Full Transcript for Cosplayer Jessica Crouse!

Crouse: No. Damizzon: Now can you hear me? No, James Om, nope you're not your lips your your lips were moving. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): No. Jessica Crouse: Your lip your lips were moving, but Mike Jones (he/him): Your mouth is moving. Is there a mute button on that microphone? Like a cough button or something? Damizzon: Or something. Hello now. Mike Jones (he/him): No, that that wasn't it. lanita (she/her): Nope. This is brilliant. Damizzon: Brilliant. I mean I could hear him on the other one. I could too. It just I it doesn't sound normal. fair. Jessica Crouse: I mean, I could hear him on the other one. Mike Jones (he/him): I could too. It's just I I it doesn't sound normal. Jessica Crouse: Uh-huh. Fair. And you're you're definitely helping. lanita (she/her): That's what I'm here for. I am the agent of chaos at this point. So you're not you're not self ⁓ appointing me, I'm the agent of chaos. Would they agree? Damizzon: Is it are you hearing anything? No. So you're not you're not self Jessica Crouse: We have one of those. Damizzon: I've the agent of chaos. Jessica Crouse: I am the agent of just tangents, not necessarily chaos. Like the podcast can still run while I'm on it. We'll talk about whatever I feel like talking about, how Audrey Lim from The Good Doctor is actually queer, not straight. I'll talk about that for forty five thousand hours. I know. Damizzon: Agent of just tangents, not necessarily chaos. Like the podcast can still run while I'm on it. We'll talk about whatever I feel like talking about, how Audrey Limb from The Good Doctor is actually queer, not straight. I'll talk about that for forty five thousand hours. That is absolutely correct. I know. The Good Doctor that the Good Doctor great, great medical show. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. lanita (she/her): He That is absolutely correct. The good doc that the good doctor, great, great medical show. Jessica Crouse: Yes. And if you would like to talk to me later about why Audrey Lim is clear, I I you'll be my new best friend 'cause nobody wants to talk to me about this. Damizzon: Yes. And if you would like to talk to me later about why Aldream is queer, I I How about now? Can you hear me? Nobody wants to talk to me about this. No, I still can't hear you. That's really weird. Okay, Damon's now, you have to go back to your headset. How about now? Can you hear me now? She's really just a badass dog. ⁓ yeah. lanita (she/her): ⁓ why don't they believe you? Okay, Damon, you have to go back to your headset. Mike Jones (he/him): No, I still can't hear you. That's really weird. Jessica Crouse: Very upset. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah, it was better if we could hear you a little. No. Jessica Crouse: There's nothing. lanita (she/her): She's also just a nothing. She's really just a badass doctor as well. I r I'd I actually kind of enjoyed her trajectory and I thought that it was one of like the the more realistic portrayals of someone who goes through like that type of trauma and then and like what it would be to be able bodied and then not and then aga like Jessica Crouse: ⁓ yeah, absolutely. Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Damizzon: Portrayals of someone who goes through like that type of trauma and absolutely and like what it would be to be evil-bodied and then not and then get like I think it was wonderfully done. I just there were no queer women on that show. So I was like, whenever that happens, I always pick one I'm most attracted to and decide she's queer. But then she had but she had the energy of it. She had queer energy. Like, yeah, every episode she was like, give me that D, but Jessica Crouse: Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I think it was wonderfully done. I just there were no queer women on that show. So I was like, whenever that happens, I always pick the one I'm most attracted to and decide she's queer. But then she had queer energy. Like, yeah, every episode she was like, give me that D, but lanita (she/her): Because she ha but she had the energy of it and she But she there was something about where it's like, mm, you you have had a life ⁓ with women made prior to this and you have decided that in order to progress in your profession, you could not outwardly be that person. Damizzon: But she there was something about res Jessica Crouse: Yeah. Yeah, you and I need to schedule some time 'cause I have a lot to say about this and no one wants to listen to me, so lanita (she/her): Yeah. me need to re watch that series again. I'd I d I I always watch a w a one all the way through and then say, okay, time for a we watch and see what I miss the first time. Jessica Crouse: It's good. Exactly. Yeah, if I do a rewatch, I'll just be pointing at every scene she's in, being like, That was such a queer thing to do. She's so queer. Look at her. Cause like almost every episode she's just wandering around in her ten of shoes or like showing up on a motorcycle, just like okay. In that episode where she apologizes to Claire, where she shows up to a grown woman shows up to another grown woman's house in the middle of the night to apologize for being a jerk and she brings ice cream lanita (she/her): Yes. Yes. Yep. Jessica Crouse: And an ungodly amount of hot fudge, ma'am. What are you planning on doing with all of that hot fudge? That is not how you know. lanita (she/her): 'Cause that was it was too much hot nope. That was too much hot fudge for the amount of ice cream that you were providing. Jessica Crouse: Listen, I've been in many arguments with many grown women. We have never solved a problem in that fashion. Nope. That is a queer thing to do. Unless I was dating you, I have never shown up at your house with ice cream in the middle of the night and was like, Hey, can I spend the night and apologize to you? What? Queer. Queer woman. lanita (she/her): Nope. Nope. Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm mm. lanita (she/her): Excuse me. It's also I think it's that'd be nice. It's so interesting because I also like I think that it we've mentioned Greys, but I

think that they were thinking about Christina Yang being a quick because she came riding in on a motorcycle, like the the trope of like, you know, lesbian, very strong like heart surgeon. And I was like, hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): I wish people would show up to my house with ice cream and hot fudge. Jessica Crouse: Hell yeah. That would be nice. Mm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): This could be interesting, but then you know, we got a couple of others and it was fine. We got enough gay representation and queer representation on Grey's through the gamut, which I appreciate that no matter what, they were like, You will not erase this from our show. Is Damien who we lost him to the ether? Jessica Crouse: Yeah. Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ my god, we've lost him forever. I just opened up WhatsApp to be like, is he saying anything over there? I did. I was like, You're you're a little quiet. lanita (she/her): You did this, I Jessica Crouse: When he comes back on, we are going to tell him that he is pretty and he sounds amazing. Mike Jones (he/him): Yes. lanita (she/her): He doesn't need to be told that he's pretty. He it's it's enough. He is a g he is a gay man living in New York City. He hears it enough, who wears short shorts. Jessica Crouse: That's okay. Ha ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Who wears short shorts and tanks and muscle shirts. lanita (she/her): And tanks. Yeah, that always have his little cyboob hanging out. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ lanita (she/her): It's gonna be ⁓ he's bad. Mike Jones (he/him): Damian, come back. There he is. Yes. And you sound good. Jessica Crouse: Yes. lanita (she/her): Absolut actually, yes. Don't have to lie that you sound yeah. Damizzon: Like better like like it was meant to sound in the beginning. Mike Jones (he/him): Yes. lanita (she/her): Yes, you sell it f you sound at full volume. Mike Jones (he/him): You sound normal now. Damizzon: Okay, but now it's giving me speaker view in a way that is like really problematic. Because every time one of us talks, yes. lanita (she/her): Okay, well. Why? Because it keeps popping people in and out when they talk. Yeah, that's what mine is. If you go to layout and just click you would just want to see all four of us, click the one, the second button in. I have us in the speakery clickery view, because that's how I have it when we did Zoom. Damizzon: Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ layout. ⁓ Damizzon: There we go. Okay. Woo, all right guys, sorry about that. Mike Jones (he/him): Okay. It's fine. All right. We all jump back in. lanita (she/her): Are you done making noise, Damazon? He's gotta introduce our guests. Damizzon: Yes. We haven't even introduced her yet. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Okay. ⁓ I know. Jessica Crouse: We've learned several things about me, but we haven't introduced me yet. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Lots of behind the scenes content. Damizzon: ⁓ good, good, good, good, good. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): We first encountered tonight's guest in 2024

at the infamous DI convention in Philadelphia, ⁓ where she was speaking on behalf of all lesbians as seven of nine. And then in twenty twenty five, we nearly mistook her for Lucy Lawless at Treklong Island. I was like, there's a celebrity guest I didn't know was coming, where she once again was speaking on the behalf of the monolith that is lesbians. Yes, it's been a long road getting. From there to here and getting her in our pod. You may know her from her own podcast, Two Drag Queens, A Lesbian and a Baby. ⁓ guess which one she is? She's an actress, model, cosplayer, playwright, mom, drag king, and diversity act ac activist. ⁓ my god. ⁓ tried to turn activists into advocate and it became like activ. ⁓ she has her BA in theater from the University of Maryland and has been caught and playing for over 10 years. She cosplays, as I mentioned, as Dina Warrior Princess, 709, Maleficent, Poison Ivy, Black Widow, Pinup Snow White, Laura Croft, Jack Sparrow, Han Solo, Judzia Dax, and more. She's a vocal LGBTQ advocate and disability advocate. Please help me welcome Jessica Krause. Woo! Damizzon: Yeah Welcome Welcome Jessica Crouse: Mm-hmm. Thank you. Mike Jones (he/him): We're so glad you're here. I feel like I never have time to actually talk to you when I see you at conventions. Jessica Crouse: Glad to be here. 'Cause we're all always working and running around and doing things. Mike Jones (he/him): True. Damizzon: ⁓ and we totally sort of like ripped off your own jokes for the intro because it seems like you are on on panels, you are always put in a position to speak on behalf of lesbians. It feels like Mike Jones (he/him): We did. Jessica Crouse: I am. Yeah, I make it a point to say lesbian as many times on a panel. Doesn't even matter what the topic is. The topic could be like, you know, the geography of Oregon. And I'd be like lesbian, lesbian, lesbian, lesbian. Like I'll work it into a st don't worry. Don't worry. Cause I'm usually a lot of panels, I'm either the only woman, or if I'm not, I'm certainly the only queer woman. And if not, I'm the only lesbian. So it's like lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha. Damizzon: Ha ha ha Jessica Crouse: I feel like I have to be as loud and like Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, it's possible. I actually bought a ⁓ you know, the clack fans of the lesbian flag because when I'm on panels, I get talked over, I get interrupted, I get forgotten about, I get left out a lot. And being brought up the way I was brought up, I feel bad when somebody interrupts me, going, actually, I was still talking. Cause I feel like then people are like, Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Yes. lanita (she/her): Mm. Jessica Crouse: So what I do is I just go frack and I just open up a giant lesbian fan and it's a very loud noise. So it gets people's attention and then all of a sudden it's just like lesbian flag. I was still talking and they're like, ⁓ So it it started out as a joke and it actually

really works. So I bring it to every panel I'm on. Damizzon: Yeah. lanita (she/her): Mm. Damizzon: I love that. I love that. So you should you should know that the ⁓ the story that ⁓ that Lenita alluded to in the intro for me. ⁓ yes, I'm starting your episode by talking about myself. ⁓ is that is that what two was t two years ago at DNI con ⁓ I definitely had ⁓ lanita (she/her): That's awesome. Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): It's a useful tool. lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha ha. Damizzon: very long hair for me, like past my shoulders. And it was something that I knew that it was not gonna be like for the rest of my life. And I so I had some like cosplay in mind. So that I ⁓ got my like Captain Seven uniform and I I, you know, got my Borg implants and I had decided that I was gonna like figure out how to do that. That signature season three Jerry Ryan wave. and I'm gonna say that it just like sort of fell out the minute I got it in, right? Because for as for a for a as much of a gay boy as I am, I'm still a boy and I do not know how to do long hair. And so I sort of was like that. It was the whole reason for the costume, was that I happened to have that hair. lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha Damizzon: And then ⁓ I definitely got to the con and saw you in your glorious ⁓ seven cosplay and ⁓ was a big wah for me. ⁓ so you were you are and as far as I'm concerned, the gold standard of convention seven. Jessica Crouse: Thank you. Mike Jones (he/him): A 10 on the seven of nine scale. Yes. So before we get too far into ⁓ getting to know you, ⁓ so we have this thing where we do on the podcast where we ⁓ draw a tarot card from ⁓ the track deck, ⁓ which was made by ⁓ our friends over at Deo Cell Designs. So I have been shuffling the deck for a while, and it's a little awkward to do on the pod, but Damizzon: A ten out of seven or nine, yes, yes, yes. Mike Jones (he/him): I'm gonna have you tell like pick a card, like tell me where to point, where to stop, and I'll draw a card, and we will learn the energy of today's episode. Here. as I almost dropped them. Okay, great. That's the energy. 52 card pickup or 78 card pickup. Okay, so we got ⁓ the four of Latinum with the Grand Negus. Yes, Grand Negus. Okay, that can only be good. ⁓ okay, so let's see. Let me go to the guidebook because I don't know the four of Latinum very well. ⁓ Jessica Crouse: That's that's the energy. Just drop them all. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Woo. Damizzon: ⁓ that can only be good. Mike Jones (he/him): Okay. Latinum is of course pentacles or coins. ⁓ let's see. Okay, great. Yeah. The stable nature of four sits in contentment with the practical matters of Latinum. Four posts of a bed, four walls of a house, and four legs of a table are all being considered when four is in the suit. It is a very stable, happy, happy image. So I feel like this and there's four of us on this podcast. Damizzon: And there are four of us on this podcast right now. Mike Jones (he/him): I think this bodes really well for our chat today. We'll be sure to bring some earhair grand negus energy into our conversation. lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha Jessica Crouse: Although you did say stable several times and I'm like mm Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha ha. lanita (she/her): That is great. Damizzon: Yep. S a solid, solid, reliable. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. ⁓ my gosh. That's great. Damizzon: ⁓ so Jessica, I I feel like you are you are a standout at the convention world ⁓ for your cosplay. And you we learned in your bio that you've been doing cosplay for like ten years. How did you get what what what what inspired you to take that on and what was your first cosplay? Jessica Crouse: So I tripped and fell into it is what happened. I ⁓ I actually used to just model, like just regular old boring modeling. and I went to my first Xenocon back in twenty twelve. And that was supposed to be the I'll try this is a long story that I'm gonna try to tell very quickly. ⁓ it was no, it's like a it's it trust me. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha. lanita (she/her): No, we don't need quick. ⁓ I like detail. Jessica Crouse: If you I'll talk for like three hours. So ⁓ it's it was supposed to be the last ever Xena convention and I had never been to one. And I was like, I have to go to this. I will regret it the last the r blah blah the rest of my life if I miss this like one chance to go and like meet the stars because I had never been to one, I had never met any of them, and I'm like a huge super fan of the show. Surprise. ⁓ so at that particular time, Lucy Lawless, for if anybody that doesn't know, I mean, I know you all know, but anybody listening. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: She played Xena. If you didn't know that, I don't like you anymore. ⁓ but you can you can earn it back. It's okay. ⁓ she hadn't done conventions in a while. Like she had been on shows and stuff, but like nobody really knew what she looked like, just like hanging out. ⁓ so like every time anybody came through the door, people were like, Is that Lucy? Is that Lucy? Is that Lucy? Unbeknownst to me, I got confused for her. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. Jessica Crouse: So when I walked in, some people were like, is that Lucy? And there was some debate ⁓ wow whether I now context clues, I walked in and just sat on a couch. That's not Lucy Lawless. Like But I think again, like people, it was a lot of their first time. So everybody was just excited about everything. It's like, ⁓ we're in California, there's palm trees. I'm very excited. ⁓ so people kept coming up to me and saying, Lucy. And I just thought like. Damizzon: The internet go out? Fuck. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha. ⁓ Jessica Crouse: ⁓ you thought I'm your friend who happens to be named Lucy. And I was like, no, sorry. And they're like, ⁓ and would walk away. That happened enough times that I asked somebody and they're like, no, people are trying to figure out if you're Lucy Lawless. And I

was like, ⁓ cool. ⁓ no, we lost Damien. Okay. ⁓ okay, okay. I was like, he's like, and forget this. I'm I'm the one that brought her in here. Instant regret. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Amazing. He did. He was frozen for a while. He looked very interested. ⁓ lanita (she/her): He'll come back. Said he said I s said she said this story was short and she's still talking. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: Right? She's such a liar. I'm gonna go away and come back. She's still gonna be talking. Ugh, lesbians. ⁓ so j a whole bunch of shenanigans later. I ended up having the chance to cosplay as Xena. And if you had that chance, why would you ever say no? ⁓ so my my very first like cosplay experience was in a custom. Mike Jones (he/him): Zina Zena. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Correct. Jessica Crouse: For me, made Xena costume by Todd's costumes, who makes like movie grade, like screen accurate costumes. Like he had her costume at one point and made his costumes after her costume. So like they're legitimately, to the point that when I met Lucy when I was wearing it, she thought it was hers. She was like, How did you, how did you get one of my costumes? I was like, I didn't, but I'll tell the guy that made it you asked. Mike Jones (he/him): Wow. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ so I I tripped and fell into it. Like it it was a complete accident. I didn't mean to. It wasn't like, ⁓ I'm gonna cosplay. I never thought it was something I could do or really ⁓ I don't know, it just didn't it didn't factor into my head that that would be something that I could do or that I would like. ⁓ and then after I did it, I was like, ⁓ I love this and have been doing it ever since. Mike Jones (he/him): That's so cool. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha. lanita (she/her): And how do you so you fell into Lucy because you do favor her quite a bit and I can understand that confusion. ⁓ how do you choose the characters that you cosplay? Like, did you go with who you loved, like as TV characters or like personalities? Jessica Crouse: Mm. I think starting out I did a combination of characters that I really liked and characters that I thought I at least somewhat resembled. ⁓ and then after I was doing it for several years, 'cause I'm creeping up on about fifteen years of doing it now. ⁓ Yeah. I don't math very well, but I think I'm creeping up on about fifteen. We're just gonna go with that. We're gonna round it. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Wow. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha. lanita (she/her): Okay. We said twelve, so yeah, say you we're we're rounding the corner. We're getting there. Jessica Crouse: Yeah. ⁓ but after a while I just wanted to have more fun with it because I I started having people tell me what I could and couldn't cosplay. ⁓ because I I did I don't do her anymore 'cause ugh but I used to do ⁓ Bellatrix the Strange. and she was great. Hmm. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. lanita (she/her): No, I was thinking, I was like, hmm. I'm trying to go through my Rolodex of of is it because of her, or is it because of the parent who created and you don't want to represent the i ex yeah, so that's I was like yeah, the I yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Could see that. Jessica Crouse: I I don't I don't stand for or represent turfs. Mm-mm. Nope. So unfortunately I have a Bellatrix I have a Bellatrix and I have a Newt Scamander that I can't wear anymore because I just won't do it. And I'm just like, ⁓ because I loved both of those characters. The characters themselves were so entertaining and large and so fun to dress up as and run around as all day. Especially Mike Jones (he/him): Right. Yeah. It's so sad. lanita (she/her): Oof. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah, yeah. Yeah. lanita (she/her): Yep. Correct. Mm-hmm. I bet. I I can see you as Bellatrix. Mike Jones (he/him): Abs especially Bellatrix. Right. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ that laugh that she does, I had it down pat and I would run up behind people and do it and they would be like, so upset. ⁓ but I did her and some people were like, ⁓ my god, that's great. And other people were like, Why would you she's not pretty, why would you dress as her? And I was like, I don't understand your question. Can you repeat it in a way that makes sense? And so it was just like, Well, you're you're you know, you're pretty, you know, whatever. Like, what does that even mean? Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ so there you look a certain way, so you can only do these characters like how about we not do that? ⁓ so because I was told that, then I started doing like Captain Jack Sparrow and Newt Scamander like all this stuff. Cause again, all of these characters that I really like that are super fun, that look nothing like me. and I still get the we shouldn't do and I'm like, Okay, you can go think that over there. I will be over here having a great time. Just ugh. lanita (she/her): Yes. Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Right. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Heck yeah. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Absolutely. Do you tend to like are you are you crafty with a sewing machine? Do you tend to purchase or make? Jessica Crouse: Ha ha ha. ⁓ it depends. ⁓ I think the majority of my costumes are I have purchased a bunch of different pieces and kind of like tore them apart and put them back together in the way that I want them to be. ⁓ I've had people ask me, like, ⁓ that looks so great. Can you can you make me one? The answer is no, because it looks great in photos. It looks great even like lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Two feet away from me talking to me. But if you were to come up and like examine my stitching and my ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. No. No. She is hot glued. She is. I can do I can do a running stitch. I can do a whip stitch if I need to. Like I can sew a button

on. Like lanita (she/her): Mm. ⁓ I love it. Unconventional challenge ⁓ winner. That is it. There you go. ⁓ my goodness. You sound like unconventional challenge project runway. ⁓ anyone have the hot glue? Thank you. It's amazing. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha. Hehehehehe Right. Or RuPaul's drag race. Jessica Crouse: I have super glued. I accidentally super glued my costume to me one time. I I aga I okay, listen, I am known for thinking things through and never doing anything ridiculous that doesn't make sense at all. Extreme sarcasm. So I was walking through a convention as black widow and ⁓ I don't remember exactly why. I think I was trying to like save money and double dip. lanita (she/her): That is correct. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ no. Hehehehe lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: So I took my like black jumpsuit that I had previously used for a maleficent and I was like, well, I'm just gonna slap some arm patches on here and boo, now it's Black Widow. ⁓ I didn't have the patch on very well. And so when I was walking through the convention center, somebody bumped me and the patch like ripped off. And so without thinking, my amazingly brilliant self, I went to the bathroom, took a little tube of super glue, put it on the costume, held the patch on. lanita (she/her): Mm. Immediate. Jessica Crouse: And was like, fixed it, nailed it, brilliant, genius. I win all the world awards. Where's my Nobel Prize? I'm so smart. And then was wandering around the convention center and then I had to use the bathroom. And I got in the bathroom and I zipped the front down and I took this arm down and I went to take this arm down. And I was like, I was like, I am quite literally blued into this costume. Guess who's not peeing right now? lanita (she/her): Me ⁓ no. Jessica Crouse: So yeah, I'm n I am known for doing stupid th things like that. Like I am chef's kiss. lanita (she/her): But you're doing it but you're doing it for you're doing it for a reason. You're doing it so that the aesthetic and the illusion is not broken. I commend that. I commend that. That was very thoughtful. Mike Jones (he/him): Absolutely. All right, Damien is trying to get his internet working. lanita (she/her): Okay, well that's unfortunate for him. That's lucky for me. So, okay, back to the cosplay of it all. D of of what are your top three favorite to do, both men and women? Because you have said Jack Sparrow and Newt Scamander, which technically are men, but who cares? Everybody can play everybody, as we've learned with Damason and Seven of. Jessica Crouse: Poor guy. Mm-hmm. Well, I mean, Zina's gotta be my top, just because she's my favorite and also just like the reaction I get. 'Cause but it's I mean, the children these days, they're like, Are you Wonder Woman? Like, no. lanita (she/her): 'Cause she was mm-hmm, your intro. No, I don't have red, blue and gold on, nor am I carrying a whip of a whip of what is it, justice and and truth and like the armbands of Mike Jones (he/him): A

of truth. Jessica Crouse: Truth, right? It's the truth. Yeah. Yeah. I get ⁓ a lot of people yell Zelda at me and I'm like, nope, wrong zzz. They're like Zelda and at this point I just go, Xena. Mike Jones (he/him): Help. Ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: People yell things at me so much. And I've gotten to the point now, I I haven't had anybody yell anything original at me in a while. So I have like these pre-programmed responses when I hear whatever it is you're yelling at me, I've probably heard it at least 25 times. So then I'll just yell whatever it is I've decided goes with that yell back. ⁓ but no, definitely Xena, just because everyone loves her and why wouldn't you? ⁓ God, I don't know. It depends on the convention. It lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Ca it depends on who I'm there with. Cause the energies change depending on the convention. ⁓ lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Absolutely. lanita (she/her): 'Cause it seems like you go to all like you're the Comic Cons, you're like like con Okay, so in convention world, what conventions do you go to? Which ones do you like? Which ones do you not want to go back to? Do you do Star Trek conventions? Jessica Crouse: Yeah. Uh-huh. No, I don't do Star Trek Convention. ⁓ so obviously I do Trek Long Island, which is great. I love that one. I think it's a really good size. It's not teeny tiny. It's not super huge. I like that one. ⁓ also Far Point, that's here in ⁓ it used to be in Hunt Valley, Mal, Maryland. Now it's in Towson, Towson, Maryland. ⁓ kind of a very similar size. Mike Jones (he/him): Nice. Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ and then there's of course Awesome Con in DC. That one's quite big. that's just a everything convention. ⁓ Baltimore Comic Con. ⁓ smaller than Awesome Con, but bigger than Treklong Island. It's also it's more comics than anything else, but it's still kind of a mix of of everything. ⁓ what I've done, you know, I've done San Diego Comic Con and Dragon Con and New York Comic Con and Philadelphia Comic-Con. Like I've done lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: I've done a bunch of them, some of them only once. ⁓ but yeah, I think Trek Long Island, Far Point, Awesome Con, Flame Con in Times Square. I do that one every year. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ I didn't even know that was a thing. lanita (she/her): What is that? Dressing up like fire? What's flame con w what's flame con? Jessica Crouse: Flame Guy, what I ⁓ my god, you guys don't know about flame gun. What is happening? It is a queer convention in Times Square every year. It's next month. Mike Jones (he/him): Yes. lanita (she/her): Flames. Really? I avoid Times Square like the plague. I walk through it every day to get to work, but no, I don't. I work above it. ⁓ and so I w and when I'm walking through, I get to see the entire like 20th precinct out on the promenade getting their instructions to go off and fight the good fight. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ my gosh. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ yeah, but I thought that was Mike Jones (he/him): You work in it. Ha ha ha! Jessica Crouse: He's back, huh? Mike Jones (he/him): I I know you're probably talking about Sorry. Damizzon: I can't wait to I can't wait to hear the podcast, to hear the answer to all my questions. lanita (she/her): Haha. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ yeah, no it's it's in times I was telling them about Flame Con. Do you know about Flame Con? Damizzon: ⁓ I know I I know the basic idea of it. That it what it it's sort of is like a queer nerd con in general, yeah. Jessica Crouse: Okay. Yeah, it's a queer nerdcon in in Times Square. And I go every year. I'll be there again this year. It's next month. Although I I have a funny story about Flame Con well, it's funny to me. ⁓ so I was a guest there, right? And I don't know if I mentioned this, but I'm a lesbian. And I, you know, I was in the program. I was I led panels and I led a workshop on stage makeup. And, you know, I was there. Mike Jones (he/him): Nice. Damizzon: Ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: All weekend, not like I was a wallflower like outside. No, I was there and I was dressed like Xena. So Dikey McDikerson, you know, again, other than like running around with just like a rainbow or a like lesbian pride flag all weekend, like very clearly there, very clearly a lesbian. It was Sunday, like afternoon. I'm standing around, I'm waiting for my friend to finish talking to people, and this like gay man comes fluttering up to me and he just goes. Damizzon: Yes. Jessica Crouse: Careful, if you stay here all weekend, you might turn gay. And I was like, sir, too late. And his face, he literally went. Damizzon: Ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: Like he couldn't figure it out. And I realized he was trying to figure out how I was a gay man. So I was like, lesbian. And he went and then just walked away. He just couldn't handle that information. I was like, I'm sorry. At a queer convention, did we just forget that lesbian was an option? Like I j but I just love that lanita (she/her): Yeah. Apparently. Mike Jones (he/him): He thought you were like a drag queen? Jessica Crouse: It's like, sir, at a queer convention. I just I don't even understand. So it's like No, I was like, clearly I need to be on more panels 'cause we some people apparently have forgotten lesbian's even a thing. It is very much a thing, trust me. lanita (she/her): That doesn't make s but that doesn't make sense either. Mike Jones (he/him): No. Yeah, you know. You need you need that clacker fan. Damizzon: Well, you know, it's funny because it it's funny, I saw j just today I was looking at ⁓ this ⁓ celebration of Atlanta Pride that was like this like aerial view of like a ⁓ at like like I said, an Atlanta Pride ⁓ party. And you kinda like zoom in on it and you realize that everyone is a not only just a ⁓ a man. ⁓ a white man in Atlanta ⁓ with muscles. And so you see there is a there's a certain ⁓ tendency among I should say I'll I'll keep this narrow, I'll say among gay men, especially

white gay men, to seek out their own kind. And so the sort of LGBTQ community Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. lanita (she/her): Hmm. Hmm. Mm-hmm. Damizzon: ⁓ in their sort of view is can be reduced to just that one single letter and then the people who they know they think of their gay world as as ⁓ you know they're they're they're sort of clones that surround them and so it's that that that that that that encounter surprises me zero percent Mike Jones (he/him): Turnal vision. Mm. Jessica Crouse: Yeah. Some people get it right away and they're like, Yep. And then other people are like, That's weird. That didn't happen. And until they sometimes they'll see it happen like live at a convention and they're like, You weren't kidding. And I was like, What a weird thing to kid about. Like what a weird what a weird That's the story I'm gonna make up. Yep. That seemed that's that seemed like a good that was a good story I made up. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. What a weird thing to be what a weird thing to be like, you know what? Yeah, I'm gonna go with that one. Someone said, Hey, guess what? She might turn gay. Mike Jones (he/him): My God. Jessica Crouse: But that was just wild. I don't but in fairness to the gay men that forgot ⁓ lesbian was an option, we do tend to stay home and like, you know, we meet a lady, three days later we move in, adopt a dog, and try and teach it sign language. Like we're not out and about. Like, we don't do things. So we need to do things more so that, you know, we're not a rare sighting and they're like, ⁓ my God, like what is that? lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha. Damizzon: Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Yes. lanita (she/her): The woman in the wild. Huh? Jessica Crouse: It's a lesbian in the wild. I'm just in the wild like Damizzon: Yeah. Jessica Crouse: That's how I that's how I hunt, by the way. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha. Jessica Crouse: Like mama's going out tonight. Just Damizzon: Yes. Mike Jones (he/him): God. That's amazing. lanita (she/her): Excuse me. Mike Jones (he/him): Damien, you have questions. lanita (she/her): You're leaning in, Damien you Damien, you No, it doesn't mat no, no, this is nope, this is no no mm mm no no you no you don't tell him. No, you have to just go ahead and roll the dice, Damazan. What you got? Damizzon: ⁓ no, I wasn't talking no, I all of my questions I I'm afraid were answered while I was gone. I don't know. Mike Jones (he/him): No, we didn't. I don't I don't think that you go. Damizzon: Roll the roll the dice. ⁓ so ⁓ I I'm gonna say first of all that when ⁓ that I I had definitely I was definitely very familiar with you and your cosplay from previous conventions. And last year when we got to Long Island ⁓ Long Island, a truck Long Island rather, you were walking around as Xena and I did not recognize you. I did not recognize you as Jessica. I was like, you were Xena. And in fact, I feel like you looked at me like we had met, and I looked back like, I don't know you. But but

that your but that your Xena was so imposing and and and I don't know what else to say, but like Xena-like, that ⁓ that I that you know that I that I as far as I was concerned, having seen you in multiple cosplays, had never seen you before at that moment. So that was Jessica Crouse: Ha ha. lanita (she/her): Yeah. ⁓ Ha ha ha. Damizzon: A mark a mark of a true ⁓ success. lanita (she/her): So we've confirmed that your that your costume is studio ready accurate. Thank you, Damon Zan. Continue. Damizzon: Studio Radiography. ⁓ but my real question is about seven of nine. have you only done the the Picard era? Have you ever done a Voyager era? Have you ever done other sevens? Jessica Crouse: Have only done the Picard. I want to do other ones. I just have not. They are, you know, I j I feel like I want to do, you know, the the skin tight silver with the hair back, like the one that a lot of people cause play. I feel like want to do that one just because I feel like I don't know. I almost feel like I have to. Because it's just like, I don't know. I've seen so many people do it. That and it's it's a really, you know, awesome costume. ⁓ yeah, I think if I lanita (she/her): Mm. Damizzon: Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Did another one, it might be that version, but I could also completely change my mind. Damizzon: ⁓ well and it and it like the i it's just within the Star Trek universe, the characters that you seem to gravitate to have some kind of queerness to them, right? As we can all like your Jezia is like totally so on point. but ⁓ are there I'm gonna say what other Star Trek characters have interested you and is that sort of queer identity like part of part of what draws you to the ones that you have chosen so far? Jessica Crouse: Well, this year for Trek Long Island, I was actually supposed to do a Kira Norris cosplay. I just didn't get it finished. I life life and seasonal depression and I just didn't get it finished. And I was so mad because I really wanted to get it done. I just didn't. And I won't wear I won't wear a half done. I I just won't. ⁓ so it's Okay. lanita (she/her): Mm. Damizzon: ⁓ ⁓ hear that. Do you know what c what cure were you gonna do? Or or are are you gonna spoil ⁓ is this would this be a spoiler for future use? Jessica Crouse: So I wanted to do Kira from the last season just because personally I like that haircut the best. Like, you know, and I wanted to do still like her red costume. Like I didn't do want to do like the Federation Gray, whatever, ⁓ even though that would be a lot easier to find. I could probably just find that. ⁓ I learned through all of my research, there are 562,000. lanita (she/her): Hm. Mm-hmm. Damizzon: Sure, sure. Jessica Crouse: thousand pictures of like Kira in the red jumpsuit from like season one season two season three because like it changes slightly each season sometimes there's a belt sometimes there's no belt sometimes the seams are here sometimes the seams are here and I'm

like can we not yeah yeah it does and it you know the little Blero thing changed like it's so I I just I was like okay well I can't mix and match like I can't do this hair with this season costume like I have to be in a line Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Damizzon: Yeah. Well it gets gurlier. It gets gurlier. Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Mm. Jessica Crouse: So finding the right pictures of that particular one that weren't super grainy or blurry or just was a nightmare. ⁓ I was just like go watching that season of DS9. Like I've obviously watched the whole thing, but like I was literally on my TV going through and like pausing it and like trying to that took forever. ⁓ so I ha I have all the plans. I know exactly what I'm gonna do. I just gotta finish it. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Damizzon: Are you gonna now is that red suit purchasable or is that something that you're that you're making? Jessica Crouse: I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to purchase gonna try and find like a red jumpsuit that looks kind of sort of close ish that I can alter and then do things to it is usually what I do for ⁓ because one of the questions that we they asked me earlier was like do you make your costumes do you buy them do you whatever ⁓ yeah I I usually will purchase like different pieces and then like rip them apart and sew them and glue them back together ⁓ to make them suit me better. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Got it. Jessica Crouse: Or suit what I'm trying to do better. Mike Jones (he/him): 'Cause yeah, I think that Vajorne costume is kind of a base jumpsuit with almost like a little like little jacket on top. But it's not a jacket, it's just like that part is extra like quilted fabric, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Damizzon: It's almost like a shrug almost, or like right. Jessica Crouse: Y yeah, so it's like it's two different colors and then ⁓ So yeah, it's Mike Jones (he/him): Did you already ha buy the earring? Jessica Crouse: Have the earring. I knew the wig. I didn't buy the wig because when I realized I wasn't gonna get the costume done in time, I just didn't buy the wig. ⁓ but I found the wig that I was gonna, you know, cut into a bob. ⁓ Yeah, no, I had, and I actually I I wandered around as a quote unquote lazy Bajoran on Friday because I did the ⁓ The nose doohickeys for for the Bajora. But it was just I was just me as a Bajoran. Like I I s I pulled my hair to the side so you could see my one ear and I put the earring in and I put the little doohickeys on my nose. And I just I was like, I'm Jessica, the Bajoran. And some people got it and some people were Yeah. Ridges, thank you, words. lanita (she/her): Mm. Damizzon: Perfectly valid costume. lanita (she/her): Love the doohickey. I love the doohickeys, not ridges doohickeys. Mike Jones (he/him): Didkies That's great. ⁓ no you've never done Janeway? Jessica Crouse: I have not. Not that I'm against it, I just have not. lanita (she/her): Mm. I mean I f I feel like that could be a lane. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah, I know. Yet. Jessica Crouse: I have so many cosplays on my to-do list. I the my problem is I have so many partially done cosplays because I have extreme ADHD. So like, whoo! It's fun in my head. Like, I have a partially done Lulu from Final Fantasy X. I have a partially done Dottie Henson from a League of Her Own. I have a partially done, like I have so many partially done that I'm like. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Ha ha ha. Yeah. lanita (she/her): Ooh. Damizzon: ⁓ my gosh. Jessica Crouse: Jessica Krauss, if you just finished this. lanita (she/her): You got Yes, Jessica Krause finished Dottie from a league of their own. What is wrong with you at Rockford Peach? What is happening? my god, or is it is it is it the baseball classic? Is it is it the full like are you are you the ca are you catchers the whole the whole or j are you just outside of the catcher situation, just in the the Rockford Peach with the ankle socks and you're ⁓ that's gonna be so Jessica Crouse: I so many things. Mike Jones (he/him): Rockford Peach Damizzon: Alright. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): With the little skirt. Jessica Crouse: Yeah. Yeah, no, I I just need to finish it. I could. I could do farm daddy. lanita (she/her): You could do even do farm dotty. You could do when they first were found. They're in their you Mike Jones (he/him): End of the film dotty with like white hair and the n and old age makeup. Jessica Crouse: I could. lanita (she/her): Listen, I could cry I could cry right now. There's such a great movie. Damizzon: I was almost inspired to sing just now on the podcast, but I'm not I know I'm not gonna do it. Nobody wants to hear it. Mike Jones (he/him): It is so good. lanita (she/her): I I really did. I I almost I you to get we we were we were Damien we were together. We were literally I was like Damizzon: I'm I'm lucky anyone will listen to my speaking voice, let alone my singing voice. So Yes. ⁓ Come from cities near f okay, all right. Jessica Crouse: Batter up ⁓ lanita (she/her): I see hear that call for one and all. Jessica Crouse: The time has come for one and all. Which one did you go to? Mike Jones (he/him): Gosh. I totally went to a different song in my head. Anyway, this used to be our playground, the Madonna song that came out with that same. Okay. lanita (she/her): Well you don't you yeah. yeah, no, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. ⁓ yes, yes, correct. We were walk we were walking around in the museum and we started to sing. It was so good. Okay. I I'm excited. Listen, if that ever gets finished, I need like I need pictures. That that is that is key classic right there. That's amazing. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. Yep. Damizzon: ⁓ yes, yes. Yes. Definitely not singing that. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Right. You're right. Jessica Crouse: So I keep getting new ideas and then I haven't finished the old so it yeah, I just my yeah. Mm. My my bundle of

costumes just shoved in a closet. I'm like, Jessica, come on, get it together. You could do it. Mike Jones (he/him): W it it's an expensive addiction. Like like just like drag. Damizzon: So your bundle ⁓ yeah. Jessica Crouse: That too. Mm. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Damizzon: ⁓ so your cosplay is like spanning a range of nerddoms and franchises and such. Can you just sort of like anchor us in terms of like where all of these are on your own personal continuum? Like what are you obviously Xena is important to you. Like what give us like some sort of pecking order here as to like what is actually central to you in terms of your nerd dump. lanita (she/her): Number one. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, well, Zena's my number one. ⁓ Jack Sparrow is just fun. ⁓ I love wandering around as Jack Sparrow all day. And I can have a truly hiding in my cup, and I'm just in character. And that's fantastic. And I can be as stumbly, stumbly bumbly as I want to be, and I'm just in character. ⁓ so that's that's fun. ⁓ I did Jack Sparrow. Damizzon: Yes. Mike Jones (he/him): That is Damizzon: And where have you done that? Jessica Crouse: At ⁓ at Far Point this past year, I was wondering around as Jack Sparrow because I actually ⁓ performed in drag again for the first time in many years. ⁓ because I used to perform as a drag king, but then I was assaulted ⁓ while I well not while I was performing, after I got off the stage. and I just didn't want to do it anymore. I just didn't want to do it anymore. I you know, it it was a it was a bad, bad situ you know, the the the Mike Jones (he/him): Nice. Damizzon: The fuck? Yeah. lanita (she/her): That's terrible. Jessica Crouse: the people running the show, the security, they all failed. And the the aftermath was a failure as well. Like the whole thing was just one big, we don't care. and it just it just I didn't want to do it anymore. ⁓ but then Demanda Martini, who you all know, ⁓ she has been bothering me for years 'cause she knows I used to do it. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Ugh. lanita (she/her): Hmm. Damizzon: Terrible. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. lanita (she/her): Yeah. That's understandable. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Mm. Damizzon: Yes, yeah. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ and you know, she's my con sister. We do a lot of conventions together. We don't do all of them, but the majority of the conventions we do were at the same ones. ⁓ we room together. So like she knows my costumes. She's like, come on. She's like, be in one of my shows. I will stick to you like glue. Like I will not let anybody near you. You will be safe. I promise. And I still just didn't I lanita (she/her): Mm. Damizzon: Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Uh-huh. Jessica Crouse: I just didn't want to. I just had like this mental block of like, no, the last time I did this, I was assaulted. I don't want to do it again. ⁓ but that was at a bar. There was drinking, the host was drunk, like everyone was just drunk and didn't care. the you know, far point convention, the middle of the day. I know everybody there. I knew all the people performing. And so I was like, I will do it. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Right. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: So I came out of drag retirement and I performed at Far Point in February and it was so much fun. And it wasn't, I wasn't scared. Like I felt safe the whole time. And it was just fun. I I dressed like Captain Jack Sparrow and I did a mix that in that contained the DuckTales theme song. And as Captain Jack Sparrow, I was like, life is like a hurricane. You know, I was just like, you know, I was tearing it up to the DuckTales theme song. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Good. Ha ha. lanita (she/her): That's awesome. That is awesome. Jessica Crouse: So yeah, that was that was where I did it. So I ⁓ I have decided that I will do drag at conventions. ⁓ because that's such a different atmosphere. And ⁓ you know, only if I know several people in the show, so that way I know I will be safe. In case some you know, bananas things can happen anywhere. So after that awful experience, I don't ever want to be in that situation again. Mike Jones (he/him): That's amazing. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Course. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ but yeah, so ⁓ we're already planning for the drag show this coming year at Far Point and ⁓ what we might do. I might do ⁓ yeah, mm-hmm. Every February. ⁓ they're trying to convince me to do a Riker. I might. I might do Riker. I'm trying to decide. Mike Jones (he/him): Is it every February? Nice, nice, nice. Yeah. Damizzon: Riker is Riker is the best drag ping. ⁓ don't know if you've ever seen if ⁓ the Roddenberries perform their lead singer. The Roddenberries being being the house band for Star Trek Los Las Vegas, they were the for me the highlight of DICON two years ago. ⁓ their lead singer does an amazing ⁓ Riker drag. Jessica Crouse: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Damizzon: And I mean obviously it's the you know, y you can't do it without sitting on a chair or a stool or yeah. Yeah. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ Well that's just how I sit. But ⁓ so that won't be hard. I might be in character or I might just be me. You don't know. I have very I have very Riker energy sometimes. ⁓ so I'm I might do Riker, I might not, I don't know, just because I hate see with with with me with drag at conventions, the problem is Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ yeah. lanita (she/her): Ha ha. Yeah. Damizzon: Yes. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha. Jessica Crouse: A lot of times I wanna do like a female cosplay during the day. There's not enough time to change 'cause I have change my whole face and there's not enough time to take my entire face off and put on an entirely different person's face without like, Okay, I'm dressed. I'm at my convention for twenty minutes. I have to go change again. Like that's not fun. ⁓ so I'm like a mm mm. lanita (she/her): Yep. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Damizzon: Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him):

Mm, no. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Damizzon: Yeah, you don't get like a like a quick change staff. Like you don't come with I mean unless unless you you you you acquire a wardrobe staff along the way. Like let me know how you manage that, but Jessica Crouse: No. I mean, it's just with my ⁓ well, yeah, with Riker, I'd probably still need to glue my eyebrows down. So for for like seven of nine and and like all my female cosplays, like my eyebrows are just my eyebrows. ⁓ when I would do Newt Scammander or for Jack I don't because the bandana covers the top part of my eyebrows. ⁓ but for Riker, I think I would need to glue down my eyebrow. So, you know, it's not a matter of like somebody ripping one costume on me while dressing me in a different one is I literally have to Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: change my whole entire face, which takes a while. lanita (she/her): Gotta chisel gotta you gotta chisel that jaw. A little contour, a little highlight. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, it's I do entire Exactly. I teach like makeup workshops on how to transform your face for, you know, to do a more feminine face or to do a more like quote unquote masculine face using light and shadow and where you place your Yeah, so it's isn't putting an entire other person's face on my face. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Nice. Are your cosplays connected to fandoms that you have? Like like do you are you know, we we've discussed Star Trek, Xena, obviously you know you love the actual show. ⁓ like are you a Disney fan, like with those Disney references? Like is it or is it more like costume first, fandom second? Jessica Crouse: ⁓ it's definitely fandom first. ⁓ I've definitely learned, especially as a cosplayer who does a lot of conventions, does a lot of panels, and is very active on social media and has a lot of people interacting with me all the time. People quiz you. So you can't just be, I'm gonna be this person today. Cause no, people will come up to me and want to interact with me as if I am the person. And if I don't know what they're talking about, they get very angry or they'll quiz me. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ god. ⁓ yeah. Jessica Crouse: to make sure that I do know everything about that character. Damizzon: That is gatekeeping behavior. No hard pass on those people. No. Mike Jones (he/him): That's that's gatekeeping behavior. Jessica Crouse: it it absolutely is. But I just for me and like my sanity, I wouldn't like I wanted to do ⁓ Sylvanas from ⁓ World of Warcraft but I didn't like I played it but I didn't like I didn't super nerd it like I do things that I'm and I I I like started saying, ⁓ I wanna do this character and people were like, Well, did you play the game? Did you did da da da? And immediately and I was like, You what? Never mind. Mike Jones (he/him): Okay. Jessica Crouse: Cause I personally just didn't want to deal with that. The pe like cosplay who you want. People ask me all the time, who can I cosplay? And my answer is always, whoever you want. ⁓ but you know, that and in addition to that, if you are going to cosplay somebody that you don't know anything about or you don't look anything like that you don't look anything like, you will get comments. You just will. Like, I I'm sorry, I wish you didn't. Like, just know that going in. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah, no. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Be prepared. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. Jessica Crouse: And have at it. ⁓ but yeah, no, I definitely, I definitely really enjoy the characters that I cosplay. Either I really like their personality or their story, or th there's something about them that I really enjoy. And I might, uh-oh. Sorry, but I had like a weird alert pop up. We're doing lanita (she/her): Ooh. Jessica Crouse: We did a so ⁓ the two drag queens, a lesbian and a baby podcast. We the last two years at AwesomeCon, we've done a group cosplay. Two years ago, we did ⁓ Labyrinth. And I was Jareth, Jamanda was Sarah, ⁓ Logan was the worm, and Felix was the baby. And this past year we did, ⁓ poop, what did we do? ⁓ what did we do? I'm totally blanking. What did we do? It literally just happened. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Nice. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ Xena. ⁓ my God. I quit. Bye. Like I literally because I've been trying to bully them into doing a Xena cosplay with me for years and they won't do it. And then they finally, I don't know what happened. I guess I just wore them down. I was Xena. my friend Karen Cosplays, who does my Gabrielle, she was Gabrielle. ⁓ Demanda was Aphrodite, she was beautiful. Logan's crazy behind was Callisto, and Felix was Italicus. Damizzon: Yeah. Okay. Mike Jones (he/him): Nice. Jessica Crouse: So we ⁓ we're we put a poll up and I think we're gonna run it one more time to give people a chance to vote on what we're going to do this year at AwesomeCon. And I think your choices are Disney Villains, ⁓ Lord of the Rings, X-Men, and I forget what the fourth one was. What would make you think that? What would make you think that? Right now, Disney Villains is winning, and I kind of lanita (she/her): Awesome. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. lanita (she/her): Mm, mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Okay. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Did demanda have something to do with that? lanita (she/her): Yes. I'm gonna say yes. Jessica Crouse: kinda hope it stays winning because if it does, I might do Scar from the Lion King. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. ⁓ lanita (she/her): Z I was literally gonna ask you, like, in each one of those, who are you playing? So we've got Scar from the Lion King, great villain, in Lord of the Rings. Damizzon: ⁓ my god. Jessica Crouse: Cause So Scarf and the Lion King. if Lord of the Rings, I'll do Legolas. ⁓ and I'm gonna make if I do Legolas, I'm gonna make Felix do Gimli, so we can just be boyfriends ⁓ all day. ⁓ X Men, I'll just let demand a decide. 'Cause I mean, I just I I I value my life

and I'll just Damizzon: Yes. lanita (she/her): ⁓ that's perfect. Okay. Mike Jones (he/him): Have ⁓ lanita (she/her): You you you wouldn't choose Jean Grey? Damizzon: Yeah. Jessica Crouse: I mean, I d I like Jean Gray. I would happily do Jean Gray. I just feel like Demanda is so X-Men that I feel like I'll just let her pick. Like I'll just I'll just let her pick. ⁓ I mean, obviously if she picks something that I'm like absolutely not, ⁓ and then she would just go, okay. ⁓ but no, I I love Jean Gray. I yeah, I I would happily do her. lanita (she/her): Hmm. You you could do a Jubilee. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. Sure. lanita (she/her): ⁓ mystique. I'm I'm in my head I'm like I'm like, ⁓ Mystique, ⁓ Jubilee. You could be the di you could be the diamond chick. You could it's like I don't remember what her name is, but she like she Yeah, I just Jessica Crouse: Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): The diamond check I don't know. Yeah, I I Damizzon: ⁓ the diamond chick. Emma Frost. Jessica Crouse: The funny thing is, I called her that too and Demanda got mad at me. Mike Jones (he/him): Of course. Damizzon: can you please tell Demanda that I knew the answer though? If it c like if it comes up naturally in conversation, you know. ⁓ lanita (she/her): I mean, like the Jessica Crouse: I will. I will. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha ha ha! Jessica Crouse: Yeah, I don't remember what the fourth fourth option was, so clearly I didn't care. ⁓ Damizzon: ⁓ so I wanna I wanna know how you linked up with that crazy crew and how it became a podcast. lanita (she/her): Okay. Jessica Crouse: so Demanda and I were both in a ⁓ I'm gonna set a club. We were in a club, we had jackets. ⁓ we were both in a group called LGBTHQ. And ⁓ I was in it just because I they were like, I don't know, we need a lesbian. Hey, you come here. ⁓ and then Demanda I I did. Damizzon: Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Damizzon: Yes. Again, you're representing the entire population in all every time it comes up, you're representing all lesbians. I God bless. Jessica Crouse: It just happens. I need my fellow lesbians to stop trying to teach your dog sign language. Put your teacup down. Come on, Susan. Let's go. Jesus. Listen, like we have cargo pants. Just stick everything you need in your cargo pants and let's go. I love my cargo pants. I love if you need something, you know, I'll just unzip a pocket. Here you go, girl. I got what you need. Like Damizzon: Ha ha ha Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ my god. lanita (she/her): That's funny. That's hilarious. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Damizzon: ⁓ listen, I I spent two of the last four weekends on a boat with lesbians and I'll tell you what, they know all of the knots and two different two different entirely different sets of lesbians. All the boat knots. Mike Jones (he/him): I knew all of the nuts. Jessica Crouse: Camping, and we were trying to get a fire started. And I was like, That's all you. You guys start the fire. These guys couldn't figure it out. Now I've never started,

I've never like made a campfire before, so I felt like I shouldn't be like, get out of the way, let me figure it out. Because I had no clue what I was doing. So I was like, You do it. A lesbian sensed a disturbance in the force. She was not with us. All of a sudden, this woman just comes walking out of the trees, and she was like, You guys need some help? And she came over and Damizzon: Ha ha ha. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: She f blew on it. She walked over, she said poof and it came to f like it just burst into life. She just lesbian magic flames and then just walked back into the trees. I don't even know if she was real. She might have been a lesbian wood sprite. I don't know. We've lost Damien again. But I but it's just yeah, maybe I'll lesbian blow on him to oof. Nope. He's too far away. Damizzon: It's happening again. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha. lanita (she/her): Yeah. ⁓ Walked away. Mike Jones (he/him): Firebringer We've lost Damien. He's blurry. ⁓ my gosh. lanita (she/her): They mean it's okay. It happens. Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Bring him back to life. Jessica Crouse: Too far away. Mike Jones (he/him): Just still trying to imagine ⁓ you as Scar. ⁓ I don't know if you've ever seen the Disney on Ice Lion King costumes, but they're ridiculous. ⁓ the the they've done it a couple times. I used to work at Disney on Ice. but just give it a Google, just like from like, you know, the early aughts, like that Lion King, Disney on Ice. Hilarious. ⁓ okay. So, ⁓ lanita (she/her): Excuse me. ⁓ it's gonna be glorious. Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Well, Damien is the one who prepared all the questions and he's the one with the internet issues. So Jessica Crouse: Luckily I don't shut up and I will derail the conversation anyway. So I think we're good. lanita (she/her): We are gonna take over. No, this no, this is this is perfection. This is exactly the type of like intro chat that I love to have. Let's talk about all of the things. Wait, but you wait wait wait. We didn't finish how you all crazy kids linked up. You were in the woods. You're making a fire. You were part of the the club. Bong. See? I can get us back on track. Mike Jones, aren't you proud? Mike Jones (he/him): But great. Mm. Right. You're right. Jessica Crouse: Yeah. Thank thank you because I completely forgot what question I was answering. I the amount of times you will ask me a question, I'll answer you. It won't be the question you asked, but I will answer you. Mike Jones (he/him): Good job. lanita (she/her): 'Cause the lesbian wood sprite. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: I think one time somebody literally asked me what it's like being a cosplayer and I answered why I'm a lesbian. Like I th like I got four words into the answer and then my brain went, Well, let me give some context and then just lanita (she/her): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: And I don't think I ever did answer the question. ⁓ so anyway, so Demanda won the Captain Green Lantern. ⁓ I don't know why I was talking about lesbians in the woods starting fires. I don't I don't remember how I got there. Mike Jones (he/him): How did we get there? lanita (she/her): Because because you were part because you're part of the club and you mm-hmm and they needed a lesbian. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ that's right. The les yeah. ⁓ and then Damien was talking about the the lesbians on the boat knowing the knots. Ha! That's how I got there. I knew there's always a path. I often lose it, but there's always a path. ⁓ so she won the Captain Green Lantern. ⁓ she won the Captain Green Lantern cost ⁓ competition. So that was how she got into the the group. So it was me and her and the group, and then she was already friends with Logan and Felix. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. See? He did it. There is. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: So I met Logan and Felix through her. and then I was already doing conventions. Demando was doing conventions. We started doing a lot of the same ones. And then she started bringing Logan with her, who then in turn brought Felix. ⁓ and we all just get along really well. ⁓ and we talk all the time, and we of course have a group chat. And ⁓ I think one time somebody was drunk and named the group chat two drag queens, a lesbian and a baby. And so we were like that yeah, let's just do that. So that's the name of our podcast because we are two drag queens, a lesbian and a baby. lanita (she/her): There you go. And what do you guys chat about over there? Jessica Crouse: So we're doing a Xena rewatch. So I obviously have seen every episode 562 times. Like I'm friends with ⁓ Steven Sears, one of the writers and producers on the show. I I've met a lot of the actors and had conversations with them many times. I know a lot about the show. ⁓ the other three have seen like scattered smattering of episodes, but they don't really know they don't really know the show, really. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ so in the fifteen hours stuck in traffic ⁓ on our way to Treklong Island last year, our first year, ⁓ Demanda ended up having to listen to my Xena dissertation. ⁓ just because I was bored and doesn't stop I didn't stop talking. ⁓ and she was like, What if we did a Xena rewatch podcast? And I was like, I'm in. Let's do it. That's all it took. And ⁓ so we we Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha. lanita (she/her): Say less. Jessica Crouse: i if our podcasts end up being about two hours. And the first hour is just us talking nonsense. And the second hour is us we watch four Xena episodes at a time. And each of us has an episode assigned to us. So the second half is us reviewing. And basically we just spend the second hour being like, She's a lesbian. That was a lesbian thing to do. How lesbian was that? ⁓ they're with the Amazons now. Well that's just gay, isn't it? Like it's lanita (she/her): ⁓ I didn't. Jessica Crouse: Any I haven't received any negative feedback

from Xena fans. I don't know how many of them actually listen to our podcast, probably none of them. ⁓ because I feel like there is the potential for people to not because I you know how some people think their shows are precious and don't you dare touch it or talk about it. Yeah. So I feel like we don't treat it as it's precious, like we make fun of the CGI. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha. ⁓ sure. ⁓ huh. lanita (she/her): Yes. Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): No. Jessica Crouse: We we giggle and laugh through the whole thing. So I feel like anybody who treats the show as if it is just like the most precious thing in the world probably wouldn't like our watch through. But if you just like queer nonsense and Xena, I think you will be entertained because we are silly. Mike Jones (he/him): It Yeah. You know, here's a question. I in the n to go down the the bird walk as we call it ⁓ tangent. So in the z in in the Star Trek fandom, there's definitely a a you know a toxic element, as I'm sure you know, ⁓ of people who don't understand that Star Trek is political or that it's, you know, queer, or you know, are there like I watch Xena and I haven't watched it in years. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): But even, you know, years ago I was like, This is so gay. You know what I mean? Like are there people who watch Xena who were like, Well, no, no, like they're you know lanita (she/her): Yeah. Jesus, I'm so happy you asked that question. Jessica Crouse: like to screenshot these people and send it in the group chat. ⁓ so I post a lot of content and I get a mix of ⁓ people mad that I'm not actually Xena. ⁓ if I post a picture, it's a lot of old like ⁓ old lesbians that get mad at me for not being actually Xena. Like, you know, they're not owls anymore. They're I don't even know what. ⁓ they lanita (she/her): Okay. Jessica Crouse: I don't I don't even know. ⁓ so that they're pterodactyls. ⁓ they just they get so mad. Like I will literally post a picture and my my Facebook ⁓ is Jessica Crouse Xena Cosplay and every photo I always fully credit everybody. Xena cosplay by me, you know, photo by wig by you know, I fully credit everybody because I'm not a jerk. ⁓ at least, you know, in that instance. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Hm. Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: And other people might argue that in certain situations I could be. ⁓ it's very clearly labeled as cosplay. I'm not trying to fool anybody or trick anybody. I'm not like, guys, I'm the real Xena. I don't know what Lucy Lawless thinks she's doing. Like the amount in a week, every week that I get, that's not Xena, that's not murderer, who is that? That's not Xena. I how how ma'am, how dare you? How dare And I'm like, whoa. Mike Jones (he/him): He's Jessica Crouse: And they're like, did you you're not Zena? And I'm like, yeah, and I apparently you do too. And now we all have the same information. I'm very happy for you. So I I get a lot of that.

But I also get a lot of if I post a picture of me with my Gabrielle, again, Karen Cosplace does my Gabrielle, or as she would say, I am her Xena. And that is very true. I am her Xina. ⁓ I am her warm prop. And ⁓ sh when it's ever a picture of us like cuddling or you know. Mike Jones (he/him): No. Mm-hmm. Nice. Ha ha lanita (she/her): That's hilarious. Jessica Crouse: Spooning or whatever, people are like, ⁓ why do you got a row in the dough? That's disgusting. Why would you do that to them? They weren't queer. And I love how a lot of like very angry straight people don't know what queer means. So ⁓ you know, I'll be like, ⁓ you know, happy pride month to my favorite queer couple. ⁓ and people are like, they were not lesbians. ⁓ And I'm like, number one, said queer, not lesbian. Number two, what? Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ sure. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Didn't say they were lesbians. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Like what I don't why and they're like, that's disgust why would you ruin a show like that? I'm like how is this ruin a show? So I have the weirdest arguments with people about they're like, they were just friends. And I'm like, I'm sorry. And again, I'll base it on my own life. I don't make out with my friends and tell them they're my soulmate. Like I don't do that. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong, I guess. I don't know. I don't show up in the middle of the night with ice cream and in a a ⁓ lanita (she/her): Yes, they were. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ an a a insane amount of hot fudge to apologize for being a jerk and be like, let me apologize by spending the night with my hot fudge. I don't do that. So maybe I'd I maybe I you know what, I'm just doing it wrong. I'm la well, I'm straight girling wrong, apparently, according to these people. Apparently that's a very straight girl thing to do is to make out with your friends and you ⁓ you're my soul mate. Like, okay. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha lanita (she/her): That is correct. You're lesbianing wrong. ⁓ apparently. Yeah, ⁓ that's true. That is correct. Yes. Damizzon: you Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ lanita (she/her): I mean they they're thinking about, you know, th the girls they knew in college who, you know, that's that's what they did as part of as part of being a part of their little sorority. ⁓ yeah, I just made out with Betsy Sue. She's my best friend. Nobody named Betsy Sue, that's why I picked that name. Jessica Crouse: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So Yeah. ⁓ good old Betsy. Good old Betsy Sue. Betsy Sue. But yeah, no, I get a lot of angry people that I'm not actually Xena. a lot of people angry that I had the audacity to say that Xena is queer. Mike Jones (he/him): Betsy Sue, where did you go to school? Damizzon: Hehehehehe ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: And then just, you know, the the random spattering of people who are just homophobic and just mad at me in general for, you know, being gay. Mike Jones (he/him): Right. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Have you met Lucy Lawless? And have you met ⁓ that's right. You met her and she said it looked amazing. You stole her costume. Aside from the costume that she said you stole from her, did she like was it a full on like you look exactly like me when could she see it or was she like, ⁓ 'Cause Jessica Crouse: Yes, several times. She yelled and cursed in my face because I scared her. So what hap so listen. Listen. So what Damizzon: ⁓ contacts, please. lanita (she/her): ⁓ c Yeah. Jessica Crouse: So I just ⁓ so you know I that particular time I had met her I think once before and by met her I mean got a photo up with her. So you know s said hi, she said hi back and we got a picture. That's what I mean by met. ⁓ we didn't Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah, yeah. Damizzon: Yeah, yeah. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Damizzon: Like I met Ninah visitor meaning she made me a cameo for my birthday, right? ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: That's hot. ⁓ so I was dressed like Zina and I was very excited about getting a photo with her as me dressed like Zina. And you know they push you through that line very, very quickly. The thing about when people meet Lucy Lawless is obviously she's beautiful on screen. She's a beautiful person. When you meet her in person, she is like a ethereal unicorn. Like I don't even understand, like however lanita (she/her): Mm. Jessica Crouse: beautiful you think she is in person she is like bre like you like your brain just goes, no, I'm done. And so many people like I have seen people literally walk into walls. I've seen people faint. And I'm not exaggerating, kidding, making it up. Like people lose their minds when they meet her. So let's keep that in mind. So ⁓ literally the first time I met her, I just kept going, lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Don't pass out, don't pass out, don't pass out, don't the whole time, just in my brain. I was like, don't act a fool, don't say anything dumb, don't fall down, don't pass out. And I did not fall down or pass out. I managed to say hi and get a picture and look somewhat lucid and then not run into a wall on my way out. So I did better than 50% of the people who are in that line. ⁓ but so I'm standing there and the girl in front of me, she's, you know, got her picture and then grabbed Lucy, which again happens a lot. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha. Mm. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ because she will hug, or at least used to. I I haven't seen her at a convention in several years, but she used to hug people if if you asked. And so this girl grabbed her and wasn't letting go. And so then, you know, somebody else had to come over and was like, come on. And so, like, the girl has still got Lucy by her arms. And, you know, Lucy's so nice. She's just like walking with her, like kind of talking to her and just kind of gently trying to get her to let go. And, you know, the security person's like trying to. Meanwhile, I'm staying out of the way because I'm like, I don't need to be

a part of any of this. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Well, the guy who was the person who goes, and you're next. Like he pushed me. He was like, you're next. And I'm like, but she's ⁓ okay. So I go and stand where she had been standing, because that's where he pushed me. She went to turn around to walk back to where she had been standing. So she turns around and just whoop, we're nose to nose. So all of a sudden she's just nose to nosed with and she just goes, Saddle my bite, and like jumps backwards. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Damizzon: ⁓ lanita (she/her): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: And I thought I upset her. And we don't upset the queen. Like I didn't want to be executed, you know, trial by far out. Like I didn't want to be like run over by 17 Harleys in the parking lot because I made the lesbians mad. Like, so I immediately was just like, ⁓ my God, I'm so sorry. He pushed me. I didn't mean I don't I didn't mean to be in your face. I'm so sorry. And she's just like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. She's like, Is that my costume? And I was like, huh? Like I was just so like, ⁓ what? She was like, No, it's that how did you get one of my costumes? I was like, Mike Jones (he/him): No. Damizzon: No! Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: No, ⁓ this was made for me by Taz Kasu, but he's I'll tell him that you asked and he'll be very happy about that. I I I was just so thrown off. And she was like, Do you a picture? I'm like, ⁓ picture, yes, let's do the thing. I was just like, ⁓ Jesus. She was like, This looks fantastic. I was like, Thank you. So she was very nice and yeah, so she yelled in my face. But in fairness, she did not expect me to be in her face, nor did I expect to be there. Mike Jones (he/him): Right. You're that's why we're here. lanita (she/her): She Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. That's amazing. Jessica Crouse: So it was just like She's she's very, she's very and a very funny person too. Like she's very charismatic on stage. Like she's ⁓ yeah, I'm going to there's a Xena convention in New Jersey this year. ⁓ in in Hwippany, New Jersey. And ⁓ so, you know, Zina Zina, Lucy and Renee are gonna be there and a bunch of the other, like so I'm gonna get another photo up with her again. lanita (she/her): Everything's in Whippany. Everything's in Whippany. Damizzon: I mean, how often are there Zina conventions? that like, what is that world like? Jessica Crouse: So they're usually every year in Burbank, California. But for whatever reason, this year, for the first time in I think like Fifteen years maybe, maybe longer. There hasn't been one on the East Coast. So they're not having it in Burbank this year, because it's usually in Burbank like the last weekend in January ish. Maybe first part of February is usually when it is. They're not having it then this year at all. And they're having it in ⁓ or did not have it. They're having it ⁓ in October, beginning of October. Mike

Jones (he/him): Mm. It's a creation con. Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, it's a creation con, so it's, you know, expensive it's really expensive for no reason. ⁓ but a lot of the actors are gonna be there and they're all delightful. Like they're all very funny, entertaining people on stage, very gracious, you know, they take photos and talk to you and and it I really like it. Like I, you know, I don't really have much to say about creation themselves because I don't it's whatever. But like the actors are great. And, you know, the writers and producers they're great too. Like they yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. They're fine. Yeah. Jessica Crouse: It's just a good time. Damizzon: Now I'm curious what, cause I mean, when, when I go to convention, I, I'm going to say your whole crew, like at, at Trek, Long Island, where we saw you last, you and Demanda and Logan, you all weren't giving the, the, the cosplay of the con. I want to know like when you go to a con, who do you admire? Like what, what costumes do you see where you're like, ⁓ that was good. Like that, like, like that, like who raises the bar to you guys. Jessica Crouse: It's kind of ⁓ i I c it can go one of two ways. Sometimes I'll see a costume that's just so intricate. I have no clue who they are. But it's like usually it's some kind of anime. But like Damizzon: Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. Damizzon: Always, New York Comic Con, I see the same costume everywhere and I'm like, I don't know what that is. Like, cool, but I don't know what it is. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: So sometimes I'll see just like a really, really intricate costume and I'm just like, whoa, that must have taken a banana's amount of work. ⁓ and ⁓ I'll be out like I'll walk to up to them and be like, listen, I have no clue who you are, and that's my fault, but you look amazing. And they're like, ⁓ thank you. ⁓ and then if I see like a really nostalgic character, like I I forget that when I look like Xena, I'm very intimidating. ⁓ and people don't know that there's just this lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha. Jessica Crouse: doofusy goofball underneath. So I forget I no and I f and I forget. I forget how I look in that costume. So I forget I shouldn't yell when I'm excited when I'm dressed like Xena. So ⁓ at Dragon Con, I saw somebody dressed like Batty from Ferngully and I got so excited. Dressed like Xena I went Batty and went bulleting down the stairs at him. Damizzon: You are not, when you're a Xena, are not a Doofusy Goofball. You are like living in that character. Yes. You Mike Jones (he/him): Wow. Ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: This man ran from me and I don't blame him. I was like, why is he running? And just continued to chase him. Cause I was like, I don't know why he's running. Clearly, not because I'm chasing him. Let me continue to run after him. And I caught up with him because I'm dressed like Xena and he's dressed like a bat. So I caught him without too much trouble. And ⁓

he was like, ⁓ Zura, and I'm like, You look amazing. And he's like, Why are you yelling? I was like, ⁓ right. You look amazing. I really liked Fern Gully. lanita (she/her): ⁓ no ⁓ no Mike Jones (he/him): Hehehehehe ⁓ Damizzon: you lanita (she/her): Ha Mike Jones (he/him): Ha lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha ha. Damizzon: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Jessica Crouse: My name is Betty. My logic is erratic. I love that movie. I love that character. Yeah, so like, or like salad fankers randomly from that dumb YouTube cartoon. ⁓ when I when I see like really random, like why are you even wearing that costumes that I remember fondly, I'm always like, I have to get a picture with you. So it's yeah, either you look like just lanita (she/her): Farm Galley is great. Absolutely great. Mike Jones (he/him): Good times. Jessica Crouse: Incredible, I've no clue who you are, but you look amazing or you're like something really nostalgic for me. Damizzon: Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Very niche. Damizzon: mean, we always see the guy at cons who goes as like Riker in his bathrobe addicted to the game. Like to me that is just like so clever and he like it's really well executed and you know, he's got Jessica Crouse: Ha ha ha. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Damizzon: It's those kind of things that really, that get me. Mike Jones (he/him): It's a comfy looking costume too. Right? I'm sure you have no idea. So there is a list of questions that we ask all of our guests. and I will ask them to you now. I don't think and and now is the time. I don't think we asked this earlier. We usually have already gotten this one out of the way, but ⁓ what is your Star Trek Meet Cutes? lanita (she/her): Mm. ⁓ Jessica Crouse: What's that like? I don't know. lanita (she/her): And now I will ask them. Mike Jones (he/him): How did you find Star Trek originally? Jessica Crouse: Not really sure. I mean, I was never super into it for a long time. Like I had seen just like a smattering of episodes from like a smattering of different, you know, versions of it. I forget, I know I've seen some of the movies, couldn't tell you which ones they were really. ⁓ it wasn't until I started getting invited to all these like space and trek conventions. Like I kept getting invited as like a guest or a panelist. And when I first started getting invited to Far Point, I had no space, cut like no Star Trek, no Star Wars, no Farscape, no like nothing. So I was like, hmm, I guess I should start, I guess I should make something. ⁓ and then just, you know, hanging out and talking to people, they're like, ⁓ well, you have to watch this and you have to watch this. So I kind of started watching it. I watch things usually because someone makes me. That's how I get interested. And then I'm like, ⁓ I like this. And then I, you know, continue on on my own. So that was kind of I think people failed me when I was younger. No one made me watch it. No one was like, sit, sit down, watch this. You will like it. ⁓ so to everyone of my childhood, I'm mad at you. ⁓ lanita (she/her): Mm. Damizzon: Yeah. Yep. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Of the smattering that you've watched since it's a smattering, and even though you don't remember the movies, that's fine, we can take those off the table. Do you have a favorite series of the smatterings that you watched? Jessica Crouse: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So I ha the only ones that I've watched all of the way through are DS9 and Picard. ⁓ the other ones I've seen smatterings of. I'm apparently incorrect. I really liked Picard, but apparently that's because I have not seen a lot of the other ones. So apparently I'm just incorrect. And that's fine. I'm wrong a lot. lanita (she/her): Okay. Damizzon: ⁓ interesting. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah, T N G. ⁓ that's valid. Damizzon: You know, I actually will join you on that because, know, there are things, you know, I will accept some of the criticisms, especially when it comes to the second season, but I, no, I'm there with you. I liked even the first two seasons and ⁓ how did you feel about Seven and her queer journey? Did that ring true to you? Did it feel like? Did it feel pasted onto her character or did it feel, did the Rafi situation, like how did that all read to you? Jessica Crouse: I mean No, I mean, I of the smattering of episodes I've seen, some of them did have seven of nine in them. ⁓ so I I was at least somewhat familiar with her before. I mean it just felt I mean, honestly, I think everyone's queer, so it didn't feel forced or anything to me. Like it it to me it just it just made sense. I was like, Yeah. Yeah. That Mike Jones (he/him): It did, yeah. Yeah. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, duh. Damizzon: And I actually just heard recently that the actors found that. Because you remember that in season one, we didn't really, the Rafi seven story wasn't really sort of built into it. We just sort of see them at the end, of like holding hands, looking at each other kind of in that way. We're like, ⁓ That it was really, yeah, exactly. That it was the actors who found that, which is surprising to me. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. lanita (she/her): What could that be? Mike Jones (he/him): Well maybe they were just friends, you know, like Xina and Gabriella. We're just just friends. Right, exactly. Jessica Crouse: Maybe they are just friends who make out and are soulmates. lanita (she/her): They were just friends. Damizzon: Hahaha! ⁓ lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): If you could have dinner with three characters, the characters, not the actors, who would they be and why? Jessica Crouse: See ⁓ which I usually just pick people I want to sleep with. ⁓ so I mean, I feel like I Mike Jones (he/him): Mm mm. It's valid. Damizzon: I mean, dinner leads to dinner can lead to that. mean, that is totally valid. Mike Jones (he/him): Right. Jessica Crouse: Also, ⁓ god, this is gonna sound so narcissistic and weird. Like, I I also dress, I

cosplay people that I'm attracted to as well. So like I feel like I would want to have dinner with Jetsia Dax and seven of nine, because I would then want to sleep with them afterwards. ⁓ those two, and let's I let's bring Kieran too. Heck, I mean, just three hot women, absolutely, absolutely. lanita (she/her): Very Mike Jones (he/him): That's valid. lanita (she/her): Fair. You only need one more. Mike Jones (he/him): Heck yeah. Bad ass women. Jessica Crouse: I would want to have dinner with them individually 'cause I want to give each of them the individual attention they deserve. I don't wanna have to defy, you know, I don't I wanna give them each the individual attention they deserve. That and I've ADHD and get distracted. lanita (she/her): Mm. Okay. Mike Jones (he/him): They appreciate that. Damizzon: The only sort of critical comment that I might make on your plan is that I'm a big proponent of Fuck Before Dinner. that maybe dinner is after the fact. Just, you know, do it in whatever order works for you. I just urge you to consider that. lanita (she/her): Yep. Jessica Crouse: Hmm, mm-hmm. Right. And I hear you. lanita (she/her): ⁓ so you're the Dan Sav the Dan Savage world of eat before i i it's his it it is always his his recommendation. Why are you gonna go have Valentine's dinner, eat a full steak and lobster meal and then come home and fuck? Fuck before you eat and then you can, you know, maybe Damizzon: Oh, it's 100%. It is. Yes. That lobster tastes so much better. Jessica Crouse: Listen, I hear you. I see where you're coming from. I get really hangry. So we need to feed me or it's gonna negatively impact my performance. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm, mm-hmm. Yeah. Jessica Crouse: So that's that I I personally enjoy dinner before that. That and once I take my clothes off, I don't want to put them back on. So if I'm nudie Judy in the bed and you're like, let's go, let's now go out to dinner. I'm like, but I have to put on pants. I don't want to put on pa my pants are somewhere. I don't I gotta find my pants, put them on. No, I have clothes on. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. lanita (she/her): Fair enough. Nudie Judy. Mike Jones (he/him): Heah he Damizzon: Ha ha ha! Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha Jessica Crouse: I look nice for dinner. I look nice for you know, I've perfume and the makeup and everything. I look nice. Let's have some dinner. I'm not gonna stuff myself. I need to still perform. But like enough so that I'm not like low blood sugar, 'cause I low blood sugar and me are not friends. And then well, you know, we'll go and then once the pants come off, I do not have to put them back on until the next day. Maybe. Mike Jones (he/him): I like that. And then it's breakfast time. Damizzon: You know, I would offer a counterpoint here, is that sometimes, and I'm speaking just because I do have a sort of casual neighborhood eatery that serves such functions, that sometimes putting your pants on, and everyone putting their pants on, is an excellent way to get that person out of your home, should that become necessary. Jessica Crouse: Okay. I'm open. Mike Jones (he/him): That is such a gay man. ⁓ Jessica Crouse: That's true. Damizzon: Yes, exactly. Why don't we both leave together? Mike Jones (he/him): Yes. Jessica Crouse: No, on on my end of the spectrum, there's a lot of cuddling and potentially a marriage proposal. I don't know. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. lanita (she/her): Depends on how the sesh goes. Excuse me. Damizzon: Gotta run to dinner! Jessica Crouse: Right, so yeah, no, even I have full that and I'm just ti after all of that, I'm tired. I don't wanna go anywhere. So even if I d you know, even if it wasn't great and I didn't even really like you that much, I'm gonna roll over and go to sleep because I'm tired. I will deal with all of this tomorrow. This seems like a tomorrow, Jessica problem. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ my god, I love it. That's amazing. Damizzon: Hahaha Mike Jones (he/him): Okay, next question. ⁓ Jessica Crouse: Ha ha Damizzon: Lenina is laughing. Lenina, luckily Lenina doesn't have a question to ask because she can't continue. lanita (she/her): It's ⁓ no. Nope. Mike it's Mike Jones turn. He's asking the questions. Jessica Crouse: Ha ha ha Mike Jones (he/him): If you lived in the 24th century, what would your life be like? Would you join Starfleet? Would you stay on Earth? Jessica Crouse: That's a very good question. I don't know. Hmm. I mean, I if it was true to my own life and how I usually make decis I I would probably follow some woman somewhere, honestly. So, like if some lady I had a crush on was in Starfleet, guess whose ass is joining Starfleet? So I feel like that would probably be what happened. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Nice. lanita (she/her): Krause. Mike Jones (he/him): Okay, okay. ⁓ what's your go to holodeck program? Can be anything. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, no, I w I would probably go bother, ⁓ Why'd I forget his name? The Ferengi. Gork, thank you. I kept ⁓ in my head, it kept going Nagus. I'm like, not the grand Negus. Ugh. Yeah, I my brain was like, you know, you know this name. Yeah, I would probably bother him to go find some like illegal, illegal program from like I would again, I I'm coming off so dirty in this episode. Like, I feel like it would just be like. Mike Jones (he/him): Work. No, no, he was our card. He's still with us. Mm. lanita (she/her): It's great. Damizzon: I'm here for it. Jessica Crouse: Whatever lady I'm into at the time, I feel like, let's have a program of like this just working out. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. A calisthenics program. lanita (she/her): ⁓ so you're broccoli. Okay. Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Such a doofus. Like, I I tend to fall for w like first of all, I have a bad habit of falling for straight women. Ugh. So, like, I get my heart broken a lot. So, I would probably fall in love with whatever straight woman of the year. And just like she would want nothing to do with me,

or if she did, just like sporadically and for fun. ⁓ but no real relationship. So, yeah, I would probably be like. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. Mm. Jessica Crouse: I would go to court crying at like two AM. ⁓ she's got a new boyfriend and I wish can you do a holodeck program for me of her? Like that and it just being real, that is probably what what would happen, in all honesty. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Very good. ⁓ More holo sweet than holo deck. okay. ⁓ I'm just gonna ask all the questions. You haven't seen all of TNG, but are you Crusher or Pulaski? Damizzon: That is very real. lanita (she/her): Very good. Jessica Crouse: I'm too honest. lanita (she/her): Yes. Jessica Crouse: Ha ha ha. Crusher. Mike Jones (he/him): Are you doing Klingon Tai Chi with Wharf or Leotard Yoga with Beverly and Deanna? Jessica Crouse: Bever Leotard's with Beverly and Diana. Mike Jones (he/him): Absolutely. Jessica Crouse: dwarf would be fun. But I would probably no, we would just like be bruised and cut and sore. I would rather just be in Leotard's. Yeah. Yeah. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Get the hot gas. are you drinking tea, Earl Grey, hot, or coffee, black, or Ractigino? Jessica Crouse: Ha ha ha. I need a rectogeno. Damizzon: Yes. Mike Jones (he/him): That's been a popular choice since we added that option. Yeah. That's why we added it. Everybody was saying it. Yeah, that's true. If you had a replicator in your room right now, what would you make? lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Damizzon: Yes. Jessica Crouse: Yes. I was actually if you didn't add I was gonna add that one on, I'd be like, I don't want either of those. lanita (she/her): And and that is what and that and that's how it and that's how I got here. That's how I got here. Jessica Crouse: Like food and drink wise or just anything? ⁓ 'cause unf again, I'm I am coming off ridiculous in this episode 'cause literally the first thing that popped into my head was, I would love an ice cold margarita right now. You said I could literally make anything and my brain supplied margarita. Mike Jones (he/him): You can make anything with a replicator. You can't create life. lanita (she/her): Anything. Damizzon: Anything. Anything. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ hell yeah. lanita (she/her): Correct. No, that's that's a really mm-hmm. Damizzon: is not ridiculous. That is not ridiculous. Mike Jones (he/him): That's that's perfect. I might Jessica Crouse: But when the question is you could make anything. lanita (she/her): And you have the the gamut of answers have been given, like ⁓ full on enough money to support what was d what was Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. We we the we've gotten like, you know, ⁓ like clothing and food for the hungry and and you know what I mean? Like and and like, you know, Cheetos, you know what I mean? So Jessica Crouse: Ha ha ha. lanita (she/her): Correct. And we were like I was like, ⁓ a burrito. And yeah, we we had a burrito the other week and I was like, that's what I'm gonna have for lunch tomorrow. Damizzon: Yeah, I mean I would Mike Jones (he/him): Yes. Perita. Great. ⁓ Jessica Crouse: You have people on here answering food for the hungry. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Yeah. Damizzon: ⁓ yeah, or, ⁓ Derek Tyler Attico. Yes, that he would, that he would build homes for the homeless, that he would use his replicator to solve homelessness. And I felt like a real asshole because my answer is always a burger. lanita (she/her): What was ⁓ what it or what did d ⁓ Derek Tyler Atticot Yes. Correct. Mike Jones (he/him): It was Derek Tyler Atticol. He's like Right. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: So far my answers are like I meanwhile I'm like, I need a hollow sweet program of some straight woman who doesn't love me and a margarita. Damizzon: for myself to eat. Jessica Crouse: God lanita (she/her): great. That's great. I love it. That's perfection. Mike Jones (he/him): Okay. Speaking of margaritas, who is your Star Trek bartender? Gaynan or Cork? Damizzon: I think we already know this. Jessica Crouse: feel like Cork just because like I'll get a drink and also if I need anything else done I can just tell him, you know, save time. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Right. Anything like a holodeck program. ⁓ Damizzon: Well, I also think like, if you go to quark with like your, like if you were to go to Guinan with your problems, I think she would probably, not that she would try and like correct your behavior, but I feel like quark would sort of like maybe lean it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Jessica Crouse: And as previously as Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Encourage your bad behavior. He would be like, ⁓ he would go, wait, the the girl who's in the Jeffries tubes at 7 a.m. You like her? And but she you just go. She's she's there, 7 a.m. Don't worry. I'll I'll put I'll make sure she's there. And you're like, ⁓ what are you doing here as you're crawling around Jeffries tubes? It's fine. He would correct. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ yeah. He would not care. Damizzon: Maybe you should go there. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Then he would sell you some perfume to wear. ⁓ Jessica Crouse: Yeah. All of those things. And as previously established, I don't like putting on pants more than once. So I put on pants one time, I go get a drink and whatever else I need from Cork and then go back to my room. Mike Jones (he/him): There you go. ⁓ are you Team Tasha or Team Armus? lanita (she/her): Correct. Jessica Crouse: I'm gonna go with Tasha just because I don't know who the other one is. Mike Jones (he/him): It's the black oil slick that kills her. lanita (she/her): And that is correct. That is the acceptable answer. Only this is the own this is the only time that is the acceptable answer. Mike Jones (he/him): It is acceptable. Damizzon: Hahahaha ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ favorite alien species. Jessica Crouse: Mm. I don't know who my fa I mean, th the Ferengi are hilarious. ⁓ the Bajorans as a whole are annoying. like as a whole. lanita (she/her): Hot

take. Mike Jones (he/him): Even casual Bajor and Jessica? Jessica Crouse: Yeah. Like just as a whole, I find them rather annoying. ⁓ again I think I I think the Vulcans can be a bit annoying, but entertaining. I don't know. I s mm lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha ⁓ Jessica Crouse: I have it. You what? I'm just gonna go with the frangy 'cause they are just the most I don't problematic but also accidentally hilarious species. Mike Jones (he/him): They're they're practical, they're practical people. ⁓ who's your captain? Damizzon: Yeah. Yeah. lanita (she/her): They are. Jessica Crouse: go Captain Seven. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah, Captain Seven, absolutely. ⁓ and last question, is Star Trek a cult? Jessica Crouse: Mm-hmm. No. No, I don't think so. Mike Jones (he/him): No explanation. Damizzon: No explanation needed. No explanation. I, you know, I have a... lanita (she/her): There we I I love I can't like for the listeners, it was literally a look off unto yonder, serious contemplation. I saw all of the wheels proverbially turning, the tabs being flipped through, the the bibliophile and then it was a no. I don't think so, no. And that's all we need. There I mean I had the explanation. I saw it happen. Jessica Crouse: Mm-hmm. Yeah. lanita (she/her): It came back to us. Damizzon: Yeah, no need to go into it. You gave it, you gave it, it's due. And yeah. I have another, I have a question inside of curiosity. Are there, ⁓ and this can be Star Trek or like any other, you know, world that, ⁓ but are there characters that you love and identify with that you kind of don't actually want to cosplay that you're like, I love this character, but I kind of want to, but that's enough. Like I'll leave them alone. Or do you, or does it always come back to that for you for a character you you lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: I really love general Leia, but I don't feel the need to cosplay any of the Leahs. ⁓ now if somebody was to make me a costume and be like, hey, go wear this, I would wear it. I'm not against it. I'm not like, I would never. It's just not. I really like the character. It's just there are so many Leia's, which is fantastic and wonderful. Love that. So I just really just don't feel the need to cosplay that one. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Mm. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, I don't know. That and and any that I'm like, Ooh, that costume might be really hard to do. Maybe I won't do that one. Damizzon: Hehehehehe ⁓ lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ and I don't like covering my face. I like because I a lot of what I'm known for in my cosplay stuff is my makeup work. So if you can't see my face, like that's not now granted, I feel like I look very different in a lot of different ones. So I get to see how people I know interact with strangers because I will fully walk up to somebody in a new cosplay and they don't know it's me. And then I get to see how you react to somebody you don't know talking to you. ⁓ which is fun sometimes. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Damizzon: Sure. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mm. Damizzon: I feel like that's how I didn't recognize you as Xena. Do you know? Like, yeah, I'd seen you as Seven and I'd seen you as Dax, but then seeing you as Xena, I was like, I don't know who that is. Mike Jones (he/him): That's amazing. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, so I Yeah, so it's it's not that I'm like, well, I need people to know it's me, but it's I don't know, something about covering my face, I wouldn't want to do so I would never do like any kind of like Spider Man or Spider Gwen or like anything that like had a mask that covered my face. I I'm just not into it. Damizzon: Right, right, right. lanita (she/her): Mm. Did you did you self-train on makeup and whatnot in just sort of ⁓ trial and error or classes? In air quotes classes. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ So I lucked out starting out as a model first because on a lot of shoots, some of them I had to do my own makeup, but some of them had a makeup artist there that did my makeup. So I actually learned a lot of good tips and tricks from some really talented makeup artists. ⁓ and then the rest was just trial and error trying to figure it out for myself. lanita (she/her): Hmm. Yeah. What's one tip that you could give to someone okay, I'm saying one, but it's such a stupid one tip. Like for someone who is interested in like cosplaying, right? Like going the route of not covering our face, we're gonna like transform our face into someone else. What were like some basic little things that you could tell them to help them or sort of get them started on their way? Jessica Crouse: Mm-hmm. I mean, it it really depends on what they're doing. ⁓ a lot of like for my Xena, it's just it's just this makeup. Like it's just my everyday makeup. I don't really do too much different. Like I I change the colors up a teeny bit, but it's basically just my everyday makeup. ⁓ you know, but if you're doing somebody who really does not look like you at all and you're really trying to make yourself look more like that person, again, it's just what lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. Jessica Crouse: features of you. What I like to do when I am first doing a character that looks nothing like me. And this is just my process. There's probably an easier one, but this is what I do. I will print out a picture of my face on like an eight by eleven piece of paper. And I will print out a picture of the other person's face and I will put them side by side so they're the exact same size. And I'll be like, all right, where are my eyes? Where are their their eyes are a lot smaller than my eyes. So that means I have to do this and this. Their eyebrows are a lot lower than mine. Their mouth is a lot wider than mine. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Damizzon: ⁓ lanita (she/her): That's brilliant. Jessica Crouse: So I will literally map out where my features are versus where their features are. So I so then I know

where I need to move mine. ⁓ and what, you know, what tips and what tips, what tricks I need to use. ⁓ the Damizzon: ⁓ wow. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Damizzon: Can you give us an example of a character that doesn't look like you, that you feel like you've managed to transform in that way? Jessica Crouse: I'll have to send you out. So I'll tell you and then I'll send you a picture later because I don't have it like hit the ready. ⁓ so ⁓ Newt's commander, Eddie Redmane, has a very unique face. Very unique face. ⁓ so for him, his eyebrows are kind of reddish blonde and a lot lower than mine. So I had to glue my eyebrows down and redraw them on a lot lower than my actual eyebrows. Damizzon: Yeah. ⁓ please. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ which is of course the res reverse of what drag queens do. They glue their eyebrows down and draw their eyebrows up higher. I have a very high, very arched eyebrow. So when I do a more masculine character, in general, usually I have to glue my eyebrows down so that I can put them lower. ⁓ his the bridge of his nose is a lot wider than mine. Like the the kind of ho bulb of his nose is kind of similar to mine, but the actual like bridge of his nose is a lot wider. ⁓ his eyes are smaller than mine. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Damizzon: Sure. Yeah. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: His mouth, he has such a unique mouth. Around his mouth is actually very, it almost looks swollen if you look at him. Like it's it's a very pronounced mouth. And his mouth is very like kind of thin and long. Like his lips come all the way out to here. So trans putting transforming my face into that face was a lot of tricks of the light and a lot of ⁓ contour and highlight. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Damizzon: Yeah, I know what you Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Damizzon: No. Jessica Crouse: I literally like so much highlight around my mouth. And he's such a skinny guy too. Like he's got like really chiseled cheekbones and really so I really use the highlight and the contour for him. And then I literally ⁓ draw my lips wider because his lips are so much wider than mine. ⁓ which, you know, that illusion works unless I open my mouth really wide. Then you see like my mouth extends to here, but when I open my mouth, it's like woo. ⁓ lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Damizzon: Hahaha Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: And then of course he has all these spreckles and everything. But you know, I I really have to for him, I actually use an entirely different foundation than I usually use. ⁓ if I have to completely start over and do an entirely different face on my face, I can't use any of my own features. I use ⁓ words, and you can't even help me with this one, Derma, Derma Blend. It is, it's actually for people with burn scars. Like it is a th. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah, yeah. lanita (she/her): Mm. Mm-hmm. It's pasty. Jessica Crouse: Fuk thick. And it's, you know, some drag queens will use it. It is a fk and it's heat activated, so it you know, it working with it it's very interesting. I put that on my face and it's so thick, you can't like it your face is all one color. ⁓ it's like a sheet of paper, only, you know, it yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Well. Mm. Planks light. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ so you have to draw all those features back in anyway. So I'm like putting all these freckles back on my face because he's got a lot of freckles. ⁓ but I'll I'll send you a picture of ⁓ because it's I was quite happy with how it turned out. And I I have had people get mad at me because they didn't realize it was me. Like I I walked up to a friend and started joking because that is how that friend and I interact, completely forgetting I I looked like a boy. lanita (she/her): Please. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): ⁓ Jessica Crouse: I had my binder on so my boobages were flat and or you know as flat as they go anyway. ⁓ and I had a you know I had the wig on and everything and I looked like a boy and I looked a lot like Newt Scamander. So I just walk up and I just start talking to my friend and he was like, dude, can you give me some space? And I thought he was playing with me. Like I totally thought he was messing with me. And I was like, Yeah, yeah, bro, whatever. And I like elbowed him. He's like, dude, touch me again and I'm punching you in the face. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Ha Damizzon: ⁓ funny. Jessica Crouse: And I was like, Are you kidding? And he's like, No, bro. Like, I am gonna deck you if you touch me again. And I was like, Did I make you mad? Like, I was trying to figure out why he was mad at me. Like, I was like, What did I do? Did we have an argument that I forgot about? Like what? It took him so long to be like, Holy shit, Jessica. And I was like, Yeah. He was like, I almost hit you. I thought you were just some obnoxious man in this club messing with me. So I have to be careful because I I sometimes assume people know it's me, and it's not always Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Yeah. Jessica Crouse: Whoops. Mike Jones (he/him): Wow. Damizzon: So how long does it take for a process that you're describing like this, how long did that take you to put together, to actually apply? I mean, not even counting the prep work with the photos. Jessica Crouse: Yeah. ⁓ Newt's Commander, I usually allow start to finish, like wig, costume, makeup on, I allow three hours. Yeah. Cause he I mean the face takes the longest time. Like the w you know, my hair, all of this goes up under a wig cap, the wig goes on, the costume goes on, the binder, I've gotten faster at putting it on, but it still takes a while to wiggle into because I have one of the full body torso ones that you have to step into and like up. ⁓ that'll be your screen grab for the episode. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. Mm. Ha ha.

Damizzon: Yeah, yeah, we're gonna make a boomerang out of that. Jessica Crouse: It's just me being a constipated T Rex. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Boomerang. Jessica Crouse: But it ⁓ the makeup, 'cause you have to let the steps like dry material like I glue down to my eyebrows and I have to let that dry. And then I, you know, I put one layer of foundation on and then I have to let that bake. And then I have to but so it's just the so many steps and then like making sure you're not rushing it, 'cause if you rush it, you're gonna regret it later because it's gonna look like, you know, melted mashed potatoes on your head. That's not what I was going for. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Yeah. Damizzon: I bet that feels real good at the end of the day when it finally comes off. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ it's like scraping it off with like a it's not like makeup wipes don't do any like it's like like I need like one of those window squeegee things to get it off. Mm-hmm. Damizzon: Hahaha lanita (she/her): Little credit card action just pulling it down. Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha. Damizzon: ⁓ my God. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ Jessica Crouse: I had a f I freaked a friend out because sometimes for my maleficent, I ⁓ use nose and scar putty and liquid latex to build up the cheekbones. And again, I forget what people know and what they don't know. And I'm so used to myself, I don't think what I might look like. So I walked into my hotel room because that's how I walk, and I took my ⁓ horns off because I I it was the christening gown outfit, the long black gown with the horns, because that's horns. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Ooh. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ so I just poop just took the headpiece off. So I had a ⁓ wig cap on, so I just looked bald. ⁓ and then my face was itchy under the prosthetic. So I just went, ugh, and I just grabbed my cheekbones and went and just ripped them off my face. You're not supposed to do that. Don't do that. Anybody who anybody who knows anything about liquid latex just went, why? I know you're not supposed to do that. I just was tired and didn't feel like doing it the right way. So I just went and just and my friend was like, Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: Did you just rip your face off? Like he was so upset. He didn't understand what was happening. lanita (she/her): Yeah. ⁓ Jessica Crouse: And I think I have a video of that too, of ⁓ a at a different point. My friend was like, The next time you wear this costume, I need to video you taking these off because you look crazy pants. So there is a video of me ripping my cheeks prosthetics off. lanita (she/her): That's awesome. Mike Jones (he/him): That's amazing. lanita (she/her): That's awesome. That's awesome. Jessica Crouse: Ha ha. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ my gosh, this has been so much fun. Thank you for joining us and dealing with all of our connectivity issues. Jessica Crouse: Ha ha ha. No. Damizzon: All of our, wait, was anyone else having, you're talking about me.

lanita (she/her): Our shenanigans. No, no, Mike Jones, Molly Jones was being nice and saying all of ours when he really meant yours. Dame Zon, problem from the start. It all started with that intro. See? When you try to be clever, this is what happens: karma comes and gets you. Jessica Crouse: Ha ha ha Mike Jones (he/him): Right. This is what happens. Look at his face. ⁓ my gosh. ⁓ so where can folks find you? lanita (she/her): Yeah, all the things. Jessica Crouse: So I am well I am I'm super I'm super super creative. You know, I came up with the most creative ⁓ social media handles ever. I am Jessica Krause on Instagram. People are like, why did you do that? I started out as a model and I already had social media and I didn't want to do another one. I already had a bunch of followers. I didn't want to Mike Jones (he/him): Or if you want them to find you. Damizzon: Your street address and zip code please and also the four digit extension at the end please. Mike Jones (he/him): Right. lanita (she/her): Thank you. Jessica Crouse: So people are like, why aren't you, you know, Banana Hammock ninety nine? 'Cause a lot of cosplayers have like, you know, crazy and they're and it's like, you know, welcome to the stage, banana hammock ninety nine and Jack Hammer Thor and what and Jessica Krause. Damizzon: Ahahaha! lanita (she/her): Names. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah. Damizzon: hahahahah Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha. lanita (she/her): That's great. Okay. Okay, but wait, before you give the thing, sorry, I know Mike Jones. I'm sorry. It just popped into my head and we didn't ask about it because that's not what we were here to talk about. This modeling thing. I just what what was your favorite, if you can think of, like your favorite like thing to do? Were you runway? Did you do print? Like what was the what was the vibe of the modeling career? And did you enjoy it? Or did you say, fuck them people, because I don't want to be cold anymore doing bikini shoots in the dead of winter in Hawaii? Jessica Crouse: Yeah. I I had some tr I did I some shoots were very fun working with a very fun team. Other shoots were awful and hurt I was like, ⁓ God, ⁓ I need an adult. ⁓ I hated runway, ⁓ because they don't like curvy people in the runway. And it was just a constant you need to lose weight, you need even though at the time I was much, much smaller. I was very small, ⁓ and I still like my body. doesn't do that. And they wanted my body to do things that my body literally can't do. ⁓ so runway wasn't a good time for me. I did it. It was whatever. It was a paycheck. I ⁓ was tr treated fairly poorly. And not just the like well you need to lose weight, just in general, like start to finish treated fairly poor poorly every time I did that. ⁓ yeah, like the kind of print shoots where it was like lanita (she/her): Mm. Jessica Crouse: you know, ⁓ we want you to do a calendar for this business or we want you to do those those were usually enjoyable. Those were usually like fun

creatives to work with and and like fairly easy and not a whole lot of shenanigans. I shot a Subaru commercial in the woods. That was funny. ⁓ it was a two day shoot, so we were all camping. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ my gosh. That is the most lesbian story I've ever heard. We did a Subaru commercial in the woods. Jessica Crouse: That was crazy pants. They were like so ⁓ lanita (she/her): Was the wood sprite the new commercial? Yep. Jessica Crouse: Yeah. And the funny thing was, I'm pretty sure I was the only gay person there. It was like, it was just they were just doing a Subaru and it was a two-day shoot and like there was apparently there wasn't like a hotel nearby. I don't know how all of the decisions got made. I just like answered the casting call. They were like, we need a model that fits this, who's willing to sleep in a tent for a night. Here is the pay rate, you know, and I was like, why not? I need the pay so many of the shoots was why not? I need a paycheck. lanita (she/her): Yeah. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ yeah, there was ⁓ I got to do a commercial for what was it? Some some healthcare system, I forget which one. So I got to pretend to be a doctor, which was very funny because at one point we had ⁓ we were supposed to be holding an x ray and I was supposed to be looking at it like, you know, hmm, that's an x-ray. And then the other person was supposed to be like pointing at it and like, you know, ⁓ well, I think this, this, and this. ⁓ luckily no words were coming out at that point. It was just the, you know, at Bubba Bah Health, Now Num Num Now, you will get the and just us in the background, like, ⁓ we know what we're doing. Yes. But the thing is, they didn't say like this is an x-ray of someone's ankle. They were like, here is an x-ray, act. So we're like the girls pointing at things and like moving her mouth. And I'm like, she's probably pointing to like shit that's not even a body part. lanita (she/her): Okay. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. Damizzon: Hahahaha ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha ha ha. Jessica Crouse: I was like, what is happening? ⁓ yeah, that was that was a very fun shoot. lanita (she/her): Okay. Well thank you. Thank you for indulging me. Sorry, Mike Jones, I'm sorry you could go back okay, Jessica Krause on all the things, Jessica Krause on all the things. Mike Jones (he/him): No fine. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, so just ⁓ at Jessica Krause on Instagram, at Jessica Krause underscore on TikTok. I decid I finally decided to make a ticker tacker. I waited until everybody stopped using it to make one. Am I cool? Am I cool kids? Yes, no, probably not. Yeah, so I like last month or the month before, I just d randomly decided. I was like, I need a ticker tacker to talk to the children. ⁓ lanita (she/her): Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm-hmm. lanita (she/her): Yeah, ev there's still there's there's listen, they're still there. TikTok is still the thing. Damizzon: Absolutely. Absolutely. Mike Jones (he/him): It's still there. To the children. Jessica Crouse: And Jessica Krause, Xena Cosplay on Facebook. Damizzon: ⁓ yes. Mike Jones (he/him): Excellent. Yes. ⁓ my gosh. Yes. Jessica Crouse: And then of course our podcast is two drag queens, a lesbian, and a baby. And it's very hard to find because it is a very long title. And if you like forget a comma or spell it lesbian, which some people do, which is funny, ⁓ it will not come up. ⁓ and ⁓ we're only on, we have a YouTube channel, two drag queens, a lesbian and a baby, and we have an Instagram 2DQ L B pod. Mike Jones (he/him): Mm. Uh-huh. Jessica Crouse: I made none of these decisions. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha. Damizzon: Two, oh, all right, so two drag queens, lesbian and a baby pot. Two D Q L B pot. Jessica Crouse: By the way, so Mike Jones (he/him): Two lanita (she/her): A D Q B Jessica Crouse: D Q L B pod on Instagram. But I think you know, you guys are all following us on Instagram already anyway, I think. So you you found us. Mike Jones (he/him): Two DQ L B pod. Okay, got it. I'm typing it. Damizzon: Yes. Mike Jones (he/him): Yes, I'm yeah, we're already following. Damizzon: Well, theoretically there are people listening to us who will then also follow you. ⁓ lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, yeah, so ⁓ lanita (she/her): That is correct. They'll be like, ooh, this seems it this seems interesting. Mike Jones (he/him): Yes. Theoretically. ⁓ Well, we will have links ⁓ in the description. along with ⁓ a link to our Patreon if you would like to support the pod ⁓ and our Discord. So please come and be a part of the conversation. thank you again, Jessica, for being here. This has been amazing. You've been very generous with your time. ⁓ and thank you, Damien and Lenita, as always. and lanita (she/her): Mm. Mike Jones (he/him): You can find us on the socials at Hailing Freak Open if you haven't already. And with that, I will say Hailing Frequencies closed. We out. lanita (she/her): We out chia. Jessica Crouse: ⁓ Lord. Damizzon: ⁓ well, I am very excited to listen to this podcast because there's a solid 20 minutes of it that I fully missed. Mike Jones (he/him): Ha ha. Jessica Crouse: I think I just come off sounding like a horny asshole the whole time. Like, ⁓ my God lanita (she/her): I think it was great. It's perfection. Yes, that is correct. Damizzon: have you, have you listened to us? mean, I feel like that's how we, that's how I sound. feel like. ⁓ Mike Jones (he/him): It's awesome, no, no. Right. I mean there's at least three episodes where we basically just talk about data's dick, so Jessica Crouse: Ha ha ha ha. ⁓ Damizzon: Should we take a picture really quick while we? Yes. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah, let's do a picture. lanita (she/her): Year Damizzon: Ready? Three, two, one. All right. Let's make sure. Last time I did this, and Mike Jones, you were so blurry. Mike Jones (he/him): Yeah, and then I had to send you. lanita (she/her): He's not blurry today. He's not blurry today. Damizzon: ⁓ looks good. It works. We

look great. We did it. ⁓ that was so fun. Thanks so much for hanging out with us. Jessica Crouse: We didn't. Mike Jones (he/him): Good. Awesome. Yay. lanita (she/her): Thank you so much, said Mike Jones (he/him): Yes. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, thanks for having me. This was fun. This is hell. This is Damizzon: So now I, I was going to say I took my sleep gummy a half hour ago. So that means maybe I'll only be up for like another 90 minutes or two hours as opposed to four. So that's, that's like, that's like my after pod thing. It's like, and I'm up all night. lanita (she/her): We're insane. We know. Jessica Crouse: Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ my gosh. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, I'm glad that we Yeah. I'm glad that there wasn't a a theme to the episode 'cause I will derail a theme as we've learned. She ⁓ she keeps me she keeps the podcast on track, honestly. She's I think she's the least ADHD person. I think it's just the person with the least amount of ADHD on our podcast has elected herself like the moderator of the podcast. lanita (she/her): ⁓ no, no no no, like first time on the theme is you. Damizzon: I don't know, have you ever met Demanda Martini? ⁓ honestly, I bet because he- Mike Jones (he/him): Wow. Hmm. Damizzon: Yeah. So we did like a double header with her. we like, we like did like the getting to know you, right? Do you remember this? And then we, and then we did Star Trek six with her and, and it was at like pretending that we had like, changed our shirts. like, it made it like it was a new recording. But it, but she was, yeah, the script would have gone out the window for the first one. But once we got on Star Trek six, she was like, Jessica Crouse: Uh-huh. Mike Jones (he/him): ⁓ huh. lanita (she/her): Yes. Jessica Crouse: Uh-huh. Damizzon: knew her shit and it was a very focused conversation. So we got both the mandos and two good episodes on. Jessica Crouse: Mm. lanita (she/her): Focused in. Yeah. Mike Jones (he/him): That's true. Jessica Crouse: Yeah. Yeah. During the intro part, like the first hour where we just like talk nonsense. ⁓ yeah, we get we get some wild stories from everybody. And then during the part where we're supposed to actually be focused on the episodes, like if we start getting too f like if I start wandering off into the lesbian woods too far, she's like Jessica Episode fifteen. I'm like, Right, yes. Mike Jones (he/him): You lanita (she/her): Mm-hmm. Mike Jones (he/him): Hahaha Damizzon: Right, right, right. So, but I feel like I know you and Demanda and Logan from the cons and Felix is the fourth. Would I have met Felix also or? Okay, okay. Jessica Crouse: So he's always in the vendor hall. He's always he's the guy that has the ⁓ three D printed ⁓ yeah, yeah. So that's Felix. Mike Jones (he/him): He made this. Yeah. Awesome. Damizzon: Oh, oh. I don't know why I didn't put that in. Shut up, shut up. lanita (she/her): ⁓ one more time. One more time, Damien. Jessica Crouse: Yeah, that's ⁓ that's Logan's boyfriend. Yeah, so you don't he's he's the quietest of the four. He's he's quietly funny. He's like the three of us are like blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. And Felix doesn't really say a whole lot. Like if you listen carefully, sometimes you'll just like hear like Felix just like throwing like a one liner in the background that sometimes we catch and sometimes we don't. And then I listen to it back and I was like, Felix, that was really funny. ⁓ and then occasionally he will just supply information. Damizzon: Okay. lanita (she/her): Ha ha ha. Mike Jones (he/him): hahaha Damizzon: Hahaha! ⁓ Jessica Crouse: Like one day w I forget what episode it was, we were talking about like we were all just like that was gay, that was the dumbest thing.