Damn I Love This!

Camlann Pod is just a little over halfway to its goal! If you're looking for a fresh, queer Arthurian story this is for you. Check it out and donate to their Ko-Fi because you're going to want a season 2!

LIVESTREAM MARATHON - THIS SATURAY 30TH NOVEMBER!

Come help us raise money for season 2 of Camlann by tuning in to our twelve hour marathon on the @tincanaudio Twitch channel!

There'll be 27 prizes available, including the only Camlann merchandise currently in existence: 9 posters with our show art, and 9 custom campfire patches made by our very own Ross McFarlane, as well as 9 hardback copies of Ella's TTRPG Upriver, Downriver thanks to the generous support of @macguffinandco.

Plus! We're going to be joined by amazing guests from all across the podcast landscape, joining us to chat about folklore, mythology and much much more. These guests will include: Motzie from @hinaypod, @laurenshippen, Eira from @hangingslothcentral, Cat from The Call fo Cthulhu Mystery Programme, Gabriel and Sarah from Wolf 359, Marc from Archive 81, Steve from Old Gods of Appalachia, Joe from Midnight Burger, Richard from Visionaries, and Eleanor and Martin from the Three Ravens podcast!

And of course, the cast and crew will be there to chat and joke along as we relisten to series one of Camlann, with an episode on the hour every hour from 3pm GMT.

So please - come say hi, tell a friend, and consider donating to help us make season 2. We can't wait!

Keep the fires burning.

golden age 👑

12 Days of Medieval Illuminations. Today, 11 medieval suns. (Getty Museum)

I also love how audio fiction has always been a highly experimental medium, and likely always will be.

Financially, it has a low barrier for entry, a low point of diminishing returns, and a relatively small potential market. It's basically impervious to being taken over by giant studios - even the "big" networks like RQ would be considered indie in the film or game dev industries. With the exception of the BBC, they tend to dip their toes into audio fiction, figure out quickly that, although it's beloved by its fans, there isn't that kind of money in it, and proceed to leave us alone forever.

Then there's the fact that it propagates largely by word of mouth. Audio dramas owe everything to obsessive nerds forcing nearly everyone they know to listen to that podcast they just discovered.

So it's more about the thing being actually good, plus a decent amount of luck and persistence.

There's no optimally marketable success formula being relentlessly enforced by gatekeeping jellybean-counters because they don't exist here. So people make whatever they want. So it draws people to it who are looking for something different. And the cycle feeds itself, and the medium gets weirder (in a good way).

It may very well ALWAYS remain the wild west of storytelling.

So listeners tell your friends about that podcast!

And creators, make the weird thing! There are no rules! It can be an hour long or Breaker Whiskey short, or Re:Dracula all over the place length. It can be another tape recorder framing or another voicemail framing or basically just an audiobook. It can be any genre or blend of genres. This creative space gives us the opportunity to be our own target audience in a way rarely found elsewhere.

If you enjoy the thing you're making, odds are somone else out there will enjoy it too. I've already found this to be true, and my time as an audio fiction creator is still just beginning.

Peace and love on every planet, y'all!

OVER THE GARDEN WALL (2014)

I know I'm not the only one who felt uncomfortable with Merlin's powers to compel dragons against their will, particularly with the show centred on Merlin trying to achieve safety and freedom for magic users.

But what if that power goes both ways? Dragonlords may be able to command dragons, but dragons can steer the course of destiny and absolutely wreck the ship.

What if dragons can cause a person monumental levels of predestined pain and suffering, absolutely crush them with the narrative and make not just their hero's journey, but the realisation of their destiny pure unadulterated hell?

Dragonlords who abused their power technically end up achieving their goals, but it's at so great a personal cost that the dragonlords of old were like "yeah, no, we're not gonna fuck with that. How about we just be friends and respect each other?"

Of course, no one was around to warn our poor boy Merlin. My new HC is that his and Arthur's destiny looked so different to the one he expected, and that he suffered so much loss on the way, because he messed with Kilgharrah.

September '24 Masterlist

Somehow another round is already coming to a close, and I once again want to thank all you lovely participants! I've decided to keep the Masterlist for the time being, although a little trimmed down to hopefully make it a little less time-intensive on my end.

All that said, without further ado! <3

Drabble Challenge Winner! ✨

Believe me, love, it was the nightingale by @mightybog

[Prompt: Nightfall | Arthur/Merlin]

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"I Promised" by @mightybog

[Prompt: "I Promised" | Arthur/Merlin]

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jamais vu by @adhd-merlin

[Prompt: "I Promised" | Freya/Merlin]

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a night's rest by @adhd-merlin

[Prompt: Nightfall | Arthur/Merlin]

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"Untitled" (Dusk) by @thefollow-spot

[Prompt: Nightfall | Lancelot/Merlin]

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midnight by @liviapeleia

[Prompt: Nightfall | Lancelot/Merlin]

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Prompt: Nightfall

Nightfall by @twistedshipper

[Arthur/Morgana]

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nightfall by @the-king-and-the-druidess

[Gwen/Lancelot]

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Nightfall (Release Words) by @personaje-fics

[Arthur/Lancelot]

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Prompt: "I Promised."

Redemption Lies Plainly in Truth by @miyriu

[Arthur & Morgana]

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Meant to be Broken by @classics-n-comedy

[Arthur & Mordred]

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fealty by @liviapeleia

[Arthur/Lancelot]

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I get so jealous of euthanized dogs by @bumblebearr

[Arthur/Gwen, Gwen/Leon]

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Prompt: Starting Over

A Good Start by @miyriu

[Arthur/Merlin]

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Therefore stay yet; thou need'st not to be gone by @mightybog

[Arthur/Merlin]

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in the chillest land by @adhd-merlin

[Aithusa, Merlin]

Irish megalithic sites illustrated by Paul Blades.