View source for Jacoby Podcast/IF-36.219

{{Rumor Header|term=Rumor}}
===Origins===
Jacoby Podcast has lived their life alone on a comet from the Delta Cancrids cluster, and they were alone for a very long time. At some point in their existence they picked up on sounds traveling through space, specifically on broadcasts being sent out from earth. They were intrigued and spent days upon days tracking down these signals, falling in love with the world they represented. In particular they took great interest in: the idea of gender (choosing to present themselves as non-binary), the idea of religion (deciding to explore Judaism), and the world of splorts, going out of their way to dig up signals from game commentaries of the Discipline Era.

Enamored  with the immaterial plane, Podcast was distraught when they heard about the plight of the Baltimore Crabs after their ascension and was determined to be of assistance. While it is unclear if they were able to render any assistance to the Baltimore Crabs, or if they were simply pulled along for the ride, when the Crabs returned to play, Podcast was eager to join The Crabs roster, and took the chance when offered a position to pitch in season 12, giving a much needed break to [[Bevan Underbuck]].

===Life in Baltimore===
Podcast was eager to experience life in Baltimore and frequently took the time between games to explore, experience and be a part of the day-to-day life of anyone they had encountered. This had made Podcast a fast friend to [[Parker Parra]], who similarly found the way most people lived to be fascinating. As Para had more experience dealing with the Immaterial Plane, the two of them were better off together than Podcast alone who, for example, reportedly thought that "Podcast" was a common last name. That being said, Para and Podcast had been banned from several museums, aquariums, and shopping centers for being a "public disturbance".

===Cast from the Pod===
In honour of what first attracted them to earth, Podcast started their own podcast. Unfortunately, they never stopped creating podcasts, and most of them are objectively terrible. For example;
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Title
!Episodes
!Rating
!Description
|-
|Fishing for Praise
|16
|{{Star Rating|3.0}}
|A podcast featuring Podcast and teammate [[Squid Galvanic]] where they review the exhibits at the Baltimore aquarium.
|-
|The the Jacoby Podcast Podcast
|4
|{{Star Rating|4.5}}
|A show based off of recordings that Podcast recorded back in space where they performed mock interviews to nobody. Now that they're on earth they play back the recordings and banter with their past self in a mix of improvisational comedy and poignant lessons about growing up.
|-
|Haute Pursuit
|11
|{{Star Rating|2.5}}
|Podcast and [[Luis Acevedo]] do deep dives into contemporary art crimes across multiple mediums, often rumoured to have been committed by [[Val Hitherto]].
|-
|███████
|N/A
|{{Star Rating|6.5}}
|An unreleased crime podcast Podcast recorded with [[Forrest Best]]. While allegedly this show was nothing more than the sounds of sirens, scuttling, and a supposed Break and Enter,  no one has ever managed to listen to an episode, as Best stole the only copy of the recording of the pilot before it aired and threw it into the Chesapeake bay. Rumour has it that it is still out there somewhere
|-
|No Claws for Alarm! The Truth behind Carcinization
|3
|{{Star Rating|3}}
|An exploratory podcast where Podcast speaks to citizens of Baltimore about the effects of carcinization. However be warned because after several listens the podcast itself will begin to carcinize, and its final form is just scuttling noises. It is still comprehensible to everyone in Blatimore however.
|-
|The Brock Tumbler
|10
|{{Star Rating|0.5}}
|A podcast featuring Podcast and fellow pitcher [[Brock Forbes]]. While not a popular show due to what Forbes describes as his "voice for telegram", the show does retain one [[Parker Parra|loyal listener]] who claims that the podcast "hits a lot better in 5D"
|-
|Love Tap
|36
|{{Star Rating|4.0}}
|An advice show featuring [[Adalberto Tosser]]. Which is an anecdote mill focused on navigating relationships in the punk/metal/mosh scene. Though it often includes large segments of Tosser sharing "wild zany stories" that include countless flings, heists, hops, and dives in from his life.
|-
|Bottom of the bucket
|6
|{{Star Rating|3.5}}
|A longform journalism podcast about infrastructure stalling in municipal Crabitat construction
|-
|Hot To Trot
|17
|{{Star Rating|2.5}}
|A show with [[Tot Fox]] where she and Podcast discuss the best forest trails in the area.
|-
|Meanwhile Back at the Ranch
|25
|{{Star Rating|4.5}}
|Featuring teammate [[Silvaire Roadhouse]] where they discuss the latest gossip in the ILB.
|-
|Straight from the Horse’s Mouth
|317
|{{Star Rating|2.5}}
|A commonly updated series featuring [[Logan Horseman]] and Podcast discussing basically any topic of Logan’s interest.
|-
|What we do in the Shadows
|10
|{{Star Rating|3.0}}
|A series of interviews with [[Bevan Underbuck]] and [[Enid Marlow]] regarding the mysteries of the Shadows of Baltimore.
|-
|Gone Fishin’
|2
|{{Star Rating|1.5}}
|A short-lived series where Podcast interviews [[Nagomi McDaniel|Nagomi Mcdaniel]], who unfortunately makes a poor subject. The entire second episode consists of the sounds of a small fishing boat containing Podcast and Mcdaniel getting progressively further away from the recording equipment.
|-
|Silent Whispers
|120
|{{Star Rating|0.5}}
|A series of recordings where Podcast claims to interview his teammate [[Alyssa Harrell|Harrell]], however any attempts to listen to the episodes seem to be an entirely one-sided conversation.
|-
|Foam Batter’s Box
|11
|{{Star Rating|4.5}}
|Podcast and [[York Silk]] review various boffer weapons. These episodes are well known for devolving into Jacoby and York doing “field testing” and dramatic “death” scenes on air.
|-
|Days of Our Blives
|489
|{{Star Rating|5}}
|[[Cantus Hojo]] explains the complex plot and relationships of the soap opera, Days of Our Blives.
|-
|}
Podcast's most popular production by far however is the livestreamed recording they stream while they pitch in games. While some describe the casts as "down to earth" and "a real insight to blaseball," others have commented that they "wish Jacoby would stop letting bases get stolen while they're making advertising plugs for their sponsors."

===Finding a Rock===
When joining the Crabs, Podcast was quick to see co-captain [[Brock Forbes]] as a mentor, both in play and outside the diamond. The two of them had similar pitching styles and Forbes was quick to explain the finer points of his plays when Podcast asked. The two fell into a comfortable routine of communication and practice, with Forbes being understanding of Podcast’s competitive nature and tendency to lay face down in the outfield when things weren’t going their way. 

In season 16 after a tumultuous election Forbes was now playing for the [[Boston Flowers]] and Podcast playing for the [[Ohio Worms]]. Despite attempts from Forbes, Podcast was not receptive to attempts to reach out with cries of being abandoned in Ohio despite reminders from other Worms that this was a regular outcome of the election, and not a personal slight against Podcast themself. On Season 16 day 47 Podcast was forced into a reunion between when the Flowers played in [[The Wormhole]], and the rotation lining up to leave Podcast and Forbes on the mound. The game went into extra innings, with Podcast letting up two home runs in the top of the 14th to end the game.

They refused to speak to Forbes afterwards. 

After a reverb of the Flower’s rotation, Forbes was given another opportunity to pitch against his student on day 75. The game once again went into extra innings, with the Worms being shamed with 2 runs in the bottom of the 10th. This time when Podcast attempted to snub their mentor, Forbes simply applied their considerable experience in martial combat to immobilize Podcast while he talked about his feelings. It is not clear what was said in [[The Garden]] but in the weeks since the two have been seen hesitantly meeting up when not in games to practice together.

When speaking of their relationship, Podcast was quoted as saying “Brock is great and all, but next time we play he won’t make it to extra innings.”

===Ohio is a State of Mind===
Podcast had a rough start with the Ohio Worms, spending their time pulling pranks as an outlet for their frustrations. They were not impressed with the Worms’ performance and also felt underappreciated and unwanted by their first team, the Crabs. With the Worms divided on winning and tanking, Podcast had felt there was no place for their play-style and goals on the team for many seasons. Their relationship with fellow pitchers, [[Xandra Pancakes]] and [[Patchwork Southwick]], soured when the two took items that improved their performance despite already being highly rated players. 

It also did not help that the angel who inhabited [[Ephraim_Ladd/IF-60.881|Ephraim Ladd’s]] body had been an ex. 

During the {{BetaSeason|16}} playoffs, Podcast had gotten closer to [[Vessalius Sundae]] and [[Scratch Deleuze]] by watching the Crabs’ games together. Since then, Podcast and Sundae realized they had similar frustrations and were often found sitting in silence together. Sundae’s experience with shapeshifting abilities had aided Podcast as they explored what they could be. Deleuze was a very soft and cuddly companion. 

When Podcast had finally warmed up to the team, they went through a Blacklight transformation, granted by the magic of the Wormhole, and light poured out of them. They looked like a disco ball. After the initiation, Podcast would frequently shine on the mound. 

Despite their improved relationships with the team, Podcast did not feel at home at the Wormhole. They still desired to be on a team that wanted to win and had a clear idea on what that meant. The Worms, noticing Podcast’s turbulent feelings, had reached out to [[Parker Meng]] and proposed a trade. 

Meng had agreed. 

Together, Meng and the Worms rigged the election to send Podcast back to Baltimore. In addition to the trade, the Worms also constructed a Jacoby Podcast memorial for [[The Augusta Chadwell Memorial Park and Promenade]], the plaque reading, “Here lies Jacoby Podcast, devoted friend to team captain, Xandra Pancakes”.

Podcast was not and never had been a devoted friend to team captain, Xandra Pancakes. 

Podcast left for Baltimore with a flickering bat, knowing that if they didn’t feel right on a team, they could make their way to somewhere they did. 

They still keep in touch with the Worms. Podcast and Deleuze keep up an intense and competitive game of Cup Pling Plong. Hojo receives daily photo updates of Podcast’s plant-critters. [[Loubert Ji-Eun]] frequently sends Podcast prank mixtapes that are not prank mixtapes.
===Returning to the Crabs===
When Podcast was traded back to the Baltimore Crabs from the Ohio Worms in Season 19, they were aware that their mentor Brock Forbes had left the team, but actually experiencing Baltimore without him was another thing altogether. Podcast quickly found there were plenty of other things to take their mind off of this however, as this was also Podcast’s first time playing and practicing alongside [[Lorcan Smaht]], who Podcast knew better as “that rookie pitcher who showed up to replace me”. Since Smaht emself was unaware of this rivalry, ey frequently took the time to invite Podcast to hang out after practice and be an all around excellent teammate. Luckily Podcast’s feelings on this were interrupted by the attentions of the Crabs newest player, [[Zeruel Kramer]], who was fascinated by Podcast’s pitching, and frequently asked them to model it for zer as ze worked on zer “Arm of God” project. This kind of flattery alongside Kramer’s non-existent pitching skill was quick to win Podcast over, and Kramer even managed to get Podcast to practice what ze called “being okay with being bad at things”. 

Before their journey took them across the league Podcast was delighted to discover that they had developed a strange form of carcinization that picked up where their blacklight mode ended. While at first it only appeared to be a strange noise that Podcast began to emit when angry or excited, with the help of resident [[Carcinization]] expert [[Pedro Davids]] they were able to pinpoint this as a growl produced by teeth in Podcast’s stomach, much like that of Ghost Crabs, and that Podcast could control the sounds they could produce. Furthermore when they entered blacklight mode it was possible to see them glowing through Podcast’s mouth which they described as “really cool actually”. Upon confirmation of their carcinization the first thing that Podcast did was call Forbes in Boston to tell him about it.