Tag: Fandom

Fandom, Television6 Comments

Let’s Talk About Toni Topaz on The CW’s ‘Riverdale’

Sophia Soto

Fans found themselves instantly falling in love with and wanting more from Vanessa Morgan’s portrayal of Toni Topaz as soon as she came onto our screens on Riverdale. Toni was first introduced in season 2, episode 3 “Chapter Sixteen: The Watcher in the Woods,” and became a series regular in season 3. Her portrayal provides representation as one of the only Black series regulars currently on Riverdale as well as her character being openly bisexual. So let’s take a look back at her journey and what we hope to see for the character going forward.

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Fandom, Podcasts, Toys

‘By the Power of Fandom’ with Tiffany Smith

Shelf Conscious

Shelf Conscious returns with a special episode! With Masters of the Universe: Revelation just around the corner, Keith is joined by an Eternian Royal Guard — and literal fandom princess — Tiffany Smith!

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Fashion, Music

The BTS x McDonald’s Collab is the Most Genius Idea Ever: How Brands are Utilizing BTS’ Global Power

Laura Sirikul

With the release of BTS’ new hit song Butter, it makes sense for McDonald’s to jump at the chance of a collaboration since we know McDonald’s isn’t the healthiest option for our cholesterol. But, to have one of the biggest global phenomenons team up with a global food brand is genius marketing for McDonald’s.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Marvel, Streaming

Hard NOC Life 213: One World, One Dovich (with Desmond Chiam)

Hard NOC Media

Dominic, Jamal, Keith, and Britney analyze the penultimate episode of Disney+’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier with an actual Flagsmasher! Desmond Chiam, who plays Dovich on the series, sits in with the crew to talk about rebellion, revolution, and representation. He also talks about Cap’s shield, an irrational fear of water, and also nerding out on JRPG video games!

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Books, Hard N.O.C. Life, Theatre

Hard NOC Life 212: Mandy Gonzalez is ‘Fearless’

Hard NOC Media

In the first of two episodes of Hard NOC Life releasing this week, Keith sits down with Broadway superstar and now, children’s book author, Mandy Gonzalez to talk about her new middle grade novel, Fearless. They also talk about her career — from originating the role of Nina for In the Heights to replacing Renee Elise Goldsberry as Angelica in Hamilton — and why being fearless has helped her cope while Broadway is shut down.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Marvel, Streaming

Hard NOC Life 211: Captain Act a Fool Up in Here

Hard NOC Media

Dominic, Keith, Britney remember the life of DMX before breaking down the latest episode of Disney+’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and getting hyped for Snake Eyes which is now coming out in July.

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Interview, Streaming, Television

NOC Interview: Holland Roden Discusses All Things ‘Mayans M.C.’ on FX

Sophia Soto

Holland Roden just joined the Mayans M.C. world as Erin Thomas, which airs new episodes on Tuesday nights at 10p ET/PT on FX. The actress is best known for her role in Teen Wolf and recently starred in the thrilling film, No Escape. Each new episode of Mayans M.C. is available to stream the next day through FX on Hulu.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Movies, Streaming

Hard NOC Life 210: Godzilla v Kong: Dawn of Box Office

Hard NOC Media

Dominic, Jamal, Keith,  Britney are back to share their thoughts on the latest episode of Disney+’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, commiserate over Warner’s decision to cancel Ava DuVernay’s New Gods, and marvel over the boffo box office of Godzilla vs. Kong.

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Fandom, Television4 Comments

Veronica Lodge on The CW’s ‘Riverdale’ Deserves Better

Sophia Soto

Everyone has that one character they relate to or see themselves in; everyone searches to find someone who looks like them on screen. For me, that character is Veronica Lodge on The CW’s Riverdale, which is based on the Archie Comics characters. Despite the fact that she has had one of the most important evolutions on the show and has been there since the pilot, she is often overlooked and over hated, for no real reason besides Archie continuing to choose her.

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DC Comics, Hard N.O.C. Life, Marvel, Streaming1 Comment

Hard NOC Life 209: Rated-R Super Starro

Hard NOC Media

Dominic and Keith are back to continue talking about HBO Max’s Snyder Cut (now that Dom has finished it) and the just released Suicide Squad sequel trailer. They also break down the latest episode of Disney+’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, as well as Marvel’s decision to split from Diamond and San Diego Comic-Con’s in-person return. What’s nerd poppin’: Amazon’s Invincible animated series and Chloe Zhao’s Oscar-nominated film, Nomadland. Finally, the NOC’s newest contributor, Sophia Soto, speaks to Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller, the executive producers of The CW’s Supergirl, about the show’s final season.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Streaming1 Comment

Hard NOC Life 208: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and The Justice League and The Washington Post’s David Betancourt

Hard NOC Media

Dominic and Jamal return to join Keith and Britney to break down the Good, the Bad, and the WTF (with apologies to Jeff and Phil) of Disney+’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and HBO Max’s Snyder Cut. Later, The Washington Post’s David Betancourt joins Keith to talk about his profile of Zack Snyder as well as his thoughts on Justice League. The crew also addresses the tragedy in Atlanta and the need to end white supremacy.

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DC Comics, Hard N.O.C. Life, Star Wars, Streaming

Hard NOC Life 207: A ‘Justice League’ of His Own

Hard NOC Media

Keith and Britney share their favorite moments from Disney+’s WandaVision making-of special before revealing what’s Nerd Poppin’ this week. For Britney, she’s reading all the books in the Star Wars: The High Republic publishing initiative. Meanwhile, Keith has seen The Snyder Cut and gives his semi-spoilery opinion of Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Movies, Streaming, Television

Hard NOC Life 206: ‘Raya’ and the Last ‘WandaVision’

Hard NOC Media

Dominic, Keith , are joined by new recurring co-host (and friend of the NOC) Britney Monae! Together, they break down the series finale of WandaVision, review Disney’s latest animated adventure Raya and the Last Dragon, and more!

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Movies, Streaming, Television

Hard NOC Life 205: Up, Up, and A Witch

Hard NOC Media

Dominic, Keith , and Jamal return to speculate about what the title Spider-Man: No Way Home means for the franchise, break down the role of grief in the latest WandaVision, analyze the news about JJ Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates working on a Superman reboot, the controversy behind The CW’s Superman and Lois, and more!

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Movies, Streaming, Television

Hard NOC Life 204: Why So Serious

Hard NOC Media

Dominic and Keith are discussing the latest WandaVision, speculating about Monica Rambeau’s future in the MCU, breaking down the Snyder Cut trailer (and its associated Joker memes), revisiting the De La Soul episode of Teen Titans GO!, and getting hyped for digital-first comics set in the Burton and Donner cinematic universes.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Streaming, Television

Hard NOC Life 203: Damn Gina

Hard NOC Media

Shawn is off this week, but Dominic, Keith, and Jamal are here to discuss another episode of WandaVision, as well as the latest look at Falcon and Winter Soldier. They also talk about Disney’s distancing from The Mandalorian’s Gina Carano and new (old) allegations against Joss Whedon. They also explore Pedro Pascal’s cinematic Dadverse.

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Movies, Streaming

‘To All the Boys I Loved Before’ and Asian American Girl Club Team Up to Celebrate Film Release

Laura Sirikul

Celebrating the upcoming release of the final installment of the To All the Boys series, To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Asian American Girl Club has teamed up with Netflix for a week filled with fun events!

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Television

Hard NOC Life 202: Wakanda Vision

Hard NOC Media

Shawn, Dominic, Keith, and Jamal return for an all-new episode of Hard NOC Life. This week, the fellas discuss the latest episode of WandaVision, news of a Wakanda series for Disney+, and what the latest DC Comics event reboot means for The Rock.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Movies, Television

Hard NOC Life 201: GameStop the Presses

Hard NOC Media

When fans mobilize, they can upend the stock market or convince a multi-billion dollar corporation to release a director’s cut of a box office bomb. This week on Hard NOC Life, Shawn, Dominic, Keith, and Jamal look at how the nerds took over the news cycle.

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Comics, Hard N.O.C. Life

Bonus Hard NOC Life | Drawing Marvel: Representation in Pop Culture, Presented by Scholastic

Hard NOC Media

Hard NOC Life is still on hiatus; however, we have an exciting bonus episode to bring you!

Last week, Keith was asked to moderate a panel as part of Scholastic’s “Power of Story” speaker series. Two artists, Eric Wilkerson and Pablo Leon, speak about the important of representation in comics and children’s lit. You can also watch the original panel on Scholastic’s YouTube channel and Facebook.

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Fandom, Interview

A Conversation with Stephanie Williams, One of Comic Book’s Wittiest Commentators

Jamal Michel

This week I sat down with X-Men aficionado, comic book culture guru, and Twitter queen Stephanie Williams and talked all things not destroyed by 2020. Williams can be seen on Syfy Fangrrls writing some of pop culture’s most necessary takes: from trope-busting the “tired mom” archetype, to how differently X-Men hits after 20 years, every bit of her commentary brims with exactness.

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