#the veil opens

[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. 

[scatterbrainedart]

Chat. I may have gone a bit overboard

[rin-hanarin]

Missing my Warden hours.

[voidmarkd]

#voidmarkd; an indie, selective and fandomless portrayal of Atlas Fitzgerald, featuring themes as life in a coven, rebirth through death, marked by the void, necromancy, betrayal and abandonment, the blood and the burden, keeper of forgotten graves, [ . . . ] mutuals only. 21+. low activity. eng/ger. ♱ carrd ♱ memes ♱ open starters

[ayyy-imma-ninja]

The Veil has opened.

[choicesmcappreciationweek]

Hello and be welcome to the Choices MC Appreciation Week of 2025! Years ago, user beaumontbash created this wonderful event where we had the opportunity to gush and show off about the wonderful and rich MCs in the fandom, and I have decided to bring back this awesome tradition!

Before I give you the prompts, here's some ground rules and things to have in mind during the event:

• You aren't obligated to post for every day! You can post any day you feel like

•The MC doesn't have to be yours

• OCs are welcome and encouraged!

•This event is MC-OC centric, and while a mention of LIs and other characters is welcome, please focus on the MCs

• Everything is welcome! From a screenshot of your MC and some fun facts, to meta and art and fanfiction!

• Posting about your friend/mutual's MCs is counted as an entry and highly encouraged!!!

• Be kind and respectful to one another. MC/OC and user bashing is extrictly prohibited

• Remember to have fun and don't be afraid to check the tag #choicesmcaw25 to see more OCs and MCs!

And now, onto the prompts...

Day One: Straight A+ Students

From The Elementalists, to Ride or Die, Roommates with Benefits, High School Story... Any MC who's a student, show them some love on this day!

Day Two: Terrific Heroes

From the It Lives Anthology, Terror Fest, Wake the Dead, Haunting of Braidwood Manor... Any MC who is involved in everything horror, today's your chance to show some love!

Day Three: Iconic Celebrities

From Platinum, Red Carpet Diaries, Hollywood U... Show some love to that MC that made it big!

Day Four: Awesome Adventurers

From Hero, to Endless Summer, to Blades of Light and Shadow, this is the day to show some love to those brave MCs!

Day Five: Nosy Detectives

From Veil of Secrets, Murder at Homecoming to Crimes of Passion, let us show some love to those MCs who always dig deeper

Day Six: Historic People

From Desire and Decorum to The Royal Masquerade to A Courtesan of Rome, today we show some love to those MCs who made history in the Choicesverse

Day Seven: LGBT+ and Proud

From All of Us, to Bachelorette Party, to Foreign Affairs... Any MC who is part of the community and didn't make an appearance on the other prompts, today's the day to show them off!

The event will be done on February, from the 3rd to the 9th! So start piling your MCs, dust off those WIPs and get ready!

Love,

noe aka @rosesnink

[seanceofghouls]

Hi I’m seance and trying to raise funds to move out of an abusive household. i updated our comms list to be a bit more affordable and reflect more recent art. So if you have the spare money please consider commissioning me, im more than willing to haggle on the price as well (within reason)! If you can’t buy then please share. I am disabled and unable to work so commissions are my only source of income. I’m also open to NSFW commissions, just DM me for pricing and examples!

[aeonophagic]

SCORCHED EARTH

[rhaenyratargeryn]

Replaying DAI and always shocked how I get to Skyhold and literally one convo in and Solas is hitting Lavellan with that sweet sweet Fade tongue.

All she had to do was follow him around and ask a MILLION questions while blatantly hinting she wants to tap it and he is shaking, vibrating with longing.

[respectthepetty]

Jack & Joker's finale will premiere at a theater then the following week is YinWar's fan meet, but I need everyone to remember that two years ago, they delivered the sauciest opening outfits to their concert, Partner in Crime, which has now lead us here to an amazing series with hopefully more to come.

[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 

[ib-gomes]

Both of the sketches ended up being sold and I definitelly loved working on those two beautiful characters 💖

[valentineveils]

🚬 ✨️

[rookinthecrownest]

woe, a Rook be upon ye this NYE

some more doodles of my still unnamed Rook Aldwir. Trying to get used to drawing her. i dont know anything about her but i love her. i low key want to connect her to Merrill somehow, because i also LOVE Merrill so much.

[the-nation-of-today]

The people’s princess everyone

[theshotsheardacrossworlds]

Agi and Emmrich at the Lighthouse

Took some shots in photo mode last night of these two hanging out pre-Weisshaupt <3