The dragons are sorry to report that this episode does not contain chocolate of any kind. However they do tackle the other kind of 'Easter egg' - the ones that authors and film makers scatter through their work for fans; little rewards and extras for readers and viewers being fans. Jules and Madeleine are all for Easter eggs (both kinds!) but feel that giving readers what they want is a delicate balancing act. Sure, little rewards are fun and it's a foolish writer who pays zero attention to what their fans want. But can fan service actually be damaging to a book, a film, a franchise? If you try and please everyone, do you end up pleasing no one? (Including the vocal minority of fans demanding changes!) And when should you listen to criticism from your fans? Under the microscope this week: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Trek Discovery, Deep Space Nine and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Episode 390: Let the Games Begin - Why the Competition Trope is so Popular in Speculative Fiction
Episode 389: Beautiful Misery - The Hunger for the Afflicted Woman in Fiction
Episode 388: A Conflagration of Authors - AI, Audiobooks and Infringement
Episode 387: Complicated Runes and Ineffable Power - Hard Versus Soft Magic Systems in Speculative Fiction
Episode 386: The Art of Not Fitting In - A collection of Not Like the Other Girls Trope Observations
Episode 385: Both is Good - Examining Bisexual Representation in Speculative Fiction
Episode 384: Appearances Can be Deceiving - The Hidden Power of Modern Fairytales
Episode 383: Gaslit Magic and Immortal Monsters Hunters - Incorporating Strong Historical Elements in UF
Episode 382: Part of Your World - Tracing the Origins of The Little Mermaid
Episode 381: Hard Times in Magic & Logic - Examining the Parameters of Hard Scifi and fantasy
Episode 380: Will He Escape those Dastardedly Clutches - Why Cliffhangers Are a Bad Idea
Episode 379: Exuding Menace 101 - How to Create Menacing Villains
Ep 378: Separated by a Common Language - Examining the Differences between UK and US Urban Fantasy
Episode 377: Bringing in Dessert - Serving Up Delicious Endings Against Desperate Odds
Episode 376: In that Time In that Place - the Monomyth and Other Storytelling Modes
Episode 375: The Batcherlorette - Bookish Edition
Ep 374: Her Fatal Curiosity - Tracing the Origins of Bluebeard
Ep 373: Circe Morgana and Rosaline - The Problem with Feminist Retellings
Episode 372: Truth Fiction and Outright Absurdity - More Strange Author Mysteries
Episode 371: Breaking the Stained Glass Window - Language Storytelling Absolutism and Censorship
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