Daniel and Jon examine the infamous Dark Souls franchise and take a look at it’s deep worldbuilding, unique storytelling and emotionally compelling (surprisingly optimistic) themes.

Daniel and Jon start their dive into the monolithic fantasy genre. They talk about the origins of the fantasy genre and the rise of modern fantasy and take a look at the surprisingly vast number of forms fantasy stories can take.

Listen to a reading of Daniel’s story, Procession by Sarah Kamal. Then, Daniel and Jon talk about the story and how it examines how people grieve and our grieving rituals.

Daniel is joined once more by Sarah R. New to discuss The Others, a 2001 film written and directed by Alejandro Amenábar. They break down the way the movie depicts and discusses death, loss and legacy.

Daniel and Jon discuss Daina O. Pusić’s 2023 film, Tuesday. They look at how this strange and quirky story manages to also be deeply honest and heartfelt about some extremely difficult subject matter in a way that strikes a chord with those who experience it.

Daniel and Jon discuss death in fiction - how we write fictitious deaths and the things our stories say about how we think and feel about death in reality.

After Jon reads Field Study - a short story written by Daniel, they discuss the political themes of the story. Daniel explains how his own thoughts filtered into the story and they break down how a story that isn’t about politics can still be very political and explore ideological themes.

Daniel and Jon delve into the bizarre madness of the Metal Gear video game franchise and discuss how behind all the convoluted plotlines and memes, there is actually some pretty sincere and intriguing commentary about political power games and the politics of war.

Daniel and Jon delve back into the world of Star Wars to discuss the internal politics of its evil empire and how it affects the lives of the people within it and the people who rebel against it. They also discuss how this reflects reality: how totalitarian, authoritarian regimes work and why empires always fall.

Daniel and Jon kick off a new and not at all controversial cycle theme: politics. They talk about the in-universe politics of settings, the real world political discussions we have through fiction and why your favourite story is probably a lot more politicised than you might think.

Jon reads Daniel’s short story, Everybody Needs a Hobby. Then, the two of them discuss how to make a truly despicable villain and the ways such characters might think.

Daniel and Jon discuss the various Batman canons. However, they’re not interested in talking about the caped crusader himself. Rather, they dive into Batman’s extensive rogue’s gallery of villains and break down how the villains actually make the franchise what it is.

Daniel and Jon discuss an indie animation that took the world by storm, Hazbin Hotel. They talk about how the show juggles a large number of characters engaged in different forms of villainy and how it presents an interesting and compelling take on the redemption on villains.

Daniel and Marv talk about all the different types of villains you may find in media, how they are classified and what makes for a good villain. While they’re at it, they also try to identify if villains have gotten too soft and argue about Cruella.

Jon reads Daniel’s short horror story, Chained and Damned. They discuss how the story uses uncertainty and mystery to raise the tension and make the reader question what is happening.

Daniel is joined by returning guests, Keith and Andy from Sonoran Desert Media. They discuss the 1990 psychological horror film, Jacob’s Ladder and how it incorporates a great deal of symbolism into is disquieting and disorienting narrative.

Daniel is joined by Sarah R. New to discuss her novella, Hypochondria. They talk about the different places horror can come from and how the most disturbing horror fiction is often grounded in reality.

In a first for Stories Across Borders, Daniel and Jon return to an old cycle theme - horror. They discuss all the different types of horror stories there are, what horror actually means and what makes for a good horror story.

Daniel and Jon break down Daniel’s short story, The Eyes of Eros, which is not about an individual romance but about the concept of love itself. They discuss the many different ways romance can be portrayed in fiction.

Daniel and Jon grit their teeth and take the plunge into Fifty Shades of Grey and Twilight. They discuss the romanticisation of toxic behaviour in these stories (and others) and how, despite this, the stories successfully achieve what they set out to do.