Escapade/Escapade 1994
Escapade 1994
Escapade 4 was held February 4–6, 1994.
The Friday night story reading included a two-page story by Jane Mailander, Joan Martin read a WIP (Pigs Might Fly—Pros),[1] and Nancy B. read an M. Fae Glasgow story.
The Saturday Night Male Strippers made an appearance again.
The art show was small but with very nice pieces. Lots of K/S by a then 'up and coming illustrator' named Shelley Butler and several Lovett Wiseguy pieces.
There was a three-hour turkey read of fanfiction in a private room party by Virgule-L. From the program book: "Those insane girls from the Pacific Northwest will be having a party in their room on Saturday night. Look for signs in the Con Suite to direct you there. They promise a good time for all, and plenty of 'Sex in the Rain'."
Programming
The Panels:
Friday:
- Anatomy of a Fan Feud, led by (Charlotte Hill) and (Megan Kent), "Fandom is a relatively small world, which seems to be repeatedly stirred up by virulent fights. Are we all just drama queens, are we doing it for fun, or what? Also, quick tips, how to start one, how to keep it burning, how to try to put it out."
- Wiseguy: Birth of a Fandom, led by Lynn and Sandy, "Wiseguy is no longer the baby of the fandom, but it's still relatively new. How dis very early writing set the tone and/or direction of the fandom. What can we expect in the future?"
- K/S: What's New, led by Sandra and Bill, "K/S is the oldest fandom, and for most of us, where we started. What's going on in the fandom now, what are those of use who've lost track of our first love missing?"
- Song Video Roundtable, led by Kandy and DeeJay, "Bring works in progress or finished works you're having difficulty with for a quick jump-start. Open to anyone who enjoys videos as well as the people who make them."
- Fandom in a Vacuum, led by Heather and Marion, "Where do slash ideas come from? How come people come up with it on their own, and others of us need to be led to the light? What are the unifying elements, that make these individual fantasies 'slash'?"
- Professionals: Romance without Mush, led by Marion and Melissa, "What makes a story 'romantic,'? What's 'mush'? A cynic's guide to 'Happily Ever After'."
Saturday:
- Blake's 7: Is this Fandom Dying?, led by Marion and Cherri, and Mary-Alice, "If forty dedicated slashfen can't come up with a single topic for a panel, isn't that an indication that something's very wrong?"
- Writing: the Craft (three-part workshop), led by Nancy and Joan
- Mini-Panel: Holmes/Watson, led by Joanne, "Not just British, but smart too!"
- Rock Music...Slash?, led by (Megan Kent) and Sandy, "No guns, no spies, no life-threatening danger: why do people make up slash here?"
- Research: How to and Why to, led by Meg, "Does being an amateur writer mean it's ok to have Bodie and Doyle pat each other's fannys?"
- Professionals: Sturgeon's Law, Spider's Law, and the converse, led by Kathy and Sharon, "The proliferation of (bad) Pros zines: are they killing the library?"
- Mini-Panel: Bakersfield PD, led by Meg, "The funniest send-up of all our favorite buddy-show cliches."
- Mini-Panel: NYPD Blue, led by Constance, "Viewer discretion warnings: the surest way to insure a hit show. And isn't that Kelly cute?"
- K/S: How has it changed?, led by Alayne and Kathy, "How has K/S changed its progress from the slash fandom to a slash fandom?"
- Wiseguy: Heroes or Anti-Heroes?, led by Sandy and Sammie, "Are there any absolute boundaries these characters won't cross?"
- Mini-Panel: Patilliro, led by Bonnie, "Hair fandom at its peak, and openly gay boys to boot!"
- Mini-Panel: Northern Exposure, led by Jane
- Eroica: Spy Drama or Romance?, led by Cynthia and Barbara, "How much of each? How can we (should we?) balance murky action in spy/undercover plots with the emerging love story?"
- Mini-Panel: Teot's War led by (Charlotte Hill), "When was the last time you read a really good slash story you could buy in your used books store? This universe has everything slash going for it."
- Mini-Panel: Starsky and Hutch Crossovers, led by Sandy, "There are more of them than you think."
- Academia: What are they saying? What do we want them to say? -- led by Constance Penley and Henry Jenkins, "Fandom has definitely been outed, at least in academic circles. What can we do about it?" (see the previous year's similar panel, Academia and Our Culture)
- Publishing Adult/Slash zines, led by Eileen, "These days, anyone with a computer and a credit card can publish a slash zine. What does it take to do it well?"
- Men in Slash, led by Henry Jenkins and Lynn, "What do these guys have to do to prove they're real slash fans?"
- Mini-Panel: Highlander, led by Sandy, "Okay, so it's not a slash fandom, but at least they killed Tessa."
- Best of Classic Angst/New Songtapes, "Thanks to Kandy and all our contributors"
- Boys, Boys, Boys, Boys!!!! (vid show? strippers? 10:00 pm)
Sunday:
- Art Auction, presided by Shoshanna and Marion
- Outdumbing James Bond: Spy Shows of the 60s, led by Colleen and Nicole, "Man from U.N.C.L.E., Wild Wild West, I Spy, Get Smart: Are silly action plots easier to write? Less fun to read?"
- Changing Nature of Fannish Communication, led by Nancy and Sandy, "E-mail, and virtual zines, computer video editing and morphing -- all the new toys at our disposal..."
- Quantum Leap: Beyond the Last Episode, led by Jane, "What Bellasario has torn asunder, fandom will put back together..."
- Gay Press, led by Constance and (Charlotte Hill), "Are there slash-like books out there and we just haven't heard of [them]?"
- Songvid Editing, led by (Megan Kent) and Sandy, "Authors get edited and usually have to do at least one rewrite of a story. Artists have erasers. What stops songvid makers from doing drafts and re-edits of their work? Let's talk about editing style (what cuts to use for best emphasis) and technique (how to physically do the inserts.)"
- New SF/Adventure Shows, Open Discussion: Babylon 5, Viper, The New Knight Rider, Tek Wars, Time Trax, SeaQuest DSV. "Programmers are putting a bunch of new shows out there with a stunning variation in quality. Let's gab, shout, pimp for your favorite show."
- Dead Dog Party -- "Everyone come by, hang out 'til you have to go home, bring your leftovers to share. Pic, up comments sheets to give feedback on Escapade '94."
Technology and Fandom Panel
In 1994, Sandy Herrold and Charlotte Hill posted joint panel notes on the "Technology in Fandom Panel." to the Virgule-L mailing list. They are reposted here with permission:
"The technology in fandom panel actually jumped around quite a bit (I definitely recall hearing the words "segue from hell" more than once ((usually from me--Sandy)), and it included several things that people can now do in-home that they couldn't do five years ago: cutting and splicing songs on Macintosh computers (to remove inappropriate choruses, verses, or the word "girl"); the soon-to-be-easier ability to select different people from different clips and combine them onto a new background (also for songtapes); printing vhs video frames directly to computer screens, printers and/or color copiers (for fun); and zines and/or libraries on disk. Most of the new technology possibilities were followed by comments that the actual work we can do is illegal (i.e. "sampling" a song by changing it or cutting pieces of it). Which comments were followed by the statements that seventeen years ago, writing and publishing a slash fanzine was illegal.... Regarding the list proper, Sandy announced the list's existence and invited people to talk to her if they were interested in joining. I don't know how much response she got. ((This is Sandy--I actually got none specifically from the panels, but a few people who are good friends (or relatives like N's sister) of people already on the list, talked to me at different times throughout the con about getting accounts or modems, and telling me they wanted to--probably 4 or 5 in all.))"
Vid Show
The songvide tape for that year ran 1 hour 31 minutes.
| FANDOM | SONG | ARTIST |
| Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea | I Can’t Fight This Feeling | Kathy L |
| Wiseguy (WG) | You’re In My Heart | Tolbran |
| Miami Vice | I Want to Know What Love Is | Tolbran |
| Pros | You Can’t Hurry Love | Tolbran |
| Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea | Have I Told You Lately | Kathy Leprick |
| Pros | I’m a Renegade | Tolbran |
| Quantum Leap (QL) | Curiosity | Stacey D & Lily Fulford |
| Star Trek | Spock Unplugged | T’Rhys |
| Miami Vice | One Night in Bangkok | Cybel Harper |
| Pros | Turn it On | Cybel Harper |
| QL | Wishful Thinking | Cybel Harper |
| WG | Wicked Game | Lynn C |
| WG | Nights in White Satin | Lynn C. & Tashery S. |
| Blake's 7 (B7) | Lumberjack Song | Jill (vidder) |
| B7 | SOS | Jill (vidder) and Tashery S. |
| LOA (Lawrence of Arabia) | Dust | Gayle F. |
| WG | Reason to Believe | Gayle F. |
| WG | Vatican Rag | Gayle F. |
| B7 | Dance Without Sleeping | Tashery S. |
| B7 | The Bug | Tashery S. |
| WG | Crazy for Me | Rachael Sabotini & Sandy Herrold |
| WG | Lives in the Balance | Rachael Sabotini & Sandy Herrold |
| Multi Fandom | Rescue Me | Media Cannibals |
| WG | Sweetest Perfection | Sandy Herrold |
| WG | Can’t Keep a Good Man Down | Rachael Sabotini & Sandy Herrold |
Data's Dream also premiered?
Convention Reports
Nicole V. wrote and posted a convention report to the Virgule-L mailing list. It is reposted here with permission:
And so yet another month has passed. I've wanted, nay, I've promised to write something about Escapade panels. So I am, instead of doing all the homework I've put off for 8 weeks.The odyssey began: Blackbird and I flew into LA and rented a car Thursday evening. We drove out to Goleta after visiting with Agnes T. and dozens of kaleidoscopes in Beverly Hills.
The Alamo commercial is right: LA feels familiar because so much of it shows up in the media (maybe Vancouver, BC, will someday be as familiar!). Rush hour traffic in the dark and rain, and a poorly kept road. But Blackbird's lived in New York, and it didn't faze her. We shared accommodations with Snady, Rachel Sabotini, and Heather Gladney. Great group! The light sleepers have discovered comfortable earplugs and thus slept well. Thank gohd Joan Martin found the espresso place: withdrawal is not a pretty sight!
Shoshanna let me work in the art show - which had an amazing amount of StarDreck art, beautiful pieces. Very few pieces went to auction. A lovely Suzi Lovett original color, of a mostly-clothed Roger Lococco, went to DJ Driscoll, a well-known despiser of Wiseguy, but who really loves William Russ. There was vicious rumour that she bought it to burn it, but rest assured, the picture is ensconced over her fireplace (I saw it there last weekend).
I didn't get to as many panels as I wanted (so what else is new), but the following is what I remember from those I did attend. Or 'co-chair'. Misstatements, opinion and false memories are all my own; if you were there, your mileage may have varied. (I do remember that I wished I'd made the Fanfeuds panel: they named names, some of whom were in the room. And one of my abiding areas of curiosity and research is the B7 fan war.)
Is B7 a Dying Fandom? I came in late, but this was really a discussion on why are there fewer B7 stories being written? No comparison was made to story quantity in other fandoms, just to B7 then-and-now. No conclusions but a couple of ideas that emerged: either it's too hard, or not hard enough. The universe is a complex one, with several possible relationships between characters who are not easily described. Perhaps some writers therefore find it more difficult to write in. Writing within the story line is a challenge; OTOH, there may be less need to invent events since the series provides really juicy ones to explore, thereby making writing less of a challenge, or at perhaps less interesting, especially for the AUers. Those in attendance, tho, were adamant in their devotion. As M. Fae said, "I'm not finished with these characters yet!" And a Good Thing, too.
Men in Slash - again I was late (sitting in the bar, probably, chatting, listening to Spanish language TV in the background while the staff ate lunch, and did not serve us. Well, the bar door was open, but the bar was not). This panel was very well attended, all chairs were in use, and standing room only was available. About all I recall readily is that the two Men in Question, Lynn and Henry Jenkins, disagree about a lot, amiably, eloquently and often. (One question I found to be ludicrous: Do men *really* have feelings? asked with all seriousness by Pat Patera of the infamous Checkers. No, she wasn't joking. Yeah, Pat, men only have emotions in slash.) I left the crowded circle and took my place at the Art Show desk.
Slash and Technology: we talked for an hour and a half, and could have happily gone on. Discussion roved from this list through copywrite (music, video, word, creative) to propagation. Seems multimedia equipment makers are very interested in songvids; reports are that pros are always blown away by what fans do with simple VCRs. The range of the Internet is always amazing, and the access points are multiplying like, like packets in flood routing (that's a network joke. I'm supposed to be studying right now). Easy desktop publishing and cheaper repro drive up zine quality and drive down costs. For example, Avon Calling III has several lovely drawings, and a color xerox, as well as nice layout. $20. Another publisher is contemplating similar content, for around $10.) BTW, why hasn't the common Russian term 'samizdat' gotten into general use in fandom? It means self-published, and is how most subversive Soviet literature was distributed for 70 years.
Rachel Sabotini and I held a conversation with about 5 other folk on TV of the 60's and its attractions. We were supposed to talk about Outdumbing James Bond, but the buddy shows that people remember became the topic. I was surprised by the fervor of a couple of older (well, my age or a little older) women who found that "real good guys vs. real bad guys" was what they missed most: no ambiguity about right and wrong, and the hero always wins. (I don't miss it at all. But then, I like B7.) Discussion was enhanced by the songvids we'd seen the night before; there was shock as scenes from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, narrated by schmaltzy love songs, were reinterpreted with the slash filters. Ah, that pesky subtext!
I had a wonderful time, and was really glad to meet and meet up with so many that I already knew virtually: Joan Martin, Morgan Dawn, TDO, Lynn C., Charlotte Hill and Megan Kent, (forgive me if I waffle here, but my brain is disconnecting.) It was over far too fast, and the flight home was far too long. Now how can I get to Media West ... Detroit's expensive, maybe hitch from Chicago, huh? Oh, I have to pay to get *to* Chicago, too? Why can't I just be patient and wait for Virgule? It's in Seattle, after all. Why, indeed? 'Cause I miss ya'll.
Another long report, this one from Barbara in Strange Bedfellows #5:
It was glorious. Well, fun. Good fun. Two panels were memorable enough that I eventually typed up reports on them, although this is not meant to slight the panels of equal interest during which I was elsewhere, insane, or handicapped by knowing little about the topic.Report on Eroica panel:
The panel was titled "Eroica - Spy Drama or Romance," a topic we (myself, my fellow panelist Cynthia Jenkins, and our consultant [Colette B] who declined to serve publicly on the panel) took to mean whether sex (or slash) should be included in the "ideal" Eroica story. Since we assumed everyone at the con, as well as ourselves, would opt for the inclusion of slash sex, this disposed of the title topic at one blow.
Panel discussion after a rather panicked start managed to cover a good deal of background for Eroica and shojo manga, instigated by [Lynn M] and Henry Jenkins. The Japanese manga writers and audiences see male/male sex as an acceptable variant of "romance" themes and therefore hint at it without intent to shock or highlight the issue. Western readers, being conditioned that gay themes are taboo or politically significant (or both), take such hints as all but defining the characters and story slant, the more so as the setting of Eroica is ostensibly Western. Thus the comic stories in themselves look extremely like near-slash, as if slash is a logical and short step from the manga proper. As far as Western readers are concerned, there is no reason to define it otherwise; that what they, very understandably, see in the comic pages, regardless of a likely Japanese interpretation focused more on adventures and exotic travels of the lead characters.
That said, we evolved a discussion of what sort of Eroica story could support a "happy ending" for the Earl and Major, or even a dramatically satisfying ending. What would make those two happy, anyway? Contributions from [Kathy M] and [Megan Kent] kept this question going in a lively, or at least moving, exchange for most of the second half of the panel. The domestic-life-together scenario seems foreign to both characters — could they settle down separately and still maintain a relationship? And what sort of relationship? I don't recall any definitive answers, though one suggestion was of injuring and disabling one (or both) of them; another was for a/u and fantasy scenarios (or maturity) to allow them to maintain emotional ties in spite of having vastly different worldviews. There is some question as to whether Dorian, especially, would care about having a stable relationship once he'd "conquered" the Major. Does the only believable ideal story have them always running, never winning? This is clearly a fandom in which the process is more important than the goal, in story writing for slash audiences...
P.S. What about Mr. James?
Far distant memories on the "Rock Music" panel chaired by [ Megan Kent ] and someone whose name I don't know; [Megan Kent] (naturally) evoked Tris/Alex. A few other members of the circle, audience and panelists, mentioned stray examples of slash they'd heard of, notably Moody Blues, in which one person seems actively involved. She writes stories (with a couple of others) based on a particularly close-seeming pair within the band, I think by name but not (that I know of) distributing the stories outside the very small originating circle. Someone managed to bring up Bono and Edge of U2, and surely somebody mentioned Queen. And perhaps others.
The named band members, with few exceptions, could be cited as presenting a stage persona that invited speculation about either a very wild private life (for the stage persona, at least; in some cases the discussion tried to differentiate between the musicians' public faces and whatever private personas they might have as individuals) or about a bond between two given members of a band. The latter cases, naturally, had sparked the most obvious slash, though bands known for wild behavior in general, such as Rolling Stones, as well as Queen for the reputation Mercury chose to court, came in for some speculation in fans' minds, if not much on acknowledged paper, as slash fodder.
Led Zepplin, being the most famous, colorful, and cohesive band in the lot, had (in addition or concomitantly?) sparked the most open slash, having at least two spin-off "universes" of recognizable fictional clones with new names: the Paradox material [2] and Bird of Paradise. These re-creations are understood, in the complex fannish fashion, to be fiction with a close basis on LZ's history; they follow it, but are not bound to it. [Megan Kent] made the point that while the ' writers may have ties to and memories of LZ-era events, perhaps even inner-circle private events, their accounts are not necessarily objective or, at this date, reliable. They are, however, an exceptionally grateful basis for fanfic.
Why focus on rock band musicians to find slash? The milieu, of course, is glamorous but distanced, "other," if very visible; and the characters (meaning the musicians) are extremely high-profile for the population that includes most fans. One audience member said, with emphasis, that 'the image was of' men cooperating with all their resources to create something, rather than to deal death and destruction; the contrast with most slash scenarios is indeed striking. Should we not find that sexy? This highlights the split-second coordination, the years or practice and moments of inspiration that build a band or a close couple within a band. Should they not find it sexy, as characters in our imaginations performing those actions? And, as was at least peripherally acknowledged somewhere in the panel, these guys are not hard on the eyes and in some cases dress to titillate. Not counting the guitar-fucking, the simulated fellatio on stage, and similar stunts. Rock music is based on, and exudes, sexuality from its origins to its social functions today and at all points (if not in all examples) in between.
I brought up rock as a milieu that is not only glamorous but sometimes meant, on stage at least, to be weird and fantastic. SF-like images on stage (Ziggy Stardust...) are not uncommon, and song lyrics with surreal or fantasy elements are common enough. The room as a whole didn't think much of Bowie as a slash icon, but his reputation (and others') for bi and gay behavior certainly feeds the speculation. This is one milieu where a public figure could succeed in flirting with gay images from about 1970 on, however little serious gay activism was accepted there until the 90's.
If the problem for many slash writers Is that these are real people, said someone, how can we defuse that, make it obvious we're writing fiction for our fantasies instead of trying to defame (as some would see it) popular artists? The solution there is obvious (and has been used by published writers time out of mind) — change the names. Tris/Alex is circulating semi-openly in fandom, though other hinted-at stories are not, because the name change makes it fiction by most people's definition.
There are some of us who found the Paradox fiction [3] before hearing much about (or of) Led Zepplin, including myself. I know that I was entranced by the fiction — the writing of fans — rather than, originally, the band. No doubt 1 would have been less fascinated if LZ's music had not intrigued me on its own when 1 did hear it, but the appeal is very different. 1 enjoyed the fan-style character writing and the (admittedly sanitized) evocation of a touring band in prose, or I'd never have cared about LZ. Slash at its most abstract, or perhaps slash writing at its least dependent-on-source, attracted me. Is there a significant percentage of mediafans who pick up on rock-milieu slash simply because it's fannish and slash, regardless of the characters' origins? Or do the majority of fans in this sub-group tend to remember their experience of rock music and the rock element in youth culture, seeing the musicians as so numinous that, like TV characters, they are eternal in the common audience's imagination and thus workable as fanwriters' starting points?
List of rock-milieu fanfic:
Bird of Paradise (fictional band based on LZ, crossover with S&H, eventually sorts out into Deryk/Allen and S/H couples by the end of the kidnap-plot novel)
For All the Gods Departed (fictional band based on LZ, Tris/Alex as lead couple, long complex ambitious novel with fantasy elements; and many earlier stories attached, semi-finished)
Runner Home (B/D story with unidentifiable rock band as catalyst for relationship)
Deadbeat (zine with two stories in which Professionals characters interact with rock band members; one has Doyle undercover masquerading as a member of the Moody Blues in a smuggling plot; no sex as such, or even implied)
At least one other B/D story with a rock star as character (Billy Squier?), possibly others, title now forgotten. Typically, the musician catalyzes the B/D relationship by sleeping with one of the agents until the other realizes what his jealousy and possessive feelings mean, and then B/D go off together.)
How Cold Is The Heart (vampire novel based on The Police, with the Sting figure the vampire; heavy proto slash tone in two of the band members' interactions, no overt sex. All names and many details changed of band's career).
Some — perhaps many — private stories exist that cannot be listed. If these could be categorized, no doubt we'd learn a lot. Which bands? Which musicians? Is couple slash, group slash, Mary Sue fantasy, or other action the most common motif? Which music styles, if any, spark slash or other fanfic — is it simply the stuff the most fans have been exposed to, or does it depend on musical elements or other presentation elements (comprehensible lyrics, glamor associations, particularly toothsome guys on stage ...)? Is slash created for a solo artist by combining him with another suitable figure? Any female couples appear? Etc. Etc.
Note: I may not have been mentioned at the panel, but Japanese rock fans write any and all of these types of stories about their favorite musicians; it's not intrinsically impossible for rock audiences to think of this outside the Western media slash fan circles.
A mono-K/S fan who had written a critical convention report for Escapade 1993, offers up a (slightly) more mellow report for 1994 that, once again seems to have little to do with the convention itself:
Well guys, I went to Escapade this year and the second time is lots better than the first! A number of reasons: I know a lot more people now after more than a year in fandom. Also, there were more K/Sers there. And I'm more familiar with multi-media.That doesn't mean I like it any better. I still can't understand for the life of me, IDIC notwithstanding and all that, why anyone would prefer two ordinary men - (take your pick: there are countless pairings) over Kirk and Spock. I mean look what K/S is - not just two men (excuse the expression, but this is really where it's at for the most part) fucking, but a whole range of experiences that we draw upon: spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and yes, sexual. And from what I've seen, heard and read - the biggest draw to any other slash fandom (why do you think they call it "slash"?) is sex between the two men. Okay, romance is somewhere in there, but not by much.
I am not expressing this to put anyone's taste in zines or TV or fandom down. Honestly, some of my best friends are (gag) Pros fans, but I can see so much in K/S that I don't see in anything else, that it makes me want to explore why others leave K/S to join something else. To my knowledge, K/S was the first fandom of its type and evidently set the precedent for all the rest that followed. But why would anyone want to give up all the extraordinary beauty, intelligence, feeling and depth of K/S for two ordinary men fucking? Anyway [at the convention] lots of people asked, cajoled, wondered and hoped that I'd draw a nice Bodie and Doyle picture. Just because I ran screaming into the night is no reason to think the thought would bother me. [4]
From a fan, this one with much less detail:
Escapade was quite calm and serene this year--almost sleepy, in fact. Not a single crisis du jour to be seen. But an enjoyable break, nevertheless. Santa Barbara, as always, was beautiful, and it was good to see everyone that I only see once a year.[5]
Gallery
flyer for 1994 con, from Concupiscence #3, also in On the Double #28
from the program book
from the program book
from the program book
from the program book
from the program book
from the program book
References
- ^ Called "Pigs Might Fly" in the program book.
- ^ "Paradox" is the Tris/Alex universe that includes For All the Gods Departed and Tiger-Tiger
- ^ "Paradox" is the Tris/Alex universe that includes For All the Gods Departed and Tiger-Tiger
- ^ letter to Come Together, a K/S letterzine, issue #3. March 1994.
- ^ from The Zine Connection #27