Girls Who Love Boys Who Love Boys: Inside the Midwest's first celebration of all things yaoi — where the screaming never stops

Comments (0) By Aimee Levitt Wednesday, Dec 9 2009

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The audience, already pumped from the drag performances, applauds and hoots.

Katrina Lynn jumps back on the stage. "Presenting, Ecto Con!" she shouts.

Jennifer Silverberg

Bishie Con 2009 organizers Katrina and Mikhail Lynn at Saturday night's Drag Ball Z dance.

Jennifer Silverberg

Rosiel and loyal servant Katan from Angel Sanctuary by Kaori Yuki, as portrayed by Sam Tillman, 25, of Edwardsville and Jen Patton, 27, of St. Louis.

Jennifer Silverberg

Even anime characters wear out as the hours go by.

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Go inside a Bishie-Con with photographer Jennifer Silverberg's photo essay.

View the cover of the December 10 print edition.

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Ecto Con, a weekend devoted to the appreciation for all things Ghostbusters, will launch in 2011. The crowd is excited about the new con, but, arguably, they're even more excited about Ghostbusting man-love.

Now everyone waits in suspense for the judges to finish deliberating over the winners of the drag show. The final contest is a four-way: The Cheshire cat twins; a gender-bending necrophiliac reinterpretation of Sleeping Beauty; a young man in a 65-pound robot costume who does a seductive dance to "Pump Up the Jam"; and Moriah Douglas' heart-rending interpretation of the song "Please Do It for Me."

To pass the time, Katrina Lynn pulls out a book of Mad Libs. "Gimme a body part!" she yells. "Penis!" everyone shouts back.

"Number!"

"69!"

Katrina rolls her eyes. "God, you guys are predictable."

The resulting story is perhaps not as filthy as Happy Yaoi Yum Yum — although a corncob reference does find its way in — but the audience is satisfied anyway. "That turned out so epically!" someone shouts.

Fifteen minutes and five Mad Libs stories later, the judges have returned with the results. Everyone's a winner! The cats win a special award for "Twincest." The robot wins best in show for costume. The "prince" from Sleeping Beauty and Douglas are crowned king and queen. They all come up onstage to take a bow and receive a standing ovation.

Back in the manga library, Anna and Sarah discuss the weekend. "You know," Anna says, "people take cons pretty seriously."

"I used to know nobody else who liked Dr. Who," Sarah says. "Then I went to my first con. And I thought, 'These are my people.'"