March 2025 Newsletter

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I need a way to get people invested in me as a Brand and social media is a realm of piss so. I'm doing a monthly newsletter.

So. Hey. I'm Amelia, I'm a trans she/they nerd, I'm from the UK, and I'm making things. If you like foul-mouthed queer sci-fi and atrocious 3D graphics, consider sticking around.

I don't plan on showing face on this site just yet. But I am working on an animated avatar you can get parasocially attached to/ogle.

THE FREYA PROJECT: FIRST DRAFT

Last year was all about producing and releasing my first audio drama, Dying In Space With You. I'd shat out silly 'audio stories' years ago using copyrighted music and sound effects, but those were fairly rough and ready- and they'd be better off forgotten. If you're one of the few people who have heard them, I hear God is handing out free passes to Heaven as compensation.

For this one I actually had to try and make it good. I had to actually cast actors! I had to make all the sounds! I had to give the script more than just a brief glance before I started recording it! I'd like to think it came out pretty well and I learned a lot while making it- but I wasn't thrilled that it had taken me a year and a half to come up with 32 minutes of audio drama.

So this year, my goal is to lock in. Use what I've learned to speed things up a little. By the end of December, I will walk out of 2025 with an hour-long audio.

I'd spent my January brainstorming ideas and mushing them into some kind of outline. I'd had an idea a year or two back for something I'm currently calling 'The Freya Project' and already knew it would be my next audio after Dying In Space. Not giving away too much just yet, but it's got time travel, it's angsty, and it's VERY trans. That was the easy part.

Then in February, I began work on the first draft of the script.

Something I've learned from years of fantasising about being a writer is that your head is a safe haven for ideas. ANY story you come up with will sound cool in your head! The page, on the other hand, is a hellzone where your idea naively charges into gunfire and razor wire and shitloads of bombs while you get to watch through the gaps inbetween your fingers. And the concept you thought of as robust and well-cooked comes back to you punched with holes and missing an arm and begging to die- and you feel, for a haunting moment, as if you have failed not just it but the human race.

In two weeks, it was already obvious that this idea was NOT ready yet. The characters were stilted. The pace could be charitably described as nonexistent. The themes and emotional core STRUGGLED to be heard beneath huge wads of monologue and exposition.

In other words, a normal first draft. Still sucks though. So I spent March totally re-jigging the story from the ground up. I cut a lot of fat. I added some new characters. I gave the villains more spice and more screentime. And I cranked up the sci-fi to make it that bit more exciting.

Right now this new draft is sitting at 14 pages. And while I'm not expecting it to be perfect, it's definitely going to be a big step in the right direction. I can't wait to share more of this in the coming months.

AMELIA'S ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2025: MARCH

Yep. This is gonna be a regular segment. You NEED to hear my opinion on current music.

Just to bring you up to speed on my listening habits: January was the month of JPEGMAFIA and February was the month of Joey Valence & Brae. Those two artists DOMINATED those respective months, and I barely listened to anything else.

March, however, I decided to get my butt in gear and start getting through the music of 2025.

Of the 32 albums I listened to this month, 22 of them were from this year. Of those, there were three that really caught my attention:

Perverts - Ethel Cain

Is it an album? Is it an EP? Is it a contract loophole? Whatever it is, it's bold and it's creepy and it's got an atmosphere like nothing else I've heard this year. Check it out if you like dark ambient stuff.

FAV TRACKS: Perverts, Pulldrone

Dead Channel Sky - clipping.

An experimental hip-hop album that brings enough static, techno and interference to match the cyberpunk world it revolves around. Plus Daveed Diggs is a MASTER on the mic.

FAV TRACKS: Dominator, Change the Channel, Mirrorshades pt. 2

UNKILLABLE ANGEL - Ada Rook

My AOTY so far- Ada Rook's 39 minute screaming outburst was the album I couldn't stop going back to. With glitchy, noisy bangers in spades (as well as a Metal Gear Solid sample), this is an absolute delight for those who don't mind raising their heart rate.

FAV TRACKS: cortisol_inside cortisol_explosion excessive_cortisol cortisol_everywhere, CLOUT STRIFE, PEE YUORSELF

FINAL BUSINESS

That's basically it for this newsletter. Hopefully the next ones will be more exciting once The Freya Project actually enters production.

So, till next time. Seeya.