#ravin' girls: a raven cycle podcast

[ravingirls]

Hey y'all! Great news! Our first intermezzode should be up in the next few days. Get ready for some updates on how we've survived the past year, and some answers to listener questions! -S

[substanceparty]

okay we obviously stan motorcycle adam but may i ask for a brief explanation as to why you (correctly) predicted he would get one in cdth? like how did you guess that lmao

I’ll be honest: I have no idea how I came to that conclusion textually/factually, only emotionally. 

VERY NOT-BRIEF EXPLANATION TO FOLLOW.

We recorded Episode 0 of the Ravin’ Girls podcast WAAAAAY before I was really even on Tumblr or following Maggie on social media or anything–I think it was late July or early August 2017, then released on Sept. 21st. Maybe Maggie had made an offhand comment about motorcycles I had run across? Mostly, though, a motorcycle for Adam just really, really made sense to me from a practical/economical standpoint. AND A SEXY STANDPOINT.

LOTS OF MOTORCYCLE FEELINGS UNDER THE CUT, INCLUDING PHOTOS OF ME AS A UNFORMED GRUB-LET. (aka “child”)

My tags on a post about Ronan having a motorcycle: https://substanceparty.tumblr.com/post/168951556478/egglorru-ronan-lynch-dreaming-up-and-learning-to

#this except reversed #i really want ADAM on a motorcycle #he would totally justify how economical they are #both in initial purchase price and in gas mileage + maintenance #also his commute back to the barns would be faster #because he can lane split and get through gridlock #and parking is easier at a big school right? #but really he would love the look of shock and awe on ronan’s face #every time adam pulls up on his bike and flips down his kickstand #and pulls his helmet off and his hair falls into his eyes #and he’s in LEATHER and ronan cannot keep his shit together #and adam’s like your hands are petting my ass again lynch #and ronan’s not even sorry about it #and practical adam is thinking another point to the motorcycle #and jeezus #this is all i want for christmas #amen 

I even did some cost analysis on a very expensive bike (Ducati 2019 17K-30K) vs. a practical mid-sized car (Honda 2019 17K-30K). 

I ask you: which would be sexier? I think we all can agree on the Ducati. ;P

Then Maggie posted a photo of a vintage bike on Jan. 27th, 2018 and I was hyperventilating: https://substanceparty.tumblr.com/post/170197322138

All that said, I think it comes down to that fact that I grew up not only with Camaros, but also motorcycles. There wasn’t a time I can remember when we didn’t have Harley, Indian, or Triumph motorcycle parts stacked with band equipment in my living room (we didn’t have a “garage” on the “farm”, so into the living room it was stored.) Motorcycles have always just been a Thing in my life, my dad was constantly rebuilding classic bikes, so it made sense for Adam to do that too. (Of course, he probably won’t need to do that on a dream bike.) XD

I’m pretty sure my dad has more photos of motorcycles than his kids on his Facebook, but here are two classics:

Me at probably age 1.5-2?

Me at maybe 8-9, little brother probably around 3, guest appearance in the background by the Beast (1967 Camaro ragtop).

So yeah. I’d guess that’s why I was so set on Adam getting a motorcycle. :)

[skidelf]

Ravin’ Girls S2 Ep.24: Dangerously Hipster Tendencies

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 24, where we cover Chapters 31-33 of The Dream Thieves!

The Dad-friend leaves town for a party and everyone goes crazy! Ronan uses his dream-keys to start the Pig and illegally takes Matthew back to their childhood home, Blue and Noah poke into all the crevices of Monmouth and get frisky on Gansey’s bed, and meanwhile the only bright spot for Adam and Gansey is an old guy talking about pigeons. Shannon talks about the car she wishes she could take out of her dreams, Nievita gets caught up in the physiology of ghosts, and we both give our picks for Gansey’s favorite Beatles’ song. Plus, you get DOUBLE the DEEP DIVE!

DEEP DIVE: PIGEONS!!! And… Sir Thomas Malory (from approx. the 12:01 minute mark to 25:11, depending on your player)

[creativefiend19]

Just a reminder that The Raven Cycle and The Scorpio Races audiobooks are available on Spotify. 

Both sets of narrators are E X C E L L E N T.

[ambagelbraindump]

on a related note, I started listening to the Ravin’ Girls podcast and I am having the time of my life

Thoughts on episode one: at one point somebody mentions not quite understanding exactly why Declan hates Ronan, and the quote that immediately came to mind was the following:

“On Thursday, his son Ronan found his [Niall Lynch’s] body in the driveway. On Friday, their mother stopped speaking and never spoke again. On Saturday, the Lynch brothers found that their father’s death left them rich and homeless. The will forbade them to touch anything in the house — their clothing, the furniture. Their silent mother. The will demanded they immediately move into Aglionby housing. Declan, the eldest, was meant to control the funds and their lives until his brothers reached eighteen. On Sunday, Ronan stole his deceased father’s car. On Monday, the Lynch brothers stopped being friends.”

I feel like this pretty succinctly sums up their entire rivalry/conflict, or at least the start of it. One of the people in the podcast suggested that it was maybe Ronan stealing the car that shattered his relationship with Declan, but I feel like there’s too much going on to attribute it to just one thing.

Another note: getting to experience The Raven Boys after reading Call Down the Hawk is a really spectacular experience, 10/10 would recommend

[afriendlyneighborhoodhufflepuff]

To my Raven Cycle fans! If you’ve read all the books and want more content, listen to the @ravingirls podcast! It’s so much fun to listen to and it’s so good!! It makes me laugh, cry (episode 13 I’m looking at you), and I get super excited when I find out a new episode has come out.

[kojotei]

Like a Heart Attack That Never Stopped a collab with @tyrni , yet again of Ronan from the The Raven Cycle series, because I'm a sinking ship

[arachnaesghost]

I feel like I can't even stand the wait for the second Dreamer book. Like I was fine since like November but then I listened to ravin' girls podcast and then I decided to relisten to the raven cycle audiobooks and then of course decided to relisten to call down the hawk and now I just cannot take it. Good lord I feel like I'm going to explode.

[fand0om]

Anyone who is into the Raven Cycle should really have a listen to these ladies. This is hands down my favorite podcast EVER and diving back into the books with Shannon and Nievita is always an adventure. We all need something that makes us smile rn and this (plus our favorite Raven Boys) will do the trick I promise

[satanic-foxhole-court]

The podcast I have mentally moved into and have not been able to go 8 hours without. My complete and utter favourite at the moment. Thank you to the two wonderful women that present this and made this podcast exist ❤️

Definitely worth a listen if you want The Raven Cycle in depth.

@ravingirls

[ravingirls]

Happiest of holiday seasons to each and every one of you!

Hi Lovely Listeners! We wanted to send out a short holiday message and podcast update for the coming year. 2020 has been a rough one for so many people, and even if we’ve been silent, you all have been on our minds and in our hearts. Wishing you the best and brightest holidays possible however you might celebrate, and all of our love and hopes for 2021.

Next Episodes: We are hoping to come back with a modified format in early 2021, and ease back into Season 3 as soon as we are able. 

Past Episode Guide: https://ravingirls.com/episodes

Links to Articles, Websites, and Other Discussions: Visit us at https://ravingirls.com for complete podcast details!

Subscribe at: https://link.chtbl.com/d8E86BFy or wherever you get your podcasts, and please comment, rate, or review!

Acknowledgements: The Raven Cycle,The Dreamer Trilogy, and all affiliated properties (The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, Blue Lily, Lily Blue, The Raven King, and Call Down The Hawk) are copyright Maggie Stiefvater and Scholastic, Inc. The Ravin’ Girls reference these properties for the purpose of literary analysis.

Intro and Outro music by Damiano Baldoni, used under CC Attribution License: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Damiano_Baldoni/Lost_Dinasty/

Ravin’ Girls logo and banner art © 2018 Mio Mäkijärvi, All Rights Reserved. Please visit http://kojotei.tumblr.com/ for more information.

[ravingirls]

Caves! Missing moms! Mirrors! We’re back, and we’re diving deep into the third book of the Raven Cycle, Blue Lily, Lily Blue. Do you have your caving helmet and a stout rope? It’s going to be dangerous where we’re headed… you’re going to need them!

Welcome to our teaser for Season 3 of the Ravin’ Girls, reintroducing your co-hosts Shannon and Nievita. What is this podcast all about, and why are we doing it? More importantly, when do we expect to return with the first episode of BLLB?!? Stick around to the stinger to see if we’ve gotten any better at this recording gig after two years. ;D

[ravingirls]

Season 3 Status

Hi all!

As we are living through a time of uncertainty, so goes the status of Season 3: Blue Lily, Lily Blue. Before anything else, we hope that this message finds you healthy and happy, as much as might be possible in the rapidly changing circumstances we’re all experiencing.

Let me start by saying that Shannon and I are both in good health. We haven’t been affected by COVID-19 directly, but like so many others we’re struggling with the indirect impacts.

We recently released Episode 31 sort of under the radar. It had already been a very long wait for the start of Season 3, much longer than anticipated, mostly because I had a very rough January with work issues and I wasn’t able to get the reading/research done on time. And… just as we were gearing up to swing into a full recording schedule and released the trailer announcing the start date of Season 3, the Pacific Northwest was hit with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We recorded Episode 31 at the end of February, and by the time the scheduled recording date for Episode 32 came around, Oregonians were already being encouraged to practice self-isolation and social distancing.

Unfortunately, the Ravin’ Girls records in a room where Shannon and I sit about 2 feet away from each other. Because I am still reporting to work (“government essential services”) it can’t really be considered safe to have Shannon over to record—while my risk of exposure isn’t super high, it still isn’t as close to zero as we feel comfortable with.

So, for Season 3, we really only had Episode 31 recorded and in the hopper for editing. We debated whether or not we should wait even longer until we could release everything consistently and on schedule. We decided that releasing SOMETHING was better than nothing, even if there had to be a wait for the rest of Blue Lily, Lily Blue to truly get started. And then it took me even longer to edit Episode 31 because my attention span was utter and complete sh*t for about a month. Sorry about that… :(

A question that might come up: “Why not record remotely?” The answer: Because we weren’t prepared for that, we don’t have a second set of gear to get over to Shannon, and I haven’t worked out the logistics (software, hardware, editing) for it. Is it a possibility for the future? Totally.

If we record remotely, it might have to be in a different format. Maybe we could release some mailbags or short topic episodes, maybe we could do Special Episodes for some of Maggie’s books we haven’t covered yet, maybe we could do a “what are we reading/watching/listening to”, maybe we could cover some other YA series. I think it would be hard to record our normal type of episode, but it’s definitely something to work toward as this situation stretches on.

As we’re settling in and slowly getting our mental and emotional landscapes readjusted, as well as our physical, we’re trying to remind ourselves to be patient and gentle. We miss recording, we miss all of you, and quite frankly, we miss each other. The Ravin’ Girls has been, and always will be, at heart two dorks sitting in a room making each other laugh(/cry) about a series of books that they love. We are so, so incredibly fortunate that we’ve found like-minded spirits in our Lovely Listeners, and that if even a little bit of what we do has brought a smile to your face at a time when it was needed, we’ve far surpassed our wildest hopes and dreams from when we started this podcast.

Thank you all for your support, your patience, and your continued interest in taking this journey with us. Season 3 will be full-steam-ahead as soon as we can make that happen.

Lots and lots (and lots) of love,

-Nievita (and Shannon-by-proxy)

[ravingirls]

Ravin’ Girls S2 Ep.30: BRB Getting Dragons

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 30, where we cover Chapters 60 through the Epilogue of The Dream Thieves!

Two dreamers. Two monsters. Two brothers. Two battles. One. Epic. PARTY!!! This is it! The final episode of Season Two! Buckle in and strap your helmet on, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. The final showdown between Kavinsky and Ronan. The final showdown between The Gray Man and his brother. A little bro is rescued, and a mom disappears. There are tears. And excitement. And dragons!

We lament our small town experiences, Shannon tries to avoid getting on any sort of Watch List,  we talk about comfort music, Nievita throws some shade at early Merlin myths, and we try to figure out where the box of tissues is hiding. Whoo, boy. You might want to grab one for yourself, too!

DEEP DIVE: DRAGONS! (from approx. the 41:38 minute mark to 53:43, depending on your player)

CAUTION: These last chapters and our discussion deals with mental health and suicide. Please, always put yourself first and practice self-love and compassion while listening. 

[ravingirls]

Ravin’ Girls S2 Ep.27: Circular Chicken

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 27, where we cover Chapters 44-49 of The Dream Thieves!

So much angst, practically every character hits bottom. That means the only thing left is up, right? Nievita tells basically everyone except Kavinsky to eff off, and Shannon calls Greenmantle a b*tthole which is basically the same thing. We talk symbolism in Feng Shui and Japanese buffets, and disagree on the extent that K is responsible for Cabeswater’s disappearance. There are some tears--but possibly not from who you would expect. Calla gives our first solid hints about how time works in The Chicken Cycle, and we award our most expansive MVC yet!

DEEP DIVE: Stereotypes and Media Tropes relating to Joseph Kavinsky (from approx. the 20:29 minute mark to 30:01, depending on your player)

CAUTION: In our Deep Dive we discuss the broad history of media portrayals of queerness and ethnicity. While we always try to be as sensitive as possible, we understand that this is a much more nuanced topic than we can possibly cover in 10 minutes. Please exercise caution while listening if you find this topic personally sensitive. Love!

[ravingirls]

Ravin’ Girls S2 Ep.28: Never Come Alone

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 28, where we cover Chapters 50-53 of The Dream Thieves!

It’s Adam’s turn for learning about his life-altering mystical experience, while Blue and Gansey go out for a totally-not-romantic-let’s-never-talk-about-this drive through the Henrietta hills. Ronan has a chat with his (dead? dream?) dad, and the Gray Man gets some bad family news of his own. We compare our favorite pies and favorite paintings, Shannon covets the Lisa Frank tarot deck, and Nievita drops some seriously dark theories behind Prokopenko’s resurrection. Greenmantle says possibly the creepiest thing ever, and Shannon breaks the harsh news that fictional characters don’t know we exist.

DEEP DIVE: Rites of Passage (from approx. the 27:52 minute mark to 39:52, depending on your player)