September 3, 2025 • 47 mins
Friend of the show Joey Patt discusses their experience at Flame Con, a convention focused on the queer community. We talk about cosplay, drag, art, and camaraderie.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I never told you protection of by Heart Radio, and
today we are so excited to once again be joined
by a friend of the show, contributor to the show, Joey.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Welcome, Joey.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Hello, thanks for having me. So excited to be back
as always.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yes, we've got to you've got to come on. We've
got to have you on twice in a pretty quick succession.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
That's exciting. Yeah, yeah, it doesn't happen.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And you are I hope you don't mind me saying
I've said it before, a fellow nerd.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
What who told you that? I think you did?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yeah, yeah, we're doing a lot of nerd content.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
This month. This month being August.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I think this might come out a little bit later,
But because this is when I go to dragon Con,
which is kind of this annual event.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
It's huge. I plan a lot of my year around it.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I don't know if that says about me, but because
of that, we have been doing a lot of content
around fandom and conventions, and you a last time we
were talking, said that you were going to a new convention,
flame Con, which is specifically geared towards queer folks, right.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
It is, so first of all, totally understand the planning
your whole year around it.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I did get a text for my friend this morning
that was like, we.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Need to figure out our New York Comic con plans,
which is in October, which is less than two months away,
and I'm already like, oh no, I'm behind. Ah, there's
so many things I need to do. But you know
what that's I think that's beautiful and it's great that.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Yeah. Anyways, what I'm actually talking about today.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Yes, this past weekend as of when we're recording this,
so like mid August right now. I went to flame Con,
which is this comic book convention in New York that
is specifically, like you said, specifically kind of geared towards
we're creators and fans. It actually has been around since
(02:30):
twenty fifteen, which means this was the tenth year that
it has been around. I didn't see anything like highlighting
that at this, which.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
I was kind of surprised about.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
But I don't know, maybe I just missed something, but yeah,
I thought that was cool that this was like the
tenth year this has been around, and kind of you know,
like you Annie, I have gone to Comic On in
New York, and I've been to the one in Chicago
a couple of times, both of which are like fairly big.
I'm assuming Dragon CON's probably pretty similar. They're in like
(03:04):
big convention centers. There's like a lot of things happening.
This one I like because it's a little bit smaller,
it's a little bit more niche although I definitely did
notice this year that there was a bigger turnout than
I had expected. But yeah, so this was my second
(03:25):
time going. I went two years ago for the first time.
That was super fun, had a great time, so I
was like, definitely gonna go back this year. It ended
up landing around the same time as one of my
friend's birthdays, so we did like a big birthday celebration
for them.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
But yeah, it was really fun.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
I came up when we were talking about kind of
future episodes and I was.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Like, I'll come in and talk about my experience at flame.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Con because that had a fun time, and I think
this is a cool event, and I think it should,
you know, hopefully get a little bit more eyes on it.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
I think that would be great.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
But yeah, I'm so interested in this because I've only
been to. I've been to like Comic Con in New York,
dragon Con. Dragon CON's huge. I've been to a couple
of smaller ones conventions, but I've never been to one
that sounds quite like this, so I'm really interested in that.
(04:19):
I also, I've got to ask, what did you did?
You cosplay?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Is it I did?
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Okay, so this actually what I did. I mentioned.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
This is the second time I've gone. I went two
years ago. When I went then, I didn't cause play.
It was a very like last minute thing, so I
was sort of like just gonna go and have fun.
This time, I did caused play both days. First day,
I was wicking from the Young Avengers or if you're
following all the Disney Plus TV shows, also in Agatha
(04:51):
all along, one of my favorite characters, and my friend
that my friend who's birthday. It was what I was
going with was dress as whole Lang who's his boyfriend?
Speaker 3 (05:03):
That was super fun.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
I always loved doing a couple cosplays with people that
I'm like not dating, because it's great to see everybody
be like you guys are so cute and just be.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Like thanks, we're just best to us. And but that
was super fun. I think because of that.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Annie, I don't know if you've had like a similar experience,
but I think like going in cosplay is definitely different
than just kind of going in normal everyday close.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Uh oh yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
The first time I went, right, So, the first time
I went, like two years ago, I spent a lot
of time going to different panels and stuff. I feel
like this time it was sort of there was a
moment like the night before where I was talking with
my friends I was going with when I had a
second where I was like, wait, so we're all like
we all just spent money to get dressed up and
go shopping for like a couple hours and get our
(05:54):
picture taken, which is nice. Yeah, I do think, especially
like if you're going in costume, and especially if it's
a character that's like recognizable. I would say at least
like twenty minutes of my day total ended up just
being stopping and taking pictures, which personally, I love attention.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
So I had so much fun with that.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
I know it's not for everybody, but I was like, great,
it's like micronosing being a celebrity, Like, yes, it is me,
I am him exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
I love that. So I don't know much about this convention.
Speaker 5 (06:29):
Obviously, I barely know much about Dragon cun that's because
you know it's here, and it took me a long
time to figure it out.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
So is this like multiple day yeah as well, Yeah
it's two days. It's a little bit shorter than they
usually are. Again, I think it's a smaller event. It's
definitely like much more fan led than it is like by.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
These big corporations, the corporations, but you can.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Definitely tell, I think in the like panels that are
up and kind of the way it's set up, it
feels much more kind of like nd which is cool.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
I really like that.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
I think like something that really stood out that made
this different than like New York Comic Con or Dragon
Con is the panels.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I'll be real. This year, I didn't end up actually going.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
To that many panels because I spent a lot of it.
I think again it was I was going with big
group of friends and was dressed up and all I
got to you later. I spent a lot of time
just like walking around and talking to artists, which I
that's always my favorite part of these things.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I did go to one panel.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
To be totally honest, I was not super impressed by it,
But I'm not going to make a judgment on the
rest of them, because again I went to just this one.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I'm sure the rest were lovely.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
But a lot of the panels are when you go
to like a newer comic con or a dragon Con
or something, a lot of times it's panels that are
led by, like the creators it's led by. It'll feature
like actors or writers or people that are like in
the thing, you know, in the industry making these things.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
They're often put on.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
By like Disney or Warner Brothers or you know other
companies I have in my notes insert video game company.
I don't that's a blind spot for me, Sony A
thank you, there we go. But for this kind of thing,
it was a lot more like like it would be
(08:17):
people that are fans of the thing, that are like
I want. There was you know, panels about like fan
fiction and about like how you know, getting into cosplay
and how to like start in that and start crafting things,
which I think is really cool and fun. They're also
obviously again this was like a queerer focused event, So
there were some events that we're talking about, you know,
(08:37):
specifically issues of like being queer and trying to break
into different media spaces right now, especially when it's a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Murky in some ways. There's a lot of things.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
I don't know if people who are aware, but there's
a lot of weird things happening legislative really right now.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Not sure if this is common knowledge.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
But uh, and that is something I think, like I
really appreciated about this kind of event is I think
it does kind of give the mic over to the
fan side of things, which I think is important in
fandom spaces.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Like fandom is the fans.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
It is you know, obviously all of this exists because
of these pieces of media or whatever you have it,
but at the end of the day, it is fandom
operates because it's people creating a lot of times these
things like totally for free, just like out of like
because it's something that they love that they care about.
(09:34):
So yeah, I think that was very cool.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
That's awesome.
Speaker 5 (09:38):
Again, So you're schooling into this one because I don't
We had a lot of controversy with Dragon Con with
the first creator and then it being like this is
no longer who's associated with this, This is actually a
bigger company and we only do Dragon con am I right,
any Like, it's not like they're connected with the other cons.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It's Atlanta's own thing.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Is not a big companyana, right, so just out of
curios is this kind of like that? Like is it
I think it's one organization or was it just like
a group of people say, hey, we're queer, we love
this type of stuff and we want to save spot also,
we want to make it our own cool thing instead
of this corporate bs like is that yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Essentially, yeah, I think it is.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
I know it was sponsored by like Kickstarter and like
a couple other you know organizations. The thing that I
thought was interesting though, too, is like even the sponsors.
It was like things that are yeah again like Kickstarter,
which a lot of times is more for you know,
indie smaller creators. They you know, there was some like
(10:37):
signings and things like that, but oftentimes it was more
like writers and you know, smaller creators, which I think, yeah,
like especially as you know, things like Comic Con and
dragon Con and whatever like get bigger, there's less space
(10:58):
for like the indie side of things.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
But yeah, again, I think like I don't know a
ton about.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Like the organizing side of things for this, but but
it like at least it seems to be like barely yeah,
like grassroots.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Coming from the fans again.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
It is cool, I think to see like this year,
it definitely was like a bigger turnout than I had
seen like two years ago. It'll be interesting to see,
like if this continues, you know, maybe they're gonna end
up moving into like a bigger space or something.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
There definitely were like a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
There Saturday, but yeah, yeah, I it definitely is like
a very different vibe. I think, especially if you're somebody
who's like maybe not as I'm not gonna say there
were it wasn't crowded because it was crowded again like Saturday.
There definitely were like a lot of people for the space.
But I think for some people I understand, like going
to like a big convention center can be really overwhelming,
(11:55):
and this I think was like a smaller sort of
version of that.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
It feels a little bit more.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Yeah, And I'm the kind of person when I go
to like New York Comic Con, I've never been a
big like I want to go do the like celebrity
photo shoots or like yeah there's whatever meeting greats or whatever,
like that's not really my thing. So I think I
really like this because it was more like you're towards
people that are interested in like meeting creators, talking creators,
(12:21):
talking about the industry, and.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Like, as I said, I spent a lot of my
time kind of on the like artist floor. I love that.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Yeah, so definitely, like the majority of the space was
kind of in like I know, for a New York
Comic con they.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Call it like artist's alley.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Uh, I don't know if it wasn't necessarily just an alley,
it was kind of like an entire It was the
majority of the space, which I thought was really cool.
It's a lot of like, you know, people are so talented.
It is so cool to see what people create. Like
I feel like, honestly the best part for me is
just like getting to walk around and be like, wow,
people are so cool. There's so much cool things that
people are making. I did it spent way too much money,
(13:01):
but you know what, we're supporting small, independent queer artists,
which uh yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I one of my friends that said.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Something after the first day where she was like, you
know what, ninety percent of the money that I was
about spending was just me being like, Wow, you're doing
amazing work.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Please keep this up.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
I want to support you, which is you know how
I was justifying it to myself too and be like
I definitely don't need another print to put on my wall,
but you know why not.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
It's for a good cause. The cause is my happiness exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
And something else that I really like about I think,
I mean this obvious. I think this is something that
happens at like any of these sort of like conventions
or like nerd culture spaces, but like, you know, the
artists too, And I think because it was like a
smaller venue, there was more of this. But like if
you're an artist going into this too, it's oftentimes people
that are also like fans of these things, that are really.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Into these things.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
And I think it like, like my favorite thing is
just kind of going around and having conversations with people,
Like I had some like really lovely conversations just like
walking around, like it is just kind of a space
for people to be able to like talk about like
their weird, dirdy interests, and like I think especially with
somebody who like a lot of times was kind of
you know, especially I think when I was a kid,
(14:16):
I always was like I can't.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Talk about this.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
I like this is weird. This is something that makes
you like different. I don't want to like whatever. It's
cool to be able to like actually engage with these
things and actually be able to like talk about it
and in obviously like such queer space, but yeah, like
going around and like talking to artists, Like there was
one vendor who like we had a lovely like ten
(14:39):
minute conversation about like how to organize fan fiction and
like this was somebody who was like I used to
be a librarian.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
I have this whole system. But I was like, wait,
I need to take notes. This sounds so good.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
But lay at the end of it, they were like
I was like buying a cutade from them. They were like, here,
I'll give you another one for free, and I was like,
that's so nice. Like people are so nice, and it
like it really just like feels like this very like
loving like encouraging space for people are just like yeah,
like share things that they're passionate about.
Speaker 5 (15:16):
The question I wanted to ask is in general, when
they make a space is being like this is queer
specific centric and not often especially nowadays.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
And we've talked about this previously.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
This is no more of like that's just an ad
more than an actuality. Right, So did you really feel
like the space was a safe space, which I know
people are like, oh, that's such a weird a safe space,
but also inviting space for and being centered around queer people.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Did you think that was just like I.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Think it was.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
I mean I definitely like, I like walking into this
space kind of feels similar to like walking into like
a gay bar for me, you know, like it is
something where it is definitely like led by queer people
wanting to make this a space for queer people as
a P two. Okay, So on the one hand, I
do feel like oftentimes comic con NERD spaces end.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Up being very queer.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
That might just be like my bias from like who
I'm hanging out with, but like you know, usually like
I've never had like a bad experience at like a
New York comic con or at like C two E
two in Chicago or something like that. A lot of
times do I do feel like, you know, there are
the niches for things, like you can find the specific
(16:32):
like queer media that you want, But for this I
think it was like much more focused on where even
like again I was cause playing within the first day,
I had cosplayed this character a couple of years agot
New York Comic Con, and I had like I got
recognized like a couple of times, like I had a
couple people ask for Like this time, it was like
everybody who saw me was like yes, Wick. It's almost
(16:54):
like interesting to see which characters like people would recognize.
There was a lot more of like ship like art
and like focusing on characters that were queer, which I
think that was cool.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
There was a lot more like you know, it is.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Interesting too because I think another thing the flip side
of NERD spaces a lot of times is like the
like very very very staunch misogyny and like hyper sexualization of.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Women, And it is kind of cool to walk around.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
And be like, wow, this time it's all just male
characters being dripped like drawn that way. But you know,
my one complaint is there was a lot of gay
fan art. There was not a lot of lesbian fan art.
I think we need more lesbian fan art. I wish
I'd seen a little bit more of that. But at
the same time it was there, it was like it
(17:41):
felt yeah, again, I think going back to what you
were saying.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Yes, it felt like a safe space.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
It felt like it genuinely was geared towards queer people
as opposed to just sort of like the corporate like, yes,
we love gay people until it's no longer safe and
profitable for us. Uh yeah, which then brings me to
kind of what I was seeing a lot of this year.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
What's hot? What's in? What's hip? Uh? There was I
did you guys making fun of me? Just now? That
was not my intention, That was not my attention.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
I have definitely had Samantha ask me what's before?
Speaker 3 (18:22):
But tell me, tell me how cool I can be?
Speaker 4 (18:30):
So cool, the coolest Anyway, I heard text by.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Friends that I went with right before this.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
I was like, all right, like, what do you guys
remember like saying a lot of and by one thing
I had in my outline was K pop demon Hunters,
and they all responded with demon hunters.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I knew, yes, yes, I'm correct, Yeah, I know what
that is. That's all I got. I'm so proud of you.
That's I knew you would know that one.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Yeah, which I thought that was really cool.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Again, I saw the movie. I think it came out
like what like two months ago.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
I thought it was very impressive that like people were
able to pull together like squash plays and fan.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Arts so quickly. There was a lot of merch for
this thing.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
It you know, yeah, it is hot right now, it's
I enjoyed the movie.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
It was cool to There was a yeah, a lot
of very cool.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
Like pins and like button or like stickers and stuff
like that. I saw a couple of cosplayers too, that
was really sick.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Obviously, always a lot of DC and Marvel at these things.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
Surprise, surprise, a queer comic book event, there's a lot
of X men.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Who would have thought. I actually was originally supposed to
do X Men the second day, and then I woke
up that morning and I was like.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
I was gonna be kiddy Pride. I think should be
considered a gay and trans icon, just because Elliott Page
plays her the movies and also the character that she
dates for a very long time. They ended up making
a gay man, so I was like, it's kind of
funny they accidentally did a like male male gay relationship
(20:00):
without even trying. But yeah, I woke up Sunday morning
and I was like, I don't want to wear a wig,
so I showed up as super Boy ninety super Boy
if anybody, yeah, the gayest one of course, and uh yeah.
I was with a group of my friends that were
all X Men and I was like, and I'm here too,
(20:23):
some couple of shout outs. One of my favorite costumes
I saw there was a Dazzler cosplayer, so so impressed.
She was wearing roller skates the entire time. I don't
know how she did it. I think my friend had
asked her something at one point or asked her about it.
She was like, oh, yeah, I like perform like this,
so it's fine, which I yeah, I have no balance,
(20:44):
so yeah, shout out there if you don't know.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Dazzler is an X Men character.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
She's kind of like a pop star in the X
Men universe, so she's like very Taylor Swift meets Kesha
kind of vibes.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
She's fun.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Another favorite I saw was somebody was the Winter Soldier
with a fully but dazzled arm.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
That was beautiful. Ten out of ten. Love it.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
I'm currently attempting to make a Winter Soldier arm for October,
so come to the right place. Yeah, okay, I definitely
need to ask you that because I've never like I'm
a I'm a seamstress. I don't really do like foam
or anything, so this is gonna be my first delving
(21:29):
into that. Yeah, there were a couple of Yolena and
Bucky Coss players. Thunderbolts came out recently, you know, it
makes sense also both kind of going back to what
you were asking before, Samantha, I do think it is
interesting too to see like which kind of characters get
like like who are who are sort of just by
(21:49):
like looking out and seeing who's here, who are the
honorary or who are the gay icons here? Which, Yeah,
I watched Thunderbolts and I was like, everybody in this
movie is queer. I'm sure many people to have that takeaway.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
One of my favorite, one of my favorite headlines I've
ever read was Riders of Winter Soldier perplexed by erotic
takes on.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Okay, that brings me by next point, the Stucky.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Renaissance is real, It's happening.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
There was so much a Stucky fan art when our
Soldier came out, what like over ten years ago at
this point at least I got there. Was also one
of the artists I was talking to because they had
a zine like a stucky zine and I was like,
oh my god, this is amazing.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I need this.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
And I was talking to them and I was like, yeah,
I like watched Thunderbolts and it like reawoke like a
part of my brain that's been dormant for like five years.
Like I was like, I haven't Like I was like, oh,
I used to be so into this, like I love it.
And then it was like I forrit and then like Thunderbolts,
it was like wait a minute, yes, Bucky Barnes, what
a guy. They were like page and the first page
(23:01):
of the scene is like a little cartoon of them
being like me and my friends watched Thunderbolts and I
was like, wait a minute, these are like we should
go back and watch Witter Soldier. Those are good movies,
like the greatest gay love story of all time. Yeah,
I would love to sit down with like the like
creative crew behind like the Russo Brothers or whatever, like
(23:21):
who are doing the.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Winter Soldier in like Civil War movies. And she's like,
how did you not see that? This was like where
this was going, Like this.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Was like peak Tumblr like queer Baiting era.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Anyways, I'm gonna have to find that article for you
because they have hilarious quotes in there.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
It's so funny.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
They're all like what I just saw a TikTok video
of a woman who was She's like, had a picture
of Bucky bars in like on her computer, and her
boss came through and he's like, wait, you're lesbian.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
She's like, yeah, obviously.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
I know so many lesbians that are obsessed with Bucking Yards.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Again, Bucky Barnes is a gay icon. There's so much evidence.
First of all, he is absolutely queer. Those movies.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
I just.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
I like, I can't imagine watching Winter Soldier not being like,
so this is a love story, but.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
That he's just he's just such a Yeah, I know,
I know so many lesbians that are obsessed with him too.
There's some things.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
So anyways, we are in the middle of the Bucky
Barnes Renaissance, the Stucky Renaissance, and I think that is beautiful.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Also, a lot of Superman.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
You know, this was another one where I was like,
I like like, yeah, actually, I think we need like
Superman is kind of a gay icon. There's a lot
of particularly I think like cis gay men that I
think we're gravitating towards Superman as a character, which I
love seeing that too. On them being kind of on
the other side of like primarily being in like lesbian spaces.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
I'm always like, what are the what.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Are the guys into, what is the.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
The what is the trend today?
Speaker 3 (25:02):
What is good?
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Yeah, but there were a lot of Superman surprisingly not
a lot of Superbat stuff. Would have loved to see
a little bit more of that, but you know, it's
all right, It's all right. The TikTok edits have been
a stellar for that if anybody's spent a lot of
time scrolling through the David Corn Sweat Robert Pattinson super
(25:25):
Bad edits on TikTok. But yeah, and so yeah, and again,
like I said, lots of X Men, all the classics.
Something that I thought was really cool about, like the
costplay sides of things that I think was unique to
this event is there were a lot of couse players
that are incorporated elements of drag also into their costumes.
(25:47):
My friend Hackett, who I went with, who was caused
blind cokling the first day alongside my weekend, they were
also kind of like they like made a point to
do sort of like drag King style make up for
the costume.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
The if you're not familiar, the character.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
Is green, so they did a full green makeup, which
literally I got there and they were like still in
the middle of doing their makeup, and I was like,
I'm running late, and I was like, oh, I just
have to put on like a body.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Suit and I'm done.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Yeah, but I think that is something that is like
cool about this event specifically compared to other sort of
cosplay events like new or Comic Con or something, there's
more of the like drag element, which I think is
really cool, Which brings me to talking about kind of
the like intersections of dragon.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Cosplay, because I think this is something that.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
Has gotten a little bit more It is like kind
of a subsect of drag that I think has gotten
a little bit more attention lately. And yeah, obviously, like
I've heard at an event like this that is specifically
like aimed at or geared towards the queer community, there
were a lot of people that were like drag queens
as well, that were yeah, like a lot of very
cool like drag queen X men type cosplays, a lot
(27:06):
of other characters that looked very cool that I couldn't.
It is fun to go around with the group and
like try to figure out like all of our collective knowledge,
like who are the being? Like okay, wait, I don't
know what that person is, but like somebody here probably does.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
I love that part. It's always so fun. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Which brings me to talk about another event that I
mentioned to you guys, which was about a month ago.
There was a DC themed drag show that I went
to that was in New York that is hosted by
a group called Oddball oddspelled a UD. It is produced
by the drag queen Subtley Audrey, hence the name. But
(27:45):
I they've been doing these shows for like a minute.
I'm not sure exactly how long it's been around it like.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
A year or two.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
They did a really cool Star Wars themed one for
me the fourth that I went to, which Annie, this.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Reminds me, I need to send you some videos from that.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
It was so cool I went to a drag show.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
But that's exactly kind of what I think is really
interesting because I feel like this sort of this specific intersection,
Like to me, cosplay and drag have always been like
very connected, but I think like it hasn't been given
as much attention as like a lot of more like
quote unquote traditional forms of drag. I thought it was
interesting that like the drag queen mcgammy, who is like
(28:28):
based in Brooklyn, she was on Falls Drag Race recently.
She's somebody who, like I originally followed her for her
cosplay content, like she has done a lot with like
mining cosplay and drag. But yeah, if you're interested in,
like if you're in the New York area, I definitely
would recommend checking out Oddball.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
They're amazing. They have some amazing performers.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
One of my favorite drag kings, Max Pleasure, was is
very inbund and bold, really involved with it, and he
did a like Clark Kent Superman one that was making
its rounds on the internet.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
You know, that was amazing. There was a like a
drag king Superman, which was amazing.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
This person also had gone viral recently for doing a
Edward Colin themed drag show, which I am now realizing
I need to send a producer Christina as well.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
And yeah, I love this event.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
I love this show because it combines, like obviously two
of my favorite things are cosplay and drag but yeah,
like for me personally, I I would say, like my
kind of into getting into like my own kind of drag.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
I'm very early to like.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
Don't ask me what my drag king name is yet,
I've changed it like three times for TVD TVD. But
like for me, that was kind of my method where
my route in was cosplay.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I you know.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Obviously, like a lot of people get into drag because
it is kind of a safe way to explore gender
expression and presentation.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
And to me, like that's kind of what cosplay was
early on too.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
I started getting into causeway around like twenty twenty one,
twenty two. It was still sort of like the early
aftermath of the pandemic. I like also had just graduated
and had kind of like had all of a sudden
all this free time, was like, I maybe you should
get into like copies. I always wanted to as a kid,
(30:23):
So like I was using drag, like I was making
tiktoks online.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
I was like it was like a fun.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Silly way to kind of keep partaking and like creative
activities around this point, Like I at that point kind
of knew that I wasn't cis gender, but I was
still sort of exploring like what that meant to me,
and I think like for me, cosplay was a way
to kind of explore different versions of masculinity, different like
(30:50):
look at you know, a lot of times are gender
images of gender come from fiction, come from like the
images around us. So I was able to be like, Okay,
what happens if I lean into this character that I
really have like.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Identified with whatever.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
Again, I kind of I kind of at this point,
had like known I was trans for a little bit
at that point, but like, I definitely like I have
friends that sort of were able to come out through
like making consplay videos and being like, actually.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
I feel way more comfortable dressing this way or presenting
this way.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
Which it's again, I think, very similar to drag for
a lot of people, a lot of uh obviously not everybody,
Like plenty of sis people also do drag. But you know,
I've been going back and rewatching, going to the or
not rewatching. I'm watching them for the first time. I'm
so sorry, I'm a terrible gay, but I have been
watching a lot of the old like RuPaul's Drag Race
seasons for the first time, and it's really interesting to
(31:44):
like see how many like contestants on the show have
come out as trans since then, Like there have been
a lot that I'm like, oh, I know you because
you're this like trans icon now, but like it's cool
to see you like go through that journey. So yeah,
I again, I think like these are two sort of
like art forms that have a lot in common, they
have a lot of overlap. I think it's really cool
(32:04):
to see like this again, like that sort of combo
getting a lot more mainstream attention. I think like getting
to be in a space that celebrates both and celebrates
the ways that, you know, because oftentimes I'm like either
doing some sort of like cosplay thing where it's like.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
More focused on that side of things.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
It's you know, I have some lovely straight friends that
are caused players who you know, not for me, but
I'm happy for them, and I'm an ally but uh,
you know, like obviously not always like super queer spaces.
And then on the flip side, sometimes it's like I
love I go to a lot of drag shows. I
do love drag, Like I think it is really important
(32:45):
to just like celebrate drag in general, but like it's
cool to also get the opportunity to be like, yeah,
what would happen if, like Emma Frost was a drag queen.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
I do have on the back burner.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
I've had a Red Hood themed dragging act that I
want to do at some point, I just like have
not had.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
The opportunity to do so.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
If anybody wants to hire me to do that, my
dms are open, but just saying not Anyways, Yeah, I
had a great weekend.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
I had a great time. I think.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
You know, again, it's so cool to see like people
are so creative.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
There were some really.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
Cool costumes that I saw, Like I probably stopped like
at least one hundred people.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
To be like, oh my god, I love your outfit.
You look so good. So yeah, just felt like a
great space.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
And yeah, if you if this seems like the kind
of event that you'd be interested in, it is August
every year, so unfortunately you're gonna have to wait another
year I guess till the.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Next one, but more time to plan. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (33:44):
Yeah, okay, So for those who are new to going
to cons and really are excited about going to something
like this, how would you tell them. Let's say it's
the first time, because you know, I didn't go to
the first con until God pandemic, but it was like
a couple of years before the pandemic because I was
so anxious about all that, so I needed a pep talk.
(34:06):
What would your pep talk be to prepare someone to
come into a con?
Speaker 4 (34:10):
First of all, like totally understandable because like literally same I.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
It was definitely something for like forever.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
I was like, I want to have like I've always
wanted to go to New York Comic Con, but I
like never have. And then for me it ended up
happening like literally just because I was going to be
in town like that. I was still living in Chicago
at the time, but I was like going to be
in New York that week anyway, So I was like, sure,
like some of my friends are going, might as well.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
I think the biggest thing is And like.
Speaker 4 (34:37):
I totally got that because I'm also somebody who I think,
like I can be a very anxious person. I think
going into a new thing that you haven't done before
obviously very your nerve wracking. Just do it like it
is so fine, You're have so much fun, you know obviously,
like know what.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Your limits are. If you're somebody that doesn't really like crowds.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
I would say try not to go on like a Saturday,
those are usually the busiest day. But yeah, I honestly
think my best advice is like just go for it,
Like just you don't have to cause play your first
time you go. Like again, my first time that I
went to this thing, I just I was wearing like.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
A T shirt and shorts.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Probably, I think like you can, yeah, like if you
want to just go and like see what's up, see
what's going on. I've for the most part, had a
really great time. I've like mostly had really great interaction
with people. Again, I think like this kind of thing
because it's something that it's like people are just kind
of passionate about and like you know, it's it's just
(35:39):
people like exploring things that they enjoy and they.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Want to talk about.
Speaker 4 (35:44):
Like people who are generally pretty nice about that, pretty
open minded. So yeah, just do the thing, yay.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
One of the great things about a space like that,
and even something like Dragon Con, which I think you
we have to get.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
You at Joe too. Yeah, when is it.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
It's Labor Day weekend, but it's a hybrid of comic
con and something like that. It's I think it's actually
much more fan driven than anything else. But they do
have they do have big celebrities here, but I don't
go to any panels.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
It's about the costumes and all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
But anyway, one of the great things about that those
spaces is that people post like if you go on
to the dragon Con reddit right now and you're like,
I'm nervous, I've never been, people will tell you.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
Here are my tips.
Speaker 5 (36:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yeah, So people are out there for you and they'll
give you they'll give you pretty honest advice. And what
I love about this too is fandom notoriously has a
bad record of being gatekeeping. So it's nice to see
that we're getting more more women and people of color
(37:02):
and queer people in space is like a huge event
like dragon Con, but it's also nice to know that
like this space is specifically yeah for us.
Speaker 4 (37:12):
Exactly because I think that is like I've seen the
same thing where I think like especially you know, when
I was like growing up, it was always kind of like, oh,
it was weird that you were like a girl that
was into Star Wars like that kind of thing, which
and again, like I was younger, so I wasn't really
in a lot of these like spaces, but it was
like online stuff or whatever.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
There was a lot of gatekeeping.
Speaker 4 (37:34):
I think I've definitely seen especially because like a lot
of this stuff has gone like more mainstream too. It
has gotten a lot more like friendly towards yeah, like
women and people of color and queer people.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
But yeah, it is also nice to have that space
where like if I start talking about stuck you, nobody's
gonna be like wait what.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
And yeah, I think again, like kind of what you
said with the Reddit threads, Like at the end of
the day, it's imprtant to remember, like everybody going to
this is like a nerd Like we're like, we're all dorcs,
Like we're all kind of like again, it is sort
of a space where people you get to just be
your like weirdest self, and I think, like that's the
(38:13):
beautiful thing about it is like nobody's gonna judge you.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Nobody's going to or maybe.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Maybe they will, but they're gonna keep it to themselves,
like nobody's gonna say anything to you. It is all
kind of like it really does feel like a safe space,
and I think that that I think is very nice
to have another just like quick note, I would say
is because I definitely, like before going to like NEWR
Comic on or whatever, it was sort of like, oh no,
I need to like figure out, like are there panels
that I want to go to? Like how am I
(38:40):
gonna spend my whole time the day?
Speaker 3 (38:41):
It goes by so fast?
Speaker 4 (38:43):
Again, I literally spent like ninety percent of my time
just like walking around and like talking to artists and
like looking at stuff that people were selling and like
talking to like people that weren't there. You get, like, yes,
if you want to go to panels, if you want
to go to like photo shoots, do that find those things?
Like I would recommend maybe figuring out when they're gonna
(39:03):
be ahead of time and making sure like Okay, I
have like ten minutes to go walk over to the
other side of the venue, but you don't have to,
like you can totally just go into one of these
things and not go to a single panel, Like it's
still fun. I've done that before and I've had a
great time. So yeah, yeah, I wouldn't stress about the
like having to plan out every moment of the day
(39:27):
and making sure I'm doing like something and making the
most of the money that I spent on the.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
Ticket because you're gonna have fun. You're gonna have fun
either way. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
If that's something you're interested in, then definitely plan out
the panels. But otherwise, yeah, you're you're not gonna be
lacking for seeing amazing creativity that that and that's what
I love. I just love seeing the things people come
up with that are so niche and so funny and
creative and amazing. That's that won me over. I used
(39:59):
to go to pan was all the time, and now
I'm like, maybe I'll go.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
To a panel. Maybe it's a panel.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
Maybe there was a like x Men podcast panel one
of the days that I was gonna go to because
I was like, I should industry, this is my thing.
And then I think I like literally and I was
at like they had like a Cosplayer contest that was
like right before it, and I was just sort of like, okay,
(40:27):
I could leave this early or like this has been fun,
maybe I'll just stay like.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
That kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
So yeah, yeah, I did a panel once.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
I was on a panel, but you've been out of panels.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
It was great, it was.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Great, but I definitely was like, I've got to do
this thing. I would rather be watching.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
Yeah, And it's kind of nice to just be able
to yeah, like to be able to walk around and
not think about like it's like, you know when you like,
I feel like it's like when you go on vacation.
There's like two ways of doing it, and there's one
where you're just like, I'm just gonna like relax and
have fun and not do anything, and the other way
is the like I'm gonna make the like itinerary and
all the million things to do.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
I have been both versions of that. I've been both people.
Speaker 4 (41:10):
But it's like, you know, sometimes it's fun to have
the whole itinerary and do all the things, and sometimes.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
It's fun to just walk around and see what happens, you.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Know, yeah yeah mm hmmm. Trust me, you will see
things that you will see things.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
And watch this. But I love that.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Like honestly, Jack and Cott, I'll just be walking around
and all of a sudden there's a huge conco line
of people from and Or and I'm like, well, we're
not doing this, so yep, this is my life next
Twitter a minute.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
And it's nice.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
You never know what wonderful things you might encounter exactly
exactly and.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
It's always fun.
Speaker 4 (41:50):
Like New Ork com around, there's always like a couple
of people that have like like they've clearly built this
like whole thing, and they're on like stilts and there's
like a big helmet, and I'm always like, yes, kudos
to you. Forget I'm like, I I've got my doc
Martin's on.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
I am on the ground. I like, oh yeah, I'm
with you. I'm on the side of it. I'd rather
just stay comfy and you know, within reason me as well,
me as well.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
But those costumes, I'm so impressed when I see them,
and yeah, shout out to you.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
I love it. Yeah, I was like you, I love
to see it. I love to experience it. I will
not put in the effort to do that, but I
love seeing other people do it.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Oh yeah, well, and it's also awesome, like the stories
you'll get out of it. Now we're just doing it
a you go to a condition. Yeah, but the stories
you'll get out of it. Because one time, I like
got an elevator and there was just a doalk and
the elevator. There was no other person and the dollc
was moving and I was like, hello, it's just the
(42:56):
experiences the random random experiences you can have pretty great.
Thanks yeah, yeah, yes, well, thank you so much for
coming on and talking about this.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
Obviously I could go on and on, well like.
Speaker 4 (43:13):
A whole like extra three hour debrief after this, and
we'll just yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Well it's a bad time. Where can the Goods listeners
find you?
Speaker 4 (43:26):
Yeah, if you want to find me on the internet,
I am h You can find me on Instagram or Twitter,
although I don't really interact with Twitter that much anymore,
but you can find me at Pat not Pratt.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
That is p A TT and no T p r
A T T.
Speaker 4 (43:44):
I actually had a recent I had a new show
that I'm starting on, and that I had, I had
a totally different pronunciation of my last name that I've
never heard before.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
It was just pats. They add an extra ass to
the end, and I.
Speaker 4 (43:52):
Was like, usually I have to tell people not to
say Pratt, but I haven't gotten pats before, so you know. Anyways,
that is my last name is Pat. It's four letters.
It's pretty easy. It just gets Nobody can get it right.
Speaker 3 (44:04):
Apparently, it's simple.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
I guess if you want to see more of my
cosplay stuff, you could find me on TikTok at hot.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
Topic, Dad, that's hot topic.
Speaker 4 (44:18):
Like the store and then just dad one word sorry
and advanced.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
But yeah.
Speaker 4 (44:25):
And you could also listen to a couple other shows
that I work on, which are There Are No Girls
on the Internet with Bridget Todd, a friend of the show,
or After Lives, which.
Speaker 3 (44:38):
Just wrapped up its second season about Marsha P. Johnson.
Speaker 4 (44:41):
If you are queer or interested in queer history or
New York City history, or just like.
Speaker 3 (44:47):
Things that have happened in the past, you should go
ahead and listen to that.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Yeah, yes, And you can also hear Joey on a
couple other episodes, Oh yeah, this show, but yes, the listeners.
If you haven't checked all of those things out, you should.
I'm very excited to talk some cosplay shop with you, Joey.
Speaker 3 (45:09):
I hope you have to.
Speaker 4 (45:11):
I need to, Like I've reached the point like I
was like, I know, I need.
Speaker 3 (45:16):
To lock in.
Speaker 4 (45:16):
I'm doing two cosplays that I know are going to
require a lot of like making things for them, and
so I was like, all right, i gotta start.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
I gotta get started now.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
I'm not gonna be a back of me ro I
did do a little bit of like rushing the week
before for this one.
Speaker 3 (45:32):
But I was like, I can't do that again. It's
gonna be that's gonna be too much happening.
Speaker 4 (45:36):
I did just also find out this group Oddball that
did the drag show they're doing a like Comic Co
New York Comic Con after party Saturday night. Shout out
to that there people you know are interested. I will probably,
but I like was like, all right, I do really
want to go. I love this group. I level the
shows I put on. Am I I'm not sleeping.
Speaker 3 (45:54):
This weekend if I go to this like, I'm just
it's not happening.
Speaker 4 (46:00):
That is the only thing we'll see y'all might see
me dressed is buy from arcane, shaking from like having
five coffees that morning. Uh, Sunday of New York Comic Con.
Who's to say, Who's to say, hey.
Speaker 2 (46:16):
Do what you gotta do? Well, I can't wait too.
We'll have to touch back after that check in. We will,
we will, uh huh Okay. Well, in the meantime, listeners,
if you would like to contact us, you can our
emails hello at stuff I Never told you dot com,
or also on blue Sky at Moms a podcast or
on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've never told you.
(46:37):
We're us on YouTube and we have a news store
for merch Cotton Bureau.
Speaker 5 (46:43):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
It's got some cool stuff on there, so check that out.
And we have a book you can get wherever you
get your books. Thanks as always to our super producer Christina,
our executive producer May, and our computer Joey, who is
here with us today. Thank you, thank you, and thanks
to you for listening stuff I never told you to
put should i Heart Radio for more podcasts from my
Heart Radio, you can check out the iHeartRadio app up
a podcast or where you listen to your favorite shows.
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I never told you protection of by Heart Radio, and
today we are so excited to once again be joined
by a friend of the show, contributor to the show, Joey.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Welcome, Joey.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Hello, thanks for having me. So excited to be back
as always.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yes, we've got to you've got to come on. We've
got to have you on twice in a pretty quick succession.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
That's exciting. Yeah, yeah, it doesn't happen.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And you are I hope you don't mind me saying
I've said it before, a fellow nerd.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
What who told you that? I think you did?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yeah, yeah, we're doing a lot of nerd content.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
This month. This month being August.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I think this might come out a little bit later,
But because this is when I go to dragon Con,
which is kind of this annual event.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
It's huge. I plan a lot of my year around it.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I don't know if that says about me, but because
of that, we have been doing a lot of content
around fandom and conventions, and you a last time we
were talking, said that you were going to a new convention,
flame Con, which is specifically geared towards queer folks, right.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
It is, so first of all, totally understand the planning
your whole year around it.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I did get a text for my friend this morning
that was like, we.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Need to figure out our New York Comic con plans,
which is in October, which is less than two months away,
and I'm already like, oh no, I'm behind. Ah, there's
so many things I need to do. But you know
what that's I think that's beautiful and it's great that.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Yeah. Anyways, what I'm actually talking about today.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Yes, this past weekend as of when we're recording this,
so like mid August right now. I went to flame Con,
which is this comic book convention in New York that
is specifically, like you said, specifically kind of geared towards
we're creators and fans. It actually has been around since
(02:30):
twenty fifteen, which means this was the tenth year that
it has been around. I didn't see anything like highlighting
that at this, which.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
I was kind of surprised about.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
But I don't know, maybe I just missed something, but yeah,
I thought that was cool that this was like the
tenth year this has been around, and kind of you know,
like you Annie, I have gone to Comic On in
New York, and I've been to the one in Chicago
a couple of times, both of which are like fairly big.
I'm assuming Dragon CON's probably pretty similar. They're in like
(03:04):
big convention centers. There's like a lot of things happening.
This one I like because it's a little bit smaller,
it's a little bit more niche although I definitely did
notice this year that there was a bigger turnout than
I had expected. But yeah, so this was my second
(03:25):
time going. I went two years ago for the first time.
That was super fun, had a great time, so I
was like, definitely gonna go back this year. It ended
up landing around the same time as one of my
friend's birthdays, so we did like a big birthday celebration
for them.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
But yeah, it was really fun.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
I came up when we were talking about kind of
future episodes and I was.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Like, I'll come in and talk about my experience at flame.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Con because that had a fun time, and I think
this is a cool event, and I think it should,
you know, hopefully get a little bit more eyes on it.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
I think that would be great.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
But yeah, I'm so interested in this because I've only
been to. I've been to like Comic Con in New York,
dragon Con. Dragon CON's huge. I've been to a couple
of smaller ones conventions, but I've never been to one
that sounds quite like this, so I'm really interested in that.
(04:19):
I also, I've got to ask, what did you did?
You cosplay?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Is it I did?
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Okay, so this actually what I did. I mentioned.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
This is the second time I've gone. I went two
years ago. When I went then, I didn't cause play.
It was a very like last minute thing, so I
was sort of like just gonna go and have fun.
This time, I did caused play both days. First day,
I was wicking from the Young Avengers or if you're
following all the Disney Plus TV shows, also in Agatha
(04:51):
all along, one of my favorite characters, and my friend
that my friend who's birthday. It was what I was
going with was dress as whole Lang who's his boyfriend?
Speaker 3 (05:03):
That was super fun.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
I always loved doing a couple cosplays with people that
I'm like not dating, because it's great to see everybody
be like you guys are so cute and just be.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Like thanks, we're just best to us. And but that
was super fun. I think because of that.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Annie, I don't know if you've had like a similar experience,
but I think like going in cosplay is definitely different
than just kind of going in normal everyday close.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Uh oh yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
The first time I went, right, So, the first time
I went, like two years ago, I spent a lot
of time going to different panels and stuff. I feel
like this time it was sort of there was a
moment like the night before where I was talking with
my friends I was going with when I had a
second where I was like, wait, so we're all like
we all just spent money to get dressed up and
go shopping for like a couple hours and get our
(05:54):
picture taken, which is nice. Yeah, I do think, especially
like if you're going in costume, and especially if it's
a character that's like recognizable. I would say at least
like twenty minutes of my day total ended up just
being stopping and taking pictures, which personally, I love attention.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
So I had so much fun with that.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
I know it's not for everybody, but I was like, great,
it's like micronosing being a celebrity, Like, yes, it is me,
I am him exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
I love that. So I don't know much about this convention.
Speaker 5 (06:29):
Obviously, I barely know much about Dragon cun that's because
you know it's here, and it took me a long
time to figure it out.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
So is this like multiple day yeah as well, Yeah
it's two days. It's a little bit shorter than they
usually are. Again, I think it's a smaller event. It's
definitely like much more fan led than it is like by.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
These big corporations, the corporations, but you can.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Definitely tell, I think in the like panels that are
up and kind of the way it's set up, it
feels much more kind of like nd which is cool.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
I really like that.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
I think like something that really stood out that made
this different than like New York Comic Con or Dragon
Con is the panels.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I'll be real. This year, I didn't end up actually going.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
To that many panels because I spent a lot of it.
I think again it was I was going with big
group of friends and was dressed up and all I
got to you later. I spent a lot of time
just like walking around and talking to artists, which I
that's always my favorite part of these things.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I did go to one panel.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
To be totally honest, I was not super impressed by it,
But I'm not going to make a judgment on the
rest of them, because again I went to just this one.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I'm sure the rest were lovely.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
But a lot of the panels are when you go
to like a newer comic con or a dragon Con
or something, a lot of times it's panels that are
led by, like the creators it's led by. It'll feature
like actors or writers or people that are like in
the thing, you know, in the industry making these things.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
They're often put on.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
By like Disney or Warner Brothers or you know other
companies I have in my notes insert video game company.
I don't that's a blind spot for me, Sony A
thank you, there we go. But for this kind of thing,
it was a lot more like like it would be
(08:17):
people that are fans of the thing, that are like
I want. There was you know, panels about like fan
fiction and about like how you know, getting into cosplay
and how to like start in that and start crafting things,
which I think is really cool and fun. They're also
obviously again this was like a queerer focused event, So
there were some events that we're talking about, you know,
(08:37):
specifically issues of like being queer and trying to break
into different media spaces right now, especially when it's a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Murky in some ways. There's a lot of things.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
I don't know if people who are aware, but there's
a lot of weird things happening legislative really right now.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Not sure if this is common knowledge.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
But uh, and that is something I think, like I
really appreciated about this kind of event is I think
it does kind of give the mic over to the
fan side of things, which I think is important in
fandom spaces.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Like fandom is the fans.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
It is you know, obviously all of this exists because
of these pieces of media or whatever you have it,
but at the end of the day, it is fandom
operates because it's people creating a lot of times these
things like totally for free, just like out of like
because it's something that they love that they care about.
(09:34):
So yeah, I think that was very cool.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
That's awesome.
Speaker 5 (09:38):
Again, So you're schooling into this one because I don't
We had a lot of controversy with Dragon Con with
the first creator and then it being like this is
no longer who's associated with this, This is actually a
bigger company and we only do Dragon con am I right,
any Like, it's not like they're connected with the other cons.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It's Atlanta's own thing.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Is not a big companyana, right, so just out of
curios is this kind of like that? Like is it
I think it's one organization or was it just like
a group of people say, hey, we're queer, we love
this type of stuff and we want to save spot also,
we want to make it our own cool thing instead
of this corporate bs like is that yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Essentially, yeah, I think it is.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
I know it was sponsored by like Kickstarter and like
a couple other you know organizations. The thing that I
thought was interesting though, too, is like even the sponsors.
It was like things that are yeah again like Kickstarter,
which a lot of times is more for you know,
indie smaller creators. They you know, there was some like
(10:37):
signings and things like that, but oftentimes it was more
like writers and you know, smaller creators, which I think, yeah,
like especially as you know, things like Comic Con and
dragon Con and whatever like get bigger, there's less space
(10:58):
for like the indie side of things.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
But yeah, again, I think like I don't know a
ton about.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Like the organizing side of things for this, but but
it like at least it seems to be like barely yeah,
like grassroots.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Coming from the fans again.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
It is cool, I think to see like this year,
it definitely was like a bigger turnout than I had
seen like two years ago. It'll be interesting to see,
like if this continues, you know, maybe they're gonna end
up moving into like a bigger space or something.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
There definitely were like a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
There Saturday, but yeah, yeah, I it definitely is like
a very different vibe. I think, especially if you're somebody
who's like maybe not as I'm not gonna say there
were it wasn't crowded because it was crowded again like Saturday.
There definitely were like a lot of people for the space.
But I think for some people I understand, like going
to like a big convention center can be really overwhelming,
(11:55):
and this I think was like a smaller sort of
version of that.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
It feels a little bit more.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Yeah, And I'm the kind of person when I go
to like New York Comic Con, I've never been a
big like I want to go do the like celebrity
photo shoots or like yeah there's whatever meeting greats or whatever,
like that's not really my thing. So I think I
really like this because it was more like you're towards
people that are interested in like meeting creators, talking creators,
(12:21):
talking about the industry, and.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Like, as I said, I spent a lot of my
time kind of on the like artist floor. I love that.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Yeah, so definitely, like the majority of the space was
kind of in like I know, for a New York
Comic con they.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Call it like artist's alley.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Uh, I don't know if it wasn't necessarily just an alley,
it was kind of like an entire It was the
majority of the space, which I thought was really cool.
It's a lot of like, you know, people are so talented.
It is so cool to see what people create. Like
I feel like, honestly the best part for me is
just like getting to walk around and be like, wow,
people are so cool. There's so much cool things that
people are making. I did it spent way too much money,
(13:01):
but you know what, we're supporting small, independent queer artists,
which uh yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I one of my friends that said.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Something after the first day where she was like, you
know what, ninety percent of the money that I was
about spending was just me being like, Wow, you're doing
amazing work.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Please keep this up.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
I want to support you, which is you know how
I was justifying it to myself too and be like
I definitely don't need another print to put on my wall,
but you know why not.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
It's for a good cause. The cause is my happiness exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
And something else that I really like about I think,
I mean this obvious. I think this is something that
happens at like any of these sort of like conventions
or like nerd culture spaces, but like, you know, the
artists too, And I think because it was like a
smaller venue, there was more of this. But like if
you're an artist going into this too, it's oftentimes people
that are also like fans of these things, that are really.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Into these things.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
And I think it like, like my favorite thing is
just kind of going around and having conversations with people,
Like I had some like really lovely conversations just like
walking around, like it is just kind of a space
for people to be able to like talk about like
their weird, dirdy interests, and like I think especially with
somebody who like a lot of times was kind of
you know, especially I think when I was a kid,
(14:16):
I always was like I can't.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Talk about this.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
I like this is weird. This is something that makes
you like different. I don't want to like whatever. It's
cool to be able to like actually engage with these
things and actually be able to like talk about it
and in obviously like such queer space, but yeah, like
going around and like talking to artists, Like there was
one vendor who like we had a lovely like ten
(14:39):
minute conversation about like how to organize fan fiction and
like this was somebody who was like I used to
be a librarian.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
I have this whole system. But I was like, wait,
I need to take notes. This sounds so good.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
But lay at the end of it, they were like
I was like buying a cutade from them. They were like, here,
I'll give you another one for free, and I was like,
that's so nice. Like people are so nice, and it
like it really just like feels like this very like
loving like encouraging space for people are just like yeah,
like share things that they're passionate about.
Speaker 5 (15:16):
The question I wanted to ask is in general, when
they make a space is being like this is queer
specific centric and not often especially nowadays.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
And we've talked about this previously.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
This is no more of like that's just an ad
more than an actuality. Right, So did you really feel
like the space was a safe space, which I know
people are like, oh, that's such a weird a safe space,
but also inviting space for and being centered around queer people.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Did you think that was just like I.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Think it was.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
I mean I definitely like, I like walking into this
space kind of feels similar to like walking into like
a gay bar for me, you know, like it is
something where it is definitely like led by queer people
wanting to make this a space for queer people as
a P two. Okay, So on the one hand, I
do feel like oftentimes comic con NERD spaces end.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Up being very queer.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
That might just be like my bias from like who
I'm hanging out with, but like you know, usually like
I've never had like a bad experience at like a
New York comic con or at like C two E
two in Chicago or something like that. A lot of
times do I do feel like, you know, there are
the niches for things, like you can find the specific
(16:32):
like queer media that you want, But for this I
think it was like much more focused on where even
like again I was cause playing within the first day,
I had cosplayed this character a couple of years agot
New York Comic Con, and I had like I got
recognized like a couple of times, like I had a
couple people ask for Like this time, it was like
everybody who saw me was like yes, Wick. It's almost
(16:54):
like interesting to see which characters like people would recognize.
There was a lot more of like ship like art
and like focusing on characters that were queer, which I
think that was cool.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
There was a lot more like you know, it is.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Interesting too because I think another thing the flip side
of NERD spaces a lot of times is like the
like very very very staunch misogyny and like hyper sexualization of.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Women, And it is kind of cool to walk around.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
And be like, wow, this time it's all just male
characters being dripped like drawn that way. But you know,
my one complaint is there was a lot of gay
fan art. There was not a lot of lesbian fan art.
I think we need more lesbian fan art. I wish
I'd seen a little bit more of that. But at
the same time it was there, it was like it
(17:41):
felt yeah, again, I think going back to what you
were saying.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Yes, it felt like a safe space.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
It felt like it genuinely was geared towards queer people
as opposed to just sort of like the corporate like, yes,
we love gay people until it's no longer safe and
profitable for us. Uh yeah, which then brings me to
kind of what I was seeing a lot of this year.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
What's hot? What's in? What's hip? Uh? There was I
did you guys making fun of me? Just now? That
was not my intention, That was not my attention.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
I have definitely had Samantha ask me what's before?
Speaker 3 (18:22):
But tell me, tell me how cool I can be?
Speaker 4 (18:30):
So cool, the coolest Anyway, I heard text by.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Friends that I went with right before this.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
I was like, all right, like, what do you guys
remember like saying a lot of and by one thing
I had in my outline was K pop demon Hunters,
and they all responded with demon hunters.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I knew, yes, yes, I'm correct, Yeah, I know what
that is. That's all I got. I'm so proud of you.
That's I knew you would know that one.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Yeah, which I thought that was really cool.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Again, I saw the movie. I think it came out
like what like two months ago.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
I thought it was very impressive that like people were
able to pull together like squash plays and fan.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Arts so quickly. There was a lot of merch for
this thing.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
It you know, yeah, it is hot right now, it's
I enjoyed the movie.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
It was cool to There was a yeah, a lot
of very cool.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
Like pins and like button or like stickers and stuff
like that. I saw a couple of cosplayers too, that
was really sick.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Obviously, always a lot of DC and Marvel at these things.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
Surprise, surprise, a queer comic book event, there's a lot
of X men.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Who would have thought. I actually was originally supposed to
do X Men the second day, and then I woke
up that morning and I was like.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
I was gonna be kiddy Pride. I think should be
considered a gay and trans icon, just because Elliott Page
plays her the movies and also the character that she
dates for a very long time. They ended up making
a gay man, so I was like, it's kind of
funny they accidentally did a like male male gay relationship
(20:00):
without even trying. But yeah, I woke up Sunday morning
and I was like, I don't want to wear a wig,
so I showed up as super Boy ninety super Boy
if anybody, yeah, the gayest one of course, and uh yeah.
I was with a group of my friends that were
all X Men and I was like, and I'm here too,
(20:23):
some couple of shout outs. One of my favorite costumes
I saw there was a Dazzler cosplayer, so so impressed.
She was wearing roller skates the entire time. I don't
know how she did it. I think my friend had
asked her something at one point or asked her about it.
She was like, oh, yeah, I like perform like this,
so it's fine, which I yeah, I have no balance,
(20:44):
so yeah, shout out there if you don't know.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Dazzler is an X Men character.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
She's kind of like a pop star in the X
Men universe, so she's like very Taylor Swift meets Kesha
kind of vibes.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
She's fun.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Another favorite I saw was somebody was the Winter Soldier
with a fully but dazzled arm.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
That was beautiful. Ten out of ten. Love it.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
I'm currently attempting to make a Winter Soldier arm for October,
so come to the right place. Yeah, okay, I definitely
need to ask you that because I've never like I'm
a I'm a seamstress. I don't really do like foam
or anything, so this is gonna be my first delving
(21:29):
into that. Yeah, there were a couple of Yolena and
Bucky Coss players. Thunderbolts came out recently, you know, it
makes sense also both kind of going back to what
you were asking before, Samantha, I do think it is
interesting too to see like which kind of characters get
like like who are who are sort of just by
(21:49):
like looking out and seeing who's here, who are the
honorary or who are the gay icons here? Which, Yeah,
I watched Thunderbolts and I was like, everybody in this
movie is queer. I'm sure many people to have that takeaway.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
One of my favorite, one of my favorite headlines I've
ever read was Riders of Winter Soldier perplexed by erotic
takes on.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Okay, that brings me by next point, the Stucky.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Renaissance is real, It's happening.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
There was so much a Stucky fan art when our
Soldier came out, what like over ten years ago at
this point at least I got there. Was also one
of the artists I was talking to because they had
a zine like a stucky zine and I was like,
oh my god, this is amazing.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I need this.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
And I was talking to them and I was like, yeah,
I like watched Thunderbolts and it like reawoke like a
part of my brain that's been dormant for like five years.
Like I was like, I haven't Like I was like, oh,
I used to be so into this, like I love it.
And then it was like I forrit and then like Thunderbolts,
it was like wait a minute, yes, Bucky Barnes, what
a guy. They were like page and the first page
(23:01):
of the scene is like a little cartoon of them
being like me and my friends watched Thunderbolts and I
was like, wait a minute, these are like we should
go back and watch Witter Soldier. Those are good movies,
like the greatest gay love story of all time. Yeah,
I would love to sit down with like the like
creative crew behind like the Russo Brothers or whatever, like
(23:21):
who are doing the.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Winter Soldier in like Civil War movies. And she's like,
how did you not see that? This was like where
this was going, Like this.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Was like peak Tumblr like queer Baiting era.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Anyways, I'm gonna have to find that article for you
because they have hilarious quotes in there.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
It's so funny.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
They're all like what I just saw a TikTok video
of a woman who was She's like, had a picture
of Bucky bars in like on her computer, and her
boss came through and he's like, wait, you're lesbian.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
She's like, yeah, obviously.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
I know so many lesbians that are obsessed with Bucking Yards.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Again, Bucky Barnes is a gay icon. There's so much evidence.
First of all, he is absolutely queer. Those movies.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
I just.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
I like, I can't imagine watching Winter Soldier not being like,
so this is a love story, but.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
That he's just he's just such a Yeah, I know,
I know so many lesbians that are obsessed with him too.
There's some things.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
So anyways, we are in the middle of the Bucky
Barnes Renaissance, the Stucky Renaissance, and I think that is beautiful.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Also, a lot of Superman.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
You know, this was another one where I was like,
I like like, yeah, actually, I think we need like
Superman is kind of a gay icon. There's a lot
of particularly I think like cis gay men that I
think we're gravitating towards Superman as a character, which I
love seeing that too. On them being kind of on
the other side of like primarily being in like lesbian spaces.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
I'm always like, what are the what.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Are the guys into, what is the.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
The what is the trend today?
Speaker 3 (25:02):
What is good?
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Yeah, but there were a lot of Superman surprisingly not
a lot of Superbat stuff. Would have loved to see
a little bit more of that, but you know, it's
all right, It's all right. The TikTok edits have been
a stellar for that if anybody's spent a lot of
time scrolling through the David Corn Sweat Robert Pattinson super
(25:25):
Bad edits on TikTok. But yeah, and so yeah, and again,
like I said, lots of X Men, all the classics.
Something that I thought was really cool about, like the
costplay sides of things that I think was unique to
this event is there were a lot of couse players
that are incorporated elements of drag also into their costumes.
(25:47):
My friend Hackett, who I went with, who was caused
blind cokling the first day alongside my weekend, they were
also kind of like they like made a point to
do sort of like drag King style make up for
the costume.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
The if you're not familiar, the character.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
Is green, so they did a full green makeup, which
literally I got there and they were like still in
the middle of doing their makeup, and I was like,
I'm running late, and I was like, oh, I just
have to put on like a body.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Suit and I'm done.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Yeah, but I think that is something that is like
cool about this event specifically compared to other sort of
cosplay events like new or Comic Con or something, there's
more of the like drag element, which I think is
really cool, Which brings me to talking about kind of
the like intersections of dragon.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Cosplay, because I think this is something that.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
Has gotten a little bit more It is like kind
of a subsect of drag that I think has gotten
a little bit more attention lately. And yeah, obviously, like
I've heard at an event like this that is specifically
like aimed at or geared towards the queer community, there
were a lot of people that were like drag queens
as well, that were yeah, like a lot of very
cool like drag queen X men type cosplays, a lot
(27:06):
of other characters that looked very cool that I couldn't.
It is fun to go around with the group and
like try to figure out like all of our collective knowledge,
like who are the being? Like okay, wait, I don't
know what that person is, but like somebody here probably does.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
I love that part. It's always so fun. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Which brings me to talk about another event that I
mentioned to you guys, which was about a month ago.
There was a DC themed drag show that I went
to that was in New York that is hosted by
a group called Oddball oddspelled a UD. It is produced
by the drag queen Subtley Audrey, hence the name. But
(27:45):
I they've been doing these shows for like a minute.
I'm not sure exactly how long it's been around it like.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
A year or two.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
They did a really cool Star Wars themed one for
me the fourth that I went to, which Annie, this.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Reminds me, I need to send you some videos from that.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
It was so cool I went to a drag show.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
But that's exactly kind of what I think is really
interesting because I feel like this sort of this specific intersection,
Like to me, cosplay and drag have always been like
very connected, but I think like it hasn't been given
as much attention as like a lot of more like
quote unquote traditional forms of drag. I thought it was
interesting that like the drag queen mcgammy, who is like
(28:28):
based in Brooklyn, she was on Falls Drag Race recently.
She's somebody who, like I originally followed her for her
cosplay content, like she has done a lot with like
mining cosplay and drag. But yeah, if you're interested in,
like if you're in the New York area, I definitely
would recommend checking out Oddball.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
They're amazing. They have some amazing performers.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
One of my favorite drag kings, Max Pleasure, was is
very inbund and bold, really involved with it, and he
did a like Clark Kent Superman one that was making
its rounds on the internet.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
You know, that was amazing. There was a like a
drag king Superman, which was amazing.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
This person also had gone viral recently for doing a
Edward Colin themed drag show, which I am now realizing
I need to send a producer Christina as well.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
And yeah, I love this event.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
I love this show because it combines, like obviously two
of my favorite things are cosplay and drag but yeah,
like for me personally, I I would say, like my
kind of into getting into like my own kind of drag.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
I'm very early to like.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
Don't ask me what my drag king name is yet,
I've changed it like three times for TVD TVD. But
like for me, that was kind of my method where
my route in was cosplay.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I you know.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Obviously, like a lot of people get into drag because
it is kind of a safe way to explore gender
expression and presentation.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
And to me, like that's kind of what cosplay was
early on too.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
I started getting into causeway around like twenty twenty one,
twenty two. It was still sort of like the early
aftermath of the pandemic. I like also had just graduated
and had kind of like had all of a sudden
all this free time, was like, I maybe you should
get into like copies. I always wanted to as a kid,
(30:23):
So like I was using drag, like I was making
tiktoks online.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
I was like it was like a fun.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Silly way to kind of keep partaking and like creative
activities around this point, Like I at that point kind
of knew that I wasn't cis gender, but I was
still sort of exploring like what that meant to me,
and I think like for me, cosplay was a way
to kind of explore different versions of masculinity, different like
(30:50):
look at you know, a lot of times are gender
images of gender come from fiction, come from like the
images around us. So I was able to be like, Okay,
what happens if I lean into this character that I
really have like.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Identified with whatever.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
Again, I kind of I kind of at this point,
had like known I was trans for a little bit
at that point, but like, I definitely like I have
friends that sort of were able to come out through
like making consplay videos and being like, actually.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
I feel way more comfortable dressing this way or presenting
this way.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
Which it's again, I think, very similar to drag for
a lot of people, a lot of uh obviously not everybody,
Like plenty of sis people also do drag. But you know,
I've been going back and rewatching, going to the or
not rewatching. I'm watching them for the first time. I'm
so sorry, I'm a terrible gay, but I have been
watching a lot of the old like RuPaul's Drag Race
seasons for the first time, and it's really interesting to
(31:44):
like see how many like contestants on the show have
come out as trans since then, Like there have been
a lot that I'm like, oh, I know you because
you're this like trans icon now, but like it's cool
to see you like go through that journey. So yeah,
I again, I think like these are two sort of
like art forms that have a lot in common, they
have a lot of overlap. I think it's really cool
(32:04):
to see like this again, like that sort of combo
getting a lot more mainstream attention. I think like getting
to be in a space that celebrates both and celebrates
the ways that, you know, because oftentimes I'm like either
doing some sort of like cosplay thing where it's like.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
More focused on that side of things.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
It's you know, I have some lovely straight friends that
are caused players who you know, not for me, but
I'm happy for them, and I'm an ally but uh,
you know, like obviously not always like super queer spaces.
And then on the flip side, sometimes it's like I
love I go to a lot of drag shows. I
do love drag, Like I think it is really important
(32:45):
to just like celebrate drag in general, but like it's
cool to also get the opportunity to be like, yeah,
what would happen if, like Emma Frost was a drag queen.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
I do have on the back burner.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
I've had a Red Hood themed dragging act that I
want to do at some point, I just like have
not had.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
The opportunity to do so.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
If anybody wants to hire me to do that, my
dms are open, but just saying not Anyways, Yeah, I
had a great weekend.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
I had a great time. I think.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
You know, again, it's so cool to see like people
are so creative.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
There were some really.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
Cool costumes that I saw, Like I probably stopped like
at least one hundred people.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
To be like, oh my god, I love your outfit.
You look so good. So yeah, just felt like a
great space.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
And yeah, if you if this seems like the kind
of event that you'd be interested in, it is August
every year, so unfortunately you're gonna have to wait another
year I guess till the.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Next one, but more time to plan. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (33:44):
Yeah, okay, So for those who are new to going
to cons and really are excited about going to something
like this, how would you tell them. Let's say it's
the first time, because you know, I didn't go to
the first con until God pandemic, but it was like
a couple of years before the pandemic because I was
so anxious about all that, so I needed a pep talk.
(34:06):
What would your pep talk be to prepare someone to
come into a con?
Speaker 4 (34:10):
First of all, like totally understandable because like literally same I.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
It was definitely something for like forever.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
I was like, I want to have like I've always
wanted to go to New York Comic Con, but I
like never have. And then for me it ended up
happening like literally just because I was going to be
in town like that. I was still living in Chicago
at the time, but I was like going to be
in New York that week anyway, So I was like, sure,
like some of my friends are going, might as well.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
I think the biggest thing is And like.
Speaker 4 (34:37):
I totally got that because I'm also somebody who I think,
like I can be a very anxious person. I think
going into a new thing that you haven't done before
obviously very your nerve wracking. Just do it like it
is so fine, You're have so much fun, you know obviously,
like know what.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Your limits are. If you're somebody that doesn't really like crowds.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
I would say try not to go on like a Saturday,
those are usually the busiest day. But yeah, I honestly
think my best advice is like just go for it,
Like just you don't have to cause play your first
time you go. Like again, my first time that I
went to this thing, I just I was wearing like.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
A T shirt and shorts.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Probably, I think like you can, yeah, like if you
want to just go and like see what's up, see
what's going on. I've for the most part, had a
really great time. I've like mostly had really great interaction
with people. Again, I think like this kind of thing
because it's something that it's like people are just kind
of passionate about and like you know, it's it's just
(35:39):
people like exploring things that they enjoy and they.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Want to talk about.
Speaker 4 (35:44):
Like people who are generally pretty nice about that, pretty
open minded. So yeah, just do the thing, yay.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
One of the great things about a space like that,
and even something like Dragon Con, which I think you
we have to get.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
You at Joe too. Yeah, when is it.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
It's Labor Day weekend, but it's a hybrid of comic
con and something like that. It's I think it's actually
much more fan driven than anything else. But they do
have they do have big celebrities here, but I don't
go to any panels.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
It's about the costumes and all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
But anyway, one of the great things about that those
spaces is that people post like if you go on
to the dragon Con reddit right now and you're like,
I'm nervous, I've never been, people will tell you.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
Here are my tips.
Speaker 5 (36:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yeah, So people are out there for you and they'll
give you they'll give you pretty honest advice. And what
I love about this too is fandom notoriously has a
bad record of being gatekeeping. So it's nice to see
that we're getting more more women and people of color
(37:02):
and queer people in space is like a huge event
like dragon Con, but it's also nice to know that
like this space is specifically yeah for us.
Speaker 4 (37:12):
Exactly because I think that is like I've seen the
same thing where I think like especially you know, when
I was like growing up, it was always kind of like, oh,
it was weird that you were like a girl that
was into Star Wars like that kind of thing, which
and again, like I was younger, so I wasn't really
in a lot of these like spaces, but it was
like online stuff or whatever.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
There was a lot of gatekeeping.
Speaker 4 (37:34):
I think I've definitely seen especially because like a lot
of this stuff has gone like more mainstream too. It
has gotten a lot more like friendly towards yeah, like
women and people of color and queer people.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
But yeah, it is also nice to have that space
where like if I start talking about stuck you, nobody's
gonna be like wait what.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
And yeah, I think again, like kind of what you
said with the Reddit threads, Like at the end of
the day, it's imprtant to remember, like everybody going to
this is like a nerd Like we're like, we're all dorcs,
Like we're all kind of like again, it is sort
of a space where people you get to just be
your like weirdest self, and I think, like that's the
(38:13):
beautiful thing about it is like nobody's gonna judge you.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Nobody's going to or maybe.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Maybe they will, but they're gonna keep it to themselves,
like nobody's gonna say anything to you. It is all
kind of like it really does feel like a safe space,
and I think that that I think is very nice
to have another just like quick note, I would say
is because I definitely, like before going to like NEWR
Comic on or whatever, it was sort of like, oh no,
I need to like figure out, like are there panels
that I want to go to? Like how am I
(38:40):
gonna spend my whole time the day?
Speaker 3 (38:41):
It goes by so fast?
Speaker 4 (38:43):
Again, I literally spent like ninety percent of my time
just like walking around and like talking to artists and
like looking at stuff that people were selling and like
talking to like people that weren't there. You get, like, yes,
if you want to go to panels, if you want
to go to like photo shoots, do that find those things?
Like I would recommend maybe figuring out when they're gonna
(39:03):
be ahead of time and making sure like Okay, I
have like ten minutes to go walk over to the
other side of the venue, but you don't have to,
like you can totally just go into one of these
things and not go to a single panel, Like it's
still fun. I've done that before and I've had a
great time. So yeah, yeah, I wouldn't stress about the
like having to plan out every moment of the day
(39:27):
and making sure I'm doing like something and making the
most of the money that I spent on the.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
Ticket because you're gonna have fun. You're gonna have fun
either way. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
If that's something you're interested in, then definitely plan out
the panels. But otherwise, yeah, you're you're not gonna be
lacking for seeing amazing creativity that that and that's what
I love. I just love seeing the things people come
up with that are so niche and so funny and
creative and amazing. That's that won me over. I used
(39:59):
to go to pan was all the time, and now
I'm like, maybe I'll go.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
To a panel. Maybe it's a panel.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
Maybe there was a like x Men podcast panel one
of the days that I was gonna go to because
I was like, I should industry, this is my thing.
And then I think I like literally and I was
at like they had like a Cosplayer contest that was
like right before it, and I was just sort of like, okay,
(40:27):
I could leave this early or like this has been fun,
maybe I'll just stay like.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
That kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
So yeah, yeah, I did a panel once.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
I was on a panel, but you've been out of panels.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
It was great, it was.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Great, but I definitely was like, I've got to do
this thing. I would rather be watching.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
Yeah, And it's kind of nice to just be able
to yeah, like to be able to walk around and
not think about like it's like, you know when you like,
I feel like it's like when you go on vacation.
There's like two ways of doing it, and there's one
where you're just like, I'm just gonna like relax and
have fun and not do anything, and the other way
is the like I'm gonna make the like itinerary and
all the million things to do.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
I have been both versions of that. I've been both people.
Speaker 4 (41:10):
But it's like, you know, sometimes it's fun to have
the whole itinerary and do all the things, and sometimes.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
It's fun to just walk around and see what happens, you.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Know, yeah yeah mm hmmm. Trust me, you will see
things that you will see things.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
And watch this. But I love that.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Like honestly, Jack and Cott, I'll just be walking around
and all of a sudden there's a huge conco line
of people from and Or and I'm like, well, we're
not doing this, so yep, this is my life next
Twitter a minute.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
And it's nice.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
You never know what wonderful things you might encounter exactly
exactly and.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
It's always fun.
Speaker 4 (41:50):
Like New Ork com around, there's always like a couple
of people that have like like they've clearly built this
like whole thing, and they're on like stilts and there's
like a big helmet, and I'm always like, yes, kudos
to you. Forget I'm like, I I've got my doc
Martin's on.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
I am on the ground. I like, oh yeah, I'm
with you. I'm on the side of it. I'd rather
just stay comfy and you know, within reason me as well,
me as well.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
But those costumes, I'm so impressed when I see them,
and yeah, shout out to you.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
I love it. Yeah, I was like you, I love
to see it. I love to experience it. I will
not put in the effort to do that, but I
love seeing other people do it.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Oh yeah, well, and it's also awesome, like the stories
you'll get out of it. Now we're just doing it
a you go to a condition. Yeah, but the stories
you'll get out of it. Because one time, I like
got an elevator and there was just a doalk and
the elevator. There was no other person and the dollc
was moving and I was like, hello, it's just the
(42:56):
experiences the random random experiences you can have pretty great.
Thanks yeah, yeah, yes, well, thank you so much for
coming on and talking about this.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
Obviously I could go on and on, well like.
Speaker 4 (43:13):
A whole like extra three hour debrief after this, and
we'll just yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Well it's a bad time. Where can the Goods listeners
find you?
Speaker 4 (43:26):
Yeah, if you want to find me on the internet,
I am h You can find me on Instagram or Twitter,
although I don't really interact with Twitter that much anymore,
but you can find me at Pat not Pratt.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
That is p A TT and no T p r
A T T.
Speaker 4 (43:44):
I actually had a recent I had a new show
that I'm starting on, and that I had, I had
a totally different pronunciation of my last name that I've
never heard before.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
It was just pats. They add an extra ass to
the end, and I.
Speaker 4 (43:52):
Was like, usually I have to tell people not to
say Pratt, but I haven't gotten pats before, so you know. Anyways,
that is my last name is Pat. It's four letters.
It's pretty easy. It just gets Nobody can get it right.
Speaker 3 (44:04):
Apparently, it's simple.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
I guess if you want to see more of my
cosplay stuff, you could find me on TikTok at hot.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
Topic, Dad, that's hot topic.
Speaker 4 (44:18):
Like the store and then just dad one word sorry
and advanced.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
But yeah.
Speaker 4 (44:25):
And you could also listen to a couple other shows
that I work on, which are There Are No Girls
on the Internet with Bridget Todd, a friend of the show,
or After Lives, which.
Speaker 3 (44:38):
Just wrapped up its second season about Marsha P. Johnson.
Speaker 4 (44:41):
If you are queer or interested in queer history or
New York City history, or just like.
Speaker 3 (44:47):
Things that have happened in the past, you should go
ahead and listen to that.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Yeah, yes, And you can also hear Joey on a
couple other episodes, Oh yeah, this show, but yes, the listeners.
If you haven't checked all of those things out, you should.
I'm very excited to talk some cosplay shop with you, Joey.
Speaker 3 (45:09):
I hope you have to.
Speaker 4 (45:11):
I need to, Like I've reached the point like I
was like, I know, I need.
Speaker 3 (45:16):
To lock in.
Speaker 4 (45:16):
I'm doing two cosplays that I know are going to
require a lot of like making things for them, and
so I was like, all right, i gotta start.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
I gotta get started now.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
I'm not gonna be a back of me ro I
did do a little bit of like rushing the week
before for this one.
Speaker 3 (45:32):
But I was like, I can't do that again. It's
gonna be that's gonna be too much happening.
Speaker 4 (45:36):
I did just also find out this group Oddball that
did the drag show they're doing a like Comic Co
New York Comic Con after party Saturday night. Shout out
to that there people you know are interested. I will probably,
but I like was like, all right, I do really
want to go. I love this group. I level the
shows I put on. Am I I'm not sleeping.
Speaker 3 (45:54):
This weekend if I go to this like, I'm just
it's not happening.
Speaker 4 (46:00):
That is the only thing we'll see y'all might see
me dressed is buy from arcane, shaking from like having
five coffees that morning. Uh, Sunday of New York Comic Con.
Who's to say, Who's to say, hey.
Speaker 2 (46:16):
Do what you gotta do? Well, I can't wait too.
We'll have to touch back after that check in. We will,
we will, uh huh Okay. Well, in the meantime, listeners,
if you would like to contact us, you can our
emails hello at stuff I Never told you dot com,
or also on blue Sky at Moms a podcast or
on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've never told you.
(46:37):
We're us on YouTube and we have a news store
for merch Cotton Bureau.
Speaker 5 (46:43):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
It's got some cool stuff on there, so check that out.
And we have a book you can get wherever you
get your books. Thanks as always to our super producer Christina,
our executive producer May, and our computer Joey, who is
here with us today. Thank you, thank you, and thanks
to you for listening stuff I never told you to
put should i Heart Radio for more podcasts from my
Heart Radio, you can check out the iHeartRadio app up
a podcast or where you listen to your favorite shows.
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