It's only been 2 years since her last episode, but Mayanna Berrin returns for her 4th episode as we once again get to catch up and talk about her latest works!

We cover the biggest thing that's happened since our last episode in 2024, and that is the critically acclaimed video game, Dispatch. Mayanna was a writer for the game, as well as the voice actor for the character of Coupe. We talk about how she got started with AdHoc Studios and found her way into both the writing and voice acting side of things. Mayanna and I talk about the game, some of the development, her role as a writer, finding her voice for Coupe, and we discuss a few of the choices people can make in the game (and yes, there are spoilers).

Mayanna and I then talk about her Kingdom Hearts podcast that she co-hosts, Simple and Clean. We talk about how it came to existence, the planning that goes into the podcast, and we touch on what could come first - Kingdom Hearts 4 or Grand Theft Auto 6.

We then talk about her work as Creative Producer for StoryQuest, an actual play platform for tabletop roleplaying games. We discuss what she does, and her continued work in the TTRPG space.

You can find Mayanna at:

https://www.instagram.com/mayannaberrin/

https://www.threads.com/@mayannaberrin

https://bsky.app/profile/mayannaberrin.bsky.social

You can find Simple and Clean: A Kingdom Hearts Podcast at:

https://pod.link/1826633591

https://www.instagram.com/simpleandcleanpod/

You can find StoryQuest at:

https://linktr.ee/StoryQuestShowOfficial

https://www.instagram.com/storyquestshow/

You can listen to Mayanna's first three episodes at:

https://talesfromthefandom.libsyn.com/episode-374-mayanna-berrin-returns-and-talks-improv-writing-for-movies-television-tabletop-roleplaying-and-video-games

https://talesfromthefandom.libsyn.com/episode-171-mayanna-berrin-returns

http://talesfromthefandom.libsyn.com/episode-47-mayanna-berrin

Lio aka Lionbcos joins me to talk all about Cosplay, the characters they do, and so much more.

I had come across Lio's Instagram several times thanks to their collaborations with others, and people sharing their work to their stories. I really enjoyed what Lio did, and here we are, getting to talk about it!

We're talking all about the Cosplay and characters that Lio does. However, we start off at a young age as Lio talks about growing up with parents who are nerds, and how their influences rubbed off on them.

Lio talks about some of their favorite characters, and we do spend a bit of time with Laura Kinney aka Wolverine, fka X-23. We talk about the characters that Lio cosplays as, like Claudia from Interview with the Vampire, Invisigal from Dispatch, and more. While they trend towards emo characters, a surprising princess made it into Lio's rotation - and we talk about how and why!

We talk about how they choose the characters they cosplay, the group collaborations they've done, and what Lio is planning to do in the future.

You can find Lio at:

https://www.instagram.com/lionbcos/

https://www.tiktok.com/@lionbcos

I kept seeing a number of cosplays shared by people that featured Moe. That lead to following Moe, and then having Moe on the podcast. You might know on Instagram as DreadheadCos.

For this episode, we're sticking to talking about Cosplay, so if that's your thing, then sit back and enjoy. Moe and I start with talking about how they got interested in Cosplay. From there, we talk about some of the first characters they've cosplayed, and how sticking to canon doesn't have to be standard and how to put your own flare and personality into cosplays.

As we talk about the characters they've done, we do venture into the fandom world to discuss, particularly with Red Hood. We also talk about Moe's work with prop making and how they approach the different pieces, along with how they work deciding which cosplay or prop to work on.

One of my favorite quotes of the episode is "When in dobt, add a corset and belts"

We wrap up by talking about what Moe is working on this year, their dream cosplay, and more.

You can find Moe at:

https://www.instagram.com/dreadheadcos/

https://bsky.app/profile/dreadheadcos.bsky.social