#i love my serialized fictional town audios…

[crosswordist]

i have a feeling it’s gonna be a podcast summerrr. every car ride? podcast. doing homework and wanna be distracted? podcast. trying to sleep but the thoughts? podcast.

[fictionadventurer]

Hello

3,8,9,13,14,15,18,20,21,22,26,30,33,39,41,44,45,46,48,52,55,58,60, for the ask game !

(I recognize that i may have asked too many questions.....partly as an excuse to get more book recs!)

Okay, let's do this!

3. How many books have you read (this year) so far?

According to Goodreads, 77, but that counts a lot of short stories, novellas, and in one case, a serial story where each part counts as a single book.

8. A book you've always wanted to read but never got a chance?

Lots, but lately I've been thinking about how I've never gotten around to reading A Canticle for Leibowitz, despite being recommended it years ago.

9. A book you're never, ever gonna read?

Harry Potter.

13. A genre you aren't a fan of in particular?

Horror.

14. A genre you love?

One I've recently started to define as vintage fiction--cozy books that are old enough to be classics, but aren't high-brow enough or famous enough to be considered classic literature.

15. A reading habit you could get "canceled" for?

Leaving so many books unfinished for no good reason.

18. Recommend a book to the person who sent you this ask.

Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien--a very fun fairy tale fantasy he wrote for his kids.

20. A book series you can't wait to read.

Once a Queen by Sarah Arthur feels like a fantasy book that should have a minimum of four other books already available for me to read, and the sequel can't come fast enough.

21. A book series you're never going to read.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

22. A celebrity's book rec that you loved?

Jo Walton enthusiastically recommended Desire by Una Silberrad and introduced me to a new favorite obscure author.

26. Your favourite reading position?

Sitting?

30. If you could have access to anybody's bookshelf, dead or alive, which person would you pick?

I am sticking Manalive on Steven Moffat's bookshelf so he will write the adaptation (and read the rest of Chesterton and become Catholic).

33. Do you annotate as you read or prefer not to?

Absolutely not. When I read a book, I want to read it with fresh eyes, as the person I am now, without the person that I was last time chattering in the margins.

39. Favourite book to movie/TV show adaptation?

The 1995 Sense and Sensibility is one of my favorite movies of all time.

41. If you could read the first draft of any one book, which book would you pick and why?

I'd like to read the original version of Black as Night by Regina Doman, which apparently had an entirely different plot before major rewrites.

44. Favourite book protagonist?

I can't pick one favorite! I'll just mention that Wilkie Collins has written some of my favorite female characters in Victorian fiction--Marian Halcombe in The Woman in White is one of my favorite characters ever, and I loved The Law and the Lady mostly because of how much I loved the narrator.

45. Favourite book villain?

One of the reasons Little Town on the Prairie is my favorite Little House books is because of how well Wilder presents Nellie Oleson and Miss Wilder as villains.

46. Favourite literary quote?

How am I supposed to pick one?

Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to go to Goodreads and find something that got highlighted in Kindle.

Okay, here's a quote I highlighted in Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell that I had completely forgotten about.

He was just the kind of man that all his neighbours found fault with, and all his neighbours liked.

48. If you could be a part of any story you've read, which book would you pick?

I'm just going to live in the cottagecore atmosphere of your average Elizabeth Goudge book.

52. Do you like audiobooks? If yes, which is your favourite audiobook?

I adore audiobooks!

Probably the coolest one I've ever listened to was the full-cast audio recording of Fairest by Gail Carson Levine, because it takes place in a world where people often sing in their day-to-day lives, and this audio version has the characters sing all the songs!

As far as ones that are readily available, my favorite is the Jim Dale version of Around the World in 80 Days. That man's range of voices is astounding!

On Librivox, Vanity Fair (Version 2) has the best Librivox narrator I've ever heard. Most of the time, I'm just happy if the narrator pronounces everything correctly, with bonus points if they have a fitting accent. This woman was doing multiple accents!

55. If you could have any book related job in the world (librarian, editor, publisher, writer, etc), what job would you pick?

Writer.

58. A book that emotionally wrecked you?

I wept through large portions of In a Far-Off Land by Stephanie Landsem.

60. Talk about books! Anything you like, maybe share some more recs<3

I've just started Codename Edelweiss by Stephanie Landsem, and I'm excited to try another book by the author, because I've heard even more good things about this one.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, January 16

BUFFY: The demons! They were these three big apey things! XANDER: No. No, not here. Not at my job. That's your job. BUFFY: I can't help where the forces of darkness attack me, Xander. XANDER: Buffy, would you look at this mess? Do you have any idea how much it's gonna cost to repair this? And what am I supposed to say to the clients, should I just show them the demon bodies and say it's all their fault? BUFFY: You can't. They melted. But ... uh ... There, there are witnesses! Vince! Vince! You'll tell him, right, how I jumped in and protected you from those ... things? VINCE: Hey, I don't know what you're talking about. All I know is you were losin' it or something. That time of the month, huh? BUFFY: What?! You were huddled in a corner! Crying! Like a baby! VINCE: Hey, hey. No way. Me, crying?

~~Buffy Season 6 Episode #105: "Life Serial"~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Pick Up Your Pace (Spike/Xander, T, Iron Man xover) by

Effulgent (Buffy/Spike, T) by veronyxk84

Family (Buffy/Spike, G) by Apache Firecat

Helpless x Spike (Buffy/Spike, unrated) by Vrelx

25 years later: Love and hatred in old London town (Buffy/Giles, unrated) by FPBarbieri

[Chaptered Fiction]

Vamp for Rent 18/18 (Spike/Xander, M) by forsaken2003

All are Punished Ch. 1 (Spike/Reader, unrated) by swimming_with_sharks

A Long Short Night (Buffy/Faith, M) by view27

A Brush so Dark and Bloody Ch. 1 (Spike, unrated, Raven Cycle xover) by xivory_lightness_coherence_parrot_swiftx

Agency Has It's Price, Chapter 13 (Buffy/Spike, ) by Desicat

Who's Pole?, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Desicat

In The Dark With You, Chapter 26 (Buffy/Spike, M) by Geliot99

The Neighbor's Point of View, Chapter 77 (Buffy/Spike, G) by the_big_bad

A Waxy Gent Chuckled Over My Fab Jazzy Quips, Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, T) by violettathepiratequeen

A Darkened Night of the Soul, Chapter 28 (Buffy/Spike, E) by In Mortal

Clean Slate, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, E) by hulettwyo

It's Easy Time, Until It's Not, Chapter 10 (Buffy/Spike, G) by hulettwyo

Pack My Box with Five Dozen Liquor Jugs, Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, E) by honeygirl51885

A weapon of victory Ch. 10 (Buffy, G, LotR xover) by

The Meaning of Strength Ch. 2 (Xander, T, SG1 xover) by AxelBlade

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:Jenny Calendar () by snails-in-my-mouth

Artwork:Spike () by greenapplespider

Artwork:BtVS sketchbook doodles () by strawberri-draws

Artwork:Spike () by genericaces

[Reviews & Recaps]

PODCAST: Episode 11 - Research Boy and Knowledge Girl (Out of Mind, Out of Sight by The Sunnydale Diaries

PODCAST: ATS 207 - Darla by Another Buffy Podcast

PODCAST: Episode 112: The Myth of the Robot by Mythtaken

[Fandom Discussions]

Brainstorming Different Endings To Doppelgangland by coraniaid

Vampires and human culture by AndHerSymbols

Would it have been possible, hypothetically, to keep both Doyle and Wesley as main characters? by JellyfishDry9464

It's been YEARS, Boom! When are you going to FINALLY FIX this mistake?? by irishhawk

Appreciation for Giles’ “Free Bird” singing by Pumpkins217

What is the worst thing this character has ever said or done? by Buffster13

Favorite Season of Buffy? by NordBuffy

Cordy S3 by pengchod

If Buffy and Xander dated... by jogaforacont

what i’d give to own this. by pengchod

Thoughts on Gwen? by modeyink

Finished both shows for the first time. Now I want my first tattoos ever by at_midknight

As you were not liked? by Eagles56

Xander do you know why I love you? by MidCntryModernMillie

S3 Angel by pengchod

Kinda funny watching Buffy now, and seeing them struggle with technology by Gengarmon_0413

Looking for a Buffyverse image by Eagles56

Why was Spike the only one able to see that Ben is Glory and Glory is Ben? by loki2002

what's the best way to watch both shows with my partner? by vianoir

What Do You Think? by Electrical_Big_906

Can we all agree this is probably the hottest scene in the show? by JellyfishDry9464

Hands down the most satisfying moment from Buffy by jdpm1991

Spangel being established early in the series by alrtight

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[barrowsteeth]

Does anyone listen to audio dramas /fiction podcasts, and if so can you rec something I may not have listened to yet? I love them and am looking for new material. Supernatural elements not required, or necessarly desired, though I know it's a common theme.

Currently listening to: Passenger I'm 6 episodes in and I like it and am still intrigued but I can see getting tired of it if something dosen't blow up soon. Not an exhaustive list but things I've listened to: Welcome to Nightvale (my first, and also perhaps best of all time?) The Bright Sessions (best of all time part two) Alice Isn't Dead Serial S-Town The Magnus Archive Bridgewater (disappointing) Limetown Moonface Wolf 359 (couldn't get into it)

I could go on, but wondering if there's something out there I'm not aware of. If so, let me know in the replies or DM please! TIA. <3

[iloverianjohnson]

the "new fans" of stranger things aren't cringe, but they're still ruining the fandom - a rant

I'll preface this rant by saying that I have been a fan of Stranger Things since 2019, which means that I'm not an OG fan. Additionally, this is an opinion piece, but I do not mean to spread hate or dunk on anyone. This is just my opinion on the topic. Also, this isn't professionally written, so don't expect any literary masterpiece.

TW for mentions of sexual activity.

Since Season 4 of Stranger Things has come out, there has been a massive surge of new fans in the community. This, of course, is expected when a smash hit show gets another season. Gatekeeping is seriously a problem (and honestly a pointless fight, because Stranger Things is one of the world's biggest shows, so how do people think they'll be able to gatekeep it?), but that's an argument for another blog post.

Obviously, there are some younger fans joining the fandom as well with the release of Season 4. Many of these younger fans find comfort in the characters of the show, especially the new character Eddie Munson. If you haven't watched Stranger Things, Eddie Munson is the lovable metalhead and drug dealer who's suspected of being a serial killer. More notably about his character, however, is his status as the "town freak", which he earned presumably because he is unlike the other kids. He runs a D&D club, dresses differently, listens to metal music, has an extremely theatrical personality, and is even suspected by fans to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, which in the 1980s was a big no-no.

Because of these things, a lot of people (including me!) have come to love Eddie. We can relate to him because many of us have also felt like outcasts, freaks, or rejects.

However, with this surge of new fans, there have been some who have... let's just say that they've taken their crushes on Eddie wayyyyyy too far. You might've heard about the Soundgasm audio, seen the many edited photos of Eddie shirtless, or witnessed the online discourse surrounding his actor Joseph Quinn. Except for the Soundgasm audio, which was posted before Season 4 came out, most of these things have been created by the newer fans.

This is a problem because they are oversexualizing the actor Joseph Quinn and his character. It's also a problem because it's turning the once-peaceful fandom into a warzone.

I'm a fan of Joseph Quinn, and yeah, I think he's pretty good-looking. So do a lot of other people! There's nothing wrong with having celebrity crushes because they're part of growing up. But, I have seen tons of people violating his privacy. Simply search up "Joseph Quinn" on TikTok, and there's a whole community scrutinizing and sexualizing every little action he does. And not every Joseph Quinn fan is bad, duh, but it's alarming to see just how many bad fans there are.

For one, like I mentioned before, the over-sexualization of Joseph Quinn/Eddie Munson. Obviously, like in any fandom, there's gonna be some crazy fans, but it seems everywhere I look there's someone saying "Joe Quinn please have sex with me!" or "Eddie Munson could ruin me and I would thank him". While Eddie Munson is presumably 19-20 years old in the show, it's still wild to see how grossly oversexualized he is. And you might think, "Well, he's not real!" but you have to understand that fiction becomes reality, especially in the minds of teenagers. Younger fans will begin to believe this kind of treatment is okay, and it will carry over into the real world.

Another example is a video circulating on social media of Joseph Quinn going out to eat with a pretty "mystery girl", who's believed to be model Alicia Davis. Since this video came out, the girl has been rumored to have received literal DEATH THREATS from angry fans, along with lots of body shaming and needless criticism. Because, of course, how dare she go out with everyone's celebrity crush?

And here's the kicker - NOBODY KNOWS IF THEY'RE DATING! It could've been a date, sure, or it could've been a casual meetup between two friends! It's so utterly fucked up that she's receiving death threats for literally having lunch with Joe Quinn. And most of the people who are sending these threats are teenagers who don't even have the inkling of a chance with this GROWN MAN. How do I know this? Because the people who are hating on the girl are the same people who are making edits of Joseph Quinn licking his lips during an interview and posting them on TikTok with the caption "I want him to use his tongue on me like that".

A real fan should be happy that their celebrity crush is dating! Sure, you might be disappointed that it's not you because let's face it, most of us have wanted that. That's totally normal! It's fine! So many people have gone through that! But deep down, you know it's not going to happen. The problem lies with the fans who don't know where the protective bubble of fantasy ends and reality begins.

Anyways, this rant may be absolutely incoherent, but I'm weirdly proud of it. I've attached a double-spaced, 12-point document to read in case this text is too hard to read.

Hopefully, this fandom gets back on its feet before it gets worse. The Stranger Things fandom has even started to be compared to the My Hero Academia fandom, which is infamous for being toxic and problematic. As an ex-fan of MHA, I can say that no fandom is like that fandom, but I can't deny its similarities with the Stranger Things fandom.

Again, crushes are part of growing up, and I'm not condemning the throngs of newer fans that hopped on the bandwagon and fell in love with Eddie. I'm honestly grateful for the sudden growth of the fandom because it gives me more people to talk to about the show I love. I am condemning the new fans that take it too far with the character and the actor because it's just wrong.

(here's the doc)

[maandarinee]

what are all the podcasts you listen to?

anon I'm so glad you asked

Since it is a pretty long list including synopses (stolen from the podcast feed or website because I'm Bad at summaries and in some cases it's been a while since I listened) I'm going to put it under a cut.

I've separated the list into "Complete" (either finished or cancelled) and "Ongoing" podcasts. Some have additional comments by me. Current favorites are marked orange. My eternal beloved are Our Fair City and Wolf 359.

Complete

ars PARADOXICA: "When an experiment in a time much like our own goes horribly awry, Dr. Sally Grissom finds herself stranded in the past and entrenched in the activities of a clandestine branch of the US government. Grissom and her team quickly learn that there's no safety net when toying with the fundamental logic of the universe."

Blackwood: "Five years ago, Molly Weaver, Bryan Anderson, and Nathan Howell started a podcast focused on the local legend of a monster called The Blackwood Bugman. Quickly, the investigation grew out of their control, as they discovered that, not only are the legends seemingly true, many people in Blackwood have turned up dead or disappeared without a trace." --> [this feels like the Blair With Project, but as a podcast. Didn't get a second season due to no funding, but it works as a standalone]

Dreamboy: "Dane, a spun-out musician spending the winter in Cleveland, Ohio, has two main goals: keeping his job at the Pepper Heights Zoo and trying not to waste all his time on Grindr. What he doesn’t expect is to get swept into a story about dreams, about forevers, about flickering lights, about unexplained deaths, about relentless change, and about the parts of ourselves that we wish other people knew to look for. Oh, and also a murderous zebra." --> [very NSFW; does cool things with music! Didn't get a second season due to no funding, but it works as a standalone]

King Fall AM: "...centers on a lonely little mountain town's late-night AM talk radio show and its paranormal, peculiar happenings and inhabitants." --> [cancelled after 100 episodes, ends on a huge cliffhanger]

Our Fair City: "A campy, post-apocalyptic audio drama." --> [I know the description sounds like nothing but just trust me, I love it so much]

Steal the Stars: "...is a gripping noir science fiction thriller in 14 episodes: Forbidden love, a crashed UFO, an alien body, and an impossible heist unlike any ever attempted."

Stellar Firma: "...a weekly Science Fiction, Comedy podcast following the misadventures of Stellar Firma Ltd.'s highest born but lowest achieving planetary designer Trexel Geistman and his bewildered clone assistant David 7. Join them each episode as they attempt to take listener submissions and craft them into the galaxy's most luxurious, most expensive and most questionably designed bespoke planets. However, with Trexel's corporate shark of a line manager Hartro Piltz breathing down their necks and I.M.O.G.E.N., the station's omnipresent and omniinvasive stationwide A.I. monitoring those necks to within 3 decimal places, they'll be lucky to make it a week before being slurried and recycled into raw human resources." --> [semi-improvised, I thought I'd have a problem with the improv bit because that's not usually my thing, but no, I absolutely devoured this]

TANIS: "...is a serialized docudrama about a fascinating and surprising mystery: the myth of Tanis. Tanis is an exploration of the nature of truth, conspiracy, and information. Tanis is what happens when the lines of science and fiction start to blur." [+ spinoff The Last Movie] --> [I have no clue what the hell is going on here]

The Black Tapes: "...is a serialized docudrama about one journalist's searc for truth, her enigmatic subject's mysterious past, and the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt them both."

The Magnus Archives: "...is a weekly horror fiction anthology podcast examining what lurks in the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organisation dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird. Join new head archivist Jonathan Sims as he attempts to bring a seemingly neglected collection of supernatural statements up to date, converting them to audio and supplementing them with follow-up work from his small but dedicated team. Individually, they are unsettling. Together they begin to form a picture that is truly horrifying because as they look into the depths of the archives, something starts to look back…"

Time:Bombs: "...a new audio drama podcast about the hilarious world of bomb disposal. Ride along with EOD technician Simon Teller on the busiest night of the year for him and his team - when business is, quite literally, booming."

Wolf 359: "Life's not easy for Doug Eiffel, the communications officer for the U.S.S. Hephaestus Research Station, currently on Day 448 of its orbit around red dwarf star Wolf 359. He's stuck on a scientific survey mission of indeterminate length, 7.8 light years from Earth. His only company on board the station are stern mission chief Minkowski, insane science officer Hilbert, and Hephaestus Station's sentient, often malfunctioning operating system Hera. He doesn't have much to do for his job other than monitoring static and intercepting the occasional decades-old radio broadcast from Earth, so he spends most of his time creating extensive audio logs about the ordinary, day-to-day happenings within the station. But the Hephaestus is an odd place, and life in extremely isolated, zero gravity conditions has a way of doing funny things to people's minds. Even the simplest of tasks can turn into a gargantuan struggle, and the most ordinary-seeming things have a way of turning into anything but that." --> [starts funny, turns very intense]

Ongoing

Alba Salix, Roya Physician (+ The Axe & Crown): "A witch, her apprentice, and her fairy herbalist treat the ills of a fairy-tale kingdom." + "Gubbin the troll tavernkeeper deals with his clueless new landlord, his shady niece, and some new competition."

Archive 81: "A found footage horror podcast about ritual, stories, and sound."

Arden: "A (fictional) true crime podcast about cold cases and the reporter and detective who try to solve them."

Brimstone Valley Mall: "The year is 1999. Lurking somewhere between Hot Topic and the food court, five misfit demons from Hell kill time inciting sin in a suburban shopping mall. When the lead singer of their band goes mysteriously missing, the demons only have two weeks to find him before they play the biggest gig of the millennium - or face the wrath of Satan herself."

CARAVAN: "First rule of Wound Canyon: No one who gets in, ever gets out. So when a brilliant, ghostly specter flies through the sky amid the rain and lightning, Samir stumbles off a steep cliff and into a hidden world, one in which demons, vampires, and all other manner of paranormal creatures take sanctuary." --> [also pretty NSFW and horny in general]

Death by Dying: "The Obituary Writer of Crestfall, Idaho finds himself deeply in over his head as he investigates a series of strange and mysterious deaths… when he is supposed to simply be writing obituaries. Along the way he encounters murderous farmers, man-eating cats, haunted bicycles, and a healthy dose of ominous shadows." --> [I had to stop listening to this in public because it kept making me undignified laugh and snort noises]

Desperado: "Blood magic, Voodoo magic, old gods, new gods: We've got it all! Follow the story of misfits from all over the world, as they try to survive and protect their heritage from modern-day crusaders."

EOS 10: "Doctors in space, a deposed alien prince, a super gay space pirate and a fiery nurse who'll help you win your bar fight."

Girl In Space: "Abandoned on a dying ship in the farthest reaches of known space, a young scientist fights for survival (and patience with the on-board A.I.). Who is she? No one knows. But a lot of dangerous entities really want to find out. Listen as the story unfolds for science, guns, trust, anti-matter, truth, beauty, inner turmoil, and delicious cheeses. It’s all here. In space."

Janus Descending: "...follows the arrival of two xenoarcheologists on a small world orbiting a binary star. But what starts off as an expedition to survey the planet and the remains of a lost alien civilization, turns into a monstrous game of cat and mouse, as the two scientists are left to face the creatures that killed the planet in the first place. Told from two alternating perspectives, Janus Descending is an experience of crossing timelines, as one character describes the nightmare from end to beginning, and the other, from beginning to the end." --> [absolutely harrowing horror]

Love and Luck: "...is a fictional radio play podcast, told via voicemails and set in present day Melbourne, Australia. A slice of life queer romance story with a touch of magic, it follows the relationship between two men, Jason and Kane, as their love grows both for each other and their community." --> [soft and gay, feels like a warm hug]

Potterless: "Join Mike Schubert, a grown man reading the Harry Potter series for the first time, as he sits down with HP fanatics to poke fun at plot holes, make painfully incorrect predictions, and bask in the sassiness of the characters." --> [the only non-fiction podcast on the list]

Primordial Deep: "When a long extinct sea creature washes up on the shores of Coney Island, marine biologist Dr. Marella Morgan is contacted by a secret organization to investigate the origins of the creature’s sudden and unnatural resurgence. Soon, she and a team of experts find themselves living on the research station The Tiamat, traveling along the abyssal plains as they search for answers far below the waves. But there are dangers in these ancient waters. Reawakened, prehistoric monsters are rising from the deep -- jaws wide and waiting, and in the darkness, something is stirring."

Red Valley: "No one at Overhead Industries wants to talk about defunct research station Red Valley, and account man Warren Godby is out of his depth. When he meets Gordon Porlock, a disgruntled archivist with a bag of tapes from the station’s last known occupant, they will begin a journey to the limits of experimental science, confront horror and trauma from the past, present and future, and try to remember the cheat codes from Sonic the Hedgehog 2."

Rusty Quill Gaming: "An actual play podcast following a mixed ability group of comedians, improvisers, gamers, and writers as they play through the extended, tabletop roleplaying campaign Erasing the Line, an original game world of the GM’s crafting." --> [took me a while to get into because I have trouble focusing on non-scripted things, but eventually I got really hooked on the plot and attached to the characters. This podcast is really fucked up at times if you think about it]

SAYER: "A narrative fiction podcast set on Earth’s man-made second moon, Typhon. The eponymous SAYER is a highly advanced, self-aware AI created to help acclimate new residents to their new lives, and their new employment with Ærolith Dynamics." --> [feels like Welcome to Night Vale but narrated by GLaDOS from Portal]

StarTripper!!: "Join Feston Pyxis on a road-trip through the cosmos, as he leaves behind his old life in search of the best and wildest experiences the galaxy has to offer!"

The Amelia Project: "...is a secret agency that fakes its clients' deaths, then lets them reappear with a brand new identity! A black comedy full of secrets, twists... and cocoa."

The Big Loop: "...a biweekly anthology series. Each episode is a self-contained narrative exploring the strange, the wonderful, the terrifying, and the heartbreaking. Stories of finite beings in an infinite universe." --> [I don't like anthologies, except this one]

The Bright Sessions: "Dr. Bright provides therapy for the strange and unusual; their sessions have been recorded for research purposes." --> [think X-Men, but with therapy instead of a school]

The Deca Tapes: "Recordings have surfaced of ten people that are locked into the same space together. We don’t know where they are, or if they'll get out. But the answers must be somewhere on these tapes."

The Silt Verses: "Carpenter and Faulkner, two worshippers of an outlawed god, travel up the length of their deity’s great black river, searching for holy revelations. As their pilgrimage lengthens and the river’s mysteries deepen, the two acolytes find themselves under threat from a police manhunt, but also come into conflict with the weirder gods that have flourished in these forgotten rural territories."

The White Vault: "Follow the collected records of a repair team sent to Outpost Fristed in the vast white wastes of Svalbard and unravel what lies waiting in the ice below."

Tides: "...is the story of Dr. Winifred Eurus, a xenobiologist trapped on an unfamiliar planet with hostile tidal forces. She must use her wits, sarcasm and intellectual curiosity to survive long enough to be rescued. But there might be more to life on this planet than she expected." --> [think The Martian, but on a water planet]

Unwell, a Midwestern Gothic Mystery: "Lillian Harper moves to the small town of Mt. Absalom, Ohio, to care for her estranged mother Dorothy after an injury. Living in the town's boarding house which has been run by her family for generations, she discovers conspiracies, ghosts, and a new family in the house's strange assortment of residents."

VAST Horizon: "Nolira is an agronomist tasked with establishing agriculture in a new solar system, but when she wakes up on a now- empty colony ship, the whole of her plan disappears. The ship has been set adrift, with numerous mission-critical problems requiring immediate attendance outside of her area of expertise. Nolira is aided by the ship’s malfunctioning AI, which acts as her confidant and companion during the fight for survival."

Victoriocity: "Even Greater London, 1887. In this vast metropolis, Inspector Archibald Fleet and journalist Clara Entwhistle investigate a murder, only to find themselves at the centre of a conspiracy of impossible proportions."

We Fix Space Junk: "...follows seasoned smuggler Kilner and reluctant fugitive Samantha as they travel the galaxy, dodging bullets and meeting strange and wonderful beings as they carry out odd jobs on the fringes of the law."

Welcome to Night Vale: "Twice-monthly community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, where every conspiracy theory is true. Turn on your radio and hide."

Within the Wires: "Stories told through found audio from an alternate universe."

Wooden Overcoats: "Rudyard Funn and his equally miserable sister Antigone run their family's failing funeral parlour, where they get the body in the coffin in the ground on time. But one day they find everyone enjoying themselves at the funerals of a new competitor - the impossibly perfect Eric Chapman! With their dogsbody Georgie, and a mouse called Madeleine, the Funns are taking drastic steps to stay in the business…" --> [one of THE funniest podcasts I have ever listened to]

[vbsvartalf]

Aha! It's my time to shine!

Firstly, I'd like to recommend "Wormwood: A Serialized Mystery" from way back in the halcyon days of 2007, it's about an occult doctor getting strange visions and going to a strange out of the way town with people who all have secrets. Sound familiar?

Another good one that's more recent is "Sed: La Advertencia" a Spanish language thriller about a water shortage in Mexico City, starring Tenoch Huerta of Wakanda Forever fame.

"Immunities" has been really fun too. I'm only a few episodes in but the premise is aliens take over the earth (maybe) by simply looking into people's eyes. Some are immune and have to find a way to resist.

"On a Dark, Cold Night" is a fantastic single narrator audio drama with lots of folk and gothic horror. There's an overarching narrative too, but I won't give that away to preserve spoilers.

"Edict Zero: FIS" is another older one, well 2010 if that's old, that's still ongoing. It's a sci-fi thriller that sees humanity on a new world, but one filled with the same old problems.

"Jarnsaxa Rising" is about the titular giantess, who happens to be the mother of Thor's children and Loki's cousin, being released from a curse into modern day.

"Children of the Stones" from the BBC is another fun one, I suppose it's somewhat based on the old show but as I only know the old show itself exists, I can't be too certain. However, it's creepy good folk horror and strange townfolk.

"Dear Bastard" is a favorite comedy of mine. The framing device is emails sent back and forth in a British flat between really, really passive aggressive Brits who really seem to hate everyone around them.

"Dark Ages" mixes work place comedy with high fantasy and somehow manages not to come off over-the-top dumb.

"The Secret Files of Morgan Knox" is an excellent occult detective show for anyone that's a fan of Malevolent, bonus it's written by (amongst others) Bo Bolander and Gabino Iglesies, two of my favorite horror/speculative fiction authors.

"Aftershocks" not to be confused with the similarly titled audio drama staring Sarah Wayne Callies, David Harbour, and Jeffery Dean Morgan, Aftershocks is about a girl who stays at a mental hospital and finds out dark secrets and other creepy things around the corners.

"Roswell B.C. (Before the Crash)" is a mix of sci-fi and hardboiled noir from a unique perspective.

"The Second Oil Age" has me hooked with only a few episodes so far, a mix of cyber punk and espionage thriller.

"Standard Docking Procedures" didn't last very long, but man in just a few episodes I fell in love. It's an episodic sci-fi comedy that asks about the dirty jobs of a space station.

"Olive Hill" is the story of two missing girls and the woman that goes in search of answers years later and digs up more than she bargains for (again, sound familiar?).

"Madison on the Air" is hilarious and combines old time radio shows and gives them a bit of a facelift with hilarious results.

"Apocalypse Songs" runs in the vein of the Black Tapes as a horror show that really, really tries to sound like it's real but nevertheless is very good and very compelling.

"The Path Down" is another I'm only an episode or two in but I'm really enjoying the every day sci-fi vibe to it. It's so slice of life that it's hard to remember sometimes it has people with super powers.

"Heads of Sierra Blanca" is another of those "horror that wants to sound like it's real" and it manages to make me nervous at times, it helps that Sierra Blanca is a real place less than an hours drive from where I live.

"The Pilgrimage Saga" is good sci-fi with a mix of comedy, drama, thriller, all the good stuff with the premise of determined survivors returning to earth after some sort of apocalyptic event drove everyone away.

"Next Stop" is the quintessential sitcom, minus being problematic and full of canned laughter.

"Saffron and Peri" is an urban fantasy that asks "what is it like to work in a supernatural university help desk" because we've all asked that question before.

"Boston Harbor Horror" is another go at the Lovecraftian horrors are running about in modern day and manages to tell a compelling story.

"Kaleidotrope: A Romantic Comedy" plays the tried and true radio host framing device but instead of weird horrors running amok it's random people texting in to work out their problems while the hosts play the "will they, won't they" game.

"The Monster Hunters" goes back to the 70s and all it's problematic features to tell a good supernatural horror comedy about a pair of, well, monster hunters.

Anyway, I think that's a good start, some obscure some not so

[rabdoidal]

i know you listen to a lot of podcasts and ive found some of my favourites from hearing you talk about them! do you have any favourites?

under the cut! my top 10 podcasts at the moment:

Alice Isn’t Dead Genre: horror, thriller, drama, Lovecraftian, Americana Episode count: 30 (completed) Description: A truck driver searches across America for the wife she had long assumed was dead. In the course of her search, she will encounter not-quite-human serial murderers, towns literally lost in time, and a conspiracy that goes way beyond one missing woman. Thoughts: This podcast is, to me at least, completely flawless in every way. I would consider myself a person that listens to a lot of horror podcasts, but Alice Isn’t Dead takes the cake for its depictions of liminal middle America, the horror that is capitalism, and the most tender, realistic depiction of lesbians in any podcast. Anything else I could say would spoil it and for this, I don’t want to spoil it because I want every person alive that can stomach horror to listen to this.

Archive 81 Genre: horror, comedy, sci-fi, Lovecraftian Episode count: 35 (ongoing) Description: Archive 81 is a found footage horror podcast about ritual, stories, and sound. Thoughts: The latest podcast I’ve tried, and it’s definitely one that grows on you. The audio mixing is some of the best I’ve heard in any podcast, and every bump and scratch and hum of frequency weaves to form moments that are truly and viscerally gory. Season 3 and Left of The Dial are my favorites because again, I love Americana horror, and anything that involves family!

Artificial Ghost Radio Genre: non-fiction, discussion, comedy Episode count: 75 (ongoing) Description: Our Sisyphean music recommendation challenge with hosts Miles (he/him) and Jupiter (she/they) challenge each other to find songs based on arbitrary themes and to spin the WHEEL OF DISCORD to talk about a random song from their library! They can be found on twitter @artghostpod. Thoughts: Gotta plug my own podcast! We’re still small, but the people I’ve met from doing AGR has made my life richer and fuller, even through the ups and downs. I recommend starting with #58: Songs about Aliens ft. our friend Liz (@thescaryjokes)!

EOS 10 Genre: medical drama, comedy, sci-fi Episode count: 34 (ongoing) Description: Doctors in space, a deposed alien prince, a super gay space pirate and a fiery nurse who'll help you win your bar fight. Thoughts: It’s been a hot minute since I listened, but as someone that inherently loves things like Star Trek and procedural comedies, EOS 10 is a quick and hilarious listen! Fair warning some of the earlier stuff is a little bit ignorant when it comes to their LGBT characters, but it gets a lot better over time.

King Falls AM Genre: horror, comedy, Lovecraftian Episode count: 100 (ongoing) Description: King Falls AM centers on a lonely little mountain town's late-night AM talk radio show and its paranormal, peculiar happenings and inhabitants Thoughts: I’m a bit behind, but again, gotta love some Alpine American horror! King Falls AM perfectly captures the feeling and sound of listening to a small late night radio show with two bros, but it really goes from typical dude dialogue to heart wrenching found family alien conspiracy real quick. Same as EOS 10, fair warning for some ignorant language and LGBT stereotypes, but they address it and it gets better as it progresses.

Not Another D&D Podcast Genre: actual play Dungeons and Dragons, TTRPG, comedy Episode count: 128 (ongoing) Description: Welcome to the campaign after the campaign! Three unlikely adventurers attempt to right the wrongs caused by a party of legendary heroes who screwed up the world while trying to save it. Thoughts: I’m only like 40 episodes in because they’re thick, meaty ‘sodes, but god is NADDPOD fucking hilarious. I’ve tried a fair few TTRPG shows, but the chemistry and care that the cast has together is unmatched by others in the genre. I’m a complete sucker for shows that are so funny and so tragic in equal measures, and the entire concept of a D&D game set after the world has been so drastically changed by a different D&D game is so unique!

The Faculty of Horror Genre: non-fiction, horror, philosophy, sociology, feminism Episode count: 86 (ongoing) Description: Tackling all things horror with a slash of analysis and research, horror journalists and occasional academics Andrea Subissati and Alexandra West are your hosts for brain-plumping discussions on all things that go bump in the night. Thoughts: A little non-fiction in this list of fiction podcasts! The Faculty of Horror is a concise and educated intersectional feminist podcast, and it’s a breath of fresh air to listen to anyone that isn’t a cishet white guy talk about horror. I highly recommend the episode on Cabin in The Woods or Jennifer’s Body!

The Magnus Archives Genre: horror, office comedy Episode count: 180 (ongoing) Description: The Magnus Archives is a weekly horror fiction anthology podcast examining what lurks in the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organization dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird. Join new head archivist Jonathan Sims as he attempts to bring a seemingly neglected collection of supernatural statements up to date, converting them to audio and supplementing them with follow-up work from his small but dedicated team. Thoughts: TMA is, similarly to A81, a bit of a slow burn to get into, but I think once you listen to a few episodes you’ll know if you want to continue. It’s a pretty standard prompt for a narrative, but the sheer amount of individual short horror stories they’ve managed to write is insane! And I love the slow break down between recording statements and the stuff happening within the archives. Also one of the best redemption stories in a character that starts off as such a grumpy fuck!

The Penumbra Podcast Genre: sci-fi, neo-noir, romance, comedy, found family, magic, medieval fantasy, adventure, mystery Episode count: 75 (ongoing) Description: At the Penumbra, you might follow Juno Steel, a brooding, sharp-witted private eye on Mars, as he tangles with an elusive homme fatale, tracks dangerous artifacts of an ancient alien civilization, and faces his three greatest fears: heights, blood, and relationships. Or you might enter the world of the Second Citadel, where the merciless Sir Caroline must corral a team of emotionally distraught all-male knights to defend their city against mind-manipulating monsters...even the ones they’ve fallen in love with. Thoughts: On god TPP was a life changing podcast for me. Having creators that are genuinely concerned with accurately representing minorities with care and dedication makes me feel spoiled when I try listen to anything else. The two main universes are so different with their own set of histories and cultures, but I love them both so completely. If you want LGBT+ representation, this is the seminal podcast for everything non-binary, trans, queer, and people that aren’t afraid to change and have that change be known! I haven’t listened to another podcast that actually depicts transitioning like they do, absolute king shit.

Wolf 359 Genre: space drama, comedy, action Episode count: 61 (completed) Description: WOLF 359 is a radio drama in the tradition of Golden Age of Radio shows. Set on board the U.S.S. Hephaestus space station, the dysfunctional crew deals with daily life-or-death emergencies, while searching for signs of alien life and discovering there might be more to their mission than they thought Thoughts: Wolf 359 is like if you fell down the stairs and at the bottom of the stairs was a bear trap, and then after you step in the bear trap someone helps you take off that beartrap, but then they kick you in the nuts. Just replace physical pain with emotional pain. It can be so funny but also so fucking stressful and sad – w359 isn’t afraid to kill its darlings, and it will break your heart but you will still say thank you.

[dont-fuck-koalas]

REVIEW: FINDING PENNY PODCAST

If you love fiction podcasts, then I've got the perfect thing for you.

'Finding Penny' is a horror/ sci-fi podcast about the disappearance of a highschool girl named Penny and how her girlfriend, Meribelle and best friend, Betty, try to find her.

The story is set in 1990, in a small town in Texas called Willowdale. Penny decides to propose to Meribelle in a forest, but things go terribly wrong. Betty and Penny hear people chanting, immediately after which Penny's scream is heard and she goes missing.

The story starts with the police investigating this case. At this point I pretty much prepared myself for a murder mystery. I assumed it was the work of a serial killer or a weird cult and that Penny was probably dead; but as the story progressed, I had a gut instinct that maybe there was something more going on after all.

This podcast is perfect for people who, like me, love listening to the story unfold and then going back to the beginning to discover that there were clues present all along. I loved the fact that every time I made a prediction about which direction the story would take, the podcast slapped me with a plot twist and made the story 100 times better.

Every character in this story has a unique personality. Meribelle's determination to find her girlfriend and Betty's practical mindset work perfectly with each other, making them precious characters that the audience would root for.

The story is true to it's timeline. Given that this incident took place in 1990, the writers didn't forget to include homophobia, and as sad as it is, I liked that aspect because that made the story seem more real.

I can not praise this podcast enough without giving spoilers. All I'd like to say is that I rarely get this excited about a story. Finding Penny isn't the usual 30-45min podcast I listen to, so I was a little skeptical at first, but needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. It was original. The flow was perfect. The writing was incredible. @findingpennypod did a really great job!!

My ratings (on a scale of 5)

Voice acting: 4

Audio quality: 5

Storyline: 5

Overall: 5

[daleisgreat]

Speed

Today’s entry will mark the first official 4K home video release I am writing about. I already own a few other 4K UHDs, and a couple of months ago, I watched my first 4K video at home with 2001’s The Fast and the Furious. However, I already covered that movie’s BluRay release here several years ago, so I will not be dedicating another entry for it, other than to say that the 4K upgrade pops and makes it look like a new release. Today’s entry is for 1994’s Speed (trailer). Before diving into this movie, I noticed one of the tracks from this film’s score repeatedly used throughout sounds awfully like one of the main themes I primarily associated with the Metal Gear Solid franchise. I have no idea if this was pointed out before, and I just overlooked it all these years, or maybe I am grasping at straws. Click or press here to take a listen and decide for yourself. 1994 was a hell of a year for Hollywood movies primarily transpiring from a highway with The Chase, Speed, and the OJ Simpson Bronco chase….oh wait (although I highly recommend the ESPN 30 for 30 on it, simply titled: June 17th 1994). The majority of Speed has a straightforward premise: serial bomber and local madman Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) planted a bomb on a bus rigged to explode once the bus drops below 55 miles per hour. Police officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) is alerted to this by the bomber himself to exact revenge on Traven after successfully rescuing hostages from an elevator Payne armed at the beginning of the film.

From there, for the middle hour of this nearly two-hour film, the action almost entirely takes place on the bus. Traven makes a grand entrance onto the bus by commandeering a Jaguar and having its owner (Glenn Plummer) take the wheel so Traven could heroically leap onto the bus and save the day. It would not be that easy of a rescue mission as Payne has eyes on the bus, and Traven has to play by his rules and get him his $3 million ransom to disarm the bus. Without question, the middle hour on the bus is the best part of the film. The opening half-hour is an excellent appetizer with the elevator hostage crisis that Traven and his partner, Harry (Jeff Daniels), successfully foil. However, once the action shifts to the bus is when Speed takes off. Shortly after taking control of the bus, one of the passengers freaks and inadvertently shoots the bus driver, and a fellow passenger, Annie (Sandra Bullock), takes over the wheel. Throughout the film, Annie and Traven have wonderful chemistry, and I could not help but root for the duo throughout. Every couple of minutes, there is a new potential conflict to overcome to keep the bus going over 55mph. The film wisely peppers in brief dialog exchanges to let the movie breathe just enough before the next hurdle makes itself present.

The film's standout moment is the major obstacle for the bus to overcome when it encounters a stretch of unavoidable highway under construction and missing a hearty chunk of the road. Traven’s solution is that since that stretch of a road is on an incline, they may clear that gap if they build up enough speed! That epic stunt hits all the right notes, and I got goosebumps all over again re-watching it, and odds are, I bet you did too if you have seen this movie. If you have not, then watch this scene and see for yourself by click or pressing here. A lot of the critical discussion in the aftermath of this movie was if that jump was realistically possible. The best thing I can do is to compare it to another film, Road Trip, which is likely a better indicator of what could happen when attempting such a feat. Once the middle bus portion of the film is over, there are still about 20 minutes left where Traven tracks and chases down Payne in a subway station. The movie felt over once the bus portion had such a satisfying conclusion that it almost feels wrong to keep sticking with the film by this point, but I recommend you do since there is a satisfying payoff in the form of Payne’s demise. I have to share a story now when I first saw this film at around 13 or 14 on VHS. My dad’s VCR had what seemed to me at the time was a revolutionary feature where if I kept pressing the pause button repeatedly, it would slowly, frame-by-frame, play the film in super slow-motion. At that age, I thought this was a fantastic way to get the most out of the biggest stunts in action scenes. My favorite moment exploiting this feature was seeing Traven and Payne wrestle around on the top of a subway train until Payne was not watching his field of vision, and a warning light lead to his sudden beheading. I slow-motion replayed that sequence countless times in my awkward, early teenage years. Suffice it to say, Hopper plays the out-of-his-mind bomber perfectly, going so far as to make sure he receives his appropriate cinematic comeuppance.

The director ensures the many passengers on the bus maximized their minutes to the point I where it feels like you are right there with them!

Two audio commentaries are the only extra features of the 4K disc in this 4K/BluRay combo pack. One is with the director, Jan de Bont, and the other is with producer Mark Gordon and writer Graham Yost. Props are to whoever decided to subtitle the commentary tracks. I very much appreciate it! I first started to bounce back and forth between the two commentary tracks, but Bont was way too relaxed and had too many pauses to hold my attention, and I finished up with his track within five minutes. However, Yost and Gordon are very much engaged from beginning to end and have fun cracking jokes and sharing memories throughout. Some quick takeaways I got from them were how they wanted to film a major scene outside of a sports arena, dealing with critics poking holes at how unrealistic their stunts were, and how watching the movie felt very different at the time of the commentary recording just two months after 9/11. The BluRay disc contains the remainder of the bonus features. Inside Speed is a four-part feature lasting just under an hour breaking down the visual effects, stunts, and location sequences, but half of it also contains an HBO First Look special hosted by Dennis Hopper that hits all the right kinds of cheesy mid-90s EPK nostalgia that it is worth checking out. Aside from 12 minutes of extended scenes and a Billy Idol music video that seems totally off base with the tempo of the film, there are a couple of Action Sequences mini-features breaking down some of the stunts. I highly recommend watching the one dissecting how they did the bus jump, as it shows raw footage of what really happened when they shot it, and showed footage of some of the specific safety measures they instilled to make that stunt as safe as possible and had some eye-opening interviews with the stunt driver before and after.

After watching that old VHS copy nearly a dozen times, Speed wound up being one of my favorite action films I got burnt out early on and never bothered upgrading to a DVD or standalone BluRay. Watching it again in 4K all these years later breathed new life into it for me. I am not an expert at breaking down video quality by any means, but watching the 4K disc on my 4KTV gave the impression of this having far more current production values. The editors somehow managed to remove all the old film grain defects for a smooth 4K upgrade. If you have not seen Speed yet, then it has everything you could want out of a mid-90s action movie with explosions, gripping thrills and stunts, dramatic rescues, plenty of zinger one-liners…..and a Billy Idol theme song. Pardon me while I attempt my best Dennis Hopper impression here, “Pop quiz, hotshot, which 1994 blockbuster that takes place primarily on a bus is a perfect candidate for beer and popcorn movie night at home?” Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Endgame The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve The Clapper Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed I & II Deck the Halls Detroit Rock City Die Hard Dirty Work Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Grunt: The Wrestling Movie Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hell Comes to Frogtown Hercules: Reborn Hitman I Like to Hurt People Indiana Jones 1-4 Inglourious Basterds Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Justice League (2017 Whedon Cut) Last Action Hero Major League Mallrats Man of Steel Man on the Moon Man vs Snake Marine 3-6 Merry Friggin Christmas Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Nintendo Quest Not for Resale Old Joy Payback (Director’s Cut) Pulp Fiction The Punisher (1989) The Ref The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VIII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Pilgrim vs the World The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Slacker Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Sully Take Me Home Tonight TMNT Trauma Center The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild The Wizard Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past

[watchathon]

Book 3, Chapter 17: The Ember Island Players

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watchathon, a blog where I’m hoping to watch an episode of a TV show every weekday, with a short blog post where I write down my thoughts as I watch. Each new thought starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so. Now that the introductions are over with, here’s my thoughts on The Ember Island Players:

- We are literally one episode away from the series finale and Katara in the theme song still says that Aang “has a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone.” I could’ve sworn they cut that part out by now. Not complaining, though, it’s kinda funny.

- It’s nice to see Aang and Zuko practicing Firebending. Firebending just looks awesome, even when it’s not actually a fight scene.

- Nice detail that the poster for the play is based on the box art for the Book 1 DVD.

- I never would’ve taken Zuko for the type of person who would have critiques about a specific theater group and how a play’s been “butchered.” And I’m assuming these are opinions he held when he was taken to see the Ember Island Players as a little kid, to boot.

- “This is the kind of wacky time-wasting nonsense I’ve been missing!” I like the subtle leaning on the 4th wall here, referencing how the series gradually got more and more serialized.

- Oh, I’ve got to love the absolute 180 in Katara and Sokka’s reactions just as soon as their fictional counterparts open their mouths.

- It feels kinda weird to watch this episode after having seen countless videos of the Gaang reacting to the live-action movie.

- Toph is just having a blast, ain’t she?

- I just can’t get enough of the Gaang’s reactions to their equivalents in the play.

- Now I can’t help wondering what Peter Pan’s reaction would be to the genderbent casting for him.

- Well, you know what they say, Zuko: “Art imitates life.”

- I get the feeling that the real King Bumi would have as much fun with his interpretation here as Toph is having.

- Nice detail that the Ember Island Players don’t know the Blue Spirit is Zuko. And another thing I couldn’t help but notice: Zuko here takes the place of Admiral Zhao. Zhao’s just been forgotten completely in, what, half a year? For someone as obsessed with glory and legacy as Zhao, it’s an even worse punishment than whatever the Ocean Spirit did to him.

- You can already tell the Gaang’s not gonna end up the heroes of the play when Player Katara is totally supportive of Jet wiping out that Fire Nation town.

- There’s definitely at least a bit of self-deprecation on behalf of the showrunners, with stuff like this joke on how the Great Divide was the only true filler episode.

- I like this scene of the Gaang discussing the play during the intermission.

- This play’s having a lot more luck with its rope effects than that Spider-Man musical did.

- Again, Toph is having a blast. Katara’s waiting for Toph to react the same way the rest of the Gaang did to their portrayals, but Toph is just positively delighted.

- Do you think Toph would want Dwayne Johnson to play her in the upcoming live-action reboot? ...Scratch that, of course she would.

- Added to the list of reasons to get my hands on good video editing software: replace Player Toph’s scream with the audio from the “AHHHHH” video.

- I’ve just come to a realization: this play is the theater equivalent to an abridged series.

- Seems like the audience isn’t all too enraptured by the play, or at least the drill scene.

- I get the meta gag, I think it’s hilarious, and it makes a great meme to boot, but... Jet’s death wasn’t too unclear, really. Sure, they don’t explicitly say “Jet’s dead”, but it’s so strongly implied that there’s very little room for an alternate interpretation.

- This play is hilarious, but it’s clearly bringing back some bad memories for Zuko. He almost definitely doesn’t want to be reminded of how he betrayed the best father figure he had so he could go back to the one who scarred and banished him for speaking out of turn.

- I like the bait-and-switch when Sokka asks Suki if she can get him backstage.

- It’s nice to see Toph chatting with Zuko about Iroh, complete with a callback to when she met Iroh.

- I could’ve sworn there was more mention of the scar being on the wrong side in the play before this...

- I bet Zuko wishes it had been that easy to join the Gaang.

- Y’know what, I’m just gonna say it: the ribbon-bending is also pretty cool. 

- Do you think in like, a few years, the Ember Island Players are gonna revise the play to not only depict how the war actually ended, but also depict the Gaang as definitive good guys?

- You know it was a bad ending when you completely turned around the opinion of even your strongest supporter: Toph.

- You could really just replace the word “play” with “movie” and then you get the general opinion on The Last Airbender...

- I didn’t think this episode would just end there.

[talesfromyamysteries]

"Sadie” by Courtney Summers

Cover Credit: Amazon (don’t know copyright laws so hopefully I don’t get sued. Amazon, if you’re reading this, I’m a poor college student.)

Sadie by Courtney Summers available on Amazon

Book Summary (also credited to Amazon):

“A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial―like podcast following the clues she's left behind. And an ending you won't be able to stop talking about.

Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.

When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late.

Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page.”

My Thoughts

Trigger Warning: Contains Child Molestation 

First things first, I would highly recommend the audio version of this book. 

I would not usually do that because normally I’m completely adverse to the idea of audio-books. However, Macmillan Publishers did a phenomenal job with their version. I would highly recommend giving it a listen if you can. I borrowed the audio book from my library’s OverDrive website for eBooks and audio-books and listened to it during at eight hour drive.

If audio-books are not your thing, I would still give this book a chance.

I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I just might. If you keep reading, this is your only warning.

The story is written through two perspectives: the podcast of West McCray following the events that lead to Sadie disappearing and Sadie’s own perspective of the events being investigated.

I wasn’t sure about this format when I read the book for the first time last year, but I had to admit it had me intrigued. Author Courtney Summers executed the style well enough that I actually enjoyed it more than I initially thought it would. As mentioned above, the audio-book for this novel is exceptional. With a full voice cast, the story is told through the podcast and Sadie’s narration. 

Before any of the events within the book took place, West McCray was merely a producer for a podcast Always Out There and Sadie Hunter was just a girl with a dead sister. Courtney Summers took these characters and developed them into a story with depth and twists you can’t see from a mile away (cheesy, I know, but read or listen to the book and you’ll know).

The story begins in the fictional town of Cold Creek, Colorado. Sadie Hunter is a nineteen year old girl who was only trying to raise her thirteen year old sister Mattie Southern after their mother left. A sister bond is nothing like the bond between a mother and daughter which, unfortunately, Sadie only knows all too well.

Technically, that’s not where the story begins but background is important for this story. It really begins with the first episode of West Mccray’s podcast titled The Girls which is centered around the story of Mattie and Sadie. The title given to the podcast didn’t make sense to me at first, but is later explained in a podcast episode toward the end of the book. After you find out why, you realize no other title could’ve done as much justice for this faux podcast.

One of the many things I love about this book is that it feels so real. I don’t mean that in a positive light because this is a rather dark book, but books are even better when they feel real. I don’t really know how else to explain it, but I hope you understand what I’m getting at here.

Sadie lived a difficult life from the moment she was born. Her mother was an addict who didn’t love and nurture her the way she needed. Her maternal love came from her neighbor, May Beth Foster, but that kind of love only goes so far. Until Mattie came, it’s safe to say Sadie had almost nothing. Sadie loved her little sister Mattie more than anything else in the world. 

Although it was Sadie who spent most of her time raising Mattie, she made sure Mattie knew how much their mother loved her so Mattie wouldn’t have to grow up the way Sadie did. Unfortunately, Claire Southern really did love Mattie. The book mentions multiple times that Mattie was the spitting image of her mother. Sadie is described to look exactly how Claire’s mother did whom she lost while pregnant with Sadie.

After Mattie was born, Sadie had a purpose. The world had finally given her a reason for her existence in what was once a own lonely world. Unfortunately, the world is a very cruel place.

Mattie was murdered at thirteen years old. All the love and hope Sadie had for her sister was gone in an instant. Sadie felt purposeless until she found another one. Find Mattie’s murderer. 

As mentioned above, Courtney Summers tells the story of Sadie avenging her sister’s death through two perspectives.

Readers are given more information through Sadie’s own perspective as she is telling the events as they happen. They are also given a more unique story through the podcast’s investigation of the events because they tell the story through many people’s perspectives as they learn about what happened to Sadie during her search.

This would have been a story I would’ve read if it had been told only by Sadie, but Courtney Summers gave her audience a new way to interpret the story.

The podcast’s version of events is an investigative approach of Sadie and Mattie’s story as they piece together Mattie’s murder and Sadie’s disappearance. The story is told this way without Sadie’s emotions, but it includes the emotional toll their story took on everyone involved in the search for answers.

The story told by Sadie gives readers a very in-depth look inside of Sadie’s head. They learn why she makes the choices she does, but they also learn about what happened in her life and how it affected her. Sadie had a poor childhood with an unloving mother and traumatizing experiences, but she overcame that to become a tough, loving bad-ass heroine on a journey to find justice for the person she loved most in the world.

The story would not be the same without these intertwining perspectives as readers would never get the full story.

Unfortunately, events like these happen in real life. People never get both sides of the story no matter how badly they want them, but this story shows some details are better if maybe they’re not known.

All this aside, none of this stopped Courtney Summers from leaving the book without a questionable ending.

As West McCray wraps up the podcast with having found Mattie’s murderer but not finding Sadie herself, readers are left not actually knowing what happened to Sadie. Of course, through her perspective, we are given a very good idea of the fate Sadie meets but we are not given explicit what happens. The podcast leaves Sadie’s fate as a big question mark.

I believe Courtney Summers’ leaving what happened to Sadie as open-ended as she did gives readers a little peace. My heart is heavy for what I know probably happened, but I can have just as much hope.

Sadie deserved a lot better and so did Mattie, but with what she was given, Sadie made herself better for Mattie.

If you haven’t figured it out, I would obviously recommend reading this book. It is based on dark events that don’t really get better, but it is a very good read if you like suspense.

---

Side Note: okay, first book review is done. I wanted to get it out of the way. I read this book last year, but only just recently listened to the audio-book. The audio-book is fantastic and part of the reason I chose to review this book. Obviously, my reviews need help as do my summarizing skills. I will work on them as we go along, but as mentioned before I’m making this blog for my own sake. I want to help people find books to read as much as possible, but this is really all for myself.

Anyway, thank you. 

[okayto]

Pocast Recs (Part 3)

(Part I) + (Part II)

The following podcasts are all serial fiction. I tend towards the slightly eerie, though not so much that I wouldn’t listen at night.

Welcome to Night Vale

The podcast that started it all (for me). WTNV is a serial story-based podcast in the form of a community radio station, reporting on news, events and interest stories in a town where conspiracy theories are true. Wikipedia lists its genres as comedy-drama, news satire, surrealism, paranormal horror, deadpan, mystery, and magical realism, so make of that what you will. 

It has over 140 episodes at the time of this writing, but its site helpfully suggests some best/favorite episodes to get started, reasoning, “you should feel free to skip around, or move backwards. Time is weird, so your listening experience can be, too.”

Personally, I started from the beginning when it had around 80 episodes, and enjoyed it right off the bat. It updates roughly twice a month with ~30 minute episodes.

Alice Isn’t Dead

From one of the creators of Welcome to Night Vale comes a different serial story, the audio diaries of a truck driver trying to find her wife, who she presumed was dead but now suspects something else has happened. As her job and search takes her across the roads of America, she encounters inhuman serial murderers, towns lost in time, and conspiracies.

It’s very different from WTNV. It manages to capture that weird, haunting sort of feeling that infuses a lot of American places. The sense that something is simultaneously abandoned, yet you’re being watched, and how you can feel the shadows even in a gas station at 3am where every corner is lit with fluorescent lights.

At the time of writing, it had just finished its third and final season (a total of 30 30-minute episodes) so it can be listened to straight through. This is one where it’s best to start listening at the beginning, and I personally can’t listen unless all the windows are covered...just in case.

The Magnus Archives

I’d never heard of this until one of my mutuals got involved in fandom and some of the discussions looked fascinating. A weekly horror (ish) serial with stories from the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organization that researches paranormal, esoteric and weird occurrences. Many episodes are standalone, the audio versions of written statements from witnesses of the unexplained, but as the series progresses you see an overarching story as the archivist finds connecting threads from seemingly unrelated statements may point to something weird at the Institute itself.

I love it, and with 135+ episodes out, I had a blast binge-listening for a month in order to catch up.

[heir-to-the-diamond-throne]

Masterlist

I’ve actually received a few people interested in my current list of podcasts so I’m writing them all down (also it’ll be helpful in case my podcast app decides to crash and wipe my library for the fourth time)

I just want to preface this by saying I’m probably still missing a few that I haven’t been able to remember. Also there’s a few on here that have finished, a few I’ve stopped listening to and am waiting to see if I’ll go back to, and a few that I haven’t gotten around to listening to yet.

1. 2 Dope Queens 2. 36 Questions 3. A New Winter 4. A Scottish Podcast 5. Action Science Theatre 6. Active Radioactive Radio 7. The Adventure Zone 8. The Adventures of Mechabetty 9. The After Disaster Broadcast 10. Alba Salix, Royal Physician 11. The Alexandra Archives 12. Alice isn’t Dead 13. All in the Mind 14. And that’s why we Drink 15. Anything Ghost 16. Archive 81 17. Ark City 18. Ars Paradoxica 19. Astonishing Legends 20. Athiest Apocalypse 21. Attention Hellmart Shoppers 22. Audio Diary of a Superhero 23. Audio Drama Production 24. Audio Verse Awards 25. Augustine 26. Aural Traditions: Anthology 27. Aural Traditions: Crosswired 28. Beast of Bardon College 29. Bedtime Stories 30. Beef and Dairy Network 31. Big Data 32. Bizarre States 33. The Black Tapes 34. The Blood Crow Stories 35. Boone Shepard 36. The Box 37. The Bridge 38. The Bright Sessions 39. Bronzeville 40. The Bunker 41. Bunker Buddies 42. Busy Gamer Nation presents I Love Bees 43. The Call of Cthulhu Mysteries 44. Carpe DM 45. Celestial Blood 46. The Cleansed 47. Code: Severe 48. Coffee Break Chinese 49. Conversations with People who Hate Me 50. Cool Games 51. Cop Doctors 52. Corpse Club 53. Creepy 54. Critical Hit 55. Critical Role 56. Crossing Wires 57. The Cryptid Keeper 58. Cthulhu and Friends 59. Cults 60. D&D is for Nerds 61. The Dark Tome 62. Darkest Night 63. Dead Oaks 64. Dead Ringers 65. Dead Serious 66. Deadly Manners 67. Dear Hank + John 68. Deck the Halls 69. The Deep Vault 70. Defence Learning Portal 71. Detective 72. Diana’s Monster 73. Diary of a Mad Man 74. Dinosaur Park 75. Discovery 76. The Discovery Adventures 77. Don’t Worry; It’s Only the End of the World 78. Dopple Avenue Hurt 79. The Drift and Ramble 80. Drywater 81. DWM presents Unwritten 82. The Earth Collective 83. Easy Japanese 84. Edict Zero 85. The Elysium Project 86. Empty 87. End of All Hope 88. EOS 10 89. Fables Radio 90. The Faculty of Horror 91. Fall of the House of Sunshine 92. The Family Tree 93. The Far Meridian 94. Fictional 95. Field Craft Survival 96. Flash Forward 97. Focused AF 98. Freed 99. Friends at the Table 100. Gallowtree Radio 101. Geek by Night 102. Generation Why 103. The Ghost Radio Project 104. Ghosts in the Burbs 105. Girl in Space 106. The Good Friends of Jackson Elias 107. Good Morning Zahera Ward 108. The Gray Area 109. Greater Boston 110. Hackable? 111. The Harry Strange Radio Drama 112. Haunted Places 113. The Haven Chronicles 114. Hayward Sanitarium 115. Heaven’s Gate 116. Hector vs the Future 117. Hello from the Magic Tavern 118. Help Me 119. Henderson + Havner 120. Herbarium Podcasts 121. History of Alchemy 122. The History of Rome 123. Hollywood and Crime 124. Homecoming 125. Horror City 126. How to do Everything 127. How we Roll 128. Hunt the Truth 129. Hush 130. I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats 131. Illusionoid 132. Immunities 133. In Darkness Vast 134. The Infinite 135. The Infinite Bad 136. The Infinite Now 137. Inkwyrm 138. Inner Sanctum 139. Inside the Exorcist 140. Inside the NYPD 141. International Waters 142. It Makes A Sound 143. Jim Robbie and the Wanderers 144. Join the Party 145. Junction 146. Kakos Industries 147. Kevin’s Cryptids 148. King Falls AM 149. The Kingery 150. Knifepoint Horror 151. Knights of the Night 152. Knite Coffee! 153. Lake Clarity 154. The Last Podcast on the Left 155. The Late Night Driving Show 156. LEARN 157. The Lesbian Romantic 158. Lesser Gods 159. The Leviathan 160. Liberty 161. LifeAfter 162. The Lift 163. Limetown 164. Lore 165. The Lost Cat 166. The Lovecraft Covenant 167. Lucyd 168. Mabel 169. Magic Lessons 170. The Magnus Archives 171. Mars Corp 172. Marsfall 173. The McElroy Brothers will be in Trolls 2 174. The Meat Blockade 175. The Mental Illness Happy Hour 176. Misadventure by Death 177. Miskatonic University 178. Mission to Zyxx 179. Modern Audio Drama 180. Mollyville 181. The Moonlit Road 182. My Brother, My Brother, and Me 183. My Brother, My Brother, and Me: Fantasy Football League 184. My Favourite Murder 185. Mysterious Universe 186. The Mythology Podcast 187. Myths and Legends 188. Neon Nights 189. The Night Blogger 190. Night Time 191. No Extra Words 192. No Such Thing as a Fish 193. The No Sleep Podcast 194. Oak Podcast 195. The Orbiting Human Circus (of the air) 196. Organism 197. The Orphans 198. The Orpheus Protocol 199. Ostium 200. The Other Stories 201. Otherverse 202. Our Fair City 203. Paralyzed 204. Passage 205. The Penumbra Podcast 206. Pleasure Town 207. Plumbing the Death Star 208. Podcast Detected 209. The Podcast Method 210. Podcasts Collected 211. Point Mystic 212. Poplar Cove 213. Powder Burns 214. Public Domain Universe 215. Purrcast 216. Qwerpline 217. Rabbits 218. Radiation World 219. Radio Demons 220. Ray Gunn + Starburst 221. Real Ghost Stories Online 222. Return Home 223. Rex Rivetter: Private Eye 224. Rippercast 225. The Rogues Gallery 226. Rose Drive 227. Rover Red 228. Ruby: The Adventures of a Galactic Gumshoe 229. Rusty Quill Gaming 230. S-Town 231. Sable 232. Saffron and Peri 233. Sage + Savant 234. Sawbones 235. Sayer 236. Scared? 237. Secret Cabinet 238. Seminar 239. Serial 240. Serial Killers 241. The Shadowvane Podcast 242. Shattered Worlds RPG 243. Shut up a Second 244. Sirenicide 245. Small Town Horror 246. Snap Judgements Presents: Spooked 247. SOFREP Radio 248. Someone Knows Something 249. Space 250. Space Log 251. Spines 252. Spire 253. Spirits 254. Star Talk 255. Station to Station 256. Stay Talkingish 257. Steal the Stars 258. The Strange Case of Starship Iris 259. Strange 260. Strangers in Space 261. Stuff to Blow your Mind 262. Stuff you Should Know 263. Subject: Found 264. Subvercity Transmit 265. Supervillian Corner 266. Synesthesia Theatre 267. Taking Care of Paul 278. Tales of Nowhere 269. Tales of THATTOWN 270. Tanis 271. Terms 272. Theatre for the Mind 273. The Theatre of Tomorrow 274. The Thrilling Adventure Hour 275. Timelapse 276. Tokyo Hotel 277. Tribulation 278. True Crime Garage 279. The Tunnels 280. Twelve Chimes it’s Midnight 281. Uncanny County 282. Uncanny Japan 283. Under Pressure 284. Undiscovered 285. Unexplained 286. Unsolved Murders 287. Urban Chicken Podcast 288. Urban Decay 289. Victoriocity 290. We’re Alive 291. We’re Alive: Lockdown 292. We’re so Bad at Adventuring 293. Weird Work 294. Welcome to Night Vale 295. What the Cluck 296. What’s the Frequency 297. The White Vault 298. The Wicked Library 299. Wisecracks: The Squanch 300. Within the Wires 301. Wolf 359 302. Wooden Overcoats 303. The Writers Panel 304. You Are Here 305. Zoolaplex And a couple of podcasts that haven’t come out yet: 306. The Big Loop 307. Tarnum

[jellyinmybelly]

oh my god my time to shine ok here it goes(all of these are fiction btw :p):

The Bright Sessions- what a show. It's clever and funny and will definitely make you feel things. Here's the blurb: The Bright Sessions is a science fiction podcast that takes place in a fictional universe where super-powered individuals, called "atypicals", exist. Dr. Bright provides therapy for them and their sessions are recorded for research purposes.

The Penumbra Podcast- amazing rep and very gripping. Blurb: At the Penumbra, you might follow Juno Steel, a brooding, sharp-witted private eye on Mars, as he tangles with an elusive homme fatale, tracks dangerous artifacts of an ancient alien civilization, and faces his three greatest fears: heights, blood, and relationships. Or you might enter the world of the Second Citadel, where the merciless Sir Caroline must corral a team of emotionally distraught all-male knights to defend their city against mind-manipulating monsters...even the ones they’ve fallen in love with.

Blackout- v smort and interesting also RAMI MALEK!! Blurb: Rami Malek stars in this apocalyptic thriller as a small-town radio DJ, Simon Itani, fighting to protect his family and community after the power grid goes down nationwide, upending modern civilization.

Me and AU: queer and cute af and it mostly happens in tumblr so Blurb: When Kate "ACunningPlan" Cunningham sparks up an online friendship with a fellow fanfiction writer it seems like the perfect distraction from a summer stuck in her hometown, not to mention the coming terrors of her final year of university and the Real Adult Future beyond. (Seriously, please don’t mention them.) After all, Hella--Enchanted is funny, smart and writes canon-divergent werewolf fic like no one else. She’s everything a fangirl could ask for. But... what if she’s everything Kate could ask for, too?

The Cipher: brilliant voice acting and sooo compelling and cool. Blurb: When 16-year-old Sabrina cracks the cryptic Parallax, she’s recruited to track down a serial killer... who might not be from this world.

Greenhouse: queer and adorable. Blurb: Greenhouse is an anxious audio love story of a recluse write and a lonely florist as they learn letter by letter that the world is a whole lot brighter when you have someone to share your story with.

Welcome to Night Vale: very weird. Blurb: WTNV is a twice-monthly podcast in the style of community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff's Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events. Turn on your radio and hide.

etc.

Here's an honorary non-fiction podcast mention that I loved:

Last Seen: art theft cool. Blurb: Last Seen investigated the most valuable — and confounding — art heist in history: the theft of 13 irreplaceable artworks from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. WBUR and The Boston Globe teamed up to ask why, 28 years later, this still unsolved crime exerts its irresistible pull.

sorry for the long post but these are some of my absolute favourites! hope you enjoy!

can someone please recommend me some good podcast i can listen on spotify?

thank you

[misterclandestine]

My Favorite Stuff from 2017

It’s been a tough one, but there was a lot of awesome stuff that made it easier. Here are some of my favorites in no particular order.

DAMN by Kendrick Lamar, Album - The World felt different once this was in it. Kenny’s 4th release proved he’s just as thoughtful, agile, and hungry as ever.

everyone’s a aliebn when ur a aliebn too by Johnny Sun, Book - You can go through this hybrid graphic novel/picture-book in one sitting, but there’s so much to chew on here that I recommend taking time with this story, which follows Jomny, a misspelling aliebn sent to earth to study human behavior. The brief, direct interactions simply, & hilariously reveal everything beautiful and tragic about what it is to be alive.  

Abstract: The Art of Design, Series - This Netflix series drops you into the lives of 6 masterful creators moving through subcultures of artistry (i.e Footwear Design, Illustration, Stage Design). Each revealing their varying methods, ideas, and joys about creativity. The standout episode follows Christoph Niemann, an illustrator for the New Yorker, and his blue-collar approach to his work.

Game of Thrones: The Spoils of War, TV Series - Though this season was rushed, clumsy and arguably unrecognizable from the compelling and prestigious drama that has unprecedentedly impacted our culture, you won’t find a more gripping hour of television. You know a show is wilding out when you don’t know who the hell to even root for anymore (Get em, Drogo! Wait, not Bronn! Wait, not the incestuous child killer!)

Insecure: Season 2, TV Series - The show you didn’t know you needed. Issa Rae’s hilarious dramedy paints a picture of what it’s like to be young, ambitious, unapologetic, lonely, intelligent, sexy, successful, and losing.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Season 4, TV Series - Oliver’s weekly recap simultaneously manages to be enlightening, funny, depressing, and hopeful. His takedown of Alex Jones was one of the most satisfying things I consumed all year.

Do Not Disturb by Drake, Song - the final track of More Life, a surprise ‘mixtape’, samples ‘Time’ by Snoh Alegra, and is one of his most personal songs to date. Without a chorus, he raps for 3 minutes about not needing romance, fear of irrelevancy, and the quickening passage of time. Gracefully shifting between insecurity and arrogance with dizzying fervor, Aubrey continues to capture the emotional woes of an entire generation.

Get Out, Film - Jordan Peele’s directorial film debut is the rare instant classic, and it’s not because it has one of the most crowd-pleasing endings of all time. The satirical, social commentary cloaked in the guise of a horror comedy, refuses definition, and peels back layers of race, and class previously untouched in cinema.

Melodrama by Lorde, Album - With a kajillion pounds of pressure on her shoulders to follow up one of the best pop debuts of all time, Ella delivers. She croons on top of Jack Antonoff’s unruly production about heartbreak, fame, and the feeble impact of acclaim. As one Twitterer put it “I gain an extra chromosome when the beat drops in ‘Sober II’.

mother!, Film - I can’t say I enjoyed this movie because it was the second most excruciating sit I had at the theater all year (kudos to Justice League), but it left me SHOOK. It’s clearly allegorical, but what makes it masterful is that the way you take this movie in is colored almost entirely by your own personal experiences.

Master of None: Season 2, TV Series - A perfect double-feature to Insecure (give me a shared universe where Dev and Issa are a power couple). Ansari’s relentlessly entertaining series accomplishes what every second season strives for. It tops the first, while redefining and expanding itself. The show is tirelessly committed to the experiences of ‘others’ (a deaf person, a lesbian, a non-believing muslim, service workers in NYC etc.) It’ll leave you crying, laughing, and hungry.

Split, Film - When we’re lucky, films hit ya with “SURPRISE, muthafucka” moments that Jesus himself would not see coming. Shyamalan’s second hit in a row (after a run of all time duds) ends with one 17 years in the making. The iconic villain terrifyingly played with razor-sharp swiftness by the world-class James McAvoy is the icing on the cake.

Isaiah Thomas, Athlete - If not for Russell Westbrook’s record breaking response to Kevin Durant’s betrayal, the “King in the Fourth” takes home the MVP. Watching him play through tears the day after his sister died in a car accident will stay with me forever. His 53 point performance on her birthday a few weeks later starkly reminded me of the unifying, powerful spirit of sport.

Moonlight’s Best Picture Win - I’ll begin by saying that I really liked La La Land. A month after we swore in Don, we got it wrong again… psych! I’ll never forget the roller coaster of emotion that came over me in this moment. Barry Jenkin’s tale told through 3 untraditional acts (titled ‘Little’, ‘Chiron’ & ‘Black’) was gorgeously shot, flawlessly acted, and supremely helmed. It arrived at a time we needed it most and Mahershala Ali FINALLY got his shine.

Coco, Film - We got one shot this year, and we NAILED it. This breathtaking portrait of Mexican culture demands to be seen on the big screen and illuminates the importance of dreams, family, and tradition. No manches!

‘No Man’s Land’ scene in Wonder Woman - There were two times in the theater this year that I felt that sinking drop of a roller coaster in my belly, this was one of them. Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins must be emboldened and protected at all cost.

Woody Harrelson, Actor - The rare movie-star actor quietly had a phenomenal year, further etching the grooves of his name into Hollywood lore. His turns in The Glass Castle, The War for the Planet of the Apes, and Three Billboards in Ebbing Missouri prove he’s STILL at the top of his game. I’m shocked that his heartbreaking portrayal of a drifting, alcoholic yet whimsical and passionate father in The Glass Castle hasn’t gotten more attention.

S - Town, Podcast - The colder you go into this one, the better. All I’ll say is that you’ll step away from this one feeling some type of way about people, the feeble sustainability of the planet, and clocks.

The World Series, Sports - The. Best. Ever. After being devastated by Hurricane Harvey, the Astros grant Houstonians some restoration via their first World Series Championship in a thrilling 7-game series that was literally witnessed by the World.

The Keepers, Documentary Series- This 7 episode series documenting the varying controversies surrounding the Catholic Church left me epiphanized about what it means to remove the seemingly impenetrable powers of institutions. Targeting one single individual, or a group of individuals or an organization won’t get it done. We must take down the viral ideas themselves.

Bladerunner 2049, Film - Aside from being wondrously constructed technically (you won’t see better production design or cinematography - give Deakins his Oscar now dammit), this story about a robot serves up a surprising amount of soul. Denis Villeneuve, solidifying his auteur status, delivers a nostalgic yet entirely unique follow up to the beloved sci fi classic.

‘Throne Room’ scene in The Last Jedi - This was the other time I felt like I was falling in the theater. Despite considerable problems, Rian Johnson showed us stuff we’ve never seen before in the SW universe. It’s the showdown you dream about as a kid.

The Big Sick, film - Kumail Nanjiani’s autobiographical story of how he met his lover is sorta the woke edition of Meet The Parents. Like Dev on MON, Kumail struggles to blaze trails while upholding loyalty to family and falls in love for a white girl along the way. Ray Romano and Holly Hunter turn in a pair of the year’s best performances.

Big Little Lies, Mini Series - I resisted the marketing for this one initially: dissatisfied, rich folk in Monterey. But the re-teaming of Jean-Marc Vallée (Wild, Dallas Buyers Club, Demolition) & Reese Witherspoon seemed promising. Momentum grew with each weekly installment (I overheard people theorizing whodoneit in restaurants), which is refreshing in the Netflix age. The leads are all stellar (believe the hype about Kidman) and Zoe Kravitz proves she should be working more.

Creature Comfort by Arcade Fire, Song - A painful examination of youth that’s equally heartbreaking and melodic.

Homecoming Season 2 - The fictional podcast about the remnants of a government coverup of a failed rehabilitation program for distressed veterans makes some questionable narrative choices in it’s second season and Oscar Isaac is absent throughout most of it (likely due to a loaded schedule). He does “appear” at the end of the second episode ‘CIPHER’, in a brilliant usage of audio storytelling, and it left me in puddles.

Mindhunter, TV Series - We all know Fincher is a technical maestro, but I don’t think he gets enough credit for being a complete storyteller, which he clearly is. The 13-episode made-to-binge Netflix series based off the book by the same name follows Holden Ford, an idealistic FBI profiler, and Bill Tench, played by Holt McCallany subverting every macho character role he’s ever taken on as a highly intelligent, hardened fed, as they attempt to break ground on our understandings of serial murderers. All of Fincher’s trademarks are there with sprinkled elements of Seven, & Zodiac.

Tyler the Creator’s Tiny Desk Concert, Podcast - I enjoyed ‘Flower Boy’, but didn’t find myself returning to it. That all changed after this. In a year of fantastic TDCs (i.e: Thundercat, Chance the Rapper) Tyler’s stands out. With help from a pair of stellar background singers, his array of talents are on full display, namely: composing and orchestrating melody and harmony.

Colin Kaepernick, Athlete - it’s not about the flag or the military don’t @ me.

20th Century Women, Film - Released wide in January, it remains one of the year’s best. Set gorgeously in 1970′s Santa Barbara, Mike Mills’ deeply personal tribute to motherhood, women, & outcasts overflows with heart.

Kamala Harris, (D) CA Senator - She is so bad, can we get started on the 2020 bumper stickers now?

What Now by Sylvan Esso, Album - ‘Hey Mami’ from their 2014 debut popped up on my Pandora one day and I was IN. Amelia Meath’s angelic vocals layered over Nick Sanborn’s unpredictable production is sublime. The “Echo Mountain Sessions” include dope af live recordings of the album’s standout tracks.

Logan, Film - The Wolverine movie we deserve also features a star-making performance from Dafne Keen and an unrecognizable Professor X. With a decade between the last time he inhabited his iconic portrayal of Charles Xavier, Sir Patrick Stewart strides (wheels?) back into the role with award worthy tact.

Fargo Season 3, TV Series - The best season yet and that’s really saying something. David Thewlis is haunting as Varga, the creepiest, most frightening villain in the series’ history and a collection of top-tier thespians rounds out the rest of the cast. There’s also a moment in one of the later episodes similar to the ending of ‘Split’ that’s a real delight.  

Mr. Robot Season 3, TV Series - Showrunner Sam Esmail moves us through this complex dystopia, which has begun to bear resemblance to our reality lately, with complete CTRL. We see Mr. Robot AND Bobby Canavale like never before. That oner episode is pretty cool too, but it’s not even the season’s best.

Other Notables: Patton Oswalt: Annihilation, Girls Trip, The Leftovers Season 3, Glow, Twin Peaks: The Return, Ingrid Goes West, BEAUTIFUL THUGGER GIRLS by Young Thug, Add Violence by NIN, Good Time, Stranger Things: Season 2, Legion, Dunkirk, Crashing, NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES by N.E.R.D, 4:44 by Jay-Z, Dirty John, Wind River, Dear White People

FYI: I still haven’t seen/listened to a lot of stuff, namely all the big award contending films.