Sunday Squee: GaymerX 3

The Sunday Squee is about things that make me happy and excited. From books to movies to television shows to podcasts, I'll highlight less commonly known things as a way to share what I love. If you want to join in the Sunday Squee, please link back to me, magnifying both of our joy.

I just got home after GaymerX 3, and it was a total blast! Three days of deep conversations, thoughtful commentary, and awesome costumes rounded out by an actual Takoyaki stand in the convention center. My head is so stuffed full of thoughts and impressions I'm not sure what to do first - but below is a few highlights of an amazing weekend.

Anthony Burch did an amazing, asshole, semi-sociopathic presentation on "Cynical Reasons to Diversify Your Cast" and shared a little on his experience diversifying the Borderlands 2 game as a writer. I can only hope his slides might someday make it on the 'net and have high hopes of the video going live sometime soon. I want to watch again while not deafened by my own laughter.

I went to see "We Need More Diverse Games, How to Get There?" for Tanya DePass (I Need More Diverse Games) and fell a little bit in love with Katherine Cross ( CUNY / Feministing / Reality Check ). Gil Almogi, Arthur Chu ( Salon / Daily Beast ), Rachel Keslensky, and DJ Kirkland were also outstanding. It was a dense conversation, and another I'm waiting on the video to try digesting fully. I anticipate a lot of rich thought in the future.

I've never actually played Bayonetta, but Maddy Myers ( The Mary Sue / Paste ) lured me into "Bayo Studies: Year One -- A Deeper Look at the Bayonetta Series" which had the bonus of including two professors, the aforementioned Katherine Cross, a new one named Todd Harper, and Gita Jackson ( BoingBoing / Paste ). The discussion was full of laughter, acknowledging the problematic aspects of a loved thing, and details into how game-play adds to individual interpretations of a controversial character. It helps that everyone involved was screamingly funny.

Adding to the screamingly funny while incredibly serious was "Unheard Voices" with Ken Gagne (PolyGamer), Shawn Alexander Allen (Nuchallenger), Tanya DePass (Fresh Out of Tokens), John James (Art Director, MidBoss), and Anna Tarkov (Unconsoleable). I was already listening to two of the podcasts in question, and two more got added to my list very quickly. You may notice a DePass trend - she was on a lot of panels and was awesome every time.


Both funny and touching was Leisha-Marie Riddel ( #projectsolace ) spoke about the ethnic dysphoria engendered by being a Filipina raised by loving white parents, the racism she internalized, and how she began to address it through writing a story and developing her art. That art also happens to be wonderful and I'm looking forward to reading her comic!

The weekend was absolutely glorious!