[Theme song]
Christine> Hello everybody, and welcome to another Dispatch from Xija station, I’m Christine.
Babie> And I’m Barbie
Christine> And this week we’re going to be back to our usual episode discussions. We’re talking about Nobody’s Queen, episode 3. It originally aired April 10th or 2020 here in the US. It’s directed by Danishka Esterhazy and the episode is written by Mika Collins, and of course it’s based on the comic book by Magdalene Visaggio and Jason Smith. And the the basic IMDb synopsis Elida deals with the life she left behind; Isaac and Amae find themselves in risky territory.
Barbie> Yes. So as the IMDb synopsis alludes to, we see the team split into two storylines, Elida is dealing with the Loyalists, and Issac and Amae get some quality time together.
Christine> And lest we forget, we also truly get to meet the joy that is Winnibee.
Barbie> My favorite robot, ever!
Christine> Mine too!
Barbie> And I watch Star Wars, so there’s a lot of them.
Christine> Yeah, I can imagine.
Barbie> Yeah, so episode three. I really feel like episode three, things start coming together. We really start to put the story together, and like we mentioned in previous episodes, episode one was character development - er, character introductions, excuse me, and exposition, episode two kind of built on that a bit more and we saw the team working together. And Episode three is starting to get us to the main story: which is going to be rescuing Elida’s mom. I think splitting Elida away from Isaac and Amae, we really see the character traits start to develop more, and especially we see a bond starting to form between Isaac and Amae.
Christine> Absolutely. We really get much more of an idea here of everything Elida’s been through and how that’s made her into who she is now, especially when it comes to her experience with well, being royalty. And if last episode was building that bond between Elida and Isaac, this is where we see the start of a wonderful friendship between Isaac and Amae.
Barbie> Yeah, I love their friendship. I’m in love with their friendship.
Christine> Same.
[Laughing]
Barbie> But let’s get a start with the colors and the visual effects here. So we are introduced to three all new planets in this episode.
Christine> We’re certainly setting the bar high here.
Barbie> [laughs] Yeah, for sure. We start off on Planet Qualla, which to me, just seems to be a gas station and a playground, and if that’s the entire planet, I wholeheartedly approve.
Christine> Same.
Barbie> But I love the casual “Earthy” atmosphere of the fueling station. It’s nothing fancy, it’s something we as viewers of the show can definitely relate to. Just kind of that gas station in the middle of nowhere kind of thing.
Christine> Yeah.
Barbie> We see the snacks, we might not have them that squeak, but you know, the general array of the shelves: snacks and candy and such, but I think a lor of people can relate to getting a slushy, or Frogu as it’s called in the show.
Christine> Yeah, that’s definitely something I appreciate about this show. Sure we have this galaxy that’s got all this epic action going on, and yeah, there’s all these other things happening, but this galaxy in the grand scheme of things, is it really so different than how things are here? There’s still something to be said for having that sense of normalcy. Remember that for all we see on screen, there’s so many other people in these worlds just going about their lives. There’s an element of relatability to it and we see that a lot as the season goes on.
Barbie> Yeah, and I mean even going back to episode one, we’ve got the Xija Station guards or whatever, they’re playing poker, and just kind of relaxing as you do.
Christine> True.
Barbie> So, next up, Planet Kestallan, or as we come to know it as where the Loyalist base camp is, and this is where the bulk of the episode takes place.
Christine> And it’s an interesting environment, no doubt about that. It’s, for the most part, desert-like I would say, and it’s certainly far from a welcoming planet, especially once you get outside the Loyalist camp. Small wonder that Isaac talks about being on an “apocalyptic-themed treasure hunt” that he and Amae are going on in this episode. It’s the sort of environment that, on its own it’s not terribly notable, but that’s hardly a bad thing. On the contrary, it really forces you to focus more on everything that’s happening in this episode because there is a lot.
Barbie> Yeah, there’s a lot. It’s interesting because the vase camp definitely gives off that desert feel to it, but then when they go exploring for their treasure hunt, it kind of has a different feel to it, where it’s not quite as desert-y but more like zombie apocalypse, like you kind of said, the apocalyptic treasure hunt.
Christine> Yeah, it does have that whole apocalyptic vibe to it in general and I think, no not even I think, Amae talks in the episode about how this really isn’t the first time she’s been in an environment like this.
Barbie> Yeah, I think that’s the first time that we really see a sad Amae, and it really kind of tugged at my heartstrings.
Christine> Same.
Barbie> I really am curious what she saw, what she’s lived through, she and Chaz.
Christine> Something to think about for season two, perhaps.
Barbie> Definitely, season two!
Christine> Hashtag #RenewVagrantQueen
[Barbie laughs]
Barbie> Definitely. The last planet we see, Elida and Hath make a bit of a side venture to Planet Wreckoor, where we meet Clive. I would love to know Clive’s backstory, it seems like he and Elida are close, but only close because he owes her a favor?
Christine> But all the same, yeah Clive is a thoroughly enjoyable character, and you can tell even if it is purely because of the favor there’s still a bond of sorts between him and Elida.
Barbie> Yeah, you definitely see the bond. So, transitioning from planets to transitions [both laugh] I know, lame dad joke.
Christine> Ba-dum tss.
Barbie> But one of my favorites from the episode has got to be, we’ve got the flashback of Lazaro, storming the castle, saying “No longer will an incompentant child rule!” and then it cuts, right then, to present day Lazaro, sitting in his chair just like a bored little kid. Props to the editor, props to the directing, I love it, great acting by Paul du Toit. It made me laugh, It still makes me laugh, I’ve seen the episode a million times and it still makes me laugh.
Christine> Yeah, I am cosigning on all of this, the acting is phenomenal, the directing is phenomenal, the editing, just everything about that moment is fantastic.
Barbie> Yeah it’s a great moment I think. I love that they do these fun little transitions.
Christine> Definitely adds a bit of character to the show.
Barbie> Yeah. So I know I said I’d mention captions again, and I will, right now, and it has to do with one of my favorite scenes of Winni, who boasts - I guess can robots boast?
Christine> Well this one certainly can
Barbie> She’s got the sass for it, I’m going to say that she can. That she is the fastest of the SA2K models and comes in to rescue Isaac and Amae from the rodents. While she is trundling along, the captions read [Quirky electronic music] so then Winnibot stops, and the captions read [Ominous chord] and the camera pans down dramatically to reveal … a piece of wood laying across the path.
Christine> Dun dun DUN!
Barbie> And then we see Winni turn to go all the way around it, and the captions go back to: [Quirky electronic music returns]
Christine> Yeah, we've been doing a lot of kudos these last few minutes, but kudos to the person who does all of the close captioning. If you don't normally watch a show with close captions, turn them on as your Rewatching and keep track of all the different front ways the caption describes the music. It makes for an even better experience, especially for a show like this. Especially like… I think of another show I’m a significant fan of which is Carmilla
Barbie> Oh, my God. You can’t watch Carmilla unless you are watching with the captions. It’s a totally different show.
Christine> It is! It is much the same with this show
Barbie> Yeah, I would agree with you there. I love the captions in Carmilla. They weren’t working the first time I watched it, for the first 10 episodes, so I didn’t get the full effect. But I think the captions got better as the series went on.
Christine> Oh, yeah.
Barbie> However, this isn’t a Carmilla podcast.
Christine> We’ll go ahead and leave that to Steriatypical.
Barbie> We’ll shelve that for us. So we got a lot of flashbacks in this episode. Our flashbacks focus on a young Elida as the 10 year old newly crowned Queen Eldayia. And we just really get to see how she was as a kid. We see her bored as hell on the throne. I can totally relate to wanting to wear pants and no shoes because obviously you can’t run in those crazy shoes
Christine> I just have to appreciate young Elida on the whole having to go through all those formalities. I’d find it annoying too. You just get the sense that of course she isn’t terribly isn’t interested in the roll but she is trying her best here even if Xevelyin keeps shooting her ideas down.
Barbie> Yeah, It’s an interesting dynamic with the young queen and with her mom, and Hath. He’s not her dad but he kinda takes over that role. But we also in these flashback learn about the Steerzad and how Elida’s ancestors created peace and ruled over the planets, and then they mention the Steerzad corrupts whoever uses it. But at the end of the episode, we see Hath and Desai talking about how the Steerzad is everything. Why do they want it? Do they know how dangerous it is? I mean Hath should know, because obviously he was so close to Elida when she was a kid.
Christine> And I just have to say, you know, I don’t know how this Steerzad could possibly be important. I’m sure it won’t pop up again. It won’t be remotely important.
Barbie> Oh, yeah. Probably just an episode thing. Just something to talk about.
Christine> Just a little bit of flavor
Barbie> But yeah, again, how did Xevelyn let it get so bad? Because it seems like Elida. even as a young 10 year old was making pretty logical choices or veiwpoints. She really din’t make a choice because they didn’t let her. But she at least wanted to listen to the people and she gets the lesson what’s easy isn’t always right.
Christine> And you get the impression here that Xevelyn is overruling Elida in the interest of what she thinks is best, that Elida isn’t really qualified to be making the actual decisions here. But meanwhile things are still falling apart. The queen’s blessings are not sure, but the people can’t dine on Blessing Bucks.
Barbie> Yeah, definitely. Speaking of Elida, we’ll go into a little bit of her character arc in this episode. She doesn’t self-reference a one-liner this time. The last two episodes she did. But I would argue that the one-liner of this episode is the beginning in the middle of the episode during the gunfight. I’ll just play the audio clip from this episode. Here you go:
man screams> Woah, woah! These are just stun guns so no one gets hurt!
Elida> well, these are just kill guns, so leave!
Amae> Will being shot at be a regular occurrence with you two?
Christine> I mean, that opening is just so much fun. A gunfight in the middle of a convenience store? The nonchalant going and getting some food when the fight’s over really what’s not to like here?
Barbie> Ok, I have two things to say about that. One: That convenience store clerk was real fast on that shield, and two:
Christine> I hope they’re getting paid well.
Barbie> Oh, my gosh! I mean if there is only the gas station on the planet, he’s gotta know what to do! So, there’s the guy with the shield and he’s hiding, and two: Ihred. When she offers to buy the snacks, she kind of pats her body like, “do you have the money, Ihred?” What’s going on here?
Christine> You gotta wonder.
Barbie> It’s funny, she picks up the squeaking snacks that Isaac put back because he was so disturbed by them.
Christine> You’ve got a human that is still adapting to all this even a few years on. And then you’ve got Ihred who’s been in this galaxy
Barbie> All her life?
Christine> Yeah, Different standards I suppose you could say.
Barbie> Yeah, I guess that’s true. We all have different likes and and dislikes that's for sure. So I know we already know that Elida is a bad ass, but she's got such a slick move when she takes out the loyalist with a gun after she wakes up from the, not the coma but being knocked out. I can't help but be impressed and I have to give Adriyan major props for pulling off that move to look that smooth. it's impeccable I love it.
Christine> Oh, absolutely! And after years of being on the run and scavving, just thinking from a character perspective here, you have to have a few ways of getting out of a sticky situation. And Elida really did get out of this situation smoothly. Serious props, Adriyan.
Barbie> yes, definitely. So we learned about her past. The loyalist are really putting pressure on her to be the queen she is supposed to be in the present, but you know you've got at least Desai who makes the comment, “you really can't blame her because she was a child” since she was a child. But at the same time she's pressuring her to be this queen that Elida has no idea how to do or honestly has no desire to do.
Christine> Right. To go through all of this in your childhood years. That can have a massive effect on somebody's life, and given the all the years that Elida and her mother had to spend on the run, can you really blame her on really not wanting to go back and become a sitting target?
Barbie> Right. And I mean it's way more fun to go and shoot them up through the galaxy anyway!
Christine> Oh, definitely! Why not just try and live your life?
Barbie> yeah. Speaking of shoot them up reckless behavior I thought that Elida was almost overconfident - she was overconfident - when they were on Racor. And it made me really on edge because I was like “ok she’s this confident, something bad is going to happen.” Like maybe her and Clive weren't as good of friends as she thought. I mean, obviously, as I said earlier, I'd love to know what happened between the two of them.
Christine> And of course it doesn't necessarily go off without a hitch. You do have one security guard who we see again later in the episode, but for the most part between Elida and Clive it goes pretty smoothly.
Barbie> Yeah and Clive even makes that remark "good help is hard to find” I don't remember the exact quote but it sounds like he had just gotten some new guards and he was one of them. So moving from our main character to the other two: Isaac and Amae. They are together most of the episode. So we will discuss their character it's kind of parallel as it applies but starting with Isaac we can see after the last episode the bond between him and Elida has improved a lot. We see him defend Elida when she is out of commission from the stun gun, and he had the funny scene where he made Dengar and Ihred flinch when they played their part in kidnapping them.
Christine> Yeah, you can see here the relationship between Isaac and Amae is on much better terms than it was, really for the team as a whole. The relationships are on much better terms than they were for a lot of last episode. You can tell that the team is getting on more than it’s ever been. You really see the dynamics coming together.
Barbie> Yeah, you see the friendships building, especially with Isaac and Amae this episode. We’re all coming together, we’re jiving. We’re starting to jive. And we get another glimpse of Amae and see that she’s a bit of a player and has caught the eye of one of the ladies in the camp.
Christine> Not the last time that that’s giong to happen.
Barbie> And she later tells Isaac that she’s not the long-term type because she just loves people. Which I think is adorable, honestly, and it’s a great way to have that viewpoint. But, of course, right after that she has Elida’s back in response to Isaac’s comment that well, ‘Elida hates all people’ and she says “but she chose us.” and I think that’s a really sweet moment.
Christine> It really is. Even as brief as her stay has been on the ship so far, you can tell that Amae gets Elida and that there maaaay be something more here, cough cough.
Barbie> Yeah, nudge nudge, wink wink. But we also, getting off of the romantic vein, we also get more of a sense of what a huge nerd Amae is for technology of all kinds. At the beginning of the episode she has a name AND a nickname for the robot, so we’ve got Winnibot, but she’s already calling her Winnibee. And then following that she practically berates herself in front of the guy fueling the ship about not taking care of the ship, and he couldn’t care less! He’s looking at her like “just stop talking, I don’t even know.”
Christine> And let me just put on the record here, “it’s okay I judge me,” is probably the biggest mood of the season so far.
Barbie> Oh yeah, definitely. I mean, we all judge ourselves, it’s a trait.
Christine> It is, it’s in our nature.
Barbie> But yeah, we all judge ourselves. We all have to be easier on ourselves, I think, as a whole.
Christine> Especially in times like these.
Barbie> Oh, yes. Of course her big story in the episode is finding the spare parts in an old junkyard, and that’s obviously she and Isaac team up. We see so many moments where we can just see her delight to the point where it gets dangerous with the rodents trying to get in and Isaac calling her over a couple times, like “Amae!”
Christine> It just gets to the point where we desperately hope nothing bad happens to her because Amae is a gem and she deserves nothing but the best. I certainly wish I was as excited about some of the things in my life as she gets about technology because it’s just so wonderful.
Barbie> I know, it’s so open and so honest. And yeah, you’re right, we don’t want anything bad to happen to her. And it reminds me of Waverly, in Wynonna Earp, and Willow in Buffy, and you get these characters where you latch on. This person is precious and we can’t let anything happen to them, and Amae is that person.
Christine> Yeah, Oh wow, we’re just going on about all these other shows today, aren’t we?
Barbie> [laughs] All the fandoms! Bring them all together.
Christine> We are a fandom-inclusive podcast
Barbie> Yep. Definitely, we love TV, we love our shows. So anyway, you’ve got this character that you don’t want anything to happen. Isaac and Amae, they’re just such a BroTP, you know? You’ve got Amae, who’s picking up on Isaac’s Earth mannerisms. From the classic “Beeeengo” to asking about “Mow-vie” references, and telling him he’s a regular Mac Gay Bar, which is awesome. And I believe someone has made a T-shirt, and I apologize I can’t think of who you are, but there is a T-shirt that says MacGaybar.
Christine> If you give me a second I can find the person and we can add it in. So it’s Atomic Octopus Designs.
Barbie> Jordan!
Christine> Yeah, it’s Jordan.
Barbie> Jordan, who has designed many T-shirts, is the one that made the MacGaybar shirt, and we will link to that in our show notes. But yeah, she’s got the Macgaybar, she’s got the beengo, and then she picks up on the high five which, Isaac said “oh, yeah, it took Elida awhile before she warmed up to it” but Amae, again, has that sort of open heart and receptive attitude, and gets so excited about the high fives that she’s just going at it. She’s doing the double high five, she’s got it all.
Christine> Right. I just love seeing Amae learn more about Earth culture in this episode. And you, sure, can tell she isn’t getting these things down right away but it’s still just delightful to see her trying her best and that you can really see that friendship building up between them. They really open up this episode.
Barbie> Yeah, like I said BroTP.
Christine> Yep.
Barbie> And if people are unfamiliar with that term: OTP is usually what the term is, One True Pairing or Only True Pairing, however you want to take it. So usually it’s made for the ship. So, your OTP is your favorite ship, your favorite two people together. But yeah, the broTP is the brotherhood aspect, the best friend.
Christine> Right.
Barbie> Anyway, that was a sidetrack. Let’s talk about the mannequin challenge for the episode.
Christine> Yeah, we kind of have to.
Barbie> Yeah. So it centers on Isaac, which makes sense because as we said this is the Isaac and Amae episode. So they need a distraction to get Winnibot trained to be a pilot. So Isaac says “Diversion is my middle name” and then there’s this pause, and he pops his head back in, and Amae you can see is just super confused and he’s like “It’s not.” [laughing] The acting, A plus. Anyway, so he gets to whip shittys or, I don’t know what you call it, doughnuts, or whatever, and shoot at the rodents and we get that cool stop-action comic book style shot which we’ve come to expect now. This is episode 3, we’ve had two others of these shots.
Christine> Right, there’s just so many fun moments to pick out between these two in this episode and it’s really only the tip of the iceberg.
Barbie> Yeah. So, now that we’ve talked about the BroTP, let’s get into the OTP. We’ve got some really great Elida and Amae scenes, the Amida scenes this episode. From sharing a froguu or attempting to anyway before it gets shot.
Christine> Rest in peace, froguu.
Barbie> I know, right? To the tender campfire moments and there’s also a few smaller moments that happen kind of separately, independently to the characters but we as viewers get the privilege to see this budding relationship. That omnipresent, third person viewing, we see this budding relationship like an example is Amae correcting Hath on Elida’s name when he says Eldaya. And of course when Elida is awkwardly asking Hath if she offended Amae - twice. Then changes the subject quickly - twice. Yeah I’m not so sure Hath believed her when she referred to Amae as “She’s our mechanic” He gave her a look.
Christine> Yeah there’s definitely no romantic feelings here. Joking aside, we do love a good slow burn and you can tell there is absolutely something more here.
Barbie> Yeah, I mean, slow-burn aside, we love it but I know as a lesbian myself, if you aren’t familiar with the term queerbait you should look into it. But you know we get these shows where they play up this quote unquote romance but never follow through, which is kind of the definition. And there’s a difference between queerbait and slow burn and this is definitely slow burn.
Christine> Yup.
Barbie> Cause we know that I mean we don’t KNOW it’s going to happen, but there have been many, many cues that it will happen. So that’s that. Moving on from that it’s not exactly a romantic moment but I want to take a second and mention that when Amae and Isaac were about to set off on their adventure and Elida kind of goes to follow, and she makes a remark along the lines of that she needs to protect Amae and Amae is having none of that. She snaps, or I shouldn’t say snaps, she responds that she can look after herself and it really put Elida in her place and we see that as soft as Amae is, she’s definitely not weak.
Christine> And I mean none of this is terribly surprising. Speaking from experience this is the sort of thing you see when people are getting to know one another. You see those boundaries being tested, things falling into place and you can tell this is still very much early goings for them. That said, if trying to protect Amae goes to show that Elida’s certainly feels a certain way about Amae, I don’t know what does.
Barbie> Yeah and speaking of feeling that certain way, going from not so romantic to romantic, the campfire scene. What can we say? I am just going to go ahead and play it for you while we collect our thoughts.
[Audio clip from show]
Elida> Hey. You found the part all right?
Amae> Hey, you’re back. Yeah, we did. A minor rodent issue. Winnibee helped us out. Sounds like you had quite the adventure yourself.
Elida> Mm. Not the most fun I’ve ever had, but we have a way into Republic space.
Amae> Great! Just hooked up a Thunderstrike Z500 regulator. She’ll get to Wix just fine. She’s a great ship.
Elida> You’re a great pilot.
[Delicate electronic music]
Amae> Must be strange, being here. Surrounded by so much of your past but in a totally unfamiliar place.
Elida> Yeah, this queen they all see, feels like someone else. And that kid? It’s just … There’s so many things I wish I could go back and tell her, you know?
Amae> I used to obsess about that, what I could change if I had another chance. Took me a while to accept I couldn’t change the past. Only what was right in front of me, here and now. [Long pause] Well, I think I’m off to bed then.
Elida> Have a good one.
[End of clip]
Barbie> Okay. Now you’ve listened to it, obviously this is a podcast so we can’t see what happens in the scene, but that’s what we as hosts are for, right?
Christine> Mm-hmm.
Barbie> There’s definitely a lot of heart eyes. Elida seems like she’s just waiting to compliment Amae, she’s looking for an opening. She finds in the “you’re a great pilot” line. And then, towards the end we get Amae, she seems to linger a little bit, like she’s waiting for a reason to stay and that moment passes, and she heads to that same woman that we saw at the beginning of the episode and it’s clear that they are going to spend their night together and Elida looks downright jealous. And then again, with the captions, you see the when the Amida theme starts playing, the captions say [Delicate electronic music] so cute.
Christine> Yeah. There is just so much to unpack in just these few minutes alone. You can tell they’re just having such a moment here. Elida and Amae really open up a lot to each other about their past, how their experiences have formed who they are now, and I think that’s a massive part of a relationship is being willing to open up and be vulnerable with one another. And I think this scene is a huge stepping stone in their relationship because of that and if the Amida ship hadn’t already set sail before this episode, at this point that ship is full speed ahead, friends.
Barbie> Oh yeah. We’re in it now. But you said it’s being willing to open up and be vulnerable and I think that is a huge thing with Elida and we saw that. We have seen a little bit of that and we will see more, but it’s hard for her to open up. And I think that’s going to be the story. At what point is she willing to look inside herself and be real with herself and be open to Amae.
Christine> Right, especially when her childhood, her mother has been telling her in her childhood that you can’t afford to make friends or have any sort of real connections like that and so here we are at a point where she’s doing her best to grapple with that.
Barbie> Yep, and I know we kind of touched on it last episode but this could be something that she has had to deal with before, that she doesn’t want to get involved and she just kind of pushes people away.
Christine> Right.
Barbie> But we see clearly from those campfire moments that she doesn’t want to push Amae away and I think that says something.
Christine> It really does.
Barbie> So we are getting close to the end of our episode discussion, what do you have to say?
Christine> I mean this is just a phenomenal episode. There are so many wonderful lines I’ll always remember “You got it, MacGaybar!”
Barbie> Classic
Christine> And of course no one can possibly forget that Amida scene towards the end, nor can we forget that delightful introduction of Winnibee.
Barbie> Yeah, I love all the Winnibee scenes. I mean when Amae says ‘Are you there” and she says “It depends on what you beam.”
Christine> By there.
Barbie and Christine> In a metaphysical sense
Christine> I’m everywhere.
Barbie> Right. That’s my episode highlight is any scene with Winibe.
Christine> If the Amida scene is first for me. Any scene with Winnibee is a close second.
Barbie> Yeah, I love her.
Christine> And for that reason I give this episode 9 and a half Winnibots.
Barbie> Alright, well I see your 9 and a half Winnibots and I will raise you to 10 Winnibots.
Christine> Oh, setting the stakes high now aren’t we?
Barbie> Oh definitely. So, Christine, you want to take us into some fandom news?
Christine> Yes I will and we’ll start out like we always do with how this did in the ratings. This particular episode got 208,000 viewers and that dropped down a fair bit: 102,000 from episode 2 though it was still 112th among new cable broadcasts that night. It was fairly stable as far as rankings go, but the show also dropped in the demographic to .04 among viewers 18-49 ratings-wise. This was when the ratings really started to look concerning, and lo and behold, let it be said for those of you listening to this after the fact that the 2 weeks after this episode aired were among the most agonizing of the season because right around the time the ratings came out, SyFy took the show off the air for a week before moving it to Thursday night post-primetime slot
Barbie> Yeah that was a signal - a red flag for me. That was kind of the turning point because I love the show so much and when Syfy moved it I wanted to talk about it. So that’s when we got together and said let’s start this podcast on a whim.
Christine> Yeah that moment was really a catalyst for a lot of things, whether it was this podcast or really just the entire hashtag #RenewVagrantQueen movement.
Barbie> Back in the here and now, as we’re recording this on June 14th, there’s still no word on season 2 renewal at this point. Keep fighting, keep telling people about it. I know I tell anyone that will stand still for 2 minutes about this show.
Christine> Yeah certainly you can tell people about the show, you can get the word about it online, you can sign the petition that we’ve got running. We talk about all this in the most recent minisode we came out with. It’s only a few minutes of your time and it really gives you a chance to understand how to help the show survive so I highly encourage everyone if you haven’t already to give it a listen and figure out how we can take action.
Barbie> Yeah this is going to be up to us and as Syfy’s, one of their mottos is “it’s a fan thing” We have to show up as fans to get them to hear us and to know that this is something that we want, this is something that is important. Because there’s so much representation and it’s so important and I will say it so many times but representation matters.
Christine> Yes it does.
Barbie> When you see yourself in media it makes a difference. I have two young kids and we’re a two mom family and they don’t get to see that ever. And it’s hard, when they play pretend and they’re saying this is mom and dad, and it’s like well what about two moms? Anyway, representation matters. We need to see ourselves portrayed because it’s important.
Christine> Yes, shows like Vagrant Queen need not only to survive but to thrive.
Barbie> Yes. So going into representation, let’s represent our viewers, or listeners I should say.
Christine> I see what you did there
Barbie> I’m trying to get better on these transitions, I’m working on them. So we’ve got some lister comments and questions. Edin-Earper says she loved getting to see Isaac and Amae get closer and seeing their relationship develop. And also: Winnibee to the rescue!
Christine> We do love Winnibee here! If it wasn’t already obvious, let it be said.
Barbie> Let it be known. So we’ve got Rachie D says: one of the things she loves is how we get a bigger glimpse into how much Elida really likes Amae! How she worries about Amae going off on her own and then if she offended her? She also says Hath hasn't seen Elida in years and picks up instantly how much Amae means to Elida. And I have to just interject, it really reminded me speaking of fandoms, it really reminded me of Wynonna Earp when Dolls could see the Wayhaught before it was Wayhaught.
Christine> Yeah, it becomes really crystal clear in this episode that there’s something more here, and it’s especially obvious when it gets to the point where even the other characters realize what’s going on.
Barbie> Yeah you always know something’s up when other characters in the show see it. We also got feedback from Lesfire16, she says she loves end when Elida had to fix herself before walking over to the fire pit to sit next to Amae. Elida felt like she offended her earlier and she got jealous when she saw her walking off to the other girl for the night but winnibee with the line out of all of the others I am the fastest one but she was just so slow.
Christine> This is just such a great episode, you get the whole range of emotions and you have lots of wonderful moments, ranging from the delightful to the heartfelt.
Barbie> Yeah, there’s definitely a lot in this episode. And I think that it really, we're coming together. Episode 1 and 2 were great, but I think we're really starting to kind of hit a stride in the show.
Christine> Exactly how I would have put it. So that’s our listener feedback for this week of course our lister mailbox is always open, more on how you can get ahold of us at the end of this episode which will be not too far off at this point.
Barbie> Thanks for listening to our discussion. Christine, where can we find you on social media?
Christine> I am @RetroTimeLady on Twitter and Instagram for whatever the latter is worth. I’m also RetroTimeLady on Tumblr.
Barbie> And you can find me at @Only1Leia on twitter and instagram. And I know we’ve talked about this between the two us us, but neither of us are good at Instagram. I think I have 4 posts that I’ve made.
Christine> Yes, I’ve made a whopping one post on there, so y’all can follow me on instagram if you like, I’m just telling you not to expect too much.
Barbie> Same. So that’ll wrap things up for this episode -- next week, we will be talking episode 4 of the first season. We’re looking forward to it, I especially have a few things I’m looking forward to talking about. And we hope you will join us next week!
Christine> Keep listening now to hear about all the different ways you can support our dispatches. For now, though, until the next dispatch from Xija Station, this has been a podcast from another galaxy …[Both:] not yours.
[End theme]
Barbie> We are a fan-driven podcast, which means you help us do what we do, so we appreciate any way you can show your support for our work.
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Til next time, Xija Station, over and out.