Writers! Want to try your hand at writing for audio drama for the first time? Want to work with a super fun and supportive team? Like spooky nonsense? (I mean, obviously you do, you’re here, aren’t you?)
Submit your pitch to para/Normal!
BECOME AN AUDIO DRAMA CREATOR TODAY!
1: Get to know some of the most creative and talented people from around the world!
2: Have them gleefully say the most unhinged nonsense ever put into words!
3: ...Profit? (if anyone has any tips on how to do this last one, lmk)
The Voice of Value Vault didn't originally exist. It's not something I put on the casting call. But I loved Raz's customer service voice so much that I had the idea on the spot, and I am so glad they were willing to join us. The Voice adds depth to the show, and I am forever grateful for them.
Now that season 1 has officially ended, it's time for us to praise the unsung hero of this show, and that is @razzigyrl.bsky.social, aka The Voice of Value Vault. Raz gives us our content warnings, reads our credits, and does voiceover for any and all promos (and might even do more in S2 👀).
14. The last scene recorded for season 1 was the end of episode 7, aka Jude reassuring Nat about Black Friday. I didn't plan it that way, but it was the perfect emotional note to wrap on. Someday I'll release the audio of everyone reacting to me calling a wrap on season 1 (probably on Patreon!)
13. The other big reference to BSFF is having @scottpaladin.com play the first customer to die. His BSFF characters died so frequently that 'kill Scott Paladin' was a square on the BSFF cast and crew bingo board, and MANY of us checked it off (including me).
(you should listen to Breathing Space)
12. Many of us met working on the show @breathingxspace.bsky.social, and our shared love for that show pops up in 236. Specifically, Jude yelling about the Migratory Bird Act in episode 6 is a direct reference to something her character says in the series finale.
11. We have exactly three custom emojis in our show's Discord server. One is a stack of boxes. The second is a bunch of balloons. The third is a mince pie.
10. Speaking of ad libs, we very narrowly avoided Morgan ranting about mince pies in episode 3. Nevertheless, when I was picking takes for that episode, I was met with @kirstywoolven.bsky.social chanting "mince pies" on mute while recording. Expect Morgan to finally get their pies in season 2.
9a. The group chat is called Bad Idea Jail. They earned it.
9. @achill3a.bsky.social and @heraherself.bsky.social are credited as additional story development. Usually that means I wake up to 100+ messages in our group chat of them rotating their blorbos instead of sleeping. Sometimes those rotations make the script. HRT preventing fire damage? 100% Hera.
8. This cast is not exactly know for staying on script. So much so, that we instituted 'chaos takes' as the final take of most scenes. Some of your favorite lines just might be ad libbed (a list of my favorites will be on Patreon in the near future).
7. Neither Ken's nor Oliver's VA is American. I've worked with @hadronkaleidoscope.bsky.social for a few years, so I know he's British, but when I'm proofing episodes, I straight up forget @classypollux.bsky.social is Australian.
Our last live listen of season one is coming at you in less than 15 minutes!
Season 1 finale live listen party on Youtube tomorrow morning! It's going to be fun! 😁 JOIN US!! And help us demand more episodes!
No, really. Don’t touch Jude’s. It’s for your own safety.
Afraid so! But don't worry, we'll have lots of fun bonus content to keep you entertained during the hiatus (especially over on our Patreon! www.patreon.com/c/Store236)
6. Every single customer interaction is based on something that happened in real life. Want the true story of anything specific? Keep an eye out for our Q&A form, which will be out sometime this week.
5. The layout of Store 236 is based on the dollar store in my hometown. Every time I picture the store, that's what I picture. 236 is also the partial number for that store.
4. Speaking of Jude, when I first started writing her, she very quickly began sounding like @heraherself.bsky.social in my head. While she's lightly based on me (de facto assistant manager), she now has far more in common with Hera (specifically, strong as hell, caffeine fiend, lots of curly hair).
3. At my old job, we all used different names when communicating with customers, mostly for privacy. My customer service name was Jude.
2. Originally, my concept for this show was to set it in a call center, and it was going to be named "This Call May Be Monitored." That obviously didn't pan out, but I loved the name so much that I used it for episode 4 of this past season.
1. I (Mel) came up with the idea for this show during an extra rough week at my old job where customers were being awful to me specifically. I was sitting on the couch, trying not to cry, and thought, "god, why can't these customers just get what they deserve?"
💡💡💡
And with that, Store 236 was born.
As promised, fun facts start now! I'll be updating this periodically, so be sure to check back for more! 🧵
It's official! The YouTube live listen of our season finale will be tomorrow, 3/22, at 11AM EDT. Join the cast and crew for what promises to be a good time.
youtu.be/ziWPuTeroxU?...
Hi! Totally fine to ask here - I'm gonna throw this one to Morgan themself, @kirstywoolven.bsky.social
Every piece of media is made better by having a trans woman in it.
In case you were wondering.
Borrowing a tradition from our friends at @breathingxspace.bsky.social, for every like and repost this gets, we'll share a fun fact from behind the scenes of season 1!
And a slight change to routine: no YouTube premiere tonight! Instead, we'll be doing a live watch on Sunday, March 22 at 11AM EDT to allow more of our very scattered across space and time cast to attend.