#the dragoning

[fictionfrequency1]

Audio Drama Sunday - 9 November

It’s Sunday, it’s autumn, and the shortcut to work near my house is filled with crunchy leaves! What a time to be alive. Also, podcasts.

This week I checked in with @atypicalartists’ Two Thousand and Late — 1.09 - 1.10: these episodes were fun, crazy and chaotic. They were also difficult and complicated. Havoc (and their wonderful accent) may have been won over by humanity, but they still don’t really know how to be good. Harper, on the other hand, is cheerfully leaning into violence and carnage. I felt so terrible for Sweetie over their problems this week, and I was even gutted for Todd. I can’t not love Emma Sherr-Ziarko in any role — and I need another season. Harper can still pull this back!! 🧨

Havoc Town — 12 | Closing Town: I’m adding this to the list of podcasts that made me cry. In this episode, Corinne doesn’t have much time to react to the big twist from E11. Instead she’s going through a very rough experience, learning about a dramatic plot, getting a bit of comfort from her friend and hearing a few words of kindness from her dad! Kind of. Like I said, brought me to tears.💀

[REDACTED] — S1E1: False Start (Part 1): another podcast that made me cry. Podcasts have been devastating recently, okay? The fact that this was made by the creators of The Cellar Letters is a good sign, but this one is already so unique. There’s no risk of blending in amongst its genre; the sound effects are immersive, the characters are quickly likeable, and Jacob Kane’s actor did a phenomenal job with a lot of emotional scenes. 🚘

Meteor City — 1 (Patty Melt): very mysterious! Alternate history is always a fun genre to tackle, with this podcast set in a world where, in 2008, a meteor hit and destroyed Detroit. When the main character Bianca takes a trip back home, she runs into old friends, new possible allies, ruined streets and a shadowy stalker. The people who stayed in Detroit are considered potentially dangerous outcasts, but this resident seems to know her, knows where she lives, and he isn’t letting up. ☄️

The Dragoning — Ray - Episode 1: I loved the novel The Power, where women gain the ability to electrocute people at will. It’s a complicated book, with a thrilling premise and lot of perspectives, and it’s very popular. The Dragoning is a comedy with a fantasy edge, but it’s also a biting feminist satire where women gain the ability to turn into dragons. Residents grabbed with a new world where terrible people are wiped out without the possibility of the justice system failing their victims, but men also might be burnt to ash in the street for talking too loud. It’s amazing, so how come I haven’t heard of it earlier? Everyone should consider listening to this, trust me. 🐉

[pikachurinnn]

the whole time i’ve been playing through the da games, i’ve been listening to florence and the machine. i think the mix of drama and whimsy in her music is fitting. imagine my surprise when i finish da2 (the last game in the series i played) and “i’m not calling you a liar” starts playing???? i thought i was hallucinating. they know. . .

anyway, all this to say i love dragon age and i’d glady spend 250+ more hours lost in the world of thedas.

[fictionfrequency1]

Audio Drama Sunday - 30 November

There’s been so much going on in podcasts this week! The Tower ended, Fault and Stitchery began, and Apollyon came out with its last episode before the big hiatus. And hopefully I’ll catch up with all of those exciting things next week. [REDACTED] — Postmortem: Shoeless Man: Eli has so much empathy for all these characters. Also, I’m so emotionally attached to Sloan. She’s not just a traditional evil boss, she’s so awkward and polite. The Dragoning — Ashley - Episode 5 - Finale - Episode 10: Ray finally decides what his role is in the podcast! He also makes one big choice. He’s on the side of the dragons throughout a lot of this show; endlessly brave and curious. Buuut when he realises that dragons have almost certainly spread outside of this one city, that becomes another story. He’s fine with risking being injured by dragons himself, but what about his dad? The emotional worldbuilding and questions this show set up were great.

Cry Havov! Ask Questions Later — #2 - A Special Relationship - #3- Fish for Dinner: gotta love David K. Barnes, and his inclusion of a few of the actors from Wooden Overcoats too. I love the characters in Cry Havoc, especially Gaius and Mark Antony, and I have high hopes for Cleopatra. I don’t know much about Roman history, but I feel like Gaius is not going to stay as nice and helpful as he is at the moment. This podcast is funny, but I’m fine with being emotionally devastated too.

Haunted: The Van Buren Manor — Chapter One: “The Manor”: coming from someone who used to love Buzzfeed Unsolved, I’m a bit of a fan of ghost hunting. Sebastian McCann is such a slimeball protagonist, so I love hearing things go wrong. The description of the building is beautiful and atmospheric, and things start spiralling out of control very quickly. It makes use of every second of dialogue, which is no surprise from August Year Round productions.

[fictionfrequency1]

Audio Drama Sunday - 16 Nov

I hope you’re all coping well with the recent weather! Don’t forget to pack gloves.

[REDACTED] — S1E2: False Start (Part 2) - S1E3: False Start (Part 3): I don’t know yet how they’re going to deal with the whole betrayal, tragedy aspect from the first episode. If my best friend made a casual comment about my recently dead sibling’s personality, I would probably start an argument over that. But also, Elio and Jacob’s friendship is giving me life and Jacob saved a life! He’s quickly become a character I’m really attached to because he’s so kind! 👹

Surviving Hawkins — 1. Our Town - 6. The Lottery: I love love love the ending to this series. I was wondering how they could possibly wrap things up in a way that’s both happy and realistic, but Lauren Shippen managed it. This official Stranger Things prequel follows Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) as she struggles through the nightmarish experience of Hawkins High School. Against the backdrop of local kids’ disappearances, Robin is busy dreaming of Europe. She’s shared her plan to travel the continent with her English teacher, Mr Hauser (Sean Maher), and she’s wondering if he’d do anything to help. After all, she saw him talking with Barb Holland, right before she vanished. I was desperate to uncover that mystery, and quickly found myself emotionally attached not just to Maya Hawke as Robin, but also to friendly, thoughtful Mr Hauser. Unfortunately, there’s more than one monster chasing the citizens of Hawkins. It’s got a lot of 80’s nostalgia and a tangible setting, and even through difficult times, this podcast clung onto hope. 🌈

The Peek with Samuel Pepys: 002 | Crowns - 005 | Boys: am obnoxious modern-day podcast host gets thrown back in time to the 1660s, into the home of real-life writer and politician Samuel Pepys. Our protagonist (disguising himself as “Valentino” from “Italy”) is fascinated by his new friend’s diary: a detailed record from the dawning age of Valentino’s speciality, celebrity drama! Celebrities were only invented last week, and this podcast introduces us to witty actress Nell Gwynn, newly-illegal ‘boy players’, underground theatre productions and the Godson of Shakespeare, who Pepys hates. This show is funny, light-hearted and interesting. It’s kind of educational, and there’s plenty of character development. Valentino’s homesickness for America, Pepys’ internal conflict, the delightful ensemble characters and the historical celebrity drama makes for engaging listening. Plus, how is Valentino’s recording equipment going to be received by 1600s England? 🕰️

Jump Leads — JL1.1 — Training Day: this went wrong in a way I wasn’t expecting. I feel bad for the poor characters who died, but I love Meaney and Llewellyn’s uncomfortable friendship. It gives kinda Red Dwarf vibes. Also, I hear that Llewellyn would have made a good addition to my podcast ace rep article. 🛸

The Dragoning — Episode 2 - 3: this is such a good piece of speculative fiction! People really are glorifying dragon-related deaths (kind of like true crime content), and the idea of a group of women cheering as someone they knew gets eaten alive is deeply unnerving. There’s the immediate question of what he did to prompt it (sexist comment), the insult at the bartender’s opinion (that she should have just said something if she was uncomfortable), and the obvious knowledge that killing someone isn’t really a proportional response. But here, women can act on their annoyance towards anyone without really thinking about the consequences. It really flips the switch on who has to look over their shoulder. And finally we get a woman’s perspective! She’s not thinking about the horror, the fear, the cruelty — because all you have to do is not be a jerk and not act like you own the place, like women used to. Then you won’t get murdered. 🐉

(p.s., if you want to know which of these episodes were my top favourites, or if you want to know how long they’d take to finish, check out my other post).

[fictionfrequency1]

Audio Drama Sunday — 23 November

A late-ish and short-ish update this week. Redacted was a treat to listen to, and I also ruined my life watching Falsettos, which I thought was a romcom. Fully recommend, by the way.

Redacted — S1E4: Skin - S1E5: Shoeless Man: first off, I hope that man living alone in his house finds someone to share his house with. What a polite person. Secondly, this episode was so exciting! An emotional rollercoaster. The Shoeless Man didn’t terrify me, but learning more about Jacob’s bosses and Jordan’s personality was unnerving. Jacob’s complaints about the naming choice for this monster of the week made me laugh out loud in public, and Eli calling Jacob by his name was so sweet and heartwarming.

The Technomancy Project — 1.01 REIMAGINED - The High Priestess, The Magician and The Hanged Man: thank you to the person from Podcast Book Club who brought up this podcast when talking about Redacted. The acting and audio effects are solid, and it’s a great set-up when the main character doesn’t even know who he is. Most importantly, the three protagonists are very much found family material.

The Dragoning — Ashley and Ray - Episode 4: Ray was not making the wisest choices in this episode. On the other hand, what would he be afraid of? Also, I listened to the start of the next episode and it’s clear that Ashley doesn’t wholly take the situation seriously. She’s so sorry that she tried to kill him, she wouldn’t have hit on him if she thought she couldn’t control herself, but it’s all surface-level! She’s going to walk away from that apology, and it won’t have made any difference to her life. What a great podcast that is definitely just about dragons.

Uncanny Valley — Episode 2 (Securely Insecure) - Episode 9 (The Trauma You Inflict) was an entertaining show. I binged it over about two days, and it while it had a lot of stuff happening, it was certainly interesting. There were ghosts, stalkers, monsters and the isolation of Alaska in winter. It felt very sleek in a Left Right Game kind of way, and it wasn’t all that long either. The villain was absolutely vile, though, and there’s a list of trigger warnings as long as your arm.