#also they are the protagonist of a podcast i have been trying to get off the ground since 2020 oTL

[narrated]

just realised a significant portion of mutuals have never met lukas so the Most Basic of rundowns

was brought up in a research facility under project nascence, a study of children demonstrating anomalous properties by the mysterious kron institute and funded by [REDACTED].

lukas was the thirteenth child, officially codenamed the bloodletter. they are able to manipulate blood, both inside and outside a body.

one of the major wildcards both due to their powers and their tendency towards depersonalization. eventually taken out of combat training after a near miss and instead put on “support” aka subduing any of the other kids if they tried to escape or otherwise try anything.

project nascence went bust when lukas was 19, conveniently right before someone figured out exactly what the purpose of the subjects was going to be. sure hope that doesn’t come up later. all the kids were put into witness protection and sent out into the world under very strict instruction never to use their powers.

lukas runs away from their foster family in maine after a few months and ends up in new york, stumbling into being a baker. they present as someone with anemia (a symptom of their powers) and hide the wounds on their arms with medical bandages near constantly. supposedly they are from a car accident.

now it would be a shame if one of the project leads mysteriously died around the time lukas got a box in the mail with a bunch of the old files wouldnt it………

also they are 6’5 :)

[darkfeanix]

I've got conflicting feelings about the new episode of Vows and Vengeance. Under the cut in case of spoilers.

On the one hand, great to finally have some real Taash content.

On the other hand, it feels like the people behind the podcast had only a passing knowledge of Dragon Age. The way the Temple of the Lost Dragon was handled felt too... religious, for starters. If it was meant to be sacred to the Qunari, I feel like it should have been tied more directly to the Qun, perhaps a site visited by Koslun or something like that? My understanding of the Qun is limited, but I actually wonder if they would even have sacred sites in the way that it seems to suggest in the discussion of it between Taash and the Qunari soldier.

Speaking of the Qunari soldier, there was at least one, maybe even two, that sounded a bit too feminine. I don't know which actor was voicing them, they listed a few for additional voices. It just broke my immersion a bit when one of the biggest things about the Qunari is their extremely restrictive gender roles. Could this soldier have been Aqun-Athlok? Sure. But that feels more like a Watsonian explanation than a Doylist one.

Really, the portrayal of the Qunari as a whole felt just... a little off. The whole "kadan" exchange... I could almost dismiss it as an intentional case of miscommunication, but it really feels like they were writing it to just mean "friend", when we know from past uses that it has a much deeper meaning than a friendly stranger.

Also, saying Taash will be hanged? It feels so un-Qunari like. Wouldn't they send her to the Tamassran to be re-programmed, or if not that, to be subjected to qamek? I feel like executing an able-bodied woman like Taash would be considered wasteful under the Qun, which feels like it ties back to the idea of the temple being "sacred".

Unrelated to any of the above, Nadia is really starting to frustrate me as a protagonist. I'm trying to interrogate those feelings, asking myself if her behaviour would annoy me as much if she were a man... and to be honest, yeah, I'm pretty sure it would. It's a really unfortunate combination of selfishness, self-pity, and angrily lashing out at everybody that is hitting all the wrong buttons for me. I get where it's all coming from, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating.

Also, this is absolutely the nitpickiest of nitpicks, but at one point Drayden asks how Taash knows the Gamordan Stormrider is female, and Taash says it's the "ridges and colouring of her spine". But it's established in lore that only female dragons can grow into high dragons, so it should go without saying that the Stormrider is female, because a male wouldn't have gotten big enough to cause the damage done to the Qunari settlement.

As I said, it was great to finally get some Taash content, and I absolutely loved Jin Maley's performance in the role, but this was probably my least favourite episode so far.

[chemicallywrit]

I’m terribly inconsistent with audio drama sunday but there are so many stand-out eps this week that i HAVE to

@eelerschoice holy HECK, what a fantastic move with a blind protagonist, taking it as an opportunity to describe the world. Malevolent does it, but i think i like the way eeler’s choice does it better. Wonderful.

My beloved Steeplechase ended this week, and what a good ending. Endings are hard, and I know Justin wasn’t super thrilled about DMing, but he did such a fantastic job. I love these old man criminals so much. If you’re looking for Balance from the adventure zone, i’m not sure that’ll ever be recaptured, but if you want a good story, please listen to Steeplechase.

I am OBSESSED with the @kingmakerpod’s synechdekey (sp? i know it’s a synecdoche reference). What a fantastic plot device. This week’s ep was, as always, lovely and hilarious.

Forgive Me! was incredible. Yeah Father Ben, you punch out that scumbag misogynist. I’m so…proud of him? Yeah, proud of him.

I have a weird relationship with Leaving Corvat, because I like it, but it’s really clear to me that it’s American horror written by a European. It maybe actually adds to the horror, because everything feels very slightly…off? You know? However, this week’s episode had me feeling for Sleeper like I never have before, like he actually wants to be a good person, and suddenly I’m much more invested in his double who is married and expecting a kid. It took a very cool turn.

I’ve been catching up with four podcasts at once, as is my wont, and I just finished up Madame Magenta: Sonos Mystica. I. Love her. She’s so good. I can’t wait to start Madame Magenta Presents.

I’ve also been listening through Fall of the House of Sunshine, and if you told me which characters would survive to season three, I don’t think i would have believed you. A dozen of the songs of this show are ending up on my spotify playlists. They’re just so. So! You know? I’m on 3.8 and I’m wondering when the next cringy gross song will happen. We’ve had too many heartfelt ones lately. This is the one i keep thinking about this week:

I also just started Gastronaut! And i didn’t know what I was expecting, but I think I’m in love? More on that another day, I expect.

For personal news, I am hype for the last few weeks of Re: Dracula, especially with the miniseries we’re planning soon. We’re halfway through recording season five of Inn Between, with recording on hold for a bit while I sort job stuff. Gotta make sure you can pay people. I’m also HYPE OUT OF MY MIND for the premier of The Dead, a zombie project I’ve been working on with Bloody FM that premiers on Halloween. Keep an eye out, i’m going to show it off all over.

Speaking of job stuff, I’m currently trying to make rent before i get my first paycheck from my new job! If you liked this or like the other things I do, i’d really appreciate a stop by my ko-fi. Get a sticker while you’re there!

Until next week!

[kavalyera]

On the Marquis de Gramont’s backstory(personal theory and own opinions)

“He[Bill Skarsgård] came to be, he goes, ‘I want to do a little bit like fucked up French like Cajun accent.’ I’m like, ‘I have no idea what that sounds like.’ Some people gave us shit a little bit because it’s not a good French accent. I’m like, ‘Guys, it’s not supposed to be French.’ Like, he wasn’t trying to be French, he’s a guy that speaks French.”

— Chad Stahelski on the Josh Horowitz Happy, Sad, Confused podcast

(“Marquis(de Gramont)” and “Vincent” used interchangeably)

I know that the Marquis has like the most fucked up accent out of all John Wick characters seen so far but this line from the director himself, Chad “would beat us up for all the shit we say on Wickblr” Stahelski is just giving me a whole lot of ideas on his backstory.

Unlike the characters seen before, Vincent [the Marquis] is one of the characters whose backstories are not explained or even touched on upon like the Adjudicator and the Harbinger. Santino for example, and I’m gonna use Santino as an example because he and Vincent share parallels— What do we know about Santino? Santino was there to help John on the night of his impossible task, establishing a connection between antagonist and protagonist in writing, Santino has a sister named Gianna, Santino’s father dies and bestows his seat to his sister instead rather than her. And then, Santino also owns a museum in New York.

But what do we know about the Marquis? Other than how he came into the Table there is literally nothing else about him. Just like the Adjudicator, there’s nothing much else to know about him or his backstory.

“Although claiming to enforce the will of the High Table, the Marquis' primary ambition is to further his own power and he only cares about the Table's rules in as much as they advantage him. When they work against him, he is happy to bend or even fully disregard them.”

— John Wicki

John Wick is like a world of high people, it’s larger than life and it’s practically a near fantasy world filled with neon fight scenes and showy places and characters.

There’s no reason as to why the High Table chose him specifically to take down John but seeing as how brutal his character is, and how much remorse he lacks towards other people underneath him shows what kind of person the High Table is looking for. And Vincent manages to cloak his violent tendencies underneath a layer of sophistication.

“The Marquis is a young man of unknown origin who has quickly climbed the ladder within the High Table doing god knows what. I always saw him as someone from the gutter that now savors the glittery suits he’s wearing. He functions as the new sheriff set out to rid the world of John Wick once and for all. John’s getting old and tired, the Marquis is offering him a way out. To be the one who finally kills the Baba Yaga would secure his status and power within the High Table.”

— Bill Skarsgård on an on-set interview

I’ve always thought of Vincent as a sort of actor knowing the movies. He’s amazing at networking, it’s one of his only skills according to the Wiki other than multilingualism. This is a personal theory of mine, so you can disagree: but I go with Bill Skarsgård’s interpretation of his character’s backstory. Well, kind of. I agree with the fact that the Marquis climbed the ladder of the ranks, but I do not think he was struggling as a child considering the House of Gramont.

Since this is my own personal opinion and theory on his backstory, I personally believe that the Marquis may have just been another person in the criminal underworld/not even considering to be an agent.

I’ve always been a fan of the idea of characters starting from the bottom and then using non-violent measures to get to the top. And to me, Vincent is a very good example of this(in this theory). But he doesn’t agree to the rules, we see this in the very last scene where Vincent takes Caine’s gun to finish John off himself— but that proves horribly for him.

Like every other antagonist against John before him, the Marquis is arrogant and prideful— probably the wealthiest character we’ve seen so far(considering we haven’t seen the High Table).

And I can see where that arrogance and pride may come from. Now with Bill’s interview, I think he did climb the ranks however I don’t think he was struggling from poverty. In my opinion, he looks to have the mindset of a guy from the upper class/upper-middle class and coming back to Santino who Vincent shares a lot of traits with, I sort of believe Vincent to mirror Santino’s a lot more than just being from poverty or just a civilian.

So, to sum it up: he’s adopted by the House of Gramont. And in the middle of it all, he may have went through something that got him interested into getting more power.

In my own headcanon, I think he has a sort of trauma that leads him into getting desperate for power. We see it on the screen, Vincent gets upset and frustrated when he’s not being seen with respect or if his ego feels threatened.

have a nice day folks!! :33

[hephaestuscrew]

🗺️✨👻 ← trying to choose ones that might give you a chance to talk about stuff you don't mention as often. but who can say.

🗺️- podcast world you’d most like to live in I feel some of my favourite podcast alternate worlds would be fun to visit but perhaps not very fun to live in e.g. Greater London in Victoriocity, Red Line in Greater Boston. And I'm still not really sure whether I'd rather live in the clean-energy fossil-fuel-free world of Wolf 359 at the cost of everything that Goddard Futuristics is getting up to. In the end, I think I'll go with the world of Monstrous Agonies - it's about the same level of fucked up as our current world, but with many communities of magical and fantastical creatures, which I think would make life more interesting even if I was still human myself. I really like the worldbuilding in that show. It's a great example of a show that uses fantasy as a metaphor for various kinds of real-world marginalisation while also explicitly including those real-world marginalised identities within the world of the story.

👻- a podcast that scares you I feel kind of bad saying this because I am not caught up with listening to it, but the first one that came to mind was The Silt Verses. Honestly it's probably because it creeps me out so successfully that I haven't gotten round to listening to the end of Season 2. Twisted saints and gods, morally ambiguous protagonists, the violence of the state and capitalism, horrifying worldbuilding presented as the accepted state of the world, the right unnerving blend of telling the listener what's going on and leaving it to the imagination from how it sounds… I should catch up with it.

✨- podcast in a different genre than what you usually listen to I initially didn't know what to say for this because I honestly have no clue what genre I usually listen to. I feel like most of my favourite shows defy simple genre categorisation in some way (which I do think is something that the podcast medium is particularly well-suited for, due to a combo of the indie approach, the less rigid audience expectations, and the ability to do weird shit in audio that wouldn't work as well in other mediums). But a show that I've been enjoying recently that's a bit different from my usual fare is Off Book: The Improvised Musical, which is what it says on the tin - each episode the hosts and usually a guest improvise a musical from scratch. It's not audio drama as such, but somehow they always seem to pull characters and a story from nowhere, and it's funny and often surprisingly moving.

[anendtopursuit]

so i just watched the season 1 finale of the last of us and i have thoughts and opinions about the discussion of joel's suicide attempt, so tw for that (and warning for my tendency to ramble):

i really, REALLY like how they handled it here. i remember there being a bit of dialogue in the game where joel implies he's attempted before - something or other about it being harder than it looks, if i remember correctly? - but i wasn't expecting it to make it to the show, and tbh i'm kinda glad that they A) included it and B) did it so differently.

maybe it's odd to be glad that a character i love so dearly has a whole scene discussing his suicide attempt - but i do think it's somewhat important to his character. joel is incredibly family-oriented; think back to "you're not her dad, but you were someone's". the podcast is constantly discussing the fatherly instincts that joel is trying to repress, in the aborted moves to comfort her and the softening of his edges when he realises she's scared. in this scene, he outright states that he attempted suicide after losing sarah - "you keep going for family," and he had very little left. establishing this part of his history helps to understand just how hopeless he was before meeting ellie, and juxtaposes the happiness of the prior scenes. he's talking to ellie the same way we saw him talk to sarah. however unintentionally, she's given him a sense of family, and by extension, a reason to live.

is that entirely healthy? no! but joel and ellie's dynamic has always been a bit codependent and unhealthy. the choice of "never let me down again" as the song closing out the first episode was very intentional - in the podcast they specifically note that joel and ellie constantly let each other down and make each other worse. their relationship is loving and familial, yes, but it will never be perfect - putting two lit fuses together doesn't remove the bomb risk.

as stated earlier, i'm also really glad they handled this scene so differently vs the throwaway dialogue used in the game. both pedro pascal and craig mazin have discussed the show's difference in characterisation for joel, how they wanted to dig beneath his traditional protagonist masculinity and find the vulnerability there - i think this scene is a great example of that. game joel, as much as i love him, is a lot more closed-off than his show counterpart, even in his more emotional moments - the dialogue he had discussing this part of his past always struck me as somewhat dismissive, like he didn't want to talk about it, whereas pedro's joel is incredibly open about it.

i can imagine that joel's characterisation may be a bit divisive for some people, but as someone who has always loved joel? i honestly think i might prefer pedro's take on the character. not just in moments like this, but throughout the whole show, he manages to balance repression with vulnerability, coldness with warmth, the ruthlessness of a survivor with the heart of someone's dad who laughs at bad puns and gets giddy over presents.

i dunno. i'm kinda rambling at this point. tl;dr: love joel, love the decisions this show made regarding his character, and cannot wait for season 2.

[spaceheelies]

i could honestly write a review that would rival an SJM novel in length about all the problems i have with her books in terms of like the problematic relationship dynamics and toxic sexuality and the built-in heteronormativity/gender essentialism of her worldbuilding (specifically the mating bond shit) all of that. but what stands out to me more and more is just the sheer amount of socioeconomic privilege that seeps through that she refuses to reflect on or challenge in any way. and i think it is only growing more apparent with each new work, especially since she does not seem to have an editor to speak of anymore or at least seems to have full creative control.

i get that a big appeal of ACoTaR is the power fantasy. the indulgence of this idea of being a poor girl plucked out obscurity and pulled into this world of magic and stunning gowns and jewelry and the most powerful men in the world, who are all breathtakingly gorgeous powerful hunks with huge dongs and out-of-control sex drives, and they are all fighting over you, and you are so beautiful and also can use a sword and have magic powers. ok fine that’s fun. but reading something like a court of silver flames, you can simply tell the woman who wrote it has never worked in a minimum wage customer service job or had a shitty 9 to 5 in her life. listening to podcast interviews with her and things like that, she obviously comes from a very privileged background and has never had to worry about money. and i don’t want to suggest that working a shitty job or being anywhere lower than upper middle class automatically makes you a better person or gives you a fundamental understanding of the universe or whatever. judging someone for having a family or support system that can help them out financially would make me a hypocrite. however - and i can’t say this 100% because i never finished throne of glass - but sjm does not seem to know how to write from the perspective of anyone but the unfathomably wealthy and powerful. any of the few attempts she does make to write about characters who are marginalized, underprivileged, or come from a background that isn’t royalty or aristocracy is shallow at best and tone-deaf at worst.

ACoTaR literally starts with feyre almost starving to death living in a tiny cabin with a disabled father and two adult sisters who have been rendered seemingly incapable of helping her out because their previous privilege left them with a) no monetizable or useful skills and b) a debilitating sense of entitlement. there is no attempt from this point on to make any kind of significant statement about the oppression of humans in this world or the effect feyre’s previous socioeconomic status had on her worldview or the value of learning a profession anything that might be interesting. she gets whisked into the faerie world and from then on enjoys pretty much unlimited wealth, power, and privilege. the disenfranchised humans she left behind all deserved to be dirt poor and subjected to horrific fae violence because they were kind of mean to her anyways. i honest to god do not believe sjm intended to have nesta and elain become major characters when she wrote the first book, until she realized she could pair them off with other hot fae men. any meaningful statement she could have used them to make is abandoned in the face of squeezing spin-off books out of them to make more money and drag out the series.

it is so baffling to me how sjm can even write a protagonist who starts, on the first page of book one, starving and nearly homeless trying to feed four mouths single-handedly. to then look at book four and have this same girl married/mated to a man who is delegating construction on their FIFTH!!!! mansion, after a war that has canonically left a good chunk of their population destitute, homeless, and bereft of their breadwinners. the most baffling action i think i have ever seen a character take in any novel is rhysand demolishing nesta’s apartment building so she cannot move back in and therefore will have to stop drinking and sleeping around. rhysand destroys people’s homes in the middle of a housing crisis just to spite his sister-in-law, and i can’t remember if we are ever given any idea as to whether or not the other tenants of the building were relocated or if he has just left them on the streets. this is the man sjm has spent thousands of pages hammering home how good of a leader he is, how selfless, how fair. we are constantly told how good he is, what a utopia velaris is, but idk how you can sit here and tell me a character demolishing an apartment building to spite one person because he thinks she spends too much money on wine, while he is simultaneously wrapping up construction on his FIFTH!!!! mansion, does not sound like the fucking villain of the series. this is our hero. this is the utopia we are supposed to want to live in. i deadass think we are supposed to root for the idea of all the courts uniting under him as like an emperor in future books. i need to go outside and touch grass fr because it like makes me physically ill how many middle to upper class white women i see on my instagram feed propping rhysand up as the perfect romantic hero, the standard that the men in their real lives should aspire to, when he is simply an overpowered, out-of-control monster.

when the series was being told from feyre’s perspective, sjm really tried to push the fact that she WAS rhysand’s equal, that she’s the first high lady in prythian’s history, that he wants her to challenge him or whatever the fuck, hash tag girl boss slay diva werk. am i supposed to believe that the girl who started out starving and nearly homeless just sits in her fifth mansion, pregnant, painting and waving at the people and doing paperwork and being constantly available for sex while her husband is out demolishing people’s homes on a whim. i could go into even more detail about how the absurd wealth and power and privilege ties into sjm’s very obvious internalized misogyny, surface-level white feminism, inability to challenge gender roles in any truly significant way, and often even enforce those gender roles, but this post is already way longer than i thought it was going to be and it is 3 in the morning i have to go to bed.

the very last thing i have to say is that it’s boring. reading thousand page books where everyone is rich, overpowered, hot, unkillable, and young forever is fucking boring. sick of this shit. where are the ugly people where are the poor people. there is no spice of life

[a1exkra1ie]

auston matthews and ginger from chicken run (connor mcdavid) for the ask meme ?

auston matthews

first impression: so, this one's kinda specific, but my first impression of him came from a fanart I saw on here. so really I didn't know much (this was before my hockey era) except, oh, the people here are really into shipping him with some other hockey guy. okay. not like I formed a lasting impression off that, but I did think his outfit was really cool, so you know, there's that. he's the first hockey guy to breach containment for me, I was not really interested at the time (this was not even a year ago 😭) but it's kinda special in that way

impression now: in general, seems like a chill guy. you know I try to perceive the leafs as little as possible but I respect him. also, cool outfits. he slays. good for him. however I DID read a fanfic which I'm pretty sure changed my brain chemistry and which starred him as the protagonist! doesn't change the way I see him, he just exists, doing his thing, except now I'm more aware of the leafs narratives. (thanks cody!)

I can't really answer any of the rest of the questions because like. I really don't know this guy. sorry reuben. you (leafs fans) can keep him. I don't wanna get dragged into another rabbit hole.

connor mcdavid

(aka, ginger from chicken run.) the fun begins.

first impression: generally thought he was kind of bland? I was like. that's just a dude. like he's good at hockey, which is fun, but he seems to have the amount of personality (and structural integrity!) of a piece of wet cardboard. so I elected to ignore him. I didn't know what was to come.

impression now: hoooooooly shit. this man occupies every single one of my thoughts and I don't even remember how it happened. genuinely. something clicked in my brain and suddenly I was obsessed with him. ofc there's something to be said about like, this anxious teen with the weight of the world on his shoulders who grew quite awkwardly into his adult frame, but like, people have already said these things. there's the insane hockey plays, of course he's amazing and all that, but idk, maybe it's the anxiety that touched me? he's so anxious and he's still going and you can tell he worked on it, it's not perfect but it's better than before? like the growth? I don't know. I kinda love him. he's quiet. a little pathetic-looking. I got no explanation for this one

favourite moment: I listened to a podcast and he was saying that he always has to remind leon of just how good he is, and he's taken it upon himself to make leon see it, and you can tell he really does care about it (beyond just the game). and it's a small moment but I'm a big fan of bros supporting bros. keep it up king 👑💪

idea for a story: so I was sorta maybe not quite writing something... which may or may not involve hanahaki disease and mcdrai. and it mostly deals in guilt (that's the good stuff) but it's actually kind of leon draisaitl centric, because he's the one with the disease and he's the one struggling to see that he is loved and he is cared for and he feels guilty for dumping this on connor and it's mostly platonic but also kind of not and well. I have like my own version of hanahaki which I did tell one (1) beloved mutual about but the document has been untouched for exactly a week now and my brain has moved onto other things, so. (if you feel like reading some hanahaki may I recommend this one, it's mceichel, I enjoyed it a lot)

favourite relationship: my most beloved mental illness. mcdrai. (which I found really flavourless like a few weeks back. character growth!) there's something to be said about the our stories are linked and our names are tied together aspect of it, and how they've found each other, and leon would find me even if I was invisible and all that. something about connor always hyping up leon to the media, because he sees so much in him, and he's waiting for other people to see it too, but in the end they never will because connor is right there and connor is the best player in the league and it's always about connor. he'll always overshadow leon by being there. connor can try, he can try to be selfless (and how can you not be when you are this good, haven't you internalised by now that it's no fun if you take the whole stage for yourself?) and maybe he would like a break from the constant attention but he won't get it. something else; they are the centre of the whole oilers team. like, and I'm not an oilers fan but I think I can say this, the team would absolutely collapse without them. no question about it. maybe they would be fine with just one or just the other but they would definitely be missing their other half. (and I could talk about how they are BOTH anxious and they are maybe each other's support, but that's for another day because I don't think people have noticed how anxious leon actually is yet.) …you could say I've had a normal amount of thoughts about these two.

favourite headcanon: I'm electing not to answer this one because as you can see from my mcdrai paragraph there are a lot of things I have extrapolated from bits of interviews, body language and the like, also maybe a bit of projecting in there. let's be honest that I'm pretending to know a man that I don't. I'm not even an oilers fan. this is all headcanon.

if anyone actually read this far. hope you had fun. sorry.

[azbookblog2023]

Lord of the Fly Fest

Lord of the Fly Fest is a YA Mystery Suspense/Thriller written by Goldy Moldavsky. The target audience for this book is Young Adults 14-18 years. 

This story follows Rafi Francisco who is looking for new material for her true crime podcast. She has her eye on a musician named River Stone whose girlfriend recently went missing. Rafi decides to spend all of her money on a ticket to Fly Fest- a music festival in the Caribbean, but when she arrives she discovers that the relaxing getaway she was expecting may not be so promising. Moreover, as she gets closer to River Stone she realizes that he might be hiding more than she suspected. 

I chose to review this book because I read Moldavsky’s other Mystery Suspense/Thriller “The Mary Shelley Club” in the summer and really enjoyed it. I was eager to read another novel by this author, and as a crime junkie myself I liked the idea of Rafi being an aspiring podcaster who is trying to solve a murder. I appreciate that Moldavsky’s main characters tend to be Latine, because it gives representation to young readers who also identify as Latine.

Evaluation: For this review, I will be evaluating Theme, Setting, and Mood.

Theme: One of the central themes of this book is society's fixation on social media and the illusion that everything that we see online is real. The second is that Rafi is on this island to investigate a murder for her podcast. However, she gets trapped on the island with influencers and a murder suspect. I thought this was an interesting approach by the author to demonstrate the lasting impact that social media has on not just everyone but young adults and what they are willing to do to maintain a following. There were so many references to modern social media with a satirical twist that became a bit overwhelming. I think it would have been interesting if the author would have created influencers that did not reflect real life celebrities. 

Setting: The majority of this story takes place on a sketchy island with spotty to no wifi. The Fyre festival that was supposed to happen on the island is now a failed festival. I really wanted to imagine the island in this book, but had a hard time doing so because the author went from describing it as "gorgeous" to an "ugly sand beach". There is a lot of satire in this book so I had a hard time differentiating what was satire and what wasn't. I think this is the main thing that interfered with the setting for me. 

Mood: I also had a hard time distinguishing the mood in this story. At first I got the sense of adventure as the protagonist spends all her money to attend this festival in search of a murderer. I then got the feeling that something was off but couldn’t quite describe the mood I was feeling as if the story shifted and they ended up on an island that wasn’t what was promised. I do feel like this book was all over the place which made it hard to follow. I think it had potential but lacked well constructed characters and plot. 

References:

Moldavsky, G. (2022). Lord of the fly fest. Faber and Faber.

[zorilleerrant]

since I see people asking which comics are good and they should give a chance to at any given time:

Spirit World - we have our beloved No Gender Only Sword main character, traumatic backstory, magic, ghosts, Constantine covered in cats while pretending he’s annoyed by it, and a promise to delve into gender issues as the story progresses. Plus Cass is most likely going to have some help exploring her mom’s culture from our friendly side characters who have rescued her!

City Boy - so we have one of those not-a-superhero heroes; he’s just trying his best to get along in a world that doesn’t offer him a lot of support. I love the structure of this one, because it’s hard to pull off, and really gets at the emotion. It’s dark-ish, but for people who’ve been craving a protagonist who wants to do the right thing and just can’t catch a break, it’s looking good. (Gotham Rat hasn’t appeared yet.)

Peacemaker Tries Hard - hilarious. Also they’re allowed to swear in it which is such a relief because I don’t know how you’d write Peacemaker without saying fuck. Bruce Wayne the Dog. Mallah and the Brain. Peacemaker’s trying his best he’s just an idiot!

Shazam! - okay it should’ve been obvious to me from their other stuff but this team is nerds. We’ve got Tawky Tawny, we’ve got a podcast, we’ve got Billy being a fan of the Adam West show! Bright, sweet, turning up the angst as we go, and very carefully written and laid out, this story is going to be a lot of fun.

For things that aren’t still on the first issue, I’ll put in recs for Tim Drake: Robin, Superman: Lost, Batgirls, Black Adam, World’s Finest, and Poison Ivy. Also, the Webtoons of Wayne Family Adventures, Zatanna and the Ripper, and Vixen: NYC are super cute and good.

[croik]

I was also really upset by the Bella lore we got in season 4. That is to say, that we learned almost nothing about her as a person, and more about how the men in her life felt about her, and the ways in which they didn't think or feel about her at all. It's one thing to realize you made a mistake and find yourself in an untenable relationship. It's another for a horror podcast to go pretty far out of its way to make it clear that the protagonist, whose wife, child, and parents have already been egregiously fridged, isn't even all that upset about her agonizing and isolated death. It was more important for Arthur that the demon in his head not judge him for wanting to leave her, than it was for him to reflect on her death. And the choice the creator made to highlight that point so emphatically does say something, I think.

(oh it got long it's under a cut)

But the overall issue for Malev and women, as I see it, was really driven home by Marie at the end of part 39. Not every story needs to be about all things or all people, I don't fault the show for not having as many female side characters as men. But it is, in my opinion, fundamentally not interested in women or their stories. They exist off screen as a motivation for men, they die off screen when they are no longer needed, or when we learn that they were never needed in the first place. Which is really obvious when at the end of the multi-part side quest of Arthur hunting and battling Scratch to save Hattie, her sister Marie only wants to talk about her son.

Her sister has been confined to her room for years. Marie was willing to kill her husband to try to save him, but she wasn't willing to kill Hattie. At long last, her sister is back, she can live the rest of her life as herself. But we don't get to meet her. There's no catharsis for that rescue, because rescuing Hattie was only ever a motive of convenience for the plot. She was never a character, and Marie's affection for her disappears entirely once there isn't a need for it. Instead we get a speech about her son (who didn't exist before that moment? I don't remember if he had come up before), and a punchline about how Marie has plans to go out for the evening.

Marie's last appearance as a character is to reinforce how much she cares about having men back in her life. Not about a woman's love for her sister. Arthur absolved himself of the sin of having loosed Scratch by... well, not defeating her in any sense, but he did get Hattie back after losing her. But he doesn't care about her as a person, and neither does the podcast itself. Malev does not care about any of its women as people.

(Hell even Noel, who was in the show for all of 2 parts, spat out his entire backstory, faced his demons and came out stronger, made friends and had catharsis, got Arthur to wail over him... Scratch was around almost the whole season and we didn't get to meet Hattie at all!)

Anyway that's my take on Malev and women. It is utterly uninterested and a lesser show for it.

And I don't want to hear "it's a one man show" ever again!!! He is part of a network now, he is hosting other podcasts run by women on his discord, he has access to the best voice actors in the business. "Only me" is a rule he imposed on himself and a choice he can make or unmake at will.

Ok wait I’m not done with this. Gender in Malevolent is driving me insane.

The way that women in the narrative are so absent, that the hole is so huge you can’t help but stare into it. And I do think a lot of the gender stuff is unintentional, it’s just that the way it’s unfolding fascinates me….

I actually stopped watching the show for a full year after episode 31…. The way Arthur talked about Bella’s death upset me in a way the other visceral horror didn’t. He didn’t resent Bella, he didn’t really…. Feel anything super deep about her. He got stuck with her, she was better than him, she was an equal to him but her life and death didn’t affect him the way every other loss in his life did. He didn’t want a wife, and in the end that’s all he saw her as….

Kind of insane how he finally shows some sort of emotion for Bella in the name of mutual rebellion, she didn’t like what her dad stood for either. Arthur thought he was making a sacrifice for her and Faroe by marrying her…. But she didn’t want it either. Arthur was honour bound she was actually literally trapped. She made the sacrifice.

Everything about Bella makes me so mad. I hateeee the dead wife trope. I feel like a type of subversion was attempted but idk. When I think of this situation from her perspective it becomes a much scarier horror podcast, lol. We all know Arthur Lester is a mess, his flaws make the show. But for this one. Arty when I get u…

I actually thought Bella was gonna turn out to be a figure like Anna Stanzyck when I first started listening. Idk how to elaborate.

[kevin--of-desert-bluffs]

What the heck happened to Kevin?

EDIT: newer version with updated info here!

-straps you in against your will- (it's long and I'm not sorry lol)

tl;dr: Kevin isn't an purely evil antagonist (at least not the entire way through the show). He did found the religion surrounding a Smiling God but no longer controls the version of it in NV. He did not found Strex. Strex did use the religion to control people and Kevin had some importance because of his standing. Kevin lies to us and himself but his tone and other things betray the truth. Charles might be good for him actually because of this??? More Kevin please.

WTNV is a great podcast because it highlights a truth about stories that people forget: protagonist just means 'the person whose point of view the story is in' and not 'the good guy'. Nor does having a protagonist who is good necessitate a continuous and obvious antagonist.

When Kevin is our protagonist we get the same unreliability we get with Cecil, but Kevin's brainwashing is overt and obvious whilst Cecil's is a subtle result of his upbringing in a conservative place like NV.

So just who is Kevin of Desert Bluffs? What are his ties to Strex? Ep.73 gives us the context we were terribly lacking during the Strex Arc.

Ep.73 - Past Kevin: “Strexcorp? That faux-friendly big business corporate monster? Don’t talk to me about them. Strexcorp is the worst. […] I actually tried to stop them from buying it! I tried very hard. I put my own body, this fragile thing, in between the Strex representatives and the entrance to the building but they forced their way past me using ethically brutal methods that left me forever physically changed."

Future Kevin: "Oh, what StrexCorp and their Smiling God did to my wonderful little town. What they did to me. I’m not myself anymore. I’m a smile, and a twitch of the wrist. It has been years, Cecil. I’ve drifted away from myself. Sometimes I am one me, and then again I am the other. What they did to the sentient heat trapped temporarily in my body."

In this episode, a Kevin before Strex has any power in my opinion doesn't have any reason to lie to Cecil about his involvement in Strex, unreliable narrator or no. He also emotes differently in the further-past, having a genuine flare of annoyance at the mention of Strex. He simply does not talk like this at all later on when Strex is in power. Something changed. And if he were lying about hating Strex to stay on Cecil's good side, why mention this? -

Ep. 73 Past Kevin: [...]You know they’ve been trying to buy the radio station? Can you imagine how awful that would be? They’d probably try to take me off the air, and replace me with someone else. Or, worse, try to change my personality completely. Oh! I would never let that happen[...]"

That is...basically what seems to have happened to him. In his 'present' form (which is really more of a recent past version of himself) during this episode when Cecil talks about Night Vale and Strex, Kevin happily talks about Strex despite Cecil again clearly not being happy about it. He shows no need to side with Cecil's opinion here because he's under Strex himself now.

As an aside, Kevin also states he's never heard of NV in the further-past whilst his recent-past self during that episode and his first appearances in the Strex Arc do know what NV is but has never been there. This is either an oversight by writers or a different Kevin or he just genuinely hadn't heard of NV then.

In the future, he once more speaks of how awful Strex was when they hurt his town and once more, in my opinion, has no reason to deny his involvement especially when he's been isolated for years and is clearly depressed and miserable and has nothing to lose.

Also, with dubious-canon, there is this from a patreon listener questions session:

Kevin:  “So I smile over and over until the version of me in the mirror stops smiling along and starts looking scared and exhausted and then sits on the edge of the tub, muttering about the life he used to have before Strex got a hold of him.”

Which could be like, a literal alternate Kevin he can see through a mirror or just Kevin pretending it's just a mirror version of himself whilst it's actually him feeling negative emotions/effects of trauma he doesn't want to admit having.

And during the podcast, there are hints that something terrible did happen in DB which could have been Strex's takeover and which Kevin (by his tone more than his words) has been negatively affected by. For the life in me I cannot remember the exact episodes to quote it, but I think they're early episodes. The gist is that he mentions an 'incident' that 'some of them never woke up from again' during which Intern Vanessa died.

All of this evidence cannot be ignored. We can say with some certainty that the Kevin we hear the most from started out as a man who was ordinary by whatever ordinary in DB ever was, and was taken in and changed by Strex.

It also can't be ignored that later episodes and It Devours! increase Kevin's involvement in both Strex and the worship of the Smiling God, at least in theory.

But some of it just never sits right with me. In particular, this quote:

Ep. 137: “The mayor and I have been close for a long time. We’ve had our ups and downs, but I think our more difficult times were back when we used to run a company together. We had some typical disagreements over who was in charge. She thought because she was the president of the company, she should have final say on all decisions. Whereas I knew that I was one of the Smiling God’s chosen prophets, and our all-loving devourer would not choose a prophet who made mistakes.”

There's...inconsistency here that I can't ignore. Lauren was promoted from executive to vice-president as of episode 49. She was never promoted to president in our timeline. Also, Kevin only states that he should have more power than her because of his Smiling God connections, not because he was actually important in the company.

But did that hold merit, or did it only hold merit to him? Lauren is not in agreement during these later All Smiles' Eve to Mudstone Abyss episodes. And why not? Just because Strex was using the Joyous Congregation to help control DB (theocracy and capitalism do go hand in hand!) doesn't mean that Kevin had any real power BUT it may have led him into thinking he did. If he really did i.e. was Strex's founder or something and they were really fighting about it, he could easily have demoted or fired her. It wouldn't have been difficult.

Strex does not mind 'disappearing people' when necessary and there's no reason we can see for Kevin to have special affection for Lauren. They have a tumultuous relationship at best. If she had no power over him, he would have always treated her with the same disposability and control he does when he runs Desert Bluffs Too.

It Devours! ch 8: “You see, our prophet Kevin found an old oak door[...]"

We never really get to see how Kevin reacted to being in the desert otherworld after Old Oak Doors. But I theorise the reason he was able to start building so fast was because he had, genuinely, already been there and brought back a religion revolving around a Smiling God with him. (The book is new though, he's been in the desert otherworld ten or more years compared to NV time which is plenty of time to write it and get it sent back).

And what about the religion surrounding a Smiling God?

The nature of the Smiling God and what it is is...difficult. Kevin mentions in All Smiles' Eve and the Mudstone Abyss that the religion has been around since he was a child. He says he's celebrated All Smiles' with his family, and that he's dreamed of creating the MSA since being little. If we're taking this as truth, then if Kevin founded the religion he founded it as a child. Or he's lying. Again.

But also there isn't just one Smiling God. It's always referred to as a Smiling God (in the podcast at least), not the. Dana sees a Smiling God which is just a vast light and it's this which is dangerously trying to get into NV through the Old Oak Doors. But also, Kevin writes about a giant centipede as if it were a Smiling God (the movements of such a creature is also observed by either Dana or Carlos, I forgot I'm sorry ;; ) but only Pastor Munn/Gordon know about Kevin's book on the centipede and believe in that version of a Smiling God.

It was genuinely not known by other congregation members, even those like Darryl who grew up with the religion and members who lived in NV previously. Kevin also once said that a Smiling God has teeth and a tongue, which neither a centipede nor a light have. Congregation members also question whether Huntokar is a Smiling God and softly admit they're not sure what a Smiling God is.

It Devours! shows us a differing interpretation of their religion from the side of Darryl and other 'ordinary' congregation members and those actually running/leading it and deciding what the regular members are and aren't allowed to know. It's clear that it's very much like a cult at that point. But was it always? The Joyous Congregation exists happily without Kevin there to guide it and even after learning the weirder and more negative aspects of it they choose which version they like the best and follow that instead. Could the religion had also started out differently? Different ideals? Different ideas of what a Smiling God was? What did Strex influence in it, if at all? Is the version followed by NV citizens before any DB interference different too?

Kevin definitely hides things to show everyone (even himself) only the best things. (That's why Charles' has the potential to be really good for him, I get that now lol). But I don't get the vibes of 'mastermind perfectly in control of himself' from the man who was too brutally honest about his hatred of pasta salad and said this:

ep. 73 'recent past' Kevin: "I remember being a real grumpster, just a grouch and a half about everything! [...] But Strex bought out my radio station, and everything changed for the better. [...] Once Strex entered my life and showed me the power of the Smiling God, why, nothing was the same for me ever again! I felt so much happier. I did terrible things. I felt so much happier! I tore and bit and growled…I felt so incredibly happy! My skin rent, blood drops on the ceiling, someone’s throat in my hand! So deliriously happy!"

And he sounds a bit delirious whilst recounting this. Kevin's tone only ever changes when experiencing something genuine and that is not often.

So what do I think? I think that WTNV is written as socio-political commentary and Kevin reflects that. He is made to represent the influences a theocratic-capitalist society has on a person. He is made to be complex, and not just 'simply evil'.

Maybe there are many Kevin's we are hearing from even when we aren't made aware of such (but this feels like a cop out) and thus many Strex's and many religions surrounding a Smiling God.

But most likely:

DB was a mirror or close enough of NV. Kevin and Cecil were very similar pre-Strex. Strex was directly established in DB. Kevin spent some time in the Desert Otherworld and either discovered people there who already worshipped/observed the vast light which is a Smiling God which exists there or founded such a group of people based on others already lost there (evidence is found by Dana of there once being a civilisation doing such worship in the desert otherworld).

He brought that knowledge back with him and despite it being incomplete/not very solid/based mostly on his own interpretations, the religion really took off in DB and either dripped a bit to NV or the NV version is what created the otherworld version when some of them got lost in the dog park and ended up there. Anyway, Kevin becomes pretty important because of this.

Strex adopted that religion, changing it to suit them as they saw fit and even adopting it's triangle symbolism into their company logo, and used it to gain more power over DB and it's citizens so they could take total control (they also canonically invented control collars...).

Strex beat down and brainwashed Kevin but kept him in his job because people already looked to him as a prophet of a Smiling God. It works like this for years, with belief in a Smiling God becoming a mandatory part of the StrexCorp regime and Kevin himself still having some influence over it. He incorrectly believed this gave him power over StrexCorp and it's employees too. He would fight with Lauren about this and she was actually the one in the right hence why she never gets reprimanded, but also why she can't get rid of Kevin without destabilising the control they have.

The Strex Arc for NV happens. Kevin is returned to the desert otherworld and does research on a giant creature he sees there and mistakes(?) it for a different form of a Smiling God. He finds a way to send this book back, and since time works differently in NV (i.e. many years have passed in the desert otherworld but not in NV) the book looks 'old-ish'. Pastor Munn only shared the book with Gordon and they change the religion subtly based on what they gleam from it. This may or may not have been Kevin's intention as it seems more like general notes or even scientific research (gasp!) than any kind of dogma.

Kevin continues to believe and insist on his own version of events, maybe even to help him through his trauma, and eventually gets to live out his fantasy of control by running Desert Bluffs Too. He has a small religious crisis during this time (canon, mentioned during the All Smiles'-Mudstone Abyss arc), likely because neither the vast light nor the centipede he assigned a Smiling God nor any other version he imaged seems to be in the desert otherworld any more. Charles enters the picture and starts to challenge Kevin's perceptions of his own importance, what is correct emotional regulation and what his religion might actually mean. He has all but forgotten Strex at this time, but is unable or unwilling to look back on those times as completely negative especially because his religion (which he very well likely founded) became so linked with the company.

More Kevin please.

[wifegideonnav]

ok so while I’m ranting about darkest night I might as well tell you about the best episode, aka the pinnacle achievement of podcasting worldwide.

season 3 episode 3. “elephant club.” oh boy.

at this point lee pace had already left as narrator, which definitely counts against it, but I’m also glad he was spared this indignity. by the way yes this podcast, the conceit of which is that the meta-protagonist extracts the last memories out of corpses by removing and processing their eyeballs (the most relevant sense organ to podcasting), THIS podcast has a NARRATOR. for the extracted MEMORIES. and no the narrator literally adds nothing. if the creators had been good writers they could’ve just written the exposition and action into the dialogue. alas.

moving on. first of all. ok. first of all the actual story part opens with the lines:

- “I am so ready to get fucked”

- “same, man, both physically and mentally”

and yes that is the exactly how natural all of the dialogue in this show is. so obviously a great start.

basically, the story follows the two douchiest, most stereotyped frat bros tee em as they go to this new club that they received a mysterious invitation to. they give the password (…tusk…) and head inside. and yes, the club is elephant themed and everyone except our guys are wearing some kind of elephant gear. the dudes (they have names but who cares) immediately decide to get shwasted and finger some clitori (“that’s clitoris, but more than one.” yes that line is in the actual podcast).

anyway, blah blah blah, one of them heard on 4chan (lol) that there’s an even crazier secret basement level. meanwhile, a hot babe named zelda comes up to them and talks to them, teasing them about the lower level and telling them that it’s too dangerous for them to go down there, they should really spend a few weeks just in the upper level first. finally she gives them the password (…trunk…) and sends them off with more heavy handed foreshadowing about how it was “too much” for her down there.

they head into a spooooky silent, dark basement with a single doorway at the end of a long hall. they head through the door, where they find a bunch of people encircling a fucking. elephant. they indecisively stand in the doorway making comments about the womens bodies and trying to make themselves believe that it’s about to be an orgy when suddenly the main hot lady starts using her gnarly ass knife to stab her fellow worshipers. lmao.

the lady finally acknowledges our dudes, who try to make their excuses and leave but the lady explains that they have been chosen by the elephant to be sacrificed for the cults protection during the coming year. the guys are dragged into the circle.

and. well. i could say “our guys are then fed to the elephant” but that does not convey the actual experience. the disgusting flesh sound effects. the music. the insanely over dramatic narration. the way the FUCKING guys are going “BRO… NOOOOO…” the entire time. the way one threatens to expose the cult to his 47 followers. the way that, oh yeah, all of this is happening binaurally.

basically, i cannot do this piece justice. please just go listen to it yourself omfg. 

[felrend]

Thoughts on Aloy

I rolled credits on Horizon two days ago and have had some time to think about the over all story and game play for the sequel. It’s been interesting reading other people’s thoughts and opinions and how different a lot of them are from my own. Even one of my favourite gaming podcasts are utterly different and they didn’t pick up a lot of story beats that I did. Maybe because they game lined the story and didn’t focus on every single side quest and talked at length to your companions like I did. Horizon Forbidden West has exceeded my expectations and improved a lot of things from the first game. It also dropped the ball on a couple of things but it didn’t ruin the experience for me. And HFW is 100% my game of the year. The story was captivating and left me begging for more  but also dropped a lot of lore and twists that I never thought I would see coming.

I’m going to break my thoughts down by categories and yes, this may be a long read and I’m sorry! Lol

First we gotta talk about Aloy and the growth that she has gone through from beginning to end. Aloy has the literal weight of the world on her shoulders and isn’t afraid to bulldoze her way through people to get to the results she needs. She can be harsh and doesn’t put other people’s feelings or beliefs into consideration when trying to get things done. And yes, Aloy can be cold and stand offish when people like Erend and Varl reach out. She doesn’t know how to people or to rely on any one. There’s probably some fear mixed in with being rejected if she opens up and shares her world. Especially the realization that she wasn’t born but made. You see that struggle in the beginning when she initially gives Varl the focus and has to answer his questions. It’s her brushing it off and shying away before moving on to the next thing. But Varl pushes her, makes her realize that she can’t do this alone or she’ll either fail or die trying. Varl was that spark that Aloy needed. He didn’t give up on her and followed her to the bitter end. Even calling her out on running off. You also see the pain her actions have caused and her not realizing that leaving after Meridian would be such a big deal. She’s not comfortable in group settings or being praised. She literally did not have that growing up. She had rocks thrown at her and adults brushing the other kids away from her. Of course she’s going to be socially awkward and anxious. As the story goes on though, you see her compassion and love of the world around her. The side quests are the perfect example of her warmth. Aloy is kind and understanding when dealing with the side characters, being stern when needed but also showing that not all hope is lost.

She also discovers patience when dealing with Beta and watching her unwrap those feelings for her sister is really powerful. I knew the two of them would have their “blow up” moment and I wish there was more to it. I wanted them to storm off after the fight and then come together when Aloy realizes that she is also putting pressure on Beta for not being Elisabet. I did the quest with Delah and Boomer at Hidden Ember and thought I did it at the perfect time story wise. If you haven’t played it, Boom or Bust, then I highly recommend. You should also visit them at Chainscrape when you first start playing. Because you get a great weapon that I kept in my weapon wheel for a majority of the game. 

Aloy is a complex character that is still growing and developing. Which is why it bothers me that people are being so harsh about her personality and characterization. She’s not your cookie cutter protagonist. And I appreciate that Guerilla Games is taking their time with developing her. Aloy has a lot of trauma to unpacked and rushing that would do her a disservice. We see the woman that she is becoming and the fact that she is going to pave her own path rather than trying to live up to her mother’s standards is a beautiful thing. Also being able to take the time to mourn Rost and realizing the importance of his presence in her life was such a key moment for her. Has she fully mourned him? No, but it’s leaps and bounds ahead of where she was at the start of the game. And if it wasn’t for Varl, who knows if we would have gotten that.

It also upsets me that people are letting the fact that there is no “ship” ruin the experience for themselves. Or that their desired love interest was “taken away”. Does Aloy need a love romance? No. Is it something that she deserves as an ending? Possibly. But I’m also a big Erend fan and their relationship seems to be cannon or at least growing in that direction. So please take that criticism with a grain of salt. I do understand being upset with some of the writing choices for certain characters. And I’ll get to that soon. But this story deserves the chance to be played and explored. So keep going. It might not be right in your face, but I picked up on a few moments that shows the door isn’t closed.

This post is already going pretty long. So I’m going to cut it short here for now and delve deeper into each character. Because there are a few that have been introduced that deserve so much more love!

[hydrangeadragon]

oh cool!

Last Song: Hold Me Like a Grudge by Fall Out Boy

Currently Watching: Alone. The new season is out on netflix now! 10 survivalists are out on the wilderness completely separated from each other and whoever survives the longest without tapping out or becoming unable to continue wins. It’s really cool, but they’re always panicking about getting more food so watching it makes me hungry.

Currently listening to: Barbie the Album. It’s so good. “I’m Just Ken” has been stuck in my head on and off for the last five days.

Currently Reading: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik (Young wizards spend their teenage years in a pocket dimension school because monsters try to eat them when they’re teenagers. They still have to walk in pairs anywhere though because creatures are always slipping in through the air vents to Eat Them. The protagonist is prophesied to be an evil witch that will one day destroy all of wizard society, and she can only really cast spells of mass destruction, making dealing with the small monsters that manage to crawl into her dorm room very difficult. A really fun read so far!)

Current Obsession: The Malevolent Podcast. I try to keep all of my posts about that on a side blog though :3. Literally just listen to the first five minutes and you will be as hooked as I am. A 1930′s private investigator gets his eyes possessed by a demon, and things snowball from there. also, since it’s in an audio format, having the protagonist be unable to see (demonic possession) makes having the scenery explained way more seamless.

Tagging: @moonshroooms ​ @emma-the-second ​ @raining13 ​ @lowkeydivine ​ @poweroffman ​ @amalia2103 ​ and anyone else who wants to

Since tagged independently by @chrisoels and @notasapleasure I can't delay it any longer:

Tag nine (9) people you'd like to know better!

Last song: Nadzieja ma kolor zielony [Hope's colour is green] by Gawęda

Currently watching: this and that, nothing in particular... If anything it's usually one of my favorite YouTube series (either Koszmarne Horrory or Cinema Therapy). Yesterday I watched the latest Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 🥰

Currently listening: Opowiem ci o lwie [I'll tell you about a lion] by Gawęda (those are children's songs from 1970's)

Currently reading: just finished Droga na wschód [Journey to the east] by Piotr Kulczyna (relation of father and son travelling together through Syberia, Mongolia and Caucasus. Chapter about Georgia was disappointingly short😑 But the sense of adventure was great anyway)

Currently obsession: nah, no obsession this time! trying to gather all those fucking lyrics and Google-Translate them knowing right from the start it will be sooo fucked up🤦 but somebody have to do it... for nobody's else satisfaction but my own... Yep, this sounds like obsession alright

Tagging: @imaginatorofthings , @kayrielwrites , @figuringthengsout , @adoraboy , @tamisdava2 , @obludanat , @sweaterreptile , @thesnackthatneversmilesback , @the-fatal-impact

[souvenirsofsurgery]

Fiction Podcast Recommendations

Because this is the only media I consume anymore. Let’s get the big ones out of the way first!

1. Welcome to Night Vale

The OG. This was the first podcast I really got into and I am very sentimental about it. It’s the funniest and most uplifting piece of horror media I’ve ever found, and I love it for that. And I’m obsessed with the weird worldbuilding, the atmosphere is absolutely perfect. Also, gay main character, which I pretty much require at this point. 

It can take a minute to get into if you really want some plot, but I promise some plot is coming.

2. The Magnus Archives

This is a great horror anthology that also ends up having a really interesting overarching plot. I’m warning you right off that bat that it is a tragedy, though, and we’re all anticipating being absolutely crushed when it ends. But! Canonically biromantic asexual main character, which we love.

Similar to Welcome to Night Vale, you’re going to have to be a little patient if you really wanna get to that plot, but it’ll get there. 

3. The Adventure Zone

One of my absolute favorites. It’s a D&D podcast, but no D&D knowledge is required to enjoy it (I didn’t play D&D when I first started listening). It’s funny and endearing, and also has made me sob so hard that my family thought something was wrong with me. I still think about the ending of the Balance arc, because I’ve never found an ending in any other piece of media that is so emotional and satisfying. 

And as far as representation goes, the first arc has a gay main character, second arc has a bi woman main character, and third arc has a main character who is technically asexual, although that hasn’t been confirmed in canon at this point. Also plenty of LGBTQ+ side characters, including a trans woman (Lup I have a crush on you <3) in the first arc and a nonbinary person in the second. 

4. The Penumbra Podcast

Welcome to the queerest thing I have ever seen in my life. Just straight up no cishets around, it’s beautiful. 

This one actually has two separate storylines. The Juno Steel one is about a private eye on Mars, and the Second Citadel is sort of an ensemble story in a fantasy setting, and I would highly recommend both of them. Like would you like to hear a noir inspired story set in space with a nonbinary bisexual detective protagonist and a homme fatale criminal love interest? You absolutely would. Or would you like to hear about a knight who is sworn to hunt monsters having an existential crisis because he’s having some feelings about a monster he just had a homoerotic sword fight with? Obviously you would. Listen to this podcast.

Anyway! Let’s get into some of the smaller podcasts! 

5. Death by Dying

This one is so much fun. Love the weird vibes of this creepy little town. We’ve got an obituary writer who just doesn’t even seem to realize how bizarre all the deaths he’s writing about are, I’m obsessed with it. As soon as he started reading out the condolences and they were just in-universe ads I lost it, that’s so funny to me and I immediately knew I was going to love this podcast. 

6. Kaleidotrope 

Fanfiction gays, this one is for you. Here is a college that is said to be magic, where everyone will find their romantic trope and fall in love. The main characters are running a college radio show together, with one of them believing in this magic absolutely and the other being very skeptical. Will they fall in love? :)))))))

This one is so cheesy, and it’s very small so the audio is pretty scuffed, but it’s so sweet and I love it. Both of the main characters are queer and one of them is nonbinary.

7. Brimstone Valley Mall

I’m obsessed with this podcast! Nobody is talking about it and I’m obsessed with it! It’s demons working in a mall in the 90s, who also have a band together. Wtf I love that. One of the main characters is gay, and another one is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. Please listen to this podcast, I want it to get more popular so badly. 

8. The Strange Case of Starship Iris

This one is so sweet and I love it so much. Gay space criminals? That’s everything I love. It also just has so much heart, I want to cry. There’s a bisexual woman main character, another WLW main character, a trans man main character, and a nonbinary main character (who, yes, is an alien, but I will let it slide because there is also a nonbinary human side character). 

9. Alice Isn’t Dead

The vibes are impeccable. I listened to a lot of this one while I was on a road trip by myself in rural America, and that is the ideal experience. This is about a woman trucking across America looking for her missing wife. It’s so quietly creepy, and I’ve got a thing for weird Americana. And there are lesbians too, so. 

Also, the main character dealing with her anxiety was something that was actually really important to me. I really liked hearing about someone who didn’t “cure” her mental health problems, but grew and learned to manage them better. It was just a very important story to me, and I still think about her all the time.

10. CARAVAN

Every single person involved with making this needs to go to horny jail. I am so serious. You will hear an extended conversation about how, like all of these characters are monster fuckers, and also very audibly hear two characters have sex. So, you know, you’ve been warned.

But, all that aside, this one is about a man who accidentally ends up in this weird hell world, and has to try to figure out how to get back home. It’s really fun, but also gets pretty heavy towards the end. Definitely read the content warnings ahead of time. 

This one’s also queer, obviously, with a bisexual man as the main character and some queer side characters (Including Virgil who I do have a crush on. The morally dubious enbies just get me.)