Making of Otter Things 5 & 6 | SWM+ Sneak Peek

Making of Otter Things 5 & 6 | SWM+ Sneak Peek

 

[START OF RECORDING]

 

SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is another making-of episode. It’s kinda like a watchalong, too. This will have a intro from a old episode of Sleep With Me, then Otter…me talking about Otter Things and corresponding episodes of TV shows that inspired it. So, this is a little bit different, these making-of things we did with Great British Bake-Off and Otter Things. It was stuff like back when…I don't know. When I’m recording this we're trying to get back to that point where listener support was strong and we're able to do all sorts of experimental stuff like this and now everybody benefits from it. That’s gonna be continued to be the case for the podcast. When the people that benefit the most from the podcast support the show back, we're able to do a lot more for everybody, and this is just another example of it. So, thanks so much, everybody, and here’s Scoots…or here’s something from Scoots. I don't know if it’ll be future Scoots or past Scoots. Thanks.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and friends beyond the binary, it’s time for the podcaster who, again, is not a padcaster. But if I was in Ronkonkoma I’d say I was a padcaster, or my…one of my relatives might say, are you working on your padcast? I’d say, no, that’s not quite the right accent for Ronkonkoma, Scoots. I’d say, you're right, but I’m not good at accents. I’m good at accentuating the fact that you deserve a good night's sleep and accent…over…I don't know if there’s an over-accentuation. Over-extended accentuations; that’s what I said on my last…that’s what it said on my last accentuations statement. It said I was over-extended on my accentuations. That makes me want to say, Conjunction Junction, what’s your function? Well, I know my function. It’s to make Sleep With Me, the podcast that’s here to put you to sleep. If you're a regular listener and none of this…or if you're new, none of this is important. If you're a regular listener, the next part is how we bring the show twice a week, or remember to look it up when your hand hits the fridge tomorrow. It’ll all be in the show notes.

INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake. It could be thoughts, things you're thinking about, things on your mind, feelings, so any emotions coming up for you related to the feelings or the thoughts or they're just emoting, they're just there, or physical sensations, it could be changes in routine…routine or time or temperature, whatever it is. It could be many, many, many things.

 

Whatever it is, I’d like to take your mind off of that. What I’m gonna do is…what I propose to do is…whatever’s keeping you awake, I’d like to take your mind off that. What I’m gonna do is I’m gonna send my voice…is there another part? Keep you up…tossing, turning, mind racing, trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep…I can't remember the next part. Forgetfulness; that might keep me up later. Yeah, whatever is keeping you awake, I’d like to take your mind off of that. That’s exactly what I’d like to do. I don't think I can do it in a straightforward way. But the way I’m gonna do it…and I did get distracted because I was supposed to remember something and now I can't remember what I was supposed to remember. So, I gotta apologize to the listener who tried to remind me.

 

Hopefully I’ll remember what they told me to remember. But I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night. I use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, superfluous tangents, I’m gonna go off topic, I’m gonna get mixed up and confused…oh boy, all those things. Upcoming on this episode of Sleep With Me; pointless meanders, creaky, dulcet tones, holy moly, superfluous tangents, ideally creating a safe place to take your mind off of stuff as you drift off. Now, a few important things to know if you're new. One is…if you're new is that this show does not work for everybody, though there are a few people it has worked for immediately.

 

Like, ninety percent of people say that the first two or three tries they didn’t like the show or they were feeling ambivalent or uncertain or skeptical or they just weren't into it. Sometimes that’s 'cause you have expectations of something different and sometimes it’s because you're just waiting to see what happens, and then the second or third time you realize, well, nothing’s really happening. So, then it can…so, just kinda…so, if you're having any of those reactions, that’s totally normal. Creaky…you say, how many other podcasts have creaky, dulcet tones? You say, I don't know. The Barn Door Cast has creaky, dulcet tones. The Old Garage…Old Wooden Garage Door Podcast has them. That one podcast from the swamp…I don't know which…I can't remember what it’s called, though. What else?

 

The Creaky Dulcet Cast…actually, they have the sweetest voices, but they talk about…I think that’s just a tribute cast. Yeah, I’m not really sure. Okay. What was my point? I don't know about that one, either, Scoots. So…oh, so the first thing to know is, yeah, this podcast does not work for everybody, but for ninety percent of the people that it worked for, it took two or three tries, which that’s kind of actually a hundred percent better than most sleep solutions. I’m not trying to brag, but maybe even more than that. I’m not good at math, either. Because usually for me, it’s the opposite. I try something once and it works or…and I try it again; it might work, and then the third time I try it, it doesn't work anymore.

 

Or whatever the other things…I said, oh, it made me groggy the next day or, oh, I woke…so, Sleep With Me actually works the reverse of most sleep solutions. You say, most of the time…the first time it doesn't work. It drives you up a wall. But then the second or third time it gets more effective. That’s what I’m saying. That’s why I’m laughing, 'cause I didn’t realize the irony. I made almost 900 episodes, or this may even be around 900. I don't even know. So, that’s pretty funny to me. I’m sorry, but it is. I say, wait a second, this is one of the few sleep solutions that’s…doesn't really work initially, but then it starts to work regularly. So, give it a few tries 'cause there’s really no investment other than your time, so just kinda see how it goes. Also, don’t try to…this kinda piggybacks on that; don’t try to make sense of it.

 

That’s another thing I never thought of that doesn't go with bedtime but I gotta point it out; piggybacking. No piggybacking…well, okay, there are exceptions leading up to bedtime, but we’ll get into that. But so, yeah, give it a few tries and don’t try to figure the podcast out. It’s best consumed in a loose, out-of-focus way, 'cause it doesn't make any sense initially or later on. You say, wow, as soon as I realized it doesn't make any sense, I got…and that Scoots…if Scoots was heading towards a point, he would go in a different direction. Building on that, it’s a podcast you don’t need to listen to. You could just barely listen, and it’s not so much meant to put you to sleep as to be here as you fall asleep, to keep you company as you drift off. So, it’s more of your bedtime companion.

 

I’m gonna try to be your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-bud, your bore-bestie versus something more grand. But though, being a bore-bestie, you can't really do better than that, can you? Which is like, your best bore-friend…best bore-friend…BBF. BBFs. Best friends, right? BB…best…how come…isn't there three letters in best, best friend? Best…BBF. Don’t they say BBF? Or they just say BF, my best friend? Yeah, I’m your BBF, your best bore-friend. I may be missing something in there, but that’s one of the keys to the podcast. So, those are a few things to know. The other thing that can get…throw people off is the structure of the show, and I guess the reason…someone reminded me recently…they were like, Scoots, can you remember to mention in the intro something? Then I said, no problem.

 

I’ll just…you might have to remind me again. I think it’s that some people the podcast works for the first time, but it could be something else, and I’ll try to find their e-mail and re-read it because…but yeah, do this part of the show for everybody because then…I don't know. So, if you're new, those are some things to remember. The other thing that could throw new listeners off — but regular listeners like it — is the structure of the show. So, the show starts off with a few minutes of…the show starts off with a greeting; ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, friends beyond the binary, so you know you're welcome here, then we go into business. That’s how we bring the show out twice a week.

 

Then there’s an intro, and the intro’s around twelve to eighteen minutes of me rambling about nothing, but I try to introduce the podcast to new listeners and give regular listeners a chance to get ready for bed, to get in bed, and get comfortable. So, yeah, so there’s…so, that’s…'cause a lot of new people say, why is the intro so long? It doesn't make any…or what are you talking about, business the whole time? I say, no. I mean, I guess technically you'd say it’s like housekeeping. How come there’s no reality house…? Well, Marie Kondo. You got me already. I said, how come there’s no reality housekeeping shows? That’s what one part of my brain said.

 

Now another part of my brain is thinking of fifty…I say, okay, This Old House, Tidying Up, all those fixing and remodeling shows…I guess if I had a show, I would combine it with a spiritual show or a values-based show. You say, bless this mess. I don't know, is there a show called that? ‘Cause there should be. You say, well, we go to people’s house…and I don't know what we would do. We’d say, great job. Maybe it would be…we give out rewards for people’s houses as they are. Bless This Mess. We fold in a universal message and a universal truth in every episode of dignity, hope, and courage. Bless This Mess. Or it could be…we go around…you know? I don't know. So, anyway, what does that have to do with anything? So, the intro’s kinda like this, where I go off topic so for a new listener you kinda get an idea of what you're in for.

 

But for a regular listener, they're getting ready for bed, they're winding down, or they're already in bed, comfortable. Then about two percent of listeners skip the episode. Maybe this is another thing some people have to remind me of, that there is…there’s actually more than two percent of people that listen during the day or listen to the whole episodes to relax or for a little break or whatever, and then there’s the people that can't sleep. So, this is actually the only…that’s the other thing about the show, why it’s an hour. If you can't sleep, I’m here to keep you company and also to remind you that there’s no pressure to fall asleep. So, that’s the intro.

 

Then there’s some business, then there will be our episodically modular serial series, Otter Things, O-T-T-E-R T-H-I-N-G-S, about Emma Otter and her friends, a real nice series. Then there will also be some thank-yous and stuff. So, that’s the structure of the show. There’s no need to listen, no pressure to fall asleep, and there’s a reason I make the show. The reason I make the show is twofold. One; you deserve a good night's sleep. You deserve a place of respite where you can relax and feel good. Two; I’ve been there. I know how it feels tossing and turning, mind racing, trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep, all those things. I want to help if I can.

 

Then I guess I mentioned piggybacking at bedtime, but I guess…so, I guess there’s the picturesque piggybacking, which would be either you're the…I don't know how…I don't even know why they came up with that term. It sounds like a problematic term to me, to be honest. But you could be the carrier and you're carrying someone into bed, and you're saying, hey, toss you into bed now. Have fun. Goodnighty poo. Or you're the gleeful youngster. Yeah, there…believe me, I’ll get into the…it could be two grown adults and it could be part of your operational procedures, your warm-up. So, that’s different. But this one would be…yeah, you say, fun, I can't wait to go to sleep.

 

So…but so…but I guess that’s the only time it’d be good…so, I guess piggybacking is more like getting ready for bed, 'cause you couldn't really piggyback someone in bed. That would be…it would be counterproductive, 'cause you say, well, my back’s tired. Why can't I just put you down? You're already in your bed. But maybe it’s like an extended…well, I just want to hold on to your back while you read me a bedtime story. You say, okay, fair enough. I get it. So, I guess that didn’t really go anywhere.

 

You can't go very far piggybacking, anyway. I mean, unless you're someone that’s in phenomenal shape. Even then, I don't know. So…okay, so that’s about it. I guess that’s everything. I’m glad you're here. Give this show a few tries. I just really hope it can help you. That’s why I make the show. But I appreciate you coming by and checking the podcast out, and I really yearn and I strive. I really want to help you fall asleep. Thanks again, and here’s a couple ways we're able to bring this podcast twice a week.

 

Alright, hey patrons, it’s Scoots here. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, friends beyond the binary, and my patron peeps, it’s time…and this will probably be the second…one, two, three, four…oh no, this will be the first one. So, if you're up all night tossing, turning, mind racing, trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep, well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, a patron-exclusive episode of Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. It’s probably the first half, 'cause I just put out the first episode of this bonus…to everybody, and I ended up having…I listened to it a few times. I said, yeah, I think…originally I was gonna try to put these out as half-hour…and then I said, well, let’s put them both together.

 

But because I can only be in the present right now, I don't know…in the future this will be either two episodes back to back or one episode. But this is a interesting thing. We’ve never done it before except for the episodes I already did, where we take a look at the creation of episodes before they're made in kind of a pre-commentary and a behind-the-scenes, but still so sleepy. Oh, so sleepy. So, it’s a peek into the process, but the kinda peek into the process where you say, well, my pillow’s gonna be over my head, Scoots, so…and I say, that’s great. That’s the exact kinda peek into my process I need, is one where you're snoozing. You could peek at the process from behind your eyelids in a gentle, dreamy sleep. So, I’m gonna kinda run through where I’m at and where we might be going.

 

This has been interesting for me making these episodes because it’s been…I’ve been in a different place emotionally and creatively each time. So, tonight…or tonight when you're listening to this but today when I’m recording this, I’m in a pretty…I feel like I’m in a pretty good spot, where last recording…it might not have come through in the recording, but I said, wow, we got a lot more heavy lifting to do to get to where we want to be, where now I say…I feel like, okay, we're right on track. Just to give you an idea of where we are in the process…so, it’s a Thursday when I’m recording this, about 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, and the Friday before Thurs…today’s a Thursday, so the Friday before, about a week ago is when I recorded the Episode 4.

 

So, then on Saturday I started working on Episode 5, and I’ve been…Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday working on Episode 5. Originally…yeah, so, that’s…and I say, okay, well, it’s going good. So, I think what happened was on Saturday and Sunday I watched the TV show the series is influenced by, and I watched half of the episode, which we’ll do that run-through, and then we’ll run through my writing notes as I tried to break up that story and then started to see what questions it raises in our story. Sometimes I do a re-listen of the podcast, but I haven't done that yet just 'cause, I don't know, I didn’t…there was so much forward momentum. I wanted to respect how things were going. So, this is Episode 5.

 

One question…well, I was gonna start talking and then I said, well…so, there’s eight episodes in the series of the streaming show that’s influencing this, and I don't know if there will be eight episodes…I said, well, is there gonna be only eight episodes of Otter Things or is there gonna be more, or is there gonna be eight plus a recap? I said, I don't know, Scoots. I would like…I would prefer there to be ten or nine, but I don't know. So, I guess we’ll see, huh? I guess we will see. Right. So, this episode, Episode 5, starts off with the sky. There’s a red blinking light, and then we see the Hawkins National Headquarters of Science, we’ll say. It’s nighttime. People are leaving work, and while they're leaving work, Hopper sneaks in and he says, I’m gonna see what they have in their vending machine and things.

 

So, he’s kind of going slowly and quietly. Circling lights…oh, then he sees circling lights that says, hey, I don't know if you want to come in here without a aquatic suit. Then there’s an…so, he says, oh dear. Then he unzips…there’s a zip door, but behind the zip door is a locked door. Then he gets in trouble and they say, do you have the proper…what are those things called? Do you have psychic paper? He says, no, I don't. Also, this door is locked. I’m supposed to be here talking to Matt Modine about…just some general questions. They say, really? Then he says, oh, your shoes are untied. Then he goes and borrows their key, unlocks the door, locks it behind him, tries to permanently lock it behind him. There was a lot that happened in these first few minutes, so that was part of it.

 

Then Lonnie and Joyce are together on the couch. Lonnie tells Joyce to have a drink. Joyce is really going through this initial change in this episode about her feelings about things and saying, maybe I was…have I been wrong the whole time? So, I said, S-A-D and confused. Then she says, I can't feel this presence anymore. Then she says, don’t…really, Lonnie’s…out of all the characters in the history of the show, one of the lowball characters, I would say. Maybe…and I said, is this the same actor who’s in those…in a lot of commercials? But I’m not sure. I think I looked it up two years ago or three years ago. But she says, Lonnie, don’t look at me like I’m not…like this is in my imagination. He says, consider this is maybe in your head as a coping mechanism. ‘Cause the wall? Come on, Joyce.

 

That’s not…and she says, well, it doesn't make any sense. Then he says, why don’t you…after you get some help…get some acceptance, get some help, but first have a drink. Then we go back to Hopper who’s saying, Will? Will? Hello, Will? We see a camera, then we see a kid’s…a dorm room but it’s got…a kid was there. We see a picture of papa and the cat, and we say, is that El’s room? Then a little bit…the chief seems a little bit not happy. Hulk-like, I would say. Then we see Mike and El. Empty, cold…what was Will saying? So, they're saying, what is Will saying? How Hawkins is like the upside-down? What? What if he was there on the other side? So, Lucas and Dustin are there, too, and they say, like the Veil of Shadows? Then we go back to Hopper who’s saying, Will? Will?

 

He gets in a elevator as the Hawkins Laboratory staff is running after him. Then we kinda…both these are…then we get some of the crew kinda putting things together and also them voice-overing Hopper’s journey, 'cause they look up…okay, Veil of Shadows; it’s a reflection or echo of our world, a non-positive one. We see Hopper open a door as Dustin talks…you know, things you'd find on the forest floor that are slowly contributing to the biome through their own way and also things you think about…other stuff right next to you but you don’t see it, an alternate dimension. This…oh, I guess…I’m doing a read-through, but I have notes in here. Like I said, like the real place beyond the swamp. Then I said, upside-down. What if it’s one size down? So, those were some brainstorms that came to me.

 

Then the chief is in some snow. Well, how do you get there, the boys were saying. They say, well, you have to cast Shadow Walk. Well, how do we do that? We don’t…well, maybe she could cast it. Then they say, do you know how to get there? Then there’s…the chief has an OMG moment. He coughs. He says, what in the heck? Then he…we see that he sees the portal. He says, what in the heck is this thing? Then he senses something else moving. Then I had to watch it a couple times, but it’s…someone that works there says, oh, chief, take a little nappy-poo. Then we have Chapter 5: The Flea and the Acrobat. Really good…that’s like a Sleep With Me-level title. We see lights, a door, Jonathan. He goes in. Lonnie and Joyce are on the couch together. He says, what’s going on here? She says, dad…he says, dad’s here.

 

Well, if you need me…that’s what Lonnie says to Jonathan. What happened to Will? Then he’s more…Jonathan wants to talk to his mom. Did it come back? What’s going on with the wall? Oh, what happened with the wall? Then he says to Lonnie, you need to leave. Then he says, you need to take care of your mother and not upset her. He says, I was talking to her. They go back and forth. He says, you're gonna be the one…I think he talks to him alone. Don’t push…your mom’s in a soft spot right now. They even have a little eye-to-eye stare down. He says, I’m here to help. Behave for your mother. Then he even says, take down that poster off your wall. Then we have this…kind of like a montage; dad and Mike, Nancy and mom. Nancy says…mom tries to break through Nancy’s…Nancy says, I’m fine, mom.

 

Then we have the dog going into the fort and the dog’s a little down. Jonathan tries to tie his tie unsuccessfully. Joyce stares. They say, time to go. Then the pastor’s talking. The Bible…talking about challenging…but the squad is there and they're not upset because they say…they laughed. Dustin laughs. Jennifer’s crying. Then there’s condolences, but Joyce…arms are crossed. She’s shut down. Her back’s turned. Then we have a flashback for Will the Wise and casting the ball and saying, sometimes you outsmart…or she says, how come you don’t outsmart? He goes, sometimes your opposition in this game is smart, mom. Then she says, well, I gotta get you some new Crayons, 'cause it looks like you're casting cabbage and not other things. Then Hopper wakes up very sweaty.

 

It looks like he passed out from too much fun, but he does a WTF because he knows…he checks everywhere to look for listening stuff; eventually finds it. Very upset. Then we see Modine listening. He’s listening to Will and Joyce talking. Then we have Nancy and Jonathan with a map. All within a mile…not traveling far. You want to go out there? Yeah, okay, but what are we gonna do? Well, we're gonna take care of it. Then he takes something from his dad’s car. Are you serious? We don’t have any good ideas. Well, this is the best idea we have. No one will believe us. What about your mom? I’ll tell her when everything’s done. Then we have the ABV Club and there’s a repair person there, but clearly they're from the Hawkins National Science Center and they're on the case.

 

Then we have a little community luncheon and the boys say, Mr. Clark, can you talk? We have some questions about other dimensions beyond, parallel universes, infinite dimensions, non-positive dimensions. Well, how would one travel there? Then Mr. Clark gives the acrobat on a tight…acrobat and the flea on a tightrope metaphor, which you should see just for yourself. That has…there’s rules, but a flea can travel anywhere. They say, well, what about the acrobat? Could the acrobat travel anywhere? I say, well, if you have enough energy to create a gate…and then Mike says, what if the gate already existed? He said, well, that wouldn't be good if there was already a gate. Then Hopper’s coworkers come to see him and they say, hey, there’s…we can't find…these two hikers are hiking. We gotta catch up with them.

 

He says, in Mirkwood? I’ll take care of it. They say, okay. Also, we found…the staties found Barbara’s car at the bus station. They keep doing our job for us. Then she says, okay, hit the road. But they…also in the car, they say, geez, she’s not looking so good. Then Lonnie’s fixing the wall, and then Joyce says, leave the lights alone. We see that he’s worried more about who owns the quarry. Then Will is talking to El. Do you know where the gate is? How do you know about the upside-down? Then Dustin says, what about your compasses? That’s not true north. Our compasses are broken. No, no, compasses are natural…it’s just a magnet that’s more powerful somehow. So much power…if we follow the compasses, they’ll lead us to the gate. Then we see Lonnie in the shower. Joyce finds out that Lonnie’s only in it for himself.

 

We see Nancy in her garage warming up. Steve shows up; says, that’s…you warming up for me, to get rid of me? He says, I’m sorry. I was a J-E-R-K. She goes, well, did you get busted by your parents? He goes, oh yeah. Any news on Barb? Let’s catch a movie. I don't think I can. I’m busy. My brother…blah, blah. Then there’s a little tension. She says, don’t call me. I’ll call you. Gives him a kiss on the cheek. Not on the cheese. But he’s a cheese, anyway. Then…of course. Then she goes back to practice. Then we see Lonnie. Joyce is like, get out. You don’t care. I can't believe I fell for your nonsense. Then he takes it down a notch. He says, you need me. Look around. Look at this place. She says, I’ll keep the lights up for Will. You hit the road. Then we have Jonathan and Nancy kinda talking and practicing of spitballs.

 

Jonathan talks about his dad kinda forcing him to be…oh, you need to be a tough guy like Lonnie. He said that made him cry for a week. Then they talk about…this is kinda like your suburban angst moment. Like, they say, oh…Nancy says, I don't think my parents like each other. You know, just a good nuclear family. They say, forget that. Yeah, at the end of a cul-de-sac…no way. Then we see a news report, a phone, a dialing phone. It’s Hopper. Then a woman’s voice says, Jim…sigh. I told you not to call me. He says, geez, I was so glad of our seven years. She says, you know what? I got a other life now, so I gotta go. Then he goes to do something, then his phone rings again and he just gets rid of it. Then we have our squad on the train tracks. It looks a little cold. They're walking two-by-two with their compasses.

 

How will we know? She’s…El acting weirder than normal. El is clearly stressed. Then she has a flashback and she’s in bed. How much further? Further than we’ve ever gone before is what Modine says to her in the bath. Oh, yep. In the swimming pool? Yep, you gotta go in the swimming pool. Get your swimming suit. Then we see her getting prepped, little El. She looks really small. She lowers into the pool. Modine waves, then a hand on the glass…and then a door closes. They go, Mike…she says, Mike, let’s turn back. I’m really tired. He says, just a little longer. Then Nancy and Jonathan talk about her picture. Like, who do you see? A girl trying to be someone else. Seemed alone. But when…that moment, they could be themselves. Then Nancy says, you know, Steve’s a good guy. I don't know, a bit protective.

 

Jonathan says, well, I don't get along with most people, so don’t take it personal. Then they kind of start to…and he says, oh, you seem like a girl that’s rebelling until she realizes doing the same thing is…then there’s a sigh. So, they can't seem to agree. Then Joyce hears hard knocks on her door. She opens the door; Hopper’s there with a sign. Be quiet, don’t say anything. He sees the lights. He says, oh boy. Then the squad gets to the junkyard. They say, oh no. We looped right back around. We're heading home now. Something else is scrambling the compasses. Again, this tension with Lucas being like, well, what are you really up to, for El? He says, you scrambled the compasses. You did it. Admit it…using your powers. They go back and forth ‘til El admits, yeah, it’s not a good idea. Then we go back to Joyce’s house.

 

All the lights are out of the bulbs. Chief’s out of breath. Hopper’s out of breath. They were listening at my place. Who? I want…it was…then he says, by the way, that wasn’t Willow’s album. That was a fake. You were right this whole time. Joyce goes from…has a sad and happy face. Then Lucas and Mike have a disagreement about El…using us…and that Mike is just trying to please El. Mike’s not happy about that. Wake up, he says. Maybe she’s the one that…Lucas says, well, we don’t know her. We know each other. They disagree. El uses her powers to put Lucas to sleep. Then Mike’s like, what are you doing intervening? Did you scramble them? So, he’s upset. Then we get our first big flashback where El’s in a dream world listening in, but then she hears another voice.

 

Also, Mike says, what was wrong with you twice, so that wasn’t nice. So, she’s in this realm listening to this person speaking Russian, I think. She’s broadcasting over the PA system, walking around him, really intrigued, but then even Modine notices; oh, there’s some other sound. What was that? No idea. Okay, and then El’s gone. Oh, then they go back…yeah, El hears a clicking and then starts to say, I gotta get outta this pool. I’m getting pruned. Then Lucas wakes up and is mad, then El’s gone. El, Eleven, El, El. Then we have Nancy and Jonathan. At this point they're using flashlights. Jonathan and…there’s some tension but then they say, wait a second, there’s…and then they find some forest friends. Then they follow the forest friend, then somehow they get split up.

 

There’s a hole…Nancy discovers a goopy hole in a tree, and that…and even has…breathing. Nancy leans in, gets close. She’s like, Jonathan, where are you? Somehow he walked off. She leaves her backpack, leans in, then goes in. Very courageous. Then she’s in the upside-down. Her light’s going on and off. It’s snowing. There’s water sounds. Then she sees a non…another-world friend. It’s still the forest. Then we see Jonathan. He’s looking for Nancy. There’s sound effects. Nancy, where are you? Then Nancy’s like, I gotta get outta here, too. Then she trips. Jonathan goes the wrong way, and the episode came to a close. So, that was the episode. Then I took a day or maybe even two days to separate all the plot. So, I was like, okay, what is Hopper’s thing? Into lab…challenge one.

 

Deeper…kid’s room…into the world of shadows, sees portal…oh, goodness. Passed out…WTF. Coworkers come…you okay? Barb and the staties…calls his ex, goes to Joyce…be quiet…I know. Then Joyce was kinda like, Lonnie’s here to help. You've kind of…you need to cope. The moment…community event, then looking back with Will the Wise…outsmart, outmaneuver, but what if they're also smart? Then Lonnie working on the wall, but…it’s tough about the quarry. Get out. Then Hopper comes; hey, you were right about Will, and there’s something else going on. Then we have our group of kids. What was Will saying? Upside-down, the veil…do you know how to get there? Also, remember lab’s on the case. Mr. Clark…infinite dimensions, tear in time and space.

 

El…first gate…compasses…train tracks, questions and worries…flashback. One, go back, Mike…El controls compasses. Junkyard showdown…WTF. Lucas, Mike…also flashback number two…things are real, then El’s gone. Then we have Nancy and Jonathan, Lonnie’s BS, the community event…find…what about your mom? We’ll tell her after. Nancy and Steve…okay, bye. Nancy and Jonathan practice…talking dads, bunnies, suburb values…and then off…they get close and then they disagree about Steve and values. Then into…they go looking around. They see a forest friend. Somehow they split up. Nancy goes into the veil and then try…goes to run back. Jonathan’s looking for her. So, then I was kinda like, trying to figure out some of the stuff from the story, but there was questions.

 

Like, okay, Lenny…what was Lenny doing? Okay, maybe it’s…the record company owes us part of future earnings. Then I was like, oh, what if Lenny…when Willow…when he lived there, he made Willow — even when she was a little kid — sign something in Crayon saying that Lenny could be her agent. For all future earnings when she became famous…maybe then…maybe Joyce…Francis is like, there’s tears on that, Lenny, even back then. I can't believe you made her write out a contract and you were kinda partly serious. Okay, then more questions; what is the community event? What does Leon find? What is the listening? Where does Leon live? What is Francis’ flashback with Willow? What is the portal? What are Billy’s flashbacks and songs? What is Bill…what song does Billy use against LJ?

 

What would happen…what was up with Barb or Babs? Then…oh, what is the stuff…? Oh, instead of the thing…oh, community…so, instead of the community event, what is the community event? Community Resource Day, a symbolic day mostly where everyone drops a acorn in a what looks like an old tree but is really a storage vault or something. Every person must pause and look at all the members of the community. Maybe they have to sing. Like, is there one song? Members of the community think about what they've consumed over the past year, say thank you to everyone and think about what they have done and have not done to support the community resources. Do they say it? Do they sing it? Do they say I’m sorry or do they just say I’m sorry, that they’ll do better? They promise to help.

 

Since it was all sung, it could be a very powerful and dramatic ceremony. Some people love it. Some people dislike it. But maybe most of the time it’s a very fun festival, but not this time because of the stuff with Willow hanging over everyone of insulting the town and embarrassment for the friends and Francis, and people are a little bit mad. Maybe they blame Francis. Maybe they blame Lenny. Okay, then Leon…this idea of community resources versus a larger swamp-wide organization that’s…versus humans. Okay, and then what’s the listening…? Everything that’s a can, anything that’s saucer-shaped is listening…first, does he drop some saucers, then does he go to his roof? Radio relay…what else does he find out at the lab? What’s the portal? Then I did a little map of levels 'cause we talked about it one episode.

 

It’s like, okay, there’s the regular Visitors Center, then there’s the office level, then there’s another more modern level, then there’s elevators down. Then I was sketching it out; I’m like, oh, maybe that could be boring, too. Like, there’s a office…a boring office level, then there’s a dorm level with a cafeteria, then there’s a boring electronics level, then there’s a fake storage area, then there’s something secure, then there’s the recording studio, then maybe anti-human classrooms and training, then even lower, then lower again to the portal, the place the portal will be on the swamp. Okay, then Leon…where does Leon live? In a treehouse? He’s not a treefrog, but he figured he likes the view up there, and plus, there’s plenty of food delivery.

 

Francis could have her flashback with Willow. It could be like a writing parody DND songs, like double clicks or Judy Tenuta heroines. But then there’s also this…that Willow’s trying to say, hey, there’s an edge to this song of the Bad Bards, the non-good magic users. That was kinda where I left off. So, yeah, I guess we’ll see what comes up when you…when, yeah. So, get comfortable, and there you go. Goodnight.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and friends beyond the binary, and my patrons peeps…hey, patrons. It’s Scoots. Welcome to an exclusive patron-only behind-the-scenes look at creating…pre-creating…before the creation of Otter Things. This will be Otter Things, Episode…oh boy, 6, I think, or 5b. Or 5b, 6a would probably be more accurate. So…I mean, I guess. So, this is really where you could sleep, but if you’ve listened to this other times…oh, and this will be the second half, probably, of an episode. Even more interesting. One, two, three, four, five, six…or, wait, am I gonna work on six next week? I don't know. But anyway, not super important. But so, this is where I take a look at before I record a episode. Usually it’s a week ahead of time. Now it is a day or two.

 

This is Wednesday that I’m recording this, a Wednesday in June. Then tomorrow…tomorrow will be…Thursday or Friday I will record the episode of Otter Things. But this is the kind of exclusive look you don’t get as a regular listener, only as a patron, 'cause the show…I say it, but the show would not exist without you, or it wouldn't…it would come out every other week or something instead of twice a week. But so, anyway, so here’s what happened. So, last week, on Friday, I recorded Otter Things, Episode 5, which you probably just heard me talking about because usually…I decided to put these episodes in pairs. But what was interest…there’s a couple interesting things.

 

Probably a theme you've heard about is always the theme of the deadlines and getting the episodes done and the moving train of making episodes and releasing episodes on a ongoing basis. With the written stories, I’ve decided to put them out every two…write…make them, record them every two weeks, which…the episodes come out more often than every two weeks. So, that means I’m losing ground. But in…we also have our all-intro episodes which give us some space and then the recap episode which gives us a week or buys us one episode cycle. But still, I say, oh boy, I like to have at least four episodes done. So, when Episode 5 comes out or Episode 1 comes out, that means Episode 5 just got recorded.

 

We’ve fallen off of that because…just because, again, I’m stretching out the writing time to just about two weeks. If it goes faster than two weeks, great. In the past I stuck to ten days, but because of the changes in my life routine because of the changes in the world, I’m only able to record episodes on…full episodes that take…'cause it takes an hour and a half on Monday, Thursday, or Friday. I don't have time on Tuesday or Wednesday to do that. So, that was one thing. I said, oh boy, we're losing ground here. Do I need to worry? I said, no, no, we don’t need to worry. We’ll figure it out, and we got time. Otherwise we could just take a break in-between when we get done with Otter Things and we’ll just run some Tuesday episodes while we record the next series, which will probably be our holiday series, I’m guessing.

 

So, I said, okay. But then I said, well, the other thing is that I think there’s only eight or nine episodes of Otter Things, maybe even seven. I’m not actually sure. I think it’s eight or nine. I said, okay, so we're gonna have a eight-episode season or a…with…and then a recap or a nine-episode season and then a recap? I’d like to have ten or eleven. But those things aren't always under my control, but…and you can't force these things, I guess is what I’ve learned. But what happens is organically sometimes the stuff…the positive stuff happens. Put that on a cross-stitch or a t-shirt. But so, last week I was recording the episode, Episode 5, corresponding to the Episode 5 of the TV…the streaming show. I’m always also concerned with time of the episodes, 'cause the episodes have to be over an hour.

 

Even when I’m writing and I’m telling the story, I’m saying, okay, where are we on the clock? Are we gonna have enough material that when the episode’s edited that the episode portion is, whatever, forty-five minutes to fifty minutes long? But we also don’t want to go over…edited down, not recorded…recorded and edited are different. Like, a lot of stuff gets taken out. But we don’t want to have too much time because then it’s like, well, anything over sixty…you say, well, wait a second, is that not good time management since these series…we're losing ground? But for the most part it’s always making sure we have plenty of stuff to fill the time that we have so there’s plenty of meanders and stuff.

 

So, I sat down to record last week’s episode, and I had what I considered fifty to sixty minutes of material, which would have taken me about an hour and a half to record or something. Of course, I was also worried…I said, well, is this gonna be enough? But I thought it was just gonna fit right…and I said, well, maybe it’ll be…not exactly sure where the tangents are gonna be. Now looking back at it, I realize I did have more material, going back over it, but I didn’t have two episodes of material for sure. So, it wasn’t like a clear…oh, I said, maybe this is like, sixty-five minutes. But then as I started recording last week’s episode, I don't know, there was just a lot of natural tangents and some of the storytelling took longer than I thought, and there was more details to explore.

 

So, when we hit the mid…well, as we were leading up to the midpoint of the episode…and the midpoint of our episode had a lot more details and a bigger…because it wasn’t the same as the midpoint of the regular episode, I said, well, it’s different because that was where everybody said, bye-bye, Will. But most of the people knew Will was still around, except Joyce didn’t, and Hopper was out and he was asleep. So, when we got to the midpoint, I didn’t think…and I mean midpoint I guess in the story sense, but also, usually it tends to be towards the middle of the episode. But that was a moment, a clear midpoint moment where it’s like, okay, this is where we say goodbye to Will, and then the…so, it’s like a…it was also a pause in the story.

 

So, our story had a bigger event because it was a community-based event, much more sleepy, a celebration of Community Resource Day, kinda part of the important lore of the swamp and our swamp community. So, leading up to it, I said, wait a second…and also, we had a little bit more with Bull, Leon, exploring the place beneath the swamp. So, as the episode unfolded, I was watching the time. I said, oh boy, we got…we're at forty-five minutes and we haven't got to the resources or something. That’s the recording time. I said, wait a second, maybe this will be…is this gonna be…? ‘Cause I said, well, we can't break…after the…I said, where would we break it if we’re gonna break it up?

 

So, anyway, it ended up I broke it at the end of the community resource event, and then I said to myself, okay, now we’ll record…in a week instead of two weeks, we’ll record the second-half of this episode, but maybe we’ll need another fifteen minutes of material from the show. So, then I watched the first third of the show and then I went back to work. Actually, 'cause today’s Wednesday, I was really working, plodding, plodding, plodding, and then reading through the notes and looking at everything. So, I pretty much have a pretty finalized thing. But what’s also interesting is a lot more of this got developed since I’ve recorded your episode. So, I’m gonna read through what I have. So, this…some of this will be from the Episode 5 and some of it will be from Episode 6.

 

So, this is where…and I’ll actually point out some other things and then it’ll make sense in a minute. I also have this spread across two notebooks in this case, 'cause I was getting close to the end of one notebook but also because I said, well, I’m not exactly sure if this is gonna be Episode 6 and 7 or how it’s all gonna come out when I record it. Okay, so as I open…so, the episode was opened with Joyce and Lenny going to sleep, Leon going into the lab, passed the first few rounds. I think we talked about that, like the map I made. Tilly thinks he hears singing. This is a short version where he’s about to give up. Our squad brainstorms ideas. What did Willow say? Tower…after we got it working again…? As they wonder, how do we find it? Leon goes lower ‘til he gets to a glowing lower spiral staircase.

 

Lullabye to sleep…Dari v. Lenny, Lenny v. Francis, then Community Resource Day, prep first. Francis…then Dari and Lenny…embarrassment at the Resource Day, our squad thinking Willow’s missing out…our teacher talking…what are questions? What is a metaphor? You would need years of water, nutrients, sunlight, and more. But to also communicate? Well, that would work. It would take something magical like a jump in evolution, like a myth of the humans. Are we separate or in parallel with them? Well, we live in a more balanced and community-based way. They did not. So, that’s why we're flourishing. So, anyway, if there was a tower and that went up and down, how would we find it? Well, that would be an adventure, wouldn't it?  You would have to find the tower.

 

Normally from something like this, it would be hard to find, like the towers in the story. Okay, then Francis’ house…a flashback to DND songs…okay, now we're separate. That’s where that story kinda ended, was with those two story points out of order. So, this is not necessarily…my notes are layered. So, I have a big F with a circle. That’s for Francis’ first story point of this episode we're gonna record this week. Finds Lenny’s jacket and a napkin where Lenny’s…becomes Willow’s agent…she disagrees with Lenny and sends him out. Leon wakes up at home. This is story point L1. WTF…other workers show up. Missing music…the music store owner moved to the big city, took a job with that record company.

 

Also, Babs’ mom found a contract with the record company…another record company further away with a letter saying goodbye and that she would send walnuts. So, again, I don't know…this will probably change in the recording 'cause I’m feeling like, eh, some of this I’m not sure about. Okay, then we're at story point S1. Okay, the squad’s talking to Billy, asking about the tower, then Vaughn brings up tuning forks maybe with a mic. Electromagnetic…all of them making sound from some powerful, sympathetic vibration…reverberates…oh, how did we make…didn’t we make an electromagnetic tuning fork? Okay, this is gonna be mashed up with story point L1. So, this is more of L1, which I decided after, like as I’m going through the notes and kinda seeing what works and what doesn't.

 

Okay, job…who was performing? Oh, he’s calling…he calls…this is his phone call. Oh, who’s…Leon the legend? Is that you on the phone? Oh, who’s performing tonight? Then he looks over every saucer shape in his place…listening to him…maybe his grandmother’s own fancy tea set in one of the top cupboards. Oh, dear. Okay, then this will be separated for later. L2; oh, snap. Drives over to Francis’ house…shh, be quiet. Searches the wind chimes…we could just talk next to this fan. Like, oh, like when you're at the therapist? Okay, Francis, you were right. The whole thing is fake; Willow’s album, all of it. How do we find her? Okay, meanwhile…okay, this is back to S2, maybe? I didn’t see this, even. So, I gotta write that down.

 

So, this is good we're going through…okay, so LJ and Vaughn follow the tuning fork, follow the tuning fork, follow, follow…oh, follow…maybe they're singing that as a song. Quiet…how are we supposed to hear the tuning fork if you're singing? What about with you talking? We can hear it between the words. Don’t you think that…? Oh, then they're talk…oh, that was just those two. Don’t you think that duck-beaver’s acting odd? I suppose. Oh, then Willow’s saying, geez, I think we should go back. Maybe I need a snack. Then we have Billy1 story point where…first flashback which is the song Signs from Tesla. Can you see? Sing and see in another room…keep walking. Then…okay, then we go to S…this skips stuff. We're at S2 and B2. So, Squad2 and Billy2.

 

Back edge…'cause, I don't know, this one seems like it’s better off breaking up every story into two parts, where the show would break it up even into more parts. That’s not as cohesive for a bedtime story. Okay, so we're at the back edge of the transfer station. We're almost back in town. Well, that was pointless. Pull out your tuning fork to listen. This can't be right. Wait, unless…wait a second, I can hear Billy throat singing. You did this. Are you even listening? Okay, then we go into flashback2, the song…impulsive…run away. Then we have T2. So, that’s Teffe and Dari. DT2…oh yeah, DT2. Okay, so they're…the back…back and forth. This is when they're exploring. Rebellion…mixed tape…so, actually, maybe this is DT1, some of this.

 

Misanthropy…wanting something more…a whole system…wondering if there’s something…rumors is true…or else believe all of it…goose droppings…so, this one…this is when I ran out of writing time to record. Goose droppings can't…so, it just goes into where they're running around. A treehouse made of tree…into the silent realm…and so, that was the last thing I had for that episode, Episode 5, which is good 'cause it kinda didn’t…I didn’t have enough writing time to actually reach the conclusion. So, then I broke out the plot of the first fifteen minutes of that episode and then broke it into…I’m just gonna go over the separate story parts I have. So, we have J and N…left off where we were last episode. So, break equals comeback…J and N, Jonathan and Nancy.

 

I don't know what those mean…like last episode…Nancy plays hide-and-seek, Jonathan makes some loud talking…come to my voice. She hides, then she’s saying, here I am. Then she listens. Then Jonathan finds the tree hole, but he doesn't go into it. Then she comes out. He pulls her out. Then we have Steve and the cool crew. They go to her house. He sees Jonathan and Nancy. He does a what? Then we have Nancy in the shower thinking back about the events, but they seem to have a definite attachment to her. She obviously doesn't want…neither one of them wants to be alone. Jonathan sleeps on the floor. Then they say, no, no, no, let’s…and then the next morning…we gotta figure this out. We gotta use a bait move to catch this. Then we have Hopper and Joyce.

 

They have…the first third of the episode, they are back. They open up…going over everything like they did last episode, but Hopper’s going over the details in the lab. Kid’s room, drawing’s a clue, but it’s not Will 'cause the quality of it…shaved head…what about that shaved-head kid? Am I chasing after some other kid the whole time? Then we see that they're headed to try to track down Terry Ives. Then we have a little aside from the lab. The teacher…somebody from the lab…undercover for a AD…AV Club newsletter shows up. Who do you suggest? Then we have Dustin and Mike going over things. Apologize or else you're out of the party. Then we have Eleven with a flashback. Okay, today’s the day we make contact, like after her other flashbacks.

 

But I don't have in the notes here…that I don't see is a pretty extensive Eleven…it must be in a earlier set of…obviously it’s still Wednesday. So, I still have two days of writing before I record this. But there is supposed to be a pretty extensive look at the second flashback for Billy, which takes place in…first looking at street signs and then looking at tourist signs and then realizing one of the tourist signs is actually…it’s leading to an attraction that is a tower. So, that part isn't in here. I mean, it’s in earlier notes that I gotta mark up so I can refer back to them. I also did a recap of the last episode. I don't think that’s super important, but I’ll…I mean…size down; don’t forget that, Drew. Something odd…Leon…albums fit together too well…so, this is just Episode 5.

 

Bird call analysis…snuck in big bog…walk…levels…stretching room…oh, don’t forget that, either. Shoe tie trick…cubicle level…offices…hidden door…cafeteria…dorm…here, step by step…New Frogs on the Block…squad…sense no sound…no sound…size down. Oh, up and down…silent tower goes up and down. Silent realm…telepathy; that’s odd. Well, how do we get there? Portal to silent realm? Is tower not grown?? Double question mark. Broom closet…also some language that I wasn’t comfortable…I said, oh wait a second, I don't like…I keep getting Leon, Bull, and Hopper…and trying to separate all that out. Broom closet storage…down…frog…lullabye to sleep…Francis, Lenny…here to help. Resource Day…here to help.

 

Your mom…help…Community Resource Day event…take down the poster of Jug drinking…Seasonal Resource Day…upbeat fun. Willow’s album blowback…prepare community to big fair…day off…tree…strange…oh, a song of thanks and gratitude…deep…drop acorn…thank you. I’m sorry. I’ll do better. Lots of looks…Francis flashback…Dari glance…glares. Music…Bad, Bad Bards…oh, that’s the flashback. Moose…cider…go nuts…is telepathy real? Sense is magic…evolution…tower…organic…up and down like a tree. How would you find it? The vibration; divining. Then they all fall asleep conveniently. Okay, plots to do…Francis finds note, kicks out Lenny. Rest of squad’s stuff…Leon wakes up…other workers…calls ex…all the things listening in…Joyce’s house…go over stuff in lab.

 

Kids…what about the other kids? Other news…kid…the mystery…last left off…remembering wrongly…oh, this is just notes. Remember wrongly what…so, this is the opening. So, this is more of the plotting. So, last left off…Willow remembering wrongly what the moose told them. We’ve decided to leave the fair and not have fun. Then go to F1…a.m…Francis v. Lenny…then go to L1 notes. Leon wakes up. Then go to S1 notes which is squad tuning fork, light bulb. Then flashback number one, B1. Don’t forget Billy is worried, Willow. Signs in other rooms…street signs…local…then state…okay, then walking on the tracks. Then we have DT1, Dari and Teffe trying to figure a plan out. This…what are they gonna do? Humane bunny…giant bunny? Then we have L2…to Francis’ house. Fill her in on everything.

 

Then S2 and B2…wait a second, this is…we're back where we started. This has happened before. Disagreement…long B2 flashback, but make sure you have time for DT2, which is where they're playing hide-and-seek and lost-and-found in the forest. Then time check again. Do we go to the DT3 where they're coming up with their new plan, and S3 which would be the apology or not? That’s everything we have right now for Episode 6 of Otter Things. Thanks for the support, patrons, and I’ll talk to you soon. Goodnight.

 

[END OF RECORDING]

(Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes)

Otter Things / Bonus Episode

 

Piggy Back

https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/08/why-do-we-call-it-piggyback-when-we-carry-someone-on-our-back/

https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/piggyback-ride-meaning-history

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/265430/origin-of-piggyback

 

Stranger Things S1E5 Recap

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StrangerThingsS1E5ChapterFiveTheFleaAndTheAcrobat

https://www.geeksundergrace.com/tv/review-stranger-things-season-1-episode-5/

https://metawitches.com/2017/07/29/stranger-things-season-1-chapter-5-the-flea-and-the-acrobat-recap/

 

Stranger Things S1 E6 Recap

https://www.geeksundergrace.com/tv/review-stranger-things-season-1-episode-6/

https://sewhitebooks.com/2020/03/stranger-things-season-1-episode-6-review/

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StrangerThingsS1E6ChapterSixTheMonster

 

Compasses

https://www.dalvey.com/ca/blog/the-history-of-the-compass?srsltid=AfmBOooyOoMy_GqY3xLw-cNLuXDl9zq54K_yzxT4HfrVCFMfUnX4IiIN

https://www.forum-expat-management.com/posts/finding-our-way-the-compass-in-history

https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2022/december/history-ships-compass

 

DOWN TO BUSINESS

A rerun

 

PLUGS

Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Rusty Biscuit Links; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline

 

SPONSORS

Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; Progressive; Kindred; Odoo; Uncommon Goods; Everyday Dose

 

INTRO

Just Emoting

I can’t remember what I was supposed to remember

The Barn Door Cast also has creaky dulcet tones

The Old Wooden Garage Door Cast

The Creaky Dulcet Cast

No piggybacking near bedtime

If Scoots was heading towards a point, he’d veer in another direction

You can’t be better than a Bore Bestie

Best Bore Friend (BBF)

How come there’s no reality housekeeping shows?

Well, I guess there are actually a lot

Hello, Marie Kondo

Bless This Mess – is that a TV show?

Picturesque Piggy Backing

Piggybacking you off to bed

 

STORY

Episode 5

I think this is the first half, but it might be the 2nd

We’ve never done this before, except when we did

A peek into my process

I think I’m in a pretty good spot right here

Behind the scenes before the episode is recorded

I recorded episode 4 about a week ago

I’ve spent about 5 days working on episode 5

I watched the original series on Saturday

There’s only 8 episodes of the original show

Recapping Stranger Things

Starts with a red sky

Hopper sneaks in

Unzipping a zip door

Then he gets in trouble

He’s looking for Matt Modine

He tries to permanently lock a door behind him

Lonnie and Joyce are hanging out

Joyce is questioning her feelings

Joyce can’t feel Will’s presence anymore

Lonnie is a real lowball kind of character

Hopper is looking for Will

A picture of Papa and a cat

Was that El’s room?

Mike and El

Mike asks El what Will was saying to her

Is Will in the Upside Down?

The crew is starting to put things together

The Veil of Shadows

Things you’d find in a forest that are slowly contributing to the biome

Brainstorming my adaptation

How do you get there? Casting Shadow Walk

An OMG moment

Seeing the portal

Someone tells Hopper to take a nap

The Flea & The Acrobat – a great title

Jonathan wants nothing to do with Lonnie

Lonnie and Jonathan have an eye to eye staredown

A parent / child montage

Going to Will’s funeral

But the squad isn’t upset because they know what’s going on

A flashback to Will the Wise, drawing

Hopper wakes up very sweaty

He does a WTF

He finds a surveillance thing

Modine is listening to Will and Joyce talking – huh?

Nancy and Jonathan look at a map

Going to the AV Club to talk to the teacher

How does one travel to a parallel dimension

The Acrobat / Flea metaphor

You need energy to create a gate

Hopper’s coworkers need his help finding some lost hikers

Lonnie is fixing the wall

Joyce wants him to leave the lights alone

The kids realize their compasses are broken

Follow the compasses to the gate

Joyce realizes that Lonnie is in it for herself

Steve shows up to confront Nancy

Steve wants to make up

Nancy says she’ll call Steve

Joyce tells Lonnie to hit the road

Jonathan and Nancy are practicing spitballs

Jonathan doesn’t want to be a tough guy like his dad

A classic suburban angst moment

A news reporter is on the phone

Jim is talking to his ex-wife

Squad is on the train tracks, following their compasses

El is clearly stressed

That leads to a flashback

Modine keeps pushing El to go further

El wants to turn back

Nancy and Jonathan keep talking

Joyce hears a knock

Hopper tells her to keep quiet and sees the lights

The squad is at the junkyard

Something is scrambling the compasses

Lucas questions El

She’s scrambling the compasses!

El admits it

Hopper tells Joyce someone is listening in

Hopper tells Joyce she was right the whole time

Lucas and Mike have a disagreement about El

Lucas doesn’t trust El

El puts Lucas to sleep

Mike is now upset at El

Our first big flashback of El in a dreamworld

Mike says some not nice things to El

El hears some other voices

She hears a clicking 

She wants to get out of the pool because she’s getting pruned

Nancy and Jonathan find some forest friends

Nancy discovers a goopy hole in a tree

She leans in and goes into the Upside Down

Jonathan can’t find Nancy

Nancy trips and can’t get out

So that’s a recap

Contemplating the structure of the episode

What is Lenny gonna be doing?

Maybe Lenny forced Willow to make him her agent

What does Leon find?

What is Francis’s flashback?

What’s up with Babs?

Community Resource Day

Maybe it’s a day of gratitude to the community

But this one is tough because Willow is not there

Community Resources vs larger Swamp community

Maybe all saucers are listening

A map of potential levels

Boring Levels

Maybe Bull lives in a tree?

Contemplating flashbacks

Episode 6

Or episode 5b6a

Checking in before I record the episode

Today is Wednesday

Last week I recorded ep 5

I like to have at least 4 episodes done when one is released

But we’ve fallen behind a little bit

But my life routine has changed a little because of changes in the world

No need to worry

How will we stretch 8 original episodes into 10 or 11?

You can’t force these things

Organic Positive Stuff Just Happens

Contemplating the clock while recording

I had about 50 to 60 minutes of material

But it ended up being a little bit more

But there were just a lot of natural tangents and room to explore

Basically ep 5 just got to the mid point

Our version had a bigger event – Community Resource Day

Wait a sec, maybe I can break this ep into 2 episodes!

Maybe we’ll just need like 15 more minutes for ep 6

So I watched the first part of ep 6

So this is what I have so far

These notes are spread across 2 notebooks

Joyce and Lenny go to sleep

Leon goes into the lab

Tefe hears singing

Leon goes lower and lower

Dari and Lenny face off

Discussing a magical plan and the myth of the humans

How to find a tower that goes up and down

Back to D & D songs at Francis’s house

Big F with a circle – Frances’s first story point

Frances finds Lenny and Willow’’s old contract

Leon wakes up at home

Finding a mysterious other contract

This’ll probably change too when I record

Bringing up tuning forks to find the tower

Electromagnetic Tuning Fork

Leon inspects every saucer in his place

Leon goes over to Frances’ house

Searching the wind chimes

Leon tells Frances she was right

LJ and Von follow the tuning fork

Billy gets their first flashback

Tefe and Dari are exploring mixtapes

Questioning goose droppings

A tree house made of tree into the Silent Realm

Breaking down the original story points

Nancy follows Jonathan’s voice

Jonathan pulls Nancy out of the tree hole

Nancy now has an attachment to the Upside Down

Jonathan and Nancy don’t want to be alone

Hopper and Joyce are going over everything

Trying to track down Terry Ives

Dustin and Mike are in conflict

An extensive Eleven flashback about First Contact

I can’t find my notes for Billy’s long flashback

Don’t forget Size Down

Bird call analysis

Don’t forget the stretching room

New Frogs on the Block

A song of thanks and gratitude

Figuring out more plot stuff

What are we gonna do with this giant bunny?

A long Billy flashback

We need time for the Dari / Tefe hide and seek in the forest

And that’s where it stands right now

 

SUMMARY:

Episode: n/a

Title: Making of Otter Things 5 & 6

Plugs: Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Rusty Biscuit Links; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline

Sponsors: Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; Progressive; Kindred; Odoo; Uncommon Goods; Everyday Dose

Notable Language:

• Overextended Accentuations
• Best Bore Friend (BBF)
• Bless This Mess
• Picturesque Piggy Backing
• S-A-D
• The Flea & The Acrobat
• Eye to Eye Staredown
• J-E-R-K
• A classic suburban angst moment
• Community Resource Day
• Episode 5b6a
• Organic Positive Stuff Just Happens
• Electromagnetic Tuning Fork
• Size Down
• Bird call analysis
• New Frogs on the Block

 

Notable Culture:

• Ronkonkoma

• Otter Things

• Stranger Things

• Emmet Otter

• • Matthew Modine

• Dungeons & Dragons

 

Notable Talking Points:

• Just Emoting
• I can’t remember what I was supposed to remember
• The Barn Door Cast also has creaky dulcet tones
• The Old Wooden Garage Door Cast
• The Creaky Dulcet Cast
• No piggybacking near bedtime
• If Scoots was heading towards a point, he’d veer in another direction
• You can’t be better than a Bore Bestie
• Best Bore Friend (BBF)
• How come there’s no reality housekeeping shows?
• Well, I guess there are actually a lot
• Hello, Marie Kondo
• Bless This Mess – is that a TV show?
• Picturesque Piggy Backing
• Piggybacking you off to bed
• Episode 5
• I think this is the first half, but it might be the 2nd
• We’ve never done this before, except when we did
• A peek into my process
• I think I’m in a pretty good spot right here
• Behind the scenes before the episode is recorded
• I recorded episode 4 about a week ago
• I’ve spent about 5 days working on episode 5
• I watched the original series on Saturday
• There’s only 8 episodes of the original show
• Recapping Stranger Things
• Starts with a red sky
• Hopper sneaks in
• Unzipping a zip door
• Then he gets in trouble
• He’s looking for Matt Modine
• He tries to permanently lock a door behind him
• Lonnie and Joyce are hanging out
• Joyce is questioning her feelings
• Joyce can’t feel Will’s presence anymore
• Lonnie is a real lowball kind of character
• Hopper is looking for Will
• A picture of Papa and a cat
• Was that El’s room?
• Mike and El
• Mike asks El what Will was saying to her
• Is Will in the Upside Down?
• The crew is starting to put things together
• The Veil of Shadows
• Things you’d find in a forest that are slowly contributing to the biome
• Brainstorming my adaptation
• How do you get there? Casting Shadow Walk
• An OMG moment
• Seeing the portal
• Someone tells Hopper to take a nap
• The Flea & The Acrobat – a great title
• Jonathan wants nothing to do with Lonnie
• Lonnie and Jonathan have an eye to eye staredown
• A parent / child montage
• Going to Will’s funeral
• But the squad isn’t upset because they know what’s going on
• A flashback to Will the Wise, drawing
• Hopper wakes up very sweaty
• He does a WTF
• He finds a surveillance thing
• Modine is listening to Will and Joyce talking – huh?
• Nancy and Jonathan look at a map
• Going to the AV Club to talk to the teacher
• How does one travel to a parallel dimension
• The Acrobat / Flea metaphor
• You need energy to create a gate
• Hopper’s coworkers need his help finding some lost hikers
• Lonnie is fixing the wall
• Joyce wants him to leave the lights alone
• The kids realize their compasses are broken
• Follow the compasses to the gate
• Joyce realizes that Lonnie is in it for herself
• Steve shows up to confront Nancy
• Steve wants to make up
• Nancy says she’ll call Steve
• Joyce tells Lonnie to hit the road
• Jonathan and Nancy are practicing spitballs
• Jonathan doesn’t want to be a tough guy like his dad
• A classic suburban angst moment
• A news reporter is on the phone
• Jim is talking to his ex-wife
• Squad is on the train tracks, following their compasses
• El is clearly stressed
• That leads to a flashback
• Modine keeps pushing El to go further
• El wants to turn back
• Nancy and Jonathan keep talking
• Joyce hears a knock
• Hopper tells her to keep quiet and sees the lights
• The squad is at the junkyard
• Something is scrambling the compasses
• Lucas questions El
• She’s scrambling the compasses!
• El admits it
• Hopper tells Joyce someone is listening in
• Hopper tells Joyce she was right the whole time
• Lucas and Mike have a disagreement about El
• Lucas doesn’t trust El
• El puts Lucas to sleep
• Mike is now upset at El
• Our first big flashback of El in a dreamworld
• Mike says some not nice things to El
• El hears some other voices
• She hears a clicking 
• She wants to get out of the pool because she’s getting pruned
• Nancy and Jonathan find some forest friends
• Nancy discovers a goopy hole in a tree
• She leans in and goes into the Upside Down
• Jonathan can’t find Nancy
• Nancy trips and can’t get out
• So that’s a recap
• Contemplating the structure of the episode
• What is Lenny gonna be doing?
• Maybe Lenny forced Willow to make him her agent
• What does Leon find?
• What is Francis’s flashback?
• What’s up with Babs?
• Community Resource Day
• Maybe it’s a day of gratitude to the community
• But this one is tough because Willow is not there
• Community Resources vs larger Swamp community
• Maybe all saucers are listening
• A map of potential levels
• Boring Levels
• Maybe Bull lives in a tree?
• Contemplating flashbacks
• Episode 6
• Or episode 5b6a
• Checking in before I record the episode
• Today is Wednesday
• Last week I recorded ep 5
• I like to have at least 4 episodes done when one is released
• But we’ve fallen behind a little bit
• But my life routine has changed a little because of changes in the world
• No need to worry
• How will we stretch 8 original episodes into 10 or 11?
• You can’t force these things
• Organic Positive Stuff Just Happens
• Contemplating the clock while recording
• I had about 50 to 60 minutes of material
• But it ended up being a little bit more
• But there were just a lot of natural tangents and room to explore
• Basically ep 5 just got to the mid point
• Our version had a bigger event – Community Resource Day
• Wait a sec, maybe I can break this ep into 2 episodes!
• Maybe we’ll just need like 15 more minutes for ep 6
• So I watched the first part of ep 6
• So this is what I have so far
• These notes are spread across 2 notebooks
• Joyce and Lenny go to sleep
• Leon goes into the lab
• Tefe hears singing
• Leon goes lower and lower
• Dari and Lenny face off
• Discussing a magical plan and the myth of the humans
• How to find a tower that goes up and down
• Back to D & D songs at Francis’s house
• Big F with a circle – Frances’s first story point
• Frances finds Lenny and Willow’’s old contract
• Leon wakes up at home
• Finding a mysterious other contract
• This’ll probably change too when I record
• Bringing up tuning forks to find the tower
• Electromagnetic Tuning Fork
• Leon inspects every saucer in his place
• Leon goes over to Frances’ house
• Searching the wind chimes
• Leon tells Frances she was right
• LJ and Von follow the tuning fork
• Billy gets their first flashback
• Tefe and Dari are exploring mixtapes
• Questioning goose droppings
• A tree house made of tree into the Silent Realm
• Breaking down the original story points
• Nancy follows Jonathan’s voice
• Jonathan pulls Nancy out of the tree hole
• Nancy now has an attachment to the Upside Down
• Jonathan and Nancy don’t want to be alone
• Hopper and Joyce are going over everything
• Trying to track down Terry Ives
• Dustin and Mike are in conflict
• An extensive Eleven flashback about First Contact
• I can’t find my notes for Billy’s long flashback
• Don’t forget Size Down
• Bird call analysis
• Don’t forget the stretching room
• New Frogs on the Block
• A song of thanks and gratitude
• Figuring out more plot stuff
• What are we gonna do with this giant bunny?
• A long Billy flashback
• We need time for the Dari / Tefe hide and seek in the forest
• And that’s where it stands right now