EnterTheCronic Newsletter: AUGUST Edition (Patreon)

Hey Cronicans,

Before anything else, I want to say this part out loud, because it's the whole heart of what we're building here:

Enjoying the Therapy of Music, Art, & Pop Culture.

That's our slogan, and it isn't just a line under a logo. Whatever you're carrying when you sit down with us — a hard week or a good one, grief you haven't found words for yet or joy you want to share with somebody — the music meets you there. So do the films, the stories, the pop culture moments we all care about way too much. That's the therapy, and we get to do it together instead of alone.

The summer

This summer has been incredible. So much time with family. So much time with friends. Honestly, it's been healing in a way I didn't fully realize I needed. There's something about a season where you're not only producing something — you're actually present for it.

Thirty-four

I turned 34 on August 8th and it was a wonderful day. Not a big production, just a really good one. I'm grateful for the people who made it that way.

Our new ritual

We've started watching the sunset at a different beach every night. Different beach, same sky doing something brand new. No phones, no plans, just the light going down over the water and the people I love standing next to me. It's been phenomenal, and I'd recommend it to anybody with a shoreline near them.

Alanna

Now that she's home, she is absolutely thriving, and watching it has been one of the best parts of my summer. She's out with the kids every day, teaching them, baking and cooking more than she has in years. She's riding her own creative wave too — reading again, and working on her book.

A lot of you have already heard from her directly. She's been reaching out to members one at a time because she genuinely wants to know who's here. If a message from her lands in your inbox, that's really her, and she'd love for you to write back.

A couple of good things

Oliver got Player of the Week for soccer last week. I don't have the words for what it does to you watching your kid get called out in front of everybody for something he worked at. I was insufferable about it. I'd do it again.

I've also started one-on-one coaching, and it has been helping me tremendously. Not just with the business either — it's helped with our house, with my relationships, with how I show up for the people in this family. Having somebody outside my own head asking the hard questions has changed more than I expected. Some of what you'll see from us over the next few months comes straight out of that.

One prayer request

I'm dealing with a couple of health things right now. Nothing life-threatening — some dental work I've put off far too long, and something else that's more painful and annoying than it is serious. I'll spare you the details.

It's been wearing on me more than I've let on, though, so if you pray, I'd be grateful to be in yours. This community has always been a place where that isn't a strange thing to ask, and I don't take that for granted.

Join our Patreon to make sure you don't miss anything!

What's coming up

Our full evermore reaction lands on YouTube on August 23rd. It's already up here on Patreon if you don't want to wait.

folklore is staying a Patreon-only reaction. YouTube's copyright system wouldn't let us keep it up, and rather than lose it entirely we're giving it a permanent home here.

https://www.patreon.com/enterthecronic/posts/album-reaction-164704263

And you voted — Lover is our next Therapy Session era. We're building the run order right now, so if there's a moment from that era you need us to cover, tell us in the comments. Worth marking your calendar too: Taylor's debut album turns twenty on October 24th.

LOVER!!!

There's also more RAYE coming, and a lot more Stray Kids. Your requests have us completely covered on both, and I'm genuinely excited about that lineup.

Living here permanently

All four episodes of our SEVENTEEN: OUR CHAPTER reaction are free on Patreon. Disney won't let them stay up on YouTube, so this is their home now. You only need a free Patreon account to watch the whole thing.

https://www.patreon.com/collection/1542550

Recently on the channel

I finally sat down with Ordinary Fascism, the follow-up to Come and See that so many of you recommended. I watched this one on my own. It's one of the heaviest things I've ever filmed and one of the ones I'm most glad I did.

https://youtu.be/0WhSrZuHhhQ

RAYE absolutely wrecked us. "I Know You're Hurting" at Abbey Road and "Escapism" at the Royal Albert Hall, both picked by Gail. Thank you, Gail. Please send tissues next time.

On the Taylor side we covered Better Man (Taylor's Version) for Cocogigi, and Cold As You for Kennedy, whose write-up about buying the debut CD as a kid shaped the entire reaction. That's the thing about your requests — the story you send with them usually ends up being the best part of the video.

What I've been reading

Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning. I've talked about it before and I'll keep talking about it. When those men were given a real, no-consequences choice to step out, about a dozen out of five hundred took it. That's the whole question sitting in one paragraph.

Requests

Requests are still where a lot of our best videos come from. Blue Pill and The Chosen both get a monthly reaction request, so if you're in one of those tiers and you've been sitting on something, send it. And tell us why it matters to you. That part matters more than the song does.

The posts you loved most this summer

folklore, the full album, took the top spot with 80 hearts. That one felt different while we were filming it, and I'm glad it's the one that ended up living here permanently.

"Right Where You Left Me" and "No Body, No Crime" landed second at 66.

Death by a Thousand Cuts came in third with 64. That was Pockets' request, with the background Kennedy sent us, and the two of them together made it land harder than it would have on its own.

"Is It Over Now?" took fourth at 61.

And folklore: Pond Sessions rounded out the top five at 58.

All five are Taylor. I see you.

What lives here and nowhere else

A reminder of what your membership is actually holding onto. The full folklore reaction is paid-only and staying that way. evermore is sitting here days before anyone on YouTube gets near it. Some of that is here because YouTube wouldn't let us keep it, and some of it is here because you're the reason it got made at all. Either way, none of it disappears.

Coming your way

Keep an eye out for our reaction schedule. We're posting it separately from this letter so it's easier to actually find instead of buried halfway down a page.

Alanna and I are going live together on Sunday, August 30th at 2 PM PST. It'll be confirmed on the reaction schedule too, so you've got two places to catch it.

Your turn

You picked Lover, so now I need the specifics from you. Which moments from that era do we absolutely have to cover, and what should we hit first — a music video, a live performance, or something longer and deeper? Drop it in the comments and I'll build the run order around what you say.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for making this a place where music is more than background noise. We'll see you in the next one.

Peace and Love,

Kyle & Alanna