Through The Wind Door

Setting Out - Part 6 (Secret Rooms)

"It goes to show how important it was to Alex to create a moral dilemma that had no easy clear answer, because a similar action sounds so much more understandable when it’s written and presented like this with its surrounding context… and then you look at reality, which makes writers bang their head on the table when people often complain about characters in fiction not making sensible decisions and how it doesn’t feel “realistic”, when reality is filled with people who would be called poorly written if they ever appeared in fiction!"

Here it is, folks. The last bit of Episode 10, the last bit of Secret Rooms: Part 2- Setting Out... but not the last on race relations, because we've still got Chapter 14 to cover next time... plus, Cartographer's Handbook, Arlington and... well, the whole of reality. But I digress.

If you want to avoid all talk of the Coronavirus, you can skip ahead to the 12 minute mark, because we get into the parallels of people not doing something because the government says so. We also talk about Southern opinions on women, the British, and the Irish, we talk about how you handle trauma/abuse in fiction... and you get to hear us say 'Fuck Buck'.

Really, a rollicking good time for all.

Relevant links:

Gender and the Civil War: https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/gender-and-the-civil-war.html

America Never Liked Immigrants: https://www.history.com/news/when-america-despised-the-irish-the-19th-centurys-refugee-crisis

The Confederacy and the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_and_the_American_Civil_War

"Semiotics of 'Cuck'" by Innuendo Studios (relevant for complicated reasons, mostly SFW because he had to blur out all the porn references, but YMMW): https://youtu.be/dQjVbk6JSck

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "The Talons of Adventure, The Antlers of Romance" by Doctor Turtle of the Free Music Archive

Outro is "Your Racist Friend" by They Might Be Giants

Setting Out - Part 5 (Secret Rooms)

"You see Mary and you recognize her strengths but you also wonder what else there is there. Because clearly there is so much more to her than what you can tell from the surface. It's what makes her a compelling character for as little time as we know her."

Part 1 of our in depth discussion of Chapter 13 of Secret Rooms. Covering the pitfalls of race relations, communication, and coming to terms with ones own biases and limitations. Spare on extras due to the gravity of what we talk about, and this is one of the few times I'm happy to break these episodes into two parts, to avoid overloading.

But on the other hand, some entertaining things to watch from our outro artist Lindsey Stirling, on the off chance that you have not already seen them:

Zelda Medley: https://youtu.be/b3KUyPKbR7Q

Roundtable Rival: https://youtu.be/jvipPYFebWc

Radioactive with Pentatonix: https://youtu.be/eh-72yBP7sw

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "The Talons of Adventure, The Antlers of Romance" by Doctor Turtle of the Free Music Archive

Midroll music is "No One Is To Blame" - original by Howard Jones, piano instrumental by Neil Archer

Outro is "Roundtable Rival" by Lindsey Stirling

Setting Out - Part 4 (Secret Rooms)

"[Mayor Buck] is someone New Century doesn't have a vested interest in because he is not someone who is trying to bring that titular 'New Century' to pass."

The second half of Episode 9, where we mix the problematic with the heartwarming. Today we cover the peculiar story of Old Man McGucket Malloy, the characters of Mary Sampson and Mayor Buck, and talk about that heartwrending speech by Annie, about how fragile humans are, and what it means when everyone has lost someone, and has been in mourning for years.

The episode was originally meant to cover only Chapters 10-12, but because we get into it a bunch with Mary and Buck, in order to avoid spoilers, please have read Chapter 13 as well. We still save the bulk of that conversation for next episode, though. Because there is a lot of it.

I am no longer going to use the Black Lives Matter hashtag in my scrawl, because while I still believe it, I don't think my podcast should be considered relevant to the conversation. I am going to consider what else I can do to continue to show my support. But in the meantime, in memory of Chadwick Boseman, here is a cosplay of an alternate universe T'Challa, where he adopts the moniker King in a wild west setting. It feels fitting for our current setting in New Century.

https://twitter.com/DTJAAAAM/status/1096609295259586560?s=20

Rest in Power, King.

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "The Talons of Adventure, The Antlers of Romance" by Doctor Turtle of the Free Music Archive

Outro is "One of Us" by New Politics

 

Setting Out - Part 3 (Secret Rooms)

"Complexity isn't a vice."

Part 1 of Episode 9, hot off the presses. Today we start covering Chapters 10-12 of Secret Rooms, where we uncover some of those secrets from past and present. We talk about propaganda, the importance of always questioning, and what it means to have a father that is willing to treat you like you're an adult.

We end up going deep on these subjects, so a bunch of the other interesting things are saved for part 2. Also you may notice that we left out chapter 13... it's not because of superstition. Chapter 13 gets its own episode all to itself, and given we talked close to two hours about that, you'll get to see why in due course.

#BlackLivesMatter

#ProtestEverywhere

 

No Such Thing As An Alpha Male:

https://www.businessinsider.com/no-such-thing-alpha-male-2016-10

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "The Talons of Adventure, The Antlers of Romance" by Doctor Turtle of the Free Music Archive

Outro is "Believer" by Imagine Dragons

Setting Out - Part 2 (Secret Rooms)

"A well crafted chapter title can prepare the reader for what comes next, while not giving too much away, instead inspiring curiosity."

The second half of our diving into chapters 6-9 of Secret Rooms. Discussion includes further exploration of our primary subjects, the introduction of Tabitha Chorley to our narrative and what that entails, as well  as a deeper discussion about some more of the themes of New Century touched on in these early chapters. And there's a hell of a collection of bloopers and outtakes at the end.

 

#BlackLivesMatter

#PortlandProtest

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "The Talons of Adventure, The Antlers of Romance" by Doctor Turtle of the Free Music Archive

Outro is "Set Me In Motion" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range

Setting Out - Part 1 (Secret Rooms)

"It's the facial expression equivalent of kicking someone's leg from underneath the dinner table."

Now we finally take our first steps into the new world of these Reunified States, and meet some more of our growing cast of characters in New Century. Today's podcast is the first half of Episode 8, where we start to cover chapters 6-9 of Secret Rooms: The Definitive Edition. (as well as a brief dip back into Chapter 5)

While a full analysis on the differences between the first and second publication of this novel is going to be saved till our final episode on this book, it's here that we start to see how the story originally began, before the flashback chapters were added. We talk about the alternate history genre, and influences both historical and fictional. We try to keep it light on real world correlations, but it's hard not to look at our collection of protagonnists and wish we were there, in a world of heroes.

#BlackLivesMatter

#TrumpHasNoPlan

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "The Talons of Adventure, The Antlers of Romance" by Doctor Turtle of the Free Music Archive

Outro is "Hazy Shade of Winter" by The Bangles

Beginnings - Part 2 (Secret Rooms)

"... and what Lucy says in response to this isn't a solution. She doesn't say it is. But... it is something small. Achievable, and helpful. And it's that little glimpse of hope in the darkness that I not only like to hold onto... I need it."

The second half of Episode 7 ended up being much shorter than expected. Once more I used my editing shears liberally, and Toby contributed in a major way to say things more concisely, emotionally, honestly. But I think this one ends on the hope that Alex invests in his works, and moreover, we've got another batch of outtakes at the end for some laughs.

We talk about Doris Cooper, Katherine Holloway, and Joanna Grey. We've got some more surprise Elton John, discussion about why combining elements to create new stories is always helpful when done well, and narrative voice. Most of all, we talk about why a hat can be so important and hard hitting. As always, we bring the feels.

#BlackLivesMatter

#WrathMonth

 

"World on Fire" - Sarah McLahlan

https://youtu.be/FDmPcSWE0WU

"My Father's Gun - Elton John

https://youtu.be/wb2B966IOfM

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "The Talons of Adventure, The Antlers of Romance" by Doctor Turtle of the Free Music Archive

Outro is "Satellite Call" by Sara Bareilles

Beginnings - Part 1 (Secret Rooms)

"They want to keep us chasing/their money and greed/but happiness/oh, I know is free/don't curse the darkness/just be a light/let it shine for the heartless/let it shine through the night." - Tash Neal

Welcome to a brand new episode for a brand new story! The next two episodes cover chapters 1 through 5 of Secret Rooms: Definitive Edition. Like Episode 6, I cut this one into two halves because of length, and also due to additional editing time. Between changing things due to sound issues, cleaning up some wordy asides or removing parts due to feeling like they were insensitive, this is likely the most editing I have done thus far. I hope you'll agree the end product is worth it.

Today we get into some of the fundamental themes that show up in both this book and New Century as a whole: the importance of names, familial relationships both good and bad, and the metaphor of how flawed systems crack more readily when faced with something it's not able to fight easily. We also talk about the role of distaster fiction as a form of escapism during a time of very real disaster.

Be prepared: there's more politics in the pipeline. It's hard not to talk about the real world stuff that comes up when discussing New Century. The topic is baked in, especially because of the way things were getting worse around us due to the election of Trump, and what has come about as a result. But we'll try to keep it light.

#BlackLivesMatter
#WrathMonth

 

Recommended links for fun and profit learning:

Ian Danskin - "The Artist is Absent:Davey Wreden and The Beginners Guide"
https://youtu.be/4N6y6LEwsKc

"Where Once Poe Walked" - by H.P. Lovecraft
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Where_Once_Poe_Walked

Lindsey Ellis - "Death of the Author"
https://youtu.be/MGn9x4-Y_7A

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "The Talons of Adventure, The Antlers of Romance" by Doctor Turtle of the Free Music Archive

Outro is "Can't Hold Me Down" by GriZ feat. Tash Neal

Gods and Monsters (Let Them Go)

"I have faced my ghosts like Rebecca has faced hers, and I am no longer afraid of this story and the emotions it brings out for me."

Part 2 of our final discussion on Let Them Go focuses on the mythological, where were come back to the Maiden, Mother, Crone archetype, but also delve into ancient Fertile Crescent myths that have a special significance to one of our show hosts. 

Our story has monsters and ghosts, but what happens if we consider the story as an allegory for apotheosis? Is Rebecca regaining her life and agency not unlike a goddess coming into her own? One thing is for certain: even after the conversation is done and recorded, sometimes new insights can be found afterwards, while editing a podcast all pretty for others to enjoy.

Make sure to listen to the end, as I included some hilarious outtakes that I decided didn't fit in with the conversation, but were too much fun to throw away! (I also apologize for any background noise that sounds like I keep bumping my microphone, I don't know what the noise comes from since it's a headset, and I haven't yet figured out if there is a way to remove it, since it doesn't show up as background noise.)

#BlackLivesMatter

#WrathMonth

 

Recommended links for fun and profit learning:

Dan Olsen - "Annihilation and Decoding Metaphor" 

https://youtu.be/URo66iLNEZw

The courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi

http://jewishchristianlit.com/Texts/ANEmrg/Inanna&Dumuzi.html

The Mesopotamian Underworld

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Mesopotamian_underworld

Inanna's Descent

https://www.ancient.eu/article/215/inannas-descent-a-sumerian-tale-of-injustice/

Lindsey Ellis - "Is Titanic Good, Actually?"

https://youtu.be/hW4U_lfgPac

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "Moonrise" by Chad Crouch of the Free Music Archive

Outro is "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" by Sarah Mclahlan

 

The Gothic Narrative (Let Them Go)

"It's a 21st century take on an era hundreds of years removed that isn't afraid of holding gothic up to the light."

Welcome to part one of our final episode on the New Century Multiverse story, Let Them Go. Even with thorough editing, this episode ended up very long, and after the experience with our introductory episode that covered chapters 1-5, I decided not to do that to you, or myself. So our final discussion is divided into two episodes, the next to be released the following Monday.

This go around, we reflect on the story through the lens of the gothic genre, which Toby and I boned up on prior to tackling this episode. We talk about the components of said genre, and where the story plays it straight, and where it necessarily, wonderfully diverges. We learn about the subgenre of the Female Gothic, and we have a lot of laughs along the way. One of the great things about finally talking about the story as a whole is nothing is held back, but we don't have to dive too deeply into heavy subjects: we already did most of that heavy lifting.

 

#BlackLivesMatter

#PrideMonth

 

Recommended links for fun and profit learning:

Sharon Shaw, modelling for the LTG cover

 

https://twitter.com/NewCenturyShaw/status/1230572711455399937?s=19

 

The original podcast graphic Alex designed on the fly:

 

https://twitter.com/NewCenturyShaw/status/1221842430368022528?s=19

 

Links we used to learn more about Gothic:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction (specifically Elements of Gothic and The Female Gothic)

https://www.nature.com/articles/palcomms201742

https://epublications.marquette.edu/gothic_supernatural/

 

The New Century Multiverse Website:

https://www.newcenturymultiverse.com

The New Century Multiverse Podcast Feed:

https://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Fireside Alliance: https://firesidealliance.squarespace.com/

 

Intro is "Moonrise" by Chad Crouch of the Free Music Archive

Outro is "Bird Set Free" by Sia