Spoil Me

Many thanks to Robin for continuing to commission this series! We're getting into the second book now, Trickster Drift, and it's a whole new world. The biggest change this time around is in the setting. Jared starts out still at home with his mother, but he's getting ready to start college. He's a full year early so he doesn't have anyone he's friends with going along with him. To top it off, he's...

Many thanks to Melanie for commissioning the episode! This section was a little confusing for me because this author has a tendency to jump around in time without really giving a lot of warning, but once I figured out what was happening I was on board. (Get it? On board? Like on a ship?) In this chapter, Geralt has already dropped off Ciri at the "school" she's attending, and has taken up work as...

Thank you to Patrick for commissioning this episode! This episode is really intense. I'm sure that many of you were waiting for me to get to this one, because it contains one of the more brutal fights I've ever seen. They take care to let us see that both these men aren't in great shape and are very exhausted by the end of it, which makes the tension that much worse because you're not sure who is...

Thank you to Patrick for commissioning this episode! It's time to make a deposit, mothafuckas! The bank of Deadwood is OPEN FOR BUSINESS! This episode is the one where Al finally decides that he's had enough of pretending to be Hearst's buddy, and I'm here for it. The whole thing is so demeaning, and I like that Al isn't going to roll over like Cy is doing. I may hate Cy, but between him or Hearst...

Many thanks to Abbey for this commission! These chapters are when we add a new companion to Sabriel's party, and this one is a doozy. He's 200-something years old. So far this stranger is being very circumspect about who he is and what happened to him. Initially this is mostly because he doesn't remember, but as the hours wear on, things start to come back to him and he is deeply grieved by the me...

Thank you to Patrick, as usual, for commissioning this episode! So this is the one where everything regarding Hearst turns around in my head. This episode is called "True Colors" for a reason, and Heart reveals his, and THEN SOME. I didn't think that I would hate anyone more than Cy but Hearst has not only replaced him as Most Hated Character, I actually feel sorry for Cy. And that is simply unacc...

Many thanks to Yama for commissioning this unusual episode! Yama wanted me to talk about what my favorite books have been that I have read, both on my own time and for the show. This extra-long episode is all about the different books I've been introduced to and the things that have caught my fancy, the things that repelled me, and occasionally the things that I found kind of triggering and realiz...

Many thanks to Melanie for commissioning this episode! These chapters are about Triss, Ciri, and Geralt traveling and learning about the political landscape now that things have started to heat up between the humans and the elves. There's a lot of friction, and it turns out that the very caravan they wind up teaming up with is a huge setup directly resulting from said friction. Thank you all so mu...

Okay, Patrick, what are you doing this to me for? You're a mean man. This episode is the first time we've seen Al brought low by another person. We saw him get leveled by his kidney stones, but that was – to borrow a phrase from the show – a "turn of events" and something well outside his control. This is different. Hearst is the worst and I don't know what Al can do to beat him. I really don't.

Many thanks to Renee for commissioning this episode! So we've got another scandal on our hands, but what makes this one interesting is that it involves Veronica's mom, whom we haven't seen since the end of last season. I don't know if the writers are trying to prep me for her return to the show and realized that they need to give me something to like about her, but I sure hope that's not their ult...

Thank you to Patrick for commissioning this episode! Whew. This episode starts off with some surprises of the unpleasant sort, one of the worst of which is that Alma appears to be losing her baby. The only thing that held her and Ellsworth together, gone. Just like William. What the hell, show. Also I am NOT a fan of the fact that Hearst is able to push Seth's buttons so completely. He basically g...

Thank you to Robin for commissioning this ENTIRE book. This was a super fun and really unique read, and I'm stoked that she's commissioned the next book in the series! These chapters are tough, but in a lot of ways, they're a good kind of tough. Jared finally sees the light, and gets sober, and while his mother doesn't have a good reaction and he loses most of his friends, turns out that all those...

Thank you again to Patrick who commissioned this episode! We finally get the wedding that I've been waiting for, not because I romantically ship these two, but because it's just such a smart move. On an opposite note, Al and Hearst kind of team up here to take out the tall Chinese dude, in one of the better sequences this show has ever done. This is another great finale, can't wait to see what Sea...

Many thanks to Robin for commissioning this episode! It turns out that there's lots of witches in this book, and I had no idea. I simply wasn't ready for the turn this takes. There is just so much more magic in this story than I knew, and on top of that huge shock there's the additional heartbreak of Jared being dumped by his nana once she finds out that he's not actually of her blood. I don't kno...

Whew, kids, this is a tough one. Thank you to D'Nique for commissioning this episode! In this episode, we've got all kinds of information being dropped about how things have changed over the past 5-10 years, and one of the biggest things we learn is that Jarret was elected. A man who "condemns atrocities with such mild language that people are free to hear what they want to hear." Y'all.

Many thanks to Patrick for commissioning this episode. I think I've told him already a few times that I hate him, and I stand by that. This episode deals with the funeral for poor little William, and it's really kind of beautiful, in a way, how the entire town comes together due to this tragedy. I have to admire how this show deals with death and loss, and how tenderly they manage to depict the fe...

Oh my lord, who knew that fucking OTTERS could be so damn terrifying? Robin, did you know about this? I swear to god, this series of chapters was so unsettling and I was just not ready for it at all. What on earth is going on here? How did Jared make an enemy of river otters, and why are they coming after him specifically? And what the hell is up with these horrible little ape men? Y'all. I was si...

Oof. Y'all. This was a lot. Robin, I'm kinda mad at you for making me experience this. It's brutal. These chapters, Jared is basically abandoned by his mom, and it's some sick terrible abusive fucked up shit. She's accusing him of being "disloyal" because he was helping his dad with money, although I think a lot of us would call Jared a little too loyal. The way she abandons him is so cruel, too....

Hello darkness my old friend. AKA Patrick. This episode my worst fears are confirmed. I'm really feeling for Martha in this episode, and while I deeply understand her desire to bail I really hope that she's able to see it through to the other side. Ugh this sucks so much. And poor Seth. This whole thing with I'm so annoyed that Mose is still alive. Fuck that guy. Thanks for listening!

Thank you to Jacqui for commissioning this episode! I'm sorry that this episode went up so late that the live watch I mention in the beginning of the episode already happened. That's my bad. This episode we've got a kind of unusual case of the week, in that the people Veronica is working with and the people Keith is working with are connected. We wind up finding out that while Keith's clients have...

Oh hi. Hey. Thanks to Patrick for putting me through this. You monster. Seriously though, this episode is really coming at us with some bad fucking news and I'm not here for it and I'm so worried about what this will mean for Seth and Martha now. I'm getting invested in their working things out, and this is the sort of thing that can break up couples who are already strong. There's other stuff hap...

Thank you again to Robin for commissioning this whole book! The way this story is set up employs one of my favorite tropes, which is going backward and then forward again in the story, to slowly tease out a series of events so that we are only equipped with bits and pieces of information at any given time. This method of storytelling has always been absolutely gripping to me, and I really like it...

Many thanks to Patrick for commissioning this episode! Okay so this episode is full of pretty intense encounters, but the most intense one of all has to be the one between Martha and Alma. I'm not exactly sure what Alma is getting at, but I think Martha suspects that she's pregnant? And is trying to get her to admit it? Whatever the case, it's a tense conversation that results in Alma going head t...

Wow. So, this is a really strange episode and while I liked it, I sure didn't see this coming at all. I'm totally worried about Meg now and even though I kinda hate her I'm feeling like maybe there's something more going on. Many many thanks to Jacqui for commissioning this episode, and for also commissioning a live watch on Facebook so that everyone could hang out with me while I sat there gobsma...

Many thanks to Jason for commissioning the first episode of the next book in the Broken Earth trilogy, The Obelisk Gate! Many apologies for how late I am in posting this, but switching computers really held up my routine and I'm trying gamely to catch up. And these chapters were totally bananas and I'm really freaked out at the fact that we're going to get POV chapters from a guardian because they...