Anyone else following Nine To Midnight and curious about the overarching story?
For those not in the know: Nine To Midnight (2021) was a Halloween collab between multiple horror podcasts
The continuation Nine II Midnight (2022) had a prologue fleshing out an overarching story and also ending with that it isn’t over as well as the promise of a 2023 continuation
And heavily implied something is forcing Dylan and Harlan (if I recognised the voices correctly, since the framing story isn’t in the transcripts afaict) to organise these get-togethers, which is why it isn’t over yet, seeing as this ominous entity is still telling them to keep it going
I haven’t listened to Nine Till Midnight (2023) yet (which came out yesterday, 31st October)
I hope that
It isn’t over yet, that there’ll be more parts the coming years still
The overarching story will make more sense once I get the whole picture as of 2023
Alexander Newall will keep guest-starring to give voice to the ominous person/ being that is pulling the strings
I partially got invested in Nine To Midnight because my MO of finding new podcasts to listen to is going for RQ Network shows and those happen to be primarily horror-themed
Which also works in return because through Nine To Midnight I got pointed towards some more podcasts, seeing as Nine To Midnight is a collaboration between podcasts and every podcaster is showing off their capability
Also due to it being a collaboration the sound design of the entries is diverse and awesome and they are showing off their skills, especially seeing as many podcasts are one-person-endeavours
taz balance is so fucking hard to recommend to people I'll be like "fuck the bible, THIS is the greatest story ever told" and then the first episode is one long masturbation joke with super detailed explanations of the rules of dnd 5e
An alternative plan if the owner of this cave found them. As the dumb skull jokes were so many I got overwhelmed by the sheer power of The Sillies. And made this a collaborative comic. Feel free to fill it with the worst "dad" jokes imaginable!
“So studying drums is not for everyone [..] but for me when I was young that’s what I needed to do because I kinda.. I could play loud rock drums and that was it. And I needed to learn other skills, be it arranging, scoring strings, production.. just touch and grace on the drum kit, so you’re not just playing like crazy loud all the time. Turns out I ended up playing pretty crazy loud on this latest gig but you know.. it’s fine. Being a hired gun and a session drummer and an MD [..] it’s all about playing for the song, playing for what the song needs.. just keeping your head down, I think. There’s a lot to be said for that and knowing when to kinda sit up and play something of interest and when not to. And usually it’s 'don’t.', you know, certainly in the pop world. As I said before I’m playing with a guy called Louis - playing with Louis Tomlinson - and it’s quite a fun gig at the moment because it’s.. to be honest, it’s not that. It’s kinda some pretty bold drumming and it’s kinda like a sort of rock band, not too dissimilar to something like this, something like Biffy [Clyro] or Foo Fighters or something like that.. it’s been really good, to kinda go full circle with it all, you know.”
— Steve Durham talking about being Louis’ drummer and musical director.
So far, all of the subjects of our spotlight series have been people for whom we’ve had both good and bad character moments to discuss. But what do you do when you’re highlighting an antagonist character? For a villain, being bad is actually very good and that’s so perfectly the case for Kai Winn Adami. So this time A Star to Steer Her By will simply feature a bunch of our favorite moments overall.
Boy, do we love to hate this bitch. Somehow she’s only in 14 episodes even though it feels like she’s always looming somewhere with a passive-aggressive gaze and a “my child” on her lips. Louise Fletcher plays this power-hungry religious icon with such depth and nuance that it was easy for us to come up with a ton of favorite moments. So flip open the Book of the Pah-wraiths below to check them out, listen to our Bajoran chanting over on this week’s podcast (jump to 1:12:58), and walk with the prophets, my child.
The Bajoran Scopes Monkey Trial
Winn makes a big impression in her very first appearance in “In the Hands of the Prophets” when she’s displaying big Karen energy while challenging why Keiko isn’t teaching Bajoran religious ideology in a public school. And she does it with a smile. And also with a can of gasoline since she surely got that school blown up in one smokin’ power move.
The sacrifices the Prophets call on us to make are great sometimes
Somehow there are even more layers to “In the Hands of the Prophets” than teaching religion in classrooms and committing arson. Winn also puts Neela up to assassinate Bareil so that she can work on amassing power. And when Neela fails to secure a getaway plan, Winn straight up declares that’s fine with her. What does she care as long as her hands stay clean?
We’re a match made by the Prophets
Winn continues to keep her hands clean in “The Circle.” Even while covertly supporting the Bajoran extremist faction, the Alliance for Global Unity, and bedding down with Minister Jarro Essa, Winn manages to direct blame away from herself when their plans have been exposed and gone thoroughly sideways. Jarro can only watch his downfall from under the bus.
You will never speak to me with such disrespect again!!
Kai Winn’s “my child” may sound like a catchphrase, but it’s always delivered with such emotion which Fletcher was so good at. When Kira’s been sniffing around how Winn extracted information from Kubus Oak in an attempt to get Bareil out of the kai election in “The Collaborator,” the soon-to-be kai sends chills down your spine with her cold threats.
He’s more machine now than man
When Bareil’s health keeps failing in “Life Support,” Winn pushes to keep him cognizant as long as is convenient for her. All she wants is the credit for his negotiations with the Cardassian Central Command while also keeping open the option to use him as a scapegoat should things fail. This woman plays her cards so strategically that she always comes out on top.
See ya later, reclamator
To make a good political statement by getting some soil reclamators to Rakantha Province, Winn ends up sending in the Bajoran Militia after Shakaar’s resistance cell in “Shakaar.” And what’s more, she’s presumptuous enough to ask Sisko to send in Starfleet security or else she’ll pull out of Federation membership talks! All for farming equipment. Well that escalated quickly.
You think you’re the only ones who fought the Cardassians
We learn just what Kai Winn was up to during the occupation, and it’s surprisingly humanizing. Winn throws in Kira’s face during “Rapture” how she was put in a Cardassian prison camp for five years, and never stopped preaching about the prophets despite the beatings. And per “‘Til Death Do Us Part,” she also sold gemstones from the tabernacle to bolster the resistance.
No. We are nothing alike. Nothing at all.
What could be better than a Louise Fletcher–Jeffrey Combs scene? We get just that in “In the Cards” when Winn is trying to delay the decision between allying with the Federation or the Dominion because in either scenario her backwards little planet will get stomped on. But it’s her short scene with Weyoun that takes the cake when she reads his pagh and judges him hard!
Please leave your message for the Prophets at the beep
There’s plenty for Winn to be judgmental about in “The Reckoning” when Sisko borrows an ancient tablet without asking and then destroys it utterly. But at the core of Winn’s motivation is desperation for the Prophets to communicate with her, which they’ve never done, so she puts an end to the Prophet–Pah-wraith battle because she isn’t the center of attention for once.
The Password Is: Restoration
Winn’s whole arc in the final ten-parter of the series is a work of art, and so perfectly portrayed. Let’s break it down here, because it all starts with getting fully taken in with Anjohl Tennan in “‘Til Death Do Us Part.” All Dukat-in-disguise has to do is drop some buzzwords and the Kai is immediately enamored with the guy, and bedding down with him by the next episode, “Strange Bedfellows.”
Everything will change once you step down as Kai. You’ll see.
When Winn is having a crisis of faith in “Strange Bedfellows” after receiving a vision from the Pah-wraiths, she wisely seeks out Kira. And the Corporal gives Winn the perfect advice to step down as kai so as not to be tempted by power anymore. And for a split second you think Winn will listen to reason. But she’s still Winn, after all, entirely blind to what she doesn’t want to see.
Catfished by the Prophets
Stepping down as kai is not an option for Winn, who doesn’t believe she has too much power. In fact, she believes she doesn't have enough power! So by the end of “Strange Bedfellows,” she fully denounces the Prophets because they’ve never done anything for her. She admits to Anjohl that she’s never felt their presence and has been faking it for years, but blind faith will serve her no longer. Now she wants results!
Don’t you recognize the face of your enemy?
May the Prophets bless Solbor for giving us such a great reveal scene in “The Changing Face of Evil.” He’s found out that Anjohl is actually Dukat, and Adami’s reaction to this news is so layered and cathartic that we love it. But that tippy top layer is a sense of self preservation that can only be maintained by murdering the hell out of Solbor, that gossip hound!
Hit it and quit it
But that isn’t as cold as Winn can get, as is proven in the next episode in “When It Rains…” after Dukat has gone blind from reading the Book of the Pah-wraiths. Winn cruelly kicks the blind Cardassian out on his ass to beg on the streets of Bajor. “You may return when you’ve proven yourself worthy and your sight has been restored,” she mocks, and it’s stone cold!
The Pah-wraiths demand a sacrifice
The whole series culminates in “What You Leave Behind” in the fire caves with Winn casting aside her devotion to the Prophets and summoning the Pah-wraiths. What she hadn’t told Dukat (with his sight returned for reasons) was that she lured him there to use him as the ceremonial sacrifice, and she righteously poisons his ass with absolutely no hesitation.
Too little, too late
Finally, Winn comes this close to redemption in “What You Leave Behind” when she comes to see the error of her ways (or maybe she’s just bitter that the Kosst Amojen picked Dukat’s husk over her). For the hottest of seconds (cause it’s the fire caves, get it?), she tries to get the book to Sisko when at last she has an epiphany moment, but her fate is ultimately sealed when Pah-wraiths toast her in flames.
—
What a journey for a character that only appears a handful of times, and we were here for every second. Next week, we’re continuing to give in the Pah-wraiths as we recount our favorite Dukat moments, which will surely be a trip. So keep your eyes here for that, keep following us through the Delphic Expanse as we watch through Enterprise over on SoundCloud or your favorite podcast place, praise the Prophets with us on Facebook and Twitter, and practice your “my child”s in the mirror.
a little enamored of the slight hesitance around the word ‘bocular’ every time the midst narrators say it—especially as part of a very blatant aversion to elaborating on any details of incidental technology (mostly vehicles)
i think what's really getting me about kozma claiming to have blown up the moon and also claiming to "be" the breach and basically equating "breach collaborators" and "my allies" in the same speech is that. the breach operative we've known since season one, the person who "is" the breach as far the story's concerned, is saskia. and midst is saskia's HOME! she built the black candle with her own two hands (metaphorically, at the very least), she LOVES it there and she loves those people :( and if we take kozma's story at face value, she just threw the "centerpoint" (according to imelda) of her own operation entirely under the bus and endangered the lives not only of innocent people but also of a bunch of her own operatives without their knowledge just to destabilize the trust and frankly that makes me kind of hope she IS telling the truth simply because that's the kind of betrayal i find absolutely delicious,
Fincher extended his deal with Netflix so it expires in 2027. is anyone really shocked? like he has been working with them since 2013, the basically let him do whatever he wants, let’s him pick the crew and just throws plies of money at him so.
Hello folks. I've been trying to plan out production for the next year of my show. The last two years, I've written and produced every aspect of the show and only just moved to full cast during my most reason set of stories. Unfortunately, as I'm working on putting together next season, I'm realizing that it's getting unfeasible to do a set of three anthology stories while I'm also working on the next multi-part story, especially when I'm also going to be spending a lot of next year taking big steps in my real life. I really want to give the show at least one more year to connect with audiences, but it's probably not gonna happen unless I find some help. If anyone is familiar with the show, or is even just interested in doing some writing/cowriting with someone else, let's chat. Thanks.
It’s Transgender Awareness Week and that happens to line up with a very special Day 10 of talking about my upcoming album, “Ganymede Gives Up The Ghost”!
Why’s it special, you ask? Well, some of you may recognize the illustration for today’s song. I’m truly overjoyed to announce that none other than comedian, writer, and all around nerd-stuff extraordinaire, Riley Silverman, has loaned her vocal talent to provide the voice of The Narrator!
“There’s a Narrator? But this is like a music album, right?” You ask.
Yes, it is! But I’m *theatrical* and *artsy*, so I wanted to amp up the drama for the narrative of Our Hero (don’t know who Our Hero is? Go check out the last few days of posts and learn more about her!)
I’m so tremendously honored to have the chance to work with Riley, who now holds the title of my first official collaboration, and I can’t thank her enough for being a part of such a personal and weird project. If you aren’t familiar with her, or even if you are, please check out “Strumpets and Flagons”, the thirsty-sword-lesbians TTRPG podcast she did last spring, and “Troubled Waters”, which is a podcast on the MaxFun network that she writes for (I know some of my fans are as big of MaxFun fans as I am!)
So, let’s gab about today’s song, shall we? Today’s song is called “All The Friends Fall Off”.
It’s a song about loneliness. About watching your social circle diminish as you get older, enumerating the people I’ve lost along the way and ruminating on how I lost them. Some for good reasons, some for bad reasons, some for ridiculous reasons. It’s about learning the lesson that you can’t hold onto everything, you can’t make everyone stay, but if you’re good and kind and keep trying, you’ll find new people who will love you, and who you’ll love in return.
Lyrically, I frame the lesson through a lens I’ve always used to connect with friends: music. I replay a few memories with references to songs that have tied me to other people. It’s a weird way of writing that simultaneously felt very foreign and very personal.
A preview of the lyrics:
“‘Game Shows Touch Our Lives’ by The Mountain Goats
You don’t like the cigarettes, they make you choke
I don’t want to move on, but that’s what I do
I just want to waste my time with you”
Let’s make this one fun: what’s the silliest reason you’ve lost a friendship over? I wanna hear about it!
just started relistening to skyjacks from the top and yall. im so in love with how character secrets are brought up in this show. theres something so magical about how things are just brought up as if the audience already knows but we dont. theyre just like hey. sun has started to go down. the thing that travis does every sundown is happening. and its so casual and familiar and it makes me feel like im in on it too. fuck i love skyjacks
[IMAGE ID’S: four screenshots of episode transcripts of campaign: skyjacks. the first one is from episode 1 and reads:
JPC: Exactly. He’s currently hunched over captain Orimar Vale. Orimar is kind of like sitting there like staring straight forward, he is holding Orimar’s jaw in his hand which has completely separated from, the bottom part of his jaw-
Liz: Wuah.
JPC: -has completely separated from his mouth. Orimar, by the way, looks very much human, looks very much alive but is very much missing his jaw and doesn’t appear to be worried by it. As Gable comes in, Dref turns.
Dref: Don’t worry, I can fix this. This- this will be fine, I, I can fix this.
Gable: What do you mean you can fix it, it’s not attached to his head.
Dref: Yes, um and, and I can explain that.
Gable: What did you do?
Dref: I had to take it off.
the second one is from episode 3 and reads:
JPC: As we are talking, the sun has started to go down.
James: What does it look like, Johnny?
[music begins: soft, mystical, acoustic, slightly eerie]
Johnny: I think it's kind of horrible. You can hear it. It's bone crunching and—
Liz: Ugh!
JPC: Does it hurt?
Johnny: I think, probably, yeah.
Tyler: Every single night.
the third one is from episode 3 and reads:
You raise this dart up. You line it up with the board.
[mystical music begins]
You breathe in; you breathe out; and your eye opens beneath your headband. And in front of you, the divine light of the universe, you can see in this moment. It's not something you can ever voluntarily do, but here, feeling the warmth of the liquor in your belly, the warmth of the woman at your side, and the weight of the dart, everything is connected.
the fourth one is from episode 4 and reads:
Travis: Interesting. Hmm. Of course, it could be nothing. They're just cards, after all.
Gable: You talk a lot, don't you?
Travis: Me?
Gable: Yes.
James: You're looking at each other, now, standing across this war board, and you've got these divination cards between you two. And you also are the only two members of this crew that know about each other, that really know about each other. You don't know in detail, but you have a hint that both of you have been around longer than anyone else would imagine.