The Audio File: Residents of Proserpina Park: Season 5

By now, it should be pretty obvious that I love Residents of Proserpina Park. I mean, I was a voice actor in two previous seasons. So, there’s really not much more to add here. Straight to the point. We’re taking a look at season five of Residents of Proserpina Park. 

This is the flashback arc. The framing device is that Alina and the gang are at the coffee shop that Drew works at. Jessica and Sam are telling stories. They talk about how Junichi and Jessica discovered the park. They talk about the adventures they had with various creatures. They talk about how Junichi and Sam fell in love. But most of all, they talk about how they decided to make their own creation. And of the price they paid for their hubris.

So, this is the season where we finally get answers to long standing questions. Let’s start with the new creatures. Now, way back in season two, we were promised a creature from regional folklore. Sara Roncero-Menendez, who voices dog, mentioned that her family is from the Cantabria religion of northern Spain. It has Celtic heritage, and a slightly different culture from the rest of Spain. This also factors into their folklore.

We did get the Tooth Mouse, which is the equivalent of the Tooth Fairy in a lot of European countries. But that didn’t really feel specific to Cantabria. Well, come season five, and the promise is finally delivered. We get to meet the Ramidreju. It looks like a green weasel, and its nose is exceptionally good at sniffing our buried gold. They’re only born once every 100 years, usually to a family of ordinary weasels. Oh, and they can cure any illness you have. You just need to rub the Ramidreju all over your body.

Okay, now we’re talking! And what’s more, it even proved to be important to the overall plot of the season. It was encountering the Ramidreju that gives Junichi, Jessica, and Sam the idea to create their own creature. Specifically, one that can grant their wishes, and make their lives easier.

I’d been advocating having the leshy appear as far back as season one. Well, I finally got my wish this season. Leshy are forest spirits, and protectors of the forest, from Slavic Mythology. Think of them kind of like the Ents from Lord of the Rings. Residents of Proserpina Park showed a side of the leshy I hadn’t thought about before. You see, houses are made of wood, boats are made of wood, baseball bats are made of wood…sometimes. The point is, a lot of very hard things, and things that can do a lot of damage, are made of wood. An angry leshy would be a very scary sight indeed.

I was also quite happy that we got to hear the Legend of the White Snake. It is one of my favorite stories from Chinese Mythology. It’s about a magical snake who falls in love with a human, and takes the form of a human so she can be with him. They open a medicine shop together, and all is well, until a mean Buddhist monk comes along. He revealed the White Snake’s true nature, and her husband died of shock. She was able to bring him back to life, but then the monk sealed her away, and they were separated forever.

There’s a subtext to this story that often gets missed in retellings. It came from a time when Buddhist and Taoists were competing for influence in China. Obviously, White Snake is a pro-Taoist tale. The main villain is a Buddhist monk, after all. But from this same era, we also have Journey to the West. In that work, the main heroes are on a quest to retrieve copies of the Tripitaka, and they’re sent by Buddha himself no less. Well, Buddha and Guan Yin. By contrast, Laozi, the founder of Taoism, is portrayed as a total moron who fails to notice that many of his students are literally demons.

We also get to hear the story of Stingy Jack. He was a man so wicked that neither Heaven nor Hell wanted him. As a result, he was forced to wander the Earth, with only a turnip lantern to light his way. Irish immigrants brought this story with them when they moved to the United States. But they swapped the turnips for pumpkins. And that’s where jack o’ lanterns came from. I bring this up because The Moonlit Road, another podcast I absolutely adore, also did a retelling of Stingy Jack. And they released it around the time Residents of Proserpina Park’s episode came out. It was an amusing parallel.

Another amusing coincidence came with the cast for this season. One of the Aos Si is voiced by Cameron Gergett. I had previously cast him in The Books of Thoth. He came recommended by the creator of Brave New Frontiersman. Specifically, I cast him as the homeless man in “It Was the Best Day Ever.” It was the first time I had encountered one of my actors in an audio drama that I hadn’t previously heard them in.

The Aos Si are one of the many names for the faeries from Irish Folklore. But don’t let that fool you. Faeries in Irish Folklore are kind of the yokai from Japanese Folklore. They’re kind of like minor gods. In some tellings, they’re descended from the Tuatha Dé Danann, the gods of Irish Mythology. In other words, the Aos Si are not something you want to mess with.

We also get more insight into Jessica and Junichi. Jessica spent most of her life as an outcast, and a frequent target of bullying. Junichi and Sam were pretty much the only friends she ever really had. One of her goals with Pelu is hoping that he’ll be able to give her more friends. We also learn that Sam lost his mom to cancer fairly recently. I mean…wow. Is Sam ever going to catch a break?

I also noticed some interesting parallels to other works of fiction. Yes, there’s an obvious one to Frankenstein. A group of college students focusing more on if they can do something, rather than if they should, and paying the price. But I also noticed parallels to The Magicians by Lev Grossman. For those who don’t know, it follows a young man named Quentin Coldwater who is accepted into a magical college called Brakebills. He learns magic, makes friends, goes to a Narnia-esque land…and deals with depression, anxiety, insecurity, and general ennui. Yeah, the books are a deconstruction of both Harry Potter and Narnia.

The second book in the series, The Magician King, has a plotline the follows The Hedge Witches. They had magical potential, but failed the Brakebills entrance exam. So, they start experimenting with magic on their own. And much of that experimenting also involves digging into ancient mythology. This ultimately culminates in them attempting to summon a pagan deity, in hopes that they can make a transaction with it. Without getting into spoilers, they learn that they’ve been messing with forces they barely understand, and pay a dear price for their hubris.

This season of Residents of Proserpina Park probably wasn’t referencing The Magicians. But it was an interesting parallel I noticed. If nothing else, you should read The Magicians if you haven’t. They are very good books.

Now, all that being said, I did also have a few critiques of this season. At times, it felt like Sam’s relationship with both Junichi and Jessica developed a tad fast. It felt like we were jumping around in time a lot, and that there was missing connective tissue. Granted, I kind of understand why this is. Angela Yih probably didn’t want to cover too much territory that she’d already done with Alina and Alina’s friends.

Then there was the episode where we finally meet Hades. We’ve met gods, such as Anansi, on previous occasions. But this is the first time we’ve encountered one of the Olympians. That’s a completely different weight class of mythical being. So, I was expecting those scenes to be fittingly grand and ominous. But when we meet him, Hades just sounds like a regular dude. It feels very underwhelming and anticlimactic. Also, the trip to meet Hades was a little underwhelming. One instant we are in the park, and then boom, we’re in the underworld. Granted, this is going to be rectified come season six.

But how would I know that? Well, Angela Yih has taken me onto the production staff for season six of Residents of Proserpina Park. I’m helping to write the scripts and produce the episodes. I’d like to thank Angela Yih for this opportunity.

I’d also like to thank Angela for helping to promote The Books of Thoth. We recorded a bonus episode of Residents of Proserpina Park where she interviewed me about this blog, reviewing audio dramas, my day job at Shreveport Aquarium, and my work on The Books of Thoth. It was really fun to get to do, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.

And so, with that, we’re all caught up to the present. Season five of Residents of Proserpina Park is the flashback arc that reveals how the main plot was set into motion. We get to meet several exciting new creatures, and get some insight into returning characters.

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 4

It seems like it was only yesterday that I listened to that first episode of Residents of Proserpina Park. And now, here we are. The fourth season is complete, and the fifth season is on the way. Where does the time go? Well, enough rambling, on to the main event. We’re taking a look at season four of Residents of Proserpina Park. 

Last season, Mirai took a trip to Japan in search of answer about her brother Juni. She discovered a hidden village inhabited by yokai. She also discovered Kukunochi Park, which is basically the Japanese version of Proserpina Park. Now, Mirai is going to explore Kukunochi Park in earnest. She’s got her trusty tanuki friend Daichi by her side. Perhaps she’ll even be able to call upon Fox Ears the kitsune…if Fox Ears is in the mood. It’s a new park, a new season, and a whole lot of surprises to be found.

We had an episode last season which featured Mirai in the main role. It showed that she was more than capable of carrying the show purely on her own. I had been hoping we might see more of that come season four. As it turns out, I got my wish and then some. The entire season follows Mirai and the Japanese creatures. Alina and the gang only make a brief appearance in the stinger scene at the end of the season.

Naturally, we get to encounter a lot of cool Japanese creatures. We get an episode dedicated to the Kasa Obake. They’re basically the poster boys for yokai. They’re those umbrellas with one eye, one leg, and really long tongues. From that same episode, we get to learn about the Bakezori. They’re yokai that originate as old abandoned shoes. Yeah, there’s an entire class of yokai called Tsukumogami. They’re objects that come to life after being sufficiently, usually over 100 years, old.

I also really enjoyed the episode about the Ninmenju. It is a tree that grows fruit with human faces. Seems like standard yokai stuff, but here’s the kicker, the story isn’t indigenous to Japan. There is a nearly identical story in Islamic Folklore called the Waq Waq Tree. The story made its way to China via the Silk Road, and from there, it found its way to Japan. Japan has historically gone through several periods of isolation. In many ways, Japan is kind of on the edge of the world. Yet the Ninmenju show that Japan wasn’t quite as disconnected as it tried to be. It really is a small world after all. I love discovering connections like that.

It was also obvious we were going to get an episode about the Gashadokuro. They are giant skeleton yokai that usually appear following a great loss of life. I mean, the Gahadokuro is right there on the season cover art. The art this time is very crisp and well defined. Previous seasons’ cover art was more abstract and mysterious. We’ve learned enough of the secrets of the parks to be familiar with them. The mists are parting, you might say.

Of course, there’s more than just Japanese creatures lurking in Kukunochi Park. This makes sense. Proserpina Park is home to creatures from across the globe. It also tracks that Japanese creatures would dominate in Kukunochi Park. It is their home turf after all. Japanese people aren’t the most religious people in the world, and primarily follow Shinto rituals out of culture, rather than sincere belief. That said, many Japanese people are incredibly superstitious. So, there’s probably enough people around who believe in yokai to give them a bit of a boost.

Interestingly, Japan isn’t the only nation that can be described as superstition, but not exactly religious. People in Iceland have been known to build roadside shrines to elves. Road construction has sometimes been re-routed if it ran through land where elves are believed to live. In fact, the way Icelandic elves are described is quite similar to how Japanese kami are often described. That is, spirits within nature itself.

And speaking of Norse Mythology, the talking squirrel Ratatoskr makes an appearance in this season. The original myths never say how big he is. He does run up and down the world tree Yggdrasil. So, some people have taken to depicting him as a giant squirrel. This is what Residents of Proserpina Park goes with.

And who is it that voices this majestic squirrel? Why, me, of course! Yes, I have made my return to the voice acting side of Residents of Proserpina Park. It was fun getting to play a new character. I enjoyed that Ratatoskr was a very different sort of character than Slenderman was. I tried to imitate Michael Chiklis’ performance as The Thing in the 2005 Fantastic Four movie. The result was a bit more along the lines of “Hey, I’m walkin’ here!” but I think it turned out pretty well. I also have to give major props to Angela for editing those scenes. I didn’t actually record those scenes with Vida Shi and Zerreth, who plays Daichi. I really, really wanted to, but my work schedule conflicted with recording. Though, I later learned I could have asked for the day off to record with everyone. Ah, well, I guess there’s always next time.

Anyway, the scenes are edited so well I had to remind myself that I recorded separately. Admittedly, there was one benefit to recording on my own. There’s a scene in the last episode where Mirai chases in the favor Ratatoskr owes her, and she calls out for him. It was really cute and adorable, and I kept thinking “There’s no way I could pretended to be grumpy if I’d recorded this scene with Vida.”

Okay, so enough about me. There’s something even more important to discuss. After many seasons, he has finally arrived. The man, the myth, the legend appears at long last. Everyone give it up for Junichi! It is rather amusing how well Mirai and her brothers map onto the Freudian trio of Id, Ego, and Superego. We’ve got impulsive, energetic Mirai as the Id, nervous and cautious Junpei as the Superego, and calm collected Junichi as the Ego to balance them out. 

First of all, I must give praise to Spencer Hiroshi Field. He made Junichi sound like someone who’d be a really cool guy to hang out with. Junichi initially comes across as easy going, but he hasn’t fully recovered his memories, and we slowly discover he has some insecurities about that. It will be interesting to see how things go after he’s reunited with Sam, Jessica, Dog, and Junpei.

Now, this next part actually is a slight criticism of this season. I actually want to begin with a compliment. We got some new music this season. It combines traditional Japanese instruments with a kind of 1940s-1950s jazz rhythm. You hear it play over the credits, and in a few scenes within the episode proper. I liked it, one of the best bit of music Residents of Proserpina Park has yet produced. That being said, it didn’t escape my notice that some of the musical cues are getting a bit repetitive. I noticed that the same handful of music being used over and over again. 

Granted, this might have been a result of this season being a bit shorter. I also need to be fair here. Residents of Proserpina Park produces all of its music in-house. I have no background in music, and I don’t have the first clue about producing it. I’m always amazed by whatever music Residents of Proserpina Park comes up with.

By contrast, when I need music for The Books of Thoth, I usually see what Epidemic Sounds and Kevin MacLeod have on tap. Plus, it the Indiegogo campaign had raised more money, we probably would have gotten more music. Why, yes, that was me hinting that you should all donate the next time Residents of Proserpina Park has a crowdfunding campaign.

So, this isn’t really a criticism per se, but something I wanted to comment on. The first episode has Mirai and Daichi encounter a Kapre. It is a creature from Filipino Folklore who looks like a giant man with dark skin. We learn that the legend of the Kapre got popularized when Spain started using the Philippines as a stop for its slave trade. Mirai remarks that she learned none of this in school.

Now, as a history major, I’d like to give my two cents. So, in large part, the way we teach history in grade school is meant to be a survey course. Give you the foundations that you can build upon, if you so choose, in college. Now, granted, the way we teach history is rather flawed. I mean, we really should split it up into multiple parts like in college. You just can’t condense 10,000 years of history into a single year of class. Inevitably, things get skipped, and the emphasis tends to be put on the Western world. So, class basically becomes “World/American History’s Greatest Hits.” Personally, I think that’s a big disservice to students. There’s a great value to learning about non-Western cultures and civilizations. Plus, you know, it is interesting to learn about other parts of the world.

The United States has been around for less than 300 years, but even splitting up American History class would allow teachers to go deeper with the subjects. I guess what I’m trying to say is, never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence. And no slight to Mirai, but just because schools teach about something, doesn’t mean students will actually be paying attention in class.

There’s also a scene where we get to meet Sezaru, the fourth wise monkey. You might be familiar with the Three Wise Monkey. Perhaps you know that they are Mizaru, Kikazaru, and Iwazaru. They famously teach us to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. Ah, but then there is the fourth monkey Sezaru, who teaches us to do no evil. Mirai comments on how redundant that sounds. To which Sezaru replies “Oh, and the Ten Commandments weren’t obvious enough?”

So, a couple thoughts about that. First off, why would a creature from Japanese Folklore care about the Ten Commandments? Second, there are actually 613 commandments. What are often called the Ten Commandments are merely the first ten on the list. Among other things they say: don’t wear clothing of mixed fiber, don’t plant different crops in the same field, you must stone disobedient children to death, and men must not speak to women who are on their periods. Oh, and lest we forget the most infamous of them all: man shall not lie with man. And that’s not even getting into the first ten. For example, is killing always wrong, or is there an exception for self-defense? Should we honor our parents even when they are abusive? In fact, what does honoring even mean? Granted, Jewish people have been wrestling with these questions for centuries. The Talmud is all about the various interpretations of the Torah.

Getting back on track, looks like we’ll be picking back up with Alina and company in season five. And it looks like we’ll be taking a trip to the Otherworld of Irish Mythology. I look forward to the adventures to be had in the coming year.

So, there you have it. Season four of Residents of Proserpina Park is shorter, but still just as sweet, and just as packed with mythological fun. Having the action set in Japan makes for a fun change of pace. Mirai and company are more than capable of carrying the season all on their own. So, if you haven’t already, be sure to listen to this season of Residents of Proserpina Park.

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. 

Riordan Retrospective: The Sun and The Star

Welcome once again to my Riordan Retrospective. For those of you just joining the fun, this is my look back at the works of Rick Riordan. That means Percy Jackson, its sequels, and spin-offs. This is less of a formal review and more of a relaxed look back.

Last time, we took a look back at Daughter of the Deep. Rick Riordan’s first science fiction novel, and one based on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This time, we’re returning to the Riordanverse for a standalone adventure with Nico and Will. We’re taking a look at The Sun and The Star. 

Nico di Angelo is the brooding son of Hades. Will Solace is a son of Apollo with a generally sunny disposition. Together, they are a gay couple at Camp Half-Blood. Through the power of plot convenience, literally every other camper has left camp at the end of summer. What about all those campers who don’t have families to go home to? There must be quite a few of them, right? Uh…hey, now Nico and Will don’t have to worry about people walking in on their cuddle time! Well, except for Chiron and Dionysus, because plot convenience can’t fix everything. And you know what else plot convenience can’t fix? The fact that Bob the Titan, aka Iapetus, is stuck in Tartarus. Quest time! Percy and Annabeth really should be involved, or at least Hazel and Reyna. But hey, can’t be having any icky straight people raining on our yaoi parade, am I right? Nico and Will are going to talk about their feels, retread old ground, lose their previous character development, and, uh…oh, right, they need to get Bob out of Tartarus. Well, anyway, prepare for the beloved world of Rick Riordan to almost literally go to hell in a handbasket. Mark Oshiro’s narcissism and ego are about to take us for a wild ride with two boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend, and furthermore, boyfriend.

Usually, I try to objectively summarize the novels we’re looking back at. Unless, of course, Rick Riordan really shit the bed. Though, even then, the only time I felt the need to do so was with The Hammer of Thor. That was a unique blend of bad. Not that The Ship of the Dead was much better. But I guess we’ll have to reset the clock. The Sun and The Star is the worst Riordanverse book since Magnus Chase, and that’s really saying something!

Now, I tried to keep an open-mind going into this book. I was hoping that it would subvert my expectations. And indeed it did…by being infinitely worse than I could possibly imagine. I mean, when the opening scene has the characters playing a G-Rated version of Fuck, Marry, Kill: Star Wars Edition, well, it’s only going to go downhill from there. Everything about that opening scene, from the dialogue, the characterization, and the general set-up, feel like something you’d find in a poorly written fanfiction. Then again, that’s basically what this book is.

So, just who is the co-author of this book? Mark Oshiro is a gay, non-binary, Hispanic who uses they/them pronouns. They used to run a blog where they would review various works of media, usually of the nerd/geek persuasion. Almost invariably, Mark would find some way to talk about either being gay, having had a traumatic childhood, or being a gay person with trauma. If your sexuality is the most interesting thing about you, then you need to seriously broaden your horizons.

Anyway, Mark got popular with a certain clique of speculative fiction writers. The type whose idea of political activism is going on angry Twitter rants, and then blocking anyone who disagrees with them. Very few of said writers actually have the talent to back-up their delusions of eloquence. They loved how Mark parroted their views back at them, and stroked their egos. So, through the power of nepotism, Mark became the It Boy. This was back when Mark still identified as male. Naturally, Rick Riordan was among this throng of clapping seals. We must assume that Rick looked at Mark and said, “My darling! Where have you been all my life?” 

It is painfully obvious that Rick let Mark have almost complete free-reign of The Sun and The Star, and only did the bare minimum of editing. This probably explains the scene where Nico claims that Bianca is his mother, when she’s actually his sister. Really confirms my suspicion that Rick has gotten so big that he’s basically immune to editors at this point. I wonder if that’s part of why Percy Jackson and the Olympians turned out as well as it did. Maybe the editors reigned-in Rick’s excess. Well, that and he had his sons to call him out, and was actually taking his time with crafting the books. Honestly, it was probably a lot of things.

Even at his worst, Rick Riordan books have a certain feel to them. You can always tell that you’re reading a Rick Riordan novel. I don’t get that feeling with The Sun and The Star. I’ve never read any of Mark Oshiro’s other novels, nor do I have any plans to. However, I get the impression that the general feeling and tone would be akin to The Sun and The Star. At times, I had to remind myself I was reading an actual, officially published novel, and not just a poorly written fanfiction.

Now, I want to take a moment and address something. People often use the term fanfiction as shorthand for poor writing. And to be fair, about ninety percent of fanfiction isn’t all that good. I’ve certainly written my fair share of less than stellar fanfics. However, the other ten percent is genuinely quite good. That’s why I’m trying to specify bad fanfiction in this review. Being fanfiction doesn’t make something automatically bad in and of itself. A lot of fanfiction writers just don’t have the same intimate knowledge of the characters that the author does. And you have to factor in all the fanfic writers who are just kids trying to seriously write for the first time. And, of course, there are the zealous shippers, the High School AU writers, the fetish writers, and all the other seedier groups who give fanfiction a bad reputation. But even with all of that, there’s still that ten percent, and it is so worth it to find the diamonds in the rough of the fanfiction world.

Mark Oshiro, however, is most decidedly not part of that glorious ten percent. Many people have noted that Nico felt incredibly off in The Sun and The Star, and I think I know why. Put simply, Nico isn’t being written as Nico di Angelo. He’s being written as Mark Oshiro’s self-insert. Think about it. Mark has pretty much no personality beyond being gay and having experienced trauma. Nico is gay, and he has experienced quite a bit of trauma. So, it isn’t unreasonable to assume Mark felt a kindred spirit in Nico. Unfortunately, Mark grafted their experience onto Nico, and basically turned him into a self-insert of Mark. I’d argue that the same thing happened to Will as well, just in a slightly different way. Will got the chipper manchild side of Mark’s personality, whereas Nico got all the depressed parts. Mark’s depiction of Will can also potentially be read as Mark’s idea of an idealized boyfriend.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Mark just loves the word boyfriend? It appears, at absolute minimum, at least 120 times through The Sun and The Star, according to my rough guesstimation. It gets very grating very quickly. We get it Mark, they’re gay, and they’re in love! You don’t have to remind us every gods damn paragraph! If I was a teacher, I would have docked Mark several points for repetition, and told them to use a damn thesaurus already. I’d also dock Rick several points for buming all the work off to Mark, and for not pulling his own weight in this group project.

I stand by the fact that, prior to The Sun and The Star, Nico was one of the best LGBTQ characters in the Riordanverse. He’s gay, but that isn’t the be all and end all of him. There is way more to his personality than just his sexuality. Unfortunately, Mark Oshiro and Rick Riordan don’t seem to care for silly things like nuance and character development. If anything, Nico has seriously regressed in this book. Back in The Trials of Apollo, Nico was finally taking steps to leave his past behind him, and he was actually starting to become happy. Apparently, Mark and Rick subscribe to the Joss Whedon School of Character Writing. Basically, when in doubt, just make your characters as miserable as possible, and claim it makes them more interesting that way. Needless to say, this thinking is a load of Minotaur dung. Conflict is the driver of stories, yes. However, conflict is not the same as misery. There are ways to create conflict without putting your characters through the wringer. It is the mark of a poor writer who confuses misery with conflict.

I know a lot of people felt Will Solace wasn’t the best choice to be Nico’s love interest. I concede it was a bit random, but I was willing to overlook that for several reasons. First, it was nice to see Nico actually catch a break for once. I also adored how Will called Nico out on his bullshit. The part in The Blood of Olympus where Will tells Nico to stop wallowing in self-pity was the stuff of legends. Oh, but don’t expect to see any of that here. In fact, a big part of Will’s character arc, and I use the term loosely, is learning that it is okay for Nico to be dark. What does that mean? The heck if I know! Mark Oshiro is big on using flowery words and sentences that don’t actually mean anything if you stop to think about them. Best I can figure is that Nico should be allowed to be a perpetually mopey Gloomy Gus because he’s been twisted into Mark Oshiro’s self-insert. Actual self-improvement is like kryptonite to people like Mark.

Speaking of Nico being Mark’s self-insert, let’s talk about Nico’s coming out party. Oh yes, Nico tried to go on a picnic with Will, but the satyrs and dryads misunderstood, and threw a picnic themed coming out party. He even got to wear a flower crown, just like Mark Orshio loves to wear. And then Nico decided to come out to the whole camp in a truly Stunning and Brave way. But wait, there’s more! Nico became a true gay icon. Nay, he became the Homosexual Jesus of Camp Half-Blood. He was so Stunning and Brave that it inspired Jake Mason, Malcom Pace, and Paolo Montes to come out of the closet. That seems like a pretty important detail about all of them to neglect until just now. But hey, did I mention just how Stunning and Brave that Nico was?

Ugh, why? Just why did it have to have such a stupid and cliche scene as that? Oh, wait, I know why. Many people complained that Cupid forcing Nico to admit he was gay was a violation of consent. So, Rick needed to cover his ass, and Mark wanted to feel Stunning and Brave. It was a match made in Tartarus. Also, Cupid violated Nico’s consent, but the satyrs and dryads somehow didn’t, and they all got off scot-free? Uh, do what now? Like I said, Nico is a great character because he’s more than just a gay kid. Apparently, Mark Oshiro and Rick Riordan no longer agree. That, or Rick can’t write minorities unless they’re at least somewhat stereotypical.

We also get flashbacks to how Nico and Will’s relationship developed. This is theoretically good, but given how poorly written these scenes are, they only serve to make the relationship look even more flimsy and contrived. Sometimes less really is more. On the subject of flashbacks, the flashback dreams Nico had were stupid. The first one was convoluted, and was basically Mark Oshiro going “look at all these cool writing tricks I can do!” The second flashback saw Nico get even more out of character than usual for this trainwreck of a book. It goes back to his first time in Tartarus, and how he first met Nyx, the goddess of night. Nico’s dialogue would have made sense…if it had been written for Percy! It reminds me of how people complained that everyone in Captain America: Civil War sounded like they were trying to imitate Ironman. There was one flashback I enjoyed. I actually liked the bits where Will talks about his adventures with his mom in New York City. Those were some best written parts of the book. Though, I wonder if those were the bits Rick Riordan actually wrote.

Now we need to talk about how Percy and Annabeth got absolutely butchered. Nico and Will decide to visit Mrs. Jackson so they can send an Iris Message to Percy and Annabeth. Why didn’t they just do that at camp before they left? At this point, half this book’s issues can be chalked up to “Mark and Rick didn’t give a damn.” Annabeth especially acts completely out of character. She and Percy make a joke by referring to Tartarus as tartar sauce, and pretend they didn’t hear what Nico and Will said. Annabeth certainly wouldn’t do that, and neither would Percy! He knows when it is time to get serious. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, Percy might not be book smart, but he’s smart in other way. And I refuse to believe Percy and Annabeth wouldn’t demand to go with Nico and Will. You seriously expect me to believe that the guy, whose fatal flaw is loyalty to friends, would just sit this one out?!

Oh, and apparently, Percy and Annabeth totally forgot about Bob. Even though they were quite guilty about that in previous books. But wait, turns out they’ve been thinking about Bob nonstop. Pick one, preferably the latter! Their advice is decidedly of the no duh variety. Guess we can’t be having the heterosexuals do anything useful. That wouldn’t be very Stunning or Brave. And why didn’t Nico go to Hazel, possibly recruiting her? Seems like she’d be pretty useful on an underworld quest. Oh, right, same reason with Percy and Annabeth. I’d also ask why Nico didn’t ask Reyna, but Rick neglected their brother-sister relationship long ago. More on that in a bit.

It is also incredibly bizarre to actually hear the word Percabeth in a Rick Riordan novel. It is a popular portmanteau of Percy and Annabeth used by shippers. Just like Solangelo is used for Nico and Will. However, it has never, until now, appeared in an actual Rick Riordan novel. It is just plain bizarre to see such a term used in an actual Riordanverse book.  I don’t know if it was Rick or Mark who decided to throw that red meat to the shippers. 

However, I do feel it was a bad idea. You have to be careful about feeding the shippers, or else you’ll empower the rabid ones. Trust me, you don’t want the rabid shippers to feel like they have power over you. It never ends well. Huh, you know, a lot of this book’s problems can be explained if we assume it was meant to pander to the shippers. I will say that shipping isn’t bad in and of itself. It becomes bad when you let it get out of hand, or develop unreasonable exceptions. As Aristotle noted, any virtue taken to an extreme becomes a vice.

And the pop culture references. I mean, yikes, this book can give Magnus Chase a run for its money in bad pop culture references. My biggest problem is that Nico has way more pop culture knowledge than he realistically ought to. The biggest offender was the scene where Nico references Lil Nas X, but Will has no idea who that is. Uh, do what now? Nico is from the 1940s, whereas Will is from the present day. He should not know who Lil Nas X is. For those who don’t know, Lil Nas X is an openly gay rapper who raps about being gay. Presumably, he is Mark Oshiro’s favorite rapper. Then there’s all the times Nico refers to Will as a Care Bear. Once again, how does Nico know what those are? The apathy is strong with this one. At least they had him know about Star Wars due to Will being a huge Star Wars fan. On the other hand, we did get the Fuck, Marry, Kill scene as a result of that.

On the subject of other demigods, we learn at the start of the book that literally every other demigod, other than Nico and Will, has left camp. No, no, gods no! Nooooooo! What about all of the campers who don’t have families to go back home to?! Yeah, I know the book tries to explain this by saying they all went to see the world. However, I’m of the opinion that this is a stupid-ass explanation. I refuse to believe that Chiron would allow a bunch of kids, several of whom are pre-teens, to just galavant around the country. Yes, he often sends campers on quests, but that’s a necessary evil. Of course, he’d also refuse to let Nico and Will go to Tartarus unless they had a third person to go with them. So, really, Mark and Rick just magiced everyone away so they wouldn’t have to deal with that. Well, that, and so nobody could cockblock Nico and Will during cuddle time. Chiron still managed to do an admirable job of that, despite everything else.

Chiron’s characterization wasn’t as off as everyone else. However, he should have provided more pushback to Nico’s plan. There were also times, especially towards the end, where he came across as a bit too much like a bumbling sitcom dad. Chiron is supposed to be the wise, grounded fatherly figure of Camp Half-Blood.

Mr. D is once again back at camp. Yay! But his characterization is kind of off. Boo! He never once screws-up Nico’s name. That’s, like, Mr. D’s main schtick. He provides therapy sessions for Nico, except he already did that in The Tower of Nero, but this is treated like he’s doing it for the first time. Mr. D will come across as weirdly nice one minute, and then cartoonishly sadistic the next. The way Mr. D is written comes across like a fanfiction author’s caricature of him. Then again, I guess that’s what it actually was.

I felt that Nyx was not a very good villain. Kronos, Gaea, and Nero all had very clear motivation for their villainy. Nyx, by contrast, just came across as a bland, generic, and overall uninteresting antagonist. It felt like Rick and Mark were really scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with villains for this book. Also, based on actual mythology, I just can’t buy Nyx as a villain. There really isn’t anything to suggest that she’d be villainous. Tartarus should also not have been the main destination for the quest. As a general rule of thumb, you never revisit major villains after you’ve already defeated them. Case in point, Emperor Palpetine just happening to come back in The Rise of Skywalker. Though, in fairness, Rise of Skywalker was certainly flawed, but J.J. Abrams was trying to course correct after Rian Johnson shit the bed in The Last Jedi.

Getting back on track, Tartarus felt completely underwhelming this time around. We already experienced its horrors, far more effectively, with Percy and Annabeth. So, everything had a “been there, done that” feeling to it. The parts where Iapetus regains his memories were a noticeable step-up in terms of writing. Clearly, this was the part where Rick Riordan actually got off his ass. But once again, it would make way more sense of Percy and Annabeth to be the ones to rescue Iapetus. Also, I just gotta ask, how were Will and Nico planning on escaping Tartarus? They just jumped right in with no escape plan. At least Percy and Annabeth knew they needed to get to the doors of death.

I’ll admit the part where Nico gets a family reunion was kind of sweet. Well, if you ignore the fact that Bianca should not be there, since she already reincarnated. I also liked the scene where Nico talks about how he got made fun of for saying the Ares card in Myth-O-Magic looked pretty. I actually related to that. Once, in high school, a classmate asked what music I liked. I mentioned Elton John, because I like his music, and I still do. I got funny looks, and was made fun of, for liking an openly gay musician. I didn’t really see why that was an issue, but this was the same era when “That’s so gay!” was the insult of choice among teenagers. Well, personally, it always struck me as dumb, and needlessly mean, but I’ve always been a nonconformist.

But then we get the scene where Nico calls Piper on Iris Message. Uh, when have they ever interacted, because I sure can’t think of any times. And yet, they act like they’re old friends, and even joke around. Ugh, Mark Oshiro was clearly in the drivers seat once again. Oh, wait, I know why, and so do you. All together now: it’s because they’re both gay. Well, Piper kissed a girl, and she liked it, but she doesn’t know if she’s gay or bisexual, or maybe pansexual. There’s a message her about not getting hung-up on labels. Except we already did that with Reyna! Oh, and Reyna and Nico have brother-sister relationship going on, so why didn’t Nico called Reyna?!

Mark, if I haven’t made it painfully clear by now, being gay is not the same as having a personality. Making a character LGBTQ does not make them well-rounded. There has to be more to them than just “I’m gay!” Having trauma also doesn’t automatically make a character interesting and well-rounded. You intended this book to be for LGBTQ kids, but those kids deserve way better than this tripe! They are not stupid, they deserve good writing, and actually well-developed characters. Empty representation alone does not a plot make.

There is, of course, and audiobook version. I often debate who the best of the Riordanverse narrators is. I’m still not sure how I’d make that tier list. However, I do know that A.J. Beckles is one of the worst, if not the worst, I’ve encountered. He did a horrible job differentiating the characters, and frequently sounded like he was phoning it in.

Well, I guess we should analyze the cover. Yikes, Nico and Will look hideous! Nico looks like a girl, and it looks like he’s wearing lipstick. It almost looks more like Thalia cosplaying as Nico. Not that Will is much better. This has got to be one of the worst Riordanverse book covers. It doesn’t even look like a Riordanverse cover. It looks more like the cover of one of those cheap fantasy paperbacks from the early 2000s. Save my sanity, Viria! 

Ah, now that’s much better. Excellent work as always, Viria. You know what? Let’s also have Nico’s character art from Read Riordan. The Read Riordan character art doesn’t get enough love. 

Now that is one fine looking son of Hades.

Well, we have at long last reached the end of the dissertation on why Mark Oshiro should be put on trial at The Hague for crimes against the Riordanverse. There is nothing of value in this abomination that is laughably referred to as a book. Referring to The Sun and The Star as glorified fanfiction is being incredibly generous. I urge you to skip this one for your own sanity. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Trust me, you aren’t missing much. Regrettably, Nico has pet demons literally made out of his trauma. They’re named Coco-Puffs, because of course they are. So, this book will still impact the wider Riordanverse. I’m not holding my breath in hopes of a retcon.

If this is what the future holds for the Riordanverse, we should all be very afraid. Boy, I sure can’t wait to see which hack author Rick Riordan prostitutes his characters out to next. Not! A thousand times not! Well, later this year we’ve got Chalice of the Gods, a new novel starring Percy, Grover, and Annaberth coming out. Premise could be good, and Mark Oshiro’s slimy tentacles won’t be anywhere near it, so that’s a plus. We’ve also got the live-action Disney+ series coming out. To be honest, I’m kind of worried about how it will turn out, but I’ll reserve judgement til it officially premieres. 

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got to say. Join me next time when we take a look back at Chalice of the Gods.

The Audio File: Friday Knight Fights

I’ve had a lot of obligations and prior commitments as of late. However, I’ve finally got a temporary gap in my reviewing schedule. As such, we get to review an audio drama I’ve had my eye on for quite some time. We’re taking a look at Friday Knight Fights. 

Arthur Padron was just an average teenager trying to enjoy his gap year before college. Then he met a girl named Lynn, and touched the magic sword she had with her. Arthur soon discovered that he is the modern-day reincarnation of King Arthur himself. Lynn turns out to be the reincarnation of the great sorcerer Merlin, and the sword is Excalibur itself. They’re also joined by Elliot, who is the reincarnation of Lancelot. The modern reincarnations of the Knights of the Round Table are scattered across modern-day America. Arthur, Lynn, and Elliot must set off on a cross-country roadtrip to recruit the reincarnated knights. However, though magic is returning to the world, so too are dark forces. It’s sure to be an adventure of Arthurian proportions.

I first became aware of Friday Knight Fights from the weekly new releases thread on the r/audiodrama subreddit. The premise sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a try. I enjoy urban fantasy, and I enjoy Arthurian Legend. There have been a few other works that utilize the premise of Arthurian characters reincarnating in the modern-day. However, it is not how many times a premise has been done, but how well you execute it, that truly matters. Personally, I’d say that Friday Knight Fights did a pretty good job handling its premise.

Season one is split into two alternating parts. One part takes place during everyone’s freshmen year at college, while the other takes place one year earlier, and shows how everyone met. Each episode will features scenes relating to both plot lines. Usually, the freshmen year plot line starts off the episode, and then we transition to the one year earlier plot line. Also, in case you’re wondering, the sword on the cover art is Excalibur, and the red threads are the red threads of destiny. 

The title of the series is obviously a reference to the movie/television series Friday Night Lights. Admittedly, I have seen either that movie or the television series, but I’ve heard good things about them. So far, Arthur hasn’t become part of any football team. Of course, as uncoordinated as Arthur is, that might be for the best. I also get some hints that anime might have been influence on Friday Knight Fights. Some points, usually halfway through the episode, there will be little bumpers where the name of the series will be accompanied by some dramatic music. Animes frequently do that as well; off the top of my head, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, KonoSuba, and The Way of the House Husband all do that. Come to think of it, the general plot of Friday Knight Fights wouldn’t be too out of place in an anime.

Now, let’s talk about the voice acting and should design. One of the biggest strengths of Friday Knight Fights is its absolutely stellar cast. I could tell from my first listen that the cast were all extremely talented and hard-working. I don’t know if any of them have prior experience in voice acting, but I see very bright futures for them all. Now, having said all of this, I need to do a bit of tough love. The audio quality, while overall passable, can have some noticeable inconsistencies at times. There will be sometimes when characters will have a noticeable background hiss accompany their dialogue. Also, there’s always a little bit at the end of each episode, after the credits, that feels like it was incidental recordings left in by accident. So, definitely want to even out those audio levels and remove that background hiss.

Scenes that involve a lot of action will often music and sound-effect. This is good, and I very much support this. You also sometimes get this in incidental scenes. For example, there’s the scene where Arthur and Elliot go on a shopping spree in the style of a 1990s rom-com movie. I do feel that maybe more of the less dramatic scenes would benefit from a smidge more ambient noise, and perhaps even a bit of music at times.

Speaking of music, let’s not forget them theme music. Overall, I do enjoy the theme music. It reminds me a bit of the theme music from the audio drama Red Rhino. Though, to my knowledge, nobody from Friday Knight Fights was involved with Red Rhino. So, it could be coincidence. I could never get into Red Rhino, unlike Friday Knight Fights. My biggest compliant is that Red Rhino was so busy trying to be metafictional and post-modern it forgot to tell an actual story. Thankfully, Friday Knight Fights does not have that issue. I also liked how the theme music played alongside the finals scenes of the season one finale. It reminds me of how certain animes also do that.

Now, let’s shift gears and talk about the characters. Arthur is a complete and utter dork who often trips over his own feet. Oh, he might attempt to look cool, but he often just makes an even bigger fool of himself. The Knights of the Round Table, and especially Lynn, frequently rib him and poke fun at his expense. All of the being said, as the series progresses, Arthur slowly grows into a competent leader. His plans and battle tactics are, more often than not, genuinely good and well thought out. We get hints of the king he will one day become. However, he’s still got a long way to go before he’s ready to measure up to the legends. But for all his dorkiness, he’s still endearing, and we want to see him succeed. Arthur is voiced by Ian Kennedy.

Lynn is Arthur’s left-hand woman. The position of right-hand woman has been filled by Elliot. That being said, Lynn does not spare Arthur any snark and sarcasm. In fact, she’s often the one who instigates it. But when the chips are down, she’s always there for Arthur. Lynn, being the reincarnation of Merlin, is quite skilled in magic. However, she’s even more adept when it comes to modern technology, particularly computers and hacking. However, she insists that her hacking skills don’t have anything to do with magic. In fact, her hacking skills are how she was about to track down Arthur and the Knights. Oh, and Lynn also shops at Hot Topic, but she’s mildly embarrassed about that. Lynn is voiced by Charlie “Rat” Sutton.

Elliot is the reincarnation of Lancelot. She has a sunny disposition, and is almost always bubbly and cheery. She has her occasional moments of ditziness, but that just makes her get along with Arthur even better. In fact, much like their medieval counterparts, they get along famously. Of course, if you know your Arthurian Legend, you’ll know that Lancelot had an affair with Queen Guinevere, which set off a series of events that eventually lead to the downfall of Camelot. Oh, but don’t worry, Elliot had promised that she won’t sleep with Arthur’s wife. Well, Arthur is currently single, but the point still stands. Elliot is voiced by series creator Ashton Lorelle. When I first started listening to Friday Knight Fights, I assumed that Ashton was exaggerating her accent. Elliot sounded almost stereotypically Southern at times. However, if the pre-show ads are anything to go off of, that’s apparently more or less how Ashton actually speaks. Of course, I’m not really in a position to be remarking on that sort of thing. Nobody who hears me speak ever guesses that Shreveport, Louisiana is where I’m from.

Anthony is the first Knight that Arthur, Lynn, and Elliot find. He is the reincarnation of Tristan. Anthony is…uh, cool, like, a really nice guy. Okay, I’m just gonna be real with you guys. Anthony kind of gets outshone by the more colorful members of the cast. If they were the Avengers, he would be Hawkeye. Anthony’s primary character arc revolves around finding out who Princess Isolde reincarnated as. We’ll get into that once we get to the spoilers section.

I think Gerry was easily my favorite character. He is the reincarnation of Gawain. Gerry’s fully name is Gerard Butler. No, not the one you’re probably thinking of. Gerry is the life of the party, but he has a very laidback and chill. He also usually the one who organizes parties. He sounds like one of those people who is dumb as a brick, but also completely lovable. The only thing Gerry truly hates is the color green. This is an obvious nod to the legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Gerry loves to party, but he loves his mommy even more. In fact, Gerry initially doesn’t want to go to college if it means be away from his mom. Gerry is voiced by Tyler Gonelli, who also handles the music and sound design for the series.

Arthur has a cousin named Carlos. Unsurprisingly, Carlos turns out to be the reincarnation of Kay, who was King Arthur’s stepbrother. Well, in some retellings anyway. Lynn mentions that not all retells of Arthurian Legend are accurate. Personally, I thought that Friday Knight Fights had a pretty brilliant explanation for the inconsistencies within Arthurian Legend. The characters have reincarnated over the centuries. So, it isn’t that the chroniclers were being inconsistent, or changing details, they were recording different incarnations of the Arthurian characters. That also handily explains why the Arthurian Legends don’t mesh with the archeological record of 5th Century Britain. Stone castles, knights, and countless other iconic Arthurian elements hadn’t been invented yet in the 5th Century. Carlos is voiced by Mateo Rodriguez.

The exact number of Knights of the Round Table varies from legend to legend. On the low end, some source say there were only twelve. On the higher end, however, other sources claim there were anywhere from 150 to over 300. I bring this up because there’s a lot of obscure Knights out there. Oh, sure, you’ve heard of Lancelot and Percival, or maybe you’re familiar with Gawain or Bedivere because of English class. But have you heard Sir Lucan the Butler? I should mention that, in this case, butler doesn’t mean what it does in modern times. A medieval butler was someone in charge of the royal household and royal court. As such, Lucan was on par with Knights such as Kay and Bedivere.

I bring all of this up because Arthur and the gang eventually meet a girl name Lucy, and she is the reincarnation of Lucan. She’s not to thrilled about being The Butler. I suppose she wasn’t paying too close attention to the visions of her past lives. Lucy is the daughter of the dean of the university everyone eventually decides to go to. Said university is famous for its medieval studies program, and the town around the university has a lot of Arthurian themed shops and cafes. Lucy initially seems like she’ll be a spoiled mean girl character, but she turns out to be pretty nice. Lucy is voiced by Sydney Jones

Okay, so what if one of the reincarnated Knights doesn’t want to relive the old legends? Oh, don’t worry, we get our answer in the form of Poppy. She’s the reincarnation of Percival. She initially doesn’t want to get involved, but she comes around with time. Though, she does make Arthur promise that they’ll actually change things this time round, and won’t just repeat the old stories. Poppy gets along quite well with Lynn, especially when it comes to messing with Arthur. Also, Poppy wears glasses, and is basically blind without them. As an aside, I love that Poppy’s episode took place at Medieval Times Chicago. I went to Medieval Times Dallas for a field trip in sixth grade. Sure, Medieval Times plays a bit fast and loose with actual history, but it is tons of fun. I had an absolute blast, and would gladly go again if I ever got the chance. Poppy is voiced by Hannah Steele, who also acts as director and co-writer for the series.

Rounding out the cast is Delilah. She is the reincarnation of Bedivere. Delilah loves volunteering for just about everything. She even volunteers as part of a Catholic church choir, despite the fact that she is Jewish, and is raised by two gay men. She’s no slouch in a fight. In fact, she picked up quite a few self-defense skills from her time volunteering various hospitals. Arthur found this out the hard way. To be fair, he did kind of come across as a creep. He lured her into one of the church’s back rooms and ask her to touch his sword. He meant Excalibur, since touching it is how everyone gets memories of their past lives, but that’s not how Delilah interpreted it. Carlos has a crush on Delilah, and its hinted that she returns his feelings. Interestingly, in the original legends, Kay and Bedivere were quite close. Delilah is voiced by Strummer Steele.

Okay, now we’re getting into the spoilers. 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.

Okay, first things first, Anthony’s love quest. The love quest ends in a way Anthony didn’t expect, but I certainly wondered about. Many of the male characters from the original legends were reincarnated as girls. So, it would stand to reason that at least some females characters are boys this time round. Well, it turns out I was right. Isolde has been reincarnated as a boy named Sawyer. Anthony initially doesn’t take that well. Though, he also admits he hasn’t really given much thought to his sexuality. One talk with Gerry later, and Anthony has patched things up with Sawyer. I’m not opposed to Anthony coming around to loving Sawyer, but I felt like things moved a bit too fast. At times it almost reminded me of the part of Spamalot where Lancelot discovers that he is gay. Or maybe Gerry is just that good? He’s not too bright, but he does have excellent people skills.

In other relationships, Arthur and Elliot become a couple. I had kind of suspected that this might happen. I thought that, instead of having with Guinevere, Elliot would have an affair with Arthur. Though, Arthur hadn’t found Guinevere yet at that point. We also know that something bad happened with Elliot the pervious year. She had considered tossing Excalibur into the lake where Lynn first found it. Did she try to go through with it? But then another thought occurred to me. What if Elliot wasn’t who she claimed to be? What if, somehow, she was Mordred, but wanted to be good this time around? But no, it couldn’t be, could it? How would she hid something like that from Lynn?

Well, lo and behold, I was half correct. The person claiming to be Elliot was indeed Mordred, though she prefers to be called Dread this days. However, she’s just as evil as she was in the original legends. Also, she’s the one who gave Lynn in info on how to find the Knights. It was all according to Dread’s scheme. I mean, I suspected this might be coming, but still, damn. Wait a minute, Mordred was Arthur’s son in the original legends so…oh no! Arthur was in a relationship with his reincarnated son! I mean, they aren’t biologically related, but still. Well, that’s going to make season two very interesting.

Oh, and Arthur found his Guinevere. She’s a girl he had a crush on name Winnie. Yeah, I saw the one coming a mile away. Most of the characters have names that are evocative of their Arthurian counterparts. Lynn is Merlin, Lucy is Lucan, Gerry is Gawain, Poppy is Percival, and Arthur is…well, you know. I would have been more surprised if Winnie hadn’t turned out to be Guinevere. I saw it coming, but that’s not a bad thing. It will be interesting to see how Winnie interacts with the rest of the cast come season two.

And from the looks of it, season two is going to be even more amazing than season one. We now know how the gang meet each other, and who the villains they’re up against are. Personally, I can’t wait to see what adventures we’ll be going on in season two.

So, there you have it. Friday Knight Fights is a modern-day urban fantasy adventure of Arthurian proportions. It follows characters from Arthurian Legend being reincarnated a modern-day college students. Season one was really great, and I eagerly await to see what season two will bring. From the looks of things, it will be just as great, if not even better.

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

The Audio File: Main Street Mythology

When we think of mythology, we typically think of ancient times, and days long since past. But what about our modern world? Oh sure, we have science to help explain the world, but that’s not the only thing myths are good for. Mythology can reveal truths about ourselves, and our world, that a more conventional narrative might obscure. But this begs and obvious question: what sort of myths and legends can you spin out of the modern world? Well, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, this is the question posed by the audio drama we’re taking a look at today. We’re taking a look at Main Street Mythology from Newton’s Dark Room. 

As I stated in the preamble, Main Street Mythology reimagines our modern world through the lens of mythology. It crafts an entirely new pantheon of gods and heroes to explain the ways of the modern world. You will meet figures such as Cale, the goddess of streetlights. In her tale, you shall learn where streetlights came from, and how Cale uses them to communicate to her followers. You will learn of how wild cars were tamed by brave humans. You will see how the rivalry of the gods Abad and Webi lead to the creation of cities. You will witness all these things, and more, as the mythical and the modern combine in Main Street Mythology.

I had been aware of Newton’s Dark Room for a while. They followed me on Twitter last year around…hmm. Was it before or after I did the audio drama parade for International Podcast Day? Well, in any event, I’d known about them for a while, and I listened to a couple episodes of Newton’s Dark Room Presents, but didn’t really give them too much thought. Then one day, on a whim, I looked at the Newton’s Dark Room Twitter account, and I saw a post about Main Street Mythology. The premise sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a listen. It didn’t take long before I fell in love with Main Street Mythology.

Mythology has historically been used to explain how the nature world came to be, and how it functions. In our modern times, we have science to do that. Main Street Mythology seeks to apply that original mythological worldview to our modern world. So, you get answer to question like where did streetlights come from? How were roads made? Why do people drive around in cars?

There are very few shows that I would describe as truly mythopoetic. Main Street Mythology, however, is one of those rare shows where the term mythopoeia absolutely applies. There have been other works of fiction that attempt to craft a mythology for the modern world. However, most of these series create stories that are reskinned version of preexisting myths and legends. Otherwise, they might draw clear parallels to history. This is not the case with Main Street Mythology. The myths do not, for the most part, have any obvious parallels in preexisting mythology or folklore. Some of the character fit into broad mythological archetypes; such as the trickster, the folk hero, the blacksmith. However, even then, there’s still plenty of gods who don’t fit snuggly into any category. The series does occasionally reference real world event, but not overtly so. Crafting a completely new and original mythology is no small task, so I applaud Main Street Mythology for its creativity and originality.

And this is a very heartfelt effort. There’s no winking subversion, or humorous attempts to comment on the nature of modern life. That’s not to say that there aren’t elements of humor in some of the myths. However, in comes across, for lack a better word, more organic. That is, humorous in a way you might expect from actual myths and legends. Main Street Mythology made a sincere effort to create stories that felt like they could be from a real mythology. And it is all the better because of that.

So, why don’t we talk a bit about the stories themselves? Well, actually let’s first talk about the audio. The stories are accompanies by very calming, meditative, but also rather epic sounding music. That is, I would say, a very fitting soundtrack for a mythology-based series. The audio has a bit of a hiss to it; almost like what you’d hear on an old recording. The framing device at the opening claims that the stories were collected Julia Sawbone, a members of the Newton’s Dark Room Collective. She was traveling across America to find the stories. As such, I’m inclined to believe that this is by design. The narrators of the stories manage to bring the proper awe and gravitas that myths and legends both deserve and require.

Also, it might seem like the myths are episodic and disconnected, but don’t be deceived. The stories gradually build upon one another. As such, it pays to listen to the series in sequential order. There are only five episodes total, so, Main Street Mythology makes for quick listening.

Okay, now we can talk about the content of the stories. One of my favorites is the story of Cale, the goddess of streetlights. She was fascinated by the night sky from a young age, even though it didn’t give much light. She is eventually gift a star by Mesec, the god of satellites. Cale pulled off tufts from the star and put them in glass bulbs, thus creating the first streetlights. At last, there would be light, true light, even in he darkness of night. Cale watches over humans, and the emotional distress they endure. When someone has hit their darkest hour, Cale will turn out a streetlight the person is standing under. They will be reminded of the light behind them, and the light in front of them. Cale is telling them that, though things are dark now, they will soon be bathed in light once again.

I also enjoyed the story of how humans tamed cars. In the world of Main Street Mythology, cars and other vehicles are living creatures with animal-level intelligence. So, humans had to domesticate them, like horses and other livestock. Though, originally, humans and cars mostly ignored each other. The legend tells of one brave woman who sought-out the cars, and offered gasoline to them in exchange for transportation. And thus, that is why cars require gasoline to work. This is one of those instances were you can kind of see the influences from real mythology, but the story also goes in its own direction.

Then there is the story of Doti, the goddess of waste. She lives on an island made out of discarded materials. Everything will eventually belong to Doti, for everything gets discarded sooner or later. I guess, in a way, that also makes Doti the goddess of entropy as well. Doti’s island being located in the Pacific Ocean might possibly be a reference to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is a massive collection of plastic garbage that is twice the size of Texas; or three times the size of France, to put it anther way. It stays together as a result of ocean currents. Doti and her followers lead a hard life. Their clothes are full of holes, their technology is always out of date, they spend their days fishing things out of the ocean. And yet, despite all the hardships, they are happy in their own life. They have turned their island of trash and discards into a home of sorts.

The story of Doti and her followers also relates to the story of garbage trucks. You see, in Main Street Mythology, garbage trucks were fearsome beasts that consumed everything in their path. They then brought their loads to the west coast and dumped them into the ocean. However, a brave girl named Maria fought back by pelting the trucks with garbage. The garbage satiated the trucks’ hunger, and from then on, people left offering of garbage on the curbs. As long as the trucks had a constant supply of garbage, which the humans were more than happy to get rid of, they would remain peaceful.

I could keep going all day, but I don’t want to summarize all the stories. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot of great myths and legends to discover in Main Street Mythology. Also, be sure to listen to the episodes all the way through to the end of the credits. There were plenty of gods and myths that didn’t make it into the final show, but Newton’s Dark Room wanted to preserve them in some small way. For example, you’ll hear about the god of skateboards, who makes a habit of annoying the older gods.

As I listened, I kept thinking about how nice it would be if the gods and goddesses had some visual representation. Well, as luck would have it, they do. You can finds sketches of the gods and goddesses on the Main Street Mythology page of the Newton’s Dark Room website. Originally, there was only a transcript for the first episode. However, after I pointed this issue out to Newton’s Dark Room, it was swiftly resolved. There are full transcripts for all five episodes. There’s a surprisingly high number of hard of hearing and/or deaf individuals in the audio drama community and fandom. Yeah, I know, it surprised me too. Point being, transcripts are essential for them to be able to enjoy the fun along with the rest of us. Also, transcripts are very helpful for people who write reviews.

I don’t have any complaints about Main Street Mythology. Part of me wishes there had been more episode, but I think the series is exactly as long as it needs to be. Main Street Mythology ultimately turns out to be set mostly around Los Angles. It made me wonder what sort of myths and legends could be told using other cities. Specifically, I made me wonder about what story of myths and legends could be told about my home city of Shreveport, Louisiana. I guess I’ll have to get on that at some point. I only hope I’ll be able to measure up to the high standard that Main Street Mythology has set.

So, there you have it. Main Street Mythology reimagines our modern world through the lens of mythology and folklore. It is five episodes long, and more than worth your time. Don’t sit on this one like I did. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

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