Background and Story
We are Maeve Athanasiadis and Dionys "Dio" Gallagher, a pair of rock-hoppers from the Belt. Born to a life of hardship, we were never very good at mining. Or engineering, really - when our ship broke down, it broke hard, and the towing fees to Tycho Station nearly wiped us out. We couldn't afford to repair our ship, the Black Moon, or Mung Belék, so we decided to follow our secret passion and converted it into a bar. Now we're parked at Dock 73Y, slinging drinks out of our cargo hold.
It turns out we're way better at bartending than we ever were at mining, and we love it. Our creative drinks, true Belter hospitality, and novel (if cramped) location have earned us the admiration of dockworkers, engineers, and visiting customers alike. As one of the hottest bars on Tycho, we're expanding, but we need your help to keep things running and the drinks flowing.
What We're Doing
This will be a suite party at WorldCon 76 in San Jose this August, themed around the Belter culture from the award-winning book and TV series The Expanse. The party will run on August 17th and 18th (Friday and Saturday nights). This is an expanded and improved version of the Belter Bar that some of us ran at BayCon 2017, when Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the authors of The Expanse were guests of honor at the con, and spent quite a while attending our bar, enjoying the decor and drinks, and generally having a good time.
When you walk in, you'll be entering the most immersive Expanse experience we can create, with great drinks made on the spot as well as Belter language and culture. We invite everyone - Belters, Martians, Earthers, and those who haven't chosen a faction - to join us in space for an evening!
Donations will go toward:
- Supplies of alcohol, mixers, and food;
- Decorations that provide an immersive, atmospheric experience ("Those look like the same string lights we had on our set," observed Ty Franck, co-author of The Expanse, at the last party)
- Safety measures and equipment for the hotel suite
- Transporting all this to and from the site
All our staff will be donating their time and energy.
Who We Are and Our Experience
In real life, we're Hanne Paine and Kagan "Kai" MacTane, who work together as Paine × MacTane. Hanne is an Expanse superfan who has been a focal point for NYC Expanse fan meetups, was instrumental in the Save the Expanse effort, organized the epic 200-person Season 3 Finale party this year, and has taught an immersive Lang Belta class at sci-fi cons in from Baltimore to Rome, Montréal, and Worldcon 75 in Helsinki. Kai hosts Lang Belta meetups in the San Francisco Bay Area, created the Lang Belta phrasebook on Memrise, and has taught a Lang Belta class at last year's BayCon, as well as being a co-host of that con's Belter Bar.
Together, we've merged our two courses and taught at this year's BayCon, co-moderate the /r/LangBelta community on Reddit , and we're best known as the duo behind the #ExpanseCocktails series of recipes honoring various characters in the series. Between our cocktail knowledge, our party hosting experience, and our deep love and knowledge of Belter culture, we're uniquely suited to make this party a success.
Risks & Challenges
These are our risks and challenges.
- If we don't raise enough money, we won't be able to make this event as good as it should be. We have great plans for set dressing and for food and drinks, and we'd hate to turn away thirsty people.
Other Ways You Can Help
If you can't help us out, please spread the word to other Screaming Firehawks attending Worldcon and around the world!
