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wuffgang-ameowdeus-moozart · 10 months

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Aren't you tired of forced romances with no chemistry that only take away from the actually interesting plot? Don't you just want media where romance isn't portrayed as being superior and more important than (queer)platonic relationships?

Well, my exhausted aro ass is too, so here are a few tricks and wisdoms I've gathered over my years of being a-spec (which is all of them) on how to avoid romance (in media) in a very allonormative society 💚🤍🩶🖤

(this is a rec list btw. no I am not shitting on the shows that I tagged, quite the opposite)

1. Middle Grade

I get if you aren't really into that, because it is kind of annoying to be pointed to literal children's literature when all you want is a story that isn't constantly being interrupted by describing the main guy's heated eyes for the twentieth time.

However.

It is true that in middle grade, friendship is always more important than romance. Because, let's face it. Making two eleven year old characters kiss is kinda weird. So even if there is a romance, it isn't very prominent and treated more like friendship and/or a puppy crush. Plus some stories get surprisingly dark?!?!

Examples

- Howl's Moving Castle (Diana Wynne Jones), technically a romance in the end, but mostly focused on found family, shenanigans, and finding your own value

- House of Many Ways (DWJ). Yes, again. I really like her books okay? They always have something so fantastical and whimsical about them. This is my other favorite book by her and it has literally no romance at all. Plus a hmc cameo that is so fun !!

- Coraline (Neil Gaiman). Maybe this is cheating because I never actually read it. However. a) the movie traumatized me. b) Wybie was added to the movie, he doesn't exist in the book, so if "power of friendship" isn't your thing this will be great. Probably vibes over plot.

Flyte (Angie Sage). Technically this is the second book, but I never read the first one and still understood everything. Once again, no romance at all. A fun read, which can get surprisingly dark at times.

2. Short Story Collections

Once again, I get it if it isn't your thing. Short stories are - as the name reveals - short. Which means: no worldbuilding, very limited narrator, open ending, no time to really get attached to characters, etc.

But.

The cool thing about collections, is that they always have a certain theme. And as long as the theme is not romance, romance will not be the focus. Even if there is a romantic relationship, it will be used to explore this theme since there simply isn't time for anything else.

Examples:

Life Ceremony (Sayaka Murata) This is the book that actually made me figure out: hey! I do actually like short stories !! The main theme is basically about being different and it plays a lot with body horror and the perception of your own body in contrast with how society sees it. There is even a story about two women who platonically live together and raised multiple children!

Canterbury Classics: Classic Tales of Horror (introduction by Ernest Hilbert). As the name suggests, this is a collection of horror short stories, featuring well-known authors such as Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe or Charlotte Perkins Gilman. As these are classic old tales, the language is a bit complicated at times and you can read them for free on Gutenberg. However, the book is very very pretty and the introduction is very interesting (Origins of the genre, specific tropes and monsters, etc.)

3. Podcasts

PODCASTS!!! If you follow me, you are probably already aware of those. However, in case you don't, let me introduce you to the wonderful world of Audiodramas.

The cool thing about Podcasts is that pretty much anyone can do it. All you need is an idea, a mic, a lot of motivation, and you're pretty much set to go. No producers or publishers you need to get approval from. So it is only natural that this medium is filled to the brim with queer creators. Basically every character is somewhat queer. It's awesome.

Examples:

- The Silt Verses. I adore TSV. I listened to the first season like, four times. (the second one is good too but OH MY GOD THE FIRST ONE). And one of the main characters is canonically and explicitly aro!! Sister Carpenter, I love you with my whole being. And the great thing is, it is very clear that the writers love her, too!! There is a lot (like a LOT) of body horror so it isn't for everybody. But if you think you can handle it I really recommend it. (Plus, not any romance plotlines at all !!)

- Wolf 359. This is one of the older ones and it is really good. It's a bunch of restless and very unwell people stuck in a spaceship under the unforgiving rule of capitalism. However bad you imagine it, I can assure you it is worse. But the really cool thing is that there literally isn't any romance at all. Like, there are great m/f friendships but they never even hint towards a romance. Some people are so unused to that that they literally ship the main dude with the fucking robot AI. (don't worry, not an actual romance plot).

- Girl in space. I am sure you will be absolutely shook to know that this one also takes place in space. It is about a girl. In space. Shocking, I know. Except that she has been on her own for well over a year when suddenly a fleet of strange ships arrive and kidnap her. There is also a very asshole-y robot. And questions about what makes us human. And found family!! And a goat. And cheese. Just go listen to it okay. This is also one of the shortest ones of the list, so maybe a good start.

- Malevolent. I have to confess that I personally am not a huge fan of this one? Like the premise is really cool - a detective who wakes up blind and with a demon in his head who can see through the detectives eyes. What the fuck?, you may ask yourself. So does Arthur Lester. Mysteries and other dimensions and a whole lot of pain ensues. Harlan is undeniably an awesome VA and a great writer, but his stories just seem a bit too repetitive to me? Nonetheless I know of lots of people who enjoy it a lot. Trying to define the relationship between Arthur and John (his demon) is perhaps the biggest mystery of them all. (Jk. there are multiple murders and stuff. they've really got other priorities)

- Middle:Below. This is another short one and probably the least famous of this list? It's about this funky lil dude with a ghost roommate and a cat who can talk (.....or can it?). There is a m/f friendship but it never turns into a romance (wow it is possible!!). They all go on adventures on the dimension between life and death. Despite the description, this is literally just a comedy. A bit spooky at best. Reminds me a bit of scarier kids cartoons like gravity falls.

4. "Gay" movies/series in countries with homophobic censorship

Now you may think, "hey that seems like a bit of an asshole move!". And you would be 100% correct in thinking that.

However.

It does also mean that the main relationship of the story can never be explicitly romantic. They can allude to it, they can try to show it. But they can never confirm. So it is very easy to interpret them as having a QPR. (because tbh I don't think I've ever seen one on television.)

Examples:

The Untamed. Look. I am aware that the first episode is so fucking atrocious, all right? And no, the CGI does in fact never get better. And sometimes the translated subtitles are a bit awkward. But I swear that it is so good. Trust me on this one, okay? Just make it through the first ep. It's a wild ride. Lan Zhan I love you. (However the book it is based on (written by a woman) depicts them being in an explicitly romantic relationship, with lots of very inaccurate and badly researched smut, so the fandom pretty much sees them as exclusively romantic.)

- Word of Honor. Very much in the same vein as The Untamed. Except that the first episode is less horrible. And the one dude has a very fruity fan. And they also raise a kid together. And the costumes of the villains are really fun!! I actually never finished this one tbh. I know that the book it is based on has one very extremely terrible ableist plot point, but I don't know if that made it into the show since I never got that far

The Devil Judge. The last two were fantasy, this one is a dystopia. Very tense and interesting. There is a romantic subplot (typical childhood friend vs bad boy love triangle), but he rejects the childhood friend and they can't exactly show him and the "bad boy" (who is actually a judge. and also kinda his sugar daddy) as explicitly romantic for the reason above. They also live in the same house and cook together and take care of a child together. Can totally recommend.

Assassination Classroom. A bunch of students have to kill their teacher who is an alien. that's literally the plot. I cried so hard at the finale. Nagisa and Karma have MASSIVE vibes and you can't convince me otherwise. (There is a romantic subplot that does end in a kiss, but they agree to continue as friends since those were..... extenuating circumstances. The dude very clearly is not into her). Nagisa also very aro-spec coded imo.

5. "Straightbaiting" Anime

Sometimes Anime does this thing (which I personally find very hilarious) where a boy and a girl will have no other romantic involvements or love interests while growing closer and closer, but never get together. A bit like reverse queerbaiting.

Examples:

- Fairy Tail. The ultimate power is friendship anime. That is all you need to know. (I should also perhaps warn you that the end of the last arc (and the sequel series, but we don't talk about that) are huge letdowns. Like the buildup? So good. But....welp. If that doesn't bother you too much and the idea to have a group of people be the main character instead of one person only, this may be the series for you. Just do yourself a favor and skip all the filler arcs

Soul Eater. I really love the vibes of this one. Once again, most of the fandom likes depicting them as explicitly romantic, but they never canonically are. It also reminds me a bit of creepy children cartoons. It is also where the superior fictional school exists, Devon. Frankenstein teaches there (the dude, not the monster). People transform into badass weapons. Nobody can convince me that Make Albarn is not a trans woman. However the ending deviates a bit from the manga, and I personally think the anime one is a bit worse

Noragami. This one will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first anime I really watched. This one also has people who transform into weapons, but the vibes are very different. It goes a bit more into Japanese folklore in case that interests you.

Bonus: Canonically Aro/Heavily Aro-Coded Characters

They were not anywhere above because the stories they are in didn't really fit any of the categories. But they exist!

Wolf (Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts). I adore Wolf. There is also barely any romance. Like, it will seem like it at first, but don't worry, it's only straightbaiting. There is a romance subplot but it's very brief and very much in the background. Overall very good aro show 👍

Isaac (Heartstopper) Very queer show, very high likelihood that you already know of it. The series per se is very romance focused, but as far as I've heard the a-spec rep in S2 is really good

Georgia (Loveless). Actually never read it. But, well. Title pretty self-explanatory dare I say. By the same author as Heartstopper (Alice Oseman)

Chance/Chris and Shadow/Ryan (woe.begone) Are explicitly in a QPR together !! they are also probably the healthiest couple in the podcast lol

Henry Clerval (Frankenstein). Henry is the "a couple of besties!!" to Victor's "we look like a couple <3"

Barbie (Barbie 2023) If you've seen it you know what I mean.

Jo Marsh (Little Women). I never read the book, but Jo in the 2019 movie??? very sus.

I would also recommend checking out Japanese books! I personally think they are much better at writing romance than the western people lol. It's more about knowing each other and sharing your views of the world, thus changing each other and leaving a mark forever, even if the relationship ends. (studio ghibli romance vibes). My favorite Japanese book doesn't have an English translation :(

aber an alle Deutsch-Sprecher*innen: Die Katzen von Shinjuku (Durian Sukegawa) -> og title: Shinjuku no Neko

Can't think of anything else right now, but please leave some of your own recommendations! Hope this helps ^^

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theinstagrahame · 23 days

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One of the best things about Crowdfunding is, stuff arrives even when you're cutting way back on spending. A *ton* of stuff arrived in the last month and a bit. Got a bunch of really neat projects in, and it's time to get hype about it!

Why these games rule, under the cut

The Revenant Society: Banana Chan is one of those names that immediately catches my attention when she's on a project. Actually, looking at the list again, the team for this game was stacked, it was a real All-Star Cast. But like, even without the powerhouse designers on the case, this just gets all the things I want in a game: Time loops, murder mysteries, trapped on the Underground. A PbtA game where you solve your own murder is, y'know, a pitch that'll attract my attention.

Hellwhalers: I saw this game coming up through design phases in the Plus One Exp Discord, and it sounded incredible. Using tokens and an old ship betting game, you're part of a whaling crew chasing Moby Dick into actual hell. Maybe Ahab wasn't crazy after all, and maybe we won't survive.

Xenolanguage: I might own everything Thorny Games makes now, because they make games about language. Folks who may not know me might not know that I *love* linquistics. Honestly, if I could repeat college, I'd put more of my time into Linguistics. But due to the linear nature of time, I'll settle for playing games about decoding alien language in a first contact situation. Sorta like that movie Contact. Which, I loved.

Mothership and Desert Moons of Karth: I read through the original version of Mothership a couple of years ago, and it's one I wanted to get more into. When I saw that there was a chance to pick up the full 1e boxset on KS, I jumped. I've also seen tons of people talk about Karth as a really awesome sandbox module for the system, so when I had a little cash on DTRPG from selling books, it was an easy pickup.

Inscrutable Cities: Possum Creek Games told me to back this, so I did (this is a joke, but I do love PCG a whole lot). In reality, I saw Inscrutable Cities on Itch a while ago, and the pitch grabbed me. I love reading solo journaling games (I still haven't found a way I like to play them, if I'm completely honest, but they're really neat reads). Walking through an impossible city is something I'd love to do, so, I have the book for it now.

Reap: Spencer Cambell makes bangers, and bangers only. I'm not *not* on a mission to collect all of his work, but Necromancers? Solo tactical board games, built on Rune? Sure. I'm in.

Luna: Spencer Campbell makes bangers, and bangers only. I also picked up another of his books this month. The Nova universe? Moon cultists trying to destroy the sun? Sure, I'm in.

3 Moonlight on Roseville Beach zines: I played Moonlight on Roseville Beach on my now-defunct podcast, and it's a game that I honestly think about a lot. The dice system was complicated, but in a really neat way that gave the players a ton of really interesting decisions with every roll. What part of my action succeeds? What kinds of complications am I opening myself to?

Anyway, R. Rook put together some characters, mysteries, and monsters for the game, and I really wanted to explore more.

Hiria, In the Margins, A Visit to San Sibilia: I mentioned earlier that I like the notion of exploring weird cities, right? Well, here's two games about that, and a cool bookmark RPG for reading. I listened to San Sibilia played in an episode of Friends at the Table, and it really captured my attention. The questions were fascinating, and they let the players flesh out a city we'd only heard of, but not seen prior to that game. It was a cool coda on a really fantastic and weird season, Sangfielle.

Grandmothership: The title alone had me, but Armanda Haller is a creator I keep an eye on, because she makes really rad stuff. This caught my attention because solving mysteries in a weird, Mothership-esque sci-fi setting, as nosy grandmothers, really just, gets me. I want to do that. I want to live that.

Holdfast Station: I've been watching Stonetop develop through its email updates. It's another PbtA game, but with a robust city-building and city development core loop that, is 100% my jam. (Low-key, one of my favorite games is Dragon Quest Builders 2.) This game takes that concept to space, which is 1000% my jam, in fact.

Spectres of Brocken: Aaron Lim is a designer I got into early on in my foray into games, and I do love Mech Anime. I am eager to see his take on Mech Anime, and I am really intrigued by the way this game handles playsets and worldbuilding as part of the game itself. Really can't wait to dive into this.

Lay on Hands: This is another of those games I've heard about, but never actually checked out. I know Alfred Valley better by reputation than by direct experience, but this is one of those games I hear people constantly telling people to check out. So, I'm gonna!

Penumbra City: Maybe 5 years ago, I read a novella by Margaret Killjoy about anarchists living in an abandoned city, and beset by assholes within their community, and supernatural horrors from without. The world kinda stuck with me, so when I saw she was working on an RPG not in the same world), I was curious to see what that would look like. I haven't cracked Penumbra City open yet, but I'm jazzed to do so.

These two fell off the pile for the big photo, so I forgot:

Deathmatch Island: I enjoyed the Hunger Games and Battle Royale movies a pretty moderate amount, but what really caught my attention here was the promise that players could also break the Reality TV Parody. The use of the Paragon system also caught my attention. After hearing one AP of Agon, I really wanted to see how that would translate into this, and it didn't take me too long reading it to go "Oh, okay, this rules."

Our God is Dead: What if you were a paladin or priest of a faith, and you found out your god was dead? What if you also had like, a bunch of people who really needed that god not to be dead, like this weekend? This sounds hilarious, and I am going to insert it into conversation often to see if people want to play it. Apologies to people who know me.

Eagle eyed viewers may have noticed a second Mothership box. What's that about?

It's a storage box for all my Mothership Zines so far... Except the two that are just slightly too big!

And, some fun comics/graphic novels:

Good Boy Paws: A friend of mine in comics put this together, and it looked extremely cute. A sweet tale of a good boi.

Wine Ghost Goes to Hell: Picked this up because the creator had contributed to Bugsnax, which is a game I enjoyed, and the concept seemed fun. Will have to check it out and report back!

#indie ttrpg #ttrpg #indie ttrpgs #indie comics #crowdfund haul report

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astoundingbeyondbelief · 2 months

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Kaiju Week in Review (March 10-16, 2024)

"It looks as though its Japanese producers, assisted by a stray American—fellow named Terry Morse, who is an alumnus of Hollywood's Poverty Row—made a close study of the old film, "King Kong," then tried to do substantially the same thing with a miniature of a dinosaur made of gum-shoes and about $20 worth of toy buildings and electric trains." —Bosley Crowther, reviewing Godzilla, King of the Monsters! for The New York Times

"The special effects are hardly special, but hey, what do you expect in a Japanese monster movie?" —Tony Kiss, reviewing Godzilla 1985 for the Asheville Citizen-Times

"Sure it's bad filmmaking. Sure it's a guy—actor Tsutomu Kitagawa—clad in a nearly vintage latex Godzilla getup and stomping through Tokyo, knocking down cardboard mini-buildings and upending toy-sized cars with his gnarly feet. But that's the point." —Bob Longino, reviewing Godzilla 2000 for The Palm Beach Post

Godzilla Minus One won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards, sending a stunned Takashi Yamazaki (VFX supervisor), Kiyoko Shibuya (VFX director), Masaki Takahashi (3D CG director), and Tatsuji Nojima (VFX artist/compositor) to the Dolby Theatre stage. Said Yamazaki, reading from prepared comments in English, "To someone so far from Hollywood, the possibility of standing on this stage seemed out of reach." I could scarcely believe what I was watching myself, despite having given a presentation for a Wikizilla stream mere hours before on Minus One's very real chances of beating more expensive American contenders. Everything I said about its nomination goes triple for its victory; we'll be talking about this one forever. To those of us who remember when Godzilla was basically a joke in the American consciousness (including my Wikizilla colleague Darthlord1997, who had a speech of his own prepared), it's the ultimate vindication.

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Never one to rest on his laurels, Takashi Yamazaki directed an ad for Ajinomoto about food waste which released this week. It features the unsubtly-named Foodlosslla attacking Tokyo and facing an Ultraman-esque defense team. As with Minus One, the ad's visuals are a clever combination of high-end (a detailed CG monster) and low-end (dropping plastic fruit on top of fleeing extras).

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Last year, the 4Kids Flashback podcast interviewed Mike Pecoriello, producer and writer for the company's renditions of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Ultraman Tiga, and he delivered some major news about the latter. Although only 23 episodes of Tiga aired in the U.S., 4Kids dubbed the whole thing. At the time of the podcast's recording, he thought he made copies of all the episodes, but while that doesn't seem to be the case, he did provide 4Kids Flashback with the series finale. It's a good deal more serious than the episodes which aired, with the quips kept to a minimum. Let the hunt for the rest commence!

SciFi Japan has details on Kaiju Yarrow, a Japanese comedy doubling as a tourism ad for the city of Seki. The premise is very self-aware:

KAIJU YARROW! is set in Seki City, Gifu Prefecture. One day, 30 year old Ichiro Yamada, who works in the tourism department of a government office, is ordered by the mayor to produce a "local film.'' However, Yamada, didn't want to produce the typical "mediocre local movies'' that are everywhere nowadays, so he comes up with the idea of making a "monster movie'', which has been his life-long dream. However, his dreams develops into a major incident involving the city government...! Will Yamada be able to complete his life goal of making a monster movie??

Junichiro Yagi will direct; YouTuber Gunpee will star. Unknown quantities both when it comes to kaiju, so how this will turn out is anyone's guess.

Tickets for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire have gone on sale in the U.S.—and as a reminder, the brief GKIDS theatrical release of The End of Evangelion wraps tomorrow.

#godzilla minus one #oscars #ultraman tiga #kaiju yarrow #takashi yamazaki #godzilla x kong the new empire #kaiju week in review #godzilla #kaiju

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klance-headcanons-official · 1 month

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Klance headcannons hehhehe

lance likes to watch sports but keith doesnt like to, but he still cuddles up next to him while lance is watching. they also share a bag of potato chips when they watch together.

lance plays sports and keith comes to every game. when keith watches he gets REALLY invested. Keith yells at the other players and referees (which lance finds adorable).

Lance and keith love to bake together. lance is really bad at baking and keith is relatively good. Every time lance inevitably fucks the baking up keith pulls him in for a kiss.

my new headcannon is that keith and lance both loooove hamilton. i imagine they both love singing it together. it is their go-to song while doing chores.

keith and lance have a tv in their room (across from their bed). So when they are going to bed they can watch a movie together or something, idk.

most of the time when keith and lance goes on dates they have picnics at the same place where they first met, first kissed and got married.

keith and lance have one of those bff necklaces that are a heart that u can put together. each piece has the others name. they always wear it under whatever they are wearing no matter what.

lance loves bringing keith flowers. keith always puts them in his hair (only because lance likes when he does that), short but sweet😃

lance and keith have a golden retriever named: Sunshine. sunshine is adorable 4 year old doggo.

keith and lance always do halloween together. keith likes wearing monster costumes or horror movie costumes. keith loves chocolate bars and. lance doesnt love a certain candy and comes home with things like lollipops to sour gummies

keith and lance both love going on those public playgrounds at parks. they especially love slides and flying foxes. they own a ball-pit and a trampoline because they love playgrounds that much. lance made the decision to buy the trampoline and ball-pit and is usually the one to say "LOOK ITS A PLAYGROUND! keith plssss can we go on it? pls pls pls pls?????"

every sunday keith and lance have a day called 'Lets Do Shit Day'. they basically have a road-trip and stop and random places along the way. i will be incorporating this into my schedule.

keith would like ebony black and lance would like maya blue.

Lance wears perfume, specifically very flowery type smells. keith likes the smells of his perfume. lance alternates between 4 bottles.

lance and keith both have tumblr.

the 'voltron crew' has a dnd campaign together. each of them plays a character that has completed different traits to their own.

Lance loooves wearing disney shirts. especially disney princesses shirts that are like two sizes to small.

Lance has very cute coffee mugs

Lance and keith def play two player videoganes together. they always end in yelling stuff like "YOU WERE MEANT TELL BE THERE" or "I GAVE IT TO YOU WHERE IS IT?" but it always ends in kissy kissy.

keith listens true true crime podcasts and documentaries on the tv in their bedroom. but lance HATES true crime. so whenever keith puts it on lance runs out if the room, screaming"NOOOOOO" and then keith has to chase after him.

lance loooves sandals and crocks, they are his life!!! on the other hand keith likes dark high top converses!

c o l l e c t i v e h e a d c a n o n s

#voltron #klance #vld #ships #keith kogane #lance mcclain #headcanon #anon headcanons!!#@jvlz-the-unicorn

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acoupofowls · 8 months

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Other Worlds: An Anthology of Diverse Short Fiction

Short stories by writers from marginalised and/or underrepresented communities or backgrounds exploring the theme of "Other Worlds"

KICKSTARTER NOW LIVE and SUBMISSIONS OPEN!

Other Worlds is the second print anthology brought to you by A Coup of Owls Press - home of online quarterly anthologies from creators from marginalised and/or underrepresented communities or backgrounds.

As a follow-up to Other & Different, which explored what it is to be othered, Other Worlds will be an exploration of places, situations, communities, etc, that are other. These might be actual other worlds in a science or speculative fiction genre, or a community, or a situation in the historical or modern world that feels or is made to feel alien. Encompassing a variety of styles and genres, Other Worlds will feature stories focused on the theme of being part of those othered communities - however the writers wish to interpret that.

THE STORIES

We are thrilled to confirm that we have invited five fantastic authors to contribute to Other Worlds, and our submissions for the remaining stories are open from 1st October to 15th November 2023.

For more submissions guidelines and to submit, check out our submissions page.

Eve Morton: Strange people with strange purposes gather in Haven (Science Fiction).

Eve Morton is a poet, professor, and parent living in Waterloo, Ontario. She likes coffee, short stories, and horror movies--in that order. Weblinks: website

Previous publications include: A Coup of Owls, Other Stories Podcast and Third Flatiron Publishing

Victor Okechukwu: A post-civil war community feels cut off from the rest of Nigeria when a woman's only son enters a train to Jos but may not return (Modern Nigerian Lit).

Victor Okechukwu is a writer based in Lagos, Nigeria. His writing takes a deep setting in arresting issues of mental health that have been overlooked in his country. He's an Associate Prose Editor at Zerotic Press and is reading mass communication at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Weblinks: Twitter

Previous publications include: Gordon Square Review, Mycelia, Door-is-a-jar, and Rigorous Magazine

Von Reyes: Violence and intimacy become blurred and life might just be worth fighting for amongst a community of underground fighters (Speculative Fiction).

Von Reyes is an emergent fiction author, focused on uplifting the intersections of queer and trans masculinity and Asian diasporic identity. He focuses on genre fiction with themes of surrealism, queer sexuality, existentialism, and optimistic nihilism. He is passionate about creating a more socially conscious world where care for each other is at the core of all that we do. He hopes to tell stories that don't shy away from the horrors, but allows us to find the light within them. When he isn't writing, he can usually be found chasing the ocean and his next iced coffee. Weblinks: website

Previous publications include: The Good Men Project. Forthcoming in Chill Mag.

Zachary Rosenberg: A Jewish soldier and rancher must contend with mysterious monsters to build the home he longs for (Horror Western).

Zachary Rosenberg is a horror writer living in Florida. He crafts horrifying tales by night and by day he practices law, which is even more frightening. His debut novella Hungers as Old As This Land is out now from Brigids Gate Press and his second, The Long Shalom, is available from by Off Limits Press. Weblinks: Twitter

Previous publications include: Dark Matter Magazine, The Deadlands, and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Samir Sirk Morató: When an Appalachian community clashes with their neighbors—a grove of sentient, dying chestnut trees—tragedy strikes (Horror).

Samir Sirk Morató is a scientist, artist, and flesh heap. They are also a 2022 Brave New Weird shortlister and a F(r)iction Fall 2022 Flash Fiction finalist. Samir spends most of their time tending to their cacti and contemplating the nature of meat. Weblinks: Twitter, Instagram, and website

Previous publications include: Neon Hemlock, bodyfluids, Catapult, and Seize the Press.

COVER ART

We can't wait to share with you the amazing cover art currently being created by amazing artist @pangaeastarseed.

Pangaea is a life-long artist and resident of the DC suburbs. A freelance illustrator with 20+ years experience, Pan’s work focuses on figure work and visual narratives utilizing the exploration of queerness, food as a love-language, and colors influenced by their florid synaesthesia.

Pangaea’s previous work includes custom illustration commissions and tattoo designs for clients; Starseed, an original gay-porn-space-opera comic, The Alien Dick Coloring Book, sketchbook zines Cardassia Prime and Cardassia Kotok, and the Washington DC-variant poster design of The Lambda Literary Awards 2022.

Portfolio: https://www.pangaeaillustrations.com/

WHY KICKSTARTER?

We want to ensure that we produce the high quality product that we know we can! Whilst design, layout and formatting happens in-house, Kickstarter funds will help cover pay for our authors, cover artist and editor.

REWARDS

Add Ons!

We have a variety of extras available in the add-ons, from extra copies to special collected editions. Whilst we've tried to create reward tiers to suit everyone, the add-ons will better allow you to mix and match to your preference!

Our own @maxturnerwrites is once more offering some of his own work at discounted prices for supporters.

STRETCH GOALS!

£1000 : at £1000 we will add an Other Worlds bookmark for each physical backer

£1250 : at £1250 we will add an A5 print of cover art (without title) to each physical backer, and an e-copy of the same to each e-backer

£1500 : at £1500 we will add an Other Worlds tote bag for each physical backer

#kickstarter #call for submissions #open submission #short stories #speculative fiction #anthology #fantasy #folklore #horror #science fiction #writers of tumblr #writing

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tegr1dy · 9 months

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i want to write an au where cartman is a shameless 28 year old manchild living in his mom’s basement who spends his days playing magic the gathering, pirating movies that he absolutely will not watch, going on discord/reddit and drinking monster energy. he hasn’t had a job in years and lives off unemployment which he justifies by yelling about how workers in america are mistreated and he refuses to be exploited for his labor. he + his more mature friends kenny stan and kyle start a “comedy/self-help” podcast where they go sort through his absurd life & try to get him to change his ways but he’s so unphased by their efforts and just makes crude jokes the whole time that aren’t even his he stole them from cumtown/opie & anthony which kyle calls him out for every time

#this is about the man with no brain podcast i missed them so much im glad they’re back #the fact that they made south park inspired merch #originals

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spookytuesdaypod · 2 months

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spooky tuesday is a (now not so new!) podcast where we’re breaking down all of our favorite slashers, thrillers, monster movies and black comedies on the new scariest day of the week.

did anyone else just get the strangest craving for pizza? we could use a little snack here at spooky tuesday, especially since we've got nothing to do for the rest of the night besides play the harpsichord, try on other people's glasses, and snoop through this big old house while babysitting some old lady. oh, yeah — and we're watching the house of the devil (2009). in ti west's satanic panic-inspired '80s slow burn, college student samantha agrees to take on an unusual gig for some much-needed rent money, and though bestie greta gerwig reminds her to be wary of weirdos, things still go more than a little sideways.

give spooky tuesday a listen on apple podcasts, spotify, iheart radio, or stitcher

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esonetwork · 1 year

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At The Earth's Core | Episode 360

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/at-the-earths-core/

At The Earth's Core | Episode 360

Jim looks at a sci-fi favorite from 1976 – Edgar Rice Burrough’s “At The Earth’s Core,” starring Doug McClure, Peter Cushing, Caroline Munro, Cy Grant, Sean Lynch, Godfrey James and Bobby Parr. A mid 19th century expedition lands a scientist and a mining magnate into a world located 500 miles beneath the Earth;s surface. Find out more on this episode of MONSTER ATTACK!, The Podcast Dedicated To Old Monster Movies.

#1976 Sci-Fi #At The Earth&039;s Core #Caroline Munro #Cy Grant #Doug McClure #Edgar Rice Burroughs #ESO #ESO Network #Godfrey James #Jim Adams #Monster Attack!#Old Monster Movie #Peter Cushing #Podcast #Sean Lynch #The ESO Network

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motleyfolk · 6 months

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Interesting Webs Bookmarks

Cool, fun or interesting websites I've come across over my wanders of the internet that I wanna keep track of.

Last updated: 14/12/23

Fun / Interesting

DeathGenerator - Put text over classic game meme pics.

Wiki Pages listing every religion, medieval weapon, superpower, planets, etc in the world.

Flowergame - Like a pet game but with plant seeds.

The Quantitative Study of Dreams - Scientific papers, findings and videos on studying dreams. Still updated! Could use for uni...

5etools - Free dnd toolset for 5E DND

Creepy/Mysterious/Cryptozoology/Myths

Occultopedia - Wiki for everything occult/supernatural.

List of Cool Wiki Pages

List of Spooky Wiki Pages

Another List of Spooky Wiki Pages

Spooky Podcast List

The Blobs That Fell From The Sky - Article on that one time in 1994 when it rained “gelatinous blobs.“

Otherhand - Some guy going to weird places and writing stuff. Also physics.

Andes Plane Crash Article

The Haunted Web - Yesterzine

Spirit Cellar's Horror Zone - Has some cool, old game, movie and book recommendations. Can even watch Night of The Living dead for free.

The Shadowlands - Retro paranormal, cryptozoology, alien mysteries website.

Gods And Monsters - Tons of god pantheons, myths and creatures info but also sometimes analysed.

Blood Knife - Website with manifestos, articles and reviews about horror, culture, humanity and tech.

Frightbytes - Spooky interactive stories, info and graphics.

Folklore of Scotland Map

Music/Reading

Radiooooo - Online, worldwide, music time machine

Radio Garden - Listen to radios across the world live

ABookLikeFoo - Put in 2-3 books you like, it gives book recommendations you are statistically unlikely to read

Free Movies, Books, Shows & Audiobooks

Better World Books - New and used books for cheap.

Spirit Cellar's Library - A cooly designed, mini free library.

AC - Page thats just a video of animal crossing music corresponding to your time. Can change it to cf, nl or nh.

Social

warmly - Send a bio of yourself, find other bios and then make a penpal.

SomaFM - Underground radio stations

thenicestplace - A loop of random people worldwide giving you a hug :)

space email - Send out a random message to the universe or refresh and get random ones from anonymous people.

RecommendMeABook - Get the first page of a book with no title, author or nothing to help you pick a new book to read.

Tumblr’s Folklore Stories - List of posts that are basically tumblr mythology (God of Arepo, The Witch’s Cat, etc)

Multiverse- Cool blogging website

The Orb - Pondering the orb in forum.

#motleyspoke

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open-hearth-rpg · 5 months

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Ludography: Great RPG Mechanics #RPGMechanics: Week Nine

Continuing on with this week of meta-elements, I want to talk about ttrpgs and history. In the 21st Century, Old School Renaissance games would focus on the "Appendix N." As Dungeon Crawl Classics tells it, “Appendix N is the list of books that inspired Gary Gygax to create D&D. This bibliography first appeared as an appendix in the AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide—specifically, Appendix N—which is why the list is known by that name...The books in Appendix N are a who’s-who of classic fantasy, sci-fi, and sword-and-sorcery fiction.” See this Goodman Games page here.

That’s a useful read for non-game sources. These dtories show where Gygax got the inspiration which helped him reshape the material he and Arneson had developed. If you want to bore down to the absolute specifics, Jon Peterson’s Playing at the World, hunts down many of the specific fictional sources and how they impacted design choices and art.

Peterson’s work is a real ludography, pulling together the various game design streams existing at the time and showing how they provided a foundation for what would become role-playing games. He analyzes the importance of Kriegspiel, play-by-post Diplomacy, and more to the community which would eventually arise. Is it useful for playing D&D (and its descendants)? Probably not unless you’re fetishizing originalism in ttrpg play.

But when I’m looking through a game, I appreciate when the designer spends time talking about their game sources. A bibliography is great– telling me the movies, comics, and novels which inspired the game helps. It helps center me on what the designer feels is the tone and genre we’re going to be engaging in. I can read the rules through the lens of those tropes– and I can often find something new to read. Sometimes it will tell me that a game isn’t really for me– or that the expectation set by the blurb isn’t quite what the game actually aims for.

But a ludography, a list of games (ttrpg and otherwise), is also really interesting to me. By this point there’s a huge body of work out there– some of it completely vanished. I appreciate these kinds of lists for three reasons. First, seeing what kinds of games the designer feels have operated in similar spaces. A game which cites Monster of the Week and Buffy: The Roleplaying Game, but not Hunter the Reckoning tells me something about the expected play.

Second, it can offer an acknowledgment of other games. If your rpg is about vampiric lives, power-plays, and coteries, ignoring the legacy of Vampire & World of Darkness feels a little disingenuous and a 1990s/2000s. By that I mean the host of copycat games where designers would deny any inspiration or influence from earlier rpgs. It was weird but I remember it happening more times than I would have expected. I also like this citation better than bashing other games (something we see less of these days in blurb text).

Third, it can give me a sense of the mechanical evolution of your game. It shows what kinds of systems it might draw on or the designer might have seen. That’s particularly useful for games building on a core system like Powered by the Apocalypse or Forged in the Dark. That can offer some context for the system choices. The “Gratitude” page at the back of Apocalypse Keys does a dynamite job of this. Though I can’t find it right now, Marshall Miller for a long time was doing meta-work with this– asking PbtA designers about their sources and inspirations. The +1 Forward Podcast also made this a cornerstone of their work.

But there’s another kind of tangential ludography I want to talk about, more important to me than these earlier forms. The “what’s different?” entry in ttrpg books. If I’m reading a second, revised, accelerated, or whatever version of a game: tell me what has changed. Reference the earlier game and talk about the design choices you’ve made. If it is just about adding in lore or expanding the timeline, that’s fine. But tell me so I’m not hunting through for the mechanical differences. Clearly the designer and/or publisher had some reasons for needing a new edition. They should be proud of those– and make clear how substantial they are. And if it is just a 1.5 with some errata corrections, they should be willing to say that. Buyers shouldn't feel like they’ve been tricked. Honestly when I see a new edition or version, this is the first thing I look for.

The other version of “what’s different?” comes from games working with an established system or OGL. If you are writing a PbtA or FitD game, it's super helpful to me as a reader if you tell me how your version of the system varies from the “core” or at least the typical version. This doesn’t have to be exhaustive, but I think it is important. If your game doesn’t have stats, does away with stress, inverts the rolling, etc. If I’m coming in with some system expectations from having played these kinds of games before, what should I be looking out for? I put two pages talking about this early on in Hearts of Wulin. Again, it is something I look for when I’m checking out new games.

(h/t to Evan Torner who has talked about the importance of ludographies before).

#ttrpg #rpg #rpg mechanics

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theloversarcana · 7 months

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Random Ann headcanons because I’m bored

♡An absolute menace while driving, please don’t put her behind the wheel

♡(She has a lot of road rage and is pretty reckless when it comes to driving)

♡Is very scared of ghosts but Shiho keeps trying to get her to use a ouija board in old abandoned buildings

♡Has breakdowns often and can immediately be calmed down by the promise of Ben&Jerrys Phish Food ice cream

♡On that note, is a massive crybaby

♡Beautiful Princess Disorder (ifykyk)

♡Has to wear fake eyelashes 24/7 and feels naked without them

♡When she has enough energy to do makeup but not enough to do a full face her essentials are: winged eyeliner, fake lashes+mascara, blush, a red lip and her fav Fenty highlighter (Diamond Bomb in Rosé Rave)

♡Her parents are rich and she has expensive taste in most things, constantly tries to give her friends money and buy them things but they always refuse

♡(As she gets older her parents slowly stop sending her money and she has to learn to fend for herself)

♡Flips back and forth between “I am the most beautiful person in the world” and “I am so ugly I hate myself and I want to break every mirror in my house” very often

♡Has an absurdly large collection of candles

♡Is very indecisive (and picky) about her signature fragrance. Has tried many, many perfumes but still hasn’t found the perfect one so she smells different almost every day

♡Really bad ADHD, has medication but always forgets to take it

♡Her absolute fav color is red and she has to have everything in red. Pink is second but red will always be #1

♡Sanrio girlie through and through

♡Loves binging shitty reality tv shows like Too Hot to Handle, Jersey Shore, Say Yes to the Dress, and any Gordon Ramsey shows

♡Her guilty pleasure food is Chik-Fil-A (pretending Japan has it)

♡Her main music taste is 2000s-2010s pop (Ke$ha, Britney Spears, etc) but has a very large variety of music she likes

♡Her go-to breakdown song is What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish (also she cried at least 4 times during the Barbie movie)

♡Shiho loves going to antique stores and trying to buy cursed objects which upsets Ann GREATLY

♡(A real interaction that happened) Shiho: *holding a crowbar* This object has really intense energy.. you think someone murdered someone with it? Ann: DONT YOU DARE THINK ABOUT BUYING THAT

♡Was a Legend of Zelda girlie as a kid and still loves the series. Zelda is one of her biggest kins

♡Mean girls is her favorite movie

♡Is a practicing pagan* with Hecate as her patron goddess

♡*I say practicing lightly because she often completely forgets about it and is terrible at keeping up with holidays, routines, rituals etc

♡Has a drinking problem

♡Vomits incredibly easily, accidentally vomited on Shiho once

♡Listens to true crime podcasts while doing her makeup

♡Uses said true crime podcasts for ideas for her plan in her head to murder Kamoshida and get away with it

♡Besides Zelda her other favorite franchises are Barbie, Studio Ghibli, Sailor Moon and Monster High

♡Ryan Gosling is her celebrity crush and she especially fell in love with him after seeing him as Ken

♡Is definitely dating Shiho but could also be dating Ryuji, Futaba and/or Goro (everyone loves her)

♡She is besties with Akira (though this is very specific characterization of Akira who is transfem and straight)

♡They’re strictly best friends but they have no boundaries. They will take baths together or make out because they’re bored and lonely

♡Had to cut her hair to a bob once because her split ends were getting so bad and she cried for a week

♡Is INCREDIBLY protective of her friends and will drop anything to help them. Has been the shoulder people cried on many, many times

#I know some people are offended by the beautiful princess disorder thing but it’s a joke I have BPD and humor is my coping mechanism #these are all hyper-specific because I’m an ann fictive and this is all just shit about Me lol #I know I’ve mentioned I’m an ann fictive like 50 times on this blog in the past week or so but I do not care ♥️#also sorry it’s so long oops!!#ann takamaki #persona 5 #p5

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drgstrcowboi · 11 months

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random modern outsiders hcs

inspired by @darrysfav

Darry

made the whole gang put life360 on their phones

does CrossFit and goes to the 5am classes every single day

watches the bachelor/bachelorette as a guiltily pleasure

posts photos of his food on Facebook

has a budgeting app on his phone and uses it religiously

Sodapop

loves the fast & furious movies

has a boosted board/electric skateboard

plays halo or call of duty but only bc steve likes it

sometimes uses facetune before posting pictures of himself

has a dab pen that he hits with steve and dally

Ponyboy

got really into pokemon go and played it for like a year after everyone else stopped playing

has a kindle/e-reader so he can carry around multiple books

switched from cigarettes to fruit flavored puff bars

drinks truly or white claw if he drinks at all

knows the Starbucks menu like the back of his hand and loves pink drinks

Steve

is really into craft beer and is a total snob about loving IPAs

low key listens to joe rogan’s podcast

loves fifa/soccer but cannot kick a ball to save his life

drives a jacked-up truck or some other vehicle that he sinks a lot $$$ into

is into crypto or something like that

Two-Bit

has a deep appreciation for all of the jackass movies

loves taco bell

makes really good spotify playlists with chaotic names

uses tinder but is one of the few sweet, respectful guys on there

spends an ungodly amount of time on TikTok

Johnny

is a big fan of euphoria and the whole aesthetic of the show

plays animal crossing on a pink switch lite

carries a maroon jansport backpack with little pins all over it

drinks la croix or some other kind of fruity sparkling water

dresses in a thrifted/artsy style and sometimes buys clothes off depop

Dallas

drinks the regular black-can-green-logo monster energy drinks

went through an eboy phase, got his ears pierced and everything, bc he thought it looked tough

listens to machine gun kelly's music and finds it relatable

has an iphone 7 with a screen that's cracked af and no case

listens to music with an old pair of skullcandy ear buds that are fraying and always tangled

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ninthhousedyke · 6 months

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Chaotic Academia for Broke Academics (AKA me)

As someone who wholeheartedly loves chaotic academia and its acceptance of messiness and peculiarity, but is sadly too broke to afford the style and too busy to do many of the things / extracurriculars I enjoy, I have accumulated a list of ways to enjoy the little subculture that has become academia without breaking your brain or bank :)

Look The Part / Decorations:

Collect pens, pencils, sharpies, and other school supplies from just about anywhere. Stack them in your desk drawers, inside little pots on your desk, or piled randomly in your backpack and pockets. If the pens and sharpies are all various colors that helps too. Annotate shit in pretty pink ink if you want!

Put pins on whatever bag you use for school. Loop cute keychains on it too if possible. Hot Topic, Spencers, and Etsy are good places for cheap-ish pins with witty sayings or dark humor. Put stickers on your computer / tablet / phone case. Same idea: dark, funny, witty, maybe puns.

Write and doodle on yourself. Put notes on your wrist, stars on your fingers, pretty words on your knee. This also helps if you can’t afford tattoos yet!

Stick stupid things to your walls. I have a mobile order receipt on my dorm wall from when my order number was 666. I used to cut off my name from Starbucks cups when the barista put a smiley face or a doodle and tape those to my wall.

Collect strange things and put them where you’ll see them. I collect Monster cans and Soda cans and stack them everywhere on my desk!

Get a simple ring, a simple chain necklace, or a simple bracelet. Wear it with everything. Rub it for comfort or when fidgeting so it shows wear and love.

Invest in a cute reusable water bottle, temperature controlled. Put stickers on it. Keep coffee, soda, juice, tea, or even water in it. Carry it everywhere. You look environmentally friendly and you can hit people with it if they give you trouble.

Go thrifting / antiquing. Look for clothes you like, obviously, but finding things with wear on them already gives a nice “messily put-together” look. Blacks, browns, beige, off-white, dark greens, and dark blues are all nice! Look for leather jackets, trench coats, hoodies, knitted sweaters, and cargo pants—all things that would probably be more expensive elsewhere. (I bought my trench coat for $5 at a yard sale and it turned out to be from Sach’s Fifth Avenue!)

Black jeans are your friend!

Black fingerless gloves are good for winter and just compliment most outfits.

Wear hoodies! Chaotic academia is about the messy side of academics, so look the part in a comfy hoodie! Pair with a chain necklace if you need something more put-together.

Paint your nails whatever color you want, but let it chip, let it be smeared. Get the polish on your hands.

Act The Part:

Keep detailed schedules that aren’t necessarily neat. Mix glitter pens with sharpie, write your assignments in multiple colors that have no reason. If you work best with neat schedules, then have colorfully coordinated lists with matching stickers. Keep a main schedule for classes and assignments, a second schedule for day-to-day micromanaging, and as many more as you need to remind you when to eat, drink, or exercise.

Have a workout routine at least once a week. Whether it’s going to the gym to walk on the treadmill while reading, taking a stroll around campus to jump in leaf piles or snow banks, walking up and down a stairwell while memorizing psychology / astronomy terms, or doing at home workouts in your room, just find something that you like to do to get yourself moving. Join a dance class or outdoor group if your school offers one for free too!

Watch crime shows / listen to crime podcasts. Old lawyer shows are also super fun!

Join some clubs related to the supernatural, film, Shakespeare, literature, or chess.

Watch psychological thriller movies then go watch videos on YouTube analyzing those movies.

Watch documentaries about space, disgusting history, fun conspiracy theories, the apocalypse, natural disasters, and literary theorists.

Read weird shit. Quote it often.

Listen to a wide variety of music! Listen to remixes!

Pirate everything.

Have a dedicated coffee order. Get it when you can. Savor it.

If you can study with music in the background then find classical music playlists, dark cello music, epic orchestral covers of songs, or soundtracks to movies and tv shows you like.

Doodle in your books and textbooks (if possible)

Write down random things you hear and see throughout the day. Save it all and use those things to write a poem or a story when you need inspiration.

Write blackout poetry from gothic novels, cosmic horror stories, textbook pages, classic literature, and mystery novels.

Write dictionary poetry.

Put a quote from a story / poem you love in your email sign-off.

#chaotic academia #chaotic academic aesthetic #chaotic academia ideas #dark academia #dark acadamia aesthetic

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clonerightsagenda · 1 year

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In honor of Dracula Daily starting again tomorrow, I am posting a preview of the trailer for my Arden Dracula AU, which will be posted in full during @podcastgirlsweek! Enjoy, and know that I read academic articles for this.

BEA: However old you are, wherever you live, you’ve almost certainly encountered some version of the Dracula story.

[Clip:]

DRACULA: Vell, vell, vell…. Velcome to my humble home. You must be chilly on such a cold, dark night.

WOMAN (breathily): I got caught in a rainstorm with nothing but this translucent nightgown.

DRACULA: Please, let me help you into something more comfortable. (sinister chuckle)

[New clip:]

DETECTIVE: We just pulled another body out of the river. The same as the last one. Bloodless, with two pricks on the neck.

CHIEF INSPECTOR: Why??? She was so young!

[New clip:]

WATSON: Have you figured it out?

HOLMES: It’s elementary, my dear Watson. The killer is none other than the count!

DRACULA: (hisses).

[End clips.]

BEA: Count Dracula is a stock character, a movie monster, while the original details of the case have faded out of the public memory. When he is revisited as a historical figure, the story still gets… inflated.

[Clip:]

VOICEOVER: Could Count Dracula have studied at the Scholomance, an arcane academy dedicated to devil worship and black magic? Join our team of experts as we prove that the Scholomance does exist… and your children might be on their mailing list.

EXPERT: If you study this ancient Mayan carving, I think you’ll be convinced, just like I was, that Dracula and Elvis Presley both attended the Scholomance and returned there after their time among us was over. In fact, if you do a deep dive into the lyrics of “Suspicious Minds”, I’ll argue that the “trap” Elvis refers to is none other than the school’s underground labyrinth.

VOICEOVER: Coming up next on the History channel.

[Clip ends.]

BEA: But who was Count Dracula, really? Who were his victims? And how did one of the world’s most famous serial killers disappear so successfully that some people believe he’s still out there, over 100 years later? I’m Bea Casely, investigative reporter and host of hit podcast Arden. In this special miniseries, we’re going to peel back a century of hyperbole and romanticization to find the man behind the monster.

BRENDA: Unless, of course, the man was a monster.

BEA: (sighs) And that’s my cohost, Brenda Bentley, who has her own take on the case.

BRENDA: For as long as Count Dracula has been at large, there’ve been rumors that he’s more than he seems. Or, exactly what he seems. Victims suffering from blood loss, reports of unnatural abilities, a parasitic relationship with the lower class… is it any surprise many people suspect him of being… (bad accent) a vampire?

BEA: Yes! It is a surprise, since vampires don’t exist.

BRENDA: “If human testimony taken with every care and solemnity, judicially, before commissions innumerable, each consisting of many members, all chosen for integrity and intelligence, and constituting reports more voluminous perhaps than exist upon any one other class of cases, is worth anything, it is difficult to deny or even to doubt the existence of such a phenomenon as the vampire.” That’s from Le Fanu’s seminal vampire narrative Carmilla.

BEA: Which is fiction.

BRENDA: It’s important to lay out all the possibilities. The fans loved the dual narrative thing we had going on last season.

BEA: (deep breath) That’s what you have to look forward to, listeners! We’ll look into the case, exhume the facts of what took place all those years ago, and settle this once and for all.

BRENDA: The Dracula debate never dies. Just like Dracula.

BEA: (intensely) We only have six episodes, so we’re going to pin this case down even if we have to stake it through the heart.

BRENDA: Aw, you are getting into the vampire spirit.

BEA: Don’t push it.

[The Wheyface Industries jingle begins to play.]

ANDY: Murder? Vampires? Ghost ships? How fantastically spooky! I’m trembling already.

PAMELA: Andy, we haven’t aired the section on the Demeter yet.

ANDY: That’s what we call a ‘teaser’. It’ll keep the audience excited.

PAMELA: Then I’d better start working on episode one. Stay tuned, everybody.

ANDY: Arden is brought to you by Wheyface Industries: the good people. So good, in fact, that we’re immune to vampiric wiles. Don’t believe me? We’re so confident in that promise that if you’re slain by a vampire after enjoying any Wheyface Industry goods or services, we’ll give you your money back, no questions asked. That’s a Wheyface guarantee.

(rapidly) This offer is null and void if you become a vampire, as you are then no longer one of the good people. Instead you will be slain by our patented Wheyface brand vampire slaying drones, all equipped with stakes and holy water blessed by our corporate priest. Terms and conditions apply.

In 1893, a series of unexplained killings shocked the English towns of Whitby and London. Blame eventually fell on a Mr. DeVille, a recent arrival from Romania better known as Count Dracula. Before he could be held responsible, he vanished without a trace, leaving nothing behind but a legend that continues to this day. But was the count one more Victorian serial killer, or something even more monstrous? And what does this case tell us about gender, race, and power in Victorian England?

Join us, won’t you? As we unravel the mystery, on Arden.

#perpetual perpetual ladies night #arden pod

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