One of the things I want to try and keep doing in this time is spread good things. So here are some of my favourite shows to listen to that hopefully will bring you joy too. (This episode is rated E for the inclusion of sexual themes in the last promo, just to be sure. I give a warning before I play it.)

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• Check out composer Kai Engel, who wrote the theme song “Holiday Gift”.
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• Read the full transcript below:

Transcript

[Gentle theme music]

Laura: Hi, you can call me Laura, and today on Patchwork Fairy Tales we’re going to do it a little differently. This is a special episode to recommend you some podcasts that I love listening to. Since I only have about five fairy tales left and will probably be going on a short hiatus after uploading the last one while I figure out what I’m going to do next, I thought it might be nice to give you some other nice things to listen to! This is unscripted, so that’s mildly terrifying. And if you hear a slight rumble in the background, that’s probably my cat Findus. I usually exile him while I’m recording my stories, but I thought I’d let him stay today.

My first recommendation is very on brand and it’s the Celtic Myths and Legends Podcast. It’s hosted by Siân Esther Powell, who has so much love for all the subjects and is such a joyful storyteller that it is always a pleasure to listen to. Have a listen to her intro:

[Celtic music]

Siân: [greets everyone in Welsh] Welcome! Welcome to the Celtic Myths and Legends podcast. My name is Siân Esther Powell and I’ll be taking you on a journey, through all the myths and legends of the six Celtic nations. That’s Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and the Isle of Man.

[Celtic music fades]

Laura: This podcast has taught me so much, it always makes me smile, and it’s full of really excellent research. In some episodes entire myths are recapped, in others folktales are told in full and in every episode you’ll learn something wonderful about the myths and legends or creatures from the Celtic traditions. I especially recommend the episodes about the folklore of the Isle of Man, because in all my earlier folklore research I’ve never come across that as a separate tradition and they have some great stuff. The podcast is hosted on LibSyn so you can find it in all your podcatchers, but she also has a Facebook, celticmythspodcast, and is celticmythspod on Twitter.

My second recommendation is the first podcast I ever listened to and it is Oh No! Lit Class, hosted by Megan and JR. I will let them introduce themselves in their promo:

[Upbeat music]

Megan: I’m Megan.

RJ: And I’m RJ.

Megan: And we host Oh No! Lit Class. A comedy literature podcast that tells you all the strange and sexy facts you never knew about the books you had to read in school.

RJ: Every episode is a fun, foul-mouthed SparkNotes for your ears. Filled with author bios, plot summaries, bad impressions, and Megan’s singing.

Megan: Mm it’s mostly you that sings.

RJ: No. I sing well. She sings poorly.

Megan: That’s not true. So come listen to us ruin classing literature one book at the time at ohnolitclass.com, or wherever you get your podcasts.

RJ: Oh No! Lit Class, we’re for kids!

Megan: No we’re not!

[Upbeat music fades]

Laura: Oh No! Lit Class has such a huge backlog of episodes covering such a variety of books I am certain everyone will find something to love there. My advice for getting into this podcast is to go through the list of episodes and find a book that you like, but that you also love to laugh at. The book plots are all summarised by Megan and they do the best snarky paraphrasing of dramatic literature that I have ever encountered. RJ does biographical research on all the authors and in general the most esteemed the author the more terrible a nickname he gives them. They’re both clearly enjoying themselves so much and their laughs are so infectious, Oh No! Lit Class is always a mood lifter. I’m gonna particularly recommend the episodes on Beowulf, Dracula and Wuthering Heights, for very different reasons.

My other two recommendations are both by Passer Vulpes productions, by two Australian creators, Erin Kyan and Lee Davis-Thalbourne. The first is Love and Luck, an amazing queer love story full of found family and a drop of magic thrown in. It also has a really original format, check it out:

[Dial tone]

[Pickup]

ROSLYN: You’ve reached the Love and Luck Podcast.

[Piano music]

[Beep]

KANE: Hi, it’s Kane. I just wanted to say I had a lot of fun last night, and I’d like to do it again, if you’re keen.

[Hangup]

[Beep]

JASON: Hey, Jason here, I had a really good time too, and I’d definitely like to see you again.

[Hangup]

ROSLYN: Love and Luck, is a slice of life queer love story podcast, told via voicemails. Subscribe to us on your favourite podcast app to listen, or check out our website at loveandluckpodcast.com.

[Piano music fades]

Laura: Love and luck has been one of the most comforting stories I have heard in a very long time. I adore it with all my heart and I keep relistening to it.

The second is Supernatural Sexuality with Dr Seabrooke. This is peak inclusive urban fantasy, and I adore it, but it does come with a warning for sexual themes. If allusions to physical sex squick you out, maybe skip the thirty second promo I’m about to play.

[Jaunty, jazzy music]

SEABROOKE: Is your new lover a little… different?

CALLER 1: I’ve been dating a hydra…

CALLER 2: He’s been 25 for 200 years!

CALLER 3: Err, so my boyfriend is a wereman…

SEABROOKE: Not sure where to begin?

CALLER 4: What position would you recommend when your partner has wings?

CALLER 5: Uhh… We’ve been doing a lot of impact play and, uh, the scales are starting to… drop off.

SEABROOKE: Need some help finding a way forward?

CALLER 8: H-How do I even approach this question without making her think that I’ve got, like, a murder skeleton in the closet, or that I’m a secret racist?

CALLER 1: Well, I thought that maybe, while you’re away, I could date heads that are attached to different bodies?

SEABROOKE: I can help. I’m Doctor Olivia Seabrooke – Sexologist, Folklorist, and Relationship Counsellor. If you need help, I’m just a phone call away. Join me on Supernatural Sexuality, on the AusEtherial Network.

Lee: Supernatural Sexuality with Dr Seabrooke! Available on YouTube with captions, and wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jaunty, jazzy music ends]

Laura: Supernatural sexuality is really original and so positive. It makes me really happy. These two shows have a really large, amazing cast of voice actors, and if you want some more inclusive, positive fantasy in your life, here’s a place to start.

Well, those were the four I really wanted to share with you today. I hope you’ll check some of them out and find something new to love. I also wanted to say thank you to all of you for listening to the podcast, I had never thought I’d be able to actually build and audience. Some of you have even been leaving me messages on Tumblr, people have started supporting me on Ko-fi, it’s amazing and I love all of you for it.

If any of you have some recommendations to give me, you can do that on my Tumblr laurasimonsdaughter.tumblr.com, or on Twitter @patchworktale if I manage to find out how the DM system works, or you can send me an email at laurasimons.author@gmail.com. I’d also be very glad to hear from you if you have any ideas about what I should be doing with this podcast next. Because I really don’t wanna stop after I’ve run out of fairy tales, but writing these takes a while. What I’m recording now is a couple years’ worth of writing. But I do write other stuff as well, so I could be going towards short urban fantasy stories, or I could turn my fantasy romance novel into an audiobook. Either way I’d love to hear from you, feedback makes my heart glow.

[Theme music]

I’m really looking forward to the fairy tales still to come. We have some trolls to fight, some gay merfolk to fish up, and my favourite sapphic fairy tale is still to come. So I really hope you’ll come back some other wednesday, but until then:

Remember to guard your name, bow to birds in flocks of three, and be safe~

[Music plays for a minute and ends]

_{Copyright Laura Simons, please do not copy my stories without my permission, lest you insult the fae.}