Archon 39, in Words and Pictures

Every year, a highlight of my fall is Archon, the multi-genre, fan-run, sci-fi-and-fantasy-and-more festival held in Collinsville’s Gateway Center. In past years, I’ve attended but not fully committed to the experience, content to roam the halls of the Gateway and the nearby convention hotel, the DoubleTree, without drilling deeper into the entire festival experience. Not so in 2015.

This year, I went to workshops and panel discussions. I stayed for the entire Masquerade. And I certainly committed to staying through the Saturday night parties. (As if I wasn’t going to do that!) Proof that I enjoyed that part of the night was proven on Sunday morning, er, afternoon, when I awoke to a fifth-of-a-liter of vodka nestled in my backpack, handed to me by a member of the Zombie Squad at some point in the prior 12 hours. Alas, we’ll keep the other sordid details of this exchange out of the public space.

So, the immersion tactic yielded a few decent, shareable anecdotes over the weekend, which I’ll share with you here. Alternately, you can just skip the words and check out the slideshow. (Or simply visit my Flickr site for all the pictures you could possibly want.) 

LOST, that’s me: I should wear a Dharma Initiative outfit to Archon, as I’m going to get (hee, hee, hee) lost darn near every time I go. (See: labored Lost joke! I’m learning!) This year, three trips were made over the river and back. And I was on not-chosen roads at least twice. I’m sure that IDOT has the best and most caring traffic engineers that money can buy, but I’m just not in sync with the Illinois roads system.

COSTUMES, the popular and the also-rans: Hot looks for Archon 39 included Mad Max themes and everything Star Wars. Always around are devotees of Star Trek and Doctor Who, as well as anime and gaming characters by the colorful bushel. Surprisingly sparse were Game of Thrones lookalikes. And the trend line is pointing downward for steampunks, who seem a bit reduced in number with each passing year. Each and every time, though, you’ll find a few Firefly characters, and the duo replicating Karate Kid. Missed this year: Mr. Bill. But, hey, whatever turns you on! Archon’s a safe space to let your freak flag fly.

DICHOTOMY of the weekend: At some point, mid-way through the Masquerade, a young woman was being hustled out of the main hall by two friends, just as a Christmas-themed group began to put on their show in front of hundreds of festivalgoers. They didn’t make it out of the hall before the unfortunate youngster began epically losing her evening’s alcohol, a sight that clashed immensely with the pageantry onstage. It was hard to fully concentrate on the stage after that, but we did our best. (Poor girl’s pictured in the Flickr feed, hours before her meltdown, but we ain’t tellin’ who.) Thanks to the helpful usher who probably didn’t plan on mop-up duty that evening.

HUSTLED, but gently: While walking through the Gateway’s halls, I was summoned by a book vendor with this one-liner: “You, you have a backpack with enough room for a book!” As simply as that, I wandered over and listened to the pitch by author Ronald R. Van Stockum Jr., who sold me a copy of Cosmos: The Stellar Stalker, which I’ve not yet delved into. His approach was so refreshing that I couldn’t resist plunking down $12 on a sci-fi thriller taking place in 1976 Louisville. Honestly, if this fella’s book is half as entertaining as his table persona, I’ll get a bit of entertainment outta this one.

PARANORMAL reality TV ain’t all that real: The panel that intrigued me most was on the “ghost hunting” brand of cable TV, which, truth be told, is one that I can veg out to for hours at a time. A local group of paranormal investigators spent an hour debunking the current crop of cable adventurers, enjoying the conversation so much that they ran right up against time. Safe to say that everyone in the room agreed on this much: that the cable shows embellish everything possible, for maximum creep effect. That opinion accepted, people shared their own ghost stories, which were as interesting as anything on basic cable shows that spawned the session.

FILKING, something that everyone should experience at least once: Music that’s geared to this crowd is called filking, and it often involves themes like burning fields and kingdoms in ruin, played with the occasional lute or flute. This music is often as seriously presented as you can imagine and performers are really committed to their songs of elves and spacecraft. I didn’t buy any CDs by the groups I sat in on, but I’d see them again. Abso-freakin’-lutely I would, as you can’t often come across sincerity this… sincere.

INTERPLAY of humans: Orc meets Klingon. Space fetishist meets medieval warrior. Furry meets Super Mario. It’s all possible at Archon. More than possible, really. It happens.

BOOKING a room for Archon 40: May as well accept that plans are in the works for another year. Archon 40 is slated for September 30–October 2, 2016, dontcha know? If you’re not there, you’re square.