#waterlogged podcast

[lawofnamesmedia]

Waterlogged

An anthology of aquatic horror.

Created by @stardustshimmers

Produced by @lawofnamesmedia

Coming June 24, 2024

For more information, see waterlogged.lawofnames.com

[chemicallywrit]

Happy Audio Drama Sunday! It was podcast girls week and i loved seeing everyone’s art and fic and memes. Gorls. ❤️ Let’s get to the shows!

🎤 Childish! Childish: The Podcast Musical finally got the chance to post their finale! And it did not disappoint. I had forgotten exactly how good the music was in this show, and how funny and clever it was. Guys, if you care about college comedies with a side of the best dang music I've heard out of a podcast, please listen to Childish. I'm so happy for them. This is really proof though, that it's worth it not to give up on a podcast (I'll wait for you forever Althaar).

🥩 Oh man, this episode of Mayfair Watcher's Society was incredible. The story would be good even without the incredible performances of Ashlee Jones and Brandon Nguyen, but CAN we talk about them actors??? What an incredible exploration of your worst nightmares coming true. Mind the content warnings for this one, folks. Meg Tuten is, as always, a genius.

🦾 Breathing Space consistently hits notes of working class struggle and desperation with care and thoughtfulness, but this past episode's rendition of "Sixteen Tons" was absolutely gorgeous. I loved the lo-fi singing together. It was perfect.

🐟 @monstrousproductions’ Travelling Light has once again introduced me to an absolutely delightful character. Vermi is my favorite guy. I love him and his fish face and his translation innovation. This show is a constant gift.

🤖 Ohhhhh man, oh man, Ask Your Father ended in the only possible way it could, which I should have seen coming. Oh my gosh. Mikeyyyyyyyy...I won't spoil it, but it was maybe perfect. I cried a little. Season two when.

🌊 I started Waterlogged this week! What a good anthology—it’s creepy AND wet! I think some horror anthologies suffer from a lack of theme that can make them fall into a rhythm, but I don’t foresee this being a problem for Waterlogged. The first three episodes are all so different, and I love it. Go check it out!

🪱 I want to give a shoutout to Earworm! Earworm is an upcoming musical about ghosts and haunting by the folks behind Shadows At the Door! I know a lot of the cast (David Ault, Michelle Kelly, Erika Sanderson, and so many others) and I'm so thrilled to hear this--assuming they can finish out their crowdfund! If you can throw them a little cash, please do!

That’s all for now! 😘

[emberdune]

me: feeling bad. what do

brain, in its infinite wisdom: listen to a podcast on suicide

[rox-and-prose]

waitwait you're in podcasts now? Congrats!(?)

Thank! I've been in three so far!

-guest on Actual Play podcast Three of Hearts (I'm a guest many many episodes in and tbh you should listen regardless because it is so good and so nice to hear three people who are very clearly friends create a world together. It feels collaborative and genuine in a way that i don't think I really have seen that often in Actual Play shows)(they are on here as @threeheartscast ). It was so fun to play my extremely time blind elven gun witch and just chatting with Jordan, Essay, and Ila.

-background voice in an episode of sci fi anthology series Breathing Space (episode is in Season 4 and I will be in more foreground roles in future eps hooray!) (on here as @breathingxspace from podcast group @lawofnamesmedia ) which has been just amazing and a little surreal for me as someone who fucking loves audio dramas (i was like Leo Pointing Meme for like a week after i joined the server).

-Let's Get Weird About with Scott Paladin so if youve ever wanted to know what I sound like or how truly so genuinely much I talk (it's a lot) I'm gonna link the ep here and will edit to add if theres a tumblr account for that as well bc i just realized i dont know. We talked about 2010 movie Bunraku as well as uh a few other things.

I have recorded parts for other stuff that hasnt dropped yet as well! Including more (actually foreground) roles in Breathing Space and a role in an episode of upcoming water-themed horror anthology Waterlogged! (WaterloggedPod on twitter, also from Law of Names)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The Canadian Miracle

"The Canadian Miracle" is a short story published today by @tordotcom; it's set in the world of The Lost Cause, my forthcoming @torbooks novel.

I'm serializing it on my podcast! Here's part one.

Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.

— Fred Rogers (1986)

It’s a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi Mud.

— Bing Crosby (1927)

I arrived in Oxford with the first wave of Blue Helmets, choppered in along with our gear, touching down on a hospital roof, both so that our doctors and nurses could get straight to work, and because it was one of the few buildings left with a helipad and backup generators and its own water filtration.

Humping my bag down the stairs to the waterlogged ground levels was a nightmare, even by Calgary standards. People lay on the stairs, sick and injured, and navigating them without stepping on them was like an endless nightmare of near-falls and weak moans from people too weak to curse me. I met a nurse halfway down and she took my bag from me and set it down on the landing and gave me a warm hug. “Welcome,” she said, and looked deep into my eyes. We were both young and both women but she was Black and American and I was white and Canadian. I came from a country where, for the first time in a hundred years, there was a generation that wasn’t terrified of the future. She came from a country where everybody knew they had no future.

I hugged her back and she told me my lips were cracked and ordered me to drink water and watched me do it. “This lady’s with the Canadians. They came to help,” she said to her patients on the stairs. Some of them smiled and murmured at me. Others just stared at the backs of their eyelids, reliving their traumas or tracing the contours of their pain.

“I’m Alisha,” I said.

“Elnora,” she said. She was taller than me and had to bend a little to whisper in my ear. “You take care of yourself, okay? You go out there trying to help everyone who needs it, you’re going to need help, too. I’ve seen it.”

“I’ve seen it, too,” I said. “Thank you. I hope you don’t mind if I give you the same advice.”

She made a comical angry face and then smiled. She looked exhausted. “That’s all right, I probably need to hear it.”

My fellow Blue Helmets had been squeezing past us, trudging down the staircase with their own bags. I shouldered mine and joined them. Elnora waved at me as I left, then bent to her next patient.

I stepped out into the wet, heavy air of the Mississippi afternoon, the languid breeze scented with sewage, rot, and smoke. My clothes were immediately saturated with water sucked out of the ambient humidity, and I could feel myself pitting out. Squinting, fumbling for my sunglasses, it took me a moment to spot the group of angry men standing by the hospital entrance. Red hats, open-carry AR-15s. It was the local Maga Club. On closer inspection, a few of them were women, and while they skewed older, there was a smattering of young adults, and, heartbreakingly, a good number of small kids, holding signs demanding foreign agitators out of mississippi!

Bekka, a Cree woman from Saskatchewan who’d been my seat buddy on the helicopter ride, leaned in. “Straight outta central casting.”

At first, I thought she was right. Weather-beaten, white, unhealthy in that way poor Americans are, lacking access to basic preventative care. They looked so angry. Plus, the guns. But there was something else there, and I couldn’t put my finger on it until I spotted a sign being held aloft by a heavyset, middle-aged guy with wraparound shades and a sweat-sheened face: our lives matter too.

I knew he meant it in a gross way, but I couldn’t argue with it.

Read the rest on Tor.com, or listen to it on my podcast!

[clonerightsagenda]

Zigzagging the prompt a bit but I want to talk about Olivia Breckenridge today.

The first time I listened to Arden season 2, I was very worried about Olivia, considering this is a Hamlet retelling and she's one (sneakily two) of the characters who do not make it out alive. Luckily, Liv dodges the narrative's attempts to doom her. But recently I've been thinking about the 'transition killed my beautiful cis child' rhetoric and how Ophelia dies and trying to put those in conversation, especially regarding Liv's relationship with Dana.

In the show, most of Liv's acquaintances accept her identity. We learn that Paul briefly kicked her out but then changed his mind and supports her. Claude and Trudy never trip up on her pronouns, iirc. The only person to deadname her is Dana.

Ophelia gets dealt a rough hand in Hamlet. Her first appearances are her brother and father policing her sexuality because she's a woman, then everyone assuming it's her fault Hamlet's gone mad, then Hamlet being cruel to her while again targeting her gender and sexuality. She's destabilized by her father's death and dies offscreen, with Gertrude telling everyone that she fell into water and was dragged down, unresisting, by her waterlogged gown.

So, Ophelia is hassled from all angles over whether she's being the right kind of woman, and then the physical trappings of womanhood drag her to her death. The gravediggers assume she killed herself, although accident and murder are also on the table. Can we see Liv's transition as a reclamation of Ophelia's fate - an assertion of her kind of femininity, even if some people would mourn it as an act of self-destruction?

After being horrible to her for several acts, Hamlet jumps into Ophelia's grave and insists he loves her more than her brother did. As I said before, Dana is the one who deadnames Olivia. She's stuck not only in the past but her own recreation of it - insisting their marriage was a happy one, pretending her relationship with her father was great and everyone loved him, trying to get Liv to remarry her like that can fix everything that went wrong. It's somewhat ambiguous how much Dana deadnaming Liv reflects her view of Liv's gender (does she really still see her as her husband? was it calculated to hurt because she understands the truth?), but she's in the graveyard talking to bones either way, because she refuses to recognize Liv now. (When prompted, Dana can't even answer basic questions about her life.)

Liv can't quite escape Dana's orbit, but she does survive. By 'killing' her past self and recasting herself out of Dana's story, she's able to inhabit her own. So there's some toxic yuri for today.

As much as this relationship sucks and I'm glad Liv got out, "To a Nunnery" always makes me feel things, and a piece of podcast art beyond my skillset that I nonetheless fantasize about a lot is Dana and Olivia together by the fire at the end of high school, Dana with her guitar, and the sparks rising up to the future where Olivia's standing staring at the burning house. Take my hand; let's go watch the fire. It sure didn't turn out the way we hoped when we were young.

[podcastjam]

Project Spotlight #3: Eart(h) FM

The year is 2072, and we're talking about the solarpunk sci-fi pilot Eart FM with team member Ari!

Tell us a bit about yourself and your teammates!

Hi, I’m Clover! I’m a writer, voice actor, and audio engineer. I’m helping edit Eart FM, and potentially voice act in it. I’m working on a few podcasts, but none of them have released yet. My first and favorite podcast is Wolf 359. I technically have a tumblr account, but I don’t use it, so you can find me lurking on various podcast discords, mainly the official WOE.BEGONE discord.

@lotsadeer: My name is Izze Sykes, I'm an illustrator, writer, podcaster, game designer, voice actor, and wearer of many hats. I'll be doing the cover art for this podcast! The first podcast I ever listened to was Welcome to Night Vale, don't ask me my favourite podcast that's like asking me to choose children, and I'm involved in a few podcasts at the moment! Hope's Hearth, an actual play podcast; Abbey Archives, a Redwall reread podcast; SCP Research Archives, an SCP article podcast; Colchis, a sci-fi audio drama; and Cauterized, a horror audio drama. Plus a few podcasts that are in the works. I like podcasts.

@aclickbaittitle: Hello, I am Ari! I like to say I am a storyteller. I am the organizer (?) for Eart FM and I also plan to sound-design and write.  Like a lot of people I got into audio drama through Welcome to Nightvale and then it was history. My most recent project is a little short-fiction podcast called “Broken Hearted: The Friendship monologues”.

Hello, I'm Laurel. I'm a writer, digital artists, and self proclaimed voice actor. I will be voicing the role of "The Host" in Eart(h) FM! I have not participated in any projects publicly but I have be doing voice work for fun with friends and a bit on my joint youtube channel. My favorite podcast is definitely Penumbra Podcast, my younger brother showed it to me and I was hooked instantly. I don't use my tumblr anymore but you can find me on discord @ cyanosiis!

@timberfins/@elijahharpermusic: I'm Eli, or Timber, and I'm providing music! The first podcast I remember falling in love with was Welcome To Night Vale, but my current favourite is probably Within The Wires (unless we're also including non-fiction, where it's competing with Lingthusiasm). I sing with the Anguilliform Chorus in Eeler's Choice, and you'll also hear me in two Law of Names productions: Season 4 of Breathing Space and the upcoming Waterlogged.

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Fuent, I am a MBA student trying to survive in this trying world. I am a huge nerd, and love to travel. I have been to over 14 different countries and plan to expand that number. I also host my own podcast as well. My first podcast that I listened to was Campfire Radio Theater, and my favorite podcast is Midnight burger. Currently I am a writer for the podjam and happy to be here.

What's your podcast about?

Solar-punk sci-fi with anti space-colonialism sentiments. It is the year 2072, the poles have melted and humanity has taken for the stars, except for the HOST, . To cope with being the only human on earth, they’ve decided to create a Radio Show where they broadcast music from various times and places of the world. One day someone finally calls to the radio station an ECOLOGIST, living on the skirt of the iztaccihuatl bearing news that the earth is healing. Together they embark on a quest for other humans that still live on planet earth, finding various communities and people, and begin to help the earth one day heal.

What are you most excited about in this event?

To collaborate with other creators in order to tell a story that is very dear to my heart.

Any advice for other participants, or those on the fence about joining?

Consult it with the pillow, but if come morning you discover that is just the nerves and impostor syndrome keeping you from participating, take that leap. At the end of the day, we are all just a bunch of people trying to tell stories the same as you.

This team is still looking for new members, adding: "We are currently looking for the ecologist voice actor. We are specifically looking for a chicane / mexican-american voice actor since we are writing the ecologist with an experience specific to said identity (don’t worry, you don’t need to know spanish or anything, as long as you have a connection with the ethnicity or identity, you are welcome to join!)"

If you're interested in joining their project, you can find their casting call here, or you can reach out in the Podcast Book Club Discord server. If you want to know more about the jam first, be sure to check out this post as well!

[audiodrama]

Waterlogged

The Audio Drama Directory presents 31 Days of Horror! Horror audio drama links throughout October!

@lawofnamesmedia

[eelerschoice]

Today we'd like to announce a brand new show! Meet our Siblings- @WaterloggedPod https://shows.acast.com/eelers-choice/episodes/meet-our-siblings-waterlogged.

Waterlogged is an aquatic horror anthology podcast featuring creators you know and love as well as some new ones! I am so proud of this show and of our team @LawOfNamesMedia -D

[stagred]

MEDIA THAT INSPIRES MY VERSION OF ALASTOR!

Shawshank Redemption: Andy Dufresne. The themes of accepting your fate. Man imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit becomes a criminal to survive in prison, but still suffers immensely and makes close and passionate friends. Realizes that prison is where he thrives, yet craves freedom and spends nearly 20 years fighting for it

Candyman: Tony Todd's portrayal. Powerful, terrifying eldritch being. Tall, handsome, well dressed, eloquent. In a moment where bees are swarming in his mouth, he kisses the heroine with such divine passion that you almost forget the horror. But also themes of Black suffering, exacting revenge because you need to, not because you want to. Romance as a detriment, a disadvantage, not something to fight for.

SE7EN: Violent and creative crimes committed to force attrition. Embodying sin and punishing it. "People these days, you cant just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them over the head with a sledgehammer. And then you'll find… you have their strict attention." Neon crosses, sex and debauchery, the underbelly of a city. The unnamed city that doesn't exist, but everyone can identify. "Mankind is good, and worth fighting for. I agree with the second part."

We Happy Few: Using happiness and suppression to hide your trauma. Attacking those who don't conform. The sinister fear behind every over-stretched smile. 60s vibes, but forever tainted by 30s and 40s events because the people never moved onward. Muttering to oneself in mourning of the memories you cant remember forgetting.

Bioshock: "No gods or kings, only man." Freedom of expression, but a violent hatred of the beings who control it regardless of the context they're in, like religion and education. Sander Cohen. Art at any cost. Transformation, puppets on strings, playing your part on a stage and diverting from the script. The neon glow of the 60s nightlife, but waterlogged and destroyed by time.

It Follows: A creeping monster that can only walk, but will never stop. Pass it on through acts of sex and debauchery. Vibrant red blood in a glowing blue pool from an entity you can't even see that you injured.

Matilda The Musical: Agatha Trunchbull. "The Smell Of Rebellion." Hatred of those weaker than you to an almost comical degree. Cleverness and loopholes in rules. Hurting people back, because why should you be the bigger person? "A contract is a contract is a contract!"

Carrie The Musical: Voice breaking during emotional numbers. "Eve Was Weak." Religious trauma manifesting physically. Covered in blood and surrounded by fire. "Mother was right."

The Shining: All work and no play makes Alastor a dull boy. Being held hostage by the narrative, regardless of if you're doomed by it. Blood cascading through the halls. "I'm not gonna hurt you… I'm just gonna bash your fucking brains in!" The empty ballroom, the bartender who isn't there.

The Green Mile: Killing a miracle. Percy Wetmore. Burning people alive just to see what might happen. Weeping as you sing "Cheek To Cheek" and face the reaper. Clutching the bodies of two little girls and crying to the heavens because it isn't fucking fair.

The Black Phone: The masks. "It's his favorite game: good boy, bad boy." The phone that doesn't work, and the calls that keep coming in. Little boys floating in the air, throats slit, begging for help. Jesus as a deity to worship for divination. The entire kitchen scene. (CW for child abuse)

Coraline: Forced smiles. Eating bugs like candy. "He pulled a looooong face, and Mother didn't like that." The Other Mother. "She'd love something to eat. / Mothers don't eat… daughters. / I dunno. how do you taste?" Watching victims through the dolls.

Welcome To Night Vale: The specific sense of melancholy and nostalgia that just listening to the podcast inflicts upon the listener. The radio host as the protector of the city.

The Princess and the Frog: Facilier. Friends on the other side. Voodoo in all its forms. "Fun thing about voodoo, Larry. Can't conjure a thing for myself."

[heycerulean]

i'm gonna be so real with yall. i tried to get into the silt verses. the premise seemed cool. the fandom seems great. i needed another horror podcast. loved the characters. but like. could not get past the first episode. it just felt so... waterlogged? like pun intended but it also was like. damp. the podcast felt damp. like it was trying to be deep and complex and it just felt damp and shallow. am i missing something??? i want to like this!!! actually! what are things i can look for? also what episode would you all consider to be the "plot picks up here" spot? it seems too cool to give up on but like. i need something to give me the motivation to get into it

[lawofnamesmedia]

Waterlogged [S01E06] Dam(n)

A therapy video chat about a nice relaxing party near a stream. What's that noise?

Episode 6 Dam(n): Live Now

Voiced by Karim Kronfli Written by Loggerhead Edited & sound designed by @stardustshines Theme music by Lou Sutcliffe

A @LawOfNamesMedia production.

[thewyrdsidepodcast]

Episode Six of the Wyrd Side, ‘Bodies of Evidence’, is now available on all major podcasting platforms!

Aiden and Katherine return to the waterlogged mires and tangled roots of the New Forest. Could there be a link between the recent attack and Aiden’s encounter in the forest?

[audiofictionuk]

New Fiction Podcasts - 3rd July

Mohaming Contre-Attaque Audio Drama Vous partez dans l’espace lointain à bord de Moïra, un vaisseau grand comme une ville. Une douce voix de femme vous y contera les turpitudes de Mohaming, vingt ans, roux, coupe mulet, l’humain le moins banal de la station, qui s’est mis en tête de retourner vers la Terre afin de comprendre ce qui a poussé ses ancêtres à la quitter plusieurs siècles auparavant, et aussi pour trouver un bon kebab. Rien ne se passe comme prévu. En se mettant les Arcadiens à dos, Mohaming devient un homme menacé d’arrestation. Vous ne connaissez pas les Arcadiens ? Et encore moins les Patients ou les Diphlons ? C’est normal. Rodrigue vous dira tout, au fil de l’eau, sur les nombreuses espèces qui peuplent le vaisseau. Certaines de ces créatures seront une grande menace dans le parcours clandestin de Mohaming au sein de Moïra. Parviendra-t-il à rejoindre à temps la prochaine navette en partance pour la Terre ? https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240627-01 RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/mohaming

Unhinged: Season 1 Lost Picket Audio Drama Season 1: Lost Picket. Billy Gates’ company has been contracted to construct a security fence around a shadowy billion-dollar tech company’s new compound in the middle of Noware, Nebraska. But when a local man, Lucky Picket, goes missing on the tech company’s property, Billy finds himself balancing a lagging job that could put him out of business and a homespun investigation into the mystery that entangles the entire town. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240625-06 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/unhingedfence/feed.xml

Waterlogged Audio Book Waterlogged is a short form horror anthology podcast highlighting the underutilized forms of water. Instead of rivers and oceans, we focus on plumbing, puddles, mist, and more. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240624-02 RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/waterlogged

Dark Trek Audio RPG Captain Chaka Khan and the crew of the KSS Hoodoo uncover secrets that could reshape the galaxy. Journey into a mirrorverse where the descendants of Khan Noonien Singh’s augments defend the stars as the United Socialist Khanate. Dark Trek is an original mirror-verse story based on the Star Trek Adventures TTRPG by Modiphius Entertainment. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240620-04 RSS: https://feeds.zencastr.com/f/c7Z11ai3.rss

The Rats Under Eden Audio Drama A dystopian sci-fi audio drama. Follow The Young Nun, The Guardian, and the Five Martyrs as they challenge the oppressive regime of Eden City. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240530-04 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f6d21198/podcast/rss

MAXIME- skeiv dramatikk Audio Book I 1. sesong av MAXIME- skeiv dramatikk i podcastformat vil du kunne lytte til fem unge debuterende dramatikere med blodferske, hudløse, råe, ømme, morsomme og begjærlige tekster. Gjennom et samarbeid mellom produsent HenBlakstad, co- produsent UNG TEKST- Unge Viken Teater og de fem dramatikerne ønsker vi å bidra til å styrke LHBTIQ+ representasjonen ved landets scener og produksjonssteder. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240601-09 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f5970734/podcast/rss

Echoes of the Past: A 48 Hour Audio Drama Festival Audio Drama Echoes of the Past: A 48 Hour Audio Drama Festival is an audio drama podcast containing 7 different pieces of audio fiction- written, recorded, and edited, all within the span of 48 hours. Centering around themes of the past our artist were tasked to create around central prompts and items. A true testament to perseverance and integrity, this podcast will have you marvel at the incredible talent and creativity done in such a short time period. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240603-05 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f7217f30/podcast/rss

Before the Whispers Audio Series Audio Drama You would think the last place for things to happen is Kodiak Alaska, so does the Whitacres! Siblings Rue, Martha, Ian and Emily moved into the small town last September with little expected of the place. That is until they begin the first summer in the area exploring the several miles of woods behind their house and as expected nothing's as it seems. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240607-02 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f568f510/podcast/rss

Audio Stories for between stops Audio Book Stories, long, short, funny, sad, frightening, happy. All sorts of stories to pass your journey. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240620-05 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f7d10018/podcast/rss

Blind Extraction Audio Drama A US Marine on a mission in the Middle East is blinded by the shrapnel of a nearby landmine but must still make it to her extraction point with another member of her unit.  In hostile territory, one klick away from safety, can the two make it out alive? https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240620-06 RSS: https://www.spreaker.com/show/6210668/episodes/feed

Soul Severed Audio RPG Join us every week on Twitch.tv for Elite Encounters: Soul Severed, a thrilling journey into a world where the boundaries between life and death are blurred, and the very fabric of the soul is at stake. Set in the custom homebrew universe of Pathfinder 2e, our diverse party of adventurers faces harrowing challenges and uncovers dark secrets that threaten to unravel their very beings. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240625-07 RSS: https://feeds.simplecast.com/TVwglFTG

The LeftEarlies Audio Drama Mandy Decides to leave this lifetime early. Her sister goes looking for her. daLuzional media presents a fantastical and other-worldly story about death...and hope. You can find the audio drama at the beginning of this podcast feed and should be heard prior to listening to the companion conversations. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240607-03 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/leftearlies/feed.xml

Hardwire Heartache: Synthetic Love Stories Audio Drama Hardwire Heartache is the first work of the newly minted CMND/CTRL production team. This labor of love harkens back to the old school, "Radio Drama" style of entertainment that reached its peak in the 1930's and 40's. Written and performed by unpaid, amateur actors and producers, every sound effect and piece of ambience is created and recorded by hand in the old style. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240608-03 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f6c96fd4/podcast/rss

Pact Tactics: Whispers of the Cauldron Audio RPG Welcome to Pact Tactics: Whispers of the Cauldron! Join our wonderful Dungeon Master Lori as she spins a tale of conspiracy and calamity. Set in the Forgotten Realms, our adventure takes place in the Unapproachable East with a focus on Thay, Rashemen, and the Great Dale. Follow the story of four unlikely allies: Lesair the Fire Genasi Paladin (played by Monica), Threads the Ironwrought Sorcerer (played by Chris), Quay'Nagi the Water Genasi Psion (modified Wychlaran class, played by Nathan), and Eli'Ann the Eladrin Ranger/Barbarian (played by Steven). https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240610-05 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f76deff0/podcast/rss

Pride & Prejudice & Monsters Audio RPG Four unlikely members of high society must navigate rumour, scandal and gossip as they navigate the tumultuous politics of their new home. The City of Sagehollow, a supposed restart for England after the first Crimson Moon appeared, turning our world into a hellscape of monsters and men. Join us, Gentle Listener, in this Actual Play TTRPG Podcast where players must uncover what is truly happening under each other's veiled glances. Will this season be one of peace, courting and partnership... or will the monsters finally come out of hiding? https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240610-06 RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/pride-prejudice-monsters

ROAR Audio Drama Set in South-London and Belfast, ROAR follows Kerry-Ann: a mother to three young children whose lives are about to change irreversibly. This is a story about womanhood and a mother's journey to the extremes of love. Starring Kellie Shirley, Danny Dyer and Richie Campbell. ROAR is a podcast drama based on real events. It was brought to you in association with The Children's Society. It was produced by Spirit Studios. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240613-05 RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/roar

In the Land of the Living Audio Book Come to small-town America and be immersed in a big-time story about fathers and sons, life and death, secrets and confessions, trauma and hope. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. Most of all, you’ll experience what it means to be human. You are about to embark on a journey, visiting key moments in the life of one man, namely Duncan. In this completely new audiobook experience, you will step into his shoes and be vibrantly involved the extraordinary life set out for him. Immerse yourself now. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240615-04 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f78d6da8/podcast/rss

Strewn About Audio Book Home of "STREWN ABOUT" and exciting collection of stories told with humor. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240617-05 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/817666.rss

Hardly DnD Audio RPG Welcome to Hardly DnD, a DnD podcast with a twist. Join us as we dive into the table top role playing game of Dungeons and Dragons in the world of Myndas created by are very own DM Quinn. These three travelers are not just any ol adventurers, these three are veterans of the world, ones with skills to match any one who dare cross their paths....well that's what they thought. Come, dive in and enjoy!!  https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240621-04 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2377174.rss

Colonel Smithwick's Story Hour Audio Book I'm a teacher by day, a storyteller by later that day. Look, I have class tomorrow. Each season (series if you're British) is a new, serialized story, with new episodes published every Monday. Stories range from science fiction, to fantasy, to steampunk If you like questionable accents, you've found the right place! https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240609-02 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2353778.rss

Interstellar Song Contest: A Queer Sci-Fi Musical Audio Drama The final round of the 668th Interstellar Song Contest will be broadcast live across the solar system for one night only! Witness the finest musical talents in the galaxy as five finalists compete for the 1st place prize - cast your votes and crown the winner! Audiences will be delighted by the glitz, glam, and star power only found at the grand finale of the Interstellar Song Contest! In this new queer sci-fi musical from Skysail Theatre, listeners can choose from five alternate endings to determine the winner of an intergalactic competition! Who will you vote for? https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240601-10 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f6d77930/podcast/rss

En Svensk Dödsstråle Audio Book EN SVENSK DÖDSSTRÅLE är en poddroman skriven och inläst av Isak Gösta Jansson. Det är en mäktig tegelsten till satirisk spänningsroman. Samtliga (cirka) 100 kapitel kommer släppas i poddformat under sommaren 2024 som en sommarföljetong med start den 1:a juni. Perfekt för hammock eller roadtrips! Storyn i korta drag: Ett forskarlag i Uppsala lyckas av misstag ta fram en strålmaskin som kan döda allt som den siktar på. Maskinen kallas ”Slungan”. En topphemlig svensk spionorganisation skickar en av sina agenter för att infiltrera och följa forskarnas framsteg. Agenten, som kallar sig själv ”Guldfisken” (på grund av sitt usla minne), finns med bakom kulisserna när Slungan förändrar maktbalansen på vår planet. Avsnitten släpps måndag till fredag, fram till sista avsnittet. Om du gillar projektet och vill stödja arbetet så finns en Patreonsida där man kan köpa en ”virtuell bok”. Alltså att man köper en bok på låtsas, som att man hade läst boken med papper och omslag. Som bitcoin typ, men ingen blir ledsen i slutändan. Hoppas ni gillar och glad sommar på er! https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240603-06 RSS: https://feeds.libsyn.com/531102/rss

The Blade's Edge Audio RPG YOUR KINGDOM IS FUCKED!Come join The Blade's Edge for their inaugural adventure across one of Dungeons and Dragons most beloved modules, Curse of Strahd. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240626-02 RSS: https://feeds.zencastr.com/f/c6X5sZbx.rss

Nat19: Gilligan's Grave Audio RPG In this high-fantasy 5.19th Edition actual-play, a disturbance stirs beneath the peaceful subterranean town of Gilligan's Pit. A handful of the town's residents are swept into the depths of Somnus Domina's underground as they investigate a threat to the life they know. Join our players as they struggle against the agents of the Court of Decay! https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240602-03 RSS: https://www.spreaker.com/show/6161140/episodes/feed

Tommy Law: Private Eye Audio Drama Tommy Law: Private Eye is an engaging detective audio drama that blends humor, heart, and suspense. Join Tommy Law as he navigates mysterious cases with sharp wit, rich sound design, and unforgettable characters, reminiscent of classic old-time radio shows.  https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240621-05 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2374106.rss

Gestalheim Productions - Welcome to Pratchetville Audio RPG An Absurdia Actual Play Campaign Spin-off out of Fictional Heroism set in the town of Prachetville. A town in the middle of the US with a high concentration of Fae, Chronicled, and other magical beings that is completely normal. Ignore the Monster Wrestling Federation, the local underground transformation teleportation ray, and the research facility ran by a crick elf filled with strangely fruit-like human workers. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240605-05 RSS: https://feeds.transistor.fm/gestalheim-productions-welcome-to-pratchettville

Lúpulo Cas9 Audio Drama Lúpulo Cas9 es una ficción sonora protagonizada por Jessica Cerón y Nancho Novo. Toda la información en http://lupulocas9.es. ¿Qué pasaría si alguien inventara una cerveza que adelgaza? Sí, que adelgaza. No light, que engorde poco, o que sea 0,0, no: que te haga adelgazar, con todo su alcohol y su sabor. Sería el invento del siglo. ¿Qué estarían dispuestos a hacer ciertos desaprensivos por conseguir esa fórmula? Daniel es bioquímico y ha desaparecido sin dejar rastro. Ante la pasividad de la policía, Laura (Jessica Cerón), su pareja y periodista de investigación, decide investigar la desaparición por su cuenta. Ayudada de Javier (Nancho Novo), un vecino algo friki, consigue seguir el rastro de unos audios de Whatsapp. Las pistas apuntan a una posible amante y un científico enemigo de Daniel. Laura terminará tras los pasos de una peligrosa trama internacional, relacionada con algún extraño descubrimiento de Daniel mientras investigaba en la producción de cerveza baja en alcohol. Laura se lanzará a una vertiginosa investigación contra reloj para salvar la vida de Daniel. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240615-05 RSS: https://www.ivoox.com/feed_fg_f12440894_filtro_1.xml

Flamboyan Theatre’s Denise Audio Drama “Denise” is a riveting and emotionally charged theatrical experience that brings to the stage the untold stories of love and sacrifice within military life. In this deeply moving drama, audiences are introduced to Cody and Denise, a military couple whose marriage is tested by the rigors of service and the harrowing realities of Denise’s deployment to Guantanamo Bay. Through a masterful blend of intense drama and poignant storytelling, “Denise” captures the essence of military commitment combined with the personal and mental toll it exacts on those who serve and the partners they leave behind. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240629-01 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/flamboyanpresentsdenise/feed.xml

Mystic Oaks Audio Drama First came Water, then Fire, next Air and finally Earth. Every one hundred years, the Iliad Rose blooms, and the first mortal hand to touch it becomes the hand of God as they get to choose which element the humans of the world will have domain over next. We are two thousand years into this cycle, and with the four nations establishing themselves four sub elements each, the world hangs in a delicate balance, making the next rose bloom so much more important. We are six weeks away from the next bloom date, and every nation prepares its armies. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240629-02 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f2939cc8/podcast/rss

The Beat of Baleful Wings Audio Book An anthology podcast covering Fantasy and Horror and everything between. What terror lies in your heart? What anxiety holds you down or pushes you back? It is something unique for each of us, but we all feel it. For the most common emotion on this planet is fear. But, beneath it all is the rhythmic beat. Not of the heart, as many mistake, but of wings. Wings that subtly get closer each day. Will you be prepared for when they arrive? https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240702-01 RSS: https://feeds.redcircle.com/07317a5a-f521-42b9-b65c-b0a37cf49630

[jovialtorchlight]

Stranger Approaching You in a Bar

Stranger Approaching You in a Bar

“Wait a minute, I know you. Do you remember me? We were playing up on the railroad trestle, high up over the river, when my brother stepped on a paper wasp nest,”

You glance up from your craft IPA. It was a long shift, and you came to the familiar dive for a cold drink before heading home. The hefty man, unkempt, a bit wild looking, with a long red beard, picks up his can of PBR and saddles up next to you. Before you have a chance to respond, he keeps going.

“A big one. I remember looking at them, crawling all over, all over his bare chest and arms and legs, wriggling around, humming like they were electric, like they were waiting for something, some sign to start stinging.

We took to running. Wasps took to stinging. Brother got stung. Bad. Coroner said he had 200 stings, swollen on his bruised, broken body. Imagine that. 200 welts, still red and full of pus when they laid him out on the metal table,”

What the fuck, you think. How the fuck does he know--

“Oh yeah. Forgot. You didn’t see him die. Guess it hurt so bad he flung himself off the

bridge into the river. Heard him scream all the way down. I got stung a couple times. I don’t think you did, did ya? You got lucky. Jesus, we must have been ten years old.

Do you remember? When he was standing there, with the wasps, how the crows kept circling? Je-sus, it’s like they knew. He was crying, kept begging us to get the wasps off of him, but there wasn’t nothing we could do, right?”

There was. There was. Before Joey flung himself off the bridge, you could have picked him up. He was little, about seven years old, barely an armful. But you were scared, rooted in place. You froze.

You look back to the stranger, and are about to ask him who the fuck he is--some rando who heard about the deaths in some true crime podcast?

“Once the wasps got to stinging, it could have been us, right? When they found him, downriver ways, his waterlogged skin was blue and bloated and puffed and his eyes were swollen shut.

We couldn't have helped him none, right? Wow. What a trip running into you here, man. How you been, by the way?”

Billy. You think. Oh my fucking God, it’s Billy.

He leans across the bar, getting close to your face. As he gets closer, the air gets heavy, like you have to sip the oxygen through a straw.

You can see the rot deep set in his teeth, his scraggly red beard coated in grease. He’s wearing a ripped plaid flannel and jeans covered in paint and oil. His eyes, deep black, dart to yours. They’re magnetic, and you lock with them. You don’t try to avert his gaze, but if you tried, you would have failed.

“It should have been you,” he says, low. A chuckle rises like a belch from his stomach. Gas, bloat rising. You remember. Your eyes light up in realization. Panicked, irises bouncing around like ping pong balls in your pupils, unable to look away from the stranger. His skin darkens, turns blue even in the dim light of the bar. His skin inflates, like someone is pumping him with a tire inflator.

He grabs your arm, dead man’s grip, clammy, cold. A chunk of his red hair, dripping wet, coated with slime, like hair caught in the shower drain, plops onto the bar counter beside him. A chunk of black, necrotic skin slops off his arm and lands on your shoes with a wet slap.

The stench is unbearable. Swamp gas and rotting flesh, skin sloughing off of his body, shirt rapidly decaying, black mold lining the fabric, coated in discharge. His clutch is still firm on your arm.

He’s right, you think, trying to break eye contact. You remember. The wasps trailing behind. The pain, like getting stabbed with a hot butter knife. They seemed to want to swarm Billy. Like a cloud. The swarm of wasps, like a plague of locusts, closing in.

“Why?” the decomposing stranger asks and half his face slides off like butter in a pan. “Why did you trip me? Why didn’t you turn around and help?”

For the first time, you can speak. It comes out of your body involuntarily, like a yelp of pain.

“It should have been me,” you whimper. “It should have been me.”

“It’s not too late, friend,” Billy belches out. “May I?

You nod. It’s time for this to end.

Billy reaches, his hot dog, waterlogged fingers oozing black liquid. Two fingers gently touch your eyelids, pull them down, like a drawn curtain.

You’re on the bridge. Billy’s behind, a few paces. He’s screaming. The buzz is deafening. The paper wasps blot out the sky.

You have the raw, primal instinct to trip, to sacrifice Billy. The urge bubbles up. You pop it like a bubble.

You stop. Billy looks behind, not stopping.

The paper wasps swarm. A thousand hot knives. A freefall. Bones break as you hit the water.

Nothing after. Just bloated death.

[sergeifyodorov]

He gets up, steps off the trail in pursuit of the flashlight, leaving Petey behind to wait for him on the trail. Thankfully, the flashlight’s a literal beacon, so it’s not too hard to track where it is, just a few metres to the other side of the trail-side trees and it didn’t go far at all down the hill. He squeezes between a couple pines, feeling the rough bark drag against the canvas of his backpack.

The woods he passes into are brilliant, clear, as lit up as if it were midday. There must be a thousand flashlights all around him, looking at him like sets of eyes in the bushes. He takes a step across flat, grass-soft ground and watches the lights move, all trained on him, bright, burning like iceglare, and he squints, shuts his eyes to let them get used to it.

It’s much darker with his eyes closed -- not because his eyelids are in the way but because there’s only one source of flash light. The real one, the old knowing-voice at the back of his mind says.

“The real one,” he mumbles, dropping to his knees, eyes still closed, and raking his hands through the undergrowth toward the light until they close on a heavy metal rod. When he opens his eyes, the only light is the flashlight in his hand.

Any commentary on the flashlight scene? The clearing thousands of flashlights is one of the visuals that really stuck with me

waaa sorry i took so long to get to this! letsgo

He gets up, steps off the trail in pursuit of the flashlight, leaving Petey behind to wait for him on the trail. Thankfully, the flashlight’s a literal beacon, so it’s not too hard to track where it is, just a few metres to the other side of the trail-side trees and it didn’t go far at all down the hill. He squeezes between a couple pines, feeling the rough bark drag against the canvas of his backpack.

Okay, so this anecdote wasn't actually part of the greater outline. In fact, here's the screenshot of the outline that covers the part of the story where this takes place:

What really needed to happen in this chunk (between the two of them starting on the mountain and the Good Stuff happening) was that I needed to slow down the pace, create some characterization, and build some tension/suspicion. Hence things like the word game -- I'm padding for time here!

The woods he passes into are brilliant, clear, as lit up as if it were midday. There must be a thousand flashlights all around him, looking at him like sets of eyes in the bushes. He takes a step across flat, grass-soft ground and watches the lights move, all trained on him, bright, burning like iceglare, and he squints, shuts his eyes to let them get used to it.

After creating both a bond and a temporary fissure with Petey, I was going to start introducing the supernatural elements of the world to the story, so I needed something that would be obviously magical, and hopefully creepy besides -- and what's creepier than being watched in an environment when you're all alone?

I'm also noting that both Quinn's "real" sources of lighting get impeded or destroyed by the magic of the mountain somehow -- this happens with the flashlight (and then it gets taken by Petey, who's falling for the tricks), and in a panic spurred by the ghost he knocks over and waterlogs his candle and matches.

The phrase "iceglare" here is also directly inspired by something -- just before this, I listened to an episode of a podcast, You're Wrong About, notably the Flight 571 episode featuring survivalist and adventurer Blair Braverman. Blair spent a year of her life on an iceberg, and she has this tangent in the episode where she describes that glow from reflected ice can severely damage your eyes because of its brightness. I don't know why, but it stuck to me.

It’s much darker with his eyes closed -- not because his eyelids are in the way but because there’s only one source of flash light. The real one, the old knowing-voice at the back of his mind says.

“The real one,” he mumbles, dropping to his knees, eyes still closed, and raking his hands through the undergrowth toward the light until they close on a heavy metal rod. When he opens his eyes, the only light is the flashlight in his hand.

One of the first things I wanted to establish when writing the supernatural elements is that the lines between reality and fiction were becoming less clear; a pretty straightforward illusion seemed to be the best way to go.

Probably the most important part of my characterization of Quinn is practicality, or maybe groundedness; that, more than most people, he's not prone to flights of fancy and that he's a lot more mentally prepared to face weird stuff as it arises. The "knowing" just seemed like a way to exaggerate that to the proportions this fic kind of wanted.

This flashlight is also directly reminiscent of one I used to have growing up: it was far too heavy for my little-kid arms to practically wield, and it was basically a searchlight. You could use it as a blunt weapon if you wanted, and that's the kind of flashlight this version of Quinn would definitely have.