Day Three of the Twin Cities Con may have had the shortest schedule, but there was still plenty of fun to be had. I headed over to The Voices of Phineas & Ferb and Many More panel to get started. This one nearly went off the rails right away as Dee Bradley Baker was getting quizzed on early career parts, such as Olmec from Legends of the Hidden Temple. They got back to the panel style questions, starting with their auditions and how it felt being part of the Disney world. It was one of Alyson Stoner’s first conventions, and she was still clearly listening closely to the questions. Her answer about singing in the voice of the character and the challenges that can make was thoughtful. Baker added on, as he spoke of how to minimize vocal stress and how some early vocal training really helped him. The group, which also included the two main stars Vincent Martello and David Errigo, were particularly pleased with the fact that the show has been brought back with two new seasons and they continued to banter through audience questions.

Short Story Creation and Opportunities had three authors (and a fourth who came in late), and it was interesting to hear the definition (1000-10,000 words, and generally focused on one idea). That line of being different from novella (more towards 20,000 words), or “flash fiction” (<1000 words) was interesting. One of the approaches, “just write and get it there, then come back and hone”, also included the nugget of taking neat ideas that don’t quite fit and putting it into a notebook for later use. Lightspeed Magazine and Strange Horizons were mentioned as places to find flash fiction and short stories. Reasons for why to write short stories if you want to be a novelist had a plethora of answers from taking the opportunity to learn the skill of writing to adding to the number and types of published material an author can have. There were some good questions from the audience that let the panel provide perspective, such as a small discussion on short film making and three act structure.

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Q&A featured Clare Kramer (Glory) and Amber Benson (Tara) from the show. The initial conversation centered around the show’s enduring popularity (last season in the early 2000’s) and had Benson noting a conversation that the show’s group of characters has someone for everyone. It only took a moment to get to the re-boot with Sarah Michelle Gellar at the helm (both Benson and Kramer obviously hold her in high regard). Kramer’s audition was a pretty bland set of dialogue and she went a wildly unique direction that got her called back the next day and then cast. Benson had read for one early role, while the actual role she got was described completely different than her. Kramer discussed the distinction between confidence and fearlessness, and that she approached Glory with fearlessness. Benson got to proudly talk about the somewhat ground-breaking relationship of her character with Willow for LGTBQ+ community and the gratitude she has for being a part of that.

Comedy & Satire in Comics had a focus on humor in media, but was a wide ranging conversation. The take on odd and weird humor was interesting and Aaron Reynolds’ (Effin’ Birds) take on incongruous concepts put together was insight to his work. The note of the satire Walk Hard as a great rip of the music biopic and how it gets referenced in reviews of middling music biopics was a good example of the panel’s side conversations. The question of why is comedy hard got overlapping answers of it needs to be relatable, but also that humor is not universal and attempts to make it so won’t work. Though at points this devolved into random overlapping talk, it also had some interesting through lines with good callbacks to earlier moments in the discussion.

The final big event was the Costume Contest. I judiciously stayed in the hallway, getting final photos and getting a pretty good sneak peek with the very long line of people looking to get into the room. The joy that people had, which really was the connecting theme of the weekend, was on full display as people truly complimented other costumes, with truly delighted reactions on both sides. Twin Cities Con stated that inclusiveness and fun are their goals, and if my experience was remotely the norm, they nailed it.