Personal highlights
Aishi Online, Episode 24 -Reveal. There are some short reflections on the pandemic at the start of the episode, and then we’re straight into the continuation of MJ’s fantasy story, which MJ is using more and more instead of talking directly about what was happening in her life during her time on The Forum and Symbolic Myst. In her story a royal wedding is held, and the prince has to get used to his new wife’s presence, and so does the rest of his family. MJ then mentions something in a much more specific way than we’ve heard before – her aunt hated her, and didn’t know why. Naturally, she wanted to know what she did wrong, and how this could be fixed. Then there’s a big revelation – the police went to GiftedDuckling to ask about MJ, but by then MJ had stopped speaking to GiftedDuckling. MJ doesn’t explain in a straightforward way why the police went to visit the GiftedDuckling, and what had happened to her at the time; as with this show in general, it’s up to us to put the pieces together to figure out what was going on with her family.
Lost Terminal, 2..5 – It’s Exploration Time. So, I have one question: what was that ending?! In this episode, Maddie is going outside, and she’s a backpack, I love it. It’s finally time for Seth to see outside, through Maddie’s camera, after after hearing so much about what’s out there. It’s a completely new experience for him, and it’s fun watching him discover the outside world. There’s also a poignant reminder that among all this newness, that Seth is cut off from what he used to hear from and who he used to talk to in space.
Unseen, Episode 4 – A Day of Sunshine and Rain. Another completely different perspective from this unseen world, and this week we meet a magical detective, who clearly likes telling stories, and leaves his superior a long voicemail. After the mystery and Edmond’s impersonations, it turns out he was sent to investigate a heartbreaking event. But after the tragedy there’s a hopeful ending to the story, and new start for a teenager, who will now have people who can understand him. There’s an interesting break in the story, and an example of the use of magic to do something so mundane, which provides an amusing comparison to the beauty of magic in episode one. The concept of belonging seems to be a theme in this show, and it’s really interesting to see how that’s treated in each episode.
The Mountain’s Heart, Day 10 Part 2 – Testing. It’s been a long day for Felisa. There’s a reminder that Felisa is not making these recordings for her, they’re a college assignment. One theme that’s dealt with a lot in different podcasts by MJ Bailey is the relationships her characters have with their respective families, and this is particularly obvious in this episode. Felisa discusses her relationship with her mum, the lack of communication, and the tensions that this trip has brought up. All Felisa wants is a family, and it’s so heartbreaking that she feels like she doesn’t have one.
We Know None, 06 – What a Tragedy. (Note: I play Helen in this episode.) Once I saw what the episode title was I was just like nope, remembering what happened in last week’s episode. The story so far has focused on Gwen, but this week we see the effect Frankie’s disappearance has had on Frankie’s mum, Jean. Gwen plays another one of Frankie’s tape, in which she investigates Millie’s disappearance, and talks to one of her housemates. This housemate then invites her to come to London, where Millie disappeared – are we getting closer to the truth?
Me and AU, 10 – Real People. The episode description, ‘Starting video call…’ had me so excited even before I started listening to the episode! Kate and Ella have a video call, and actually see each others faces for the first time. And it’s so adorable. There are embarrassing gay backstories, and a really interesting discussion about the role of fandom and fanfic in figuring out your sexuality. Now kiss!
Hughes and Mincks: Ghost Detectives, Minisode 5 – Two and a Half Ghost Detectives. A child! This is so adorable, and totally what we need in 2020. Mincks is babysitting a neighbour’s child in the office, which leaves Hughes to go on their first solo job (Well done Mincks, you jinxed it!). Please say you’ll tell us how Hughes gets on!
Paired, S3E6 – Austin’s Phone, Take Two. Pairy is helping an actor record self-tapes, who worries about the take they send to their agent. It’s heartwarming to see Pairy help him regain his confidence and love of acting, even though she doesn’t always get everything right.
Debuts
The Reignition Theory (Note: I play Elizabeth Morisae in episode one) is a new show from the creator of At The End of The Line. Historian Mason Cainrich meets Ciro Aurrente, who begins to tell his story of what he saw of the destruction of Corraban. There’s a world full of rich lore and history, and I’m looking forward to exploring it.
Hi Nay. Filipina immigrant Mari Datuin lives in a suspiciously cheap apartment in downtown Toronto. What seems to be a fairly normal message to her mum turns into Mari recounting a sinister event that happened to her and a neighbour in her apartment building. The show has such beautiful and haunting theme music!
Trailers and Prologues
Moonbase Theta, Out released a trailer ahead of the first full episode of season three, which is due to be released on the 22nd November. After the three prologues with just Roger and Tumnus on the moon, here we’re introduced to some new characters who we’ll meet in this season. There are clips from upcoming episodes, and I love the contrast between Roger mimicking the style of his broadcasts from season one, and the new situations and characters of season three.
Life on Pause is a new anthology, set in a world affected by a global pandemic. The trailer features clips from upcoming season, which is due to start on Thursday December 10th. The series features some big names from indie audio fiction, both as writers and actors.
Returns
Dos: After You. After a brief break, Dos: After You is back for Arc III. Right from the very first few seconds, we can tell this episode is going to be very different. After 14 episodes of only hearing about Sil through Deck, we finally meet him, through a flashback episode. It’s a direct look into Deck and Sil’s relationship, as it was at the time, and not talked about later as Deck has been doing up until now.
New Listens
A Ninth World Journal. This is a show I’ve had on my to-listen list for a while, and with WiFiSciFi coming up on December 6th, I wanted to try and get caught up on it before the event. Based on the Numenera RPG, and set a billion years in the future, Januae is a priest who has a teleportation device built for him, which will take him any place that’s familiar to him. The first time he tries it, he ends up somewhere completely new, and he has to find a way home, with a key part of the teleportation device now broken.
Other News
The final voting phase of the Audio Verse Awards is open until December 5th. Best of luck to all the finalists!
A Sky Full of Pods 