#who knows very little about woe.begone

[daisyishedwig]

I was literally spinning around my kitchen giggling and twirling my hair listening to the latest episode and I can't wait for the official drop to come tomorrow because I need y'all to hear this. (I do have a tendency to do this with most episodes of woe.begone but this one was a particular joy to listen to)

Very spoilery screaming in the tags below.

[fuckyeahaudiodrama]

🪸 JULY LISTENS 🪸

(ft. some lovely coral for those of us caught up on The Magnus Protocol😌)

this month, i’ve been working through some of the stuff that’s been languishing on my listen list for approximately a million years as well as revisiting some old favorites. here’s what i enjoyed most in my earholes:

G.O.B.L.I.N.S — (pilot, crowdfunding now!) for fans of Stellar Firma, the Meredith brothers have reunited with some other familiar voices to spin a story about an overly ambitious human office worker who gets dragged through the veil into the fae realm by a pair of chaotic goblins. the show is scripted but it’s marked by the same sense of humor that has characterized the Meredith’s other improvised works. 8 episodes projected if it funds.

Larkspur Underground — (11 eps, complete?) a fictional exposé about the sole survivor of a serial killer’s disturbing abduction and grooming. i was giddy to discover this one as an ardent fan of Showtime’s Dexter. it’s gory and glorious, and if you’re keen you might spot some clues; if not, the final episode is going to shock you. creator wants to make more, but it’s been a few years so who knows.

I Found A Wormhole — (5 eps, complete) a short yet existentially harrowing series. exactly what it says on the tin. mind the content warnings on the final episode but by the time you get there you’ll definitely know what’s coming tbh.

The Grotto — (10 eps, ongoing) a pull-no-punches exploration of messy grief with a supernatural twist. season two is here! this series has an absolutely killer soundtrack and immersive sound design. it has such a unique vibe. you’ll definitely like it if you like WOE.BEGONE.

Dear Bastard! — (16 eps, complete?) an epistolary comedy about a bunch of squabbling neighbors. i like to use this show as a palate cleanser when i’ve been listening to a lot of gruesome horror, because it’s just so light and fun.

Deviant — (10 eps, complete) a space pirate dramedy! i stumbled across this purely by accident and did a little binge. i love an absolute mess of a protagonist, so this was right up my alley. it’s a little abrasive at times but overall i enjoyed the narrative and it wrapped up nicely.

Murphy — (6 eps, s2 in production) a folkloric monster-of-the-week mystery with very charming characters. the first season is complete and although it is short, the episodes are long and make great use of their runtime. pleased to see their recent crowdfunder has been successful so there will be more!

Ghost Wax — (45+ eps, hiatus) a horror anthology facilitated by a “reclaimer” who can extract the final statements of the dead. this is similar to How i Died but the lore feels much more fantastically intricate. i don’t want to spoil too much of the meta plot but there’s a LOT going on, and i’m looking forward to s2.

Fulmar’s Folly — (12 eps, ongoing?) people on reddit love this series so i decided to give it a spin. fans of zombie survival like We’re Alive are most likely to eat this up. it can be a little overwrought at times, but the constant tension feels genuine in context. episodes are quite long but the length feels satisfying and necessary.

Nowhere, On Air — (46 eps, ongoing) another spooky small town radio show about a girl in a world she doesn’t belong to. this is one of my favorite genres of AD. fans of WTNV, King Falls AM, Tiny Terrors, and other shows of that ilk will probably enjoy this. it leans a little more surreal and introspective than comedic. IMHO, the host also just has a lovely voice. the meta plot is currently really hitting its stride.

All In My Head — (19 eps, ???) night terrors turn out to be something much more sinister. so intriguing, i was devastated to realize it may have been abandoned. i’m not going to completely give up hope for a final season though!

Zoinks! — (11 eps, complete?) a darkly comedic homage to scooby doo and other childrens detective fiction. i loved the way the narrative approached the subject of child neglect, while still maintaining a thread of silliness that saved it from complete bleakness. s2 has been mentioned but it’s projected release date has come and gone without a word, so it may or may not happen.

Trice Forgotten — (10 eps, ???) an aspiring cartographer gets accidentally mixed up with some pirates. i relistened to this series in honor of its anniversary and was just blown away by the sound design all over again. the setting is made so rich and alive by the effort put in by the production staff! and the character dynamics are so intricate and gorgeous. i am especially a fan of the tension between alestes and gammon. beautiful first season with SO much left to explore, i really hope to see this come back for a s2 someday.

[humor6969]

Mom said it's my turn to talk about how Edgar and Mike’s interactions affects the relationships they build with people around them, how that in congruence with the plot, helps develop the themes of self-identity, tyranny, and how we perceive the world around us through the lens presented to us by the very society that limits us, as presented in WOE.BEGONE.

Mike and Edgar’s relationship exemplifies w.bg strongest narrative theme. Both of their characters are introduced with the uncomfortable sword of damocles that is power hanging over their heads.

When Mike was introduced he was powerless. It’s clear he was unhappy with his life and that playing  w.bg was the only thing he thought he could do to feel in control. Nothing could dramatically change your future like putting your life on the line for internet fame. Ironically w.bg only served to further demoralize him, taunting him with the promise of power while further taking his agency.

Edgar was introduced as someone who hadn’t realized the power they don’t have. There was a massive gap in knowledge between what Edgar knew and everyone around him knew. In that way he was isolated from most other tier two co-workers without realizing it. Even Mike was getting to know him on false pretenses. Mike had power over him, he also had knowledge similar to the rest of tier two employees and was manipulating Edgar into helping him learn more.

By dating Mike, Edgar gained new kinds of control/power. A growing desire for more is always one of his strongest motivations, as opposed to Mike’s motivations that vacillate from desperately wanting power to running away from it.

Mike is not only the person who first introduced Edgar to time travel, but also provides Edgar with people willing to follow his orders. He is someone who totally shares those desires. (power hungry assholes <3). We never hear Edgar speak much about people he knows outside of base even before it was created. Edgar might have felt lucky to have found someone like Mike, who (had already done the hard work being social with his co-workers) comes with a pre-established friend group.

His new boyfriend came with not only immense world shattering knowledge and power (as well as near total compliance concerning) but a loyal army for him to command.

These problems are typified by all the ethical/moral dilemmas they are forced to face with the idea of iterative personhood. 

I said "near total compliance" above as most disagreements he and Mike have are caused by how differently they both treat iterations even when they share the same definition of that concept. Mike (as he has made it very aware) sees iterations as a unique individual. His iterations are just some real fucken weird guys who happen to share a lot of his memories.

Edgar doesn’t. Even as the person who created and defined the term ‘iterative personhood’ he views them as disposable copies of the ‘real thing’ or as a back-up. When someone dies he can just load a new copy of them from his save data good as new. 

And as much as Edgar has said he would never hurt any Mike he does so repeatedly throughout the whole series. Edgar might think it's a pity to kill an iteration. Edgar clearly doesn’t like killing anyone (especially a Mike) but he never empathizes with them. He nods his head sympathetically and probably does truly believe it's a waste of a life, but he never has acted like he’s losing a person he cares about. Edgar has shown little to know remorse when it comes to lying or manipulating Mike. Only apologizing when his plans cause Mike permanent suffering or trauma. Although this does not come from a place of malice (*cough* read this post by orchidbreezefc *cough*)

Even iterations of Edgar don’t seem to care about any of the differences between the many Mikes.

When Mustardseed is captured by the Flinchites and interrogated by Michael. Mustardseed immediately speaks to him in the exact way base Edgar has been shown to speak to his Mikey. And not just the same tone of voice. He uses the same playful comments, affectionate teasing, and pet names without any of the hesitation Micheal was noticeably experiencing. To Edgar, he was picking up just where he left off with OverMike. 

(I wish we had more moments with Edgar. Most speaking lines he has are in scenes that have some kind of big Plot Event. I wanna listen to him and Mikey talk about movies. I wanna dissect them)

Edgar may be smart enough to work in a top secret government weapons compound but without Mike he's stuck working a 9-5 desk job with no real human connection. 

Without Edgar, Mike is a dumbass cutting his body parts off for podcast views. 

Mike and Edgar’s relationship changes the whole structure of the show. I feel like the ‘Mike talks to the audience while openly referencing he’s making a podcast’ framing device ends in the middle of season three. Specifically, episode 31 where that pretense drops. I honestly don't know if it's just a coincidence or if Dylan Griggs has made a comment about it (if so whoopsies but I'm trying to make a poetic-y point here). But it's the first episode with only character dialogue and has no narration. It’s also the first episode where Mike shows more serious romantic interest in Edgar. Obviously the narration is still a major part of most episodes but Mike stops breaking the fourth-wall to quip about episode production.

Honestly Edgar’s whole character is my favorite part of w.bg. He makes such a great contrast to the Mikes’ personalities and beliefs while still being a strong guiding force for him to depend on. 

Hope this reads as more then sleep deprived rambling. Inspired by @orchidbreezefc's post (this might not have made sense without reading it)

[sandybrett]

WOE.BEGONE Episode Summaries, Season 1

As you may have noticed, the episode summaries of WOE.BEGONE are not super informative--understandably so, since any accurate descriptions would likely create major spoilers for first-time listeners. Plus, they're funny! Can't complain about that.

But if you find yourself wanting to re-listen to a few old episodes, it can be very hard to find the ones you're looking for. So I've decided to skim through the early seasons and make short summaries of each episode for future reference.

Ep. 1: Participant Observation WOE.BEGONE. What is it? Why do any references to it disappear off the internet almost as soon as they appear? How do the game-runners know that Mike Walters has an ex-boyfriend, specifically? Mike sets out to document this mysterious online game.

Ep. 2: Reverse Phantom Pain For his second challenge, Mike receives a recording of himself repeatedly saying a sentence he is pretty sure he has never said. And it seems to be telling him to do something... grisly. He also gets a confusing email from another player.

Ep. 3: It's Just A Pig Mike is in the lead! He meets with Cannonball, the current runner-up, and they also discuss a philosopher who, in several weeks, will not have existed. Oh, and there's a pig.

Ep. 4: Selfishness, Plain and Simple Mike completes the second half of the third challenge, which also involves a pig, albeit a metaphorical pig this time.

Ep. 5: Takesies Backsies Mike's old friend Anne asks for help with her own third challenge--and the news of how she discovered WOE.BEGONE raises the stakes for Mike.

Ep. 6: ONCE.wav Cannonball wants to work together with Mike to take down the person who knocked him out of second place; unfortunately for Mike, that person is Anne. Mike gets a bonus challenge.

Ep. 7: The Mechanification of Theory: A Plausible Methodology for Retrocausal Informatics Mike examines the writing of Aliza Schultz, meets with Cannonball again, and receives his fourth challenge.

Ep. 8: Limited Hangout Mike tries to figure out what Anne and Cannonball know without letting on what he knows--or is that just what he wants you, the listener, to think?

Ep. 9: Trailhead It turns out that Cannonball isn't who he said he was.

Ep. 10: Tell-All Mike's attempt at getting the better of the WOE.BEGONE game-runners is thwarted by a man he met on Scruff a gay long time ago.

Ep. 11: This is Only Temporary Mike completes the fourth challenge with a little help from his future self.

Ep. 12: Clearance Having proven himself to the WOE.BEGONE game runners, Mike receives a job offer from a mysterious government facility.

[glendover]

Troy and Stinky for the win!! Troy, Stinky and Bluster were fantastic in the finale, I hope they get to hang out and cause more trouble for everyone!

Though I'm curious, what do you think about Troy's monologue? Do you think he could be FLINCH?

Oh I made a little rant about the troy being FLINCH thing right after the final. I wasn’t actually theorizing but trying to sort my thoughts. Now that I’ve thought more about it, I think it would be funny if troy actually was flinch. Solemnly and especially when acting stupid isn’t an act and he genuinely is just a little clueless guy who loves his friends but has the smarts when it comes to time travel.

But ultimately I don’t know (and I think that’s the best about woe.begone that you always have something that you can speculate on). At the very least, he’s working for flinch bc no one has ever told Troy about flinch and with it not being their main priority at the moment why would they tell him? Plus we know how bad he is with names, especially from people he isn’t friends with (or close with) so how and why would he remember flinch? Also it’s sooooio suspicious that he was in the river, so idk something is definitely not “right” with him. He’s keeping secrets and I want to find out a) why? And b) what kind of secrets. (Also where did he get all the money from?? surly not from working as security guard at the gate 😭)

So there is definitely something sinister about Troy and the whole FLINCH thing and I can’t wait to find out more about it! (Hopefully with some more Stinky, Bluster and Troy action bc they truly are an iconic trio and definitely deserve more scenes together!! 🫡)

[characterswithcolorsnamesfight]

Propaganda for General Prelim Poll 25

(Vote here)

Goku Black a.k.a Zamasu (Dragon Ball Z) :

No propaganda yet

Sango (Inuyasha) :

"Sango is Japanese for coral, and the anime gives her guards a coral color."

Ty Betteridge a.k.a Yellow (WOE.BEGONE) :

"Okay so he's one of many iterations of a character named Ty Betteridge and outside of his workplace they all refer to him as Ty Betteridge but inside the workplace he's mainly known as Yellow. Since we basically only see him at work I think he deserves it. He works in the Euthanasia department at his job which sounds normal until you realize that said job is at the Unethical Human Medical Experiment Facility. His job involves killing hundreds of iterations of the same two guys, Edgar and Mike. He's very dry about it; quote:

"I haven't had to kill anyone *today,* but it's not even noon yet."

He also sounds a bit petulant and annoyed with the guys he had to kill. He has a silly little British accent and calls them ingrates and that sort of thing. I love him."

Red Boy a.k.a Boy Sage Great King and Dragon Boy Skilled in Wealth (The Journey to the West) :

"In Chinese, his name is 红孩儿 (Hong Hai-er), which I'm pretty sure just means "red child", but "red boy" is the usual translation."

Tant Grön, Tant Brun, Tant Gredelin and Farbror Blå (Tant Grön, Tant Brun och Tant Gredelin) :

"Literally Aunt Green, Aunt Brown, Aunt Lilac and Uncle Blue in Swedish. Their outfits' color match their names"

Bai Wuchang a.k.a Wu Xi (Qi Ye/Lord Seventh) :

"Bai" in his name is 白, "white". Though he is only Bai Wuchang in the first chapter, and then we mostly get to know him as his reincarnated self Wu Xi, he does do something v important to the plot in that one chapter, and him having been Bai Wuchang also comes up later."

Gokai Red a.k.a Captain Marvellous (Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger) :

No propaganda yet

Stacy Green (It Lives in the Woods) :

"She's got a big brother who's a love interest to the main character and a mother who's pretty important to the story so if you need more people you can take them too."

Whizzer Brown (Falsettos) :

No propaganda yet

[felixcosm]

woe.begone (naturally) for the character ask game, and 🤝🔥🧨

🤝Character you relate to the most

Honestly, definitely Mike Walters. I think either Mikey or Emdubya, although I'm leaning towards Mikey because I've seen more of his emotional journey, MW is still relatively new.

There were definitely some moments in the show where I was like hey I feel exactly the same way! Especially his views on iterations, personhood and how he interacts with timelines that haven't happened anymore.

I'm also a gay introvert with identity issues who relies on other versions of myself, who speaks little Russian, is lonely aligned, a former teacher's pet and turns whiny when things get tough x)

(Although there are enough differences between us that I don't feel like he's a mirror or anything)

🔥Character you think is overrated

Ugh, Flinchite Samantha 🙄 Who does she think she is

(that is a joke, I don't actually think anyone is overrated. All of the characters are treated like they're important somehow or at the very least, they're entertaining. Any character we don't know much about is one I'm eager to learn about in future episodes)

🧨Character you love to hate

Tyyyy Betteridge. The fucking bastard. He makes my fucking blood boil (I love him) EVERY time I think 'okay I forgive him now because he's being gay or cute' he does something awful that makes me want to yeet him into space.

[8cfc00]

who up having shrink/swell thoughts... its probably meant to be interpreted though the perspective of lack of certainty in mikey's life, the "you" ofc being edgar, esp with inclusion of the idea of peacefully growing old- "which of these forms/you'll know forever" that is present in well. so many other songs ("i get carried away by the thought of old age")...

the mentions of the physical/tangible/visible in "i shrink i swell" and "forms" further adds weight to the precarity of mikey's life... its not just the circumstances around him that are unstable, but his physical being, his form and body are threatened. which links to how he/his iterations were all dead for s10...

additionally. the fact that shrink and swell are both verbs. it adds a sense of movement, being in flux. its not just "i am small, then i am bigger" but theres a process, a flow (can be linked to the water motif) that has no indication of an end- which contrasts with the knowing "forever", and the continuity and constancy within that idea. the juxtaposition is almost paradoxical, yet it perfectly makes sense in the context of a time travel show where entire timelines are rewritten, especially after season 10 in which SO much was shaken up.

but ALSO. its placement RIGHT after a scene with MATT. a character who spends a lot of time being dead, and then not dead, then being dead again, with VERY little say in his "current" status- he is brought back by mike multiple times, and most of those times he doesn't remember ever being dead, the way that the older mikes talk about him and accidental consolidation... he shrinks and swells, he vacillates between being dead or alive, and who knows which version of matt mike will have to live with! and i think the lack of agency in this is somewhat present in "meaning is detached/it can roll right off your back" matt is rarely in the know- he can't see the cause and effect of his presence/absence. (which can be applied to mikey too) It really does tie into the tread of matt's box... [i can't really tell what exactly the "If i ever try to find you/I will rub my fingers raw ... what is it you were living for?" is referring to, but i just want to say. VERY mike's relationship to matt coded, oh my god, especially that desperation of the speaker in finding the subject...]

i love how it ends the season. just. i love it so much. i love how it follows after the ballad of cowboy jam... because cowboy jam is outside tier one, it is jam's bravery, their success and perseverance, but shrink/swell is woe.begone- it is season 10 in relation to other seasons, it is highlighting the volatility, the constant change, the unrest of the life of a time traveler's life because s10 proved that to be incredibly true.

both have similar ideas: "you may never know why things happened like this" and "meaning is detached/it can roll right off your back", yet one is more proactive, jam Does stuff, they are challenged by outside forces but they persevere, on the other hand, the speaker in shrink/swell Is changed there is no actor, the speaker simply shrinks and swells, they can't even cup [presumably water], with their "useless little hands"... AND YETTTT despite the difference in tone and mood, both look to the future, sanguine... "the longest night eventually gives way/to a hopefully better day" and "only time will tell/which of these forms/you'll know forever" even if the future is. well. complicated, given the uh. nature of time in woe.begone

[solipsistful]

Whooo wants more meta about Mike Walters’ characterisation? The Gay Edition:

I know it’s sorta a Thing to be like, oh it’s nice to have a story where this character is just incidentally gay, like you just sprinkled the gay on top of everything else and it changes nothing, but idk I like reading Mike’s sexuality as mattering at least a bit for what kind of person he is.

More specifically it’s that Mike feels like a rare example of a character who has participated in gay communities, not just “is gay.” The whole “bear” thing; hesitating and then just going “Look, Edgar is a twink? He's a twink, we all know what I mean by that”; Carly Rae Jepsen jokes of a “yeah I’m the kind of gay who likes Carly Rae Jepsen” variety. Just lots of little things like that.

Not to mention how it affects how he relates to other characters (beyond Edgar). I may have just been listening to the first conversation with Ryan and how the first part of that is very much affected by Ryan going “Sooo are we gonna talk about why we recognise each other? It’s fine if not, but. :T” Good Guy Ryan not wanting to accidentally out his torture plaything. And even from the start, the way that WOE.BEGONE feels eerie and mysterious because it accurately knew to talk about an ex-boyfriend very specifically?

Like, yeah, it’s nice to have LGBQ characters where literally all that matters is the gender of the love interest, but to me it’s also like, yeah if you tried to straightwash this guy, not only would that be shitty for all the usual political reasons, but you’d actually have to overlook some particular ways this guy inhabits the world to do that -- you couldn’t just genderswap Edgar, lmao.

- Serpent

[eldritchqueerture]

Hii i hope you're having a great day today!!! I'm having a slow day at work, drinking coffee after lunch, and just discovered that we have kandis rock sugar in the office kitchen! Until today i was always struggling with how many sugar cubes to put in my coffee bc 1 is still too bitter but 2 is way too sweet, so i started to put 1,5 cubes but for that i had to bite one in half since i dont have anything to cut it with, and i felt so stupid about the whole thing, But now i can measure out the perfect amount of rock sugar, and it tastes better too bc of the caramellization!! Im very happy about the slow day bc yesterday i had my second driving lesson and it was A Lot and tired me out mentally. Im looking forward to going home bc i can listen to the new woe.begone episode on my way! Also i listened to your music yesterday and just wanted to say, as someone who knows close to nothing about music making, it sounds like the part in a fantasy-adventure where the main character(s) discover a very important magical place/object, and i love the athmosphere it creates so much!! :D

AAAAAAA thank you!!!!!! Honestly I only know a little bit of music theory and most tunes i come up with happen on accident when I play around on my piano, and this is just basically me slapping random things together to see if they work GJDVJFVJOVFJOBF but I'm so glad you like it!!!!!!

I'm happy you're having a good, slow day!! The new w.bg episode will add a good spice of angst to it methinks so good luck :)))))

and god i remember how exhausting driving lessons are. i have a license but i dont know how much youd have to pay me to drive a car now. oh my god i just realized its literally been more than two years since i got it what the fuck. what is time

anyway driving scary, i hope youre enjoying it though, despite the intensity of it!