One of the fun things about cons is that they go on and on into the late night (at least by my standards). I went to a couple of late-evening sessions last night: “Strangers Have the Best Candy” and “Adult Filking”.
“Strangers Have the Best Candy” was a session about villainy; specifically, why are villains often the favorite characters of fans and what makes a spectacular villain versus a laughable one? There was a panel to moderate the group but Heaven help me if I have to list their qualifications — I didn’t even catch their names. They did a decent job making sure everyone got a chance to speak. This was no small feat because a session like this is bound to draw the Annoying Guy One Seat Over, and it did: Some 20-ish, overly serious twit who not only Knew the Answer but was sure there could be only one answer. He reminded me of more than a few of my students. In my younger days, before I had attained my hard-won tolerance, I would have heap snark and derision on him and deconstructed his pathetic obsessions …except, let’s be honest — in my younger days I would have been him. I hope I’m better than that now.
“Adult Filk Singing” was filk singing for adults (duh). In particular, these were songs and poems with a certain salacious aspect… although very little was worse than PG-13. I was again astounded about how open the filking community is. People have lifelong acquaintances and a deep oral history but were never above welcoming in new people. Indeed there was an unofficial moderator who would explain, sotto vocce, what some of the peculiar filk terms mean. As before, the performances were uneven and the writing a little spotty, but it was really fun and a very comfortable session.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.