The Fandom Apprentice

Not all is well with Murderbot, but when is it ever? Ryn and Sam follow our favorite rogue SecUnit through the first three chapters of Network Effect, the first novel in the Murderbot Diaries! Topics include the gender politics of aunts, cis discomfort with trans presentation, intense feelings in platonic relationships, puppy eyes as a weapon of war, and Murderbot murdering on a murderboat. ...

here's been a murder! And despite what you might expect, it wasn't Murderbot's fault. It promises. And we promise topics including sleeper agents, queer assimilation, translation, and things that go blorp in the night.   Covers The Murderbot Diaries: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (2021)

So, as it turns out, there are there are also some short stories in the Murderbot Universe! We get to dig into the minds of some side characters, learn more about the origins of constructs, and talk about queerplatonic relationships, coming out, and non-human personhood!  If our audio quality is a wee bit sharper on this one, it's because we had some issues with our primary recordings and wer...

Murderbot has to go find some old friends! We're entirely normal about it acknowledging PresAux as friends. Other topics include consent, gender presentation/human-passing, the self and the body as separate but connected entities, and finally, as all folks hitchhiking on bot-driven transports across the galaxy must, we grapple with towels.    Covers The Murderbot Diaries Vol IV: Exit Str...

Ryn and Sam are wildly unfocused, probably because we are simultaneously monitoring two dozen intel drones, HubSystem, and Episode 372 of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon! And also being slightly horny on main, giving mini-reviews of horror movies and a romance novel, discussing Murderbot's D&D class, and once again providing evidence that capitalism is the worst villain! All before we get...

Murderbot travels to RaviHyral to investigate... well, murder. That it may or may not have been responsible for. Join us as we grapple with concepts of non-human personhood, gender, terrible bosses, queerplatonic relationships formed on threats of terrible violence, and murder! So much murder. Covers The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 2: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Welcome to season 2! We begin with everyone's favorite heartless killing machine that just wants to watch Space Netflix and unfortunately keeps having emotions! Join Ryn and Sam as we discuss aliens, why capitalism is always the problem, international law in space, and sci-fi horror!    Covers The Murderbot Diaries Book 1: All Systems Red by Martha Wells (2017)

Hello everyone, and welcome to the next phase of the Fandom Apprentice! If you're new to the pod, this is a great place to start- get (re)introduced to us as the hosts, our background with sci-fi, and our plans for season 2, focused on Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries! If you're a regular, come on in and get cozy with some new media!

Ryn and Sam know absolutely nothing about poetry. Neither of us took a single college-level English course. That will not, of course, stop us from having opinions on Tolkien's poetry and songs. This is what Bilbo Baggins hates. And/or what the Man in the Moon himself came down to listen to. You be the judge!     There is also An Announcement: This Is The End. Of Tolkien comment...

A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not listen? Long have Ryn and Sam, the hosts of this podcast, overanalyzed the Lord of The Rings series. We come to the last of the movies today, so join us as we ride for ruin and the story's ending through discussions of gravity-defying snakes, mutilated tomatoes, the neverending road to cavalry tactics, music, and much more!  Covers The Lord of the Rings:...

We move on to the second film in the trilogy, The Two Towers! Ryn provides more commentary on music, Sam continues to hate Gollum, and we are confused about some story choices! Join us for discussions on tragically cishet immortals, incredibly hot Numenoreans, Shakespearean actors, and Skyrim! Do you get to the Cloud District very often? Listeners of our podcast do!   Covers The Lord of the R...

We finally dive into the movies with an emphasis on our special interests of soundtrack, costume design, and Aragorn! Join us as we ask the big questions: what's a leitmotif? How many hugs are in the movie? And why is Aragorn so hot? Covers The Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) (2001)

We get our appendixes out! That is, we talk about the Lord of the Rings appendices. That's right, there's still more text to read! Join us as we pour over Arwen and Aragorn's romance, family trees, and the Book of Numbers, Tolkien Edition! aka a detailed timeline history of Numenor and the Second and Third Ages of Middle Earth.   Covers Appendices A-F, published at the end of Return of the Ki...

Having reached the end of the books, we take a minute to reflect on this journey and its stages, check in to see if our Definitely Universal Rules Of Fantasy hold up, talk about Sam Gamgee as The Everyman, and dig into our remaining lingering questions! 

All good things must come to an end, a last stage, if you will. Join us as we discuss the very end of Return of the King, prison abolition, authoritarianism, Sam Gamgee's knowledge of buns, hobbit reproduction, and our feelings here at the end of this stage of our wonderful journey!    Covers Return of the King Book VI, Chapter VIII: The Scouring of the Shire (Part B) and Chapter IX: The...

The Hobbits have returned home, but it has not escaped the ravages of time- we finally come to Ryn's favorite chapter in all of Lord of the Rings, The Scouring of the Shire, which definitely has absolutely no relevance to the current political climate, none whatsoever. Anyway, for no reason at all it's a really good time to get to know your neighbors and local communities.     Cover...

Another travel episode! Ryn and Sam talk about their book club, immortality, what Legolas and Gimli get up to in the Glittering Caves of Aglarond, and compulsory heterosexuality! Join us for the last stage of the journey (again)! Covers Return of the King Book VI Chapter VI Many Partings and Chapter VII Homeward Bound

A disclaimer- we recorded this right after the election. So we are slightly... less enthusiastic than usual. If you don't want to hear us talking politics, skip to 0:09:16, but if you want to hear about a long furby and how're we're feeling, give our intro a listen!  Anyway, we talk about the downfall of Mordor, romance, power imbalance in relationships, and surprise Gandalf!  More withi...

Here, at the end of all things, we finish our discussion of The Quest with  who's the top in Frodo and Sam's relationship, the professor's overuse of the phrase "last stage of their journey," volcanology, and our emotional attachment to cookware!    Covers Book VI Chapter III: Mount Doom

We're back! And we're in the darkest stage of our journey and not even the Phial of Galadriel can light our way out of this. Ryn & Sam talk ring corruption, the magic of friendship, orc bureaucracy, and true gay hobbit love! Covers Book VI Chapter I: The Tower of Cirith Ungol & Chapter II: The Land of Shadow If you like what you're hearing, give us a follow wherever you're listening to thi...

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (apparently), and we're celebrating with a special family-friendly (for once) episode! This week we cover the Professor's "Letters from Father Christmas," aka "The Father Christmas Letters" (more on this in the episode)! Join us for a cozy holiday read through some Tolkien family lore! P.S.- The North Polar Bear did nothing wrong. x.6

Happy Thanksgiving to our American listeners and happy last week of November to everyone else! As you prepare your turkeys and gear up for... *ahem* interesting family conversations, know that you have us to keep you company! Topics of discussion include: the Year Without A Summer, mermaid ass, diplomacy, and Sauron's goose getting cooked! Or turkey, depending on the season. Covers Book V Chapter...

CW: Suicide, suicidal ideation Skip ahead to 0:38:45 to avoid discussion of these topics Call the wizard and the fireman- Ryn and Sam return to Minas Tirith where Denethor has succumbed to madness and despair from the palantir, and Pippin must rush to save Faramir from a terrible fate. Tangents include the ethics of physician-assisted suicide, hot gay nurses, and a good bass line. If this episode...

It's our one year anniversary!! A quick thank you and retrospective and also a plea for US folks to get out and vote in the election next week. Anyway thank you for listening to us for a whole year! We look forward to bringing you our queer nerdy takes for a long time to come.  We are very glad you are here with us. Here at the end of all things (but not the end of this podcast!) 

We back up to the "last stage" before the battle to check in on Merry and the Rohirrim and how they make it to the Pelennor Fields! Also discussed: hope, the death of a good king, the death of a bad king, children's hospitals, pterosaurs and other things that fly, and Shakespeare! Send us your best Hobbit band names!   Covers Book V Chapter V: The Ride of the Rohirrim and Book V Chapter VI: T...