Fake Geek Girls

Our schedule grows increasingly wonky as we recover from PAX and Missy gets a new job, but we're bringing you everything we've been up to over the past couple weeks anyway!

A Link You Might Find Interesting:

Skyler Jay Reveals His True Feelings on Queer Eye's Trans Makeover Episode by BJ Kaspar

What Missy's Been Up To:

Reading:

Snowbird by Erin K. Wilson Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott Critical Practice by Catherine Belsey Daygloahole by Ben Passmore

Watching:

Queer Eye Brick

Playing:

Red Dead Redemption 2 Donut County

What Merri's Been Up to:

Watching:

The 100 The Mortal Engines

Playing:

Let's Go Pikachu Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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Ah, PAX West, a weekend of sheer exhilaration and many, many games. What did we play during the convention? Who did we talk to? Let's find out!

If you'd like to get right to our interview with Nina Freeman, skip to around 56:00. If you'd like to get right to our interview with Brianna Fromont, skip to around 1:17:00.

Some Links You Might Find Interesting:

What big publishers can learn about representation from small games by Meg Jayanth

What We Played:

Backbone

Mutazione

Frog Detective 2

Graveyard Keeper

Wattam

Softly With Teeth

Wooden Nickle

Calico

Spiritfarer

We Met in May

Telling Lies

Pokemon Shield

Best Friend Forever

Cook Serve Delicious 3

Elsinore

Neon Noodles

Tinted

Sayonara Wild Hearts

Wanderlust: Travel Stories

Touch Typing Tales

Errant Kingdom

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Red Dead Redemption 2, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Dracula—what do these things have in common? We've been up to them, that's what! Join us as we discuss cowboy oppression, the completely normal "dating a fairy" rite of passage, and the uniquely Victorian ability to drone on and on.

What Missy's Been Up To

Playing:

Red Dead Redemption 2

Reading:

Dracula by Bram Stoker The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Watching:

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Ready or Not

What Merri's Been Up To

Reading:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Dr. Aphra by Kieron Gillen, Salvador Larroca, Kev Walker, Joe Caramagna, Antonio Fabela, Edgar Delgado

Watching:

Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

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Cocaine crucifixes, 27-year-old teens, and the decadence of the elite—it's time to discuss 1999's absolutely buckwild Cruel Intentions! Join us as we examine the cultural context of the late 90s, the intentions of the author (who is occasionally dead), and why a movie about horrible people being awful to one another is still so much fun.

Warning: This episode has trigger warnings for, oh, everything. Sexual assault, emotional manipulation, drug abuse, death, et cetera. There's also a generous amount of cussing and discussion of sex. It's raunchy.

Some Links You Might Find Interesting:

What Sex Was Like In The '90s by Kristine Fellizar

The “Mechanical Truth” behind Cruel Intentions: Desire, AIDS, and the MTV Movie Awards' “Best Kiss” by C. Benson Alott

How the Coke Cross from 'Cruel Intentions' Became an Iconic Symbol of '90s Teen Rebellion by Esther Zuckerman

Cruel intentions: Adaptations, teenage movie or remake? by Brigine E Humbert

T(e)en Things I Hate about Girlene Shakesploitation Flicks in the Late 1990s, or, Not-So-Fast Times at Shakespeare High by Richard Burt

"Potential Lesbians at Two O'Clock": The Heterosexualization of Lesbianism in the Recent Teen Film by Tricia Jenkins

When Pop Culture Meets High Literature.  The case of Cruel Intentions and the epistolary novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Betty Kaklamanidou

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At long last, Missy's life has settled down enough to allow her to do things... for fun? Merri shares her spicy thoughts on Stranger Things, Missy goes off about Red Dead Redemption 2 despite it not being one of her things, and we both shower some love on Mccafferty.

Warning: Contains swearing and discussion of genitalia.

What Missy's Been Up To:

Watching:

Won't You Be My Neighbor? The Hate U Give Spider-Man: Far From Home

Playing:

The Black Widow (Missy's review) Dixit

Reading:

The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag What is Obscenity? by Rokudenashiko

What Merri's Been Up To:

Watching:

The Great Hack Stranger Things Queer Eye

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Sing in me, Muse, of the importance of translation, the importance of nuance, and the original scoundrel: Odysseus. That's right, we're talking about The Odyssey! Join us as we discuss Emily Wilson's new translation in conversation with Madeline Miller's Circe and Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad.

Warning: Swearing and discussion of sexual assault.

Some Links You Might Find Interesting:

Why Read the Classics? by Ginni Chen

The "Odyssey" and the Western World by George de F. Lord

Homer for Scalawags: Emily Wilson’s “Odyssey” by Richard H. Armstrong

The First Woman to Translate the ‘Odyssey’ Into English by Wyatt Mason

The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson review – a new cultural landmark by Charlotte Higgins

Feminine Narrative and Subjectivity in Homer’s Odyssey: Structuring Dichotomies and Alternative Discourses by Catherine Johnson

The Complicated Radicalism of Emily Wilson’s The Odyssey by Janey Tracey

Athena and Penelope as Foils for Odysseus in the "Odyssey" by Lillian E. Doherty

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What have we been up to? Not-so-evil witches, aliens, and falling in love in the time war.

What Missy's Been Up To:

Watching:

Child's Play Airplane! Wicked

Reading:

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone Cosmic Love, edited by Jennie Wood Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton

Playing:

Night Call Simmiland Medusa and Her Lover

What Merri's Been Up To:

Watching:

The Colony Wicked

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Do you love romance? Do you love romances as embodiments of different modes of patriarchy? Then do we have a book series for you! In this episode, we tackle Tamora Pierce's The Woman Who Rides Like a Man and Lioness Rampant, the final two books in the Song of the Lioness quartet, and grapple with the problems of a beloved series, including how they affect its modern relevance.

Warning: There's no cursing, but there are frequent mentions of sex and sexuality. Also a lot of immaturity, sorry.

Some Links You Might Find Interesting:

More than escapism : environmentalism and feminism in the young adult fantasy novels of Tamora Pierce by Michael James Hancock

NEGOTIATING FEMININITY: TOMBOY GENDER PERFORMANCE IN THE WRITINGS OF TAMORA PIERCE AND SUZANNE COLLINS by Shauna Maragh

Musings on Diverse Worlds by Deirdre F. Baker

Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject by Saba Mahmood

Revisiting Corus: The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Cindy Massre

Racism and Some Sexism in Woman Who Rides Like A Man by Angela

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Are you ready to hear about Disneyland? We certainly hope so.

Warning: There are some mentions of sex as we talk about Tidelands. Nothing explicit, just mentions.

What Missy's Been Up To:

Listening To:

Rabbits

Reading:

The Near Witch by V. E. Schwab

Watching:

The OC Season 2 The Lego Movie 2 Aggretsuko

What Merri's Been Up To:

Watching:

Tidelands The Colony Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

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Cross-dressing, examinations of the necessity of violence, and the unfortunate consequences of second-wave feminism? That's right, we're talking about the Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce! In this first entry, we're talking about Alanna: The First Adventure and In the Hand of the Goddess, books one and two of the series that started the beloved Tortall universe.

Warning: Some mentions of genitalia. No explicit content, just mentions.

Some Links You Might Find Interesting:

Closed Minds: Tamora Pierce's Teenagers and the Problem of Desire by Anastasia Salter

The REadWind: Alanna: The First Adventure by Melissa Brinks

Negotiating Femininity: Tomboy Gender Performance in the Writings of Tamora Pierce and Suzanne Collins by Shauna Maragh

Impostor Syndrome vs Exceptionalism in Alanna the First Adventure by Angela

More than escapism : environmentalism and feminism in the young adult fantasy novels of Tamora Pierce by Michael James Hancock

What a Cross-Dressing Lady Knight Taught Me About Gender and Sexuality by B Pietras

Tamora Pierce Writes Fantasy That Changes Lives by Meghan Ball

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We're both extremely on brand in this episode as we discuss things like the Good Omens adaptation, Shirley Jackson, and recontextualizing Shakespeare.

Warnings: This episode is explicit for language and sexual content in the last thing we discuss.

What Missy's Been Up To:

Listening To:

Morph Club

Reading:

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson Sex with Shakespeare by Jillian Keenan

Watching:

We Have Always Lived in the Castle Aladdin

Playing:

Life is Strange 2 Episode 3

What Merri's Been Up To:

Watching:

Good Omens When They See Us The Society Kong: Skull Island

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It's time for part two of our Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood miniseries! Join us as we search for truth. And god. And you. And me. And the world. Et cetera.

Warnings: We mix up Al and Ed's names sometimes. Please pretend we said the correct one every time.

Some Links You Might Find Interesting:

Full Metal Alchemist: Why Isn’t Lust Lustful? by Crystal Kaba

Of Gods, Guilt And Greed: Morality and Mad Science in Fullmetal Alchemist by Howard Kleinman

Fullmetal Alchemist and the Promise of Power

Eyes Convey Truth in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood by Under the Scope

What is Truth? - Philosophy in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood by Kato

More Than Alchemic Reactions: Playing With Gender Norms in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood by Amber Fetch

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California, here we come. CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME. CALIFORNIAAAAAA.

What have we been up to? Comfort food, discomfort food, and feeding evil corporations to giant sharks.

Warning: The word 'pissed' slipped through the cracks.

What Missy's Been Up To:

Watching:

The OC Mortal Kombat Booksmart Doom Patrol

Reading:

Your Black Friend by Ben Passmore GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS by Jenn Woodall Siren School by Isabella Ratman Please Destroy the Internet and Please Destroy My Enemies by Michael Sweater Magical Beatdown vol. 1 and 2 by Jenn Woodall

What Merri's Been Up To:

Watching:

Game of Thrones Booksmart The Meg Godzilla Chernobyl

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Time for some good ol' existential crises as we dive into Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the second adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa's hit manga series. Join us as we figure out what a human is, debate whether alchemy is magic or science, and attempt to explain Judith Butler without taking six hours.

Warnings: We say 'pissed' once and there's some brief mentions of Winry's increasing chest size.

Some Links You Might Find Interesting:

Fullmetal Alchemist and the Deadly Sins of Capitalism by D.E. Wittkower

It’s OK to Win: Fighting Sin in Fullmetal Alchemist by Greg Pollock

Fullmetal Alchemist and the Promise of Power

Fullmetal Alchemist and the Other – A Video Essay by A. Morgan Fuchs

More Than Alchemic Reactions: Playing With Gender Norms in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood by Amber Fetch

Disability and Biopolitics in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood by Julie Sadler

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What have we been up to? Seeing giant blockbuster movies and watching the latest episodes of the biggest giant blockbuster show, of course!

Warning: Contains spoilers for Detective Pikachu, Avengers: Endgame, and Game of Thrones, with warnings before each.

What Missy's Been Up To:

Reading:

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill Twisted Romance, edited by Alex de Campi

Playing:

The Sims 4

Watching:

Detective Pikachu Avengers: Endgame

What Merri's Been Up To:

Watching:

Game of Thrones Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

Listening to:

The Dropout

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Lick it up, baby, because we're taking a closer look at 1989's Heathers, a cult film dissecting the cold, calculating dark side of humanity (and the Reagan era). We also take a little jaunt into the disastrous television adaptation and the extremely catch music to ask the nagging question, "Does Heathers have any relevance today?"

Warning: In addition to swearing, this episodes contains references to suicide, sexual assault, eating disorders, and school violence.

Some Links You Might Find Interesting:

Investigating the 1980s Hollywood Teen Genre: Adolescence, Character, Space by Patrick O’Neill

“Heathers” Blew Up the High-School Comedy by Naomi Fry

‘Heathers’ Turns 30: Why Winona Ryder’s Agent Begged Her Not to Do the Subversive Teen Movieby Susan King

The Stark Screen Teen: Echoes of James Dean in Recent Young Rebel Roles (2005) in 'Rebel Without a Cause': Approaches to a Maverick Masterwork by Timothy Shary

A Brief History of Punch-Down Comedy by Sascha Cohen

Still Very, 25 Years Later: The Bleak Genius of Heathers by Alan Zilberman

Heathers: An oral history by Adam Markovitz

Nightmare in the Mirror: Adolescence and the Death of Difference by Scott Long

Profiles in Ontological Rebellion: The Presence of Moby-Dick in Heathers by Randy Laist

Is Heathers too shocking for 2018? by Emma Jones

Heathers Writers Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy Break Down the Musical’s Full Album Track by Track

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What have we been up to? Thinking about how rice milk is made, apparently. We're sorry about our gross misunderstanding of what horchata is. Also: The Shining, Bonded, and SWMRS!

Warnings: A mild swear squeaked through, and we spend a ridiculous time talking about breasts and udders.

What Missy's Been Up To:

Reading:

A Short History of the Honey Bee by Ed Readicker-Henderson and Ilona The Shining by Stephen King

Playing:

Mortal Kombat 11

What Merri's Been Up To:

Watching:

Hercules Bonding The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

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