birthday: 4th july! i really want to be in the US for my birthday one year but i need to bring some friends over too

7. favorite bands/artists: delta goodrem has been my all time fave for over a decade now but I’m really into jenny owen youngs and tegan and sara right now. like it can’t just be a lesbian thing i actually find all their songs really good???

9. song stuck in my head: back in your head just got back in my head

10. last movie watched: i hardly ever watch movies it’s so bad. last night we watched the first bit of twilight and it’s even worse than i remember hahahha but kstew looked so good :’)

11. last show watched: i think it was the latest Fresh Off The Boat ep where half of it was in mandarin and (for some reason) i thought there’d be no subs so i could practice my Chinese but thankfully there were because i would not have understood any of that

12. when did i create my blog: so many years ago! this started off as more as a Castle/YA books blog and look at it now

13. What do i post: dude i don’t even know like gay content??? lena luthor???

14. last thing i googled: mirai nagasu because i wanted to see her triple axel even though i don’t understand skating and omg all those pics of her looking so triumphant made me tear up

15. do you have other blogs: i have a humour blog that i started with my friend in 2010 but i haven’t been there in months

16. do you get asks: not really! send me more guys they’re fun!

17. why did you choose your url: i was really obsessed with amy acker ok. i watched Angel and she was ADORABLE and then i watched Dollhouse and Person Of Interest and now i’m watching The Gifted and she remains adorable though i feel like i’m not as obsessed with her as i once was. Time to crack out the POI box set :’)

18. favorite movie(s): my top 3 favourite movies are The Princess Diaries, Legally Blonde, and Bring It On – in that order. so many of my tastes have not changed since primary school oh my god

19. favorite book(s): i read heaps (add me on goodreads) so it’s hard to narrow down but i love Fire by Kristin Cashore even though it’s super depressing. i’m looking at my shelves now and everyone stop reading this and go read The Raven Cycle series which i need to reread soon! i really just want to go off on a tangent and recommend a million books and series but i’m gonna stop myself

20. favorite color(s): eVERY SHADE OF PINK

21. average hours of sleep: it’s like 6-7 on weekdays and 11 on weekends omg it’s so bad let’s not talk about this mOVING ON SWIFTLY

22. what am i wearing: i’m wearing the tshirt i wore to work today with pyjama shorts also socks why am i still wearing socks

23. how many blankets i sleep with: 2?? but it’s summer?? i do switch them around in the middle of the night cos it gets so hot

24. dream job: bro this is what I’m trying to figure out right now. probs something to do with writing. but i looked into things and journalism does not pay well and who knows if I’ll ever have the tenacity to write a novel or something someday soooooooooo

25. dream trip: my dream trip would be literally the trip to A-Camp i’m going on in a few months which i still haven’t booked in but also going to Clexacon beforehand. i really did want to yolo this year but an 8 week US/Canada trip would’ve been a very dumb waste of money

26. favorite food: ice cream hahahha

27. what country do you live in: australia!

[femininenachos]

WeGramChos joked about it... now it’s actually happening. (This is a common theme for us. First the podcast, then the wrap party, next our own Clexacon panel?)

Yes, the DWBYG Wrap Party/RelicKru Meetup is locked in the diary for May 27th. Staggeringly, it’s even gone international—we have fellow Clexa trash joining us from across continental Europe!

WHEN Saturday May 27th 2017.

WHERE An as-yet-to-be-determined bar in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. The choice of venue will depend upon numbers.

WHAT It’s going to be a very relaxed, friendly get-together as we want everyone to feel comfortable. The general plan is: drinks in the afternoon, followed by food/dinner, and more drinking into the evening. Everyone is welcome, as long as you’re over 18 (sorry, younger members of the Kru, it’s strictly adults only). Expect plenty of cracky/filthy chat, booze, accents, and, for every attendee, a swag bag containing exclusive, limited edition DWBYG/RelicKru merchandise.

So if you want to come along (and who wouldn’t want to hang out with WeGramChos in a pub?) or have any questions at all, send either myself, @weasal or @gramjams a DM. There’s no obligation to commit to the whole afternoon/evening—drop in for however long you want. If you’re shy and would like to bring a friend, please do, although I promise we're not scary!

[sweet-satisfactionn]

CLEXACON 2k17

As many of you know I was lucky enough to attend the first ever ClexaCon in Las Vegas this weekend and I just want to take a moment to reflect on the truly incredible time I had and the importance of representation in the media.

ClexaCon has really accentuated the power writers and content creators hold and the disappointment audiences feel when that power is abused. Writers have a responsibility to reflect the society that we live in and yet diverse content is still so scarce. Look to the shows you're watching, are they diverse? If not, why? Can anything be done about it? These kinds of conversations need to start happening if anything is going to change. It's not good enough anymore to simply cast one token diverse character per network TV show if the representation isn't good. It's 2017; the fight for *good* representation can begin. It's time that POC/LGBT+/female characters stop being used to further the storyline of the straight white male lead. If you're reading this and you're a content creator or dream of being one, start rethinking your representation. Stop thinking that putting in an asian character as the sidekick or having a character experiment with their sexuality for a 3 episode arc is good enough and you're free from having to write any further diverse stories.

It's been an entire year but I still remember (and I'm sure my friends remember too) the feeling and heartbreak I felt after my favourite character died on my favourite show. I was never really a TV nerd and before this I never really cared when characters died because shows should always evolve and change. If they don't grow, they stop being interesting.

However, the 100 was different. Jason Rothenberg seemed to tick every box when it came to diverse storytelling and writing. He had young female leaders that were leaders in their own right and no one challenged their ability to lead based off their identities. He had POC in a variety of different roles: leaders, followers, friends, enemies. And he created a world where labels didn't exist and people weren't defined by their sexuality. He created a beautiful love story between 2 beautifully flawed female characters and used this aspect of the show to interact with fans in quite a cruel way. LGBT audiences had become familiar with the bury your gays (BYG) trope by now (Buffy, The OC, Skins, etc) and so naturally there was a hesitance to give full trust into this show due to heartbreak felt in the past. Jason reached out to fans on twitter, heard stories from fans and seemed to have an understanding of his audience like no showrunner had before. Other writers on the show even went as far as to assure fans that the character of Lexa was not going to die and Jason himself invited fans onto the set of the show and encouraged them to take pictures as the finale was being shot. We had hope that the storyline of Lexa would not follow a tired trope.

This was quickly taken away as he tweeted 'if u can only watch 1 episode live this season, this is it' and 'please don't spoil the ending. This one needs to be watched LIVE.' Spoiler: Lexa dies. He engaged his vulnerable audience and got us excited about an episode that he knew would devastate the community. Lexa dies from a bullet not meant for her, after experiencing one true moment of joy (and if you know her character that does not happen often) and after finally realising that 'life is about more than just surviving.' She realised that on her death bed so yea, it was all quite cruel really. 2 episodes later they killed beloved character Lincoln, a kind and compassionate black man who was in love with a girl in an opposing clan. They had him chained, with his hands behind his back, on his knees and shot in the head. No points for the 100 there. I honestly have no idea how they didn't see this as problematic. They stripped him of all of his power whilst the people he loved were forced to watch. Again, very very cruel.

The week after Lexa died the BYG trope started to become more and more noticeable. In one week we lost characters from the Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead and Empire. An extensive list can be seen here https://www.autostraddle.com/all-65-dead-lesbian-and-bisex…/

Anyway! You guys knew all of that so back to ClexaCon, the positive part of this post. I was very fortunate to be able to attend the con with a bunch of amazing people, Liv (mom number one), Rin (Australian mom number 2), Elke (The Netherlands) and Sofia (Canada). The last 3 all make Youtube vides and spoke on a few panels - 'How To Use Youtube as a Platform', 'Lexa's Legacy'. Being given the opportunity to see the people I care about get the appreciation they deserve and so much praise and love was an experience that I can't even put into words. As Sofia said in her own post: 'the people I met this weekend reflected what the Clexa fandom is all about. Full of love, understanding, acceptance, and importance' and I whole heartedly agree.

ClexaCon gave me hope and a sense of purpose that I've been missing for quite some time. And I am so lucky that I did not have one negative experience whilst there. The guests were amazing, the fans were amazing and the volunteers worked so hard to make everything flow effortlessly. They can never get enough thanks from me for doing that (especially the one volunteer who let me meet some of the guests for free, that was great!).

Travelling to Vegas alone was inherently terrifying to me and rooming with people that I had formed a connection with online but had never met in real life was even more terrifying. But it was the kind of fear where once you feel it, you know you're moving in the right direction. That kind of excitement is what should push you through life and is what forces you to grow. If I had let fear take over I never would have met Sarah Shahi in the loo so, follow your fear friends.

TLDR; Watch diverse content folks.

I love you big time friends @damnlexa @rin-says @shes-special

[voluntarydemise]

The 100 S3 Hiatus Diary

Once again, let me present to you a chronicle of our fandom’s most glorious hiatus moments. In truest hyperbole fashion we did not scale back after last year’s already impressive BS recordings. Here’s all the drama we managed to fit into the 257 days between the Season 3 finale on May 19, 2016 and the Season 4 premiere on February 1, 2017:

FYI: Entries are mostly focused on the Twitter fandom unless otherwise noted. Also beware, this diary deliberately generalises from the loud few to the many. 

Day 2: Emma Caulfield of EW writes a *love letter* bashing Bellamy into a verb and adjective. Half of the fandom cackles, other half is ready to “bellamy” her. 

Day 3: Ongoing belittling of Jasper’s PTSD in tandem with outrage from same people that show didn’t depict enough PTSD victims.

Day 6: #GiveBellamyBlakeABoyfriend circulates and is amusingly shared by lovers and haters.

Day 7: Kass Morgan is confronted with fandom members defacing and even burning her books. Because we are classy.

Day 10: Tumblr heats up when Johnny Depp beating Amber Heard gets compared to how Bellamy treats Clarke. Because bisexuality. Oh yes.

Day 11: Devon zings Harry Styles - and popstars in general - for trying to act. Somewhere Shawn Mendes cries a tear. 

Day 12: The Fandom-is-Broken article hits. Outrage everywhere, while our fandom is like “yup, sounds about right”. 

Day 15: Bob at Phoenix con says Bellamy wouldn’t have sided with Pike had Clarke returned earlier. Somehow he gets hate for that. Still unclear why. Most likely for no reason at all. 

Day 16: More Phoenix con: Bob utters word “YET”, causes avalanche. Emma Caulfield tweets her and Bob’s are besties now. Fandom responds in typical forgiving ways. 

Day 18: Tumblr has Brollexa gaining traction among BCers, the polyamorous turn it into Clexamy. Not appreciated by the CL fandom. Devon tweet-deletes, shits on cast members for making money off cons instead of donating to charity.

Day 21: Eliza and Bob get nominated for Teenchoice TV Chemistry. Disgust in CL fandom as entertaining as surprise in BC fandom. 

Day 23: Fan at Oz Comic Con asks Eliza about Chemistry nomination and gets booed. Bob speaks slloooowwwhhhuuurr to the iddiiiooootttss on twitter. Most likely entirely unrelated. 

Day 24: Eliza gets called fake/lost/drunk by BC fandom for voicing opinions about Bellarke. Beware of having opinions about ships.

Day 25: Bob replies to hate tweet. Backfires into him getting criticised for passive aggressively focusing on negativity only. 

Day 26: First hiatus hack! Eliza’s instagram. Leads to Alycia unfollowing her. Fandom entertained for a while. Plus the gem of someone comparing Lexa’s death to the Orlando shooting.

Day 28: Alycia cancels Brazil con. In a roundabout way it’s Bob’s fault.

Day 31: On the shipping front Bob  & Shampoo compete against Lexa & Bullet. Because why not. 

Day 33: Somehow BC fandom hits jackpot by criticising both Adina and Mike on same day. For not being pro-BC enough. Adina! Mike! 

Day 35: Layne Morgan attacks Ben Batemen for elevating himself to lgbt+ spokesperson. Fanbase first stunned, then divided. 

Day 37: Second hiatus hack! Layne’s phone. Apparently private numbers get leaked, some idiots message Jason’s wife.

Day 41: Third hiatus hack! (@)emiliascara hacks into Marcus Catsaras’ (Alycia’s boyfriend) icloud, finds footage of him cheating. Catsaras deletes his twitter/fb accounts. Because hell has no fury like a riled-up CL fandom.

Day 42: Lindsey jumps in to fight hackers, (@)morleydebnam jokes about hacking Lindsey.

Day 44: Hacker exposed as guy from Toronto (Michael Brand/Bahramian). 

Day 46: CL fandom overruns and impressively wins 9 of 11 E!Online polls. Still peeved over other fandoms bonding and voting against them. 

Day 48: Jarod speaks up after Alton Sterling shooting. Ends with him getting attacked over *representation* issues. 

Day 52: Eliza vs Alycia in Radiotimes quarter finals. Which fosters minor drama.

Day 56: Layne officially disinvited from clexacon. 

Day 57: Some panelists boycott clexacon after Layne’s exit. Meanwhile the gullible have a clickbait-freakout over O killing Bellamy. 

Day 58: Ben Bateman steps back from clexacon allies panel. (@)riserellamy makes it their mission to get all Arryn-haters blocked by Bob. 

Day 59: Eliza talks freely and excessively about Lexa and Clexa at Brazil Con. BC fandom really wishes she wouldn’t. 

Day 60: From the fanfic policing front: Author gets such harsh attacks for writing Lexamy they pull the fic. 

Day 61: S3 DVD is out! Deleted scenes reheat old rage. While Ricky retweets shade about him not being in the bloopers.

Day 62: #OlicityMafiaExposedClexaParty happens. CL fandom first fandom ever to cheat in a poll. 

Day 64: She said “ship”.

Day 65: Whole fandom aflame over the shit/ship debacle. Shit memes everywhere. Aaron doesn’t give a SHIT. Eliza probably avoids her mentions. Tumblr births Bellarke Drags. The best of days.

Day 66: clexasources promotes WB survey asking people to criticise show. Eliza shall be saved by cancellation. 

Day 67: ELSchaaf claims Eliza speaks condescendingly of Bellarke because she’s threatened by Bob’s popularity. Fandom appalled. In conjunction CLs figure out ELSchaaf is involved with Unity Days. 

Day 68: ELSchaaf on tumblr rampage, invites haters to call her names at con in person. Unity Days reacts swiftly and removes ELSchaaf. 

Day 70: Bellarke Shit necklace sparks controversy. 

Day 73: Wizard Con: Marie says Clarke has *nappy* hair which Eliza laughs at. Racism outrage in some fandom corners. 

Day 75: Jason’s SDCC talk about bi-Clarke getting “with everyone” resurfaces. Not the most well received. clexasources deactivates after Bob+Eliza photo post leads to attacks by followers.  

Day 78: Supposed insider troll Jason Blue stirs up rumour drama of Octavia dying. 

Day 82: Bellarke fanart repurposed as Braven fanart. Bob-birthday charity criticised for being organised by a BC shipper. 

Day 84: Pedowitz stands behind show at TCAs, does neither criticise nor cancel it on the spot, as some had hoped. 

Day 103: Fanfic policing, part 2: Bellamy goes down on Clarke in the commander’s throne. People - ignorant of the concept of *fanfiction* - are mad. 

Day 106: Eliza posts candid pic with guy-boy-friend. Apparently this makes her a lesser lgbt+ ally. 

Day 111: Fanfic’s blowjobgate! Briller&Harper fic on kinkmemes ignites long and nasty Bellarke fanfic community wars. Who gets to and with whom and with how many is not the author’s choice alone. 

Day 125: Tumblr aflame over Bellamy hating Aurora Blake, with usual shades of misogyny and racism. 

Day 130: HYPE article about ADC at Copenhagen Con calls out fans for slightly inappropriate fan behavior. More inappropriate fan behavior in reaction leads to article edits. 

Day 132: Kim retweets Fa Panini’s cute Becho fanart. BC fandom takes that as confirmation of things to come. Mild panic. 

Day 135: A clearly mangled and misrepresented SDCC comment about Clarke and love interest in S4 causes freakout. Because fandom will forever step into all clickbait traps willingly. 

Day 144: The usual bi-monthly kerfuffle about Clarke being forgotten as bi-rep in article. 

Day 145: Layne Morgan sick of TV bi girls ending up with men. Not that stats have discredited this stereotype at all. 

Day 155: Supposed insider troll Jason Blue claims insider cancellation knowledge. Insider arguments quickly debunked. 

Day 159: Photoshopped Variety tweet circulates, claiming show cancellation. Mo Ryan refutes it. 

Day 165: Lindsey stumbles into sexypilgrim drama. Apologises later for wishing people would get involved in causes beyond online outrage. 

Day 166: Press day! Drama day! Fandom-uneducated Nadia voices “Luna is stronger than Lexa”. She may forever feel the consequences. 

Day 167: Nadia tweets “Fiction”, deletes account. #NadiaDeactivatedParty follows. Eliza and later Arryn claim account is fake. Fandom thinks Eliza would rather lie than defend Nadia and her anti-Lexa statement. 

Day 170: Meanwhile in the fanfic warzone: “Bellamy rapes Lexa” gets countered with “Lexa castrates Bellamy”. 

Day 190: Bob reaches annual patience-for-twitter threshold, carries out annual twitter deactivation. States he was made to join. Fandom: lol, ok, see you in a bit. 

Day 199: Bellarke and Clexa both in same Hottest-Ships-of-the-Year list. But fandom can’t share nice things. 

Day 201: Guess who’s back on twitter, guys?

Day 216: BC-shipping jewellery artist called out for making money off Clexa art. Not allowed in the age of receipts. 

Day 219: In spirit of Christmas, Aaron issues Lexa apology. Fandom - less spirited - counters it’s 9 months too late, and never enough. 

Day 221: Katie affirms in slightly too bitter way that show is more than just Clexa. Bad move, girl.

Day 222: (@)bellamysbriller - whom Katie retweeted the day before - is exposed for catfishing and bullying. 

Day 228: More jewellery controversies, as jewellery donations to charities can only come from people who’ve never made controversial statements. 

Day 233: clexaspoilers surfaces, claims access to screeners, reveals Clexa parts. Fandom calls it baiting to make them watch, even though account claims now they DON’T have to watch. 

Day 238: BC fandom gets high on SHE HAS BELLAMY, and actually manages to trend for once. Stunning friends and foes alike.

Day 241: Unity Days report of Lindsey supposedly saying Bellarke is boring. Lindsey gets attacked and goes on twitter detox. BC fandom to blame.

Day 243: Fourth hiatus hack! Ricky’s phone. Beware of Ricky nudes. 

Day 245: Alycia’s management removes The 100 from “known for” section on IMDB. BCers shocked, CLs shrug. 

Day 248: BCers think 600 cookies might be helpful for show renewal. Laughs and eyerolls all around.

Day 249: S4 poster arrives. Cast, writers and fans partake in a who’s-who guessing game with silhouettes. Body shaming leads to #titsoutforeliza, someone leaks S4 callsheets and Funko whitewashes Raven and Bellamy. A busy day.

Day 252: CLs set up White House petition to get Jason fired. A single signature last we checked. 

Day 257: Final hiatus day: (@)the100leaked pops up to generously leak part of the Season 4 finale script and cause mass hysteria. Tadaaaaa! 

And that’s it! See you all next hiatus! Just kidding. I accept more entries, if you can link me to the evidence.

[earlyfanatics]

Bad News/Good News of the Week: May 8-13

And now, our regularly scheduled "Bad News/Good News"! Bad News * Jennifer Morrison Exits Once Upon a Time ahead of possible seventh season. * Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Emilie de Ravin and Jared Gilmore leave Once Upon a Time. * Cheryl Boone Isaacs will not seek re-election to Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences board. * Scandal to end after season seven.  * Incredible piece on 'Sleepy Hollow' after it's cancelation at FOX. Good News * Tom Holland slays as Rhianna on Lip Sync Battle when he performs "Umbrella". * Trailer Released for Audience Network's Kingdom final season. * New 'Spider-Man Homecoming' scene revealed. * An R rated Hellboy Reboot is happening, directed by Neil Marshall & starring David Harbour. * Cliff Curtis signs on for all four 'Avatar' sequels. * USA Network to air a Psych holiday movie. * Teaser for 'Game Over, Man' released. * First ever Tony compilation album to be released. * Netflix to debut new family variety series, The Who Was? Show in 2018. * Elizabeth McGovern to return to Broadway this fall. * Walton Goggins joins 'Maze Runner: The Death Cure'. * Jason Bateman officially signs on for Arrested Development season 5 at Netflix. * 'New Mutants', an X-Men spinoff, moves forward. Stars Maisie Williams and Anya Taylor-Joy. * Black-Ish spinoff moves to Freeform. * Second annual ClexaCon dates announced, will be five days. * 'AWOL' trailer released. * Trailer for surreal thriller 'Woodshock' is released. * Kenneth Branagh to star and direct 'Keeper Of the Diary'. * Ana De La Reguera to star in season 2 of Goliath. * Rita Volk Set As Lead In Edward Burns' ‘Summertime’. http://dlvr.it/P7XzML

[captainwhogotthecanary]

ClexaCon: Day 1

Whew. I managed to go the wrong direction from where I parked to the convention like five times, but I made it! I'm really glad my boots are more comfortable than they look.

I am sitting and waiting for the Exploring Gender through Cosplay panel. And look!

No problems getting my prop gun in.

First impressions, this crowd is amazing. So many women that the few men stand out, and some awesome costumes, and just a really good, comfortable vibe.

[captainwhogotthecanary]

ClexaCon: Day 2

Same deal as day 1: this is probably too long and detailed, and if you want the facts, you can probably get them from the official videos. This is more about my reactions and vibes and the like.

I dressed as Wonder Woman this day. It’s my only store bought costume, but I look great in it, and I finished off the look with tall (not not heeled!) boots and rainbow socks and brighter makeup than I usually wear. I looked good enough that the barista when I grabbed coffee asked for my employee discount; she assumed I was a performer at the hotel. I got great comments all day, a little overwhelmingly so, but it felt pretty awesome until I left the convention. CW for brief mention of assholes at the end of this post.

Nyssara

I met some cool people in line waiting for the “doors” to open for the standard attendees. We ended up sitting together while my Friday friends sat behind, since we had trouble finding six seats together, not too surprisingly.

I needed the intro video because as I’ve mentioned, I like my faves to be happy, and while I never ever doubted Sara loves Nyssa and vice versa, they didn’t exactly get happy times together on screen, and I wasn’t yet into Arrowverse fic when they were on screen. It was a good video. They’re both great actresses and can seriously crank up the intensity when the scene requires it. Any Nyssara fic recs are appreciated, btw.

The panel was good. It was fun, different kind of energy, something like nostalgic and speculative and silly. And Jes came through! Again, there are videos and gifs, so go do yourself a favor and look if you haven’t.

Of note to people following my blog, when asked her favorite one night stand of Sara’s, Caity’s first thought was of Snart, though she said she couldn’t count him since they hadn’t slept together. I think that’s just so awesome that the characters had that connection, and the actors according to what I’ve read, that even after years have passed, there’s still some sort of nostalgia or whatever because they were genuinely close. The actors and characters in different ways, but still.

More is More: Polyamory in Media

I’ve got some ot3s (ahem, Rogue Canary), but as far as real life, I don’t know much about polyamory. It’s something I’ve long thought works with the RIGHT people and the RIGHT communication, which makes it rare and challenging, and it has to be so hard for some people, like some of the ones in the panel who explained that being poly is, for them, the same as their sexuality; it’s a need, a wiring, not a choice or a lifestyle. It’s rare (or rarely talked about/seen) and so there’s not a big demand for more of it in media, but then the lack of representation means fewer people know it can be a healthy option, so it becomes a cycle, like so many things.

Most of the panel ended up the panelists sharing what it means and what it means to them to be poly or practice a poly lifestyle. There’s a big no-no/disparaging negative in the community regarding “unicorn hunters,” which I’d like to have someone properly explain to me but google says it’s usually couples looking for a third person who fits their needs without considering the needs of that third. It’s objectifying and not setting up for a healthy relationship and I get why that angle is negative, but I’m not sure why multiple people in that panel and then in a later panel seemed to use it to apply to anyone looking for the trio presentation rather than the open relationship presentation. Not complaint so much as genuine confusion there. So anyway, there wasn’t much discussion of the trio+ aspect I was most interested in, because I’m not planning to write or practice a relationship where the people in it date other people but I adore stable (usually potential) trios in media.

I still enjoyed it very much and learned a lot in the “I didn’t know I didn’t know this” category. My favorite part (though it also made me sad) was how excited and relieved the panel was about being in a room where they could discuss all this without judgement.

Bi+ Representation in Media

I adored all the panelists here. I didn’t learn much; the basic gist was “there’s not enough representation.” Still, it was cool listening to and watching a bunch of bi+ folks talk about their faves and what they’d like to see. I bought a book by one of the panelists and will do a rec post later if it’s any good, ya and lgbt and superheroes. I’m excited.

Romance Between the (Book) Covers

Sigh.

Okay, so…

I don’t think of myself as an amazing or particularly experienced professional writer, but I do feel like I could contribute more than a lot of the writing panelists, and I found that very frustrating. It wasn’t that they were all lacking experience or talent, to be clear, but it was that for most of them, their experiences or input were almost entirely unhelpful for new or aspiring novelists.

For example, there was a writer whose story was, “I’d never written anything before in my life but I decided to write a book and they published it so that was cool.” Another said she’s unique because she writes in first person, which she does because “it’s a lot easier to tell instead of show. And I know they say you’re not supposed to do that, but I think it works.”

I get that the expectations are different in the smaller market that is LGBTQ+ romance, but…

I don’t know. I feel like standards are important. That’s why I all but stopped writing while I’m struggling with words and with tying things together; I don’t care whether it’s original fiction or fanfiction, free or paid, I have standards for my work.

I also had my feathers ruffled slightly when the moderator asked the panelists, “Did you write heterosexual relationships to start out in order to get a foot in the door or earn money?” with a clear implication that there was no reason to write a m/f relationship other than for mainstream success. The one bisexual panelist low-key called her out but I don’t think she noticed, with an, “I’m bisexual so writing a male/female relationship is a perfectly valid choice for me.”

For one, yeah, there was a bisexual panelist and there was a huge bi population amongst the attendees, so that wording could have been more sensitive, and for two, I know plenty straight people who like to write m/m or f/f romance, so why wouldn’t that be a valid choice in reverse, for something other than a cash grab?

Personally, I mostly write m/f relationships because I started writing while still closeted, because that’s where my actual experience is, and because my go-to is still to write canon or canon-adjacent pairings and tv still likes to fuck up most of the few canon lgbt ones. That doesn’t make me less valid as a writer who is lgbt.

Mazikeen: The Devil in the Details

This was enjoyable. The actress says Maze is her spirit animal, which is awesome. I was pretty frazzled and distracted (people were saving me seats even though I SAID I’d be late and it was equally appreciated and discomfiting) and also trying to liveblog the panel to a friend, so I didn’t get as much emotional impact from this as the rest. It sounds like we probably get to see Maze with a real relationship this next season, so that’s exciting. It seems like a decent next step for her after the growth over the last seasons. I’m also suuuuper excited she and Trixie will be okay; they have one of my favorite relationship of the whole show.

Amber Benson: Tara Maclay and the Legacy of Buffy

Teeeeearrrrsss. Do me a favor; if you watch the video for this one, watch the behind the scenes one first. The intro video they played left very few dry eyes, and then Amber came out all teary and emotional.

The singalong was a lot of fun, despite “Under Your Spell” being notes most humans can’t hit.

There was one answer she handled with some unfortunate wording, but it was so clear she meant well and she’s such an icon, so she didn’t get boo’d like I was almost afraid of. There wasn’t much applause, but then we moved on. She was the only panel I went to that earned a standing ovation. I cried a lotttttttt.

And then I left the con to go change before having dinner with Friday friend. And people were gross and staring in creepy ways and there were homophobic comments made “accidentally” too loud and just bleh. It was a small thing in an otherwise fantastic weekend, but it made me feel like I needed to take a shower.

[captainwhogotthecanary]

ClexaCon: Day 1

Okay, Let me attempt to do something like organize my thoughts here. Photos will come later, ones that come at all; mostly there are professional photos, videos, and gifs available of the noteworthy moments, and I intend to reblog a lot of those later. In the meantime, my photos are on my phone, and the Tumblr app is eating anything I attempt to post with photos.

So. I’m going to try to do this chronologically because it’s how I tried to organize my brain, and I feel clearer than I have in a while. Panel titles or events in bold. Fandom and personal stuff is included, multishipping probably rampant because I just want my faves happy, alright???

Under the cut because long. Day 1 only because long, and because by time I got near the end of typing this, it was after midnight and I was getting less coherent.

Exploring Gender through Cosplay

As often as I cosplay, mine are fairly casual, and I’d never actually gotten a good chance to attend a cosplay panel of any sort with a clear mind. This was pretty awesome, all the different things you can do to change not only the costume but also your appearance, really make the cosplay work. A lot of the sentiment/message besides the practical application stuff was just “have fun, don’t be an ass, think about the character.” All good advice.

One of the panelists was visibly uncomfortable with his cosplay during the panel. It was understandable, but he looked great anyway and still gave great information and asides and personal experiences, and I’d love to see him do a panel where he’s more comfortable.

One Day at a Time

Okay, so one of the things I LOVE about this con and haven’t seen at the couple others I’ve been to is the intro videos. For each of the big panels, they’ve played a video beforehand, about the pairing or the character. If you’re rusty on the details, it’s a great refresher, and if you love the character or pairing, it’s just fantastic to watch. I believe they included these and the actress reactions in the official videos they’ve been posting. They’re great, super shippy, and I’ve teared up or cried at more than one.

ODAAT is one of the ones that made me teary, because it touched on Elena and her Papi and then how happy she and Syd are and just...

Emotions, y’all. I’ve got them.

Anyway, it was great. Isabella seemed pretty comfortable speaking, very aware of her presence and her platform. Sheridan was a little more like Syd, a little awkward and a lot geeky (like most of my favorite people, let’s be real). My takeaways from this panel were basically just that they both love Schnider and working with his actor, and that I ship Syd and Elena even harder now.

An executive producer got a call during the panel, and Isabella thought maybe it was about being picked up by a different network, but it ended up being Rita Moreno calling in, which was fantastic except how disappointed Isabella was. Not that she was unprofessional or pouty or anything, just there were a few moments of almost being able to FEEL how much this cast wants the show to keep going, and how much they love each other.

Avalance

Omg. I mean, okay, if you’re following me, you should probably go watch both Avalance and Nyssara panel videos. They’ll do a much better job of relaying anything factual than I will, so I’m mostly focusing on my reactions.

My reactions started with that damned intro vid, because holy hell, Sara and Ava are hot, and have awesome chemistry, and they’re both smart and strong and amazing and I am so, so, so not straight.

Uh. Where was I.

Highlights for me, in no particular order.

Okay, usually celebs look like people in real life, like real people or like their characters. Caity Lotz is MORE attractive in person than she is on tv. HOW THE FUCK IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE

Jes is kinda amazing as a person and actress and I intend to watch everything she’s in after this weekend. She cares deeply, which I know she shares with Ava, but unlike Ava who hides behind the professional shield, Jes just seemed so warm and real and disbelieving of how much people like her. She was having a very emotional day because she’d lost someone she cared about, and when she shared that, I doubt there was a dry eye in the room. The depth of her feeling was almost palpable.

Jes kept reaching out and touching Caity, who was much more physically reserved just in general. Caity is very obviously more familiar with the con circuit, which doesn’t mean she doesn’t care or anything! Just, how many of these could any living person do while still caring deeply and genuinely about every person they talk to? I suspect people have to distance themselves some eventually. Caity wasn’t cold, just more reserved.

Katrina interrupting was the best thing ever. It’s been giffed already. Go find it.

I loved hearing about the tango, about navigating a situation where there are two women who naturally want to take the lead. The lines blurred between where they were talking about themselves as actresses navigating a scene and their characters as people navigating a relationship, and it felt very real and lovely. Hilarious, too, because of course everyone in the Arrowverse (excuse me, Beeboverse) is gorgeous AND smart AND funny.

I’m glad they’re not really broken up I guess? The actresses seemed a little unsure because they filmed a lot of different takes with some differing implications, but they’re not on board with the “on again, off again” thing any more than I am, which is good. On is good.

End of the panel, people sitting behind us (oh! chronological order! I made a friend waiting in line for the ODAAT panel and we’ve mostly stuck together this weekend. She’s not LGBT and hasn’t watched any of the shows but she loves PEOPLE and is trying to learn and has had a lot of cool life experiences. Anyway. If I say “we” or “us” I probably mean me and friend, unless otherwise specified.)

Uh. Right. So. The people sitting behind us were like, “Hey, do you two want tickets to Cocktails for Change?” At first I thought she was trying to sell them, and I already knew I couldn’t afford that, just like I couldn’t afford the Caity/Jes/Katrina photo op I wanted (not complaint, just statement of fact! I got to go and I got to buy the photo op with Caity and I got a hotel room for a couple nights). Then she clarifies that she and her person (I’m gonna go with that when relationship isn’t clear. But oh, the number of happy wlw couples there was just amazing, and at some point I defaulted to assuming anyone there together was together, which wasn’t accurate, but it’s what I was seeing and delighting in and WE NEED MORE REPRESENTATION and omg keep a single train of thought, Kita). The two of them had bought two extra tickets they couldn’t use, couldn’t refund, and hadn’t been able to sell, so they were offering them to us so that somebody would enjoy them.

OMG. Like, who does that? What level of awesomeness to gift two separate $250 tickets to complete strangers??

I helped friend navigate the transfer process and helped her create an eventbrite account, and then we had the tickets, at which point I actually believe it was happening. And then AND THEN

Because clearly that wasn’t enough

they said “oh, we can’t make the trio photo op today, do you want it?”

Do

Do I

DO I

I still can’t believe they were for real, with that level of awesome. I checked like probably way too many times to make sure they were SURE because

yeah. Made my entire year, at minimum. 

Photo Ops

Got the photo op with Caity first. I’ll do pics separately after I scan them; they’re particularly glossy or something and my cell phone is doing a horrible job. So I go in dressed in my femme Snart cosplay, have enough presence of mind to ask (or point? I may have only managed pointing) to stand on her right side because I wanted to be able to hold the cold gun in my right hand.

“Hey, Cold,” she said to me.

HEY COLD

SHE RECOGNIZED WHO I WAS DRESSED AS OMGGGGGG

and did I mention fucking gorgeous beyond belief and amazing to boot? 

Anyway. She’s also smiling much bigger in my pic with just her than in the next one, when I didn’t have my gun, and I like to think it’s because she still thinks fondly of snart. Captain canary 4eva. Another thing on Saturday I’ll get to in my next post, equally small but equally “omg yessss she still ships it” to my mildly obsessed brain.

Obviously, after they took the pic, I walked blindly in the wrong direction and would’ve walked smack into the makeshift wall if the volunteers hadn’t steered me in the right direction. I don’t usually get star struck, but if it was going to happen, it was going to be with Caity Lotz, so it wasn’t actually a surprise.

Round two, trio photo, and I ended up between Caity and Katrina, who draped herself on my shoulder as she often does for pics. I’ll get to Katrina more for Day 2, but she just seemed very at ease, maybe the most comfortable person in any given room.

After photo ops I practically ran back to my car while still trying to recover, checked into and got settled into my hotel room, changed shoes (omg, as good as those boots are for a couple hours, after ten hours and two miles and lots of standing, my feet STILL hurt day+ later), and then headed back to the venue.

Cocktails for Change

So this was cool just to exist in a room with the celebrities (the theory behind the event and the price tag being you get to interact). We (friend and the people who gave us the tickets and a 5th potential friend we picked up while waiting in line) got to talk to an actress from Wynona (which I apparently badly need to watch. my to-watch list doubled this weekend), and then friend got Jes to agree to come over. That made me love Jes even more because her handlers kept trying to get her to go a different direction after she talked to one table for like half of the time, and Jes pointed at our table, strong and confident and I AM DOING THIS BECAUSE I SAID I WOULD.

I mean, idk what she actually said, but that was her not-subtle body language.

It had to be terribly frustrating for the handlers, who, even though they only got her to three tables total, did a better job with her than they did with most of the celebs. However, I wanted to applaud Jes.

Most of the celebs kept to themselves, or to their partners. Dot was like 5 feet from me for a good 20 minutes, and my inner gleek was ecstatic. Amber Benson was only a few feet farther for about the same amount of time. For her, I actually tried to go say hi, but she was absorbed in conversation with someone else and I didn’t want to interrupt. We made eye contact, though, so that was cool. Katrina, meanwhile, kinda starting circling and then was just like “Nah,” and she went and sprawled on a chair at the side of the room, again the most comfortable looking person there, and just let everyone come to her. Which, honestly, probably would be my recommendation if they change things for this event next year. Clearly, steering the talent to different tables isn’t working, so maybe steer the attendees instead.

Still, it was awesome, and I went back to my room and freaked out about OMG HOW IS MY LIFE THIS AWESOME before crashing hard.

Which I’m gonna do again now. Day 2 post tomorrowish.

[captainwhogotthecanary]

ClexaCon: Day 3 and Overall

The third day was too much for me and I ended up leaving several hours before I’d planned. It was still awesome, but yeah. I wasn’t quite ready for three days.

Queer Women Writers Workshop

For this panel, I didn’t get a lot of out it. The panelists were amazing, successful, and talented. However, it was supposed to be a workshop, more interactive than a regular panel, and it felt like there might have been even less Q&A time than in a normal panel, though I didn’t time it. Most of it was the panelists sharing who they are and their success in their fields, none of which were really of help to me personally, but I suspect others got more out of it.

Partly it was a specialty thing… There were people in non-fiction and in tv and film.

Partly it was that these amazing people mostly got started by being in the right place at the right time, a combination of luck and raw talent. It was awesome to listen to, but not much practical help, so again, not what I expected/wanted from a workshop.

NSFW: Horny on Main

This was one of the panels I enjoyed the most, actually. It was relaxed and fun. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting… The description was more accurate than the title. But yeah, a room full of people talking about kinks and smut in fandom, that was fun.

Overall

Despite the fact I had some issues and that I left quite overwhelmed halfway through the third day, I really, really, really loved ClexaCon. It felt really supportive and safe. It was so different, female and lgbt being the defaults rather than white men, and how many non-binary and trans folks there were, and just everything/all of it. I’ll be going back next year. I’m considering either volunteering or maybe even trying to get on a panel, or getting a booth if I’ve gotten my next book written and published by then, though I’m guessing that’ll have to wait another year.

If anyone wants to go next year, let me know. Getting a room is definitely the way to go, and splitting can be fun and is definitely more affordable. Even if I hadn’t loved so many of the guests and panels, the atmosphere alone was worth it.

[captainwhogotthecanary]

ClexaCon: Day 0

I’m not going downtown today. I was going to for badge pickup, but then my husband ended up stuck at work, and I decided wasn’t up for dragging the kiddo with me. Not a big deal; I can pick up my badge tomorrow. In worse news, concussed Kita managed to miss the ENTIRE RELEVANT SECTION of the weapons policy, and water guns aren’t allowed. I have a message in to them to see whether it still counts if I’ve disabled the water gun (they allow for some other weapons if disabled). If I can’t, then I choose between Snart without his cold gun or a different cosplay. I mean, or just myself, but I always like an excuse to dress in costume.

[captainwhogotthecanary]

ClexaCon: Day 0, cont.

Alright. No response on the water cold gun, so I'm going to bring it and see what they say. I did make more of the orange safety caps show and made it 10000 percent inoperable instead of 90%.

Also, my husband was worried about my driving back and forth all three days with my head, and he told me to go ahead and book a room for Fri and Sat nights and consider it an early mother's day present (that last bit only cause I'll stress over the budget otherwise). I don't have a room at the event hotel, but nearby.

I think I'm packed. I have 4 cosplays (and their accessories) to choose from, none of which require wigs since wigs and I don't get along. I have a pair of jeans and like 4 tops for depending whether I'm dressing up or down and whether it's chilly or warm. I have lots of food and drinks I can eat in my room.

A little excessive for 2 nights 30 minutes from home? Maybe.

Am I excited as hell?

I sure am!