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This year, Yaoi-con was in the Los
Angeles area at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach. This was very
exciting for me as it was a fairly simple commute on public transit
from my house. I wrote a blog about that several weeks ago. I took my
own advice and went practically door to door for a couple of bucks.
The other big change this year was that convention was run by Digital
Manga. I will leave comparing the fan run, San Francisco conventions
to others. This was only my second Yaoi-con ever. Last year, my
husband and I stuck close to the room as that was my first real trip
anywhere since before I was diagnosed with cancer. I was still
getting my sea legs beneath me. Thus, I can't really comment on a
difference between the two conventions. I thought the hotel was a
nice bit of luxury without being crazy expensive. I really liked that
it was a short walk from every kind of store and restaurant a
traveler could imagine. That was a pleasant change that saved us a
ton of money on food. At first, I thought the convention should have
been in Downtown LA near Little Tokyo, but I realized that the
parking would have been even more expensive along with everything
else. The other problem with my reporting on the convention as a
whole is it seems like every time there was a main event in a
ballroom, I was having a panel or trying to grab some food before or
after a panel. This is my long winded way of saying that the views
here are highly subjective. If anyone out there wants to share their
Yaoi-con photos or experiences, I'll be glad to post them here.
There were too many cool Cosplay photos to post here. You can find them and the references from which the costumes came (for my readers who do not know the titles) here:
Panel-rama
Yes, I was the one with the hand
carved, Hello Kitty paddle at the BDSM panel. One of my colleagues
from filmmaking, Sunshine Lliteras, has a very creative and slightly
twisted friend who makes these incredible works of art. This was one
of the pounds of props that I brought to the BDSM panel. It was nice
to see all the old toys today. It's been some time since I used them.
They added many pounds to the luggage that we took to the convention,
but there was a very good reason why I need them. The depictions of
the BDSM lifestyle in most media, as I told the panel, bear as much
resemblance to reality as CSI: Miami bears a resemblance to law
enforcement. The toys I brought to the panel – even the Hello Kitty
paddle – can hurt like hell. In the wrong hands, their use can
cause debilitating or even life threatening injury. The point of my
talk was that I understand that this is fantasy, but some readers or
viewers may still want to try out some of those scenarios on a
partner. The panel covered the difference between a Seme/uke
relationship and a Dominant/submissive relationship. They often look
similar, but there is a key difference. Mainly, it comes down to
consent. I covered stories where the ukes were ties up and sometimes
even spanked. Wild Boyfriend, a manga title I localized as an editor,
is full of tied up ukes who are usually drugged as well. In only one
case was there consent and a negotiation of roles – the first
story. Both happen quite quickly and in the midst of some crazy
action, but both elements essential to a BDSM arrangement were there.
The audience seemed to be with me on that point. They also seemed to
like my take on Sensitive Pornograph – one of my favorite examples
of real BDSM in yaoi. The only resistance I met – and I fully
expected – was my take on Ai No Kusabi. I was hugely unhappy with
the ending of the original anime. I consoled myself by reading the
entire series of light novels, hoping to find many beautifully
described scenes of seduction and surrender. I did not find that. In
my opinion, Iason and Riki's relationship was Stockholm Syndrome, not
BDSM. After all, I got so annoyed at that series that I wrote
Ensnared. I cover that in copious detail in the blog, Flame Wars,The Forever War and Ai no Kusabi. I was not chased down the corridors of the hotel with torches and
pitch forks. In fact, I got hugs after the panel. I've never had that
happen before. It was very, very nice.
The other panels went pretty well. I
think I was most nervous about Digital Manga Guild panel as I was
representing far more than my own interests. I hope that I was able
to convey how much fun we have working through the challenges each
title presents. I really hope I made it clear just how much support
we get from Digital Manga and the other teams. Localizing often
doesn't feel like work to me. And most of all, I hope it's clear that
we have the approval of the mangaka and the Japanese publisher in
this effort. Even if the audience doesn't join DMG, they will know
that buying licensed and localized titles is the best way to support
the artists and keep them working. I was overjoyed to find that there
was a fan who loves our team's book and wanted to know how to search
for only those titles or for other teams she liked. Later on, others
who attended that panel told me that they followed our books. That
was a hug of another kind. That was thrilling and gratifying. The
panel I was least happy about was Anywhere, Anytime, Anyhow. The idea
sprang from twitter discussions with other teams on the strange stuff
they encounter in their books. I had hoped to get examples from the
other teams to share in the panel. The problem was that I may have
made the call for examples too close to the convention. I didn't get
enough responses in time. All I had was my own titles and I had
largely talked about those. I was disappointed, but the audience was
very sweet. One fan came up afterward to ask about places where those
new to yaoi could come and chat. I'm now toying with the idea of a
Facebook page for reviews and discussions and perhaps a Google+ hang
out. I'd like to do it, but I'll need some help to administer it. If
I can get some volunteers, I'll do it.
Aside from my own panels, I kibitz on
the Bent-con
to help raise awareness of how much geeky fun that event is. I think
it's a great convention, because of its size. I was able to mingle
with the special guests last year in a way that would be impossible
at an even like Comic Con. I really enjoyed talking to the filmmakers
these about features or shorts they were debuting at the convention.
No one would want a Q&A taken up with the find of film shoot
minutia we tend to like to talk about with other producers. There are
some really cook vendors there as well, Bent-con is a gay comic
convention, but it is very welcoming to everyone. I was glad to see
them at Yaoi-con.
Hamlet Machine and Starfighter Webcomic
My one bit of fangirl fun was to see
the amazingly talented and very sweet Hamlet Machine. She did a panel
this year at Yaoi-con on her art and on her sci-fi yaoi webcomic,
Starfighter. I discovered Starfighter while I was recovering from
cancer surgery. I was immediately hooked by the stark yet powerful
drawing style and on the story of the gentle and intelligent
navigator, Abel and his brutal and emotionally complex gunner, Cain.
The story is a sophisticated dance of Seme and uke, Dominant and
submissive and intrigue and suspense. I was surprised that Hamlet
Machine was also inspired by Ai no Kusabi when she created
Starfighter. I'm also humbled and amazed that she thinks well of me.
I'm still giddy from our last encounter! And I can't wait for her
next pages!
Manga Update
Our Localizing team, Heaven's Blade now
has a Facebook group! To keep up with our next titles, come on by and
join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/417286811659247/
Next time there will be a discussion
about insane Semes. Also, I'll review a homoerotic novel that not
only was published by a mainstream publisher but also was critically
acclaimed!
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