Geekly, bi-weekly
ClexaCon with guest Ashley, ClexaCon attendee
Andi and Lise are both on the ground at ClexaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada and they chat with con-goer Ashley about her experiences at the event and what it means to her and to queer representation.
ClexaCon met in Vegas April 5-9, 2018.
Andi and Lise love themselves some Lost Girl, the paranormal urban fantasy series that launched in 2010 and ended with Season 5 in 2015. The series follows main character Bo, a succubus, in her quest to find her true origins, but she’s buttressed by several strong secondary characters, both human and fae. The show’s premise is predicated on there being two worlds – fae and human – and the former attempt to stay hidden from the latter while dealing with conflict between light fae and dark. The show is full of strong women characters and includes strong positive LGBTQ rep. Bo is considered bisexual and engages with both male and female love interests.
Andi and Lise agree the show is full of great, strong characters, excellent writing, great plots, and explorations of moral ambiguity with regard to the conflicts between light and dark fae as well as how individuals engage with both sides.
The show is currently available on Netflix and Amazon Prime in the U.S.
And check out the Waystation podcast, all about Lost Girl.
Andi and Lise are super-stoked this week because they managed to score an interview with three ClexaCon directors/organizers (Ashley had to step out to conduct official ClexaCon business during the interview, but we appreciate her dedication to the cause).
Joining us is Holly W., Danielle J., and Ashley A., all of whom not only direct and organize this event, but coordinate with other team members to do whatever needs to be done.
ClexaCon officially launched in March, 2017 as a response to the myriad deaths of queer women characters in media, particularly the death of the character of Commander Lexa of the CW show The 100 (pronounced “the hundred”). That character died in an egregious example of the “bury your gays” trope, and in the wake of her death, LGBTQ fans and allies rallied in opposition to this trope and sparked a revolution of organizing and community outreach that continues unabated.
Named for the iconic ship of Clarke Griffin and Commander Lexa (Clexa), ClexaCon is the first and largest multi-fandom event for LGBTQ women and allies. It brings together thousands of diverse LGBTQ fans and content creators from around the world to celebrate and encourage positive media representation of and for LGBTQ women.
The event is scheduled for 5-9 April in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Andi and Lise are way into the award-winning Questionable Content webcomic (Lise got Andi started on it), by Jeph Jacques, which launched August 1, 2003 and has been since then. It’s a slice-of-life comic populated by a diverse group of people and includes strong women and strong queer rep and all kinds of other rep. People of different ages and body types, backgrounds, and all kinds of things in between.
The comic is at times hilarious, moving, poignant, wacky, and overall an amazing amount of fun.
Andi and Lise rave over Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which opened in theaters in December. TLJ is the continuation of the Star Wars story from the movie The Force Awakens, which was released in Dec. 2015. TLJ is chock full of strong women characters, has a diverse cast (though we’re still waiting on the overtly queer rep…), and these characters were integral to the story. Here, Rey continues her exploration of her abilities with The Force; General Leia and, later, Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) are trying to outrun The First Order; and Rose Tico the Resistance mechanic proves a mentor of sorts for Finn, the ex-Stormtrooper. The movie also explores Luke Skywalker’s character arc in interesting ways.
TLJ provides a jumping-off point for new directions in the Star Wars movie universe and perhaps a launching of the new generation and both Andi and Lise are excited to see what happens.
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Lise and Andi geek out over Delilah Dawson’s novel Phasma set in the Star Wars universe. Just released in September through Penguin/Random House, Phasma provides a story of the enigmatic and imposing Captain Phasma, a leader in The First Order (another Star Wars evil empire). From the recent movies, she’s the one dressed in a shiny chrome Stormtrooper outfit who trains First Order recruits.
Dawson’s book provides glimpses of Phasma through two separate parties, which manages to further enhance Phasma’s mystique because it obscures her motivations since we’re not getting the story directly from here, but rather through a second and third party, both of whom have their own narrative arcs. It’s a cleverly layered, intricate story that only makes us more intrigued about Phasma (and there totally needs to be more of her in the movie ’verse! Hint hint Star Wars movie people.).
To buy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo
This week Andi and Lise get into the retro-cool mystery sci-fi comic series Paper Girls, in which four twelve-year-old girls have paper routes in 1988 and band together to deal with weird and crazy things happening in their town. So you’ve got monsters, strange beings, time travel…and what seems to be a conspiracy underneath it all. Appropriate for kids, strong female characters, and unpredictable plotlines. Have fun!
If you’re interested in finding out more about Paper Girls (AND YOU TOTALLY ARE), see Image Comics.
Andi and Lise totally lose it over one of their joint fave movies, Galaxy Quest (1999), which is a delightful spoof of Star Trek and the Star Trek fandoms. It’s a hilarious romp through sci-fi fandom, a clever nod to various plots and fun show tropes, and just a whole lot of fun in general.
The film stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman among others.
Seriously. It’s well worth your time.
While Andi’s away, Lise will play, and what better way to do so than by sitting down for a chat with Meghan O’Brien. Not only is Meghan a fantastic author of lesfic, but she is also an avid gamer.
Lise and Meghan discuss some of the obstacles of gaming as women, which games they’ve gotten into in the past, and the upcoming games they’re itching to get their hands on.
Andi and Lise totally geek out over the Netflix original series Stranger Things. The acting, the pacing, the tension, the writing – it’s all brilliant. It’s a hybrid horror/thriller/sci fi set in the early 1980s in the American Midwest.
Synopsis:
A love letter to the ’80s classics that captivated a generation, Stranger Things is set in 1983 Indiana, where a young boy vanishes into thin air. As friends, family and local police search for answers, they are drawn into an extraordinary mystery involving top-secret government experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one very strange little girl. –Rotten Tomatoes
Lez Geek Out! is a geek culture podcast that celebrates popular culture with an eye for the woman-loving-woman audience. It focuses mainly on work with lesbian/bi/women-loving-women themes/characters, but sometimes strays into territory where the subtext is strong, and the female characters are stronger. All forms of media are explored, be they books, movies, TV shows, graphic novels, web-comics, or anything else that fits the bill.
Copyright Andi Marquette and Lise MacTague
Lez Geek Out!cast 