CONvergence 2016: Day Two

Today I sat on two panels. I recorded both. I attended a few more, some of which I should have recorded. I also should have taken photos, but I am so used to not having a camera that I forget that my phone and my tablet can do that. Maybe if I attend next year, I'll do more of both. Anyways, the panels I did:

Playing Historical Fictionl History in Tabletop RPGs

A band of brothers off to take out Hitler; a fantasy realm like 15th century France; zombie apocalypse in the trenches of World War I. Real history presents unique challenges to players and GMs alike. Where your balance of reality and fiction?

I sat on this panel with Cam Banks (see previous post), his wife Jess Banks (confirmed SJW), and Sarah Ravely (lib, but not a cultist). Of the lot, Sarah impressed me and Jess sadly conformed to my expectations. I'd be down to talk shop with Sarah some other time; her historical RPG campaigns made use of resources and techniques to achieve a verisimilitude sufficient to achieve virtual comprehension of the horror that was World War I, and that's something to praise. She did Git Gud. Bravo, Sarah. Bravo.

Meanwhile, Jess virtue-signaled like a crackwhore pretending to be a tuning key. "Muh Diversity!" "Muh Representation!" You know the routine by now. So, when she made a late browbeat for that SocJus bullshit in a thought-police attempt, I stepped in: You Do Not Have To Do A GOD-DAMNED THING! Your game, your players, your fun- not hers, not mine, nor anyone else, so make your call and go with it.

The panel ended amicably, but I sensed the passive-aggressive brushoff from Jess. So, when I got home I searched the convention's Twitter hashtag and sure enough she threw shade at me. (Archived here!) Of course I did not let that go without a challenge.

@ProfBanks You know I can read this, right?

— Bradford C. Walker (@MrBCWalker) July 2, 2016

Look, if you're going to backbite, do it where the target can't see you be bitchy. You can't even do that correctly. https://t.co/BUJpu6gFZP

— Bradford C. Walker (@MrBCWalker) July 2, 2016

@StoryMangler I have no poker face. And no filters. But I didn't attack him viciously, so well done me.

— jess banks (@ProfBanks) July 1, 2016

There was no follow-up engagement. She did the classic Gamma Tell of the Secret King (or Queen, for her): run like the little bitch she is, and then declare victory. Honestly, I would rather had the confrontation then and there, before the audience, and demonstrate that her insistence is thought (and fun) policing. Nonetheless, that outed her as a Death Cultist, so consider Atlas Games converged and add them to the boycott list. Fun fact: As of this post, still not blocked either; StoryMangler--whoever that is--has, and so far as I know we've never met or interacted before.

Westerns in Sci-Fi and Fantasy

These days, the Western is the genre equivalent of peanut butter; not often served on its own, and yet it seems to go with just about everything. Why is the Western so appealing and adaptable, and what are the best examples of great Western fusion?

Only one confirmed cultist, and only one suspected one, so I expected a far more fun experience here and I was right. Abra-Staffin-Wiebe was the resident Firefly booster on the panel and a L'amour fan, Eric Heiderman is a local SMOF and Western fan, William Leisner is another fan, and then Camille Griep showed up (see previous post). Cammy kept her freak flag down this time, while the other men and I tended to talk a lot about the historical West, its mythic counterpart, and the more popular fusions (e.g. Firefly, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Outland)- we would've gotten into other similar eras had we more time. No virtue-signaling this time. Overall, a clean panel experience.

Other Thoughts

Today I noticed that K. Tempest Bradford was also in attendance. I made certain to get a good look at her, so I'd remember her face (something I am very good at; tying names to faces and remembering them) in case I had reason to deal with her some other time. She struck me as very much as ugly on the outside as she is within; that she dared say "Don't read white men for a year" with a straight face now makes sense as I read on her face the envy and resentment she has for the men who built the field (and world, and civilization) that she eagerly shits upon. The contempt she gets is entirely deserved.

The Risk of Going Nowhere panel virtue-signaled like mad; with Rebecca Watson on the panel, it couldn't be avoided. I regret not recording it, and I hope someone else did. Mykeru and Thunderfoot would love to see that footage or hear that audio. The Libertarianism in SF panel also fell to virtue-signaling, including one woman's proud proclamation of being a literal book burner. The live Xanadu Cinema podcast recording with Greg Weisman was entertaining, and wisely avoided any political bullshit.

The incuriosity I noticed previously is now obvious in the convention's programming and in the assumptions of the core participants. The writers still talk about getting agents, getting a house deal, etc. and ignore going wholly independent as Brian Neimeier has. Vox Day is still regarded as Satan, and Castallia House is thought of as a joke (when not feared as a threat). Shitlib regressive leftism is presumed as both inevitable and normal, as is the retarded atheism of the Atheism Plus crew (because CONvergence is also Skepticon, and the Skepchicks as well as Freethoughtblogs are always in force). Put short, the stupidity that allows Minnesota to be dominated by the shitlibs in the Twin Cities (as the GOP are cuckservatives here) is concentrated into Lovecraftian levels here. However, the majority of attendees just give lip-service and ignore it otherwise; I bet that if I just read SJWs Always Lie in public, no one will care.