What are y’all doing? What is this about?

Five Years is a serialized Audio Drama under the Belladonna Candy Media Network. It’s like a TV show, but it’s ears only. It’s told through a combination of the court testimonies of the crew and passengers of the Lightning Struck about the past five years they’ve spent together, and their interactions during the trial. It is set in a world not unlike a crash between Treasure Planet and Stardust.  They’ve all agreed to tell the whole truth and nothing but for the sake of their Captain, but their time is running low to bring it out. It’s Them v. Society, and enough people have stake in the game for it to get more than a little heated.

In the podcast, all 7 of the main characters are nonwhite and queer, and their experiences weave into the plot and how they interact with each other. Bayzli is Roma (Lovari father, Bergitka mother) and Ashkenazic, the Benitah Arrisen twins are Black and Sephardic, Keone is multiracial (Hawaiian-Maori parents, Filipino ancestry), Captain Baker is Black, Zhenya is South Indian, and Nadia is Mongolian.

What Genre are you?

Gothic Teslapunk Fabulism.

What?

Gothic is fairly upfront – a dark, usually horror based genre that centers around monsters (human or not), emotion in all its grisly detail, and other such things.

Teslapunk is a sci-fi genre that sometimes gets shoved under steampunk, but it has a different time period (1890-1925), technological focus, and themes.

Fabulism is a historically Jewish genre of story telling that influenced Magical Realism, and it is noted to be similar to some Middle Eastern story telling styles. It often tackles social issues, and is heavily influenced by being born from a diaspora community.

Magical Realism is not just “realist writing with a bit of a twist”, so leave that assumption at the door. That’s urban fantasy. Magical Realism is most famous for it’s use by Latine authors and artists, and is used to critique regimes, oppressive systems, and colonization, and blends realism with folklore and myths- there are some elements of this in the story, but ultimately it’s a grey area of whether it counts or not.

Why use that many words?

Specificity is often better, and it’ll ping a wider audience that might be looking for one of those things or more.

Podcasts are boring though.

Yeah, the ones that consist of three dudes yammering about nonsense are. We have a plot, voice actors, music, compelling themes, and more. Generalizing mediums helps no one here. Please give us – or even another podcast – a shot.

I bet you made the main characters all queer/nonwhite to be trendy/hit a quota.

Nope! First of all, these characters developed in Idris’s brain and notebooks for about 4 years before the first episode came out- their personalities and other aspects of how they exist developed over that time. Second of all, we aren’t a big company and all of us are not white and not het/cis/allo. We can tell our own stories if we choose.

Who are all of you?

Idris V.T. Arazi is the show runner, writer, sound editor, director. and producer, voice of many minor characters, and the voice of Marc Cremeuix. They spend most of their freetime writing, drawing, or consuming other media. They have a carrd here: https://rosebijoumme.carrd.co/

Vyncent Anjel Moore is the voice of Jans Benitah Arrisen, and an emerging story artist and voice over talent. His pastimes include fawning over his cat, Midnight, overusing Twitter memes, and rewatching Yuri on Ice. He can be found @weebkins on Twitter and Tumblr.

Jack Moore is the voice of  Bayzli Lakatos and some minor characters. They are a Mexican-American voice actor and digital artist from Moreno Valley, California. When they aren’t running their own podcast with Elias Gonzalez (Zhenya), their hobbies consist of con-hopping in costume, jamming out with the speakers cranked, and too much D&D for their own good. They can be found @cosplaykisses on Twitter and Tumblr.

Ju Spicer is the voice of Charolette “Keone” Maata and a Floridian highschool student with several years of experience in community theatre and is now venturing into the new world of voice acting. They can be found drawing at all times.They can be found @spicybruha on Twitter and Tumblr.

Layla Ahmed is the voice of Capt. Florence “Fariha” Baker. She is a Somali-Canadian student pursuing a degree in Neuroscience and Genome Biology. Her interests include reading and writing, mental health advocacy, and community work. She can be found @abaayoplease on Twitter.

Elias Gonzalez is the voice of Zhenya Krupin and an Women’s Study/Anthropology student. Still fairly new to the voice acting world, he takes up projects in between writing research papers and relistening to the same two podcasts over and over. He can be found @sad_cryptid on Twitter, or at http://mayatl-voice.tumblr.com/.

Shiraa Noumbissie is the voice of Hannah “Bunny” Benitah Arrisen and a Canadian bioengineering student. A newcomer to the world of audio theater, they like to read, write, and annoy their entourage by singing at the top of their lungs.. They can be found @Yoshishisha on Twitter.

Kata is the voice of Nadia Pasternak and possibly a ghost.

Where can I listen?

You can find us on Buzzsprout, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and someday perhaps on Stitcher and other Podcatchers as well.

You sound cool – can I help y’all?

Yes, you can support us on Patreon, review us, talk about us on social media, or share this podcast with a friend.