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Sirens, Days 6-7
Saturday I overslept a bit, and made it a little late to the first session of the day: Female Friendships in Fantasy. After that I went to the Faerie DNA panel, which I didn't take good enough notes on to post as such, but I'll recount what I can remember here. By "Faerie DNA," the moderator (Skyler White) meant memetic DNA: the ways the idea of faeries (particularly Western European ones) has remained the same, the ways it's changed, and so on. We talked about the idea of the stolen child or changeling, why that's an enduring concept, both from the point of view of the child who suspects themselves to be "different" or otherwise not truly their parent's child, to the point of view of the parent who suspects that their child may not be theirs, and why. From there we went on to discuss the idea of the faerie as nature spirit: the transition from the older nature spirits (dangerous, something humans would want to be protected from) through the Victorian flower faeries (do they represent nature as tamed and made safe by man?) to the more modern ecological view of nature spirits (where very often they are something that need to be protected from humans rather than vice versa). I then attended a Q/A session with a publisher at Random House, Mallory Loehr, that was fascinating and full of good information (unfortunately I did not get notes on that either).
The lunch keynote for Saturday was by Terri Windling: she called it her "why fairy tales are important" speech, and it was very interesting, especially as someone with an interest in the evolution of folklore. We explored the history of Red Riding Hood, which began as a coming-of-age story in which the girl (with help from older women) defeats the wolf by her own cleverness and skills... and eventually became a cautionary tale about vanity and interest in men, in which the girl must be rescued. She also talked about a very creepy earlier version of Snow White, in which the prince took a while to wake the princess, and, uh, there was some... implications of their relationship while she was comatose—and how that became the much tamer version we known now. She also talked about the way that fairy tales came to be considered children's stories, when they did not begin that way at all.
After lunch, I attended the Golden Age of YA panel, had a relaxing afternoon, went to an early dinner, and then got dressed for the A Star Shall Fall launch party and the Faerie Ball.
For this part, I need pictures, so: under the cut!
The launch party preceded the Faerie Ball, and featured two nifty things: a signature drink created in a drink contest (made with lime and blueberries, very delicious), and a costume contest. Accordingly, there were many beautifully-dressed people there!
Marie Brennan (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
swan_tower) was dressed in a very lovely Onyx Court dress—Elizabethan-ish, with faerie touches—that was beautifully-designed and beautifully-made, and also suited her perfectly. (Not always the same thing!) Here's a picture of her, along with Manda as (I think?) a knight of the Sea People, greeting her as befits a queen (plus a Green Man in the background):
Here's another, of Shveta Thakrar (shvetufae) as an apsara dignitary, exchanging courtesies with the Onyx Court representative:
And this is the winner of the launch party costume contest: an aspen faerie, all in white and gold, her wings decorated with aspen leaves that she collected that very afternoon:
After the launch party, we made our way to the faerie ball for more chatter and dancing.
At the faerie ball we were given glowsticks to give it that appropriately sparkly demeanor. There was a murder mystery plot (I didn't take part in it, but it sounded like a lot of fun), and lots of chatting, storytelling in the lobby, and dancing, dancing, dancing. I loved the ball from last year, and it was even better this year: a wide variety of people took part in the dancing, from those who could dance with great grace or passion or both to... uh, me, whose idea of dancing is to flail in an uncoordinated yet joyful manner. I am very often too embarrassed by my dancing to do it in public, even though it makes me happy, because of the 'uncoordinated' bit, but Sirens is one of those places where I feel pretty confident that everyone will appreciate the 'joyful' more than they will mind the 'uncoordinated flailing,' so I danced until I was soaked with sweat, and had a great time.
I also took pictures: people wore everything from jeans to elaborate faerie costumes, and the combination was enough to make the ball seem like actually a pretty darn magical place.
A masked autumn faerie and her be-cloaked mother:
Artemis, making a very convincing wild satyr sort of faerie:
A nature sprite who, I truly tell you, moved with a light-aired and very fae grace that I can only describe as 'flitting:'
Marie Brennan again, this time en garde:
Zen, as a very impressive steampunk woman:
rachelmanija, prohibition pixie:
And me, in the only pic of me that came out okay but which is unfortunately quite dark. (It isn't that I mind photographs of myself; it's just that in all the better-lit pics I'm making goofy faces.)
EDIT:asakiyume fiddled with the photo to make it a bit brighter, so now you can better see the details on the dress. :D
The next day, we got up for the farewell auction and breakfast, where I won the handpainted version of the con symbol for the year (a girl reading a book with a faerie rising up behind her). It will be mailed to me. Squee!
They also announced the theme for next year, about which I am very, very excited: Monsters. Literal monsters, the monstrous, monstrous women (literally and figuratively), and the way that women have been imagined as monsters—for good and for ill. I already have several ideas for panels. And the guest lineup is pretty fantastic: Justine Larbalestier, Nnedi Okorafor, and Laini Taylor.
Anyway, after breakfast and many goodbyes, my traveling companions and I packed up and hit the road for Horse Camp, about which more later!
The lunch keynote for Saturday was by Terri Windling: she called it her "why fairy tales are important" speech, and it was very interesting, especially as someone with an interest in the evolution of folklore. We explored the history of Red Riding Hood, which began as a coming-of-age story in which the girl (with help from older women) defeats the wolf by her own cleverness and skills... and eventually became a cautionary tale about vanity and interest in men, in which the girl must be rescued. She also talked about a very creepy earlier version of Snow White, in which the prince took a while to wake the princess, and, uh, there was some... implications of their relationship while she was comatose—and how that became the much tamer version we known now. She also talked about the way that fairy tales came to be considered children's stories, when they did not begin that way at all.
After lunch, I attended the Golden Age of YA panel, had a relaxing afternoon, went to an early dinner, and then got dressed for the A Star Shall Fall launch party and the Faerie Ball.
For this part, I need pictures, so: under the cut!
The launch party preceded the Faerie Ball, and featured two nifty things: a signature drink created in a drink contest (made with lime and blueberries, very delicious), and a costume contest. Accordingly, there were many beautifully-dressed people there!
Marie Brennan (
swan_tower) was dressed in a very lovely Onyx Court dress—Elizabethan-ish, with faerie touches—that was beautifully-designed and beautifully-made, and also suited her perfectly. (Not always the same thing!) Here's a picture of her, along with Manda as (I think?) a knight of the Sea People, greeting her as befits a queen (plus a Green Man in the background): |
| From Sirens 2010 |
Here's another, of Shveta Thakrar (
shvetufae) as an apsara dignitary, exchanging courtesies with the Onyx Court representative: |
| From Sirens 2010 |
And this is the winner of the launch party costume contest: an aspen faerie, all in white and gold, her wings decorated with aspen leaves that she collected that very afternoon:
 |
| From Sirens 2010 |
After the launch party, we made our way to the faerie ball for more chatter and dancing.
At the faerie ball we were given glowsticks to give it that appropriately sparkly demeanor. There was a murder mystery plot (I didn't take part in it, but it sounded like a lot of fun), and lots of chatting, storytelling in the lobby, and dancing, dancing, dancing. I loved the ball from last year, and it was even better this year: a wide variety of people took part in the dancing, from those who could dance with great grace or passion or both to... uh, me, whose idea of dancing is to flail in an uncoordinated yet joyful manner. I am very often too embarrassed by my dancing to do it in public, even though it makes me happy, because of the 'uncoordinated' bit, but Sirens is one of those places where I feel pretty confident that everyone will appreciate the 'joyful' more than they will mind the 'uncoordinated flailing,' so I danced until I was soaked with sweat, and had a great time.
I also took pictures: people wore everything from jeans to elaborate faerie costumes, and the combination was enough to make the ball seem like actually a pretty darn magical place.
A masked autumn faerie and her be-cloaked mother:
 |
| From Sirens 2010 |
Artemis, making a very convincing wild satyr sort of faerie:
 |
| From Sirens 2010 |
A nature sprite who, I truly tell you, moved with a light-aired and very fae grace that I can only describe as 'flitting:'
 |
| From Sirens 2010 |
Marie Brennan again, this time en garde:
 |
| From Sirens 2010 |
Zen, as a very impressive steampunk woman:
 |
| From Sirens 2010 |
rachelmanija, prohibition pixie: |
| From Sirens 2010 |
And me, in the only pic of me that came out okay but which is unfortunately quite dark. (It isn't that I mind photographs of myself; it's just that in all the better-lit pics I'm making goofy faces.)
 |
| From Sirens 2010 |
EDIT:
asakiyume fiddled with the photo to make it a bit brighter, so now you can better see the details on the dress. :D |
| From Sirens 2010 |
The next day, we got up for the farewell auction and breakfast, where I won the handpainted version of the con symbol for the year (a girl reading a book with a faerie rising up behind her). It will be mailed to me. Squee!
They also announced the theme for next year, about which I am very, very excited: Monsters. Literal monsters, the monstrous, monstrous women (literally and figuratively), and the way that women have been imagined as monsters—for good and for ill. I already have several ideas for panels. And the guest lineup is pretty fantastic: Justine Larbalestier, Nnedi Okorafor, and Laini Taylor.
Anyway, after breakfast and many goodbyes, my traveling companions and I packed up and hit the road for Horse Camp, about which more later!