Pirates and Protocols

Hi folks,

Wishing you the very best for the coming week from everyone at Rusty Towers!

Last week, we shared a pretty exciting update about The Magnus Protocol. If you haven’t yet read it, check out our Vast Update here for some updates on the release schedule, the production, and a first look at some of the cast and characters that will be in the show. This information is currently exclusive to our Patreons and our Kickstarter backers, but we will be sharing it publicly later this week.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our frankly very relaxing and heartwarming stream of The Forest at the end of last week. Despite apparently being a “horror survival game” Jonny and Sasha somehow managed to avoid a lot of the horrors and just have the most lovely time. If you weren’t able to join us, you can catch the VOD on Twitch and on our YouTube channel very shortly.

Next up, we have some good news from the RQ Network – Selene a supernatural mystery podcast, has joined the RQ Network today. As always, we spoke to the creator of Selene, Aaron Reardon to find out more about the show.

Tell us who you are and a bit about Selene?

My name is Aaron J. Reardon and I create the narrated audiodrama Selene as well as some upcoming shows under the Clever > Than banner. I’ve worked as a writer and creative producer in various roles. I’ve written a bit for TV and Film and dabbled in audio production and design for theatre. My sense of humour may best be described as dark irony. When I was a child someone made the mistake of saying I was gifted, but it’s ok, they’re dead now.

What got you into podcasting?

I’ve always loved old radio programs; I fall asleep at night listening to Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes (Petri Wines!) or Twilight Zone. I looked for an outlet where I could combine my writing and audio work. I originally created a vintage music radio show called Moonlight Affair and produced a few episodes. As it evolved, I read letters as the host and added news updates. The news updates inspired the ongoing story of Selene. I started looking into the audiodrama community and I immediately listened to some of the amazing RQ shows and was greatly inspired to embrace the audio fiction medium. Everyone is supportive of each other; new creators are greatly encouraged. As a devout retroist, it seemed like the right place for me. I think I’ll stick around for a bit.

What are you most proud about Selene.

Someone recently recommended Seleneto anyone looking for something ‘weird’. I’ve never been so proud. I like to make things that are just a little out of reach, but if you stick with it, it pays off. It’s imperfect and sometimes silly, but if you let go and are along for the ride, then it can be a good deal of fun. Each season of Selenetackles a slightly different tone and mood – Standing Corpse is a film noir murder mystery, The Duchess Hotel is a darkly whimsical story with songs and rhyming inspired by Edward Gorey. The Sotto Voce is a horror story about children trapped in a haunted house with original takes on classical music. The fact that Selene can embrace all of this is really satisfying as a creator. Keeps it interesting for me and hopefully the listeners.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I’m very excited to launch with the RQ network - Selene will be in great company among legendary originals and RQ network shows. I’m a bit humbled to be honest at the other creator talent on display. It’s a pleasure to join an independent network.

I’m hoping with this launch we find some new inhabitants of Selene. If you like what you hear you can always get direct links to show music, alternate artwork, BTS – as well as pick Minerva’s Solutions, the vintage ads before every show – join us over at our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Cleverthan.

You can listen to Selene wherever you find podcasts, or on the Rusty Quill website! As always, if you enjoy the show, please consider leaving a review or a star rating, as it is the easiest way to support a show and help it reach more listeners.

Finally, in this week’s episode of Cry Havoc Antyllus and Octavia are still being held hostage by the pirate Sextus Pompey. While Gaius and Mark continue to argue about the next tactic, Lepidus is having a difficult time dealing with the stress of the situation and Octavia is struggling with a very different problem…

On Friday, we have another Backstage episode. This week, it’s all about pirates! Joining host Lowri this week is creator David K Barnes, Octavia Bray and Tom Crowley.

Here is our full schedule for this week:

Tuesday 22nd August

ROME 12 – Hostage to Fortune (Patreon) (4pm BST)

Thursday 24th August

ROME 12 – Hostage to Fortune (Public) (4pm BST)

Friday 25th August

KNIGHTS+ bonus – Backstage: Writing Pirates (Patreon) (4pm BST)

Have a good week all!

The Rusty Quill team