Entry tags:

DashCon or DashConned?
*So... is there any chance of a write up on DashCon happening? Because I am hearing rumours of it being spectacular, but have been completely unable to find much because Tumblr is terrible.

Thank you FW for coming through:

DashCon is a convention run by... possibly 17 year olds that was supposed to be a celebration of all things Tumblr Fandom. Unfortunately, things got sketchy quickly when con-goers were herded into the convention ballroom and told that they needed to raise $17,000 by 10 PM or the con would be shut down.

Donations poured in, though anons reporting from DashCon appear skeptical.

Questions arose. Skepticism continues to mount despite DashCon "response".

Popcorn continues to be consumed, as ONTD gets in on the action.

There's some positive word on the street from DashCon is a bit of a mixed bag. From the curt to the effusive.

More sources in the comments since I am having trouble keeping up reading and adding them all at the moment.

Edited to add:
A statement from Welcome To Night Vale about why they dropped out.
More on WTF is Wrong with DashCon in list format.

7/14/2014 - DashCon carnage continues (Sorry if I miss something but you guys are still awesome at bringing the links):
* Baker Street Babes (who were initially curt but polite about DashCon) reveal that DashCon did not in fact "take care of" their previously comped room that became a room they had to pay for that was a computer glitch that is now again having to be paid for by the Baker Street Babes.
* The Random Act - Misha Collins' charity has disavowed all knowledge of DashCon fundraising in their name.
* Mark Reads had a pretty good time, and debunks several of the rumours re: DashCon.
* DashCon stories have hit Jezebel and io9, though given current state of Gawker sites, they're basically Tumblr/meme curators by this point, so YMMV on relevance.
* DashCon organizer cries. I guess this is supposed to be guilt-inducing? Are these people too young to remember that we eat our young around here. Not linking because not 100% sure if the rumours that they are underaged are true.
* There was NO PUBLIC MASTURBATION at the BDSM panel. The fact that I even had to say this just tells you everything, doesn't it?
* The WTNV confirm they took in Noelle Stevenson. Dammit fandom_wank, I had to figure out how to direct link to tweets for you.
* Practically nobody believes DashCon's staff saying WTNV "just walked".
* Best "masterpost" of DashCon debacle I've seen on Tumblr. Now with corrections.
* Linkdump by mindset
* DashCon staff ~~AMA~~ just venting on 4Chan

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to collapse.

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

Panel Update

argylespy
2014-07-13 06:13 pm UTC (link)

So there was apparently a panel on the schedule entitled "Homoerotic Subtext" with a description that's been causing quite the stir:

Homoerotic Subtext - From Supernatural to Sherlock, Harry Potter to Teen Wolf, every fandom has it! Destiel, Johnlock, Drarry, and Sterek. You have a fandom, we can find you one, you're very own gay pairing! The discussion of how each fandom undoubtedly has some homoerotic subtext, and how much we cannot get enough of it.

I'm certain my fellow wankas can see why this might cause some people to get upset.

But there's been some posts by bisexual-books, apparently one of the panelists going into detail about how the panelists (all queer) talked about

[ ... ] speaking out about the good, the bad, and the ugly of subtext, shipping, fanworks, bi/ace/pan invisibility, the lack of trans characters, the green bean bullshit that is queerbaiting, the lack of POC, the political responsibilities when straight people write m/m, the pervasive sexism in fandom/media, the lack of femslash, the lack of good female characters to ship, and where to find actual representation.

So there's at least some good to come out of this.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

seiberwing
2014-07-13 06:33 pm UTC (link)

There's a slash panel at CONvergence every year, and aside the year when one of the panelists showed up drunk (it's held at 11pm, as many of the 'adult' panels are in the evenings after children go to bed) it's not been hugely problematic. The idea itself isn't bad.

It's also not pitched like that. But then again tumblr gets super angry on a moment's notice if they think something is being exclusionary or bigoted so a tumblr convention should have known better than this.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

argylespy
2014-07-13 07:26 pm UTC (link)

No one said the idea itself was bad, just the pitch. I've also been to shipping/hentai panels where the panelists turned out to be very well-informed and really informative.

But considering the fact that they namedropped three of the biggest and blatantly aggressive names in queerbaiting in mainstream media, yeah I was one of those Tumblr people who got really skeeved out when I first saw the description going around.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	seiberwing 2014-07-13 07:40 pm UTC (link)
	No, yeah. My point was definitely that it has been done well, and here it was done very poorly. You would think tumblr of all people would be all about minding its inclusivity Ps and Qs. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

argylespy
2014-07-13 07:49 pm UTC (link)

Ah, okay, my bad reading comprehension!

But yeah, actually it's also not the first time I've seen this kinda bait and switch deal where the panel title and description were really skeevy, but the panel itself was really well-done and inclusive. Though with the one I actually attended, I got the feeling that it was a matter of the panelist who was supposed to be running it being unable to attend and her co-panelist (who apparently was originally only supposed to be helping out) ending up running it at the last minute.

I'm honestly really not sure what the case was here, whether the DashCon people planned the panel/wrote the description themselves and found someone to run it after the fact (which, everything I'm reading about the organization, I wouldn't put it past them); or if the panelists intended to attract the kind of people who would genuinely want to go to a panel with that description and try to educate them.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: Panel Update lyssie 2014-07-13 07:26 pm UTC (link)
	the lack of good female characters to ship ... Hasn't this myth been exploded yet? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Panel Update lyrangalia 2014-07-13 07:29 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, the line about "the lack of good female characters to ship" has me side-eyeing even the 'good' parts of this panel. Especially in reference to SPN, where the rumour is that fan backlash is why they killed off so many female characters... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Panel Update lizbee 2014-07-14 08:06 am UTC (link)
	Rumour? The Australian network previewed the episode where a major female character died as "THE EPISODE THE FANS DEMANDED!" (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: Panel Update seiberwing 2014-07-13 07:41 pm UTC (link)
	I'll be over here petting my 2014 Papa Bear Award for "Best Slash Fiction" in a very niche fandom. Featuring two ladies. It isn't hard. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Panel Update mister_terrific 2014-07-13 10:21 pm UTC (link)
	One of my greatest honors in fanfic was being asked to contribute to a zine called SAPPHO, which was pretty much what you'd expect it to be. I think I had one story in each issue; my favorite was titled "Where In The Bed Is Carmen Sandiego?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Panel Update puipui 2014-07-14 04:43 am UTC (link)
	"Where In The Bed Is Carmen Sandiego?" I really want to read this now. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Panel Update kumquat_of_doom 2014-07-22 11:26 pm UTC (link)
	Moi aussi. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: Panel Update pfeffermuse 2014-07-13 11:04 pm UTC (link)
	Marya/Tiger? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Panel Update seiberwing 2014-07-14 12:25 am UTC (link)
	That would be me! I think I might be the only Marya writer, which makes me sad. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Panel Update -

pfeffermuse, 2014-07-14 01:33 am UTC

Re: Panel Update -

seiberwing, 2014-07-14 04:20 pm UTC

	Re: Panel Update cmdr_zoom 2014-07-14 12:48 am UTC (link)
	that would require admitting how much of it is just pr0n (by any other name). all those bitches and hos, getting their skanky vajays in between the luscious man-candy and forcing the fans to pretend they aren't there ~~while fapping~~... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: Panel Update rosehiptea 2014-07-16 04:44 am UTC (link)
	That really drives me up a wall. I don't care if people want to ship only male/male pairings, they don't have to give me any reason at all... but don't bash huge amounts of female characters as your "reason." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Panel Update skarrow 2014-07-20 04:01 am UTC (link)
	Mmm no I will continue to complain that shows have too few female characters and usually set them up against each other in Bechdel-failing style. The fact that there are good ones and pairings I love doesn't negate media's shitty lack of ladies. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: Panel Update soc_puppet 2014-07-14 12:42 am UTC (link)
	One more brief statement on the Homoerotic Subtext panel from bisexual-books. Apparently they had no control over the description and weren't exactly pleased by it?. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Panel Update

argylespy
2014-07-14 01:18 am UTC (link)

Glad to hear it? Sort of?

Relevant text for linkphobic:

I wasn’t thrilled by the description of the panel they used in their PR, but we had no control of that. I didn’t even read the description until last week. If it were my call, I would have added something about how our discussion was going to include “the good, the bad, and the ugly”, but I’m not a PR person *shrug*

Clearly their description was good enough to get people interested since we had a line. If that description lured in uneducated straight people in desperate need of being hit over the head with the clue stick, then it was a win-win as far as I’m concerned.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Panel Update seiberwing 2014-07-14 08:02 pm UTC (link)
	That does seem to fit with the 'management bad, participants good' theme that's running here. They meant well and got screwed over by the organizers. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: Panel Update khym_chanur 2014-07-14 06:03 am UTC (link)
	"green bean bullshit"? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Panel Update soc_puppet 2014-07-15 12:14 am UTC (link)
	Reference to this Autostraddle post, in which the author, Kate, compares queerbaiting to someone volunteering to bring green bean casserole to a get-together, showing up with a single limp green bean, and then throwing a fit when people point out that the aforementioned green bean isn't exactly the same as green bean casserole. A very entertaining read. (Reply to this)(Parent)

Re: Panel Update

soc_puppet
2014-07-15 12:25 am UTC (link)

Here we go! From the article linked above:

It’s sort of like showing up to Thanksgiving having said you’d bring green bean casserole, except you brought a single green bean on a paper plate. Even though this will obviously not feed any of the other guests and barely counts as a green bean casserole, you sneer at those who are protesting, telling them that they never specified what a green bean casserole is and besides that, they’re being whiny babies. You wave the single limp green bean in the air and tell them that it’s obvious they’ll never be happy, that they’re complaining for the sake of complaining and that it’s no wonder they don’t get to eat quality green bean casserole because nobody wants to share green bean casserole with such an aggressive and unfriendly group. In other words, making a character bisexual only to immediately write them out of the show makes me feel like shoving a green bean up someone’s nose.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Panel Update argylespy 2014-07-15 04:16 pm UTC (link)
	That is amazingly beautiful. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Panel Update soc_puppet 2014-07-17 02:17 pm UTC (link)
	Ain't it just? I am totally keeping that bookmarked for future use. (Reply to this)(Parent)

(Read comments) -