FNC - Popping and locking at the gay boys

A free Friday Night Chats

Emily Writes

02 Oct 2026 — 8 min read

Girls night 👠

Welcome to Friday Night Chats! I'm so happy you're here. We have made it through week one of the school holidays! Because it was my son's birthday this week and because it's school holidays - I've decided to share Friday Night Chats with everyone. Usually this is a subscriber-only benefit so if you like it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Let's chat!

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As I write this, my eldest son is about to head off to spend the day with his friends. He's 14! And now he's taller than me. I absolutely love having a teenager. He's such a great kid.

And thanks to you, his birthday fundraiser really went off! We hoped to send 10 kids to diabetes camp, but because of this community, we can send 13 kids!

I was looking at the various fundraisers we've run this year, and collectively we have raised more than $40,000. Including almost $10,000 to support our friend and guest poster Helen as she battles cancer.

So, thank you. Thank you so much. I can't thank you enough.

💡

This is normally where the paywall for Friday Night Chats would kick in, but this time I wanted to make the point that paid subscribers make everything possible. Those fundraisers I've done with the community? The mutual aid fund? Raising money for Helen? None of it would be doable without paid subscribers. Not only do you put food on the family table and pay the rent but you make it possible to run fundraisers, raffles, and all sorts of other activism. So if you're a paid subscriber or you've left a koha, thank you again from the bottom of my heart. And if you're financially able and you're considering becoming a subscriber, now is a great time to help with all the election mahi I've got coming up.

Last week, my friends and I were singing karaoke at my place and watching wild YouTube video clips and a friend put on a Stage Challenge performance from 2016 and it must be seen to be believed.

It's about Pike River, and there are literally dancing canaries (you know, coz it's a coal mine?)

This got us thinking about how absolutely wild the Stage Challenge themes were back in the day. I remember doing one on Youth Suicide complete with the most inappropriate dance moves you could imagine.

I asked on Insta for folks to share their most unbelievable Stage Challenge memories. They're truly breathtaking.

[The one I saw was about] homophobic bullying. It started off at the school ball, and everything was going fine when suddenly - Oh No! Two boys! Slow Dancing! The bully characters couldn't handle that, and they start popping and locking at the gay boys. And so one of the boys retreats into a literal closet/school locker. But his boyfriend encourages him out, and they do a pas de deux. And so, now convinced that he shouldn't remain in the closet/locker, the boy pops and locks back at the bullies, who decide that he's alright, showing that what it takes to be accepted by the straights is to behave just like our oppressors. The day is saved. Macklemore's Same Love plays.
Basically, they told a story about how, instead of being closeted for your safety, you should come out and join your oppressors as a bully against other people. A prediction of the LGB separatist movement?
There was one year when I was involved, and a school did one about PTSD from serving in the Middle East. And my partner narrowly avoided being in one based on Rabbit Proof Fence.
We did a performance representing the seven sins, but we weren't allowed to portray lust.
One year, my school did a big cheerleading pyramid and got points docked for safety, even though nothing in the rules that said you couldn't stack untrained teenagers.
[Ours was about] the jockey Lance O’Sullivan. I played the part of “shadow dancer”, and we wore all black and danced with torches to “If at First You Don’t Succeed” by Aaliyah in pitch black. This was to artfully and sensitively portray an accident and concussion he had. DUST YOURSELF OFF AND TRY AGAIN!
I cannot remember any of the context, but I remember I was a ninja dancing to Aqua at one point.
We were eliminated for having a sex worker chorus line dancing to Hey Big Spender.
I was a Ugandan Child Soldier dancing to Eminem's Toy Soldiers
We did the story of Malala Yousafzai being shot by the Taliban. My friends and I were the Taliban...in pointe shoes...we won.

What I'm reading:

Look at what I found in an op shop. Incredible. I am reading Dirty Work like the rest of the country. It's a great read. All of the worst people in this country getting absolutely destroyed by Nicky Hagar. Beautiful stuff.

What I'm watching:

The whānau is very excited about this. We are big Parkway Drive fans.

Josh continues to make videos, somehow! He's clipping stuff from his longer video essays and it is starting to pop off on Instagram. Go give him a follow.

I'm excited to start East of Eden on Netflix. It was filmed in Tāmaki Makaurau, Ōtepoti and Ōamaru and it has Florence Pugh in it. Florence Pugh is enough of a drawcard for me.

Also, The Mummy AKA the bisexual awakening film for millennials, is now on Prime. Huzzah!

How good does this look? Two of my favourite actors Andrew Scott and Olivia Coleman.

What I'm listening to:

I finished the audiobook for Daisy Jones and The Six and I think I only enjoyed it because the voice of Daisy Jones is Bette Porter and I love her in a sexual way.

The New Yorker has put out a podcast investigating that awful surrogacy situation in the US. The Journey asks, "Why did a mysterious couple collect babies in a Los Angeles mansion? A five-part podcast series from In the Dark investigates".

I really appreciated that the podcast talks about rich men collecting children. I find it staggering that people aren't disgusted that Elon Musk is renting women so he can have 14 children. Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of Telegram, has over 100 children.

I have started Wisecrack. I'm keen to know if you've listened to it. I almost didn't want to listen because the way it's described is so glib considering two people were murdered. And you know how I feel about True Crime podcasts - but I started it and the comedian Edd Hedges is so so captivating. It’s far more serious than what I’d described below.

He left home as the chubby kid with a dream, a decade later, he’s a touring comic with a killer set. Literally. In Wisecrack, stand-up comedian Edd Hedges returns to his hometown for a charity gig, only to find himself headlining the most terrifying night of his life. What starts as a heartwarming homecoming quickly spirals into a chilling true crime tale of a downward spiral and a town shaken by murder. When TV crime producer Jodi Tovay stumbled across Edd’s comedy set, it did more than get a few laughs, it opened the door to a years-long investigation she never saw coming. Part comedy special, part true crime thriller, Wisecrack blends punchlines with plot twists in a genre-defying ride where the laughs are real and the danger is no joke.

Edd Hedges is an incredible performer and it would be weird to stumble across such a full-on story at Fringe.

It's a busy weekend for me with lots of work on. I need to make like 200 badges for Date My (Queer) Mate. I think there are a handful of tickets left if you want to go! Tickets are here.

The National march for Palestine is October 10. Three years of genocide - it's incomprehensible. If you're in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, we will be marching safely with our kids under the Tamariki 4 a Free Pali banner. Meet at Parliament at 11, and we will be marching to Te Ngākau/Civic Square.

Marches are happening across the country. Details here.

Thank you for being here at Emily Writes Weekly! I'd love to hear about your weekend plans and what you're reading, watching, and listening to! If you want to comment, please subscribe to Emily Writes Weekly. You'll get access to six years of locked content and you'll be supporting my mahi.

Arohanui, Emily