Arthur Finding Joy In Little Dumb Things Is Actually So Cute, He Deserves All The Things That Make Him

So since tomorrow is Halloween, I decided to make a recommendation list of my favourite horror podcast episodes to recommend on Halloween as a way of celebration, and for anyone looking to get into podcasts but maybe being too intimidated by starting a whole series at once and just wanting a taste. As such, all of these episodes can be enjoyed as a stand alone and without needing the context of the rest of the series' story.

1) Penumbra Podcast

( 1.13 Home)

Summary:

When a family is preparing to move out of their old house in a week and the parents are away for a night, siblings Jake and Lily find out their home has a lot more heart than they may be comfortable with.

This was the last stand alone oneshot episode the Penumbra Podcast did, and one of the only horror ones. I'd say it's more spooky than scary with a wholesome twist to it, which makes it welcoming for any newcomers to the horror genre or someone looking to listen to something for Halloween that isn't as dark as the other recommendations on this list. It does get intense in certain parts, and while it isn't a story about domestic abuse it may be disturbing to those who find those themes triggering.

Runtime: 30mins

2) Old Gods of Appalachia

( 0.5 The Witch Queen)

Summary:

They say there's a witch in that valley, and you'd do well to stay away from there. Journey back to the settling of the central plateau and witness the power of mountain women.

Oh I do love a good witch character, and the Witch Queen is one of my favourites. It feels somewhere half between a fairytale and a ghost story. This is the prologue to the main series (and the first chapter in the Witch Queen storyline). It's well written, performed, and genuinely creepy. The setting of the story is an alternate Appalachia (that draws from the real life events and history of Appalachia) where the supernatural is real and impossibly strange, with what lies beneath the mountains and the power that dwells within the forests.

Runtime: 24mins

3) The Silt Verses

( 1.04 Of Lovers, Gods and Beasts)

Summary:

We follow Sister Carpenter, worshipper of an outlawed river god, travelling up the length of their deity’s great black river, searching for holy revelations. As she attempts to locate the Trawler-Man's church in the woods of Penda's Slake she runs into trouble instead, in the way of a strange elk.

This was the first episode of the Silt Verses that gained the series a level of attention, and it's through that I came to hear about the series. This is certainly one of the more dramatic episodes, and it's worth listening to for Méabh de Brún's performance alone, but if you like allusions to greek myth and themes of religious existentialism interwined with body horror, then this episode is an absolute delight.

Runtime: 55mins

4) The Magnus Archives

(1.32 Hive)

Summary:

Statement of Jane Prentiss, regarding… a wasps’ nest in her attic. Original statement given February 23rd, 2014. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.

"There is a wasps’ nest in my attic. A fat, sprawling thing that crouches in the shadowed corner. It thrums with life and malice. I could sit there for hours, watching the swirls of pulp and paper on its surface. I have done. It is not the patterns that enthral me, I’m not one of those fools chasing fractals; no, it’s what sings behind them. Sings that I am beautiful. Sings that I am a home. That I can be fully consumed by what loves me..."

I am sorry. Every other episode on this list is fantastic, but Hive will always be my favourite. The nature of the Magnus Archives as a horror anthology podcast that has an overarching meta plot means I could've picked any episode from the first two seasons that would've worked well for this list to jump into. But it had to be Hive. This is the kind of thing that reminds me why I love horror. The structure of the episode devolving into Jane's mind, the blurred lines between human and monster, the powerful imagery squirming it's way into your brain, crawling under your skin, the way Jon's voice shifts as he's recording the statement, slipping further and further away, becoming more intensely hypnotic, I just... please listen to it. It will deeply unsettle you. (warning for trypophobia). Also, for anyone curious about getting into the Magnus Archives, this episode is filled with a lot of foreshadowing and symbolism, so it's a great one to listen to on its own and also within the context of the series!

Runtime: 20mins

5) I Am in Eskew

(Ep4: Culpability)

Summary:

In a city of steep and winding streets, where the mime artists prance in their ghastly masks and the rain never stops, is the monstrous kafkaesque city of Eskew. David Ward, our protagonist, records his strange experiences with the city that was not built or made, but born.

David meets a murderer - and hears the story of a horrific, life-altering childhood experience.

I almost feel guilty for including this one, since I already have Of Lovers, Gods, and Beasts from the Silt Verses on this list, which is by the same writer Jon Ware. Buuuut I just really like this one and think it's a shame it sometimes gets overlooked. I liked listening to I Am in Eskew, but it wasn't till this episode that I was truly intrigued by it. Culpability feels like a murder mystery being unravelled where you're waiting for the unexpected twist round the corner only to find the knife was sticking out of your back the whole time.

This was also the first time the series made me sit down and think about what it was trying to say, the potential metaphors of depression, guilt, disassociation, and isolation. As well as the idea of becoming so accustomed to pain and fear that hope and comfort become the greater and unfamiliar terrors to be used against you. You can probably summarize from that this is the bleakest episode on this list, though not the goriest (though there is some child violence/abuse/body horror) but not bleak to the point of pointlessness.

Runtime: 28mins

6) Tales from the Gas Station

(A Murdxr at the Gas Station)

Summary:

While working the nightshift at the gas station at the edge of town, Jack Townsend is used to having encounters ranging from weird to downright horrifying. Tonight is no different, when a crow suddenly flies in.

This series is just some fun horror comedy that pokes fun at horror tropes while leaning into them, maintaining its own sense of unsettling and weird. There are a few intense and gory moments in this episode, but I picked this one simply because it's the stand alone episode in the series that made me laugh the most, and the one I relisten to the most frequently. It's dark, it's fun, it's spooky, plain and simple. (This one is only available on YouTube to listen to and not on any other usual podcast platforms)

Runtime: 30mins

And with that, I hope there is something on this list for everyone who loves or is new to horror podcasts to enjoy!

And I wish you a very Happy Halloween!

To end out 2021, here are some more books that fall into the category "it's gay and it slaps." Once again a range of styles and genres, but if there's a queer main character and it's a 4-5 star book, it's gay and it slaps. 😁

Not pictured but also gay and they slap, so they deserve a mention:

- Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

- The Incubus series by A. H. Lee (warning that these are an mmf relationship that's pretty weird/paranormal and very spicy but I enjoyed them)

- Covenant (webtoon) by explodikid

- Six of Crows (the first in the duology with Crooked Kingdom) could be on this list, but no one is really explicitly queer until book two. Still a great book though!

Go forth and enjoy, my friends! And as always, feel free to recommend me more. My giant tbr can always get bigger!

A Summary of the Magnus Archives, written by someone who has never listened to it

So there’s an archive, and they keep scary stuff in it. The archive is one really long hallway like the one in the penitentiary episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved, and I think every door has a monster behind it? It looks like this. The main character is just roaming around with a tape recorder. 

For the first few episodes you aren’t aware there are characters. Then later you meet the archivists. They have names like Peter Lukas, who is a rip-off of Peter Nureyev but also is kind of like Cutter from Wolf 359, Elias Pritchard I think is how you spell it, Basirah, who is a bad-ass I think, Martin, who is very soft and sweet and looks kind of like Aziraphale, and Jonny Sims. The guy who writes the show is also named Jonny Sims, like Night Vale. 

The whole show is kind of a weird mash-up of Night Vale, Wolf 359, The Bright Sessions, and Death by Dying. It takes the oh-no-weird-paranormal elements of WNTV and DBD and the oh-no-Capitalism-is-going-to-kill-us-all elements of TBS and W359. Everyone has a British accent. (I’ve listened to one audio clip and the guy had a British accent so I assume they all do.)

The man that built the archives was named Magnus. I think. Magnus must have been a really f-ed up guy. Then he died. He got eaten by the big crab thing, because apparently there is a big crab thing. Now the archives are run by the Johnny Sims guy, and he has major depression. He’s in denial over the fact that he is gay for Martin. Martin knows he is gay for Johnny but won’t tell anyone. There are lesbians but Elias somebody is lesbophobic. The fandom fights over this a lot. 

Basically, the show tells you about the ways that people have died by the monsters, especially the crab-monster, and some other monster that I think is called the Silencer? I imagine it as looking like the Nightmare from Metroid Fusion. I mean look at this goddamn thing. 

That’s what the archive is hiding. It’s clearly hiding something. I think Elias and Peter are the bad guys? One of them dies, or maybe both. The Silencer eats Peter I think. Elias gets eaten by the crab. All I know is someone gets eaten by the fucking enormous crab. 

I think the show is very diverse, but I see a lot of people yelling at each other about it, so maybe it has issues? Maybe it’s like Voltron. Is this show like Voltron? I used to really like Voltron. Then Season 5 happened and I stopped liking it. I’m not sure how many seasons this show has. Six, I think. 

I think the archives are set somewhere where there is snow, because I see snow in fanart a lot, and big sweaters. Maybe like Northern Ireland. That explains the British Accents. 

I watched it when it first came out and have regretted it ever since.

I was so excited bc if the movie was good I could show it to my friends and actually talk about it with people. But the movie wasn't good. And I felt betrayed.

Years ago I read the first 9 books of The Last Apprentice series and only recently realized they turned the first book into a movie. Watching it now and I want to die. I can forgive ageing up the characters since they are aiming for an older audience but why….? Why did they make the witches hot? And why did they make Alice Mother Malkin’s sister?! It ruins the whole plot twist that is supposed to happen! 

They really took a gritty, dark, coming-of-age story and turned it into a typical action film with hot ladies.

This series could have easily turned into another Harry Potter or Percy Jackson movie franchise but they had to ruin it 😒

At this point, is it even possible for a studio to make a good book-based movie?

Check out towards.utopia on ig for more

DNI if you hate sharks

ALL THREE MXTX NOVELS ARE GOING TO BE OFFICIALLY PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH, THIS IS NOT A DRILL, IT'S REAL AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

Here is the link: http://sevenseasdanmei.com/

Also, please check suika's tweet for more details: https://twitter.com/yummysuika/status/1422968206420021253

Day 8: Your Favourite LGBTQ+ Book - I couldn’t possibly choose just one!

Comprehensive Guide For Assassination Classroom Content

Because it's pretty hard to find a straight up list of it all. Please note that whilst I believe this is accurate, I was not involved in the fandom whilst the series was active and so could reasonably miss something.

Core Content

Assassination Classroom manga as serialised in Shounen Jump. If you buy the physical volumes, there's a bit of additional content between chapters, most notably introductory character profiles.

Assassination Classroom anime (some count seasons 1 and 2 as separate entities)

Assassination Classroom Meeting Time - an animated short featuring Korosensei and Karasuma's first meeting.

Assassination Classroom Extra Curricular Lessons - adaptations of a couple of manga chapters that weren't in the show itself. I'll just link a playlist here. Fun fact this is where Nagisa gets hit by a chair (lowkey he deserved it)

Additional Content

365 Days Movie. This isn't 'canon' as it's an anime original thing. There's no official English release that I know of. Honestly the movie is mostly a series recap, and only features Karma and Nagisa in new scenes. It's only really worth watching if you especially ship them as there's only maybe 10 minutes of actual content (and most of that is just montage, you can get the gist with this)

Roll Call Book - this was published mid manga run. It's mostly just a bunch of bonus content particularly character based. No official English translation exists, but snippets are easy enough to find online.

Graduation Album - as the name implies, it accompanies the end of the manga. About half of it is an art book, but there's extra character information especially about their post graduation lives. Crucially it includes a few manga shorts which extend past the actual canon ending.

Korotan A, B, C, and D plus Korosuu. They're mostly just Assassination Classroom themed text books (Seriously. My actual university book store sold them.) Korotans are for English vocabulary, Korosuu is for maths. Notably each book also contains a light novel (sometimes these are just referred to as 'the light novels'). It is debatable how canon these are as Matsui didn't write them, but he was involved through illustrating and overseeing the writing. Korotan D is especially debated because it's post canon content set when 3E are 18, but there's a small 'it was all a dream' implication right at the end of the book. Personally speaking I take them as full canon.

Official Spin Offs

The live action movies (part one and two). They change a lot of plot so I place them more in the spin off area. Easily skippable.

Korosensei Quest Manga (otherwise known as Koro Q) - a spin off gag manga set in a fantasy/video game inspired universe. This is not canon (unfortunately) and as far as I understand Matsui isn't involved in it. There's an implication of the idea it's Fuwa's own manga creation. Overall there are four volumes but there's no official English version (though fan scans aren't hard to find).

Korosensei Quest Anime - lightly based on the Koro Q manga. This is only a short 10 episode series though, and was complete long before the original, as such only the first few episodes are actual adaptations and it starts doing its own thing. All voice cast return so that's neat.

The OVA - basically an early adaptation of the Kyoto arc. Link here. It was released in 2013 so predates the actual anime, and a lot of the voice cast are different.

White day shorts featuring Karma, Maehara, and Nagisa - posted on official website as an otome game parody for promotion. Included because they're voice acted.

The 3DS games. They're region locked as far as I understand, and there's no translation of them. You can find it dumped if you know what you're doing with emulators, I've only played a few minutes of it myself.

The app game - no longer available. It was a gatcha tie in game featuring a variety of character illustrations.

Various merch lines and related illustrations. There are far too many to list and new ones still come out sometimes.

As I said, I hope I covered everything but there's a good possibility something slipped my mind.

What's the difference

you can literally always tell if an artist is/was a furry or not by asking them to draw a dog