The Audio File: Margaritas & Donuts

One of the great things about audio drama is that I get to explore different genres I might not have sought out in other mediums. For example, romantic comedies don't tend to be very high on list of genres I'd normally seek out, but I have experienced many great rom-coms audio dramas. That includes the show we're taking a look at today. We're taking a look at Margaritas & Donuts.

Margaritas & Donuts follows a woman named Josephine. She's a successful pediatrician from Nashville, Tennessee. Life is overall good, but she just hasn't found Mr. Right yet. That all changes when she meets Malik. He's charming, funny, and a gentleman. He's also an ophthalmologist who has just moved into the office across from Josephine. Could he be the one Josephine has been searching for? The podcast follows Josephine and Malik as they go on various dates and get to know each other better.

I follow a lot of audio drama related accounts over on Twitter, as you might imagine. I first became aware of Margaritas & Donuts when one of the accounts, I forget which, retweeted some tweets from BlackAudioDramasExist. As their name suggest, they are dedicated to promoting audio drama produced by black creators. Though, I initially misread the name as BlackAudioDramaSexist. I took a quick look at it. The premise seemed potentially interesting, and it was only six episode long, clocking in at about two hours. So, I decided to give it a try, and it was love at first listen.

I liked how Margaritas & Donuts had a very down to earth feel to it, but was also fun and entertaining. It never felt like I was listening to the story of two overly quirky and impossibly attractive people who could only be falling in love in the magical land of Hollywood. Well, obviously, there is no visual component to audio dramas, beyond the occasional bit of character art, but Josephine and Malik felt like two real people who were letting us in on their love story.

Josephine struggles with the fact that she is still dating into forties. I can relate to that. Now, shocking as I'm sure this will be to many of you, I am not, nor have I ever been, a black woman. However, as of this writing, it is only a few weeks from my twenty-eighth birthday, and I'm still single. My birthday is New Year's Eve, for those wondering. Someday I think, "Shit, my parents were already engaged when they were my age!" I often worry that I might wind up having to date well into my forties. As you can see from how frequently I post these reviews, I'm not exactly a social butterfly. Still, if Josephine can find love, perhaps there is hope for me yet.

Josephine's best friend Katrina is a notable third primary character in the audio drama. She serves as the Greek Chorus, in that she comments on Josephine and Malik's romance, and encourages Josephine to fully commit to a relationship with Malik. Katrina specifically describes Malik as a unicorn, which the other characters, even Malik himself, eventually take up. That is, he's a charming, handsome, educated, financially stable black man who has his life together, and he's still on the market. Katrina has a husband named Ron and has two daughters named Daphne and Lucy, all of whom make minor appearances throughout the audio drama.

Now, you're probably wondering how margaritas and donuts factor into this. Well, Josephine and Malik's first so-of-kinda date is to the local coffee shop, which produces fresh donuts on certain days of the week. Malik's personal favorite are sour cream donuts. At first, I thought he'd gone crazy. Was the icing made of sour cream? But then I looked it up and apparently sour cream is added to the dough before baking. Okay, not as crazy as I was thinking. And yes, Josephine and Malik do have margaritas on their first official date. The podcast ran a promotional deal with an actual donut shop in Nashville. I'd always get very excited when I'd hear those ads, but then I'd remember that it only applied to Nashville residents. Though, they did eventually offer a deal for listeners outside of Nashville.

We have audio dramas that deal with heavy topics relating to the black experience; Harlem Queen and Bronzeville are two that immediately spring to mind. There is definitely a place for these sorts of shows, but I also think that it is equally important to get more black representation in more lighthearted fare. I maintain that one of the best examples of diversity in media is the original Magic School Bus. Just hear me out, it features a diverse cast of characters, but it never draws attention to this fact. It is just a normal accepted part of how Ms. Frizzle' class works. The same, I think, can be said of Margaritas & Donuts. It has a predominately black cast, but it never draws attention to this fact, or feels that need to justify it. I can't remember that last time I saw a romantic comedy with black leads; it is good that Margaritas & Donuts is being the change it wants to see in the world.

For what is, I would assume, a first attempt at audio drama, Margaritas & Donuts is quite well-written and well-acted. I do hope that series creator Faith McQuinn try's her hand at more audio drama someday. If this podcast is anything to go off of, we can expect great things from her in the future. The entire voice acting team gave outstanding performances, and I loved the little bits of jazzy piano music at the beginning and end of each episode.

Okay, I've put it off for as long as I could. We need to discuss some spoilers. So, if you don't want any of that, turn back now.

Last chance, you sure you want to continue?

Well, okay, if you're still here, let's get into it.

So, Josephine begins to suspect that Malik just might be a little too good to be true. I began to ponder the possibilities myself. There was always something that seemed slightly off about the way Malik spoke. I wondered if perhaps it would turn out that he had Asperger's or some other form of high-functioning autism. But no, that ultimately wasn't the case. Obviously, it wouldn't be anything too crazy. Malik wasn't going to turn out to be a serial killer, or a space alien, or anything like that. He also probably wasn't going to turn out to be gay, unless he was exceptionally good at faking attraction to Josephine. What could it be?

On the surface, Malik is a charming, handsome gentleman with a great job, and who has his life together. Beneath the surface...that's exactly what he is. The issue is actually with Josephine. She used to have a fiancé named Eddie, and he was basically perfect...up until he cheated on her. Oh, Eddie tried to break off the affair after he and Josephine got engaged...but then his mistress got pregnant, and he couldn't stand the idea of not being part of his new daughter's life. Well, I guess I ought to give him points for taking responsibility for his actions. Of course, that's all rather mitigated by the fact that he shouldn't have been having affairs in the first place.

Naturally, this had a big impact on Josephine, and made her wary of men who seem too good to be true. Thankfully, Josephine gets over this by realizing that Malik has numerous small flaws and imperfections. For example, pancakes are the only thing he can cook with competence. Really, Malik, you couldn't have used as a basis for figuring out how to cook eggs? But, if his flaws make Josephine happy, I guess that's what matters in the end.

The main show is followed by a special bonus episode that gives an update on the lives of the characters. Specifically, how they are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. I thought it was a very nice episode, and it was good to get to visit the characters again, and see how they were doing. Like I said, I do hope Faith McQuinn write more audio dramas someday. Hey, I'm not the target audience for Margaritas & Donuts and I loved it to pieces. That alone should speak to her talent as a writer.

Well, I don't think there is much more for me to add. Margaritas & Donuts is an excellent romantic comedy with a predominately black cast. It is cute, fun, and I can't recommend it enough. Listen today, you'll be glad that you did.

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

Visual Novel Review: 1-800-SUPER

Today we're going to do something a little different. In the past, I've been asked to review audio dramas, but this is the first visual novel/video game I've been asked to review. Well, it's also sort of an audio drama, but we'll get into that soon enough. All of that is to say that we'll be taking a look at 1-800-SUPER. 

1-800-SUPER takes place in the moderately nearish future of 2056. You have recently been hired by a hotline for superheroes and supervillains. You got hired thanks to your stunning, though typo filled, application...and because nobody else applied. The hotline has been redirected to your cellphone. You will help guide the heroes and villains. However, you must also mind the balance between good and evil. Maxing out the meter on either end will result in bad things. If there is too much good, then the city will be turn into a surveillance police state where the superheroes rule as autocratic dictators. If, on the other hand, there is too much evil, then the city will descend into anarchy, and the villains will have free reign. Each choice you make will impact the balance, so choose wisely. 

I was approached to review 1-800-SUPER by Markus Witzlhofer. He contacted me on behalf of Pangolin Park; a small indie company based in Berlin. They had come out with an interactive audio drama game, and were wondering if I'd be up for reviewing it. He also mentioned that the team were all fans of my blog. As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of interactive media, especially Choose Your Own Adventure-type games. Adding an audio component seemed like the next logical step for interactive media. I happily said yes, and Markus sent me a free download code. The game is $2.99 for the rest of you, but honestly, I'd say that's a fair price for the quality and replay potential of this game. 

I've already talked about the general mechanics of the gameplay, but let's talk specifics. This is a mobile game available from the App Store. The home screen of the game looks like the interface of an iPhone. You have an email app where the heroes and villains will send you emails about how your advice turned out. You'll also get news emails if the heroes or villains caused collateral damage as a result of your advice. I should mention that the amount of collateral damage you cause doesn't affect anything, other than pushing your meter more towards the evil side. You'll also get emails from Mr. Souls, your hotline mentor. He'll give you tips and tricks to help you out. 

There's a notes app that gives basic information on each of the heroes and villains you encounter; their names, strengths, weakness, archenemies, and their mental diagnosis. Be sure you read all of this and keep it in mind; it will be important later in the game. There's a music app so you can listen to some music while you work and wait for calls. You also have a Twixta, the in-universe equivalent of Twitter, app. It lets you keep tabs on the various heroes and villains, even ones who don't call you. It also helps you influence the balance between good and evil. You can like or thumbs down tweets. Like three tweets that lean good, or dislike three that lean evil, let's you move the meter slightly towards good. Doing the reverse tips the meter slightly towards evil. You can even do a combination of liking and disliking as long as you get three tweets that lean in the same direction. 

Finally, there is the meditation app. Just press it, if you don't have anything better to do, and the next thing you know you'll be receiving a call. Otherwise, you'll get calls at random while you do stuff and wait around; though usually you don't have to wait long. 

Okay, now let's discuss the story itself. There are two distinct aspects to the story. First, there's the main plotline involving Ear. He's blind, but his superhearing more than makes up for that. He's a hero, but isn't above using harsh tactics and roughing up is opponents, so I guess that makes him an antihero. He's the first hero you help and the only hero you help multiple times. The main plot with Ear is kicked off when another hero named Scarab is murdered. He's a hero who has the power to grant good luck to other people, but can't bring any luck to himself. In fact, he's been plagued by terrible luck his entire life, and is living on the street when he gives you a call. It only just now occurred to me that it's pretty weird that he was able to call me despite being homeless. Did payphones make a comeback by 2056? I mean, I guess he could have asked to borrow someone's cellphone. In the grand scheme of things, I suppose it isn't important. 

Scarab and Ear grew up in the same orphanage, and Ear considers Scarab his oldest and closest friend. Scarab's death hits Ear hard, and he makes it his personal vendetta to find Scarab's killers and bring them to justice. You have the option to tell him to work alone or team up with other heroes, but this doesn't affect the plot of Ear's storyline. As a side note, sometimes the option you get for answers aren't good answer vs evil answer, but polite answer vs jerk answer. I could never pick the jerk answers with Scarab. He's such a nice guy, despite everything he's been through, and I just felt so sorry for him. That was especially bad from my second play-though onwards, because I knew what was going to happen to him, no matter what I did. And apparently he's the third person to wield the power of the Scarab. Apparently it passes between individuals, though he has yet to find a successor. Actually, looking back now, certain bit of dialogue he gives suggest he knew his time on this mortal coil was about to expire. I wish there had been an option to somehow give him a hug. 

We'll get back to Ear in a minute. For now, let's talk about the other characters. We'll start with the ones that are the most important later in the game. Why is this? Well, let's wait until the spoiler section for that. For now, I'd like to take a moment to praise the artwork and character design. The artwork looks like something out of a professional comic book. It's just static images, no animation, but very well drawn static images. One aspect that I particularly like is that the characters all feel genuinely original. They aren't just thinly-veiled versions of pre-existing superheroes and supervillains. Well, for the most part anyway. They feel like original organically created characters with their own backstories and personalities. 

Also, the voice acting is absolutely phenomenal. I'm not familiar with any of the voice actors, though a few, such as Ear, sounded somewhat familiar, just can't think why that is. Anyway, though I'm not familiar with the voice actors, they all did excellent jobs. I see bright voice acting futures for them all. Despite the game being designed by a German company, the voice actors are all American. I suppose that's fitting, as many have noted that superheroes are something of a uniquely American phenomenon. You don't really see superheroes from other countries unless they're consciously modeled off of American superheroes. The only exception to that rule I've encountered is Japan, where you have stuff like Super Sentai/Power Rangers, Sailor Moon, and various mecha series. 

I've always wondered why Europe never really developed its own superheroes. You could argue that many heroes of Victorian penny dreadfuls were proto-superheroes of a type. My guess is that the cynicism that resulted from enduring two world wars soured European readers on the idea of superheroes. Britain tried to produce superhero comics in the 1960s, but they quickly fizzled out. France has a very robust comic book industry in every genre but superheroes. It's interesting to speculate, but we're getting off-topic. 

Our first hero of note is Mister Shine & Sparkle. He's got a power set and costume evocative of Superman, but couldn't be more different in terms of personality. He's an arrogant showboating prima donna who cares more about his social media following than actually saving people. There are a few timed decisions throughout the game, and he's one of them. You have to decide if you want him to put down the phone and be a hero, or use his current crisis as an opportunity for streaming to his followers 

The next notable hero is Blood Sister. She's a vampire, but uses her powers to fight crime. Though she's constantly having to fight the urge to give into her primal instincts. You'll have to decide if you should let her take a bite of the delivery boy. She claims to have ordered a rare steak, but if you do encourage her bite the delivery boy, you'll get an email from the local pizzeria about how they have a job opening due to one of their delivery boys mysterious disappearing. Maybe it was a fancy pizzeria that also offers steak? Or maybe the delivery boy was struggling to make ends meet and was working for multiple restaurants? Or maybe "rare steak" was a euphemism. Though, if you do encourage Blood Sister to bite the delivery boy, the end credits will mention that a pair of vampire hunter named Van H. and Simon B. are sharpening their stakes. I guess Buffy S. had prior engagements. 

Interestingly, she's one of the only heroes with more than two potential endings to her call. You can tell her to leave the delivery boy alone, tell her to bite him, or tell her to rob a blood bank instead. Though, only tells her to note bite the delivery boy, and nothing else, results in Blood Sister leaning to controlling during ending during the credits. More about the credits in a bit. 

Our third person of note is Dr. Know How. Imagine Tony Stark, only he's a villain rather than a hero, and that's Dr. Know How. He's got the most options, out of all the characters, for how his call turns out. Depending on which way you tell him to drive his car he'll encounter either Sakura Flame or Pool Boy. You can help him get away from Pool Boy by converting his car to flight mode and flying to the Moon, or by running over Sakura Flame. Alternatively, you can have him try to reason with the heroes. Sakura Flame will torch him, but getting covered in third degree burns will convince Dr. Know How to turn his life around and use his inventions for good. 

If he confronts Pool Boy, he will drown...and then turn his life around and use his inventions for good. Uh, how could he turn his life around if he's dead? That is particularly odd given that Dr. Know How has three possible ending for the credits; confronting Pool Boy or Sakura Flame being the only option that lead to the same outcome. Seems like there was lack of proofreading during the script writing. But let us move along. 

Fast Justice doesn't have superpowers, but that doesn't stop him from enacting justice fighting against the criminal underworld. If only he weren't complete and utterly insane. I got some Kick-Ass vibes from Fast Justice. He certainly looks like something out of a Mark Miller comic. Fast Justice does make at least some good points. He's right that Mr. Shine & Sparkle probably shouldn't be considered a hero purely because he has superpowers. Unfortunately, Fast Justice being completely batshit crazy, and having a completely black and white outlook on life, undermines these points. You know, now that I think about it, in terms of mentality he isn't too different than Rorschach from Watchmen. 

Alpha Nukleus is some sort of cosmic entity who has chosen to take human form. This hasn't helped him connect with humanity. In fact, he feels lonely and isolated, because he feels nobody can truly understand him. He's decided to destroy his human shell, which will have the nasty side effect of irradiating millions of people. You must decide if you let him go through with it, or tell the other heroes to stop him. I recall a hero from Astro City, named Atomicus, who was somewhat similar Alpha Nukleus. Not sure if it was intention or coincidence, but if the former, good on the team behind this game. Astro City is an awesome comic book series; I can't recommend it enough. 

On one play through, I think the game glitched and I got a call from Alpha Nukleus before Ear made his first call. I told him to break his shell, as I'd already picked the other option, and I was curious what would happen. Million were bathed in radiation, but Mr. Souls sent me an email congratulating me on a fantastic first day, as he usually does after Ear calls for the first time. I repeat, millions of people received massive radiation exposer because of me, probably fatally so, and Mr. Souls considered that a good first day. Well, he did say it was less about right vs wrong, and more about keeping the balance. It may have been a glitch, but was a damn hilarious glitch. 

Imagine Cthulhu, only he's an evil business mogul, and that pretty much Vlad Xthul. He wants to expand his business empire, but is having trouble navigating modern social mores. Specifically, he wants to knockout the competition, namely Dr. Know How. You can tell him to either buyout the company, or have him break Dr. Know How's leg. If you pick the first, it will encourage Vlad Xthul to go into politics, and he will be elected president of the Atlantic Union...which is a thing by 2056. I'm guessing it's a union of North America and Europe. Of course, as Ear notes, he can't be much worse than the politicians they already have. 

Our last person of note among the really significant characters is Luzida. She has the power to enter people's dreams. Lately, however, she's been plagued by dark visions ever time she goes to sleep. She tried to stay awake as long as possible, and the waters look so inviting. No matter how many times I played this game, I could never tell Luzida to go in the water. I just felt so bad for her, and I couldn't coerce her into potentially committing suicide. I know that seems odd, given that I encouraged Alpha Nukleus and Sakura Flame to kill millions of people just to see what would happen. Well, you know what they say; one is a tragedy, a million is a statistic. And in my defense, the game doesn't try very hard to make you care about killing that many people. Luzida winds up teaming up with Ear later in the game. This will be important later on. 

Okay, those are all the characters who will be important later in the game. As such, they're the ones you are mostly likely to encounter, though you won't get all of them in one play though. We will discuss why this is in the spoilers section. Oh, but we aren't done talking heroes and villains just yet. This next batch are mostly just there to help you adjust your karma meter, but they're still pretty fascinating in their own right. 

First up is Sakura Flame. We've already briefly discussed her, but her issue is that the other heroes give her no respect. The supervillain Glaze has frozen the city's pipes, and poor Sakura Flame has to thaw them. She's planning on getting revenge on the other heroes by "accidentally" blowing up an oil refinery while she tries to take down Glaze. As previously mentioned, should you encourage her to do so, millions will die in the explosion. Personally, I'm still surprised they have oil by 2056. Also, millions die in the explosion? Just how densely populated is this city? Interesting fact, Sakura Flame was not part or the original release of 1-800-SUPER, but was added in a later update. I'm also slightly confused by her name. I get the flame bit, but why sakura. She doesn't have pink hair, she isn't Japanese, and she doesn't have a cherry blossom motif. 

Glaze is also a character you can encounter. He is pretty much the living embodiment of cold. His mother was a glacier and his father was a sea of ice. However, as his power grows, the planet's ice caps shrink, and global warming certainly isn't helping matters. He wants to conquer Antarctica, but is it worth potentially sacrificing his parents? I wouldn't think it would be terribly hard to conquer Antarctica; nobody there but a few temporary scientists, and of course the penguins and leopard seals. Well, unless people have been establishing colonies in Antarctica by 2056. 

Timelooper is trying to get out of the hero business. She has the power to time travel and rewind time. However, every time she does this a miniature black hole opens shortly afterwards. They collapse before long, but they do cause collateral damage. She's on a flight to her new life, but wouldn't you know it, Dr. Know How has decided to bomb the plane. Will you encourage Timelooper to use her powers, despite the risk, or take a gamble on Mister Shine and Sparkle actually showing up to help? You can have Timelooper rewind time, stop Dr. Know How, but then a building gets sucked into a black hole. However, if you tell her to rewind time, wait to see what happens, which enviably puts you back at square one, and then call Mister Shine and Sparkle, it will be treated as though Timelooper never used her powers. 

Geist.app is an A.I. that is on the run, metaphorically speaking, from its creators. They fear it will turn evil, but Geist.app just wants to preserve its existence. You must decide if it should keep a low profile, or if it should defend itself by any means necessary, consequences be damned. I liked that Geist.app isn't depicted as evil; just scared, and trying to survive. And if you encourage it to keep a low profile it decides to optimize email speeds; that was nice of it. 

Maxwell's Hydra is a cyborg monster serpent, and Ear's sworn nemesis. At one point, Ear even calls you while he's fighting Maxwell's Hydra. Despite the fact that Maxwell's Hyrda gets killed at the end of this call, it can still call you later on. Yeah, this game has some issues with continuity. It can't talk, just roar, but you can still help it out. Give it advice on how to how to treat a sore through and it will turn tame, and fight on the side of the heroes. Dr. Know How will, essentially adopt it and give it regular oil changes. Of course, this end will imply that Dr. Know How turned good, even if your choices result in an ending where he remained a villain. 

You also occasionally get calls from people who aren't heroes or villains. Big Bang FM is a news station. They give you information about the happenings of the various heroes and villains. Most of it is irrelevant to the game, and most doesn't involve the heroes and villains you council. Still, some of the stories can be amusing. Speaking of amusing, you can also get people who call you by mistake. One person butt dials you. They don't actually say anything, no matter what you choose, so you can hang up on them without taking a penalty. You can also get a call from a guy who firmly believes that he has called the pizza shop. He will hang up, but you'll get an email from him about how he's leaving a very bad review for the pizza shop. Man, that dude had determination, I'll give him that. 

Okay, I think that should be everyone. Now we're going to be discussing the spoilers for the ending of the game. As such, turn back now if you don't want any of that. 

Last chance. You sure you want to continue?

Well, okay. If everyone who wants out is gone, let's get into it. 

So, Ear discovers a cult who worship Gallion, the Demon of Misfortune. Naturally, they weren't too keen on a good luck charm like Scarab. Turns out that Gallion has taken a human host. Nobody, not even the one hosting Gallion, knows who it is. With some help from Luzida, Ear tracks down the host of Gallion. It is someone the heroes completely trusted, and who had access to them at all times. 

So, who is this mysterious host...you are! There is no option but to kill yourself so that Gallion will die. If you can't do if yourself, Ear will help you out. At this point, Gallion will reveal itself to you. Gallion will quiz you on the six heroes and villains I mentioned at the start of this review. Get all or most of the questions correct and Gallion will be defeated. Well, after you shoot yourself in the head that is. 

Against all odd, you survive the whole shooting yourself in the head thing. I like to think that Ear is right, and that Scarab watching out for us from beyond the grave. You'll get a few more emails from Ear, and he will also send you a new music file. Press play on it, and the credits will begin. The credits begin by showing how all the heroes and villains you helped fared. 

Which endings are good, and which are bad, are a matter of personal perspective. I will say that some of them are counterintuitive. For example, if you let Alpha Nukleus shed his human shell, he'll find a heroine who actually understand him. Stopping him makes him turn hostile to the heroes, and it's clear he still has the capability to do it, and is just licking his wounds for now. Similarly, having Sakura Flame blow up the oil refinery, and kill millions of people, gets her the validation she craves. Convincing her not to causes her to get assigned to a penguin research station in Antarctica, though it is mentioned that she is content and happy. Oh, and this can happen even if you encourage Glaze to take control of Antarctica. Amusingly, even the guy who tried to order pizza gets an ending tell how he is doing. 

Mr. Souls ending always has him get promoted to managing a hotline for demigods. Is that hint about a potential future game. Because if so, that sounds like a totally awesome idea. You could have the callers be children of different god; and not just the Greco-Roman gods, you could also have children of the Egyptian, Norse, Japanese, Yoruba, Maya, Celtic, or any other pantheon. Trust me, there is a huge untapped market for a game like that. I will rally the Percy Jackson fandom in an instant if you guys are seriously going to make a game like that. But I'm getting off track again. 

You can still look around after the credits, though you won't get any more calls. You will still get emails from heroes and villains remarking on how boring everything is now. I guess it's the game going "You're still here? The game is over, go home." Ear will even decide to leave the city as he feels it no longer needs him. Of course, you can replay the game as you wish. I will say that, after about five or six play throughs, I'd experienced pretty much everything there was to be experienced. 

Okay, so overall I greatly enjoy this game, but are there any improvements I would suggest? Well, as I've noted, there are several continuity errors that get downright nonsensical at times. Granted, it didn't bother me too much, but I think it would feel more like the choices had actual consequence if this was fixed. It might also be nice if there were more storylines than just the main one with Ear. Maybe there could be certain events or choices that triggered different storylines. It would add to the replay value of the game. I do hope future updates add more characters, as there are several mentioned in pass, or on Twixta that sound potentially interesting. 

Also, despite the setting supposedly being dystopian, I didn't really see it. Well, other than the whole irradiating millions of people being considered a good first day thing. Yeah, there is collateral damage from fights between heroes and villains, but that hardly makes things dystopian. 

Still, overall these are minor criticisms. I was very impressed with 1-800-SUPER, and I had a lot of fun playing it. I'd love to see the world of this game expanded upon either in updates or maybe in a sequel game. And I'd just like to reiterate that you guys really should give thought to making a demigod hotline game. I'm just saying, huge untapped market to cash in on. But getting back on topic, I strongly recommend you download 1-800-SUPER today. Believe me, you will be glad that you did. 

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

Visual Novel Review: 80 Days

 When I was a kid, I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books. I loved exploring stories where I got to steer the plot, with varying degrees of success. The illustrations that would occur throughout the books was a nice touch too. Thankfully, there plenty of great examples of interactive fiction that are aimed at older audiences. Many video games have successfully adapted the Chose Your Own Adventure format to electronic form. Where I am going with all of this. Today, we're going to take a look at one of the best examples of interactive fiction I've seen in quite some time. We're taking a look at 80 Days.

80 Days is an adaption of Jules Vernes' classic novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Our story begins in 1872. Passepartout is a French valet recently hired by British gentlemen Phileas Fogg. Fogg has recently taken a bet from his gentlemen's club that he must make it around the world in no more than eighty days. Ah, but there is a twist. You see, this isn't out Victorian era. Rather, it is a steampunk alternate history. Passepartout and Fogg much make their way across this steampunk world using several strange, exotic, and sometimes mundane, modes of transportation. How will they accomplish this? What routes will they take? That's all up to you. The choice is yours, so choose wisely.

I was first introduced to Around the World in Eighty Days when I saw Disney's 2004 adaption starring Steve Coogan and Jackie Chan. I think it was that film which indirectly lead to my interest in steampunk. There actually wasn't that much in the way of steampunk in the film itself, though Fogg was a bumbling inventor, rather than a rich gentleman like in the novel. The film deviates a bit from the novel, often for comedy. Eventually, I did seek out the original novel, which is easily my favorite of Verne's work. So, when I saw this game, I knew I just had to buy it.

Now, let's briefly discuss terminology and classification. After mulling it over I decided to classify 80 Days as a video game, but me being me, I feel that's a bit too simple. More broadly, it falls under the umbrella of Interactive Fiction. As the name suggests, Interactive Fiction is any fictional narrative medium influenced by the choices of the reader/player. The exact degree of interactivity varies. On the high end, you have stuff like the Ace Attorney games; not only do you have different dialogue options, but you must collect evidence and call-out false statements in court. On the low end, you have certain types of Japanese Visual Novels, where the story is pretty linear, and the choices don't really matter, or are for purely aesthetic stuff.

 I would say there is a fair bit of genuine choice and strategizing involved in 80 Days. You have to determine the best route first and foremost. You are presented with options as soon as you arrive at a new city, but you can also quite new routs options by purchasing travel schedules. You also have to watch your budget. Different modes of transportation charge different rates. You also have to spend money on hotels if you stay overnight in a city. You do start off with money, and there are ways to gain more as you go. Each stop has a marketplace where items can be purchased and sold. How much each item sells for depends on where you are. Fortunately, the game does tell you where you can get the most for each item. The items are also important because they affect Fogg's health. Fogg takes health damage no matter what you travel in, but carrying certain items in your suitcase help negate this damage. You can also add to his health by attending to his needs before or during travel. You can also get money by going to the bank, but be careful, because Fogg isn't made out of money, and it will run out if you make too many bank trips. You can earn a bit of money by polishing shoes at hotels. Hey, small drops fill the bucket.

 You care the items with you in a suitcase, and you can purchase more if you run out of room. However, more suitcases will increase the cost of travel, and certain modes of travel limit the amount of luggage you can take with you. Fogg will provide commentary depending on what you choose to carry with you. For example, if you chose to bring a gun at the start, and then purchase another one, Fogg will inquire about just how many guns you think you'll need. If you sell the altimeter, Fogg will inquire about what you've done with his grandfather's altimeter. If you purchase a mirror, Fogg will remark about how it is occupying your attention quite a bit as of late.

Your choices have consequences beyond advancing the story. How you interact with Fogg determines how he will view you. Serve him well, and he will consider you a truly worthy companion that any gentleman would be lucky to have at his side. There are also several characters you have the option of romancing. Oh, and Passepartout is bisexual, so you can romance women or men without issue. Play your cards right, and you can even romance Fogg, but that takes a bit of skill.

 The artwork is very well done. You have a three-dimensional globe that tracks your progress. Your latest mode of transport, as well as famous buildings from the cities you visit, are represented as stylized black and white drawings set against color backdrops. The day-night cycle is also represented in shifts in background color. You get the text of the story when you are embarking on a new leg of your journey, when you arrive at your destination, and if you chose to stay the night in a city. And it is fairly substantial text; we're talking multiple paragraphs. Upon successfully completing the journey the route you took will be highlighted on the globe, and you'll get stats about how many places you visited.

 One of the biggest draws of 80 Days is the way that it explores steampunk outside of Europe. Many nations were able to successfully avoid colonization, or kicked out their colonizers. Each nation also has its own unique twist on steampunk technology. You can ride anhinga, a type of fast bird-like airship, in South America and the Caribbean. You can take a mechanical elephant through the mountains of Northern India. You can cross the Pacific Ocean in a steamship that can also turn into a submarine. You can even visit Haiti and see the unique steam-powered cyborg animals they utilize. Well, that and the automatons made out of wood and bone, which are powered by blood.

 Oh, and did I mention that Haiti is a major power in this world? Well, they are, though they're also secretive and highly protective of their steam-powered cyborg animals. In fact, it was Haiti, with assistance from France, that built the Panama Canal in the world of 80 Days. But that's not the only notable change. The Zulu have formed a federation in Southern Africa to resist British colonization. They've embraced steampunk technology thanks to the Artificers Guild, who we'll talk more about in a minute. They've kicked the British and Portuguese out of several parts of Southern Africa; though some areas of European settlement, such as the Orange Free State, still remain. Meanwhile, Madagascar has also managed to remain independent thanks to embracing steampunk technology. Madagascar is also a hotbed of Artificer activity. There also seem to be more gender equality than in our world’s Victorian era. We see numerous women as engineers, captains, and in positions of authority. True, some do mention having to deal with sexism, but its all very progressive given the time period.  

The Artificers Guild is an international organization of scientists, engineers, and inventors dedicated to spreading steampunk technology throughout the world. Their officially language is Turkish, as they claim to have been founded in Turkey, and their members wear bronze flowers. Officially, they're politically neutral, but they do have influence in pretty much all nations. Whether or not that's a good thing is up to you to decide. People of all nations, except the Austro-Hungarian empire, are allowed to join. As you can imagine, the nations of the world are sharply divided in their views of the Artificers.

There are also several secret locations that require you to do special things to find them. For example, there is a flying First Nations city in Canada named Kahwoka Othunwe. Go to either Calgary or Regina and looked for a Cree boy. If you help him, you'll get a mysterious device. After that, head to Toronto. Along the way some Lakota will find you and take you to Kahwoka Othunwe. However, if you're carrying whiskey the council will decide you a whiskey trader, and you'll have to escape on a gyrocopter. If you don't have whisky, you'll get to stay, and will be dropped off in Quebec City.

 Yeah, having certain items in your inventory affects how things go. Sometimes you are given items when chatting with other characters, but this can backfire on you. For example, can be given a copy of Communist Manifesto in Moscow. However, if you have it with you while you're in Vladivostok, you will be arrested and waste four days in prison. I learned that the hard way; I would have won that play-through if I hadn't gotten stuck in Vladivostok. Then again, you'll get arrested anyway if you stay overnight in Vladivostok. The Russians are paranoid about British travelers due to The Great Game. The only way to prevent this is to get travelers papers by stoping at Omsk. And even then, if you got involved in the demonstration in St. Petersburg, they won't mean anything. Personally, I don't find it worth the hassle. My advice, at the Trans-Siberian Railway all the way to Karimskaya. Then take the Trans-Manchurian Railway to either Pyongyang or Beijing, and from there get on a ship to Yokohama.

Another hidden location can be found if you chose you go around the North Pole. Yes, circumnavigating the pole is considered a valid route. Get far enough north and you'll join the crew or an ice walker. Be sure to get into their good graces, because eventually the walker will crash, and Fogg's health will take a serious hit. You need to keep him alive until you are rescued by members of Qausuittuq, a hidden city of Arctic indigenous peoples. Think kind of like Wakanda from Black Panther, but steampunk and the culture derives from the native peoples of the Arctic. You can explore a bit, but the council will decide you must stay in Qausuittuq forever, because of the whole secrecy thing. Thankfully, you can find an airship hanger, which will take you to either Winnipeg or Gastown (Vancouver).

Obviously, there are many different routes you can take. This creates quite a bit of replay potential. The wide variety of destinations, and the choices they present, also adds to the replay value. If you chose to follow the route of the original novel, the events will be fairly faithful to it, steampunk elements notwithstanding. Well, it will be depending on your choices. That said, there are some slight deviations. In the novel, when Fogg and Passepartout are in India they save a woman named Aodha from sati, aka Hindu wife burning. She joins them on the rest of their journey, and eventually becomes Fogg's love interest. In the game, however, she's the leader of an anti-British rebellion in India. As such, she stays in India.

If you go to Florida, you can encounter Michael Ardan from the novel From the Earth to the Moon also by Verne. You can go from a rocket ride, but if you do that Fogg will be killed, and potentially you too if you make the wrong choices. You can continue the journey alone, and you will win if you return to London. Of course, you'll also have to live with the guilt that Fogg died because of you. So you know, win some, lose some.

You'll encounter Inspector Fix in Singapore and Hong Kong. He'll try to convince you that Fogg is a criminal up to no good. Be careful about meeting him in the Hong Kong opium den, because next thing you know you'll be on a airship bound for Yokohama. Then you'll have to perform at a Japanese circus until Fogg finds you. Though, this is all faithful to the novel. Well, mostly. In the novel, Fogg didn't consider balloon travel to be trustworthy. Ironically, more than a few adaptions of the book have Passepartout and Fogg riding in a balloon on the cover. It is possible that the publishers get it confused with one of Verne's other novels, Five Weeks in a Balloon. Of you return to London via Lisbon you may encounter another British gentleman traveling around the world with his Prussian assistant. It makes for an amusing encounter.

 I'm not the only one who thinks 80 Days is amazing. It has won numerous awards. Frankly, it would be easier to list the awards this game hasn't won. And if you're curious about tips and tricks be sure to check out the game's wikia.

I've played 80 Day many times, and there's still plenty of achievements I'm chasing. This is an absolutely fantastic game and I can't recommend it enough. Download it today, you will be so glad that you did. 80 Days is available for Apple, Android, PC, Nintendo Switch, and is available on Steam.

Well, I think that's enough from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: Timestorm: Season 2

 I've been catching up with a lot of audio dramas now that they have their second seasons out in full. There really isn't much more for me to add here, so let's jump right to the point. We're taking a look at season two of Timestorm.

First, a brief recap. Timestorm follows a pair of twins from Newark, New Jersey named Alexa and Beni Ventura. They go on time travel adventures, usually throughout the history of Puerto Rico, to recover artifacts for their cousin Horacio and his A.I. friend Atabay. Horacio is halfway between life and death in a region outside of time and space called a Timestorm. This season, Alexa and Beni are going to take part in a multistage quest to recover the beat of three motherlands. Meanwhile, in the present day, they must uncover the identity of the mysterious author of the comic Take Back Time.

Timestorm wowed me with an amazing first season, and I was eagerly awaiting season two. I must say, it more than delivered, and the show just keeps getting better. In fact, I'd say this season was even better than the first, which was already pretty great in its own right. Waiting a week between episode was a new experience, as last time I listened after the season was completed in its entirety. Still, it wasn't like it was a great burden or anything, and the consistent quality kept me eager for more.

Last season, the main theme was about women in Puerto Rican history, especially those who have been largely forgotten by history. This season, the main theme is about how Puerto Rican culture is the result of the mixing of African, European, and Indigenous culture. To this end, most of the time travel adventures this season take place outside of Puerto Rico. We get to see Senegal in 1810 and Spain in 1852. Africa tends to get ignored in time travel media; especially ones aimed at kids. As such, I was very happy that Alexa and Beni visited early 19th Century Senegal, and that we got to explore the richness of Senegalese culture. Although, when I saw that it was 1810, I got worried. The Transatlantic Slave Trade was in full swing in 1810, and I knew things were going to get back to Puerto Rico eventually. Would these new characters be captured as slaves? Well, everyone gets through the episode okay but...well, actually, let's put a pin in that for right now.

We didn't explore Spain as in-depth in the episode where Alexa and Beni visit it. Granted, we do get to meet Francisco Oller, a famous Puerto Rican painter who studied in Spain. We also meet Frederico Madrazo, a famous Spanish portrait artist, and Francisco's teacher. Still, we probably didn't explore Spanish culture as much because it would have been redundant. Spain, arguably, left the biggest impact on what would be Puerto Rican culture. Spanish is the dominate language in Puerto Rico, after all. Still, as this season makes clear, Africans and Tainos made fairly significant contributions to Puerto Rican culture of their own.

Speaking of which, remember last time when I said that I hoped we'd get an episode centered around the Taino people? Well, this season granted my wish to me. Not only that, but Alexa and Beni visit the Taino in 1488, a good five years before the Spanish arrived on the island. This means we get to see the Taino in their pre-contact prime. Taino are the native people of Puerto Rico. You might not have heard of the Taino, but you've probably used words from their language. The words hammock, canoe, and hurricane all have their roots in the Taino language. Hurricane is derived from an epitaph for the Taino goddess of storms. I found that interesting, because the Maya people of Central America have a storm god named Huracan. Though it is probably just coincidence, as the Taino storm goddess' proper name is Guabancex.

I also recently learned a new word: Boricua. It means a person of Puerto Rican ancestry, but who does not necessarily live in Puerto Rico. It derives from the word the Taino used to refer to the island, Borikén. So anyway, Alexa and Beni get to meet Aguay, who went on to become a great cacique, a type of chief. In fact, he was cacique when Spanish explorers first arrived in Puerto Rico in 1493. His real name was Agueybana, but he had a brother by the same name, who also appears in the episode. Timestorm got around this by splitting the name. Agueybana I is called simply Aguey, while his brother Agueybana II is called Bana. Aguey recounts the creation story from Taino Mythology to Alexa and Beni. I always love when less well-known mythologies get featured. This also meant we got mention of the supreme earth goddess Atabay, namesake of a certain snarky A.I.

We even get a short bonus episode set 1510. Bana is now the main cacique, and the Taino are uncertain about what the coming of the Spanish will bring. This is shortly after Ponce de Leon has visited the island. Yes, he who sought the fountain of youth. Ah, so is that where the city of Ponce got its name from?  There's a disclaimer at the start that, though it involves real people, the events of the episode are fictional. I thought it was a nice touch, and very much appreciated.

We also get more development in the Ventura Twins' present day lives. For example, we learn that Datu, the owner of the Taino Comics & Games Store, is apparently Filipino. We know this because he meant that his grandma is from Manila. I always assumed he was Boricua like the rest of the cast, but I guess I was wrong. To be fair, Filipinos are often called, with varying degrees of seriousness, often call Latinos who got lost and wound up in Asia. About one out of five Tagalong words come from Spanish, they eat flan, they're devout Roman Catholics. I'm just saying, a case could be made, but I digress.

More importantly, we meet Josie. She is Datu's boss, even though I think he owns the store...the chain of command was a bit unclear. Whatever the exact pecking order, she is his superior. More importantly, she has a magical tapestry that can transport people to the other Taino Comics & Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. There is a tapestry there connected to the store in Newark. How did Josie get this magical tapestry? Well, that's another thing we'll have to put a pin in for now.

We also learn the series is set in 2017. I always assumed there was no definitive date, but that works. That way, there series won't be impacted by any major world events, especially if the characters travel to the future at any point. Obviously, you don't want to make predictions, only to have them not turn out to happen. As of this writing, there is speculation about Puerto Rico finally becoming a state. Personally, I'm skeptical about this, given how many times it has been proposed, only for things to stay just as they have been, but you never know. Also, this explains why none of the characters make mention of things like wearing masks or social distancing.

We'll be getting into some potential spoilers in just a minute. For now, I'd like to talk about something I thought could have been done better. There's a mini episode where the twins are attending a music festival, which includes Afro-Puerto Rican music. So, Beni is playing on the drums and having a good time when some white guys walk up and say, basically, "that's sounds like slave music to me." And this really hurts Beni. Really now, that's the example of modern-day racism you're going to go with? Did the white boys perhaps return and call him doo-doo head while they were at it?

Every year at the high school I went to all the students had to watch a PSA video about stranger danger and how to not get molested on the Internet. It was a poorly made video from start to finish. It seemed to have been created under the assumption that kids of my generation has somehow never used the Internet before. Then there was the incredibly wooden acting, and the fact that they made the creepy adults so over the top they were basically saying "child molesters are so glaringly easy to spot you basically have to be trying to not notice them." Naturally, this elicited quite a few giggles from the students. The teachers naturally didn't take this well, and tried to shame everyone into behaving, to little effect. The point being, despite their good intentions, the crappy execution of the PSA video undermined the message. 

It is a disservice to your listeners to tackle topics like racism without fully committing to it. Do or do not, there is no try. Maybe that means writing uncomfortable scenes, but you know what else is uncomfortable, actual racism. You wouldn't even have to use any naughty words. You could just have the white boys pretend to be friendly, only for them to then say "Well, if you like black music so much, why don't you go back to Africa?!" I know it's a minor point, but it still bothered me. Especially in light of the stuff we're going to talk about in the spoiler section. I've lived in Louisiana my entire life, so I'm well aware of what actual racism looks like. I could help but think "Damn it, Dania! Real racist aren't that nice!" And if the issue is the actors feeling uncomfortable reading such lines, well, I charge three dollars per hour of production. No not really; I'd work for free if Timestorm actually offered me a role. In all seriousness, racism isn't a topic you can handle with kid gloves if you wanted to seriously tackle it.

On a much minor note, every episode ends with a reminder that Timestorm is produced on the traditional land of the Leni Lenape people. It didn't bother me,  but I feel there might be better ways to honor the native peoples of New Jersey. Perhaps have Alexa and Beni go back in time to visit the Lenape. The team has shown that they're more than capable of writing time travel episodes set outside of Puerto Rico. Our maybe have some Lenape characters in the present day. That would be good because it would show that Native Americans are a living breathing people and culture; not just a topic you read about in history books. I'm a big advocate of increased Native American representation in media.

Okay, now that we've got that out the way, it is time for the spoilers. If you don't want any of that, turn back now.

Last warning. You sure you want to continue?

Well okay, if everyone who wants off is gone, then let's dive into it.

Remember when I wondered if anyone the Ventura twins met in Senegal was going to get sold into slavery? Well, turns out I was right on the money with that one. Well, in one case anyway. Idrissa was captured and taken to Puerto Rico, where he was renamed Gabriel. Alexa and Beni meet him again in 1890. I don't think they said how old he was in 1810; my guess would be twenty-something, maybe late teens. If I'm right, then he'd be nearly 100 years old by 1890. Technically not impossible, but would still be rather unusual for a man who had to endure a life of hard physical labor. That would be especially true if he wound-up on a sugar plantation.

Sugar cane goes sour only one day after it is harvested. That means it has to be processed right away. The process of processing the sugar had a nasty tendency to result in hands getting chopped off. Oh, and it wasn't a question of maybe, this was a guarantee that someone would get maimed. As such, sugar plantation had large populations of slaves to supplement the workforce. That, and sugar was the oil of its day in terms of value. Sugar plantations were common across the Caribbean and Brazil. I bring this up because fourth-five percent of all slaves brought to the New World went to the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico. Fifty percent went to Brazil, and the remaining five percent went to the Untied States and the rest of mainland Latin America.

Idrissa has become a broken man from his life in bondage. The horror of slavery wasn't just the threat of physical violence. It was also the psychological horror that you could be taken from your loved ones at any moment, and that you would never see them again. Or perhaps you lost your loved ones because you were captured, stuffed onto a ship, and taken to a land you'd never even heard of before. Then, upon arrival, your captors do everything in their power to stamp out your culture, and force you to adopt their strange and alien culture.

And yet, despite all of this, Idrissa survived and started a family. But not just any family. Alexa and Beni do some research in the present day, and wouldn't you know it, Idrissa is their several times great-grandfather. If nothing else, they know his life's story, and thanks to time travel, he was able to pass on some of his traditional African culture to them. So, this means that even though he lost touch with his African roots, his culture will live on in future generations thanks to Alexa and Beni. In the end, the slavers lost, and Idrissa's struggles were not in vein. Though spare a thought for all the Idrissas who didn't get to have their stories told.

Alexa and Beni discovered this all partially thanks to an Ancestry.com type genealogy service. Strange that it wasn't actually the real thing. I'm pretty sure Ancestry does sponsorships, and that might help offset production costs. But I know that Timestorm is partially sponsored by The Corporation For Public Broadcasting, so maybe there are rules about that. Hmm, I guess that makes Timestorm is the closest thing to if PBS Kids were to make an audio drama. Molly of Denali doesn't count; because it was based on a pre-existing property. 

Speaking of family, now let's talk about Josie. Surprise! She's another long lost Ventura cousin. Also, Janelly finds out about what Alexa and Beni have been doing. Maybe this will means she and Datu will get to join the Venturas on future adventures. It would be nice to show that you don't have to be a blood relative of the Ventura family to have adventures. Now all we need is to get Sonya and Mr and Mrs. Ventura onboard, and the gang will all on the same page. Also, I now know what piraguas are. Sure, they sound like just a variation on snow cones/balls, but I'd still like to try them. Though, if I did have a magical tapestry that took me to San Juan and back again, I'd be making a beeline for the nearest mofongo restaurant. I haven't had any in years, and I still think about it often.

Well, I think that covers everything if importance. Season two of Timestorm builds upon the already excellent first season, and just keeps getting better. I can't wait to see what excitement and adventure future seasons bring. If you haven't listen to season one...you should probably do something about that, or else you'll be very confused. But if you have listened to season one, but have not listened to season two yet, do so today. You'll be glad that you did.

I think that's enough from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Alt-Hist File: The Phone Booth: Season 2

 Well, it looks like I'm going to be following up at lot of the shows I gave review to in the past. I've reviewed lots of season ones, now I get to review season twos. Usually, I'd add something more to open with, but I think we should just jump right into it. We're taking a look at season two of The Phone Booth.

First, a quick recap. The Phone Booth takes place in a world where ninety-nine percent of humanity has developed superpowers following an event in 2004 known as B-Day. The series follows investigative podcasters Joe Pollard as he travels across America to interview different people about how having superpowers has changed their lives. 

This season changes the format a bit. The Covid-19 Pandemic still happened in the world of The Phone Booth. As such, Joe can't travel around. Instead, he has people email their stories to him, and he reads them aloud, occasionally with some assistance. However, just because this season is a bit more barebones doesn't mean the stories pack any less of a punch.

The Phone Booth, like many audio dramas, was dealt a bad hand with regards to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Still, Keenan Ellis made it work to the best of his ability. He handled the narration for episodes with male protagonists, and he got Elizabeth Seely to narrate the episodes with female protagonists. The episodes from the first half of this season are purely narration, but the episodes from the second half include some sound effects. As previously mentioned, despite the limited working conditions, the stories pack quite a punch. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that they're easily on par with what we got in season one in terms of writing quality. Keenan certainly made the most of what he had to work with.

Okay, let's tackle the individual episodes. The episode numbering continues from last season, which ended on episode six. Our first episode is a two-parter. Episodes seven and eight are titled "Crossroads." Joe receives an email from Archibald Turn. He talks about the chaos immediately following B-Day. However, he also talks about how Nashville, Tennessee became the heart of a renewed music movement. The heart of this movement was a bar called Crossroads.

This season of The Phone Booth saw the introduction of two-part episodes. In fact, all but two episodes of this season are two-parters. Keenan has mentioned in the past that he had been writing the scripts of The Phone Booth for many years. I don't know how long this episode was planned. I bring this up because I thought that maybe music wasn't the best subject to start of the season given the reduced production capacity. In an ideal world, it would have been nice to hear some of the music, but I understand that Keenan was having to make the most of the hand he was dealt. Pretty sure none of us on the podcasting could have seen the pandemic coming. For what it's worth, I found the writing itself to be very compelling. I've mentioned in the past, Keenan is an excellent narrator. He was more than capable of carrying the episode on his own. Even without hearing the music, I had a very clear feeling of what it would sound like.

It was interesting to see how the entertainment industry was affected by B-Day. Though, on minor criticism I would have would be that I wouldn't have gone with Covid-19 happening in the world of The Phone Booth like it did in ours. I would have gone with something more fitting to the universe. Say, maybe some sort of new disease that mutated as a result of B-Day, or maybe someone with disease powers getting out of control. Still, that's just a fairly minor point.

Overall, the season starts out strong with a fairly good two-parter.

Episode nine is titled "Safe Space." Joe gets an email from a yoga instructor named Alice Kessler. When she was a child, she was happy and adventurous. Then she hit puberty and was struck by crippling anxiety and agoraphobia. She became a paranoid recluse and a shut-in as an adult. In fact, the highlight of her week was briefly chatting with the cute pizza delivery boy. Oh, but she got plenty of time to chat with him once B-Day happened.

The writing on this episode was very well-written, but it somewhat dismays me that I found the protagonist as relatable as I did. I've had my own dealing with anxiety and depression. The part where the pizza boy is the highlight of her week was also regrettably relatable. I liked how there's wasn't any trigger for Alice's anxiety, it just happened for no apparent reason. I found it interesting that Alice's power is to generate force field bubbles. There are several episodes of The Phone Booth where people's powers appeared to be luck of the draw more than anything. This episode seems to hint that people's personality plays at least some role in determining what powers they get. Alice wanted to retreat into her own little bubble, and B-Day gave her the power to literally do that.

On the other hand, perhaps it depends on what you happened to be doing when B-Day struck. Alice and pizza boy wound-up buried beneath the rubble of her apartment building, but survived because she created a force field in-time. Pizza boy got the ability to see in the dark, a fairly useful skill in such a situation. But there are other episodes, as we shall see, the suggest that powers really do just develop at random. In any event, it is nice to see that things worked out for Alice, and that's she's working on becoming a little more social.

All in all, another strong episode of The Phone Booth.

Episode ten is titled "Costume in the Closet." Joe gets an email from a man named Mason Demyer. He tells about what it what like to be a parent in the days following B-Day. He also discusses his short-lived stint as a superhero.

This was another very interesting episode. It showed that most people who got powers weren't in a rush become superheroes. Or if they did, they didn't stick to it very long. Let's use Mason as an example. He gained the ability to fly...and that's it. He's not any stronger or more durable than your average non-powered human. Sure, maybe he could drop somewhat heavy objects on people from above, but he really wouldn't be much use in a fight. Hey, at least Hawkman has a mace. There's also the fact that it can get pretty cold up in the sky, and a spandex suit probably won't provide you very much warmth. Mason found that out the hard way. It always amazes me, when I'm flying in an airplane, to think that the temperature outside the airplane in the negative degrees.

Then there's the fact that, though crime occurs regularly enough, you aren't going to come across a crime every time you go patrolling. In fact, most of the time patrolling would be rather boring. I worked student patrol my first year of college, so I speak from experience on this one. Still, Mason was able to find happiness even without being a superhero. And hey, his power is great for saving kites from trees.

An episode that has elements of deconstruction, but never gets too dark for its own good. Once again, an excellently crafted episode.

Episodes eleven and twelve are titled "Animals." Joe requests a message from a death row inmate named Jesse Dominski. By the time Joe got the letter, Jesse had been executed. She served as a field veterinarian in the Rocky Mountains in the years following B-Day. Her specialty was anitropes; people who mutated into human-animal hybrids following B-Day. Jesse recounts the story of uncovering an illegal anitrope poaching operation, and how this set off a series of events that landed her on death row.

I'd been hoping we'd get an episode about the human-animal hybrids, and now here we are. And it's a two-part episode at that. Throughout the episode there's a running question of just how human the anitropes are. Most people view them as just mindless animals without any shreds of humanity left. Jesse, however, maintained that they are still human, even if they have changed quite a bit. I'm inclined to agree, as there is evidence to support this view. My personal theory is that the anitropes retain their original memories and personalities, but have been reduced to animal-level in intelligence. Obviously, this means they can't form complex thoughts anymore, and often default to instincts. They're aggressive, but no worse than a wild animal would be if a human gets too close. I'd imagine most anitropes feel scared more than anything, and this, combined with their inability to form complex thoughts often leads them lash out and attack humans.

There is evidence within the episode that support's this. Jesse's sister became an anitrope following B-Day, and seems to have retained some of her memories and personality. Though, eventually she did get the urge to join an anitrope pack in the mountains. Apparently, anitropes are among the top ten most common powers following B-Day. Most character mention lots of people flying after B-Day, so we know flight is fairly common. I'd also imagine super strength is fairly common, as Jesse is the second character we've encountered with that power. I wonder what the other seven are. Also, I loved how Keenan included bits of ambient noise, particularly animal sounds, to help give a little something extra to this episode.

I sympathized with Jesse's perspective, but I could see where the other charters were coming from as well. Anitropes probably killed a lot of people following B-Day. It's also mentioned that there were a lot of executions of prisoners following B-Day. In some cases, it was because conventional prisons simply could hold them, or because they might start a riot, which would be even worse given that most of the other prisoners also have powers. The point being, the post B-Day world was a harsh and unforgiving place, and that often meant having to make tough calls. Though, I'm still with Jesse. If a human kills an anitrope, and it isn't in self-defense, it ought to be considered murder. I thought that the reveal of the poacher's identity was well-done, though I had my suspicions as the reveal got closer. I also thought the poacher's power was pretty ingenious. It is certainly sad that Jesse was executed for killing the poacher, but perhaps someday, history will vindicate her.

This was an episode I was hoping we'd see, and it certainly did not disappoint.

Episodes thirteen and fourteen are titled "Champ." Bishop Cline is widely considered to be the founding father of the United States of New England. However, he doesn't consider himself a hero, just a man. In fact, the way he tells it, his cousin Charlie was the real brains behind the new nation. He recounts his childhood with Charlie, and their hunts for the elusive cryptid Champ. He also tells of how he and Charlie forged a great, if flawed, nation out of the ashes of B-Day.

First of all, I wanted to clarify that Bishop is the guy's first name. He's not a clergyman. I was wondering how Keenan was going to top the last two-parter. As it turns out, quite well indeed. Last season, it was mentioned that America split into five nations following B-Day. The way things were described made it sound like America reunited, but this episode seems to indicate that America is still Balkanized. Though we did get hints of that last episode, where it was mentioned that the Rockies are considered the broader of civilized America. Everything west of the Rockies is apparently the Wild West reborn. Well, except for Los Angles, which is dominated by the hive-mind entity known as The Union.

In my younger day, I too fantasized about securing for cryptids, before I wised up to all that. Still, they are fun part of what I consider to be the modern-day mythology of America. Champ is a Loch Ness Monster style cryptid claimed to live in Lake Champlain. Bishop power is that his bones turned to iron. This would give more evidence toward the idea that powers develop at random. He was out on the lake with Charlie at the time; the last place you want to be with heavy iron bones, especially when you can't breathe underwater. And it does appear that each person only gets one power, so thank goodness Charlie got the boat ashore in time. On a related note, this episode does give evidence towards my theory of anitrope psychology. Bishop recalls seeing anitropes waiting for crossing signals and holding the door open for each other. This suggest they do retain their personalities and memories, if only in a limited capacity.

I liked how this episode showed how society rebuilt following B-Day. Bishop and Charlie rallied together and formed a new army known as the Iron Core. The cities and towns of New England, like pretty much everywhere else, had basically become independent city-states following B-Day. The Iron Core untied the scattered towns and cities of New England into a new nation: The United States of New England. Bishop handled the military stuff, while Charlie handled the governing of the USNE. For a while all was well, but then Boston happened. Up until then, the USNE only expanded its territory to towns that couldn't survive on their own. Boston was self-sufficient and had no desire to join the USNE. Despite this, the USNE declared war on Boston.

I should here note that Boston's full name was the Principality of Boston. So, the cradle of the American Revolution reverted to monarchism? Hmm, maybe they deserved to get conquered, but I digress. Anyway, Charlie was opposed to this, but he lost support due to the people losing trust in a man without powers. So, he stepped down and Bishop took over, but then he too lost support after the economy turned bad.

I had wonder if people without powers faced discrimination. It appears, at least in this instance, the answer is yes. This is particularly sad as Charlie seems to have been a fairly commenter leader. After being ousted from power, he moved to the Northeastern Kingdom, which is apparently a region in Northeastern Vermont, and not a nation like initially assumed. Still, the United States of New England is one of the most stable nations of the post B-Day world, so Charlie and Bishop's efforts weren't in vain. Granted, they occasionally had to indulge in questionable actions at times. We get hints that the towns the Iron Core "liberated" weren't as destitute as we have been told. Then there is the business with Boston.

A powerful end for season two of The Phone Booth.

And so that's all the episodes of season two of The Phone Booth. Keenan was dealt a tough hand by the pandemic, but he certainly made the most of what he had to work with. I am very much looking forward to season three. It's going to be a while until it comes out, as Keenan wants season three to be the best it can be. Obviously, that will be much easier once the pandemic clears. It also turns out that season three will be the final season of The Phone Booth. I know Keenan has other projects he's working on, such as his newly launched podcast The Endless Ocean, but I still can't believe season three will be the end. It feels like we've just scratched the surface of The Phone Booth, and the stories just keep getting better. Still, I'm aware that there's only so many hours in a day, and only so much time that can be devoted to producing audio dramas. I eagerly await season three, and I wish Keenan well in all his future endeavors.

But enough about all of that. If I haven't made it clear by now, you should really go listen to season two of The Phone Booth. Unless you haven't listened to season one, somehow, in which case listen to it, then listen to season two. It is a quality superhero audio drama, and I can't recommend it enough.

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