Things I browse and listen to

[schneefink]

More random things:

My favorite subreddit for procrastination purposes is currently /r/hobbydrama. It doesn't get full write-ups that often (anymore? I have a vague memory that they used to be more common in the past), but even just reading through the weekly "Hobby Scuffles" threads is entertaining. All kinds of both fun and unfun drama from different communities.

At Worldcon someone recommended me the "Sheep Might Fly!" serialized fiction podcast by Tansy Rayner Roberts, and I decided to check it out because I really enjoyed "Musketeer Space" and her "Creature Court" trilogy.
I listened to all 25 chapters of Season of Dragons, which is basically "AU Pride and Prejudice with dragons from the PoV of Caroline Bingley." It was entertaining enough I kept listening weekly for months, though I found it very predictable (even apart from the P&P elements) and despite the dragons at times somewhat bland. I think it's likely that it's less an issue with the book and more that it's not generally one of my favorite genres. A good light read/listen when one is in the right mood for regency romance with fantasy elements.
I don't think I'll follow along with the next one though.

I stopped listening to The Magnus Protocol because I'm not really in the mood for horror currently. (I do want to try playing Slay the Princess but I haven't yet had sufficient time and mental battery at the same time.)

The other podcast I currently semi-regularly listen to is The Spawn Chunks, a weekly Minecraft podcast by Pixlriffs and Joel Duggan. Also something that doesn't require a lot of brainpower, conveniently. It's nice to stay informed and they have some interesting thoughts about existing mechanics and good ideas about possible future ones.

If anyone has recommendations for serialized fiction podcasts that are not horror and don't require too much brainpower, ideally but not necessarily SFF, that'd be appreciated :) I guess I could just listen to audio books but, idk, it doesn't feel quite the same.

Comments

[shadaras]

Audiodramas are made for audio, so it makes sense that they feel different from audiobooks!

I don't have any suggestions, because all the audio dramas I listen to are horror, but I'm curious to see what suggestions other folk might have.

[schneefink]

I wasn't necessarily thinking of full audio dramas because it can still require more brainpower to understand what's going on, but it depends on how they're made. In theory Actual Play TTRPGs are also an option but I'm very picky about those. (I recently tried TAZ vs Dracula but, uh, obviously it didn't leave a lasting impression since I completely forgot about it when making the post. Some cool ideas, I mostly enjoyed it but eventually lost interest.)

[shadaras]

Fair! I... still mostly listen to horror-adjacent stuff for narrative podcasts. xD; Friends at the Table is the one narrative podcast I keep up with that isn't horror-y, but it's definitely brainpower-heavy.

Dungeons and Daddies, Not Another D&D Podcast, and Dimension 20 are the actual play shows (that aren't CritRole) I hear people talking about the most. Worlds Beyond Number also sounds pretty good? (all of these are D&D 5e-based, though Dimension 20 also does some other games/blends them in sometimes.)

The Strange Case of Starship Iris is a sci-fi audio drama, not horror, and I've heard consistently positive things about it.

I... feel like I should know some other podcasts in this realm but apparently not. xD

[schneefink]

Hm, might check some of those out, thanks :) I listened to the first few episodes of Starship Iris, and while I enjoyed it a lot, I would also not consider it something to listen to with low brainpower.

[scintilla10]

I'm not a regular reader of r/hobbydrama, but when I get linked to it, it's usually highly entertaining. :D

Re: Season of Dragons: I'm a sucker for dragons and regency romance, so this sounds up my alley! Thanks for the rec.

I don't listen to a lot of fiction podcasts, but I do remember enjoying The Two Princes, a fantasy romance about two rival princes on their own quests who fall in love. I've only listened to S1, but it looks they made 3 seasons of it. It has an impressive cast, including Shohreh Aghdashloo and Christine Baranski as the rival queens.

[schneefink]

I keep thinking about doing a write-up about QSMP - well more accurately I keep wishing one would exist, but not enough I would be willing to go look for sources...

I hope you enjoy it! Iirc she said the book will come out very soon if you prefer reading to listening.

The Two Princes looks interesting, I might give it a try :) Thanks!