What the host!

Hi folks,

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

We wanted to start this week off with a little sneak peek at the teams behind our upcoming projects! We’re delighted to be working with so many talented individuals.

(Image description: The background is a gradient, black to grey, from top to bottom. Text at the top reads: RQ Originals. The Trice Forgotten show artwork is on the left. On the right are three photographs: Nemo Martin (Creator/Lead Writer), Morgan Givens (Director/Writer), Rafaella Marcus (Writer).)

(Image description: The background is a gradient, black to grey, from top to bottom. Text at the top reads: RQ Originals. The Cry Havoc! Ask Questions Later show artwork is on the left. On the right are ten photographs. From top left they are: Amani Zardoe (Director), David K. Barnes (Creator/Lead Writer), Grace Knight (Writer), Robert Valentine (Writer), Sarah Shachat (Writer), Rhys Tirado (Writer), Octavia Bray (Writer), Maud Dromgoole (Writer), Tom Crowley (Writer), Rafaella Marcus (Writer).)

(Image description: The background is a gradient, black to grey, from top to bottom. Text at the top reads: RQ Originals. The Chapter and Multiverse show artwork is on the left. On the right are nine photographs. From top to bottom they are: Maddy Searle (Director/Creator), Ben Meredith (Performer), Lydia Nicholas (Performer), Ahmed Aljbray (Performer), Shamini Bundell (Performer), Lowri Ann Davies (Performer), Helen Gould (Performer), Connie Chang (Performer), Pip Gladwin (Performer).)

Please join us in welcoming these incredible people, both new and old, to the RQ Team!

It’s been another busy week here at Rusty Towers, as we get ready for Enthusigasm season 2, which officially launches next week! This new season will contain even more special guests, more laughs and more enthusiasm as host Helen Gould chats about their favourite things. While I won’t spoil anything, we’ve been listening, and there’s several much-requested topics being covered. We’ve already started recording and have had a lot of fun. If you haven’t listened to season one yet, now is the time to try it out. If you’re not sure where to start, why not try out one of my personal highlights:

• Sue Sims in EGSM 4: Hobbitry and other joys, showing off her significant academic expertise about Tolkien
• Lydia Nicholas’ chickens making a guest appearance in EGSM 6: Small friends
• Hannah Preisinger, in EGSM 11: We want to believe, revealing her kindergarten teacher thought she was an alien messiah

As a small patreon treat, Helen was kind enough to do a short interview about the upcoming series!

Tell us who you are and a bit about your podcast

I'm Helen Gould, who you may know as Azu from Rusty Quill Gaming or Enola from Stellar Firma (or, if you're really into the details, Laverne from The Magnus Archives!). I am now the host and director of a podcast called Enthusigasm, where I talk to other podcasters and creators about the things we enjoy and why - like pirates, writing, cinematography, jazz, horror literature, and so on.

We've just finished our first public season, but since you're a Patron, you may have already come across the 12 episode pilot season that we put out as a Patreon exclusive back in 2020. That feels like a very long time ago now!

What do you like about podcasts?

In terms of making them: honestly, I like working with such talented people. Marisa, Tessa, Cathy, Jeffrey and Lowri are all such absolute joys, and I'm incredibly grateful to know them. They all care so much and work so hard, and I'm truly humbled every time I hear a finished episode. I'm so, so lucky.

In terms of listening to podcasts, honestly, I like that it takes the boring edge off of doing stuff around the house! I usually listen to podcasts when I'm doing the dishes, cooking, tidying up my clutter, things like that. I like that I can learn about new stuff (usually history or media criticism) whilst making my living space a bit nicer. Podcasts just make the mundane things in life a bit more enjoyable; and I am grabbing onto every piece of joy I can get these days.

What are you most proud of about your show? What should we look forward to in season 2?

Hmm. Well, since I've already talked about the team and how much I appreciate the work they put in, I'll choose another sentimental thing: that the guests genuinely seem to have a good time talking to each other. Nobody has ever gotten heated with each other or had a serious argument, even when they've all been strangers before coming on the show. I'm really proud that the show seems to be such a positive experience for everyone.

In season two, well, it's more of the same stuff: more laughter, more thoughts, more weird anecdotes! We recently recorded an episode on style that was really joyous, and I think our audience will really like it. It's one of my favourites that we've done; as the kids say, it cleared my skin and watered my crops.

***

This week on Rusty Quill Gaming, we’re sharing the final part of Into the Wilds. Next week, we will have part one of the post-campaign Q&A with Alex and the cast, where some of your most burning questions from the show will be answered. If you weren’t able to submit questions for this first part, or you’ve thought of new ones, don’t forget about that we’ve reopened the mailbag for a second round of questions!

You should also make sure that you’ve signed up to join us for the RQG live event – you can find the link here.

Finally, here is our weekly transcript update. As always, this is also available on the website.

We are working our way through Rusty Quill Gaming transcripts doing some checks and making some corrections. We intend to release shortly, though a number of transcripts will still require some work after launch as we hone and improve.

We have nearly completed Stellar Firma transcripts reformatting.

We are most of the way through reformatting The Magnus Archives transcripts.

You can expect another update next Monday.

Here is our full schedule for this week:

Tue 1st February

RQG – Into the Wilds Part 3 (Patreon) (4pm GMT)

Wed 2nd February

RQG – Into the Wilds Part 3 (Public) (4pm GMT)

Thu 3rd February

EGSM – Season 2 Trailer (Patreon) (4pm GMT)

Fri 4th February

KNIGHTS+ Bonus – Rusty Bits: Casper & the Chair (4pm GMT)

EGSM – Season 2 Trailer (Public) (4pm GMT)

Sat 5th February

Weekend Puzzle

Have a good week all!

The Rusty Quill team