(no subject)

[pacificpikachu]

Back from Yaoi-Con! It was awesome as always. Many laughs, fun events, great people, good times. It's sad leaving such a fun con, and especially because I was hanging out with toggy and astrokittie at the end and I didn't want to leeeeave. Needless to say, now I'm exhausted! I was up until 4 AM last night because I was at the dance until 3 AM and then took a shower and whatnot, and I did not want to get out of the comfy, pillow-filled hotel bed today. Yet again I missed the panel Foods Corrupted by Yaoi because I slept in--every year I think I'm going to go and be amused, and every year I sleep too late.

I'm not even into yaoi manga because most of it is, frankly, not very good storytelling, but I bought a stack of it because for $2 a book and one free for every five you buy, I couldn't resist. Hopefully some of it will be good, or at least amusing, and if not, no big loss! (Yes, I do ship plenty of m/m pairings and in fact love pairings of all flavors, it's just the actual canon yaoi manga tends not to be so great as a whole. I'm sure there are exceptions, though!)

I love how Yaoi-Con is so easygoing, accepting, and entertaining. There's just a wonderful attitude and spirit to it. It's definitely my favorite smaller convention. I guess they're going to be moving it to LA, which is disappointing and makes it much more difficult for me to go, but I'll probably still go every year. I hope, at least. I really think it should stay in the bay area, though, no matter what DMP wants to do. :( I tend to get nervous over big changes with cons I love, but hopefully it'll retain its current awesomeness level.

Too tired to say much more, I'll have to write more tomorrow once I've gotten some sleep and relaxing in.

Comments

[astrokittie.livejournal.com]

I had so much fun hanging out with you! Aaah we need to hang out more often.

Annnnd if DMP makes the move to LA I think it could seriously hurt the con. :\ I kind of hope they take that into consideration. Everyone I've talked to about it with or heard talking about it has been unhappy about the news.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! I love you and Tog so much, you guys are awesome. I wish we could be neighbors, that would be the best ever!

I'll let you know next time I'll be in the area. Come to think of it, November 20th is the Night of Writing Dangerously for NaNoWriMo. If I can figure out where to stay that night (maybe with my aunt?), I'd love to hang out the next day or something if that works for you! Of course Tog should come, too!

I think it will, too. From what I've heard, it's confirmed now. What I'm hoping is that they'll have it in LA once and then move it back to SF. It belongs in SF for so many reasons! I'm terribly unhappy that they made this decision. It doesn't feel right to me.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Yeppp, they are! I'm not happy about it because LA is seven and a half hours from me and I think SF is the place for it, but it would be awesome if you can come!

I diiid! I always do. :D

[placetohide.livejournal.com]

Just out of curiosity, what exactly is the appeal of Yaoi-Con if you don't like yaoi manga? Isn't that kind of, uh... the whole con's theme?

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

It's not that I dislike yaoi manga because I don't enjoy m/m pairings (because I definitely do enjoy them), it's only because the majority of the yaoi manga I've read has been pretty uninteresting in my opinion. :(

I really want to like it, I certainly love a lot of m/m pairings within various anime series, I just haven't found many authors of actual yaoi manga that I like yet. Partly why I got some books cheaply, in hopes that some of them will be worthwhile. That said, I think it was you who recommended Yoshinaga Fumi? Because I picked up three or four of her books and I'm excited to read those! I hear a lot of great things about her work so I'm happy I finally got some of her manga.

[placetohide.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the info, but aaaahhhh, you didn't answer my question at all! XD;

I was wondering why you like Yaoicon so much//what there is for you to do at yaoicon if it's all centered on yaoi. I'm really curious! I've never been, so in my mind it's just this big in-your-face fest of pictures of flowery weeping dudes clinging to each other.

And yes, I did recommend Yoshinaga Fumi! Her art is not that great, but her ability to tell a story and make compelling characters is spot on, IMO.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

You're right, sorry! And haha, I think that's the best mental image of Yaoi-Con ever. That's pretty much what I expected when I first went.

It's a fun convention because it's basically like a normal con, but with more focus on m/m romance and sexy dudes. The biggest event is the Bishounen Auction, which is basically like a more elaborate (and somewhat risque) masquerade. The volunteer guys are then auctioned off as dates to the dance, with the proceeds going straight back into running the con. Sex during the allotted time is not allowed, so it's not prostitution or anything. I can't say I would be interested in bidding in this auction myself, but the show they put on is very entertaining and well-done.

There are a lot of amusing fan-run panels talking about everything from drawing bishounen to slash in various fandoms to Foods Corrupted by Yaoi to discussion of social issues within fandom and how it meshes and/or does not mesh with the real world. Lots of games, like the Scavenger Hunt (teams are given various prompts that they have to fulfill in the most hilarious and creative way possible by taking photos at the con), Yaoi Mad-Libs, Anime Pictionary, and more. There's a more yaoi-themed AMV contest and Masquerade. As usual, there's a dealer's room (with lots of yaoi manga and a ton of affordable doujinshi of all ratings) and artist's alley, swap meet, cosplay gatherings, all those types of things.

The fact that it's an 18+ con gives it a more chill atmosphere, and because of the nature of the convention it is very open-minded. That's one of the things I find most refreshing about it. It's a small to medium sized convention, but it has a lot of spunk and it is unique.

Aahhhh, wonderful, that's exactly what I'm looking for! Good storytelling and compelling characters. :D