Escapist Podcast: 086: PAX East 2013 Wrap-Up!

[Susan Arendt]

I really enjoyed the game show night, and I found the Take This panel very... emotional. I teared up at times because some of it reminded me so much of myself. Sadly, I wasn't able to go to the Escapist Movie Night. I wanted to, but this was my first PAX. So I decided I'd wait in line and go to the concerts. And it was as I waited for that that my worst PAX moment happened. I got in line at 5:10, waited and waited and waited, we went up to the main area and lined up, etc. I think I was the tenth person in line roughly. Then, I decided to go use the bathroom to wash my hands and fill my water bottle. I came back... and the first 8 lines had already gone into the theater. I still got a good spot, but I wasn't in the very front like I'd wanted.

I'd actually wanted to say hi to Susan at some point though. But I didn't want to do that after the Take This panel... that seemed like a bad time to come and say 'hey, remember me? I'm that one guy who did that one thing months back.' And after the Game Show Night, I was exhausted and just went back to die... er, sleep in my hotel room. Oh well.

There's something odd about me and conventions. when I was at PAX, I never got hungry. Like, I ate some granola bars, and I forced myself to pick up a sandwich from 7-11 on Saturday, but I never really had to eat. The same thing happened during the Escapist Expo last year. I think I just feed on the energy of the convention to survive.

Overall I had a great time at my first PAX though.

Silly, I recognized you in the crowd. You certainly could've said hi.

Hello! I attended the Take This panel at PAX East this past weekend and wanted to know if there will be a podcast of it or perhaps a transcript of the panel? Thank you in advance.

-Krista Grillo

Perhaps. I'm still thinking about it. If you attended, you understand why that's something I'd have to work up to doing.

 

[Xelien]

Missed friday at PAX but watched Game Show Night here online, but I totally had a blast at Escapist Movie Night!!!! Q&A went a bit long but the entertainment pretty much made up for it.

Also I just avoid Twitter completely in case of spoiler slips, but I fucking love Tumblr Savior when it comes to that. It's basically a blocking app for tumblr that hides any posts containing keywords you choose that are mentioned in tags. Twitter definitely needs to create a mobile app for this too.

 

[Lieju]

I like the term "feminazi". Cuz before that, whenever you were talking about a feminist, people were always like "wait, the good kind, or the bad kind?" Now the feminist is a good thing, and the bad kind have their own word;D

Unfortunately, some people use that as a synonym for 'feminist', so if you use that word, it might be misunderstood.

But in regards to that situation of: what do you do if you're a man and you see a woman being mistreated in a not immediately dangerous way - I can imagine being dubious about stepping in, because you don't want to look like the hoperful white knight in the presents of one of these feminazis. In the end, I think doing the right thing will win out, but the fear is there.

Or, if you're a woman butting in when a guy is mistreated, you have the risk of getting the 'GRR, you are threatening my masculinity'-reaction...

I guess the key is understanding the context present, for example if those people know each other, how public the situation is and what kind of a position people being harassed (and you) are.

Take the situation described in the Podcat, for example, those cosplayers didn't know how to respond and whether they should acknowledge the guy's questions or what.
That the guy's behaviour was unacceptable, just like if he'd acted in a distruptive way by being drunk or something, and cons should have people responsible for dealing with people like that.

 

[Endocrom]

I need to find a picture I took of a father and daughter dressed as Princess Bubblegum and Lemongrab

Edit: and I think the other daughter was a ninja turtle.

 

[Kapol]

Silly, I recognized you in the crowd. You certainly could've said hi.

I know I could have, and would have if not for a variety of factors involved. I appreciate you saying that though. Hopefully I'll be able to make up for it by coming to the next Escapist Expo.

 

[Eleima]

I wanted to thank you guys on the perfect civilized and sensible talk you had about Meagan Marie's blog post [http://meagan-marie.tumblr.com/post/46396481491/what-would-you-do-if-you-werent-afraid]. I'd heard about it through another source and was absolutely appalled at the incidents that she related. Those men's behavior is absolutely unacceptable, it has to stop.

But you ask, how would we react? Well, for the record I'm a 30 year old female and I have had this kind of behavior happen to me. Worst part, it happened at work. And what did I do? First time I froze and didn't know how to react, second time I laughed nervously and the times after that, I made stupid jokes to shrug it off. Was it okay? No! But like Susan says, we're brought up to be peacekeepers (I was soooo nodding my head at that part), and that's what I did. Didn't help that I was an intern at the time, at the bottom of the chain, and that this kind of behavior was almost expected of manly surgeons.

I'm so glad that Meagan Marie stepped up and that the PAX security took it seriously. I still hope and believe that behaviors are changing, albeit slowly. There are decent men, heck, decent people out there. It's those morons in the minority which can ruin other people's days.

Was also really glad you guys mentioned healthy foods!! As a dressing, the recipe my parents taught me also involves a bit of mustard, doesn't anyone use mustard in their salad dressing? Mine is one spoonful of balsamic vinegar and one of mustard, mix then two spoonfuls of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to your liking. It's still pretty healthy, especially if you're using the coarse French mustard made mainly from black mustard seeds (a lot less fatty than its American counterpart) and a bit thicker.
And yes, baby carrots are aweeeeesooome!

Also, I can't stop watching Kapol's avatar.

 

[JenSeven]

Wait, why is it so surprising that Justin can cook?