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RHNS: Episode 1 - Origin Story
83 Plays9 months ago
Join hosts Ryan and Shauna as they discuss the birth of their nerdiness and how the podcast came to be.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
Ready.
00:00:06
Speaker
Okay.
Welcome to Real Hot Nerd Shit
00:00:07
Speaker
Welcome to Real Hot Nerd Shit, a place where real hot nerds talk about real nerd shit. My name is Ryan and I'm your host. and My name is Shana and I'm here to help introduce you to our wonderful world of shared nerddom. Yes, I can't wait. So um this is Real Hot Nerd Shit, a podcast that I feel like has been in conversation forever. um We had a first start with our friend Ryan and then kind of lost momentum. It's just a place for us to sort of like reclaim the word nerd and make it about more than just like white dudes, like
Redefining 'Nerd' with Diversity
00:00:54
Speaker
nerds can be anyone and I think the opportunity for us to talk about like pop culture from our perspective and and find the intersections of like pop culture and not necessarily social justice but like so other stuff that matters like that's kind of what my hope is for cool hot people to talk about nerd stuff. Absolutely. And I think something that, you know, I think we've realize realized is just how many intersections we have in our collective nerd dumbs, like where you're like, Oh my gosh, do you like that? Oh my gosh, I do too. And we just had this very similar, like, Oh, we vibe on like so many of these things that we didn't even realize, like, yeah you know, like recently, like X-Men 97 really, I think, stirred a lot of nostalgia in both of us in a really good way. Yeah. Yeah. I, uh,
00:01:48
Speaker
I'm trying to remember what, I think Buffy was the first thing that you, I think like you, you figured out that I liked it and like approached me with like nerd, uh, like nerd bestie energy. And then we were like, okay, cool. This works. And then it just like spiraled from there. So shout out to Sarah Michelle Geller and nobody else. Um, I mean, literally we were having technical difficulties. Like we were like, just trying to figure out recording. I just couldn't know if I was like. i the and It just so happened to be the moment I like looked, look, came back to the screen. So I literally just saw you. Steak jerking. What um what's happening with you? What you just got back? I'm tired.
Ryan's Stonewall Sports Adventure
00:02:42
Speaker
I just got back from Stonewall Sports National Tournament, which this year took place in Minneapolis.
00:02:47
Speaker
And honestly, it was really great. It was really, absolutely. It was a very fun time. Like the tournament was fun. The, like the social activities, Minneapolis has a very interesting, like gay nightlife scene in a way that I wasn't expecting. Like there was a spark called the gay nineties that was like nine bars in one. And it was this giant warehouse and apparently, yeah. No, go ahead. There's a sportsy one, dancey ones, other dancey ones, a like drag burlesque stage. Like it was actually really cool. But honestly, I feel like it's what I think a lot of, you know,
00:03:28
Speaker
local establishments kind of here. Cause we're, we're based out of our East Ohio and Cleveland specific community in that area. And so like, that's where like this weekend I was representing the Cleveland chapter and you know, I was really proud cause my team, the six city sex symbols, but i'm sure we finished third place in the lower racquet, which I'm very so fucking thrilled with. i oh young ne Like time I played at nationals, It's like knock out, knock out. Like I have never, I think maybe my first year we progressed a little bit. Like we ended up playing like four games on the second day, but I think the last nationals I went to where I played, we just got like knocked out so quick. And that is traditionally my experience as well. yeah But so we had a real rough day one. Day one is the like the round robin where you just play a bunch of teams and it seeds you after that. And.
00:04:26
Speaker
We didn't win any games. We went oh five and one with one tie. And, you know, that's we had fun. We played well. We had a really tough bracket. Like, you know, our day started with the second place team that we don't care bears based out of Canada. They're beautiful icons, icons, icons. They're, you know, great on and off the court. Yeah. But honestly, whenever I like talk about the joy of like watching um like rec sports and like even I mean I guess they pull like a lot of them play professionally but like I was it I think Sin City to 2020 like I was watching I think it was the finals I think it might have honestly been like the championship game and
00:05:16
Speaker
I was yelling so hard. I like stood up and I almost blacked out and I had to grab onto our mutual friend Eric's arm. And I was like, Eric, I can't see or hear anything. Help me sit down. Like I, they're just like so great to watch competitive dodgeball, like just so freaking cool. It is so much fun. And like, I love watching like, and so that's dodgeball as you will learn here on this podcast. Dodgeball is one of my personal passions. I travel all across the country playing it like, and so it getting to do, I, oh, I also won the MVP for my team, which was really pleased with that. And I did, I had a really great like tournament. Also I'm on one ankle because I'm literally the first play of playoffs. My teammates stepped on my ankle in the opening rush and on a tone and a heat.
00:06:12
Speaker
it was just It was just unfortunate. Accidents happen and I'm just sure for sure literally the first play of the day. And I just have to roll off and I'm like, okay, I'm massaging it, trying to get back in. I'm down. I'm down, you know. But then I came back in game three and I got the game ceiling throw. at Hell yeah. so i I was really proud of that. But yeah, so I love dodgeball. One of my, one of my nerdy topics is I'm such a big sports nerd and all of the different ways in which sports can be so nerdy and cultural. And like, I think, you know, I'm sure we'll get into that but where you're seeing with like how the WNBA is having such an amazing success. And I think it's such a great space to be, you know, nerdy about basketball. And that's something that makes me happy.
00:07:04
Speaker
um The bar that you were talking about reminded me of the one, did you go to um the Raleigh Nationals? No, Cleveland was actually my first one. I never went to one before. Oh, that's right. Yeah, I know, because I could never find a team. like Yeah, I still, I don't, how to how did they do it this year? Was it everyone still? Everyone just kind of makes their, everyone could find their own team. Yeah. I mean, I think I know people who have like free agented but in, um, nationals, but like, whatever that's, you know, it's not the same as going with, Oh, and like, I was like, the one year they were like assigning it, like they put me for billiards and I was like, I'm okay.
00:07:45
Speaker
i pass no yeah I'm good at dodgeball. I'm good at kickball. And I was like, I, who was there for a like. If I have time to do it, maybe, but like.
Origin Stories of Heroes and Podcasts
00:07:58
Speaker
Yeah, that's even that's a stretch. That's a big. Yeah, it's like I don't want to go there just to shoot pool play. I could do that. Although I didn't need some delightful people from Raleigh, actually, coincidentally, who shot pool. See, they're very nice. um Okay, so hard pivot into a little bit more of our podcast-y stuff, what we're here to talk about. um This episode we are titling origin stories. um Any nerd ever knows that that's obviously like
00:08:33
Speaker
self-referential and we shouldn't even have to explain it but um Every great hero starts somewhere and so every great podcast has to start somewhere too But I wanted to hear about your origin story but like I think a nerd is a person that is like intensely passionate and maybe like unsettlingly knowledgeable about a thing and And that thing or that topic or whatever is usually or sometimes considered weird or unpopular or uncool. I think actually even using the WNBA as an example of something to be nerdy about, you know, the
00:09:19
Speaker
the Patriarchy would tell us that the WNBA is uncool like you would be a nerd for talking about women's sports But like guess what? It's really fucking cool. And just because you just realized it Doesn't mean it's wasn't cool to begin with so a When did you first know that you were a nerd? Honestly real early on for me I always was a
00:09:50
Speaker
I loved, you know, action figures, video games. The Ninja Turtles were such a impactful part of like my childhood. And like that started with, you know, the like the classic any NES games that were ridiculous. yes <unk> ah yeah and turbo tunnel
00:10:29
Speaker
but So before we ah got cut off by technical difficulties, um we were talking about sort of the birth of our nerd dumb when we knew we were nerds. So do you maybe want to start your part again and then I can. Yeah. So you'd mentioned Power Rangers and I think that is a really, I hadn't even thought about that something that you talked about where it was like, Ooh, this is like maybe a little older than I was like, cause for me when Power Rangers first debuted, I, if that was, it was, you said 1995.
Nostalgic Reflections on Childhood Nerdiness
00:11:03
Speaker
So I'm 11. Yeah.
00:11:05
Speaker
So, and I remember being so excited and being like a little unsure because it's like very over the top, but also it was so cool and I couldn't help but like absolutely like love every part of it. And, you know, I remember being at a like sleepover with friends and like one of my friends pretending to be like one of the monsters, he was like wrapped in a blanket and was like, no like, and it was like, there was like one of the like, I just like a random like early season bad guy. sure no the A memory that thinking about this unlocked as we would stay up all night playing Super Mario Brothers 3 and try and like fight through and beat it. Wait, what was the bad guy you cut out for a second? Oh gosh, it was like a
00:11:53
Speaker
like a cylindrical kind of like monster that was like it were like and I just like it wasn't like the silly putty noise but it was kind of like a like like I just remember we were like yes clearly what you should do is wrap yourself in a blanket and pretend to be this monster. Obviously. um Yeah, the the Power Rangers part on on my end was that was the first. So if a you know if a nerd kind of has has some uncoolness to it or the the thing itself um is considered uncool by you know whomever, I
00:12:34
Speaker
was so the show debuted in 94. So I was 94. Yeah, the show debuted in 94. So the movie came out in 95. Okay. And so I was six when the movie came out. And I remember in like fourth ish grade. um So probably like, you know, four or five, four years or later. I had rented it along with a game, but I don't remember what the game was or the movie was. I had rented something and the Power Rangers movie. And the something else was for my friends that I was hanging out with, you know, either that day or that weekend or something. And the Power Rangers was for me. And my friend Anthony, who is still one of my best friends, um and I hope he listens to this and hears me.
00:13:21
Speaker
calling his shit out, he was like, I'm going to tell everyone that you still like Power Rangers. And I was like devastated. but um And I think that was kind of like one of the first times that I really experienced like shame around something that I liked. that I can remember. And so, like, I know we're gonna talk about, like, our other nerd stuff, but as I was thinking about it, like, Power Rangers was my first, like, stand-up to the fact that like it was the first thing I ever spent my earned money on purchasing a collectible. And it was that Dragonzord on the top of my ah display case. That Dragonzord I purchased on eBay in like ninth grade, I think. And it was a wrap from there. like that you know I just went down a rabbit hole of wanting stuff.
00:14:22
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Okay. Ooh. So yeah, it's like action figures were such a like thing for me and like collect like Star Wars, like especially like, but like honestly, like I, my old X-Men action figures from like that early line, like where like points of articulation and it's like a shoulder and a knee. yeah
00:14:46
Speaker
Like Cyclops activate your visor. Or it's just like there's no, the elbow doesn't bend and you just have to like tilt their body. Like um yeah and luck these young people don't know how good they have it with their 52 points of articulation. I would love, we should but we should do like a ah an episode about like the storylines that we created with our action figures because I had my, my lore for my action figures was deep. Like I had unmorphed versions of the Power Rangers and then like sort of like, um, mid grade morphs. So like, whatever I've known now, but I had like full, um, sequences in, and I like really had a hard time giving up my action figures. Like.
00:15:45
Speaker
to the point that I didn't really, I just like gave them to my dad for his office. And then no from my dad's office, they went to my nephews. And then from my nephews, it came back to me. And so I got to like scour my old action figures and again, and pick out all the stuff that I wanted to keep. ah See, this is the end. They, you know, I think the real downside of losing my mom when I was 17 is having to then know, like it was the only one is the having, but having like action, but like having me, but like, honestly, like having all of like my action figures and everything that I'd still had from childhood was like, Oh, what do I do with all of this? Cause it's like all such loaded sentimentality, like, yeah you know, and like, I still like.
00:16:32
Speaker
I in my garage, I like I still have the Ninja Turtles, the Technodrome. It was like it is one of my favorite toys of all time because that toy was so darn cool with like the eyeball that like rolls off and like it has like it opens into like this whole big playset. This was a part vehicle, part playset. Oh, yeah, I kind of remember it. Like it sounds like it was the pizza van, right? Well, there's the pizza van and then there's the pizza shooter. Cause there's like, yeah, the, like the van was one. Oh yeah. No, but like there's like, yeah, but like the pizza shooter was the coolest, like the mechanic like like shooter, like incredible.
00:17:12
Speaker
ah But see, and I think it's interesting. because like Did you share a lot of your nerd dome then with any, with your parents or anything? Cause I was, I felt very alone in my nerd dome. I'm an only child. And so I felt very much like, my parents didn't really know what to do with me for a lot of reasons. And so I feel like I was kind of left to my own devices a lot. You know, like I was just like, content to be in my room, playing with my action figures, playing video games, like, and that's where I think video games were so important to me because they were how I entertained myself is I kind of just had to, that was what I had to do.
00:17:51
Speaker
Yeah, my, sort of similarly, like my, I'm the youngest of three, but there's 10 years between my oldest sister and I and five years between my middle sister and I, but the middle sister was like five. Okay. So it's like, it's like five and five between me and middle sister, five between middle sister and oldest sister, 10 between me and oldest sister. So i appreciate yeah every half like every half decade, you're like, yeah yeah, yeah, they were like, let's get another one. Um, and I use the word get because me and my sister were procurements. As you will call recall. Um, but
00:18:31
Speaker
you know, she was too cool. Like she, there was never, I had nobody to play with really. Like other, I have, you know, some friends, like I was lucky to have neighborhood friends, but like there was only one kid, his name was Zach and um he was like probably my first best boyfriend. um And he loved Power Rangers just as much as I did, but his parents were like stupid wealthy. And so he had all of the freaking toys that I wanted, including his literal sister, who I think her name was Aaron for some reason. His little sister had the Barbie dress-up, Kimberly and Trini. And I cannot believe I didn't mug that little girl. Like, I can't believe I didn't steal her shit because I absolutely... Like, what are you talking about? Dress-up with the Power Rangers? The girl ones? Sold.
00:19:24
Speaker
mind fa out No, no, that like, gosh, all of those ways. And but see, and that's where I feel like growing up, like, you know, knowing that you're different as a trans woman and not really obviously having any of the language, having any of this, like being like, Oh, I don't always get along with all of, like, you know, I had one, like my best boyfriend from kindergarten is still my friend to this day. me Who is absolutely like, we've been friends literally for God.
00:20:02
Speaker
Geez. 30 years. he like Yeah. I was like 30, yeah. 34, 35 years. like Yeah. Anthony and I, we met when we were like five, six, seven ish somewhere around there. And we're both, yeah you know, 35, like Jesus, what a blessing. Sorry, I interrupted you. I apologize. No, no, but like just thinking back to that and like, but being like where we were always kind of like, not, I wouldn't say our cast wasn't the right word, but we were definitely not the stare, like the stereotypical boys in the class. so does like for again just That was never really either of us. like he was always he was very He was very tall and like he was like a big tall kid and was always very like was quiet, very smart, like was and very kind. And so like we just immediately hit it off over things like Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers.
00:20:51
Speaker
ah I remember getting having he had Robin Hood, the Kevin Costner movie. He had the yeah action years for that.
00:21:02
Speaker
And no, but gosh, just kind of like circling back to the ways in which like I feel like gender and nerdom combined in the ways in which i always felt I was always attracted to properties with women in them, even if I couldn't. like But there was, I think, especially for our generation, and like there were so much less than even like before, because like the generation before was more your She-Ra, that kind of... um sure um'm like je like those kinds of actually like, like girl women led shows in a way that kind of disappeared in the 90s and so a lot of ways. And I think that was there weren't as many big properties like that. at Yeah, ah it's very were crossovery.
00:21:48
Speaker
Well that's I'm kind of trying to you know i'm I'm certain that there's a connection to like the waves of feminism and so yeah like how people were responding to that because you know like you thinking about like you said our generation and how you know the presence of women and girl characters. than how insanely hypersexualized they became, like you know that iconic spider woman cover where her like ass is over her head because she's like yeah clinging to a wall. like It's just you know the but done from like a very clearly for the male gaze, the objectification of women. It's like, well, if we have to have him here, we might as well make him hot.
00:22:35
Speaker
like I feel like there was sort of this, um and I guess that hasn't really changed, but like, you know, the pretty politics and like, you know, the the casting sort of a, um quote unquote, like traditionally pretty person, like Kimberly Hart, to this day, femme icon. And this is actually kind of along what you the lines that you were saying about gender, same. I always, always gravitated towards
00:23:06
Speaker
If I can be the girl I'm in, that's fine. Like every video game, I think my friend Anthony is probably one of the first people to ever play. I was like, you always pick the girl character. I'm like, yeah, because the girls are better. Um, but you know, obviously there's like, there's a thing there. Like there's the, I get to be a girl. I always had various, I was always afraid to pick the girl character. Yeah. I had a lot of things that I didn't realize where I was like, Oh, I don't, I can't pick the girl character. Like that, yeah like I had a lot of like that like self rationalization that I didn't even realize at the time was that was what was happening in the like, but also where I was like, Oh, like I usually tended to just like the very like, you know, stereotypical like main character just because it was the, like it was that realizing like, Oh,
00:23:57
Speaker
The characters I like are the characters that I found attractive was always it was a very interesting. Oh, I didn't know that because like it's so like the way in which like being closeted and like the 90s was in such a different kind of way. Oh my gosh, like yeah, like I'm trying to remember if there was ever a point where I like stopped or where I tried to like hide that I liked being the girl character because You know, like my friend Anthony was the only person that I really played video games with. And, you know, again, thankfully just being friends with someone for so long, like.
00:24:36
Speaker
it There were times, I'm certain that he you know didn't say it with malice, but like I don't think I felt shame either way. like right right I remember kind of like responding, for some reason I feel like I said, because I like that the girls kick more, um which is my fighting style. If I were to fight, I got really long legs. I'll kick motherfuckers. but um Yeah, there was, there was a lot of like gender stuff tied into it. Like watching ah again, I go to Kimberly Hart and obviously not to discredit training Juan. I'm sure there's some, you know, like internalized, um, white supremacy around my preference for the pink ranger over the yellow ranger. Um, but the pink ranger had a skirt. So I don't know what else to say. Yeah, because the the yellow ranger wasn't played by, was played by boy. Yes.
00:25:29
Speaker
So because you had to add a second they had to add a second like girl character for balance. But in the actual like Super Sentai, Yellow Ranger, it's yeah, it's the three, three of them are our guys. And it was only the Pink Ranger who's actually a girl, which is why she had a story. Okay, wait, it froze, but you're back. Thank God. um Because I'm like devastated because we said Super Sentai the same exact time. like That's what I'm talking about. That thing right there. I just yeah spend so much time on the internet just
00:26:03
Speaker
reading about power. And so like, you know, again, I think all on Wikipedia holes was so is such a for Wikipedia, baby. I'm talking about just like weird fan made sites that were. Yeah. Oh my gosh. And like I used to again like where my mom would take me to like going to like bookstores and getting like the Star Wars encyclopedias and all of that kind of really interesting. yeah I loved reading like the visual encyclopedia kind of stuff of like Star Wars. Those were such instrumental nerd memories of mine. Yeah. um Okay, so I want to sort of bring it closer to the now.
First Nerd Niches: Halo and Buffy
00:26:41
Speaker
um You know, you and I
00:26:44
Speaker
have connected over a number of things, but what was your what was your first like nerd niche? Realizing that mine is actually probably Power Rangers, but I feel more strongly about Buffy, so I'll talk about that. But what's okay what is what was the first thing that you were like, I want to consume everything about this, and I will talk to anyone about it that will listen to me. Let's see. i think from For high school to adult, Halo. It was absolute. I was very good at it. It was a language that I could talk with and use to get along with people and like being like, and a way of finding respect because I was often, I was, I was good. I was seen as good. And it was a way that I could kind of like, a way that I was, I felt wanted in a way that I felt like I could really help out and like,
00:27:42
Speaker
And, you know, like in my like early twenties, like my comic book shop was not a very friendly, welcoming place for girls and women. It was a very arguably often very hostile, like very, very famously in this comic book shop, girls were not allowed to play magic. That was a stated rule. Absolutely. Oh, my gosh, as girls can do math was literally the that that is the like that kind of deeply ingrained, awful nerd shit that you participated in it. Right. ah said You know what I mean? Like, fucking did you participate in it? No, I didn't play magic. OK, got it. But like, did you? Well, because a while I ended up ultimately playing it more in my mid 20s than like, but that was kind of
00:28:32
Speaker
post that moment, but like when I was like, when I was early, like early twenties, like for a while, like that was like a growth moment was where like girls were allowed in the shop and kind of more treated as at least closer to equals. But even then like back in the day, like girlfriend, so interestingly, like, you know, girlfriends weren't allowed to play halo. So like, you know, the boys would go off to play halo and then the girls would bullshit and drink wine and whatever. And like, Right. I always advocated for my spouse to play. And so, like, I'm, you know, I have a non-binary trans masculine spouse. Hi, Dara.
00:29:10
Speaker
And so I always made sure that they were allowed to play and they were the only person seen as a girl who was allowed to play Halo was my spouse because I advocated for them to do so. We love it. Because I was going to like, I both taught them how to play and made sure that they could hold their own and be able to actually play and participate because that's what you do. You look out for those in your life.
00:29:40
Speaker
Yeah, so I think for me, um like Buffy was the first thing that I was like, this is like a core part of my personality. And, yeah you know, Power Rangers has always been there. um And it's really funny because I was talking to my friend Chris yesterday about like, actually, oh shit, like I do think my first real nerd thing was Power Rangers, like, but I, you know, that has since waned. im so Of course, I still love it. I'm still very nostalgic about it, but I think the fact that it is a time and place. Yeah, and because it's like an ongoing thing that I'm not interested in, it doesn't feel as, I don't feel as tied to it, tied to it whereas with Buffy,
00:30:34
Speaker
i I have the seasons on repeat. I you know collect the comic books. like It is something that has stuck with me. So I think Power Rangers, thank you Power Rangers for really making me enjoy stuff that I thought. it took you know I found other nerds um in high school, like my friend Jared, who um was like the first person that taught me how to play magic. And he was like the first other nerd boy that I was friends with. like My friend Anthony and we kind of became like a little trio. My friend Anthony was um a nerd, but he was also really good at sports and like, you know, had other interests in hobbies um until we like dragged him into the basement and we're like, stay here with us forever. Like, um but my friend Jamie, Jamie Scott, I was actually, I looked him up on Facebook recently just because I wanted to see, and he's just like, you know, a super regular adult.
00:31:31
Speaker
um I was in theater and like I was involved in theater in high school, unsurprisingly. And I was you know talking about, how i I remember I was in English class sophomore year, first period with Mrs. Dolar and Jamie sat in front of me and I was talking about musicals and somehow like he, and she's like, you know, Buffy has a musical, right? And I was like, what are you talking about? Like, shut up, that's stupid. And then he like started selling me on it.
00:32:01
Speaker
And, you know, I had seen some, I'd never watched Buffy, but I had seen, you know, I specifically remember when they switched to the UPN and I saw some like teasers and ads for it. And I was like, what do you mean she's being brought back to life? This bitch died and they're bringing her back and it's on a different, like, so I was, my interest was already peaked. And then my friend was like, okay, this whole episode. So I pirated it as we did as young people. um I understood nothing. I mean, you could watch the Muse Once More Feeling out of context and you really don't even need it. It's a musical. It's done really well.
00:32:45
Speaker
um But I was like, this this is cool. Like this is really, I'm into this. And so I'm pretty sure I just started downloading like random episodes, but like really, and like I watched the gift like in two segments. Like I had only seen the second half of the episode. I had no idea what happened in the first half because pirating. um But like I started to make friends because of Buffy and then I started collecting the DVDs, which were like, you know, 60 bucks and were so expensive. But like, yes. Oh my God. Or getting it as a gift. um But yeah, so, you know, I, it just stuck. And I think.
00:33:33
Speaker
again, so much of it had to do with like gender stuff and seeing this really powerful woman who is also cool and fun and hot and like, you know, fit a lot of other archetypes that appealed to me. Um, you know, it just made, it made me, it made me happy. It made me feel like there was something, it became a comfort really quickly. Yeah. like It made me feel seen in many ways I feel because like, it's kind of where you're like, Oh, this is like, the parts of yourself that like you see in those characters and in Buffy as a protagonist for sure. And like, you know, the timing of it all with like my coming out and it just, there was a lot happening and Buffy filled in a lot of gaps for me. And like it became, like when I say it quickly became part of my personality. So it ended in 2005, right? Or 2003.
00:34:34
Speaker
2005. Regardless, I graduated in 2007. So the comics had just started coming out. And like everyone knew that I was a Buffy stan. And so for my high school graduation party, my ah classmate Evan got me the first four issues of the Buffy Dark Horse season eight. And again, it was just like, there's comics. like just mind blown. So shout out to all those people that I you know named Drop, not that you'll ever listen to this, but um thanks for making me a nerd.
Comic Book Discoveries and Influences
00:35:10
Speaker
Okay, so I said a magic word of X-Men, which reminds me that we wanted to think about the things that we're talking about, the things that we had in common. So obviously Buffy, um obviously X-Men, were you a comic reader?
00:35:24
Speaker
Yes, I used to read a lot more comics, especially like I had the like original like Ninja Turtle comics, like the Eastman Laird comic books from back like early on. Wait, was it a comic before it was a television show? So fun fact. Oh, yeah. No, actually in the comic book origin story, it's a big it's supposed to take place in basically Daredevil's universe. Oh. That's why the house kitchen and of the hand. OK, wait, I was just talking about that with someone the other day. And the accident that um turned Matt that gave Matt Murdock his powers is the same mutagen that then turned the turtles into the Ninja Turtles. So but it was not a Marvel property. No, it wasn't. It was just two people at doing their own thing. Also in why splinters splinter because of master stick.
00:36:22
Speaker
Sure. Well, I was talking to, I think my barber and I was trying to, I think I was talking to him about, you know, my pot, the podcast and yeah um like Ninja Turtles and blah, blah, blah. And I was like, yeah. And the bad guys, I feel like they were called the hand, but that's also a Daredevil thing. Like I, I think I maybe someone put that together for me a long time ago, but that's so funny. I had no idea. Yeah, yeah. And so that was where but I used to then like collect like the training cards comics and I would like because I got I love Daredevil. Daredevil is one of my favorite comic books, actually. Like I really I got really into it because of the Kevin Smith run because I loved Kevin Smith movies in high school. um
00:37:10
Speaker
Those were like very impactful for me. And like Mollrath's and like such a like big movie in my life. And then Chasing Amy. And then I lived Chasing Amy. And then. Right. But you and Dara should go as Jay and Silent Bob, but like your genderfucked versions. No, no, I think that is very funny. I actually really like that. That works very well. No, no, I'm so going to like. Hmm. Um, nay I was not, I didn't, I like, I would read comics that were given to me and whenever I would go to like, um, border, not borders, there was a bookstore.
00:37:53
Speaker
in Strongsville Mall. Walden books. Walden books. Fuck you, Shauna. Walden books. And they had a great, I mean, they didn't have a great comic section, but like, I just remember sitting there and like looking at comics and wanting, because there was so much, I was like, I have no idea. And so I was just like reading Powerpuff Girls comics, like just no idea where to even start. And so, you know, comics were never really my thing. Um, but I had some and I still have some, um, like I have a couple of new mutants that my dad gave me when I was a kid. The ultimate universe was I think the first time I really collected. Wow. What a, uh, what an interesting jumping in point because none of that counts.
00:38:38
Speaker
Well, but that's, I think, honestly, kind of why I liked it is because it was a starting point. yeah So I could start at the beginning of Spider-Man. I could start at the beginning of X-Men and get these kind of different, more moderny takes on these characters, which I really appreciated. Yeah. So for anyone that doesn't know, the Ultimate Universe is one of the sort of like alternate realities of the Marvel Universe, um which I guess is kind of interesting that no one has really speculated about any Ultimates adaptations into um Wolverine and Deadpool, but um perhaps that's some nods that we'll get. But it was just, to Shauna's point, a great jumping in point.
00:39:25
Speaker
Um, because it, it was like new characters in the sense that they were reimagined and like, you know, um, and they still do the ultimate universes today, but, um, yeah, the, but like Batman cartoons. Oh, I love that. Oh my God. I mean, the animated series was so impactful. Like, oh my gosh, like, but those like Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men, all of them were such like hugely instrumental shows in my childhood. Like I remember like my, like one of my like, you know, grade school friends would came up with like a theme song for the X that would go along with like the X-Men
Future Episodes and Themes
00:40:05
Speaker
theme. Yeah. kind of Like those little like things that like kids do in grownups, but yeah.
00:40:13
Speaker
Oh, cut to us headbanging to the X-Men 97 theme song circa four months ago, um which I think kind of um nicely segues into talking about like how we're going to run the show and what our next episodes are going to be. So yeah this is very much so a, you know, um draft first run of recording that has a lot of good moments between the two of us um that are definitely usable even if we don't use the whole thing but you know we'll figure something out but um we are going to be um so each week
00:40:57
Speaker
For each episode, please let me rephrase that. Imagine being on a weekly basis, no. Each episode will dissect some of our favorite nerd shit in a specific theme from our own lenses as queer and trans people with help from special guests along the way. um We have some really interesting and cool people that ah we hope to snag and have on here. Um, but the first round of, uh, three episodes is going to be my favorite nerd shit. We're going to have our mutual friend, Ooxie on the podcast, who is also a big X-Men nerd, um, to talk about just the greatness of it. I really am. Like I have high hopes and not in like a unrealistic way.
00:41:51
Speaker
No, honestly, as long as it's fun, yeah and frankly, that's something that the first two Deadpool movies, I think, accomplished very well. It was the right level of nerd pandering, because at the end of the day, we want to be pandered, too. Correct. We want things that are referential. We want things that make us feel like, oh my gosh, I do get that. Did you get that? No, I got that. you should And it's those conversation pieces that I think those movies have done so well, like historic like in the last two. And I would imagine they would do it for this one. And if it doesn't, then, well, they' they can just reboot it. Right. Well, and that's the thing. I think the other thing that we know to be true is that they're trying to use this movie to pull together a lot of the loose threads. So, you know, from the Fox universe, obviously, specifically, um there's so much great content in there. Like, fuck you, fight me. I love any of the X-Men movies.
00:42:51
Speaker
what that one tweet that's like, you know, it's a good movie if you don't have a hater and you're telling you it's bad. Sure, there are some movies that are not the greatest, but I am a fucking X-Men nerd. I want it all. I enjoyed the Ben Affleck Daredevil movie. I have a wide range of things of acceptability where I was like, no, no. Michael Clark Duncan's a great kingpin. And you know what? Sure. Colin Farrell is this weirdly Irish bullseye. Whatever. like, ah okay, we need to add Daredevil. Yeah, we need to add the daredevils. Oh, we need, we just need a theme about flops, because we could do dare vault, we could do catwoman, oppressed Catholic superheroes, just in general, like, I was like, why does this appeal to me? Yeah, raised Catholic, you know,
00:43:42
Speaker
um I am super down to do a flops theme, movies that did not get the respect that they deserved or did not reserve deserve. um But yeah, so we'll have these themes and we'll um talk about the themes from the perspective of pop culture content, old and new, ah from you know our unique lenses and with a little nerd spin on it because ah we're cool, we're hot, We're real, we're hot, we're nerds. This is real hot nerd shit. That feels like a great place to try to end our first episode. Go us! Go us. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for joining us. I forgot that we're not just talking to each other. We're talking to each other. But isn't that the trick of it? Is that we enjoy talking to each other about it. So that's where we're like, oh, what if we just recorded it? And so happy to put this out, get something on tape and
00:44:42
Speaker
you know We'll see you next time and we'll figure out you know what we're talking about, but I'm sure it'll be you know real hot nerd shit. like so