Novel Ideas

Just as darkness can hide or permit the truth of our nature, light can obscure or highlight our greatest flaw. Behind the wishes for a return to society, it's hard to avoid the inevitability of judgment. Whether it be from the forces of darkness seeking the destruction of all in the FAYZ, or the external world ready to place their authority above the children, a truth will be hard to ignore: l...

When life gives you lemons, imagine them squirting into your eyes, tripping on some steps and dying from the impact. Fear is a funny thing, isn't it? You live your life and the impossible confronts you, or at least what seems illogical. The FAYZ has been dangerous for a number of reasons, but the semblance of night and day has kept life in the dome "normal", until a growing black sta...

One could say the greatest challenge in life is to walk a road. Down and much further ahead, there is a horizon that supersedes our vision of life and our choices in love, in life, and in safety. We straddle a world of choices and just up above us, claimed and lost in our vision, a star. And as we gaze on to emblazon our hopes, our fears and dreams of a life made better, it's a call to a sweet...

It's been a minute since I've gotten emotional and even more so talking about how an album has allowed me to reflect on life and Ryan Beatty's album did that for me. Life is full of contradictions and you must still live, flawed, insecure, and hopeful. I'm reading the lyrics in this part 1 of 2, spurring you to listen to the episode and album for the lyrics before my breakdown foll...

Plagues are notoriously difficult to manage. Could you imagine trying to exterminate a bunch of 5-foot tall gut-roaches? How about solving the case of a spreading cough that gives one the supernatural ability to break one's own neck and cough up your lungs? And has anyone figured out how to stop the incessant voices of doubt that plagues this or that choice? No solution is perfect, especially when...

A boyfriend who cooks, a dream internship, and a spot on the varsity soccer team alongside new friends—Darius finally has everything he thought he wanted. So why doesn't he feel as happy as he expected? In this bonus episode, our brother Darius discovers that getting what you want isn't always the end of the story. Sometimes the hardest part begins after the choice is made.

Darius the Great is learning about life, personhood, and the importance of history to one's own journey. Unfortunately, a trip to Iran towards this self-actualization comes with a mentally-declining grandfather and a hard lesson about beginnings and endings. Get choked up with me as we watch a family try to figure out how to make it through when things aren't as okay as we say they are. En...

If I had a choice, I'd prefer truth or a lie. At least then, I'd know how much of an idiot I was, or am, for making the same decision. Lies are much more finicky. Loose and untethered. Dangerous. Just ask Orsay, or Hank, or Mary, rest her soul. To believe a lie is truth is to uproot yourself, and dangle on the whims of reality, whomever you're viewing it from. I wish I could say watch...

Happy 30th to me-and anyone else who is lucky to be born at this time. Summer is warm, alive, and provoking, touching all who rests underneath the sun at its peak until everything is laid bare. Perhaps that's why "Obsession" offers the perfect story through which to review what may be one of life's greatest lessons. As with most truths worth learning, this one reveals itself only...

It's one thing to be gone; it's another to go hungry. Anything is possible if the ache and pang that touches your backside, or those around you, can be quelled for one everlasting moment. So if that means stealing, scapegoating, or sacrificing those around you for such a gift, line up the sacrificial lambs, or "freaks", whichever you prefer. As long as I get mine. I hope you enjo...

For the next couple of weeks, it's everything gay, queer, and complicated. This episode features conversations about projection, childhood, and accepting the tides of change amidst mid-life crises as a 30-something. Enjoy this bonus episode. BYYEEE!!!!

Between everyone 15+ disappearing, not knowing where your family has gone, and trying to fight off a malicious influence corrupting the world around you for it's own benefit, it makes looking for a new job feel like a walk in the park. Sam, Quinn, and Astrid have a lot ahead of them as their world of Perdido Beach becomes much more interesting than any of them could've imagined. I hope you...

We've followed Josh and Sophie to the literal end of the Earth, or maybe the beginning depending on where you stand. Nicholas and Perenelle are one their final day of life trying to ensure that San Francisco is safe from the beasties on Alcatraz, and Virginia Dare stands at the forefront of humanity rebellion towards a brighter future as "The Enchantress". I hope you enjoy this final...

To become waerloga , a warlock, is to betray your word, name, and value as they once were for who you are now. Machiavelli and Billy the Kid can't see the destruction and chaos put upon humanity, Josh can no longer stand the sight of his sister, and many will sacrifice anything to save those they love. Betrayal has its purposes for selfish and gallant intents. But where does your heart lie whe...

What is one to do when the world feels against you? Trusting someone who's tried time and again to kill you and your companions for the last week, or so that's Josh's lot in life. Nicholas has proven himself to be untrustworthy, but feels backed into a corner with no choice but to follow in Flamel's footsteps. Unfortunately, Josh has made his own decisions that will put him in trou...

Standing in the shoes of Perenelle Flamel is difficult, least of all because she resides in the place of a High Priestess; enigmatic and self-possessed with great intuition matched by a repository of knowledge and skill that makes her dangerous to many who know of her reputation. Meeting with The Sphinx and coming out alive, she will befriend Elders and make more enemies as she finds her way off o...

Magicians serve as a bridge to the divine; firm conduits of learned knowledge that proves insightful and dangerous, mentors and guides to the uninducted, and Josh has yet to be Awakened. He's gullible and angry enough at Nick to fit right into John's hands as he works on helping his masters achieve their goal. I t remains to be seen whether John will be able to satisfy their request. Enjoy...

To be an alchemist is to understand what is fundamental about life: everything is subject to change. To initiate the twins into their destiny, it is functional that the truths of life are recognized. That danger is present where we least imagine it, and power protects as much as we determine it can. Enjoy the episode following Nicholas Flamel as our titular "Alchemyst". BYYEEE!!!!

In today's bonus episode, I'm speaking on a spoiler-free review for the movie and its conversation about names and titles, my love for "Killing Eve" and the "Toy Story 5" trailer, and re-uploads for the "Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" episodes so far. I hope you enjoy tears, laughter, and a ultimate celebration of change. BYYEEE!!!!

It's so hard to say goodbye when twenty things piss you off about the ending of a series. Me and Bobby's "Uncle" have beef much bigger than the literal protagonist and antagonist. It's wild. If y'all listen close enough, I'll sound like a volcano erupting as Bobby and the other Travelers give it their last go at figure this issue balance and leaving the rest of it in...

It's bad enough we have to contend with politics in the real world; I can't even escape it in a fictional world, too? Saint Dane's out of the whole kit and caboodle this time. I was gonna say fascism has makeover, but there's always a suit, poor sociological skills, and a lackey to take the fall when the good gets going. And by good I mean getting rid of anyone who opposes the regi...

To say I've been an advocate for Bobby shirking the vague rules of Travelerdom for what seems a pointless endeavor protecting Halla speaks to the farcical nature of saving that which already seems lost. Ibara faces a threat of decimation unseen and Bobby is given the impossible: let the fate of thousands fall upholding the arbitrary value of "no trespasses" or choose survival at all costs and crea...

Welcome to Quillan, a land of grey landscapes, tall buildings, and average citizens wagering their lives against bets in the hopes of improving their station. Kinda sounds like betting for the PowerBall, doesn't? Saint Dane's looking to prove himself, Mark and Courtney are trying to find a way through their own tragedy, and it's apparently been three years since Bobby went through that...

Water is a privilege for our world and many fictional lands and nations lucky to not have to deal with its general absence. So when Loor's home, XhaXhu, has found its riverbeds, reservoirs, and fountains bone dry, tensions naturally rise to such a crisis in the desert lands of Zadaa. And with the Rokador, the underground dwellers of XhaXhu who control the flow and access to this resource missi...

Eelong, here we come! Veelox was a loss. Saint Dane stayed around to give the final deathblow to the soul sucking entrapment perfect fantasies offer; now Eelong is caught between differing ideas of evolution, particularly the one who a species is decimated from chemical warfare or legal consumption. There is such a thing as right and wrong, after all. The grey reminds there's multiple ways tow...