Thank You

As some of you may know, yesterday was National Patreon Day, a day for creators to give back to their patrons.

I've been torn for the last few weeks trying to find something I could give you all for supporting SCP Archives, for listening every week, and for pushing me to keep creating- And nothing felt quite right. Post cards and bonus episodes are all due to you already, and I thought it'd feel like a cop out to deliver that on a special day.

So, here I am a day late, with a very simple gift and story. 

The gift is the "Thank You" photo above- something that I literally just drew a second ago. But let me tell you why the simple gift felt so right.

Five years ago...

I was in high school, it was my senior year, and I was terrified. I didn't know what I wanted to do next, I didn't click with mathematics or chemistry. I'd been taking drama classes since freshman year and LOVED them, but wasn't sure that I'd ever make a career out of that. I wasn't the strongest actor, nor was I technically capable, but I had fun in the class, managed the after school theatre club, helped edit the school's lit & art magazine, you get the idea. 

Every morning I began school with my Creative Writing class, and every day I ended it with my Drama class. 

I wrote some poems, acted in a school play, but still wasn't content.

Eventually, as the year drew to a close, we came upon ~Senior Projects~. Each senior in theatre was to direct a one act play of their choosing. I truthfully didn't like plays all that much, so instead I choose an episode of The Twilight Zone: Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?

I found my cast and we spent weeks playing silly bonding games, doing warm ups, and (sometimes) rehearsing the script. We got blocking down, we moved things around, we found costumes that fit just right, and finally, it was time to perform.

The cast was perhaps a little too large for our tiny stage, one of my actors dropped out last minute and I had to go on for them, and minutes before going on I told my cast that if they forgot their lines, just fake a heart attack. Fortunately, there were no heart attacks, (though we did get close!) there were some stumbles but my cast moved through them, and at the end of the night, I had had a blast. 

Watching my little shoddy play come together was the best thing I'd done so far. I was graduating next week, and finally it clicked, finally I had a silly little thought, "I think I like Directing!"

Like I said, five years ago, and all I have left is something I quickly hand drew on the back of each pamphlet for my play.

Something that kicked off this silly pursuit, and lead me to audio drama, and after many shows, lead me to SCP Archives, and lead me to connect with all the great folks here.

So, a day late and all I have is this old ragged slip of paper that simply says, "Thank you."

Thank you for listening, for chatting, for sharing, for giving. Thank you for giving me a place to create and do this thing I love everyday! Thank you for helping me follow that little thought I had five years ago.

Thank you.

-P