Another fantastic panel from Balticon 2019, discussing CSI techniques in fantasy (and other fictional) settings.   Announcement: We're scaling back to 1 episode a month for a bit while we're working on house prep and moving and such. Once we triumphantly return to our regular scheduling, we hope to have big improvements to the Potcast. Thanks for bearing with us during this transition!

A. F. and Erin got invited onto an Inside the Actors' Studio-like interview show run by creative enabler Sue Baiman. At Balticon 2019, our Head Chef and Grillmistress held nothing back and spilled all. Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop (featuring all that new artwork), and to heart us on Spotify! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.

Happy New Year!   We're back from our little hiatus (holidays kinda kicked our butts) with a Main Ingredient story from Potcast regular James Silverstein! Jen of Sedgeholme- One young girl gets chosen by her god to stop a war. We chase that with a Processed Food segment that tears apart probability: the whale/petunias scene from Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Prompt #21 is now closed.  Now introducing Prompt #23- The dead offer you advice, though not always useful. Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop (featuring all that new artwork), and to heart us on Spotify! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.Promo- Nostalgia PilotsBumper- Django Wexler

How is it December already? Well, I hope it means you're hungry, because we have a light, delicious meal for you. We'll start with a pair of Stoke the Fire stories based on Prompt #21: You found a star that actually grants wishes! "Sealed with a Kiss" by Christopher Michael "WishStar" by Quinn Grey And after that, we present you with a deconstructed and reconstructed monologue in our Processed Food segment. Dish Boy Theo reads the V speech from V for Vendetta, doing absolutely no justice to Hugo Weaving at all. Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop (featuring all that new artwork), and to heart us on Spotify! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.Promo- Criminal from Birth by A. F. GrappinBumper- Nobilis Reed

Our November midmonth episode brings you a TMP friend and contributor's latest big triumph: a panel on Twitch for Dummies by Tee Morris, with Tee Morris, of Tee Morris.   Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop (featuring all that new artwork), and to heart us on Spotify! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.

It's November (holy cow) and it's time to serve up some stories! We have a pair of Stoke the Fire stories based on prompt #20- The forecast called for heavy snowstorms. But what's falling from the sky is NOT snow. "On the Winds of Winter" by Christopher Glick "Red Sky" by Christopher Michael We follow it with a Mystery Meal destroying the opening of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. And our new announcement: The Melting Potcast is on Spotify! Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop (featuring all that new artwork), and to heart us on Spotify! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.Promo- Command Decision by Terry MixonBumper- Keith R. A. DeCandido

October midmonth gives us a short and sweet episode. Grillmistress Erin has prepared some rather pungent Botched Recipes, followed by Processed Food from the film A Few Good Men. Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop (featuring all that new artwork), and to leave us a review on iTunes! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info. We have an announcement coming for November! Be prepared!

Listeners, it is October 1, and have we got a story for you! We’ll start this month with an epic yet somewhat disturbing (there’s your warning) Main Ingredient story by Potcast friend James Silverstein. It’s been a long time since we had a massive cast like this, so let me start by thanking our guest vocal artists: David Wendt, Kalila Roche, fox_magoo, Nobilis Reed, Doc Coleman, Keith Hughes, Austin Malone, Spence Spencer, Julayne Hughes, and the author himself, James Silverstein. Father by James Silverstein Wilbur’s career as an actor on propaganda TV show Father Knows Best seems to be going stagnant. But when sudden explosions and gunfire announce terrorists bursting into the studio, everything changes. We follow the story with A Little Seasoning with Keith Hughes. As well as providing a voice for this episode’s Main Ingredient story, Keith is also the author of Timehunt: Borrowed Time and Timehunt: Stolen Time. He’s also a podcaster and all-around great friend of the Potcast. Prompt 20 is now closed. Our new prompt is OPEN! Prompt #22- You're stuck in traffic and the person next to you tells you to roll down your window. Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop (featuring all that new artwork), and to leave us a review on iTunes! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.Promo- James SilversteinBumper- PC Haring

  Fans can be very passionate, and the things they are passionate about can spark arguments and obsession. A panel of professionals at Balticon 2019 discuss toxicity in fans and fandoms. Experiences, how to protect yourself, and how NOT to be toxic are all touched on.   Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop (featuring all that new artwork), and to leave us a review on iTunes! And please talk about us on social media!   You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.

Lots of fun new stuff this episode! We are still getting used to actually being able to PAY WRITERS, so thanks again to our amazing Patreon backers (who are also getting this episode FOUR days early) for helping to make this possible!So they get a head start hearing the two Stoke the Fire stories we have for Prompt #20- The forecast called for heavy snowstorms, but what's falling from the sky is NOT snow."Like Falling Snow" by Christopher Michael"One Particulate Day" by Shannon BrodbeckAfter that, Erin puts on her semi-dramatic chops for a Processed Food segment where we make a serious monologue from Requiem for a Dream much more absurd.And finally, Theo reads a Mystery Meal YOU helped create, making Edgar Allen Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue even more confusing.Oh, and by the way... NEW LOGO! Patrons helped fund that as well as our other new merchandise art (Butts on Trees and Do the Dhreuga) so special thanks again!​Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop (featuring all that new artwork), and to leave us a review on iTunes! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.Promo- Mental Graffiti by Scott E. PondBumper- Nobilis Reed

For our August midmonth episode, we're proud to present our first stories we were able to PAY FOR! That's right! The Stoke the Fire stories in this episode have been BOUGHT! These are for Prompt #19- You have two left feet... along with your right one. "Skip Skip Hop" by A. F. Grappin (I actually am just keeping my pay in the Potcast coffers for future updates) "Two Left Feet" by Kalila Roche After that, we have a trio of Short Order Cook stories, one for A. F., Erin, and Theo! Thanks to Jason Goodman for the story prompts! Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop, and to leave us a review on iTunes! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info. Promo- The Case of the Scarlet Starlet by James Silverstein Bumper- Tee Morris

Five. Years. The Potcast is old enough to start kindergarten. Who can believe it?! In lieu of a Main ingredient or Stoke the Fire segment, Erin and A. F. tell the story of the Potcast itself. Then we screw with words in a Mystery Meal destroying Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. And THEN we torture Erin by Processed Food segment-ing The Song of Beren and Luthien from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Here's to our next five years!   Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop, and to leave us a review on iTunes! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info. Promo- Criminal from Birth by A. F. Grappin

Erin suggested Dynamic Voice Acting as a panel for Balticon and as a result, got to moderate it. Featuring Veronica Giguere, Tee Morris, Starla Huchton, and A. F. Grappin as vocal artists, the panel discusses interpretation when only voice is used. ALSO, ANNOUNCEMENT! Thanks to our amazing patreon backers, we are now able to PAY WRITERS! Starting August 1, 2019, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient authors will receive a small payment when their story airs! More reason to send us stuff! Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop, and to leave us a review on iTunes! And please talk about us on social media! You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.

There’s some sort of construction going on in the Disaster Kitchen, but that won’t stop us from bringing you a meal’s worth of content!  We start with a ducky Main Ingredient story.  The Chosen One by Christopher Michael One wizard is determined to find the chosen one who will save the world from evil. But the chosen one who has been found… isn’t exactly the one she would have chosen.  Special thanks to A.F.’s brother Tony Grappin for being a special guest voice actor!   We follow that with A Little Seasoning with Nobilis Reed: author, podcaster, and more!   Finally, our Patreon backer and official Saucier Spence has chosen the Mystery Meal for this episode: the opening text crawls from Star Wars episodes 1-8!   And last but not least, Prompt #19 is closed. Introducing Prompt #21- You found a star that actually grants wishes. Fluff a Duck from https://filmmusic.io:"TITLE" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)Licence: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop, and to leave us a review on iTunes! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.  Promo- Criminal from Birth by A. F. Grappin Bumper- Author Keith R. A. DeCandido

We recently played 2018's panel of the same name. This year, it was new panelists and a totally different discussion. Great new information and insight. Enjoy!

We were LIVE at Balticon 53 on Friday, May 24, 2019 at 8pm Eastern. To a crowd of pairs and pairs of people, A. F. and Erin were joined by voice actors/podcaster/creatives Tee Morris, Philippa Ballantine, and Spence Spencer to bring you a Main Ingredient story by none other than Potcast Word Chef Keith Hughes. “Double Trouble” was based on Prompt #18- You are informed via phone that your SO has been in an accident. They are standing right next to you. Afterwards, the crowd participated in a live Mystery Meal based on Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.” And finally, the crowd got to play a Processed Food guessing game. A. F. read the translated version of a certain song, with the audience guessing. What’s worse, after the game, Tee Morris read a SECOND translated version that was just horrible.  A. F. and Erin also had the honor of announcing Spence as the first Patreon backer to achieve a year at a high tier backing, earning her the official Disaster Kitchen title of Saucier!   Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop, and to leave us a review on iTunes! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.

We’re preparing for Balticon 2019, but we still have one little bit of enjoyment from Balticon 2018 to throw into your ears. “You Can’t Shop at Target in Middle Earth” is a panel about figuring out just what resources your characters have access to in worlds that are vastly different from our own. Your character wearing wool? Where are the sheep? If it’s dyed, where did that come from, and how expensive is it? If they’re wearing armor, where did the ore come from? Where is the smith who forged it, the craftsman who shaped it? Where was the wheat, barley, or other grains of their food grown?

Our 80th episode! At least in numbers. We're getting awfully close to that legendary 100th episode. BUT we aren't going to reach that mythical number if we don't get more submissions in. PLEASE check out our submissions and prompts pages!   In this one, we bring a Main Ingredient story from the mind of Doc Coleman and his Crackle and Bang (The Perils of Prague) universe.   "Before Breakfast"- Lord Richard demonstrated some odd talent with firearms during an incident in Prague. Titania Bang and Tinka are trying to figure out just what talents he has.   We follow up with a Food Critic segment where A.F. discusses The Magister Trilogy (Feast of Souls, Wings of Wrath, Legacy of Kings) by C.S. Friedman.   Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop, and to leave us a review on iTunes! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.Promo- Nostalgia PilotsBumper- John Walker, author of The Statford Chronicles

We're in hectic preparing-for-Balticon mode, but that doesn't mean we can't still serve up a hearty word meal!   Erin and A.F. start off with a pair of Stoke the Fire stories based on prompt #18- You are informed via phone that your SO has been in an accident. They are standing right next to you. "An Evening Conversation" by Jason Goodman (this also touches on like 5 other prompts, knowing Jason) "Redux One - Six" by David "Doc Blue" Wendt   We follow up with a nice Mystery Meal, featuring a cameo from the littlest Junior Chef. This is from The Call of the Wild by Jack London.   Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop, and to leave us a review on iTunes! And please talk about us on social media!You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.Promo- The Perils of Prague by Doc ColemanBumper- Author Charlie Brown

Okay, we're back on track. And yet A.F. still isn't back in the kitchen. So Grillmistress Erin is serving up another helping of Botched Recipes. She follows it up with A Little Seasoning with authors/streamers/podcaster Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris! Prompt #18 is now closed. And now opening is: Prompt #20- The forecast called for heavy snowstorms, but what's falling from the sky is NOT snow. Don’t forget to check out our Patreon, our Swag Shop, and to leave us a review on iTunes! You can submit prompt ideas, Stoke the Fire and Main Ingredient submissions, Pot Roast ideas, and Short Order Cook ideas at themeltingpotcast@gmail.com or check themeltingpotcast.com/submissions for info.Promo- Nostalgia PilotsBumper- Philippa Ballantine