#entry form for a thing: list your favorite sff media

[chiropteracupola]

actually I have decided that I need to restore my Discussable Fantasy Enjoyer Qualifications so I am going on a quest for a copy of temeraire Right Now

[sophygurl]

WisCon 43 panel New Pop Culture and Old Farts

Back in the day, we could read every new science fiction book and short story, and watch every movie. Now, new SF/F arrives in a flood, which can be overwhelming. How do older fen find the new books and media that excite us? What newer fandoms do you love and want to recommend to your peers?

Moderator:  Victor J. Raymond. Panelists:  Eleanor A. Arnason, Sigrid Ellis, Cassandra Phoenix

Disclaimers: These are only the notes I was personally able to jot down on paper during the panel. I absolutely did not get everything, and may even have some things wrong. Corrections by panelists or other audience members always welcome. I name the mod and panelists because they are publicly listed, but will remove/change names if asked. I do not name audience members unless specifically asked by them to be named. If I mix up a pronoun or name spelling or anything else, please tell me and I’ll fix it!

Also, this panel was at 8:30 am and I went to it on 3 hours of sleep, so my notes were slower and less complete than usual. I also left around half-way to two-thirds of the way through due to pain issues that I had to treat. But here’s what I got!

Notes:

During the introductions, Sigird said that she enjoys the explosion of fandom, Cassandra talked about the tensions involved in being inundated with pop culture, Eleanor warned the audience “I should mention that I am old” and also spoke about losing touch with the SFF field as she’s aged and how she still wants a connection to it. 

Victor also talked about the explosion of all of the different forms of media expression. We have so much access to SFF - both new and old - it’s almost a white out experience.

Eleanor talked about how when she was younger, you could be aware of everything that was happening in the field. When a friend of hers found herself losing touch, she began to read everything that was up for a major award - that gave her structure to staying in touch. 

Eleanor also advised people to not sit on panels about contemporary topics if you are out of touch. Sigrid added that you should go to those panels, however, to learn.

Cassandra warned not to look down on what kids are engaging with. As example - tumblr culture can be a peek into what going’s on. A lot of the stuff that her son likes is weird, in her opinion, but she finds a way to engage with it anyway.

Sigird said that one of her favorite things to do at cons is to attend panels about things she doesn’t know anything about. Then she’ll google it later to find out more. She advised that checking the internet and asking other people are the best ways to curate your experience. Also agreed with the tactic of checking out awards lists. 

Another thing Sigird talked about was short fiction as a medium for creators to experiment and play with new things. So checking out short fiction is a good way to see what new stuff might be coming out in the genre. 

Sigrid talked about how she began stress-reading romance - a genre she had not read before - because it felt safe. SFF was leaving her feeling stressed because you never know how it’s going to end, but romance has a set formula. Since she was new to romance, and everything looked the same to her, she asked women she knew who loved the genre for recs. She got recs but was also told to check review sites such as Smart Bitches Trashy Books or goodreads, although goodreads is dense and you might need a lot of time to wade through it all.

Victor said that each fandom or genre has it’s own way of talking about things and you have to learn that language as you get into it. [There was some good examples of this shared among the panel but I didn’t get them down.]

Sigrid talked about ways of finding content you like. For example, she learned she liked Courtney Milan as a romance author and would google things like “if you like Courtney Milan...” to find similar content.

Cassandra talked about how it’s harder to find community now because of how spread out fandom is. LiveJournal made it easier.

Sigird said discord is one way people are connecting now. 

Sigird also has teenagers and they have social media tools that she doesn’t find personally valuable, but she respects and recognizes that it’s useful for them.

Cassandra talked about the level of engagement between younger fans and their creators, especially on sites like youtube. It’s different than what we had growing up. 

The panelists listed various sites that people are engaging with fandom on: AO3, youtube, dreamwidth, deviantart, slack, discord, instagram, snapchat, reddit, curiouscat...

Eleanor said she struggles to realize she won’t be able to stay up to date on everything. “I’m on facebook ... which I know is old.” She does love the MCU and finds that to be an area of pop culture that allows her to connect with people of all ages and around the world. Sometimes picking one thing that is very popular to keep current on can help.

Sigrid said it is super important to give up on the stuff that isn’t making you happy, but to still be happy for the younger people who are enjoying those things. Don’t be resentful of the things you aren’t staying involved with. 

Cassandra also said there is too much out there to be able to keep track of. As we get older, we find that time is more precious. Stick with the things you love.

Sirigid brought up libraries and librarians as resources. They usually have rec lists both online and in person for whatever you’re looking for.

Eleanor added that so do good independent bookstores. And re: bookstores - there used to be stronger boundaries between SFF and other literary genres, but those are breaking down more. 

Cassandra advised that libraries allow you to ask them to bring in books and authors they don’t already have. That is a way to support those authors and get more people exposed to their work. [I love doing this, especially for self-published authors or authors working with smaller publishers.]

Victor said that in addition to the explosion of different fandoms, there is also an explosion of conventions. There is probably a con for anything you’re into - it may not necessarily be a good one - but it’s out there. This is another way to find community and connection.

Eleanor talked about going to an anime con - she didn’t know enough about anime to really have an entry point, so while she enjoys anime, she realized anime is not her fandom. You just can’t do everything, so pick  what you like the most to engage with.

Sigird spoke about finding community vs. finding content. Sometimes you want to engage with the fandom and sometimes you don’t. She’ll sometimes check AO3 in a particular fandom to see what the most active and vocal fans are discussing and focusing on. If it’s not what she’s interested in, she knows that fandom isn’t likely to be something she wants to actively participate in, even if she enjoys the content of the fandom itself. Sometimes you look at a fandom and think “I’m glad you’re happy, but please be happy ... over there!” 

From here my notes got a bit sporadic and unreadable, but there was some talk about fandoms that become toxic, such as the video game world where there is a battleground between people who want it to be more diverse and the gamergate folk. That battle is important, but if you’re attempting to get into video game fandom, it’s a tricky place right now to find entry. [I don’t know if anyone on the panel mentioned this because I dealing with above mentioned pain issue and packing up to go, but I Need Diverse Games is a great resource for finding community and connection in video game fandoms.]

That’s all I managed to get!