Today, Vivian has changed the plot to talk about Stardew Valley and cosy games in general. We talk about how to define the genre of cosy games, by looking at games that fit or don't fit the various aspects and definitions provided. We chat about how some games can be made cosy, how different Vivian and Holly's gaming habits are, and chat about the strange capitalistic nature of contemporary cosy games.

Our Socials

Vivian's Instagram

Holly's Instagram

The Pod's Instagram

Buy Our Books!

Buy Holly's Book!

Preorder Vivian's Book!

Music for this episode was Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLead Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This episode was produced by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's an extra lovely bonus episode! We were inspired to come and chat together on a hot summer day because it was just so important to discuss the news of Dashcon 2. We reminesce on what Dashcon was before, and all the trainwreck cons that have come after. But that's not all! The amazing worlds of fandom have also given us Taylor Swift vs Lestat, the vampire. That's right, Swifities are currently at war with fictional vampire Lestate from Interview with a Vampire.

Dashcon's Infamous Ballpit

Video Essays Holly Mentioned

DashCon: An Extensive Oral History - Strange Aeons

Tumblr's Failed Convention: The Story of Dashcon - Sarah Z

The Failure of Dashcon | The world's first Tumblr convention - Internet Historian

Our Socials

Vivian's Instagram

Holly's Instagram

The Pod's Instagram

Buy Our Books!

Buy Holly's Book!

Preorder Vivian's Book!

Music for this episode was Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLead Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This episode was produced by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we're talking about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and the claims some make about it being one of the first sci-fi novels. Holly chats about the history of science fiction stories, and the development of Frankenstein. Vivian explores the definition of science in contrast to magic and the problematic origins of this distinction. We also talk about other related things, like mythology, science fantasy, and how Vivian and Holly have no idea how wifi works.

Reading and Enjoyment List

Vivian's Blog Post on Science Fiction, Magic and Mythology

Religion and Conspiracy Theories: an Introduction by David Robertson

Books Mentioned by Holly:

A True Story by Lucian

Somnium by Johannes Kepler

The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

The Last Man by Mary Shelley

Our Socials

Vivian's Instagram

Holly's Instagram

The Pod's Instagram

Buy Our Books!

Buy Holly's Book!

Preorder Vivian's Book!

Music for this episode was Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLead Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This episode was produced by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we sit down and talk all things TTRPGs with Nathan Blades, game designer, writer, voice actor, streamer, and much more. We chat about the role of communal storytelling, and the way that narratives come together around a table of people. We also talk about the differences between playing for an audience on an actual play, and playing for fun with friends.

Check out Nathan's Stuff!

Nathan Blades Info

Nathan Blades on itch.io

TheNeonCaster on Twitch

Listen to Nathan on Campaign: Skyjacks

Our Socials

Vivian's Instagram

Holly's Instagram

The Pod's Instagram

Buy Our Books!

Buy Holly's Book!

Preorder Vivian's Book!

Music for this episode was Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLead Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This episode was produced by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's episode, Vivian brings in her beautiful American flatbow, called Tiamat. And through this, we talk about Sports Anime! I know, a bit of a leap, but Tsurune, an anime about boys doing archery, is probably a nice place to start. We chat about the demographics of sports anime, explain a little bit about archery, chat about what makes an anime a sports anime, and gush about how much we absolutely love Yuri on Ice.

Vivian's Bow, Tiamat

Reading and Enjoyment List

Tsurune

Yuri On Ice

Free!

Heartstopper

Keijo!! (the show Vivian couldn't remember the name of)

Haikyu

Our Socials

Vivian's Instagram

Holly's Instagram

The Pod's Instagram

Buy Our Books!

Buy Holly's Book!

Preorder Vivian's Book!

Music for this episode was Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLead Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This episode was produced by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Holly brings forward the Dream Cycle by H.P. Lovecraft, as well as their book from Call of Cthulhu. Yes! We're talking about Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos! Topics include: communal storytelling and collaborative fiction, fanfiction, the ideas of monstrosity, queer monstrosity, and death of the author.

Images of Holly's Lovecraft books

Reading and Enjoyment List

Rudolf Otto's Idea of the Holy

Vivian Asimos's Digital Mythology and the Internet's Monster

Jeffrey Cohen's Monster Theory

Mary Douglas's Purity and Danger

Lovecraft Country

The Magnus Archives

Our Socials

Vivian's Instagram

Holly's Instagram

The Pod's Instagram

Buy Our Books!

Buy Holly's Book!

Preorder Vivian's Book!

Music for this episode was Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLead Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This episode was produced by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we don't have an object. Instead, we have a person! Comic writer and enthusiast Kieron Gillan joins us today to chat all things comic books! We talk about comic books and religion, the nature of mythology and storytelling, and the absolute power of narrative.

Check out Kieron's Stuff!

Kieron's Website

Check out Kieron's new book Power Fantasy in August!

Our Socials

Vivian's Instagram

Holly's Instagram

The Pod's Instagram

Buy Our Books!

Buy Holly's Book!

Preorder Vivian's Book!

Music for this episode was Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLead Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This episode was produced by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we're YEEHAWing into the story of the cowboy. But we're not just chatting about it generally, we're talking about it in relation to queer culture, and other marginalised groups. And while we do talk a little bit about the historical cowboy, we focus on the myth of the cowboy and how the story of it is understood and explored by its audience. And then we talk about how the mythology is being utilised by marginalised groups to explore their history and personal experiences.

The Tom of Finland (esque?) print

Reading List

Contemporary Cowboys: reimagining an American archetype in popular culture

Black Cowboys Podcast

Yellowstone

Brokeback Mountain

A Strange Way of Life (the Pedro Pascal film we kept mentioning but not remembering the name)

Our Socials

Vivian's Instagram

Holly's Instagram

The Pod's Instagram

Buy Our Books!

Buy Holly's Book!

Preorder Vivian's Book!

Music for this episode was Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLead Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This episode was produced by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To kick off Season 2, Vivian wants to talk about her two favourite subjects: The Legend of Zelda and Mythology. We chat about storytelling, definitions of mythology, implicit mythology, and why the Zelda series is so wonderfully special to Vivian.

Vivian's copy of the Hyrule Historia

Reading List

VIvian's Video Essay on the Zelda Timeline

Jonathan Miles-Watson's Cathedral on the Ridge

Vivian Asimos's Video Games as Mythology

Dara O'Brien's Video Game Skit

Our Socials

Vivian's Instagram

Holly's Instagram

The Pod's Instagram

Buy Our Books!

Buy Holly's Book!

Preorder Vivian's Book!

Music for this episode was Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLead Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This episode was produced by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a Fortnight we'll be giving you Season 2, but we coudn't wait to talk about Taylor Swift again because of the fanfare that has accompanied her newest album, the Tortured Poets Department

Our Socials

Vivian's Instagram

Holly's Instagram

The Pod's Instagram

Buy Our Books!

Buy Holly's Book!

Preorder Vivian's Book!

Music for this episode was Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLead Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This episode was produced by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.