In this darkly comedic episode of Speculative Fiction Tales, Jon Cronshaw delivers a biting satire of influencer culture and the often stark contrast between online personas and private realities.

"The Mediocre Maverick" follows Millie, a social media personality who has built her brand and fortune on promoting the joys of mediocrity and unremarkable living. Her "Mediocrity Maverick" persona preaches the gospel of beige walls, predictable routines, and embracing life's most mundane moments.

But behind the carefully curated facade of ordinariness lurks a woman who secretly craves the extraordinary. When her thrilling skydiving hobby is accidentally exposed during a livestream, we witness the desperate lengths she'll go to protect her empire of averageness—and the shocking turn events take when her carefully constructed world begins to unravel.

Themes & Topics

• The performance of authenticity in social media

• The commodification of lifestyle philosophies

• The disconnect between public personas and private lives

• The extreme pressure of maintaining a personal brand

• How quickly violence can erupt when livelihoods are threatened

• The dark humor in turning even tragedy into content

Listener Discretion

This episode contains sudden violence and a death that some listeners may find disturbing.

About the Author

Jon Cronshaw crafts speculative fiction that examines our relationship with technology and social media. His stories often feature characters caught between their authentic selves and the versions they present to the world, revealing the psychological toll of living a double life in the digital age.

Support the Show

If you enjoyed this story, please consider supporting Jon Cronshaw by becoming a patron. Your support helps bring these stories to life and gives you early access to audio stories plus exclusive text versions of every episode. Visit patreon.com/joncronshawauthor to learn more.

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Keywords

Influencer culture, social media personas, personal branding, authenticity, double lives, dark comedy, flash fiction, Jon Cronshaw, content creation, digital identity, livestreaming consequences

In this unsettling episode of Speculative Fiction Tales, Jon Cronshaw delivers a masterful slow-burn horror story set in the seemingly mundane world of public transportation.

"I'm Not Allowed Past Dudley" follows a veteran bus driver who has spent twenty-two years piloting the number 12 route between Wolverhampton and West Bromwich. When management suddenly truncates his route to end at Dudley, he begins noticing subtle but disturbing anomalies. His attempts to venture beyond the new boundary—whether in his bus, car, or on foot—are met with increasingly bizarre and frightening consequences.

As our narrator's investigations deepen, the very fabric of reality begins to unravel, revealing a terrifying truth about the nature of his world and his place within it. What begins as a simple route change spirals into an existential nightmare that challenges everything he thought he knew about his familiar Midlands surroundings.

Themes & Topics

• Reality simulation and boundary enforcement

• The unsettling nature of the familiar made strange

• Working-class routine disrupted by cosmic horror

• The psychological impact of lost autonomy

• The Black Country as a setting for existential dread

• The surreal horror of bureaucratic control

Listener Discretion

This episode contains themes of existential horror and psychological distress that some listeners may find disturbing.

About the Author

Jon Cronshaw crafts speculative fiction that transforms everyday settings into landscapes of subtle terror. His stories often feature ordinary people confronting extraordinary circumstances, revealing the fragility of what we perceive as reality.

Support the Show

If you enjoyed this story, please consider supporting Jon Cronshaw by becoming a patron. Your support helps bring these stories to life and gives you early access to audio stories plus exclusive text versions of every episode. Visit patreon.com/joncronshawauthor to learn more.

Keywords

Simulation theory, Black Country, bus routes, existential horror, reality glitches, boundary enforcement, West Midlands, cosmic horror, Jon Cronshaw, speculative fiction, Dudley, Wolverhampton

In this darkly satirical episode of Speculative Fiction Tales, Jon Cronshaw delivers a scathing portrait of modern internet culture and the slippery slope from critic to cult leader.

"The Anti-Guru" follows the rapid transformation of Alex who begins as a frustrated critic of self-help charlatans and ends as the very thing he once despised.

Themes & Topics

• The corrupting influence of online validation and attention

• How algorithms encourage extremism and hypocrisy

• The self-help industry and its manipulation tactics

• The thin line between critic and practitioner

• How movements become marketplaces

• The psychology of cult formation in digital spaces

Listener Discretion

This episode contains cynical commentary on online culture and self-help industries that some listeners may find uncomfortably accurate.

About the Author

Jon Cronshaw crafts speculative fiction that examines the darker aspects of our digital existence. His stories act as mirrors reflecting uncomfortable truths about how technology shapes our behavior and beliefs, often without our conscious awareness.

Support the Show

If you enjoyed this story, please consider supporting Jon Cronshaw by becoming a patron. Your support helps bring these stories to life and gives you early access to audio stories plus exclusive text versions of every episode.

Visit patreon.com/joncronshawauthor to learn more.

Keywords

Internet culture, self-help industry, monetization, online gurus, digital transformation, social media critique, livestreaming, cult psychology, Jon Cronshaw, satire, influencer culture, algorithm effects, online communities