Backlist and Chill

The third and final Patreon-exclusive episode, originally published Nov 30, 2023.

Backlist: It's National Novel Writing Month! Hope everyone has had a satisfying and productive NaNo! Since we're hopefully balls deep in some deeply angsty writing project, we decided to take a break from our Melissa Marr season to do something a little silly and light. And by silly and light we of course mean spending almost two hours LOOKING DEEP WITHIN OUR SOULS FOR UNDERSTANDING with the help of Alloy Entertainment and their Real Human Author Tucker Shaw. This month we're reading WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE (published 2001), a book of extremely '00s personality quizzes designed to help teen readers understand their True Selves.

So naturally we had to try them out - for ourselves, and some of our favorite fictional teens.

Chill: Nothing fancy this week, just kicking back with some Great Lakes Brewing Co. Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (Ollie) and pineapple wine (Cyna).

Intro theme - "Let It In" by Josh Woodward.

(1h 47m. Content Warning: Profanity, alcohol consumption, sexually explicit and generally extremely filthy language.)

The second of our three Patreon-exclusive episodes is here! Originally published Sep 27, 2023.

Backlist: This episode has been a long time coming. Our good friend Raeven stops by to chat about Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera, an extremely formative and influential story for us, the podcast, and YA at large. Which is why it's extremely funny and extremely weird that the novel is largely some sort of Abbot and Costello sketch with the plot of the musical going on in the background. This is gonna be a wild one.

Chill: We are all drinking variations of Raeven's Backlist fan drink "Ambigously Brown". Ollie's got the closest to the original recipe: a hot cocoa with oatmilk, Abuelita drinking chocolate, Rumchata, and cinnamon, topped with mocha Whipshot. Cyna went iced: coffee with almond milk, chocolate syrup, Abuelita drinking chocolate, and Rumchata. Raeven's is on the go: this morning's coffee mixed with Abuelita drinking chocolate, Rumchata, and spiced vanilla rum, all dumped into a McCafe iced coffee, Pics! Cyna / Raeven / Ollie

As Mentioned: You can find Raeven on Tumblr, Twitter, and A03 for some extremely Backlist-relevant fanfic.

Intro theme - "Let It In" by Josh Woodward.

(2h 05m. Content Warning: Profanity, alcohol consumption, sexually explicit and generally extremely filthy language, discussion of stalking, sexual harassment, suicide, and self-harm.)

Hey folks! Before this feed vanishes from the internet entirely, we wanted to share with you our Patreon exclusive episodes, as a last hurrah, and a thank you for listening these last five years. This is the first of three, an episode of a short-lived feature from our last podcast called Play YA, in which we played through YA novels as RPGs. Originally published to the Patreon feed Sep 29, 2022, and recorded much, much earlier than that.

A group of teens are being hunted through the woods by an unknown threat after a school camping trip goes horribly awry in our rendition of One Was Lost by Natalie D. Richards. This game is powered by a rules-lite version of D&D 5e, and features our good friends Maverynthia, Dave, and another who has stepped back from podcasting and asked not to be credited.

This was recorded several years ago, so pronouns and audio setups have changed, but we thought it held up pretty well overall! We hope that you'll enjoy this very silly bonus episode.

(3h 14m. Content Warning: Profanity, sexually explicit and generally extremely filthy language, discussion of vomiting and vomit...uh, consumption, urophagia, gory injuries, i.e. dismemberment, testicular trauma, compound fractures, flaying (no detailed descriptions), and of course, racism.)

Backlist: We're hopping on the mic for the last time to talk about SOULMATE by LJ Smith, published April 1997. Somehow we've managed to end on what is TRULY the most LJ of all books, in which our Lady of the White Woman Woo-Woo finally manages to explain to us what a Soulmate truly is. Thank you, Lisa Jane. It's been real.

Chill: Cyna is drinking red wine diluted with bubbly soda, let's call it a Blush, and Ollie is drinking an Old Soul (St George Absinthe, Canada Dry Blackberry Ginger Ale, regular ginger ale, and lemon) Pics! Cyna - Ollie.

Intro theme - "Let It In" by Josh Woodward.

The Future of the Feed: This feed will remain accessible until July 1st, after which you will still be able to access all episodes, both public and previously Patreon-exclusive, on our Patreon Spotify feed. No need to pledge or even follow, just enjoy! And of course, all episodes are still available to stream on the Patreon app and website.

It's been fun, everyone.

(2h 23m. Content Warning: Profanity, alcohol consumption, sexually explicit and generally extremely filthy language, discussion of allegorical rape and sexual assault, physical assault and violence against intimate partners.)

And check out the Redbubble store if you're so inclined. We'll probably be dropping the season covers on there as stickers in the coming weeks.

Backlist: The penultimate episode of Backlist and Chill is upon us! Today we're chatting about LJ Smith's THE CHOSEN, published February 1997, a kind of fascinating progenitor of the teen vampire hunter/vampire romance. The DNA in this one, you guys! We're all descended from it. Though you know, perhaps SOME more than others.

Chill: Cyna is drinking a White Girl Ninja (rum and coke, canned lychee juice, and powdered ginger) and Ollie is drinking a *deep breath* The Heinous Implication of Soulmates in the Night World Via Timmy (St George Absinthe and Fresh Fizz Hibiscus Ginger Ale) Pics! Cyna - Ollie.

Intro theme - "Let It In" by Josh Woodward.

Next time: Soulmate: A finale!

(1h 45m. Content Warning: Profanity, alcohol consumption, sexually explicit and generally extremely filthy language, discussion of pedophilia, human trafficking, sexual assault, depression, and suicide.)

And hey, if you're interested on jumping onto the ship as it's sinking, become our patron! Still got a whole month left!

Don't forget the Redbubble store! It will outlive us all.

Backlist: It's episode one of our final season, and thank god we got a fun one! We're chatting about NIGHT WORLD: DARK ANGEL by LJ Smith, published December 1996, a book that starts out feeling like a bit of a departure, and ends up being the most LJ thing LJ has ever written. Lisa Jane. Can we talk about the cousins?

Chill: Cyna is drinking an Ambiguously Brown (coffee, hot cocoa, cinnamon sugar, Rumchata) and Ollie is drinking a Dark Angel (St George Absinthe and A&W root beer) Pics! Cyna - Ollie.

Intro theme - "Let It In" by Josh Woodward.

Next time: The Chosen!

(1h 54m. Content Warning: Profanity, alcohol consumption, sexually explicit and generally extremely filthy language, discussion of stalking, child murder, incest, body/medical horror, brief description of a slightly gory medical procedure.)

And hey, if you're interested on jumping onto the ship as it's sinking, become our patron! Still got two months left!

And hey, don't forget the Redbubble store! It will outlive us all.

Hey folks! We here at Backlist and Chill have a very neutral announcement - this next season of Backlist, season 15, is going to be our last. After 5 years and 13 seasons, it's time to move on. A more detailed exploration of our thoughts and plans are in the episode, but tl;dl - we're not going away immediately! We'll be doing a final season covering the middle three Night World books starting with Dark Angel in March and ending with Soulmate in May. The public RSS will be discontinued shortly after, but we hope to maintain the Patreon feed on a $0 tier, if that's possible. And obviously, all our paid tiers will be dropped following the final episode. If there's anything y'all need to do to maintain access, we'll let you know by then.

We want to thank everyone for the support and conversation and community you've given us these past few years. It's been so great getting to know other folks for whom these books have been as foundational and life-altering as they were for us, and to share the love (and misery) with those who were new to them, but game enough to come along for the ride. Thank you for listening, and please - come chat with us before it's too late!

See you next season.

Backlist: Bob is back - or is he? We return, arms outstretched, to Fear Street - FEAR STREET SAGAS #1: A NEW FEAR, to be specific, published in March 1996. We hoped for more goofy fun, and we found it in, ah, very limited quantities. Got a rad new photo opportunity for the park, though! 

Chill:  If Brandon can cut out early for dinner, so can we! Ollie is drinking Blue Moon Belgian White ale, and Cyna made something awful but pretty with Gatorade. Pics! 

Intro theme - "Let It In" by Josh Woodward.

Next time:  An announcement.

(1h 42m. Content Warning: Profanity, alcohol consumption, sexually explicit and generally extremely filthy language, discussion of gore, misogyny, murder, stalking, emotional manipulation and gaslighting.)

Psst! Want to get B&C delivered to your inbox days before it goes live to the public? Become our patron at the $2 or higher level and you are in! Already our patron? Then you know what we're talking about! Enjoy!

Backlist: HEY FOLKS, WE GOT A GOOD ONE! Today we're sitting down to discuss Melissa Marr's blessedly competent WICKED LOVELY, originally published June 2007. A book with a DELECTABLE premise that also knows how to handle themes! What a concept!

Chill: Cyna is drinking an Aislinn (lavender simple syrup, lemonade, and limon rum) and Ollie is drinking a Reluctant Queen (St. George Absinthe Verte, Tension Tamer Simple Syrup, and Tension Tamer Tea). Pics in the links!

Intro theme - "Let It In" by Josh Woodward.

Next time: A suprise!

(1h 27m. Content Warning: Profanity, alcohol consumption, sexually explicit and generally extremely filthy language, discussion of sexual assault, rape culture, and misogyny.)

Psst! Want to get B&C delivered to your inbox days before it goes live to the public? Become our patron at the $2 or higher level and you are in! Already our patron? Then you know what we're talking about! Enjoy, friend!

And hey, if you're interested in some very silly stickers, check out our brand-new Redbubble store!