#lazysunset

[utilitycaster]

Despite being a CR fan since the beginnings of C2 I have avoided listening to Midst so far because I don't really vibe well with podcasts (with the exception of TMA). However, I've gotten fully into WBN lately so I'm thinking of giving Midst a try as well.

I've seen you talk about it very highly a number of times so I wanted to ask: would you classify it as a more character-focused story or one that gives more attention to a main plot at all times? I find that I enjoy most when the things I watch approach their main story through the first option and so I was curious to hear the opinion of someone that clearly likes it a lot!

Honestly that's difficult to say in that I think a strength of Midst is that it intertwines character and plot particularly deftly. It is very much a story about the events that transpire leading up to, during, and shortly after the fall of Midst's moon; but it's also very much about the three protagonists and several key secondary characters and how this affects them, which in turn drives their actions as people in this world. (I know I talk about actual play as plot vs. character driven but these two things are not inherently at odds; I'd say both C1 and C2 are good at integrating plot and character, for example).

I will say that most episodes are pretty short - the longest one clocks in at about an hour - so if there is a piece that is more of a character-focused one, there will usually be plot movement in the next one. There will not be any hours-long stretches where the plot is not at least fairly in focus. The original podcast itself is also pretty much exactly 24 hours long in total, so it's also not a very long commitment. I do advise listening to it (or watching the lightly animated videos) since the sound design/voices are very much part of it, but there are transcripts available as well (or just turn on closed captioning on the videos), so I also feel that Midst in particular is an easier podcast than most for people who aren't into podcasts.

[yourbelgianthings]

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[theejaguar]

My gf (@lazysunset) was like "Oh I love Dulcie, she's so sweet :)" when I started reading and I fully trusted that, as a girlfriend would

The ending of the book was... an experience

Little over 100 pages into GtN, and I have to say, I really love Dulcinea!! She might be my favorite character besides Gideon, she’s just so interesting.

[utilitycaster]

Hello there! I wanted to pop in again to thank you for answering my ask before in regards to Midst. After your answer I thought to start the first episode and see how I felt about it... and I ended up swallowing 12 episodes in a roll because I couldn't stop.

It has such a fantastically unique way to tell a story, like you're in a bar with 3 slightly drunk friends that can't quite wait for the other to finish telling their line.

If possible I'd love to hear your thoughts on the style of storytelling Midst uses and the worldbuilding of the podcast.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I do think with podcasts my advice ultimately lands on "just try a few episodes, it's free and not much time and you can do so while commuting or cooking or something" so I'm glad that worked out.

I am never very good at coming up with general discussions of storytelling style on the fly; I need a prompt or something narrower. I also am someone who's always loved works where the narrator breaks the fourth wall, having been exposed to them quite young (The Princess Bride novel, the A Series of Unfortunate Events books, my previous mentions of Ellen Raskin novels) so that doesn't strike me as unusual. It's a great creative choice, and doing so in podcast format really brings it to life, but it's not something that jumps out to me as unique. Similarly, rotating POV is something I'm pretty used to with various fantasy novels (Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, The Stormlight Archives, The Old Kingdom Trilogy) as well as plenty of fiction podcasts (notably the Silt Verses for this one). I don't want to sell Midst short but essentially they took two very established and enjoyable storytelling tools, and combined them incredibly effectively and with fantastic chemistry and improv skills and a very strong sense of narrative that is always prioritized. I think that's the thing about Midst's story, too - while there are some great science fiction ideas it's a fairly straightforward story structure, just done extremely well.

The worldbuilding is also hard to really discuss without more guidance because I don't know how they came up with it! The design of the cosmos is particularly weird, and I think Unend is going to give us even more weirdness. I think the improv allowed them to set broad parameters and then build a world that fit the story and the actual starting information was detailed enough to allow consistency and open enough to allow flexibility, which is important. I think the best way to sum it up, however, is with Bocs. I think about "It's bocs" a lot because we are on the "um actually if you don't explain the entire process of flax farming to the economics of linen garments you're a bad worldbuilder" website and "it's bocs" is just a breath of fresh air. You build the world to serve a story. We do not need to know the exact intricacies of how this specific mechanical/electrical technology functions. It's bocs. I think how bocs are handled is the best summary of both the worldbuilding and storytelling: this is a story made by three people who understand what is important to the narrative, and understand how to present it in the medium in which they're working.

[theejaguar]

@lazysunset 💞

[greatandquestionablecontent]

@lazysunset ooohhhh okay got it!! But Harrow was still experiencing psychotic symptoms as a young teenager right? And it just didn’t have to do with Wake?

Halfway thru stirring my tea and trying to explain why Harrow the Ninth makes no sense on a first read I had a Thought

Okay so. Wake has been haunting Harrow for a long time, right? Including explaining “madness” prior to the books starting? And Wake wanted ultimately to kill Gideon, right?

So is it a sensible interpretation that Wake influenced Harrow to try to kill Gideon at least a few of those times in their youth? Or is that not the point?