#listening to this audio podcast is actually saving me

[ckret2]

How do you have the willpower to not consume content from any of your other fandoms? I always get pulled in and out of the same ones and it stops me from getting projects done but I get so bored! Teach me your ways!

So the downside of ADHD is that it takes a ridiculously high amount of effort to push yourself to do things—even things you want to do and like doing—unless you put even more effort upfront into making it convenient for yourself.

But the upside is, if you know this about yourself, and if there's media you want to not be consuming, you just...... don't do anything to make it convenient to consume.

I don't have Amazon Prime. All I have to do is not bother to get Amazon Prime (easy!!) and not bother to hunt out a way to watch Hazbin some other way (also easy!!) and bam, I've got a 100% success rate of not watching it.

Do you know how many Transformers series I'm currently behind on? I sure don't! Because I haven't put the effort into looking it up! I can't be assed! There's like, at least three I think! Don't tell me, I'm not currently interested in finding out!! It would take work for me to figure it out; I can just go "work?? Naaah. Not doing that."

You can resist temptation by just being too lazy to pursue it! Make that ADHD work for YOU!

Caution: if you can't get yourself to put effort into doing anything that brings you pleasure, that's either Pretty Serious Depression or it's gonna cause Pretty Serious Depression and it's not good. However. If you master the art of ADHD, you can save up the effort you didn't put into distractions, and use it to put effort into different activities that also make you happy.

Last year I picked up a podcast about cults. It's all right. But because I'm already listening to it and spotify keeps pushing it to the top of my screen, when I need a low-effort audio distraction, it's easier for me to default to putting on the podcast about cults than it would be for me to, say, dig up The Magnus Protocol to start it. And bam! Now I'm doing more research that'll help me write about a cult leader, for free, by listening to a podcast I'm not at risk of hyperfixating on!

Part of avoiding breaking your own hyperfixation is figuring out what media you enjoy, but don't hyperfixate on. Because you still need to, like, have fun. That's why you wanna watch The Things You Like, because it's fun. If you're not having fun you'll wanna go watch The Things You Like, and rightly so. So you've gotta make sure you're having enough fun with things you don't hyperfixate on.

Like, I know that when I watch Columbo or read Poirot, I find the detectives charming while I'm observing them, and then almost as soon as the mystery is over I stop thinking about them. They aren't the kind of characters that latch into my brain. I know they won't become blorbos. So I'm safe there. I know I enjoy horror movies but 99% of the time totally forget who the characters are, like if there's 2 white guys and 2 white girls it is guaranteed I won't be able to tell them apart, so they're safe to watch, I'm not gonna hyperfixate on them. I know that I enjoy nonfiction/educational books & podcasts, but I only hyperfixate on fiction, so it's safe for me to pick up nonfiction. If it's nonfiction that's somehow thematically relevant to whatever I'm currently hyperfixated on, it even helps feed the current hyperfixation.

And those are my "protect your hyperfixation" lifehacks.

On the other hand, if you, anon, don't personally have ADHD, then I can't help you. idk how people with executive function function.

Final advice: if you know you keep falling in and out of the same 3 or 4 fandoms, maybe try writing a crossover fic about all 3 or 4 fandoms at once. That way it won't matter which one you're currently into. You win no matter what. I've never actually tried this, don't trust this advice.

[sturniolo-rat]

✨Matt Sturniolo Headcanons✨

For True And Certified Yapper Girls🗣️

🤍 Matt loves talkative women

From what I gather Matt isn’t naturally a loud person with paragraphs and paragraphs to say. He thinks a lot and says things in a very efficient so he doesn’t use so many words. I think he would absolutely love to have a yapper girlfriend that’s really engaging and asks tons of questions. He’d never have anxiety about being boring or sounding awkward because you’d carry and direct the conversation. He would worry about how to respond to statements because you’d ask him questions to direct his thoughts to.

🤍 You always make sure he’s included

You tend to dominate and lead group conversations. It’s easy for his voice to be overshadowed by yours so you’re always keeping an eye out for him. When you notice he’s making a face like he wants to say something you make everyone listen up. “Thank you, Baby. I wasn’t sure they heard me before.” Sometimes depending on the crowd he’ll get really anxious whisper to you his thoughts. You immediately redirect your attention and start yapping away loudly to him so the group is interested in what he has to say.

🤍 He likes watching you be outgoing

Matt doesn’t always want to be a part of conversations but he does like to watch you when you’re in your element talking up a storm and telling fun stories it’s and silly jokes. He’s happy to see you being yourself. It even turns him on a little bit. If he’s been watching you talk all night at a party he’s definitely railing you when you get home. He slips his hands into your panties and pulls you onto him. “Come sit on my lap and talk to me, Baby. Tell me if you want it rough or gentle.”

🤍 He listens to you really closely

The boy isn’t a yapper but he’s a damn good listener. He’s quite possibly the only one of the triplets who reads so he loves a good story. He’s always asking you to tell him story stories about your childhood and before you met him. “I swear to god you’re the most interesting woman in the world” “I know I am. Now sit and listen.”

🤍 He gets really concerned when get quiet

Matt does NOT like when you get quiet. God forbid you become deep in thought about something and go silent. If he hasn’t had a debriefing about your day whenever you come home he’ll notice and come up to you with your favorite snacks. “Tell me what’s wrong, Sweetness. I brought treats and we can talk shit about whoever upset my baby.” Even if you’re not actually upset you take the opportunity to talk shit anyway.

🤍 He loves getting voice memos from you

You’re his safe person and your voice is so calming to him. He’s always so excited when you’ve had a day that’s so interesting everything that happened can’t be said in a text. He listens to your messages like it’s a true crime podcast. When he misses you or if he’s on tour he goes back and listens to the messages he’s saved. Sometimes if he’s having trouble going to sleep he calls you and asks you to talk to him until he falls asleep.

🤍 You make sexy audios for him

Yes, your voice is calming but to him it’s equally as erotic. He most definitely gets bricked up to your voice. One day you send him a voice message along with a text that says “LISTEN WITH AIRPODS!” He does and it’s just you touching yourself while moaning his name. He gets hard at the family function and has to punish you when he gets home.

Masterlist

@rafecameronsbitch @daddyslilchickenfingers2 @mrsmiagreer @lovergirl4387 @gdsvhtwa @ashley9282828 @j-worlds-blog @stephanienwf @achrisgirly @draculaura123 @abbypost @Cind2224 @crazychrisl0v3r @ryli3sworld @bkwrld @pinkishpearls @pepsienthusiasts @stunza @chrattstromboli @sturnssmuts @angelic-sturniolos111 @69isabella69 @maryx2xx @sturniolo04 @bigbeefybitch @klaus223492 @r93339 @sturnzsblog @spotconlon55 @robins-scoop @junovrsmp4 @sturnlover4eva @blahbel668 @lilahnowheretobefound @luxy-nyx @tuffsturns @m0r94n @sturnstvs @pepsicolapussy333 @maddyslifesstuff @dogblof @honeymoonxxz @xplr-sturns-e-m @hayhjelmstad15

[chuckle-clips]

Charlie: Where I’m from, not smog world, we have compost, right? So we all, everyone has a compost bin up in Vermont, among the cattle. 

Schlatt: What the fuck is going on?

Charlie: And we don’t be wasteful, we aren’t wasteful with our food. So unlike Schlatt here, just going on gameshows—

Schlatt: They lit the ocean on fire, bro. 

Charlie: —Throwing them everywhere. 

Schlatt: Your compost pile is doing jack shit. 

Charlie: I’m eating my…

Schlatt: Your compost is doing jack shit. Eating the butt end of the bread first and enjoying it.

Charlie: I’m eating my butt loaf watching the world burn. That’s what I do.

Schlatt: I’m saving the world by having a little snack before my breakfast. 

Charlie: Yeah. 

Arin: Do they always do this?

Ted: Very frequently. 

Schlatt: This is bullshit, this is absolute bullshit. They lit the ocean on fire. They lit the ocean on fire, Charlie. 

Charlie: You’re not gonna toast it, it’s just gonna be a little thing before—

Schlatt: And then, I gotta recycle, I gotta fucking recycle. 

Charlie: And you want to bust out the straws, you want to kill every single turtle—

Arin: I want to go home!

Charlie: You are home now. This is it.

Ted: Boys, please, calm down. [Coughs] Welcome everyone to Chuckle Sandwich. This is a very special episode. 

Charlie: Yeah, you’re the butt loaf now, buddy. 

Arin: Did you push him?

Charlie: I didn’t actually think that…

Arin: I think this is a bit. 

Ted: Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Chuckle Sandwich this is a… this is…

[Schlatt cries]

Charlie: He loves doing this bit, it’s a good bit he does. 

Ted: Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Chuckle Sandwich, this is a very special episode because we have Mr. Arin Hanson of Game Grumps and of Egoraptor fame here with us today. Welcome, welcome to the— welcome to the show. 

Arin: Thank you. 

Ted: We’re here in your building. 

Arin: That’s right, yeah. 

Schlatt: Help me up. 

Ted: You basically—

Arin: Don’t help him up. It’s a bit. 

Charlie: It’s a bit? Let go. Stop— stop getting up. It’s a bit—

Arin: Oh, now he’s part of the bit. 

Charlie: It’s a— we’re doing a bit! We’re doing a bit!

Ted: Oh my god. 

Arin: You realize this is my office, right?

Charlie: Yeah, it’s a bit. 

Ted: Yeah. Okay. So they’re all rolling around on the floor right now. For our audio listeners, love you to death, Schlatt and Charlie are literally wrestling on the floor. 

Charlie: You gotta help me. You gotta help me. 

Arin: I hope it sounds like it’s like really far in the distance. 

Ted: I hope so too. 

[Schlatt and Charlie moan]

Ted: So, Arin…

Arin: I would help you, but I’m trapped in this corner. 

Ted: Don’t listen to them, just look at me. 

Arin: Okay, sorry. 

Ted: Welcome to the podcast. 

Arin: Thanks, man. 

Ted: How are you doing today?

Arin: You know it’s funny, we had this nice like, very cordial conversation beforehand and now this nonsense is going on. I feel like I was lied to a little bit. 

Ted: Once I sort of introduced the podcast, they sort of went into content mode. 

Arin: Did you switch spots?

Charlie: He’s doing a bit. 

Ted: They’re struggling a little bit. 

Arin: He just wanted to be closer to me. 

Schlatt: Sorry I got hard there. 

Arin: It’s just a long-winded way to get closer to me. 

Ted: That was just him trying to get close to your heart. 

Schlatt: I didn’t think I swung that way. 

[davey-in-a-minivan]

Isabel Lovelace My Absolute Beloved

Lovelace is one of my favorite examples of one of my favorite kinds of characters, which is: woman who the world is trying so hard to kill and emerges beat up and spitting out teeth and still going.

(Relatedly, Eva Olivia Moreno is one of the few White Vault characters I really loved and it's on the strength of the joy I felt when i realized that not only had Eva NOT died when a rockslide separated her from the team, but instead dragged herself three days over the mountains, alone, covered in mud and blood and bruises, WITH ALL THE TEAM'S DATA DRIVES, to let the world know what was going on and demand rescue for the others. LOVE HER. Alessandra "Cockroach" Strong of the Penumbra Podcast ALSO falls into this category and I would've loved to see more of her)

Interestingly, I think Lovelace plays a similar role in-universe for Eiffel and Minkowski, in that they first encounter her as a 'character' in old audio logs whose survival they are rooting for at a remove -- when Eiffel and Minkowski listen to her logs but it's unclear whether she made it off the station, Eiffel shushes Minkowski's skepticism and says "let me have my badass space commando chick!!" In the absence of conclusive evidence he clings to the idea that she survived, for what i suspect are two reasons: (1) it means it's possible to survive and gives him and Minkowski a sliver of hope, and (2) it's not fair for her to die after trying so hard to save herself and her crew, and if she survived he can believe that there's some fairness in the universe.

After Kepler shoots Lovelace, Minkowski tells an imagined Lovelace how badly she wanted to get Lovelace home because she wanted to believe that she could go home, which feels like an echo of Eiffel's earlier sentiment--obviously by now Minkowski knows and cares about Lovelace as a person, but she's also a symbol of the ultimate survivor, who will do whatever it takes to get home. If Lovelace, who fought harder and longer, with more skill and fewer limits than Minkowski finds herself capable of, and still didn't survive, what chance is there for Minkowski and her crew?

WHICH MAKES IT SO FUCKING SATISFYING WHEN LOVELACE LIVES AGAIN.

I need you all to know--Lovelace was "dead" for, what, an episode??--in that time my then-roommate and I put up a SHRINE to her memory. She was too cool and tragic and extreme and funny and hot to die!!!

I'm very glad the universe and Gabriel Urbina agreed.

It's not only satisfying because I'm obsessed with her and wanted her back (which I admit freely). It's a riveting development in the story of the unkillable Captain Lovelace where we finally see that she CAN'T be killed because she's already dead. Functionally she's a ghost in the story, haunting the Hephaestus until she finishes her unfinished business, and there's a delightful sheen of destiny to her arc where I was like oh fuck they've already done their worst to her and she's still going. She's going to win this. I don't know what it'll cost her, this could still be a tragedy, but she's GOING to succeed.

What does this mean for the rest of the original crew looking to her as a symbol? Eiffel, Minkowski and Hera do survive, like Lovelace. It is possible. But it costs them a lot. Weeks after Lovelace dies, resurrects, and has the day-ruining revelation that she's actually the alien clone of the dead woman she thought she was haha, she talks about the discomforting effort she makes to be the real Lovelace, not the person that Goddard turned her into. I think once they return to Earth the rest of the crew will struggle in similar ways. Minkowski need to believe that Lovelace could come home, and she did. But none of them could be the same as they were before.

Now, obviously the extremes Lovelace had to go to in pursuit of survival and justice were difficult and upsetting for her. But they were also hot!! SO let's wrap this up with some of the most iconic Lovelace moments according to me:

1. The "run and hide" monologue Eiffel and Minkowski find - HOT. sorry i know this comes on the heels of her describing the harrowing tragedy of her crew members' deaths but like

that's hot!!! go girl, kill em all!!!

2. THE DEAD MAN'S SWITCH. she said im going big AND going home, through the power of insane resourcefulness and this nuclear bomb i made

3. "variations on a theme" is suuuch a good minisode

4. disabling the airlock during the clone jacobi situation without telling anyone

5. NAPALM

6a. broadly, the hostage situation during the coup, where she goads kepler into focusing on her instead of eiffel

6b. SPECIFICALLY the part of the hostage situation where she gets the show's one "fuck"

7. alien possession lovelace!!!! i know it wasn't quite her melting kepler's hand off but god it's a fun scene

8. time loop lovelace. i love a good time loop and the contrast between her yelling and goading and shooting things in the last argument but also being, like, pretty chill and pragmatic about it--this is just her method of causing enough trouble to break the loop--is fun

9. hera's and her intersecting journeys re: what it means to be a person

10. distracting cutter so minkowski can stab him with the harpoon!!!!!!

in conclusion: WHAT A CHARACTER

[the-s1lly-corner]

Crps x reader who does horror podcasts

Just got done watching creep casts left right game videos and it gave me an idea for this post WOOOOO

Characters: jeff the killer, ticci toby, Laughing jack

Notes: reader is GN, established relationship, reader mostly reads stories and stuff for their podcast

CWs: horror talk, talk of canon typical violence

Laughing Jack

He provides sound effects for you!

if you're reading a scary story he kind of just... pops in add to the story telling

if your podcast is purely audio he's going to be lingering around so he can just wait for the opportunity to butt in

sometimes does some voice acting for you if you ask, thrilled that you want to do something with him

actually pretty good at offering unique voices for each character though he does tend to get... very in character... like horrifyingly so, especially if the character in the story is really... not having a good time

clown logic lets him make most sounds accurately, many of your listeners think you're using a sound board or are a really really good foley artist... glass shattering, bones breaking, or something as innocent as a car honking.. its actually a little interesting to watch jack make the sound effects live because they just.. happen

Jeff

i mention somewhere that hes not much of a reader- not because hes not interested in it but because he just struggles with reading. no real reason yet but he just struggles with keeping track! listening to you read things out loud actually help a lot if you're also reading creepy stories

loooooves when you read gorier stuff, for... obvious reasons

hes not very interested in joining you on your little show, though, hes content with being a listener

a little sweet that you sometimes catch him listening to your recordings, will deny it though

if you ever talk about crime stuff and happen to talk about his murders hes definitely going to be giving you information and correcting details from the news and reports

may or may not make you look unreliable or even suspicious...

Ticci Toby

not much of a reader but thats because he just doesnt have the time or patience or desire to sit down and read something... but listening to something while doing his thing? now he can get behind that! and your storytelling is the perfect thing to listen to!

loves how deep into the storytelling you get into as well as generally just loves hearing you talk about something that obviously interests you

similarly to jacks part, if your show is only audio he may be inclined to do an episode with you! you guys switch off and take turns

oh he would 100% save funny bits from your episodes so he can go back to them

gets a little jealous if you often have guests on your show, but he tends to internalize those feelings

[sfstranslations]

hi! thank you for all of your wonderful translations ^^ however may i ask what resources you use? i am trying to translate stories as well but i dont have much experience and was wondering if you have any books or videos to recommend

(Disclaimer that most resources I can provide will by nature be tailored to Korean translation.)

If you mean resources for translating itself:

For a machine translator, Papago is the main one I rely on. Of course, learning the language yourself remains your best bet and one I would strongly advise over solely MTLing, because there's a lot that machine translation misses, so you'll have to essentially rewrite the text anyway to include nuances, implied meanings of idioms that the MTL translated literally, speech patterns, and more. You also have Google Translate among others, of course, but I find it misses the mark even more often than Papago.

Naver Dictionary will save your life. Of course, you can also look words up on Wiktionary, and also just actual Korean Wikipedia. Namu Wiki can be somewhat useful on occasion but it's rarely if ever got decent citations so don't over-rely on it.

Hinative is very helpful for confirming specific words including slang with native speakers! This one is a cross-language resource.

The Korean Wiki Project also has some useful reference pages, such as the ones on online slang and body part-related idioms.

If you mean resources for learning Korean, then I am definitely not the best person to go to for advice, because the way I did it was just frogboiling myself in 370 chapters of My S-Ranks over the course of 4 years and then slowly realizing I didn't need the MTL to finish processing before I understood what the Korean was saying anymore, which is neither a fast nor simple method 😅

Of course, for the early basics like the writing system and basic grammar, I used Duolingo and the Talk To Me In Korean podcast; here's the latter's SoundCloud with the lessons organized by level. I only listened to a few lessons, but my sister who listened to the whole thing is fluent in Korean! (And also one of the editors/quality checkers I rope in from time to time.)

One thing I would definitely recommend is to make sure you're balancing your exposure to written/spoken forms of the language. I am very much a reader over a listener, and my sister very much a speaker over a writer, so we frequently run into issues where I can't recognize a word she's saying because its pronunciation differs from the actual written spelling and I've only ever seen the latter. And that then creates problems when I need to research something that's in an audio format and can't understand what they're saying. Listening to music and watching shows in your target language can make the balancing process both fun and instructive :)

That's all I can think of at the moment. If I remember any other resources, I'll come back to add them. I hope this is what you were looking for!

[thisbluespirit]

How To Find Your (British Actor) Blorbo On The Radio: A Brief Guide

(Disclaimer: British, because the main tool I'm using is the BBC's Genome.)

If you want more of your fave actor, or you love full-cast drama podcasts/audios (and audiobooks/NF content too) here's a guide on how to get your hands on BBC Radio broadcasts.

The BBC have a great free resource called Genome, which has all the Radio Times listings from 1922 to the present day (plus some of the actual articles), and it's searchable. Up until its arrival, it was really hard to do that, so \o/

Not all actors do radio and not everything you find will be obtainable, but it's always worth a try! It's especially likely for actor-blorbos who do other audio work, or theatre (theatre tends not to pay so well, and radio is a handy extra thing that can be more easily slotted in between performances than TV/film.)

Go to Genome, and put your blorbo's name into the search box:

Press search, which will bring back a bunch of results from both radio and TV listings from 1922 up to the current year:

2. Filter down to "radio only" on the sidebar to avoid scrolling through all the TV. At the top of the page you can change the display order to First broadcast (or Availability, if you want it only to bring things currently available to stream on the BBC website), among other options.

I can also cut down on extraneous results by selecting a date range that only covers when my guy was active.

I scroll down until I find something that looks interesting, in this case a proper audio drama, called The Hornblower Story. It's from 1980 and is an adaptation of a well known book. The details give me enough info to search the wider internet, and see if I get lucky...

3. Search the internet and listen to your blorbo act in radio drama!

There are several ways to obtain radio drama online. If you use streaming sites like Audible and Spotify, it may be there, although usually only if it's had a commercial release.

The BBC still broadcast old programmes on the radio, so it might be currently available on their website to stream - and unlike TV, you can listen to BBC Radio anywhere in the world! (If you are in the UK, you can also download and use the BBC Sounds app.) The Genome will usually provide a link for you to go straight there, if that's the case.

However, obviously, most BBC Radio from past decades is not available commercially or being broadcast by the BBC now and some doesn't exist in the archives, or was never recorded (as with TV), but as methods of recording audio at home have been widely available since the 1950s and 60s, there are loads of off-air recordings of radio made by listeners/collectors, and some have freely shared their copies online. Some are in closed forums etc., but three good sites to try first are YouTube, RadioEchoes & the Internet Archive.

I usually start with a Google search - e.g. '"Title" radio' or radio bbc and if that doesn't give me anything add on first "Radio Echoes" and then "Internet archive" to the search.

And I'm in luck! Radio Echoes appear to have the adaptation I'm after. I need to check the broadcast dates to see if they match up & then I can stream or download for free - and hear my blorbo play a stern Admiral for 5 minutes or less, hurrah!

Clicking on the links takes you to a screen where you can press play to stream or right click on the play bar to download the mp3 file to your device. (Click the "Save audio as..." option).

These are archive off-air recordings, so the quality can vary, especially for older programmes.

4. Rinse and repeat with each new likely Genome discovery.

If you find a copy of what you're looking for on the Internet Archive instead, you'll get up a page with a play bar (like the one above), with episodes listed plus details (to varying degrees) below. If you want to stream, just click play and enjoy. If you want to download it, then click on the MP3 files line on the right-hand sidebar, which will then give you an "X no of files" button to click and you can download them to keep.

(You can download all the files, but I usually cut straight to the chase and just nab the MP3s.)

Sometimes the BBC have released a commercial audiobook. In those cases, if you already use audio/music streaming subscription sites like Audible or Spotify, you should be able to find it there.

If you don't, or you want to buy a download, I've found the best option (weirdly!) (for UK users, at any rate) is to get the audiobook up at Penguin Books, which links to various paid subscription streaming and download options, so you can find the best one for you (and you know it's been recced by a hopefully reputable source.)

Last year, I wanted to buy Vivat Rex, the BBC's landmark dramatisation of all the English history plays rolled into one giant starry-cast Jacobean audio serial, and successfully used this route. (I'm very old by internet terms and still like listening via MP3 files on my MP3 player, as long as it survives.)

Pretty much the only affordable download option I've found so far I got courtesy of Penguin's links to Hive. (But this may be a UK only option.)

If what you're looking for seems likely to exist even if you can't find it by any of these methods - keep trying! New things are being added daily to all these websites, and the BBC cycle round old shows all the time.

And if you want to go deeper, there are closed forums etc. for radio enthusiasts where you need to make an account, but you may then be able to torrent or download an even wider variety of things.

Of course, whether or not your blorbo has been in anything good or any radio at all will depend on them, but I hope this guide will help enable you to find out!

YouTube, Radio Echoes, the Internet Archive and Old Time Radio all have radio from other countries too. So while the BBC Genome can't help you with anywhere outside the UK, the other links here can be good places to look around and browse for things you might be interested in.

You can of course use the same methods to search for things like a favourite author, or particular plays, to see if the BBC have done any radio adaptations - BBC Radio have done heaps of things that have never been adapted on screen, so it's always worth a look for anything you'd be into.

Radio Echoes is browsable as well as searchable, and while Internet Archive is a bit less so, there are some excellent collections you can look through, like the Saturday Night Theatre collection, and the BBC Radio Shows listings.

[skyeoak]

Tmagp 30 thoughts

Vocal performances all slayed. 10/10

I think there’s a lot of good and bad in the finale! But overall, it feels underbaked. (Or overplotted/overplanned?)

I’ll save my finalized thoughts on the hilltop center to see if it’s developed in further seasons, because uh, hmm. Jonny said in the live drop that carousels of horrors were his favorite to write, but they sure are not realllyyyy my favorite to listen to. They’re kind of thematic scattershot. And yeah, one of my critiques about TMA is that I don’t love how we only rarely see how the fears combine and interact. Having multiple creepy things in a curiosity cabinet -com shopping center doesn’t really solve that problem for me.

The idea of a character turning a blind eye to an obviously creepy job is still interesting, especially in how it parallels the staff of the OIAR. But that’s kinda the start and end of my interest in the custodian? It feels like this story could have been shrunk to 1/3 length and had a better effect. I just feel like this should have been a midseason statement, and the finale could have focused on having some sort of action or tension. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting the finale to have a statement at all, to be structurally in line with early TMA. Maybe a full statement/story from Celia, giving the non-TMA audience some idea of why she thinks there’s nothing to go back to in her universe. Hell. Maybe she could just. Tell Sam, uncompelled. I would have loved to see her try to convince him to jump. Convince him that her new life matters more than his (perceived) failure of one. Instead… this is another episode where I feel like the double meaning titles weigh down what the statement could be. And it’s the season finale.

I wondered early on if the finale for this season would feel more like setup for future seasons, and yep. Yep it did. It just felt like there was this inherent tension between the stakes of the story, which are already at interdimensional travel, and the level of danger it feels like everyone is in. Not to mention how Celia just drops a list of alchemical balance things out of the blue. Magnus Protocol is in a tricky situation: they need to set up a new conflict and new characters, and at the same time, Magpod has already done mega-apocalypse hellscapes and so TMagP might feel the need to go bigger. (Imo I don’t think sequels always need to raise the stakes but I understand that’s industry standard). It’s also tackling alchemy, a notoriously complex subject that’s probably hard to explain to an audience in any way that feels natural. You can’t just throw murder worm lady and screaming main character in the finale and call it a day. There’s a lot going on, less time, and I don’t know if the characterization this season was consistent (/consistently good) enough to hold the full weight of it all.

OKAY, WHELMED THOUGHTS OVER, now for the good! Surprise surprise, it’s all the little character payoffs!

Gwen and Lena’s confrontation was EVERYTHING. Gwen is kicking anthills, and Lena is so content to let her stand in them while the ants crawl up her legs. I won’t lie though, I’m not sure if this plotline will be interesting to me. I think it depends on how fast the OIAR staff can get Gwen to actually be on their side.

Sam deciding to protect Celia by pushing the archivist into the void is SENSATIONAL CHARACTER PAYOFF. (This is my interpretation of the scene, audio was super unclear once again, and there was a line change from transcript to podcast that made this super ambiguous in the actual canon audio.) My poor guy has ZERO self esteem, and still wants to be a hero. He probably realized that if what Celia just told him was true, an archivist could actually kill her on the spot. My guess is that (tma spoilers) this balanced the rift not because Celia replaced her own missing soul (plenty of folks got sent through hilltop road in that same incident) but because an archivist+a person were pulled through to replace Jon and Martin. Truly excited to see where they end up, and if this archivist gets developed more as a character next season. Also the implications of interdimensional balance on what happened at the end of TMA are… interesting.

Oh Alice. Everything in this intricately balanced house of checking up on people and soothing them and deflecting tension with jokes is about to come crashing down. I’m so sorry this is happening to you.

And yes, this is a super lukewarm episode review but I do wanna say I liked this season a lot, and TMAGP is still a cut above a LOT of horror I have read/listened to this year. I’m hoping seasons 2 and 3 will either steer further into a direct TMA sequel, angle OR steer clear and become their own thing. TMAGP is stuck uncomfortably in the middle right now. Just be the good parts of her. But completely new.

[snapscube]

Hiya Penny! I've heard you mention your voice effects on stream, but I have no idea what they are and can't tell the difference! What voice processing stuff do you use?

I have a whole chain of voice effects on my stream microphone (set up through Wave Link) that make the overall sound a lot better for streaming and easier on the ears as well as easier to mix. This is the primary effects chain

In order: 1. Acon Digital DeVerberate 3 is a VST plugin that straight up almost MAGICALLY reduces reverb from a vocal track. I have never personally used a reverb reduction effect or software that works better than this one. Of course, ideally if you are recording for professional purposes this is not the kind of thing you want to rely on. For professional vocal work I have another microphone in my office closet where the space is treated to PHYSICALLY reduce unwanted sound reflection before it even hits the mic. But since my stream microphone is at my desk, and I don't have a lot of soft furniture in my hardwood flooring office, this plugin is pretty necessary and works wonders. Here is an example of the difference with literally not a SINGLE other bit of processing added:

Everything else on the list, save for maybe compression, is gonna be a bit more subtle and harder to hear individually especially once game audio is drowning it out a bit. But it all makes a difference and it's all very important to my stream's sound profile and I can not STAND when Wave Link bugs out and removes these things without me knowing lmao.

2. "GATE" is the ReaGate VST from Reaper (actually all of the remaining effects are Reaper VSTs and are entirely free jsyk!) and is mainly just there to make sure that quiet sounds unimportant to my commentary like rustling, shuffling, bumps, air conditioning, and/or voices leaking from other rooms doesn't appear on my stream's audio. Or at least as little of it as possible!

3. "EQ1" is a ReaEQ VST and it's my primary equalizer that reduces some of my voice's harsher frequencies, like harsh "s" sounds for example, and boosts some of the nicer sounding ones!

4. "COMPRESSION" is ReaComp and it helps level the overall volume and tone of my voice to give it a bit of that nice "radio" sound people like to hear in streams and podcasts, as well as keeping shouts and exclamations from being too overwhelming and whispers from being too inaudible. This is absolutely the effect other than deverberate that does the most to my stream's sound profile and is extremely important for a stream that sounds easy on the ears.

5. "EQ2" is just another instance of the same ReaEQ plugin from before but the changes it makes are a LOTTT more subtle. Really just meant to touch up the sound profile post-compression. It's absolutely the least vital effect here but I like having it haha.

Anyway, if you want to hear the difference I'd encourage you to listen to the first part of that previous DeVerberate audio example and then compare it to my voice fully processed in a clip like this!

Me just explaining all this maybe won't help you hear more of the difference in action if you don't really have an ear for this sort of thing but I hope it was helpful or at least interesting!

[goth-pod]

Goth-Pod Ep 10: Finale

Welcome to Goth-Pod's last episode of season one! Juda Boone is joined today by a very special guest! (ITS DICK GRAYSON-WAYNE. WE GOT DICK GRAYSON)

Thank you for joining us for our first season. Until next time, stay safe, Gotham.

[goth-pod is a fictional, in-universe podcast based on the DC comics universe. Juda Boone is an original fictional character, not based on any real person or known comic book character.]

Special thanks to my friend for voicing Dick! @anythingeverythingallofthetime

Transcript under the cut

Juda: Hello everyone and welcome back! This is Goth-Pod, your Gotham based podcast. I am your favorite host, Juda Boone. And I am not alone today! Care to say hi?

Dick: Hello listeners! 

Juda: Today’s episode is the last before our hiatus. So of course, we are doing what any competent media does when they want to be successful: Completely change up the formula at the very last minute. 

Dick: And that's where I come in!

Juda: Yes, you are our very special guest star / co-host / interviewee for our finale. 

Dick: And I am happy to be here. I totally binge-listened to all your episodes after you reached out to me. It was too good to pass up! I don’t think I’ve ever been on a podcast before? I like it, I get to wear big headphones and talk. 

Juda: Why don’t you start out by just introducing yourself, for our non-local listeners. 

Dick: Sure thing! I am Dick Grayson-Wayne, I am an Aries, I think. And I am single. If you happen to know someone. 

Juda: [laughing] Okay, very helpful. And since we are an audio-based medium, it is my duty as a host to explain that Mr. Grayson just gave me a very tasteful wink. 

Dick: We’re friends here, Juda. You can call me Dick.

Juda: With all the respect in the world I will not be calling you that.  Juda: Mr. Grayson, we actually have something of an important topic to discuss today. As you are now a Bludhaven resident, you have some insight on their vigilante, Nightwing. I was hoping you could tell the Gotham listeners a bit about the up-and-coming hero.

Dick: To be fair, I don’t know any more than the next guy. I’ve seen him around town, of course, especially on patrol. But I’ve never had the chance to actually talk to him. Guess that means I’m staying on the right side of trouble. 

Juda: From what you have seen, what are some differences between Gotham's Bat and Bludhaven’s Nightwing?

Dick: The fashion sense, for sure! Dick: He actually seems like a person rather than a- what was it you called Batman? In Episode 1, I thought it was great! Like a- an Earthbound spirit, right? And from what I hear the guy has a good sense of humor, unlike Batman. Probably a winning smile to go along with it. 

Juda: hah! Mr. Grayson, we are not a gossip podcast, but to me it almost sounds like you have a crush. 

Dick: woah, woah, hey now Juda, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I mean, give me a chance to get rescued by the guy. We’ll see if sparks fly then. 

Juda: And if that happens, will you be back on the show? 

Dick: You will be the first person I call, I can promise you that.  Dick: Juda if we are to be friends, I’m going to have to come clean on something.

Juda: Oh no. 

Dick: It’s nothing bad! I just may have started us off on a lie, and I apologize for that. 

Juda: I repeat: Oh no. 

Dick: I said that I only listened to Goth-Pod after you reached out to me. In truth, I heard every episode at their release. [whispering] I’m the one who showed Bruce your Bruce Wayne episode. 

Juda: Mr. Grayson, you didn’t. 

Dick: AND your Bruceman Episode. 

Juda: Dick.

Dick: [laughing] Hey, that's my name!

Juda: To save myself from the mortification of that reality, I’m going to say that this is all the time we have today. Thank you so much for joining us, everyone. This time and everytime. A special thank you to my co-host, Dick Grayson-Wayne. I am Juda, this is Goth-Pod. Anything you’d like to say, Mr. Grayson?

Dick: Uuhh. Be gay, don’t do crime. And Stay Safe, Gotham!

[antispopausandstuff]

when you get into a series and then stupid shit happens.

.

so, i got into a podcast from 2019 called 'The Two Princes', and i love it. it's very charming, basically like a show in audio form, and full of queer. listen to it frequently, got into the tags on my socials, found some fanart and fics and a bit of inspiration.

but during my searches of fanart, i came across two things.

people calling the main relationship ( rupert x amir ) an EtL

some people comparing it to c//a

both of these severely bothered me, and i'm gonna explain why.

for the first one, it's very simple. rupert and amir were not really enemies, in terms of their actual dynamic. according to this red herring of a prophecy, though, they are 'meant' to be enemies.

however, rupert lies about not being the prince of the west ( amir is prince of the east ), saying he's a thief, that his name is fitz, and that he wants nothing to do with his kingdom. this isn't because he holds any ill-will to his own kingdom, but because the east and the west are hostile and he didn't wanna get killed by amir leaving him behind in the forest.

so, their actual dynamic was more of 'unfriendly strangers to friends to lovers'. because amir was a bit uppity and micromanaged, while rupert was more soft(?) and tended to overreact // overly panic. that, and the span of the first season is 3 days. you can't really go from being enemies to lovers in 3 days. in most cases, i guess.

anyway, moving onto the even more frustrating point.

the princes are nothing like catra and adora. absolutely nothing alike. not even a little.

i'm guessing part of the reason is because amir asks rupert to stay. but the context of that situation vs catra repeatedly demanding asking adora to stay is entirely different.

amir asks rupert to stay because, despite being prickly, rupert saved his life and continued being kind to him. he doesn't ask him to stay because of any self-importance, or because he wants rupert to do dirty work, or for any other reason but because amir likes him and wants them to be friends.

that is entirely different from why catra kept demanding asking adora to stay. she kept asking because she couldn't take no for an answer. because adora's ideals didn't align with hers. because she wanted adora for herself, and took any other options as a personal attack.

and another reason this comparison exists, i'm guessing, is because of the whole "they saved the world // universe // kingdom // wtv by kissing and being gay", which. that's still. no. but okay.

the prophecy in 'The Two Princes' is a red herring because it's misleading. it's not intending to be, but it is. everyone thought it meant that the two princes would fight to the death and one kingdom would rule over, when it actually meant for one kingdom to unite the east and west.

and amir and rupert figured that out by kissing and later on deciding to get married ( that's a general way of saying it, but it's cute, aight? they're very cute ).

in the final episode of spop, there was no actual reason or explanation for why any of that happened. it just happened because the show wanted it to.

why did a viral infection go away the moment catra kissed adora? THE FUCK IF WE KNOW!

why did that activate she-ra? 'CAUSE- LOVE! EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE SISTERS, BUT WHATEVER!

why did the heart get destroyed by that? WHO CARES? WE DON'T!

final assumed reason is, again, because of the whole EtL thing.

like i said, 'The Two Princes' is not an EtL story.

and spop was never supposed to be an EtL story. but it is one, so there's that.

anyway, the writing isn't perfect, but if you like podcasts and wanna hear a cheesy-ass queer show with a disaster gay prince, disaster bi prince, a badass lesbian knight, a bi diva, a feral gay twink, a pathetic flirty gay twink, and a dragon and a dog, then give it a listen.

and there's a goat unicorn.

[theaudiofiend]

Writeblr Introduction

Hello everyone! This is a bit of a different Writerblr introduction. I wanted to join this wonderful community and chronicle some of my writing projects that I plan to one day turn into an audio roleplay series, maybe even a book, who knows. I'm a Voice Actor and you can call me Fiend. I very much enjoy creating supernatural worlds and am inspired by podcasts like Welcome To Nightvale and The Magnus Archives.

About The Writer

Bisexual with nonbinary tendencies

He/They Pronouns

Three and a half cats in a trenchcoat, actually

I enjoy puzzles and tactical games

I'm Autistic (creating magic systems is one of my special interests, actually)

A world history and mythology nerd

Lover of videogames (RPGs, horror, souls-like)

I could talk for hours about Dark Souls. Days and months even, if you ask me about Bloodborne. Tread carefully.

I enjoy writing about supernatural mysteries, mythology, gay monsters, GNC characters, philosophy, unique magic systems, character-driven narratives and also building complex worlds.

About The Projects

I have created a multilayered Universe for my projects, in which I write different character-driven narratives that affect a world consumed by mystery and the supernatural. These are meant to be interactive stories, so each character interacts with the listener and will be voiced by me in my upcoming audio series!

Beast Beneath The Moonlight: A story about Gabriel, an idealistic intern at a hospital whose life goal is to save as many people as he can. He is turned into a werewolf and is then forced to confront his inner beast, contemplate mortality and understand the true meaning of strength.

Written in Blood: Killian, a very old vampire from a bygone era, struggling to cope with the death of his lover centuries before, trying his best to live his remaining days in peace until his very bloody past starts to catch up to him.

Fiends With Benefits: Levi, a half-demon caught between the Mortal and Supernatural world, expected to be the best by both worlds while not being accepted by either. He lives under his predecessor's shadow until a plot that could unravel Fiend Society is brought to light.

There will be more stories within this world, so stay tuned.

General Aesthetics and Tropes

Urban Fantasy, Hidden World, Supernatural Creatures Are Among Us & They Are Incredibly Hot, Magic is Real, Angst, LGBT+ themes, Bi Vampires, Dark Romance, Sexual Themes, Monsterfucking, Understanding the Nature of Humanity despite not being Human, The Struggle between Logic and Emotion, Found Family, Actually Horrifying Vampires as Well as Stupidly Sexy Vampires, Lesbian Victorian Ghosts, Werewolves but Not Always Wolves. Wait, there's more... Fate Doesn't Exist, God Isn't Real but The Devil Is, Interconnected World where Magic and the Mundane meet, Cosmic Horror, Religious Horror, Body Horror, Death and What Comes After, Interpersonal Drama, Introspection, Tarot-based Characters, Slight Anime Vibes (Gasp), Paranormal Mystery, Hidden Worlds within the Hidden Worlds, Mythology is Real, Man is the real Monster, Dark is Not Always Evil and Light is Not Always Good.

[jessepinwheel]

so if you've been following me in hopes of news on Roy Kaplan, the podcast that's been pinned on this blog for the last two years, here's an update:

first off, Roy Kaplan is going to happen. I wrote all the scripts, I did all my voice acting, I'm now working on editing the episodes together (as my hand health allows). I'm not letting all that work go to waste.

but because of some real-life issues, there have been some difficulties in production (hence the long delays to release). as a result, this year I've taken on several more responsibilities to make sure this season of the audio drama actually makes it to completion

what this means: I'll be doing one last (hopefully) casting call in September. The casting call will be open from September 1 to September 26--this will give me Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to review all the submissions and then get back to voice actors by September 30. the expectation is for voice lines to be turned in by October 31.

because of some things falling apart, this project is going to incur some additional costs on my part--in case you were unaware, I have been funding Roy Kaplan (e.g., voice acting and music) out of my own savings. the final cost to produce 12 episodes of Roy Kaplan will probably end up being around 4000 USD.

all this is to say that I would like to recoup some of these costs. I'm opening a patreon so that you can support these projects and running costs (such as the hosting fees for my website and for podcast hosting). there's pretty much no benefits for patrons outside of supporting me, because I can't do much more than what I'm already doing (making this podcast and continuing to post race condition) but it would be a way for these projects to not be a complete financial drain and make it more likely that future seasons of Roy Kaplan actually happen. if you want, you can suggest benefits but again, there's kind of a limit to how much I'm really capable of doing

in any case, the current state of things is that I have about half the episodes fully edited, and missing files are stopping me from doing as much on the rest as I would like. I would expect to have all voice files in by the end of October, and then I'll be able to finish the rest of the editing from there, so I'll be able to start releasing Roy Kaplan by the beginning of 2025.

I know I've made promises about estimated time of arrivals before which turned out to be extremely incorrect, but since I'm the one who's personally doing the work this time, I have more confidence in this estimate. believe me, I also want Roy Kaplan's first season to be released.

and of course, thank you to everyone who's supported me and been very patiently waiting for Roy Kaplan. I've been putting in a lot of work to make sure it's a project I can be proud of, and that people will enjoy listening to.

[copperbadge]

Re: the Google books voice. It is very robotic which makes it awkward when, say, you are listening to more intimate scenes but I've been doing this for a few years now and my brain is used to it. Gotta be able to tidy and knit and also I have saving my reading energy for dense academic texts disease.

Also it definitely cannot pronounce Askazer-Shivadlakia.

I mean, who among us can? :D It rolls off the tongue for me, but even when I'm with people who know what it is, if I say it out loud I often get a startled double-take. It's good shorthand in the books for who's local and who's foreign and how you move between the two -- being able to say the name correctly and without that microsecond of hesitation first is one sign (of many, being clear) that you've become Shivadh.

Good to know about the robot voice. I think there's always a bemusement that accompanies an intimate scene in an audiobook -- when it comes to sex scenes in books by professional readers I'm always intrigued by how they handle it, and listening to podfics that include sex scenes is a fun roll of the dice.

I'm finding I do less audio media (podcasts, podfics, audiobooks) than I was in 2020 and 2021, not really sure why; somehow I've decreased my listening even though I almost always have something audio on when I'm not doing something that requires huge amounts of mental exertion. I think possibly it's that I'm now doing more writing and less handicraft type stuff. I actually got to sit down and work on Royals/Ramblers last night, although mostly it consisted of looking at the segment I'm currently working on and going "Nope, that doesn't work" and pulling it to pieces. Still counts!

[merelymatt]

To get my upcoming audio drama I Need A Miracle off the page and into the airwaves, I decided against the indie production scramble where everyone donates their time, and against crowdfunding – and instead I basically sent the scripts to @wirelesstheatre and said "What'll it cost to make this happen?", then compared that number to my savings and said "Ok, let's do this".

(It was obviously more businesslike than that, but that was the basic maths of it on my side.)

Here's why I didn't do it those other ways this time:

Why not the indie production scramble?

Scraping it together on a shoestring. Buttonholing friends to perform, using whatever recording equipment I already have to hand, doing as much of the production as possible myself and begging favours for the parts I can't.

In some ways this would have been the easiest option. It doesn't rely on anyone else's approval, or involve putting any new infrastructure together.

But! For me, for I Need A Miracle specifically, this was the option of absolute last resort, for various reasons.

First and foremost, I already have one podcast (@merelyroleplayers) that I run on this basis. I already ask a lot of my friends to perform on that show for nothing, on the promise it'll be fun and I'll buy everyone a pint afterwards. I think you only get one of those, or you should only get one. If you run every project like this, especially if you're calling on the same people each time, it starts getting exploitative.

Second, I'm trying not to exploit myself either, by which I mean, I've put work into writing this series (admittedly on spec), I think it's worthwhile, and I'd like to see if I can make some money in return for that work. And if one person involved in a project is getting paid, everyone should be getting paid.

Why not crowdfund?

There are sub-options within this option: subscriptions and patronage-style funding (like Patreon, Ko-Fi or Gumroad) and up-front project-based funding (like Kickstarter, Indiegogo or Seed & Spark).

I actually have been weighing up the idea of a Patreon or Ko-Fi for a while, not for I Need A Miracle specifically, but for @foggyoutline in general. At the beginning it would effectively be a Merely Roleplayers subscription, because that's currently the only Foggy Outline show. But if enough people pay a bit a month for bonuses like uncut episodes, that could help fund new projects like I Need A Miracle, which could bring in more listeners and more patrons, whose contributions could help fund the next thing, and so on.

But the problem I would have with any kind of crowdfunding model is, right now I'm only pulling a small crowd! I'm an unknown writer, Foggy Outline is an unknown player at least in audio drama. And it seems like to succeed with a crowdfunding campaign, you really need your audience already built and poised to give you money.

If I Need A Miracle takes off and finds its audience, the kudos off that might make crowdfunding an option for the next thing. But I just wasn't confident it would succeed for this show, at least without a load of spend on a consultant and advertising (which then eats into the campaign proceeds).

So go on then, where is the money actually coming from

Me! Supplemented by my Foggy Outline business partners, who are also my Mum and Dad. But the majority of the production costs for I Need A Miracle are coming out of my savings.

This is one of the reasons I prioritised I Need A Miracle over other audio drama projects I'm working on: because it's simple enough that I felt confident I could cover the costs myself if I needed to. There's no dialogue (only monologues), so it's not a complex edit. Most of the episodes take place in one location, with little action beyond the character speaking, so it doesn't call for elaborate sound design. All the episodes are under 20 minutes. For a more complicated production, I would have had to bring in some funding from somewhere, or convinced a producer to take on the production costs themselves. This one was, to some extent, designed (by me) to be more affordable.

It's worth saying that getting started wasn't just a case of getting a quote from Wireless and agreeing to pay it. Producer Sarah Golding read the scripts and wouldn't have taken on the project if she didn't think it was worthwhile. So it's not pure pay-for-play.

So the plan now is:

Sell ads and subscriptions and see how much of the production cost I can get back that way after the fact (I expect not all of it, but that's ok, because...)

Also think of that money I've spent as an investment in both this and future projects – by spending money on an amazing production company that's making the show brilliant, I'm getting something that's hopefully going to make this whole process easier next time. Because next time I can point to Wireless' confidence in my writing, and the quality of I Need A Miracle, (and hopefully its success and acclaim and awards and all its fans), to get someone else to put their hand in their pocket instead, whether that's listeners, producers or sponsors.

[renarinkholin]

Heyo, so, I noticed your reblog on a post mentioning "Dier Venture" and now I'm intrigued... is that a Mistborn oc fic I smell? Exploring the Venture family? Because if so, I would love to read it! (If Dier is just an obscure canon character or something else entirely, ignore this ask. 😅)

OH BOY UHHH OKAY SIT DOWN LET ME TALK ABOUT SECRETS IN STAINED GLASS.

(Character portraits by the insanely talented Elisgardor on Instagram)

Dier Venture is my character for a murder-mystery actual play series Secrets in Stained Glass that just finished airing! It's set 10 years before the events of The Final Empire book, at a weekend winter solstice party hosted by House Elariel. We use the Mistborn Adventure Game system to build our characters and roll the dice, and the mystery and storyline itself were written and run by the ever amazing, ever wonderful @rashenditrash as our illustrious Narrator. There's a lot of fun references to the books and secrets tucked away, and even though it's technically a prequel, we did a lot of work to make sure things would fit within the Mistborn canon as seamlessly as possible.

It's five episodes long, though there's some written bonus content as well! The series was edited and produced by yours truly (it nearly killed me, but it was absolutely a labor of love) and you can watch the whole thing on YouTube or listen to the audio versions on whatever podcast platform you prefer. Though, I will say, for any audio listeners, there are a LOT of visual assets and graphics for this show so if you just listen, it might be worth coming back to look up the visual elements afterward.

Lo, trailer be upon ye:

As for Dier himself... (fine, i'll put a cut to save people's dashboards, open for more info on The Trashboi™)

Dier is a known Coinshot and all around terrible trash person who makes only the best life decisions because it turns out when your name is "Venture" you can get away with quite a bit without having to deal with pesky things like "consequences." Or so he thinks, at least. He's the first cousin of the recently ascended House Lord, Straff, and is technically second in line for the house title after his cousin's little brat of an heir, Elend. No one in House Venture is really thrilled about that, including Dier himself, since he's probably the last person anyone should ever put in charge of anything and has made it no secret that he considers himself completely allergic to responsibility.

I love this asshole with my whole heart, I put WAY too much effort into developing him, and he was a blast to play. I could talk about him for hours, and Matt was an utterly ruthless Game Master and just really dug into all the messy complexities of this terrible boy and Why He Is Like That, Why Did You Make Him Like That, Feather????

The good people of the 17th Shard Discord may or may not be bullying me into doing a 10-hour stream so that I can just blab all the Dier meta into the world. We'll see.

Regardless, I love to talk about him, so if anybody ever has Dier Venture questions, my inbox is literally always the most open, haaaaaa. I will never turn down an opportunity to run my mouth about an OC and that is a threat.