Falling Stars

So several weeks back I went to Oz Comic-Con in Sydney. It was actually my first time back at a pop culture convention since the pandemic started. So yeah, four years on, and attendance looked like it had returned to previous levels. I went on the Sunday, which is always more chill, and apparently Saturday was packed.

Due to the then SAG-AFTRA strike, the actor guests weren't able to promote their current projects. So there was lots of general talk about acting and about their past projects.


( Kat Barrell, Tim Rozon, and Michael Eklund )

( John Noble )

( Emily Swallow and Tait Fletcher )

( Shopping )

( Photos )

A few weeks ago, I went to SMASH!, at the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour. It was a pretty quiet one for me this year - no catchups or panels or events, just browsing the Artists' Alley and looking at cool creations.

I did stop for a while to listen to the stage show by the violinist Ayasa, who played violin covers of anime songs. Many of the songs were unfamiliar to me (I really am out of the loop), though they were received with enthusiasm by the audience (cheering at the first few bars). So it was a nice atmosphere.


( Shopping )

( Photos )

Last month, I went to SMASH!. It was the first time it was at the newly rebuilt International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour.

I rocked up at 11:40am, figuring I would have avoided the opening time crowds. Surprise! The line was huge. At least, the line to buy tickets was huge. The line for presold tickets was empty. Apparently, they stopped presales a week before the convention, so obviously lots of people were forced to buy tickets on the day. It took almost an hour to get in, compared to the fifteen minutes I'm used to these days.

Once I got in, it was fine. I had fun catching up with fluffyduck, leareth, aerias, K, S and G.


( Panels )

( Shopping )

( Photos )

On Saturday, I went to SMASH!, for the first time in five years. It was out at Rosehill Gardens, and I was pretty stunned at how huge it had become. So many people! (I was also a little stunned that it was now $45 for the day.)


( AnimeUNSW )

( A Bride's Story: Same-Sex Love and Unions )

( Shopping )

( Photos )

Last weekend, I went to Supanova in Sydney. It was a pleasant and relaxing day: attended a couple of panels, saw some of the cosplay competition, and wandered the stalls.

( Juliet Landau )

( John Noble )

( Shopping )

( Photos )

In March, I went to the second ever Room 801, a yaoi and yuri convention, held this time in Parramatta. I had an awesome time last year, and this year did not disappoint.

Highlights included:

* Informative panel sessions on acquiring yaoi and yuri content legally, making your own visual novel using the Ren'Py engine, and how to get into publishing ebooks.

* Interesting panel discussions about sports manga (overreading meaning onto text, and emotional declarations like "I will protect you!" and "I will stay by your side forever!"), texts that might be fujoshi bait (need tangible characters and deep emotional connections between them, not just appealing on a superficial level), and yuri (ships based on canon and ships based on subtext inspire different feelings, and the forbidden feeling of doujinshi makes it more enticing).

* A Let's Play of a gay dating sim called Coming Out On Top, about a young college guy who decides to come out to his housemates, and then begins the big adventure of dating. Charming and hilarious.

* The Saturday night swap meet. A relaxing place to hang out, while the AMV screening played.

I came home with the comic "Yuri Reversal" by Kittyhawk, an adorable Boxfox by Mamath, and a whole bunch of recs for series to check out.

I also bought a copy of Coming Out On Top and spent the next week obsessively playing it. I haven't really played a visual novel before, and it was surprisingly addictive, especially trying to get all the endings (good, bad, and bizarre). The characters were delightful and the illustrations were hot.

Last weekend, I went to Room 801, a yaoi and yuri convention, and it went by in a wonderful blur. Lots of great panels, from 'Comparing Homoerotica, Slash and Yaoi/Yuri' to 'Legal Issues and Censorship' to 'Self-Publishing Mature Comics'. Other highlights included a live kinbaku demonstration from the Sydney Rope Dojo, and a playthrough by the Gaming Crew podcasters of Hatoful Boyfriend, a pigeon dating sim. (Which ended suddenly when our heroine got assassinated by the hawks...)

It was a really cool convergence of interests: anime and manga, western media fandoms, gaming, and professional art and writing. I got to talk to some awesome people about shared fannish loves, picked up some new recommendations (must watch Free!), and came home with a lovely haul of new stuff to read, including Ruby Coral Carnelian by Mary Borsellino (a fairytale novella about an apprentice mage), a reflection of you by amei (a gorgeous compilation of Attack on Titan stories about Eren and Jean), All the D by Maxxx, Crafty, Kittyhawk, Icarus and BattyBytes (a sexy comics anthology), Double Life by Beatriz Bravo (a comic about a gay superhero and his superhero family), and Foodventure Comics: Steamed Coconut Buns and Chicken by Beatriz Bravo (an illustrated recipe for a very tasty dish).

Thanks so much to Pirotess and LadyLuckDoubt for organising such a fantastic event!

I went on the Sunday this year, which, sadly, meant I missed the friends who went on the Saturday. Then, also sadly, Hayden Panettiere cancelled. So it was a kind of low-key Supanova for me this year.

(It was good to catch up with you, fluffyduck!)

( David Mack )

( Steampunk )

( Shopping )

( Photos )

An abbreviated SMASH! report for an abbreviated day, due to a hectic weekend.

I went in ambivalent about the new venue, the Sydney Convention Centre, at Darling Harbour. While a high profile setting, it seemed to run counter to the original idea of SMASH! as an intimate artist and fan gathering, plus I suspected it played a role in hiking the ticket price up to $25.

The biggest advantage, however, was that for the first time ever (unlike the UNSW Roundhouse or the Sydney Town Hall), the auditorium was a separate room. This meant that the ambient noise of the vendor hall didn't interfere with the panels and the cosplay comp.

I had a wander of the stalls, did a spot of shopping, watched the cosplay comp and the karaoke finals, and got to catch up with _leareth, xfire and kawak.

( Photos )

Also, COLLEEN DORAN IS COMING TO SYDNEY. Which apparently everyone has already known for months. ^^;

Everyone I knew who was going to GRAPHIC - and a few who weren't - wanted to attend the Neil Gaiman reading. But The Arrival is my favourite Shaun Tan book, and possible my favourite graphic novel ever, so for me the must see event of the festival was Ben Walsh's Orkestra of the Underground performing a live score to projected images from the story.

Despite no one else I knew going, I didn't have to worry about being a nigel, because the Playhouse was packed. And! Shaun Tan introduced the performance. Which I was not expecting. He mentioned that it would be his first time watching it, so he would be experiencing it with the rest of us too. And! He sat in the empty seat in front of me. I resisted the urge to gush all over him about how much I love his work, because the lights dimmed, and the orchestra began to play.


What drives so many to leave everything behind and journey to a mysterious country; a place without family or friends, where everything is nameless and the future is unknown? This silent graphic novel is the story of every migrant, every refugee, every displaced person, and a tribute to those who have made the journey.


Shaun Tan dedicated this book to his parents. It is also the story of my parents, and the story of my friends' parents. And in The Arrival, it is the story of one man who makes this journey to a bewildering and fantastical city, and all those who have made the journey before and after him.

The music was great, by turns sweeping, playful, dramatic, and moving. But the genius was how it was matched with the images from the book. The use of framing, zooming, and other techniques; a cascade of images for motion, or a lingering shot of a splash page for reflection: it added the dimension of time to the work and meant viewing it in a different space. More than once, I wondered whether Shaun Tan had drawn new images for this performance, but of course he hadn't, it was just that I was seeing the story in a new way. The experience was like watching a movie of the book. And it could not have worked so well had the book not been completely wordless.

I wish I could better describe it. I think I'd need a thousand words.

It got a standing ovation.

I missed out on Neil, but it was totally worth it.