Episodes

In this episode we discuss the 2021 film Mortal Kombat. You can watch it in theaters or on HBO Max. Content warnings for strong language, discussions of extreme violence, misogyny, and fridging, and more bad jokes than usual. We reference or spoil: The Mortal Kombat extended universe, Cole Younger of the James-Younger Gang, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, “MORTAL KOMBAT BREAKDOWN! Easter Eggs & Details You Missed!” from New Rockstars, Stefon meme, The Bechdel Test, ...

In this episode we discuss the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious. You can watch it online on Amazon, YouTube, or HBO Max. Content warnings for strong language, discussions of homophobic slurs, police brutality, Asian-American violence, and real-life death. We reference or spoil: Guys & Dolls, The Simpsons, Oh, Hello, the Fast & Furious cinematic universe, Hello from the Magic Tavern, Point Break, Ford v Ferrari, Back to the Future, the Marvel cinematic universe, The Room, DragonBall Z, New Gi...

In this episode we discuss the 1997 film Batman & Robin. You can watch it online on Amazon, YouTube, or HBO Max. Content warnings for strong language, references to #MeToo, discussions of racism and classism, male gaze nonsense, numerous jokes about academia, and Kat’s microphone being INCORRECT. We reference or spoil: “Uma Thurman” by Fall Out Boy, Batman cinematic, comic, television, LEGO, and animated universe, Clueless, Legally Blonde, WandaVision television show, Scrooged, Little Shop of ...

It’s the fifth Wednesday minisode! In this shorter episode Pippin and Brendan talk about the recent Marvel television shows. You can watch WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+. Content warnings for strong language, discussions of grief, references to the Current State of the World, and Pippin attempting math. We reference or spoil: WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, MCU in general, Game of Thrones, and Batman and Robin The transcript will be available soon ...

In this episode we discuss the 2001 film A Knight’s Tale. You can watch it online on Amazon, YouTube, or iTunes. Content warnings for strong language, slight reference to anti-semitism in The Canterbury Tales, discussion of ’90s level sexism and misogyny, and somehow we didn’t say “himbo” once. We reference or spoil: 1776 (musical), HBO’s John Adams miniseries, Boy Meets World, Tamora Pierce‘s Tortall universe, White Fang, Newsies, The Office episode “Dinner Party“, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Ge...

In this episode we discuss a story idea by Kat’s elder daughter. It involves dragons! Content warnings for fire, tense parental relationships, and a lot of talk about dogs. But we don’t use super strong language in this one! PG at most! We reference or spoil: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede, How to Tame Your Dragon cinematic universe, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, The Dragon Prince, the Discworld literary universe by Terry Pratchett, “The Task” by Terry Rossio, Cruella ...

In this episode we discuss the classic fairy tale Snow White. You can watch the Disney version on Disney+ or read different traditional versions online here. Content warnings for strong language, discussions of misogyny, in-text child murder, and way too many jokes about necrophilia. We reference or spoil: Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Grimm Brother’s “Snow White”, The Pentamerone, “The Little Slave“, Cinderella, Bluebeard, Maria Tatar‘s The Classic Fairy Tales, Disney’s The Little...

In this episode we discuss F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, both the 1925 novel and the 2013 movie (mostly the movie, if we’re being honest). You can rent the movie on YouTube, Amazon, or Google Play. You can get the novel from Project Gutenberg. Content warnings for strong language, textual references to murder, suicide, abusive relationships, and infidelity, discussions of antisemitism, racism, and classism, and bad Gatsby jokes We reference or spoil: Herman Melville‘s Moby Dick, Clas...

In this episode Brendan, Pippin, and Alex try to create their own Final Fantasy plot, because Kat wasn’t around to stop them. You can buy various Final Fantasy games online from Steam, the online Switch store, or directly from the Square Enix store. Content warnings for strong language, discussions of amnesia, depression, and familial death, and also an excessive number of belts. We reference or spoil: The Final Fantasy franchise in its entirety, Polygon video “How Final Fantasy defined weird ...

In this episode we discuss an original story idea by Brendan featuring being stranded in space. Content warnings for strong language, vague references to Covid-19, and bad jokes. We reference or spoil: Thing party game, Among Us, Star Trek universe, The Star Trek Comedy Album, The Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour, Firefly, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Wars, The Expanse, John Scalzi’s Redshirts, Titan A.E., Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe, Robin Hood, Lost In Spa...

In this episode we celebrate this year’s Mas Chris by discussing the 2018 film Agatha and the Truth of Murder. (Get it? Agatha Christie! haaaaa) You can watch it online on Amazon, YouTube, or Netflix. Content warnings for strong language, discussions of murder, period-“appropriate” homophobia, bury your gays trope, Pippin’s casual misandry, constant Arthur Conan Doyle bashing, and saying “murder” in funny ways We reference or spoil: Parks and Recreation episode “The Fight“, Dorothy Sayers‘ Str...

In this episode we discuss the 1955 film Guys and Dolls. You can watch it online on Amazon, YouTube, or iTunes. Content warnings for strong language, real-world homophobia, misogyny, sexism, sexual assault, getting drunk and throwing hands. We reference or spoil: West Side Story, Carousel, She’s All That, 10 Things I Hate About You, Star Wars, 1776, Ghostbusters (2016), Shakespeare‘s The Taming of the Shrew, Lois McMaster Bujold‘s A Civil Campaign, Brooklyn Nine-Nine Also check out Kat’s The M...

This episode is releasing late due to the passing of our mother, Debra Doyle, a few weeks ago. We recorded this before her passing, and we talked about her a lot in it. She was pretty great, and we loved her a lot. We hope to always be the sort of people she’d be proud of, and create the sort of stories she would like. In this episode we discuss a story Alex is working on currently titled The Orphaned Light, another story of his Space Ace Detective stories. Content warnings for strong language...

In this episode we discuss the video game franchise Metroid. You can buy various games from Amazon, Best Buy, or GameStop. Content warnings for strong language and discussions of misogyny We reference or spoil: The Metroid video game franchise, Super Smash Bros., The Subspace Emissary’s Worlds Conquest by AuraChannelerChris, Metroidvania, Castlevania, American McGee’s Alice, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tomb Raider, Beyond Good and Evil, The Last of Us, Good Will Hunting, Jay and S...

In this episode we discuss the 2010 film Inception. You can watch it online on Amazon, YouTube, or iTunes. Content warnings for strong language and discussions of suicide and gaslighting. We reference or spoil: Édith Piaf‘s “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien“, 1975’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1944’s Gas Light, My Little Pony, Shakespeare‘s Macbeth, “Inception: Jeffrey Kurland Costume Q&A“, 2018’s Venom, “The Fisher King” myth, Doctor Who, “chemin de fer, chemin d’enfer“, Star Trek universe, Fran...

It’s a fifth Wednesday minisode! In this shorter episode we’re talking about the Jackbox game Trivia Murder Party. Trivia Murder Party appears in Jackbox 3 and 6 and can be purchased on their website. Content warnings for strong language, discussion of murder, and an actual in-episode appearance of a spider. We reference or spoil: Brooklyn 99 episode “DFW“, the gay cousin joke, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Psycho, Colossal Cave Adventure, Zork, and The Shining The transcript will be available s...

In this episode we discuss the 1999 film 10 Thing I Hate About You. You can watch it online on Amazon or Disney+. Content warnings for strong language, 90s level general cringe, sexism, misogyny, discussions of 16th century gaslighting and Stockholm Syndrome, and anti-Stratfordian nonsense. We reference or spoil: Shakespeare‘s The Taming of the Shrew, Community episode “Early 21st Century Romanticism“, No Story Is Sacred episode “Shenangineers to the Rescue“, Dr. Katz Professional Therapist, T...

In this episode we discuss the 1997 film Con Air. You can watch it online on YouTube, Amazon, or iTunes. Content warnings for strong language, discussions of in-film racism, sexism, graphic sexual violence, homophobia, and related 1990s-level societal garbage, references to in-film violence/abuse toward children, discussions regarding the absolute need for prison reform, and terrible Nicholas Cage impressions. We reference or spoil: Ken Burns documentaries, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, works of...

In this episode we discuss the musical Hamilton. You can watch it on Disney+ or listen to the soundtrack online on places like Spotify. Content warnings for strong language, discussions of adultery, slavery, suicide, parent death, child death, historical uncertainty about queerness, and questions of queerbaiting. We reference or spoil: 200-year-old history, Got Milk’s “Aaron Burr” commercial, J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Lord of the Rings, A Bit of Fry and Laurie‘s “Themes: What good are they?” sketch, Dr...

In this episode we speculate about the upcoming film Bill & Ted Face the Music. You can watch the trailer on YouTube. Content warnings for strong language, discussions of homophobia, toxic masculinity, white savior shit, sexism, Hollywood-typical misogyny, time travel shenanigans, and unfortunate levels of Keanu Reeves adoration We reference or spoil: The Bill and Ted cinematic universe, the oracle at Delphi, The Task, No Story Is Sacred episode “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”, Kiss‘s “Go...

It’s a fifth Wednesday minisode! In this shorter episode we just chat, because we like each other. Because we’re us, we still end up talking about stories and writing. Content warnings for strong language, references to mental illness (specifically of Bipolar II), and discussion of disgusting pizzas. We reference or spoil: Machperson’s Rant, the folk process, Gritty, The Monkey’s Paw, Star Trek: Lower Decks, The Star Trek Comedy Album, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Discovery, Laug...

In this episode we discuss a story Kat is working on currently titled Driven By Desire. It’s an Edwardian romance featuring cars. Content warnings for strong language, discussions of imposter syndrome, discussions of risque romance plots, Kat’s sad lack of science knowledge (despite writing a story about a scientist), and overuse of the word “shenanigan” We reference or spoil: Star Trek, fuck or die trope, The Proposal, Um, Actually episode “Wario, Winnie the Pooh, A Wrinkle in Time”, Middledi...

In this episode we once again play a game of our own devising called “Wheel of Tropes.” We use random TV Tropes, entries from Diana Wynne Jones‘s The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, and parts of Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret to create a new story. Content warnings for strong language, discussions of child endangerment, and a shocking lack of cursing on Kat’s part. We reference or spoil: Knives Out, kpop stans fighting fascism, Savage Garden‘s “To the Moon & Back“, LMFAO‘s “Sexy...

In this episode we discuss the 2015 film Jupiter Ascending. You can watch it online on YouTube, Amazon, or Netflix. Content warnings for strong language, specific sexual fetishes, incest discussion, space capitalism, references to (space) police, reference to Terry “oh white men have it so hard cry for me” Gilliam, and bees We reference or spoil: SNL Stefon sketches, NYT article about omegaverse, Archive of Our Own, Greek/Roman mythology, Cavendish banana plague, Fuck Marry Kill on tumblr, Old...