Nightshade Academy | Midseason Discussion

hello and welcome to the Nightshade Academy intermission I'm Mel toy Franca the creator of this story it's crazy to me to think that we're already halfway through the release of everything confirmed for the audio adaptation I feel like I just started working on this project yesterday before I dive into the content just a quick announcement Nightshade Academy will be published in its original book format on November 11th of 2023. if you're interested in reading the book early in exchange for an online review you can apply to be an art reader The Arc copies or Advanced reader copies are not actually available right now but as soon as they are ready they will be released out to people in order of application date so sign up as soon as possible to receive the book as soon as possible the link is in the description below let's start with the prologue I was actually nauseous when I first wrote that I was just writing the first draft and I realized she has to kill him but how she's not gonna have any weapons on her and then my brain just immediately went long and I was like the log Emoji is not the same for me anymore let's look at some comments that the prologue received dang that was darker than I expected I have two things to say to this first of all yay I'm very pleased that it had that dark twist that's what I was going for second of all are you the chicken because I had a chicken beta Reed capsule and give me feedback and I I think it might be you are you the chicken if so I'm very honored that you've stuck around this long thank you damn Mel's voice has a different vibe in this I'm a little bit afraid what is the different vibe it's my Nightshade Academy voice different maybe it is prologue hide and seek yeah yeah okay I get it today is special for me it's my birthday thank you Mel for making it even more so this is the best birthday gift that I could ever hope for man that is wild for my work to be the best birthday gift ever I mean that is of the utmost honor we got a comment from Sebastian here who created the short film for my first novel leaving wishville this is sick in both ways can't wait for the book I am very pleased to know that you think my work is sick and disgusting thank you very much I also asked a question that not many of you answered I'm very hurt um yeah I did get one response so shout out to Rose Woodstone I asked was Cal a varium in the right I think she took it a tad too far I also agree with you there I think she took it just a pinch too far just a little bit on the outside I'm completely silent and still but on the inside I'm freaking drowning yet also exploding with excitement welcome to my daily life it's either excitement or dread I actually have a fun story about the prologue I knew that it had to take place two years before the start of episode one in order for that to happen the characters that are playing hide and seek had to be 13. I was like wait a minute do people play hide and seek when they're 13 so I asked a question on YouTube at what age are you too old to play hide and seek 10. I stopped playing hide and seek when I was like 10 10 or 11 years old disappointing 12 Max 10 to 12 years old somewhere around 12 maybe normal hide and seek when you're like 12 but then it evolves into hide and seek around the block got another one 12. early teens I'm almost 13 and I still play hide and seek with my younger siblings I still play with my siblings and I'm 14. I would say 14 to 15. 13 maybe 15 among peers in my experience honestly I would still go play with friends and I'm 17. I'm 20 and I would still play hide and seek literally if any of my friends are watching this and you want to play hide and seek hit me up I will play hide and seek okay honestly I don't think there's any age where you stop the game just gets progressively harder like maybe you play in the dark or tag someone oh gosh or tagging someone means hurting them or maybe my cousins and I are messed up um please be safe never too old though socially I'd assume about 19. even I am 92 I will play it never too old for that I guess I actually would love to if someone asked me to play hide and seek with them especially my friends hey a Mew with the cat I'm down I'm down let's do it there really isn't an age where you're too old to play hide there's no such thing as being too old to play hide and you're never too old for hide and seek you're never too old for hide and seek never never never ever never LMAO the enthusiasm in that one never there are more Extreme Ways to play it like what it's really sad because I can't remember the last time I played hide and seek but I have so many fond memories I remember one time I hit in a I hid in the cabinet and I I sat there for like probably a couple hours super pleased with myself because I thought they couldn't find me and eventually when I came out of the cabinet all of my friends were just watching SpongeBob and they say they gave up and they were bored and so I was just sitting in a cabinet for no reason so I've got a question here where did the idea to turn Nightshade Academy into an audio drama first come from it popped into my head on multiple occasions after listening to the Audio Drama mother hacker what made me commit to the project full force was actually the voice actors I put up a casting call expecting no one to audition I think I ended up with over 200 or something crazy there were 56 auditions just for Yoshi Kanye alone his voice and I was like Wow people actually want to be a part of this Yoshi's voice actor really captured exactly how I imagined Yoshi's voice when I was beta reading I'm very happy to hear this from a beta reader and actually multiple beta readers have told me this like I said there were 56 auditions for some reason I just kept coming back to Jason's audition I was like no this is Yoshi like I don't know why but this is Yoshi this was super engaging Mel can't wait for the next episode and to meet Val finally I'm very honored to hear this from you I'm I'm obsessed with all of your analysis and reviews of movies and books whether it's on YouTube or on Instagram I'm very much a fan avelle I've made that very clear however I will admit some of the other characters have grown me more throughout the editing process I very much relate to Pinto I'm not sure if I'd say he's like my favorite character or that I even like him he reminds me too much of me I can just really relate like the the obsession with career and the inability to just have fun this is a comment to episode 2 selection season gosh I love this one I kind of knew Yoshi was gonna get selected and I expected Elora to be selected too when it added his name just right at the end oh my God I was excited here's a meme that someone posted in the Discord fun fact about Alora she didn't exist until fairly recently I was hesitant to introduce too many characters in Citra when Yoshi's just gonna leave them anyway but then I thought it'd be a fun addition and kind of bring more to the world and make that town feel more real and I was like I like Laura she's fun so I added her in and who knows maybe she'll come back in the future at this point I'm just hoping that night shoot Academy becomes a bestseller and Belladonna gets picked up to become a movie or a Netflix original you are my favorite author keep up the great work this sounds amazing I wouldn't be surprised if this became a bestseller and became a movie wow thank you very much I'm glad you see you see potential for something larger the moment that made you fall in love with this book completely it was my childhood friend Angie that kind of convinced me to end up turning this into the trilogy we were going to the beach I believe and I just started telling her about the story the original story and then she started bouncing ideas off of me and like what if this happened or what if this character was there and we just ended up brainstorming and then I got lost and it took forever for me to drive us back home but that was the moment I realized like I was so lost in this world I literally drove to the middle of nowhere his Nightshade Academy set in the same place as the sky waves with us or did you change the setting and if so why Pawn text the sky weaves with us is the name of the original story I wrote when I was 10 that I'm basing all of this on what plot points from the sky weaves with us actually made it into the Belladonna Trilogy I had the whole island Vibe the whole weather being gloomy that was all the very built into the original story and that has not changed at all the atmosphere of the island is very much the same in terms of plot points Nightshade Academy is more of a prequel to the original story that I wrote to the sky weaves with us had the character Yoshi in it and he was always my favorite character when I was younger and so when I Revisited the story with the intent of rewriting it I realized I really want to tell Yoshi's story first so book two is more closely aligned with the skyweaves with us in terms of the plot and it follows the original main character which is Santi dang I got played this is a comment on episode three blood bound and I actually remembered the moment I first read this because I was in a coffee shop and I it took me a moment to process because I was like what does that mean and then I realized it was Alex Bowie the voice actor for quacks and then it all came together and I just started laughing in public it was very awkward yeah I still don't forgive you for that Alex feels like we're building to something special I'm hooked is it something special or is it something absolutely terrible we'll have to wait and see oh man I cry when I think of the ending just kidding um composure the tension and character conflict in this episode had me on the edge of my seat Yoshi's internal conflict in this episode was so gripping it was an absolutely brilliant episode as has been the series so far this means a lot coming from other writers thank you guys so much I'm glad that the interior up interior internal conflict hit hard here's a here's a meme that that Millie put together a trade-off for your service as a guardian you receive trauma also fun fact about episode 3 that this meme also reminds me of is the song We Have It All by pimp stones that was actually the inspiration for adding this moment in the story because in previous drafts it wasn't such a big deal what other books short stories did you take inspiration from while writing it I would say definitely Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card I can't think of any short stories some shows that definitely inspired it would be troll Hunters the animated show I absolutely love it also the anime assassination classroom that was one of my absolute favorites in eighth grade I love that show so much here are some comments on episode 4 orientation the fangirlish urge to be selected for the Academy just to give Yoshi a hug Yoshi needs a hug honestly and we haven't even gotten to his Peak anxiety yet I know it might be painful later on in the story to see Yoshi and Clark's friendship become ruined because of the academy and it's already looking that way but I'm kind of a fan of characters being pitted against each other especially if they were close friends before because it creates tension that I'm just a sucker for it was not my idea it was a beta reader who pitched it to me and I was like whoa that would be so much better than having them just be complete randos I'm very glad people seem to be enjoying the uh the falling out of that friendship LOL The Meta nah it's the eye patch response Got Me Oh My Gosh guys uh I was actually not sure about that line at first but my Beta readers just absolutely loved it look there were so many responses to that comment so I was like I have to keep it in I can't take it out after that when Yoshi was thinking how did we get here the theme song started playing in my head very intentional the how did we get here I am a sucker for incorporating recurring phrases into my books you'll notice it in capsule if you've read that I will use any opportunity I can to incorporate phrases from the episode titles even if it's not that episode like rabbit hole it gets mentioned a lot what could have been the phrase like could have been oh my gosh I just like reusing phrases and it's just really fun Ember is such an interesting character I always love characters we don't know if we could trust I don't really know if I trust her or not she has a point that Yoshi's emotional state seems to be crumbling losing his best friend failing his father and he seems to have a lot of low self-esteem I hope we can trust Amber though trust no one Yoshi's casual she steals bread will forever be funny to me there's a lot of Yoshi um I guess jokes or like little comments he makes that even catch me off guard in episode nine I believe he makes a joke about uh a pin being sharp it's not a bad nickname nicknames are pointless what a pin is sharp oh my God I can't sometimes it's just so cringy but I just have to add it in I can't resist I can't resist finish your supper I love that line and uh it becomes a recurring joke throughout part two now go upstairs and finish your supper also check out this amazing fan art of Professor Ember I'm in love with it the hair is is sharp and I like that I made this sketch of my character's like ages ago oh my goodness this was a year ago we've got a real Yoshi a real Yoshi in real life I also made this concept art for the Belladonna uniforms a while back whoa the ending was awesome OMG the ending gave me chills oh these are comments on uh selection material when Professor Amber gives Yoshi that intense lecture so you need to really dig yashi you need to dig and you need to find a reason why you bleed to stay here that was one of my favorite things to write a Julia the voice actor for for Professor Ember she did such a great job though to the rescue here's a response to episode nine appreciate the gut punch that was a close one anytime oh these are the voice actors for Belle and the latest voice actor for Pinto communicating in character oh God I had a feeling something was off when an unexpected free day came up I feel so bad for Pinto good thing Belle was there to help him not get filtered though I was so excited to see everyone's reactions to to episode 9 because I feel like it's the first time things start to go weird any form of romantic relationship between Val and Pinto all of the romance that I've added to any of my previous books was based on beta reader feedback I'm literally keeping tallies because I can't make up my mind on my own I have no strong personal preference in terms of what ships sail and as you can see my um my Beta readers are a very opinion opinionated a lot of people do ship Bell and Pinto I've got a lot of Yoshi and Vel Yoshi and Kia and a ton of like neutral answers and then people who absolutely don't want any romance at all between the trio so yeah it's complicated who knows is my response to that how did you come up with the symptoms of the belladonna plant that was mostly research that I did on Belladonna online and then I also listened to the audiobook The Royal art of poison on a completely unrelated note I think I know the five teens who graduate for the program and I responded who and the response was Pinto Val yashi and quacks that's only four I'm crying that was so cute this was a nice break mostly after that last episode great moment between Yoshi and Vel ah the wholesome moments between Yoshi and Val love their interactions with each other yay a whole samyashi novel episode love this one oh I love the game at the end the characters weren't totally miserable in this episode yay I'm glad everyone seemed to enjoy episode 10 quite a bit I had a lot of good responses Yoshi and Val training together was based on my personal experience in karate when I was around the age of 13 to 14 or 15. my sparring partner his phrase that he told me all the time was be stupider because I was so hesitant with every move and I just had no confidence essentially when it came to fighting I realized that that would be a really fun element to incorporate into Val's character what were the hardest chapters to write and which ones were you looking forward to writing the most to answer both of those questions now that I've given it some thought I would say episode 10 was both the hardest to write and the one I was looking forward to in theory it seems so much fun two characters that I absolutely love and adore put them together for an entire episode that centers almost completely around just them I thought it would be great but I had a really really hard time writing that episode it took place in a garden and then at one point it took place in the lab and then eventually I got to the current version but also I knew nothing about horses and I spent a lot of time researching like how do you make how do you make a horse move and then also just the emotional progression of their conversations and stuff was really hard I have written down a few predictions I've thought about while listening to the audiobook my first prediction is about Yoshi my second prediction is about the five graduating trainees yes I love to hear predictions about the final five I have a feeling the ones that will be graduating are Yoshi quacks Val pinto and KO at first I thought Senna was going to make it as one of the graduating trainees but now I Know Anything Can Happen by the end of part one we will know who the final five are episode 20 is intense it is crazy my Beta readers know who the final five are so please do not spoil it guys speaking of ko flashback to that time I almost named him kodo I've had 578 people vote on YouTube on his name is book two and three plotted I am happy to say that yes they are plotted book two is plotted more than book three I have like a vague outline for book three but I do know how the story ends and I don't like it um book two is much more structured and I've actually written quite a large chunk of booktube just a fun final poll that I hosted recently is it really true that Heroes live in Stars this was from the theme song majority of people think Heroes live in Stars look up at the stars those are our heroes yeah I think I'm gonna wrap up this video now but thank you so much for watching and once again if you're interested in receiving an early copy of my book link is in the description to apply to become an arc reader I hope this has been entertaining at least a little bit for you and I will see you next week with the release of episode 11 her voice bye