117: Thanks for the Memories

You know, I get being sad about the show ending, but you know, you can still the show lives on. You can go back and listen to episodes, and especially like as these franchises and things they're dropping new you know, Marvel, d C, Star Wars, but like everything else we covered anime like as there as. You need a refresher before a lot of these properties start dropping the next year or two. Yeah, but also you can still follow our careers.

We're going to be doing a lot, so yeah, truly, you could just just stay following on on the twitters and you won't miss a single thing. Probably today we have a couple of guests just to kick off our our final episode. But up top we have a man who I think you have done the most episodes of the show. It is Hector Navarro. Welcome, so happy to be here. Guys. How many did I do? I did at least two? Was it just two to three? Really? Okay? I did m c U. You did Nicktoons and Batman

Tunes and Batman I did Batman Cool? We do? We did? We did a refresher before Infinity War two and that's when you brought all your cards. So that's for oh man, that was my Marvel Cinematic Universe card set four. I guess. Wow. Well, no, I think that was the m c U on much we did too, because we did the original one. Yeah, and then I think we had you back. You came back before the end game. Wow. In any case, it has been an honor and absoluting you both. It was

a pleasure. Thank you guys for having me back. Yeah. No, of course, we you know, we we had to, you know, bring you back to to bring it down for a landing. H y'all are some of my favorite folks and I have loved nerdificent from the beginning. And uh, you guys had a fantastic run. So I hope that you guys are really proud, like genuinely proud of a really cool

thing that you guys did. So congrats always, I guess to kick it off, like, if you of those ones that we listed with Hector, what stands out for you as far as like some of your favorite moments. Oh, it's definitely going to be the m c U whichever one you bought the cards too, because that's when I was like, Yeah, this is this is why we call a hector. Hector is going to make sure that all of that that we don't miss a single thing. He's going to make sure that beat for beat, you know,

he has his bases covered. I mean even when we were talking about you know, um, I think which one was we brought you brought like the Almanac or something at one time and we were talking about no that was on Twitter or something, whether I was asking about Wakanda and now this was we should we should set this up if he This was before the Black Panther movie was released and and everybody was discussing the character of Black Panther, the comic book of Black Panther, the

idea behind it, and you posed such a great question as to like, why would this fictional group of people allow atrocities to happen if they were in fact advanced and they had enough of UM technology or resources to like fight back or help. And it's not the first time I saw that arguments, not the first time I saw somebody bring that up. Certainly not the first time

I saw a black man bring that up. And so I remember going back to my rolodex and being like, as far as I can recall, the only in universe explanation was that Stanley jack Herby, whoever then worked on Black Panther comic books afterwards, like established that it was an isolationist country that they closed themselves off to the

world to protect themselves. And we had a great and I like pulled it up and I took pictures of like the encyclopedia explanation of that, because I have a Marvel atlas that gives you the history of ah fictional country. So there's like Wakonda, lat Veria where Dr Doom rules and all these different fake places, Genosha where Magneto eventually ruled the Mutant Island nation. So Wakonda had that in there, and I took pictures and you know, it was talking

to Iffy back and forth. But then I remember that that helped me to appreciate the movie Black Panther more because when we went back to talk about the m c U and the movie Black Panther and everything that it had evolved into. I think part of the discussion, which was great, was like Ryan Coogler recognized this. Ryan Coogler and his co writer collaborator recognized this, and they're black men and they wrote that as part of the backstory for the villain Eric Stevens, a k A. Kill Monger,

and what a villain and what a motivation. He kind of wasn't wrong. He just killed people and that's messed up. But that's that was a highlight for me. And talking about the m c U with you guys and especially with Iffy, that was a blast. Yeah, I would say for me, aside from that, which I think was really helpful, Like for people, you just had a way of talking because you we did our Road to Infinity War was

that what it was or something like that. It was insane because you were just able to quickly update people. And then there were some movies like you can watch this you don't have to. One of my favorite things was you actually also have an entire encyclopedia on Nicktoons, and so we did our Nicktoons episode, you were able to pull that out and talk about the start of Nicktoons.

I forgot that. What is your favorite Nicktoons show? That's a great question if we're not counting, because I think we all know Avatar the Last a Band is amazing, and if we don't, if we don't consider that, because it's something that I think not to dis Nickelodeon or Nicktoons in the same way that like I wouldn't dis Cartoon Network or like Disney Channel cartoons or you know,

w B Cartoons or whatever. But like Avatar and then Cora felt like they transcended Nickelodeon a little bit, like they really kind of right, they got to another level. So if we're just if we're excluding them from the conversation and we're like, no, this is a straight up Nicktoon.

But I do want to say also a big part of the reason why at hard of The Last Airbender was so good was because of that infrastructure of Nickelodeon letting those animators do what they did, so like that's a Nickelodeon show too, you know that when that was made, When and where it was made, and who let those creators make it, that's all Nickelodeon. But let's be real. My favorites probably Hey Arnold. I'm a big Hey Arnold guy.

I really love that show grown up. I I dig SpongeBob, but I definitely caught it, you know, late nineties, early two thousand's on my way, you know, sort of out of that age group, and then SpongeBob turned into a well this is funny for adults, and it is, but by then I was like, yeah, but I'm I'm into the Simpsons and you know, South Bark and Family Guy and all this other stuff that's more for adults. Um, but SpongeBob is great. But my favorites, Hey Arnold, what

are your guys? His favorite nicktoons? Oh? I think you know a lot of classic Wren and Stimpy. You know, Rocko's Modern Life, not even just because of the jokes itself, but just the art style was always so interesting and kind of pushed the boundaries. But then I you know, SpongeBob has this special place because I remember the when they did show the first ever episode after the Kid's Choice Awards, and I was like, oh man, this is wild. So I remember, yeah, I was so to me, I'm like, okay,

this is a solid one. Um, it's so funny you said Hey Arnold because I knew that. I forgot that about you. But I should have known because you remind me of Hey Arnold. Great, thanks, I don't remind you of Doug. Funny. I'll take it. I'll take it. Why why don't you like Doug? Doug's cool? But Doug was a dork Doug, you know, like right, Doug was cool, But I was always as a kid, I was like, look, man, make a move with Patty or just or stop. But then again I was that dorky kid. I don't know.

I like spet more. However, I swear to god, if Hey Arnold were older, he'd be like the type of like white guy in college that tries to teach you about jazz, like a he's Ryan Gosling. Yeah, So I'm like, yeah, absolutely, he is Ryan Gosling. Um mine, okay, so my favorite. So I also grew up adoring Hey Arnold. It tackled a lot of different things that I feel like we're important it felt different for Nicktoons. Um, just this is a shoutout because we didn't even cover Nick Jr. At all.

They were doing work like I love Little Bear, like, um, a lot of the stuff that they were doing, but Little Bear always played like classical music and it always felt really safe but sticky. With Nicktoons, I would say, um, Rugrats. I mean I just adore Rugrats. It's great. It was just so great and really funny. And again, like when you watch it as an adult, there's a lot of like adult humor in there amongst the parents. Oh yeah,

dr lipshits, Yeah, the child psychologists. Yeah cool. What is something that you guys are real proud of looking back on netificent, What's something that you're real proud of? Because I know here's why I'm bringing this up, because I know that you guys get the most amazing positive feedback. You get feedback from listeners that is so encouraging and so inspiring and so cool. So give me a favorite piece of feedback that you guys got, or something that you're real proud of that led to some like a

great response. Yeah. I think until this day, I still really enjoyed when we had our comic con meet up because it's like one thing too to to like, you know, talk with folks online, which is great, but it is like something extra cool when you get to see everyone face to face and kind of just be around each other and enjoy the present, you know, the presence of

each other. Yeah. For me, I think it's like the multitude of guests that we had on which are so well versed in every topic that we covered, but allowing people to really hopefully open their minds about a lot of things, like we've had really difficult, not difficult, but like just conversations that a lot of other quote unquote nerd podcasts don't have or they're afraid to have, And for us it's kind of just like, why can't we have these conversations and just be more open to representation

in comics. When Iffy and I created this show, we really wanted to remove gate keeping from the nerd community. We want to be like, Okay, if you don't really know about this thing, then it's kind of like your philosophy hector, where it's like, let me, let's be passionate about it and talk about it, as opposed to being like, you don't know about this then this isn't for you. Instead it was like, oh, you don't know about this, Okay, well let's talk about it and bring someone in that

does know. So. But also just yeah, our conversations about getting to talk about queer characters and gaming, getting to talk about representation of women and a lot of these comics, representation of people of color, and a lot of these comics, and like, also how we were kept out because the biggest thing that I see in the comic book community, in the nerd community is like, well, this isn't cannon. They were white, Like this character was white, And I'm like,

that's because all those characters were white. That was what was allowed to exist in the forties. When these were made in the forties and fifties, we weren't allowed to be in them. So like, it's not going to kill you if we change some of these characters to be more reflective, because the truth is to me, it's like, well, when they came out, they weren't reflective of the actual world. We existed. We were always around. We didn't just appear

suddenly in the eighties. We were always around. For me, It's just like having those conversations about representation. Yeah, and is really important. I know, I think it is very important because it also just kind of nerdifficent. Was such a fun thing to have because you know, I've been

doing you know, nerdy content for a while. Like I remember on stream last Friday, We're going back and I was reading my old site, that Black Nerd, which was a blog I had when I was talking about nerdy stuff, and I pulled it up because I specifically wanted to look because I remember, and I've said this on the pod before, that no one you kind of shift my like idea of what being a nerd is because like everyone's like, oh man, you know, the gate keeping and

all this stuff and what like. You can change from that. You don't have to be protective because I wasn't necessarily like a full blown gate keeper e guy. But definitely the way I talked about nerdy stuff is like definitely, I wouldn't one never like talk about it that way now. But it's like some of the way that ignore that annoys me now, Like I'm looking at this is uh.

I posted this in August fifth to two thousand and eleven, so you know, it was like twenty four and and I was talking this is when Miles Morales was first, you know, uh first like announced and so like I wrote a whole thing on like a black Nerds thought on a black spider Man and like um and like the reading through you know, it's uh like I think, I like, it's so funny because I wouldn't treat it the same now because my my big whole takeaway in the is that like it's like, oh, it's not it's

not that big of a deal because we've had a black nick Fury and all this stuff. And also like my whole thing and kind of the way I moved now is even if I did personally think it's not that big of a deal, I definitely don't want to be like stopping on anyone's parade. I don't want to be like you. This is why you shouldn't care, because if it's a big deal with somebody, it's a big deal. Like there's no there needs to be no, there's no

qualifier for a big deal. And it's and the reason that's so funny to me now is because looking at that article and then fast forwarding to when uh black Panther came out and so many just so many white YouTube videos had to be like this is why Black

Panther is not even important. It's not that important. It's not this is it's like you don't get to decide that, like like it's like just simply at all, Like I can never just you know, decide what's important for you, Danny, anyone in here, because what's important you is important to you. That's a personal, uh, you know, relationship that you have with yourself. But it's so I think in nerd them.

You see that a lot of like especially like if you look at the new trilogy and stuff, and people go, oh, that's you like that, how do you how do you care? And it's like who cares? Like there are people who are like I liked the prequels, you know, like and and then they'll be like, because I grew up on

it and and so that's what I had. And you don't get to say that it's not good or that, because if you go back and objectively look at the original trilogy, it's not it's not slapping as hard as someone who came into Star Wars Lady who didn't grow up on it. I slept fell asleep during a New Hope, Like it's it's not it's it's all these connections and

I think you nerve them. Um, maybe I'm just laughing because I think, like, you're gonna get cast into Star Wars thing and someone's going to clip this and they can be like and and say that you fell asleep. I hope they do. And you know what, that just just the same way they kept playing Hector's own voice when he got cast in d C Daily like and and And that's what's so funny. I was just thinking about this when I was on a walk the other day.

Is the idea of appreciation is so much different, right, Like I feel like before and I think I'm gonna yank this. Super producer Joel brought this up of the I think I'm gonna mess it up, but I'm gonna say it anyway. I think it was the French Revolution or the new wave film revolution, where you had critics criticizing the films and and they and that thus caused the filmmakers to try and step it up so that it was like a friendly kind of marrying between criticism

and creation. And I think now the idea of nerd um is to blindly like it and not call out anything about it, like you know, like, because I'm a DBZ fan, I can't call out that Mr Popo is racist. It's like, no, I can appreciate the parts of DBZ that like and call out that this is a caricature of sambo uh that was used in this and you

know it's it's interesting and I think that's the soul. Yeah. Oh, I wanted to go back to what you said if you about like things being important to people, even if you took away like all those YouTube videos that were like this is why black Panther actually doesn't really matter, blah blah blah, Like even if you took away representation, which is important to people, it's really important that we show studios that they can bank on these Like that's

the biggest thing, Like it was aside from yes, all of that, but like, if we're still talking about the white gate keepers in our industry, they need to see Unfortunately we still in order to push for movies that are representative of us, we need to show them that we can make money. Um, because they're still controlling so much of these decisions and so much of what gets funded and what doesn't get funded. I mean it sucks, but that's like also why it was important that it

did well. Yeah. I think also it's just you know, as people who are in the industry, there's so much information that we're privy to before the public and seeing the public's reaction. It's just so funny to know how confident people are when they know nothing, Like it's so interesting to see someone describe and try and fully explain

something that you know how it's gonna work. You know, you you you know what what's being worked on, you know the steps, and people just doing full through Twitter threads that you're reading and you're like, oh, you're just wrong, and what's gonna happen is you're gonna be wrong and you're just gonna move on with your life and not even taken into the fact all these claims that you've made, all this you know, pressure you've put on someone based

on just your assumption. And I think that's what starting to drive at me is like you people are just so openly, loudly wrong and so confident in speaking on things they know nothing about it. And I think that could be said about many things that male persons. Sorry all so agreeing, Yeah, I just want to say too,

I just want to say back to Iffy. For a second, Iffy, that was a beautiful compliment you gave me where you said that I had changed your idea of what a nerd is, because I totally agree with you a hundred percent. I think differently about things today than I did when I was in my twenties than I did when I was in my teens. You know, it's okay to be able to change your mind about things j K. Rolling. It's okay to be able to to to to update

and to realize, you know, what's important. And I was more protective and defensive and traditional with the stuff that I loved, And as I got older, I looked at the context. I looked at the historical context, and I went, why are the things that I like the way that they are? Why are the things that I love? Um, it's like, so why do I love them so much? Are they a strong enough idea and strong enough important? Like?

Are they important enough to me that I can hear somebody lob and honest criticism at it and still be able to take it. I love Spider Man, and there's real genuine problems within the story of like he ends up marrying a supermodel, Like that's not super healthy. That's not a great message to give to young boys. And that's just one small example. There's there's lots of examples where nerdy stuff, you know, Like you mentioned you guys are talking about all the big franchises have to do that.

They're really a focus of what's happening at a larger scale, uh in the world at the time. And what's happening right now is that people are becoming more aware of others experiences. They're becoming more aware of what is important to other people, and they're asking and demanding for their entertainment, at the very minimum, to be equal and fair and representative of different people. I think people are also asking for more important changes to happen, and and hopefully that's

going to happen too. But at the very minimum, we're talking about entertainment. When people go, oh, it's just entertainment, just let it be entertaining. Don't involve politics into it, don't bring in social justice into it. I I have said this over and over and over again. There is no such thing as art without politics. That is part of it. It's an expression of what's happening in the world.

And if you're a fan of this stuff, and if you love this stuff, I think that sometimes it can be tough to look inward and to look at the stuff that you love and honestly criticize it. But I also think it can be tough to in that space of loving an entertainment thing to look around and point at your peers and point at your colleagues and go, you know what, what you're doing is unhealthy. What you're doing is gate keeping. What you're doing is whether or

not you know it, it's upholding white supremacy. It's upholding the patriarchy like it's sexist, it's racist, it's all this stuff that doesn't have to be that way. And you may think, no, I'm just complaining about how I don't like the new Star Wars movies. Well, why well, I don't like so and so and so, Well why not?

Are you consistent in that feeling with other with like the rest of the historical context of that particular franchise, and are you aware about the rest of the historical context and you know what it does and how it appears. And it's such a bummer to say this, but we've

come a long way. We have a long way to go, and in terms of the nerd sphere like it's it may it may see like it's small potatoes, but really, truly, really, I think there needs to be much more work done at the level of like calling out toxicity on the Internet, especially because those big studios, like Danny was mentioning, they

are paying attention to the vocal minority. They're paying attention to the people that are very loudly saying we didn't like Star Wars at the Last Jedi because this, this, and this, and then the Disney response to that and then goes and makes their third movie and apparently, allegedly according to the rumors, they really did look at how

people responded and then they sort of course corrected. And it's like to some people they course corrected in the right way because they made a movie that they enjoyed, and to others, they course corrected in the wrong way because it went back on some of those ideas that a lot of people connected to that were like feminist ideas or you know whatever. So but it's all varied and there's a bunch of different nuance and everything that

I'm saying. But I really do think that, like in the same way, it's a bummer to have to ask people, Hey, call out your relatives on the internet, especially on Facebook and stuff when they're spreading like misinformation about political issues, because that can too harm. Like you have to call out your relatives. Uh, and it's a bummer, But same sort of thing like call out your friends, call out

your peers. And when you see somebody online, especially like somebody like Danny and Iffy who they're they're doing the work. They put themselves out there, they talk about issues they're important to them, and then they always get knuckleheads coming in and being assis about it. If you see an ass go in there and be like, you know what, look,

this is why you're mistaken. Boom. And it just helps because it's another voice that is being added to the voices that are saying we care about this stuff and we want to share it with people, and we don't want to be exclusive. We want to be inclusive and just be able to enjoy all the stuff we enjoy. Well, I was gonna ask what message you have for the nerd community. That's the message. Baby did it? You did it?

Um Hector. Thank you so much for coming on our final episode and all of these episodes that you've been on. Thank you so much, Thank you Danny for changing my mind about what a nerd is. And thank you Iffy for changing my mind about what a nerd is because before if you, I didn't know nerds could bench, but now I know they can bench. Seriously, they can. They can take on animals that are much larger than them strength to strength and be able to defeat him. Thank

you Iffie, you know. But yeah, no, that's it, thank you, because there's a lot of buff nerds out there getting it up. Absolutely, Um, Hector, where can everyone catch you? What are your socials? Find me on the internet at Hector is funny on Twitter and Instagram. And uh, that's it, And thank you so much again guys for having me. You guys are awesome. Yeah, we're going to take a really short break and then we'll be back with more guests right after this and we are back. Hector is

such a joy, always such a joy. Um. But we wanted, of course, on our final episode to talk to super producer Joel Monique, who joined us this year. Hey lady, Hey, what's up guys? What I'm sad this is the last one. It's been emotional for me as a person, but I defendn't see you guys once a week. We still have our long standing Netflix parties. That was getting it in. Yeah, no, that's a what what a what a wild ride it's been. But yeah, you've been on quite a few eppsh yourself,

you know. And so do you have a favorite episode? Oh? Man, uh the Soak episode, which you know happened so recently but was such a blast. It was so fun to talk about my girl. I'm obsessed with her um And then the chance to defend aunt Man as potentially the greatest superhero comic book movie of the m c U was amazing because I didn't think anyone would want to

hear that argument. So I appreciate you guys letting me hear that out here on I guess I would because you're so heavily and try inn in the nerd community as well. Like, what are some things that you would love, Like what are the messages you would give people one who maybe like don't necessarily feel they have a place or have been gate keeped. And then like things that other people can do to kind of make this a more welcoming space. What you can do to make this

a more welcoming space? Is when someone tells you why they like something, listen to it. Similar to Hector's take, um, which was, you know, maybe more about not being sort of like a direct asshole. My my take is more like you might learn something if you hear why people are enjoying the new thing, right, Like I feel like I have this debate with the Star Wars people a lot, especially like first gen Star Wars people, and then I

had to learn it too. Here's the craziest thing. You can be the most woke nerd person, or at least think you are, and once you get older and this new generation comes in and you're like, listen y'all. Because I was ten when the prequels came out, and I'm like, these are not great. They're not the Star Wars I'm used to. They're a little slow. I hated Part three. And then some kids came out they're like, no, it's wonderful. How dare you doubt our queen? Look at her dresses?

And I was like, I do have to give the dresses props. They're like, look at all that she does as a politician, in the fact that we have this like strong female politician in the front. Look at how we start um equating droid like usage, especially as like slave labor, and start you to open up those conversations in our galaxy far far away like this like network of things expanded, not just in a technological aspect, but

from a fan basi. And so for a lot of people, I love the prequels, and I hadn't learned that the hard way because I was certainly out there trashing them and anybody who liked them, Like you don't know Star Wars in So definitely take a listen to somebody like something you don't, and you just take the opportunity to hear what it is they're enjoying and why they like it. You'll probably learn something not just about yourself, but about

what your fandom has lacked. And I think that's a great way to start, like allowing people in the other thing, I would say, it's like, go to conventions when it's safe. Not now to convention now it's not a good scene, but when they're when it's safe. Um. I used to think I couldn't go to conventions because they're super expensive, and I was like, how will I ever managed to

do this? And and hotel and people, But if you can get close and even like your local conventions are going to have amazing artists, and I think as fun as like a whole h can be. It's fun to be quote in the room where it happened. But it's also really cool to like watch an artist grow by like going up to their table and be like, oh, my goodness, look at all the like cool work you've done.

That's really sweet. And then you come back next year and they're like, here's my first comic I self printed, and you're like, wow, that's so cool, Like I'm really proud of your progress. And then two years later they have a deal with a major thing, and like that's how you become involved in the community. Like that, to

me is a communal aspect. The stars are awesome and great and it's so wonderful to see them do their thing, but it's the people that are just getting started out who are so like on fire passionate about their work I think makes the community the strongest. Oh my gosh,

I don't even know how to add to that. Yeah, I was gonna say, I guess what what things that are coming out or like things in our fandom franchises, movies, whatever, comics, what are you excited to see in this upcoming year or hopefully things that are going to eventually come out. M yes, there's a lot of good stuff keeping my Star Wars trend. Debra Chow she is phenomenal if you haven't seen Flowers in the Attic perfect, but she's also doing all of the Star Wars stuff and she's so, so,

so talented. She directed two of the Mandalorian episodes, but now she's taking on Like, I believe the Han Solo series is going to be about what was happening when Han Solo was hiding out on tattooed in and like how was he protecting Luke from Afar and undercover Dad? Sounds like the best story ever and I'm very much looking forward to it. Obviously, the Wonder Woman movie can't get here fast enough. I have so many questions. A lot of my faves are in that. Um so I'm

looking forward to seeing that. And then you know, I don't ever The Last Airbender. It is really having a renaissance right now with addition to Netflix, and if Nickelodeon wanted to pick that up and do anything with another avatar, I love Kyoshi. I wouldn't mind seeing what happens after Cora. We could go back and do origins of the first one post when he gets his powers, Like, what are the first missions? He's going on? So many cool aspects of that series. Even if you just wanted to give

me adult ag I'm not complaining about it. Whatever you want to do with Avatar the Last Airbender, I'd be here for it. Let's do it. Yes, same. I don't know. Maybe maybe we should give Shamalan one more try. Maybe maybe give him one more crack at it, stop it stop, zero more try three rocks for Earthbending no fail. Wait, have you guys seen the videos where they do the side by side of what it's like to like what the fight was in the television series versus what the

fight was in the movie. No, no, I'm going to try to find that. It's the saddest thing in history. Fight with the Master Airbender guitar Fight with the Master Airbender brilliant, gorgeous, wonderful in the animated form. You can drop us a link right now because we have to take another quick break and then we'll be back with one final guest. Right after these messages, and we are back final episode of Netificent and now we are joined by one of my dear friends, Mr Christopher Smith Bryant. Hey,

Hi guys, how are you doing good? Good? Are you emotional having the last show today? I mean, I think we've been pretty pretty chill. I think it's going to be yeah, you know like that. I always call it the Will Smith moment. That's that's that's how I deal with emotion. That's that's how the TV taught me. How to deal with emotions as a black man is you have to let it happen. Then you come back to the empty house like I'm gonna log into an empty

zoom on next Tuesday, where all my friends. Chris, you you were on for a couple of our episodes one of our. One of my favorites is our Queer Characters in Gaming, which we just ran for Pride a month ago. You were also on our SIMS episode I remember with Claire Max. It was funny because both episodes we talked about how nerd culture is very important for any marginalized group, especially marginalized groups that are using nerd culture for escapism.

It's funny. I was just having an interview about Comic Con this year because it was all online and I was like, I felt like it was so amazing because it was finally super accessible for the groups that need it the most, which are marginalized communities that don't usually have access to comic Con and now they feel like, yeah, like they could because it is such a privileged thing

to go to Comic Con. But really the people who need it the most are people marginalized groups in the middle of you know, the country who need that community. So for them, I think this year was actually really

a brilliant year for that. Yeah, now that that's super like That's what I was thinking about too, is just especially just like even people who maybe have the financial means, but just the like I don't know, get all the walking around, getting around this pack city, or if you if you're not comfortable around large groups of people, you can finally like get all the info and all that and still be at home and not dealing with, you know, people pushing you out the way so they can get

a toy from Hasbro. The Funko pop like collector Bros. Are slightly that's just as a scary level that I didn't know existed, Like especially when you go to their house and they're just like all staring at you all of the little you know eyes, the funk pop eyes. It is kind of elitist and the fact that they'll nab them, right, you have to have the accessibility to be able, and again we're talking about something that's like

less than thirty dollars. So having the accessibility to be to get to be in San Diego, get to like stay there. Again, I've talked about this. The hotels that weekend are insane. And I had like I got to stay at the Marriott for one night because like another company was paying for it. And I was like, oh, you know, I just instead of changing rooms because I normally have to change rooms a bunch, I'm like, I'll just I'll just stay another night. And I called down

at the front desk. I'm like how much is it? And they're like, oh, it's eight hundred dollars. I'm like, okay, no, I'm good. I'll sleep on someone's caught. But like just being able to be there, like you said, or the badges are like three hundred four hundred dollars in um. So they nab these toys and then they sell them for like three four hundred bucks, and it's like it's just like you were saying, it's keeping the people who actually need this community, who could who could benefit and

enjoy some of this, It just keeps them out. So I'm just hoping that they continue to live stream panels even if they have them in person. I would love they live streamed them more of them, and I would love if the exclusives are just mass you know, available to the masses like they were this year, you know, online and everything, because I want people, especially people like you're,

people who have disabilities, people who have UH. So for the viewers who don't know, I'm on the autism spectrum, and crowds for me are very difficult, so I can't imagine especially you know, UH people who might I hate using this term, but lower functioning people in the spectrum going who can't go out to comic Con. I want them to have the ability to, you know, to feel like they are a part of it, because community, especially in in the geek world, is one of the most

important things that we can have. Is is community, so that people who might feel lonely or who use this as some sort of advice, UH can can use this as a way to bring people together rather than be more and more further divided, I would say that's what um, being that this is your last show, that's what I appreciate. Really, what you guys created is you created a voice in the nerd community that is very needed. That is like,

it isn't just a white, cis male space. Um, many people need need this community, and I think that you actually, you guys created more than just a podcast that you know, people could bring facts. You gave a voice to I think people who didn't hear themselves heard in any other you know, sort of nerd media. Yeah, thank you very much for that, Chris, for you, Um, can you tell us a little bit about the comic companel that you did because people can catch that right now, they can

watch it. Oh yeah, I think that's a cool thing about Both me and you had panels about feminism, right like yours was about. Can you tell you first? What was your sign? I think mine the title I'd have to look up, but it was essentially like representation of women. We actually were featured in Huffington's posts, which I'll tweet

out from the Nerdificent thing. But we had an entire article dedicated to our panel that talked about tropes like a lot of the things that we tackled with, like how the misrepresentation of women in media still today in and how we can fix that, because I think it's a lot to point out like they do this, but we also pointed out like here's a way that you can fix that. So, um, I'll drop a link. It was really panel. It was really awesome. I saw some of the clips of it, and you are so well spoken,

and it was such a great panel. Mine was a similar Mine was the Power of Female Friendship and it featured the cast of Sailor Moon and also our good friends Sam Maggs, who is the writer of Captain Marvel, and it was It was cool because it was a panel about Sailor Moon with also being more than Sailor Moon.

It's about like how important it is to discuss female friendships in nerd media and how there are very few, like even a lot of the superhero books it's a female that's working alone, and how important it is to have talk about relationships in writing and in nerd media. Yeah, you're you're totally right. I wanted to talk about just even the the exclusive real big, real quick before jumping uh back into this, but they're back in the day, I knew people who got you were talking about, you know,

getting the free hotel. But I knew people who got free tickets to Comic Con from sellers. They'll get their ticket and all they needed from them is to sit in the Hasbro line to help them buy it up. So they're out here like abusing the system to do like like, there are systems in place meant to kind of make exclusive more accessible, and people are going out of their way to go around it and sell them

for way too much money. And I think it really really kind of sucks that people it was like, we'll do that, but I think, yeah, I think that's that. That was the one thing that it's funny because you know who who shot you. You know the other podcasts that do their whole tagline is a movie podcast that

isn't three white dudes talking. And it was funny because that's essentially what we wanted to do with Nerdificent words, like we we noticed this space and even though now like even though there are there are a lot of things that were around before us and came, but I think now people are actively kind of searching for different voices out there. But like it felt like when we were coming together to make ner deficent, it was like you there, there weren't anyone kind of propping up these

like diverse voices. It was the same, you know, the same white voices you'd hear. And that's why it's even funny, uh seeing you know, G four and everyone being like, I hope they have all you know, the same hosts back. And I was like, do you though, do you want the same? Like we've come so far from when G four went down, you want the same? It was all

that was the unfortunately thing. I loved G four growing up, but all the hosts were like white people and and and you have people being like, oh well, it better be the same host and I was like, it better

not be the same host. It will And I think it's because you know, people don't realize how weird that would look, you know, people and it and it And that's why I kind of talked about in the hector portion this attachments and nostalgia for nerds, just like, oh, you want the same thing, and I think that's the same that that'll find That'll be that problem with with Star Wars and every time we see there are people who put find their nerd thing, and they put in

a time capsule and I was talking with a friend and she was talking about a show she was watching with her partner right and the show was like a mid show, like not even like this great show, but the show had so much emotion attached to where she

was at the time that she saw it. So they finally got to the final episode and like she was crying because of just knowing how far she come at that time in her life and what she was going through, and she was laughing how she was like she didn't know how to explain to her partner that no, the show didn't make her cry. She's you know, it was more just that, but she almost it was almost too much to explain. I was like, oh, just say the

show made you cry then, like that'll be easier. But I think that's what people do to nerd them is especially like when you see it and even I do this, but I think it's it's good to kind of like, uh, notice it and don't become to those people who make your identity these nerd things so that when something is changed about it, it feels like they're trying to change you.

And that's what you're seeing when you see people have these violent, aggressive reactions to characters changing, people changing, it's because they put so much of themselves within this property that they don't own or have control over that when it changes, it feels like someone's trying to change them and they have to fight for it. And really it's like appreciating what you got from it and not not

attaching yourself to it. You know, like you can be attached to it, but it you shouldn't make yourself a part of something you And I think this goes beyond nerd things. I think in general, never make yourself a part of something you truly can't control, because you will be put in that position eventually. Well. And it's like you always, even if it's real life or nerd culture, you will always see you'll always be disappointed by your

heroes in some way. And I think the problem is is that people like I remember when the last Star Wars movie, uh god, what was it? The one that piste everyone off? The Last Jedi came out and a lot of these nerd bros had this violent reaction seeing Luke Skywalker become and end up such a flawed human being, where in their mind that might have been Mark Hamill and that in that time might have been like a father figure, this person that lifted them up. So it's like,

I think you're right. The Last of Us two is a great example because that's something that's dividing the nerd culture in a way. I think people put so much of their self on the first game, and when the second one broke everything down, they couldn't appreciate what was new because they wanted the same feelings that they had

with the first game. Again. I also think that there's a huge thing in what you were saying, which is like the nerd community collecting versus community, Like instead of focusing on collecting every Funko pop or every this comic con should be about the community and it should be

about getting together. And I think that that's one of the things that's hard that's hard to watch, that was cool to watch this year is that it kind of became again about the community, even though we are all so you know, distanced and everything, and made people focus on like, wait, the important thing isn't getting these funco pops?

Are this and that I want to be around my friends my Honestly, I love cons because it's the one time where nobody would say we can't cuss on here, but nobody would call me the sea word or be word to my face, like none of they some of those people at Comic Con, they might have written it to me, but they don't have the guts to say

it to my face. And so it's just a time where I can exist in this space and just take in everything and have people come up to me and celebrate work that I've done, or just like or just me getting to be a nerd in exist out there. But it's just like it was my favorite part in all of like the voice actors and my friends that go.

It's like none of us get treated like a like a pos when we're there, but it's like, you know, online we take so much of that hate, and like you said, it's the vocal minority because then when we're amongst everyone at Comic Con, it's just this bustling feeling of happiness and energy and joy, and it's that's how it should be. It's like all this passion coming out. Oh yeah, that's why I think that's why the it is very accurate to call Comic Con nerd Marty Gras

you know, and because you really do. And it really like even as you know, uh, someone as dorky and extroverted as me, you get to see people kind of come out of their shell dancing, having a good time

because they feel comfortable and safe. Because I think one of the things that keep people from being, you know, as open and I think this goes once again another one of those things that go outside of nerd um is just like how much people will relate to you, how much you trust, you know, you don't want to, you know, let loose in front of somebody you fear might make fun of you or make you feel less

than for doing it. So when you have all these like minded people, you're like, oh, this person over here is dressed as link. They're definitely not going to judge me for like busting down on this coac arena jam, you know. And and that's what I love is just seeing those faces and you're seeing people light up and and and and also that's why, you know, as much, uh, I was almost gonna let's say as much, uh s, I'll say I I dump on San Diego as a city, as a whole, as a county, as a part of

the world. I do love that you know, San Diego has given in and allowed you know, the nerdom to just take over downtown, which is why anytime people like, oh it moves to l A. I was like, no, we can't like as much as you know, Angelina I am, I love. There's just too much going on. Like everyone's always like, oh, l a sports fan, don't care. I was like, no, we just always have something going on. I'm sorry. When there's a Lakers game, there's probably a

Taylor Swift concert going on next door. There's also a baseball game, there's you know, there's so much going on that like you almost have this like, yeah, you're not hyped. I'm sure in Cincinnati when the Bengals play, that's a whole event because yeah, you know, and it's like, um no, I was gonna say, it's kind of like E three for me is right, is usually right after Pride. Oh my god, I'm like walking into the three hungover. I

bags just like kill me because it's true. In l A, it's like we don't have that hype because it's like there's always But with Comic Con in San Diego, I mean it was cool. I had a friend that face timed me and there are people still in the middle of the streets social distancing, trying to kind of experience

I couldn't be there, Yeah, I can only imagine. Yeah, San Diego probably felt the change of all this the most because especially all those businesses, Like as much as you know there's those there's always like one or two weird bars that are trying to like make fun of the comic Con thing. But as much as even they will do it, they probably make so much money from

the city just being flooded. Every bar like it really, like I think we're they're going to feel unfortunately a huge financial hit because I'm sure all these businesses make bookoo bucks because every bar is packed, every restaurant, like no matter where you want to go, if you want, if you're thinking of okay, since I wasn't able to go because of the RONA, I'm definitely going to Comic

Con next year. Let me let you know that no matter how far you push out, you just go to go get a good airbnb, go to the rouse and cook up a dinner and then save one night where you're really willing to wait for an hour to have a good dinner because everything is so packed. But it's kind of Why also I like that this comic con was online is that I'm hoping that in smaller communities and people who can't get to San Diego, they can have a local bar night where they all watched Panels together,

or they can have like a many comic con over there. Yeah, I think that would be beautiful. Well, Chris, I was going to say, as we're wrapping up here, do you have any words of encouragement for nerds, maybe any of them that might be on the spectrum or queer, like anything that you've had to deal with trying to make space for yourself in this community. Do you have any words of encouragement for people who aren't quite there yet.

I think that now is one of the most difficult times because because of the distancing and everything that people are, the social distancing, and we've already had an issue of it's like what you were saying, Danny, how you would go to comic con and finally people were not calling you negative words to your face, but they do that online. And unfortunately, the one negative side to all of the distancing is people are more vocal and more fighting online

now more so than ever. So I have the weirdest thing that is just try to not argue on the internet would be my biggest thing. Try to find zoom calls if you're doing twitch some way though of still meeting people and connecting with people where you can actually talk to them versus then just tweeting them. Because the most important thing for us to do as nerds is

to have some sort of community together. And that's one of the things where I'm so sad about this show is because I know that it was um you know, it's it wasn't just a podcast in a weird way, it was kind of showing the actual community of nerds that are not always represented in you know, every nerd media. Was showing you had people who are trans every single color like you had so many, such a diverse group of people, and I think in some ways it wasn't just a show. It was kind of a show of

a community and it brought people together. Every show that you guys do, I of people that reach out, so let's say like thank you. I felt like my voice

was heard. And I think that what we can continue on with the spirit of Nerdificent is just continuing positive communication but also communicating like how you guys do in this podcast people hopefully not just talking over Twitter, but being like, Hey, do you want to go on a zoom call and talk about this game or talk about why we have a difference of opinion of the last Jedi or like whatever, like actually have those conversations where you can see and talk to the person instead of

just relying on on Twitter, because I think that that will be the way to make sure that we have a community and have connection with each other, um in a time where connection is very scarce and and is you know, fleeting. So that would be my advice. Thank you for coming on for our final episode, Chris no worries. Thank you for having me. I love you guys, and I'm very proud of everything that you created with this. Well where can everyone catch you? Um? You can see

uh my Instagram at Tinder Chris. That's t E N d R Chris uh c h R S and um you can also see me and Jenny ng have a show that is every other week called Comedy Crossing, which is a uh comedy show in animal Crossing. Also my charity which is a queer gaming nonprofit, the biggest one in the United States. It's called lags Los Angeles Gaming Society. You can find us on Instagram as well. Yay, thank

you guys so much. Look at my friend doing so much. Um. I definitely wanted to shout out super producer Joel Monique, thank you again for all of your hard work. Um, can you just plug your socials again really quick? For the people's sure, it was an honor. It's a lovely show and so I'm sad to see it come to an end. I do you think it stands as a

lovely historical record. So if you guys want to follow me, I'll be pretty see a couple of new Nerds shows coming down the pipeline here at my heart that I cannot talk about yet, but I am very excited to share with you guys. I'm all of the internet at Joe Monique, that's j O E L L E M O N I q U E. And of course our engineers, Zach McKeever, who has been with us since day one, holding it down. Yep, yep, you don't ever hear him,

but he is why we why we sound good. Um. Of course struck Key's are editors also why we sound good. He cuts out a lot of things to make us sound smart. Yeah, and you know he's been on the pod before and he has his own pod culture kings. You know, we had Dan Goodman, Jack O'Brien for you know, believing in the vision. Uh. Ana Hosnier holding it down

with us at the top. Uh and every guest who's ever came on, and everyone of you who has ever listened, truly, you're the only reason we've been able to do it and made it great along the way. Uh. And you know, speak, don't take Nerdificent as a podcast. I'd say take it

as an ideology. Uplift voices that you you don't hear being said a month, you know, smash that rt if someone if someone's you know, speaking truth to power, and I think you know, uh, you know, feel free to nerd however you want to nerd, as long as it doesn't encroach on anyone else's vision. And don't let anyone ever make you feel less than for doing that. Um. And as we'll say, for the last time, stay well, we actually got it up together on the last time.