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Let's Yap about Fandom! A Conversation with Sawyeurism
36 Plays1 day ago
In this episode, Satsunami is joined by the one and only Sawyer from the Yap Sesh podcast to discuss all things fandom. From watching Game of Thrones for the first time to dealing with the negativity of the Star Wars fandom, this is one episode you won't want to miss!
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Chattsunami.
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Chatsunami. My name's Satsunami and joining me is none other than the number one Star Wars fangirl herself. It is Sawyer from Sawyerism and also the co-host of the Yap Sesh podcast.
00:00:34
Speaker
Sawyer, welcome to Chatsunami. Thank you, thanks so much for having me. Yeah, how are you doing tonight? I'm doing pretty well, how are you? Can't complain, to be honest. It's always a hectic day before you have to de record, doesn't it? You have to do something. But yeah, otherwise, not
Sawyer's Content Creation Journey
00:00:49
Speaker
too bad.
00:00:49
Speaker
Really excited to talk with you today because, of course, we've got a lot to talk about with your content, which Honestly, I feel as if, and I mean this in the best way possible, that every time I log into Twitter or places like that, always see you popping up with either content or just posts in general. As I was saying before, you of course run a very interesting account where you talk about a lot of Star Wars content primarily and of course you are in indeed the co-host of the Yapsesh podcast but before we dive into that and talk a little bit about that how did you get into the world of content creation what was your starting point?
00:01:28
Speaker
Yeah so I've been making content for almost five years now I started on TikTok which a lot of people did I think during the pandemic you know, the world was shut down and everybody was joining TikTok because it was the new thing. And everybody was saying that anybody could get viral for any reason. So I was part of that crowd that joined TikTok to see what kind of people I could attract. And I wasn't planning on making star Wars content at the start I was just making whatever videos and then there was a trending audio on TikTok that was like rank your favorite Star Wars films and I did it and it got so much negative attention that it started attracting positive creators to defend me and that was how I got my first thousand followers and the rest is history I was like oh okay I guess Star Wars people are the only people I know how to attract on the internet so we're just gonna go with this. Were you just sitting there going this is my life now Star Wars? Yep.
00:02:22
Speaker
I have to say there is definitely a lot of your content, of course, that does go, or rather it orbits around the topic of Star Wars. And is it safe to say, have you always been a Star Wars fan? Or did you get into it later? Because I know you're a huge fan of the sequel trilogy as well, which I know we're probably going to bring up later on as well Yeah, I mean, I've always been a Star Wars fan. I grew up with the prequels coming out and I just absolutely loved Padme. And so I've always been a bit of a tomboy as well. So I had Star Wars birthday parties and things like that when I was little. But it wasn't until the sequels that I really became like a true fangirl for the franchise.
00:03:00
Speaker
And so I just have such a love and appreciation for the sequel trilogy because it brought me back into the fandom and it gave me, you know, I've been in other fandoms, but this was the first and only time that it was like a major, major fandom for me that has never left.
00:03:14
Speaker
And was it always there for you? Always in the background before the sequel trilogy came out? And I want to say 2015, because honestly, time is a flat circle. like You're the Force Awakens. That was only a couple of years ago, right? It's like, no, no, no. Yeah, 10 years. In December, it'll be a decade, which is crazy. But yeah, no, it definitely was always in the background for me. I've always been a fan of all kinds of nerdy things. And, you know, I watched a little bit of the Clone Wars. I didn't watch all of the Clone Wars until I was an adult and like fully in the Star Wars fandom. But yeah, I've always been a Star Wars fan at heart for sure. Honestly, have to say it's the same for me. I ended up binging The Clone Wars in, ooh, I want to say one of the lockdowns of the 2020s. I'm assuming you're the same as well. I grew up with, you're the 2003 version of The Clone Wars.
00:04:01
Speaker
I've actually never seen it, which I really should. Oh, I would recommend it. It's so silly and over the top, but honestly, I think you'd love it. It's just so good. Other than, again, it's, you know, that way when you look back on it and you think, oh, it's amazing, but, you know, you're looking at it in rose-tinted glasses kind of way. But, yeah, so what I'm saying is if you don't enjoy it, then I'm not taking legal responsibility.
00:04:26
Speaker
ah Yeah, no, it is. honestly, it's such a lot fun. But speaking of that, as we were saying, I will probably come back to Star Wars later on. But of course, you're a fan of that. And there is another particular franchise that I do want to bring attention to that you have been going through recently. That, of course, being Game of Thrones, am
Experiencing Game of Thrones
00:04:45
Speaker
I right in saying? Ah, yes!
00:04:47
Speaker
had to bring it up. I apologise for that. yeah how is your journey been with that it's been crazy i just finished season four last night and my partner and i do this thing at night where we bicker about what we're gonna watch and like you pick oh no i'm gonna pick we'll settle on something and then sometimes i'll just press play on something and that's kind of what happened i we were scrolling on max and i saw a game of thrones and i was just like okay press play we're gonna do it and it ended up turning into he's seen all of it before like many years ago but he wasn't opposed to rewatching it. So we were just like, okay, we're gonna watch the first episode, see how I feel.
00:05:24
Speaker
And then that turned into binging the whole first season in a day. And I was like, oh, okay, I guess we're doing it. And I'm having a lot of fun, but it's also very intense. I know some things about like, I knew that Joffrey died. And I know some of the reasons why people hate season eight. I've heard some of the criticisms about that. So there were things that I knew, but the overarching story I really knew nothing about. And a lot of the surprise deaths and stuff have really shocked me. i don't know. Is this a spoiler safe zone? Can I... I mean, considering it came out, oh, actual I actually can't even remember. Again, it's like The Force Awakens. I'm like, did it come out a couple of years ago? But yeah, no, absolutely. Go for it.
00:06:03
Speaker
Yeah, for anybody listening, this is your spoiler warning for Game of Thrones. Go pause this episode. Go watch it. Come back and listen to the rest of the episodes. But yeah, go for it. The biggest one, I think, is like, I didn't know that Ned Stark died. I thought that Ned Stark was a mainstay character for the whole show. And so when they cut his head off, I was like, oh devastated. And I just couldn't believe it. But yeah, like I said, we just finished season four last night and I couldn't. that That's when Tyrion kills Tywin. And I was just like, what is what I was not expecting that at all. And so it's been so fun because I am the worst when it comes to spoilers. I usually i have this horrible habit of looking up the plot of things that I don't think I'm going to watch because I want to know what happens in them. I do it a lot for horror movies because I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre, but I'm curious because I love horror video games. And so I will look up the plots of horror movies a lot because like, I'm never going to watch this. But Game of Thrones is not one of those things that I've ever looked up the plots of. So I'm really enjoying looking at it through a fresh lens. And it's also been fun to post content about it because my followers are getting to watch a noob experience Game of Thrones for the first time, which is really fun. yeah because I have to say, when you brought up the Ned Stark thing, especially on Twitter, because I remember that exact moment you tweeted that and you were like, oh, I can't believe he died. I was like, that's actually really surprising. That was the one spoiler that you didn't know about because when I started watching it I think I watched it oh well it was in university time anyway and it was when season I want to say four or five was coming out I think it was four my very good friend Andrew and co-host of Chatsunami he was like oh you gotta watch it you gotta watch it it's so good and of course I knew one or two things I was in a similar boat but when the twists and things happened I was like oh my god but the one particular one I think I annoyed him with
00:07:57
Speaker
and i hope this is between season one to four the red wedding yeah yeah honestly see every single wedding all i knew was the red wedding was a thing but i didn't know who was involved and whatnot so i kept turning to him every time there was a wedding on screen and i was like is this a red wedding no how about now no what about this one no no So it was like back and forth before the Red Wedding happened and then you're like, yeah, that's the Red Wedding. But yeah, I have to ask, I mean, that is one of the greatest twists of the series. How were you feeling after that? Were you okay?
00:08:31
Speaker
Yeah, you know, so I knew about the Red Wedding. Like you, I didn't know which wedding it was It's kind of interesting because at that part in the show, there's the three major weddings that are going to happen. So i just kept asking my boyfriend, is this it? Is this it? What is it going to be? What's it going to be? And then I made it the mistake of Googling Robb Stark's wife because I wanted to know more about her. It was like a couple days before we watched the Red Wedding episode. And for whatever reason, the picture of her on the wiki is the picture of her when she dies. And I was like, oh, well, shoot. Now I know who's going to die at the Red Wedding. This sucks.
00:09:07
Speaker
It was still shocking to watch, but I got myself spoiled a little bit, which kind of stinks. But everything else I'm very in the dark about. So that's been fun. Yeah, I was going to say that's good at least. Because I had a similar thing. I don't know if you've watched, you know, Attack on Titan. I know of it. I've never seen it, though. There was a character I remember. People kept bringing them up.
00:09:29
Speaker
And I was like, who is that? You know, and I typed it into Google. And it was like, oh, do you mean this particular spoiler reveal? And I'm like, no, silly Google. I mean this guy.
00:09:39
Speaker
Oh, I was like, oh, you've just totally spoiled that for me, Google. Thank you. So I can definitely empathize there.
Cosplay Adventures
00:09:45
Speaker
It is the absolute worst. And especially when you were just a about to watch it as well. Uh-huh. We were very close to it. But I've learned my lesson. It's also the thing, you kind of just have to expect that everybody's going to die in Game of Thrones. If you go to Google and you type the character, the top result is going to be like that character's name and death.
00:10:02
Speaker
So just have to be really careful about what I Google. I mean, no, it is. It's true. It's the worst thing. I mean, especially with a show like Game of Thrones where it is so character heavy. As you were saying with Ned Stark's wife, who it's like you want to know more about these characters, but on the flip side, you're taking your spoilers into your hands. Uh-huh, yeah. You're just like, oh my God. But it honestly has been interesting to see you tweet out and be like, oh, this happened. Oh my God, how did that happen? And it's like, just wait. Just wait.
00:10:35
Speaker
I have to admit, it's been absolute years since I've actually watched Game of Thrones. And bet you my friend is listening to this and he's just like, yeah, we have to do a watch along, do an episode on it. It's like, oh God, it's going to be like 80 hours of life again. But you know, that's been fantastic. Am I right in saying, as well, of course, being a content creator, am I right in saying that you also cosplay? I do cosplay.
00:10:58
Speaker
I don't cosplay as much as my co-host, my Yapsesh co-host does. She's like the best cosplayer in the world. But yeah, I do cosplay a little bit. When I was researching for this episode and I saw your, was it Darth Revan cosplay? Yes.
00:11:12
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely fantastic, by the way. Thank you. So has that been something that you were into before you went into content creation? I would say, it was definitely part of my growing into fandom and fangirling and whatnot. But I had always had dream of having my own costume. And when I started getting back really heavy into Star Wars, I would go to Comic Cons and talk to the Rebel Legion and the 501st and these costuming guilds where everybody has a screen accurate cosplay. And I was just really fascinated with the idea of having accurate costumes like that. And so when I was in high school, my best friend at the time's mom was a surgeon, but she was also a seamstress, which is pretty common. If you know how to sew up people, you can probably sew clothes too. But she was like, oh, let's make a costume together. And I was like, oh, okay, sure. And I was thinking we'd do like a Rey cosplay, something not simple, but not too complicated. Because, you know, the costumes in Star Wars can get pretty complicated. And she was like, oh, no, no, let's do one of Padme's gowns. And I was like, are you crazy?
00:12:17
Speaker
There's no way that we're making one of Padme's gowns. And we together made a completely screen accurate version of Padme's lake dress, which it's gorgeous. It's one of my most proudest achievements ever. It literally took blood, sweat and tears. But that's how I started getting into cosplay. And that really set a standard for me because if it doesn't look right, I don't want to wear it.
00:12:37
Speaker
But I've made three costumes with her. And then I actually purchased my Revan cosplay from a reputable. That's all he does. That's his full time job is he makes Darth Revan and other legends, Sith Lord cosplays. That's what he does for a living. So but yeah i love to do it it can be stressful especially going to cons and having all the bits and bobs and needing a handler to help you get through your day but i really like embodying those characters there's a lot because am i right in saying it's not something i look for in cons because usually when i go there i just put on my chat tsunami hoodie these days I'm just like, yeah, you want to listen to my podcast. But is it right in saying that there's a lot of, i don't even know what the correct term would be, cosplay, not first aid stations, but you know what I mean? Like places you can go and make sure that nothing's come loose or falling off or whatnot.
00:13:27
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. The cosplay community is so welcoming and wonderful. And I've definitely gone to those stations before if I needed a safety pin or something to reattach my parts.
00:13:37
Speaker
But yeah, that definitely is a thing. No, thank goodness then, it's not a myth or anything.
Impact of COVID-19 and Podcasting
00:13:43
Speaker
Because I remember, oh, it must have been a couple of seasons ago, I was talking to another cosplayer called Bad Games Jewels, who also streams on Twitch, and I think she had mentioned something similar, and I was just wondering whether that was something that was still going on. But actually, speaking of cons, are you quite frequent in the Comic-Con scene, would you say?
00:14:00
Speaker
I would say so. I definitely attend a lot more cons than I ever imagined myself going to. I've been honored enough to have been a guest at a couple of different Comic Cons, which has been really exciting. oh I've also had the chance to go to New York Comic Con a couple of times. and That's the big con. You know, it's not San Diego. San Diego is the biggest one, but it's pretty close. It's overwhelming, but I've been really fortunate in my con experience for sure. I mean, I have to say cons that I've been to, the ones in Glasgow and whatnot, they're big, but see, compared to, as you were saying, the ones in New York and San Diego and places like that, you see them online and then you think, oh my God, I would just die probably. I would just be swept away. Because it does, it does seem an absolutely fantastic experience. So I take it you, I mean, obviously wouldn't have been going to as many during the beginning of COVID. How did that feel?
00:14:48
Speaker
Yeah, I was interesting. definitely wasn't going to any cons during that time. I don't even think there were any cons being held. It was interesting though, because and went to college in Florida. And if you know anything about Florida, you know that they were not following any COVID restrictions over there.
00:15:04
Speaker
but So I went to Disney World a couple of times and there was still lots of... I was wearing my mask and everything and the following guidelines. But, you know, I went to Disney World a couple of times and I was able to get that kind of fan connection Galaxy's Edge and stuff like that. During COVID was the first time that I was recognized by someone, an employee, a cast member at the parks was like... are you that girl from TikTok? And I was like wearing my mask fully. I don't know how he recognized me, but he did. And I was like, oh my God, yeah, i am that girl from TikTok.
00:15:32
Speaker
But yeah, definitely the first con that I went to after things had started to get a little bit better COVID wise was Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, which was in 2022. Everybody except for me got COVID at that con. Oh, wow.
00:15:46
Speaker
Well done. I don't know. I got really lucky. I had just graduated college and everybody in my family had gotten COVID at the graduation ceremony and I had not gotten it. And then I went to the con a week later and everybody got COVID and I didn't. I was very, very lucky. I mean this in the nicest way possible. Well done you for not getting COVID.
00:16:06
Speaker
Oh, it's a horrible thing, but yeah. Horrible, yeah. It just it feels like a different time. And I know as you were saying, you were gravitating towards TikTok and things like that. And I think I'm probably one of the only few people that didn't do the TikTok dances and things. Not out of any, oh, we don't want to do them. But I don't think there's a market for, i mean, back then, late 20s, now 30s, a person to go around dancing. But yeah. Yeah, see June in that time as well. And going back to, of course, something that we were talking about earlier about you, of course, being part of the E-App Sesh podcast as well.
00:16:38
Speaker
I've got to ask, first of all, how did that come about? And yeah, how have you been finding that? so we Brooke and I are really, really good friends. And we met because of TikTok, which was really wonderful. It's one of the many wonderful things that have come out of this social media era of my life. So Brooke is one of my best friends. And we got really close over the past couple of years. We've taken a trip to Disney together. And she's come to stay with me. and And we've just had a lot of fun together, seen each other at a lot of events and stuff. And it was...
00:17:09
Speaker
around the time, i think it was January of last year, there was a lot of conversation in the Star Wars fandom about whether or not women were allowed to be in the Star Wars fandom. I don't know if you remember that, but it was kind of a big deal. And I was just really disheartened by that. And obviously, it's all nonsense. Of course, women belong in the Star Wars fandom. But it gave me the idea to start a podcast that specifically highlighted feminine voices in the Star Wars fandom and not just the Star Wars fandom, but other fandoms, just like the fangirl experience. And so i was talking to Brooke about it. And one day she was just kind of like, oh, do you want any help with your podcast? And I was a little surprised because she had another podcast and she was also really busy with her job and her other content and stuff. And I was just like, you know, in the back of my mind, I was like, God, I would love for her to co-host this, but I don't know if she's down for that. So I was like, oh, you know, maybe I could use some help. Yeah, sure. and then finally, one day I was just like, do you want to be my co-host? Is that what you're asking? Because I kind of hope that's what you're asking. Because I had had a podcast previously a few years ago that didn't work very well with another friend of mine because we couldn't agree on a lot of things that I think you need to have a certain rapport with your co-host in order to have a co-host. Like you really need to blend well when you're working together and also make sure that it doesn't affect your friendships. And I just knew that Brooke would be the kind of person that I could have a podcast with. And so she said yes. And then we took a while for us to come up with the name. But then we settled on Yap Sesh, which I love.
00:18:37
Speaker
And we're on a little bit of a hiatus right now just because she just bought a house and I'm about to get a new job and like things are moving in our everyday lives right now. But we're planning on coming back for and or and for The Last of Us, which is really exciting. two franchises that we're very very passionate about and yeah I'm excited for you know it'll be like a new era when we get back to recording but I'm really looking forward to it and it's one of the things that I'm most proud of in my content career for sure no I can totally see why because and I apologize in advance because i did break the podcast taboo of a listening to the very first episode and I know a lot of people are like, don't listen to the first episode, listen to the latest one that was looking through them. And you both do absolutely fantastic work with it.
00:19:26
Speaker
Thank you. As you were saying, it's such an important podcast to have as well to bring attention to those issues because i have to say there is a lot of and I don't know if you see this as well on your end of the algorithm but the amount of controversial podcasts but it's in the geeky sphere where you've got a lot of nerdy podcasts that come out and then they come away with the most absolutely just unhinged takes and things do you see that a lot at least in the podcasting space In terms of commenters or... Yeah, just kind of negative commentators, you know, that they're always saying, oh the next thing's coming out, oh it's terrible, and that kind
Navigating Fandom Positivity and Negativity
00:20:07
Speaker
thing. Yeah, I mean, and that's definitely not the kind of podcast we ever wanted to be, but I certainly see yeah, there is a lot of that, and, you know, I think...
00:20:17
Speaker
And it's not always negative. Like, I think there just is a high concentration of people that their podcast is what's the next thing and check out this trailer and oh, Star Wars news of the week and whatever. And that's just not the kind of podcast we wanted to be. I feel like that market is a little bit oversaturated. And there are some wonderful podcasts in that space, but there are also some very negative podcasts in that space. And I think we just really wanted to have a fandom podcast that had a different purpose.
00:20:43
Speaker
And I'm really proud of it. We've done some really great episodes on what it's like to have a disability and be in fandom and what it's like to be neurodivergent in fandom and what it's like to be a person of color in fandom. We've had a lot of conversations about that with our guests.
00:20:57
Speaker
And I think it's just, yeah, it's been, obviously we have some haters, which is going to happen because that's just the nature of this fandom, unfortunately. But I think it's been really rewarding. And we also did a fundraiser last year for Pride Month where we raised over $3,000 for really wonderful charity here in the US. And so I could not be more proud of Yapsesh.
00:21:17
Speaker
Honestly, you should be proud of it because the amount of work that you have been doing with your co-host It just sounds like absolutely fantastic. And again, I'll try not to linger on it too much, but it is just a shame that you are no fault of your own or your co-host. But it just as seems as if that is the nature of a lot of content creation nowadays, that the more successful you do get with a project, you are going to attract people. a certain, in the nicest way possible, a certain demographic of the fandom. I don't want to say it isn't welcome, but you know what I mean? Just spreads more negativity rather than putting something positive to the extent that you think, well, if you don't like the franchise so much, then why do you keep coming back to it? you know what I mean? No, I'll never understand it. It doesn't make any sense to me. if I don't like something, I'm not going to talk about it. Whether it's games or whether it's films or things that I've watched or played for the podcast, then you know that way you finish it and then you're like, there's literally nothing to talk about here.
00:22:15
Speaker
Well, what's the point? But of course, there's a lot of people with microphones out there who, yeah, they just want to be heard kind of thing. So if you don't mind me asking, how do you deal with that when you go out there to talk about whether it's the sequel trilogy, which I know is a very hot topic, for some weird reason, is a very hot topic in the community, or whether it's just anything in general to do with fandom? How do you deal with the negative side that that attracts?
00:22:41
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, think after a certain point, you've heard it all. And it's like, okay, you can't hurt my feelings anymore, because I've already heard this. i think that don't want to talk myself up. But I've been approached by a lot of people who seem to be inspired by the way I handle it. And I just don't care. There's nothing you can say about me or what I look like or how I act or anything like you can't call me names and i'm I'm just not going to get offended. I've heard it all. It is what it is. And if you're on the Internet to spread hate and harassment, then you clearly have some things that you need to be working through that I cannot help you with. So strangely, because of that, I have had some people go after my family or my cat. or my partner because they're like, oh, we can't get to her by insulting her. There's this one account on Twitter that somebody made an account dedicated to my boyfriend's teeth, which is crazy. i mean, just a little bit, you
00:23:36
Speaker
Yeah. And so it's stuff like that, but it's just ridiculous, right? You know, and I have had some very high profile connections in my time as a content creator. And I've seen people's true colors and I've seen it all. And I just you have to shrug it off because at the end of the day, your opinions are your own and you're entitled to them. And like i said earlier, and I'll never understand posting hateful things because I don't know about you, but it takes a lot of energy for me to be hateful towards something. And that's not energy that I want to be wasting on that. So, you know, sometimes it can be hard. And in October of last year, i was followed around at a convention and like verbally harassed and stuff. And so that was a little crazy. That was harder to deal with. But thankfully, that's only happened once. And usually people are very wonderful when they come up to me. Yeah. But we're living in a weird time. And i think that it is largely because the people that we're putting on pedestals in positions of power, they are getting away with saying whatever they want. So that empowers other people to feel like your average Joe to feel like he can say whatever he wants.
00:24:38
Speaker
And it's unfortunate. But like I said, I just brush it off. And I recognize that I am no less of a person just because I like the sequel trilogy. Psst. Especially with the sci-fi community, and I mean this in a very broad sense, but, you know, if you narrow it down to things like Trekkies or, as we were talking about there, the Star Wars community, see they're definitely very protective of the originals, the ones they grew up. with and I can understand that to an absolute extent there's a limit to how much I would say you know like if someone doesn't like the prequels which I remember growing up and people not liking the prequels saying oh they're boring and all of a sudden it's got a renaissance now which is cool to see but it definitely wasn't the case when you were younger you were watching them coming out in the theatre and everyone was like oh I don't like Anakin or oh I don't like Attack of the Clones blah blah blah
00:25:32
Speaker
At the end of the day, you know, the older you get, you kind of think, well, oh this isn't good, but if people like it, then have at it. Like, just enjoy it. But as you were saying there, it does seem as if there's a lot of, and again, not naming names, but there are a lot of content creators recently that they seem to be coming out with the most left-field things, saying, oh, I don't like this because, oh, there's too many X or too many Y. It's just as baffling to sit there and listen to someone ramble like that, you kind of think. Well, surely this is just one person who's going to listen to them. And then you look at the view count and you go, oh, apparently a million people are listening. And it's just, it's absolutely baffling. But do you think it's gotten worse? See, from when you started to now, do you think overall the negative discourse around not even just Star Wars, but just everything in general, it's just gotten worse and worse?
00:26:26
Speaker
I think so. Yeah, I would be lying if I said it hadn't. I think that we're seeing an uptick in... Well, it is violent. I would say it's pretty violent these days. Especially, it used to be that the hatred and harassment and bigotry of it all was hidden, either in code words or... It was more thinly veiled. And now people are just very overt with their hatred. They make clickbait titles and thumbnails that are designed to spread hatred. And they're also not shy about how they feel to the nth degree. And they're not shy about...
00:27:02
Speaker
almost like a pride now that I'm noticing of like there's pride in being hateful. There's pride in contributing to the harassment of actors and creatives and people like that. And it's like the Andrew Tate effect of it all. I definitely feel like it's gotten worse. It's unfortunate. You know, my sort of sense is like you can't to target it directly is not productive because what's going to happen is you're going to get targeted and then your whole community is going to be targeted as a result.
00:27:27
Speaker
It's more important to just continue doing what you're doing, spreading positivity, focusing on the things that you like, highlighting the good. In my opinion, that's the best way to de-platform that kind of behavior is like to pretend it doesn't exist. Because if we give it attention, even negative attention, right? We're still drawing more people to it. So yeah.
00:27:46
Speaker
No, you do raise an absolutely fantastic point there because the amount of people who they're very eager to respond to these kind of things, and don't get me wrong, it's probably a tale as old as time when it comes to the internet that you see someone, whether they're trolling or not, they make a terrible comment and you want to call them out on it and say, oh no, this isn't great or whatnot, but it's just, it's absolutely exhausting. Agreeing with what you were saying earlier, I don't know how people have the energy energy for it. Because I can understand if somebody's having a bad day and it's a one-off and they'll say, oh, this sucks because of blah, blah, blah. And, you know, you can kind of, I don't want to say a free pass, but, you know, you can at least understand that hopefully they'll come to their senses and say, all right, I was acting stupid that day, but now I'm fine. But as you said, there seems to be this almost culture of, again, hatred. Well, hatred in a way, but they're emboldened.
00:28:41
Speaker
to, you know, just say it outright, because the amount of, and I don't know if you've seen them as well, but the amount of AI thumbnails and things on YouTube, and it's like the crying woman on it, and they're like, oh, look, it's, because I think I probably heard the word Kathleen Kennedy more than I did Star Wars last year or the year before. seemed to be quite... constant and it was just on and on and on and I completely agree with you I do think that the best way and I know it's kind of ironic considering I'm talking about it now but it is definitely the best way just to ignore them to a degree and just be like yeah you can yell into the void but nobody really cares yeah for sure I mean on the aside though it's not all doom and gloom in the star wars community is it no definitely not bringing it back onto the positives apologies for that dark detour there because of course as of recording this episode we got a sneak peek at least trailer wise we got a sneak peek into the new and or series which i don't know about you but it looks absolutely fantastic what did you think of it i've gotta ask Oh, I'm so excited.
Excitement for Star Wars: Andor and Future Content
00:29:50
Speaker
was so excited to see it. And K2, we got Krennic, we got, think that's a video of Mon Mothma dancing.
00:29:57
Speaker
Was that Mon Mothma dancing? I think it was her. But it looks so fun. And it's very timely, especially in the United States. I feel like we need some hope right now. so I'm very excited. My boyfriend has never seen the first season. So we need to go back and do a rewatch. He has to. Required viewing. But Andor is just such an important show and I'm so excited for it to return. no I'm totally with you there. Would you say Andor's your favorite show to come out of the Disney run?
00:30:26
Speaker
I'd say it's my second favorite, but I am an acolyte stan through and through. The acolyte was for me. I tweeted something to the effect of this and maybe it wasn't for everyone. It was for me. I was the target audience.
00:30:36
Speaker
I loved that show. But Andor is just as good to me in quality, maybe even better in quality with the writing and everything. But your opinion is your opinion. You know how it is. But it's top tier Star Wars. It's fantastic. Tony Gilroy is a genius. Super stoked for season two. because i have to say I was really surprised when I watched season one and I think I'm gonna have to do the same thing and go back and re-watch it get my partner down and be like oh do you want to watch a Star Wars show she's not massively into Star Wars but hopefully that may change her mind but yeah I remember watching it not really knowing what to expect because Andor is one of those shows that do you remember when it was announced at one of the shows and I don't know did you feel the same way when they announced it and it was just why Andor Yeah, I think a lot of us were like, why are they doing this?
00:31:23
Speaker
And now that we've seen season one, and we know that I watched Rogue One recently, I've been doing a Star Wars rewatch. And so I watched Rogue One a few weeks ago. And it was really fascinating to see all the parallels between Andor season one and Rogue One. And it's like, oh, I get it. I get why Tony Gilroy saw a need for this story to be told.
00:31:44
Speaker
But at the time, I was like, Andor? Like, what? Okay. And I think everybody was like that. I think it was like a cultural whiplash when we got to the show and we're like, oh my God, this is absolute cinema. It was. It was just that kind of feeling of, really? Wait, I had to look him up again. I had to go be like, who's that dude again? I'm like, oh, the guy from Rogue One. Okay, odd choice. Because I know there was the memes going around at the time where had the Mandalorian and then they had Solo, a Star Wars story. And then it was just random people like the Gonk Droid, a Star Wars story. that kind of thing so you were like oh it's gonna be one of those but you're totally right honest honestly I think it blew everyone away when it actually came out and you're just like this is amazing this is just absolute as you said absolute cinema uh-huh and season two it's gonna be absolutely fantastic and it's quite interesting did you expect and again i know you've not got a crystal ball looking over what disney does with star wars or not but did you expect them to go in that direction say when the sequels came out and then i know initially the plan was i think they were going to alternate between the main series and then spin-off films and then they went into the tv series route did you expect that coming up or did you just think that we're going to make movies on and on you know i
00:32:58
Speaker
wasn't totally sure. I think after The Mandalorian and the success of The Mandalorian, that was a game changer, right? That was Star Wars as Star Wars had never been before. And so I think that that opened up the possibility of a lot more TV shows. I don't know that I like predicted it necessarily. I'm terrible at predicting things. I think they need to go back to movies. I want to see more Star Wars movies. But no, I mean...
00:33:20
Speaker
really it was like the streaming of it all right streaming was at its peak and marvel kind of did the same thing where they really just focused on their shows for a while so i think it was just like the natural progression of it but i don't know i do hope they go back to movies though are they not supposed to be going back to the mainline trilogy soon or well i say soon it'll be in the next five to ten years no doubt but yeah they're not supposed to be going back with ray as one of the main characters on it hope so. I'm kind of in the camp of until there's official news, I'm not gonna say anything because there's a lot of speculation. There's a lot of this and that. And every time there's an update on that movie, you get all these people coming in like, this movie's never coming out. who And it's like, yeah, you know, I'm excited. i would love for Ray to have another movie. love Daisy Ridley. I love the character of Ray. But i am content to sit and wait and just see what we get without too much speculation, just because there has been a lot of projects that have been announced and then scrapped. So It's something that a lot of people say it's purely a Disney thing, that, oh, they bring up certain projects and then they can them and everything. But see, to be honest, and this is me dealing with my own heartbreak at the fact we never got Star Wars Battlefront 3, like a proper one. Because they had the first two that came out in 2005, I want to say. And then they were supposed to make a third one and then it just never really materialized and things. So, you know, it's not the first time it's happened. Yeah. Obviously, it won't be the last time. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see what they do. But at least until that point, we've got Dancing Mon Mothma. We've got Andor. Honestly, I'm just imagining the memes already. Mm-hmm. I've already seen some. What, seriously? Yeah, people work fast.
00:35:02
Speaker
the internet never fails to disappoint in that front. ah well but Yeah, absolutely. yeah I mean, it literally came out, what, a couple of hours ago. Well done to those fans.
00:35:13
Speaker
Yes. But other than, of course, Mon Mothma memes, which I know you'll be hard at work at once we finish this recording, what does the future hold root for your content creation journey? I mean, as you were saying with Yapsesh, you're going to be talking about Andor and The Last of Us Season 2, which I also agree. I'm going to be really interested to see how much they adapt of that. I know. I'm like, I'm nervous. I'm i'm nervous.
00:35:39
Speaker
Well, I'm nervous in a good kind of nervous position. Because what I want from that is what we got from season one. like I want Craig Mazin to do his thing like he did in the season one where he takes some of the story and he changes it to tell a better narrative. The episode with Bill and Frank in season one is my favorite episode of television of all time. And that was a choice that he made that I think enhanced the story so much. So like I'm excited to see those changes, but I'm nervous. I'm also nervous about, let me be really honest, I am nervous about the general public Just based on how the game was received at first, um I'm nervous that the general public is going to be devastated when they realize that their guy is not a central focus of the story anymore.
00:36:23
Speaker
the thing about it is, though, is the fact that it's Pedro Pascal as Joel and everything, and you're like... Yeah. Good choice for the first season, but... I think we're gonna get more of him than gamers are expecting. But my parents, for instance, they loved season one They don't know what happens in part two. And so I'm like, are they gonna keep watching?
00:36:48
Speaker
i don't know.
00:36:51
Speaker
because I haven't told them, but at least I'm pretty sure my parents don't know what happens. That's the kind of thing my dad would read in an article and be like, oh yeah, I knew about that. But yeah, anyway, sorry to answer your question.
00:37:02
Speaker
I don't know. I'm in like a weird spot with my content where like TikTok is on its way out. It's just not the platform that it used to be. And I've been trying to make Game of Thrones content and it's just not picking up like the algorithm is not picking up those videos and it's not circulating them to people, which is really sucky. But I think just kind of be doing my own thing, focusing on there's going to be a lot of stuff with Andor coming up. The High Republic is about to end coming this summer. And we also have a new Acolyte novel, a couple Acolyte novels coming out, which is really cool. So more Star Wars book stuff.
00:37:31
Speaker
I would like to get back into doing some more lore based content, but I just haven't had the drive for it. So we'll see what happens. And then of course, Yapsesh. I'm excited for what's coming for Yapsesh. When we're ready to come back, we'll come back in full force and it'll be great. Honestly, I can't wait to see that. There will just be one day you'll just to drop an episode and be like, we're back.
00:37:50
Speaker
Yeah. Honestly, that is going to be absolutely fantastic to see. You never know with TikTok because I'm totally with you. I don't know if I'm just getting older and just not understanding TikTok because the amount of times I've gone on in some videos you see and you think, oh, that's really great. And then others you look at and you're just like, how is that in my algorithm? Why is that? What are they doing? It's just like, yeah, so I can totally understand you there. It's such a pain getting noticed for it. But in all seriousness, I hope it gets its act together and actually picks up those videos because you definitely do deserve it.
00:38:26
Speaker
Thank you. i appreciate that. And honestly, seeing that note, I think that's a very cheerful note, as it were, me threatening TikTok, of course. Please get those videos out. But Sawyer, thank you so much for coming on to Shatsunami to not only talk about your content creation journey, but yeah, talking about all things Star Wars, Game of Thrones. And honestly, I hope A, that you enjoy it and B, I hope you enjoy the rest of Game of Thrones. I will not spoil it, but I do hope you enjoy. Thank you so much. And thank you for having me. This was so great. Oh, no problem at all. And before we wrap up, where can these amazing Pandalurians listening at home find your content?
00:39:04
Speaker
Yeah, I'm pretty much everywhere on the internet with the same username, Sawyerism. That's S-A-W-Y-E-U-R-I-S-M. And you can find me on X, on Instagram, on YouTube, on TikTok, and anywhere else, Blue Sky. I'm everywhere.
00:39:20
Speaker
So yeah. And yeah, if you would like to listen to more content from ourselves, then of course you can listen to us at our website, chatsanami.com, as well as all good podcast apps. I also want to thank our amazing Pandalorian patrons, Robotic Battle Toaster, Sonya, Ghostie, and Cryptic 1991. Thank you all so, so much for supporting the show. And of course, if you would like early access to episodes, if you'd like exclusive episodes, if you would like the Acolyte Season 2, then of course you can check us out patreon at patreon.com forward slash chat tsunami for legal reasons that last one was a joke i apologize sawyer but if you'd like to check us out there then please do but just also want to point out that this podcast is a member the pod pack collective for more information check us out at our twitter slash x handle pod pack collect but until next time thank you all so so much for listening stay safe stay awesome and most importantly stay hydrated