Latest / Vigilante Vibes Podcast / Ep. 121. Elevating the Nerdy Voices of the Rainbow: Episode 19 - Juan from 'Up With The Sun'!

Transcript

Ep. 121. Elevating the Nerdy Voices of the Rainbow: Episode 19 - Juan from 'Up With The Sun'! · Vigilante Vibes Podcast

• 0:17
  Hello to all the comic fans, Marvel geeks, and all the nerds
• 0:19
  in between. Welcome to another episode of
• 0:21
  the Vigilante Vibes podcast where we talk all things Marvel
• 0:24
  along with other fandoms, but without the toxicity that's
• 0:26
  taken up way too much space in each and every fandom.
• 0:29
  I'm your host, Megan Nicole, and we're here to have another
• 0:31
  episode of Elevating the Nerdy Voices of the Rainbow where we
• 0:34
  lift up the voices of the LGBTQ plus communities.
• 0:37
  Today joining me, I am so excited.
• 0:39
  I have a very special guest. I have Juan with Up with the Sun
• 0:43
  on YouTube who spreads positivity constantly while
• 0:47
  celebrating pop culture and sharing his New York life
• 0:51
  experiences. Thank.
• 0:52
  You so much for having me and I really appreciate it.
• 0:55
  I'm so excited you're here. This, like everything I've seen
• 0:58
  from you, has just been just so kind, so positive.
• 1:02
  Never a dull moment, never some, never a negative moment.
• 1:06
  Can you tell us a little bit about you?
• 1:08
  Yes, like you said, my name is Juan and I do have a YouTube
• 1:11
  channel called Up with the Sun and I actually love that you put
• 1:14
  like the infliction in the Quan. That is a first and I love it.
• 1:22
  My best friend, he's a Mexican man.
• 1:26
  So like every time I read a name that's usually Hispanic, it does
• 1:30
  that automatically. And he's like, why do you do
• 1:34
  that? My name is Dwight.
• 1:35
  I'm like, I, I think it's because your mom does it.
• 1:40
  I don't know. I know.
• 1:41
  That's so funny. Well, I'm originally from
• 1:43
  Southern California. I'm from San Diego specifically,
• 1:46
  but I've kind of lived all over my family had like this little
• 1:51
  Vagabond St. where we're like, we're going to move here.
• 1:54
  Like I went to high school in Dallas, TX.
• 1:58
  And then come the pandemic. I was a dance instructor for a
• 2:03
  long time. And so come the pandemic, my my,
• 2:07
  that had to like sunset because you can't touch people.
• 2:11
  Yeah, social distancing. So it just got to a point where
• 2:17
  like being in at my parents house at home, that there needed
• 2:23
  to be a point where like I kind of like launched into something
• 2:26
  else. Another opportunity came up and
• 2:28
  that's how I made my way to New York City summer of 2020.
• 2:32
  So July 2020, I moved to New York City and between that time
• 2:38
  I actually started my YouTube channel, which is named Up with
• 2:41
  the Sun. And it's named that because I
• 2:43
  wanted to inject some positivity out there where people, you
• 2:47
  know, we were all in such a funky space.
• 2:50
  And because of that, I wanted to create a space where people can
• 2:54
  just like geek out and, you know, share some little blips of
• 2:58
  joy going forward. So that's really the birth of
• 3:02
  how my channel started. And at the same time, I was
• 3:06
  being very inspired by a bunch of like Funko Pop collectors.
• 3:11
  So one of my things that I really love doing on my channel
• 3:15
  is sharing my collection and sharing just pop culture
• 3:19
  merchandise in general. That speaks to me and you know,
• 3:24
  sharing that with everybody else who enjoys the same stuff.
• 3:26
  It did start off with Disney merchandise because I used to
• 3:30
  have an annual pass to Disney and that took off and it did its
• 3:34
  own thing. But as I got like more
• 3:36
  comfortable with sharing multitudes of what I'm
• 3:39
  interested in, then my collection and what I bring to
• 3:43
  my channel obviously evolved as well.
• 3:47
  You do have so many cool Funkos. I am a huge Funko collector
• 3:52
  myself, so I watch you and I'm like, it's just, it's so
• 3:57
  beautiful. Who what's what's your favorite
• 3:59
  Funko right now that you have? Oh, OK, Dang, that's really hard
• 4:04
  because they're all. My I know it's like choosing
• 4:05
  your favorite. Yeah, all my babies.
• 4:06
  I don't have children, but they're my babies.
• 4:10
  I don't have a dog. OK, so, so if I default my
• 4:14
  fungos become my children right now.
• 4:17
  You know, I'm really, I tried to like I, I used to be based on
• 4:22
  like the value, like what's the value of this pop or whatever.
• 4:26
  I really love my Keith Haring Funko Pop because it's an artist
• 4:29
  series pop. It was the first one and Keith
• 4:32
  Haring is really inspirational to me as a queer person and I
• 4:37
  just love that. Like that was like, I think that
• 4:39
  was like the number one in the artist series.
• 4:41
  You could backtrack me on that, but I just love that they put
• 4:45
  that out there. And that's kind of like what I
• 4:47
  love about Funko at the beginning is that they were open
• 4:51
  to embracing the queer community.
• 4:52
  And you know, they are not. They make everything out of the
• 4:55
  sun. And so for them not to like edit
• 4:58
  like what they actually produce was a really wonderful thing to
• 5:01
  see. One of my earliest videos on my
• 5:03
  YouTube channel is a Funko collection based on just all the
• 5:08
  queer characters and people related to Funko, in Funko form,
• 5:13
  I should say. So I would say the Keith Haring
• 5:16
  one, just because kind of being and being in New York now, I get
• 5:20
  to go see his work in person. And it's really inspirational
• 5:24
  because he had such a great message in his very short life,
• 5:28
  because he did. Die.
• 5:28
  Yeah. The aids.
• 5:30
  So unfortunately, you know that. You know how that happens.
• 5:35
  You know what I'm saying? But you know, that's like, that
• 5:38
  was the sad truth. But like, he had such an impact
• 5:40
  in such a small amount of time that he was here.
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  And I think that's like a big take away from his work.
• 5:48
  OK, so I expect you to be like Nightcrawler Superman and you
• 5:52
  gave me such a beautiful answer. It's.
• 5:55
  Pride fun. So I I understand you're doing a
• 5:58
  wonderful series on highlighting queer characters and and fandom.
• 6:02
  And you know, you started out that wonderful video with
• 6:05
  Wiccan, which I love. I still have not gotten that
• 6:07
  pop. I I was so happily surprised it
• 6:11
  sold out so fast. Stores and the Fungo shop like I
• 6:14
  could not, I can't find it. I'm going to have to buy it, you
• 6:17
  know, later. I can't.
• 6:18
  I've been looking and looking and I I like finding them.
• 6:23
  I don't like going on like Amazon.
• 6:26
  I like the search. Yeah, the hunt.
• 6:29
  Yes and I can't find it anywhere but I see all you bastards
• 6:33
  posting it saying look what I got and it's just like I could
• 6:38
  give it such a better life. No offense guys, but.
• 6:41
  You can go right next to my wallet.
• 6:43
  You can go right next to my first season, Agatha Harkness,
• 6:46
  like let you know. It's wonderful.
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  I'm waiting, I'm waiting for them to do like Marvel comic
• 6:52
  book character versions of them, you know, Wicked and hopefully.
• 6:55
  That would be. Amazing.
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  I actually have a pins here featuring them.
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  I love that's another thing you know, it's part of my collecting
• 7:04
  expanded to pins. So I'm at a point right now
• 7:09
  where like I will support independent artists.
• 7:12
  You know who will create those things for you 'cause honestly,
• 7:16
  as a community, queer people don't get a lot of merchandise.
• 7:21
  That's not all rainbows. I OK, I've noticed that I 'cause
• 7:29
  there have been times I've looked up a character or
• 7:31
  something and like America Chavez and I'm like, you know, I
• 7:35
  wanna like, see what I can find of her, but it's all rainbows
• 7:38
  and like, you know, the rainbow. Does it only mean gay like?
• 7:44
  Yeah, like this. We can just you can just give me
• 7:46
  the character, the character. Themselves already clear, like I
• 7:49
  don't need like to like have them to have a great like I know
• 7:52
  if I go does that line their pride lines where like they just
• 7:55
  like rainbow out a character and completely destroy any kind of
• 7:58
  detail that's on that pop. I have the Deadpool one.
• 8:02
  Yeah. What's happening?
• 8:04
  Here you know so. It's just like a they really do.
• 8:07
  They did it with Deadpool. I have it and they're like you
• 8:10
  like Deadpool just just throw a rainbow on it.
• 8:12
  That's all you need. Nothing else.
• 8:13
  It's like they don't even, they don't even care how he's
• 8:17
  sitting. They care about nothing.
• 8:19
  They're they're just rainbow. Whatsoever for it, they're like,
• 8:22
  let's just reuse this one and boom, there you go.
• 8:25
  Yeah, yeah. No.
• 8:26
  And I think that's the, the foray into like Funko Pop
• 8:30
  collecting is like, you actually become more discerning and now
• 8:33
  in your Funko collection because there's so many different
• 8:38
  iterations of that character. So because of that, you're just
• 8:41
  like I do I need 5 of this version of the same person?
• 8:45
  Or I, I could just pick one, you know, or like, oh that'd be cool
• 8:49
  if they are the special edition. But like, I hate that post.
• 8:54
  There are, there are a few like like Deadpool.
• 8:57
  I'm like, you know, I don't need Deadpool and a bathrobe, you
• 9:01
  know, like I'm, I'm good on that.
• 9:04
  But then I see one like of Gwen Stacy or Spider Gwen, I need it.
• 9:08
  I need every single one of them. I don't care.
• 9:10
  But then Spider Man, it's like, why do I have one of him in a
• 9:12
  Christmas sweater? Why did I do that?
• 9:14
  Because. It adds to the ambience of
• 9:16
  Christmas. It's out.
• 9:19
  It's out all year long. It's like, it's just like Megan.
• 9:23
  Why a lot? Of my Yeah, a lot of those
• 9:25
  seasonal bugle pops, I've had the the wonderful pleasure of
• 9:30
  like incorporating them into like seasonal decor because part
• 9:33
  of my channel, I do also like to do little overlays in the
• 9:36
  background, change it up. And that's another way of
• 9:39
  displaying the collection that doesn't really get a lot of
• 9:41
  attention throughout the year. So yeah, I totally understand
• 9:46
  about the spider man in his little ugly sweater.
• 9:50
  I all about that, yeah. I think I bought it in like
• 9:54
  March. It's like, what are we doing?
• 9:57
  What are you doing? But it's like, I OK, yeah, no,
• 10:02
  but like it was at a convention and the people they're set up
• 10:07
  was like, oh, we're going out of business.
• 10:08
  We're we have these Funkos. I'm like, I'm getting them all.
• 10:10
  And I saw Spider man. I was like, obviously I'm going
• 10:13
  to buy an $8 Funko, obviously. And then I got home and I was
• 10:17
  like, why did I really even my but like my husband was like, do
• 10:21
  you need all of those Funkos? And I was like, yes, I do.
• 10:24
  So you're the only person that knows this that I look at that
• 10:28
  one and I'm like, why did I like could have bought a $8 burger or
• 10:32
  something. Oh yeah, I could.
• 10:34
  I've definitely could have fed myself a million times over with
• 10:37
  what I've invested in my collection.
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  So is there anything in your collection?
• 10:43
  Well, you do Funkos, you do pins, but are you eyeing
• 10:46
  something else to start collecting?
• 10:48
  Like is anything catching your eye?
• 10:51
  You know, I really have to like limit myself only because my I
• 10:58
  live in a one bedroom and. In.
• 11:00
  Brooklyn, OK. And it's I, I, I'm really
• 11:04
  grateful for my apartment. I'm grateful to have any kind of
• 11:06
  living situation in the city, but at the same time as like
• 11:10
  space is so limited. So like if I really wanted to
• 11:13
  delve into like those beautiful sculptures that they have, you
• 11:16
  know, the dioramas, you know, I would love to like go.
• 11:19
  I always salivate and have the biggest Emmy when I see people's
• 11:23
  like man caves or their geek, you know, den.
• 11:26
  It's all like LED out and they have their statues on display,
• 11:30
  well lit. It's gorgeous, you know it.
• 11:32
  So until I can get a basement of my own, I will have to like
• 11:37
  refrain from getting those beautiful ones because I love
• 11:39
  those. The Marvel ones with all the
• 11:41
  details, like there's that, like the Deadpool versus Help me out
• 11:47
  here. He's been against the whole
• 11:50
  Marvel Universe. I.
• 11:51
  Know he's at war with everyone of the Scott Summers son Cable.
• 12:00
  Cable I wanted to say Bishop, I'm like, that's not even the
• 12:02
  right color he. Adopted him yeah.
• 12:08
  Yeah, there's a wonderful mold of them, like having a little
• 12:11
  face off and yeah, so like I think some of those more like
• 12:16
  detailed statuettes I would love to add to the collection down
• 12:18
  the line, but for now it's limited.
• 12:21
  I outside of the Funkos, outside of the Pins, I'm a big lounge
• 12:24
  fly collector and this is my little Stranger Things right
• 12:27
  here. Bag here I have one lounge fly
• 12:31
  and I'm like, how did how do people not have them?
• 12:34
  They're so they're so cute. I love that Stranger Things.
• 12:36
  I have over 60 in my collection. 60 I have one.
• 12:45
  I am like over. I like, I'm close to the 100
• 12:48
  mark for sure when it comes to lounge.
• 12:50
  Oh my gosh, yeah. That is one thing that I was not
• 12:53
  expecting to take off because at first when lounge flies were
• 12:56
  coming out, they were really kind of marketed towards females
• 13:01
  and the bags and their. Yeah, you know, their mini
• 13:02
  backpacks. When I wear one, it looks like a
• 13:05
  boulder with a little, it's a little sack on top of it.
• 13:09
  It's like what's going on over there?
• 13:10
  But like it just looks like so funny.
• 13:13
  It's like that that fat guy in a little suit, Chris Hartley.
• 13:18
  That's how sometimes it feels. But I'm very well like, Oh my
• 13:21
  gosh, they got these extenders. It feels the same for me too.
• 13:26
  I'm holding. I'm like, I feel like Dora the
• 13:28
  Explorer with her little backpack.
• 13:30
  Yeah, yeah, that whole the whole backpack backpack being like
• 13:33
  took off for sure for lounge Fly.
• 13:35
  But but yeah, what I really liked about them but really got
• 13:41
  me into them was they have a great art team and they're
• 13:47
  they're creative director. Whoever is in charge of the
• 13:48
  department does a really good job of like taking this
• 13:52
  something as mundane as a backpack and really like molding
• 13:57
  into something that is very pleasing to the eye.
• 14:00
  And of course, you know, you love whatever fan of whether
• 14:03
  these Stranger Things, Disney or they've they've expanded so much
• 14:06
  different things. Marvel, of course.
• 14:08
  And it's like, oh, OK, this is like wearable art.
• 14:12
  So yeah. And I have like, they're on my
• 14:15
  wall and they're like in rows and my partner looks at me like
• 14:19
  I'm just like, you know, missing a couple of brain cells, which
• 14:23
  they're not. They're not wrong.
• 14:26
  I did do a lot of partying when I was younger, but it's.
• 14:30
  It's so hard for. Is your partner a nerd by any
• 14:33
  chance? They're older a little bit, so
• 14:36
  they're not really like as hardcore, yeah, into things, you
• 14:39
  know, but they appreciate it to an extent.
• 14:44
  They they appreciate it like they don't.
• 14:46
  They're not like anti anything. They're really just anti like
• 14:50
  filling up the space. You know, it's like, where are
• 14:53
  we putting that? That's the question that comes
• 14:55
  up a lot. Where's that going?
• 14:56
  Where are you going to store that?
• 14:57
  So I've made a new role. Like anything I bring in, I have
• 15:00
  to depart with something. So that's kind of how I
• 15:03
  justified it. And it's fine because you know,
• 15:06
  you love your collection and then you love him for a time and
• 15:10
  then you just give him a new life.
• 15:12
  Because honestly, if it's just been sitting behind like 3 rows
• 15:15
  deep, then you really didn't care about that or it served its
• 15:18
  purpose in the time, you know what I'm saying?
• 15:20
  It gave you that joy in the moment.
• 15:21
  You had a great time and loved it.
• 15:23
  And then now you can let it go because you want to bring
• 15:25
  something new into the collection and it just rotates.
• 15:28
  And honestly, I think, you know, when you call your collection
• 15:31
  like that, A, A gives you a more discerning taste, it grows with
• 15:36
  you. And B, you know, you're not just
• 15:39
  like in a bunch of clutter. You're not on the episode of
• 15:42
  Hoarders. That's that's really cool.
• 15:50
  I I could never ever, ever, but that's really great.
• 15:54
  My whole collection. I look at it as like, you know
• 15:57
  what, My daughters, it's all going to go to them.
• 16:01
  They're tiny little nerds ourselves.
• 16:03
  But right now they don't get to touch it.
• 16:05
  It's mine, but someday it'll be all theirs.
• 16:09
  My husband has a more interesting rule.
• 16:12
  He's like, every time you bring something else home, then I get
• 16:16
  to put something out, too. And he has a weird thing about
• 16:20
  kitchen appliances. He wants our entire kitchen,
• 16:23
  like a blender, a toaster, an oven, everywhere.
• 16:27
  I'm like, oh, it makes my eye crunch a little bit, so I'm
• 16:33
  like, all right, he got me. So now I'm very choosy.
• 16:36
  Very, very choosy, Yeah. We don't need 2 air fryers.
• 16:43
  You know what? No, we don't.
• 16:44
  I don't think we need the one doesn't have to be out.
• 16:47
  It could just be somewhere else, but no.
• 16:49
  But Carter popped me hard because I was like, no, I don't
• 16:52
  need an air fryer either. I'd barely even use the oven.
• 16:55
  Like whatever they're like. No, it'll change your life.
• 16:58
  It OK, It did change my life. There's so many things you can
• 17:03
  make in it and it makes me mad because it's so big.
• 17:06
  Like you could make s'mores dip. Oh.
• 17:11
  Yeah, you can make bacon in it wings.
• 17:13
  Oh, reheat French fries. Like OK like I'm sure you're
• 17:17
  supposed to use it for like healthy shit but like here I am
• 17:19
  just saying you can make s'mores dip with it.
• 17:23
  As after we're done with this, I'm going to put a salmon in
• 17:25
  there, but that's more for like my personal health reasons.
• 17:31
  But so. All right, So, yeah, so see, so
• 17:34
  our partners like kind of on the same wave like when it comes to
• 17:37
  that. So and I can't imagine because,
• 17:40
  you know, you do have a family, you know, you have children,
• 17:43
  everything. And I always find that dynamic
• 17:46
  really interesting when it comes to collecting because I would
• 17:50
  just like there's no way to leave the stuff out with
• 17:52
  children around. No, no you can't.
• 17:56
  My kids 1 is on the spectrum and the other is 2 and both of them
• 18:03
  chew like a freaking dog. They chew on everything.
• 18:06
  So all of my stuff is like shoved into our room with like
• 18:10
  all on the wall. It's taken up every bit of it.
• 18:14
  And like every time I put something new up I'm like oh,
• 18:16
  this is going to be it. This is going to be the one.
• 18:18
  This is the one that break the camel's back.
• 18:21
  I just know it. This little moon night.
• 18:24
  Funko's it. Oh yeah, I get such anxiety when
• 18:27
  I even like when I've gone to the convention and I've gotten a
• 18:30
  pop or I've gotten a grail and I have to like take it
• 18:33
  out-of-the-box, you know, just showcase it 'cause I'm an, I'm
• 18:36
  an inbox collector for the most part.
• 18:38
  I think within the past two years I've gradually got
• 18:41
  uncomfortable with being out of box collecting or displaying.
• 18:46
  That makes me so happy for you. All of mine are out of boxes.
• 18:49
  So when I find someone, when I find someone who also does it,
• 18:53
  like when I do an unboxing video, I have to like tell on
• 18:56
  the video, like OK, I'm going to open it.
• 18:59
  It'll be OK. Because my first one I did
• 19:02
  someone was like, why'd you take it out?
• 19:04
  Like I'm going to keep it. I'm not going to sell it.
• 19:07
  I want to look at it. So it.
• 19:09
  I'm so happy for you. Yeah.
• 19:10
  I'm like I said, it's a gradual process.
• 19:15
  I'm not completely converted. I save all the boxes.
• 19:18
  They're like, you know, I you. Save.
• 19:20
  Heck yes they have artwork on it.
• 19:23
  Like true, if they have the artwork I'll.
• 19:25
  Keep that and like as a collector that I I'm a sucker
• 19:29
  for the sticker. Like they got me, they got me
• 19:32
  Gap and. That's a.
• 19:34
  RuPaul Drag Race. Reference Trust me, I we love
• 19:39
  RuPaul in this neck of the woods.
• 19:42
  I I it's not like I even keep off with it.
• 19:44
  I always just watch the recaps because I just like I just I'm
• 19:47
  too busy living life to really like commit, but felt it was
• 19:52
  like my life is I can go to a bar right now and and see a rude
• 19:55
  girl if I wanted to like it's not hard, but anyhow, that's.
• 19:58
  So cool. That's the privilege of of being
• 20:00
  in New York, is that a lot of the contestants on RuPaul's Drag
• 20:03
  Race are from New York and they won't let you forget it and.
• 20:08
  And they do, you know, shows here in Brooklyn, they do shows
• 20:11
  in, you know, Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan, you know, Chelsea
• 20:14
  everywhere. So there's not a lack of having
• 20:19
  access to Rue girls in the city and seeing one of their shows.
• 20:24
  But I was saying that the only collection that really have pull
• 20:28
  out on display is my Stranger Things Funko Pop collection,
• 20:31
  which is, you know, that combined with the Funko sodas as
• 20:36
  well. You know, I just bought I.
• 20:38
  Those are so cute, I thought I like them but I can't jump in.
• 20:41
  I'm like, no I don't. I was totally anti Funko sodas
• 20:44
  to begin with. Like I was like, we got this is
• 20:47
  enough. Like you don't need all that.
• 20:49
  But I hyperfixate a lot. So, so, so like, and I was
• 20:58
  telling my friends who they own a, they have a podcast called
• 21:01
  Skull Rock broadcast and they, it's a Stranger things podcast.
• 21:04
  And the reason I kind of like delved into Stranger Things not
• 21:07
  to switch subjects so quickly, but.
• 21:09
  Oh please, please do it. This is a very this is a very
• 21:13
  ADHD podcast. I've never been diagnosed.
• 21:16
  I'm like should I get? Should I take a test?
• 21:18
  You probably I'm going to tell you.
• 21:21
  Probably something. You might, as soon as you said I
• 21:24
  hyper fixate I was like you might be little familiar.
• 21:33
  I definitely, I have a big say and I was really getting into
• 21:37
  spooky season at one point and it kind of like the algorithm
• 21:42
  shared with me my friend's page called Steady Stories, and it
• 21:45
  really highlights the relationship between Steve
• 21:47
  Harrington and Eddie Munson in fan fiction.
• 21:51
  And oh, it pairs those two together.
• 21:54
  And I was like, OK, and because I'm all about queer content,
• 21:59
  like I need more of it. I can't stop consuming it
• 22:02
  because there's not that much of it to begin with.
• 22:07
  But yeah. So.
• 22:08
  So when that kind of like, brought to the foray and I kind
• 22:11
  of like started delving into the fan fiction, then I started
• 22:14
  seeing the fan art and then I started seeing the forums, the
• 22:16
  people obsessing over that as well.
• 22:18
  And like seeing how much of A following that actually has has
• 22:21
  niche as it is. I was like, oh, this is a thing.
• 22:25
  And then it inspired me to go back to watch Stranger Things,
• 22:28
  the series, And then it just all blew up from there.
• 22:31
  And my channel was inundated with Stranger Things
• 22:34
  merchandise. And you know that like, my
• 22:37
  Disney fans were just like, what's going on here?
• 22:41
  What the hell is all this? I can't just see some Mickey
• 22:43
  Mouse and you're over here showing.
• 22:45
  You know, Steve Arrington is like all everything Steve
• 22:48
  Arrington. And I was like, well, that's
• 22:50
  just what happens. Like this is not the new thing
• 22:52
  now that I'm into so bear with me.
• 22:56
  Stranger Things is so odd because you'll just be like, you
• 22:59
  know what everyone's talking about.
• 23:00
  I'll give it a chance and like 3 episodes and you're like, I need
• 23:04
  all of it. I'm upset.
• 23:05
  This is my new. This is who I am.
• 23:06
  Yeah. And I love as someone who's from
• 23:10
  Southern California, then the such close proxy made to LA and
• 23:14
  film and you know, TV production and just celebrity culture, you
• 23:19
  know, growing up that it was always a thing for me.
• 23:22
  Like my stepdad, his cousin is Bing Rhames.
• 23:25
  So and if no one who has Bing Rhames is he's the guy in Pulp
• 23:29
  Fiction that guess anyway, go to Pulp Fiction, look up Bing
• 23:36
  Rhames and then you'll know what happened to him.
• 23:39
  So, but that's my people's point of reference anyway.
• 23:42
  So he's a Hollywood actor. Well to do, but anyhow, I just
• 23:48
  love all that stuff. So it's strated things drops
• 23:50
  like, you know, like the cultural touchstones like Star
• 23:53
  Wars references or ET or whatever like that.
• 23:56
  And they just you know, because it's the 80s and a lot of pop
• 23:58
  culture was just like birth during the 80s.
• 24:02
  And since then over 40 plus years now that has been like the
• 24:07
  point of reference a lot of people go to at this point.
• 24:09
  I mean, they can highlight 50s to 60s seventies, but that is so
• 24:13
  far removed from who is actually making culture now, you know
• 24:18
  what I'm saying? Like even though the comic
• 24:20
  series like comics go back all the way, you know, to the 60s as
• 24:23
  well. You know, you have the golden
• 24:24
  age of comics, you know all that good stuff.
• 24:27
  But our point of references is like the 80s on for the majority
• 24:32
  of it. In my opinion.
• 24:33
  Someone can always like say you are totally talking out of your
• 24:36
  ass, but. But it makes it makes sense
• 24:40
  because who are the people who are creating these projects are
• 24:44
  people who are in their 30s and 40s, who they're in their prime
• 24:48
  of content creating, like Stranger Things, the actors of
• 24:52
  Stranger Things, we're all old. Like, yeah.
• 24:55
  We're that generation like that. We looked up to who were
• 24:57
  children now, like that's us now.
• 25:00
  Yeah, and I think with every decade it goes up 1.
• 25:04
  So like last decade, I think it was the 70s that those people
• 25:08
  were creating and making all these things, and now it's just
• 25:11
  going to keep going. And in 10 years, when it's the
• 25:14
  people from the 90s doing it, I'm stressed how excited I am.
• 25:22
  Yeah, bring back all that, like future tech wave craziness that
• 25:26
  was going on with the dolphins on the screen.
• 25:29
  But like when Lisa Frank was doing it like their lounge
• 25:35
  flight collection, I was just like, Oh my God, Lisa Frank
• 25:38
  like. She did come back really really
• 25:42
  strong for like 3 months because I was.
• 25:45
  Flip for sure. Yeah, like she came back so, so
• 25:49
  hard and then dipped and it was like, what did you do?
• 25:54
  Because now in like 10 years, we're all going to be like,
• 25:57
  where did she go? And then she'll do it again to
• 25:58
  us. And we're all just wearing
• 26:00
  bright, brightly retro colors and, and then everyone's looking
• 26:03
  this like, what are you doing? It's hilarious.
• 26:06
  I didn't know I was upset about that until now.
• 26:08
  Just. Me bringing up people's trauma
• 26:11
  as usual. OK, open my mouth again.
• 26:18
  Great. So it's the strangest superpower
• 26:23
  you have, but I dig it. Forcing I wouldn't face their
• 26:29
  drama. Yeah, so yes.
• 26:33
  So that all encompasses so like I just think I enjoy traded
• 26:38
  things as that microcosm that it is because of all the references
• 26:41
  and like what the Duffer brothers are inspired by.
• 26:44
  You know, they they're they're not shy about telling you like
• 26:47
  who they pull their references from and like why they're, you
• 26:50
  know, so inspirational to them and where it comes from.
• 26:54
  I saw, you know, we have Stranger Things for Shadow
• 26:58
  happening on Broadway right now, which was a show that they
• 27:01
  debuted in the West End in London that we never thought
• 27:03
  that was actually going to come to the States.
• 27:06
  And it's apparently the best version of it ever.
• 27:09
  Listen some rewrites to the show and to kind of make it more in
• 27:13
  line canonically with the series.
• 27:17
  And you know, before I would just not care to me like I'm
• 27:26
  always like late to the game on everything because I you know, I
• 27:31
  just really try not to be that person that's like over
• 27:36
  involved, you know, because I appreciate multifacity in
• 27:41
  people. Like I like layers to people.
• 27:43
  I like to know that there's just more to you than just your one
• 27:47
  thing. Like I need to know, like, can I
• 27:49
  talk to you about certain things?
• 27:51
  Can I not talk to you about certain things?
• 27:52
  You know, to like I lead to know, like the person as a
• 27:55
  whole, like I understand like we're friends because we share
• 27:57
  this one commonality, but let me know what you else.
• 27:59
  What do you else do you like, you know, and like expand my
• 28:02
  mind, expand my world, you know, like I need to know.
• 28:05
  So part of that is like not me being like, I'm better than
• 28:10
  this. I don't want to like be
• 28:12
  involved, whatever. It's really just like to save
• 28:14
  myself from being overwhelmed by people's super fandom.
• 28:24
  I feel that on an emotional level because I am also late to
• 28:29
  everything. Late to everything because it's
• 28:32
  like when it's super hyped up, everyone's excited.
• 28:35
  They're like, Oh my God, this is it.
• 28:36
  This is amazing. I'm like, it's probably not that
• 28:38
  good. Calm.
• 28:39
  Down. Maybe I'll check it out.
• 28:42
  Yeah, right. Oh my God.
• 28:44
  Like I am the worst at it. And it's so nice to find someone
• 28:47
  else because it's like, maybe I'll check it out later, maybe I
• 28:50
  won't. I did it with Stranger Things.
• 28:52
  And then I watched it like months and months later after
• 28:55
  everyone else with every, the excitement died down.
• 28:58
  And then when I, yeah. And when I watched it, I was
• 29:01
  like, Oh my God, guys, have you checked it out?
• 29:03
  Like everyone's like. Yeah, The funny thing about
• 29:09
  Stranger Things itself is that it has been like a terrier,
• 29:11
  excuse me, a 10 year process to like get to the finale.
• 29:15
  So to them just recently had their like big old thing in Los
• 29:20
  Angeles where they share case. They showcased all their new
• 29:23
  properties coming out with like little teasers, which I was so
• 29:26
  excited to see for Wednesday, especially because the grandma
• 29:31
  Ma is played by Joanne Lumley and I love her.
• 29:34
  She is an icon. She's from Absolutely Fabulous
• 29:38
  if no one's ever seen it, if anything that you do this pride
• 29:41
  month. Any listeners, people who are
• 29:44
  seeing this, go watch Absolutely Fabulous on YouTube.
• 29:47
  OK, There's series of clips. You don't even have to watch the
• 29:50
  show. Just watch highlights of it and
• 29:52
  it showcases Joanne Limley as Patty Stone and she's just a
• 29:56
  terrible person, but she is amazing like the the comedic
• 30:04
  brilliance behind this woman. You know, if you don't know,
• 30:08
  like Speaking of like our age, like she was one of the aunts in
• 30:11
  James and the Giant Peach and. I understand that one.
• 30:16
  Yes, I'm like, let me go from super creepy to like, let me
• 30:20
  give you something to go off of. No, you didn't sound creepy at
• 30:25
  all, cuz like I haven't seen you said always fabulous It's.
• 30:28
  Called. Absolutely Fabulous.
• 30:29
  Absolutely it's fabulous. I've never seen it but like I
• 30:33
  know exactly what you mean of loving the worst character
• 30:38
  because it allows you to say no more.
• 30:41
  Right. Because if you're not really the
• 30:43
  worst character in the world because, you know, you have,
• 30:45
  like, a moral compass, it's nice to see other people play out the
• 30:51
  worst parts of us because you're just like, OK, like, yes, if I
• 30:55
  really was not attached to whatever I'm attached to now,
• 30:58
  that probably would be something I do, too.
• 31:02
  Yes, it's like seeing someone play out and live those
• 31:06
  intrusive thoughts in your head. Like like today I took my kids
• 31:09
  to the pool and I was like, I want to push that woman in the
• 31:11
  pool so bad. I didn't know who she was, but I
• 31:13
  was like, I wish I I wish I was that person that would do it
• 31:17
  because I want to know what it feels like.
• 31:19
  And then you have there's a horrible character and you're
• 31:21
  like, that bitch would have done it.
• 31:23
  Yeah, no, yeah, so, so good. Like a drunken fashionista,
• 31:30
  like, like they have nothing going on in life but like,
• 31:33
  trying to like be young. And they're clearly not young.
• 31:37
  And her partner in that is the actress who voices the fairy
• 31:43
  godmother in the Shrek movies. So that actress and her are in
• 31:49
  the show together. And so I was just super excited
• 31:53
  to see her casting. Like I literally like was the
• 31:56
  Leo Dicarpio Leo Dicarpio meme of appointing, you know, like
• 31:59
  when I saw her, I was like, Oh my gosh, Johansson like this is
• 32:02
  so funny. Like and I love that in this new
• 32:06
  series of Wednesday, like she did not like, you know, have to
• 32:10
  be like a Crone looking person. Like, they didn't make her to
• 32:12
  the grandma Ma of like the past, you know, or the like, the long
• 32:16
  bushy hair, whatever, like that. They made her like a really
• 32:18
  refined woman. And it's just so beautiful to
• 32:22
  watch. And I'm so excited for that.
• 32:23
  And Lady Gaga killed it with her performance and it was just
• 32:28
  wonderful. But Stranger Things, sorry, did
• 32:33
  release their timelines of when their final series is going to
• 32:37
  come out. And it's going to be, you know,
• 32:40
  around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve.
• 32:44
  And there's a lot of discourse right now saying that, you know,
• 32:48
  is this a great idea? Because, you know, people do
• 32:51
  have lives. Yeah.
• 32:53
  And not everyone has the ability to just, like, sit and binge
• 32:57
  during those really those times. And then there's always to talk
• 32:59
  about, well, they always change the dates at some point or it
• 33:03
  won't actually be that. But even though Season 3 came
• 33:05
  out on July 4th, so. Yeah, they're not changing these
• 33:08
  dates. They put them, if they set it
• 33:11
  for a holiday, they have taken that holiday off for these days.
• 33:15
  It's coming out those days it. Is going to I I in my heart, I
• 33:17
  totally believe that they will stick to that schedule and I
• 33:21
  think that is fine. But at the same time, it kind of
• 33:26
  puts us craters in a pinch because you want to be that
• 33:30
  first person that gets out your thought right away about what it
• 33:34
  is what's going on. But so now you're going to
• 33:36
  dedicate time to watch the series during the holidays, and
• 33:39
  then you're going to have to dedicate time still a way to put
• 33:42
  in your two cents about what you just witnessed and like get it
• 33:45
  out there. And it just becomes like, this
• 33:50
  is really tough it and it's a it's a totally first.
• 33:53
  World problem it it is, but it's it was also, you know, I pay for
• 33:59
  binging. I we've have circled back
• 34:01
  completely to scheduled programming that I was like, I
• 34:05
  should have just kept cables because you have it on three
• 34:08
  different dates. First of all, I'm pretty book
• 34:12
  solid on those days, man, like I got things happening.
• 34:15
  You didn't have to do that third, second of all, you 100%
• 34:19
  did it so you could have the November and December and
• 34:24
  January subscriptions because you did a New Year's.
• 34:27
  So rude. But I respect the hustle.
• 34:30
  But also I'm so ADHD. I'm so ADD like I'll watch the
• 34:36
  one on Thanksgiving and I'll be like, OK, now I just have to
• 34:38
  wait for the next one. And by that time it rolls around
• 34:40
  like I don't even know if I like it anymore.
• 34:43
  The fatigue, like, yes, it's yeah.
• 34:47
  And it's just like, why would you do that?
• 34:50
  That's so rude. I liked when they did it on 4th
• 34:52
  of July, 'cause I was super pregnant and I was like, I'm not
• 34:56
  going out, It's too hot. And I was like, oh, and I have
• 34:58
  this. But then they said the Part 2 of
• 35:01
  that will come out in a few months or a month.
• 35:03
  And I was like, you know, I don't even like you guys that
• 35:05
  much. Like you're not that important
• 35:08
  to me. Yeah.
• 35:11
  So it will be a very interesting time.
• 35:13
  And I'm very, I, I am very much a person that likes to
• 35:18
  anticipate seeing how people react and how they navigate to
• 35:23
  through things like that. And I think that's just how the
• 35:27
  funny part of being in fandom is just getting to see like how
• 35:33
  other people are interacting and expressing themselves or
• 35:37
  consuming and like regurgitating everything and giving their spin
• 35:41
  on things. That's what makes me kind of
• 35:44
  hopeful that even though people are going to be sad, that, you
• 35:49
  know, the conversation is still going to keep going.
• 35:52
  And, you know, it's a great marketing ploy on their part as
• 35:55
  well. And, you know, it's like, OK,
• 35:57
  well, you've just totally taken over fall, winter 2025.
• 36:03
  Kudos to you, you know. They really did take all of our
• 36:07
  free time we're going to get from work.
• 36:10
  From. Family and you took it, took it
• 36:12
  away, took it. Away, so it's just like, well,
• 36:15
  you know, I that that time in New York, it's you know what
• 36:21
  the, the weather here has been wackadoo since forever since
• 36:24
  I've moved here like it's just kind of unpredictable but you
• 36:27
  know, if you don't want to be outside because it's -5 like
• 36:30
  perfect, just be. Bumbled at.
• 36:32
  Home and just watch the straight of things.
• 36:34
  And also it kind of like I think we'll I don't know, I will bring
• 36:41
  more people into the fandom because they have the downtime
• 36:46
  and they'll have they have until now till November to catch up if
• 36:51
  they were completely removed from it.
• 36:53
  And I probably would have been in that same boat if I was not
• 36:56
  so obsessed with the relationship between Steve and
• 36:59
  Eddie. So with Season 5, what are you
• 37:06
  hoping to see out of it? Because personally, I want to
• 37:08
  see Eddie come back. I would kill for that beautiful
• 37:11
  little soul to come back. He was such a beautiful little
• 37:14
  soul and it's wonderful to see the Joseph Quinn, just like
• 37:19
  skyrocket from that little. Role I know and you know, it's
• 37:23
  because that one scene with the guitar and that was some of the
• 37:27
  best anything I've seen and so long is that entire it was
• 37:33
  basically a music video. I came on the trailer play
• 37:36
  Master Puppets. It's I, I don't know how often I
• 37:40
  do it. It's it's a little too often,
• 37:42
  but I go and look up the Master Puppets video from Stranger
• 37:45
  Things 'cause it's so good. It's really good and it's just,
• 37:50
  I can't like, it's just really, yes, I would love to see them
• 37:55
  like do the cast theory where Eddie does come back as cast as
• 37:59
  one of Beckman's generals. That would be totally fun.
• 38:04
  I would say. I actually don't have anything
• 38:07
  that I'm really looking forward to.
• 38:08
  I'm looking forward to them tying it all up and letting us
• 38:12
  know, OK, this was how this played out.
• 38:16
  And for me, it's because my introduction to this specific
• 38:20
  fandom is so niche in the sense that, like, I really only got
• 38:24
  into it because I was obsessing over the fan fiction I was
• 38:27
  reading on Steven Eddie. And I don't think people really
• 38:30
  understand that when I tell them I'm a Stranger Things fan.
• 38:34
  I mean, I have a whole video of showing off my Stranger Things
• 38:36
  collection, and I explained at the beginning of that video that
• 38:39
  I'm only in Stranger Things because of this queer pairing
• 38:43
  and I under and for people to, like, really grasp what that
• 38:47
  means, I think is really different in the sense that
• 38:52
  heteronormativity is the world we live in.
• 38:54
  I have to grapple with the fact that I'm minority and I'm not
• 38:59
  getting political, I promise. But I'm just trying.
• 39:02
  I'm just trying to no, no, no. Explain.
• 39:03
  I don't think sexual orientation is political.
• 39:07
  I think it's who you are. So please, by all means.
• 39:10
  I wish that sentiment was spelled throughout the rest of
• 39:13
  the world. But I would say if what I'm
• 39:17
  saying is that the narrative, how everything is structured,
• 39:20
  narrative to us is from the perspective of a heterosexuals.
• 39:24
  So this season itself will be structured from narrative of
• 39:27
  heterosexuals. And I will not be super invested
• 39:33
  in the same way somebody who is heterosexual experiences the
• 39:37
  world, experiences this content, the spandom, this series,
• 39:41
  because I enjoy it for what it is.
• 39:44
  So like I've read so many, like they're called, you know, quote
• 39:47
  UN quote fix it, fix where Eddie doesn't die.
• 39:50
  And they have stories where Eddie and Steve live happily
• 39:52
  ever after and they deal with like the trauma of their
• 39:56
  experiences at the upside down and their relationships with the
• 39:59
  kids and and everybody else, their friends and how that it,
• 40:03
  you know, goes So like I've in my head already seen like what
• 40:06
  happens after season 4. So.
• 40:10
  Because due to the amazing different writers, you know, who
• 40:12
  also obsessed with these characters.
• 40:14
  And so I really won't really be a spectating of the sense of
• 40:19
  like, am I going to be disappointed because I don't
• 40:22
  have that level of like anticipation of it to like it
• 40:27
  needs to land like the they need to land the plane, you know, or
• 40:31
  like all this time was wasted. I didn't get the result that I
• 40:36
  wanted, you know, So as a appreciate, as someone who
• 40:41
  appreciates Steve Harrington's character and experience, like
• 40:44
  what they're all going to, I've ever since seeing foreshadow on
• 40:47
  Broadway, which goes into like Henry Creel in his origin story,
• 40:54
  I'm now very interested in like what happens with Vecna.
• 40:58
  Like I think that's a more interesting narrative at this
• 41:01
  point. It's like, OK, where what's his
• 41:03
  end game at this point? Because now we've seen his
• 41:06
  origin where it started. Now we can relate that back to
• 41:10
  season 4 and then and and now it like the pieces start falling in
• 41:14
  together. So I really am happy to see how
• 41:16
  that whole series sunsets as it is, but I don't have any like
• 41:21
  high expectations for it to like like you must make sure that I
• 41:26
  am not going to be a a a weeping mess on the floor right by the
• 41:30
  end of it. And I've, you know, my heart
• 41:32
  goes out to all the Stranger Things fans that are going to be
• 41:36
  bleeding hearts over this. Yeah, because like.
• 41:41
  They've invested. So much time energy.
• 41:44
  I'm like expecting 11 to die. OK, so like I'm like, ma'am,
• 41:48
  people are about to be pissed. But also my question is why does
• 41:52
  Beckna have kind of a sexy vibe? Like he has no right, no right
• 41:58
  to, but like it's there and you're like, uh huh, are.
• 42:02
  We talking about like orderly back now or are we talking about
• 42:06
  post upside down back now? Post I don't know what it is and
• 42:12
  I remember other people bringing it up and me thinking Oh my God
• 42:15
  it's not me. Thought it was like a kink
• 42:20
  coming out that I didn't know about.
• 42:21
  Hey. I mean Lisa Frankenstein was a
• 42:24
  success for a reason. The girl is were loving Lisa
• 42:30
  Frankenstein. OK cool.
• 42:34
  You can love a monster. OK The shape of water does
• 42:37
  exist. OK, so I totally am not like,
• 42:42
  like, you know, I don't like ever bunk up anyone's like
• 42:45
  interest like that. Like go for it.
• 42:47
  Like I'm not even going to tell you what like.
• 42:49
  Like, like, I don't, yeah, I don't.
• 42:52
  I don't kink shame. I do kink judge, but in my head.
• 42:59
  But like that there's been some that I'm just like, I pray for
• 43:04
  you, I guess. I don't know.
• 43:06
  That's just so strange. Yeah, there's some things like I
• 43:10
  wish I didn't know about, and I'm like, God, why?
• 43:12
  Why is that in my brain now? Yeah, because you can't.
• 43:17
  You can't unlearn something. You can't unhear it.
• 43:20
  And like, and if a person tells you like, this is what I meant
• 43:23
  to, that's all I see you as. Like you might be a beautiful,
• 43:29
  amazing person, you might do charity, but I still know what
• 43:32
  you like to do and it's not welcomed and.
• 43:36
  I think that's like another thing when I was when I was
• 43:39
  admitting to the Internet and the world, excuse me, hair in my
• 43:46
  mouth that I, you know, like reading like fan fiction and
• 43:52
  Stranger Things fan fiction. It it does put you in a
• 43:55
  vulnerable space because you are kind of letting people into
• 44:00
  behind the curtain in the sense because on the surface level, we
• 44:03
  all like what's out there in the sense like the F or at face
• 44:07
  value. But when you start like going
• 44:10
  behind, like digging down deeper and like the rabbit holes, we
• 44:13
  all like, like dig out for ourselves.
• 44:15
  We're just like, oh, some people are like they take it to another
• 44:18
  level that was not prepared for. And I would like to just say
• 44:22
  right now, I'm not taking it to those levels.
• 44:24
  OK, people, I have my limits. I am super squeaky clean.
• 44:37
  There is some fan fiction that makes me very nervous to read
• 44:41
  because I'm like, where are we going?
• 44:43
  What? It's starting to get stressful
• 44:46
  here and sometimes it goes that way and you're like, you know
• 44:50
  what? Nope, Nope.
• 44:51
  You respectfully no. Always look at immediately no.
• 44:56
  Yeah, I'm like, I'm like constantly like placing those
• 44:58
  tags and like what is what's in this?
• 45:01
  Give me the content. Warning, reading the reading the
• 45:04
  comments under and you're like this looks sick.
• 45:07
  I look, I look OK. It's OK.
• 45:11
  I know it's always kind of like, what am I comfortable?
• 45:14
  Like having someone, a stranger on the train peeking over my
• 45:17
  shoulder, looking at my phone screen?
• 45:20
  Yes. And I think part of that is like
• 45:24
  has to do with my upbringing. I did grow up in a religious
• 45:26
  household and I kind of like have an innate apprehension to
• 45:32
  certain things because of that upbringing.
• 45:35
  At the same time, I have, there's a part of me that's
• 45:39
  complete uninhibited because of that upbringing.
• 45:41
  When you, you know, but then as you get older, you can find a
• 45:45
  balance and you understand that there's nuance to things.
• 45:47
  And I think that's what sometimes people in Phantom,
• 45:49
  you're talking about toxicity. People are missing nuance.
• 45:54
  They're missing the idea that there's a Gray area.
• 45:56
  They're missing the idea that, you know, not everything can be
• 45:59
  one thing, you know, so don't put all your eggs in one basket
• 46:02
  because listen, though, they're not going to hatch the way you
• 46:08
  think they are. You know, some of those eggs are
• 46:09
  going to go bad. So I just think that there's a
• 46:13
  great everything in moderation, you know, is what I say.
• 46:17
  And it's because of that that I that I'm actually still alive,
• 46:24
  because growing up as a queer team in Texas was very
• 46:28
  interesting and in I. Oh, I'm sure, yes.
• 46:32
  I was in the Dallas area in this town called Mesquite, TX and I
• 46:39
  went to a high school there that was next to a cornfield and a
• 46:44
  cow pasture. So, and for me, fandom and fan
• 46:54
  fiction specifically were those outlets I could express myself
• 47:00
  and be in my own world without feeling, you know, any type of
• 47:04
  sense of true loneliness. I actually credit my friends
• 47:08
  that I've made that I made in high school that really just
• 47:13
  made made me be like one of the guys or just one of the people
• 47:16
  that just hanging out, you know, that I was just I was a social
• 47:20
  butterfly. I've always been a person that
• 47:23
  try to be friends with everybody from the get go.
• 47:25
  I know that's annoying for some people, but like I'm not for me.
• 47:28
  It's like I don't have beef with you until you make me happy with
• 47:30
  you. So until then, like all I know
• 47:33
  is that we can Kiki, we can connect.
• 47:35
  We have a good time until you make it until you make it a
• 47:38
  problem. But you're not it's not going to
• 47:40
  come from me. So they were really good about
• 47:43
  like just understanding that. Oh, you know, he's doesn't, he
• 47:48
  doesn't have boyfriends, you know, he doesn't get to have
• 47:51
  that, that prom experience like the way other people do.
• 47:54
  And I honestly don't regret that because, you know, I think there
• 47:58
  was there's that horrible scene where I like people refer to not
• 48:06
  horrible scene, but people just because it's, you know, the
• 48:08
  flash, I shouldn't say that. Sorry, sorry creators who figure
• 48:14
  a heart or soul. It's that movie, you know where
• 48:16
  he has that. Conversation it was.
• 48:18
  It was pretty bad though, like. The CGI babies were just They
• 48:21
  took me out off the. Bat When they put the baby in
• 48:23
  the microwave, I was like. What's for me I.
• 48:26
  Was like I've seen it all. OK, this is the movie we're
• 48:28
  making all right. It was just so many choices went
• 48:32
  into there and so many people said yes, but.
• 48:36
  Well, that well then Bruce Wayne just tells us like, you know,
• 48:39
  like those experiences are what make us, you know, there's
• 48:41
  nothing broken about you. And I would love if that outside
• 48:46
  of that context of that film, that that message would kind of
• 48:50
  just like be more amplified to queer youth and to people who
• 48:57
  numb their pain with very destructive things.
• 49:01
  So I, so I don't have any regrets of like anything that's
• 49:05
  happened in my life, As I mean, I've been out since I was 15.
• 49:10
  So now I can say that I unfortunately or not
• 49:14
  fortunately, everyone think about your relationship with
• 49:18
  aging. I've been out and living my
• 49:20
  truth over half of my life. And there's a lot of people that
• 49:26
  say they can't say that. And I really attest that to the
• 49:34
  people around me who supported me and also let me be.
• 49:38
  And I also attributed that to to the resilience I've was able to
• 49:42
  cultivate for myself. I'm really not a person that
• 49:45
  like takes the backseat to things.
• 49:47
  I'm someone like, if I want something, I'm going to go for
• 49:50
  it. And I don't.
• 49:52
  There's nothing that's like if the worst thing someone can say
• 49:55
  is no is like OK, then you just move on and you press forward.
• 50:00
  You know, a lot of people let know stop them from pursuing
• 50:05
  whatever they want to pursue because they can't get past that
• 50:10
  point of rejection or whatnot. But when your existence has been
• 50:15
  rejected since, you know, the, the fear of coming out, the the
• 50:19
  family dynamics, how that you know, it leads to so many
• 50:24
  things, you know, negatively that you've seen, read, heard,
• 50:30
  it really just puts you in a position of like, I can sink or
• 50:33
  swim. So I'm going to choose to swim
• 50:36
  and, you know, create something else for myself.
• 50:40
  So I don't take any of this lightly as far as like I'm I
• 50:45
  just like like to live in gratitude essentially, but.
• 50:49
  You're blessed. I wish I was blessed and booked
• 50:52
  with something, but no, I really do feel like yes I do.
• 50:57
  I feel like they do have a blessing of favor on me, but
• 51:01
  it's because I also put in the work so.
• 51:05
  Exactly so you. Know you have to like give
• 51:07
  something and that everything's just going to be handed to you.
• 51:10
  So especially if you are in a position where you don't set the
• 51:15
  rules, you playing by other people's rules.
• 51:18
  And I'd love that Fandom gives you that solace when you feel
• 51:23
  like you're alone or you feel like you can't do anything.
• 51:26
  There's characters out there that inspire you to want to be
• 51:31
  better or that it will be OK. You know, at the end of the day,
• 51:35
  if these people can get through it, you know, then you can
• 51:38
  muster up the courage as well. And as cheesy as I can sound, it
• 51:42
  really is something that I would want to relate to.
• 51:45
  All LGBTQ plus IA 2 spirit youth and that jumble.
• 51:50
  Oh my God. I I just say plus.
• 51:55
  When they when they added the 2 spirit I was like OK yes work.
• 52:01
  When they added it, I was like, you know what, Frank?
• 52:04
  Keep up, keep them coming. I must still say plus though,
• 52:07
  because I know me. No way.
• 52:10
  You know, I feel like I'm at a funny age because in the sense
• 52:15
  when it comes to like queer history because, or modern queer
• 52:18
  history, I should say, because I have a generation above me that
• 52:25
  these people obviously had so much hardships to deal with.
• 52:29
  And then I have a generation under me where they are kind of
• 52:33
  clueless to how they got all their rights and their
• 52:37
  privileges. And because of that, yeah, we
• 52:40
  have a lot of infighting in our community.
• 52:44
  So. And I think people need to know
• 52:46
  that every community does have infighting.
• 52:50
  No one is a no. Community is a monolith.
• 52:52
  And for queer people in general and specifically, that tug and
• 52:59
  pull of is really what makes progress, progress, like slow
• 53:05
  down. And like we couldn't be so much
• 53:08
  more, you know, far ahead if we can just like squash our
• 53:13
  internal squabbling. And I think that goes for
• 53:15
  everybody, right? But for queer people, especially
• 53:19
  during Pride month when we're seeing that companies are taking
• 53:22
  funds away or other Pride events are actually, you know, divest
• 53:28
  themselves from companies, let's say this and you came out and
• 53:30
  you don't want to support us. So we're not you're not, you're
• 53:33
  not invited to the party like, you know, we don't need your
• 53:36
  money. We can, you know, and shout out
• 53:38
  to the Twin Cities, a pride. They kicked out target from
• 53:44
  their pride and they had a 50. 1000 as they should have, they
• 53:47
  had. A $50,000, fifty $1000 deficit.
• 53:52
  Like they don't have $50,000 or more.
• 53:54
  But then the community rallied together.
• 53:55
  Now they have over $100,000 to replace that $50,000.
• 54:00
  And I think people need to ride themselves.
• 54:01
  Like when you have community, when you engage with your
• 54:04
  community, when you build bridges, when you're plugged in
• 54:08
  and you actually involve yourself, you can make up the
• 54:12
  difference, you know, and queer people have $1.2 trillion of
• 54:19
  spending to our names. That's a large chunk of money.
• 54:24
  OK, $1.2 trillion. That's.
• 54:28
  A lot of money. My God can.
• 54:31
  You imagine the great things we could do for ourselves that we
• 54:34
  could just like get past ourselves.
• 54:37
  You know, everyone gets in their own way at the end of the day,
• 54:41
  but it's there and we can use it for good or we can continue to
• 54:47
  have this conversation year after year.
• 54:50
  But that aside, I have really just been really appreciative of
• 54:59
  everything that's happening in the sense that we have allies
• 55:03
  like you and your channel or your podcast and how your
• 55:06
  uplifting queer voices and that really stick out to me.
• 55:09
  When I saw you on Threads, that's kind of that's, you know,
• 55:12
  that's my first induction to you to seeing you on Threads.
• 55:16
  And you know, they just went from there where like now I'm
• 55:20
  watching all your videos. Well, thank.
• 55:24
  You and I say watch because like YouTube is my medium.
• 55:28
  So like a lot of my time is spent on YouTube, you know, and
• 55:32
  that's another thing is like I'm not watching a lot of shows or
• 55:35
  anything because I'm just stuck on YouTube content.
• 55:42
  I like to see like the actual like the back and forth, the
• 55:44
  discourse, like the you know of it all, you know as like why is
• 55:48
  they? Why is it like that?
• 55:49
  And it's like, it's like you feel like an anthropologist at
• 55:55
  the end of the day, you're like these humans.
• 56:02
  But your allyship really does make a huge difference.
• 56:06
  And you've made such an impact in all those people's lives that
• 56:10
  you've had on your podcast. And I hope you know that, my
• 56:13
  God. You really have.
• 56:14
  Thank you guys like. Not everything is
• 56:19
  intersectional. You can't get anywhere alone.
• 56:22
  So having people amplify your voice or giving you a platform
• 56:25
  is like everything. Because a lot of those people in
• 56:30
  the early parts of their queer experience were not given a
• 56:33
  voice. They were shut down.
• 56:35
  They were told to be quiet. They're told to hide parts of
• 56:38
  themselves. They were told not to express
• 56:40
  themselves. So when people like you give
• 56:43
  them that platform, they are just like lighting up and I see
• 56:46
  it in their eyes. I see, I hear in their voice
• 56:47
  inflections. They're just so happy to be
• 56:50
  talking to you and just to be like able to like geek out with
• 56:53
  you person to person because it, it, it recognizes them.
• 57:00
  Like I see you. I recognize you as a person and
• 57:04
  I want to hear from you. You know, when they've had so
• 57:07
  many people tell them like they don't want to hear them speak at
• 57:10
  all. Yeah, when I first asked, I
• 57:16
  actually asked on threads first because that that's just such an
• 57:19
  amazing community. When I first asked, there was a
• 57:22
  lot of political discourse going on it pertaining to the LGBTQ
• 57:25
  plus communities. And it was like, you know, I
• 57:29
  always look at it like, if we all want to coexist together, we
• 57:34
  all want to succeed together and progress together and move
• 57:36
  forward, we all have to be allies of each other.
• 57:40
  So I'm an ally of everything. So as a person, I, I'm very,
• 57:45
  very aware of how much privilege I have.
• 57:47
  I am a straight white woman living in the United States of
• 57:51
  America. And you know, I, I have way more
• 57:54
  privilege than most people. And it's you just kind of start
• 57:57
  to think like, well, what can I do?
• 58:00
  I mean, what am I to say? Hey, guys, be nice to the gays.
• 58:03
  Like that's not what is they going to do?
• 58:06
  They're. Like, so, yeah.
• 58:09
  And they're like, maybe I don't have that much challenge.
• 58:14
  Still a damn woman. Sorry.
• 58:18
  You're fine. Those.
• 58:23
  No, sorry. Go ahead.
• 58:27
  You're fine. See what I said.
• 58:30
  I it was amazing. Please don't ever change.
• 58:34
  Ever. But yeah, I think in this day
• 58:39
  and age, we should all just be kind of trying to do what we can
• 58:42
  for the other person. If you have the ability to give
• 58:46
  someone platform, you have the ability to make someone feel
• 58:49
  better about themselves. You have if you have a large
• 58:52
  following, make be the change that people are so desperate to
• 58:56
  see because no one should feel the way that they feel right
• 58:59
  now. I'll never be able to understand
• 59:02
  how that feels. I'll never be under.
• 59:04
  I will never understand someone hating me because of who I love,
• 59:08
  what I identify as. I will never get it, but the
• 59:11
  most I can do is try to understand it from all of these
• 59:15
  stories. And I feel like I've learned a
• 59:17
  lot from so many different people.
• 59:19
  Like a romantic. I didn't know that was a thing.
• 59:23
  I just thought maybe, just maybe I'm just not into the romance
• 59:26
  stuff. But it's a thing.
• 59:28
  And like, there's so many things I've learned and it's just
• 59:31
  incredible. These people are amazing and
• 59:34
  they deserve to be heard. Yes.
• 59:36
  And you know, it's just a wonderful thing that you're
• 59:39
  doing and being part of that sandwich where like you have AI
• 59:45
  have some like in the generation before and after, generation
• 59:48
  after. It's like I too had to get
• 59:50
  comfortable with even as a gay man, sis, gay man.
• 59:55
  Like I, you know, I don't have any qualms about my gender.
• 59:58
  I don't have any dysmorphia, nothing like that.
• 1:00:01
  I have body dysmorphia obviously, but.
• 1:00:04
  Don't we all though I. Was like, honestly have that.
• 1:00:07
  But outside of that, you know, I also had to learn to respect
• 1:00:14
  people's pronouns to start using pronouns or just having the idea
• 1:00:18
  that the community is expanding and we're recognizing other
• 1:00:22
  people. And there are people in our even
• 1:00:24
  own community that don't want that to happen, that they just
• 1:00:27
  want to like, yeah, keep it to, you know, LGBT and even like go
• 1:00:32
  to work at the tease. I was like, and that's this is
• 1:00:36
  my issue is that you don't know your history.
• 1:00:38
  Honey, you must educate yourself.
• 1:00:41
  You need to know where this began, where it started because
• 1:00:46
  again, your privilege will not protect you.
• 1:00:49
  You know, we look, you got to look at the totem pole.
• 1:00:53
  We are not near the top, Boo Boo.
• 1:00:55
  So, you know, let everyone be and that's the whole thing is
• 1:01:01
  just letting everyone live their life, live their truth how they
• 1:01:04
  see fit. If they're not harming you, then
• 1:01:07
  that that's it. That's it.
• 1:01:08
  There's no conversation outside of that.
• 1:01:10
  So. I couldn't have said it better
• 1:01:14
  myself. So as we are wrapping up, this
• 1:01:19
  has been amazing with you. You have to come back because I
• 1:01:22
  love you. You're amazing.
• 1:01:24
  Thank you SO. Much.
• 1:01:25
  You're welcome. So where can our listeners find
• 1:01:28
  you? You can find me on YouTube at
• 1:01:32
  Capital YT under score Up with the Sun and you can find me on
• 1:01:35
  Instagram at Insta under score Up with the Sun.
• 1:01:38
  And the only reason it's called Up with the Sun because there is
• 1:01:42
  a dawn to look forward to. OK, We're not in eternal
• 1:01:45
  darkness. So come and join and have
• 1:01:48
  subscribe if you see something that you like.
• 1:01:50
  I'd really appreciate it. We're trying to get to 1500
• 1:01:53
  subscribers. So I would really appreciate.
• 1:01:56
  I know, even though right now I'm not really uploading, but
• 1:01:59
  that seems to be increasingly changing as New York City gets
• 1:02:03
  much more busier. We didn't even get a chance to
• 1:02:05
  talk about that. You know, I have Brooklyn Comic
• 1:02:07
  Con this Sunday. I have New York Comic Con in
• 1:02:10
  October, plenty of content to come, so please come and enjoy.
• 1:02:17
  So wherever you are listening or watching this episode, just look
• 1:02:21
  in the show notes and you will find all of the different ways,
• 1:02:24
  all of the links you can keep up with Juan.
• 1:02:27
  Thank you for listening to this episode of Vigilante Vibes.
• 1:02:29
  Wherever you're listening to this episode, click that
• 1:02:31
  subscribe button so you don't miss any of my amazing guests
• 1:02:33
  like Juan or any future episode. Thank you for listening.
• 1:02:36
  I hope you enjoyed it. Have a marvelous night.