Time for the first of the results from the casting call I put out a couple of weeks ago (I know I didn't wait the full month I'm sorry, now's not the time to talk about that). I am so thrilled to announce Ty Coker! Will be voicing our boy (during the events of the story) Dimitar Petrova! I actually had been wanting to work with them for a while, and in fact, after I had cast Ty I was going through our old dms, and actually took notice that I had wanted them initially for the role anyways! But Ty rather than remind me or ask, still auditioned anyways. So let there be no doubt about it, Ty was the perfect choice no matter what. And they were always meant to be the one voicing this character. And that becomes very evident when listening to their performance. While plenty of VAs who did audition for Dimi (of which there were a lot) were able to nail the shy nature of the character only Ty's voice really fit the look of the character. Dimitar or "Dimi" is based in a large part on myself. Were both genderfluid, his family backstory is much of my own, his friendship dynamics with Joshua and Thetis are very close to my own high school dynamics with the friends of mine those characters are based on. The reason I say this is to help explain what I had in mind for his voice. You see my own voice is masculine, I didn't discover I was genderfluid until I was 29. So for me, it was very important that Dimi's voice not be too feminine. And there are a lot of reasons for that outside just my own voice, like not wanting to stereotype, and wanting to push for more vocal diversity when it comes to characters who are nonbinary or like I said genderfluid. We don't owe the world androgeny I guess is the short explanation. And understandably that kind of seemed to be about half the thought process of those who auditioned, then another large section seemed to really just hone in on "they're shy." Which yes, true. Isn't their sole defining feature. Ty (see bringing it back to the start of this announcement) really got that. They knew how to tote the line, this isn't a character who is completely just riddled with anxiety at all times. They needed to be able to take verbal abuse from Joshua, and not seem like they took it personally or it affected them (because the other inspiration my dearest friend Benjamin was the emotional punching bag and you never would have known). And you can't achieve that if you completely make Dimi so fear it just wouldn't believable that he could even be friends with Joshua let alone stand up to him and dish it back. Ty just got that, I didn't even need to tell them that, they just knew. And like I said when you hear what Ty did the choice is so obvious, there is so much added depth. Dimi has been a character that started sort of as an homage to Neville Longbottom, the magical child, I related to and was able to see myself into this sort of manifestation of how everyone else saw me growing up I think. My family has always seen me as shy, but I've never really felt that way much. He's how I imagined my grandparents saw me up until high school actually ha, ha, ha. Definitely how my mother saw me for a long time. And so like I said it was important he be viewed as more than that, and Ty showed that all with just their audition. And then my gods with their masterful performance, just wow. It was so validating like, "yes! I was right, I knew it, I knew they were perfect deadlines or whatever be damned I made the right call." And additionally, I could tell that Dimi meant something to Ty too. I always say I want to work with people who care like I do, or at least somewhat. The whole reason I even asked people to tell me why they auditioned for what was for that exact reason. You can easily tell who this matters to, when I was doing things over Twitter it was a little easier because I could have drawn out and frequent conversations. You can't have that through these massive casting calls. Those conversations really help to solidify who is right for what. Because these characters matter, whether the project fails or succeeds that fact remains. And I could just tell how it mattered to Ty, and it's beautiful and I am so lucky to have gotten to work with them. I wanted to work with them before they ever even reached out to me I already knew of them and had already thought, "I want to work with this person at some point." And I think when you hear what they did in full context interacting with all these other characters you'll get it too, I really do. I don't need to tell you Ty is brilliant and a wonderful person that's easy to see. And extrapolating exactly why this role couldn't have gone to anyone else is difficult because, in my mind, it's just so apparent. It's hard to think of any other outcome. But I guess I'm rambling now and grasping for words and further justification at this point. The work speaks for itself, I am incredibly lucky and thankful. And without further delay, I can finally say Ty Coker, welcome to Pleasant Sparkle Academy, may your days here among your peers be blessed.
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