Date published: 01/18/2020
Written by: Wil Williams
Produced by: Wil Williams
Hi. The first episode of VALENCE is out. And Wil feels weird. But mostly, Wil feels really thankful.
About Scoring Magic – Scoring Magic is presented by Hug House Productions. You can support us for behind-the-scenes details and early previews of upcoming projects on Patreon.
TRANSCRIPT
WIL
Okay, folks. It’s here. VALENCE episode 1, Pros and Cons, is out now. You can listen to it. Please listen to it.
The podcast we’ve been working so hard on for so long is in full swing. And I feel . . . weird.
This week, on Scoring Magic, I want to reflect a little, give some thanks, and tell you all about what it feels like to have gotten this far.
[[INTRO MUSIC]]
WIL
But first, some housekeeping. This time, it’s about Scoring Magic, not VALENCE! This is the last full-length episode of Scoring Magic for this season. Now that VALENCE is being released, Scoring Magic is going to keep to the same schedule, but we’re going to hop down to little mini episodes. Sometimes, these will be reflections on the most recent episode of VALENCE. Sometimes, they’ll be something we wanted to cover in the first season of Scoring Magic that we didn’t have time for, or that didn’t quite merit a full episode. So don’t worry, we’re not going away—we’re just going to have shorter episodes for a little while.
[[MUSIC]]
WIL
A few months ago, back when I was still working at my day job, I spent a lot of time moping with Katie and Anne about not being able to spend the VALENCE release weekend with them. At the time, it just seemed too expensive, too superfluous, and too difficult to manage with my vacation time.
Little did I know that Katie, Anne, and my own husband Zach, are heart criminals, and they had been scheming. While working one day, Anne and Katie messaged me that they had a surprise, and to let them know when I could take a second to call them.
[[FIELD AUDIO — WAITING ON TRANSCRIPTION]]
WIL
So, last weekend, I flew across the country to be with some of my best friends in the world while we awaited the episode drop. On Saturday, sweet Joshy and Alex took the train down from the city to New Jersey to hug us and listen to the first three episodes, and also goof and goof and goof.
[[FIELD AUDIO — WAITING ON TRANSCRIPTION]]
WIL
And then the episode was out, and people were responding, and they liked it. On the first day, we got 277 listens, and as of recording this on January 16th, we have 544 listens for Episode 1, and 1484 listens for VALENCE overall. Which feels like a lot, and should feel really good! And a lot of people have been saying good things, which should feel really good!
But Scoring Magic isn’t about talking ourselves up. It’s also about being real. And if I’m being real right now . . . I mostly just feel weird. Weird, and vulnerable, and terrified, and unfortunately, kind of unsatisfied. And I hate saying that. It’s embarrassing to say. I feel like I should just be stoked and grateful, and it’s embarrassing to admit that that isn’t the full truth.
[[FIELD AUDIO — WAITING ON TRANSCRIPTION]]
WIL
It’s weird to realize that I do want people to like my art. It’s weird to realize how vulnerable I feel against criticism when criticism is literally my job. And it’s weird to be telling all of you all of this.
In the days since I’ve come back, and thanks to, like, twelve hours of sleep, things have started to feel more real. And it’s started to hit me just how proud I am of all of this. I still feel weird. And I still feel nervous. And I don’t know if I have the capability to feel satisfied ever with anything ever.
But what I do feel is really grateful to everyone who’s helped me get here.
WIL
First, I want to say thank you to Zach, who has been there for me in way too many ways to count or say or even fully fathom. He was there for me when Liam was first built as a character. He was there for me telling me that maybe Liam shouldn’t only have lightning spells in our D&D campaign, even though I completely ignored him. He was there for me when I did NaNoWriMo, when I wanted to quit writing, when I took chunks out of the days to keep writing, and when I tried to get rid of copies of Stabl when it was completed. He was there making duplicate copies of it and hiding them in high-up places I couldn’t reach, just in case. And he’s been there for me every step of making the podcast—reading scripts, listening to drafts, walking me through every decision and frustration that I’ve overthought. And he’s been here for me when, like Liam, my mental health has taken nosedives so sharp I can hardly function. I don’t know what I’d do without him, and VALENCE wouldn’t be what it is without him by my side.
Hey, nerd. I love you.
Next, I want to thank my therapist. Because, like . . . c’mon. If you are in a position to go to therapy, I really cannot recommend it highly enough, especially if you find a therapist as killer as Cathyann. If there’s one thing you should take away from VALENCE, it’s “therapy good, actually.”
And, of course, Anne and Katie. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for helping make my art what it’s supposed to be. Thank you for being patient with me. Thank you for pushing me when I need to be pushed. Thank you for not letting me give up. Thank you for understanding me. Thank you for being goofy in exactly the same way as me. And thank you for sticking with me through this all. You are family. You are my siblings to me like Flynn and Liam are siblings.
Thank you to Julia who understands this world and what it feels like so well. Thank you for taking my absolute mess of synesthesia experiences and turning them into actual sounds. Thank you for your patience, and your guidance, and your friendship, and the many, many times you’ve helped me feel more confident and understood and really held through this process.
And thank you to all of our actors, who will be receiving personalized notes of thanks when this episode goes live. I was gonna write them all out, but then there were so many of you, and I wanted to thank you each for so much, but then it took so long and this episode is already long and also I kept crying. So, long story short: thank you all for caring about this story that means so much to me. Thank you all for your patience, your dedication, your willingness to improvise and be weird, your genuine understanding of your characters, and your buckwild amount of talent. But thank you for becoming part of this family. Thank you for being such wonderful friends. I love you all.
And thank you to me. We really got this far, my guy. We really did it. And that’s something to be really proud of.
[[OUTRO MUSIC]]
WIL
Scoring Magic is a Hug House Production. You can find out more about our other projects and information on podcast consultations at HugHouse.Productions. You can find information on VALENCE by going to VALENCEpod.com.