Arisia v Lunacon

[juldea]

Arisia's Writer Guest of Honor this year was Laura Anne Gilman, who writes young adult fiction, Buffyverse, Quantum Leap-verse, etc.

Lunacon's Writer Guest of Honor this year was Jacqueline Carey, who writes streamy fantasy/romance novels featuring heavy BDSM/kink plot elements.

Yet Arisia becomes the sex con, and Lunacon the literary con, in the minds of many. Interesting.

Comments

[shadowravyn.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. From the way I read your original post it sounded like, "I don't know why Arisia gets considered to be such a sleazy con, when Lunacon had Jacqueline Carey as a GoH and Arisia had Laura Ann Gilman!" So, yes, that's pretty much what I thought you were saying. Then, you just picked out panels that, as you say, have the word "sex" in them, as a way to make a point--but it wasn't the point I thought you were making. And, in the light of that point, I'm seeing you pick several panels that have very little to do with sex at all and then using them to "prove" that Lunacon is a very sex-focused con.

That frustrated me some, as I know you know that's a wildly specious argument, and so I was a little hurt why you'd "need" to make it that way just to make Lunacon look sleazy.

Which prolly shoulda been my first (or eighth) clue that you weren't, but then I got distracted by the sex-party people as being part of Lunacon--*shudders* and that pushed all my wrong buttons. Especially since they nearly got us evicted from the hotel (and sued!) AGAIN last year. And they aren't even supposed to be out in the open. They're not allowed to advertise, because it could get us into a lot of trouble if someone wants to read it as a form of prostitution--since if people did assume this is a con-sanctioned event, and people need to pay to get into the con, then people are paying for sex. It gets ugly.

I'm sorry I snapped. But these folks bother me, and any affiliation makes me kick first and ask questions later. I'm also still pretty much in knee-jerk rabid-defense mode, as Lunacon is "mine" now, and any criticism of it is read (by me) as a criticism of me. Which is one thing when it's deserved, and something else when it's not.

Probably the biggest reason Arisia's portrayed as a sex con and Lunacon isn't? Look at the demographics. Arisia's mostly young college kids. Lunacon's crowd is much older, with another big chunk of our attendees under 16.

Sorry, hon.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Okay. I find all that to be an amazing amount of assumption and putting words in my mouth, which I'm mostly amazed by because I would've thought you'd've known better than to assume I'd say stuff like that. But I do understand the "kick first, ask questions later" reaction to the scary sex party people. I would react as badly to them as you do, if I had spent so many years trying to get them out!

On the real topics: I actually kinda perceive Arisia and Lunacon as having a similar % of "young college kids" and teenagers, but with Arisia having more 25-35 year olds and Lunacon having more 35-55 year olds. And how much there is the chicken and the egg, I wonder?