#but still. i've listened to most of the podcast multiple times

[snaggletoothedbastard]

i did this a while ago and now i'm redoing it from a new perspective

rating the tma fears on how likely i am to serve them

(not how much they scare me but how much i vibe with them)

the eye

i do like to Know Things

the idea of knowing Everything about someone though......and the idea of someone knowing Everything about me........nahh i could not handle that shit

telepathy sounds appealing because i very rarely understand people and i'm always paranoid about the idea of being lied to HOWEVER i would feel way too guilty about invading people's privacy

plus all that Knowledge sounds overwhelming

3/10

the stranger

the stranger has a weird thing about skin

i hate skin it's gross and uncomfortable (i have eczema and sensory issues <3)

i find the uncanny valley rather terrifying but i also feel like i exist in the uncanny valley because i'm autistic and regularly feel like a Thing pretending to be a person so i do kinda vibe with that

i think i'd get on well with the anatomy students honestly

6/10

the corruption

going back to the subject of skin, jane prentiss' statement fucks me up because the whole thing about itching is Too Relatable

eczema genuinely feels like there's something crawling around under my skin sometimes

i don't really vibe with bugs though

i do want to be consumed by what loves me

5/10

the desolation

honestly this seems like one of the most fun fears

you just set fire to things

watching things burn is strangely satisfying

the cult of the lightless flame are fucking pretentious though, i wouldn't join them

8/10

the hunt

i hate being chased and i hate chasing things

i do like to bite things though

1/10

the vast

this is the most chill fear i think

but i don't think i would get yoinked by it because i don't do much stuff that involves heights

and when i do i don't particularly enjoy it

it's not my biggest fear though.......i'm kind of indifferent to be honest

1/10

the dark

i am scared shitless of the dark

i have visual snow and sometimes it makes me see shapes in the dark and that freaks me the fuck out

i am an adult and i still sleep with a nightlight fuck you

1/10

the lonely

the lonely fucks me up especially right now because i'm currently in a state of self-loathing and feeling like i'm too different from everyone to connect to them and that is a very lonely feeling and i despise it

peter lukas can get fucked

i want this fear to stay the fuck away from me and i would actively avoid it if it was real but i'm so messed up at the moment that it might overpower me

4/10

the slaughter

i often want to fight someone but no-one will fight me because i'm small and weak and i have sensory issues and i will scream if someone touches my shoulders

i think i like the idea of fighting because i love deep pressure so if i was wrestling someone and they just like pinned me down i would probably be fine with that

and i know getting stabbed or cut or shot would hurt like hell but there's something weirdly enticing about it.........jesus christ i'm not okay

i am also unfortunately not very good at managing anger. i'm getting better but it's still hard. i tend to become self-destructive when i'm angry rather than other-people-destructive

7/10

the extinction

nope

1/10

the end

i still fear death

i fear other people's deaths more than my own

especially because my best friend has been slapped in the face by his own mortality several times and sometimes jokes about it and every time he does i'm just like "dude please don't die"

my obsession with skeletons and being a skeleton has helped me feel more calm about death though because when i die and my flesh decomposes i'll be a skeleton and that's what i want

2/10

the flesh

please let me fuck up my body with no consequences pleeeease

if i can't be a skeleton i want to be the most disturbing creature imaginable

i mean the idea of being bred for meat is obviously terrifying

but the Vibes.......this fear could have been so good for exploring gender and disability and i'm a little sad they didn't do that but i still like it

9/10

the spiral

i am not a who, archivist, i am a what

i'm already insane, the spiral would just make the insanity sexy

i'm not a very good liar but no-one's perfect

i am incomprehensible and mentally unwell and if the spiral takes away the ability to feel shame about that then sign me the fuck up

10/10

the web

i could manipulate people if i really wanted to

i say, having never actually tried

i'm not a fan of spiders

i am a control freak but i generally just like to be in control of myself, like i hate being told what to do but i also hate telling other people what to do y'know?

4/10

[halo-chainsaw]

Shut up i'm talking patreon only 7$!!!!!

The patreon podcast is out, and I have just finished listening to it!

I decided to write down some notes for those who are interested but do not have the patreon. It's a long one, but I picked out what I thought would be important + silly moments here n there

Podcast is recorded the morning of Dream's video (I'm sorry but not to Tommyinnit)

Tommy called his mom about the situation first, discussing about how it was awful (pre reddit post)

Harry wrote the "you can call me anything but do not call me poor" LOL

Tommy didn't watch the dream stream but read a synopsis, and he said that was enough

He's spoken to Dream privately several times (starting 2023), all his friends told him that dream was taking advantage of him, but he wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt

He has told dream to change how he acts, and dream has refused. Has had conversations like this multiple times.

Told dream in a conversation he was no longer speaking to him and was no longer talking to him after he talked to his mom. Was previously ignoring him but blocked him outright.

After his dream v quackity sketch dream sent him awful and mean messages.

Jack and Tommy are pissed off about people saying to "resolve it privately". They have tried multiple times to solve things privately, but Dream will take things public.

Jack had a 2 hour long call with dream on jack's DADS BIRTHDAY??? and it was about why he didn't like dream, and about dream's allegations.

the "Jack mentions Dream" account bothers Jack since its a bunch of indirect things, and him responding to messages rather than him just bringing Dream up.

Dream says Jack spreads rumors about him.

Jack does not think dream is a p*dophile, but he finds the situation(s) he was in wildly inappropriate.

Dream showed everyone his evidence against the grooming allegations in the DreamSMP discord. Jack said he told Dream it weirded him out, because either way, he was still messaging a fan, and it pissed Dream off.

Jack flat out calls Dream "stupid".

He's very pissed about the "unfaithful" rumor, and he's very vocal about it for a minute.

Jack reiterates the editor story with the 50 quid

They point out how the Dream ignores the George and Caiti situation, along with clipping Tubbo out of context.

"I can't believe he thought he could win by just lying. Especially when you've got a reputation of lying." -Jack (paraphrased/two different sentences put together)

Tommy says the video were for him, not everyone else. Makes a jab about Dream unable to use media literacy.

Tommy says Dream knows what he's talking about when he refers to misogyny. That there's so much more behind the scenes, that it's miserable.

Tommy says he doesn't want to do any of this anymore, that it's pointless. He says Youtube doesn't make him happy, that he doesn't fit in, and he wants to be done. He will still be posting to Youtube because he loves making videos, but he doesn't want to be part of the Youtube sphere/culture. He wants to be a proper comedian.

"I might as well go down sayin' what I fuckin' mean." -Tommy

brings up the "putting others down", Tommy reiterates how he's been very kind/warm to everyone, but if someone famous is being an asshole he's gonna make a joke about it. "That's what I've done with Logan, done to you, and what I'm going to continue to do."

Tommy calls him one of the most self indulgent and exhausting people he's ever met.

Brings up Dream calling him the internet police, he says that he's just sick of the bullshit. "When I see it, say it."

Tommy reiterates he can't do this much longer, that it's all pointless. Dream is just doing what he's been doing for years. He is not proud of dream and he doesn't respect him. Tells him straight to "Fuck off".

Tommy would talk to Jack, unsure if what was happening with Dream was odd/bad or not. He's a little relieved that it's in the public eye now.

Jack talks about how everyone on the server is talking against him, that no one is defending him. They've all known he's awful.

Tommy says he felt close to Dream, so he struggled with seeing the bad actions he had done. He felt skewed/manipulated.

Tommy tells a story about back when he was 14, he would annoy people in Hypixel by lobby spamming. One day he heads into a streamer's chat that he looked up to and said hello. the streamer, who was about 20 at the time, tore into him, calling him the R slur and many other horrible things. He said he felt heartbroken and shaken up. "Shit like this just happens along the way, and it's miserable, but like- for me, I just keep remindin' myself "this isn't the first time I've done this"."

Jack tried to make his disassociation as public as possible, he had told Dream to his face (during the allegations) in the DreamSMP discord that he did not want to be associated with him anymore.

Talks about how people still group DreamSMP members with Dream, and how they think every member is bad due to Dream's actions, and he's tired of it.

He doesn't like how public everything is, but he's glad people can finally see that they don't like Dream.

Tommy, from now on, is telling everyone how he feels. He's going to be blatant. (if that's what i understood from a comment he made)

Jack is still shocked that Dream chose that moment of all things to jump in. They have made comments here and there but Dream never said anything.

Jack talks about a part in his stream where he says something along the lines of "I'd understand this type of outburst if we had been bullying im for weeks and weeks. But we haven't been. Nor would that make it okay." And then someone on twitter said "Jack just admitted that they'd been bullying Dream non stop for weeks and he's proud of it!!!!" Jack says he can't believe people's ability to misinterpret.

Tommy saw Tubbo dissecting Dream's stream for 7 hours and knew that was the point it was becoming ridiculous.

Jack blatantly calls out how Dream uses manipulation tactics in how he speaks to the public. Tommy calls it painful for him to watch because it's what Dream had done to him and others in private.

Jack goes back to Dream's stream, talking about their phone call together, about how it was disingenuous and weird to bring up publicly. He says there are things he can't talk about publicly that formed his opinion.

"I just think he's like an impossibly self-indulgent, selfish man, who thinks everyone's on his own time." -Tommy

Jack thought Dream was purposefully being negligent in the way he would speak, and while he still is, he is seeing that a lot of it also comes from Dream not being able to pick up on social cues and norms. Though, he also reiterates that it doesn't excuse his awful behavior.

"I don't get how he can't listen to anyone else." -Tommy

Both of them have talked to Dream multiple times about how he acts and he never listens. Not even just them, they say "We all have really tried", which implies more members of the SMP or other personal friends.

"He doesn't seem to feel very much empathy for the pain he's caused, and if I was in his shoes- I don't know where his guilt is." -Tommy

They talk about his inability to apologize and how they can't understand it. Tommy gets a little heated. Dream has given them empty apologies and goes to do the same things again. They talk about how he doubles down over and over until no one sides with him, that's when he apologizes.

Jack calls Dream dismissive, and how its obvious that he doesn't care.

Tommy implores the audience to not imagine these dramas as Youtubers doing it, but to imagine their friends doing these things. Youtubers are not above others, there's no difference. The only difference is responsibility.

Jack points out how it's odd that they decide to post these things. It shows that they just double down on their awful actions.

Tommy ends by saying he doesn't want to continue this, but if there are things that need to be said then they will be, but on the Patreon.

Jack says he is done as well, that he's done with all his serious points, but he will be making jokes here and there. He won't be joking about rumors, but things that actually happened.

"Anyway, back to writing!" "Guys, let's all get back to coding."

[sexiestpodcastcharacter]

Sexiest Podcast Character — Unscripted Bracket — Round 4

Propaganda

Glenn Close (Dungeons & Daddies):

#Propaganda for Glenn Close: one of the other PCs mentions multiple times how hot he is #Actually several characters point it out but especially Henry #Also the only person in a podcast that has to put a disclaimer about not being a BDSM podcast to have had sex during the course of the show

We didn’t do hot Glenn summer for him to LOSE. Spoilers for his story but MORE PROPAGANDA FOR YOU:

Young hot rocker dilf

Loyal to his dead wife <3

Does in fact smoke weed

BARD!! HES A BARD. HE WAS LEAD GUITAR IN HIS BAND (that he was kicked out of)

His band was a Christmas cover band btw.

Literally the fandom had hot Glenn summer which consisted of drawing him being incredibly hot and sexy

Anti government (ofc)

Kind of cringefail (Disney adult) (was on dilfs of disneyland)

Young and sexy not your style? Then how about HIM AFTER YEARS LOCKED IN A TIME PRISON WITH A DAMN HANNIBAL MASK ??

Lost an eye and wears a fucking eyepatch

One incredibly buff arm

Has a pet rat named after his son <3

Immeasurable amounts of trauma in this man- becomes progressively more unhinged

OH OLD HUMAN BARD ISNT CUTTING IT? FINE

HE BECOMES A FUCKING DEMON

A COOL HOT ONE-EYED DEMON WHO WANTS TO KILL HIS DAD (also sexy)

HE CANONICALLY ENDS CHRISTIAN HELL VIA CHRISTMAS

IS ALSO WAY OVERLEVELED

Becomes a demon hunter for the rest of his existence

Also nonwhite !!! We are done with cringefail whiteboys !!!!!!!!!

I can’t put into words ok just know he is the best plz love him.

Listen, I don't know this other character but I've seem some good arguments for her However Consider Glenn Close winning through no effort of his own in a bullshit way despite being a dick is the most in character thing ever. He leveled up three times and got a crab mech, we GOT to give him this win, it's fitting

I don’t regulate if minors follow me or not bc I’m a pretty chill space but I hope the world is aware that’s the only reason I haven’t been downright nasty about Glenn close. I’m down bad. I’m NOT in the boat of ‘Glenn isn’t sexy but I want him to win bc it’s my fandom’. I would estimate I have 200+ drawings of Glenn on my phone that AREN’T safe for work. Way more that are. Where did they come from? That’s MY business. But I tell you this fact to assure you- Glenn IS sexy. I’m not voting to represent my fandom I’m voting out of TRUTH AND LOVE. IF YOU DON’T GET IT YOU DON’T GET IT!!! I just think my level of feral over this man is more powerful than y’all realize. If you don’t get his sex appeal that’s okay, but don’t doubt that this is my truth.

Okay but Glenn made a minivan cum by talking to her so

HE HAS A BOOK THAT HE MARKS X’S AND CHECKS FOR EVERY DAY TO SEE IF THAT DAY WAS A SUCCESS OR NOT. TO SEE IF HE DID GOOD THAT DAY. ITS ALMOST ENTIRELY X’S. HE WAS CUCKED OUT OF A SON. AND A DEAD WIFE. HE DIDN’T EVEN GET TO KILL HIS DAD IN REVENGE. There’s absolutely nothing going for him except his sex appeal in his life. Nobody he loved remembers him. He lost his eye. All he has is a pet rat and friends who admit they don’t really like him that much. He was kicked out of his own band. The band was named after him. He was kicked out of the Glenn Close trio. All he could do was deez nuts the big bad and be sexy. If nothing else, then pity him. Look in his eyes. Look at his heart and soul. Do you think pickman needs this to feel good about herself? Can she not accept a loss for the sake of a pathetic father? Can she shake hands with the minivan fucker and his human gun and just take the L on this one? He did not do the BDSM episode for this I’ll tell you what. Do this for my his sake. Do it for Nick Jr, who needs the prize money to pay for his rat snacks. Do it for his son. For Morgan. Ganbatte.

Mod Note: While I will still take "bad dads are sexy" propaganda and "bad dads aren't sexy" anti-propaganda, I kindly request no more discussion on whether or not he was a bad father. This is a sexypoll, not a parentingpoll. If you see a post you strongly disagree with, you can just not reblog it.

Mod Note 2: This tournament is about fictional podcast characters. Please do not vote for the real actress Glenn Close.

Lup (The Adventure Zone: Balance):

Is somehow the hot twin between her and Taako

Lup Bluejeans (née... Taaco? Tacco? Taco? Tako? who tf knows this is why I'm going with her husband's last name. doylistly she gets her last name from her brother whose last name is given as "Taako again but spelled differently"): Hot, funny, smart and undead. Is there anything else you could want in a woman?? Well, in case there is: she's also canonically trans

LUP IS THE HOTTEST. VOTE LUP.

[theresattrpgforthat]

How do you know so many games to recommend? I feel like I’m always scrambling to find games on a certain topic, and itchio’s search function is tricky at best.

Hello friend! I have a few methods, and I think they all tie back to my pretty big obsession with games. Let's take a trip through my indie RPG journey, because this is kind of the result of approximately 5 years of interest.

DriveThru RPG

When I first got into TTRPGs, I didn't have a lot of money (let's be real, even right now I don't really have that much spending money) but I did have a little more time, so I combed the net for free tabletop games. I got acquainted with DriveThruRPG first, and I took everything I could that was free and put it into little folders on my computer. Since then I've realized that I can access my folders through the DriveThru App, so there's much less on my computer and more just waiting to be downloaded and perused.

I also get notifications from DriveThru about deals of the day, and occasionally I just browse the storefront to see if anything catches my eye. DriveThru's navigation system is not great either, but one of my friends does some of his own sifting and has directed me to some real gems. I learned about Pandora London, Swords of the Serpentine, and Savage Worlds this way.

Podcasts

I love TTRPG podcasts but I didn't want to listen to D&D podcasts. I found Fandible first, when I was looking for a play through of Changeling: The Lost. I walk to work and I also like to listen to podcasts when I clean my house, so I usually get through one episode a day. I usually look for podcasts that play in multiple systems, although you'll see a number of podcasts here that focus on just one non-D&D system. Here's a few that I recommend:

Fandible: Just a group of friends who love playing games together. All of them are GMs, and they all GM different games. Jesus is the most adventurous, and is constantly bringing new games to the table. I found Slugblaster, Numenera, and Unhallowed Metropolis through them!

Character Creation Cast: I started listening to CCC last year, thanks to a recommendation from a friend, but I fell in love quick. The hosts focus only on the character creation aspect of games, and they also spend time talking to other gamers about the parts of play that each guest feels is important. I found out about Descent into Midnight, Nova, and Blue Planet this way.

The Gauntlet Podcast: This Podcast no longer releases episodes but I learned so much about safe game play through this podcast. Once a month the hosts would sit down with guests and highlight a game of the month for each of them. Often they would talk about games that they adored even before those games made it to publication. I found out about Brinkwood, Apocalypse Keys, and Poutine through this podcast. I miss it so very much.

I would also recommend My First Dungeon, Party of One Podcast, The Eternity Archives, One Shot, and +1 Forward for exposure to many indie games.

Itch.io

I didn't interact much with Itch.io at first - I thought it was mostly for indie video games and generators - but when the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality came out I went feral. I sorted through each and every page of games in that bundle and put all of the TTRPGs into folders - which I am still refining to this day. As you can see, I get very excited whenever a big bundle comes out, as it gives me a lot of exposure to games that people have made.

I also sort through the most recent additions on Itch every one or two days. I usually categorize my folders via genre and rules system, but I'm currently in the process of curating folders for duet and epistolary games. If I think a tag will help me, I usually use https://itch.io/physical-games/tag-[tag] and then insert what I'm looking for in the [tag]. It doesn't get everything but it gets me started.

Often if a game was entered in a Game Jam, there's a tab that you can click to see other entries in that same Jam. So occasionally I'll browse Game Jams for other games that I might find interesting. And for games that I know that I'm personally passionate about, I have a Games that Intrigue Me folder to flip through for when I'm choosing which game to play, or if I want to spotlight a game that I've been itching to put on a rec post.

Other Avenues

I am actually subscribed to you on Youtube, along with a number of other great reviewers!

The Gaming Table is a wonderful Aussie creator who reviews copies of indie ttrpgs. She started a year ago and already has a truly delightful backlog. I recently listened to her review of Bluebeard's Bride and it was wonderful!

I found 11dragonkid when I was looking for Lancer content and was pleasantly surprised to find other ttrpg reviews for games such as ARC and Gubat Banwa.

I watch A.A. Voigt's and Talen Lee's (@talenlee) mini-essays about games and the pieces of those games that speak to them not just to learn about new games but also to learn about what makes those games matter. I found the videos on Capitalites and Girl By Moonlight very informative!

I also watch Dave Thaumvore for reviews for big-print games (Vaesen, Symbaroum), and Questing Beast for updates on what's happening in the OSR scene (Vaults of Vaarn, Mothership).

I'm also subscribed to a number of newsletters and RSS feeds! Bundle of Holding has a blog announcing new bundles, the Indie RPG Newsletter has some great indie rpg coverage in their monthly updates and associated links, and I have an RSS feed on Feedly for game musings on whatever blogs I can find.

In Conclusion...

Much of my TTRPG knowledge comes from constant osmosis. I talk to friends about games, spend a lot of time on Itch.io, and I'm also finding new games here on Tumblr. I have an RPG server where me and a bunch of my friends play pretty regularly, and I'm constantly introducing them to new games. We finished up our Monster Squad Arc a month or two ago, and we're currently getting geared up for a Galaxy Games arc - this time with games that other players are bringing to the table!

I started sorting games for my own enjoyment - I love having all of my little boxes that I can go back to when I am hankering for my own game. I started this blog because I found there were too many games that I was excited about and I was never going to get through all of them just gaming with my friends.

[heytherecentaurs]

NADDPOD C3 Musings

There's a lot under the cut.

Most of these could have been their own posts, but I'm going to just touch on a lot of them here.

Murph's encounter design is at it's best throughout. There are multiple battles that could've been the finale battle in most campaigns. High King Durretar, The Crick, Ultrus, Alexandrite in Tsunare, Ice Knife and the Jovyre battles are all spectacular.

Murph does a great job at giving us new NPCs to love like Albin and Kenna, and his returning NPCs don't overshadow or steal spotlight from the new story. Meeting Big Bev 200 years later was really incredible. The expansion of Cooter's story and the tragedy of it is a highlight for me. He's such a sympathetic character.

The players continue to become more and more skilled as D&D players. Their chemistry is always great, but they built really strong characters mechanically (especially Callie, because it's Emily, duh) and really strong characterization. I really feel like I understand their characters and it took less time in C3 for me to get a grasp on everyone's deal.

C3 is my least favourite of the main campaigns. It has some of the highest peeks of the podcast. But I was less invested overall. That could very well be down to the release schedule. Or it just not hitting for me as hard. But I still love it. Least favourite is still a favourite.

Mothership/Alexandrite made for a better BBEG than Jovyre. The ubiquitous tech corporation being the de facto multinational government superpower, the ultra-capitalist oligarchical oppressor led by a resource consuming A.I. resulting in the rise and spread of authoritarian fascism feels relevant. It would have even made more sense for Glen, a wannabe fascist dictator, to align with Mothership.

Thematically, I understand Jovyre's role. She is a younger sibling who never learned to grow from feeling trapped in her sister's shadow and who let those feelings fester for centuries. It's a thematic parallel to Callie but Jovyre should have been the reflection of how broken Callie could become if she didn't reconcile with Cyra. It's the wrong thematic thread to follow all the way to the endgame.

I'm not against Jovyre as a villain. But she feels more like a personal villain for Callie in a similar way as Marabelle was to Moonshine. Structurally, it's not as satisfying because Jovyre is less scary than fascism sweeping through Bahumia.

I could've used more time with the characters. I love them all but the pacing really limited the downtime. Downtime is important for characterization. I like "filler" episodes. Give me an hour and a half of the characters hanging out. Give me slower beats in which characters are just roleplaying dramatic moments.

I really hoped there would be a romance. We get silly bits but this is a point I've reiterated. I'd love for Naddpod to explore a serious romantic relationship.

The locations of this campaign are wonderful. I loved revisiting places and Murph's description of them and how 200 years reshaped them. The living wood changed so much it was wild. Getting to see Irondeep rebuilt was great given that we mostly saw it as rubble in C1. The new places like Tsunare and the Ice Knife were among my favourites.

Emily's music has only gotten better. Every campaign it's better produced. Her vocals have gotten stronger. I'm so enamoured of her music that I will push it on people even if they aren't into D&D. You don't need to know D&D to listen to "Home Is Where the Hearth Is" or "Riverboat Shanty". I return to her tunes again and again.

Jake returning as Hardwon was unexpected. I really can't stop thinking about how manic Hardwon got the second he heard Moonshine in trouble. That was such a magical moment. And his acting rocked.

Caldwell's lil frog guy had such potential for hijinks, but gives us a special character study in how childhood hardship shapes one's adulthood. I would've loved more exploration of this and how his entire character is about building a family he never had and taking care of them.

Listening to Emily take Callie on a journey of growth, acceptance of herself and gaining self-confidence was really lovely. I would love 10 more episodes in the campaign to explore that.

The theme of siblings, especially YOUNGER siblings throughout the campaign is really good. I also think it's relevant that C3 is the younger sibling of C1 and how the themes of younger siblings striving to live up to their older siblings plays out.

Overall, I loved the campaign. I have my criticisms but I do appreciate that no amount of planning can prepare Murph for what the characters will do and how the collaborative and improvisational aspects of D&D don't lend themselves to cohesion. So while I say these things, I have way more understanding and give way more leeway for messiness in the stories.

[andersons-bayonettes]

Dragon Age: Vows & Vengeance... The podcast that you are...

It's mediocre.

Now, let me explain. Vows & Vengeance was never meant to be an absolute amazing podcast, it's as supposed to make you hyped for Veilguard/show you the companions. A little teaser to bridge the waiting time until release, that it did pretty well.

However. I loved the story of the podcast up until Episode 7-ish. I still liked episode 7, but I could tell it was going somewhere I probably didn't want it to go. Episode 8 was... Episode 8 exists.

But let me actually get to critique it, before bashing it.

I listen to Podcasts a lot. Some of them Lore Podcasts, other Story Podcasts, with or without narration, talk podcasts, amateur and professional. This one felt like it wanted to be professional - while not quite being there - but still felt amateur enough to be a little off-putting. I don't mind most voices (including Nadia's, I think she's fine.) yet tge acting/writing was sometimes whacky at best. I felt like most voices were just way too similar. I often, especially at the start, got confused who is speaking. It got better, of course, but you don't want your listeners questioning who of your main characters is speaking.

Additionally, the podcast was meant to bring some characters closer to you, it was supposed to be a "hey, look at this, this is what they will be like, are you excited yet?" Kinda thing which worked for some. Mainly, the episodes featuring Lucanis, Emmerich and Taash did a really excellent job characterising them. I am ABSOLUTELY down to see more of them. Bellaras was fine, could be better, could be worse. The episodes with Davrin and Neve were... Not well for characterisation. And don't understand me wrong, you get to meet them, yes, but while most characters showed multiple layers, Neve and Davrin both just seemed like you just met them. I forgive them for the Lace Harding episode because we already know her from Inquisition.

Now, I don't mind Solas not showing up often. I think it's fitting. At the end of Inquisition, they out a heavy emphasis on the fact that if Silas doesn't want to be found, you can not find him. He was supposed to be that sliver of danger lurking all around, but where exactly, you'd never know. Thus, Nadia chasing Solas for weeks was absolutely fitting. Even if I think it's funny how Silas's plans have been ruined twice now by people he used as a pawn, doing something he didn't anticipate.

The ending was very, very, very lackluster. The funeral was nice, the demon battle was okay. I don't understand why they had to squeeze in this "I've been haunting you since you were little" crap, it was absolutely and entirely unnecessary. It's sad we spend so much time wanting Nadia & Elio to be back together, rooting for them to finally get a happy ending and all we get is "I killed him, anyways, lemme kille you now". One last talk maybe would have been nice, or let the demon, in one last attempt to stop Nadia, transform back into him. I know it's cliche, but it's cliche because it works.

Or, have the demon kill Elio in front of her. Let's say teh demon used Elios connection to Nadia to cross over, let him kill Elio and the ending would have been a lot cleaner in my opinion. Semantics and personal preferences aside, if they ever make another Podcast, I do hope they find someone who has experience in how to do them. The actors were good. They absolutely were, I assume it's a directing issue.

All in all it was a decent podcast. It has a lot of issues, but it also has a lot of good aspects, makingbit overall, well, like i said, mediocre.

[estebanocon]

Another Singapore GP, another selfie dump.

[1] Nico Rosberg - 2016 WDC gave us a jump scare when he showed up, shoutout to my friend who's a big fan of his who he remembered and was probably the reason why he turned around to smile for this pic because I was so sure he was just going to keep moving down the line. 🥲

[2] Alex Albon - my fellow March Aries: always kind, always obliging and generous with his time, also came prepared with his own marker!! A true professional.

[3] Nico Hulkenberg - I've seen this man every year since 2017 and he's ignored me every single time and I was just going to accept that he was never going to give me the time of day when finally, this year he deigned to take a picture with me. 💀

[4] Franco Colapinto - this man could not be less interested in taking this photo BUT Y'KNOW WHAT? I give him major props for doing it anyway when he could have just ignored me.

[5] James Vowles - the last selfie I took at the Singapore GP! Luckily there weren't a lot of people where I was, so he kindly stopped for a second to take this before going on his way.

[6] Mick Schumacher - another fellow March Aries: most of the time he just signs stuff but that particular day he decided to take pictures with fans as well, which I'm so glad he did. 🥺

[7] Ayao Komatsu - we almost didn't recognise him because he was dressed in civvies on race day?? Anyway, please take good care of Esteban. 🙏

[8] Maya Heug - the only F1 Academy driver I asked for a picture and gotta be honest, I was just stalling so I could ask Rene as well. 🫠

[9] Rene Rosin - after we took this he immediately roasted me for not waiting until they left the paddock because "the picture will be nicer without the gate". 🤡

[10] David Croft aka Crofty - another one for the "I see them every year but I finally got their attention" folder. He always has earphones in so I had to wave my entire arm for him to notice.

[11] Martin Brundle - see above, except he doesn't have earphones in and usually just zips past us.

[12] Simon Lazenby - I just missed him in 2022 so it was good to catch him this time!

[13] Jamie Chadwick - I was surprised that nobody else seemed to recognise her this year but maybe it was because she's not driving? Anw, a nice surprise to see her again!

[14] Anthony Davidson - a friend of mine is a big fan so I've seen him a lot but this was the first time I asked for a pic. 😬

[15] Tom Clarkson - aka the guy who had to tell Max to mind his language during the Thursday press conference. 🙊 I know him as the host of Beyond the Grid and got to tell him I love the podcast, and he thanked me for listening.

[16] Lee McKenzie - Lee, Rosanna Tennant (who was also around!) and Ruth Buscombe (who I saw multiple times but the timing was never right 😭) are probably my favourite track-side reporters. This was my first time seeing Lee in person and I was so glad she took the time to stop for this pic!

[17] Aurélie Donzelot - I've been a fan of her work for years, since she was at Renault/Alpine literally changing the motorsport social media game. She's independent now and I still love following her work spotlighting women in motorsport on her podcast "Racing Lives" as well as her stories on Substack.

[18] Susie Wolff (featuring Jennifer the marshal) - I felt bad at first because my friends also wanted a photo with her and we could have taken a group photo but she was in a rush and only stopped for me. Later that night she saw us again and asked security to step aside so she could take pictures with my friends, which was very kind of her. 🫶

[ more of my F1 experiences ]

[badhockeymom]

Cup Besties talking

It's about this ⤵

And this ⤴

Can't recommend this enough if you know any Finnish. They were veteran dad and rookie son, winning the most coveted prize in the hockey world, one to start off his NHL career, one to finally get the crown on his before retiring.

This is just the beginning of the roughly 1,5 hour conversation of Teuvo as a guest on Kimmo Timonen's and Antti Mäkinen's podcast. Teuvo's deadpan sarcasm and his subtle chuckles that soften his wry chirps and self-mockery work like a charm, sending his forty-something hosts into fits of laughter.

May be continued but let me put this out there first.

Kimmo: Our next guest hails from Helsinki. He's full 29 years old, but still has the face of a child. He goes by the nickname Turbo, which I don't understand, because he isn't that fast. A produce of the Jokerit, he has got, among other accolades, the Finnish rookie of the year award. From Jokerit, he went to Chicago, where we won the Stanley Cup together in 2015. Nowadays he plays for the Carolina Hurricanes alongside Sebastian Aho. Welcome, my good friend, Teuvo Teukka Teräväinen, to the Kimanttia podcast!

Teuvo: Thanks a lot, (chuckle) nice to be here even though you forced me to come.

Kimmo: (laugs) For your information, listeners, I've tried to goad Teukka for a guest appearance for two or three years, but he has always, always declined before now. It's good, it's great to hear your voice, man.

Antti (co-host Antti Mäkinen): I was so sure that Teuvo has been on the show but it's great that you're there now.

Teuvo: Yes, I always say to Kime that someday I'll come, and now I felt it's time.

Kimmo: Are you in Finland, Teukka?

Teuvo: Yes, a few days ago. I came straight to the cottage, it's nice to wind down for a few days here. Nothing special.

(They go on asking if Teuvo has watched the Worlds, he reminds the hosts that Canes were still playing when the games started.)

Kimmo: I wanted to ask, before we start going through your career, how long are you staying in Finland, and will you spend time at the cottage or do you have plans?

Teuvo: I usually head back to the States in the beginning of September, to settle down a little before the camp starts. In Finland, this summer will be quite busy, all my weekends are pretty much locked down, I have so many weddings and bachelor parties this summer.

Kimmo: Oh, you're getting married? I haven't got an invitation.

Teuvo: Yeah, multiple times. (Antti and Kimmo laugh) No, fortunately it isn't my wedding. They're nice events, but they do take up your time.

Kimmo: Yes they do, weekends come and go.

(Antti tells a story about a golf live stream during the covid lockdown, where Teuvo played against Patrik Laine. Both played well but in the end, Teuvo lost. He left the course with very few words, and after an half an hour, posted a pic of his golf bag on his Instagram story, captioned "Clubs for sale")

Teuvo: I remember that. It's what it is, it's never nice to lose.

Kimmo: (laughs) That sounds familiar because I've also sometimes played golf with Teukka, and the round has gone fine, and he says, I'm quitting this game.

Teuvo: Yeah... We've played tennis, too.

Antti: How do you do against him in tennis, can you hold your own?

Teuvo: Well, I don't think i've yet won Kime, at least on his home court.

Kimmo: Well now, there we heard the truth.

Teuvo: But now i have my own homecourt here at the cottage, you're welcome to challenge me here.

Kimmo: (softly) I must come over.

Teuvo: On my own court I haven't lost to anyone else but Henkka Kontinen who's a pretty good player. (Pro tennis player, doubles specialist, career high rank 1 in doubles)

Kimmo: Oh. I'll have to come and challenge you this summer.

Teuvo: You'll have to.

Antti: Hey, that guy is a professional at that tennis hobby of his, he does have an advance.

Teuvo: Or used to be, he hadn't been playing for a full year when he defeated me.

~~~

So, that's just the first five minutes.

A little extra treat from the next segment:

Kimmo: I did some research about your junior years, and it said you started on Helsingin Kojootit (Helsinki Coyotes). Where's Helsingin Kojootit?

Teuvo: It's -- in Helsinki. (chuckles.) Like it says, Helsingin Kojootit, how didn't you pick it up from the name?

(Laughter, Antti is dying)

[sandybrett]

Here are my completely honest thoughts on a bunch of audio dramas I've checked out. (Don't worry, nothing scathing, they're all reasonably good. But please proceed with caution, or don't proceed, if you're involved in creating any of these shows.)

In the order I first listened:

The Storage Papers: Nine episodes in. A little slow paced, but I've heard it picks up in the later seasons. My only real concern is that it seems like a lot of the horror revolves around "this thing looks sort of like a human but it's Wrong somehow. also it kills people (or cats)." I hope at some point we meet a creature that looks and acts as unsettling as the Grinner but is nice, or at least complicated.

The Cellar Letters: Seven episodes in. I LOVE it. I love the natural-feeling messiness of it, the way Nate and Steve talk in circles and go back and forth on what to believe. It's made me laugh out loud multiple times. I can't wait to learn more about that weird little room full of letters with that one random word written on the wall (I forget what).

400 Words a Horror: Three episodes in. I had to re-listen to the first episode because I hadn't been paying enough attention, but I think that particular episode rewards re-listening anyway. Also it is the only show on this list that genuinely frightens me so I have to pace myself. Very good.

Tin Can Audio Presents: Middle:Below: Two episodes in. I won't say I'm hooked, but I am somewhat interested. It's a lot more relaxing than the other podcasts on this list, so I keep thinking I'll save it for listening closer to bedtime, then not getting around to it.

The Grotto: Six episodes in. Very much enjoying. I was SO proud of myself for correctly guessing the twist in the second episode. I love the characters and am extremely intrigued by the mysteries. My only criticism is that the musical interludes drag on too long. And I'm saying that as a WOE.BEGONE fan.

Soul Operator: Three episodes in. It's good but there isn't any particular element that's drawing me in just yet. There's a lot I don't know about the world yet, though, so there is still plenty of time for me to fall in love with this show. (Irrelevant note: I always get "Smooth Operator" by Sade stuck in my head when I think about this show.)

Shadows at the Door: Listened to half of the first episode. It was somewhat interesting, but I decided I had higher priorities for my listening time than disconnected hour-long episodes that are only *somewhat* interesting.

Archive 81: Five episodes in. Quite possibly going to become a major obsession. It's got everything: playing with point of view; the Power of Storytelling but in a menacing way; vivid character voices; probably a cult. I particularly love the way conversations play out on this show--I don't know exactly how to explain it but there's a certain... friction that happens in real conversations but rarely in fictional ones outside cringe comedy. I don't usually enjoy that sort of thing when it's played for laughs, but for realism or suspense? I eat that up. It does make me a little tense so this is another show I pace myself with and I'm glad the episodes are short.

Alice Isn't Dead: Two episodes in. I'm not going to make it a priority--it's got a similar sort of surrealism to Night Vale, but with higher stakes and less humor, and I had enough trouble getting immersed in Night Vale. I could probably enjoy it if I gave it enough time, but for now I'd rather focus on *gestures at some of the shows above*

The Silt Verses: Listened to the first ten minutes of the first episode and got bored, which I think says as much about me as it does about the show. It does get off to a bit of a slow start and leaves more space between lines of dialogue than most of these shows do, but I could probably get into it with adequate time and sleep. Not prioritizing it, for similar reasons to Alice.

[lexsang]

Could you recommend sources about sanguinarian vampirism? I tried to look for it but most recommend books seem to be published by sketchy/charlatan authors and it makes doubtful if they are genuine or not (besides some of them have very prejudiced views towards sang).

Videos, podcasts, articles, sites or books are all welcome recommendations and I would be very grateful if you had them.

Thank you very much!

(Sorry for how long it took for me to get back to you, the past few weeks have been hectic to say the least, but I've been thinkin about this ask since you sent it) My main issue with the vast majority of content on sanguinarian vampirism out there is that it is made by people who are just interested in vampires, and have no actual experience living through the things we live through. They often times come off as halloween-spooky, and inauthentic, with an emphasis on shock factor for an audience that doesn't understand that we really do actually exist.

Books are definitely not the place to look from my experience if you're interested in learning about sanguinarian vampirism. They are one of the best places if you're wanting to learn about psychic vampirism or vampiric witchcraft, but they're not for the blood drinkers.

Videos can be good learning material, but I haven't seen any on sanguinarianism that aren't just people talking about their experiences in the community, and it can get fairly full of unnecessary drama and zero useful info quick. I used to watch videos from the creator below, though I personally didn't get much out of them, but that may not be the case for you. Most of the videos are on psychic vampirism, but there are a few on sanguinarianism if I'm remembering correctly.

With Podcasts, I'm sure there are a number of one offs on paranormal podcasts if you look hard enough, but the time is most likely not worth it. The link below is one of the best I have seen, a series of great interviews with real vampires (I was lucky enough to be one of them, though that's not why I suggest this series), and the second is a youtube channel called Coffin Lounge (I would link, but youtube is being weird), which could be good, but I don't now yet. I have only listened to a little bit of the first episode, and it is more goth community centered than vamp, but there may be good stuff since since each episode is with a new guest.

Sites are the best bet so far, with forums being one of the best places to look imo.

Sanguinarius.org and their connected forum, VCMB.org were where I first realized I wasn't alone, and wasn't crazy. The biggest benefit of forums like this one, is that you are, without a doubt, listening to real people's experience, and seeing real vamps figure it out for themselves. There is so much information in the VCMB, even though it isn't very active anymore, the experiences are still there.

theredcellar.com has also been a personal favourite for ages. It is full of plenty of articles that focus on the medsang perspective, and it is home to some really down to earth vamps who are all wonderful. They also have a forum, as well as a discord that is linked on their site.

The absolute best teachers, however, are just regular old vampires. You will learn more in a few hours than you could hope to learn in months from articles and the sporadic info online by sending someone a message and asking if they have the capacity to answer your questions. Whether you are an awakening vamp looking for advice, or just interested in the real, visceral experience that vampires live through, most are kind and willing to share. Everyone's experience is different, and speaking to multiple people will help you realize just how colourful and varied the world of vampirism is.

And if you are a vampire, I know that this is cliché, but experience is a great teacher. So much of vampirism, from what I've seen and experienced myself, is about trying to run away from the vampiric experience, and be as human as possible. It has stopped being about that for me. Manage your health of course, and don't go without feeding for too long if you can help it. Take the substitutes you need to take to control the beast when you need to take them, but feeling those cravings instead of fleeing from them is a great way to become more familiar with vampirism. No one will be able to tell you more about your vampirism than yourself. Learn to meditate in those moments of hunger. You are a vampire, it's ok to allow yourself to be just that from time to time.

I hope this was helpful! Please feel free to ask if you have any more questions, I'm more than happy to help if you feel that I can :)

[dervampireprince]

hi! have you ever thought/considered posting your stuff on spotify/tiktok? /gen

thank you and have a nice day/night/whatever

for a while i posted small clips to tiktok however i soon stopped doing that. i would want my dervampireprince tiktok to be 18+ only and it's just too hard to curate that on tiktok, and the comments i was getting on my tiktoks and youtube shorts are the most vile comments i've ever received and so i don't want to go back to posting there. i don't understand why anyone would want my audios on tiktok anyway? you wouldn't be able to listen to them with your phone screen off. and if i posted them on tiktok more and they did get nice attention it's only a matter of time before people ignore my no-resposting rule. i've seen too many other asmrists/va's work reposted on spotify with no credit, often instead credited the official voice actor for the character a fan is doing an impression off instead of the fan.

as for spotify, i have no idea how the rules with copyright work there but i presume any fanworks wouldn't be allowed (character's name have trademarks on them and i wouldn't be able to use them, i've noticed that gibi asmr on spotify only posts her original asmr over there and none of her fandom roleplays). so the only thing i'd be able to put on spotify would be my original audios. and i have no idea how spotify works for posting. it's not a social media, even though some people seem to think it is and just respost any song or audio that isn't there's as a podcast (i have already had my audios stolen and reposted as podcasts to spotify multiple times). but again it's not a social media where anyone can just upload anything, think of it more akin to netflix than youtube, where only official stuff is meant to be posted. it's not just as simple as uploading my audios as an album, splitting them up into tracks of 5 minutes because...

it costs money to put your music (or in this case asmr) onto spotify. i would have to pay a distributor to do it and i'm not okay with doing that, i'm not okay with giving the license to my audios to any other person of company for them to potentially do things with it i don't want. yes there's services that most use who you just pay a yearly fee too, but it's less about the money and more about me wanting to retain all rights including distribution rights to my audios. and i wouldn't even make back on royalties what it would cost to distribute them.

now that's for uploading them as music, as albums. the reason why there's too many people reposting others asmr onto spotify as podcasts is you don't have to pay to make a podcast. so the only way i'd be able to upload my asmr onto spotify would be as a podcast. currently there is no way to monetise spotify podcasts (listener support donation are only available in the usa and ads are in closed beta). and then people would be able to listen to them offline through spotify premium instead of having to pay me a little money on patreon. am i fully against uploading my original audios on spotify as a podcast? no. but i don't see any benefit of it. and i don't mean no benefits for me (though i can't make any money off it and i don't see how it could increase my audience when people go searching for asmr on youtube far more than spotify), i mean i don't understand the benefit for you. anything spotify could give you, soundgasm already does and it does it without having to pay for a premium subscription to avoid ads.

i don't see the need for you guys to have my audios on spotify. if you want to listen to them with your phone screen off you can listen to them on soundgasm for free with no ads (you can turn off your phone screen and it will still keep playing the audio), or pay £5 to be able to download ALL of them off patreon and then you could cancel and never pay for another month and you still have all your downloads on your pc/phone. i don't think £5 for downloads you get to keep forever of 200+ audios is too much to ask. or £10 if you want access to all my n-sfw audios.

if anyone has any reasons they think putting my audios on spotify as a podcast would be a good idea or would be helpful for either myself or my listeners i would be open to hearing them. i just really don't understand the point of managing another website of uploads and keeping on top of that when whatever i think you could want from spotify is already available on either soundgasm or patreon.

[dragonanne4fun]

Something I love about D&D as a storytelling medium is that there is no guarantee everything will go smoothly or even work out at all. Here's what I mean:

In novels, when you have a story based on the chosen one trope, it is pretty much guaranteed that the protagonist/chosen one will make it to the climax. They might be doomed by the narrative and die in some kind of noble or inevitable sacrifice or something, but they'll make it most of the way to the end of the story at the bare minimum.

But that's not guaranteed in D&D.

I've been listening to a podcast recently, and there have been multiple times over the last 20 episodes where I have legitimately feared for the "chosen one" character's life. I don't want to see him die. But I gotta admit: I would REALLY like to see how him dying would impact the save-the-world mission. He is mentioned by name in the prophecy. How would the party and the DM overcome that obstacle and still carry out their mission? Is there a way to?

As a storyteller, this fascinates me. I'm very, very excited to start DMing because I want to face some curveballs like that and roll with the punches my players and the fall of the dice hurl my way.

[iasmelaion]

1,000+ Hours??

Steam tells me I've played over 1,000 hours of Stardew Valley. WILD! In my defense (?), that's over about 7.5 years, so it works out to about 130 hours a year, but still, it's by far the videogame I've played the most, and now that the 1.6 update is coming out in a couple of weeks, I got to thinking about just why that is, and why I enjoy the game so much.

For anyone who doesn't know, Stardew Valley is a farming life sim in pixel art style, where you inherit your grandpa's farm and are tasked with fixing it up and revitalizing the town it's in. It was created by a solo developer, ConcernedApe aka Eric Barone, as a passion project that took him years to make, because he did everything: the coding, the art, the music, all of it, while he had a part-time job and his girlfriend supported them.

It's a hell of an underdog story: solo developer labors away at this passion project for years, and then when he finally releases his game, it becomes an enormous hit. In the past eight years, it's sold over 30 million copies. At around $15 a game, all it takes some quick back of the envelope math to calculate that, even accounting for the cuts various platforms and past publishers have taken, discounted prices, and his overhead now that he has a small handful of staff, ConcernedApe has made hundreds of millions of dollars.

I mention all of this because in a lot of ways, Barone is living the dream. He did it, he hit it big: he worked really hard on this thing he loved, and it was a success, and people love it, and now he's set for life. Of course it came with its own costs: this GQ profile points out that it took a near obsessive dedication to pull off, and obviously, he couldn't have managed it without the financial support of his partner. But like, damn! It more than paid off!

The fanbase almost universally adores Barone: not only is he an incredible underdog success story, but he's released multiple updates for the game for free. Like, dude absolutely could have charged for the 1.5 update, it added a lot of content and the players would've been happy to pay for it, but it was free! He also personally helps people out sometimes, when bugs break their game saves, and he's supportive of the lively modding community (in fact, the 1.6 update includes a lot of updates that are specifically meant to make modding easier).

All that external stuff wouldn't really matter to me if I didn't actually like playing the game. But I do, and as I've thought about why I love it so much, I know part of it is the knowledge that it was, in fact, this one guy's passion project, and very clearly a labor of love that he devoted a ton of care and attention to. It's an inextricable part of what makes it feel good to play the game. (Also, it's nice to know the game isn't, like, evil, lol. No exploitative labor practices [other than the creator's own perfectionism], no microtransactions, no dark patterns meant to make you throw more money at it, though it is for sure an addictive game play loop.)

Anyway, it's been one of my emotional support videogames over the past seven and a half years I've played it. The great thing about my anxiety, to the extent there can be great things about it lol, is that it's very easily distracted, and games like Stardew Valley (and Hades) are A++++ ways for me to break out of an anxiety spiral. Very useful during the Trump times and the pandemic! Also, even when I'm not feeling notably anxious, it's just a super chill and satisfying game to play, one that gives you that sweet, sweet dopamine for accomplishing tasks, plus it's a great game to play while you're listening to an audiobook or podcast.

But like, I'm still kind of baffled about why this game. I've tried a bunch of different games that are similar, and none of them have hit for me like SDV. Like, objectively, I should be sick of SDV! Even with the amount mods add to the game, I've basically 100%ed the game with two different saves (the achievements I haven't gotten are the ones I'm NEVER going to get: never gonna do a Joja run, and never gonna come close to beating the Journey of the Prairie King minigame). And yet, here I am, still playing it!

Other games like it that I have tried, and even enjoyed, but that haven't held onto my attention like SDV has:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Like probably everybody else, I downloaded this just as pandemic quarantines and restrictions were kicking off in the US, and it became my Emotional Support videogame while I was stuck in my apartment. It was charming and comforting and cute, and the routine it added to anxious, isolated days was a true gift. It has plenty in common with SDV: farming and foraging mechanics, decorating a house, befriending villagers. But I abruptly dropped it in July of 2020 and just...never went back to it. It served its purpose for me, and while I think of it fondly, I don't really have any desire to play it again.

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom: Not, strictly speaking, in the same genre as SDV. But I've played a lot of it, and it has some of the same vibes, if you will: gorgeous scenery, the ability to play it however you want, foraging, great music, a chill vibe (when you're not fighting monsters). And indeed, I do occasionally come back to these games! They truly are beautiful, and genuinely thrilling at points. But there's not quite enough structure here to make for a comforting gaming experience.

Littlewood: a cute little RPG with some of the same mechanics as SDV. I played about 40 hours of this, but got bored with how grindy it started to feel. SDV also has a fair amount of grind, but I think what keeps it from feeling too grindy is the amount of variety. Littlewood's grindiness felt like it was just about making Number Go Up. With SDV, you have a bunch of different kinds of grindiness: making money, catching all the fish, collecting stuff for the community center, collecting enough resources to build stuff, going into the caves to mine and fight monsters, etc.

Spiritfarer: billed as a "cozy management game about death", and not really fucking around with that description. Has farming and fishing mechanics, plus you get to explore the world by sailing to various destinations, but there's not really any replayability here. Also it is emotionally devastating. Like, you start it, and you're like, oh, the art is so pretty, the music is so nice, how lovely, how charming, there is an adorable cat here as well, and then the game reminds you, hey! you are here to help souls release their earthly burdens and move onto the next stage of the afterlife! And you will cry. Like, seriously, this is the only videogame to have ever made me cry.

Cult of the Lamb: darkly funny little RPG about being an adorable little lamb who's building a cult to your dark god. The vibe here was funny, with the juxtaposition of the cutesy art and the dark humor. I got bored with this, plus it got pretty buggy for me on my Switch, but it was fine!

Sun Haven: farming sim RPG, much heavier on the fantasy and anime vibes than SDV. I gave up on this one after 15 hours. There were a lot of little things that just piled up and annoyed me too much to keep going. Something about the game's balance and pacing also just felt off to me.

Dave the Diver: like, yes, this is about a guy diving into a Big Blue Hole to catch fish for his sushi restaurant, so objectively quite different! But honestly, this was a delight to play. It juggled its various different aspects in a fun way, cycling between the fishing, the RPG stuff, the restaurant management, and even a little bit of farming. The art style is neat, the cut scenes are funny, and it's pretty nice to just swim through the water catching the occasional fish. Again though, not super replayable, and the gameplay loop does get boring once you've played through the main game.

Roots of Pacha: this is basically SDV, but make it prehistoric. I liked the pixel art a lot, and it's a neat tweak on the SDV formula. I had fun playing it! But again, I finished the main game and felt no real urge to go back to it, or to grind out all the achievements.

Wylde Flowers: another cozy life/farming sim, but this one includes witchy elements. An art style reminiscent of Pixar movies, which tbh, is really not my jam in video games. This one stands out though for how it's fully voice-acted, which is a neat touch. Nothing out and out wrong here, I just got bored, and as noted, the art style is not my favorite. I think the gameplay loop here just wasn't as satisfying as SDV.

And finally, Hades: this is nothing at all like SDV, obviously. The only thing they have in common is a fishing minigame. But it and BotW/TotK are the only other games I've played anywhere close to as much as I've played SDV. Hades, like SDV, offers an immensely satisfying gameplay loop, one with enough novelty to keep you playing, and the art is gorgeous. An incredibly fun gaming experience, and yeah, I come back to this one every so often. It's pretty relaxing for a rogue-lite fighting game, at least, once you've gotten the hang of it!

Graveyard Keeper: I haven't played this, but I did watch some Youtubers play it, lol, and counted it a bullet dodged. Not because the game looked bad, but just because it looked the kind of grindy that would CONSUME me but that would be ultimately unsatisfying. Way better to have saved myself ~50-60 hours and just watched Youtubers play through it instead.

After all that, I'm still not quite sure what keeps me coming back to SDV over and over rather than other games in the same or similar genres! I'll keep giving other games like it a try: I'm especially excited to try Coral Island when it comes out for the Switch, and Chef RPG whenever it's released. But for now, I'm super excited for the 1.6 update, and can't wait to start a new save.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, August 8

Giles: Ah, weeping buddha, shoulders your spiritual burden. Makes a lovely paperweight too.

~~Shadow~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Vintage (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by veronyxk84

Vesuvius (Buffy, G) by heckate

Task Mistress (Buffy/Spike, R) by HappyWhenItRains

[Chaptered Fiction]

To Be Hers, Chapter 28 (Buffy/Spike, AO) by faefawn

Waiting for You, Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by honeygirl51885

Infiltre, Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, French language, PG) by Miss Kitty

SpikedChapter 17 (Buffy/Spike, AO) by Maxine Eden

To All We Guard, Chapter 26 (Buffy/Spike, ) by

What She Deserves, Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by flootzavut

The Buffybot Falls In Love, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, PG) by Desicat

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[harimenui-forever]

I do not wish to be mean, but like, I feel like the format of tmagp is making the horror lesser for me... some stories are too quick for the fear to sink in (first episode) or like it happens at the very end so you don't really get much of it and it just kinda leaves you there (episode 5), episode 6 is very silly to me and like I think it knows that? But that doesn't make it scary and maybe it doesn't want to be idk.

Episodes 2, 3 and 4 are good. They're not necessarily scary, the bit with the tattoo in episode two is kinda silly? But the face thing is good. It's shocking, a different kind of dread but sure.

Episode 3 made me frustrated at the guy, then I realised he couldn't actually leave and like yeah the idea of this is kinda creepy and the acceptance and just I dunno how to put it, it works, but it did not make me shiver with fear yknow?

Episode 4 was fun, probably my favourite, but it's not very scary. To me it makes up for that with the story though, the themes, the morality and the time it takes to go through the story. It adds gravity to it. It's a fucked up lil episode with a lot of story and character

All in all, I have a feeling that the horror is not as much of a focus as it used to be in tma, which might be great for other people, but I've always appreciated the horror of tma, even when I liked the characters and the story. And I understand comparing the two is a bit strange, but... I understand that the "statements" are different here, they're not from scared people who survived something weird/horrible, they're from people who are deep into becoming something else (?), from people who have not survived most likely and, just like for them, there's not enough time for us to be afraid before it's over. And there are strengths to this approach too, I just...

I've relistened to the Anglerfish, because I was scared that perhaps I've just grown numb to the horror, but no. I could still feel the shivers run down my spine, I could still feel the dread building with every new detail, every new small thing that was off and just... terrifying.

The first episodes are so widely different when it comes to horror I think. And it's hard to put my finger on it, but I feel like the role of the investigation afterwards is missing and with it some of the horror.

It feels unfair to compare an entire episode statement with just one statement from the two in tmagp ep 1, but hear me out.

The reveals in mag1 are just very well done. You have the setting being creepy, you have the line being repeated and reenacted in that weird tone twice, before the guy notices on the 3rd time that the figure is not opening its mouth. You have the swaying pointed out multiple times and each time it feels a bit more extreme, weirder, the simile used to describe it, the anglerfish, is so vivid and creepy and RIGHT. When he realises its feet are not touching the ground. The weird way it disappears. AND THEN, because he survived you get the reveal of him finding cigarettes there the next day and connecting them to the missing person. That could have been him. But that's not all, sure Jon is a little bitch, but the reveal of more disappearances adds more credibility. And THEN the cherry on top is the photo, the hand (?), beckoning.

Now let's look at the email from tmagp1. It is very short. There is a set up yes, but the reveal is just...immediate, it lacks the suspense. Like the concept is scary. But the laughter, the laughter is just...sooooo, it's not that scary. Just, it's harder to describe what's not working here than it is to describe what DOES work in mag1. I guess I could focus on the absence of things...

Man, I do sound like an old man swearing at a cloud, my friend would laugh at me and call me 240 years old, I am never beating the allegations

Anyway, in short, I know this podcast aims to be different. I can see it. The character interactions, the more intrusive listening in etc. However, in my humble opinion, the horror gets the short end of the stick here. I wish it didn't

[woebegonepod]

Sorry to assault your inbox again but I just need to keep gushing, the storytelling was already so good but it's still somehow getting better and better, and it's like ambrosia for my brain. I think the fact I was on episode 84 yesterday and am about to finish episode 107 speaks for itself.

Whether you're an EVIL genius the way this podcast plays with our emotions may be up for debate but you are 110% unequivocally some kind of genius.

I never get tired of the satisfying crunch whenever a callback to something of prior importance snaps into place, or when a nearly forgotten idiosyncrasy suddenly makes sense just after another plot twist.

101 has been hands-down my favourite episode so far and THE SCARIEST most horrifying horror that has ever horrified me (speaking as someone who has listened to over a dozen longstanding horror podcasts start to finish, some of which have been running for a decade or more- thousands of short stories as well as series).

Well, okay, the post-credits piece about "biscuits and gravy" may be a close contender for scariest thing in the world, but that's an entirely different kind of fear. 🤔

I can't get over how, like, literally no aspect of this podcast is average, every metric I can possibly think of ranges from "very good" to "phenomenal." Thematic flavour, narrative structure, character crafting, voice acting and casting, sound design- and the soundtrack is auditory candy to boot!

Lastly, I wanted to mention I first gave WOE.BEGONE a chance during a time when I was reluctant to try anything new, due to the recommendation from the makers of Wrong Station (whose taste I trust immensely for the superb quality of their own work). Your partnership with them has won you at least one very fanatical fan!

Glad you're enjoying the show! I've definitely learned a lot about all aspects of show running since the beginning of the show, but narrative structure most importantly. I do think that I'm only getting better at telling a story both within an episode and across multiple episodes.

Also cool to hear that you found me through Wrong Station! It's a cool show and I'm glad the ads are creating some crossover.