#atypipals

[thebrightsessions]

HIII i hope you're still active on here but i have a question!! at the end of ep 408 Mark (episode 48), there's a great piano piece that plays into the credits/main theme... im about 98% sure its not the full main theme since it has a longer intro. it's so beautiful and very haunting and i'd really like to be able to listen to it w/ out the credits :) is this available anywhere online 😭 pls im so desperate <3 thank u

Hello! We are still active on here, though not as much as we used to be! All the music in our show is composed by the brilliant Evan Cunningham, including all the credits music.

And yes, you can get it! Currently, the only way to download all of The Bright Sessions credits music is by becoming a plus pal. For $10/month you get all that music, the entire scores for The AM Archives and The College Tapes, and tons of other stuff that's exclusive to the pals! (and pssst, all plus pals get downloads of those things that they keep forever, so if you wanted to join for a month and pay 10 bucks for all that and then dip out, you totally could! I think it's a pretty fun community to be a part of though, so I hope you stick around if you do join!)

[thelaurenshippen]

HOW DID I NOT KNOW YOU HAVE A DISCORD

I DO!!!

Atypical Artists has a membership program and all our pals are in a discord together! it's an extremely fun time and the plus pals get a whole bunch of extra stuff too if you're someone who wants access to a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff!

[breakerwhiskey]

Breaker Whiskey may be on hiatus, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t new tidbits to explore! You can now buy an E-Book (EPUB) of all 260 episodes of Year 1 of Breaker Whiskey, formatted for reading ease. The book also includes all morse code messages, dates and locations, postcards (including never before seen notes to Harry), and polaroids from Whiskey’s journey.

[maxinemilespod]

MAXINE MILES: VOLUME I is out now!

This 299 page PDF contains the full scripts for Season 1 of Maxine Miles, with only the canon ending that you all chose, as well as the official art!

Plus, from now until 2024, send proof of purchase to atypicalartists@gmail.com for a 20% discount on Atypipal annual plans - join the pals for discord access, ad-free feeds, and exclusive content!

Get it here and learn more about our pals program here! Supporting Atypical through buying merch or becoming a pal will help us make Season 2!!!

[thelaurenshippen]

so, the other thing about New Year's Day is that, while the podcast might be yearly, there are monthly newsletters that fill in the time between episodes! @chambersandfogg is an archive for the newsletters - currently, it only has the entries from before 1916 (ep 3) but new posts will be added on the 15th of every month! those pre-episode 3 entries are only for the atypipals, our supporters, but the rest moving forward will be free, so be sure to sign up now!

August 14th, 1891

I’ve done it. After much deliberation and experimentation, I have determined what my act at the Chicago’s Fair will be. While I know the exhibition is still two years away, it feels important to be as prepared as possible, especially with such a unique and intricate illusion.

I’m calling it “The Hands of Thor”. Through the careful placement of mirrors and expert use of electrical energy, it will appear as if I hold the power of lightning in my palm. I will use it to break a glass and set a lightbulb ablaze. I have completed the preliminary diagrams that I’m certain will provide me with the desired result and I now move to the testing phase.

The one factor that complicates the whole business is fellow conjurer John Fogg. He and I set a wager a year or so ago on the final location of the Fair and I, as I knew I would would, won. But the terms of the bet—which I foolishly set forth myself—mean that Mr. Fogg is to become my apprentice for the Fair’s performance. How I will convince him to behave himself and not spoil the trick, I have no earthly notion.

With the incredible benefit of hindsight, it is difficult to understand why I set those terms in the first place. I have to think it was the terrible delirium tremens I had at the time and Mr. Fogg’s singular ability to bait me. I have not worked with an assistant a day in my career and I certainly had no intention to ever start. If I were to take someone on, I cannot think of anyone less suited to the job than John Fogg. His work is bombastic and imprecise, and we could not be farther apart when it comes to our philosophies on the magical arts. The possibility of disaster should we work together feels unacceptably high.

Then again, perhaps he’s forgotten about the matter entirely. I have neither seen nor spoken to him since April of last year, when I wrote him after Chicago was announced as the Columbian Exposition’s destination. He appeared up for the challenge of being my apprentice in our correspondence then, but no firm plans were set. On reflection, I have to wonder if he so enthusiastically agreed simply on the basis of stubborn pride. While I had always expected him to be a poor loser, perhaps he didn’t want to be seen as such.

I suppose only time will tell.

[from the personal diary of C. X. Chambers]

[to read more of the pre-1917 entries, join Atypical Artists and get access to the archive of 24 entries (5,000+ words), as well as ad-free episodes. to receive future monthly missives straight to your inbox, sign up for free here]

[thelaurenshippen]

the atypipals discord is always a very good time

[thelaurenshippen]

man, not to brag about my own show or anything, but while there are always things I would change about anything I make (and definitely PLENTY of things I could have done better as a writer/the showrunner of this show) Evan really fucking nailed the score for The AM Archives. it's just.....very fucking good.

[thelaurenshippen]

*trips, falls, sapphic pining playlist falls out of my pocket*

(if you want the playlist notes the moment they hit the internet, subscribe to my monthly mixtape)

[thelaurenshippen]

good night laurinia, do you have any canon sexualities for your characters? Other than the more blatant one's like Mark's bisexuality and chloe being ace,, I'm especially curious about joan wadsworth and owen, xoxo ♡

good morning anon!

so, the answer to this is a little complicated simply because of my current feelings around the idea of "canon" and my position as a creator on the internet who has a direct line of communication with my audience. so, sorry for answering such a simply question with a long and winding ramble about the current state of storytelling, but I will get to your actual question.

for a long time, I answered questions over on @thebrightsessions tumblr about anything and everything people wanted to know about when it came to my characters. but as the show grew bigger, people started to take those answers as gospel truth, even when the only evidence of that "canon" was a tumblr post and not the show itself. I want people to do whatever they want with my world and characters and it started to feel as though sharing my thoughts about things was discouraging that or disappointing people in some way.

so now, I mostly keep answering those questions to the atypipals discord. the community there is pretty tight, so they get a lot of my secrets lol, as well as my uncensored thoughts on things because we've all agreed that what I say means absolutely nothing if it's not in the text! (nap of the author, we call it, because thankfully no one wants me dead).

ALL TO SAY, there are some strong assumptions to be made about the characters based on the show, even when their sexualities aren't explicitly stated. when you expand to include the canon novels, there's even more.

but, as far as I can recall, I think the only sexualities that are explicitly stated are (just including voiced characters in the podcast - the novels have a bunch more):

Mark is bisexual

Chloe is asexual (she's also panromantic, but I don't believe I ever use that word, simply mention that she has two exes names Alex, one boy and one girl)

Adam is gay

Sadie is straight

Rose is gay

...I think that's it? no one else claims a label, I don't think, but obviously there are several other characters who have same-sex relationships:

Caleb canonically pretty much is only into Adam

Sam dates both Mark and Mags

It is heavily implied that Oliver has a thing for Mark

It is explicitly stated in the books that Damien is in love with Mark

Frankie is a trans man who dates Caitlin, which I consider a queer relationship given Frankie is a member of the queer community

and then, of course, there are the characters that are never in a romantic relationship in the podcast or are only seen in heterosexual relationships - those sexualities are up to interpretation! that does mean I don't have a straight answer (pun intended) to the characters you asked about, because amongst those three, all we know is that Joan dated Owen and had a thing for Jackson.

I hope that's not too frustrating of an answer!

[thelaurenshippen]

Ok I have to know, and I apologize if youve answered this elsewhere before, but at the end of the college tapes Beck and Sadie go and talk to Indah and I have spent so long thinking about how that conversation goes. Especially after Mark and Beck talked about Damien... When yall made TCT did you have an idea of how that went? Or is it up to fanfic writers now?

I know its a joke in the ending but I would love the Sadie plotline story bc I am obsessed. anyway. love ur work, I just got my best friend into ur stuff and he is also thoroughly enjoying it

ty!!!

I think I've probably only talked about this is the atypipals discord actually, so thanks for asking! but it totally wasn't a joke in the ending actually, it was a little plot seed for a potential third spin-off, so yeah, I've actually thought a lot about it!

luminary didn't renew us for a third spin-off, but we would've made it about a summer camp that Indah and Neon run for atypical teens. because Sadie has the same kind of atypical-radar that Indah does, that end of TCT conversation would've been Beck being like "here's a new mentee Indah, have fun" and then it's very possible that Sadie would have worked at the summer camp!

all that said, it absolutely IS up to fanfic writers!! there are no plans to continue the TBS universe, so I say go nuts with it!!

[thelaurenshippen]

Do you have any idea when/if ARCS will come out hiatus?

and I love all you pods and audio dramas they are so amazing❤

thank you so much, I'm so glad you love all of them! Arcs is sadly over for good as far as I know, though if Jordan ever wanted to revive it, I'd be there in a heartbeat! and, actually, I did recently dig up some unedited sessions on an old drive, so the atypipals have access to a few more episodes than were ever released.

[thelaurenshippen]

Hello! I absolutely love The Bright Sessions and The Infinite Noise, and I just have to ask you something(s) I've been wondering about regarding Caleb for a while. I don't know if you've already answered this question before, but would he ever get an emotional support animal, and if so, what kind of animal? What would he name it, and do you think it would help him with/manage his empathy or at least his own emotions? And what would Adam think about it? Thank you and I love your work! Have a lovely day/night!

I'm so glad you love TBS and TIN!!!!! this is a topic that has come up before, though I can't remember when or where (this is exactly the kind of stuff that we talk about on the atypipals discord on the reg) but Caleb loves animals, so I could totally see him having an emotional support animal! he is definitely a dog person but I could see him having all different kinds of support creatures :)

[thebrightsessions]

We can't believe it's been FIVE years today since we released our musical episode. Making "Rose" was some of the most fun we ever had as a creative team and the original listener reaction to the episode was INCREDIBLE.

As always, you can find all the information about this episode on our website, including the cast album and lyrics. But in ADDITION to that, if you're an atypipal plus you get access to the original table red and additional interviews that weren't included in this featurette!

And if you'd like to sing the music yourself (whether by playing the sheet music or singing to the backing tracks) you can do so through our merch store! We also sell the original demos with Evan and @thelaurenshippen singing the songs.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their love for this episode through the years and we hope you continue to enjoy our music for many years to come!!!

[thelaurenshippen]

I just listened to the finale of @bridgewaterpodcast (out this friday!) so I thought it'd be appropriate to share my secret playlist for the season. if you're not caught up, look away.

I shared my notes on this playlist (and will share my notes for the season two playlist next month) in my monthly mixtape newsletter! and if you want access to all my playlist notes that I've shared in the past, you can become an atypipal plus! but this month, I'm gonna share my notes right here, under the cut:

I didn’t set out to make this playlist, but as I was building both the season and its accompanying playlist, I realized that there were songs popping up that felt right for the season but separate from the main characters. I quickly figured out that these were songs for the Legend Tripper, our mysterious friend turned antagonist. The playlist is called “The LT” because I wanted to make sure no one could figure out what it was for if it was hanging on my Spotify profile (thought I did make it private, I’m always paranoid) and also that’s how we refer to her in the script, especially since the role was not written for a specific gender and therefore all the scripts used “The LT” in place of most pronouns until Tricia was cast. 

I wanted this playlist to feel like wandering into the forest and then slowly realizing that you’re far more lost than you thought. So there’s not a lot of story in this playlist, or even that much character work, just the creeping sensation that you’re not as safe as you thought you were. That someone is having fun at your expense. It’s about the vibes, baby. 

1. “The Rockrose and the Thistle” – The Amazing Devil

LOVE starting with a totally a cappella creepy lullaby type song. 

And I know the kindest thing/Is to leave you alone

2. “Spirit Walks” – Nerina Pallot

Dark is the forest/And bitter are the trees/But I don’t fear/The spirit walks with me

3. “Devil’s Spoke” – Laura Marling

But I am your keeper/And I hold your face away from light/I am yours till they come

4. “It Will Come Back” – Hozier

As with the main Season 2 playlist, there’s two Hozier songs on this one as well! What can I say, this album is perfect. I am obsessed with this idea of feeding something dangerous and it coming back again and again–be careful what you feed. And the casual way in which this sharp-toothed thing is putting the onus on you, the listener – “you know better”, etc. Giving a warning with no intention of heeding it. Jeepers creepers, Hozier is a good lyricist

Don’t let it in with no intention to keep it/Jesus Christ, don’t be kind to it/Honey, don’t feed it, it will come back

5. “Your Fault/Last Midnight” – Into the Woods

The other side of the coin to the placement of “No More” on the Season 2 playlist. This song doesn’t necessarily flow so well in this actual playlist, but it is a song I listened to ad nauseum, especially when writing the last two episodes. The LT is the witch toying with everyone’s petty human problems, even if narratively speaking they serve very different kinds of functions. Also “Your Fault” is just one of the best patter songs ever written. 

6. “In the Woods Somewhere” – Hozier

No lyrics to pull out of this specifically, because the whole song is just a great, creepy narrative. This is when the playlist turns from the LT to more of Jeremy’s POV on the LT. 

7. “Killer + the Sound” – Phoebe Bridgers, Noah Gunderson & Abby Gunderson

There’s a frenetic, disjointed energy I wanted to accomplish with this playlist, the feeling that you can never get your footing and I love that this song, like the one from “Into the Woods” is really two songs in one. 

Nothing ever comes, ever comes if you call it/Choking like a dog, like a dog on a collar/Open up your mouth, your mouth if you want it/Listen for the sound, the sound/The sound is coming down

8. “Flowers” – Hadestown

I opted for the musical version of this song over the Anais Mitchell because I’d already broken the musical theater seal on this playlist and, tbh, I just love singing along to this version. Without spoiling, Jeremy as Eurydice, the LT as Hades…I’ve already said too much.

[thelaurenshippen]

So I was listening to Order and Chaos and I was curious, did y'all ever have an idea on what Percy's ability was? I love that little goober I must know more about him

GREAT question - this is something that we actually discussed in depth the other month in the atypipals discord. and that discussion led to the realization that @megfitz89 and I never actually determined for sure that Percy is atypical, so his ability was never determined either! it's schrodinger's atypical, so you can decide to do with him what you will!

[thelaurenshippen]

#if you want updates like this early bird style join Lauren’s atypipals discord#your subscription fee will also help fund future projects :)

please @you-cant-spell-subtext-without this is so nice 😭😭😭

it's true!! you can become an atypipal and hang out with me and the amazing pals and hear all kind of stuff fresh off the press (and sometimes, if you're a plus member, stuff I probably shouldn't be saying in the live Q&As lol)

BUT if you're not ready to commit to our little club, my company does send out monthly newsletters (march's going out sometime later today!) which is a good spot to get updates too. sign up for that here!

When is season 3 of BridgeWater coming? I also need season 2 of Maxine Miles 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

(tagging @sailorsally and @rivercanthony so they both see this as well!)

first off, I'm so glad y'all liked the season! we had so much fun making it!! secondly, I have no idea when Maxine Miles Season 2 will be coming, because there's some logistical snafus to work through but, realistically, probably early next year at the soonest!

okay, so @bridgewaterpodcast season 3 - the real, honest answer I can give you is...I have no idea. thankfully, Misha already talked about The CW developing Bridgewater as a TV show and not moving it forward, so I can talk a little more openly than I expected I would be able to but, essentially, that was in talks for quite some time the back half of 2022 and, had it gone forward, it would've made a third season of the podcast very difficult logistically, because of the time that Misha, Aaron, and I would be spending on the adaptation. we only found out it wasn't going forward at the end of the year, and then Season 2 started rolling out so...I don't know!

things are obviously more open now for a third season than they were, but I did approach S2 a little differently in writing it--we were pretty certain we'd get to make more after S1, whereas in writing S2 it was a big question mark bc of potential TV stuff, so I wanted to make sure to wrap up our big central mystery--Thomas's story. however, that's not to say that we don't have a lot more ideas for this world and these characters.

so, long story short (too late), it's up in the air at the moment. Misha's been so busy with GK, I've been in production on a new podcast until very recently, and Aaron runs literally ten million podcasts every single day so, outside of some "happy premiere/finale day!" texts in our group chat, we haven't actually had a chance to put our heads together. but rest assured, I will have an update for you about that at some point! stay tuned!!