Behind me at the Hyatt bar, a group of gamers are meeting for the first time.
"This is Jim, who invented the Krathgar universe," one of them says.
"And this is Kathy, who invented the Swiftriver universe," replies another. There is general murmuring, and several handshakes.
I decide to devote the next two days to getting the equivalent of a graduate education in fandom. Then, I'll work on getting laid. I start by looking over my program in the Hyatt bar, where I also have a good vantage point from which to study my DragonConian cohorts.
Klingons abound, and a veritable fleet of storm troopers are following Darth Vader. I spot a Cylon (gearing up, no doubt, for the new "Battlestar Galactica" series), a vampire, various fairies and goths, and a knight in full chain mail sharing a table with Daphne from Scooby Doo and Trinity from "The Matrix." Strangely, there is even a Hunter Thompson look-alike smoking from a cigarette holder and chatting with somebody wearing an Atlanta Comicon T-shirt. I always knew Thompson was a geek.
There are also massive numbers of my fellow female nerds. Unlike at DefCon,, another geekfest I attended recently, these women are not arm candy. People of all genders, races, sizes and ages are mingling on the Hyatt main floor, wandering from panel to panel, stopping occasionally to hug or talk to old friends. Everyone at DragonCon hugs. It's one of the few environments where I've met strangers who ask me for a hug without a trace of sleaziness or New Age hippie smarm. Already, it's clear to me that DragonCon is more than a marketplace. It's a social testing ground, a place where people experiment with new kinds of relationships.
I inaugurate my course of study by attending an afternoon panel about how to bring horror into your favorite RPG. Run by three representatives from Hex Games, the company known for inventing the "quick ass game system" (QAGS), the panel quickly turns into a spirited debate about group gaming psychology.
"Personally, my ideal player is naked and on fire in a strange world!" enthuses Hex president Kevin Butler. He urges us to be imaginative, to become "partners" with our players and to remember that they need small triumphs even if they're eventually going to be eaten by aliens. A guy with a Cthulhu doll strapped to his chest in a baby carrier raises his hand and intones ponderously, "What players fear more than death is not knowing the rules."
The discussion turns to live action role playing, or LARPing, where people don't just sit around and narrate what their character is doing, but act it out. We wonder if sometimes people take their gaming too seriously when they LARP. "I keep hearing about this Scandinavian Web site about sex during LARPing," laughs Butler, "and there's this big problem with staying in character while having an orgasm. Worrying about shit like that is going TOO FAR!"
It turns out that dozens of LARPs are going on at DragonCon, and I didn't even realize it. After the Hex panel is over, I chat with a player in the "Lord of the Rings" LARP, who is trying to entice new players to join in. She has a box full of envelopes with character names on them -- you pick one, and can play the character for as long as you want. "There are more popular LARPs here, though," admits the "Lord of the Rings" rep, "and we have a lot of competition, especially at night." Now, when I walk around, I stare more carefully at people who are in costume or who look like they're acting. Are they LARPing? I decide that if anyone creepy approaches me, I have the perfect excuse not to talk to them. I'll just flash a talk-to-the-hand sign and say disdainfully, "Excuse me, but I'm LARPing right now."
Later, I attend a Xena panel that features Katherine Fugate, the writer who penned the episode "When Fates Collide," a fannish favorite in which Xena and Gabrielle learn that no matter how their lives could have turned out, their fates would still have been tied together. It also includes some steamy girl-on-girl kissing. The large room is packed with women, many of them openly snuggling with their girlfriends. I'm smitten by them, moved by all these heartfelt displays of queerness in a Southern state hardly known for tolerance.
Finally, a gray-haired woman stands up and asks the first question. She has a clear Southern twang in her voice, and asks in the politest possible way, "What do you think of scenes between women in Xena?" We all know what she's really asking: She wants Fugate's opinion on the infamous "Xena subtext," the possible sexual relationship between Xena and her friend Gabrielle.
Fugate says simply, "I always thought they were lovers."
The entire room bursts into cheers and applause. Some women even stand up and stamp their feet.
Filled with elation, I exit the room and cross the hall to watch a roomful of "Buffy" fans putting on vampire makeup. In an environment where vampires, hobbits and dragonriders can roam free, there is tolerance -- even enthusiasm -- for other kinds of difference as well. If Xena is queer, then why not hundreds of DragonConians? And if two strangers can get it on while LARPing, then surely casual sex is just another form of play.
Next page: Finally, my search for sex pays off with sexy goths and happy slaves