Dissecting Dragons

The dragons are back with another 'fairytales in focus' episode. This week Jules and Madeleine take a look at the origins of folk favourite, Rapunzel. While the story everyone is most familiar with is that collected by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, there are earlier incarnations of the story which cast the events in a somewhat different light. Added to which inspiration for the story comes from some diverse and unusual places from the Greek myth of Danaae to St Barbara of Nicodemia to Persian epic poetry. Tune into this weeks discussion of where the story of 'Little Parsley' came from.    Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Most of us have a soft spot for mysteries and even if we don't, everyone knows the basic premise of a who-dunnit. Starting with Wilkie Collins and the first detective novel, following through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and finally taking a fixed shape in Agatha Christie's mystery novels, the who-dunnit appeals to us on multiple levels. Interestingly, it has also influenced other genres lending aspects of mystery, well known tropes and elements of suspense and tension to fantasy, sci-fi and even romance. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at why we're wired to find a who-dunnit compelling; why the story form has very much become it's own thing and how you can leverage that for your own writing. On the slab this week: Knives Out, Death on the Nile, See How they Run and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic 

Fantasy and romance both have their origins in the High Romance tradition. It's comparatively recently that the two have become separate, specific genres with their own tropes and expectations. Which makes the current fantasy-romance trend especially interesting. A romantasy is one of those storytelling recipes where the quantities of ingredients are going to vary according to taste from fantasy elements used as mere window dressing for the romance, to well-built complex worlds where the focus is nevertheless on the romance. This week the dragons take a look at what makes a good romantasy and why they are increasing in popularity. Under the microscope this week: The Bridge Kingdom - Danielle L Jensen, That Time I got Drunk and Saved a Demon - Kimberley Lemming, Half a Soul - Olivia Atwater and many more. Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Tropes often go hand in hand. A preordained destiny often goes with the 'chosen one' trope: the 'sins of the father' often goes with the 'magical bloodline trope'. And in general, no trope is bad in and of itself, although the latter has certainly drawn a lot of flak over recent years - largely due to poor examples of the trope. This week, the dragons take a look at characters born to magical or enhanced bloodlines. What causes this trope to fall into elitism? Can it ever work? Does it deserve the bad reputation it seems to have earned? And what do Jules and Madeleine think about using it themselves? On the slab this week: The Once and Future King, Unveiled, Dune, House of the Dragon and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Another year has passed and the dragons are once again looking back before moving forward. As usual, Jules and Madeleine are drawing your attention to some of the great things that happened in 2022 which you may not be aware of. While this past year may have felt at times like a worthy successor to the previous two years in terms of 'irritations' - and the dragons certainly mention a few - it was also a year of great strides forward in medicine, science, art, conservation and many other areas. Tune in for a light hearted and positive recap of some of the best bits of 2022. Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

The Dragons would like to wish all their listeners a very Merry Christmas/ Seasons Greetings/ Happy Yule Following in their tradition of providing festive folklore for Christmas, this year the dragons take a look at some of the common misconceptions regarding certain traditions and practices for this time of year. Do evergreens symbolise eternal life? Why were crackers invented? And what are the origins of this winter festival? Find out in this light hearted episode.   Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Heading into the festive season, the dragons take a look at a staple trope of childhood films and books: toys, teddy bears and dolls which 'come to life', exhibit sentience or are generally anthropomorphic. Simple on the surface, this surprisingly old and versatile trope lends itself to everything from tales of childhood wonder to featuring in adult horror stories. Focusing more on using the trope as an exploration of childhood, Jules and Madeleine look at the nuances of this eerie and wonderful trope. On the slab this week: Pinocchio, The Nutcracker, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Mouse and his Child, Toy Story and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

  Most folkloric devices, tropes and common characters have strong ties to the times and cultures they exist in, reflecting various mindsets and shapeshifting to stay relevant - just as fairy tales do. However, few creatures have such mysterious origins or such a chequered past as the 'Ogre' and its various other incarnations. In this second part of a two part episode, the dragons delve into how ogres have been used in fairy tales and fantasy, even in sci-fi, both to represent specific undesirable human characteristics and as a sly form of xenophobia. Join Jules and Madeleine as they look at how the ogre-villain narrative is gradually being shifted and what this means for the evolution of SFF.   Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Most folkloric devices, tropes and common characters have strong ties to the times and cultures they exist in, reflecting various mindsets and shapeshifting to stay relevant - just as fairy tales do. However, few creatures have such mysterious origins or such a chequered past as the 'Ogre' and its various other incarnations. In this first part of a two part episode, the dragons trace the origins of the catch-all villain, trekking across continents and centuries and examining what and why such a creature would evolve in folklore. Join Jules and Madeleine into a deep dive into the human psyche, where they examine why we need to create supernatural villains as well as looking at historical possibilities they derived from.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

The advent of streaming television services has meant that more video content has been required and with that demand, has come a more specific requirement for less mainstream, more niche material. This has been great for SFF fans who now face an embarrassment of riches which cater to their very specific trope preferences. However, the half empty side of this is that beloved speculative fiction which has previously only been available in book form, is now being adapted for TV series...and not all series are created equal. This week the dragons tackle the big question this raises: do adaptations have a duty to be accurate? And moving on from SFF and why you might chose to not partake or an adaptation of your favourite book, is there a responsibility to not take liberties with historical adaptations? Under the microscope this week: Interview with a Vampire, The Woman King, Braveheart, His Dark Materials and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Everyone has their own trope bugbears which have more to do with personal taste than anything else, and that's fine. The dragons are no different. However there are some tropes which just fundamentally don't work - at least not if you're going to cut corners. Either they result in shoddy worldbuilding or poor story structure or they're just so ick that they knock the reader out of the story. That's not to say that they can never work but you do have to be careful how you handle them. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at some of the worst offenders and best examples of the same trope done right, in sci-fi and fantasy. On the slab this week - Star Trek Discovery, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Virtual Sexuality and many more.   Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Not to be confused with 'framing devices' such as a narrative within a secondary story, 'Framing' is a type of narrative enhancer which can be used to add tone or flavour to a scene. This week, Jules and Madeleine look at how specific scenes and even whole plots can be gently adjusted using this technique, especially when it comes to movies and TV. Why might you wish to use framing? How can it be used to as a subtler form of political or social messaging? And what happens when it goes wrong? Find out in this week's episode. On the slab this week - The Witcher, She-Ra Princesses of Power, Dead End: Paranormal Park and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

This week the dragons are delighted to welcome back Laura Laakso, author of the paranormal crime/ urban fantasy series Wilde Investigations. The main character of the series - Yannia Wilde - suffers from a chronic illness, which means that her exploits in magical London, solving mysteries, are always a bit more challenging. It also makes Laura the ideal person to join Jules and Madeleine for this discussion. Like many aspects of representation, chronic illness is sometimes conflated with being the entirety of a character which does more harm than good, as does some ill researched or thoughtless inclusion of chronic illness or disability. This episode is a lively discussion of exactly what you can do to create more realistic chronically ill characters and why you might want to include one in your work. Aside from which, SFF can be the perfect place to explore the subject. Under the microscope this week: The Fault in Our Stars, the Goonies, Wilde Investigations and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling C

Finishing up their spooky season specials and taking inspiration from previous years 'cursed objects' episodes, this week the dragons take a look at 'cursed' places. A handful of tame hauntings will not qualify a place as 'cursed' under this definition. Oh no. A single lonely ghost sighting won't fit. The places Jules and Madeleine discuss in this episode have an ongoing pattern of centuries of hauntings, strange happenings, UFO sightings, as well as a long a bloody history of violence and atrocity. Join the dragons for a curated (though by no means exhaustive) selection of the most afflicted places in the UK.  At around the 75% mark, we briefly discuss 'murder tourism' and a certain serial killer's house. While we do not go into graphic detail, we also don't dance around the topic. If you're not in a good place to listen to that discussion, maybe put this one on the backburner and enjoy one of our back catalogue of episodes instead.    Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Continuing their spooky season, this week the dragons tackle one of the best known monsters of all: the vampire. Generally regarded as more of an Eastern European creature, rather than a UK monster, it might surprise the listener to discover that there are many accounts of vampires in UK and Irish folklore. They appear in Medieval chronicles and Irish sagas. And there are still stories and reports being made in the UK up to the present day. Grab a your drink of choice and settle in for a deep dive in to the blood drinking fiends of Britain and Ireland.    Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Continuing with their spooky theme for October, this week the dragons take a look at another six UK and Irish cryptids. From the origins of werewolves in Ossary leading to the Tipperary wolf-man, to the bizarre Bat-beast of Kent, to a genuine cryptid which may have fed legends of the Scottish Cait Sith, this episode is a wild ride through folkloric imagination with a few creepy tales thrown in.   Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

It's October and you know what that means! Tis the season to be spooky! In line with their usual policy of providing Hallowe'en themed episodes during October, the dragons are delighted to start with a look at some of the UK and Irelands least known and strange cryptids. This week discover one of Nessie's other loch dwelling 'cousins', discuss the likelihood of 'Owlman', and explore two possible candidates for the title of UK Bigfoot, as well as many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

The dragons are once again delighted to welcome Hamish Steele, author of popular comics/ graphic novels Deadendia and Pantheon, and creator of hit Netflix series Deadend: Paranormal Park, to the show. (And with some exciting news too!) This week Jules and Madeleine take a look at that peculiar but appealing phenomenon in long running TV shows - the musical episode. As a long time lover of musicals and a creator of just such a musical episode, Hamish is ideally situated to wade in on the discussion. Tracing the 'lineage' of the trend from cult classics like 'Fame' (1980) through a few very dicey attempts in the 80s and early 90s, before the sub-genre was cemented by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this dissection looks at why a musical episode might be appealing, why it can make or break a show with your audience, and why sometimes it doesn't work. Under the microscope this week: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Deadend: Paranormal Park, Ally McBeal, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cyni

This week the dragons bring you another episode in their 'fairy tales in focus' series. Puss in Boots is incredibly popular, especially with children, and unlike many fairy tales, it contains no real moral. So just where did this story originate and what do its characters symbolise? The Perrault version is by far the best known, but even he struggled to paste a 'lesson' onto the story, so in what ways did he misunderstand the subversive nature of the story? Find out as Jules and Madeleine trace the tale's origins back to Italy and from there across Europe, Asia and Africa. On the slab this week: Pixar's Puss in Boots, A Tale of Two Castles - Gail Carson Levine and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling cynic

The base setting for the human species is sociability to some degree. Even the most misanthropic or introverted of us are not meant to be completely cut off from all other people. In narrative terms, however, isolation can be a great way to test your character. It can also provide interesting back story or provide a setting or frame for a survival story. So what sort of tests can you set for your MC? How can you use isolation to explore characterisation or setting? Find out in this week's episode. Under the microscope this week: Castaway, The Martian, The Clan of the Cave Bear and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic