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
Andi and Lise totally lose their minds over Hurley’s latest, The Stars are Legion, in which warring worlds are populated only by women in decaying organic world-ships all known as The Legion. The main character, Zan, wakes up to find most of her memories gone, but soon finds out that she is being perpetually sent out to board another world-ship and each time, she comes closer.
Andi and Lise were blown away by Hurley’s world-building – organic world-ships literally birthed by the women who inhabit them, and each with different levels/ecosystems all interrelated (omg the metaphors here!). The story is thus about Zan, who knows that she needs to board this other ship to save Jayd. Jayd, for her part, has her own agenda in bringing change into this warring, authoritarian context. The question is, can they do it and what precisely does “change” mean?
Synopsis: Somewhere on the outer rim of the universe, a mass of decaying world-ships known as the Legion is traveling in the seams between the stars. For generations, a war for control of the Legion has been waged, with no clear resolution. As worlds continue to die, a desperate plan is put into motion.
Zan wakes with no memory, prisoner of a people who say they are her family. She is told she is their salvation – the only person capable of boarding the Mokshi, a world-ship with the power to leave the Legion. But Zan’s new family is not the only one desperate to gain control of the prized ship. Zan finds that she must choose sides in a genocidal campaign that will take her from the edges of the Legion’s gravity well to the very belly of the world.
Zan will soon learn that she carries the seeds of the Legion’s destruction – and its possible salvation. But can she and her ragtag band of followers survive the horrors of the Legion and its people long enough to deliver it?
In the tradition of The Fall of Hyperion and Dune, The Stars Are Legion is an epic and thrilling tale about tragic love, revenge, and war as imagined by one of the genre’s most celebrated new writers.
Andi and Lise talk about how fandoms have been both an escape and a support network during these troubling times, and they also note that fandoms allow for the expansion of imagination, finding new stories, and making new friends.
Andi and Lise RAVE about Spirits Podcast, which is: “…boozy biweekly podcast about mythology, legends, and lore. Every episode, co-hosts Julia and Amanda mix a drink and discuss a new story or character from a wide range of places, eras, and cultures. Learn brand-new stories and enjoy re-tellings of your favorite myths, served over ice every two weeks, on Spirits.”
Andi and Lise really dig the banter between hosts Amanda and Julia, who speak enthusiastically and knowledgeably about mythological creatures, paranormal creatures and themes, and folklore all over the place. They skillfully lay out the legends, address major themes, and then link them to contemporary cultural interpretations and mores. And they are all about women’s rep in these journeys into mythological pasts.
Andi did Dragon Con 2017 in Atlanta and it BLEW HER LITTLE FANGIRL MIND. ALL THE THINGS! ALL THE FANGIRLING! ALL THE COSPLAY! ALL THE PANELS! ALL THE AMAZING!
Plus, she wanted Lise to talk more about her own cosplaying and armor design. So, YAY!
For more info on Dragon Con, which is always over Labor Day weekend (early September) in Atlanta:
In this episode Lise is joined by Andy Meadeson, aspiring author and total Mass Effect fan girl. An engineer by day, Andy likes to write or go adventuring when she’s not gaming.
About Mass Effect :
As Commander Shepard, rise to become the galaxy’s most elite soldier and lead an all-out war to stop an ancient and ruthless enemy: the Reapers. With over 75 hours of content and more than 300 awards, one of gaming’s most acclaimed franchises is available for the first time in a premium foiled box set.
Heart-pounding action meets gripping interactive storytelling where you decide how your unique story unfolds. Assemble and lead your team aboard the SSV Normandy, the most advanced ship in the galaxy, and travel to distant and unexplored star systems. On your journey, meet a cast of intriguing characters each with their own story to tell. Wield powerful weapons and customize them with upgrades to create new and devastating attacks. All the thrilling action and your decisions culminate into a heroic battle against the greatest threat ever known.
The fate of the galaxy lies in your hands – how will you chose to fight for it?
Andi and Lise rave like crazy women over the TV show Wynonna Earp, which is the absolute awesome and Andi is pleased that she managed to totally peer pressure Lise to turn her into an Earper.
Synopsis, as quoted from SyFy:
“Wynonna Earp follows Wyatt Earp’s great granddaughter as she battles demons and other creatures. With her unique abilities, and a posse of dysfunctional allies, she’s the only thing that can bring the paranormal to justice.’
What that synopsis doesn’t tell you is that this show is full of women’s and feminist badassery, a F/F relationship, and explorations of relationships between all the characters, and that’s no doubt due to showrunner/show developer Emily Andras, also of Lost Girl fame. So that should give you an idea that there is awesome throughout this show, and Andi and Lise STRONGLY recommend it.
Andi and Lise talk about queer rep in media following the now-infamous incident at San Diego Comic-Con 2017, which occurred over the July 20-23 weekend and involved members of the cast of Supergirl. The upshot was an impromptu song in which a cast member sang an overview of Season 2 that included a belittling of Supercorp, a f/f fanon* ship** between Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers (Supergirl’s “secret” identity—omg glasses are not the best disguise…). That cast member then went on to say that he “debunked Supercorp” and was told by another cast member that what he did was “pretty brave.”
The fallout was immediate, and LGBTQ fans were hurt and bewildered, so Lise and Andi wanted to address this, which isn’t just what happened with Supergirl. It’s about rep overall, and this is just the latest example.
And yes, Andi and Lise have some strong feelings about this, so language may be strong as well.
*fanon: a term used in fanfiction and in fandoms to describe commonly accepted ideas among authors and fans even if the idea is not expressed in the canon work, which is the official storyline from the original work.
**ship: in fanspeak, a “ship” is a relationship (often romantic) between two characters, whether canon or fanon. “Shipping” is when fans imagine a relationship between characters (say, in TV shows or movies) that may or may not have been intended by writers or creators.
Lise and Andi rave about the Marvel comic Ms Marvel, whose latest incarnation features Pakistani-American Muslim teen Kamala Khan in Jersey City who is a total fangirl of Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers). Andi loves that Ms Marvel was a fangirl before she was a superhero. Then one day Kamala wakes up with super powers and she has to learn how to negotiate this new aspect to her life, dealing with the powers and what she feels is her responsibility to help people now that she has them along with her grades, her classes, and her family life.
It’s basically teenage angst – something all of us can probably relate to – along with the added angst of having super powers and trying to figure out how best to use them when you’re only 16-17 AND attempt to negotiate the landmines that come in any family as you’re figuring out who you are and who you want to be. Two big Ms Marvel thumbs up on this one, friends.
Andi and Lise rave about the movie Wonder Woman because…omg, you have to see it. Both were blown away by the strong women’s rep in all senses of the word, but they would like to have a movie with nothing but the Amazons. We didn’t get enough of them. MOAR Amazons, please. And definitely MOAR Wonder Woman. All of that. Much MOAR.
Synposis:
Before she was Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, Diana meets an American pilot (Chris Pine) who tells her about the massive conflict that’s raging in the outside world. Convinced that she can stop the threat, Diana leaves her home for the first time. Fighting alongside men in a war to end all wars, she finally discovers her full powers and true destiny.
Lez Geek Out!cast 