YaoiCon was fun! Also, news for November.

Hello all!

YaoiCon was a lot of fun. The big news, for those of you who haven’t heard already (presumably from someone who updates more than once a month) is that DMP (DMI, whatever they’re calling themselves this month) is taking over (read: probably bought) the convention. In order for them to keep a closer eye on it, they may be moving the con to Anaheim next year. I spoke to someone on constaff who said it was “as definite as can be without being official”.

I am… not a happy camper about this. A big part of the reason that I continue to go, despite the cross-continental trip, is that I have a lot of friends in the San Francisco area, and I take the excuse to stay a few days extra and visit them. At the same time, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Before I found out that this was a thing, I thought to myself that the con has lost a little bit of its magic for me, and unless something major and positive changed for me, I would stop after my tenth visit (YaoiCon 2013, for anyone who cares). DMP’s intervention might be a positive thing. Color me pessimistic, but more than willing to be wrong.

That said, Café Verführen was wonderful, as always, and I will have my annual review and addition to their storyline up… soon, I hope. This may take a little while, because I’m trying to avoid touching the current site database as much as possible.

I’m doing a reboot.

When I started 1000Gears I had a more complicated vision for it, more of an archive and less of a blog. I wanted it to be more of a shared space (I built it largely as a refuge from the Great LiveJournal Ban-A-Thon of 2007). The software I chose was easy to work with, but not really the best choice for that. The site was also a learning experience in web design, and there are a lot of mistakes I need to correct.

So, in that light, I’ve been rebuilding the site to use software called Drupal, with a new, (I hope) easier-to-navigate design and a stronger emphasis on the fiction. I hope to bring new features in, too. Drupal is powerful.

The Return of Café Verführen

After a one-year hiatus, Café Verführen is returning to YaoiCon! I’ve reviewed their events before, and they’re always one of my favorite parts of the con. Their website has gone through a gorgeous update, and I’m sure their service has some new surprises waiting for us.

I’ve already made my reservations, so I’ll post a link to their RSVP page in case anyone is interested.

Café Verführen: Behind the Kitchen Doors

Café Verführen ran into a few lease problems over the past year (read: trouble getting an appropriate room, due to the shift in hotel), so instead of their usual careful pageantry, the staff scheduled a small panel on Sunday afternoon, a quick chance for them to let their guests take a little peek behind the scenes.

I find it a little bit hard to write about this, a little bit like I might have a hard time talking about Disney’s Backstage Magic tour, or maybe Dining with an Imagineer. On the one hand, as a stubbornly persistent return visitor, I take a certain thrill in knowing the little, less-than-obvious preparations that go into bringing the Café together. On the other, I wonder if a curious newcomer might return next year, knowing that it doesn’t all suddenly crystallize, and for that find it somehow a little less magical.

I did bring along a new friend I met this year, the very pretty Miss Molly mentioned at the page footers for a while now, and she was sufficiently impressed that she says she’d like to visit, if the “leasing issues” get sorted out in time for next year. I’ll send her an invitation to post her thoughts below. Beyond that, though, I’ve thought about it a bit, and just to avoid spoiling things, I think I’m going to avoid telling too much. Let’s just say that I’m still enchanted by what an amazing, beautiful little bit of fan-craft the Café is. Sometimes the most wonderful things are the most fragile, and if the Café comes to an end, I’ll understand…

… but I can’t say I wouldn’t be deeply saddened.

On a happier note, even if we couldn’t actually see the ongoing story play out, it does continue.

YaoiCon 2009 – Closing Thoughts

This is really a post to include more pictures and say all the things that I wanted to say, but couldn’t fit into the flow of the other posts. It’s likely to be a little bit discombobulated.

1. Tahdig! I think that only makes sense if you’re one of the three people I spoke with about it, but it’s awesome anyways.
2. Café Verführen has great souvenirs. Their shot glasses are etched, not printed, and their Sunday-morning gift boxes are copied from real vintage labels (seriously).
3. Ryusei is never ever without less than immaculately dressed. I think I’m a little bit jealous.
4. I wish I had taken up Tiff’s invitation to go watch Supernatural on Saturday night. I got some ideas for First and Last and Always that I needed to write down, and I didn’t see her at all on Sunday. She seemed like a good person to know.
5. In general, wish I were better about collecting phone numbers and email addresses.
6. The official YaoiCon “bishounen” events – Bingo, the Auction, and the (ahem) Bishounen Spanking Inferno raffle – can be a lot of fun in their own rights, but… (I never finished this sentence, and I wish I could remember what I was thinking when I started it. The events are fun.
7. Mostly for DreamSkaype, I’ve uploaded a picture of my special badge from my service as a waiter for the YaoiCon Café (not Café Verführen) back in 2007. Being called a “bishounen” feels like a compliment that I can’t properly accept, so I replaced it with something more comfortable.
8. I should bring Kelda another tribute offering of chocolate next year.
9. YaoiCon is always, at the same time, more and less expensive than I thought it would be.
10. …and then Buffy staked Edward. THE END!

Café Verführen: Because I Believe

Most YaoiCon attendees never visit the third floor of the hotel, unless they have rooms there. I don’t blame them. The con program doesn’t mention the treasure hidden up there. I don’t know whether this is a deliberate snub or one of those complications of printing schedules and hotel management, but it’s a shame either way. The third floor is home to Café Verführen, and I think it’s my favorite event at the con.

Full Disclosure: In the Fan Alley, I wound up exchanging cards with Matta’s real-life alter-ego, and she gave me a button with the Café Verführen logo. I gave her a Tybalt button in return, but take this how you will.

This is a fairly late review, mostly because I kept throwing out my earlier drafts. I don’t like rehashing old reviews, and most of what I said in last year’s writeup still holds true. It seems inadequate, though; there’s something magically captivating about the Café, something hard to pin down and describe. The experience is enchanting, somehow much more than the sum of its parts.