Spoil Me

Thank you again to D'Nique for commissioning this episode!
So I had been saying last time I recorded on Parable Of The Sower that I wasn't sure what the book was actually going to be about. In other words, there was a lot of worldbuilding and daily events being shared, but there wasn't necessarily an overarching plot or goal, so I was thinking that perhaps the whole book was going to be a "slice of life" style story that just relayed the events happening to this one specific person in a mess of a world.
I'm beginning to think, however, that I know where this is heading... and I'm dreading it.
In these chapters, Lauren's brother leaves and joins a gang and then gets tortured to death, and then her father disappears. These horrific events are interspersed with numerous attempts, some successful some less so, to break into the community and steal food and electronics and whatever else isn't nailed down.
I have a suspicion that this relatively comfortable oasis in the midst of the seething mass of poverty surrounding it...isn't going to last much longer. And I am not excited about seeing this happen.
This book is real good, y'all. If you wanna read along, here's the link! https://amzn.to/2CYAabD

Thank you to Rachel Eton for commissioning this week's episode of Veronica Mars! This was kind of a weird one, actually, in that the themes were a little more esoteric and the ending was not a happy one. To be honest, in a lot of ways this episode was a bummer because the way everything wound up was sort of bleak.
The one bright spot here was that Veronica decides that she doesn't need to know who her father is, and that seems like an empowering choice for her. Of course as far as I'm concerned, who her father actually is has much farther-reaching consequences than just her own personal life; that info could be a stepping stone that leads her to more information about who killed Lilly. But for her, it's deeply personal, and as much as it drives me batty, I respect her decision.
The "case of the week" for this episode was about a kid named Casey whose parents think he has joined a cult. The truth is though, they don't really think that at all, and their concern for their son is really a smokescreen to conceal their real concern, which is for his money. He inherited everything when his grandmother died, and they're worried he's going to pour all of that money into the community he has found, and leave them with nothing. So they basically brainwash him back into being a rich snob and forgetting about his higher ideals, and it's downright depressing. But seems pretty accurate to human nature.
Thank you again to Rachel for commissioning this episode, and I will be seeing you soon with the next one!

In these chapters of The Magicians' Guild (brought to you by Ashley!) we see what the Guild's classes are like from the POV of two interlopers who came to spy and steal some books. Also, Sonea spots something mighty suspicious going on in one of the outbuildings, and I'm not positive, but I think that was Akkarin? Yikes!

This is the episode of VM where I finally get low-key confirmation of some shit that I had been suspecting this whole time. Now, one could argue that whatever this weirdo dude is saying to Veronica isn't actual fact and it's just him messing with her head, and that is certainly possible. But I'm going to say that maybe one of those cases where you use a truth to fuck with someone's head because it will be more effective than a lie.

Other stuff also happens this episode, but you know what I'm concerned with, so that's all I'm going to say for now.

Welcome to the next episode of The Magicians' Guild which is being brought to you by Ashleigh! You can buy the book to read along here: https://amzn.to/2MYKHsW
In these chapters, we get some really frustrating but excellent scenes of evasion and attempts to ensnare Sonea, and I'm very much here for the way Canavan has set this whole thing up. Also, I wasn't sure what the deal was going to be between the Thieves and the Guild, because they seemed to be positioning themselves to play both sides, but it looks like the only side they're planning to play is the Guild. Faren is keeping Sonea hidden, doing his best to find ways to train her or at least help her train herself, and is flat-out lying to the Guild, so that's kind of encouraging.
I'm a big fan of how things are being described in the Guild, and all of the strange little relationships work there. Also, I'm very curious about the powers of the #1 Magician because he seems to be able to do shit on a level that other magicians didn't even seem to consider possible, and I find that kinda worrisome.
Thanks to you all for listening, and I will see you soon with a new episode!

Y'all. This was a LOT. Thank you so much to Patricia for commissioning this ENTIRE GHATDAMN BOOK, and I'm so delighted to have read it. I really need to check out more by Diana Wynn-Jones.
So this episode covers everything that led to Polly's memory being wiped out, and she's got some weird, fucked-up memories, y'all. Turns out that Laurel IS a fucking Fairy! I had theorized something like this in a long ago episode, but so much of my knowledge of that mythology didn't match up that I finally dropped the idea.
Not only is Laurel a fairy, but she's going to be sacrificing Thomas Lynn to keep her dumbass, shitbag fairy husband Mr. Leroy alive (just as I type this I realize that the name Leroy translates to The King and I feel like a fuckin dope). So now Polly has to save him.
However, I'm pretty confused as to how a lot of this goes down, and online searches for explanations really didn't pan out for me. If any of you out there have nice tight little thesis you can tell me about, i would love to hear it!
Thanks so much again to Patricia, and to all of you for listening.

Hey you guys! It's time for another episode of Sunshine by Robin McKinley, this time brought to you by Rachel Eaton! And in this section, Rae finds out that SOF might be a little more shady than she first suspected. They put a fetch in her car, which was intended to get her to help them...but thankfully they put it in a car filled with cast-off charms that kept her from being affected by the worst of the fetch's affects.
There's a lot more in this section about Yolande and what she's able to do, plus how she was trained, and she's just so great. I am so fascinated by the awesome thing that she makes for Rae as a defensive shield. It is a little disturbing that it's all to prepare for war, because I really still don't feel like Rae is really ready for that.
I'm also fascinated by the effect of tattoos in this universe, and I want to know what the hell Mel is, and I sure hope we find out.
Thank you all for listening, and I will see you soon!

Hey you all! It's time for the penultimate episode of Fire & Hemlock, in which I am ready to pop because there are so many things that are coming together and yet there's still such a mystery! I'm going to let the episode speak for itself, and I hope you enjoy it.

It's been a little bit since the last episode, and I have had some time to get over my shock at what the hell Rosalie made me read last time. STILL NOT FORGIVEN, ROSALIE.
But in this section, we get to meet the Goddess of Pain and she's really not someone to fuck with. Once I'm in the middle of the recording I realize that she must be a magic handler, but I'm not sure what that means in terms of her motives or her abilities. Why would she make it so that she causes pain to people no matter whether they're an enemy or not?
Also, it seems like Constantine was stuck in a sort of stasis that Rae was able to push him out of, and I am curious how many vampires have the ability to travel the way that he does. Is this common, or is he special?
Thanks again for sponsoring this, Rosalie! If any of you would like to read along, you can find the book here: https://amzn.to/2OltMAu

It seems like all the universe wants me to think about, talk about, watch TV about lately is rape. So here's some more. Major TW for sexual assault and abuse. This episode is about more than just the case of the week, but because I had figured out the twist pretty early on it was hovering over me all episode.
The main, and most enjoyable part, of this episode was Logan and Weevil working together as they get sentenced to a thousand years of detention together. They decide to vent their spleens by stealing and then reconstructing the car of the teacher who punished them, and this leads to an almost-bonding experience until Logan spots the Lilly tattoo on Weevil's ribs and things turn sour. Aw, and they were going to be such friends, too.
Many thanks to Nancy J Smith for commissioning this episode! if you'd like to commission something, you can find out how at www.unspoiledpodcast.com/shop