fictoplasm

An audio blog of sorts, where I focus on one thing that’s not directly related to fiction but important for me. This episode I’m covering Zettelkasten. Here are some supporting links: Zettelkasten on Wikipedia Zettelkasten.de FYI I’m using Vim with Vimwiki and Vim-zettel. I’ve also tried Emacs with Org-Roam, but I didn’t care for it…Read more F/log_1: Zettelkasten

This episode I’ll be discussing The Plot by Nadine Dorries. Here we go! Intro 00.07 // Synopsis 01.33 // Remarks 13.33 (Westminster Dungeon Crawl, My Life With Master) // Media 33.11 (The Thick Of It, House Of Cards) // End Bit 35.35 Music Credits Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram //…Read more 24_04: The Plot by Nadine Dorries

This is the first episode in the Year of the Rabbit, in which I talk about The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds by John Higgs and the relationship with Sword and Sorcery. 00:26 Intro // 02:50 The Book // 15:05 Remarks (Ancients and Sorcery) // 23:50 Media (1991's games,…Read more Year of the Rabbit One: Sword and Sorcery and the KLF

Advent day 24: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 23: The Broken World by Tim Etchells Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 22: The Thick Of It Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 21: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 20: Dystopian YA featuring The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 19: The Secret History of the Sword by J Christoph Amberger Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 18: Die Hard Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 17: Millennium Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 16: Planetary by Warren Ellis Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 15: A Very Peculiar Practice Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 14: Dark Matter and Killjoys (inspired by listening to the end episode of the Frankenstein’s RPG podcast — here) Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 13: Appleseed by Masamune Shirow Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 12: Thief the Dark Project Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 11: City, a guidebook for the urban age by P.D. Smith find out more here Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent calendar day 10: Ultraviolet (TV series, 1998 with Jack Davenport, Idris Elba, Suzannah Harker) Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent calendar day 9: Sapphire and Steel audio plays by Big Finish The image I used is from Andrew Orton’s site, who created several covers for the first series (see this page) and has some other interesting pages (I love the Minimalist Dr Who graphics) Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp //…Read more 111.9: Sapphire and Steel by Big Finish

Advent calendar day 8: Scott Pilgrim by Brian Lee O’Malley Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 7: Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and Dan Harmon’s Story Cycle (plus Christopher Vogler) Links, etc. This is Dan Harmon’s story circle (graphic from https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/dan-harmon-story-circle/) And here’s a cycle I noted for Beyond the Wall where “Order” is the Village and “Chaos” is Beyond the Wall from here (old DepartmentV site, bit of a…Read more 111.7: Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces

Advent 6: the Books of Abarat by Clive Barker Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent day 5: Paper Girls by Brian K Vaughan and Cliff Chiang Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent calendar day 4: TENET, entropy and time travel Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent calendar day 3: White Fang by Jack London. Animals, their gods and gods’ laws. Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Advent calendar day 2: space travel in the universe of Cordwainer Smith’s Instrumentality of Mankind space travel // sacrifice // journeys // closed environments Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

On day 1 of the advent calendar I ramble about The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie magical realism // hooks // nested stories // metamorphosis // Nephilim RPG Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

This is the Fictoplasm Advent Calendar. I’ll update this post with links to each new episode! Mmm, jingle bells. Episodes None yet… Music Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube

Breakers — Saving Harper Ross (dir. Chason Laing) TV Tropes: Time Loops image credit Introduction 00:07 // Synopsis 01:00 (book and film) // Other media and time loops 08:45 (Groundhog Day, Edge of Tomorrow, Palm Springs, Before I Fall, Russian Doll) // Remarks 14:17 (insiders and outsiders, organising the day, end of the day) //…Read more 110: Breakers (and other time loops)

The Running Man by Richard Bachman (Stephen King) The Running Man (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, directed by Paul Michael Glaser) Introduction 00:07 // Synopsis 01:40 (book and film) // Remarks 13:11 (scope, legality, arena, timeframe, higher authority; games commission, hunters, runners, the underground; playing — sandbox, sprint/night witches versions) // Media 31:51 (Series 7: The Contenders;…Read more 109: The Running Man by Richard Bachman

Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jannson The Map! Intro 00.07 // Synopsis 01.33 // Remarks 13.33 (OSR modules; OSR branding vs. mainstream RPGs; sandboxes, internal consistency, ecology, liminal spaces) // Media 33.11 (Fear of a Black Dragon Gardens of Ynn, Hilda, Tequendria and other OSR titles) // Thanks 35.35 Patreon Support this podcast on The…Read more 108: Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson (Patron’s Choice)

Children of Dune by Frank Herbert Children of Dune (TV Miniseries) (Image is of the Gerry Grace cover for Children of Dune) Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 01:15 // Remarks 26:51 (narrative transformation of Fremen and House Atreides, Pharaonic Imperium, The Hero’s Journey and the Monomyth, agency in an established timeline) // Media 39:32 Patreon Support…Read more 107: Children of Dune by Frank Herbert

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert Children of Dune (TV Miniseries) (image source: isfdb.org) Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 01:39 // Remarks 13:21 (humans as special weapons, Bene Gesserit and Bene Tleilax, shapers and mechanists, law and chaos, changing face of Arrakis, plot structure and pacing, noble houses under siege) // Media 30:12 Patreon Support this podcast…Read more 106: Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

Dune by Frank Herbert Dune (1984 film) directed by David Lynch Frank Herbert's Dune (TV miniseries) Dune (2021 film) directed by Denis Villeneuve Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 01:47 // Extra 20:17 // Remarks 26:06 (transhumanism, worms as dragons, ecological mysteries) // Media 36:39 (screen versions, best actors, RPGs) Patreon Support this podcast on The Fictoplasm…Read more 105: Dune by Frank Herbert

I’m interviewing Frances Hardinge! We talk about her novels including The Lie Tree and A Face Like Glass, her ideas and characters, unreliable landscapes, closed communities and islands, literary influences, and ghost stories. 00:06 preamble 01:02 Frances’ fiction (The Lie Tree, A Face Like Glass, research inc. cheese making) 21:56 Literary influences (and ghost stories…Read more 104: Interview with Frances Hardinge

Verdigris Deep by Frances Hardinge Intro 00:06 // Synopsis 01:00 // Remarks 10:21 (small communities, NPCs’ desires, surprise powers and downsides, the spirit world) // Media 19:58 (Amelie, Wonderfalls, Touch, Joan of Arcadia) Patreon Support this podcast on The Fictoplasm Patreon! Music Credits Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube…Read more 103: Verdigris Deep by Frances Hardinge

A Nomad of the Time Streams by Michael Moorcock (Millenium edition 1993, ISBN 1-85798-033-6) Intro 00:06 // Cover by Mark Reeve 01:20 // Foreword 02:12 // Synopsis 05:09 (The Warlord of the Air 06:37, The Land Leviathan 12:45, The Steel Tsar 19:27) // Remarks 24:37 (temporal adventurers, politics) // Place in the sequence 37:43 Patreon…Read more 102: A Nomad of the Time Streams by Michael Moorcock (Eternal Champion vol 6)

The Adventures of Luther Arkwright by Brian Talbot (including Heart of Empire) Big Finish audio adaption with David Tennant, Siri O’Neal, Paul Darrow Luther Arkwright RPG by the Design Mechanism (see Reviews from R’lyeh take here) Imagine Magazine issue 14 Intro 00:06 // Synopsis 03:24 (The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, Heart of Empire) // Remarks…Read more 101: Luther Arkwright by Brian Talbot

The Invisibles (volume 1) by Grant Morrison Intro 00:06 // Synopsis of volume 1 01:48 // Remarks 20:13 (Mage: the Ascension and Department V) // Media 32:21 (The Matrix, Over the Edge, Nephilim, Sorcerer, Unknown Armies, Continuum, The Mega City Book Club Podcast) Patreon Support this podcast on The Fictoplasm Patreon! Music Credits Music is…Read more 100: The Invisibles by Grant Morrison

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke Intro 00:06 // Synopsis 01:16 // Remarks 08:39 (unreliable narrators, how to host a murder mystery, closed worlds, the dead) // Media 25:19 (The Sunken Land Begins To Rise Again, plus games, video games) Patreon Support this podcast on The Fictoplasm Patreon! Music Credits Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com //…Read more 99: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (patron’s choice)

Marvel 1602 With special guest Paul Baldowski of Just Crunch games, author of the Dee Sanction, The Cthulhu Hack and more! Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 02:53 (spotting Marvel characters, Strange=Dee and Fury=Walsingham, pocket universes, three act structure, hating on bards) // Commentary 35:50 (the Dee Sanction and the Cthulhu Hack, the Duffer's Guide to Historical…Read more 98: Marvel 1602 with Paul Baldowski

Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky With special guest Andy from the Breakfast in the Ruins podcast! Intro 00:07 // Premise 05:25 // Characters 08:56 // Prologue & part 1 24:14 // Part 3 (Andy’s favourite bit) 44:43 // Part 4 54:11 // Tarkovsky’s Stalker and other media from 1:00:02 (inc. The Lighthouse, Hard…Read more 97: Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (feat. Breakfast in the Ruins)

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 02:25 // Remarks 12:12 (paired characters 12:16, locked room mysteries and LARP 20:38, magic and Thanergy 26:52) // Media 32:01 (Sabriel) Patreon Support this podcast on The Fictoplasm Patreon! Music Credits Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // instagram // youtube Samples: “Is…Read more 96: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Sailing to Utopia by Michael Moorcock (Millenium 1993 ISBN 1-85798-032-8) comprising The Ice Schooner, The Black Corridor, The Distant Suns, Flux Intro 00:07 // The cover 01:26 // The foreword 03:21 // Synopsis 05:31 (The Ice Schooner 05:34, The Black Corridor 10:41, The Distant Suns 14:44, Flux 18:01) // Remarks 21:56 // Final thoughts and…Read more 95: Sailing to Utopia by Michael Moorcock

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 02:00 // Remarks 13:08 (magic, history, time travel, fate and determinism) // Other Media 31:08 (Time and Again, Bid Time Return, TimeCop, Continuum) Links The Fictoplasm Patreon The Anubis Gates on TV Tropes Music Credits Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free…Read more 94: The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell Intro 00:07 // Synopsis 01:28 // Themes 12:46 (hard and soft SF, exploration, survival, skills, celebrating discovery and forming relationships) // Media 28:30 (The Expanse, Form Grows Rampant, The Forever War, Gateway, Diaspora) Links What would the Smart Party Do? Shawn Tomkin interview The Expanse Form Grows Rampant The…Read more 93: the Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

With Dirk the Dice from The Grognard Files The first book of Corum (volume 4 of the Eternal Champion) by Michael Moorcock. Intro 00:07 // Introducing Dirk 00:45 // Dirk and Corum 1:55 // The book, and this edition 11:02 // The cover 16:05 // Rodney Matthews 18:45 // the foreword 19:55 // Synopsis 24:20…Read more Episode 92: Corum by Michael Moorcock (feat. Dirk the Dice)

High time I did an episode zero! This episode is timed to coincide with the Patreon launch for Fictoplasm, where you can support the show (and get some perks as well). Music Credits Music is by Chris Zabriskie: chriszabriskie.com // bandcamp // free music archive Samples: “Is that you or are you you?” from Reappear…Read more Episode Zero: What is Fictoplasm? (Patreon launch)

The Princess Bride by William Goldman Intro 00:06 // Synopsis 01:32 // Themes 09:59 (Ruritania, Inigo Montoya) // RPG combat systems 28:50 (Lace & Steel, The Riddle of Steel, Burning Wheel, Three Rivers) // Media 41:50 (Le Bossu, The Duellists, Hawk the Slayer) Links Dave Rawlings of the London Longsword Academy discusses the Princess Bride…Read more 91: The Princess Bride

This episode Ralph is joined by Tom McGrenery to discuss the Brazillian urban fantasy Netflix series Invisible City Timestamps Synopsis 02:51 // Themes I: Brazilian Myth 18:29 // Themes II: Urban Fantasy 29:24 // Media 58:30 (Changeling the Dreaming, Nephilim, Highlander, Elephant and Macaw Banner, Hilda) // Tom's other stuff 71:50 (Revolution comes to the…Read more 90: Invisible City