What has a history over a hundred years-old, goes beyond genre, and gets its name from the Japanese word for 'lily'? If you guessed yuri, you and our guest would be in good company! This week, we had special guest Erica Friedman to help us wrap up the season and educate us on the fascinating world of yuri... for the revolution of the world?! Next week, it's season eight; what changes will we have in store?! One thing that won't change is that we'll have a new episode, this time with Justus R Stone talking about fans of light novels! ## Where can I learn more about Erica Friedman? If you want to learn more about Erica Friedman's fantastic work on yuri, you're in luck! - The Yuri New Network (now with podcast!): [okazu.yuricon.com](https://okazu.yuricon.com) - YuriCon: [yuricon.com](https://yuricon.com) - Facebook: [@yuriconalc](https://facebook.com/yuriconalc) - Twitter: [@okazuyuri](https://twitter.com/okazuyuri) And, you can help support the continuation of that work by becoming a patron of her work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/okazu ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** Yuri, or Girls' Love, is a genre of manga, anime, and other Japanese works involving lesbian relationships. It can focus on the romantic or sexual aspects of the relationships (or both). The word itself literally means 'lily', a common Japanese feminine name, and may be derived in parallel to the pre-existing association between the word for rose ('bara') and gay men. ...And of course there's a lot of history, which is why we have Erica to help us out! **Search Data:** Interest in Yuri has been [relatively constant since 2004 with some slow growth](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F0jb0t,%2Fm%2F0f9s9). Most spikes in interest appear to be erroneously associated with the genre: a spike in December 2016 most likely corresponds to the finale of _Yuri!!! on ...
As we get closer to the new year, the Nickscast explores a seasonal fandom: Christmas fans? Is there really a fandom for Christmas? If so, what is it? What is it about Christmas? Be sure to deck the halls, and settle in (but not for a long winter's nap!) as we get to the 'Why' of Christmas fandom! Everyone's a fan! Find more like this: [fanthropological.com](http://fanthropological.com) Find us on social media Twitter: [@thenickscast](http://twitter.com/thenickscast) Instagram: [@thenickscast](http://instagram.com/thenickscast) Facebook: [fb.com/thenickscast](http://fb.com/thenickscast) Youtube: [youtube.com/thenickscast](http://youtube.com/thenickscast) Email us about fandoms you want to hear about: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) Play-by-play 00:05 - Theme Song 00:24 - Introduction 02:02 - Who are Christmas Fans? 02:58 - Trivia 17:30 - What is it about Christmas Fans? 39:41 - Fans of the week: Mick Foley on Santa Claus and belief in Christmas magic 53:32 - New year plans for the podcast? 59:08 - Spotlight: [The Internet Archive!](http://archive.org/donate) 1:01:40 - Goodbye! 1:03:18 - Outtakes Citations ["Christmas Fans - Rankings - Anime :: Manga"](http://christmasfans.com/) ["12 Reasons To Be A Christmas Enthusiast"](https://www.theodysseyonline.com/12-reasons-to-be-christmas-enthusiast) ["Confessions Of A Hardcore Christmas Enthusiast | Thought Catalog"](http://thoughtcatalog.com/kathryn-kvas/2014/12/confessions-of-a-hardcore-christmas-enthusiast/) ["The Christmas Enthusiast - Light Knights"](http://lightknights.ca/christmas-enthusiast/) ["About | International Santa Trackers Association"](http://santatrackers.org/about/) ["Christmas junkies call to arms - Christmas Fan Club"](http://www.christmasfanclub.com/forum/christmas/general-christmas-discussion/4955-christmas-junkies-call-to-arms) ["Mick Foley Explains How He Became Santa Claus"](http://www.slate.com/articles/life/holidays/2012/12/becoming_santa_claus_a_pro_wrestler_learns_the_secrets_of_father_christmas.html) ["Why Japan is Obsessed with Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian"](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-japan-is-obsessed-with-kentucky-fried-chicken-on-christmas-1-161666960/) ["Christmas Expo|Learn about holiday lighting"](http://www.christmasexpo.com/) ["Community for Christmas Fanatics - Christmas Fan Club"](http://christmasfanclub.com/) ["Christmas Stay Auction | A Christmas Story House"](http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/christmas-stay-auction/) ["r/Christmas: What are Some Christmas Traditions You like to do During the Holidays? Why do you Love Christmas so Much"](https://www.reddit.com/r/christmas/comments/2dafmc/what_are_some_christmas_traditions_you_like_to_do/) ["r/Christmas: Why do You Love Christmas"](https://www.reddit.com/r/christmas/comments/2efr3i/why_do_you_love_christmas/) ["r/Christmas: Why do You Believe in Christmas"](https://www.reddit.com/r/christmas/comments/14t6xf/why_do_you_believe_in_christmas/) ["Reasons Why Christmas is a Terrible Holiday"](https://newrepublic.com/article/115994/reasons-why- christmas-terrible-holiday) ["Madrid ...
[// Pregenerate link to episode ahead of time: - clicktotweet.com- sharelinkgenerator.com]: # This week, we take a bit more of a convention-al bent, to talk about the wider world of women heroes in media with special guest, Emily Gonsalves (con chair of the [Pretty Heroes convention](https://www.prettyheroes.com/)). We talk about representation of women in comics, tv, anime and manga and a LOT more. Next week, we continue the magic with a trip to a little place that's a small world after world: that's right, we'll be talking about fans of Disney theme parks! ## Where can I learn more about Emily Gonsalves and the Pretty Heroes convention? Pretty Heroes is a convention dedicated to showcasing strong female characters and it's the first "girl power" convention in Toronto. It started as the Toronto Sailor Moon Celebration and grew with fan demand to expand into a convention with a new name (but the same heart) featuring a variety of anime, cute items, "girly" items, and plenty of intriguing female characters. The founder and con chair, Emily Gonsalves, is a professional graphic designer and marketing manager by day, but she also used to "moonlight" as a regular reporter for the Sailor Moon focused blog "Moon Chase." You can also find Emily at other conventions running panels about Sailor Moon, art, fandom, and social media marketing. To follow her Sailor Moon related content on social media, check out [Moon Chase on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/MoonChaseBlog/) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/MoonChaseblog/) and [SailorMoonCelebration on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/sailormooncelebration/). For general female character and convention fun, check out Pretty Heroes on [Facebook](https://facebook.com/prettyheroes/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/prettyheroes/), and [Instagram](http://instagram.com/prettyheroes). ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **Search Data:** Given the broadness of today's topic, its hard to get data... but we tried! Looking at [Google Trends data](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F03hdkg,girl%20power,%2Fm%2F01cjwd) ...
