No joke! It’s April

The changing of the season is upon us.

That’s it, that’s the whole opener this month.

As always, we've also included things to watch out for in the upcoming month, and a look at what's happening on our Patreon (which you can join for ~as little as a dollar~) & Discord which is now open to all!

It’s time: t h e   f e e l i n g s

STELLA:

It’s April which means it’s wedding season which means my life is about to get terrible. You know what I love? Pretending to care about other people’s weddings when I think weddings are a giant waste of time and money. Jaded? Yeah, but I have ten years worth of proof so I’m right. Day jobs, amirite?

Need a new bop? Check out Kevin Olusola. He mashes classical music with r&b and it goes HARD. 

I’m still in a reading funk. And a reading funk for me means I am still reading all my weekly comics but basically nothing else. To inspire me to read again I started to reread my favorite comic of all time, Giant Days. And it’s working! This slice of life comic is endearing, funny, timeless and exactly what I need right now. 

I’m so late to the game but I am newly obsessed with Chicken Shop Date. It’s perfect. No Notes. Just don’t invite Rocco. 

If you have some extra cash and you want to support trans joy I suggest donating to the Trans Doll Invasion 2025. 

I’m not really a poem person, but this one really hits. 

ERIN

Hey what’s up, it’s ya girl “April Fools Day is a fucking travesty don’t bring that shit anywhere near me or i will permanently sever connections.” I'm manic as fuck this month, and ready to make it everyone's problem. 

My 2025 music goal is to just go see fucken whatever. Band i like? I'm buying tickets. Band I'm only passingly familiar with but someone i know loves them? Also buying tickets. Band i know absolutely nothing about but just give a vibe?? Oh you know I'm buying tickets. This month i saw The Tossers in their St Patrick's Day party day show. They RULED and my bud and i, at our ripe young ages of 36, rode the front rail for all three bands and had the absolute time of our lives - turns out when you do things you love, you love the things you do.

I'm still just devastatingly fixated on The Vaccines, so here's your video check in with them “filming” a very funny hair metal documentary parody. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but the moments he's sadly eating bread by the pool is one of the best depictions I've ever seen of heartbreak - that sounds bad, but honestly it's very funny! Or you could watch this kung fu parody where they learn to fight from a creature from the deep. I love them so.

Also, I guess I’m into shoes now?? This mania really has me in it’s clutches, I don’t know what to tell you.

PRODUCER BOBBY:

Hello I promise I will never let you think I am injured or dead as part of some April ruse. We’re starting to prepare for a move in a couple months and I think my sock collection has girlbossed too close to the sun. I do love getting rid of half of my stuff when I move though, it makes life feel lighter! I’m up to like my eighth or ninth apartment in Chicago, all over the city through about half my life. I’m not a sentimental person about physical objects but as I get older things like my records, instruments, and desk clutter get harder to alleviate myself from. That and socks, apparently. 

Recommendations:

To play - March ended up being a board game heavy month! We had a friend buy Blood on The Clocktower, which is great if you want to get into a big room and yell at like 15 people. Just remember to do your best to trust your friends again after it's over. This game is better with tables of 11 or more, as adding additional outsider and minion role characters can keep it more of a social deduction game (fun!) and less of a process of elimination-fest (not fun for everyone).  Also, wow, being evil and lying is really stressful and exhausting. I have no idea how landlords do it. My partner Kim and I also played Adrift. This game is visually wonderful and satisfyingly tactile. We loved some of the puzzles, were annoyed by others, and ultimately wanted a bit of a stronger narrative so that completing the game was more satisfying . It’s a good way to spend an evening but we wouldn’t have paid the fifty bucks for something you can really only play once.  

To listen - A month of sorting through clothes and playing table games means a lot of ambient dungeon synth and mostly instrumental “make brain do relax stuff” music. For this, I’d recommend Witch Bolt, Future Magics, and of course Chicago’s own long-standing instru-metal mainstays Pelican who released a couple new singles last month. Also, can’t go wrong with some classic Mort Garson “my synthesizer can talk to plants” type shit. Just be careful with those “5 hour ambient synth/background” youtube playlists. More and more now they are AI slop that’s never been touched by tuneful human hands or minds. If you help the machines take music away from us, we won’t invite you to any of the post-apocalypse adult parties. Thems the rules.  

To watch - The sun. No really, look at it. Look at it for just a second longer than you think you’re supposed to. Check back with it in a couple hours once. Congrats, you’re still here. 

Things coming this month:

• 2 X-Treks episodes this month on 4/11 and 4/25

• New Not Your Demo drops 4/9. Probably.

• Will we still be on Instagram in the May newsletter? Only if the Bluesky alternative isn’t up yet! Until then at @nydproductions you can get show announcements, hilarious clips, and general revelry. 

• Tumblr?? We have one…it’s a work in progress.

Exclusive to our Patreon (it's only a dollar!) and open for all Discord!

• April book club information is in our Discord

• X-Treks xtras on the Patreon include:

  • Show notes - Our watch-along notes. Stella & Erin’s first reactions to the episodes as they watch them for the first time. How does Stella translate Erin’s handwriting? Literally only a bond as strong as [college]

  • Scripts - these things are a travesty and you get to see it

  • Episode outtakes, featuring our truest selves and Erin’s increasing smoker’s cough

Maybe a new episode of Unofficial Channels….maybe. UC is mysterious and important. 

And, of course, we’re having a delightful time in the Discord generally, come hang with us.

• Once a month Erin has been livetweeting (livediscording??) as she reads through a fanfic provided by Stella in Stella’s Link Lounge. Erin has voluntarily jumped into hell and will be reading and posting through a Mulder/Krychek fic, so hold onto your butts.

• The safest of safe spaces for all ttrpg nerds related things

• Do you like comics?? Why aren't you in the Discord chatting with us??

Zing.