Hello listeners, and welcome once again to Underwood and Flinch. This is a
normal episode, a story episode, episode fifteen of season four, but I
hope you enjoyed the little bonus show that I put up yesterday with the cut
scene in it. I asked you for some feedback on that content, and
a couple of you have already replied, so I'll share those replies with you
and what little news I have after the story section. As usual, I'll
just use the original Patreon episode recap to bring you up to speed. And
there's no time like the present, is there, So here we go.
Last time ended with Demo running into Hoburn Underground Station, closely followed by David,
closely followed by the policeman Whittemore who's with the OCU, and him closely
followed by Glover, the chap in the jacket, and Polo neck Sweater who's
working with the SECT. That's really all you need to know, because we're
going to pick up exactly where we left off last time. One thing,
for the sake of listeners who aren't familiar with London transport practices, there's a
card. It's like a kind of an all Areas travel card which you can
buy. It's called an oyster card. So at one point there's a bit
where an oyster card is used, and I just wanted you to know that.
You know, it's not a piece of seafood in a plastic wallet.
But anyway, I'm sure you don't care so much about that right now.
I'm sure what do you want to do is get straight into the action.
So let's do that, shall we? With no further ado, I give
you Underwood and Flinch Season four. Underground Written and read by Mike Bennett.
This podcast is intended for mature audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Episode fifteen.
As Demo ran into the station, he was confronted by the ticket barrier
and the fact that he lacked a ticket. There were ticket machines to his
left and ticket sales windows to his right, but both were busy and he
had no time for either. On both sides of the ticket barrier, blue
shirted Underground staff were monitoring the steady flow of passengers as they passed through the
electronic gates or run into difficulties and sought help. Several of them were busy
with a large group of loud and excited children, all wearing matching green caps
and backpacks and speaking Italian. Demo knew that he couldn't exactly slip through as
one of their group, and there are enough blue shirts to ensure that he
couldn't just jump the barrier and make a run for it. But then a
man passed close to him, taking out his plastic oyster card wallet and getting
into line. There was no time to plan. Demo went up to the
man and whipped the card from his hand. The man turned to face him,
his face shocked and angry, but then he met Demo's eyes. Tanks
mate said Demo, this is mine. Yeah, yours, said the man,
momentarily confused. Then a look of dawning understanding crept into his features and
he nodded, yeah, yeah, of course sorry. Demo turned away from
him just as it was his turn to step up to the barrier. He
slapped the card onto the yellow reader disc and the twin saloon doors of the
electronic gate opened before him. Once he was through, he chanced to glance
back to check the whereabouts of the cop he'd seen at the traffic lights.
He looked for the man's skin head dome amongst the many jostling heads, but
couldn't see it. He stepped to one side of the passage, out of
the flow of people to search the faces at the barrier. But though he
still couldn't see the cop, he did see David. He was reaching into
his jacket taking out a ticket, and over his shoulder. A few bodies
back, Demo saw the other cop, the one who had gone after David
and now just coming through the station entrance, was the guy in the Poland
neck sweatter. Both men had eyes on David as he joined the short,
fast moving queue for the barrier. David, however, was looking beyond it,
evidently searching for Damo. Then their eyes met. David put up a
hand and shouted Damo. Demo looked beyond him and saw both the cop and
Poland neck followed David's gaze straight to him. No way, said Damo under
his breath, No fucking way. He turned and started for the escalators.
The Italian school kids had assembled to one side around a young man and woman
who were also wearing green caps. The man was holding up a small green
sign with a language school logo emblazoned on it, while the woman was doing
a head count of the children. Seemingly satisfied that everyone was present. Incorrect,
The woman sang out to the group, all right, everyone now follow
me in sam okay, Oh fuck, thought Damo. If we get stop
behind this lot, I'm screwed. He ran past them and got to the
escalators. Hopen was a deep station and the escalators were extremely long. There
were four of them, two coming up and two going down. Of those
going down, the one on the far right was the least busy. He
quickly stepped onto it, just nudging ahead of the woman in the green cap
and her lively many headed retinue. Protocol dictated the passengers who wanted to walk
down the escalator should use the left hand side, while past and just wishing
to stand should keep to the right. However, not everyone was aware of
that, and as Damo went down the stairs, he kept coming up against
the backs of people chatting side by side. Despite this, he was making
good progress when from far behind he heard David shout his name again. He
smiled to himself. He didn't need to look back to know David would be
stuck behind the gaggle of Italian kids. Good if he was way back there,
so were his pursuers and again, Who were those guys? David hadn't
seemed aware of them on the street, nor when he was at the ticket
barrier, not that that necessarily meant anything. He could be with one,
or both or neither. Ultimately, it didn't matter whether David was knowingly with
them or not they were knowingly with him. Just keep going, he told
himself, Jump on a train and get to fock away from all of them.
And later the escalator suddenly stopped dead. Demo had been walking down the
steps, so it was like the ground had been ripped out from under his
feet. He fell forwards, barely managing to catch the handrail and save himself
from going face first under the stairs. He pulled himself back to his feet
as a tunnel began to ring with the curses and exclamations of his fellow passengers,
some of whom had fallen. What had happened? Was there a fire?
Or had someone some fucking lunatic just pushed the emergency stopped button for a
laugh. Oh no, he thought, surely he wouldn't have. He turned
and looked back up the escalator, and his mouth fell agape. David ran
over the pedestrian crossing and backed down the street after Demo, weaving between people
and almost colliding with a young man and a baseball Cap who was too absorbed
in his phone to see him coming up ahead. Lying abandoned on the pavement,
he saw the bouquet of flowers Demo had been carrying. Something must have
really spooked him, he thought, wasn't me why. David was not far
past the guy and the cap when he heard behind him the sound of bodies
colliding and a cry of alarm. He looked back to see baseball Cap now
sprawling on his backside, and a man in a suit in a similar position
opposite him that was struggling to get to his feet. David figured that since
baseball Cap had been walking, the suit guy must have been running. Now
suit guy was up, He blithely ignored baseball CAP's angry insults and was about
to start running again when he looked up and saw David. It wasn't a
casual glance. He looked right at him, and for a brief moment,
David thought he saw something akin to recognition in his eyes. Then it was
over. The man turned back and offered a hand to baseball Cap, who
was still swearing at him. And threatening legal action if his phone was damaged.
All this took place in just a few seconds, with David hardly stopping
before turning back and running on after Demo. The gap between them had widened,
but he just caught a fleeting glimpse of Demo running into Hoburn's station.
He ran on after him, slowing as he joined the crowd of people flowing
into the station and joining them also as he and they searched their pockets and
bags for tickets. On finding the ticket he'd bought earlier at Lancaster Gate,
he looked around for Damo, scouring the backs of heads in front of him,
looking left and right to the ticket outlets. As he moved with the
flow of people towards the barrier. The crowd ahead had begun to thin as
one by one people passed through. Then, against the backdrop of excitable language
students, he saw Demo on the other side. David threw up his hand
and waved Demo, but Demo didn't react, didn't even seem to see him.
Instead, he turned and quickly moved past the language students to the escalators.
Shit, said David. Now he was at the barrier, he pushed
his ticket into the machine. The barrier opened, and he hurried through to
run up against the spreading wave of green caps and backpacks. The language students
were on the move, following in disorderly fashion. A man and woman holding
signs aloft as they marched towards the escalators. David knew this scene all too
well. He'd been at the front of more than a few mobs like this
when he'd been a language teacher. He estimated their ages to be between twelve
and fourteen as they surged slowly forwards, a chattering mass of distracted heads and
pointing hands beyond them, he saw Damo descending from view as he rode away
on the escalator. David tried to move through the crowd of kids, but
it was like wading against the current in chest high water. They were pouring
into both of the descending escalators. David went for the nearest one, the
one Demo had taken. He stepped to the left, hoping to descend faster,
but the way ahead was thick with kids. Farther down, he could
see Demo making his way down quickly and relatively unobstructed. He cupped his hands
and shouted after him, but Demo didn't turn. Maybe he couldn't hear him,
He could barely hear himself over the clamor of the kids, But there
could be no doubt that Demo was running from him. Why he had seemed
so pleased to see him at first, yet now he was running from him
like he had the plague. One answer, the proverbial elephant on the sofa
was that Demo was indeed a vampire, had killed Lisa and now was fleeing
from David because he thought he thought what that David was going to kill him?
But if that was so, why'd he seemed so pleased to see him
in the first place, unless maybe he had seen someone else. The face
of Underwood rose in his mind, and David leaned out over the handrail to
look back up the descending escalators, scanning the faces for the creature he had
once called Master. Of course he wasn't there. The only face he did
recognize was that of the guy in the suit who had collided with baseball cap
outside. David turned back and continued in his efforts at moving down the escalator,
trying to coke seemingly deaf children out of his path with a gentle but
firm hand and a constant scoozy scoozy, but it was like pushing porridge.
He looked ahead to where Demo was now over halfway down. How could he
possibly catch up with him? The smooth, brushed steel divide between the escalators
was the obvious solution to the problem. If he could just hop up on
to that and slide down, he could easily beat Demo to the bottom and
catch him. But it was impossible. Obstacles had been fitted at regular intervals
all the way down, rigid blue signs telling people to stand to the right,
and diamond shaped boxes in casing emergency stop buttons. One of these was
approaching now. It was red, the color of danger. As it grew
nearer, he made out two arrows pointing to a spot with the word push
on either side. Beneath that was written penalty for improper use. As if
with a mind of its own, David's hand reached out towards the red button
as it glided slowly up towards him. Was this an emergency, his finger
obviously thought so. It remained firmly aimed at the button as it came up
against it, and yielded with a satisfying click. Immediately the escalator stopped,
and though he was the person responsible for it, David was still caught off
guard by the sudden cessation of movement beneath him, and he lurched forwards on
to the kids on the next step. Fortunately, they were standing in a
tight group and absorbed his fall without any of them losing their footing. But
as David straightened up, looking ahead for Damo, he saw a number of
other people had either stumbled or fallen, including some of the children. Heads
were turning to him, faces shocked, incredulous, and, on seeing there
was no emergency, angry. Then a hand fell on David's shoulder, firm,
like someone making a citizen's arrest. He twisted free of it, threw
one leg up onto the handrail, and clambered out onto the divide between the
escalators. He got to his feet, his rubber soled trainers finding easy purchase
on the smooth metal surface, But it was a vertigulous view. About twenty
meters of polished steel stretched out before him, edged on both sides with stunned
and unbelieving faces. David saw that weighed down the escalator, Demos was one
of them. However, on making eye contact, Demo turned away and continued
hurriedly down, pushing his way towards the bottom. Okay, said David,
here goes nothing. He dipped himself forwards and started running. It started it
out well. He was able to maintain his balance by keeping his head and
shoulders slightly back and leaning away from the angle of descent. However, the
further he went, the faster he went, and gravity began to pull him
forward, so that very quickly he was not so much running but trying to
manage a downward plunge. Now he was fighting to stay upright. The world
was blurring in his peripheral vision. He put out his arms and began to
pinwheel, and then he was falling through the air. He heard himself screaming
shit as the world whirled in a surreal slow motion. He closed his eyes
and tried to draw in his limbs before he crashed down onto the steel divide,
with his left shoulder taking the initial impact. Then he was tumbling over
and over, things catching at him, snagging and slapping against his body.
They were slowing him, and he realized they were people's hands. He could
feel hands holding him, preventing him from tumbling further. He opened his eyes
and saw an elderly siek man and a teenage girl clutching at his jacket and
holding him securely. He looked back up the escalator and saw the dozens of
other hands that had broken his fall still outstretched to him. The people who
had caught his legs were now moving away as the second escalator continued to descend,
but they were looking back at him concerned. David held up a hand
and said thanks. Jesus, said the girl who had his jacket. You're
right, mate, Yeah, said David. Yeah, I think so.
Thanks. You really need to be more careful, said the Sikh with a
smile. Yeah, said David, managing a grin. I don't make a
habit this sort of thing, but I was trying to catch up with someone.
Damo. He sat up suddenly, Damo, he called. He saw
he had come to rest just a few meters from the end of the escalator.
The crowd at the bottom was now starting to break up and move away.
The show was over, the nutcase hadn't killed himself, and Damo was
nowhere to be seen. Shit, he cursed, Wheary lest something be broken,
David got cautiously to his feet parts of him ached, and he had
no doubt that he'd soon be sporting some very fruity bruises. But at least
nothing appeared to be broken. Boy, a voice shouted from above, stay
right where you are. David looked up to see four blue shirted men coming
down the second escalator. They were underground ticket guards, and all had faces
like thunder. David jumped down onto the stairs of the still stationary escalator and
ran down to join the people flying out to the platforms on either side.
But which way should he go? He looked overhead to the signage that stated
to his left was the Central Line, to his right the Piccadilly. Which
way had Damo gone? He had no idea. Damo was unable to tear
his eyes away as David stepped out onto the long silver slide between the escalators.
He watched as he stepped out into the middle and turned to look down
at the plunge before him. That guy's fucking mad, said a man beside
him. He's difficult to try and come there, that said another. You'll
mash his nuts on all him signs. Oh yes he is, said Damo.
Someone might want a car an ambulance. Excuse me. He pushed past
the man beside him and continued on his way down. Oh my god,
a woman gasped. She wasn't alone. Everyone was now gasping and taking the
Lord's name in vain with gay abandon. Obviously, David had started his mad
descent. Don't look back, Demo told himself. Just keep going. The
crowd at the bottom of the escalator was like a river that had suddenly become
damned. People continued to flow down from the second escalator, but were reluctant
to leave the spectacle of the lunatic, taking a breakneck shortcut. They watched
with hands over mouths, eyes wide, some holding up phones and taking pictures.
Demo joined the tight crowd at the bottom just as a collective gasp went
up and expressions of dismay changed to horror. With no way of going forward,
Demo turned to see David sailing through the air and then hit the slide
at frightening speed. Now he was tumbling over and over and on both flanking
escalators. People were reaching out and trying to catch him. Demo winced as
David rolled over one of the rectangular stand to the right signs, though on
his clearing it he saw that it had passed under his knees, and then
the other passengers had caught him. Demo couldn't move like everyone else. He
was paralyzed by the scene. There was a moment of breath less stillness.
Then David began to uncoil. He raised his head, was looking around,
moving normally. He was okay, Damo sighed with relief. Oh, thank
fock for that. But then David wasn't alone. He looked up to scan
the faces on the stalled escalator, and sure enough, there were the two
pursuers, separated by about six steps and watching David. The guy in the
polo neck was talking into his bluetooth. Damo turned and started to push to
the now loosening crowd towards the sound of underground trains. David looked from the
left passage to the right. Which way, Damo, where did you fucking
go? So you're looking for that geezer? That was like in a hurry
where no one else was, said a young man at the bottom of the
escalator. David nodded, yeah, yeah, he stole my phone. The
youth grinned and cocked a thumb at the escalator. Is that what this is?
All about shit. He must love that fucking faun man. He pointed
to the Piccadilly Line. Guy went thouay in it. David waved his thanks
and ran into the flow of bodies heading toward the Piccadilly Line. As he
rounded the corner, he saw a sight that made him want to fall down
and weep. Another escalator, Son of a bitch. He ran to the
head of it. Three escalators, two going down, one coming up,
and halfway down. The one in the middle was Demo. This time,
David wasn't going to give himself away by calling. For whatever reason, Damo
was running from him, so there was no point in advertising his presence.
He followed him on to the center escalator. The passenger numbers were lighter here
and it was easy to trot down on the left hand side after his quarry.
With every step he expected Demo to turn around, but it wasn't until
he was only about ten steps away that he did. For a moment,
they just stared at each other. Then David said, Ohai. Demo's eyes
flicked away from David's to look back up the escalator behind him. Then he
looked back to him. Who you mates, Dave, mates? Said,
David, what are you talking about? Demo smiled, You mean you don't
know. David looked behind him. There were people, many people, none
that he knew, but some he recognized from the other escalator, including the
Sikh who had caught his jacket suit guy from the collision on the street,
and the indefatigable wave of Italian school kids, all of whom seemed to have
recovered their characteristic of bulliance after their ordeal at his hands on the other escalator.
And then the blue shirted underground staff hove into view with a full throated
chorus of boy. I don't know who you're talking about, Demo, he
said, turning back, but Demo had gone. David saw him at the
bottom of the stairs, running into the passage for the trains. Fuck.
He ran down the remaining stairs two at a time and raced after Damo through
winding passageways that Damo was turning out of just as David was running in.
Then he had him. He chased him down a short flight of stairs,
but between them was a group of elderly people with suitcases. Damo got to
the bottom and ran on. Then the pensioners got to the bottom and began
sliding the carrying handles out of their bags so they could wheel them along behind
them. No, David shouted, no bags, police emergency stand aside.
The pensioners froze bewildered, their bags forgotten at their feet and blocking the passageway
completely. David leaped from the stairs and was almost clear of them when his
foot caught in one of the telescopic handles, and he came crashing down to
earth. Oh I'm so sorry, officer, said the woman, whose bag
was still hooked unto David foot here, let me help you. No,
it's okay. David waved her back and kicked the bag away, then staggered
to his feet and stumbled after Damo. He came reeling out onto the platform
just as a train was sliding away from it. Its first carriage is already
disappearing into the tunnel. No, he shouted. But then to his right
he heard the sound of running footsteps. He saw him. He was running
after the train. He must have arrived too late to catch it, but
now for some reason he was chasing it like he could still get on board.
David shook his head at the folly of it and called after him it's
the wrong way, Demo. The exit's over here. But Damo didn't stop,
didn't slow, even when the last carriage of the train had disappeared into
the tunnel. He kept running. Then David understood. He sank forward,
hands on his thighs, and watched as Damo ran to the end of the
platform, jumped down onto the tracks, and ran into the tunnel. And
why wouldn't he He was a vampire. He could see in the dark.
He had nothing to fear in there. He was in his element. He
had gone where David couldn't follow. There was barely any clearance between the trains
and the walls in those tunnels. Okay, if he could turn to mist,
but for everyone else it would be certain death. Armed police, said
a voice from behind him. Turn around, nice and slow. David straightened
up and did as he was told to see Suit Guy, the man who
had been in the street collision, pointing a gun at him. David raised
his hands. Look, I'm sorry about that emergency stop thing. I'm more
than happy to pay the fine. This isn't about the emergency stop, Sunshine.
I've told the tube boys to seal the platform off to passengers in case
you try anything stupid, because it'd certainly seem to be a speciality of yours.
Who are you CID? So what's this about? Or we'll discuss that
at the station. But first I want you to take that weapon out from
onto your jacket. David hesitated. Come on, said Whittemore. Don't think
I don't know the shape of a concealed weapon when I see one. Slowly,
David reached into his jacket and from the shoulder holster drew the taser that
he had taken from Kendall. He held it up between finger and thumb.
Very good now, Whittemore suddenly broke off as a strange clicking sound filled the
air. He was shaking violently, his teeth clenched tight as his eyes rolled
back in his head. Then he fell to his knees and dropped down onto
the platform. Standing behind him was a man in a polar neck sweater.
He held a taser in his hand, from which a stream of dancing wires
ran to the copse back. He took his finger off the trigger and the
clicking stopped. Mister, he said. He walked over to Whitmore and knelt
beside him, feeling his neck for a pulse, then picking up his gun.
My name's Glover. I'm with a sect. Yeah, I thought as
much, said David. The guns are dead giveaway. Glover smiled and stood
up. He put Whitmore's gun in his pocket. Yeah, I see you
have one yourself. Mister Kendall will be pleased to Night's still in one piece.
I told the station guards out there, I was with our friend here.
He nodded in the direction of the passageway behind him. I always carry
a fake police ID with me for such contingencies, but right now, you
and I need to leave by the other exit down there. He pointed to
the other end of the platform. Should we go? What about him,
said David, pointing to Whitmore. Oh, it'll be fine, but he's
going to wake up in a minute or so, and I'd rather not be
here when he does. David turned around and looked into the mouth of the
tunnel that Damo had run into. Was he there now watching them from the
shadows. I don't worry about your vampire friend, said Glover. We know
what train he is on, and there's only Samny stations ahead of him.
Hopefully we'll be able to pick him up before he kills again, There's nothing
more dangerous than a rogue fledgling? Is that right? And what would you
do when you pick him up? Glover took a few steps down the platform
towards the fire exit. Look, we can't hang around here, sir.
Let's get going. What will you do to him? Mister Glover tell me
I won't do anything, sir. That's for the judge to decide. The
judge. Who the fuck is that? Daventry or West neither? Glover turned
his head at the sound of a distant train approaching. Look, your friend
is a rogue that's endangered the whole community. He's not of Lord Underwood's family,
nor any other, of course, he's Lord Underwood's family. He drank
his blood. Look, I can't comment on that, s All I know
is that right now we have to get out of here or we will be
caught. And the last thing you need is to be arrest did he was
right about that. David was well established on the Spanish police's database in connection
with the shooting at La Fantasia. He wasn't supposed to have left Spain,
let alone be standing over the tasered body of a British policeman. Look,
just tell me this. Then he said, your vampire code says that neither
vampires nor their cults of devotion can kill another vampire. Isn't that right?
Glover kept looking toward the far tunnel and the sound of the approaching train.
Yes, so he won't be killed in theory, I guess no. But
as for the judge to decide, isn't it who's the fucking judge? David
demanded, raising the taser to aim at Glover's chest through gritted teeth. Glover
spoke slowly and deliberately. I don't know, but if you don't come right
now, we are. David fired the taser. Sorry, Glover by oh,
my friend. More than that, He held his finger on the trigger,
watching as Glover did the same electrocution shuffle as Whitmore had done a moment
earlier. Then a light in the black of the far tunnel caught his eye.
The train was arriving. He dropped the taser and sprinted for the tunnel
that Damo had run into. He heard the rush and roar of the train
as it burst into the station behind him, its brakes squealing as it began
to slow and fill the length of the platform. David didn't look back.
He knew that if he did, he'd never be able to jump in front
of it. Its headlights were now reaching into the tunnel ahead, pushing back
the darkness and showing David where to land. As with a final burst of
effort, he leaped from the end of the platform. He came down in
the narrow space between the tracks and the curving wall, falling forwards and skinning
his hands in the blackened stones. He rolled against the wall away from the
rails. He knew at least one of them was electrified, but had no
idea which. Then he got to his feet and looked back to where the
train had now stopped just short of the tunnel. The driver was looking at
him, mouth open, shouting something David couldn't hear over the rumble of the
engine and the now rising cries of alarm from disembarking passengers. On finding two
bodies entangled with tasers on the platform, David gave the driver a wave as
if to say thanks, I'm okay, then ran on into the tunnel,
And so David follows Daimo into the bowls of London. Before he ran in
there, he was quite sure that to do so would be certain death.
I wonder if it will join me again next week when the story of Underwooden
Flinch continues. Music you're listening to is Ahmad Armor by Faried Farjad from the
album and Rusa Volume four, Godess of Tarana Records, and our good friend
Faras Alam Allude. You can buy the track from Amazon or iTunes or stream
it from Spotify, YouTube Music, Google Music, Apple Music, etc.
Etc. And so there we are, Ladies and Gentlemen, episode fifteen of
season four, which at Patreon if you're interested, is Underwooden Flinch Underground episode
twenty eight, and I hope you enjoyed it. So to my news,
what little there is of it. First of all, is there any news
on the Underwooden Finch television series. I really wish there was, but there
just isn't. It's always a waiting game, this TV business. You know,
when you're in my position, I have no role in what's currently going
on. I do have, you know, roles to play in this process,
but not right now. My role right now is to just wait.
It's kind of like an election night, you know, how you vote one
day and then you have to wait a day or so before the votes are
all counted and the winner is revealed only for me the way it isn't for
a few days, though sometimes it is. It depends. The wait is
completely unpredictable. I could hear something today, I could hear something tomorrow,
or it might be in a week or a month or two months time.
You know, it just depends on whatever the process is. But goodness me,
the anticipation it really does your head in sometimes. Imagine waiting for an
election result you really care about and knowing that that result could be in tonight
or tomorrow or next month. You know, you just have to wait and
be patient. That's what it's like. But needless to say, when the
weight is over, if I am allowed to reveal the news to you,
I will, of course, whether it's good or bad, So needless to
say, then, I would be very grateful if you could keep your fingers
crossed that the Underwood Advench TV show continues to move forward and eventually, you
know, we get a positive result. I'll keep my fingers crossed for your
Mike. Thank you very much. I really appreciate that. It's all right.
What else I started a substack page or an account. I'm not quite
sure how you refer to it. I think people just call them a sub
stack. I mentioned this in the Bonus episode yesterday. It's a blog and
a newsletter and a kind of a chat room combined. It's a bit complicated
if you're a tech dance like me, but I think I've got the you
know, the basic hang of it. I've put up a few posts and
some of you have signed up to follow me, which is nice. My
thanks to those people. I do already have a mailing list with mail Chimp,
and you can find a sign up form for that on my website homepage
if you're interested. But I don't tend to overuse it, you know,
because I always find it rather disheartening to see how many people unsubscribe anytime I
do send out an email. It's really, as I say, disheartening,
you know. So what I try to do is keep the email quantity down
to a minimum, you know, so as not to spam people, and
you know, hope that they stay with the mailing list. But this substack
thing is as I say, it's it's like another mailing list and a blog
and a newsletter and a chat room all in one. So if you're on
substack, and you'd like to follow me and get email updates that are newsletters
of the blog post I've added, which you can join the chat room on
and all this sort of thing. Then you can find me at Mike Bennett
or one word dot substack dot com. Always useful for people who and my
ego hates to admit that this is true for people who unsubscribe from this podcast
in between seasons of Underwooden Flinch and I don't know why people do that,
but they do. But yeah, if you're following me on something like substack
or Facebook or Twitter or whatever, then you can be notified when I start
a new season of the podcast. But without doubt, the best way to
stay in touch with me is to stay subscribed to this podcast, isn't it?
Of course it is. And speaking of new fangled communication gadgets, as
I mentioned yesterday, Spotify podcasts have that new feature where you can easily leave
me a comment on an episode. And again, as I mentioned yesterday,
I put up a question relating to the content of the bonus episode and a
pole and I'm delighted to say that some people have already replied, both at
Spotify and substack and so I will share those replies with you now, just
so you know you know what your fellow listeners are thinking. At Substack,
I asked if people would be interested in hearing more about Ronnie Bishop Vincent and
Isabel May in a story set in the nineteen eighties UK goth scene, and
el Moussol said, do it. Ruth Ann said, will the spin off
take the place of the main story or slow progress of the main story?
If so, then I would rather that you put your time and energy into
the main story. I'm anxiously anticipating the next chapter, to which I said,
Hi, ruth Anne. If it was going to be a standalone book,
it would come after the main story. But I think I will most
likely incorporate it somewhere as part of the main story, because, like you,
I don't want anything to slow the progress of that. And then,
just a short while ago, Taylor Minia said, patiently awaiting the reawakening with
my candles lit and myself clad in black. Thank you Mike, and thank
you Taylor. Meanwhile, over at Spotify, I asked if listeners enjoyed the
episode and a possible Ronnie Isabel Vincent's story, and Phil Decker who's the only
person thus far to have commented said I liked it. I think it makes
for a good spin off story. Thank you for that vote of confidence,
Phil. And then we have the poll I put up, which is going
to be live for two weeks from now, and this also has some early
responses, which is all very exciting. I have to say. The question
is whatever happened to isabel May? Would you like to find out? And
there are three options, and of the twelve people who have voted so far,
the results are currently eight for yes please, four for surprise me,
and none for no thanks. Oh how lovely. That's cheering, isn't it.
If this pattern continues, lady and gentlemen, then one day, rest
assured you will find out what happened to Isabelle May and Ronnie and Vincent,
because I know the answer and I know how to write it so that it
slots very nicely into the un f universe in the main story, even though
what you heard in the cutscene episode is not officially part of the Underwooden Flinch
story. Oh yes, so vote Spotify users and comment sub stackers, and
if you don't want to use either of those things, you can always leave
a comment at my Twitter or Facebook pages. Links can be found on my
website or just google Mike Bennett Underwood plus whatever the app you want to use,
and you will probably find me because I'm everywhere except TikTok, which I'm
not on and have no plans to be on. And that brings us to
the end of another episode. Than Ladies and gentlemen, I will be back
in your ears again next week with season four, episode sixteen. But until
then, when the moon rises again over Underwood and Flinch, have a great
week and farewell.