It really crept up fast, but CrossingsCon 2021 begin in just under 2 weeks! The virtual convention space will go live at digital.crossingscon.org on August 1st, and remember that this year’s con is totally free - no registration needed!

Announcing yet another new guest for CrossingsCon 2021, this time the wonderful C.B. Lee!

C.B. Lee is a Lambda Literary Award nominated writer of young adult science fiction and fantasy. Her works include the Sidekick Squad series, Ben 10 graphic novels, Out Now: Queer We Go Again, Minecraft: The Shipwreck, From A Certain Point Of View: The Empire Strikes Back, and A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix. Lee’s work has been featured in Teen Vogue, Wired Magazine, Hypable, Tor’s Best of Fantasy and Sci Fi, and the American Library Association’s Rainbow List. You can find out more about her and her works on her website cb-lee.com

For CB, the “slipping sideways” theme is particularly exciting since she is working right now on a book that focuses on liminal spaces and travel between worlds. We can’t wait to meet her in August!

Dai Cousins!

One of the unexpected bonuses of having a virtual con is that we get to have more guests. Introducing Jessica Day George, our newest Guest of Honor for CrossingsCon 2021: Slipping Sideways!

Jessica Day George—author of the Rose Legacy, Castle Glower, and Dragon Slippers series—earned a BA in Humanities/Comparative Literature from Brigham Young University, where she enjoyed classes in Pottery and Old Norse, and dutifully forced herself to take Algebra and Biology. Originally from Idaho, she now resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and three young children.

In addition to working extensively in the fairytale genre, Jessica is also a big Diane Duane fan herself, and so especially enthusiastic to join us at CrossingsCon 2021 from August 1st to 8th!

Dai Cousins!

Unfortunately, Mark Oshiro had some unexpected deadlines arise recently, and they couldn’t get their hands on a timeslide. As such, they won’t be able to make it to CrossingsCon: Slipping Sideways. We will miss seeing them, but look forward to seeing you all in two months!

Good luck with your deadlines, Mark! To the rest of you, we’ll see you at the con!

Way before I first used the internet or discovered broader fan communities, there was a historical fiction series set in 1700s Scotland that had its own little deeply earnest fan/LARP community in our neighborhood. Emphasis on “little,” because the oldest of us was maybe nine years old. We ran from house to house, playing hide-and-seek, “doing chores” like “making food” or “spinning yarn,” and recreating other particularly memorable incidents from the books, but spent at least as many hours diving into actual Scottish mythology, which—thanks to the stories retold to the series protagonist—I fell fully in love with.

Once there was a kingdom, in which two princesses lived. One, Anne, was the daughter of the king; the other, Kate, the daughter of the queen. Though the girls were stepsisters, and Anne was prettier, they loved each other dearly, and considered themselves sisters and best friends in truth.

The queen, however, was jealous of Anne’s beauty, and sought help from a henwife. The henwife agreed, saying all the queen needed to do was to send Anne to the henwife’s house in the morning, but be sure she had nothing to eat before she came.

And so, first thing in the morning, the queen asked Anne to go to the henwife’s for eggs, but unbeknownst to her, Anne stopped in the kitchens before she left, and took a bit of bread with her to eat on the way. When Anne arrived, the henwife asked her to open the lid of the pot on the stove to see if it was boiling, which Anne did—but nothing happened, and so the henwife sent her home with the eggs and a message for the queen that she should keep a better lock on the larder door.

And so, first thing the next morning, the queen asked Anne to go to the henwife’s for eggs, and went with her to the castle door to see her off, and to see she didn’t stop for food. But along the way, Anne saw farmers out working and stopped to say hello, and as she was such a kind and polite girl, they offered her a handful of the peas they’d harvested, which she gladly took and ate as she went on her way. When Anne arrived, the henwife again asked her to open the lid of the pot on the stove to see if it was boiling, which Anne again gladly did—but nothing happened, and so the henwife sent her home with the eggs and a message for the queen that a pot will never boil if the fire’s away.

And so, first thing the next morning, the queen asked Anne to go for the henwife’s for eggs, and went with her all the way. When they arrived, the henwife asked Anne for the third time to open the lid of the pot on the stove and see if it was boiling, and Anne did, and her head turned into the head of a sheep. The queen was quite pleased with this, as her own daughter was now unquestionably the lovelier, but Kate considered Anne her sister and her best friend, and so she found a cloth to wrap Anne’s new sheep-head in to hide her, and set off with her sister to seek their fortunes elsewhere.

And so it was that they came to a castle in another kingdom, and asked lodging for the night and had it granted to them. But while they were there, they noticed that of the two princes, one looked tired, thin and worn out and ill. When they asked if he was well, they were told that he was ill indeed, but that none could discover what was wrong. There was a reward of a peck of silver offered to anyone who would stay in the prince’s room all night in hopes of finding an answer, in the morning, anyone who tried was inevitably gone without a trace, never to be seen again. Kate was not put off by this, however, and declared her intent to try. Until midnight, all went well.

But at the stroke of twelve, the prince sat up in bed, dressed himself, and went straight to the stables to ready his horse, without noticing Kate quietly following close behind. He jumped into the saddle, and Kate leapt onto the horse’s back just behind the prince, and he set off without noticing her there, riding off fast as he could. They rode together through the wood, the prince still seeming to see and notice nothing but the path ahead, and Kate picking herself a pocketful of nuts off the trees as they went. They stopped, finally, at a green hill, and for the first time the prince spoke: “Open, open, green hill,” he said, “for the prince and his horse,” and Kate added, “and his lady behind him.”

And so the hill opened, and they rode inside, prince and Kate and horse and all, straight into a magnificent hall, bright and beautiful and filled with fairies. Kate slipped aside unnoticed as he handed off his horse, and she watched as he joined the dance. From the shadows she saw him dance and dance and dance, until he could dance no longer and his legs gave way, and saw how the fairies took him aside and fanned him gently until he was rested enough to return and dance again, and so things continued until the cock crowed. Then, swift as he’d risen from bed, the prince left the dance and returned to his horse, and Kate followed just fast enough to leap on behind him and away they rode back to the castle without a word.

When the sun rose, they were both in his room, the prince in bed and asleep but unrested, for he’d been dancing all night, and Kate sitting up in her chair, cracking the nuts she’d picked from the trees as they rode through the woods, and all the castle was amazed. Kate was asked to stay again, and she would, she said, but for a peck of gold this time, not silver, and the king agreed, for he loved his son. And so she stayed, sitting up in his room while he lay in bed, and until midnight, all was well.

But at the stroke of twelve, the prince sat up in bed, dressed himself, and went again to the stables to ready his horse, again blind to Kate quietly following just behind. He jumped into the saddle, and Kate leapt onto the horse’s back just behind the prince, and again they set off through the wood. Kate picked herself another pocketful of nuts off the trees on the way, and when they reached the fairy mound, again, the prince spoke: “Open, open, green hill,” he said, “for the prince and his horse,” and again Kate added, “and his lady behind him.”

This night, Kate knew the prince would dance until he could dance no more, and so she looked around to see what else she might spy in the fairy hall, and so she laid eyes on a fairy babe, playing with a wand, and overheard in a conversation ’twixt two grown fairies nearby: “Three strokes of that wand would make Anne as lovely as she ever was.” So Kate rolled the nuts she’d collected one by one along the floor until the baby dropped the wand to reach for them, and she snatched the wand up and slipped it in her pocket and returned to her spot near the prince to wait for the cock to crow.

The moment they arrived in the castle, Kate ran straight to her sister’s room, and tapped her sister three times with the wand, and all at once the sheep’s head fell off and her sister’s own pretty head was restored. When the sun rose, the prince was in bed and asleep but unrested, for he’d been dancing all night, and Kate was sitting up in her chair, cracking the nuts she had left, and all the castle was amazed.

Kate was asked to stay again, and she would, she said, if she could marry the prince, and the king agreed, for he loved his son. And so she stayed, sitting up in his room while he lay in bed, and until midnight, all was well. But at the stroke of twelve, the prince rose and dressed and readied his horse, and a third time they set off through the woods to the fairy mound, Kate picking nuts off the trees on the way. “Open, open, green hill,” the prince said, when they reached their destination, “for the prince and his horse,” and Kate added, “and his lady behind him,” and so the hill did.

Again, Kate looked around the fairy hall instead of watching every moment of the dance, for she knew from the two nights before the prince would dance ’til he collapsed and could dance no more. This night, she heard one fairy say to another, “Three bites of that bird the babe plays with would cure the prince,” and looking ’round, Kate saw the same fairy babe with a bird in hand. So Kate rolled the nuts she’d collected one by one along the floor until the baby dropped the bird to reach for them, and she snatched the bird up and wrapped it in a cloth and slipped it in her pocket, and returned to her spot near the prince to wait for the cock to crow.

This night, when they returned to the castle, instead of cracking her nuts as she had before, Kate plucked the feathers and cooked the bird, and soon the savoury smell awoke the sick prince, who asked for a bite of the bird. She gave it to him, and the color began to return to his face; soon, he asked for another bite, and she gave that to him as well, and he sat up in bed. He asked for a third bite, and she gave it his way, and he rose strong and healthy from his bed. When the sun rose, he was found dressed and well, sitting near the fire and cracking nuts with Kate.

And so they were wed, the sick prince and Kate, and the well prince and Anne, for they’d met and fallen quite in love, and they all lived happily and well to the end of their days.

Jenny
Guest Liaison, CrossingsCon

What should we do at CrossingsCon: Slipping Sideways? Let us know here!

Hey folks,

As many of you have been requesting, we’re finally releasing the videos from the 2019 con! We’ll be releasing 3 or 4 videos on our youtube channel each Sunday for the next 4 weeks, starting today. You can find today’s uploads in this playlist, which will update with the new videos each week.

We’d like to apologize for taking so long to get these videos released, unfortunately Murphy’s law turned out to be inescapably true for this project. Trying to improve the audio quality and volume to a passable level proved to be a large endeavour, and covid naturally threw a wrench in as well. We also delayed the release in an attempt to get the videos professionally captioned, but did not have the resources to do so in the end. YouTube’s auto-generated captions have been enabled on the videos, and if you’re interested in helping get the videos fully captioned, drop us a line at captions@crossingscon.org.

We hope you enjoy reliving the memories of last year’s CrossingsCon, or else experience some events you didn’t get a chance to the first time. Just remember to like, comment, and subscribe!*

* The staff member who wrote this was fired for this joke**
** Not actually, I’m just writing this fairly late and am loopy enough to think this is funny. Please laugh.

Dai Cousins!

While we had been hoping things would improve in time for CrossingsCon 2021, we’ve decided that due to the ongoing pandemic it’s best and safest to change our plans for this year’s convention. We may not get to see you all in brickspace this year, but we will get to see you in virtual space - that’s right, CrossingsCon 2021 is going digital!

CrossingsCon 2021: Slipping Sideways will take place over the week of August 1st to 8th, 2021 on GatherTown. GatherTown is a proximity based virtual meeting platform, which allows you to walk your avatar around a virtual convention center and talk to people near you, same as you would in brickspace! It also comes with a video option, so you’ll get to see each other’s faces, rather than just the avatar.

Our Guests of Honor from the originally planned CrossingsCon 2021, Mark Oshiro, Diane Duane, and Ursula Vernon, will all be attending the virtual event. Our parallel con-iverse will have everything you love from the brickspace CrossingsCon, but since we know no one wants to spend an entire weekend on a video call, we’ll be breaking our programming into smaller chunks of around 1-2 hours per day over the week so it will be more accessible.

In addition, we’re making Slipping Sideways free to attend, though if you’d like to help make it happen we have a donation portal open here. Anyone who already paid for a badge or merch for an in-person CrossingsCon 2021 will be fully refunded, so watch your emails for information on how we’ll be doing that.

As fun as Slipping Sideways will be it’s still bittersweet not to have an in-person convention this year…which is why we’re very excited to announce that we’re also planning an in-person convention in Montreal in August 2022! We’re not ready to release any details yet so stay tuned, but we’re confident that an in-person convention will be plenty safe by a year and a half from now.

We’re so excited to see you all virtually in August, and in person in 2022! We’ve included some additional information below, but if you have a question you don’t see here, feel free to ask on your platform of choice, or send an email to info@crossingscon.org.

FAQ:

Keep reading

The myth I’m bringing to you today is about a rock. Specifically, this one:

It’s most commonly known as Siwash Rock, though I’ll be referring to it as Skalsh (for reasons I’ll explain later). It’s a beloved local landmark here in Vancouver, BC, which I assume is mostly due to its location right off the busy Stanley Park seawall, surrounded by beautiful ocean, mountain, and city views. It’s in one of the most picturesque places in an already very picturesque city, and as such it gets photographed a lot:

Keep reading

Today, my friends, I tell you the story of Gritty. If you have somehow escaped the legend that is Gritty, I am here to tell you about his lore and journey – from Philadelphia Flyers mascot to memehood, and more.

According to Gritty’s official bio, “his father was a bully, so naturally he has some of those tendencies. Talented but feisty, a fierce competitor, known for his agility given his size. He’s loyal but mischievous; the ultimate Flyers fan who loves the orange and black, but is unwelcoming to anyone who opposes his team. Legend has it he earned the name ‘Gritty’ for possessing an attitude so similar to the team he follows.”

When Philadelphians first learned of the Flyers mascot in 2018, everyone was sharing photos, making fun of how ridiculous he looked. Most people were horrified by the new mascot, and there was a lot of negativity surrounding it. I remember people saying things like “oh my god what is that horrific monster” and “please tell me this is an elaborate joke, not actually the new mascot.” Gritty leaned in and embraced the negative attitude – becoming even more confrontational. 

Gritty’s true personality first graced us in response to a tweet from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Gritty’s response showed us that he would not take shit from anybody, a trait truly admirable and relatable to Philadelphians. We love his energy, his attitude, his weird, goofy and yet somehow intimidating look. Memes could only make us love him more. 

From here, we embrace Gritty through all sorts of memes, especially political memes, as a representation of Philly’s values. Gritty just looks like he’s ready to fight. He’s a ridiculous mess, but he’s ours and we love him. There’s no way I can tell you all that encompasses who Gritty is, as the internet continues to create new meaning. Here are some things people have said about Gritty:

But don’t take our word for it, enjoy some of Gritty’s chaotic good antics yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbd57ljAVtI&t=23s

Gritty has become even more relatable than he was when we first learned of his existence. It sounds silly to call the chaotic monster a beacon of hope, but his energy demands we don’t give up. In this unpredictable world we find ourselves in, maybe we need a bit more Gritty in our lives. 

Amy Bachhuber
Director of Design & Merch, CrossingsCon