Flag of the Union of Sovereign Republics

This is the flag of the Union of Sovereign Republics. It comes from a world where the government of the Soviet Union discovered the plot by hardline Communist Party members to stage a coup. The leaders of the planned coup were arrested, and this meant that the New Union Treaty was signed into law. The Soviet Union reorganized itself into the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics. The first wave of reforms were somewhat modest, but they allowed for capitalism, and investments from foreign businesses, to make inroads to the USSR. This provided a much needed shot in the arm to the Soviet economy. This led to a weakening of the independence movements among the constituent republics of the USSR.

Economic reforms soon lead to political reforms. Genuine opposition parties were allowed to run starting in the late 1990s. This led to a weakening of the Supreme Soviet, and by the mid 2000s, the USSR had transitioned into a full democracy. Its name officially changed to the Union of Sovereign Republic to better reflect this new nature. Thus, the Cold War came to a somewhat anticlimactic end.

The Union of Sovereign Republics emphasizes devolution of powers. The national government handles matters of international diplomacy and national defense. Meanwhile, the constituent republics are given considerable leeway. They can declare their own official languages, establish their own educational systems, establish their own legislative assemblies, and pass their own internal laws. The national constitution also holds all constituent republics to be equal, and protects the rights of minority groups. The USR is working towards redressing the grievances the Soviet Union committed against non-Russian ethnic groups.

Relations between the USR and the USA are fairly friendly and cordial. The two nations have increasingly collaborated over the years. For example, they collaborated on a joint manned mission to the Moon in 2015. Surprisingly, there’s even talk have having the USR join NATO. However, that’s on hold at the moment.

China has not fared well in the 21st Century. The Chinese economy is in shambles. Western businesses never really invested in China. Most international production facilities are instead located in the USR and India. China is plagued by political unrest, and government crackdowns are increasingly common. China relied on Russia to keep America in check. However, the increasing closeness of the USR to America has sent Chinese leaders into a panic. The USR and USA are watching China with increased wariness, particularly after China’s invasion of Vietnam in 2019.

Time will tell what becomes of this. For now, however, the Union of Sovereign Republic enjoys economic prosperity and a high standard of living. For the first time in a long while, things are looking up for the peoples of Russia and Central Asia.

The blue doesn’t have any official meaning. Though, some take it to mean that the same blue sky is shared by all members of the Union of Sovereign Republics. It also contrasts with the red of the old Soviet flag. The eight bent poles represent the equality of all the constituent republics of the USR. The white is to offset the blue, and make the flag look a bit less like the old Soviet flag.

The Books of Thoth: My First Foray into Audio Drama Production

I’m back with another update post, and this one is an especially big update. You see, I’ve finally done it. I have officially launched my audio drama anthology podcast The Books of Thoth.

We’re kicking things off with “Paleontology Conference.” million years in the future. Humans are extinct and squids rule the Earth. They only know us from the fossils we leave behind. What will the squids make of us?

As you might guess, The Future is Wild was a big inspiration for this episode. I blame that show for igniting my love of terrestrial cephalopods. The part where the narrator speculates about the Squibbons developing their own civilization always sparked my imagination. The All Todays segment of the book All Yesterdays was another big inspiration. I love the way it pokes fun at how our notions of prehistoric animals sometimes turn out to be very wrong. You do get some references to how our views on prehistoric animals have changed. The part where the professor mentions chordates used to be viewed as slow and lumbering, but then were viewed as active and dynamic? That was almost word-for-word how our views of dinosaurs changed over the years. And there’s a few more in-jokes if you’re paying attention for them.

A bit about where the title for the podcast came from. Thoth is the god of wisdom, writing, and magic in Egyptian Mythology. He possessed an ultimate book of spells known as the Book of Thoth. Among other things, it had spells that could enable you to speak the language of animals, restore the dead to life, and peer through the layers of reality and gaze upon the gods themselves. Thoth acted as scribe of the gods, and he’s probably written quite a few scrolls in his time. And those scrolls are bound to have some pretty good stories within them.

The Books of Thoth has been a long time coming. I’m both nervous and excited. I admit that maybe there were a few things I could have tweaked. But after a certain point, perfect becomes the enemy of good. And so, I decided to release my audio drama into the wild for all to enjoy.

A big thank you to everyone who made this episode possible. Thank you to Marnie Warner, Amy Young, Faye Holliday, Juan Cruz III, Tiffany Perdue, and Melissa Bowens for providing the voices. As well as my thanks to Geno Samuel for providing the opening narration. And to Nadine Trollip, aka Stardust-Phantom, for providing the series cover art.

The Books of Thoth is hosted on RedCricle, and you can find it on all major podcast platforms. Including, but not limited to, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Podcast Addict, Amazon Music, Player.FM, Audible, TuneIn, RadioPublic, Apollo Podcasts, and Goodpods. And yes, I do have transcripts available.

It hopefully won’t be too long before I have more episodes for your listening pleasure. But in the meantime, I do hope that you enjoy the inaugural episode of The Books of Thoth.

The Audio File: Long Night in Egypt

I’ve finished most of my outstanding obligations for reviews, at least for the moment. Well, that’s going to not be the case for too long, but I do have a brief respite. As such, I am able to talk about one particular audio drama. Now, I admit I was prepared to be disappointed, but this one surprised me in the best way possible. It utilized Egyptian Mythology while remaining incredibly faithful to the original myths. So, what is this audio drama? Why, we’re taking a look at Long Night in Egypt. 

Long Night in Egypt follows four college students named Mo, Kayla, Jorden, and Pia. They are on vacation in Egypt to visit Mo’s aunt and uncle; a pair of renowned Egyptologists. It’s sure to be a trip filled with relaxation, visits to archeological sites, and maybe even a bit of partying. Then, Mo’s cousin Samira comes up with the idea to visit the Pyramid of Unas at night. Mo’s aunt and uncle are very firm that the Pyramid of Unas must never be entered at night. However, the students sneak into the pyramid anyway. They will soon discover that the myths and legends of Ancient Egypt might just be true after all. They will have to navigate their way thought the Egyptian underworld, and face numerous challenges, if they wish to survive their long in Egypt.

I had known about Long Night in Egypt for a while. It had the word Egypt in the title, and a pyramid on the title card. What can I say? I was sold. However, other obligations kept me from listening. Then, I got a chance to listen, and I was blown away by what I heard.

I’m a lover of mythology, but I have trouble deciding which particular mythology is my favorite. I’m reminded of what Neil Gaiman wrote in the introduction to his novel Norse Mythology. He said that picking a favorite mythology is a bit like picking a favorite cuisine. Variety is the spice of life, and your favorite often depends on what mood you’re in at the moment. However, there’s always those dishes and stories that you always come back to. Given the title of the book, it should come as no surprise that Norse Mythology is that for Neil Gaiman. But what about me? 

I always find myself returning to the gods and stories of Egyptian Mythology. I love the weird and wonderful animal-headed gods. I love reading about all of the spells and incantations Egyptian magicians created. I love the way that real Ancient Egyptian historical figures sometimes factor into the stories. I love Egyptian Mythology. The stories of Egyptian Mythology took me on magical adventures away from my mundane world.

We have had several audio dramas adapt or reinterpret Greek Mythology, but not really any takes on Egyptian Mythology. In fact, Long Night in Egypt is, thus far, the only audio drama I’ve encountered that utilizes Egyptian Mythology in a major way. Now, this was certainly an exciting discovery, but I had my apprehensions. I’ve had to endure far too many movies and television shows that played way too fast and loose with real mythology. Hey, I’m just saying. If the source material you’re incorporating is a hindrance to the story you want to tell, then perhaps you should write a different story. That, or find a mythology more agreeable to the story you want to make.

Sorry, I got a little distracted there. Getting back on track, I was cautiously optimistic, but I was fully prepared to be disappointed. I was combing through every episode with a fine-toothed comb. I was prepared to pounce at the slightest slip-up. I was particularly worried that Anubis and/or Set would be portrayed as Ancient Egyptian Satan. However, much to my pleasant surprise, I couldn’t find a single mythological misappropriation. In fact, I even learned a few things as a result of listening to Long Night in Egypt.

So, let’s talk about all the great mythological stuff in this podcast. The main inspirations for this audio drama are The Pyramid Texts and The Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Pyramid Texts is one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world. It is inscribed into the walls of the pyramids and burial chambers of Saqqara. And yes, that includes the Pyramid of Unas. The texts are a series of spells, incantations, hymns, and utterances that help the pharaoh to navigate the afterlife and ascend to godhood. The Egyptian Book of the Dead is much the same, but with different spells and writings. Also, the Book of the Dead was written on papyrus, not carved into stone. 

The Pyramid Texts were completed in the Old Kingdom era, while The Book of the Dead wasn’t completed until the New Kingdom era. The characters do discover inscriptions from The Book on the Dead on the walls of the Pyramid of Unas. However, they do acknowledge this discrepancy, and wave it off as The Book of the Dead being older than previously believed. The Book of the Dead does drawn heavily upon The Pyramid Texts, so, this isn’t all that implausible.

We frequently hear characters, both mortal and divine, quoting passages from both The Pyramid Texts and The Book of the Dead. Oh, and that part where Unas consumes some of the gods to increase his power? Believe it or not, that is directly from The Pyramid Texts. That particular section is even called The Cannibal Hymn. See, this is why I’m such a big advocate for being accurate to the mythological sources. Oftentimes, the actual sources are way wilder than anything a modern writer might come up with.

We also get a few fun facts about modern Egypt sprinkled in. For example, Mo has a book that was written by Ahmed Kamal. He was the first Egyptologist to actually be from Egypt. There’s also a scene where the characters are at a club, and it is offhandedly mentioned that the drinking age in Egypt is twenty-one. I looked it up, and it is indeed twenty-one, just like in America. Also, you can apparently buy alcohol in Egypt.

Long Night in Egypt is a horror audio drama, and I like the approach it took to that. Unas isn’t portrayed as some monster who is bent on world domination. The main characters were warned not to go into the Pyramid of Unas at night, and they paid the price. Granted, they probably wouldn’t have believed the real reason they were to stay away. Still, their troubles are self-inflicted because they ran foul of ancient traditions, and disrespected the pyramid. Even without the undead pharaoh and the magic, it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to go into a pyramid at night. It is bound to be dark, and you can get easily hurt if you don’t know what you’re doing.

The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there. I was particularly thinking about that during the scene in the Halls of Judgement. Ancient Egypt was a foreign culture with a foreign value system. You might consider yourself a good person by modern standards, but how well would you stack up to Ancient Egyptian standards? Though, thankfully, an important part of the Weighing of the Heart is remembering the correct incantations from The Book of the Dead. Of course, even the things the Ancient Egyptians viewed as a great reward/honor for the afterlife could be potentially unpleasant by modern standards. What do I mean by that? Oh, that would be spoilers, but let’s just say you’ll see.

On a related note, I loved how the horror comes from the characters finding themself in a story straight out of mythology. I’m a big fan of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, as well the wider Riordanverse. Yes, that includes The Kane Chronicles. Naturally, I love mythology, and I do tend to fantasize about going on urban fantasy mythology adventures. On the other hand, perhaps I should be careful about what I wish for. Such things might be fun to read about, but it might not be so fun to actually live though. Especially if you don’t have magical powers.

But hey, maybe I’d get some moments of awe between my terror. Terrifying or not, it would be kind of cool to discover that Egyptian Mythology is real. That’s why Kayla was my favorite character. She constantly geeks out over archeology and mythology. This does cause some friction with Mo during the journey through the underworld. However, all the other characters would have been seriously screwed without Kayla’s encyclopedic knowledge of The Book of the Dead. Granted, Mo is certainly no slouch either, but he does need occasional prompting and reminders. I really loved the part where Kayla geeks out over all the obscure gods in the Hall of Judgement.

And speaking of the characters, we need to talk about the voice acting. I find it endlessly amusing that Mo is voiced by Amr Kotb, but Mo’s cousin Amr is voiced by Amro Mahmoud. I was excited when I heard that Roshan Singh would be voicing Jordan. He is the creator of the audio drama Temujin, and we’ve interacted a bit on Twitter. He didn’t really have a lot to do. Jordan is kind of…I believe himbo is the term the kids say these days. Still, he did the most with what he had to work with. Alice Pollack does an amazing job capturing Kayla’s endearingly nerdy personality. Asil Moussa is clearly having a lot of fun playing Samira. 

Karim Kronfli has a brief cameo as a BBC newscaster. Always great hearing him, and amusingly, this isn’t the only Ancient Egyptian themed project he’s part of. He was also part of the voice cast for the video game Total War: Pharaoh. The music and sound effects are also really great. This is a show that’s being distributed by Realm Media. So, of course it’s going to be a cinematic audio drama. And I wouldn’t have Long Night in Egypt any other way.

Hmm, do I have critiques? Well, the image on the title card is not the Pyramid of Unas. It is the Great Pyramid of Giza, but I get why the production team did that. The Pyramid of Unas isn’t very photogenic. In fact, it kind of looks like a giant dirt mound. The Pyramids of Giza scream Ancient Egypt a lot better, and get the point across. And hey, it is a very nice looking title card regardless.

Switching gears, I’m not sure how I feel about the way Anubis was voiced. I know the voice actress. She’s the announcer from We Fix Space Junk. It would have been nice if there was an easily accessible cast list for Long Night in Egypt. Anyway, I know she tried to give Anubis an otherworldly voice, but it came across as a bit too feminine. Not what I would have gone for if I’d been casting. I got used to it, but it was a bit of a sour note in an otherwise great voice cast. The other gods had excellent voice casting

Those are really the only critiques I can think of. Long Night in Egypt was an absolutely fantastic podcast. I won’t give away the ending, but suffice it to say, there’s no way we’re getting a season two out of this. I’d be genuinely surprised if we do. On the other hand, there are a lot of other mythologies out there. There’s plenty of other myths that could be given the Long Night in Egypt treatment. Hint, hint, Violet Hour and Realm.

Long Night in Egypt was an amazing audio drama from start to finish. It really shows the great things that can be accomplished when you make the effort to be accurate to mythology. This is the Egyptian Mythology audio drama I was hoping we might have someday, and it did not disappoint in the slightest. Do yourself a favor and listen to it today. Especially if you love Egyptian Mythology or all things Ancient Egypt.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: Regina Prime

I have said, on many occasions, that sometimes it takes me a bit before I get to certain audio dramas. Other times, I make a point of listening and reviewing as quickly as possible. Today, we are taking a look at an example of the second scenario. Without further preamble, here is my review of Regina Prime.

Regina Prime begins in the form of an urban exploration vlog. We follow a woman named Regina who is exploring an abandoned research laboratory. Everyone starts of pretty normal, but then strange things begin to happen. It also becomes clear that Regina is hiding something. Or perhaps she’s being forced to hide something. Oh, but we aren’t done yet. Each episode is split between Regina’s adventures, and the happenings of another woman. Well, multiple women, and they all have very similar voices to Regina. These women have been kidnapped by a shadow organization that is seeking Regina Prime. Just what is going on here?

Regina Prime is created by Jessica Berson, who also created the audio drama Echoes (in) Between. It was an audio drama that was very much about slowly peeling back the layers of the central mystery like an onion. Regina Prime is very much cut from the same cloth. In fact, I’d argue that it is even more so. Most episodes of Regina Prime are only about half the length of a typical Echoes (in) Between episode. So, I had to be a bit coy with the summary. I will do my best to keep things spoiler-free for as long as I can.

Now, back to the subject of Echoes (in) Between. Those of you who read my review will know that I felt immense guilt for putting off reviewing Echoes (in) Between. This is due to the tragic way in which the show came to an end. To make a long story short, Jessica Berson had a pretty nasty falling-out with her production partner. It is highly doubtful a review from me could have prevented this. All the same, I felt bad after I learned about what happened. However, towards the end of my review, I also expressed confidence that Jessica would one day rise from the ashes like a phoenix.

My confidence was certainly not misplaced. Jessica has, in addition to Regina Prime, also started an anthology audio drama called Blue Rose Stories. I’m waiting til it has a few more episodes before I review that one. I will say that the episodes that Blue Rose Stories has out so far are really great.

I first became aware of Regina Prime when I got followed by the show’s Twitter account. I was very pleased to see that Jessica was making another serialized audio drama. I made a note that I was going to be proactive and not drag my feet this time round. I had to take care of a few personal matters first, but here we are now. It seems that Jessica is taking a back to basics approach with Regina Prime. As I have previously noted, the episodes are about half the length of a typical Echoes (in) Between episode. Jessica also provides the voices for all of the characters. She manages to give them all distinct personalities, and that’s no small task, given how similar most of the characters sound. As for why that is, well, that’s something for the spoilers section. One of the characters is a computer AI. Jessica considered using an AI voice for the role, but ultimately decided against it. She felt it wouldn’t be the right thing to do. And speaking of AI…but that’s another thing for the spoilers section.

I hadn’t really given urban exploration much thought before listening to Regina Prime. I’ve seen a couple YouTube videos, and of course I remember when the Tomb of the Burger King was discovered. Easily the greatest archeological discoveries of our times. That was a joke about some urban explorers who discovered an almost perfectly preserved Burger King from the 1980s. I know urban exploration isn’t the main point of Regina Prime, but it still made me want to learn more about it.

Okay, I’ve put it off for as long as possible. It is time to get into the spoilers section. So, if you don’t want any of that, turn back now.

Last chance, you sure you want to continue?

If everyone who wants out is gone, let’s get into it.

I’m going to go on a slight tangent for a moment, but just bare with me here. There was this show I remember briefly watching once called New Amsterdam. It was about this guy, named John Amsterdam, who was an immortal living in New York City. Oh, and it was also a detective show. As the title suggests, John’s been around since when the Dutch owned Manhattan. They had another show called Forever, which had basically the same premise, but I personally liked Forever better of the two. Ironically, both shows got canceled after only one season. Quite a shame really.

I bring this up because of something I found interesting about New Amsterdam. John has to keep a detailed list of all his descendants so that he doesn’t accidentally wind-up committing incest. I should probably mention that he’s looking for his true love, who will be the one to cure his immortality.

I’d never really considered it, but that would be a concern for someone who is immortal. But what happens when you have multiple immortals running around? And let’s assume these immortals can reproduce. Oh, nothing too bad would happen at first. Slowly but surly, however, the gene pool would start to get shallower and shallower. Iceland has had to deal with a variation of this problem. They’ve had little to no immigration over the years. Most Icelanders are descended from the original handful of Viking settlers. So, accidentally hooking up with a distant cousin is a reasonably legitimate concern. In fact, there’s an app that cross references two people’s family trees using government records. The app works when two people bump their phones together, and its slogan is “bump this app before you bump in bed.”

Okay, where am I going with all of this? Well, Regina Prime takes into consideration the ramifications of having a bunch of immortals running around and having kids. Well, that, and the effects of widespread cloning. Remember that part about the people being held captive? I initially believed it to be concurrent with Regina’s own adventures. As it turns out, I was wrong. The second segment actually takes place hundreds of years after Regina’s adventures. In that time, cloning has become very wide spread. Many people choose to have their kids cloned from donated tissue cultures. Regina’s sample proved very popular, but she had a genetic mutation that made her biologically immortal. All of her clones share this mutation, but they can still be murdered.

Hmm, a sample of immortal cellular tissue? Could that be a reference to the HeLa cells? They are a sample of cancer cells that have continued to divide long after the point they should have died. They were controversially harvested from Henrietta Lacks, who died of cervical cancer. The HeLa cells proved invaluable in numerous cancer treatment studies. However, the Lacks family didn’t learn about this until many years later.

People turning to cloning to ensure their kids are smarter, faster, stronger, and better might seem far fetched to some. However, I’d argue it isn’t too different to what is going on in the here and now. Think about all those people who pursue artificial insemination. Oh, they might claim to be opposed to things like eugenics. But when you get down to it, they’d probably prefer a tall, blonde hair, blue-eye, athletic college professor as their donor. They probably aren’t going to go for a short, flat-footed, perpetually anxious, autistic guy who writes audio drama reviews.

Obviously, all of the prisoners are clones of Regina. But why have they been captured? More importantly, who has captured them? I’ll leave all of that for you to discover. I will, however, reiterate that Jessica does a great job of giving the clones all distinct personalities. I helped that Epsilon, the clones are all referred to by Greek letters, has a British accent. Jessica does refer to herself as a committed Anglophile on her Twitter account. Hmm, going by that, I wonder if we’ll eventually see a clones who is obsessed with baseball?

I think we’ll wrap it up here. Season one of Regina Prime was really great. It is excellent to see Jessica Berson making audio dramas again. I can’t wait for season two to come out. And I have full confidence that there will indeed be a season two. If you enjoyed Echoes (in) Between, you won’t want to miss out on Regina Prime.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

Comic Review: Siege Town

I have been ask to review audio dramas many times. I’ve also been asked to review audiobooks on a few occasions. Today, however, we are breaking new ground. This is the first time someone has asked me to review their comic book. So, without further ado, let’s get into it. We’re taking a look at Siege Town. 

Siege Town take place in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. We follow two brothers named Robert and Charles. They are from America and…well, actually, we never find out why exactly they’re in the Soviet Union. Anyway, they’re traveling across Russia on their motorcycles, and they’ve recently stopped in a rural town. They’ve decided to stay at an inn run by an incredibly creepy man named Igor. He isn’t exactly popular with the townsfolk. In fact, the townsfolk have decided they’ve had enough of Igor, and they’re out for blood. Charles and Robert are about to find themselves in the middle of a major siege.

I was approached to review Siege Town by Ben Ruffett. He is attempting to found his own comics publishing house called Witching Hour Comics. He raised the funds for Siege Town over on Kickstarter. Currently, you can only receive a copy of Siege Town by being a backer to the Kickstarter, but Ben hopes to change that soon. Ben has seen me share my comic book reviews over on Reddit, and asked if I’d be willing to review Siege Town. I said yes, and he shipped me a copy. It was the first time I’d receive a package from a foreign country, in this case Canada. So, that was kind of exciting. He did address it to Arthur Drakoni, which is my Reddit username. Caused some minor confusion when my parents found the package while I was at work. That was my fault. I should have clarified who it should be addressed to.

So, the first thing that strikes me about Siege Town is that, physically speaking, it is a very constructed. Holding it in my hands, it felt like I was flipping through something produced by a professional comic book company. The pages are glossy and strong, the cover is slick and shiny, the binding holds well. It even has the smell that you get from a professional comic book. Ben and his team clearly put a lot of effort into making sure their comic met the physical standards of a professional publisher.

The same goes for the artwork. It is all drawn and colored very well. Andrey Portilla did the drawing, and Cristian Ramirez handled the coloring. The artwork is very evocative of Vertigo during the heyday of series like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, or the various horror titles Vertigo published. Wasn’t really into the horror side of Vertigo myself, but I know enough to recognize the influence.

So, there’s a lot of care put into the artwork and physical presentation of Siege Town. I just wish the writing and plot had received the same level of attention. The plot, when you get down to it, is really just there to set-up the fight scenes. Don’t get me wrong, they’re very well drawn fight scenes, but I would have preferred if the plot had a bit more meat to it. The other issue I had is that the plot introduces a lot of potentially interesting elements, and promptly does nothing with them. 

For example, Robert and Charles are traveling through the Soviet Union during the 1950s. That was the height of the Cold War, and most Americans couldn’t just waltz into Russia to have a look around. So, what brings Robert and Charles to Russia? What are they looking to accomplish? Beats me, as the comic never provides any answers. In fact, the unusual setting never really factors into the plot. You could set the story in rural America during the same time period, and nothing would change.

On an unrelated note, the beginning of the comic makes a list of all the various peoples who have invaded Russia over the years. You get the usual suspects; Napoleon, Hitler, the Mongols…and the Russian Empire. Yeah, apparently, the Russian Empire invaded Russia. It would seem that the script could have used a tad more proofreading.

It is also established early on that Igor has a collection of killer ants. This is set up as thought it is going to playing a major role in a big climatic scene. However, the most that happens is that it breaks open, the ants bite one of the villagers, whop quickly brushes them off, and that’s it. On that note, I feel that Igor’s characterization was a bit rushed. Everything about him practically screams serial killer at the top of its lungs. Frankly, what were Robert and Charles expecting when they decided to spend the night? It might have worked better if he started off more innocuous, but then gradually revealed his true colors. This would also add to the sense of rising tension as the villagers close in, and make their motives a bit more mysterious.

Now, I didn’t hate Siege Town. I’d been going through a stretch where I hadn’t read a comic book for a bit, and it was nice to be back in the saddle. I was reminded of all the reasons I love comic books as a medium. There’s certainly an audience for comics that put heavy emphasis on action scenes. There’s certainly a lot of people who enjoy the Hellsing manga. That having been said, I am not part of that audience. If you are, however, then perhaps you might want to look into Siege Town.

The last few pages of the comic make mention of some upcoming comics from Witching Hour Comics. They both kind of sound like the same plot as Siege Town, but in different settings. The one that is set on a Moonbase sounds promising, but I’m concerned about the execution. Especially since the other one is about a bunch of Vietnam veterans in a small town in America. I certainly hope my critique about Siege Town’s setting doesn’t turn out to be prophetic.

So, that was Siege Town from Witching Hour Comics. It looks like a professional comic, down to the smell. It has artwork evocative of Vertigo. The story, however, leaves something to be desired.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: The Dial-Up: Season 2

There are a lot of audio drama that I really hope get more seasons. Sometimes, it takes a bit, but the new seasons materialize. And then there are the shows where, at least from my perspective, the new seasons appear almost instantly. We’ll be reviewing one of the latter examples today. Without further ado, here is my review of season two of The Dial-Up.

To recap, season one of The Dial-Up followed a tech support worker named Lewis. He wound up having an Internet phone call with a dude named Callum. Not too unusual, except that Lewis was in 2022, and Callum was in 1999. They chatted it up, compared their lives, and prevented a minor catastrophe from happening. Lewis decided, on Callum’s advice, to quit his dead-end job and go see the world. Unfortunately, money doesn’t last forever, and Lewis had to go crawling back to his old job. It sucks, but it pays the bills. Well, Lewis is having another cross-temporal conversation. Only this time he is chatting with a woman named Dana from 2052. Dana needs Lewis’ help to prevent a massive earthquake from striking Glasgow.

Philip Catherwood promised us a fantastic second season of The Dial-Up, and he certainly did not disappoint. I had wondered if something like this might happen. We already got a caller from the past. So, it would certainly make sense for the future to come calling. Philip said he approached this season by taking various predictions about the future, and selecting the ones he felt were most likely to happen. I myself also got to play the game of speculation with this season. 

No, I’m not referring to having to wait a week for new episodes this time round. Philip Catherwood allowed me to listen to the first two episodes of season two before anyone else. He only requested that I tweet out a spoiler-free Twitter thread about my thoughts. Philip did this because of my role helping promote The Dial-Up, and being a key listener. Thank you for that, Philip. Also, sorry that it took me so long to get this review out. I was working on some personal projects. Hopefully, said project will be out soon.

Anyway, back on topic, Craig McDonald Kelly returns for another fantastic performance as Lewis. I loved how Craig portrayed Lewis’ dorkier side now that he is in Callum’s shoes. Perhaps, Callum managed to rub off on Lewis. I must also give praise to Amy Alexander’s performance as Dana. You can see shades and echoes of how Lewis was in season one, but Dana has enough differences to make her interesting. The part about Dana being a history major who had to sort out her personal issues was…kind of relatable. We’re still a bit light on sound effects, but we got a bit more this time round. And hey, nothing wrong with going lighter on the sound effects. The performances of the actors is more than enough to compensate for that. Just like last time, it never felt like anything was lacking sound-wise.

Lewis seemed a bit less intelligent this time around. Of course, Dana works in theoretical physics, while Lewis is just a guy at a tech center. So, maybe he came across as smarter than Callum only by comparison. Callum was just an average guy, but a good guy all the same. Of course, this time round, Lewis is the one geeking out over what wonders are awaiting in the future. So, there’s that too.

Okay, so as previously stated, this season makes a lot of predictions about the future. And what are my thoughts on the matter? Let’s go through a few of the predictions. Okay, so apparently Britain is going to be getting a space program in the future. Hey, wait a minute, Britain already has a space agency. The United Kingdom Space Agency was founded in 2010. Now, granted, they currently don’t have any manned space missions. So, perhaps that’s what Dana meant. I don’t know how likely this is, but I like the idea of there being more nations sending humans into space. Well, more than just America, Russia, and China. Though, the bit about Britain becoming a leader in spaceflight was, perhaps, a bit of wish fulfillment on Philip’s part. As for the bit about Elon Musk going bankrupt, eh, it could go either way. Musk is enough of a wild card that anything really is possible. So, I’ll let that bit slide.

In other predictions, climate change has gotten worse by 2052. I’d like to think that won’t happen, but the cynical part of me thinks it probably will. Look at how many people tried to ignore/deny Covid even when it was staring them in the face. I can certainly see Scotland getting hit by a hurricane under such circumstances. Though, I do disagree with Lewis and Dana about it being cool. I’m from Louisiana, where hurricanes are a major concern every year. It has been nearly twenty years since Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, but that’s still fresh in the minds of many Louisianans. Even a relatively weak hurricane is no laughing matter.

Dana mentions that it was fifty-five Celsius when she visited Vietnam. Hmm, let’s do some conversions. Thirty degrees Celsius is roughly equivalent to ninety degrees Fahrenheit. So, that would mean that fifty-five degrees Celsius is…yikes! That’s about 131 Fahrenheit, and that’s past the point the human body can comfortably survive! I sure hope that people of Vietnam have invested in industrial air conditioners by 2052. I also shudder to imagine the consequences of them experiencing a blackout. Having lived through the Great American Heat Dome of 2023, I certainly hope that this prediction does not come to pass. Because if Vietnam is that hot, Louisiana is sure to be an oven as well.

Speaking of things going hot, apparently China invaded India at some point. Uh, how exactly did that happen. They’re both nuclear armed nations, and that’s a pretty big deterrence against invasion. Were they fighting over the Kashmir? If so, shouldn’t Pakistan have been involved? Of course, they are also nuclear armed, which brings us right back to the first problem. Yeah, I don’t see this one as likely, especially since it didn’t lead to World War III breaking out.

Well, enough international events, let’s get back to the homefront. Movie theaters haven’t totally died out by 2052, but there is only one movie theater left in all of Glasgow. Dana isn’t too thrilled about this, as she actually enjoys going out into the world, rather than doing everything digitally. Naturally, she finds a kindred spirit in Lewis. People have been predicting the demise of movie theaters since…well, basically ever. I remember watching this old film from way back in the 1950s bemoaning about how soon television would drive theaters out of business. Ironically, I watched that film on a television. Was I watching it on Turner Classic Movies? Hmm, I can’t remember. Well, anyway, it is certainly true that many theaters are struggling to stay afloat. Many of them are trying to offer a more deluxe and upscale experience in hopes of attracting customers. I actually did wonder if Covid would be the deathblow to theaters, but they’ve weathered the storm. Look how many people went out for Barbenheimer.

So, I don’t think movie theaters will ever truly go away. There’s always going to be some people who will prefer that to streaming or on-demand. That said, I do think that the number of movie theaters is probably going to decrease in the future. So, that’s certainly another of the stronger predictions from this season.

We also learn that eating bugs has become fairly common by 2052. Red meat and white meat aren’t illegal, but they are prohibitively expensive for most people. So, insects are used as a cheap source of protein. This is presented as something unpleasant, but I’m hoping that eating insects becomes more common. Bugs are very tasty, and they are an excellent source of protein. I’m always excited when I hear about chefs experimenting with recipes utilizing insects. Now, granted, I don’t want insects to replace other forms of meat. I do love my burgers, fried chicken, and baked salmon. Rather, I want them to be welcomed into the western diet. Also, mealworms are not gross. Most of the ones currently on the market are a bit too dried out for my taste. However, that’s easily fixable with better packaging to seal in freshness.

As for the bit about augmented reality glasses becoming more common…beats me. I kind of feel that would have already happened by now. However, I also thought the iPhone was stupid back when it first came out. Now, I can’t survive without my iPhone, and I typed this review on my iPad Pro. Shows what I know. However, Metaverse is not going to take off. I don’t care how much money Mark Zuckerberg tried to pump into it. Metaverse is like the word fetch; it is, like, so not going to happen.

Now, there is a huge spoiler that happens at the end of episode two. Oh, how I want to discuss it, but I really shouldn’t. I’ll leave it for you to discover. All I will say is, woah, did not see that coming. Didn’t see it coming, but it got me very excited for the rest of the episodes. And those episodes certainly did not disappoint.

I wondered what season three will bring. And yes, there will be a season three. We’ve gone backwards in time, forwards in time, but what about sideways in time? That is, staying at now, but connecting with a different version of now. One where history went differently. Certainly a lot of possibilities to be had. But no, that’s not going to be the case. I won’t spoil what the case will be, but I was certainly pleasantly surprised. It looks like season three is going to hold great things indeed.

So, that was season two of The Dial-Up. We follow the continuing adventures of Lewis as he gets an unexpected call from the future. It has great character interactions, great voice acting, and interesting predictions about the future. You won’t want to miss this if you enjoyed season one of The Dial-Up.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: Residents of Proserpina Park: Season 3

By now it should be clear how much I utterly adore Residents of Proserpina Park. An urban fantasy audio drama where you get to learn about mythical creatures from around the world? Hey, this is my happy place. We’ve already had two amazing seasons, and now it is onto the third. Oh, but three really is the magic number. This is a very special season indeed. Without further ado, let’s get into it. We’re taking a look at season three of Residents of Proserpina Park.

When we last left our heroes, they had just come to a shocking revelation: the park is named Proserpina Park! Oh, and Sam is back. That’s also pretty important. Ah, but Sam isn’t alone. He’s joined by an old friend named Jessica. She has a freewheeling devil-may-care personality, and a very cavalier when it comes to the creatures of the park. Jessica is back to settle some old business. Business that Dog, the gang’s loyal alien in canine disguise, has some connection to. It has something to do with a particularly mysterious creature. 

Alina and her friends are going to have to venture into the depths of the park to find answers. They must be sure to keep their wits sharp. For, in this season, we shall meet the tricksters who call the park home. Meanwhile, Mirai is having her own adventures in Japan. She has found her way to a village populated by yoaki. She’s certainly out of place as a mere human, but she’ll make some unlikely allies during her time in the village. Everyone buckle up, because this season of Residents of Proserpina Park is sure to be a wild ride.

This season of Residents of Proserpina Park was a bit of a new experience for me. I was one of the backers for the season three Indiegogo campaign. So, I got to listen to all the episodes before they were released to the general public. It was an interesting experience to binge the episodes, but still very much enjoyable. Though, I did kind of miss getting to hear the theme music at the beginning and end of each episode. Not that this was a dealbreaker or anything like that, mind you. There was one other way that this season was different for me personally, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

Season one was intro to World Mythology and Folklore. Season two was all about creatures of the night and other monsters. Season three is all about the tricksters, but it also stands out from its predecessors in another way. Most of the creatures featured in season three tend to be of the chattier variety. This is very much by design. Angela Yih has said that there’s only so many times you can recycle the roar and snarl sound-effects before they get old. I certainly agree with that, and it isn’t like chatty creatures are unprecedented. The first two seasons gave us the kappa, the aswang, and of course JD, among others. Personally, I think it is great that Residents of Proserpina Park is keeping things fresh. Each episode of season three also includes an after credits bonus scene. So, you want to make sure to stick around until the very end of each episode. This season is also slightly longer. We got twelve episodes this season, rather than the usual ten.

Okay, so, who is this Jessica person? I speculated, in my review of season two, that Jessica might be something not quite human. But no, it would seem that I was wrong. Jessica is merely a garden variety human. She did manage to capture a genie, and I don’t mean the kind that are blue and sound like Robin Williams. The original jinn from Arabian Folklore were really more like gods in terms of power. There is one minor discrepancy, however. Dog mentions that some people blame mental health problems on jinn. Except, jinn verifiably exist in the Residents of Proserpina Park universe. So, how does that work out? I suppose you could justify it by saying that they can cause mental health issues, but natural causes are far more likely to be the case. This was kind of on my mind, as it does tie-in with something we’ll discuss in the spoilers section. Oh, and you know how Sam can see the creatures, but can’t hear them? Jessica is the exact opposite. She can hear the creatures, but can’t see them. We’ll get more into that later.

Anyway, getting back on track, Jessica provides a foil to Alina. In doing so, Jessica highlights a major theme of this season. In the immortal words of John Lennon, you get by with a little help from your friends. That is very much true with Alina. Drew and Jun frequently act as the voices of reason, and help reign Alina in, and dial back her impulses. I would imagine that it isn't a coincidence that we learn more about Drew and Jun’s backstories this season. Jessica is, essentially, how Alina would have turned out if she didn’t have her friends, or if she had alienated them. Jessica tends to rush in first, and ask questions later, if at all. She tends to focus on whether she can do something, rather than if she should do it. Jessica is determined to become the most powerful being in the park. It doesn’t matter how many creatures she has to hurt to achieve this.

Alina and Jessica also contrast with how they treat Sam. They both wronged Sam and abused his trust. Alina brought her friends to the park, when Sam explicitly told her not to, and Jessica…well get into that in the spoilers section. However, they tried to make amends in very different ways. Alina does her best to sincerely apologize and make amends. It definitely helps that Drew and Jun are there to keep her calm and focused. Jessica, by contrast, has a single-minded focus on correcting her mistake. She’s been avoiding Sam and Dog, and in the process, further alienated them. I suppose another theme of this season is about the importance of communicating, and talking things out when you have a problem. One gets the impression that Jessica, Dog, and Sam could have saved themselves a lot of grief if they had just been more open about their problems, instead of avoiding each other.

As previously noted, we get to learn a bit more about Drew and Jun’s backstories. We learn that Drew tried college, decided it wasn’t for them, dropped out, and doesn’t have any concrete plans in life. They’re just going wherever the winds of fate take them. They’re content to take things one day at a time. They’re aware this puts them in contrast to Alina and Jun, who are both very ambitious. Drew is well aware that they will probably part ways with Alina and Jun one day. However, they don’t despair. It isn’t how much time they have with Alina and Jun, but how they spend it that matters. Even if they must part ways eventually, Drew will always have Alina and Jun’s backs.

This is quite a thoughtful and introspective moment from what tends to be a fairly lighthearted audio drama. It rings very true to my own experiences. I’ve had many friends come and go over the years. It is always sad when that happens, but each person we meet changes us, and leaves a bit of themselves with you. So, it’s like they’re still with you even when they’re gone. For however long it lasted, they were your friend, and nothing will change that.

On a lighter note, we learn more about Jun’s interest in space. He wants to be an astronaut, but he also likes to theorize about alien lifeforms. He likes to theorize about how the aliens might evolve and adapt to different environments. Well, that was certainly unexpected. It appears that Jun is a speculative evolution enthusiast. I’m also involved in that community. We theorize about all that paths evolution might take. We imagine worlds where evolution went different in the past, we imagine how it might go in the future, and we do indeed imagine how it might play out on alien worlds. If you’d like an introduction to speculative evolution, may I recommend the r/SpeculativeEvolution subreddit and the Curious Archive channel on YouTube?

I was pleasantly surprised that we got an entire episode devoted to Mirai’s adventures in Japan. I had been hoping we might get something like this at some point. She has found herself in a village inhabited entirely by yokai. She has Fox Ears the kitsune to help her out, but she also gains another ally named Daichi. He is a character that Angela Yih designed a while ago, but only implemented into the story this season. I knew, from the audition forms, Daichi felt ashamed of his body. That could only mean one thing: a tanuki. I did wonder if perhaps he’d be one of the more obscure yoaki, but he was represented by the raccoon emoji. The auditions didn’t outright say what creature the role were. Angela wanted it to be a surprise for the listeners. So, a raccoon emoji clearly mean tanuki, which are also known as raccoon dogs.

Tanuki are usually depicted as jolly mischievous tricksters in Japanese Folklore. They’re shapeshifters, much like kitsune, and the two are often depicted as rivals. I should also note that tanuki are a real animal. They’re also called raccoon dogs; though, they are neither a raccoon or a dog. Also, as far as we know, they do not shapeshift or talk. Now, why would Daichi be ashamed of his appearance? Hmm, how do I put this delicately? Guess I better just say it. Tanuki are famous for having massive testicles, and being able to make them bigger. There’s even a popular children’s song in Japan all about tanuki testicles. There’s a scene where Daichi uses his ball sack to form a massive wall to temporarily hide Mirai from the other yokai. I guess you could say that scene got real balls-to-walls insane. Hey, don’t give me that look, the joke practically writes itself.

In all seriousness, I did enjoy Daichi as a character. I liked the way he contrasted with Fox Ears. Daichi tends to be friendlier and speaks to Mirai as an equal, whereas Fox Ears tends to be more aloof, haughty, and cryptic. That isn’t to say Fox Ears doesn’t throw Mirai a rope now and again, but she certainly likes to toy with Mirai.

Naturally, we get to meet all sorts of amazing new creatures from across World Mythology and Folklore. I had been hoping we might meet Anansi, the trickster spider god of the Akan people, at some point. Lo and behold, this season more than delivered on that. Vincent C. Davis gave such an absolutely wonderful performance. He sounded almost exactly how I always envisioned Anansi sounding. It was pitch-perfect casting. And let’s not forget the writing in that episode. It carried as great sense of suspense and mystery.

In other creatures, I loved getting to meet the wemategunis. It is a creature from the folklore of the Lenape people. I always appreciate getting to learn more about Native American cultures. One of the most famous stories about the wemategunis is how it helped a young gambler. The gambler had lost his eyes to the Chief of Gambling, who is a spirit that lives on the Moon. The wemategunis agreed to help after the young gambler promised to give up gambling for good. Given some things we’ll touch on in the spoilers section, I get the feeling that including the wemategunis in this season wasn’t coincidence. I also liked that part of that episode where Alina had to stay behind, and gave her recorder to Sam and Terry. So, we get to experience that part of the episode from Alina’s perspective, or lack thereof.

Okay, let’s see, what am I forgetting? Oh, right, I’m in this season too! I got to voice Slenderman. Yes, the monster from all of those creepypastas. He was included as an example of modern-day folklore. This was the first major voice acting role that wasn’t a bit part. I’m very excited that I actually got to be part of Residents of Proserpina Park. I had a lot of fun voicing Slenderman. Angela said she envisioned Slenderman sounding like God from Puppet History of the Universe. So, I tried to mimic that style. By all accounts, I did pretty well. I love the distorted sound-effects that Angela included for the parts where Slenderman really shows his true colors. And hey, who knows, maybe you’ll get to hear me again when season four rolls around.

Thankfully, we didn’t have any “who’s on first” issues because of my name. I briefly got confused when the recording schedule said Sam, but then I remembered we were doing it by character name, not real name. Though, amusingly, my day job is working as an edutainer at the Shreveport Aquarium. I educate the public about all sorts of marine creatures, but I also make sure the guests behave, and the touch tank animals stay safe. Even more funnily, one of my managers is named Jessica. Don’t worry, she and I are on good terms with each other. Most of my co-workers have listened to the episode I was in, and all give it high marks. Now I just need to get them to listen to all the other episodes of the show.

A big thank you to Angela Yih for giving me this opportunity. Also, thank you to Ben Pollizi and Ashley Dawson. You were both really nice during recording. Sorry I sounded like I was five seconds away from having a panic attack. I was worried I’d screw up, and my baseline tends to be anxious. But I did have a lot of fun, and I’d happily do it again.

Okay, now for the part where we get into the spoilers. Get off the ride now if you don’t want any of that.

Last chance, you sure you want to keep going?

Well, if everyone who wants out is gone, let’s get into it.

In my previous reviews, I came up with several theories about why Sam can’t hear the creatures of the park. Many of my ideas were very exotic and imaginative. However, the actual answer turned out to be a tad simpler. In fact, it was practically staring me in the face. Turns out, Sam and Jessica were cursed after the ran afoul of the Aos Si, also known as the fae, or the Fair Folk. I guess I let my imagination get carried away, and imagined things that were fun to think about, rather than what was likely. I can be a bit slow on the uptake at times. For example, I knew that Angela Yih cited Scooby-Doo as one of the inspirations for Residents of Proserpina Park. It took til now for me to connect the dots that the podcast follows a group of meddling young adults, and a talking dog, solving mysteries. Also, the lion dogs are named Dio and Gi. I though maybe it was a JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure reference, but upon further inspection, it was a pun on D-O-G.

Anyway, the Aos Si aren’t the kind of fairies who have tea parties in the garden. These are the original, darker and wilder, fairies from Celtic Mythology. In Ireland, the Tuatha Dé Danann were the pre-Christian gods, but got reimagined as mere spirits following Christianization. Albeit, very powerful ones. Think, the forces of nature given physical form. It isn’t that Aos Si don’t have any morality, but their morality is utterly incomprehensible to humans. So, they’re kind of like creatures H.P. Lovecraft might have dreamed up.

So, Sam was cursed to not hear the creatures, and Jessica can’t see them. See no evil, hear no evil, where’s speak no evil? To explain that, we have to delve into another revelation: Sam is gay. He was worried that Alina had a crush on him, but turns out she’s asexual and/or aromatic. Well, Drew says that Alina is the type to look, but not touch. We also have to assume that Alina probably has ADHD, given how impulsive and easily distracted she tends to be. Ah, but there was a special someone in Sam’s life. Jun’s name is short for Junpei. I bring this up because he has a twin brother named Junichi, who used to be Sam’s boyfriend. Unfortunately, Junichi was cursed to not speak of the creatures. This manifested as him losing his memories, and turning sickly. This is why Sam has such a strong air of melancholy about him.

But what did Jessica, Sam, and Junichi do that brought this curse upon them? It involved a new creature. A creature even newer than Slenderman, but who could it be? I was spinning my wheels trying to figure it out, but it was a fool’s errand. I would have never guessed the answer, because the creature is one that Jessica, Sam, and Junichi created themselves. From what little we see, it appears to be some sort of shapeshifter, and very powerful. This seems to confirm the theory I had that the creatures pop into existence ex-nihilo because people believe in them hard enough. It reminds me a bit of the concept of the tulpa from Tibetan Buddhism.

I really liked the scene where Alina pleads with Sam that he doesn’t have to go it alone anymore. It tied in nicely with this season’s theme about the importance of friendship. It also demonstrated their development as characters. Alina doesn’t just view Sam as another mystery to solve, or a ticket to an adventure. She now genuinely values him as a friend. Similarly, Sam takes steps towards moving beyond his past. He isn’t completely healed, and there’s still trials ahead, but being about to trust Alina and her friends is a major step forward for him.

Yeah, the whole power of friendship trope might be a bit cliché, and some would say overdone. But you know what? This season of Residents of Proserpina Park pulled it off really well. Ultimately, tropes are tools, and can be done well if handled by a skilled writer. Fortunately, Angela Yih was more than up to the task.

No theorizing from me this time around. I have absolutely no clue where plot is heading, but I can’t wait to find out. This season of Residents of Proserpina Park was something really special. And, you know, not just because I was in it. Several members of the cast received character development, we got to meet the tricksters of the park, we got some serious revelations. We also learned about the importance of friendship, but in a way that felt organic, and was never heavy-handed. There are bright days ahead for Residents of Proserpina Park, and I can’t wait to visit again.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.