Saturday at DragonCon meant that I got to flap my gums pretty much all day long. I was on three panels: GirlPower in the Tribe, Spirituality and The Tribe and Survival and Society in the Tribe. ScapeBabe teased me for wanting to avoid hierarchy by having everyone sit in a circle- staff panelists and DragonCon guests, cause it would be more feminist that way (no hierarchy) and we were starting with the Girl Power panel.

There wasn't nearly enough time to talk about all the awesome women of the tribe. But it did prime the pump for Tori Spence's Q+A. I asked her why she had been so vague and elusive about Salene and Pride's relationship during Friday's mature themes panel and the first all cast Q+A. She said that at the time, she was at a point in her life where she was trying to keep work and her friends separate. She and Nick never really got to know one another. She worried that this might reflect badly on camera, but the producers assured her it didn't. I read between the lines. She didn't like him and thus she didn't like the relationship. I didn't buy the whole "keeping my work and social life separate" thing for a minute. She was rooming with Beth Allen and visiting Antonia Prebble on her off time! I wonder what happened between the two of them....

The spirituality panel was next and since people seemed to like the circle concept, we rearranged the chairs back into a sphere and got to talking. I hadn't really thought much about the spiritual angle before I knew I was assigned to the panel. The week before the con I racked my brain trying to remember moments of spirituality on the show and wrote some ideas down. Luckily, there turned out to be lots to talk about so therefore I never had to worry about having to throw out conversational gambits. Now that the other fans made such good points during the panels, I see the spirituality of the show everywhere!

Matt Robinson's Q+A was next. I remember two things about this q+a. First of all, I asked what may have been considered a dumb question (nice to know I can embarrass myself without Kellygirl being around) but I honestly didn't know. I'm not spoiled for Season 5. During my interview with Matt, I had asked him to describe his character Slade. From his description, I was unsure of what the difference was between the character of Slade and the Lex character. His answer? "Well, Slade and Lex are very similar, but I'd say that Slade comes from a place of deep sadness, but certainly they are very similar, they're both ambiguous and opportunistic and they both BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH TANGENT TANGENT TANGENT TANGENT they're like two bulls in a china shop." Yes, I zoned out. It happens sometimes. I honestly have no idea what he said 'cause I stopped paying attention. I wanted a real answer, dammit! The second thing I remember about this q+a is that Matt did a monologue from Romeo and Juliet. He did an excellent job. Not only did he prepare a preamble to his performance, complete with the British equivalent of 'aww shucks' and endearing modesty, in addition the monologue was delivered with perfect enunciation and lots of feeling. He is really quite talented. Too bad I was busy rolling my eyes so hard I gave myself a headache. R+J is the Titanic of Shakespearean plays so the fangirls were practically falling out of their seats. Those with notebooks were busy writing "Mrs. Fangirl Robinson" over and over again in sparkly pink letters. Mr. Robinson finished his piece and then smiled one of his wide, shit-eating grins. Because I'm wierd that way, it was the shit eating grin, the calculation of it all, that earned my applause and my flove*. Hee. I'm so jaded I crack myself up.

At the end of the day, I sat on the Survival panel. I met another Massachusetts fan! This panel was fascinating because this was where the Tribe became more real. Once we got past asking questions like, "where did they get all the face paint?" (which is as pointless as asking "Why is Sarah Jessica Parker considered sexy?" The answer to both is "It's one of life's pointless mysteries and we will only kill brain cells by trying to solve it") we got into the harder, more hypothetical scenarios. Like, would the Tribe kids be able to do all the things they did had the virus hit America? The consensus? Yes and no. The No camp argued that America had too many guns and the kids would never been able to unite. It'd be cold war all the time. Or all the kids would shoot each other to the point where numbers would be so thin that society would break down. The Yes camp argued that The Tribe was already in place in the U.S. Gang lifestyle had many tribal elements to it. And gang numbers are going up and going corporate every day. In fact, gangs are now at the level of organized crime and "crews" are slowly moving in to fill the vaccuum. I don't know what I think. I argued Yes, but on any given time I think No.

Afterwards, the rest of the Tribe staff invited me to dinner at this one Mexican place. I think our half of the table went through three baskets of chips and gallons of salsa. Stuffed, exhausted but pleased that my Tribe Kid outfit survived the messy food, we stumbled out into the street to take pictures. Except I didn't have my camera! Arrgh! I wish I had a picture of the twelve of us. If anyone has one, email me, 'k? dreagogo@gmail.com . ScapeBabe promised me she'd be my date to the Buffy Prom, but when we got back to the hotel, we were too tired and full. I know that I certainly wasn't going to try zipping up my formal dress over a belly full of enchiladas. However, dammit I had packed my dress! At some point I was going to wear it. I made Scape swear she would wear her dress to the Cabaret, so that I could wear mine and not feel like a dork. I said goodnight and walked back to my hotel.

Just as I took off my make-up and slipped into my pj's, the girls called me up and invited me to the Tribe slumber party. I felt bad, but really, I was too lazy to say yes. I do everything by inertia. Once I am at rest, it is very difficult to get me to do anything. However, once I am moving, I find it hard to stop. The girls had caught me in bed. I wasn't going to slip out from beneath blankets and into shoes. Next year, though, I will totally be there. 'Cause my room will be in the main hotel. And maybe, for once, I will be well rested before I go to a Con so I won't need so much sleep. Yeah, right.