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Reheating Hockey Haus (In More Ways Than One!)
148 Plays3 days ago
Happy Friday!!!! HAPPY PRIDE!!!!!!!!!! To kick off Pride month, we have a great discussion about Heated Rivalry raves & parties and engaging with community in that way. If you're celebrating, STAY SAFE and take care of each other!! Have a great Pride month & we'll see y'all next week for our EDIT AWARDS!!!! Thanks for listening as always <3
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Since Rookie Season' and Special Episode Teaser
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Since Rookie Season. Well, the summer before. ah heated rivalry fan companion podcast where your hosts, Amanda, Lau, and Lauren, break down the episodes from the Crave Canada television series, the Game Changers novels, and various media surrounding this fan phenomenon. Today we bring you something different. A backstage look at how a heated rivalry rave is made with two very special guests. Stay tuned.
00:00:35
Speaker
Okay, hi y'all. Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed our episode on romance novels last week. Thank you again to Bri and Katie for being guests on that. You guys were awesome. This week, we're kind of shifting gears. Also, it is the penultimate episode of this season. What? only have one more.
00:00:54
Speaker
I know, i know, that's so sad. We only have one more. We are gonna talk about a little heated rivalry rave, a little, you know, a little a little agenda.
Celebrating Pride Month and Introducing Jordan
00:01:04
Speaker
agenda a little thing that three out of the four of us have done sorry Lau but Lau can definitely still give all the opinions on this and I'm sure you've seen it on all of the socials people going to heated rivalry raves um but we are going to talk to a friend a friend of the pod if we would Jordan who I met at Hockey House in Chicago and yeah
00:01:27
Speaker
We're gonna go ahead and get into that, but before we do that very quickly, i would just like to say, welcome to Pride. Happy Pride! Happy Pride! Gays! Gay, gay, gay, gay. That's in Spanish, I think.
00:01:41
Speaker
Or whatever. Yeah, that was in Spanish. All the languages you go out loud, do you want to say it in Spanish and French and Haitian Creole? So, I don't know how they say it in Haiti, actually. But I can say it in French. Bon fête de l'orgueil.
00:01:57
Speaker
Profitez bien. Beautiful. Hell yeah. Happy Pride. So happy for you. So happy for, so proud of you. We're proud. Being gays.
00:02:08
Speaker
I'm going to now throw it over to one of my favorite gays, Jordan, who was our guest for this episode. Take it away, Jordan. Who's there? Are you gay? while racing no So I'm Jordan. Pronouns she, her.
00:02:22
Speaker
I know there was some confusion because I travel a lot, but I'm based out Chicago. met Lauren at the first hockey house house party. Kind of going into, should I just go into like why or how I got into heated rivalry? Yeah, yeah,
00:02:35
Speaker
I don't really have anything interesting about me. Okay, so... I kind of got funny enough. I have a funny story about heated rivalry. I actually back in college, shout out to my teammate Abby. She actually tried to persuade me to read the books.
00:02:50
Speaker
And this was back in like 2020, maybe 2021. Okay. t and Cause she was reading the straight like hockey books. And I know. And I was like, yeah, i'm not gonna read those. She goes, oh my God, there's gay ones. And I was like, oh, tell me more. And then she told me they were about men. I'm like, oh, I'm okay i'm actually really nervous. I'm okay. And then a couple years later, i started hearing about people were talking about the show.
00:03:16
Speaker
My best friend sent me a tweet and I think it was either about the casting or like one of the first teasers. And I remember verbatim, I've tried to find the text and I can't find it. I remember verbatim being, I'm so sad. I don't know what's going on, but I'm so sad. And I watched the first two episodes, like when they first came out that weekend.
00:03:37
Speaker
of Thanksgiving. it was Thanksgiving, I think, or like before Thanksgiving. And I got into that it then.
Jordan's Journey with Game Changers and Personal Connections
00:03:44
Speaker
And I've kind of just like fallen in love with it since. I've only read two of the books.
00:03:50
Speaker
I've only read, I'm a Shane and Ilia truther, so I've only read their books. But You know what? I know you try to, I have this conversation with people. I just fear that even though I do love the show, the books are a little much for my little lesbian self. It's a lot. Sometimes it gets a little love. ah I love Rachel, but i sometimes it's a little too graphic for me. So that's why I like the show. kind of going and the show's not graphic at all no you know not at all not at all but i think that's kind of why for me i kind of see it as like so addictive i guess because i know for like for me personally the reason why i'm kind of like quote unquote addicted to it one i can't be like casual about anything that i like it becomes like mine welcome to the club accept I can't be about anything I like. When it comes to heated rivalry particularly, i think for me personally, I know everyone has like their own reasonings for why they think it's addicting or why they really enjoy it. But for me, as somebody who I know, shocking, I'm a lesbian who played college soccer. I was closeted for a really long time, even though the door was closed, or the door was open, I should say. There wasn't really a door. It was glass. Everyone was kind of just waiting. But anyways, I was still closeted, or at least I wasn't very open.
00:05:11
Speaker
And I wasn't out to like my closest family and stuff. And I think that's really why I personally really like it, and especially the show. i think that's why I always say I really like Ilya more on like I or more I relate to him more on like an emotional level but when it comes to being an athlete I really resonate with Shane just because ah he's always talking about in the back of his mind everything goes back to hockey and that's like for the longest time and he's like trying to figure out like that's like part of the reason like he like at the end of the day like he's just thinking about hockey and then Ilya comes and he's like what the heck my like life hasn't meant anything until you know whatever And that's something like really, it was really true and honest. That's something that I felt for the longest time. It was the biggest, like I was so scared, even though, and I would argue, or even though I know I play a very gay sport, like softball is a very gay sport. Um, I just went to, don't know how i went to a school where i there weren't a lot of gay people on my team. And so it kind of just got me a little nervous.
00:06:18
Speaker
So that's like why I think me personally, why i really like it is it kind of brings in being closeted, but also being a closeted athlete. I just think it's a very unique experience. And I feel that the show specifically And Hudson specifically, I think he just portrayed it so beautifully. And that's like for why, for me personally, why i was so addicted to the show. Because I saw bits of myself in both characters. But at the end of the day, like being a closeted athlete, Shane just like hits home for me. And...
00:06:51
Speaker
Yeah, if it came down to it, I definitely, I think I prefer the show. i also think it's just like, again, for someone like how i was just saying, it's a little bit of an easier watch for me because it is the graphic, but it's not nearly as graphic as the books. And i think the show, and that's another aspect too, that i think it's like so addicting for even if like somebody isn't gay, it's just like being an athlete is, to it's like such a, even like the rivalry of it all is like a very, like a, it's a big topic and it's a kind of a big, obstacle sometimes when it comes because I don't know that's one stereotype I've never fallen into I've never dated a teammate I don't know like I've never dated a teammate I've never done that but I know a lot of people who have and it comes with a lot of obstacles and I think the show and the book just really captures people I love how you are the second lesbian to come into this podcast and say i was very confused about why people were like trying to convince me to read this book about two gay men um
00:07:47
Speaker
Yeah. And you know what? Yup. Yeah. Shout out to Mao, who was also like, Um, this is not my thing. No, literally. and And I can't even lie. I just read, i was, I just read a lesbian soccer book. And one of the things I was texting my friends and i was like, I feel so like a fake lesbian because I didn't like the lesbian, like sapphic soccer book. And the entire time i was just thinking about like, they aren't Shane or Ilya. I don't like these kids. Like, i don't like these, like the characters didn't have a lot of depth.
00:08:22
Speaker
Just the, how it was written was very, I don't even know how to, it was just, it was just very poorly written. And I'm really, unfortunately they're making that book into a show and I'm just really scared. if I hope they very, very, very loosely follow it. Just because I think like Jacob Tierney is like a perfect example. he was somebody who was a fan of the book and the series before. and you can see that in the show.
00:08:47
Speaker
you could see like and that's even why like his creative direction and i know i've watched interviews of him talking about there was somebody in the u.s production company and they wanted like shane and ilia not to kiss until like episode like yeah like i it was like four or five or something i'm like hey i heard about that hey literally first page of the book by the way let's just so you know we're having fun immediately no literally literally I'm just like, I don't know, but I just think the show, i just love the show. And then obviously, again, just goes back to I'm very passionate about the things that I like. And then also, I think it also goes back to like being a closet athlete for majority of my life.
The Heated Rivalry Raves Experience
00:09:26
Speaker
I'm kind of just like making up for lost time.
00:09:28
Speaker
And it's so crazy that like now I'm like out, I don't play softball anymore, but like, it's still a huge part of like who I am. And now gay like athletes and gay sports in general are being so widely accepted should i say that like kind of accepted i shouldn't say widely accepted because i've had this i've also had some like discussions or debates some the rise of heated rivalry and queerness but yeah no i mean we haven't said anything ah bad about you to rivalry ever on this podcast no never never never never critiqued it Us? Haters? Nah.
00:10:05
Speaker
Us? Haters? Never? Okay. Well, thank you for that little introduction, Jordan. We appreciate it so much. So let's talk about the heated rivalry rave. So this was, from what I remember, it was announced because the first one was like the first weekend in February. Or no, the first one was like middle of January. And then there was a second one that was like the first weekend in February, which Amanda came to. And so it was announced like, like I didn't even know about it before it happened, which is crazy because I'm friends with Eden, who is like the person, one of the people who like helped create Eden and Seth from Garden of and House Party respectively. And I, I remember like getting, finding out about it and being like, I will do anything to work this party and get a ticket for it because it was like sold out within like a week.
00:10:56
Speaker
Like it was like crazy. And so I ended up making like 500 jello shots. Because we're going to talk with Eden later on in this episode, but to kind of give a brief to our listeners, Eden runs a Soffit collective in Chicago called Garden of Garden of has parties very consistently where things are like drag, there's drag, there's DJs, there's often tattoos There's you know like all kinds of like cool photo ops and things like that. And it's usually, this is like a specific brand of Garden of Parties, which are tied in with House Party, which is ah like another collective that they have. But House Party is like for the wider gay community, whereas Garden of Stuff is like often just Sophoc. focused and so we did it through house party and house party is also like open bar and you have like a higher ticket price because you pay for like bartenders and like an open bar and you know like more like cool like yeah like we got like
00:12:03
Speaker
free drinks and like free weed at the second party like you know and those are just like sponsorships that garden of has so i remember like finding out about it and be like i cannot afford a ticket right now but i will do anything to get there like i don't care i will do anything and how did you find out about a jordan I found out about it I think it was either Instagram or TikTok. I saw it because i had actually followed Eden and like Garden of after I had moved back. Cause I'm originally from Illinois, but I went to school in Indiana. And when I came back and moved, I was having a hard time kind of finding like queer spaces and where to go. and I remember seeing the ad or she posted a video, something like that. I saw either on Instagram or TikTok.
00:12:52
Speaker
And then I was literally so excited. I remember I posted a TikTok. And to this day, it's still like one of my most popular and viewed posts. and interacted with TikToks. I literally just posted a picture of me because I was going to a heated rivalry like watch party. And I posted pic, like a picture and I made a TikTok just saying like, I think I either said like gay or sapphic, something heated rivalry party in my city, whatever. And it like blew up.
00:13:21
Speaker
Like it did, like I got it like a couple thousand likes and I had people, funny you say about the it being sold out. I bought tickets for my friend and I and then literally I think two or three days later, my friend was going to buy a ticket and he was already gone. Like it sold out so fast. And then I even remember before and after the event, people were commenting on my TikTok saying like, oh my gosh, it's sold out. Or like, oh my gosh, like, why is it this much? And it's like, okay, well, read the description. It tells you why you're paying for your' paying for all this. But um that's how I found out about it. I had never, and it was my, funny enough, it was my first like garden of or house party event So I was like kind of, I really started it with like started out with a bang and I went to both cause I had such a good time the first time I obviously had. Right. Exactly. Exactly. no Yeah. I think like, I think something that I've been seeing a lot of, and I think like, I don't know. I want to hear about like Lau, if there's any like stuff going on in like Columbia that you've seen, i feel like so much of the heated rivalry rave stuff that I've seen in Chicago besides this event have not been like queer focused. Right. They've always been like marketed towards like straight white women or like straight women. And so like when Eden and Seth were both like, yeah, we're going to do this, I was like, no, and it's going to have queer drag queens and trans drag queens, and it's going to be full of queer people. Like, I know it's going be awesome and it's going to be like for the queer community. But Lau has anything like, because like even still to this day, I still get ads for heated rivalry raves in Chicago, which is like kind of crazy because I don't know if like the, I feel like it's kind of passed, but I
Queer Community and Event Reflections
00:15:00
Speaker
don't know. Like Lau, is there anything going on in like Columbia like this So...
00:15:06
Speaker
As you well know, I'm not the best person to talk about raves and parties and all that because I do not follow. um like we have a couple hold queer clubs. One has been gentrified by the straights. Of course. The other one does have like ah drag shows and all that because I have some friends of friends who do drag and I know about that. But it's not like I follow the social media of most of these clubs. So far I haven't seen any. I also haven't seen the thing like blow of here as much as I saw in the global north like the series. I have seen it like a lot of my students are fans of the books and the show.
00:15:46
Speaker
and they so and they watched it on the deep seas before it came to Latin America. So I don't know, I think we will have to wait and see. I will definitely ask my queer friends who do go out and are not like just a stay home queer like me to see if they have seen something in the wild. yeah But I personally have not heard about anything. yeah Amanda, have you seen anything done by you in like Florida or anywhere? Where I'm at in Florida, not really. there are i I'm in a very small place where like the queer community is there, but I've said before that it's not very sapphic. There's a lot of men and men presenting people, and it's more the community here is more like locals. Like ah if there's going to be like a big community event, it's like a locals thing and not because it's a big tourist spot. I would say when I lived in Orlando, there was likely a lot more stuff there. Nothing came across my feet because i don't keep up with that as much anymore. Or I just don't remember because like I don't live there anymore. But I feel like if it was going to happen in Florida, it would be places like
00:16:55
Speaker
Orlando Jacksonville like maybe somewhere on the east coast not really maybe in like a smaller if there was like a large community in like a small place maybe but really it's like people at work are like oh my gosh I love Hated Rivalry blah blah blah but no one's down here like that is not the vibe it's gonna like I went to a party this weekend that was like tavern like bard like whatever and that was like a special thing where like we just like dressed up like grand fair clothes and that was like a whoa like that that was like a no one no one really does themed parties is what i'm saying they do like bar crawls where they'll do like onesies they'll dress up in onesies themed that's the exact Yeah.
00:17:28
Speaker
But that's what I'm down to. So anyway, yeah, so that was why I was really excited. Like, I saw Lauren go to the first one, and I was like, that seems like a lot of fun. And, like, this was happening all over the country. Like, someone, JM, actually, from ah the Neurodiversity episode had been on to a heated rivalry rave. And I was like, man, these look like so much fun. I really want to go to one. But, like I said, that's not happening here. And Lauren was like, there's another one happening in February. Like, come through. And I was like, ha, ha, ha. ha and i was like wait i was like just come up for the weekend it was gay as hell well okay but the thing is i don't think the first one was as gay as the second one i think the second one was way more gay i was okay oh i i would yeah i i i think it was like the first one i feel like it was just kind of like feeling it out and then also i feel that At that time, it was kind of like everyone was so into heated rivalry. And then I think the real, like, people who either went to the first one had a really good time or who are, like, true fans came to the second one. And I think I did enjoy both them. And I've gone to other not house party heated rivalry raves or events. And there's a there's there's a difference. a difference.
00:18:45
Speaker
There's a difference. Yeah. There's like. Yeah. I remember like walking into like the first party. I like helped all the setup and everything. And then like we started seeing people kind of coming into it. And and like for reference, there were like 450 people at the first one. And there were probably like 150 200 at the second one. And it's in, like, a giant warehouse in Chicago. And so, like, I walked, like, when we started and, like, kicked off the thing, I just remember seeing, like, a shit ton of straight women. And, like, to the point where, like, when sexy stuff would happen up on the screens, because they were playing, like, edits and stuff, when, like, sex and stuff would happen on the screens, people would be, like, screaming about it. And I was, like... I got approached about it. Yeah. I had a lady come up to me, and I was, like, girl, I don't know. Yeah. No, and like normally, you know, like I said with Eden, you know, I'm normally in like very Suffolk parties and stuff. And so I'm flirting with everybody and making my rounds and, you know, like trying to find people to kiss and stuff. But um that was not the vibe at the first one at all. um
00:19:52
Speaker
I agree. Yes. I agree. Right. And then like, I'm sure we'll talk about this with Eden, but like people, we have like put pictures up on the walls because it's a house party theme, right? And so it's got like couches and like beer pong tables. It's supposed to be like you're in a frat house kind of. And people had ripped the posters off the walls. Like, and took them home with them. Like, posters Eden spent like a shit ton of money like printing. Yes. And I remember Eden, i helped her, I helped like clean up the next day and like organize. Like I basically like helped him clean the U-Haul. And one thing that Eden was upset about, or just like anyone, even I was upset about, like someone who was an attendee, even Eden was like, if you wanted a poster so bad, you could have asked. People like destroyed, it was the frames. People destroyed the frames. So like they would take the poster and just leave the frame that is more expensive than the actual poster you just you just stole. And it's like, you don't know unless you ask. Because knowing all the organizers if you would have just asked nicely they would yeah they literally literally would have said yes i had pictures on my wall for a while that were from house party like of like connor and hudson because i was just like hey can i grab like a couple extra of these like is that okay but like yeah i felt like the vibe for the first one was like very straight chaos which like I, while I like, keyed and I definitely had a lot of fun. it was like a very different crowd for the second one, which I think was more, I had a lot more fun because then I also like made all my friends come because I was like, the first one was fun, but like, I think it'll be even better with you all coming. yes it's because I was there. Amanda, do you want to tell your story of attending? oh my god. I have said it when it happened on the pod, but there was the whole story of me getting there, first of all.
00:21:44
Speaker
There was
Community and Drag Performances at Heated Rivalry Events
00:21:45
Speaker
like shit winds out of my coastal town, and so I didn't, my flight was delayed 20 hours, and then when I did finally get on the plane, there was a girl wearing a hat that said I'm coming to the cottage. And there was a guy at the terminal who was like a 50 year old man reading heated rivalry. So if you don't remember that story, I told it on the pod. i don't remember what episode it was. Whatever. was one of our episode discussions or book discussions. it's episode discussions. So anyway, I ended up getting- Yeah, it was a long time ago. It was a while ago. It was coming out in June. So, you know, hot minute. But it was, so the TLDR on that is that like, the heated rivalry was everywhere for those with eyes to perceive those around them, you know? Like, So I did tell that girl, she sat behind me on the plane and I was like, by the way, I have a podcast, you should totally check it out. And she said she would. don't know she did. I've never heard from her again. i don't know if she was nervous or whatever. You can still email me if you're that girl. Email me. We could be friends. If you're from the place we took off from, we could be friends. Anyway, which also she was reading the book I was reading. And so we had a moment about that. it was Atmosphere, which is a sapphic book. We were both reading a sapphic book. speaking of pride month check out atmosphere however we are not promoting atmosphere anymore because when we found out that the author is dianist no what yeah i didn't know that i literally have it on my want to read list sorry jordan i was heartbroken as well oh It was still a be beautiful full book, but unfortunately, yeah, don't read books by Zionist people. That blows. Or you can read books written by Zionist people, but don't give them any money. Exactly. Sail the high seas with us. That's true. Yes. I have links if you need them. Anyway. We got links. Yeah. Yeah.
00:23:25
Speaker
I got to Chicago, Lauren and I had a great time. We hung out, we did a bar crawl, we got dressed. I loved my fit that night so much. I am still thinking about posting those pictures because at the Garden of event, they had like little hockey knits set up and like some sticks, which like I do play hockey regularly now, or at least like by myself and with a couple friends. So I think it's funny if I were to dress up now in my hockey gear and then post it with like the party pictures and be like the duality of a hockey fan.
00:23:53
Speaker
Yes, do it! Me and I were some new day. So yeah, I had, it was such a blast. Like Lauren and i as we've said before, we partied together all the time in Florida when we lived in Orlando together, but getting to hang out in Chicago with Lauren's queer friends, it really reminded me how much I love queer community and how important queer community is and how much it's missing in my life, especially now where I'm kind of lacking it. But yeah, like the free weed was awesome, so many free treats, they had themed drinks, which I i love a themed drink. I don't care if I don't like it, I will drink it just for the bit.
00:24:26
Speaker
It was fun. Oh, and then we told this story, but I'll tell it again in case you didn't listen to that episode. we it started Lauren got ah a weather alert that it started snowing. And we had been there for like a couple hours. So, you know, we were getting a little toasty. And so Lauren was like, okay, you're from Florida. We're going to go see snow. And I was like, I've seen snow before, but all right, we just want an excuse to go smoke. And so we get our coats and Lauren's like telling all the security's like, we'll be right back. We'll be right back. Like they're from Florida. They, we need to go see snow. And so we go outside and smoke and like chat up with some other people and like flirt a little bit and like just be in the snow. Lauren took really cute pictures of me, which I would.
00:25:05
Speaker
Oh my God. They're so cutie. I'll post them probably somewhere on one of our socials. They might be on the pod socials. but yeah. I think they are somewhere. Yeah, but it was really cute. And yeah, I just got to like dance. Oh, they like Lauren said, they put edits up but like they they projected it. And so there was a DJ that was like mixing music to the edits. And so they got to like, I forget, i have a video of it. But it felt like a concert where like they're getting to like the hype song and they're getting to the chorus and everyone's like dancing and the beats gonna drop. But it was, fa sudden coming to the cottage. It might have been the like, in your eyes, sunshine, I'll believe in anything. Yes, they did like a special moment for that to like kick off the drag performances. Yes. And they like they like played the show They played episode five where Scott and Kip kiss with the like the Wolf Parade song in the background. And they had like when they kissed they had like fireworks. going yeah i like people your like years e it was insane.
00:26:09
Speaker
was so good. It kicked off the drag performances and the drag dance like the drag so like drag people the drag queens had like Hollander and Rosanoff like jerseys that they bedazzled on and like did it to music from the show which was so good and so like yeah it was it it was so good I really miss that feeling of like being surrounded by people who understand and have the same appreciation for you as other things it's like when I get to talk to my Percy Jackson friends or when I'm in the club and like Chapel Rhone comes on and it's like I don't get to experience this level of like freedom or appreciation in my day to day like i can scream in my car to a song or whatever but to be like dancing and jumping and hype to the same people or to the people who have the same like hype and like excitement for it is like really exhilarating and to me that is like so fulfilling i don't know maybe that's just me being autistic and like a community but it's no no
00:27:08
Speaker
No, it literally is like clinically proven that dancing is like literally better than any kind of medicine. Like dancing has a makes you feel better than like antidepressants. So we're going open our sapphic dancing club in the place that I'm in, right?
00:27:25
Speaker
We'll talk about it. Okay, Amanda did mention outfits and Jordan, you had like a themed outfit for the second one, which I think you should talk about. So, okay.
00:27:40
Speaker
So the second one, i am an Ilya girl at heart. And I, my friends and I, we made shirts and mine said lesbians for Ilya. And then it was so funny because I made it yellow because, you know, for Boston and stuff.
00:27:55
Speaker
And then I was at home, you're like packing my stuff. to go because this is when i before I moved to the city so I was coming from the suburbs and i was packing my stuff and then I noticed I was like oh my god wait I have a pay i have a pair of Ray-Bans oh my god wait have a pair of headphones oh my god wait I have a but I have a hat and then I was like guys I remember I texted my friends who I went to ah the party with Ali and Kelly and I was like guys is it crazy if I dress up as Air Force Elliot? And I was like, guys, I have everything. i have everything.
00:28:33
Speaker
And then it ended up just like working. i like, I didn't try it on until i was at their house, like getting ready to go. And it was, it was literally perfect. And then it was funny because, it was my best friend's birthday, like a couple days after this. And he was coming in from out of town. And for his birthday, I got him a life-size cutout. So i like took So I like took pictures with Hudson in like the lesbians for Ilya's shirt. I like took pictures. I took pictures of me like dressed up as Ilya. I'll send them to you. They're so funny.
00:29:05
Speaker
But like it actually like, cause my first outfit was just like a get in, we're going to the cottage or whatever. But then the second one, it was like, okay, I want to like do something themed. And I just thought it just like was perfect. Like I wasn't, I was just going to the lesbians for Ilya. And then also another thing that while I was, packing I forgot that I had like the glitter freckles so I was like okay well now I gotta bring those too so I was like airport Ilia with like Shane's freckles I guess I love that no and I like like a lot of people wore a lot of different things like some people wore like actual hockey jersey or hockey sweaters like the first one I wore a Blackhawks like jacket and just like jeans and a like
00:29:47
Speaker
sports bra because I was like I'm either gonna be hot or freezing I don't know which um and then the second one I wore Orlando solar bears like a vintage sweatshirt that I have that I like cropped which was a lot of fun with like jean shorts and then like one of my friends that I made because of the party kismet they sewed pants for both times and The first one, they sewed like a pair of sweatpants that were like one side was blue for Shane's jersey and the other side was black for the jersey. And then put like the numbers on them and like the stripes from the jerseys. And then the second one, they created a pair of like the Canada fleece, but they made it into pants. Yeah.
00:30:32
Speaker
Which was, like, very cool. And they wrote Canada across their
Fandom Meetups and Authentic Queer Spaces
00:30:35
Speaker
ass. So that was, like, the best, obviously. Icon. No, and I think there is, like, yeah, like I said, like, the drag queens, they, like, bedazzled and, like, sequenced the hell out of, like, they found... I know they went to the men's room in Chicago to get these jerseys.
00:30:52
Speaker
which is like a fetish shop in Chicago for men and like ah I took Amanda to beat Nick which is a like fetish shop slash dancer shop in Lakeview for their costumes so which you know the costume planning was really important The like fishnet half top that I got I have worn multiple times and it's actually like really awesome like I think I just wore it like out down here and it's really sleigh like I really like it so I'm really glad and I was like oh my god I got this in Chicago I i actually really love that so shout out to you for taking me there and us actually finding that yeah no of course of course like the next question we have is did you make friends and clearly yeah we don't have friends And I mean, like, being a fandom scholar, like, when you look at, like, the history of fandom, like, it started from in-person conventions um and meetups. You know, like, this is how we used to do fandom before we had online spaces. So, and, like, people would trade stuff when they got there. Like, I, you know, was able to access Jordan's TikToks and then tell people about the pod and then, like, you know, get listeners and things like that. So it felt really, like...
00:32:06
Speaker
wholesome and like it was kind of like very home like i don't know have you guys like have y'all ever participated in a fandom before where you've done like an actual like going out like in public thing like a physical meetup no but i hate public stuff you know like yeah okay that's true i was say i grew up a one direction fan so this is kind of like my I'm not new to this. I'm true to this. I'm not new to this. I'm true to this. Exactly. No. I know there were, like, Harry Potter meetups, but my mom never even let me attend.
00:32:40
Speaker
So, yeah. I've been to a couple of Rick Riordan's book tours. So, I've had fandom meetups there where it's, like like, everyone there is, like, dressed up and is a fan of the books. I feel like I've maybe... Like when Southern Knights, our gay club in Orlando, when they would do themed events, I feel like that kind of counts because it was like people came out of special.
00:33:02
Speaker
They had a couple of Chapel Road nights and that felt like it counts. But i don't think I've been to, I've been to maybe a couple of 21 Pilots things. Maybe if I remember correctly, maybe once. Yeah, I guess like the only times I've really like, I mean, I've gone to like, you know, obviously like themed nights at like,
00:33:18
Speaker
dance clubs where they're like oh we're paying like emo music or I've gone to like emo nights or stuff like that before but I guess I've never really done it for like one particular thing and so it was really i think it was really great to like meet a lot of people that way too just because like I have friends now that I met there oh wait I did go to one twilight event is really and and and I wasn't even into Twilight, like to that level. It was just that my mom has a friend who's a writer and she is a writer with the same publishing house that was bringing Twilight, but also someone who was bringing to Colombia the work of an author from Spain that I kind of like. And they really needed someone to like create a fan club.
00:34:09
Speaker
And I actually liked her her books. So i was like, well, I can do it with a friend of mine. And we created a club and we yeah even had a website. So this publishing house was constantly gifting me stuff. uh from other for other books and so we got invited to this twilight launching party it was crazy because everyone was like screaming when uh jacob or edward will come into the screen yeah you know and i was like Okay, I like vampires.
00:34:44
Speaker
I guess this is fine. And I think that's the only public event I have gone to a fandom that I was not really a poet part of. To that extent, like, I did have, like, the hype for a month or two because everyone around me was reading it. I love to read. I like vampires.
00:35:02
Speaker
But after that, I don't know. and To the point that I forgot that I had been invited to that. Yeah, that's fair. No, that's that's so real. I don't know. It was just like really nice to have like community and like there's i like Amanda was saying, like there's nothing like just being in a room full of people who like love the same. thing that you do and like even though the fandom is like absolutely fucking garbage and now i'm like generally very stringent about who i hang out with who is a heated rivalry fan Hey y'all, editing Amanda popping in to say that during recording, Jordan had put in chat that there was a fire in her area, and so in this moment you hear us sort of break the conversation and start talking about the fire that's going on in her neighborhood.
00:35:52
Speaker
It was an apartment complex near hers. It was not in her building. She is okay. We believe everyone is okay. We haven't really heard many updates. And if there is a GoFundMe, which we are looking around for right now, we will post it in our show notes. But no one was hurt during this. We just saw that there were fire trucks and there was some smoke in someone's window. And we made a couple heated rivalry jokes about it. So that's what this section is. So don't worry. no one was actually hurt. This is a usual occurrence in Chicago. Thank you.
00:36:23
Speaker
The building next door is just on fire. Classic Chicago. but Someone's up reheating the rivalry. That's all so it's so Someone's reheating the right now.
00:36:39
Speaker
i'm just closing all my windows
00:36:43
Speaker
You can knock it over, someone's reheating their rivalry, that's insane! No, that's gonna be the social media clip. Someone's reheating their rivalry. seriously. we do We do hope that that that person is alright, but... yeah but also I'm just watching a firefighter like go up the ladder right now. Everyone, just remember, when you reheat your rivalry...
00:37:10
Speaker
Take all the precautions Take yourself off the charger before using it yeah exactly but this so funny Okay, I want to finish my thought and then i do want to hear like every i have a question to ask like everybody I don't remember your thoughts, so I i hope you do.
00:37:32
Speaker
Okay, so, like, I don't know, it was just, like Amanda was saying, like, it was just really nice to be in a room full of people who, like, all love the same thing as you, like, it was really good vibes, and even though the, like, fandom is literally a fucking shit show at all times, and I really curate who I talk to about heated rivalry, and who I, like, engage with online, and, like,
00:37:54
Speaker
have been very, very liberally blocking everyone almost basically at this point on threads. i think it is, you know, like, it's nice to still have those spaces. But I mean, I think something that I still see like happening, which really kind of like bums me the hell out is like, just straights like profiting off of queer yeah media and like,
00:38:18
Speaker
the way that these rival like these heated rivalry raves keep happening in Chicago and I know like I look at the company and I'm like this is not queer owned it's not in like queer spaces like in Chicago they'll happen at like Hubbard Inn which is like one of the straightest bars in the city that you could ever go to and I'm like you're gonna have a gay event there like someone's gonna get hate grimed Literally. And like, ah but then I guess also like who is going to those things, you know, like who is like engaging with that, like with Hubbard and so I don't know, I guess like, if you had a piece of advice to give to somebody who wants to attend a heated rivalry rave or someone who wants to plan something like this, like a meetup and it could even be something like a watch party or you know, something like that.
00:39:04
Speaker
What like advice would you give or like, what would you want to see out of that? What would make you want to attend that? I know for me, I actually went to a couple non like house party events.
00:39:16
Speaker
And i went to one in Michigan specifically. And I know I had a lot of fun because I was with my friends. And we had our own section and it was just literally a group of queer people. do So I know we had a ah lot of fun and everyone there, we were all kind of there for the same reason. We all loved the show. We all watched it. We also were there for my best friend's birthday. So we were all there for him. So it was like very, that atmosphere was good.
00:39:44
Speaker
I will say there were points where i went down to the floor And it was kind of what Lauren was talking about earlier. It was you literally like the divide of where I was with my friends, then you go on the floor and it was just like, because I went on stage and I looked the crowd and it's just like a ton of straight women specifically kind of just standing there and like,
00:40:06
Speaker
miserable. You paid to be here. You didn't have to come here. Yeah. I think it's just going in with the mindset of what you're going to only get out of it, like what you put into it. And then I also think that even, cause I went to the club nineties and I, I believe someone can correct me if I'm wrong. I believe the founder of club nineties or at least the heated rivalry raves he is a queer man a gay man.
00:40:33
Speaker
But that being said, it wasn't very queer centric, if it makes sense. Like it just felt like for an example, for like house party, there was, it's such, such little details. There were actually decorations and there were theme drinks and there were different in activities and stuff. And then you go to this heated rivalry rave at this venue and it's literally just them slapping that on a billboard. And then they put a DJ on stage with edits playing in the background. oh it's So it was like, I, this is literally like gay guy music video night. Like I could have done this. Like why am I paying? Like, why am I paying to watch this? Like, why is it giving Justin Bieber at Coachella? Like what is going on right now?
00:41:12
Speaker
And was like, you're just pressing a button and like playing videos, which is like whatever to each their own. But I think the advice I would give is just, especially if it's heated rivalry, you at the end of the day, heated rivalry, it's based on queerness. So it should really be queer centric and it should be, focused on the queer community. um And I know that's like why I haven't personally gone to a lot of local Chicago ones, just because kind of what we've already been saying, it's very heteronormative, straight people are running it.
00:41:45
Speaker
And it kind of defeats the whole purpose of the reason why I like the show and why i like books. Like, it's so much about queerness. So I think just my advice would be don't forget like the baseline and don't forget what the show and like what the book is.
00:42:02
Speaker
Because a lot of, again, like I said earlier in the in the episode, there's different reasons why people like it and there's different reasons why people enjoy it. But at the end of the day, what really makes the story is the queerness.
00:42:13
Speaker
Yeah. And I feel like with the rise of heated rivalry, i feel like it's been kind of getting lost and people have been forgetting that. For sure. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. I guess I would encourage anyone who wants to organize something to also think of the people like me who are easily overwhelmed by lights and sound to maybe think of spaces that like, I mean, it's like, it looks so cool, but you guys have tent and I know you had a great time, but I would also love a screening that is more relaxed and less sensory friendly. Yeah. Sensory friendly and, you know, just chill maybe during the day. You know, stuff like that for us. That would be great because also, well, i and i am Shane. I am the person in the montage where the other person is at the club and I am reading at home, you know, with my glasses. So I would love to have those spaces. I think one of the things that I have discussed with my queer friends here is that I really struggle to find queer spaces that are not centered on partying and alcohol.
00:43:25
Speaker
Mm-hmm. that are happening before 10 I'm like, I'm never gonna meet cute women and cute days at this rate because I never go out. But I never go out because right I really, i know I don't enjoy those spaces. I don't enjoy having to scream over music. And I start like just dissociating. So it would it would be great to have like a different space for a other part of the fandom that is not very into parties. That would be great. i know I probably could organize something like that, but i am...
00:44:05
Speaker
a very busy person so that's not going to be in our capacity. We need to remember that Shane is also a part of this relationship and there are people like Shane in this world. We're not all Ilias.
00:44:17
Speaker
Yeah and I think that's some things I've heard through the grapevine as in on Reddit about why there's a sapphic community lacking in my area is because a lot of them aren't into drinking and stuff, like people are like, why aren't there any sapphic bars on here? And it's like, well, some sapphics, especially because there's a lot of older people down here, aren't into the party scene anymore for a variety of reasons. So that is something to consider. But yeah, I was going reiterate a lot of what y'all said about, like for someone, kind of in twofold. The first part, as someone who is considering organizing something like this,
00:44:51
Speaker
Definitely consider your audience and your reach And like who listens to you Because like I saw a lot of the feedback On social media of people who had gone to those Heat arrival raves And they were like it was like ah one large company That was organizing these in different cities And just like you said, just capitalizing On crew people, they were just slapping Shit together it was like They could like copy and paste different like shows And in like go viral off of it And like get a bunch of people just because of the hype around it But again, that is like not actually part of community, they aren't understanding their audience, they're not understanding like who is who lives in this area. Because like like you guys said, it's in a weird part of Chicago, like who would go to that bar except straight people? So I think that if someone is organizing this, you need to, first of all, engage in your queer community, see if there is interest in that if your community has like oh if your community is into partying and also heated rivalry see if your local bar if they did uh showings maybe see if they would host something or maybe like start smaller maybe like see if your trivia night would host like uh a heated rivalry trivia night or something like you could i would be so down for that one yeah right oh my god imagine we did that in the server oh oh that would be so fun
00:46:03
Speaker
That would be so fun. Okay. ah Yeah, and also also take into account where like the context where you're doing this. Because I know a lot of people are going to see that this is happening in the US, in certain states, are going to want to maybe replicate it um But also take into account, like are you hosting this in a very in in a safe space of your city for people? Exactly.
00:46:29
Speaker
Yeah. Like, because I do think like some some some areas are not going to be like as appealing because of who is attending events in those areas, etc. Yeah, if you have any Scots who like exactly if they were to be seen ah at here, like would they become a target? Like would you get like people walking down the street from like a neighboring bar who would be like, probably bought you know, like,
00:46:51
Speaker
Which I hate to say. Hate crime-ending. Yeah. But this it is a reality. and and And part of building community and building spaces that are safe for our communities is taking into account the horrible reality that we live in. And someone has to do that.
00:47:05
Speaker
So if you are the person organizing the that, unfortunately, you're the person thinking about that. Exactly, yeah. Yeah, and I guess like my only note is that like seek out like queer people who are doing these kinds of things. Seek out queer organizations that are doing these things. like Focus your efforts on giving back to the queer community because this show centers, this book centers queer people. And also when you go to it, tip your performers, tip your bartenders really well. I'm not just talking like give them a dollar. I'm talking like take a get a 20 and get 20 singles and spread it out. You know, like tip your dancers, tip everyone as well as you can. This is exclusive for the US context. Thank you very much. Yes. oh yeah
00:47:53
Speaker
hi you especially if you're not a part of the community like you are there consuming our culture yeah and you absolutely 100% should pay us to consume it like yeah and I think On top of that, like especially if you're someone who doesn't go out a lot and you are going to go to something like this, I was going to speak a little bit to that of wear something you're comfortable in, but like don't be afraid to be on theme, like bring friends. like I think that if this is something that you're going to go to, exactly what Lauren said, pay people because that's important. at least like show up and like be excited about it. But also like if you do get overwhelmed or overstimulated, you can leave. like That is totally fine. like i i got I got so annoyed with people who would like be on stage at the club and would just be on their phones or would just not be involved. And I get that I was at a party this weekend and I was like kind of on my phone because i didn't really know anyone. But I tried to talk to people who made an effort or like whatever, and I think you can meet people because there are other people in the same situation, but it does not hurt to like bring a plus one or like try to find someone that you know. If you only know the host, you could say, like oh, let's try to hang with them or help them.
Event Participation Tips and Organizing Considerations
00:49:05
Speaker
But I think that if it's something that someone's interested in doing, I think absolutely you should go if you feel safe, if you feel comfortable, if you know the place. Or if you know that the the event is coming up, go to the the venue of the week before if it's like a bar or or like something else that they do there, like go another time so you already know the space, you know where the bathrooms are, like that sort of thing.
00:49:25
Speaker
i don't know, but i feel like, or even just go for an hour if you're if you would be like, I actually rather be at home be like, okay, I'm gonna go for an hour and then I'm gonna leave, you know, you never know. So I'm just learning to throw that out there. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I think it's all about like making sure that you feel comfortable with it. But also like, i when I go to places like when I go to the Hated Rivalry rave, my loop headphones are in my bag because I will get overstimulated. Oh, I never go out without my loops.
00:49:52
Speaker
I am going to take a break outside to either smoke a cigarette or just stand outside for 10 minutes because I need to. um One of my favorite memories from the first heated rivalry part one. Well, I enjoyed the second one a lot more. The first one I like at one point shared a joint with like four drag queens, which was the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me. i felt so blessed in that moment. Yeah.
00:50:19
Speaker
But I think that kind of wraps our discussion. Do we have anything else we want to say about the heated rivalry rave? Or Jordan, do you have anything you want to plug? I guess, especially if you're based in Chicago, always looking for more queer people, more queer friends. So my Instagram is literally my name, Jordan, but it has an extra N dot Barnes. So if you want to follow me on there, I do have TikTok, but... I won't even lie. used it like a private story. I just post stupid stuff on there. But again, always looking for queer friends. It's Jordan dot 41, 41, you know, but yeah, that's, that's all I can really say. And then I, I was hoping I'd have a chance to kind of thank them in person, but for like Eden and Seth and everyone involved, and even like you were part of the planning and part of the execution of it. Just like, thank you for that. It was still like my friends and I who went, we talked about it all the time. Like it was literally like some of the best things.
00:51:12
Speaker
parties and best nights out that we've had. And yeah, that's all I, that's all I really have to say. it was just really awesome. Wait, are you coming to gay prom this weekend? Maybe. And if you maybe are going, I will maybe see you there.
00:51:26
Speaker
I may or may not have brought my senior year prom dress out of retirement. I am requesting for this part that y'all take a picture together Yes.
00:51:41
Speaker
Well, yes. Please. And then we can post it on our socials. Yes. Yes, we will, for sure. No, we have to show off our Heaton Rivalry friends because they're so hard to fight. True, so true.
00:51:59
Speaker
All right, Jordan. Well, thanks so much for being on the pod and we will be right back with an interview with Eden.
Eden's Vision for Heated Rivalry Events
00:52:06
Speaker
Carol.
00:52:15
Speaker
Okay, I'm back with a really close friend of mine, Eden, who is the founder of Garden of, which is a Soffit collective in Chicago, and also the co-founder of House Party, which I'll let her talk about in a few minutes. But we're going to talk about planning the heated rivalry rave and getting her kind of side of all of that good stuff. and I'm very excited for this. So thank you for coming on the pod. good Thank you for having me. I'm so honored. haven't been on the pod ever. I'm like, whoa.
00:52:46
Speaker
so Whoa. Okay. So go ahead. Intro yourself. Do your little spiel. Yeah, absolutely. My name is Eden Strader. My pronoun pronouns are she, her. And I, like Lauren said, I'm the founder Garden of the Sapphic Collective and then the co-founder of House Party, which I run with my best friend, Seth Sager. And House Party is a little bit on the newer end. It's...
00:53:10
Speaker
I'm like, it's about six months old now, but we don't do parties every month. So she's still very, very fresh. And really the entire intention with house party is that it feels like a house party shocker. So it's super important to us that it's a very like immersive and community driven experience that like truly feels like you can be in someone's home and connect with other humans. So yeah Back in the early me the beginning of the year, I guess, beginning of the year when heated rivalry was obviously like exploding to the nth degree. um
00:53:43
Speaker
had a couple different heated rivalry parties and raves, which was the truly the best thing ever. I had so much fun. Yeah. um why Why Heated Rivalry? Like what draws you to it? Yeah. I mean, I think I, like most people either heard about Heated Rivalry, the Heated Rivalry through a friend and or TikTok. And I was like, okay, like any, any sort of like queer media that's gaining excitement about it, I'm going to watch it just to even just see if I can get into it or, you know, we don't get much. So I'm always very excited to support Rivalry. and see what's happening and obviously you know there's so many layers to why I think heated rivalry is the way that it is but yes it starts out hot awesome grabs people's attention very very rapidly but it's also beautifully filmed which that's always going to be something that entices me early on and I always find it very impressive as someone that like started in photography and media and to see a really beautiful film, both from a DP perspective and like storyboarding a small budget. So like I already found that really impressive because I know their budget was incredibly small and able to learn about post. And then, yeah, and then it turns into this like heartwarming love story that always describe it as I'm like, I felt so. I feel so happy watching heated rivalry is like a happiness that makes me want to throw up. Like love physical reaction to it. And yeah, I'm like, so when we were kind of planning out our parties, we were like, obviously, obviously, obviously obviously we've got to do something surround us. Yeah. Yeah. And this was the second rendition of House Party because the first one was like Frat House, which was Halloween, right? Was there one is between the two? Frat House Halloween.
00:55:28
Speaker
And I do think that Hockey House was our first one back, actually. Yeah, I think you're right. It was like our second and third House Party. So... it's that was crazy too because we had really only thrown one and right this was a very very specific vision and execution on making sure that we really like did proud you know how much we love heated rivalry and what heated rivalry is yeah for sure yeah I think like um I mean so many people have come on the pod and talked about like why they think it's addictive and I think it's like a lot of the things that you were mentioning like this, like a lot of people see it as like a corrective experience for like queerness. Like, you know, you're not getting yelled at by your parents for being gay. You're not losing your job for being gay. You know, all of these things like people support you. You know, a lot of people like it because it's not showing like death of queer people which you know is a big one and especially in lesbian media oh absolutely i think that really is like it when I meet people now that haven't seen it I'm like this is truly the first and only piece of queer media where nothing bad happens and I think that's why it's meant so much and means so much and is so rewatchable is that there's so many layers to the story it's not like a bunch of stuff doesn't happen It's just that none of the things that happen are bad, which is just like genuinely crazy to see a queer experience where it's just like, oh my God, literally sunshine and butterflies. Like, but it's not like, it's also not like super unrealistic. Like it's not like um utopia. Like there's still making intentional decisions societally around their queerness. But like in terms of everything that does happen, you're like, oh my God, no hate crimes. No one dies. No one's terminally ill. Like-
00:57:20
Speaker
it's crazy easy like you really there's never been anything like that before yeah no exactly and I mean like I know I've definitely talked to like lesbians who have been like I mean you know it's about two men which is like obviously not what I love but like I don't know I think like being able to project onto that experience is something that I think is like really central and especially like now when there is like such a like state persecution of queer people and of like queer lifestyles and of trans folks like i think like having joy in queer stories is super important right now too so absolutely absolutely and like i can't remember where i read it or saw it and by read it i mean probably on a tiktok but It was someone talking about like, even as a lesbian, like I don't exist in a world where I don't experience sexism. Like I'm a lesbian. i'm I'm interacting with men on a day to day basis. So there's always going to be sexism as part of my life, whereas men are not often really the subject to that. And so it was like a lot of discourse that I really loved being like, no, even as a lesbian, like it was really interesting to watch a relationship that involves a man where sexism doesn't play a part. Like that's right something they're going to face when they're not out, obviously. Like, obviously there's other things for them to face, but like sexism wasn't one of them. And like, that was very interesting to kind of watch a queer relationship where like, think about sexism. shit Yeah. No, not fair.
00:58:48
Speaker
It's just not there. And yeah, I mean, like there are like the women in the story are never like shamed or like yelled at or like,
00:58:59
Speaker
people are not mad at them or like like i mean ilia does get mad at rose but it's like he's more mad at shane than he is at rose you know so like it's like women are not the objects of men's anger and so like it's nice to like see something where that doesn't happen you know because that's That's how I go through everyday life, you know? Oh, absolutely. And it's like, we got to watch these women be like super badass and also like uplifting their gay boys and their gay boys uplifting them. Like it was all just like, you're all around. Yeah, exactly. Okay. We'll switch gears a little bit. Let's chat about like house party, planning the events, kind of like the lead up to it. I am linking like the cute little ah video that you did on YouTube of like, planning everything and stuff in our show notes. But yeah, just take me through it.
00:59:50
Speaker
Yeah, I think so when we do house parties, a huge part of them is that they have to be like a multiple, a multi immersive experience, like there needs to be something for people to immerse themselves in the entire evening outside of just the dance floor and like outside of just being a dance party rave, whatever. So that was like our first thing of like, okay, how can we how can we bring people into a heated rivalry world while still being like, true to the ethos of house party true to the ethos of you know of heated rivalry like so there was a lot of layers of just like how can we make this the most like heated rivalry experience ever and I think you know this was obviously around the time too that other collectives were starting to throw heated rivalry raves which like no tea no shade to them but like none of them were queer from what I know and so it was like really interesting to like watch this perception of like it felt like a very capitalistic grab yeah at like a gay topic and like theme and show which felt like really odd to watch as a third party like also a producer also queer so i mean a huge thing for us was like how can we make sure to do the complete opposite of that where like
01:01:10
Speaker
It's not people paying $30 to watch like YouTube edits. Like, and it's just going to a straight couple like a straight person. So we really wanted to make sure that we also involved a lot of the things that we always do that are like rooted in queerness and queer history. Mm-hmm. and queer staples and foundations um because i also think like heated rivalry has shined a really amazing and like not frequently seen light on queerness for people who are not queer like for a lot of people like this was kind of their first first move into like queer spaces or queer yeah like media or queer whatever and so I we really wanted to make sure that it was like okay while we have people here that maybe aren't queer or aren't immersed in queer culture they just love heated rivalry and they're like ally ally down as much as they can be how can we like expose them to how beautiful and like elaborate queer life is like yeah exactly like Because all of those things, obviously, and bigger discussion, but it's like even just drag. It's like drag is so foundational to us having rights, period, so that relationships like their relationship can exist, let alone TV shows like this. So we were really excited about being like awesome. We throw very queer parties that now people kind of, but like house party isn't a queer party itself. We want it to be open to everyone that's like an ally. And so we were like, this is a really cool opportunity to like expose people to that because there was a lot of couples there, are straight presenting couples. And like, there was a lot of like cishet men and they were just yes happy to be there with their partner and like intake this. And so we wanted to make sure that it was like, yes, obviously some hot, sexy edits on the walls all night. Duh.
01:02:57
Speaker
But we were like, how can we make sure that this also feels like a night that goes beyond heated rivalry and like hopefully intrigues people to learn a little bit more about queerness or keep immersing themselves in things like this? For sure. So there was a lot of facets to it. We wanted to make sure, yes, we had the edits. It was really important to us that like Scott and Kip's kiss was a really monumental moment just with because that was monumental moment to everyone that watched that show, period, obviously. Mm-hmm.
01:03:26
Speaker
That was such a like beautiful moment in history. literally like was standing on top of a cooler when that happened and like filming it and people were just screaming and I was like, I think this is like maybe one of the happiest I've ever been in my life. I literally talking about it yesterday with a friend they were like what's like one of your favorite memories of the year so far and I said great question it was watching Scott and Kiss Scott and Kip's kiss like at the first heated rivalry party because it was like it when are you ever in a room where 400 people
01:03:57
Speaker
yeah like screaming crying throwing up over a gay kiss on tv like yeah right like it was the same energy but like gay version of game of thrones like it was just like everyone's rallying for this one thing it was so beautiful so yeah we did stuff like that we we we always like we joke we like we're making this house a home so we have our living room setups in our venue um we printed out a ton of like photos of them so it felt like we were in their house yeah and we we really wanted people to have like we wanted people to feel immersed in their world the second they walked in the door so we also did an entire timeline of their relationship with the matching imagery to those moments and like made almost like a timeline like a photo wall timeline in the hallway like
01:04:45
Speaker
walk into first thing in the building so it was like while people were waiting to get their tickets scanned they got to like look at this entire timeline of their relationship including like the coordinating photos so it was really fun we just were really trying to like make sure that no matter where you were in the building no matter what time of night you came in there was something for you to feel really immersed in and like be excited about outside of just dancing and like being there to party Yeah, for sure. And like, I mean, it's house party. So you said there's like a living room set up. There was like a cutie little photo op you guys made a penalty box and had like sticks like hockey sticks and pucks and nuts and stuff. um The second one had go go dancers, which was a lot of fun. Did Starstruck do tattoos at both of them or just the first one? Just the first one, Starstruck did tattoos with the first one, which that was so fun to have like the sex cells to like, you know, the actors have in real life. So yeah, I'm like, there was always something to turn to and do. Like, yes always something to turn to and do And I like, I'm obsessed with the penalty box. We had so much fun making it. And just like getting to watch people feel like they got to play hockey with the boys for a minute was just like everything we wanted from that experience.
01:06:03
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, no, I i mean, I literally like left the first one and I was like, so when's the next one? Like, when is the next one? And that's kind how it went. And it was really fun. The second one, like so many people that came to the first one came to the second one, which was like so fun because it really was like borderline the same party. Like, yes, there was different elements like. you know, we had a different tattoo artist. We had Go-Go's at the second one. But, like, overall, basically the same party in concept. So it was really, really cool to just be, like, seeing that people loved the concept and, like, loved the show enough to be like, no, let's run it back. Like, let's absolutely run it back and do it all again from the top, basically. Yeah, exactly. And, like, I felt like the second one was gayer than the first one. I mean, I also bought brought all of my gay friends to the second one. And so I was, like, gayer maybe for the second one. I was like, everybody needs to get more gay now. So. Absolutely. No, I think it did feel a lot gayer because it also was like, our second one, I feel like it wasn't like at the end of like the really crazy heated rivalry hype, but it was definitely like as we were starting to plateau, like talking about it. And so I feel like everyone that came was like, no, I love being gay. And I love good rivalry and I love a rave you know and then it's like yeah we had all these like go-go dancers in hockey where it was just like it was really good yeah no it was it was so great like when you do these like parties and stuff because you don't you do them like beyond house party and stuff like what is your like driving force behind like a lot of them if it's like a couple of things or like what are the reasons you like throw these parties you know
01:07:50
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think number one is just like, and I know it's a buzzword right now for sure, but just like the sake of community. And reason why we like having such an immersive experience is I also think it's such an amazing way to break the ice with other people. We have...
01:08:06
Speaker
so many people, like hundreds of people that come to each of our parties that come alone. And we really try to like foster an environment where like that's fun and exciting to do because like, you know, there's going to be ways to start a conversation with people, connect with one another, whatever. I like, I'm like, if I ever have to like pinpoint something that like really encapsulates why i throw any of my parties, it's that, and I'm probably going butcher it, but like that quote from the AIDS epidemic, that's just like, we buried our friends in the morning and we fought all day and we danced all night. Yes. And our parties truly are, and again, I was talking about this with a friend last night, I was like, the parties, both in setup, actual party, takedown, like, they are the only time in my life where, like, the horrors do not exist. Like I live and breathe in a little utopia moment for like several hours. And that is always how I want it to feel for everyone. Like I, that is my goal with every single detail that goes into it. That's the goal with the parties in general is that I'm like, how can I provide people this experience where they get to experience literally nothing but joy? Like that's it.
01:09:15
Speaker
They get to experience joy and calmness. Well, calmness is loose. But like, do you know what I mean? You're not scared. You're not worried. You're not anything. You're just having fun. And there's so many different ways that you can have fun in that environment. We try to, you know, have things that you can do if you don't feel like you're in the mood to talk to a million people too.
01:09:35
Speaker
Let's say you're, you are more introverted. So I would say that really is like the foundational red or like red thread that kind of goes through everything is just like, how can we give people an escape in a really way? healthy beautiful way exactly hours and like have them have this night that really like fuels them for the next day week month whatever and so yeah that's always like top of our mind when we're when we're planning anything is like how can we make this just so enjoyable and like so joy felt for the people attending Yeah, for sure. I know that like house party always gets a little pushback every time we throw or you throw one about the like pricing and stuff. But like, do you want to talk about like going into that? Like,
01:10:20
Speaker
like what goes but into that mindset of like planning the price for the tickets. Oh my God. Yeah. I think, and we, we always like try to talk about this, but I think it's really hard for people to conceptualize any house party we throw specifically is an open bar.
01:10:33
Speaker
So what you're paying for is not the cover to like walk into a party. What you're paying for is unlimited amount of drinks, both alcoholic and THC and coffee and sodas. Like we also make sure that like, you know, we have a ton of sober friends and we have a ton of sober people that attend our parties. So we want to make sure that they're having just as enjoyable of a night. We order pizza for everyone because again,
01:10:57
Speaker
It's a house party. You know, we have the drag. We also like one thing that's always been really important to Seth and i is that our staff and our performers get compensated very well. Like very competitively. We are not comfortable asking people to come work for $15 an hour. Like that's not a livable wage. And obviously we don't employ anyone full time, but like it's very important to us that if people are going to be working for us, they're going to be paid very, very well. And in a way that like genuinely consists And it's very, I'm like, we've made money off house party once. Like we've made money off house party like once. And I think whether it's house party or garden of or any like events that anyone goes to literally ever, the people that make money in nightlife are often the bars themselves. It's not in the people producing, not to say money cannot be made. Obviously there's going to be occasional parties that you do make money. Right.
01:11:54
Speaker
But Seth and I's goal is always at Houseparty that our talent and our performers get paid their full rate, point blank, period, if not more. We refuse to pay performers less than like $200, which is often a lot more than like the industry standard. And that's because like they deserve that. They should or not, they're putting on you know, so many elements of the party. And so I think it's really hard for people to conceptualize like, where's this money going to? I've definitely had conversations with people where they're like, well, I saw it's $50 times, you know, 300.
01:12:28
Speaker
three hundred So like what you just took home $15,000. And it's like, right oh, girl, what? like This took me 100 hours and I maybe took home $100.
01:12:39
Speaker
This is not to pay rent, I fear. And obviously, you know, if we sell out a party, there is a little bit more budget to work with and pay ourselves. But even then, it's it's not much. Like, it's not. yeah And I think that's like very important to people to conceptualize, like, as a moral cultural production standpoint, but also like,
01:12:58
Speaker
I have had conversations with people where I'm like, how much do you usually pay at the door? And they're like, oh, I'll pay like 20 to $25. Perfect. Okay. After that, how much are you spending on drinks? Right. I went to bump a couple of weeks ago and I got shots for my friend group. That was a hundred dollars.
01:13:11
Speaker
ah hundred dollars And I said, I paid $30 to get in this party. I'm done for the night. Like, yeah, that's it. $130 an evening for one shot each for my friends and for us to like get in the door. And so it's like really doing the numbers and like, it is a jump scare to click into a ticket price and see $60. Yeah. About the fact that that's unlimited alcohol performances, ticket at the door, pizza snacks photo ops like there's so much that you're paying for and I've often had people like our regulars at house party are like no I save money on my house party nights like yeah I'm saving money by going to house party then going to another party where I'm going to pay $25 and then at least $100 throughout the night for my drinks And then have to go out for pizza after because I don't feel like drunk.
01:13:59
Speaker
No, and the pizza is like one of the best parts of the night. I love just standing there with like a giant box of open pizza and people just ripping into it. It's the best. It's also so communal, which I love.
01:14:10
Speaker
ah We always like hand people whole pizzas, obviously, to be like, you know, pass them around, share it with your friend group. And it's really cute to see people like be handing out pizza to people they don't know. Like, it's really sweet. And everyone everyone kind of just like takes a breather and shoves their face with pizza at midnight. And like, it's so much fun. It's so much fun.
01:14:27
Speaker
Yeah, it's such a good time. What was your favorite moment from either of the hockey houses? Other than the set that the skip kiss. Yeah, i was going to say, I was like, that's definitely my favorite part is like that moment. I think runner up is absolutely the drag, and which that's going to be my favorite part of any party. But for house party or for hockey house specifically, all the girls did heated rivalry themed drag. Yeah. was the best thing I've ever seen in my entire life. We had Sangria wine at each party and she is a massive heated rivalry fan. So she went all out. Like yeah I remember the first time she like sent me her track and it like has audio from Ilya and Shane like in the track. Like, oh my God. It was, she brought out ginger ale like during the performance. Like
01:15:17
Speaker
It was so campy and so fun and just also like so many favorite, like so many of my favorite parts of just like being queer and like being in queer nightlife, but then like meshed with heated rivalry. Like it was just so much fun. And again, like I think it was also, as I said in the beginning, like very beautiful for me to be like, oh my God, like some girls brought their boyfriends here and they're watching this and they're happy to be here. Like, yeah, this is probably their first time seeing quite literally anything like that. And that's beautiful as well. Like that's love that. Like, I love an ally. Obviously, I don't want straight people in my spaces at queer parties, but like if it's not your specific party, it's like, hey, guys, we're people just like you. Aren't you having fun?
01:15:59
Speaker
In fact, more fun than you probably have. at this short More fun. I mean, you and I have been to a straight DJ before. It's it's the horrors. The horrors. And then, no, and then you have like, I mean, the ultimate drag performers, Winter and Fantasy, who are just amazing doing the shows. And Winter does so many, Winter Dior does so many Garden of Events. Like, she's amazing. That's my girl that's my girl down. i'm like, they're never not going to tear it Working with them is like such a privilege and honor. Like they're yeah incredibly hardworking and just like the most talented girls you've ever seen in your entire life. So I always like love seeing what they come up with and just like, they're never not going to tear it. Like they're never not going to give you the show of
Celebrating Queer Parties and Encouragement to Create Inclusive Spaces
01:16:47
Speaker
your life. No, and then, like, at the first one, like, Syngria and Winter, and I went outside and, like, passed around a joint, which was amazing. And I was like, I don't think I've ever had this experience before my life, and it's perfect. Like, know it's everything to me. Like, that's heaven. Like, that's... Dream blood rotation. Like, literally.
01:17:07
Speaker
ah Okay, before i let you go, any like advice that you could give to folks who want to plan queer parties like this, who want to do stuff like this, who want to find them in their towns, who want to attend Tahiti rivalry raves, anything, any advice you can give? Oh, my gosh. I think, like, number one for anyone that ever wants to produce anything, like, finding a very, very clear ethos of why you want to do what you do. And it can't just be partying and it can't just be community as, like, a general concept. But, like, it needs to be.
01:17:42
Speaker
somewhat specific. Like Garden of is like friendship forward community. Like that's always what it is. And I think that's why people are so drawn to it. And like house party, like I said, is like a house party if Andy Warhol was throwing it. Like we just wanted to feel like you're in a crazy, fun, artistic house and connecting with people who genuinely want to connect in that way. And that's always our mission. ah It should never be just because you want a party. It should definitely never be that you want to earn money because I promise that day is not coming anytime soon.
01:18:11
Speaker
Me, horrible news. There's not a lot of money in queer nightlife in that way. Crazy. Yeah, like you really, it's a job that like, if you love it, best job in the world, like best job in the absolute world. So like really think about like how you can have multiple layers of the experience to to promote the ethos of like what you want it to all be about. And for people that want to attend them, I think like really one of the biggest things that people who attend parties or want to attend parties can do is just like support the parties and help them get the word out. There's so much that you can do to support a collective or producers that isn't giving them money. Yes, money is awesome. Buying tickets is awesome. Donating to our fundraisers is awesome. And if you have the means for that, great. But like sharing their graphics, telling your friends, telling your friends, friends, resharing things, commenting on things, really making sure that like you're you're doing your part to get the word out because. I think, you know, I've been watching a lot of discussions happening about this lately as Pride is coming up of like, hey, like lesbian and sapphic spaces don't necessarily get a lot of funding. yeah
01:19:21
Speaker
Statistically, sapphics don't drink as much as, you know, men do who are on the rooftop for 12 hours. And so it's a lot harder to get funding. It's a lot harder to get kickbacks. and so it's really important that like, you know, let's say you're sapphic and you're wanting to go out for pride this year, go to a sapphic party. It sounds obvious, but if it's like, oh no, like I'll just go to Boys Town because Sidrek has no cover. If you can afford a cover, go to a sapphic party. Yeah, go to Scarlet, go to yeah Nobody's Darling.
01:19:50
Speaker
Exactly. Go to Nobody's Darling, like go to sapphic collectives, like support them, help them get the word out because- They're battling me. Queer people are battling. It's a, we're swimming upstream regardless. But like when it comes to funding in nightlife and like performance in nightlife, sapphics are, are also swimming upstream yet again. all um we don't, we don't get the funding and the kickbacks in the way, you know, cause gay men do, they've already started.
01:20:15
Speaker
stereotypically all day every day always so like it's support support the things that you want to see more of i know it sounds obvious but like it's so easy to scroll past an instagram post and be like oh it's fine like i'm not going to that one so i don't need to reshare it reshare it anyway like yeah you share it anyway because it really does nothing but support the causes and the parties that you want to see more of and same with house parties i'm like if you want to see something and if you want to see something and you don't see it anywhere make it produce yeah Right? Like we didn't see a queer heated rivalry party anywhere. We just saw like a very commercialized version of it. And so we decided to do it ourselves. And it's the same thing with like, I'm doing like that no boys allowed party. I'm like, I want to go out and not see any men. Like I want to go out and not cover my drink. Like, oh,
01:21:00
Speaker
I want to go out and key with the girls all night. And that's the whole demographic. And I haven't seen that party. So I'm to it myself. So yeah, I'm like, that that would be my advice. That was a lot. But that would be No, i I love all those pieces of advice. What do you have to plug? Because this episode, to let you know, it comes out in the beginning of June, which is, I don't know, maybe Pride Month. What have you got going on for Pride Month? think there's a few things going on in June. i think this episode comes out June 5th specifically. yeah.
01:21:29
Speaker
ah Yeah, June 6th, we have No Boys Allowed, which is a party where no men are allowed. It's Girls World. And I'm so excited for that one We have Platform Angel and Star Trek on the decks. And we're just playing like Queen's of Pop too all night. Like we want like a very, very like no male artist type beat. And we're doing pop-up vendors. It's BYOB, so it can just be, like, so chill.
01:21:56
Speaker
We're going to have, like, coffee vendors, tarot, tattoos. Like, it's me. I'm like, I want it to feel like I'm going to, like, closed-down mall in junior high and raving with my friends. Yes. No, perfect, actually. But not going to in at the closed-down mall.
01:22:08
Speaker
Like, let me know. I'm thrilled about that. And then yeah, June 13th, we have Dyke Summer. It's our second annual Dyke Summer, which is our kickoff for Pride. It's a crazy fucking party. This one's going to be nasty in the best way. Like it's going to be so crazy. we have a $250 cash price for the wet t-shirt contest. Like oh it's going to be.
01:22:29
Speaker
i will be winning. I mean, yeah I wasn't there for this the spring break one, but I'll be winning. nos No, the way we've had people commenting and they're like, well, I need that money. So like, I am going to be training for this. And I'm like, no, and that's, that was the point.
01:22:41
Speaker
Exactly. oh no. A bunch of girls doing a wet t-shirt contest at the sapphic party. Horrible news. Oh, so bad for us. We need it. So, and then we're closing out pride, obviously pride weekend, June twenty seventh We have the sapphic saloon, which is going to be insane. It's a full three story building takeover. There's going to be line dancing, mechanical bull competition.
01:23:02
Speaker
DJs, there's a pool, there's a waiting pool that will be open, which is crazy. I've already planned my outfit, by the way. I gotta lock into that. Me, I haven't planned. I don't even have my outfit for this week, so I need to lock into it. I have the prom outfit, but not on outfit. I still don't know what I'm wearing to prom. But yeah, and then the next day we ah we are actually producing a set at Backlot Bash, which is a two day festival over Pride weekend. and we are incredibly excited about that. We have the amazing Lana Jure coming in from New York City to perform and host. And then we basically we we had like a ton of budget free up because of something. And I was looking at it and I was like, what if I just hired every hot performer in Chicago to go go during this? And that's what I did. and it I fierce it like it's going to be the lineup when I show it to people. like, you see all of that text. Those are just go goes. Like, yeah, I'm for just people in bikinis shaking ass. So something that for sure. Perfect. capture Our set. So it's gonna be crazy. It's gonna be crazy. Literally no notes. If you're in Chicago, and you're gay, or you're an ally, come or you're in the Midwest in general, i would come out for this.
01:24:14
Speaker
I would come out for all of this. It's going to be awesome. I'm so excited for all of it. I know I've told you before, but I love Garden Up. I love that it's made me closer to like a lot of lesbian friends. I've reconnected with a lot of people. I've met so many new people. You and I are friends. so like, thank you for all of the hard work and effort that you put into Garden Up. You are the best. Yeah.
01:24:39
Speaker
Thank so much. You guys. So I'm always so grateful. Thanks for making it what it is. Yeah, for sure. And thank you so much for coming on the pod today. I really appreciate having me So yeah. Thank you again to Eden and thank you to Jordan from earlier. You can catch up with since rookie season on social media. We're on X, we're on threads, we're on Instagram. You also can follow Eden on social media. What's the handle? Yes, I am not Eden Strader is my personal small handle. And then Garden of Dot Collective or X House Party X. And the house is H-U-A-S, obviously. Yes, obviously. So yeah, make sure to either follow us on all of those. If you want to leave a voice memo for the pod, you can send it to srspod at protonmail.com. And we'll respond to you as soon as we can. And next week, we are going to be doing our final episode of the season, which is the Since Rookie Season Edit Awards. So we will catch you all next week.
01:25:43
Speaker
All right. Bye. Since Rookie Season is created by Lauren Lau and Amanda. The cover art is created by Lauren and Lau and Amanda is our editor.
01:25:54
Speaker
Thanks for listening.