Concluding Cycle 1. From the Tree of Names to the End of the World…
On Ayta’s seventh birthday, there came a knock on the door, and her namesake stood before her. Gran Ayta. Once a thing of myth, descended from legends. Now she seemed just a stooped old woman, but appearances can be deceiving.
The last episodes of Tales From When I Had A Face are queued and scheduled, closing out Cycle 1 of The Fallen Cycle Mythos a year and a month after the first drop with season 4. If you’ve been waiting to binge, start at Episode 1 and let it run in order — Summer (1), Fall (2), Winter (3), and Spring (4). Listen on the site or your usual player. Platform links live on the podcast page.
For those who are up to date, no spoilers: the final stretch pivots into Nyssa’s account and closes the loop opened through the previous three seasons.
6–7 hours runtime or so is a lot of soundtrack to produce, but David Bessell really helped me keep it intentional rather than obligatory. His synth work anchors much of this arc’s sound. I selected backing tracks and materials from previous albums I’ve produced, then mixed and produced the soundtrack and the spoken word (generated and processed in post). Much of the synth texture you hear comes from his palette.
Tales was an illustrated novel first — 100+ images across the book. Credits and a preview live on the site, and there’s a B&W edition if you prefer book-first (Amazon). There are a very limited number of the limited editions (hardcover full-color) produced for the Kickstarter; contact me directly if you are interested in one.
If you’re new start at Episode 1 and listen straight through at your leisure. The podcast page has links to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, and RSS, so you can use whatever player you actually like.
Up next:
Party at the World’s End (Cycle 2) will begin with season 5.
PATWE is going to be a bit of a tone shift, while staying in the same mythos and near the same timeline — Tales takes place between 2001–2008 whereas PATWE is largely 2010–2012.
In a universe very close to our own, it tracks Lilith and her band of miscreants as they stumble from escaped convicts to a different kind of stardom. The higher they climb (literally and figuratively) the more the state notices: counter-terrorism units in pursuit, a country coming apart at the seams, and a band of reality pranksters becoming either a public symbol of death and rebirth or a footnote in history… depending who you ask. (Read more on the PATWE page).
It’s faster, louder, and frankly… very situated in the vibe of the early 2010s. It’s also quite a bit funnier than Tales, as we move away from the somber melancholy of Ayta’s voice, and the bombastic menace of Gran’s. Nyssa we may hear from again, someday. The story for the other two is at its end. (I think).
It’s been an interesting experiment, and I’m fairly happy with how it came out. Of course there are always things you’d change pretty much as soon as you release a project. I’ve learned that’s just how it works. Roll those things into the next project. Thank you for listening, sharing, and sending notes.
See you at the World’s End.
