Podcasts about circlet

Player 2 arrives.Based on the post of MsCherylTerra, in 3 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at My First Time.At no point in the history of time or space would I have thought I'd end up geeking out over The Circlet of Nianus with Ashton Halliday. I mean, at no point would I have ever thought I'd end up sitting in the backseat of my car, chatting excitedly about games we'd recently played and upcoming ones we were looking forward to. There was no reason for me to think we'd get into a heated debate about which Final Fantasy was best, or that he'd have bad enough taste to claim that Final Fantasy VII was better than Final Fantasy VI."Next you're going to tell me you think Wheatley is a better villain than GLaDOS," he groaned."Of course not!" I said indignantly. "Wheatley's hilarious, but he's a moron. GLaDOS is smart enough to be an actual villain. But the real question is, do you think Cave Johnson is funnier than both of them or are you wrong?"Ashton threw his head back as he laughed. "We're in full agreement on that.""Phew," I said, leaning against the door. "It's a good thing you said that, otherwise there's no way we could be friends.""Are we friends?" he asked.My laughter faded as I met his eyes. There was still a half-smile on his lips, but his eyes studied me seriously."I mean; we aren't, you know. Not friends," I said."Yeah, but we used to be, like, actual friends."I fidgeted nervously. "We were kids.""Doesn't mean we weren't friends," he replied. "I don't really know why we stopped hanging out, Ramona."I swallowed hard. There was no reason for his words to sting so much; we'd stopped being friends because he hadn't invited me to his ninth birthday party. It was stupid. It was petty.And it bothered me that he didn't remember."I need to turn the car off," I said. "You can keep charging, just; I don't want to waste gas."Before he could respond, I opened the door. The rush of night air was a relief against my flushed skin and I took my time walking around the vehicle and turning it back to accessory mode before returning to the back seat."Ramona; " he started when I got in."Do you mind getting the dome light?" I interrupted. "It'll drain the battery too fast."He paused, then reached up and turned the light off as I shut the door. As I adjusted to the sudden darkness that fell over us, I realized how small the inside of my car felt."I believe you've got some Pokemon to master," I said, just for something to fill the silence. "And Zelda's not going to free herself from Calamity Ganon.""True," Ashton said lightly. "But I have a proposal for you."I closed my eyes and sighed. "I don't want to talk about; ""Mario Kart."I paused, then frowned. "What?"Ashton's face was barely visible in the darkness, but between his tone and the glimmer in his eyes, I could tell he was smiling."Mario Kart," he repeated. "Let's play it together.""You want to play; Mario Kart?""Okay, full disclosure?" he said. "I fucking love Mario Kart and no one ever wants to play it with me, and it's not as fun as a single-player game. Since we're hanging out anyway, let's play together."I was relieved that we were back to video game talk, though my confusion about his sudden dropping of the whole "friends" thing was slow to fade."Okay," I said slowly. "One problem, though.""I'll buy you the game if you don't have it," he said immediately."How am I supposed to download it? The power's out and I don't know what kind of fancy Honda your dad drives, but my car isn't equipped with Wi-Fi.""One step ahead of you." There was a rustling sound as he fiddled around for a moment, then I winced as the sudden brightness of his phone lit up the interior of the car. "I'll hotspot my phone. And we can do local play once you download it so we won't even need to stay connected."I looked at his phone, then up at the excitedly twinkling eyes gazing at me in the ghostly glow of the screen light."You're really into Mario Kart, eh?" I said, amused."Come on," he said, grinning. "I'll even go easy on you. At first.""Don't bother," I said, grabbing my Switch. "I'll have you know I'm a fucking champ when it comes to Mario Kart and there's no way I'm going easy on you."Ashton Humbled.By a glow that was ironically ghastly given the colorful nature of anything Mario-related, I destroyed Ashton."Have you ever even played this game before?" I asked after the first race, where I easily came in first."Beginner's luck," he said."Beginner? I've been playing Mario Kart since before you were born."He opened his mouth, then closed it and frowned. "I'm three months older than you.""Details, details," I said, then joined the next race."I might be a little rusty," he admitted after I wiped the floor with him again in the next race."A little?""Once I find my groove, you're going to be begging for mercy.""Sure, Ash. Gotta catch me first."He groaned as I giggled.During the third race, I managed to run him off a cliff."Jerk," he muttered."Bitch," I replied, and he burst out laughing."Just Supernatural or are you part of the whole trifecta?"I rolled my eyes as I drifted around a corner. "Do I look like I'm part of SuperWhoLock?""Blue hair, eyebrow piercing, complete and utter disdain for an overbearing mother? You're the fucking poster child for Tumblr."I missed hitting an Item Box as I glared at my screen. "Asshole."He laughed. "What, you can dish it out but you can't take it?"I gritted my teeth as an NPC Bowser blasted past me. "Let me remind you whose car this is and whose charger you're currently using.""Oh," he said, his laughter falling as flat as my tone had. "I; sorry.""Whatever."We finished the rest of the race in silence. I still beat him, but I didn't come in first."I was joking," he said when he finally crossed the finish line and the characters began to whirl around the track automatically. "I'm sorry.""It's fine.""Your hair looks awesome," he continued. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad about it or something. You look so; ""I don't care about that," I interrupted, partly because the fact he was complimenting my appearance was making me tingle in a way that was almost infuriating, since I shouldn't care at all what Ashton Halliday thought of how I looked, but mostly because it wasn't the thing that had bothered me. "I just don't need to be reminded about my mother right now."He was quiet for a moment. "Is everything; are you okay?""I'm fine," I said. "I don't want to talk about it."Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him nod."Got it." He mashed one of the buttons on his Switch. "Come on, start the next race. I've got a good feeling about this one."I snorted. "A good feeling about losing?""I'm gonna make you eat those words.""Looks like I'm going to be starving.""Big talker," he said. "You just wait."He came closer to beating me that time; neither of us came in first but he was only a couple of seconds behind me."Hope you're hungry," he teased."Oh, that's right!" I said suddenly."What?"I dug through the pocket on the back of the passenger seat. "Want some Oreos?""Does the Pope shit in the woods?""Depends on if the bear is Catholic."We both snickered, then went silent as we each popped an Oreo in our mouths. The dim light from our Switches filled the car, and I looked at him out of the corner of my eye as he grabbed another cookie."Can I ask you something stupid?" I asked suddenly.He took a bite of the Oreo. "Yeah."I picked up another one but didn't eat it, choosing instead to fidget with it by twisting the chocolate discs. "Don't laugh.""I might.""When we were kids, in like; third grade, I think? Maybe fourth?" I knew it was third grade, but I was trying to pretend like it was slightly less of a big deal than I was making it. "Sometime around then. You; you had a birthday party. Playing laser tag, I think.""Yeah, sounds about right," he said lightly.I swallowed hard, still twisting the Oreo back and forth. "Why didn't you invite me?""I did."I pressed my lips together as my stomach tightened. Of course he didn't remember."You didn't," I said. "Everyone was super excited about it and then the day came and; ""And your mom called and said you didn't want to go," he finished.I looked up, my eyes wide, to see him staring back at me with a hard expression on his face."It was third grade, not fourth," he said. "And my mom was mad because I'd insisted you were gonna come even though you didn't respond to the invitation. She'd already paid for everything for the party and your mom only called her like an hour before it started.""What?" I said. "That can't be right.""Trust me. I remember my mom being pissed about it."I bit my lip. "She said I wasn't invited."Ashton's face softened as he saw the confusion on mine. "Your mom totally hated me, Ramona. I mean, I kinda figured but my mom confirmed it after your mom called the police on me for skateboarding after ten p.m. at the park.""What?!"He started laughing. "Yeah, when I was like, fifteen. I mean, I seriously wasn't doing anything besides skateboarding, but I was scared shitless when the cops came and brought me home. I was lucky, though. He hung out to tell my mom that they only had to do something because Liz Roth was the one who called it in and that technically the bylaw did say that the park was closed after ten. After he left my mom said your mom thought I was a bad influence because she and her never got along." He took another cookie from the package, his smile fading. "I thought you'd just decided we weren't friends or something because you stopped wanting to hang out and you wouldn't even talk to me at school. I didn't know; she really told you I hadn't invited you?"I couldn't bring myself to respond. Yeah, she had told me Ashton hadn't invited me to his birthday party. And that had been so hurtful that I stopped being friends with him. And for; well, for ten years, since we were nineteen now, we hadn't been friends because my mom thought a child was, what, a bad influence? A troublemaker? And she'd;"She called the police on you?" I asked, my voice shaking with anger.

Player 2 arrives.Based on the post of MsCherylTerra, in 3 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at My First Time.At no point in the history of time or space would I have thought I'd end up geeking out over The Circlet of Nianus with Ashton Halliday. I mean, at no point would I have ever thought I'd end up sitting in the backseat of my car, chatting excitedly about games we'd recently played and upcoming ones we were looking forward to. There was no reason for me to think we'd get into a heated debate about which Final Fantasy was best, or that he'd have bad enough taste to claim that Final Fantasy VII was better than Final Fantasy VI."Next you're going to tell me you think Wheatley is a better villain than GLaDOS," he groaned."Of course not!" I said indignantly. "Wheatley's hilarious, but he's a moron. GLaDOS is smart enough to be an actual villain. But the real question is, do you think Cave Johnson is funnier than both of them or are you wrong?"Ashton threw his head back as he laughed. "We're in full agreement on that.""Phew," I said, leaning against the door. "It's a good thing you said that, otherwise there's no way we could be friends.""Are we friends?" he asked.My laughter faded as I met his eyes. There was still a half-smile on his lips, but his eyes studied me seriously."I mean; we aren't, you know. Not friends," I said."Yeah, but we used to be, like, actual friends."I fidgeted nervously. "We were kids.""Doesn't mean we weren't friends," he replied. "I don't really know why we stopped hanging out, Ramona."I swallowed hard. There was no reason for his words to sting so much; we'd stopped being friends because he hadn't invited me to his ninth birthday party. It was stupid. It was petty.And it bothered me that he didn't remember."I need to turn the car off," I said. "You can keep charging, just; I don't want to waste gas."Before he could respond, I opened the door. The rush of night air was a relief against my flushed skin and I took my time walking around the vehicle and turning it back to accessory mode before returning to the back seat."Ramona; " he started when I got in."Do you mind getting the dome light?" I interrupted. "It'll drain the battery too fast."He paused, then reached up and turned the light off as I shut the door. As I adjusted to the sudden darkness that fell over us, I realized how small the inside of my car felt."I believe you've got some Pokemon to master," I said, just for something to fill the silence. "And Zelda's not going to free herself from Calamity Ganon.""True," Ashton said lightly. "But I have a proposal for you."I closed my eyes and sighed. "I don't want to talk about; ""Mario Kart."I paused, then frowned. "What?"Ashton's face was barely visible in the darkness, but between his tone and the glimmer in his eyes, I could tell he was smiling."Mario Kart," he repeated. "Let's play it together.""You want to play; Mario Kart?""Okay, full disclosure?" he said. "I fucking love Mario Kart and no one ever wants to play it with me, and it's not as fun as a single-player game. Since we're hanging out anyway, let's play together."I was relieved that we were back to video game talk, though my confusion about his sudden dropping of the whole "friends" thing was slow to fade."Okay," I said slowly. "One problem, though.""I'll buy you the game if you don't have it," he said immediately."How am I supposed to download it? The power's out and I don't know what kind of fancy Honda your dad drives, but my car isn't equipped with Wi-Fi.""One step ahead of you." There was a rustling sound as he fiddled around for a moment, then I winced as the sudden brightness of his phone lit up the interior of the car. "I'll hotspot my phone. And we can do local play once you download it so we won't even need to stay connected."I looked at his phone, then up at the excitedly twinkling eyes gazing at me in the ghostly glow of the screen light."You're really into Mario Kart, eh?" I said, amused."Come on," he said, grinning. "I'll even go easy on you. At first.""Don't bother," I said, grabbing my Switch. "I'll have you know I'm a fucking champ when it comes to Mario Kart and there's no way I'm going easy on you."Ashton Humbled.By a glow that was ironically ghastly given the colorful nature of anything Mario-related, I destroyed Ashton."Have you ever even played this game before?" I asked after the first race, where I easily came in first."Beginner's luck," he said."Beginner? I've been playing Mario Kart since before you were born."He opened his mouth, then closed it and frowned. "I'm three months older than you.""Details, details," I said, then joined the next race."I might be a little rusty," he admitted after I wiped the floor with him again in the next race."A little?""Once I find my groove, you're going to be begging for mercy.""Sure, Ash. Gotta catch me first."He groaned as I giggled.During the third race, I managed to run him off a cliff."Jerk," he muttered."Bitch," I replied, and he burst out laughing."Just Supernatural or are you part of the whole trifecta?"I rolled my eyes as I drifted around a corner. "Do I look like I'm part of SuperWhoLock?""Blue hair, eyebrow piercing, complete and utter disdain for an overbearing mother? You're the fucking poster child for Tumblr."I missed hitting an Item Box as I glared at my screen. "Asshole."He laughed. "What, you can dish it out but you can't take it?"I gritted my teeth as an NPC Bowser blasted past me. "Let me remind you whose car this is and whose charger you're currently using.""Oh," he said, his laughter falling as flat as my tone had. "I; sorry.""Whatever."We finished the rest of the race in silence. I still beat him, but I didn't come in first."I was joking," he said when he finally crossed the finish line and the characters began to whirl around the track automatically. "I'm sorry.""It's fine.""Your hair looks awesome," he continued. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad about it or something. You look so; ""I don't care about that," I interrupted, partly because the fact he was complimenting my appearance was making me tingle in a way that was almost infuriating, since I shouldn't care at all what Ashton Halliday thought of how I looked, but mostly because it wasn't the thing that had bothered me. "I just don't need to be reminded about my mother right now."He was quiet for a moment. "Is everything; are you okay?""I'm fine," I said. "I don't want to talk about it."Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him nod."Got it." He mashed one of the buttons on his Switch. "Come on, start the next race. I've got a good feeling about this one."I snorted. "A good feeling about losing?""I'm gonna make you eat those words.""Looks like I'm going to be starving.""Big talker," he said. "You just wait."He came closer to beating me that time; neither of us came in first but he was only a couple of seconds behind me."Hope you're hungry," he teased."Oh, that's right!" I said suddenly."What?"I dug through the pocket on the back of the passenger seat. "Want some Oreos?""Does the Pope shit in the woods?""Depends on if the bear is Catholic."We both snickered, then went silent as we each popped an Oreo in our mouths. The dim light from our Switches filled the car, and I looked at him out of the corner of my eye as he grabbed another cookie."Can I ask you something stupid?" I asked suddenly.He took a bite of the Oreo. "Yeah."I picked up another one but didn't eat it, choosing instead to fidget with it by twisting the chocolate discs. "Don't laugh.""I might.""When we were kids, in like; third grade, I think? Maybe fourth?" I knew it was third grade, but I was trying to pretend like it was slightly less of a big deal than I was making it. "Sometime around then. You; you had a birthday party. Playing laser tag, I think.""Yeah, sounds about right," he said lightly.I swallowed hard, still twisting the Oreo back and forth. "Why didn't you invite me?""I did."I pressed my lips together as my stomach tightened. Of course he didn't remember."You didn't," I said. "Everyone was super excited about it and then the day came and; ""And your mom called and said you didn't want to go," he finished.I looked up, my eyes wide, to see him staring back at me with a hard expression on his face."It was third grade, not fourth," he said. "And my mom was mad because I'd insisted you were gonna come even though you didn't respond to the invitation. She'd already paid for everything for the party and your mom only called her like an hour before it started.""What?" I said. "That can't be right.""Trust me. I remember my mom being pissed about it."I bit my lip. "She said I wasn't invited."Ashton's face softened as he saw the confusion on mine. "Your mom totally hated me, Ramona. I mean, I kinda figured but my mom confirmed it after your mom called the police on me for skateboarding after ten p.m. at the park.""What?!"He started laughing. "Yeah, when I was like, fifteen. I mean, I seriously wasn't doing anything besides skateboarding, but I was scared shitless when the cops came and brought me home. I was lucky, though. He hung out to tell my mom that they only had to do something because Liz Roth was the one who called it in and that technically the bylaw did say that the park was closed after ten. After he left my mom said your mom thought I was a bad influence because she and her never got along." He took another cookie from the package, his smile fading. "I thought you'd just decided we weren't friends or something because you stopped wanting to hang out and you wouldn't even talk to me at school. I didn't know; she really told you I hadn't invited you?"I couldn't bring myself to respond. Yeah, she had told me Ashton hadn't invited me to his birthday party. And that had been so hurtful that I stopped being friends with him. And for; well, for ten years, since we were nineteen now, we hadn't been friends because my mom thought a child was, what, a bad influence? A troublemaker? And she'd;"She called the police on you?" I asked, my voice shaking with anger.

She's ready for player two.Based on the post of MsCherylTerra, in 3 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at My First Time.Player one is me, Ramona Roth. I'm nineteen, blue hair, pierce eyebrow, former president of the student council, virgin.War is hell, they say, but I say they're wrong.Hell is insanity, and insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.Hell is false hopes and flagrant disappointment.Hell is knowing that the squabbling of Ilyra, the princess from the far-off planet of Nianus, and Jostok, the snarky-but-pleasantly-ripped humanoid alien soldier from Quighnan, would attract the attention of Izzon's monstrous space beast.It's knowing that the beast would destroy the vent your plucky band of misfits was crawling through.It's knowing that you'd all tumble into the cavernous belly of the spaceship with only the last-second triggering of a force-field from your omni-cuff to prevent you from turning into gizzard soup on the space-grey floor.I watched Jostok realize that the force field hadn't prevented the princess from being crushed beneath the weight of the metal that tumbled from above. I watched him separate her from the tangled pile of bodies and bionic limbs, cradling her barely conscious form against one beefy, armor-clad bicep.I watched her brilliant violet eyes flutter open, and saw the little half-smile on her face as he called her by her name, and heard the weakness in her voice as she reminded him that it was Princess Ilyra to him. I heard Jostok chuckle wetly and assure her she was going to make it.After all, she was the princess. This was not how princesses died.Which was true, because she didn't die like that.Izzon's beast hurled itself to the ground in front of us, its weight making the spaceship itself shudder violently. A beam of light shot forth from its gaping maw, wrenching Ilyra from Jostok's arms. He reached for her, but before his bionic arm was even fully extended, the beast had pulled her into the air, clutched her between its massive claws, and snapped her in half like she was a fucking Kit Kat bar.So, she died like that instead.There was a beat; a pause as horror dawned across the party. A splash of blood splattered on the floor followed by the delicate circlet Ilyra always wore."No," breathed Jostok.A metallic cackle from above filled the room."So much for your princess," Izzon said as he descended on a floating platform.He landed just in front of the beast. Two long strides brought him to the circlet, and he plucked it from the pool of blood before making a mockery of Ilyra's memory and placing the fragile band of metal on his horned forehead."You killed her," Jostok said, his voice wavering."Well, duh," Izzon said, chuckling. "What, you think this is your fairytale or something, Quighnan? You kill the horrible, evil, sad little man who was just trying to get back what was rightfully his? You think you save the world, you get the girl, you get the glory?"His smile faded, and he straightened the circlet before reaching for his omni-cuff."Well, Quighnan, I have news for you. You failed. The world is mine, the girl is dead, and you; ""Shut up, you piece of Cul excrement!" Jostok roared."Or what?" Izzon taunted."Or this," I muttered.Surprise flashed across Izzon's face as Jostok smashed his omni-cuff, using the last of its power to create his trademark rocket launcher. Hefting it over his shoulder, he screamed as he fired it. Izzon's beast stepped forward, snatching its master from the ground seconds before the ball of certain death hit him, and it was time for me to take over.The battle was hell. It was a place I'd been a million times before, and I let the world around me fade as I focused on Izzon and Izzon alone. His beast didn't like that, of course, but the beast wasn't my concern. There were others to fight the beast; only I could fight Izzon.Sweat beaded on my forehead and dryness scratched at my eyes. I refused to look away, refused to be distracted for even a millisecond from my task. Izzon darted around the battlefield, firing laser after laser in my direction, but I knew how to dodge them. I knew how to use them against him; I knew how to lure the beast to just the right spot for Izzon to maim it himself.And I knew what would happen next.The world shook, a rumbling that vibrated through my bones. Izzon's platform shot up, and I tracked it, ignoring the shouts and cries of the battle raging around me. High above, I saw the flash of light, and I hurled myself out of the way moments before a ball of plasma crashed down and punched a hole through the entire ship.A rush of air sucked through the floor, and I clung to the strategically placed pole for dear life, still refusing to take my eyes off Izzon's platform. I waited, watched, my heart racing as he descended, and descended, and;"Now," I said through clenched teeth, and I jumped.Wind and suction twirled around me as I fought against the force with everything in me. It was a Hail Mary, a last-ditch effort, a moment of pure insanity as I mashed at the omni-cuff wildly. I mashed, and mashed, and mashed, and;I made it.I got to the platform."Oh my fuck," I breathed. "Oh fuck, oh frak, oh; fruck."I finally did it.Izzon stood before me, his wretched face twisted in anger. I pointed my weapon at him, just as I dreamed I would a thousand times before, and without so much as a second thought, I began to fire. One shot hit and his body jostled; another and red splattered around me; one more and;And all went dark.Sudden silence replaced the sounds of battle as blackness overtook me. For half a moment, I thought I had died, like for-real died. Then, my eyes adjusted, and across from me I saw the form of a woman with pale skin, wide eyes, and bright blue hair in the depths of a black mirror."No," I whispered.The woman mimicked me."No," I said again, a low groan as realization dawned on me.The woman's face crumpled. A bolt of lightning flashed through the basement window, and as thunder roared, I screamed."You've got to be frucking kidding me!" I shrieked, and I'm not at all ashamed to admit that I burst into tears."Ramona!" my mom shouted distantly.I ignored her cry; tears were streaming down my cheeks as frantic footsteps thudded on the stairs. Despondently, I slid off the couch and crumpled to the floor, clutching my controller to my chest as I sobbed."Ramona!" Mom gasped again, the faint glow of her cell phone flashlight spilling across the basement. "Are you hurt? Ramona, talk to me, w-what happened, are you; ""The power," I whimpered as she reached me and hesitantly touched my shoulder. "The power went out, and I was so close.""Close to; what?""Beating Izzon," I sniffed.Silent tension filled the basement."In a game," she said flatly."Well, yeah, but; ""You screamed bloody murder in the middle of a huge thunderstorm because the power went out during a game."It was no use trying to explain to her that I'd been stuck on the boss fight in The Circlet of Nianus for days. I stared sullenly across the basement at the darkened TV as Mom launched into another one of her ranting lectures that had become routine since I'd returned home for the summer after my first year of university."This is not proper behavior for a nineteen-year-old woman," she said, probably. I would've had to have been listening to know for sure, which I wasn't, but all her lectures were pretty much the same. "Christ, Ramona, it's like I don't even know who you are anymore. What happened to the sweet girl who left for university last August?"Then, if that lecture was anything like the other ones; which it likely was, but I still wasn't listening; she would have started tearing up."I don't know what I did to deserve you acting like this,   Ramona," she probably said in a watery voice. "What happened to my goody-two-shoes straight-laced brown-noser who would never dream of putting a toe out of line and who I, as the head of the Minwack Falls Homeowners Association, could truly be proud of since she was as cookie-cutter and put-together as the yards and fences I work so hard to keep in line at all times?"Well, she probably didn't say that last part. At least, not out loud. But the implication was there. When I tuned back in to the conversation, she was shaking her head as she looked dramatically in the other direction."Honestly,   Ramona, maybe we made a mistake," she was saying, for real that time. "Sending you to that school; I worried that you weren't ready and now; ""I was perfectly ready to go to university," I said dully. "And I'm an adult, so you didn't send me anywhere. I chose to go. And my name is Ramona.""Adults don't throw tantrums because of a silly game.""It's not silly," I said through gritted teeth. "This is what I want to do with my life.""Play games.""Make games.""Hmm," she said. "Be that as it may, I highly doubt you'll find a summer job making games. I charged the laptop battery up earlier today, so if the power stays out, we can still work on your resume tonight."I sighed. "I have a resume. I already asked if they were hiring at The Sword and Dice and they said they'd get back to me.""I doubt the comic book store is hiring," she said, unimpressed, before she started towards the stairs. "I'm surprised Jordan Cooper's managed to keep it open as long as he has. I'll go down to The Enchanted Florist tomorrow and speak with Owen. That girl he has working there was incredibly rude to me the other day and refused to call him so I could make a complaint about her.""Okay, Karen," I muttered under my breath.Mom turned. "What was that?""Nothing."She clearly didn't believe me and shot a very Karen-esque look in my direction. "Well, if he's willing to hire her, I bet he's one of the few people in town who would be willing to overlook your new; style and possibly offer you a job."And there it was; yet another dig at my hair, and my new eyebrow piercing, and the fact that I wasn't dressed like her President of the Student Council Princess anymore.I wish I could say it had been a gradual transformation, that I hadn't been the stereotypical example of the good-girl going wild as soon as she was on her own for the first time. However, years of living with Liz Roth, head of the Minwack Falls Homeowners Association, vice-president of the Minwack Falls High School Parent-Teacher Association, and volunteer board member for the Minwack Falls Good Neighbor Society, had instilled an almost-detrimental instinct to be honest in me.I was absolutely the model of a rebellious girl experiencing life away from an overbearing mother and semi-absent father.I'd left for university as a geeky girl with suitcases full of modest blouses and nice-but-not-too-tight jeans. At the end of the semester, I returned home with suitcases full of pop culture t-shirts, dark jeans that were ripped in all the right places, and Chuck Taylors that I'd kept on my feet day in and day out so I could get that worn-in look as fast as possible. I was still geeky and still a girl, but now that girl had bright blue hair, an eyebrow ring, and an exasperatedly cynical attitude.I loved who I had become. I loved being Ramona, the girl with wild hair and full of laughter. I loved geeking out with my friends over video games and sci-fi movies and superheroes. I loved being able to show people that girl instead of the girl I had to be under my mother's roof.Back home, though, that girl wasn't welcome. That girl was an embarrassment to the head of the H O A. Worse, I was in for another three full months of putting up with my mom's pressure to dye my hair back to a respectable color and stop wearing studded belts and ripped jeans."Teach you that your choices have consequences," Mom was saying, and I'd been so distracted I hadn't even bothered imagining what she might have said. "If The Enchanted Florist won't hire you, you'll need to get your hair fixed.""My hair isn't broken.""I'm not letting you sit down here playing video games all summer. You need to get a job.""Trust me, I'd like nothing more," I said. "I could use the break."Before Mom could respond; and trust me, her inner Karen was desperate to give me a piece of its mind; we were interrupted by the sound of the door opening above us. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly."Your father's home," she said unnecessarily. "Finish tidying up here and come set the table."I waited until she had started back up the basement stairs to let out the breath I'd been holding, leaning miserably against the couch as the darkness enveloped me again.It was going to be a long frucking summer.Summer Expectations.I was saved from having to work on my resume with my mom peering over my shoulder by her innate need to be involved in every disaster.Dinner was blissfully quiet. Dad didn't say much, as per usual, and Mom's constant chatter manifested as mumbled frustrations while she scrolled through the town Facebook page on her phone, the mushy broccoli and dry chicken on her plate abandoned as she took control of the situation via social media.As quickly as I could, I shoveled bite after bite of mediocre, overcooked blandness into my mouth. Like most of my classmates in first year, I'd gained the ubiquitous Freshman Fifteen, but I hadn't minded in the slightest. I'd been relatively thin most of my life, and putting on some weight had finally made me look less like a twelve-year-old boy and more like an actual, honest-to-God woman.Unfortunately, a full summer of my mom's cooking meant that I'd probably slim down to nothingness again unless I started stopping by the Hokey Pokey Ice Cream Parlor twice a day. Which wasn't a terrible idea, actually; their ice cream was all homemade and it was phenomenal.Except that would take money, and while I was rich in Rupees and Bells and Caps, the owners of the Hokey Pokey only accepted boring old dollars.

She's ready for player two.Based on the post of MsCherylTerra, in 3 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at My First Time.Player one is me, Ramona Roth. I'm nineteen, blue hair, pierce eyebrow, former president of the student council, virgin.War is hell, they say, but I say they're wrong.Hell is insanity, and insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.Hell is false hopes and flagrant disappointment.Hell is knowing that the squabbling of Ilyra, the princess from the far-off planet of Nianus, and Jostok, the snarky-but-pleasantly-ripped humanoid alien soldier from Quighnan, would attract the attention of Izzon's monstrous space beast.It's knowing that the beast would destroy the vent your plucky band of misfits was crawling through.It's knowing that you'd all tumble into the cavernous belly of the spaceship with only the last-second triggering of a force-field from your omni-cuff to prevent you from turning into gizzard soup on the space-grey floor.I watched Jostok realize that the force field hadn't prevented the princess from being crushed beneath the weight of the metal that tumbled from above. I watched him separate her from the tangled pile of bodies and bionic limbs, cradling her barely conscious form against one beefy, armor-clad bicep.I watched her brilliant violet eyes flutter open, and saw the little half-smile on her face as he called her by her name, and heard the weakness in her voice as she reminded him that it was Princess Ilyra to him. I heard Jostok chuckle wetly and assure her she was going to make it.After all, she was the princess. This was not how princesses died.Which was true, because she didn't die like that.Izzon's beast hurled itself to the ground in front of us, its weight making the spaceship itself shudder violently. A beam of light shot forth from its gaping maw, wrenching Ilyra from Jostok's arms. He reached for her, but before his bionic arm was even fully extended, the beast had pulled her into the air, clutched her between its massive claws, and snapped her in half like she was a fucking Kit Kat bar.So, she died like that instead.There was a beat; a pause as horror dawned across the party. A splash of blood splattered on the floor followed by the delicate circlet Ilyra always wore."No," breathed Jostok.A metallic cackle from above filled the room."So much for your princess," Izzon said as he descended on a floating platform.He landed just in front of the beast. Two long strides brought him to the circlet, and he plucked it from the pool of blood before making a mockery of Ilyra's memory and placing the fragile band of metal on his horned forehead."You killed her," Jostok said, his voice wavering."Well, duh," Izzon said, chuckling. "What, you think this is your fairytale or something, Quighnan? You kill the horrible, evil, sad little man who was just trying to get back what was rightfully his? You think you save the world, you get the girl, you get the glory?"His smile faded, and he straightened the circlet before reaching for his omni-cuff."Well, Quighnan, I have news for you. You failed. The world is mine, the girl is dead, and you; ""Shut up, you piece of Cul excrement!" Jostok roared."Or what?" Izzon taunted."Or this," I muttered.Surprise flashed across Izzon's face as Jostok smashed his omni-cuff, using the last of its power to create his trademark rocket launcher. Hefting it over his shoulder, he screamed as he fired it. Izzon's beast stepped forward, snatching its master from the ground seconds before the ball of certain death hit him, and it was time for me to take over.The battle was hell. It was a place I'd been a million times before, and I let the world around me fade as I focused on Izzon and Izzon alone. His beast didn't like that, of course, but the beast wasn't my concern. There were others to fight the beast; only I could fight Izzon.Sweat beaded on my forehead and dryness scratched at my eyes. I refused to look away, refused to be distracted for even a millisecond from my task. Izzon darted around the battlefield, firing laser after laser in my direction, but I knew how to dodge them. I knew how to use them against him; I knew how to lure the beast to just the right spot for Izzon to maim it himself.And I knew what would happen next.The world shook, a rumbling that vibrated through my bones. Izzon's platform shot up, and I tracked it, ignoring the shouts and cries of the battle raging around me. High above, I saw the flash of light, and I hurled myself out of the way moments before a ball of plasma crashed down and punched a hole through the entire ship.A rush of air sucked through the floor, and I clung to the strategically placed pole for dear life, still refusing to take my eyes off Izzon's platform. I waited, watched, my heart racing as he descended, and descended, and;"Now," I said through clenched teeth, and I jumped.Wind and suction twirled around me as I fought against the force with everything in me. It was a Hail Mary, a last-ditch effort, a moment of pure insanity as I mashed at the omni-cuff wildly. I mashed, and mashed, and mashed, and;I made it.I got to the platform."Oh my fuck," I breathed. "Oh fuck, oh frak, oh; fruck."I finally did it.Izzon stood before me, his wretched face twisted in anger. I pointed my weapon at him, just as I dreamed I would a thousand times before, and without so much as a second thought, I began to fire. One shot hit and his body jostled; another and red splattered around me; one more and;And all went dark.Sudden silence replaced the sounds of battle as blackness overtook me. For half a moment, I thought I had died, like for-real died. Then, my eyes adjusted, and across from me I saw the form of a woman with pale skin, wide eyes, and bright blue hair in the depths of a black mirror."No," I whispered.The woman mimicked me."No," I said again, a low groan as realization dawned on me.The woman's face crumpled. A bolt of lightning flashed through the basement window, and as thunder roared, I screamed."You've got to be frucking kidding me!" I shrieked, and I'm not at all ashamed to admit that I burst into tears."Ramona!" my mom shouted distantly.I ignored her cry; tears were streaming down my cheeks as frantic footsteps thudded on the stairs. Despondently, I slid off the couch and crumpled to the floor, clutching my controller to my chest as I sobbed."Ramona!" Mom gasped again, the faint glow of her cell phone flashlight spilling across the basement. "Are you hurt? Ramona, talk to me, w-what happened, are you; ""The power," I whimpered as she reached me and hesitantly touched my shoulder. "The power went out, and I was so close.""Close to; what?""Beating Izzon," I sniffed.Silent tension filled the basement."In a game," she said flatly."Well, yeah, but; ""You screamed bloody murder in the middle of a huge thunderstorm because the power went out during a game."It was no use trying to explain to her that I'd been stuck on the boss fight in The Circlet of Nianus for days. I stared sullenly across the basement at the darkened TV as Mom launched into another one of her ranting lectures that had become routine since I'd returned home for the summer after my first year of university."This is not proper behavior for a nineteen-year-old woman," she said, probably. I would've had to have been listening to know for sure, which I wasn't, but all her lectures were pretty much the same. "Christ, Ramona, it's like I don't even know who you are anymore. What happened to the sweet girl who left for university last August?"Then, if that lecture was anything like the other ones; which it likely was, but I still wasn't listening; she would have started tearing up."I don't know what I did to deserve you acting like this,   Ramona," she probably said in a watery voice. "What happened to my goody-two-shoes straight-laced brown-noser who would never dream of putting a toe out of line and who I, as the head of the Minwack Falls Homeowners Association, could truly be proud of since she was as cookie-cutter and put-together as the yards and fences I work so hard to keep in line at all times?"Well, she probably didn't say that last part. At least, not out loud. But the implication was there. When I tuned back in to the conversation, she was shaking her head as she looked dramatically in the other direction."Honestly,   Ramona, maybe we made a mistake," she was saying, for real that time. "Sending you to that school; I worried that you weren't ready and now; ""I was perfectly ready to go to university," I said dully. "And I'm an adult, so you didn't send me anywhere. I chose to go. And my name is Ramona.""Adults don't throw tantrums because of a silly game.""It's not silly," I said through gritted teeth. "This is what I want to do with my life.""Play games.""Make games.""Hmm," she said. "Be that as it may, I highly doubt you'll find a summer job making games. I charged the laptop battery up earlier today, so if the power stays out, we can still work on your resume tonight."I sighed. "I have a resume. I already asked if they were hiring at The Sword and Dice and they said they'd get back to me.""I doubt the comic book store is hiring," she said, unimpressed, before she started towards the stairs. "I'm surprised Jordan Cooper's managed to keep it open as long as he has. I'll go down to The Enchanted Florist tomorrow and speak with Owen. That girl he has working there was incredibly rude to me the other day and refused to call him so I could make a complaint about her.""Okay, Karen," I muttered under my breath.Mom turned. "What was that?""Nothing."She clearly didn't believe me and shot a very Karen-esque look in my direction. "Well, if he's willing to hire her, I bet he's one of the few people in town who would be willing to overlook your new; style and possibly offer you a job."And there it was; yet another dig at my hair, and my new eyebrow piercing, and the fact that I wasn't dressed like her President of the Student Council Princess anymore.I wish I could say it had been a gradual transformation, that I hadn't been the stereotypical example of the good-girl going wild as soon as she was on her own for the first time. However, years of living with Liz Roth, head of the Minwack Falls Homeowners Association, vice-president of the Minwack Falls High School Parent-Teacher Association, and volunteer board member for the Minwack Falls Good Neighbor Society, had instilled an almost-detrimental instinct to be honest in me.I was absolutely the model of a rebellious girl experiencing life away from an overbearing mother and semi-absent father.I'd left for university as a geeky girl with suitcases full of modest blouses and nice-but-not-too-tight jeans. At the end of the semester, I returned home with suitcases full of pop culture t-shirts, dark jeans that were ripped in all the right places, and Chuck Taylors that I'd kept on my feet day in and day out so I could get that worn-in look as fast as possible. I was still geeky and still a girl, but now that girl had bright blue hair, an eyebrow ring, and an exasperatedly cynical attitude.I loved who I had become. I loved being Ramona, the girl with wild hair and full of laughter. I loved geeking out with my friends over video games and sci-fi movies and superheroes. I loved being able to show people that girl instead of the girl I had to be under my mother's roof.Back home, though, that girl wasn't welcome. That girl was an embarrassment to the head of the H O A. Worse, I was in for another three full months of putting up with my mom's pressure to dye my hair back to a respectable color and stop wearing studded belts and ripped jeans."Teach you that your choices have consequences," Mom was saying, and I'd been so distracted I hadn't even bothered imagining what she might have said. "If The Enchanted Florist won't hire you, you'll need to get your hair fixed.""My hair isn't broken.""I'm not letting you sit down here playing video games all summer. You need to get a job.""Trust me, I'd like nothing more," I said. "I could use the break."Before Mom could respond; and trust me, her inner Karen was desperate to give me a piece of its mind; we were interrupted by the sound of the door opening above us. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly."Your father's home," she said unnecessarily. "Finish tidying up here and come set the table."I waited until she had started back up the basement stairs to let out the breath I'd been holding, leaning miserably against the couch as the darkness enveloped me again.It was going to be a long frucking summer.Summer Expectations.I was saved from having to work on my resume with my mom peering over my shoulder by her innate need to be involved in every disaster.Dinner was blissfully quiet. Dad didn't say much, as per usual, and Mom's constant chatter manifested as mumbled frustrations while she scrolled through the town Facebook page on her phone, the mushy broccoli and dry chicken on her plate abandoned as she took control of the situation via social media.As quickly as I could, I shoveled bite after bite of mediocre, overcooked blandness into my mouth. Like most of my classmates in first year, I'd gained the ubiquitous Freshman Fifteen, but I hadn't minded in the slightest. I'd been relatively thin most of my life, and putting on some weight had finally made me look less like a twelve-year-old boy and more like an actual, honest-to-God woman.Unfortunately, a full summer of my mom's cooking meant that I'd probably slim down to nothingness again unless I started stopping by the Hokey Pokey Ice Cream Parlor twice a day. Which wasn't a terrible idea, actually; their ice cream was all homemade and it was phenomenal.Except that would take money, and while I was rich in Rupees and Bells and Caps, the owners of the Hokey Pokey only accepted boring old dollars.

The Big Bear is more than just the Big Dipper. The dipper outlines the body and tail of Ursa Major, the big bear. But the constellation covers much more territory. Some fainter stars outline the bear’s legs and head. But it’s the stars of the dipper that we most notice – not only because they’re fairly bright, but because they form an easy-to-see pattern. The dipper is an “asterism” – a group of stars that forms a discernible pattern, but that doesn’t form a whole constellation. An asterism can be part of a constellation, as the dipper is, or it can incorporate stars from two or more constellations. A couple of examples are in good view this evening. A small one is the Circlet of Pisces – five stars that outline the head of one of the fish of Pisces. The stars aren’t that bright, but they form a compact pattern, making the circlet easier to pick out. And it has a bright pointer: It’s close to the lower right of Venus, the “evening star.” On the other end of the spectrum is the Winter Hexagon or Winter Circle. It is outlined by seven stars – most of them among the brightest in the night sky. The pattern spans more than six times the width of your fist held at arm’s length. It ranges from Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, which is low in the southeast at nightfall, to yellow-orange Capella high in the east. It incorporates stars from six constellations – the largest of all the well-known asterisms. Script by Damond Benningfield

Episode 19 – Three Drinks in on Lunar Love, Confucianism, Socrates, 11.1, and a Meh Castle Show Notes  Welcome to Episode 19! – 8:04 A few words from me on the guiding principles of Solo Queue and why consistent publishing is not really one of them.  Sorry to miss the two episodes a month pattern on the very first month.  I am okay with that and hopefully you are as well.  Still hoping to get you 24 episodes this year.   And a big thank you to Snek of Vol'dun for the fantastic interview last month, the most downloaded episode in a first week of release!             “What have you done lately?” – 13:00 Anniversary Trivia Recap – 942 total levels and now 40 characters are level 70 or above Fix for losing in-game dialog audio Nelf Druid main finally in all epic gear and Circlet maxxed to 658 Kirin Tor questline is good story-telling Plunderstorm – I already bought out the vendor!   News – 45:37 SoD Phase 7 Cata Classic XP buff Anniversary Classic Phase 2 To Retail news, Turbulent Timeways trick Can search for characters in the select screen   11.1 News and Previews – 56:55 List of selected features coming in 11.1 at an unknown date, likely Feb. 25?   Love is in the Air and Lunar Festival – 1:11:25 New stuff in Love is in the Air and I encourage you to hit respect your elders, if for no other reason than achievements and a new mount for Lunar Festival, which traces its roots to Confucianist ideas honoring your ancestors and the Chinese celebration of Lunar New Year.   Drink #1 – 1:22:50 Moonglow, a special Lunar Festival drink to tide me over to the Drink of the Month   Drink #2 – 1:23:45 Yup, a second drink.  Must be big stuff afoot.  To steel the nerves for Raid of the Month, a Shadeskin Brandy from a dude named Slabchop.  “It burns like sin,” as they say in Revendreth.   Question of the Month – 1:25:33 What should the next playable race be? Sethrak, ogres, jinyu, hozen, valkyr, naga, or something else?   Raid of the Month:  Castle Nathria (Shadowlands) – 1:27:35 It has been four years and that means the raids of Shadowlands should be available to be soloed by mere mortals.  I tackle Castle Nathria for the first time, and of course, I do not remember all the story bits going into it.  #followerraids   Drink #3 – 1:40:06      All that raiding has me thirsty for a second Shadeskin Brandy.   Verdict on Castle Nathria – 1:40:29 The first raid of Shadowlands has no mount?  And it has large swaths of RP dialog and slow-walking NPCs?  And it took much longer than an hour?  And it yielded only 500 gold?  What do you think my recommendation is?   Main Topic:  Did You Hear What Denathar Said About Me and Fellow Podcasters Unite! – 1:47:17 A passing comment by Denathar on Azeroth United has me fired up to defend my honor and reputation as a podcaster!  My defense includes comparing myself to Socrates.  What ego?  What are you talking about?  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Socrates   Then I long for a tighter community of podcasters and celebrate the growing Solo Crew community, even though I tend to steer clear of groups and communities in WoW and life.  #wowpodcastersinBoston?   Outro – 1:59:23 Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening. Support the show at Patreon.com/SoloQueueWoW Thank you to patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, and Snek of Vol'dun!   Thanks to free patrons Max, Eddie, Bear, Jon, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Lavie, Curro, Aronaar, Aedan, and Guardian Sandy! Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest.  Leave a 5-star rating and a review to help grow Solo Queue. You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. “I will see you out there."

Welcome to The Starting Zone Podcast, The World of Warcraft Podcast for New and Experienced Players! This week Spencer Downey and Jason Lucas discuss The Siren Isle Content Update, Winterveil, Mythic+ Tuning and everything going on around Azeroth! Episode #663: Cyrce's Circlet and The Siren Isle! What's New this Week in World of Warcraft! Weekly Event - Arena Skirmish Bonus Event Weekly Quest - Delves Weekly from Brann Anniversary Event - Classic Timewalking PvP Brawl - Temple of Hotmogu Mythic+ Affixes - Xal'atath's Bargain: Ascendant WoW's 20th Anniversary - October 22, 2024 to January 6, 2025 Feast of Winterveil - Live through Jan 5th Don't miss it Weekly Checklist World Boss - Kordac,  in the Isle of Dorn Special Assignment World Quests Theater Troupe Awakening the Machine Spreading the Light Severed Threads Pacts Worldsoul Memories Important Posts Cyrce's Circlet Cyrce's Circlet ring improved for 11.0.7 Citrine Gem availability adjusted in 11.0.7 Mythic+ dungeon tuning with 11.0.7 Feedback: Class Sets in The War Within Season 2 Hotfixes and much more! You can find us on Discord at The Starting Zone or email us at TheStartingZone@Gmail.com Have you heard about our Patreon? It's a great way to support the show and goes towards making more content for you! Check it out here: https://www.patreon.com/thestartingzone Looking for to grab some great TSZ merch? Look no further than here! We've got the shirts, hoodies, mugs, pillows even stickers you want!

Join us as we discuss the unimpressive upgradable ring, Circe's Circlet, arriving with Siren Isle, Diablo Immortal finally getting….Diablo, and how yet another mobile-first Blizzard game has found its way onto PCs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SCP Artist Emotional Entropy joins us to discuss the finer points of Milk and maybe, just maybe, we'll read something. Check out Entropy's Links: https://linktr.ee/EmotionalEntropy Check out our links, including the tale Sergio was discussing at our page: https://linktr.ee/sytycfanon Featuring the works: "Rate My Director" by Aftokrator, AnActualCrow, bigslothonmyface, Cyvstvi, DodoDevil, Dr Trintavon, Dysadron, EmotionalEntropy, Fishish, GremlinGroup, Grigori Karpin, HarryBlank, Its a Bad Idea, J Dune, JakdragonX, LightlessLantern, Limeyy, LORDXVNV, MrBadFellow, OriTiefling, Pedagon, PlaguePJP, pr0m37h3um, R4_EX, Ralliston, Rounderhouse, Snapdragon133, stephlynch, stormbreath, and Trotskyeet, from the SCP Wiki. Source: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/rate-my-director. Licensed under CC-BY-SA. "SCP-5640" by Sonderance, from the SCP Wiki. Source: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-5640. Licensed under CC-BY-SA. "SCP-6296" by NDHeckfire, from the SCP Wiki. Source: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-6296. Licensed under CC-BY-SA. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sytycfanon/support

They party is honored at the Bear King's castle and many of the Fey are present. The Brewer fairy arrived upon request from the part, and an old friend or two make an appearance.

More great books at LoyalBooks.com

More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Oh snap y'all, there's a leak! A big, deadly one!But for real, things get pretty wet and wild. The party is split and time is of the essence! Perhaps this is the end for some party members. Perhaps they finally rid themselves of the fiendish Captain Sheial? If they do, will it truly be for the last time? Find out (kinda) now!

We talk with Microsoft partner Circle T, along with their customer, Millennium Services Group. You'll hear about Millennium’s self-maintaining intranet strategy, including integration into Microsoft Teams – establishing an “enterprise knowledge platform.” We also learn about their policy center that helps “reduce time to content.” Millennium is interested in SharePoint Syntex to improve insider risk management and communication compliance. The goal to have an intranet that serves both employee self-service needs and programmatic compliance for IT is one born from human-centric design that safeguards operations at scale. Click here for this episode's corresponding blog post. Resources and Info Links: SharePoint | @SharePoint | SharePoint Community Blog | UserVoice Hamish Toll | LinkedIn  | Circle T [guest] David Benjamin | LinkedIn | Millennium Services Group | Twitter [guest] Mark Kashman | Twitter [co-host] Chris McNulty | Twitter [co-host] Microsoft 365 Friday California (Jan.22.2021) | SharePoint Saturdays Microsoft Ignite (Mar.2-4.2021) Collab365 GlobalCon5 (Mar.16-17.2021)| Twitter SharePoint Fest Virtual Workshops (ongoing) CollabDays events (ongoing) Microsoft 365 Content Services Partner Program Microsoft Partner Network Project Cortex aka.ms/projectcortex Microsoft Docs - The home for Microsoft documentation for end users, developers, and IT professionals.  Stay on top of Office 365 changes Listen and subscribe to other Microsoft podcasts at aka.ms/microsoft/podcasts Subscribe to The Intrazone at aka.ms/TheIntrazone

Monique Poirier is a time-traveler from the year 1983; an author, costumer, convention-goer, and activist currently living in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She began writing science fiction and fantasy when she was 12, and discovered erotica at 16; she hasn’t stopped writing since. She is a councilwoman of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe, and a lineal descendant of Ousamequin Massasoit. Her erotica has been featured in many Circlet anthologies, including Fantastic Erotica: The Best of Circlet Press 2008-2012. Her short stories are collected in one volume in This World Between: Erotic Stories. Her steampunk work has also been extensively published in anthologies and publications. She can be reached at Poirier.Monique@gmail.com or on Tumblr at 

After battling a pack of goblins deep within the catacombs, our heroes come across the artifact that they were forced to seek. However, the rag-tag bunch soon stumble upon a surprise before returning to Deercrest! 

This month's Circlet press sponsored story is "The Leshi" by Raichyll Mae Fine, originally published in "Like a Sword: Erotic Tales of High Fantasy,"  edited by Cecilia Tan. It's narrated by Nobilis Reed.  

This month's Circlet-sponsored story is "The Shock of the New" by D Mark Alderton. It originally appeared in "Like that Spark: Erotic Tales of New Relationships" edited by Marcy Harris, published by Circlet Press. The story is read for us by Erin Kazmark of the Melting Potcast.

This month's Circlet-sponsored story is "Performance Anxiety" by Reina Delacroix, originally published in "Like an Iron Fist: Dystopian Erotica" from Circlet Press. It's read by Nobilis Reed.  

This month's Circlet-sponsored story is "Deflowered" by Avery Vanderlyle. This story appears in the anthology "A Beastly Affair: Erotic Stories of Beauty and the Beast," edited by J Blackmore, and available now from Circlet Press.  Listen through to the end for a coupon code for 50% off when buying this ebook on the Circlet website. The story is read for us by Veronica Giguere. If you like Circlet Press as much as I do, consider supporting the Circlet Press Patreon campaign. For $2 a month you can get every ebook Circlet Press publishes. 

We interview cam model and clip producer Dahlia Dee (@xoDahliaDee) about sharing/selling sexy content on the Web, what should happen when people use the images without consent, and her experiences coming out to friends and family. We also talk to to erotica writer Sunny Moraine (@dynamicsymmetry) about writing sex from the perspective of differently bodied people, using the word “pussy,” and more. Sunny introduces us to erotic works from Circlet Press (@circletpress), who is raising funds to publish their 25th anniversary anthology: Kickstarter "Best Erotic Sci-Fi Fantasy" Anthology A special guest, sex worker and performer Maggie McMuffin (@maggiemcmuff), join us for our news segment to talk about the piece she wrote for Tits and Sass on Hugh Hefner’s death: Hugh Hefner: Rapist and Revolutionary We discuss the complicated feelings associated with Hugh Hefner the man and the legacy he left behind.  *** Hosted by Jessie Sage (@sapiotextual) & PJ Sage (@peejsage). Thanks to Joe Kennedy for our music. Produced by PJ Sage.

This month's Circlet sponsored story is "Lexie's Arrows" by Martha Davis, from the Circlet Press anthology, "For the Love of a Soldier: Military Erotic Romance." It is narrated by Rae MacGregor. Listen through to the end for a coupon code you can use on the Circlet website for a big discount.

This episode is sponsored by Circlet Press. The story is "Mirror, Mirror" by Clarice Clique, which originally appeared in "Like a Queen," edited by Cecilia Tan and Rachel Kincaid.  Listen through to the end for a coupon code you can use when you buy "Like a Queen" on the Circlet website.

This week's story is "Parts" by Kal Cobalt, originally published in "Wired Hard 4" from Circlet press.  It's narrated by Nobilis Reed.

This week's story is sponsored by Circlet Press. "Initiation into Club Sanguis" appears in "Cinnamon Roses" a Circlet anthology of stories by Renee M Charles. Listen through to the end for a coupon code you can use for "Cinnamon Roses" and "Shades of Pleasure" It's read by Mildred Cady.

This week's story is sponsored by Circlet Press. "Initiation into Club Sanguis" appears in "Cinnamon Roses" a Circlet anthology of stories by Renee M Charles. It's read by Mildred Cady.

This week's episode is sponsored by Circlet Press. "Two Edged Bomb" by Lauren P. Burka was originally published in "Like a Mask Removed, Volume 1: Erotic Stories of Superheroes"It's read for us by Josh Roseman.Listen through to the end for a coupon code you can use to buy Like a Mask Removed on Circlet.com, or and another code when you buy the print omnibus edition from Createspace!

This episode is sponsored by Circlet Press. "All the Spaces In-Between" by A C Wise is from "The Flesh Made Word" edited by Bernie Mojzes.  It's read by Yours Truly, with help from Veronica Giguere and Wilson Fowlie.Listen through to the end for a coupon code that will give you 50% off when buying "The Flesh Made Word" on the Circlet website!

REPLACED AUDIO HAS BEEN POSTED - FILE IS FIXED This week we have three short-short stories from the Circlet Treasury Anthology. "Shapely" written and narrated by Alicia Goranson "Intergalactic Sexposition" written by Cesar Sanchez Zapata and read by Wilson Fowlie "Fruit of Knowledge" written and narrated by Andrea Trask (Purchase links for this item coming soon, consider this a sneak peek!)

This week's episode is sponsored by Circlet Press. Listen through to the end for a coupon code for a great discount when you buy "Capricious" by Julie Cox at the Circlet website.If you'd rather buy from Amazon, use this link:  Buy Capricious on Amazon

This episode is sponsored by Circlet Press The story, "Pirate from the Sky" was written by Sacchi Green and is narrated here by Rachel Hartford. As usual, listen through to the end for coupon codes you can use on the Circlet website.

This week's episode is a recording I made at Balticon this year, at the Circlet reading event. In addition to myself, this recording features Bernie Mojzes, Bliss Morgan, and a special musical appearance by Katey Springle Lempka.Oh! And I have a guest blog up at Circlet Press about my favorite dirty book, and another at Beyond Romance about writing inspired by current events.

This week's episode is "Fireblood" by A D R Forte, from the single-author anthology "A Touch of Steel" published by Circlet Press. It's read by Robin Sounder. Listen through to the end for exciting news, and coupon codes you can use on the Circlet website!

This week's story is "Not Exactly Dead" by Chris Amies, originally published in "Like Slipping Undercover" from Circlet Press. Listen through to the end for a coupon code you can use to buy "Like Slipping Undercover" from the Circlet website, or... Buy "Like Slipping Under Cover" on Amazon Buy "Like Slipping Undercover" on Smashwords

This week's story is "Docking Maneuvers" by Cynthia Hamilton, originally published in "Jacked In: Transhumanist Erotica" from Circlet Press. It's read by Danielle Nelson. Listen to the end for coupon codes to use on the Circlet site, or buy Jacked In on Amazon.

This week's episode is sponsored by Circlet Press. "Season of Fire" was originally published in "Wired Hard Five" Listen through to the end for coupon codes you can use for discounts on the Circlet website! Or if you'd rather, you can: Buy Wired Hard Five on Amazon Buy Wired Hard Five on Smashwords

This week's episode is sponsored by Circlet Press.  The story is "Mandarin Style" by Laura Antoiou, part of her "Marketplace" series of lifestyle BDSM stories. It's read by Tonya Idlewine. Listen through to the end for coupon codes you can use to get a discount on the entire line of Marketplace ebooks on the Circlet website.

This week's episode was reacorded live at Balticon, and not only is it sponsored by Circlet Press, but the stories are read by Circlet's founder and editor in chief Cecilia Tan.

This episode we bring you a full-cast production of "The Arrows of Desire" by Thomas Roche, originally published in "Sex Magick 2" from Circlet Press. This is a full cast production, narrated by Robert Davidson and featuring the contributions of Alicia Goranson (creator of The Mask of Inanna), Nobilis Reed, and Veronica Giguere. Listen to the episode for coupon codes you can use to buy Sex Magick volume 1 and Sex Magick volume 2 on the Circlet website, at a significant discount. Or if you prefer, you can pick them up on Amazon (in print only, it seems): Sex Magick 1 Sex Magick 2 Or you can get them on Barnes and Noble: Sex Magick 1 Sex Magick 2 Or on Smashwords: Sex Magick 1 Sex Magick 2

This week's episode is "Fears Moon Woman" by Meilin Miranda, originally published in "Like a Moonrise." This episode is sponsored by Circlet Press, celebrating the erotic imagination for 19 years. Circlet mixes the erotic with sexy science fiction and flirtatious fantasy. Gay, straight, lesbian, bi, and transgender characters and writers all find a home at Circlet Press.

Rowan, Siegfried, and Mira head to the headdress shop to pick out ornamental wares to make their purchased wigs less obvious. Lady from Day is a 4-Part fully casted audio drama about an adventurer Lia (Sophie Neveu) and her group of companions and their quest to save the princess Daschl Feyris (Cerhiunnhn) from her malady that is causing the kingdom of Feyris to go into famine. Lia, her counterpart Siegfried (JauntyHat) roam Feyris and the outlying regions in search of a cure for the princess. Through their journey they meet up with some unexpected people and encounter some horrible creatures.

A preview of Sonic & The Secret Rings and the reappearance of T-Bird.