Continuing on with bringing authors to your ears, I was lucky enough to have Carolina Cardona aka TheTropicalEccentric, join me to talk about fandom and her work as an Author!

We first kick things off with talk about Anime. Carolina talks about growing up in Puerto Rico and the anime that was shown there, and then her transition to living in New Orleans and her anime experiences there. We discuss some of the anime we both grew up on as kids, anime like Attack on Titan, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and what kind of anime she enjoys.

We blend that conversation into a conversation about Japan as a whole. Carolina talks about her experiences in Japan, what draws her to visiting there, and why she thinks everyone should visit the country at least once.

Then we get to talk about her work as an Author. Carolina talks about her writing and creative process, and we talk about her book, Andújar: The Robot Gentleman of San Juan. We talk about the plot and setting, and focus on the two main characters - Santos and Violeta, along with the historical backdrop that their story unfolds with. Violeta will surprise you! We also talk about some of her upcoming works in progress, and that Andújar will be translated/published in Spanish later this year!

You can find Andújar: The Robot Gentleman of San Juan at Amazon, Kindle Unlimited, Barnes and Noble, and Ingram Spark.

https://amzn.to/4aTlhUq

You can find Carolina at:

https://www.carolinacardona.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thetropicaleccentric/

https://www.threads.net/@thetropicaleccentric

I always love seeing who people are sharing on their instagram stories. It helps me find new people for this podcast, including today's guest, Yaya aka SpaceCowgirlYaya (or Yaya Cosplay). I fell in love with their traditional Mexican Sailor Moon Cosplay. I knew I needed to get her on the podcast to share her stories.

Yaya joins me as we divide the episode in two. The first half of the episode we're talking all about Cosplay. We talk about how Dragonball was her first entry point into anime and what she enjoys about that series. We also touch on anime like Trigun, Full Metal Alchemist, and Attack on Titan. It's a great reflection on where anime fit in Yaya's early life and where she is now with it.

In the second half, it's all about cosplay. We talk about how she first got into cosplay, and the motivation behind her Mexican infused cosplays such as the traditional Mexican Sailor Moon fuku, Charro Chibiusa, and Selena x Sailor Moon mashup. Yaya talks about what she's working on for the rest of the year, and the reception she's received with her work.

You can follow Yaya at: 

https://www.instagram.com/spacecowgirlyaya/

https://www.tiktok.com/@spacecowgirlyaya

https://beacons.ai/yayacosplay

Content Warnings: 18+, NSFW, Kink (further content warnings related to kink listed below) 

After a desire to read more and have more authors on the podcast, I made a post on Threads expressing that. The response was overwhelming, and our first Author joins me from that post, Ally Marr.

Ally and I talk first about Dungeons and Dragons. She talks about how she first got into playing, what hooked her into continuing to play, and how her play style has evolved since those first games. We also talk about other tabletop roleplaying games outside of the D&D sphere.

The possibility of romance and flirting within D&D leads us into a conversation about romance in that arena, alongside literature. This leads us into talking about Ally's work as an author.

37min 46seconds

CW: Kink, Bondage / BDSM, female dominance, orgasm denial

Ally talks about how she first started writing, and writing the stories that she wanted to read but didn't seem to find out there. We talk about her book, Desire for Dominance, which is the one I read. We talk about the characters, a bit of the plot, without spoiling the book. 

Ally mentions how she portrays the kink community and the positive response she's received thus far. We talk about the methods in how she writes, how her books come together, and her book that just released, Denial (the theme is orgasm denial), along with other works in progress.

You can find Ally and her work at:

https://www.allymarr.com/

Any kinks/warnings are listed on Ally's site above based on book.

https://www.instagram.com/ally_marr_/

https://www.threads.net/@ally_marr_

Desire for Dominance - https://amzn.to/3Q2xv4D

Denial - https://amzn.to/4cWi5IY

There's always guests that are into so many things that it is tough to contain it all in one episode. Today's guest, Heather Boddy, is one of those guests. She's into so much and does so much that we did our best to squeeze it all into one episode.

We kick things off with talking about the nostalgic movies from our childhood. For Heather, we talk about two that stuck with her - Gremlins and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. She talks about how these movies were instrumental in her childhood, particularly Rocky Horror. 

From there, we go into Marvel. Not just Marvel Comics, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well. Heather talks about how she got into the Marvel side of life, and we talk about one of her favorite characters, She Hulk.

Then we talk all about Heather! We dive into the realm of Cosplay and how she was already into it without being into it (listen to the episode to understand that!). We talk about the business she launched, Geeknasium, which is nerdy workouts you can do in the comfort of your own home. And we talk about the podcast she co-hosts, Mental Health Multiverse, and what you can expect to hear.

Want more of Heather? You can find her at:

https://www.instagram.com/heatherboddy

https://www.tiktok.com/@heatherboddy

You can find Geeknasium at:

https://www.instagram.com/geeknasium/

14 Day Free Trial - https://app.arketa.co/geeknasium/pricing/checkout/yoQHqsBe0pZfItHQFiHm

Geeknasium Membership Page - https://mailchi.mp/25952ee55238/join-geeknasium

Geeknasium Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/482957442471972/?ref=share

You can find Mental Health Multiverse Podcast at:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mhmthepodcast

My first international guest of 2024! Polly aka Co_Mixed on the socials joins me from Serbia to talk all about her favorite fandoms. Note - there may be a few audio echoes in the episode.

Polly and I start things off with talking about Marvel. Not just the Cinematic Universe, but we start with a conversation about the comics, TV shows, and movies pre-MCU. Find out why Polly loves the X-Men, her rewatch of the X-Men animated series, and more. We talk about some of the pre MCU movies like Spider-Man and the X-Men movies, and we also delve into the Cinematic Universe with the movies and TV shows.

From there, we switch gears and go to Hell... or maybe a Hellmouth. We're talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We joke about some of the comics that came out post TV series, but we focus on the TV series. Polly talks about how she got into the show, some of her favorite characters, the Angel TV spin-off, among other things.

Then we're talking about the Battlestar Galactica reboot series. Find out who failed up in Polly's mind, some of the characters she doesn't like, her opinions on the show, and much more.

You can find Polly at:

https://www.threads.net/@co_mixed

https://www.instagram.com/co_mixed/

https://co-mixed.tumblr.com/

Rounding out the March 2024 slate is Keir aka Keirtastic7 on Instagram! After talking with his fiancee, Rebellious Dreamer, I got to have the pleasure of having him on this year!

We start things off by talking about Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. It's a new to me fandom, though I've heard of it by name. Keir talks about what the show is, how he got into it, and what it's all about.

From there, we go to Indie Comics. We talk about the comics that we both were/are drawn to in the indie scene, the evolution of some indie comics becoming mainstream, and supporting the indie comic creators.

Then we go into Audio Dramas. Keir talks about what draws him to the medium, as he talks about the Marvel audio dramas regarding Wolverine, and I bring up some of the podcast audio drama work (including a shout out to Fool and Scholar Productions!)

We wrap things up talking about film festivals. From Keir's work with them, to some of the behind the scenes things that go on, plus some tips about attending your first film festival.

You can find Keir at:

https://www.instagram.com/keirtastic7/

Threads is the new social media platform and something that I've taken to quite well. And today's guest, Jazmin aka ThatOneNerdyFanGirll is my first guest that I stumbled across on the Threads platform!

Jazmin joins me to talk about two of the long running, big fandoms out there!

First, we talk about Star Wars! Jazmin talks about how she got into Star Wars, some of her favorite media from the franchise, favorite characters, and what she'd love to see in the future!

Then, we get to talk about The Lord of the Rings. We talk about the trilogy, the characters, and her first experiences with it.

Jazmin then talks about Cosplay. From her first getting into Cosplay, the characters she does, how she decides who to cosplay, and some of her future plans.

You can find Jazmin at:

https://www.instagram.com/thatonenerdyfangirll/

https://www.threads.net/@thatonenerdyfangirll

https://beacons.ai/thatonenerdyfangirl

Content Warnings: NSFW, 18+, wide ranging and frank mental health discussion

Amber aka TheSpaceJamber returns after two years as we get to catch up and talk about life and everything that's been going on recently!

We first get to catch up and chat for a bit before diving right back into one of Amber's main passions, Danny Phantom. We talk about the series again (listen to their original episode linked below for more Danny Phantom discussion) before Amber talks about an actual play series they ran for a tabletop roleplaying live stream (links to the stream also below!)

We segue into the realm of tabletop roleplaying games. Amber also talks about being ENNIE nominated in the TTRPG space and the work they've been doing with Flabbergasted and Necrobiotic. Amber also reveals that they're working on the latest CHEW tabletop rpg (based on the Image comic)

Then Amber and I talk about mental health. Amber talks about the past two years and her experiences. Amber talks about the importance of therapy. The discussion is wide ranging and frank, but worthwhile.

We wrap things up talking about crochet. From how it helps Amber with a number of things, to the creativity, and how they'd recommend learning/getting into the world of crochet.

You can find Amber at:

https://thespacejamber.cool/

https://twitter.com/thespacejamber

https://www.twitch.tv/thespacejamber

https://www.instagram.com/thespacejamber/

https://thespacejamber.itch.io/

You can listen to Amber's original episode at:

https://talesfromthefandom.libsyn.com/episode-250-amber-aka-thespacejamber-talks-danny-phantom-early-2000s-vh1-reality-tv-ya-literature-and-tabletop-roleplaying-games

You can watch the actual play of the TTRPG similar to Danny Phantom at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z0TpsPapNU&list=PLr6G2Q0eS45wvbKROej55fxyPe9Gh6trz

You can find Flabbergasted at:

https://www.wanderers-tome.com/shop/p/flabbergasted-pdf

You can find Necrobiotic at:

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/413985/Necrobiotic-Core-Rulebook

I'm excited to get to share Sara aka Alto.Girl2019's stories and fandoms with you. I've been in the same community as Sara for several years and was happy when she said yes to being a guest!

We start things off with talking about the animated series, Adventure Time. They talk about what brought them to the series, their favorite characters, and what the show means to them, amongst other things!

Then, we talk about a new(ish) video game, Ooblets. Sara gives us the backstory about the game, how they got into it and watching others stream it, the game play, and what they enjoy about it.

For the last half of the episode, we're talking all about Sara. We get to learn about how Sara got into art (and digital art), singing, songwriting, and streaming all of those on Twitch, along with video games too! You can see Sara's work across multiple channels, and find them on Spotify too!

You can find Sara at:

https://www.twitch.tv/altogirl2019

https://www.instagram.com/alto.girl2019/

https://www.threads.net/@alto.girl2019

https://www.youtube.com/altogirl2013

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1blw2djW4dBvcdgiHn7INW?si=1PTeKWagTDyN7TfECSv-hQ

You can find the Hyrule Gaming Group at:

https://discord.gg/hyrulegaminggroup-hyrulegg-378406980479352833

After stumbling across Chloe's Star Wars bounding and fandom blog, I knew I would love to have her on the podcast and talk about some of her favorite things. We were able to connect and talk all about Star Wars, one of her favorite fandoms.

We get to cover Star Wars from all the sides. We're talking about the movies, the shows, the books (including the High Republic!). Chloe talks about her favorite characters, the cast, and everything in between. If you like Star Wars, you'll like this episode!

Get to know some deep Star Wars lore on this episode too. I learned so much about background characters that even I did not know about, and that's always a good time for me!

Chloe also has a blog that's not just Star Wars, so make sure you go check out her writings and photos from there too!

You can find Chloe at:

https://www.instagram.com/chloesfandomlife/

https://chloesfandomlife.blogspot.com/

https://bio.site/Chloesfandomlife

Joining me from my old stomping grounds in North Carolina, Kal aka AssortedCreates talks about some of their favorite fandoms and personal works!

We start things off with talking about the works of Neil Gaiman. We primarily touch on The Sandman comics and TV series, and I learn that there's an Audible audio drama too! We dabble with American Gods, and reflect on some of his other work as well.

From there, we switch over to talking about Tabletop Roleplaying Games. We cover Dungeons and Dragons, as well as some other game systems like Blades in the Dark, DIE, and Pirate Borg. Kal talks about what TTRPG's mean to them, and what they enjoy playing. We also talk about Critical Role and The Adventure Zone actual plays, and what those shows appeal are.

Then we talk about Kal! Kal talks about their cosplays, the characters they represent, and of course, the props, since Kal also does propmaking!

We also briefly touch on the band that Kal is in, Oh! You Pretty Things! Hear a bit of their music at the end of the episode.

You can find Kal at:

https://www.instagram.com/assortedcreates/

https://linktr.ee/assortedcreates

You can find Oh! You Pretty Things at:

https://www.instagram.com/oyptmusic/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Q8iSpyrkjPNzPnHshFqk3