Episode 87: Her Kingdom of ICE-olation

The Ace of Geeks Podcast welcomes Stephanie back for the second week in a row! Woo! We'll sing along with Frozen, the newest Disney animated feature, and Mike and Jarys discuss their favorite movie of this year, Her. Plus, Stephanie and Jarys recently saw a live showing of Welcome to Nightvale, and they try to convince Mike to get on the bandwagon. (Spoiler alert: it worked.)
Episode 87!

Celebrity Letter Writing, as Therapy. By Lauren Harrington

There have been a lot of news stories over the years regarding hate mail celebrities get for small things (like getting married to your long-time girlfriend), and there have been stories about obsessive/stalker fans writing overly detailed letters to their would-be lovers. After hearing about the hate mail Martin Freeman has received following his character’s marriage in the most recent Sherlock series, I hung my head in shame for all of the immature children who send such letters. I think back to a book I read in elementary school, where the main character writes letters (but does not send them) to his favorite author, as a way of therapy and easing the process of writing a diary. Even his letters were tame, and talked of his life more than the would-be recipient’s. Letters to celebrities should be as such, if containing anything more than simple appreciation for the work the person has done. If you would be ashamed to show the letter to your grandmother, then you should reconsider mailing the letter. I have decided to write a letter as an example for all to see, edited for legal reasons involving a case I am currently dealing with. I wrote it honestly, and this is something I would actually send to the actor, were not the postage so expensive for international mail. The letter is as follows:



Mr. Cumberbatch,

I’m quite a fan of your acting, as you may figure from the fact that I’m sending you a letter. You are a very talented and versatile actor, and I quite appreciate the work you put into each role. You likely hear that often, and it’s true. I must say, your reaction to Harrison Ford's compliment on your work was quite adorable.

I admit I quite fancy you, though I was quite disheartened when I learned you’re a fair amount older than I. My favorite nickname for your fans (so far) is Ben-Addicts. But I’m not sending you this letter to babble on about that. I’m sending you this to tell you of my dreams, as I’ve heard writing a letter to one’s favorite celebrities can be therapeutic.

My dream is to make music videos that tell stories that strike deep in the heart, be it with laughter or sorrow, for popular bands and composers. I write and direct them, and am going to college for this in San Francisco. I have had this dream since I was twelve years old—roughly ten years. Nothing feels better to me than being on a set for one of my videos, with the close second being editing them. Unfortunately, there have been a great deal of obstacles in my way, and I am afraid I will never reach my goal.

I was in a rather awful accident at the start of my second year in college. Its effects will be with me the rest of my life. I cannot go into detail about the effects, unfortunately, due to legal reasons, but they have been more harmful to me than I could ever imagine. Even knowing this, however, it becomes harder each day to continue going on. I often ask myself how it is I made it this far, and am always puzzled when I realize it’s because I feel the need to keep people thinking I’m doing well.

The repercussions of my accident have not been my only obstacles. I have had much difficulty completing any projects. One project I worked on, which was not mine, was so marred by its director that the artist required it never be released to the public. The first project of my own was dropped near its completion due to my producer failing to communicate to me that he could not find the final locations, and the band eventually decided to devote its time to working on a Kickstarter project for their next album. I have more projects I am hoping to work on, but I’m not sure I will be able to complete them before the bands grow tired of waiting. Scheduling has been difficult for me, as my time during school breaks has been spent with family and doctors in my hometown (not far from Los Angeles, in the area I’m from), with little time left for much else.

Beyond all this, though, I still work towards my goal, scraping by on the high I get from working on my projects. A great help for me was reading about your parents, and how they worked hard as actors, and raised a son who went on to become world-renowned. Your parents kept doing what they loved, and passed the love they have for their work on to you. It is my hope that, if I do not succeed in achieving my dreams, any child I might have would go on to be great in whatever field of work they choose.

I often preach to those around me that they are capable of changing the world, that they already have in some way—no matter how small. Although I do not feel the same is true of myself, I still dream and wish and hope that I will someday make something that changes someone’s life in a positive way. I want nothing more than to do well enough to ensure that the ones I love are taken care of, and I sincerely hope I will be able to do so by making the music videos I long to create. All the better if I get to work with actors as brilliant as yourself.

I’d like to send you something as a token of my gratitude to you and your parents for inspiring me to continue working towards my dreams. I like to make things, be it by knitting, crocheting, beading, or woodworking. Someday, when I have enough money, I will. Perhaps something of each for you. For now, my thanks will have to suffice.



A gracious fan of yours,

Lauren Harrington

My Time Among the Suits. by Ken Smith

Hello there. Most of you don’t know me yet, so here goes. My name is Ken, and I am what I and a few others call a 'persona furry.' The difference between this and what most people see as “furry” is I don’t wear a suit. I have a fursona (think avatar or PC) named MalKontent.

People who hang out with me frequently have gotten used to my collar and my meows. I express my fur as a way to feel more comfortable in my own skin, and express my emotions in a way that feels more authentic to me. I happen to be in a wheelchair, which has kept me from wearing a Fursuit for a long time, because I need free arms and I couldn’t display a tail. I have also been a Gofer at various Conventions for over 25 years. For those unclear on the term Gofer, think stagehand. (Go for this. Go for that.) It was in that capacity that this past MLK weekend I had my eyes opened in a way I never imagined.

I have been on the fringes of furdom for years, but when two of my close friends invited me on a trip to Further Confusion, a convention in San Jose, I decided if nothing else burying myself in 50+ hours of work would make sure it wasn’t a wasted trip.

For those of you who haven’t read the article this is built upon, where Mike Fatum realized that fursuiters aren’t really as scary as clowns or spiders, please do so now. I went to Further Confusion (hereafter referred to as FC) comfortable in the knowledge that if anyone in a suit bothered me all I had to do was say so and they’d back off. I wasn’t scared but I wasn’t sure how accepted I’d be, considering I had never attended FC and I don’t wear a suit.

The first thing I learned was how similar we are in our limitations. Between my wheels and their tails, neither of us can turn worth a damn. Secondly, both of us have seriously circumscribed vision, I have a line I can’t see above just like they have one they can’t see below. The third thing is we are both communitarians with twisted senses of humour and a love of panto. Finally they are great with kids- there was a toddler with a ball who would play fetch with a group of Dogs. My education didn’t stop there.

As I was learning about this circle of fandom, they were learning about me and my limits. Once we got used to each other I noticed something odd happen. I started to be treated as one of them and they, when seeing me approach a crowd of people, would point to me then point to the crowd. If I nodded yes they would gently make a hole just wide enough for me without making everyone else stop dead. I also started a running gag with a Coyote who carried a stuffed cream pie, I would steal it and then roll away slowly while he “chased” me. When he caught up to me I’d offer him some and he’d walk away. We did this several times in front of different audiences to delighted laughter.

When I finally started hitting my stride as a GoFur I started to be stationed in a room officially called the Fursuit Lounge, but I quickly learned was called the Guillotine by those in the know. We had this room so people who weren’t comfortable with taking off their heads in public had a private room with a cooling tower they could use to dehumidify their heads while they had a smoke. And I got a chance to get to know both the players and their roles. I learned so much about pantomime there especially from the Deaf Leopard (really he had a sign saying “Deaf Furry. Please Write Sign or Hug”) and about the interspecies politics.

My adoption was complete when, upon learning my 25th anniversary as a gofer was that day, the suiters in the lounge presented me with one of the squeakers used by non-lingual characters to vocalize and a cupcake while singing “For He’s A Jolly Good Gofer”.

The feeling of community was equally strong on the Staff side. When I would be a Gofer in the past we would have to negotiate a corner of the Gofer Hole to sack out in. At FC they rented three hotel rooms for us, one for men, one for women, one for those who don’t fit either category. I was allowed to put in as many hours as I wished as long as the work got done well. And I wasn’t even chided for putting in eleven hours before asking for a lunch break.

These are my second family and I am so proud.

Give Graphic Novels a Chance. by Maro Guevara

Like a lot of geeks, I take pride in my ability to turn other people on to the things I love. I’ve had some great successes (more than a few Battlestar and Buffy converts), but it seems to me that there’s one almost insurmountable hurdle for people sitting squarely on the sidelines of geekdom to overcome: getting into graphic novels and comic books.

Beauty, the Beast, and Stockholm Syndrome?! by Mike Fatum

You all know the song, "Tale as Old as Time/Song as Old as Rhyme/Beauty and the Incredibly Abusive Husband Who Changes Because Belle Stays With Him Against Her Better Judgement." "Wait - what?" I hear you say. But it's true, dear readers, if you ask the Internet. This pops up every five or six years and sweeps the web, filling articles and Facebook posts of people gently shaking their heads. "It's a good movie!" they say, "It's so sad that it sends such a poor message."

That poor message, of course, is that You, yes You, should stay with your abusive husband/wife/significant other/goldfish. If you stay with them, if you really love them, they'll turn into a Prince just through the power of your love. This thesis is insanely dangerous. If that is the message of Beauty and the Beast, then a beloved animated film - the first animated film to ever be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards - would actually be a snake in disguise. A terrible trick created to push an agenda on your children! It'll teach your daughters to be submissive, and allow dominating abusers to walk the earth unchecked! Kidding aside - if that were the central thesis of Beauty and the Beast, I would be right there with the mob on the internet ready to throw everyone involved with it into the pyre of public opinion.

I'm making a metaphor here, kids, go with me.

It's true - if you remove every piece of Beauty and the Beast except for the most basic story - 'Girl Meets Beast, Girl Loves Beast, Beast Becomes Prince' - then yes, you've got it on the head. That's dangerous. That's probably why it took Disney so long to make this film, one they'd been planning on doing since Walt Disney himself was alive. The original fairytale on which the film is based is no help - it's about an ugly guy who locks a girl in a castle and repeatedly asks her to marry him until she says yes. Not exactly modern. But let's take a look at the film itself, the work in question here, outside of the context of its source material, and see what we find.

We'll skip the intros to the various characters, (although I do agree, Internet, turning a ten year old boy into a beast for ten years for being a brat is quite the overreaction) and jump straight into the meeting between Belle and the Beast (who never gets a name, by the way, that seems less than fair) . Beast has kidnapped Belle's father, and is generally being a total dick about it. Belle sacrifices herself for her father, and agrees to stay in the enchanted castle to spare his life. So far, not great. Doing it for the right reasons is not an excuse to stay in an abusive relationship - the father here could be a metaphor for the kids these women and men usually stay for. And if Beast had kept Belle locked in the dungeon, we might have had that story.

But that's not what happens - Belle is put into her own room. Still not disproving any theories here - just because someone is nice to you, sometimes, is NO reason to stay in an abusive relationship. But it's at this point that the story begins to change. Beast, used to having all the power in his world, orders Belle to dinner. She flat out refuses him, to the point where she'd rather go hungry than spend time with him. Hmm. Well, that's different. If this were a story about an abusive relationship, wouldn't this be the point in the story where she begins appeasing him to reduce his wrath? But that's not what we get - Belle, one of the first and finest feministy heroes in Disney canon, seizes control of the situation. She doesn't kowtow or beg, she refuses out right to have anything to do with the abusive monster in her life.

And yes, Belle does eventually get dinner, in one of the most famous musical numbers in Disney history. But let's talk about that - Belle is in a bad situation. Instead of just "making the best of it" and hoping things will work out, she goes out on her own to get help. Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts have their own reasons to help her, certainly, and not all of the advice they give is good, but Belle still goes out on her own to get what she needs. She doesn't listen to the demands of the abusive presence in her life, she makes her own destiny.

This all comes to a head that very same night. Belle, inquisitive as she is, sneaks into the West Wing. The Beast finds her, and explodes. It's the worst he's ever been - he's terrifying. So here comes the point where Belle falls to her knees, apologizing, right? Nope. Belle says the following words, "Promise or not promise, I can't stay here," before running into the night.

Let's take a look at that again, shall we?

"Promise or no promise, I can't stay here."

It's in this one single piece of dialogue that the entire thesis about Beauty and the Beast supporting abusive relationships falls apart. So many relationships stay together because of a "promise." A marriage, or an engagement - it's one of the many ways that abusive partners keep their prey close. But Belle, the quintessential Disney princess, who's word means everything to her, breaks a promise. She puts her own safety above those words. And that's what makes her strong, not submissive. That's what makes her a hero, not a victim.

We all know the rest of the story. Belle's escape goes badly, due to a sudden case of wolves, and the Beast has to go and save her. That same Beast spends the rest of the movie changing for her. For the rest of the movie, the Beast is never in charge. When he and Belle meet, it's as equals. And yes, I understand. She didn't leave for good - which means, to you, oh Internet, that the message of the film is still about staying and waiting for your abusive significant other to change. But there's one last thing to point out:

Belle doesn't love the Beast until he changes.


If this was truly a story about Stockholm Syndrome, and how staying with your abusive boyfriend or girlfriend will change them, Belle would have been in love with the Beast from the beginning. We would see that it was her love that changed him. But it's the other way around. His change, his compassion, transforms her feelings for him.

That's the beauty of this film, in the end. Belle is one of the few Disney heroines in history that doesn't change. She doesn't have to - she starts the movie as the kind of woman who would reject a boorish brute like Gaston out of hand. And while she does stay with the Beast, we know that the door is open for her to leave any time she wants. She's too strong to be caged, and too smart to believe her love alone could change anyone. The Beast changes because he chooses to change, and in the end, that's what saves him.

Episode 86: Nerdiwinter Nights!

The Ace of Geeks Podcast welcomes back Stephanie Cala, as we dive into her experience with the new free-to-play MMO Neverwinter! Plus, we'll discuss Mike's brief time as a comic book writer, the latest episodes of My Little Pony, the joys of encountering fellow nerds in the wild, and review the Firefly boardgame!

Episode 86!

What the Hell is a Steam Machine? by Kyle Johannessen

I find myself with more time on my hands these days, so I feel that it’s time to jump back into the Ace of Geeks. Even though Mike and Jarys have never invited me back to the podcast, despite the fact that I’m charming and witty and have a great baritone voice (jerks).  (Editor's Note: He is none of these things.)

Anyway, I’m going to talk about Valve’s Steam Machines today. Let me start off with saying that I’m primarily a console gamer and I lean heavily towards the Xbox. I am not a fan boy. I think the Playstation 3 and 4 were great systems and even had a Wii for a while, I just lean towards the Xbox because I’m a huge fan of Halo, I like the controller better, and I find the user interface easier to manage. I used to be an avid PC gamer as well, as I was a sucker for Real Time and Turn Based Strategy games. I just couldn’t keep up with the cost of maintaining a gaming PC.