October - means Octocon

I’ve taken up a place on an autumn semester course about Data Visualisation. We are using Tableau and will be attending online.
I attended 2020’s Octocon online as my first ever time to attend and assist with running an online conference. We hosted on Discus, filmed panelists using Zoom, and streamed live on Twitch. As a moderator, I got to wear a virtual red jersey. While I was doing this work, I was also taking notes as usual. Some panels have shorter notes because I had to go to other duties. All opinions shown are those of the speakers.

Saturday 10th October 2020

Myth building panel.
Juliet E McKenna – teenagers she asked did not know what the Marie Celeste was. Twilight is similar to Jane Eyre, but teens have not read Jane Eyre as it is not as accessible.

Oisin McGann – Lindbergh flew the Atlantic on his own six years after Alcock and Brown who flew non-stop in 16 hours – earlier, the US Navy flew it but not in one trip, in steps. Whose story got remembered? Who had more to gain from publicity? Lindbergh. Storytelling reinforces myth and belief – powerful with a core message.
J. Campfire stories were told to make sense of the world.
Q. how important were place names in myths?
O. Hillfort was the first place to light a fire on Hallowe’en. The fire was so hot it burned bone and changed the chemical composition of rock. In the days of the Hill of Tara, a series of tribes changed the landscape. In Australia, there’s a place where the tribes came and danced every year, and their feet had worn down a bowl shape into solid rock.
Jean Burlesk – Monetising myths today.
Oisin – we had to come up with a single strand of Celtic myth that everyone could learn about, a way to refer to this shared mythological reference.
Jean – interpretations change over generations. More complicated when mythology is still an active religion.

Peadar Ó Guilín – Marvel’s universe is opposite to mythology as there is canon which is changed by new creators.
J.B. A framework can unite us but we have to stay critical.
O – Balor of the evil eye – like Medusa – the evil stare is widespread, like Flood myths.
J McK – Romans adapted other tribes’ gods to their gods. "You have a lightning god, oh that’s our Jupiter, same god."

Queer characters
Quinn Clancy – side characters, urban fantasy includes this character in a werewolf story. Should not be just a token but the premise should add to the plot. Rowling announced Dumbledore was gay after the event, so it had no bearing on the plot.
Philippa Ryder – writer can add a character if they wish, adds depth.
Robert Simpson – like a person of different skin colour, can be a token add, for commercial reasons. Your sexuality does not come up in most day to day conversations. Can be more conflicted in the story.
Kate Corcoran – big secondary character in her story is gay. He has his own plot, but main role is to link two women’s narratives. Some people resent he doesn’t get enough screentime. Secondary character needs to have own story but also to advance main plot.

Michael Carroll Guest of Honour
First book published – terrific feeling. Doesn’t like his originals now but still gets a thrill from new releases.


Fourth Wave Feminism
James Brophy – 1) world is inherently unfair, 2) more unfair to women. If you understand that you are a feminist. Not about watching cartoon shows from 30 years ago, more about giving fair representation and thoughtfulness.
Valerie Estelle Frankel - Representation and agency – maybe we should have black people write Black Panther instead of another Stan Lee. Less sexualisation of women characters but Star Wars Force Awakens had one woman. Maybe you want more than one.
Helen Corcoran – more representing women in power – patriarchy hurts everyone, toxic masculinity affects men and women.
VEF - Intersectionality. I am not of your group, but I understand the problems your group faces. Hunger Games – protagonist is fully dressed through the story. Slight romance. A very feminine character. Some producers make female characters who are more like men.
Helen Ryder – The Bechdel Test; the story has more than one woman and they converse. [About something other than a man. Ed.] Xena, Warrior Princess was the only show to pass the test. Most others do not show more than one woman or not conversing.
Mod – why can’t this character have a friend, a mum, etc. Why just one woman character? Not much fun for her. The My Little Pony film had 6 females and 1 male protagonist.
Helen Ryder – a woman producer rather than a producer so channels on Netflix can be helpful to spread word.
James Brophy – some people don’t realise how difficult it is to get animation made in the first place. Huge economic pressures. So far the industry has not prioritised diversity in voice booths, also adage “green people are not representing anyone.” Cartoon normally has a boy’s name on top. Saw one show which included a journey to another planet, gay men kiss and talk about love. A Supergirl show, African Americans on the show were playing Martians. One AA character provided – the producers had to add a character for him to talk to.
VEF – saw Buffy but lived in L.A. and did not see the kinds of people she went to school with. Had to accept this was a Hollywood treatment. Glee was much more normal people.
Helen Corcoran – She-Ra sword was what a girl wanted, her dad didn’t see the difference between that and He-Man’s sword in the shop.
Q. Female heroes in Endgame take a kick-ass pose at the final battle scene; is it a box ticking exercise? Panel agreed.
VEF – Yes and then get back to Captain America’s personal life.
James Brophy – Black Widow – Perlmutter held it back for years. He did not believe in a female hero or villain. Skimpy outfits are for the male gaze, and more so when Supergirl meets up with other superheroes and has to keep smiling to make others comfortable.

A decade under Tharg
Maura McHugh said she read Misty but her brothers read 2000AD.
Michael Carroll agreed it was for him but not his sisters. But girls read it too. Judge Dredd was male but Judge Anderson was female.
PJ Holden – took him 20 years to draw a Dredd and see it as a pretty good Dredd and not as a fan art. Also he has to write / draw new material, not the exact same story again.
MC – there was an Irish Judges story in 1990s and he changed that, as he resented that these were all drunk, and he does not drink. He created a son of one of them and a very solid Judge.
PJ – Harder gig to write for young readers. Have to smarten it up not dumb down. So many more things for them to be entertained by now, it must be an entertaining story.

Gene Roddenberry
James Brophy – Gene was hugely important, but separate the art from artist. The fans were the ones who brought show back. TV executives said no – it was the popularity of re-runs.
Valerie Bronson – Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica came out, CBS wanted a dog in the race. SciFi TV found shows popular but reality shows were cheaper and still brought in money.
VB – Phase 2 proposed – Nimoy did not want to participate, a Vulcan character called Voss was proposed. The Motion Picture made instead. Voss’ name was used for a Vulcan science officer who immediately gets mangled by a transporter.
Helen Ryder. Roddenberry was atheist, hence a probe was self aware, godlike beings etc. They did touch on religion in many ways.
VB – The Bjorans were religious but this was at the heart of conflicts.

Carnality and Consent
Kim Newman - in early novels people didn’t realise stalking was real so films like Fatal Attraction was the first they knew.
RFL - The Craft was interesting because it was from the POV of a bad girl or monster not a good girl.

When I had typed out all my notes, they were clearly too long for one month’s blog, so I will post the rest next month. On the good side, that’s most of November’s post ready.

Some of my college final year research projects are available in this display of student research posters. This consists of entries to the HECA Research Awards which will be held for the first time this year. The posters will be available to view 1 - 5 November only.
Well done to all who entered!

https://heca.ie/hsra-digital-posters/

Follow my published articles on Medium or my JournoPortfolio page.

https://clareobeara.journoportfolio.com/

Watch my book trailers for my science fiction series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GadPp...

Visit my website:
www.clareobeara.ie
for news, puzzles, books, reviews and events. We have created a new page for Young Adult readers. This contains plenty of horses and dogs! You can find my podcasts on the News and Events page. I provide a Writers’ Page giving tips about how to be an independent publisher. I am also adding book covers to Pinterest boards after I review the books, so feel free to find me on Pinterest.