Because we don't know how not to do shit like this: It's The Dark Universe Holiday Special, a full-script, full-cast episode featuring our entire surviving Dark Legion! What do we have in store for this short, semi-canonical installment in the Death's Door Saga? How silly will we get? Will we be parodying a beloved holiday classic? Which of our heroes will learn the true meaning of Christmas? We address the many terrific predictions from our fan community, which, thank goodness, are mostly incorrect, and take you page-by-page through our creative process for this sweet little treat of an episode.

Our partner podcast this week is actually not a podcast, but a crowdfunding effort for a sci-fi short film, Anomaly! Directed by our friend Andy Webb and starring Evan Evagora (Star Trek: Picard) and Zoe Cipres (Roswell, New Mexico), Anomaly is a story about relationships and obsession, combining the look and tone of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The X-Files.

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR CAST Ella Dawson (Jennifer Halsey) is an author and sex and culture critic. Her book The Reunion is coming soon from Dutton Books. She's on Twitter @brosandprose. Gita Jackson (Evelyn O’Connell) is a freelance journalist and critic whose work can be found at Motherboard, Kotaku, GQ, Polygon, and more. They're @xoxogossipgita across social media. Jo Kroger (Cassie Falk) is a New York-based singer songwriter who has toured all across the US and Western Europe. She is also one of the voices of the viral parody band The B-69s. Rachel Millman (Gwen Conliffe) is a writer, social media editor, and the co-host of the delightful wrestling podcast Wrestlesplania. She's on social media @rachelmillman. Steph Salo (Carol Laemmle) is an extremely chill homie and her posts are for homies only. Joe Stando (Jack Griffin) is a midwestern folk hero in New York City, a snappy dresser, and general bon vivant. He's on Twitter @depechejoe and on Instagram @joestando. Kendra Wells (Hunter Marin) is a writer and artist best known for their work on the graphic novels Real Hero Shit and Tell No Tales, and on the D20 liveplay podcast. They are on most social media @kendrawcandraw.

MUSIC "New Traditions" by Dalton Deschain & the Traveling Show "Great Shot, Kid!" by No Jersey (previously released by The Hell Yeah Babies) The piano track for the big singalong is by Sing2Piano karaoke instrumentals Everything else is Dylan goofin' off at his keyboard as per usual.

00:00:00 - Start

00:20:16 - The Dark Universe Holiday Special

01:00:10 - Discussion