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- Bobby's Snacks Vol. 9: It's Delicious & Nutritious
Bobby's Snacks Vol. 9: It's Delicious & Nutritious
Happy St. Patrick’s #AudioDramaSunday folks!
I am bone tired today in a way that I haven’t been in a while. It was my second full week at Hapik this week, and yesterday I spent a day onsite during a day full of birthday parties to help out and get a feel for the product I’ll be marketing first hand. The staff were all really great, the kids were adorable, and honestly the time went by super quickly… but wow was it sensory overload for my little old mostly-remote employee brain. That said, I’m really grateful for the experience, because it made it incredibly clear how much fun the space is for everyone involved. I also just so happened to be there during the time when my brother-in-law brought my niece and two of her friends there to climb as part of her week of tenth birthday celebrations. It was so fun seeing her there in her element, because I remember when she was just a fearless and bald little baby, climbing up to the top of the couch as soon as we all turned our heads for even a second. I’ve been calling her my little spider monkey ever since.
After work I got to take a micro-nap with my cat, before heading over to my In-Law’s house for my niece and wife’s shared birthday dinner, where literally all five of the children had friends with them. There were 23 of us spread out across a not giant house... It was a lot, so when I realized that the dinner table was too cramped to fit everyone at, I happily offered to eat solo in the living room so that I could have a moment of relative peace and quiet. I’m so glad I went though, my father-in-law is an incredible cook, and we all packed the living room to educate a few of our family members on the brilliance of The Princess Bride.
On that note, though, I’m exhausted so let’s dive right in:
Well shit. It was inevitable that this series was going to hurt me, but wow that episode eviscerated my insides. Having Gwaine find what he’s looking for, and learning more about his relationship with Dal as they communicate over the radio was bittersweet… because that ending (which I won’t spoil here) ripped my heart out and stomped it to utter pieces. I got to the end of the credits in a sort of shell shock, not ready to accept what had just happened… and yet so, so eager to hear what comes next. Damn you Ella Watts and Amber Devereaux, y’all clearly know exactly what you’re doing with this one, and it shows.
I’m really glad that when I returned to this show last week after three years away from it, I was able to listen to a true standalone episode. That’s not to say that I don’t love when they do a multi-parter, but it was so nice to be able to drop right in without having to try and remember what was going on, or start back over from the beginning. That said, it is also extremely satisfying watching the horror of one of these eldritch tales unveil itself over multiple parts. Death Island is clearly a foreboding place, that also might just be a bit too hard to resist for a group of young boys trying to prove they’re worth their weight in salt. I haven’t finished this run of episodes yet, but I’m stoked to see what happens next.
Moc Weepe has always been one of the most unsettling characters in all of audio fiction. Sure, there’s the clear wrongness built into his very person, needing to avoid the sunlight and constantly be hooked up to a variety of mysterious machines in order to prolong his life, with a vocal delivery that crawls under your skin… but seeing him fully in his element? Growing the marginal amounts of power he used to have in Midst tenfold alongside his ascendance among the Trust? It was chilling stuff.
I’m lucky enough to already know exactly where this series is going, having officially joined the Gideon Media team to help with marketing across all of their shows, but I’m so stoked that this episode is finally out in the world. There is a restrained beauty to the relationship between Lem and Mikey, stranded out in the depths of space, even if sometimes they can’t help but antagonize one another. I also can’t tell you how much I empathized with the idea of Lem being “in bed” » so disengaged with reality and himself that he literally cannot get up. Sure, in this case, it’s because he’s fairly certain that he’s broken his spine… even though Mikey assures him over and over again that no such lasting damage has come to pass. That kind of paralyzing depression that sneaks up on you like a spectre and overtakes your entire life.
Things have stayed predictably frustrating in Whiskey’s camp this week as she continues to wander with nothing but aggravating pen pals sending her cryptic messages via morse code to keep her company. But what truly struck me this week? Was Friday’s episode. It’s wild how, in a show like this one, that releases so consistently but in such minuscule bursts, that a literal minute of audio can be the most compelling thing you hear all week… but the prospect of finally meeting Harry has me so excited I can’t even contain myself. Part 171 cannot come fast enough.
It’s been a minute since I’ve covered this series, as they took a brief winter hiatus from releasing both the NO/ONE comic and its podcast counterpart, but I’m happy to say that it returned in top form. Rachel Leigh Cook continues to do her best Sarah Koenig impression, while Patton Oswalt plays her erstwhile editor in the pursuit of the Richard Roe killer. It’s a fantastic spin on true crime with a super hero twist in both of its mediums, and I genuinely love how new issues and episodes are released in tandem with one another. What’s great is that you can easily only consume one or the other, and still get a full picture of what’s going on, but following along with both is super rewarding.
While I eagerly anticipate the delivery of my copy of High Vaultage (which is offficially on its way!!), I’m so glad that I have this teams’s newest season, Truth & Claw, to tide me over in the meantime. This week, we travel to a bizarre company town on the outskirts of Even Greater London where innovation is king… so much so that they’ve got an eight story tall machine that can make whatever you can think of, as long as they have all the parts. And good god, listening to Clara Entwistle slowly become more and more unhinged as she describes the perfect mobile bird cage was chef’s kiss. The first twist in this episode was so purposefully telegraphed, that I never would have guessed the second one… which made it all the more satisfying. Can’t wait to keep listening!
There was a moment in the middle of this episode where I thought: you know, damn, I kinda miss when this show had more guest actors actually playing their characters rather than having Cecil narrate all of their actions and dialogue… and then I got to that ending. It was so nice to have Kevin R. Free return as the creepy smiley Kevin, especially after that chilling confrontation between his past and present selves on the edge of the Desert Otherworld. This, and all my talk hyping of the High Vaultage release, is reminding me that there’s a whole Night Vale novel that came out during one of my own hiatuses from the show that I haven’t read yet, It Devours! I have it on my shelf in a stack of 30 or so other books I’ve bought without being able to read yet… but listening lately has definitely made it creep up higher on the TBR pile.
Today see’s the release of our first ever St. Patrick’s St. Patrick’s Day Special: Oops! All Snakes! I’ve been teasing this episode for a while now and I truly cannot tell you enough how it was one of the funnest scripts ever for me to write and produce. Not only did we get to bring on Adam and I’s childhood friend Nick Stag, we also got to finally unveil the new name of our small, fictional upstate New York town: Texarkana! This name comes from an extremely generous Indiegogo supporter named Curtis Dibrell Jr. who donated at our highest tier a month after our campaign officially ended in order to get this honor. It’s an incredibly dumb story, which was named long before we had any actual ideas for it, because of the ridiculous antics my co-creator Jack put our Twitter account through last St. Patrick’s Day, when we were still in the thick of crowdfunding. I am so glad that this joke is finally out in the world, and I hope it’ll bring you as much joy as it’s brought us.
It’s been another minute since I’ve done an update on season two here, and while I still haven’t gone back and finished my re-listen marathon of season one, I have made a ton of progress in the past week. We officially have the first half of the season in the can, dialogue editing wise, and I’m so stoked with how it’s turning out. There are a few moments that, even though I directed them all the way back in 2022 (and had a hand in writing them long before it), sent absolute chills down my spine because of the gravitas of my pal Marcus Xavier Stewart, who plays Argus. I can’t wait for y’all to get your mitts on these episodes… I’m biased, but I think they’re going to be some really great stuff.
BONUS SNACK!
I’ve been in a big comic books mode recently, and I cannot recommend Ram V’s current ongoing series with Boom Studios enough. I already loved Ram’s work on the absolutely stunning graphic novel The Many Deaths of Leila Starr, and this book is proving to be just as engrossing. Following a demonic Rakshasa who sets his sites on becoming the next Anthony Bourdain, the series has delicious sounding recipes, horrifying interludes, and a truly beautiful rumination on the meaning of life and the sense of community that can be found within the kitchen.