Spoil Me

Thank you to Jason for commissioning this episode! It's been a minute, and I'm very excited to be back in this world again. There's a lot to keep track of, so forgive me if I'm failing to put together some of the pieces that might have seemed obvious to others on their reads, but the lore in this book can be a little overwhelming at times. In this section Essun/Syenite is asking herself whether sh...

Many thanks to Abbey for commissioning this episode! I've said it once and I will say it again; the creatures in this book are some of the most creative and horrifying I've ever come across. Every time I think we've encountered what's bound to be the worst one of the lot, we wind up stumbling upon another one that's absolutely disgusting and makes me want to sit down and give this author some coun...

Thank you to Patrick for commissioning this episode! So things are really beginning to heat up, and I'm waiting for it all to boil over. Alma is targeted in the street in a naked attempt to provoke someone to come to her defense and start a brawl that can result in Hearst bringing down the hammer in "justification". However, everyone is smarter than he expected, and they restrain themselves from a...

Thank you to Robin for commissioning this episode! This book has been absolutely fascinating to me. There's so much happening, coming from all corners, and I'm not entirely sure what it all adds up to or what needs to worry Jared and what has nothing to do with him. EXCEPT THAT THING IN HIS ROOM. I AM REASONABLY SURE HE SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT THAT. His ex-nana's gift of a Vespa is so silly and ye...

Thank you to Patrick for commissioning this episode! This episode culminates in a delightful scene of various people in the camp showing off little-known skills, and it's another reminder of how far Deadwood has come in terms of getting civilized and becoming a real community. It also stands in stark contrast to what Hearst is doing in camp, which is attempting to divide and conquer. Funnily enoug...

Thank you again to Patricia for commissioning another Diana Wynne Jones joint! This book is a real change from the others, because it's not a whole new world and new story. Instead, it's a prequel to Charmed Life, and it proves to actually be pretty fascinating. Christopher is an only child, and his parents could really give a shit about him. Thus, they miss his very clear burgeoning magical talen...

Many thanks to Abbey for commissioning this episode! In these chapters, I'm sorry to say that we have another encounter with a creature that I never want to meet again. The goddamn thing is described as being "submerged in his back" and I'm just not okay with that. THERE ARE TOO MANY VARIETIES OF DEAD THING. NO ME GUSTA. It's pretty cool to get to see what Sabriel can do, though, and it's especial...

Thank you again to Robin for commissioning this episode! I'm delighted to be getting to know Jared's aunt Mave a little bit better, and I'm happy to report that while she may be a bit of a mess, I think she really does have the best of intentions. For now. Also, her house is haunted. So even is Mave is awesome, that doesn't preclude some real weird, unnatural shit happening in this apartment that...

Thank you again to Patrick for commissioning this episode! I'm kind of bugging out now that Hearst's men have come riding into camp. I know that there's no real way to stand up to him, and pretty much all that remains is to see how much damage he's going to do before he's done. I don't even know what "done" looks like to a man like him. There's more going on in this episode, but I'm going to leave...

Thank you to Patricia for commissioning this episode, and this entire book! As we reach the end of Charmed Life, I'm struck with a number of revelations, but the biggest one is that Cat's sister is way worse than I thought. I mean, I knew that she was awful and selfish, sure, and the fact that Gwen's been using up his extra lives to cast spells would be bad enough. But it turns out that she and ev...

Thank you to Robin for commissioning this episode! I'm trying to withhold judgement until later, but for now I'm just relieved that Jared has somewhere to stay. His aunt seems a little...erratic, but at the same time, who in his life doesn't? And erratic doesn't always equal bad. Also, there is a pretty awesome sequence where he goes to a barbecue attended by a bunch of gods and their offspring, a...

Many thanks to Melanie for commissioning this entire book! This last episode, I work to make up for going way over time last episode by recapping the end of the previous chapter, and then go on to actually talk about the assigned chapter. In this one, we get a really nice snapshot of what's been going on with Ciri RE: her training with Yennefer. Turns out that she and Yennefer have actually grown...

Thank you again to Patrick for commissioning this episode! I find this one to be pretty surprising, as well as satisfying, in how human and subtle it is. The whole move that our faves decide to play in publishing Seth's letter was so understated that I had to watch this episode twice to really appreciate how masterful a stroke it really is. Does it accomplish anything strictly material? Maybe not....

Huge thanks to Ashleigh for commissioning the finale episode of Derry Girls! It's been a minute but we're finally here, with a sweet and rathe poignant episode. Most of this episode centers around Erin being rather mercenary and taking the place on the school newspaper of a girl who is literally on her deathbed. Everyone else resigns in protest, and she's left to come up with a whole newspaper wor...

I want to apologize to Melanie right out of the gate because this episode I fail to cover the entirety of this chapter. There's a lot happening here and I talk all about one section of it for far too long. My apologies, Melanie, and thank you for sending me the maps later on to help me out with keeping track of things from here on out!

Thank you again to Patrick for commissioning this episode of Deadwood! I'm a mite concerned about Aunt Lou's son, because I get the distinct feeling that this kid doesn't know who the fuck he's dealing with and it's going to go badly for him. He's very confident, and as far as I can see he has absolutely no reason to be. Mainly my concern this episode is the fact that Alma is in the crosshairs, an...

Many thanks to Agnes for commissioning this episode! In this one, we get a few surprises in a row. The most dramatic, of course, is Meg's death, which is such a strange twist that I'm not totally sure what to make of it. What happens now? She was so worried about her child being taken into custody, and I have no idea how Veronica and Duncan can keep that promise. Then there's the fact that Wallace...

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...