Podcast - Episode 124: Fandom!

/
ms marvel fanfic.png

Hillary joins us again, and I used it as an opportunity for GIRL TALK!!!!!!!

Sort of. Hillary and I are both no strangers to fandom. Dave maybe has a different approach to the properties and creators that he loves. A *normal* approach, some might call it. One that allows you to function in your day to day life without thinking things like "Man, I'll bet Mulder would really hate this bus ride I'm on right now."

Anyway, we have a lot of thoughts about engaging with fandom, as opposed to merely being a fan, and why the fan experiences of a straight white cis male might be different from, y'know, everyone else when it comes to consuming culture.

But we also talk about comic books. And X-Files.

Anyway, LOOK AT DILTON!!!!!

dilton1.jpg
dilton2.jpg

Dilton, Riverdale doesn't deserve you.

Podcast - Episode 90: Social Media & Secret Empire

/

So Marvel's Secret Empire started in earnest with issue #0 this past week. To me the only thing worth getting riled up about with this event is the insistence of publishers to keep putting out issues numbered ZERO. Enough! No more zeroes, no more decimal points.

But that is a topic for another (very boring) episode.

This week we are talking about a bunch of stuff, but the conversation mostly keeps going back to two things: Secret Empire, and social media.

We did an episode eleven months ago, just after the big HydraCap reveal, about comic books in the age of social media. I was pretty frustrated then, and, almost a year later, I am frustrated still. And that episode was recorded shortly after I wrote out most of my feelings on the matter in a blog post. I stand by everything I said then.

So this week's episode is kind of a like a check in now that a lot of the questions about this story have been revealed. And Dave and I also discuss our individual frustrations with social media, especially Twitter, as it relates to comics. And we talk about people in the industry who are good at using social media...and some who aren't. 

But ALSO this week...Bucky is maybe dead. Probably not. But maybe a little bit dead.

But at least he went out kicking Zemo in the most ridiculous way imaginable:

bucky kick.jpg

And then he died as he lived: shirtless and thinking about Steve.

Sigh. If only he'd had some sort of useful device in that new arm of his to get him out of that trap. Like...a blade...or a flame thrower...or a tiny little robot arm. Alas.

Let's top this off with our pal J.Bone's latest Steve and Bucky make-out art:

Oh, and what's this! A little HydraCap/Zemo smooching?

For @rachellegoguen #stemo #captainamerica #baronzemo #jbone

A post shared by J.Bone (@originaljbone) on

Next week we will run down this year's Free Comic Book Day offerings! Thanks for listening!

Podcast - Episode 49: Fandom, Fanfic and Friends!

/

Dave is away this week so I have invited a couple of Twitter friends to join me on this episode. I talk to Rebecca in England and Jacqui in Philadelphia, two super hero fans who I have only talked to via Twitter up to this point. It was fun talking to them! We talk about all sorts of things: fandom, fan fiction, inclusion in comics and film casting, Sebastian Stan, Bucky, The Winter Soldier...

Hey, Dave might actually listen to this week's episode (and last week's) because he's not on them! He hates listening to his own voice! Unlike me! I ONLY want to listen to my own voice!

Speaking of self-indulgence, I use my old band's music for the transitions throughout this episode. But honestly that's more because I don't understand how copyright laws work for music in podcast episodes, and I am reasonably sure my former bandmates/current best friends won't sue me.

It was really nice talking to both Rebecca and Jacqui this week. It's nice to be reminded that you can meet really nice people on social media, not just loud jerks. 

Jacqui has a podcast too! It's called Digging Diversely and you can check it out here!

Oh, and she mentions a recent incident where some girls approached a random stranger in NYC to get help with their scavenger hunt, and it turned out to be Sebastian Stan. You can see the details/photo of that here:

Jacqui did not mention how CRAZY HOT Sebastian looked in the photo. I guess it kinda goes without saying.

I just want to say a few more words about fanfic here, because I didn't really get into my own reasons for liking it too much. 

Here are some reasons I like fanfic in general:

  1. It can be a useful way to add in "deleted scenes" to canon stories that you already love;
  2. It gives writers a place to practice their craft and gives them a supportive audience;
  3. It allows fans to explore characters beyond what you see on the screen/page;
  4. It brings all sorts of new ideas about characters and story details to the table;
  5. It adds inclusive characters to films/shows/books where there may not have been any before.

Here are some reasons I like "slash" fic in particular:

  1. It's hot;
  2. The fan community is a safe space where you are almost definitely not going to find a straight dude ruining everything;
  3. I am boy crazy and why have one hot man in your erotica when you can have two?;
  4. It's erotic entertainment created largely by women that you can consume anywhere, and you don't have to worry about real people being exploited or hurt for your enjoyment;
  5. Sometimes (often) it just makes more sense than the hetero romance the studios/publishers are trying to sell us.

So, yeah. There it is. I love it. If you see me at a coffee shop reading something on my iPad, DON'T bother me.

Thanks again to my guests. Next week Dave will be back for our 50th episode!!!!