#night shift podcast spoilers

[naaddiie]

Sebastian Fen: I just need to get through dinner without calling attention to myself.

Sebastian Fen, not two minutes later, about to fist fight his in-laws even though they could ruin his entire life, probably: *shaking with restraint* Let Me Tell You Exactly Why You Are Wrong-

[veil-touched-rights-org]

This is Part 1 of a series of posts about moments in the Night Shift Podcast that made me pause/things that I look back on and have thoughts about (or just thoughts). I’m not planning on doing any kind of deep analysis here (though I’m sure I eventually will be doing that as well), as much as just highlighting some moments that for whatever reason stood out. This will be long, as its the entirety of the first episode. 

I also want to be clear that there are spoilers throughout - I’ve also tagged as such. The general tag for this series will be "the veil opens", so watch for that!

All transcript portions pulled from the Night Shift web site (https://www.nightshiftpod.com/)

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads “[Audio cuts]”. End ID.]

Take this in, savor it, it will be a rare occurrence, as Seb has a lot of trouble turning off recorders, as you will later see. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “My goal here, really, isn’t to prove anything. It’s just to talk about it.” End ID.]

Seb, baby, my dear, sweet man, stop lying to yourself. 

All jokes aside, I have no doubts that Sebastian actually started with this mentality, at least sort of. Like wanting to talk about it with sources that weren’t exclusively bought out by Augur or state-owned, and as he did so his natural want to know and understand strengthened this into a more investigative thing. Then his goal wasn’t to prove anything specific as much as that something generally was wrong. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “If you’re from Echor, you’ll also know a thing or two about ALPHAs. If you’re not, you’ve probably heard of them on the news or something. Augmented humanity, manufactured by the most progressive - and impressive - scientific minds in the United States.” End ID.]

It’s actually wild that this was the least shady thing going on here. Like, the super soldier genetic engineering program was fine, in the face of everything else. I remember hearing this and being like “that must be a controversial program” and it just wasn’t. Thinking it was weird was the controversial opinion and a rare one. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Of course they’d say that. Augur are responsible for creating these genetically engineered freaks.” End ID.]

Sebastian, I have some news for you, about your genes.

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “North: Well, I think it’ll be good for you anyway. Something to channel all that energy into. Even if Feldman’s a creep. Sorry - is he going to listen to this? Actually, I don’t care. He’s a creep and he should know it. So, how many shots of espresso do you think I can drink before I see God?” End ID.]

I don’t actually have anything to say other than that I love them. Adair North is a treasure who is doing their best, even if they’ve bought the corporate propaganda. In their defense, it seems that not doing so is an even bigger rarity in Echor than in our world. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Sebastian: I don’t really like the idea of being experimented on for science. End ID.]

This, my friends, is what we call foreshadowing (or just an unfortunate coincidence). 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Sebastian: It’s Friday night, about 1am. The shop is empty as usual. Who wants coffee on a Friday after midnight? Still it pays the bills.” End ID]. 

Me. I want coffee on a Friday after midnight.

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “preternatural”. End ID.] 

This sounds like a joke but I did actually pause this here because I LOVE the word preternatural. Like, I sat for a minute happy that this word was here. I’m not sure why I like this word so much, but hearing it so early on probably helped with how much this podcast dug its way into my heart. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: I understand what you’re asking here - the answer is yes. It would be possible. Theoretically, it would be easy. I’m sure you’ve heard stories of the incredible feats people can pull off in life or death situations, right? How people can survive climbing down mountains with broken legs or wrestle a polar bear to save their children? It’s called Hysterical Strength, and it happens in extreme situations when there’s just the right cocktail of cortisol, adrenaline, and endorphins. Humans only use a fraction of our maximum theoretical strength and our bodies naturally conserve energy, not waste it. In most cases, pain and fatigue keep us from reaching our max potential to prevent injury, but when those aren’t a factor, anyone could - again theoretically - run at intense speed or lift an unnatural amount of weight. It’s entirely possible that a drug could be developed that would replicate the physical conditions to set off” End ID]. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: Hysterical Strength. Although, it's never been replicated in a lab on public record, so it still seems unlikely. End ID.]

So, I’m mostly highlighting this to talk about how much I love the way Night Shift grounded itself in reality. (Briefly I also want to praise it for both clearly branding itself as fictional, and making itself obviously fictional as things move on. There have definitely been some podcasts in this style that I had to stop listening to because it messed with my head, and I think this made it much more accessible than it would otherwise be.) Hysterical strength is a very real thing, it really exists in our very real world! And while the specifics of genetics don’t match, the idea of things in our environment altering us in ways we don’t get, and genes being unexplainable also pulls from science in a grounded way. (I personally, have a genetic mutation that is not super understood that does things to me that aren’t entirely understood - unfortunately none of that include preternatural abilities.) 

It does a lot to make this show more understandable, as it means that there is more of a base for what’s new, and not explained by the podcast (as it's assumed to be understood by the in-world listeners.) It makes urban fantasy work so so so well! 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “augmentation programs, and I’m inclined to believe it. It’s been more than two centuries since widespread magic died out. What remains is little more than the echoes of hereditary powers, and that’s limited to a fraction of our population. End ID.]

When I tell you I gasped. Firstly, this is new for the Urban Fantasy I’ve encountered. The idea that the magic of this world is largely inconsequential now? Again, a moment that got me hooked - how would they compensate for that (amazingly as it turns out). Around here is also when I decided that when I was recommending it to people, I was going to call it “Urban Fantasy with a Sci-Fi flair”. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Sebastian: This was an interview with Volta earlier this year after CEO Wesley Hastings announced the ‘Alpha Prime’ initiative. This initiative intends to see an ALPHA Prime, aka an ALPHA with superior powers like…generating fire and camouflaging into their environment, placed in law enforcement in every capital city in the United States in the next ten years. As usual, Volta was the poster boy for the project.” End ID]

The impersonal nature and derision of how he approaches Angelo is almost startling after finishing the first season to be honest - but all relationships start somewhere, and the way their relationship grows is great. More importantly than my character/relationship/ship musings is the terror that I have with the idea of every police force having a super soldier who can set me on fire. It effectively set me up to distrust Augur, even more than everything else// 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Sebastian: Never underestimate my ability to stick to a useless task. That is my superpower. End ID.]

Sure it is, buddy. The only one too, I’m sure. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “North: My opinion on ALPHA is… that they’re hot. If you’re an ALPHA you’re hot. It’s like a given, you know?” End ID.]

Look, they're right, right? Like, I’m an asexual lesbian so it's probably a different kind of hot for me than most, but like, they have to be right, at least for the most part. I think that if I saw Lea Parish in real life there’d be a minute where that was on my brain almost exclusively..

(I will say that I think I’d have more thoughts on ALPHA than that, because like, the idea of them is fishy at the very best, but it’d almost definitely be on my mind somewhere. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “What’s not to love anyway? Augur is the future. One day I’ll be living in my smart home, with my smartwatch and my A.I. assistant taking care of everything so I can live a carefree lids in the lap of luxury, and you’ll be grumpy and alone in your tinfoil hat scrounging for dinner in a dumpster. You’ll see.” End ID.] 

There is so much not to love about this. Dystopian image of a future, to me. I get why some stuff gets smart/automated (disability reasons mostly), but my whole home absolutely will not be.

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “In a simple sense, I don’t agree with any private entity holding as much power as Augur does. Yes - they are the very heart of technological progress, and I don’t begrudge progress by any means - but they also have a chokehold on energy, healthcare, housing… Even balancing their grip on ths country with charity work and initiatives to help people in need, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine they’re holding puppet strings in the government.” End ID.]

Seb is so real for this one, actually. I love his anti-corporate sentiments almost as much as I love everything else about him. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “[Sound: Footsteps walking away, stopping] North: Oh Seb? No, he’s really busy right now.] End ID.] 

People looking specifically for Sebastian are such great moments!! Especially because at this point it's not because of the podcast, you know? Like whoever this is just wanted to see or talk to him just to do so. The guy is so so good at endearing himself to people and it makes me sad that he doesn’t know that. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Sebastian: I’ve been investigating some rumors about your ALPHA program? And about a street drug called Hunter that supposedly gives users temporary abilities like ALPHAs have? I found some leads, but it gave me more questions than answers, and I thought for clarity I could speak to… [Silence] You know what, never mind. Sorry to bother you. Angelo: Mr. Fen. Sebastian: Huh? Angelo: Take a seat.” End ID]. 

This will probably get its own post at some point because I have what those in the industry call thoughts about this. Like, okay, firstly the establishment of Seb as someone with all the audacity on this planet, who will go up to someone who is on their break and just ask to interview them is great. Then, Angelo just being willing to talk to this amateur reporter on said break, especially with what we know, also great. 

There are ideas about parallels floating vaguely in my brain that I’m excited to delve into. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that is all for this post!! I hope that you enjoyed this long post and dive into this episode, and that you stick around for the next one!! Enjoy your coffee, get some sleep, and remember that the veil touched are just people. 

[nightshiftpodcast]

THANK YOU FOR 100,000 DOWNLOADS!!!!

Season 2 is getting closer – here’s our Season 2 poster by the wonderful @beesandstarsart​ as a thank you for so many of you wonderful people listening to our little show!

If you have any theories based on the poster we’d love to hear them 👀 our ask box is always open!

Find Night Shift Season 1 in it’s entirety below or on any podcast platform (be sure to search the full name “Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama”!)

https://nightshiftpod.com

https://kite.link/night-shift

*Goes without saying but our artwork is never to be used for AI or NFT purposes

[fuckthisshitimin]

[ID: A four pages long comic depiction of the motel scene from the Night Shift Podcast, episode 12, in black and white.

The first page opens while Angelo is taking Sebastian’s blood. Sebastian is sat on an armchair, head bent back and eyes closed, looking uncomfortable. Angelo is kneeling before him, focused and face neutral as he asks “What makes you so sure it’s to do with me?”. We see a close-up of the needle, and Sebastian’s expression as it shifts to a more relaxed one, saying “You make me feel when I’m used to being numb”.

The second on starts with Angelo saying “All done”, and we see Sebastian from above as he puts pressure on the needle wound. The blood sample is secured in a plastic bag, and Sebastian crouches down, passing a hand through his hair. His smile is weary, he says “You know, I have no idea what you think of me.” We see Angelo finishing to put the sample away, face closed as in the background Seb is still talking: “I think you must like me.”

The third page first shows the two character’s faces: Angelo eyes closed and head bent up, frowning as to fight an emotion, and Sebastian, smiling a bit painfully, saying: “because you don’t seem like someone who would bother with a person they didn’t like. But I can’t wrap my head around why-”. Then, we see the entire scene, Sebastian looking between his knees and Angelo looking at him, flexing his hand as he moves towards him. “and you...” Sebastian goes, as Angelo passes by him to sit on the bed facing the armchair. “And I?”, Angelo prompts.

In the last page, we see Sebastian’s eyes as he looks up to Volta with determination. He leans a bit forward, neck twisting to face the other properly. Layer over the two of them sitting face to face are close-ups of their faces, expressions yearning and wistful. “If I came over there right now, and kissed you, would you let me?” Sebastian asks. Lastly, we see Angelo smiling, brows eye on his forehead, an evident tenderness to him when he says “Yes.”

Signed: Meaningless Mikhaïl. End ID.]

HERE IT IS!!!!!

Six days, seventeen pages of drafts and four final pages for thirty-seven seconds of audio. I am totally normal about this episode.

By the way this is how the scene ends, there is nothing after that, Sebastian stops recording and they kiss senseless.

Since the first fic I read of those was by @becaexists, I threw in a little Pride and Prejudice (2005) visual reference, as a treat.

[incohorace]

oh ok so he's. he's going to call the vast and mysterious corporation with questionable morals and just. just ask them. ok!

[green-eyes-and-orange-ties]

Some Season 1 Finale Thoughts (contains spoilers)

Personally, I don't think Sebastian's power-leaching ability would have worked when he was dead

Which would mean that Angelo would have gotten to Seb's body and realised immediately that he was dead bc Angelo would still have no physical sensation ... So Angelo would have been kneeling in that ship holding Seb and looking down at him but entirely unable to feel Seb's weight against him ...

Aaanyway - just some Tuesday Thoughts for you

(given his lack of physical sensation coupled with his seemingly superhuman strength is probably why Angelo called for a medic rather than attempting CPR himself, lest he put his hands through the other mans chest...)

[ladedanixie]

ok i just had a thought, and im sure others have already thought it, but like

a pushing daisies au anyone?

Night Shift is a Pie Shop instead of coffee shop, or it can be both. and Fen’s powers either extend to or are just he can bring ppl back to life. and on an investigation into augur finds angelo and brings him back, but now has to keep him hidden at the shop. idk but i’ll find out how this works. not like i dont already have enough wips that ill maybe never finish

[green-eyes-and-orange-ties]

Lucky for us the NSP writers already threw Seb off a cliff so we don't have too 😌

being a fan of a character is sometimes “look at how complex he is. he’s so intricate and his story is so tragic and he’s so much more complicated than people give him credit for” and sometimes it’s like “haha look at this failure of a person. I wanna throw him off a cliff and see what happens”

[velvetjune]

Alan Wake 2 Lake House DLC spoilers/review (also spoilers for Control):

Had a lot of fun with this DLC! It’s short (unfortunately expected this), but sweet, although I wish I didn’t watch the trailer for it. It would’ve been amazing experiencing this with no knowledge. As a massive Control fan, I was practically thriving off of all the reading and FBC style. I have some sympathy for fans of Alan Wake who might hate Control, but these games are far more than a crossover by now and moving forward. I can see how this wouldn’t work for people who dislike that.

Personally, Remedy has done well at connecting their stories without it clashing! The AWE dlc for Control was a mixed bag for me, mostly because the story wasn’t really there and the darkness mechanics were bland. This could be because I’m very biased towards Control, but this was a great example of how to merge the settings and traits of both games in an interesting way.

The marital and mad scientist drama was terrible in the best way. I was dying every time one of the Marmonts was “hmmm Wake says we’re going to die horrifically and become monsters, but im personally better than that.”

DR DARLING… <3 He should’ve had more appearances </3

After all the deserved hate directed at AI and producing content rather than art, it was heartwarming to see promotion for Poe. I don’t know the details, but she’s barely been able to release music over the last 20 years (some songs here and there), so having an entire area dedicated to her with links to a (fingers crossed) site about an upcoming Poe project was lovely. Lots of love put towards artists in this.

Ed being there was and thinking he was in an immersive experience was incredibly funny. I’d have to look it up, but was the manuscript page in his room detailing when he was taken HERE and not him dying to taken? Was this DLC happening during the start of aw2 or right before?

I’m in love with Kiran Estevez. She can be judgmental and tries to maintain a level of calm over the situation, but her disgust, fear, humor all shine through in funny ways. Hope that she, along with at least Saga, get to be in Control 2.

Only found this out after checking Reddit (which imo is too harsh over both Night Springs and this DLC), but apparently the Dylan part is skippable. It was SUCH a highlight of this DLC. The shifting environments, the Not-Oldest House, Dylan in the “panopticon” post-Control, etc. was surreal and captivating. Usually with set ups teasers, I don’t particularly care (e.g. the AWE dlc ending was alright!), but man. The way to get it was perfectly strange. Poor Dylan. Just like Control’s “hidden” ending cutscene, this really seems to put Control 2 in the wider NYC.

Having a “person who’s only seen Boss Baby” moment: thought of tma (the podcast) with the tapes, archives, panopticon, all the weird shit. It didn’t influence this game, but I was getting flashbacks to when I listened to it (stopped caring for it, but the first few seasons were fun in a creepypasta way)

I liked the calendar puzzles. I’m not a huge fan of puzzles in games, but these were easy enough to follow without dragging on. however I did spend five minutes confused just because I got Friday and Saturday mixed up :(

The boss fight was easy in story mode lol

Diana brutally killing the taken Jules was one of the only “gross” moments of Remedy’s games and it was great! It’s not much gore, but I’ll take it.

I accidentally pressed the option to instantly destroy (?) the painting :( So im so sorry to Rudolph and I’ll be replaying this dlc soon to see what the other option is.

For my problems, I was sad that the paint monsters were mainly annoying to run from (also they’re cute). I don’t know if it was an issue on my end or a bug, but even once I went to story mode, I still wasn’t finding healing objects until the last fight. The reason I switched to story was only because my low-ish health kept instant killing me by the Painted 😭 Maybe it’s because I haven’t replayed Alan Wake in a while, but this DLC was wildly difficult. If Remedy didn’t add a whole list of assists, I’d be more frustrated, but thankfully it’s there. The map also would keep question marks and loot up even when I interacted.

I prefer the Night Springs DLC, but this was a great look into Estevez, Control, and what art is. Now, Alan Wake 2 is officially done!

[viktorpartner]

CANARIES, NIGHT SHIFT AND THE MAGNUS PROTOCOL (tma/tmagp/arg spoilers)

Along with everyone else in the fandom, I'm also going FERAL after these new ep so excuse this RANT (this is my way of coping with the brain worms, enjoy ;).

Statement begins.

So what's special about the RedCanary story?

Well, apart from it being a direct reference to the original Magnus Institute (at least the one in this new universe), it's also incredibly fascinating as a narrative tool.

For those who are unaware of their history, miners used to employ canaries in cages while they worked as safety systems. The bird's complexion made them specially sensible to gas leaks which killed them instantly. When a canary stoped singing in the middle of the shift, the workers knew that toxic gas was leaking and had enough time to get out of the mines alive before it got to them.

Now why is that relavant to us? Well, the theme of canaries in cages inside mines could be easily applied to the og tma characters. All of them were contained in cages (that is the Magnus Institute) and placed close enough to danger (in their case the paranormal) that only they were aware of its existence while the rest of humanity remained ignorant. That is until the events of the apocalypse when the gas metaphorically leaks everywhere and all humanity is doomed.

However, this proximity to the fears ALWAYS results in the death of the canaries that stayed inside the mines (no i will never get over my blorbos being killed). Everyone involved with the institution dies EXCEPT from Melanie, Georgie and Basira. That is, the only three canaries that actively escaped their cages before the toxic gas got to them.

Therefore, the use of this metaphor at the start of the ep (especially from none other than the voice of Jon Sims, the character who has walked down the path of learning about the entities) is a warning to Sam against investigating the paranormal.

The statement is encountered by Sam because he, above all other characters, is the one who is most likely to end up like Jon and the others. The species of Red Canaries is human breed, therefore Sam being a result of experimentation within The Magnus Institute means he was RAISED to be a canary. Thus, there is an inherent irony on the warning, for it is what PUSHES him to develop an interest on the statements and leads him closer to his tragic destiny.

Another proof that links canaries and the workers at O.I.A.R. is the nature of their habitat. I haven't seen a lot of people talking about it, but there are multiple references in the first and second ep of them working the nightshift. Now, why would a filing job be carried out exclusively at night? (THERE ARE SO MANY REFERENCES TO IT BEING A NIGHTSHIFT I AM NOT KIDDING)

This one is specially interesting because it's the first thing we hear in the podcast. Also Teddy metaphorically being the canary that leaves the mines and the darkness to escape into the outside world and the sun.

Multiple references to it being just the FIRST night of an eternity of nights. (cosmic horror much?)

In any case, there is a parallel between darkness of night and the darkness inside the mines. (or even the entity of the dark, one of the oldest alongside the hunt and the end). I see what you're doing Jonny Sims....

SO YEAH IN CONCLUSION

canaries = characters close to danger (AWARE OF THE ENTITIES)

the miners = the rest of humanity (UNAWARE OF THE ENTITIES)

cages = The Magnus institute/O.I.A.R (TRAPS the canaries)

the fears = toxic gas (HARMS the canaries and miners)

darkness in the mines = the night shift

Statement ends.

*stands in front of a white board with red string linking everything, and the dark scribbled in black marker in the center* I HOPED YOU ENJOYED THIS RANT *tries to fix my disheveled hair that i messed up during the presentation* I AM SO NORMAL ABOUT TMA AND TMAGP Please feel free to discuss in the comments, I NEED THEORIES, I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS WITH SOMEONE!!!

[fabfabanni]

Dungeons & Daddies fic 1/∞ (season 1&2 spoilers)

While I'm thinking if I'd like to keep posting fanfic and where I'd like to post it I might as well share it here. The idea is to write a story about how Grant and Marco met between seasons 1 and 2 of the podcast Dungeons & Daddies. This is Grant's POV. Here goes nothing!

--- It feels like I’m waiting for something. As to what that something is, I have no clue. There’s not much to get excited about nowadays. The red glare of the day is turning into a darker burgundy hue, and all around me, people are getting ready to go home. To families, hobbies, to all kinds of happy sappy mundane things. In theory, that sounds nice, something to go home to. Then again that’s another thing that I would turn to ash just by touching it. 

I pay no mind to the scuffling feet of the other Daddians walking past my office. Not until one pair stops at my door. Tips of sturdy-looking leather boots protrude over the threshold. I bet those are good for running-.

“Hi,” the intruder says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I drag my eyes from the boots to look at the man speaking. He’s wearing dark grey cargo trousers and a black henley shirt. Practical. His hair is wild and all over the place like mine, but it’s black as opposed to my reddish brown. 

“You’re making me work for it, huh?” There’s a smile tugging at his lips. I’m surprised when I don’t find it annoying. 

“What?” I ask, clearing my throat when my voice comes out a little hoarse.

“I said hi. Aren’t you going to greet me back?” He crosses his arms and leans against the doorframe, seemingly settling in. 

“Who are you?” I continue my questioning and marvel at the juxtaposition between his calm features and the way he talks. 

His brow raises just a hint before he says, “Oof. Grant that’s cold.” He knows my name. Well of course he knows my name, it’s plastered all around the HQ along with the others. Still, him saying it sounds different.

He pushes off the doorframe. I lean back in my chair and watch his approach.

“My name is Marco. We sat together at lunch on Monday. You had meatballs with a salad which I thought was mighty weird.”

That does ring a bell. I look him over once more, trying to make the connection. Marco stands all calm in front of my desk and lets me do just that. Picking up a pen from my desk, he begins to fiddle with it. 

I talk over the clicks of the pen. “Yeah, now I remember.”

Marco stills. His eyes harden for a fraction of a second before he speaks. I wouldn’t have noticed it if I wasn’t looking at him so intently.

“Can I take you out? I’d like to get to know you better,” Marco asks.

Based on his reaction it’s safe to assume I’m gawking at him. 

“I have the night shift,” I say. It’s easier to hide behind duty than to face reality. Not to say that running D.A.D.D.I.E.S is not a huge responsibility. Because it is. But even I have enough self-awareness in this moment to realize what I’m saying is bullshit. 

“Breakfast then? I know a place.” His hands land softly on the desk as he speaks. The pen he’s been clicking rolls over the papers and stills next to my phone. I fix my eyes on it and think what I should do. The issue isn’t that I wouldn’t want to go. The point is I shouldn’t. Too much is happening with the projected incursion points and I can’t be distracted.

“It would be my treat,” Marco continues. 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I say honestly. 

“Why is that?” 

That catches me off guard. I thought he would take the rejection and back off. That’s how it often goes, this dance. They come and say I have pretty eyes or they ask about my beard. Betting me they can make me smile is a classic too. It’s usually my cue to finish my drink and get out of the bar my dad runs as a hobby with Uncle Ron. 

“I’m not very good company.” There, that should scare him off.

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” Marco circles the desk and wipes away the reports I was planning to file next. He sits on the desk, bumping his ankles against the wooden side.

“What are you doing?” I ask. With him this close I can see his cargo trousers are well worn, and something is peeking out of the thigh pocket. A book, possibly. He smells comforting somehow, and I hate how much I like that. 

“Are you saying no because you’re not interested?” He makes a show looking me up and down like I did to him. My clothes are the same day in and day out, one decision I’m glad I don’t have to make. At my condo, I have a pile of blue jeans, next to a heap of black t-shirts. I’m like Donald Duck in that sense, but at least I wear pants. My uncle is rich though and he has a weird history with trousers, so I guess the connections don’t end with the lack of variety in my outfits.

“No,” I find myself admitting. “I am. Interested.”

“Good,” Marco muses. “Then it’s settled. I’ll come pick you up in the morning and we’ll go get pancakes.”

He stands up but doesn’t make a move to leave. He’s waiting for me to respond. There’s no urgency in his posture, and I wonder what that must feel like. To be that chill. I am so tightly wound that most of the time it feels like I could burst. I want to study this man and see what he’s made of. See if he really is like the true sunshine we’ve not seen for years, or if all of this is a clever front.

“Fine. But I have a feeling you’ll regret it,” I finally get out.

Marco chuckles, then walks backwards to the door. 

“Good night, Grant,” he murmurs before he disappears to the flow of people going home. It takes me a while to remember what I was doing before he came in. The reports are a mess across my desk, confidential documents I shouldn’t have let him see. 

The thing I find most confusing is why Marco came to me. I’m not going to humour myself and think I have a good reputation at the company. Everyone knows I’ll bite if they get too close. My temper is like a badly trained chihuahua crammed into the body of a tibetan mastiff. Way too much firepower wrapped into something that can do a lot of damage. And damage I have done, enough to know there’s no going back. 

I take my gun and holster from the drawer and fasten it to my hip. Next comes the bulletproof vest. It’s hung under my desk like this is an aeroplane, and putting it on will save my life if we crash. It will not. I pile the handwritten papers messily on top of each other and cram them into the safe. Analog is the only safe way to go about this mission. 

I close the door behind me and go see the whale.

[veil-touched-rights-org]

Hello again! Welcome to part 2 of the series in which I look back at Night Shift episodes and highlight moments that stand out to me both in a look back and that made me stop then. (Part 1 can be found here: Night Shift Lookback Ep. 1). Again, this will be very long, as it covers an entire episode (the second one this time) and will have tagged spoilers, and this series is tagged both for that and as “the veil opens”. 

The transcripts are pulled from the Night Shift Web Site: (https://www.nightshiftpod.com/). 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Content warnings: murder, body horror, mutation, discussion of in-world prejudices, allusions to depression and disease.” End ID]. 

As these are the content warnings for this episode, they are also applicable here - I’ll also be tagging this appropriately, but I thought a warning up front would be nice. 

Enjoy this look back!

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Sebastian: Welcome back to the Night Shift podcast. Before we get into this week’s investigation, I want to thank Nocturne Studios right here in Echor City for seeing potential in my show and offering to support the production. And, I want to thank all of you, for giving these stories a chance.” End ID.] 

Look, I’m aware that the reason this episode blew up and got Sebastian a studio backer and such is probably the surprise Volta interview, but I choose to believe that it's just because he’s a very charming and funny guy, and everyone fell in love with him as quickly as I did.

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama that reads: "preternatural". End ID.]

Hello again to my favorite word <3

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama that reads: “Sebastian: I’m speaking with one of the coffee shop regulars. We’ll call him Quin. It’s a little - a lot, surprising that he’s actually initiating a conversation. Don’t get me wrong, Quin’s a polite guy, he’ll respond if you talk to him. But honestly, if he had his way, he’d come in like he does every Friday, sit at his usual table, and not talk to anyone. I think North is the only person to ever successfully hold a conversation with this guy, until now.” End ID.] 

Introducing Quin in this episode, and with the things that he goes on to say about the veil touched and how one can come to fear and be uncomfortable in their own body was such a smart move. It sets up a lot about his character in such an amazing way. Like, it goes to show where he is when we first meet him (and where he’s been before that) and how far he ends up growing as time passes). 

Not only do we get that he’s trying to largely pass under the radar, we get that he is a person uncomfortable with who he is, and who despite both of those things is a regular (and therefore recognizable) at a coffee shop, and willing to give an interview about the thing that drove him to this point. With that, his later willingness to start “not a revolution”/safe haven for the veil touched makes so much sense and has a clear origin point. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “[Cut to coffee shop] Justin: It’s contagious as hell. If you come into contact with a Shade, you’re gonna get Veil sick. Or worse, you’ll turn too.” End ID.] 

Okay, so a few things - #1, this is a show of the kind of bigotry that I think is the most common - like the person won’t outright discriminate against them, or say anything to them, but the bigoted thoughts are still there, and the idea of being one them is terrifying to you. And using Justin (who very much strikes me as an “everyman”) to have this was a smart idea. 

#2, I get that Seb needs to protect Styx and what he knows about Styx (and really I could have used a few places for this) but the fact that he never stands up for the veil-touched here sort of bewilders me. Mostly because later he very much does, almost to his own danger. Like, I assume here he just isn’t sure how much he can say without drawing suspicion, or maybe is still trying for an objective journalist vibe, but it’s so unlike later Sebastian that its almost whiplash inducing looking back. (It's also a little upsetting to see him not stand up for his friend, despite seeing what he does later tells me that he has reasons.) 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “He was… not as bad as I expected. Pretty standoffish, like every second of his time was more precious than a year of my life could ever be. I won’t stretch to say I like the guy, but I’ll consider retracting my statement that he’s the devil… maybe.” End ID.] 

Does their relationship count as like, one-sided rivals to lovers? Sebastian starting with like, “this man is the worst” and going into “he’s fine, I guess” and finally landing on “oh shit, I’m desperately in love with him”. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “But looking good does not justify someone’s actions. He might not have held me down and forced experimental science on me at the table, but the verdict is still out on whether there’s a soul behind that self-satisfied, strategic smile.” End ID.] 

Sebastian being like “some people call him doctor sexy, and those people are right. But he’s still an asshole. A sexy asshole though”. It’s so good for him. 

The guy also gets so caught up on the idea of being experimented on, and I suspect that it has something to do with things we haven’t discovered yet about his childhood (possibly even his time in the Harmony House?). Because this comes out a number of times and while I think the fact that it later happens is rich irony, and a good source of conflict, I can’t help but feel like something else is also being set up that we’ll discover later. Especially because while we have such small amounts of knowledge about the Harmony House, what we do know actually sets up some of that as a possibility. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “His dogs are great, though. Apollo and Zeus, they’re both dobermans, and they’re trained enough to respond to the tap of his foot. Not very professional of me, but I did beg to pet them. They’re perfect.” End ID]

Zeus and Apollo <3 I love dogs, and in fact also have a dog named after Apollo, so this is always a fun thing to stop on. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Sebastian: I’m speaking with Dr. Felix Feldman, at South Point Psychiatrics. I’ve known him for more than 10 years. If there’s anyone who can shed some light on the science behind psychosis, it’s Feldman.” End ID.]

So, I think it's important to critique the things you love, and to recognize that they aren’t perfect, and this is the first place where I sit with a critique I noticed on my first listen through. So, psychosis is actually not what leads to antisocial traits (at least not innately - like any other condition it varies, you know?). From what I’ve read and researched and heard from people who experience psychosis, it's essentially delusions of various sorts (this can mean hallucinations, or other forms of delusion). I don’t think this was a deliberate thing, especially because they’ve seemingly written Sebastian as someone who may be experiencing some amount of psychosis himself, but it was definitely off-putting here. 

Additionally, there’s a sort of thing in media where people write personality disorders - and especially Cluster B personality disorders (such as antisocial personality disorder) as evil and harmful, and again while I didn’t outright get that here, it was still alluded to enough that I wasn’t comfortable leaving it completely unaddressed as I went through this episode. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads “North: Before Delaney had mutated! Sebastian: Exactly. Doesn’t that strike you as kind of weird? North: Definitely… but I mean… we don’t know how any of it works, like you said. End ID.]

I love how this started as “Here’s why there’s stigma” and quickly escalated to “okay, so I think he was framed” 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Sebastian: (to recorder) I might not understand the science, but I know someone who will. [Sound: outgoing FaceTime call] Sebastian: Thank you for agreeing to speak to me again, Dr. Volta.” End ID.]

The fact that after Seb mentioned Volta he was just like “here have my personal phone number” is so funny to me. Like, I understand why considering it was his formula and stuff, but Sebastian didn’t know that - he just knew that he got this guy’s number after one conversation.

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Sebastian: If you don’t mind, I have a question on a different subject? Angelo: (displeased) Am I being recorded right now? I’m not your personal encyclopedia, Mr. Fen. Sebastian: I know, sorry. I’m not going to press you for answers again. I just wanted a professional opinion on something, to go with cell mutation? I don’t know who else to ask. Angelo: Make it quick. End ID.]

Even funnier than Angelo just giving Sebastian his number is him being willing to answer unrelated questions. He might complain about it, but those questions will be answered. I don’t know if it the ever-present charm of Sebastian Fen, or just that he likes being complimented, but this scene speaks to something in the way they interact with each other, even from the start. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: Angelo: It’s a small department. Most of them are just…Rift Chasers. End ID.]

I know more than one person who would do this. Like, storm chasing is a whole thing, and it really is in my area, so I can’t help but imagine the amateur storm chasers I know doing this as well. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “Sebastian: The thing is, we have to accept that Shades are out there. Fear is only going to cause a greater divide between us and these people who are, at the basest level, just affected by a condition we don’t understand. The lack of research into Shades has to change if we’re going to learn how to co-exist. So the next time you see or hear about a Shade, stop and think to yourself for a second: if it were me, how would I want to be treated?” End ID.]

Okay Seb, I appreciate the effort here, and based on what we know about this world it’s probably at the stage where this is needed, but I can’t help but think of an after-school special when I hear this. 

[Image ID: A portion of a Night Shift: An Urban Fantasy Audio Drama transcript that reads: “(quietly) Not now… (nervous laugh) hold it together… [Sound: shuffling around, opening cupboard, pill bottle] (quietly I’m not paying you any attention. End ID.]

This is what I was saying about the whole “Seb seems to have psychosis here” thing. There is a possibility that this has more to do with how he also seems to open the veil whenever he gets stressed - like a connection to the veil & what is inside of it, but even if that is the case, the way it presents and is treated is very much like a psychosis. (Which I actually love! We need more psychotic characters, it’s an underrepresented and over-stigmatized group!)

That’s all for episode two!! Hope y’all enjoyed this run down! If you have thoughts feel free to share :) Have a great one :D 

[nightshiftpodcast]

What other jobs did Seb do before becoming a barista? I think I vaguely remember him being in some kind of tech field being mentioned (but then again I have brain fog so not sure if that's correct lol), is there anything else he did? And speaking of jobs, has Angelo been at Augur for the entirety of his career or did he also work somewhere else?

Angelo, smart as he is, graduated university as a young teenager and as Hastings points out in episode 10, has been working for Augur since his teens too...

Seb does mention having been in a tech field in episode 16! His full resume is written up in our Coffee Shop bonus book but I'll share it below!

(if you like extra lore like this, the full book is available with all the others on our merch store here, and at a discount as an add-on to any tier on our S2 crowdfund which has just under a week to go!)

[incohorace]

oooh so he's not just obsessed with augur corp – he's obsessed with volta too. i wonder if it's just fascination or if they have history? either way is fascinating but the resentment with which volta's name is always spoken has not been lost on me lmao

[green-eyes-and-orange-ties]

30 Days of Echor: Week 3 - Backdrops

A rainy bus stop in the Silk Meadows, the warehouse district

[ID: There's a bus stop lit in soft yellow light, with an Augur advert at the far end of the bus stop. A traffic light next to the bus stop is green and a cars red rear lights can be seen just beyond the traffic lights. The green traffic light and red car lights are reflecting off the water on the sidewalk.]