Come away...
The world has expectations. Lists, & rules, & demands it makes of those who wish to belong to it.Not everyone can meet them.
Not everyone wants to.Translating Arcadia is a collection of stories about the people who do not fit, & the Elsewheres where they can belong, instead.
With a faerie, hand in hand
The Show
Translating Arcadia is a collection of stories exploring the people who do not fit. Whose minds do not work like human minds are expected to. Who belong to Elsewhere far more than Here.Some stories use the language of Faerie, of that Elsewhere, to look at reality through another lens. To discover what the world might be, to minds that refuse to conform. Others explore familiar creatures in less-familiar ways. All of them are meant to exist as at once literal, and anything but.
Written by Ash Alder
Ash is responsible for the writing and editing of these stories, as well as for the photographs used on the site.He is old enough to know better, but he somehow still doesn't.He’s fairly sure he isn’t a changeling, but wouldn’t tell you if he were. He lives in Sacramento, California in a Freehold with his husband, another debatably Arcadian, five cats with lofty names, a dog called Ivysaur, and cages full of creepy dolls. He can also be found as the writer/director of Arcadia, California, a California Gothic audio drama, as the writer/director/producer of Breathing Space, Fading Frontier, an anthology scifi western audio drama, as well as cat herding and generally managing things for Otherwhere, a Masks AP Podcast. The majority of his other creative work can be found as Law Of Names Media. He spends most of his social media time on Twitter.
To the waters & the wild
The Stories
The Man Who Was
in Love With The Sun
Kee was invisible, before he fell in love with the Sun.He always had been. Invisible, intangible. Moving through the world, through the crowds of people wearing their bright skins like costumes, always half somewhere else. Unreal. Always trying to hear, his head cocked, ears open. Trying to find the thing that might fill the emptiness inside him. The part that was missing. The part that the others seemed to have, that let them exist in saturated color, while he faded like an old photograph.
Performed by Quill
Quill (he/him) is a big ol' nerd from North Carolina. He is a father to two delightful kids, and spends most of his scarce spare time playing, GMing, and designing TTRPGs. He is the voice of Anse and various others on Breathing Space, Fading Frontier. He can be found on Twitter, and his game design can be found here and here.
The Princesses
The only reason nothing had happened to Sophia that night was because she had the mumps. That’s what Mama and Yaya said, in the weeks after, whispering over their teacups, heads together at the tiny table in the tiny apartment kitchen.“Efharisto to Theo yia parotítida.” Yaya murmured, and Mama added “Who would have thought?”They were wrong. Sophia knew, but it wasn’t polite to contradict, so she never said. But she knew that being home sick wasn’t why. That she hadn’t been safe because they’d made her stay in.She’d been left behind
Content warnings:
Child murder, racism
Performed by Kelly
Kelly Haworth is a nonbinary author. They grew up in San Francisco, California, and have been reading science fiction and fantasy classics since they were a kid. Kelly loves to write worlds with plenty of LGBTQIA characters. In fact, they don’t know if they’ll ever be able to write a non-queer couple again. Kelly has degrees in both genetics and psychology, and works as a project manager at a genetics lab. When not working or writing, they can be found wrangling their two kids, painting, or curled up on the couch with a good TV show or book. More information can be found on their website, or on Twitter.
Leather
Will hated the food at Wok n Roll.The place was a hole in the wall--peeling diamond-patterned linoleum, yellowing striped wallpaper, three Chinese calendar scrolls 10 years out of date. If there were any justice in the world, the food would have been fantastic. A hidden gem of authentic cuisine, masked by disregard and a strip mall storefront. That’s what Yelp, and too many late night reruns of food-related reality tv shows had taught him to expect.Except what Wok n Roll served tasted as terrible as the place looked.
Content warnings:
Drugging, murder, cannibalism
Performed by Thomas
Thomas (he/him) is a man of many voices who has fostered his craft through a love a tabletop RPGs. You can find him in your podcatcher as The GM for Paradigm Academy; as Ray Ramirez and ARTIE on Outstanding!; as Wil Sudsworth on Arcadia, CA; and in numerous roles on Breathing Space, Fading Frontier or you can find him on Twitter.
Maker
Finn had left the body of the boy in their bed. Petyr, grimacing at the waste, unwound the Egyptian linen sheets from the boy’s rapidly stiffening form where he lay tangled, and, draping the corpse in a 1000 thread count shroud, hoisted it onto his shoulder.The message was clear enough. Finn, though less fastidious than Petyr himself, wasn’t generally the type to leave a mess behind, especially not one Petyr would be expected to remedy. The boy’s presence was a clear indictment--I choose. You do not get to choose.
Content warnings:
Murder, coercion, implied pedophilia, implied sexual assault
Performed by Vic
Vic was born halfway up a mountain and his hobbies all include pretending to be someone else. He lives in London with his wife, son and a collection of board games. In addition to reading Maker, he provides the voice of Cyrus DiCaprio and Others in the audio drama Arcadia, California and voices various rogues in the world of Breathing Space, Fading Frontier. He also regularly streams digital board games as the vtuber Loxley for BoardGameGoat. He can also be found on Twitter.
When You Are Taken
Off to Faerie
When you are taken off to Faerie, you do not disappear all at once. You fade gradually--a finger here, an eye there. Laughter. Elbows. A sense of reality. You flicker and sputter. Sometimes visible, sometimes transparent. Blink. Fragment. For a while, both Here and Elsewhere.It takes time, to become so much less.
Content warnings:
Implied self-injury
Performed by M.
M. German can be found in Arcadia, CA, where he provides the voice of Niko, and Rancho Pasillo, where he provides the voice of Rain. When he's not pretending to be someone else, he's in bed, pretending to be a pillow for his cat. He can be found on Twitter.
Listen to the Story
Quest
When you see it, that path of moonlight-rimed seaglass threading down, down to where the waves foam and break on the sand… Or that path of gilded fallen leaves curving lazily to the sun-dappled glade... That path of glittering silver sand, out into a basin of stars under the breathless desert night... When you see that cobbled road branching off the cracked asphalt into an alley you’ve never noticed before, somewhere in the belly of a frantic city…When you see it.Before you, brave and misguided, square your shoulders, take a breath, and pass through the rowan arch.Before you commit yourself.First, traveller, remember there are rules.
Performed by Scott
Scott Paladin is a podcaster and maker operating out of north Texas. A serial obsessive and dilettante, Scott has amassed an eclectic collection of skills and knowledge, from photography to voice acting, coding to carpentry, audio engineering to game design. Find him on his podcasts, Monster Mechanics and Cowboy Classics, on Twitter, or at his website.
Listen to the Story
O, Melpomene
I’ve never liked the taste of “I’m sorry.” Never liked it either on my own lips, crossing my tongue on insect legs, wriggling its way between my teeth. Never liked it taken from another’s mouth, like sugar surrounding a bitter dose of medicine--good for you, but unpleasant going down.Other words--taken, or given, or shared-- are more pleasing to the palate, easier to accept and enjoy. Easier to indulge in, to pass between pairs of lips like kisses. Those are the words I choose.
Content warnings:
Implied self-injury, implied grooming
Performed by Kris
Kris (any/all) is a Black, mixed dork who is, at any given moment, either sleeping or doing something involving TTRPGs. They are new to voice acting, having appeared in BSFF (the show of the website you are currently reading) and Clearfield, with more to come! Find him reposting, and occasionally drawing swords, on twitter.
She Who Had Been a Feast
She stood at the edge, her toes just so, not crossing, not touching, and tried to find her own shape, in the haze. Her own reflection, gone soft and pink in the fogged mirror of Elsewhere.
Content warnings:
Implied disordered eating
Performed by Mel
Mel (she/her) is a stage-turned-voice actor who might be a figment of her own imagination. Her other work with Law of Names can be heard in Breathing Space (Maria - I Walk These Hills, True - My Stars Will Never Leave Me, Molina - Hounds of the Universe, Gal Axe-y - Five Foot Six and Two Fifteen) and para/Normal (Miss Grady - The Girl Next Door). She was also part of the ensemble of the devised work Body., which premiered at the Capital Fringe Festival in 2019, and has done voice work for Knöves Storytelling Collective. Outside of the audio drama-verse, Mel is a writer, bookworm, and soon-to-be yoga instructor. She lives in the Washington, DC area with her cats, Johnny One Note and Mr. Business, and occasionally remembers her Twitter exists.
Containment
The world was on fire, and Anjelica hadn’t slept in three days. She floated in the smell of smoke. It dripped through her hair, carried on the Santa Anas, soaked into her pores, trickled in under her closed eyelids, till she was sure she could see it writhe against the red darkness.
Content warnings:
Emotional/verbal relationship abuse
Performed by Rebecca
Rebecca Krause (she/her) is a stage and voice actress and singer based in the US with a passion for telling meaningful stories under any circumstances. Rebecca's other hobbies include long-distance running, writing, and consuming art in all its forms. In addition to her upcoming roles as Helen of Troy in The Western Chorus and Amy Bollinger in Boston Harbor Horror, she can currently be heard as Van Helsing on Murray Mysteries, Alizia Stokes in Breathing Space, Fading Frontiers, and Essie Fackleman in Puppeteer's Farm. She can befound on Twitter as @bos10blonde.
Skin
Fuck ‘em.Fuck the people who walk around in the world like it owes them something, fuck the ones who like to do the owing. They’re all the same. They all taste alike when you close your eyes. I don’t need them, not the way most of us think. I can judge, or forgive, or break them down, or ignore them all together.I just can’t walk away.
Content warnings:
Implied statutory sexual assault, relationship violence
Performed by Meg
Meg is a professional jeweler by day role play and table top gaming enthusiast by night. She has been part of cast and production on several podcasts including Breathing Space and Para/Normal, and is one of the braincells that powers Slaydies ATL. In addition to character work you can usually find Meg working on jewelry pieces for her personal business (Morlasair Mae) or generally being a nuisance on the internet. She can also be found on Twitter.
Listen to the Story
Coyote
She expects the wind off the desert to be hot, to parch her lips, bring up the sweat, then dry it to salt.But as she pulls over the foothills, and the first breaths blow in through the car’s open windows, it chills her with sudden, isolating cold.The cold is dry. So dry her body aches for water to slake a thirst she didn’t know she had.
Content warnings:
Sexual assault
Performed by Vanessa
Born and raised in New Jersey, Vanessa moved to Missouri a few years ago where they now live with their fiancé, two rambunctious dogs, and a cat who is tired of them all. She does the occasional voice acting for various Law of Names productions and crochets almost non-stop. Their crochet can be found and purchased on Etsy under AlpacaMyPride. She can also be found on Twitter as @alpacamybooks.
Becoming, Become, Became
Alivia’s imaginary friends took her away the day after her twelfth birthday.
Content warnings:
Implied child suicide
Performed by Emily
Emily Buza is an actress, writer, and podcaster. You can hear her as the co-host of Whelmed: The Young Justice Files discussing and analyzing the DC Comics animated series Young Justice wherever you listen to podcasts. In the world of voice acting, you can hear her guarding the fairy kingdom as Nyx on The LaFresien Chronicles, fighting supervillains as Highwire on Protean City Comics, flying through space as Maple Bannon on Dark Valley, and popping up here and there across several other audio dramas and actual plays. "You can discover more of Emily's work—including podcast guest appearances, articles, and more of her acting—by checking out her website or by following her over on Twitter.
Half-Blood
It’s complicated, being born the human child of a faerie
Content warnings:
Parental neglect
Performed by Amy
Amy is best known for learning a Transatlantic accent in 2 months, having a pretty good documentary voice, and asking way too many questions literally all the time. She is a US based voice actor, writer, sound designer, and occasional composer for several podcasts. In addition to reading Half Blood, Amy can be heard in Blake Skye: Private Eye as Daphne Howard, in various spots in SINKHOLE, in Devoid of Space's Perfect Integration, as both a beloved herbo cyborg and an amoral MILF in Breathing Space's third season, and here and there in the upcoming Law of Names production, para/Normal. She can also be found on Twitter.
Listen to the Story
Too Bright, Too Loud
Maybe you could have belonged once, you who were exiled. You, who were left in place of the one they really wanted. Maybe you could have learned a better way to shut your eyes, stop your ears with your hands. Place words around experience without wincing where they gapped. Maybe you could have learned to be blind.But that’s just not how faerie children are.
Content warnings:
Parental neglect, emotional abuse, implied self-injury
Performed by Rue
Rue (he/they) is a jack-of-too-many-trades creative living on unceded Kalapuya territory in Oregon, US. They work as a marketing and social media coordinator by day, and moonlight as a voice actor, TTRPG game designer, streamer, and craftsmanship competition cosplayer! You can see a (constantly expanding) list of projects he's involved in on his website or catch up with them on Twitter!
One Night in Midwinter
You wake up barefoot in the vacant lot on 14th street, in a circle of drowned-skin toadstools and the glittering brown fragments of shattered beer bottles. Your nightgown wraps around your ankles. The wind trickles down the back of your neck.You don’t remember how you got here.
Content warnings:
Disassociation
Performed by Christina
Christina is a mother to her two fur children Mordecai the border collie mix and Pancake the gremlin cat, as well as a mother to her younger sibling. She can be heard in Season 2 of BSFF as Captain Etianne Caldottir. In other works, she is mostly heard on the DnD actual play podcast Agents of DAMNED along with her spouse and their friends. If you'd like to see the copious pictures she posts of her fur children and hear her thoughts on ttrpgs you can follow her on Twitter or other social medias under the same user name.