Yeah, Trover and Rick and Morty were the goal influences. Glad you enjoyed it. :)
I didn't use SALSA, I actually worked out a custom barebones audio spectrum solution with the help of ChatGPT. https://chat.openai.com/share/afe1086f-9bb5-4386-b468-e3c24cf16ecf
Then I just used that float with a other float as a threshold to figure out what level is talking and what level isn't. For a skeleton character, it worked well enough. If I had slower talking lines, it wouldn't look right, though.
Same with the head tracking, just worked it out with a little GPT code assistance.
Thank you for the encouragement. I do hope to complete it with the planned boss battle, and better aggro beetles, at the least. Don't know if my voice could handle recording more lines, though. It was shot after a single 20 minute recording session!