What is "Fen"
I actually get this question a lot more than I expected, even among
other fen. "Fen" is the plural of "fan", as
defined in The Jargon
File:
fan n. Without qualification, indicates a fan of science
fiction, especially one who goes to cons
and tends to hang out with other fans. Many hackers are fans, so this
term has been imported from fannish slang; however, unlike much
fannish slang it is recognized by most non-fannish hackers. Among SF
fans the plural is correctly `fen', but this usage is not automatic to
hackers. "Laura reads the stuff occasionally but isn't really a fan."
Anime
Hey, I'm just going alphabetical here for a little bit. Japaneese
animation isn't my #1 fannish thing, but I do enjoy a lot of anime
(and even a little non-Jap animation). Some titles I'm particuarly
fond of:
- Ghost in the Shell (though I like the manga better)
- Ranma 1/2 (my wife loves this)
- Record of Lodoss War (if I could find some more of the tapes...)
- Tenchi-Muyo
Babylon 5
I don't have enough time to write about how cool this show is. I love
this. B5 has got to be the best written TV show ever done. What else
can I say? Someday I'll even put some links here, but right now I'm
just slapping down some stuff so I can go back to ray-tracing... ;)
Cons
I don't do a lot of SF cons, but the ones I do, I love. In particular,
I try to make Technicon (Blacksburg, VA) every year, and Sci-con (Va
Beach, VA). I'm also looking to do Dragon*Con (Atlanta, GA) and
Trinoc*con (Raleigh, NC when it finally happens in Sept 1999).
LARP
My favorite thing to do at cons (see above). Live Action Role Playing
can be a blast if done well, and a dismal failure if done poorly. I'm
not fond of Vampire LARPs, though. My favorite group is Mondred (which
has turned mostly into Wireframe), who do LARPs at Sci-con. I keep
planning on writing the LARPers Guide to the Universe. It'll happen
someday... really...
SCA
The Society for Creative Anachronism is an international medieval
recreation group that I play with. My persona is Francesco della Rosa,
a 15th century Italian. I've done a lot of different things with the
SCA: dancing, storytelling, mead making, cordials, rapier, a (very)
brief foray into heavy stick fighting... But the &#;1 thing I do is
wash dishes. I do it well, so I do it a lot. Everyone needs a skill.
Rob Napier <rnapier@employees.org>
Last modified: Wed May 13 16:40:01 EDT 1998