You want queer pop culture? Binary-breaking fanworks? Cupcakes, dancing, glitter? The Nine Worlds LGBTQAI Fandom track is back, with everything you loved last year -- panels, workshops, the tea party, the media library, the cabaret and disco -- plus a whole lot of new and exciting content. Come and talk about what it means to be queer and in fandom, swap notes on representation in comics, films, books and more -- or just dance. Keep an eye on our tumblr for updates or get in touch on twitter.
All in Connaught B unless stated.
Friday
Suffering Sappho! Queer representation in superhero comics
1.30 - 2.45
Striking costumes. Secret identities. Fights for justice. Superhero comics have always had a particular resonance for queer fans, and major publishers including Marvel and DC are increasingly including out queer characters in flagship franchises - but this is yet to reach the wider mainstream, including the MCU movies. The queering of superhero narratives is not new -- from Golden Age homoerotic subtexts to the modern day -- but are we reaching our own golden age for representation? Comics creators and fans discuss this interesting time in major comics, as well as indies, webcomics, literature about comics, and all other facets of this rich and broad medium.
Guests: Amal El-Mohtar, Cleo, more TBC
Positive Practice: Awesome portrayals of people with mental illnesses
3.15 - 4.30
Those of us with mental illnesses aren't just collections of symptoms -- we're at this con, we're in these panels, we're wearing awesome cosplay we spent the last three months cobbling together from scrap metal and geekery. This panel aims to (critically) celebrate fiction that knows this. We want to talk about the stories that don't just get the illness right, but get the person right, too -- especially those that strike a hopeful note about life containing, but not defined by, mental ill health.
With Katherine Fabian, Iona Sharma, more TBC
Tea Party
6:45 - 8:00
The LGBTQAI and Race & Culture tracks cordially invite you to a tea party in our lovely headquarters. Decorate (and consume!) cakes and cookies, meet others interested in the programme and chat over tea and coffee, and help us declare the weekend officially open!
Saturday
Rule 63: Gender and subversion in history, popular culture and fandom
10:00 - 11:15
“Rule 63: an internet adage which states that for every fictional character, there exists an opposite gender counterpart.” (knowyourmeme.com)
This popular rule has an obvious power for subverting male-dominated media and an equally obvious (if less discussed) potential for introducing trans narratives. In its positioning of ‘opposite’ genders, it is also potentially troubling from trans and non-binary perspectives. This panel will discuss Rule 63, from real historical examples of people inhabiting ‘opposite’ genders to contemporary fanworks, through queer and feminist lenses.
With Tab Kimpton, Zen Cho, Alex Dally MacFarlane, more TBC
Queer Eye for the Dead Guy (with the Film Festival)
11:45 - 1:00
Room 41
Join programmer Michael Blyth for a revisionist history of horror through a queer lens. Lavishly illustrated throughout with clips and images, he’ll explore everything from the glorious camp excesses of 1930s monster movies to the homoerotic romps of the 1980s and beyond. Looking at the horror films as Aids metaphor, interrogating the unsettling demonisation of the transgendered body in the genre, and, of course, taking in a spot of vampiric lezploitation along the way, we’ll see how this often reviled genre has allowed filmmakers to explore radical ideas and taboos, and revel in the queerest of polymorphous desires and perversions.
Wouldn’t It Be Cool If…
3:15 - 4:30
What are the stories we just don’t get enough of? The characters we’d fall in love with if only someone would create them? From TV shows pitched in tumblr tags to gifsets from imaginary films, fandom is bursting with ideas for the awesome, diverse media we dream of having. Join a panel of creators and fans to talk about the best shows, films, books and games that never were - and pitch your own.
With Roz Kaveney, Amal El-Mohtar, Maki Yamazaki, Cleo
Twine For Beginners Workshop (with the Video Games Culture track)
5:00 - 6:15
Want to make a game, but feel intimidated by how much you'd need to learn up front? Well we're here to show you that doesn't have to be the case - if you can write some paragraphs (and follow some simple rules), then you can make a game with Twine! This session will cover the absolute basics: writing pages, linking them together and remembering what people do to change how the story behaves. If you can, bring a laptop and you can start getting your stories to a playable state!
Bifröst! Queer Cabaret & Rock Party
8:00 - midnight
Featuring Elaine Scattermoon, Amal El-Mohtar, Sally Outen, The Dykeness, Sebastienne Stardust, Dr Carmilla and Lashings of Ginger Beer Time
Named for the shimmering, burning rainbow bridge of Norse legend, Bifröst is an unforgettable night of glitter, rock, and fabulosity. Kicking off in Commonwealth with the cabaret, we’ll move over to Connaught afterwards for All The Dancing, led by our brave captain DJ Ruth Pearce.
Sunday
Diversifying YA: youth voices on youth literature
Bijou Bar, 11:45am - 1pm
Join LGBTQAI+ and Comics Fandom for a discussion group - if you're a young adult, we want your opinions, voices and reaction selfies on young adult-oriented literature. We might also want a bit of lunch and a small amount of excitable squealing.
Tori Truslow, Hazel Robinson
Aliens and Outsiders: asexual stereotypes and how to break them
3:15 - 4:30
While there are few canonically asexual characters in our media, fandom contains a wide range of asexual interpretations. We take a look at asexuality and fandom, discussing which characters are frequently labelled asexual and why, as well as considering other candidates. With a focus on TV fandoms, discussion will be open to all, so come along with your favourite examples - from the positive to the problematic.
With Neth Dugan, Pip Janssen, Kathryn Glover, Helen Guthrie
LGBTQAI After-Party
8:30 - 9:45
Bar
After wrapping up the official programme, come join the LGBTQAI Fandom team in the bar for a farewell drink and chat. Let us know what you thought, and what you’d love to see next year!