Back To School - Lunch Time with Demons

Season Two (Ep 33) This was the back-to-school episode of Lunchtime with Demons, marking the show's return to weekly episodes and its first anniversary. Bella and Ryan opened with the news that Spotify ranks them the #1 demonology podcast (with a laugh about having essentially no direct competition), then swapped personal updates: Ryan talked about the busy summer at the shop and meeting Marcella Kroll for a tarot signing, while Bella recounted turning 40, the deaths of Tim Curry and Dolly Parton that same week and how both artists shaped her life (Rocky Horror, playing Dolly in Country Girls the weekend her grandfather died), and a birthday trip to Quebec City and Montreal. The Montreal trip became the episode's emotional core. Bella described the culture shock of returning to the U.S. (a rough stop at Cracker Barrel) and used it to riff at length on American burnout culture, self-worth tied to productivity, and how travel exposes how normalized that grind has become; Ryan connected it to his own experience leaving a chef career. They tied this back to deity/devotional work perfectionism and feeling unworthy of a deity's favor and Bella flagged September as a time for reflection and gently raised suicide-awareness month, urging listeners toward small acts of connection. The episode closed with a card pull (King of Wands, Gratitude, and Sparks of Light) tied to themes of self-worth and gratitude, and a teaser that the next episode will focus on Leviathan. Cover art created by Casey at BellTarot.com Abella's LinkTree Ryan's LinkTree