ACOFAE: A Collection of Fandoms and Exploration.

ACOFAE Podcast Presents: Heavenly Tyrant: "Seven months to save the world."

Happy New Year! ACOFAE is thrilled that you've joined us for 2026! Could there be a better way to set the tone and kick off 2026 than with Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao?! Picking up almost right where ACOFAE left off in book 1, Heavenly Tyrant reunites readers with Zetian and all of her wild decisions as the government has been destroyed and someone has to pick up the pieces. Qin Zheng was that man before, can he be that man again? A book filled with politics, schemes, chrysalis', and complicated social structures Heavenly Tyrant explores what happens when great change is enacted. Looming over all of these plot points is the Heavenly Court and it's secrets. Join Laura Marie and Jessica Marie as they reiterate that the triangle is the strongest shape, and that decisions that seem great on paper can be disastrous upon implementation.

TW / CW: none to our awareness

Spoilers: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao

Mentions: Heavenbreaker,

*Thank you for listening to us! Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review and follow us on Instagram at @ACOFAEpodcast and on our TikToks!

TikTok:

ACOFAEJessica : Jessica Marie

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ACOFAE Podcast Presents: Crossroads: "The legendary Ms. Britney Spears."

It's hard to describe just how famous Britney Spears was in the early 2000s. Before social media, fame was a different machine and nowhere is that more clear than in Crossroads. Filled with everything ACOFAE loves, Crossroads is especially great at showing female friendships throughout the ups and downs of growing up. Yearning for a third place, Crossroads finds three friends going on a roadtrip to audition for a record label. A time, a place, a vibe. Along the way are shenanigans that bond and little side quests that let the other characters shine. A movie that could only be made when it was, Crossroads shows us a mega star at her peak, marketing at it's peak, and one of the last true girlhood movies of the early 2000's.

By the ocean.

TW / CW: Sexual Assault, diet culture, fatphobia, miscarriage

Spoilers: Crossroads

Mentions: Carmen, 2Gether, Josie and the Pussycars, Orange in the New Black, Sex and the City, Jennifer's Bodt, Charlie's Angels, Euphoria, Spring Breakers, Coyote Ugly, Stranger Things

*Thank you for listening to us! Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review and follow us on Instagram at @ACOFAEpodcast and on our TikToks!

TikTok:

ACOFAEJessica : Jessica Marie

Instagram:

@ACOFAELaura

ACOFAE Podcast Presents: House of Earth and Blood- Revisited! "Let's do something with this potential!"

Happy Fifth Birthday, ACOFAE! FIVE YEARS! Can you believe it!? Laura Marie and Jessica Marie thought there was no better way to celebrate this anniversary than by reexamining the book that started the pod -- literally. House of Earth and Blood is a force. She's thick, she's complicated, and she's one of the loves of ACOFAE's lives. A story that is many things, but in this book the story is about friendship. Danika and Bryce. There's so much so say. Laura Marie hasn't touched this book since 2020 and is surprised at what a reread brings out and Jessica Marie has opinions. Rounding out the convo is a discussion about fan fiction and fan theories and how those can help or hinder the canon plots, and how fan fiction will always be there for us when we need it.

Light it up.

TW / CW: None to our awareness

Spoilers: The worlds Sarah J. Maas has created, including the Crescent City sseries (House of Earth and Blood, House of Sky and Breath, House of Flame and Shadow), ACOSF (A Court of Silver Flames), Throne of Glass

Mentions: Veronica Speedwell, The Cruel Prince, Shatter Me

*Thank you for listening to us! Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review and follow us on Instagram at @ACOFAEpodcast and on our TikToks!

TikTok:

ACOFAEJessica : Jessica Marie

Instagram:

@ACOFAELaura

ACOFAE Podcast Presents: Shadowhunters: Better in Black: "Back with old friends."

Longtime listeners will know that December is when Laura Marie and Jessica Marie cover Shadowhunters as their own Yuletide tradition for the pod. Not breaking the tradition, this year ACOFAE is reading Better in Black -- a kickstarter book that got traditionally published. Laura Marie and Jessica Marie are bitches who love Easter Eggs and this book delivers. Featuring an on air live connection made by Jessica Marie, Better in Black is a collection of 10 love stories that feature tried and true couples with a sprinkling of side characters and plot. A book that has whispers and hints (in Laura Marie's opinion) of the yet to be released Wicked Powers, Better in Black seems to be stories that have no bigger consequence to the wider world, until they don't. Until maybe, just maybe that sweetness may come into play. Join ACOFAE as they theorize (YES! REALLY!) on the end of the Shadowhunters and they gush and tear up to these stories and the updates on the lives of our fictional friends.

TW / CW: None to our awareness

Spoilers: The Shadowhunters Universe. Including The Mortal Instruments, The Last Hours, The Infernal Devices and The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare.

Mentions: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sailor Moon

*Thank you for listening to us! Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review and follow us on Instagram at @ACOFAEpodcast and on our TikToks!

TikTok:

ACOFAEJessica : Jessica Marie

Instagram:

@ACOFAELaura

ACOFAE Podcast Proudly Presents: Showgirls x The Life of a Showgirl: "Men are usually the villain."

If you've been a long time listener then you know that getting the movie Showgirls on the pod is a WIN for Laura Marie. Pairing it with a discussion about Taylor Swift's new album release, The Life of a Showgirl, is a match made in heaven for Jessica Marie! This being Jessica Marie's very first NC-17 film is a win for everyone and ACOFAE has so much to say. Kicking off the discussion with a full breakdown of the movie Showgirls, ACOFAE is in awe of the production. Sparking discussions about shedding child star image, internalized misogyny, and sexual freedom, the movie Showgirls is a spectacle for the eyes and for the brain. Taylor's discussion focuses on how women can't do anything right in the eyes of society, and that it seems to be that pain is rewarded instead of joy - and that joy makes women talentless. Join ACOFAE as they explore all of the storylines in both the movie and the album, and come to the conclusion that women just can't be happy without criticism.

TW / CW: discussions surrounding sexual assault

Spoilers: Showgirls (movie) and The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift

Mentions: Wicked, Saved by the Bell, Striptease, Basic Instinct, Burlesque, Dancing with the Stars, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Euphoria, SuckerPunch, The Hills Have Eyes, The Last Duel, Taken, Blue is the Warmest Color, All's Fair, Nip/Tuck, Magic Muke, Hustlers, Supernatural

*Thank you for listening to us! Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review and follow us on Instagram at @ACOFAEpodcast and on our TikToks!

TikTok:

ACOFAEJessica : Jessica Marie

Instagram:

@ACOFAELaura

ACOFAE Podcast Presents: SPECIAL EPISODE 23: Our new friend, Charlie N. Holmberg!

ACOFAE welcomes Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author, Charlie N. Holmberg, to the podcast to discuss her newest release,_ The Shattered King_! A book that may or may not have been a fever dream to the author, The Shattered King takes the reader on a journey of healing and self discovery. Nym has her siblings to take care of, and with her brother conscripted to the army she does NOT have time to try and heal the sick Prince in the castle. Renn is a Prince but one that is not healthy of body after a childhood fall but is clever and makes it known. Simmering in the background is a war that Charlie may or may not have enjoyed writing, and right in front of reader's eyes are some of the most delicious tropes! Full of interesting new surprises, magic systems, and adult themes that are delicate and handled beautifully, The Shattered King is a delight for new and old readers of Charlie's many works!

TW / CW: none to our awareness.

Spoilers: None to our awareness

Mentions: The Shattered King, Book of Magic, Daughter of the Forest, Me Before You, Final Fantasy/Final Fantasy 16

*Thank you for listening to us! Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review and follow us on Instagram at @ACOFAEpodcast and on our TikToks!

TikTok:

ACOFAEJessica : Jessica Marie

Instagram:

@ACOFAELaura

ACOFAE Podcast Presents: Thankful 2025: Cons, Ali Hazelwood, and murder mysteries!

ACOFAE is Thankful. Thankful for surviving (so far!), thankful for exploring, and thankful for finding bits and pieces of joy no matter where they were hiding out. This year Laura Marie and Jessica Marie are incredibly thankful for YOU the listeners, who are the reason why the pod is a pod! ACOFAE is also extremely thankful for Ali Hazelwood and all of her hard work. Jessica Marie is effusive in her praise and excited for what's to come! Conventions and the fandom life take centerstage as ACOFAE debriefs Books, Gowns, and Crowns 2025, and Laura Marie talks about murder mysteries. Actually, she talks a lot about murder mysteries and three different series that have captured her attention and a new author that has captured her Audible history. ACOFAE is Thankful for it all.

TW / CW: none to our awareness.

Spoilers: None to our awareness

Mentions: Cleopatra Fox Series, Jacqueline Benson's Raiders of the Arcana series, the following books from Ali Hazelwood: Mate, Love Theoretically, Deep End, Problematic Summer Romance,

*Thank you for listening to us! Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review and follow us on Instagram at @ACOFAEpodcast and on our TikToks!

TikTok:

ACOFAEJessica : Jessica Marie

Instagram:

@ACOFAELaura

ACOFAE Podcast Presents: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.

ACOFAE doesn't do things casually. When Laura Marie and Jessica Marie like something, they go all in and commit fully to the Fandom. So when Jessica Marie ended up loving Wicked pt1- it was only a matter of time before the broadway show was seen, part 2 songs memorized, and The Book read. The book, which details the life of Elphaba from birth to "death", is a different animal than the musical, and that is made known right away. Mostly politics, religious warring, and two or maybe three beings manipulating key characters, Wicked is source material at its finest. Details abound about the region, Shiz, the child monarch, and how and why the Wizard came to be in Oz. Galinda, Boq, Madam Moorible, Dorothy, the Lion, and more, are all here and they each have their own stories to tell in this hefty 400+ page book that sees Elphaba go from child to sister, student, friend, activist, Big T, Witch, and beyond.

"Did she ever come back? Not yet."

TW / CW: none to our awareness.

Spoilers: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

Mentions: The Wizard of Oz, Animal Farm, Blood and Chocolate, Outlander

*Thank you for listening to us! Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review and follow us on Instagram at @ACOFAEpodcast and on our TikToks!

TikTok:

ACOFAEJessica : Jessica Marie

Instagram:

@ACOFAELaura

ACOFAE Podcast Presents: The Things Gods Break: "Bad Wolf"

ACOFAE is jumping back into The Crucible Series with book 2, The Things Gods Break by Abigail Owen! Tartarus. A place that is familiar in myth and legend and terrifying for what it contains: The Titans. Lyra. Thrown into a battle between the truth and lies, and then tasked with the impossible-opening The Gates. All while dealing with Time that has been broken and glamours that have been cast. There is a lot going on, plus a romantic plot AND a best friend plot. ACOFAE finds themselves connecting the dots and wishing for a reread immediately.

"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words, I scatter them in time and space. A message to lead myself here." - Rose Tyler

TW / CW: brief mention of self-harm

Spoilers: The Games Gods Play by Abigail Owen, The Things Gods Break by Abigail Owen

Mentions: Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, The Time Traveler's Wife, Donnie Darko, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, She's All That, Manacled, Doctor Strange, The Vampire Diaries,

*Thank you for listening to us! Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review and follow us on Instagram at @ACOFAEpodcast and on our TikToks!

TikTok:

ACOFAEJessica : Jessica Marie

Instagram:

@ACOFAELaura

ACOFAE Podcast Presents: Tomb of the Sun King: "Yes, yes tiny anchors."

ACOFAE said that there would be more Egypt in their future and Tomb of the Sun King is exactly what Laura Marie and Jessica Marie were talking about. Remembering that advertising works, Laura Marie in particular (for reasons) is thrilled to jump into this delicious adventure story that reunites readers with Adam and Ellie and gifts readers Constance and Neil. Adorable and hilarious nicknames aside, this time our historical heroes are in Egypt and things are afoot again with our villains from book 1. Full of exploring, learning, shitting on Neil, relying on the strength of women, and shitting again on Neil, Tomb of the Sun King is one of the most delightful books ACOFAE has read in 2025. This episode was kept spoiler free a bit so that more people can find and enjoy this series brings ACOFAE so much joy.

TW / CW: none to our awareness

Spoilers: Empire of Shadows, Tomb of the Sun King by Jacqueline Benson

Mentions: The Mummy, Nefertiti, Excalibur, Daughters of the Moon, Aladdin, George of the Jungle, Love Theoretically, The Lotus Empire

*Thank you for listening to us! Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review and follow us on Instagram at @ACOFAEpodcast and on our TikToks!

TikTok:

ACOFAEJessica : Jessica Marie

Instagram:

@ACOFAELaura