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Episode One: Introduction
39 Plays2 months ago
I'm opening this podcast with an explanation of why I am doing this, my own history with Xena: Warrior Princess, and how this is all going to work. I'm a huge introvert and this was a very spontaneous decision for me so I really appreciate you giving this a chance! Thanks for listening! I hope you enjoy the conversations in store!
Do you want to be a guest? Fill out the form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfnY3gRGuWdzcqUGMoWaBBPbRJY1rxQGfdESOgymKC6uM6Rng/viewform?usp=dialog or shoot me an email talkxenatomepod@gmail.com
Be sure to follow the podcast on Twitter @talkxenatomepod and feel free to dm about anything anytime!
You can follow me personally @ellisthemighty on twitter and tumblr!
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Motivation
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Talk Xena To Me. um This is my new podcast where I'm going to be talking with my fellow Xenites about Xena and how we got into it and how it affected us and our time in the fandom and really anything, honestly.
00:00:18
Speaker
um Fun fact, this is my second time ah recording at least the first part of this because i er I'm not a professional.
00:00:28
Speaker
This is a good time to bring that up. I'm not a professional. um I hope this sounds alright, because I don't have a microphone. I'm just using my AirPod, and I'm still figuring out my technology and how this works. So, uh, I'm gonna make mistakes.
00:00:45
Speaker
So we're just gonna but bear with it and try our best. So
Personal Background and Influences
00:00:52
Speaker
just introduce myself. My name is Elizabeth. Um, if you found me via social media, which you probably almost certainly did, um, you know that I go by Ellis on there.
00:01:02
Speaker
Um, Elizabeth, Ellis, Kevin, if you're Summer, you can call me whatever. I don't really care. um It's whatever.
00:01:13
Speaker
um But I just want to, in this episode, do a little introduction. i want to talk about why I'm doing this podcast. I want to talk about my own history with Xena. And I want to talk about how this podcast is going to work.
00:01:26
Speaker
So...
00:01:28
Speaker
Let's just jump in. um A little bit about me first, because I feel like that's important. I feel like it's important to know, like, demographic information about someone um when you're talking about a show, because I know that really affects, like, how people watch things and how people view things and how it hits them and the way they interact with other people. So anyway, like I said, ah my name's Elizabeth.
00:01:51
Speaker
ah I'm 23.
00:01:54
Speaker
I'm white, I'm cis, my pronouns are she, her, I'm bi, and
00:02:08
Speaker
I'm disabled. Physically. I should say I'm physically disabled because
00:02:14
Speaker
that's such a wide variety of experiences. Although, I guess, is anxiety a disability? Mine probably is. um Anyway, um and I'm from the southern United States.
00:02:29
Speaker
So that's a rip-roaring good time, I'm sure. of You know.
From History to Podcasting
00:02:37
Speaker
Anyway, oh ah I'm starting this podcast because I majored in history in college. And um when I was, I did an internship at a museum.
00:02:51
Speaker
that was based on oral histories and oral history for people that don't know what oral history is. It's a type of interview. It could be audio, it could be video. But you're talking about two people about um usually a historical event um that they lived through and they're really important. and They really struck me because it's one thing to like um read a diary um which i also really enjoy doing. But it's another thing to hear people's voices and hear the way they speak and their emotions. And it just really, i don't know, it just really hit me. And I really grew to have an appreciation and a love for these methods of preservation. And I did my own with my grandparents, which I'm so grateful for that I have that sort of an account of their life. Um,
00:03:45
Speaker
And i thought of this idea of making a version for Xena. um And it was sort of a big, a big dream that I didn't necessarily have the skills for at the time, because I was thinking about making a whole database, or it would be, you know, a website and you would be able to search by, you know, various tags, like,
00:04:12
Speaker
fanfiction or editors or whatever you wanted to look up. And it would all be timestamped. So every question would be timestamped and every, ah you would just, it would be really, really intuitive and and easy to get around and thorough.
00:04:31
Speaker
um And I just don't have the the time or the skills at the moment to do something like that. I don't want to wait. um feel like right now I've been active in fandom for a while and I really love the place that I'm at.
00:04:50
Speaker
And I just want talk to talk people now. So I thought to switch gears a little bit and make it into a podcast instead.
00:05:00
Speaker
Um...
Inclusive Community Focus
00:05:03
Speaker
The one thing that is different is that originally I wanted to focus on ZNites, people that watched it while it was airing. But now I'm kind of, I'm open to anyone. Because i just, I love this community so much and I love who we are as a people.
00:05:19
Speaker
And I want us to have um a little, i don't know.
00:05:27
Speaker
That's like Zenite appreciation. i don't know. I just... I have so much... um You know, loving the show is one thing, but it's really a a privilege to be in a fandom where the first thing you think of isn't her drama and discourse and you think about how good these people are and how much of a positive experience you've had and I just want us to...
00:05:56
Speaker
be able to have conversations with each other and listen to each other speak and feel like we're hanging out and um
Online Fandom Journey
00:06:03
Speaker
I just want us to be captured so that's why I'm doing this um so I guess I'll move on into my own history with Xena um I started off actually I'll start with my history in fandom um I started in fandom ah with Killing Eve, which is maybe the worst thing you could start off in fandom with because a if you watched Killing Eve or if you were around online, you probably know that that was not exactly the most positive experience.
00:06:40
Speaker
um But...
00:06:48
Speaker
So I started on Tumblr, actually. live tumbling i don't know what the verb is to i guess live posting on tumblr um watching killing eve and um
00:07:05
Speaker
that was my very first experience in fandom i had never ah been involved online um i had been obsessed with plenty of things uh because i'm nothing if not hyper fixating on something um but that was always with my friends it was always very um local to me in my real life um It wasn't until later when I got older that I started being hyper fixated on things that no one around me was interested in, which is what sort of drove me online. But yeah, Killing Eve, the ending of Killing Eve, I don't want to.
00:07:44
Speaker
I guess I shouldn't spoil anything for other things. ah The Killing Eve finale um emotionally wrecked me in a way that I have not experienced before or since.
00:07:57
Speaker
I was just so...
Discovering Xena
00:08:02
Speaker
angry. And I'm not an angry person. It takes a lot to make me angry. It really does. um But I was really angry. and um
00:08:15
Speaker
edit being in fandom i guess helped with that because it was just a bunch of us being angry like it was crazy i i loved killing eve so much and then that finale happened and it was like every ounce of love i felt for that show just like de drained from my body um i had had pieces of fan art uh on my dorm room walls, even Villanelle fan art on my walls. I was like, this has to come down. I can't look at it anymore.
00:08:50
Speaker
i I've been betrayed. um Which, honestly, maybe maybe I was a fool for thinking that um that it was going to turn out a okay anyway after after season four in general. But anyway, so that happened in April 2022.
00:09:08
Speaker
of twenty twenty two And I believe I watched Xena in December? November December of 2022 for the first time.
00:09:23
Speaker
um I think I spent the time in between being angry and mourning um and generally annoying everyone around me with my...
00:09:37
Speaker
um disappointment and rage uh but uh later that year so this would be my sophomore year of college um i started watching xena and i immediately loved it so much and um it was i remember i watched it quite quickly because it was fine and final season Um, and I was very burdened by, ah my schoolwork and extremely stressed out, and I was like, i need something that I can binge.
00:10:15
Speaker
Um, and then I found Xena, and I was like, this is great. I don't, I wish I remembered how I found it, because I'm pretty sure that I just saw, like, clips on YouTube or something, and I was like, I need to see this, um,
00:10:29
Speaker
Or maybe I saw it online. I think it was the YouTube clips, though. um It's actually kind of funny because I remembered it wasn't until I watched thena the end first time that I had got like a flash of a childhood memory because i when i was like seven um my parents got me a kindle fire and i loved that kindle fire but they got it for me because i read so much but i used it to go on youtube and i would sit in the recliner in my living room and i would throw a blanket over my head so that no one could see what i was doing and i would get on my kindle fire um
00:11:11
Speaker
But one day, i must have been, i don't even know what I was doing to have found this, but it was the clip from Femmes, and Gems where Xena's like, come on, Gabrielle, let's get wet. And then Jockser's like, being a monkey guy. And I remember being like,
00:11:31
Speaker
had to have been like eight or nine or something like that and being like what is this like i remember being like so off-put by josser like just so like like who is this stupid monkey dude in this clip and it wasn't until i reached fence him some gems in my first watch that i was like oh my god I've seen this before. It's been eons, but I've seen this before.
00:12:01
Speaker
um but yeah, I watched it. I guess I probably started in November and I finished it in January of 23, just three years ago.
00:12:12
Speaker
Um, which I think is pretty remarkable actually, because I get hyper fixated, I guess. Um,
Convention Experiences
00:12:22
Speaker
Well, I guess I do have long-term hyperfixations. I was going to say I usually burn out by now, but um I was obsessed with Harry Potter when I was a kid.
00:12:31
Speaker
Boo. And then I got really obsessed with Broadway, particularly Sierra Bacchus from the ah ah the 25th anniversary Royal Albert Hall version of Phantom of the Opera. Yeah.
00:12:49
Speaker
and uh then killing eve and then yeah anyway i guess those were all a few years but um anyway um finished zina in january 2023 and then my reign of terror began i immediately switched all of my uh social medias to zina themed so My Twitter had been killing Eve.
00:13:14
Speaker
My Tumblr had been killing Eve. And then it switched to Xena's. And I've been there ever since. Too much, probably. spend ah really, probably, inappropriate amount of time on Twitter in my daily life. It's probably not good, but... um
00:13:31
Speaker
Anyway. i replaced the Killing Eve fan art. Um... with Xena fan art. I ordered them from an artist on Tumblr. ah The name was Deidre.
00:13:45
Speaker
I will find their account, and I will put it in the description of this podcast because I want to um acknowledge people when I think of them.
00:13:56
Speaker
um But yeah, ah I immediately started being incredibly annoying, which is what I usually do. And ah bring up, brought up Xena in literally every conversation that I ever had.
00:14:09
Speaker
um But yeah, I got invited, I got started in fandom basically just by being on Twitter and Tumblr. More on Tumblr at first and now I'm almost never on Tumblr anymore. Only when I'm like desperate for content.
00:14:28
Speaker
um But yeah, I, I, It's been great. i've I think I've seen everything there is to see Xena. I think. I've listened to, like, every podcast. I've was i've watched every video. i've I don't know. I'm a consumer. That's what I do.
00:14:48
Speaker
I consume. um But ah last year, ah July, i got to go to a convention that Renee...
00:15:01
Speaker
was at and um I was very very lucky because she was coming pretty near to where I live and um I was like I have to see Renee O'Connor like I I have to like if I know that Renee is that nearby me and I don't go like I will be thinking about this for the rest of my life So I dragged my parents to this convention and um I was like, we have to do everything. So I got two autographs and I got my photo and was having a Q&A.
00:15:37
Speaker
And this Q&A was amazing. There was like maybe 30 of us, like 20 to 30 people. Like it was so small and it was so intimate and it was so lovely.
00:15:50
Speaker
um But I met these two people xenites who were Z-Nites. um And I talked to them a little bit at the Q&A.
00:16:01
Speaker
And they were so sweet to me. And I wish I remembered their names, but I don't. I really wish I did. But they're so sweet to me. I told them that it was my first convention ever, which it was.
00:16:13
Speaker
And, you know, they had because they had asked me if I had ever met Renee before. And I was like, no, I have not met Renee before. And they... they During the Q&A, they, um, like flagged Renee down for me to make sure that I got to ask her a question. Um, which I very much appreciated. Um, they did not have to do that, but, um, they, they really had my back. So I got to ask Renee a question and then I got a picture with her, which was amazing. We did a little hand art and then I, uh, um,
00:16:52
Speaker
The next day, ah went to get her autographs. I got my Funko Pop signed and I got a picture of her from...
00:17:01
Speaker
ah i think it's from Dehella Connebec signed, which was amazing. She said that she remembered me from the Q&A and that I asked a really good question. And I told her about the group chat that I'm in a Shout out to you guys.
00:17:15
Speaker
You rock. And she gave me a message to send along to them. um And then she stood up and was like...
Future Plans and Dedication
00:17:24
Speaker
let's have a hug or can we have a hug or whatever and i was like uh yes oh yes we can thank you um so I got to hug Renee it was great it was really great uh sometimes I think about and I'm like wow that's that's really crazy um
00:17:46
Speaker
but we were walking away and my mom was like I got pictures of the whole thing um So I have pictures of, it's on my Twitter, it's pinned on my Twitter, um pictures of me hugging Renee, which I think probably need to be framed somewhere.
00:18:03
Speaker
um
00:18:05
Speaker
But yeah, ah that's my, i yeah, that changed my life. That was amazing. I still, I think about that. So often that whole experience of getting to be around people. I didn't really understand a whole lot of the convention because a lot of it was like anime related and I don't know anything about anime.
00:18:25
Speaker
I really was only there for Renee and I had a really great time. um And I wish to go to more. I got oh I got tickets to Xenocon.
00:18:38
Speaker
I'm gonna get my picture taken with Lucy and Renee and I've got some autographs and stuff like that. um I'm spending an amount of money that I definitely don't have, but um
00:18:53
Speaker
It's fine. um i just really want to go because It's in New Jersey and I'm not sure um if it will be a New Jersey again Or, you know, who knows what the future holds.
00:19:08
Speaker
But there's absolutely no way i can get myself to California.
00:19:14
Speaker
Like, that's just not...
00:19:18
Speaker
it's just not That's just not possible right now. It's not in the cards. So, while they're in New Jersey, i am going. um And if I have to spend, you know, all the money that I have, then that's just what we're gonna do. But it's okay.
00:19:32
Speaker
It's fine. It is all good Um, okay. Um, I'm trying to think if there's anything else I need to say about that.
Becoming a Guest
00:19:43
Speaker
I was gonna go into maybe some of my favorites about Xena, but I feel like that is gonna come up along the way when I talk to people. So I don't feel like I need to talk about that right now. I really just wanted to get some of my history down so that you guys know, ah a little about who I am. I don't want you to feel like you're signing up to talk to someone who...
00:20:05
Speaker
you don't know. I mean, you don't know me, but you know what I mean. um Hopefully. Hopefully you know what I mean. um Yeah.
00:20:16
Speaker
I plan to keep this pretty brief, so I'll move into how this is going to work. So i have made lots of things. The podcast has a Twitter.
00:20:28
Speaker
um It is, let me actually check the app right now because I don't want to tell you wrong um it is at talkxenatomepod um which will also be in the description um you can go follow this podcast on there um i'll be posting updates probably honestly i'll just be posting when episodes are live but um you can dm me there ah anytime really you want to chat
00:21:04
Speaker
DM me. You got a question? DM me. You want to tell me what your favorite food is? DM me. um I've also made an email, which is talkxenatomepod at gmail.com. But the most important part of this is that I've made a Google form. So if you would like to be a guest on the pod, which hopefully some of you do because it will be very awkward if...
00:21:33
Speaker
um I am, it's just one episode. It's just me introducing myself and that's it. So ah hopefully ah people will come on and that'll be cool.
00:21:49
Speaker
um The Google form is really just going to help me plan. So it has some information, has some basic information about yourself. um And it has some questions about like, is there anything you want to talk about?
00:22:04
Speaker
That you're like, I have to talk about this in my episode. Like, it's it's burning. It's burning me. It's on my mind. Um, is there anything you don't want to talk about so I know not to bring it up? Um, stuff like that.
00:22:16
Speaker
Uh, you don't have to fill out the form if you don't want to. You definitely don't have to answer every question on the form, because I know that some of them might... I don't know. I try not to ask anything too invasive, but if you feel like there's something you don't want to share, by all means, don't answer the question.
00:22:31
Speaker
Just don't. Um... But i would appreciate um i would appreciate it if you fill out that form because um I am going to have a standard set of questions that I ask people, um but I do want to tailor it to you.
00:22:52
Speaker
and talk about things that you care about and how you're involved. So um yeah, that Google form, i will link it in the description of this podcast.
Podcast Technicalities
00:23:04
Speaker
It will also be um on the Twitter. um If you don't want to fill out the Google form or if it doesn't work for you, which is possible, please let me know if it doesn't work.
00:23:19
Speaker
yell at me be like the the form I can't access it if you can't access it or uh something uh just DM me be like I want to be on and then I'll talk to you and we'll work it out um what else did I want to say um if you don't have so the way I'm i'm recording this with Zencaster and the way it works is that you uh give me your email and then i send you a link to a recording session and then it plops us into a chat together um And that's how we record.
00:23:53
Speaker
It's magic. um I'm gonna be doing some tests because I've not done it before. of um So if you are the first guest, um just know that there might be some snafus.
00:24:06
Speaker
um But we'll work it out. We'll learn together. um
00:24:14
Speaker
So yeah. So I am going to require, I'm going to need your email. But if you don't have an email, I feel like most people have an email. But if you don't, for some reason, also DM me and be like, this isn't going to work.
00:24:26
Speaker
um And we'll figure something else out. um But I want to close by saying that I don't want anyone to feel like they need to fit a certain participation level or something to be on this podcast, right? This is a podcast I want to talk to as many different Zenites as I can.
00:24:50
Speaker
Like, I don't care. i don't care how long you've been into Xena. You know, i don't care, you know, about how active you are, really. I mean, I'd like you to be, I mean,
00:25:07
Speaker
I, That's good because we have more stuff to talk about in terms of fandom, but I'm not going to be like, you're not active enough to be on here. i not going to be like that. I want people to feel comfortable in talking to me no matter what.
00:25:23
Speaker
So, um, or maybe you have like an opinion that you think is weird or controversial. I want to talk to everyone, you know, not just our, you know,
00:25:38
Speaker
main Xena Gabrielle loving people. Of course I want to talk to you too, but you know what I mean. um
00:25:49
Speaker
I do my best in to be an objective person. um I do have my own opinions, obviously everyone does, but I'm not a judgmental person um at all.
00:26:02
Speaker
Really, within reason, unless you're like evil. But anyway, um and i just want to know what you think i just want to talk um i just want to talk so please don't let uh feeling like you have an opinion that people don't share or feeling like you don't have anything to say because i guarantee that you have something to say we all have something to contribute um to each other so please if you want to come on come on let me know we'll have a chat um it'll be great um
00:26:37
Speaker
Come on, I just want to talk. Um, anyway. Alright! I guess it's everything. i think it's everything. Yeah, I don't really have a closing.
00:26:48
Speaker
I also don't have music. I feel like that's something I'm missing. I feel like I should have music, but I also have no skills. So... And I don't i don't really understand um how, like, copyright works fully. I do.
00:27:06
Speaker
And I will in the future because that's kind of part of what I'm studying. But, oh, that is something I should talk about. um I'm very busy. I'm a busy woman. I have a full-time job and I'm working on my master's.
00:27:19
Speaker
um I'm not going to put this on a set schedule because that's just not something that I can do. um So ah ah don't expect like, I'm going listen to this every Saturday.
00:27:33
Speaker
no You're not.
00:27:38
Speaker
Think about more like, oh, I got a little gift randomly. Surprise gift to listen to. Yay. That's going to be more more like it. ah Because um I don't want to feel like this is an obligation that I'm putting on myself. Because I want this to just be fun. A fun little conversation.
00:27:55
Speaker
um So I think that covers everything. Oh, and if you send in a form... I don't know how many people are going to want to come on.
00:28:09
Speaker
um My brain's telling me it's going to be like one, two people. But if there is a large number of people, because I'm going to advertise it on Twitter and probably the Reddit and and ah Tumblr.
00:28:27
Speaker
So if there is a higher volume of people wanting to come on, I don't be discouraged if you don't hear back from me. i will get back to you. I just, it might take a while to get you scheduled in and to figure out a time just because I'm going to do first come first serve.
00:28:47
Speaker
Whatever I get in first, I'll just work my way down. But, um, I don't know how long it will take. I'll try to get back to you with like an estimate, um, of how long the wait is, but I don't really know. But, um,
00:29:02
Speaker
Yeah, anyway. This is just meant to be fun. This is meant to be for us. So, um, we'll just see. And there'll be mistakes along the way. And funniness, and we'll see. Anyway, I'm gonna do my best, so.
00:29:16
Speaker
Um, yeah, thank you for listening. Um, I hope you- this has been majorly rambly.
Conclusion and Invitation
00:29:22
Speaker
I didn't write a script. Um, uh, maybe I should've. But, um, yeah.
00:29:28
Speaker
Thank you for listening. I hope you go on this journey with us every so often, whenever you feel like it. um And if you're interested in coming on, let me know. Check the description.
00:29:41
Speaker
um My Twitter, my personal Twitter, is at EllisTheMighty. it is also that on Tumblr. Give me a follow if you want, if you care, if you feel like it.
00:29:54
Speaker
Follow the pod at TalkZenaToMePod on Twitter. ah Email me if you want. um But yeah, check the description for for all of that information. um And I hope to talk to you guys soon. Goodbye!
00:30:12
Speaker
good-bye