The Carbuncle Chronicle Issue 36: Excitement & Speculations, for Patch 7.5 & NA FanFest

Hello Adventurers! It’s the most hype-able time of the year! In just a matter of weeks, the NA FanFest will be here and we’ll have the first details of Final Fantasy XIV’s next expansion! And the immediate Tuesday afterwards Patch 7.5 “Trail to the Heavens” drops! That’s a lot. So we’re here to break it all down and guess as to what our future holds. We start off with a look back at the previous Live Letter talking about the patch, then head straight into our hopes and predictions that are going to happen at FanFest! It’s a wild ride. 

Spoiler Levels: Pineapple Orange Jelly! “Made from Turali pineapples and navel oranges, the refreshing flavor of this jelly will remind you of Tural no matter where you are.” Before we get into all the new stuff that could be happening, we wanted to make sure to remember where we’ve been. Spoilers abound in this episode.

OSMnotes

Lots of things are happening! Why as we post this on a Thursday, tomorrow morning is the next Live Letter! And then next weekend? FanFest! But until then, have some Time Cues:

  • 00:00:00 – We Start The Carbuncle Chronicling
  • 00:00:45 – Intro and General Gabbing
  • 00:08:59 –Live Letter 91! (Thanks to Nova Crystallis for the text recap)
    • 00:09:16 – Where on the calendar the patches are arriving
    • 00:10:30 – New Expert Dungeon: The Clyteum
    • 00:11:07 – New Trial: The Unmaking
    • 00:13:25 – New Ultimate: ???
    • 00:15:21 – New Alliance Raid Dungeon: Echoes of Vana’diel – Windurst: The Third Walk
    • 00:18:50 – The Occult Crescent: North Horn
    • 00:21:57 – Limited Job Updates
    • 00:23:08 – New Limited Job: Beastmaster
    • 00:25:01 – The part where Basil mentions Dragon Quest IV, but he actually meant Dragon Quest V
    • 00:40:26 – Housing Updates
  • 00:41:10 – Next Week is the North America Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival!
    • 00:41:19 – Basil’s Addendums (MTAC, Anna’s Corn Servant got into the Art Contest!, Goody Bag updates, FanFest App mentioned, FanFest Schedule updates) 
    • 00:44:354 – The Hype BEGINS!
    • 00:48:49 – Our guesses as to what the new expansion will be called
    • 00:52:34 – Where will we be going this time?
    • 00:58:12 – Job? Jobs? What could they be??
    • 01:08:57 – The possibility of a Battle Challenge and the importance of having pictures of hotbars on your phone
    • 01:16:28 – On being excited to see people, because seeing FFXIV sickos IRL is when the community is at its best
    • 01:19:29 – What are we looking forward to the most?
    • 01:31:54 – Final Thoughts

Music is this episode features tracks such as “Coffee Break” by Masayoshi Soken, arranged by Daiki Ishikawa, “Taco Delight” by Masayoshi Soken, “Pa-Paya” by Masayoshi Soken, and “Fun and Games” by Takafumi Imamura.

We also have YouTube Channels! Both for OSMcast proper and The Carbuncle Chronicle! Please subscribe, hit the bell, and share amongst your friends.

And as always, feel free to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! Oh, and if you still use Spotify, go ahead and get on that mobile device and throw us some five stars there too. Tell your friends! As well, just like we mentioned when we do the OSMplugs, you can also join the Discord and support us on Patreon! PS If you have ever wanted some OSMmerch, feel free to check out our TeePublic page! PPS We appreciate you.

OSMinterview! Ed Chavez @ MTAC Another World

We’re bringing back yet another MTAC Another World OSMinterview! Today, we’ve got our interview we did for Ed Chavez! Here’s what MTAC had on their webpage about him:

Ed Chavez is the President and Publisher of DENPA Books. A twenty year veteran of the manga industry, Ed started his manga career as a journalist, writing for publications such as Comic Book Resources, Animate and Publishers Weekly. He would eventually do editorial work for Seven Seas and DC Comic’s manga line CMX. In 2007 he began working with Japanese manga publisher Kodansha. He split time doing marketing and translation for their new manga and light novel imprints (Morning 2 and Kodansha BOX respectively). Prior to his move to Oregon, Ed was the Sales & Marketing Director and Licensing Manager for Vertical Comics (2009-17), where he released numerous New York Times Best Sellers and Eisner Award winners/nominees. Ed is unique in the North American manga industry as someone with experience on both sides of the Pacific as well as someone with translation, editorial, marketing, sales and acquisition experience.

https://mtac.net/guests/ed-chavez

OSMnotes

We want to thank Ed and once again for taking the time to chat with us! And you can find all the places where Ed is by checking out him online at:

Plus, a big thank you to MTAC for both letting us have the chance to chat, but also credit for the convention logo used.

We also have YouTube Channels now! Both for OSMcast proper and The Carbuncle Chronicle! Please subscribe, hit the bell, and share amongst your friends.

And as always, feel free to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! Oh, and if you still use Spotify, go ahead and get on that mobile device and throw us some five stars there too. Tell your friends! As well, just like we mentioned when we do the OSMplugs, you can also join the Discord and support us on Patreon! PS If you have ever wanted some OSMmerch, feel free to check out our TeePublic page! PPS We appreciate you.

OSMinterview! Ricco Fajardo @ MTAC Another World

We’re bringing back yet another MTAC Another World OSMinterview! Today, we’ve got our interview we did alongside The Side Quest Podcast for Ricco Fajardo! Here’s what MTAC had on their webpage about him:

Ricco Fajardo is an actor whose performances have been seen in many ways: on stage, film, commercials, industrials, voice-over, animation, motion-capture- if it involves the body and voice, he’s done it! Known locally for his indie film work, abroad folks best know him for his roles in anime and video games. Most recent credits include the egoist striker Isagi in “Blue Lock,” the loveable Mirio in “My Hero Academia,” Tomo’s best bud Jun in “Tomo-Chan is a Girl!,” the enigmatic Kotaro in “Zombieland Saga,” the fearsome Benimaru in “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime,” and the party loving priest Pandreo in “Fire Emblem: Engage.” An avid gamer and watcher of anime and movies, Ricco loves being physically active and his cats! He is originally from San Jose, California and resides in Dallas, Texas

https://mtac.net/guests/ricco-fajardo-2

OSMnotes

We want to thank Ricco and once again for taking the time to chat with us! And you can find all the places where Ricco is by checking out him online at:

Plus, a big thank you to MTAC for both letting us have the chance to chat, but also credit for the convention logo used.

We also have YouTube Channels now! Both for OSMcast proper and The Carbuncle Chronicle! Please subscribe, hit the bell, and share amongst your friends.

And as always, feel free to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! Oh, and if you still use Spotify, go ahead and get on that mobile device and throw us some five stars there too. Tell your friends! As well, just like we mentioned when we do the OSMplugs, you can also join the Discord and support us on Patreon! PS If you have ever wanted some OSMmerch, feel free to check out our TeePublic page! PPS We appreciate you.

OSMinterview! MC Frontalot @ MTAC Another World

We’re bringing back yet another MTAC Another World OSMinterview! Today, we’ve got our interview we did for MC Frontalot! Here’s what MTAC had on their webpage about him:

MC Frontalot (née Damian Hess) is the original mastermind of Nerdcore Hip-Hop and still its Final Boss.

Front was born in San Francisco and grew up in Berkeley. He was tall and scrawny, had trouble breathing, and could not see well. A special teacher was called in to help him attain basic competence on the monkey bars, another to give him standardized tests meant for older children. Thusly, he was the most popular kid in his elementary school. Just kidding! He got pushed down a lot and called “nerd.” Did he maybe even deserve it? I mean, really – who strikes out at kickball?

He spent the next twenty years or so trying to get over it. And kind of succeeded! Flash forward to 1999: the dotcom bubble is maximally inflated; nerds everywhere imagine themselves to be popular and/or hip. Damian is getting overpaid to code web pages, which leaves him free in the evenings to play with audio software. A longtime idolizer of rappers, he has been committing his own esoteric hip-hop compositions to four-track tape since high school, revealing them to nobody. But, suddenly! Multi-track desktop studios, cheap pro-grade recording hardware, skyrocketing bandwidth, semi-anonymous web publishing: these factors converge on Damian’s rap hobby like a flock of winged monkeys. He posts an MC Frontalot web page, dubbing his output “Nerdcore Hip-Hop” because his audience is composed of several Star Wars figurines who live on his desk (and also random internet people who click on his MP3s by mistake).

Somehow, it is a quarter-century later. Nerdcore has metastasized into an internet phenomenon and underground touring powerhouse, with dozens of well established live acts and hundreds of home-studio rhymers self-identifying within the subgenre. MC Frontalot, called alternately the movement’s godfather or grandfather (thanks, kids), leads the charge, performing for thousands around the country and at prominent geek gatherings such as Comic-Con, DEF CON, the Penny Arcade Expo, Super MAGFest, and BlizzCon. He’s been featured in The New York Times, Spin, Wired, XXL, Newsweek, CNN, Blender, XLR8R, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, The London Daily Telegraph, NPR, G4TV, Esquire, Playboy, CMJ, The Guardian (UK), The Wall Street Journal, and scores of city papers nationally and internationally. He has released seven studio albums, Nerdcore Rising (Sept 2005), Secrets From The Future (Apr 2007), Final Boss (Nov 2008), Zero Day (Apr 2010), Solved (Aug 2011), Question Bedtime (Aug 2014), and Net Split, or the Fathomless Heartbreak of Online Itself (March 2019). The documentary feature, Nerdcore Rising: The Movie, which focuses on Front’s live band and exposes the the Nerdcore phenomenon in general, debuted at the South By Southwest Film Festival in 2008.

Front lives in Berkeley, CA, and still spends most of his time rapping into a computer.

https://mtac.net/guests/mc-frontalot

OSMnotes

We want to thank MC Frontalot and once again for taking the time to chat with us! And you can find all the places where MC Frontalot is by checking out him online at:

Plus, a big thank you to MTAC for both letting us have the chance to chat, but also credit for the convention logo used.

We also have YouTube Channels now! Both for OSMcast proper and The Carbuncle Chronicle! Please subscribe, hit the bell, and share amongst your friends.

And as always, feel free to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! Oh, and if you still use Spotify, go ahead and get on that mobile device and throw us some five stars there too. Tell your friends! As well, just like we mentioned when we do the OSMplugs, you can also join the Discord and support us on Patreon! PS If you have ever wanted some OSMmerch, feel free to check out our TeePublic page! PPS We appreciate you.

OSMinterview! Lauren Landa @ MTAC Another World

We’re bringing back yet another MTAC Another World OSMinterview! Today, we’ve got our interview we did alongside The Side Quest Podcast for Lauren Landa! Here’s what MTAC had on their webpage about her:

Lauren Landa is a voice actress born and raised in Los Angeles. In the last 15 years her voice has been in over a hundred different anime and video game titles, playing the voice of many beloved characters. Lauren is most known for roles such as the ninja beauty, Kasumi in Dead or Alive 5; the sexy Litchi Faye Ling in the popular fighting games BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, as well as the sequels BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, and Continuum Shift Extend; Chrono Phantasma; the badass Kyoko Sakura in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the enthusiastic Yan Leixia in Soul Calibur V, the deadly Little Queen in Tales of Graces; the valley girl racer in pink, Boiboi, in REDLINE, the adorable zombie Squigly in Skullgirls, kind hearted Leia in Tales of Xillia, the innocent Chubo Sonken in Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians, the quiet Annie Leonhardt in the hit anime series Attack on Titan, One in “DrakenGard 3”, Nora in “Noragami”, Sailor Neptune in the VIZ Media’s Sailor Moon, Merlin in “The Seven Deadly Sins”, Lyra in “Fist Of The North Star: Lost Paradise”, Juno in “Beastars”, Female Robin in “Fire Emblem” and “Super Smash Brothers”, Kyoka Eden in Scarlet Nexus, Karin Kanzuki in Street Fighter V, Leila in Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, Tsukasa in Over the Moon for You, and many more!

For Updates and Announcements follow Lauren Landa on Twitter and Twitch!
Twitter:@Lauren_A_Landa!
Twitch: Twitch.tv/LaurenLanda

https://mtac.net/guests/lauren-landa

OSMnotes

We want to thank Lauren and once again for taking the time to chat with us! And you can find all the places where Lauren is by checking out her online at:

Plus, a big thank you to MTAC for both letting us have the chance to chat, but also credit for the convention logo used.

We also have YouTube Channels now! Both for OSMcast proper and The Carbuncle Chronicle! Please subscribe, hit the bell, and share amongst your friends.

And as always, feel free to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! Oh, and if you still use Spotify, go ahead and get on that mobile device and throw us some five stars there too. Tell your friends! As well, just like we mentioned when we do the OSMplugs, you can also join the Discord and support us on Patreon! PS If you have ever wanted some OSMmerch, feel free to check out our TeePublic page! PPS We appreciate you.

OSMtable! TTRPGs & Finding Inspiration

In our third foray into the OSMtable!, Dylan, Basil, Tobias, and Niko talk about how to find inspiration. Where and why do we struggle with it? What techniques break us out of writer’s block? What options exist to draw players into that process–and when might you not want to do so?

OSMnotes

Resources

Hosts:

We also have YouTube Channels! Both for OSMcast proper and The Carbuncle Chronicle! Please subscribe, hit the bell, and share amongst your friends.

And as always, feel free to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! Oh, and if you still use Spotify, go ahead and get on that mobile device and throw us some five stars there too. Tell your friends! As well, just like we mentioned when we do the OSMplugs, you can also join the Discord and support us on Patreon! PS If you have ever wanted some OSMmerch, feel free to check out our TeePublic page! PPS We appreciate you.

OSM:cast! Show #202: King of the Hill (Season 14)

After 8 15 years, King of the Hill is back, and as long-time fans with an encyclopedic knowledge, we have powerful thoughts about it. Did it live up to the original? How well did they build on the well-established plot arcs from the original? What about the recasts and missing characters? We enlist KotH superfan Jess from MomoCon to answer these questions with us.

OSMnotes

So how does one watch this fancy newfangled King of the Hill? That’s easy!

  • King of the Hill, How to Watch:
  • Stream on Devices that Stream

And of course, Time Cues:

  • We start the OSMcast!ing – 00:00
  • OSMPlugs (Discord, Patreon) – 1:01
  • Moments of OSM –
  • King of the Hill (Season 14)
    • King of the Hill (Season 14), Sans Spoilers – 11:07
    • King of the Hill (Season 14), Full of Spoilers – 41:27
    • OSMs out of OSM and Final Thoughts – 1:18:07

The Great Final Fantasy Ranking!

Hello Adventurers! Wait, is that how it goes for this? Does it even matter? Who knows! So this episode, theoretically a “bonus” episode, is actually a product of two years worth of work. In 2024, over the course of two different panels at MomoCon and KamiCon HAI (RIP), we had panels where we attempted to rank all the mainline Final Fantasies (plus two bonus games). As we had different people on each panel, we of course had two different rankings!  What was a podcast to do? Well, all six of us got together to record One Final (Fantasy) Podcast to determine the final ranking. This is that episode! 

PS You may notice that we have not indicated if this is an OSMcast! or a Carbuncle Chronicle episode. That’s because it’s both! Almost all of the OSMcast! side, and all of The Carbuncle Chronicle side are in this, AND it covers Final Fantasy XIV to boot, so it made sense to just call it an episode for both.  

OSMnotes

Whoo boy! This was a real pain to edit! But Basil also got real extra with the audio and music for the episode this time, so we hope you enjoy the half a year he took at poking and prodding this thing into Listenable Audio™. Anyroad, have some Time Cues:

  • We start the OSMcast!ing – 00:00
  • General Gabbing (Introductions and explaining The Process) – 02:04
  • The Great Final Fantasy Ranking!
    • Part I: Where we talk about all the Final Fantasies
      • Final Fantasy I – 04:44
      • Final Fantasy II – 10:36
      • Final Fantasy III – 17:06
      • Final Fantasy IV – 21:45
      • Final Fantasy V – 32:13
      • Final Fantasy VI – 35:37
      • Final Fantasy VII – 41:41
      • Final Fantasy VIII – 49:56
      • Final Fantasy IX – 53:49
      • Final Fantasy X – 58:24
      • Bonus Game: Final Fantasy Tactics – 01:05:00
      • Final Fantasy XI – 01:09:05
      • Final Fantasy XII – 01:11:48
      • Bonus Game: Lost Odyssey – 01:15:58
      • Final Fantasy XIII – 01:21:18
      • Final Fantasy XIV – 01:27:30
      • Final Fantasy XV – 01:34:24
      • Final Fantasy XVI – 1:38:10
    • Part II: Where we actually rank said Final Fantasies
      • The Battle Begins – 01:41:39
      • The Battle Ends – 02:03:09

Oh! And if you want to see them all in one handy dandy graphic once we were finished, here it is (but warning it’s a long long image):

We also have YouTube Channels! Both for OSMcast proper and The Carbuncle Chronicle! Please subscribe, hit the bell, and share amongst your friends.

And as always, feel free to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! Oh, and if you still use Spotify, go ahead and get on that mobile device and throw us some five stars there too. Tell your friends! As well, just like we mentioned when we do the OSMplugs, you can also join the Discord and support us on Patreon! PS If you have ever wanted some OSMmerch, feel free to check out our TeePublic page! PPS We appreciate you.

OSMre:cast! Show #200: Re: Cutie Honey

Back in May of 2008 for our 5th episode of the OSMcast, we talked about the 2004 OVA Re: Cutie Honey from Hideaki Anno and pals. So for our 200th episode, we have decided to go back and do it again! And for a decent bit longer than last time. Thankfully since then Discotek and Media OCD continue to do the lord’s work, and we have an amazing new Blu-ray release to talk about. The anime finally has a kick ass release, and more people need to know about it. Only took 20ish years to do it!

OSMnotes

While at the moment there is no easy to way to find a handy dandy streaming service to watch Re: Cutie Honey, the Blu-Ray of it is absolutely amazing!

Plus, Time Cues:

  • We start the OSMcast!ing – 00:00
  • General Gabbing (200+ Episodes and 17 Years of Podcasting) – 00:35
  • Re: Cutie Honey – 09:34
    • Re: Cutie Honey, Sans Spoilers (Mostly) – 10:08
    • Re: Cutie Honey, Full of Spoilers – 33:49
    • Questions from Listeners Like You About Re: Cutie Honey – 0:49:58
    • OSMs Out of OSM and Final Thoughts – 1:02:26

We also have YouTube Channels! Both for OSMcast proper and The Carbuncle Chronicle! Please subscribe, hit the bell, and share amongst your friends.

And as always, feel free to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! Oh, and if you still use Spotify, go ahead and get on that mobile device and throw us some five stars there too. Tell your friends! As well, just like we mentioned when we do the OSMplugs, you can also join the Discord and support us on Patreon! PS If you have ever wanted some OSMmerch, feel free to check out our TeePublic page! PPS We appreciate you.

OSMinterview! Robert McCollum @ MTAC Another World

We’re bringing back yet another MTAC Another World OSMinterview! Today, we’ve got our interview we did alongside The Side Quest Podcast for Robert McCollum! Here’s what MTAC had on their webpage about him:

Robert McCollum has been working in anime for almost twenty-five years, voicing more than 300 roles going all the way back to Teen Goten in DRAGONBALL GT. Notable work includes Reiner in ATTACK ON TITAN, Stain in MY HERO ACADEMIA, Donquixote Doflamingo in ONE PIECE, Jellal in FAIRY TAIL, Julius The Wizard King in BLACK COVER, Marcus in DEMON LORD 2099, Earl Vincent Phantomhive in Black Butler, Baki Hanma in Baki The Grappler, and Kogami in PSYCHOPASS. Rob is also the voice of Axton in BORDERLANDS 2, and has done work for the games ORCS MUST DIE (as Max) and BROTHERS IN ARMS: EARNED IN BLOOD. In addition to acting, McCollum is a father of two living in Dallas and working as a producer and director of corporate communication and commercials in the U.S. and U.K.. He is the creator of The Inside Man- the world’s first I.T. security training action series- for KnowBe4 and directed the wildly successful historical audio drama podcast 1865. Among his personal favorite anime roles are Sweden in HETALIA, Date Masamune in SENGOKU BASRA, Mifune in SOUL EATER, Kaze in KAZE NO STIGMA, and his first bad guy, Shinobu Sensui from YU YU HAKUSHO: GHOST FILES. (You always remember your first.)

A proud trans ally, a portion of all proceeds Robert earns through conventions goes to ANIME STANDS UP FOR ALL, a fundraising effort for Lambda Legal. Make a donation at https://give.lambdalegal.org/AnimeStandsUpForAll

Robert McCollum

OSMnotes

We want to thank Robert and once again for taking the time to chat with us! And you can find all the places where Robert is by checking out him online at:

Plus, a big thank you to MTAC for both letting us have the chance to chat, but also credit for the convention logo used.

We also have YouTube Channels now! Both for OSMcast proper and The Carbuncle Chronicle! Please subscribe, hit the bell, and share amongst your friends.

And as always, feel free to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! Oh, and if you still use Spotify, go ahead and get on that mobile device and throw us some five stars there too. Tell your friends! As well, just like we mentioned when we do the OSMplugs, you can also join the Discord and support us on Patreon! PS If you have ever wanted some OSMmerch, feel free to check out our TeePublic page! PPS We appreciate you.